# RTTW Questions (Spoilers- No Spoiler Space) *The Whorl list — 3 messages, 3 voices, 05 Feb 2001* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Tim Boolos *05 Feb 2001, 05:27* I guess I'll start. First, RTTW was the most fulfilling end to a series that I have ever read. I was in awe of the whole scope of what he accomplished and the ending with Remora surprised me. Yes, I'll admit it I missed all the clues and was shaken when I realized the impact of that conversation with Remora. I still can't get over how involved I was with the character and yet never figured out truly what was going on. So, here are a few questions for wiser heads like Alga and Mantis and Borksi. Maybe I missed it, but why did the 'divine' Silk possess Pig? Are we now to accept that the Ghost of Patera Pike at the manteion was in fact a ghost? What was the deal with Dr. Crane's ghost? Was it brought on solely by being at/in Sick Bay? "I would never have used it while Nettle was alive", confused me, Jahlee didn't kill Nettle, did she? Didn't Nettle go with Silk and Marble? Where was the Whorl going and why? Aren't all/most of the landers gone? If so why leave? If Silk is so GOOD, as Hoof and Clute suggest (and I believe, as well) why did he arrange to kill so many Inhumu, in the city on Green, and at the wedding? One would think a saint would seek another way. Also "the men will be waiting for me to invade my son's village"? What was that all about? What happened to Chenille and/or Auk? How did Oreb get a black ring that morphed into Seawrak's ring? Finally the scene of Hyacinth's body. What happened? It seems from the wounds that needed binding that Silk may indeed have committed/attempted, but surely the mere entrance to Silk's body of Horn's spirit wasn't enough for the body to physically recover. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong and the cuts were incidental to Hyacinth's funeral sacrafice, but I've thought since IGJ that Silk was contemplating/committing suicide. I'm sure there are more (and more important questions), but these ought to get us going for a while. Emrys --- ### David DiGiacomo *05 Feb 2001, 08:10 · follows Tim Boolos* > From: Tim Boolos > Subject: RTTW Questions (Spoilers- No Spoiler Space) > So, here are a few questions for wiser heads like Alga > and Mantis and Borksi. I certainly don't qualify, but I won't let that stop me. > Maybe I missed it, but why did the 'divine' Silk > possess Pig? He was observing through the window as usual, and saw Pig kill the augur. It seems in character for him to enter Pig to understand/save him. > Are we now to accept that the Ghost of Patera Pike at > the manteion was in fact a ghost? A manifestation of the Neighbors? (OK, not enough limbs.) > What was the deal with Dr. Crane's ghost? Was it > brought on solely by being at/in Sick Bay? Perhaps just a memory rather than a ghost. > "I would never have used it while Nettle was alive", > confused me, Jahlee didn't kill Nettle, did she? > Didn't Nettle go with Silk and Marble? That confused me also, but in fact he didn't "use it", so the statement doesn't imply that Nettle is dead. > Where was the Whorl going and why? Aren't all/most of > the landers gone? If so why leave? To another star, to continue the plan of Passilk. We don't know how many landers are left, where they are, or if it's possible to construct new ones. Sequel alert :-) > If Silk is so GOOD, as Hoof and Clute suggest (and I > believe, as well) why did he arrange to kill so many > Inhumu, in the city on Green, and at the wedding? One > would think a saint would seek another way. Perhaps Horn killed the Inhumu on Green. After the wedding, he claims that he didn't intend the battle - that he wished to kill only himself. Of course, he did invite Gyrfalcon. > Also "the men will be waiting for me to invade my son's > village"? What was that all about? Horn led his bandits against Sinew's village to try to find a waveguide coupling to repair the lander on Green. (But why wouldn't Sinew give his father whatever waveguide accessories he had? Just out of spite?) > What happened to Chenille and/or Auk? We can hope that Horn arranged to free them on Green. > How did Oreb get a black ring that morphed into Seawrak's ring? I think the Mother gave it to Scylla, as she had given Seawrack the silver ring. > Finally the scene of Hyacinth's body. What happened? > It seems from the wounds that needed binding that Silk > may indeed have committed/attempted, but surely the > mere entrance to Silk's body of Horn's spirit wasn't > enough for the body to physically recover. Horn bound Silk's wounds with Hyacinth's hanky, and received first aid from the corn farmer's wife and Tansy. We know that Silk's body has unusual recuperative powers. *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Alex David Groce *05 Feb 2001, 13:11 · follows David DiGiacomo* I think the very first thing I should do is eat crow (or, perhaps night chough) for having pooh-poohed the whole Scylla is in Oreb thing. ``` "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 -- Alex David Groce (agroce+ at cs.cmu.edu) Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department 8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. ``` ---