Arch lector Sand dan Glokta - Joe Abecrombie's Last Argument of Kings

Arch lector Sand dan Glokta, illustration I made for Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings, illustrated spansh version. The project includes Cover, Jacket and 6 interior illustrations.

This one shows Sand dan Glokta, the best character of the whole saga in my opinion, in one of his last scenes, once he becomes the Arch lector of his majesty. It's a very brief moment: he is looking at his own reflection in the mirror, moments before a very special meeting with Ardee West. The moment itself is short but symbolic and intense: he looks at his new vestment, his new position, and even tries a smile as a celebration, but all he finds is his sad fate written in the punished face and the broken body. For me, it's maybe his most human moment, the one he almost tries to celebrate something in his life for the last time, and it's the one which really represents him: his sadness and his failed moment of short innocence as the highest happiness he could aim.
I must admit Glokta was a difficult character for me when I met him in the first chapters of the first book, probably because I had the same prejudgements Jezal had (Yes Mr. Abercrombie, I fell into the trap): cruel, disgusting, corrupted, evil... But then, three books later, I really discovered him, and I must say he is one of the most iconic characters among all the sagas I've read.