Subject: (whorl) Re: Notes From A Second Reading (spoilers)

From: Robert Borski <rborski at charter.net>
Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 01:58:26 +0000

Some responses to vizcacha's fine second reading of RTTW.

<2) It's quite obvious to me that RttW, and to a lesser extent TBotSS as a
whole, is a long suicide note. Clearly Silk was in the process of committing
suicide due to his grief at Hyacinth's death when Horn's spirit was infused
in his body.>

Right. And how does Silk kill himself after this long contemplation of
suicide? He cuts himself a bunch of times on the arms with a knife!?!
Surely, as an augur who's sacrificed hundred of animals, Silk would know to
kill himself much more cleanly and expeditiously. I have a friend with a
troubled teenage daughter who's seeing a therapist because she is constantly
cutting her arms, but never to the point of any real serious damage other
than lots of scar tissue and terrified parents. In other words, given his
background and experience, Silk attempting suicide by knicking himself to
death is just plain ridiculous.

 2a) If Pig "killed" Silk and lost his "een" afterwards, it was the quickest
recovery from such massive trauma on record. Horn was added to the dying
Silk, woke up, wandered out into the light, fell asleep, awoke on a darkday,
and met Pig the same day. If Pig had lost his "een" shortly after an attack
on Silk, he would still be bleeding.>

I'm arguing that the entity known as "Pig" never had eyes to begin
with--hence has been blind since birth, or decanting, or call-up--however
godlings are created--the same way the original Urth-born Tartaros was. To
state it another way, the original Tartaros provided the inspiration; Pig is
the
knockoff and host. He does need to account, however, for his blindness,
which is why he invents the story about losing his eyes to a mercenary's
knife, and it also helps to explain the presence of Pas, who allegedly is
trapped within Pig's conduitless mind. It's much easier than saying, "Hey,
I'm Pas's older son, I was born
this way." And I certainly never meant to suggest that Pig's eyes were
destroyed in combat by Silk--so there is no massive trauma to begin with.
His blindness--and lack of eyes--is congenital.

<Also, it's stated explicitly that this killing occured in a manteion that
attracted Pig as a looter due to the large size of its doors. Silk and
Hyacinth lived in a "manse" also described as a "cottage."

Yes, but look who gives us these explicit details: Pig! Again, he needs to
somehow explain the
presence of Pas in him--notice also how Pig at one time tells Horn that
Hierax is dead, but never mentions Tartaros--and yet not reveal he's
murdered Silk. At least his lies have a few degrees of separation in them
from the actual event, with enough extraneous details to make them seem
plausible. And look again at what you're arguing: Silk just happens to
commit suicide at the moment Horn dies on Green, even as a lumbering blind
giant who's traveled all the way across the Whorl with a piece of Passilk
trapped in his head casually bumps into Horn/Silk a short while after the
two have merged. It's a bit of a coincidence, eh?

<2b) Somehow there is a unity among Hyacinth, Seawrack, and Kypris which I'm
not sure I fully apprehend. The point about Silk going off with Seawrack,
whom he has never met, is a good one.>

As I alluded to in my second Piggie post, I believe Seawrack is "harboring"
someone, and since mantis beat me to the punch, I will say I intend to argue
it's Kypris--last seen fleeing Echidna and her monstrous brood in LS--only
she's being held hostage by Scylla/the Mother and used as the ultimate
bargaining chip in her war with big daddy Pas. This, as I hope to show,
resolves a number of problems and also involves Tartaros as envoy between
the two sides. Stay tuned.

<5) p 183. Horn/Silk is wondering how he got to Green from Judge Hamer's
sellaria with no inhumu present. He gives three possibilities: 1) Fava
posessing Vadsig, 2) the presence of an unknown inhumu, 3) assistance by the
Neighbors, and 4) a possibility he is "loath to mention." Anyone know what
that possibility is? Is it, as suggested by several posters, that Horn/Silk
himself is an inhumu? >

Well, I do have my own pet theory. If the Neighbors possess the same
abilities of bilocation as the inhumi, the fragment of Passilk in Horn might
allow him also to dream-jump. This presupposes that Pas/Typhon is originally
from Green/Blue; hence he's an expatriot Neighbor come home--evidence which
I think is supported in RTTW. (Look at the little girl in Hide's dream who's
hiding under the bed from what Hide describes as men with too many legs.
Don't you think she's Cilinia/Scylla, hiding from Pas? The doll that walks
slow and looks in all the cabinets also sounds like the big godling who
finds Horn/Silk--more evidence for alga's missing talus, perhaps.). Horn,
however, refuses to acknowledge this because it means he must first accept
he's Silk--something he doesn't do until the novels's end--therefore he
never finishes the sentence. This same alien attribute may also contribute
to his peculiar eating habits.

Robert Borski

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---

From: Adam Stephanides <adamsteph at earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 10:18:19 +0000

> death is just plain ridiculous.

As opposed to a godling killing Silk by nicking him to death?  Like many who
attempt suicide, Silk 's courage failed him at the sticking-point and he
only went through with it half-heartedly.

> godlings are created--the same way the original Urth-born Tartaros was.

   "Can yer see 'em, bucky?  See me een?  Where they was?"
   He made himself speak.  "Yes, Pig.  Yes, I can."
   "Gaen, hain't they?  They cut 'em oot?"
   He lowered his lantern and looked away.  "Yes, they are.  They did."
(113)

> murdered Silk.

Why did he need to confess to killing an augur to explain the presence of
Passilk?   Besides, with so much possession going on on the Whorl, it's the
people who aren't possessed who need to explain themselves. <g>

> And look again at what you're arguing: Silk just happens to

Yes, but as has been pointed out, Wolfe likes coincidences; presumably we
are to see the Outsider's hand in them.  Your way is a bit of a coincidence
too, unless the Neighbor telepathically alerted Pig that Horn was dying and
Pig should kill Silk so Horn's spirit would have a place to go.

--Adam