Severian's miraculous eclipse

Jeff Wilson · 27 Apr 2006, 03:06 · from 2006-April.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 22:06:48 -0500
Subject: (urth) Severian's miraculous eclipse
In-Reply-To: <BAY107-F26019C93EFCC59520AFB2CD8BC0 at phx.gbl>
References: <BAY107-F26019C93EFCC59520AFB2CD8BC0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <44503548.5080008 at io.com>

mournings glory wrote:

> Mssrs. Lackey and Danehy-Oakes writing respectively:
> 
> 
>>>I don't think there's much room for doubt that the sun was wounded in
>>>Typhon's era. That's why he mentioned his scientists' errors in
>>>calculating the effects of the black hole.
> 
> 
>>Yep. In fact, I always took this to mean that Typhon's scientists
>>had actually _put_ the Black Hole into the Old Sun, at his
>>behest.
> 
> 
> This seems to belie Sev's response to the villager in _Urth_ who, in 
> referencing early snowfalls two years in a row, proclaims, "The sky people 
> are angry at us."
> 
> Severian: ""The sky people--*the Hierodules and Hierarchs*--do not hate us. 
> It is only that they are remote from us, and they fear us because of things 
> we did before, long ago when our race was young."
> 
> Ergo, it seems Typhon had no direct involvement.

If I recall correctly, Typhon was the *last* stellar tyrant, not the 
first, and actively sought to copy or surpass the accomplishments of his 
predecessors. Thus, the hieros could be fearing the fell deeds of the 
earler tyrants, while Typhon's hand in damaging the Old Sun was the last 
(and admittedly largest) black mark in a very long line of them on 
humanity's record.



-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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