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On Thecla and the alzabo: It seems to me rather clear that since
everything that comes in contact with Severian is brought back to life, Thecla comes back to life and live within him. Some of Severian's memories seem more likely to be Thecla's. I think of his comment after visiting the whorehouse that he never went there again because it was painful. Men don't experience pain in their initiation into sex, but women do, of course. I'll bet that was Thecla's memory.<
From a practical, perhaps male, point of view, Severian didn't need to return to the whorehouse. He had his trysts with Thecla in her cell. It was painful because he didn't like the