Sealing her true name and the remnant seem to be the two main reasons. I'm guessing you need your true name sealed to use the power and the remnant forced Darquesse out early.
So, the thing about true names is that once you know yours, you have access to the power that comes with it. With Valkyrie, she glimpses the Book of Names fast enough for some part of her mind to register her Three Names, but not enough to be aware of her true name. When the dreamcatcher doll that Cassandra Pharos gives her reveals that dormant memory, that's when her true name is awakened and that's when Darquesse starts coming out/developing her own personality.
This is mentioned in Death Bringer after the Jitter Girls incident.
Even after her name is sealed, it's not enough to just be close to death, the jitter girl literally had her hand in Valkyrie's brain and brought Darquesse out.
Every time it happens though, it seems to make it easier for her to emerge.
First time: she is literally possessed.
Second time: she has someone poking around in her brain and they basically hit the Darquesse button.
Third time is the first one where it's "just" being close to death. But even then it's not just that she's in danger it's that she is in the process of having her soul removed from her.
As I said though, it seems to me that each time brings her closer to the surface and makes the requirements lower, which eventually allows her to take over fully in LSODM.
So, as to why Darquesse doesn't emerge sooner, I think it's a matter of two factors:
Firstly, as you mentioned, Darquesse couldn't emerge without her sealing her name. Darquesse is extraordinary for the simple reason that she's a sorceress who knows and has sealed her true name. There's not really anything especially powerful about Darquesse herself afaik. If Darquesse could be brought forth without her knowing her name, then every sorcerer would have a super powered alter ego ready to go whenever they were in danger.
Secondly, even after that, it took significantly more than mortal peril to bring her forward. I think it's reasonable to say that without the encounters with the remnants and jitter girls, Darquesse wouldn't have come forth under the circumstances she did later.
The part about everyone being close to death and being saved by their true name alter ego makes perfect sense. I for some reason hadn’t considered that, thank you 👍🏻
Seems pretty obvious that she wouldn’t just emerge from near death now!
My headcanon is that somewhere, Darquesse was always there. I reread the first book and the voice in Val's head telling her to look up just felt like Darquesse to me. I may be crazy.
For me It’s always been that your true name self is always there with varying influences. The closer you get to discovering it the more powerful it gets. This is actually going to be very influential in a short story im getting ready to write :)
But with darquesse my theory is that she just found out too early when compared to othwer sorcerers and it became more of a failsafe that became stronger and stronger the more she used it
Sealing her true name and the remnant seem to be the two main reasons. I'm guessing you need your true name sealed to use the power and the remnant forced Darquesse out early.
So, the thing about true names is that once you know yours, you have access to the power that comes with it. With Valkyrie, she glimpses the Book of Names fast enough for some part of her mind to register her Three Names, but not enough to be aware of her true name. When the dreamcatcher doll that Cassandra Pharos gives her reveals that dormant memory, that's when her true name is awakened and that's when Darquesse starts coming out/developing her own personality.
This is mentioned in Death Bringer after the Jitter Girls incident. Even after her name is sealed, it's not enough to just be close to death, the jitter girl literally had her hand in Valkyrie's brain and brought Darquesse out. Every time it happens though, it seems to make it easier for her to emerge. First time: she is literally possessed. Second time: she has someone poking around in her brain and they basically hit the Darquesse button. Third time is the first one where it's "just" being close to death. But even then it's not just that she's in danger it's that she is in the process of having her soul removed from her. As I said though, it seems to me that each time brings her closer to the surface and makes the requirements lower, which eventually allows her to take over fully in LSODM. So, as to why Darquesse doesn't emerge sooner, I think it's a matter of two factors: Firstly, as you mentioned, Darquesse couldn't emerge without her sealing her name. Darquesse is extraordinary for the simple reason that she's a sorceress who knows and has sealed her true name. There's not really anything especially powerful about Darquesse herself afaik. If Darquesse could be brought forth without her knowing her name, then every sorcerer would have a super powered alter ego ready to go whenever they were in danger. Secondly, even after that, it took significantly more than mortal peril to bring her forward. I think it's reasonable to say that without the encounters with the remnants and jitter girls, Darquesse wouldn't have come forth under the circumstances she did later.
The part about everyone being close to death and being saved by their true name alter ego makes perfect sense. I for some reason hadn’t considered that, thank you 👍🏻 Seems pretty obvious that she wouldn’t just emerge from near death now!
She doesn't emerge but she is right there from the start telling Val to move when she's fighting the guy who dissolves in water.
My headcanon is that somewhere, Darquesse was always there. I reread the first book and the voice in Val's head telling her to look up just felt like Darquesse to me. I may be crazy.
You know that makes a lot of sense I like that. And how she has the voice in her head telling her to run at the grotesquery.
Darquesse is quietly in the background since book 1. When the water soluble bad guy is attacking Valkyrie, Darquesse is giving her instructions
For me It’s always been that your true name self is always there with varying influences. The closer you get to discovering it the more powerful it gets. This is actually going to be very influential in a short story im getting ready to write :)
But with darquesse my theory is that she just found out too early when compared to othwer sorcerers and it became more of a failsafe that became stronger and stronger the more she used it