red ,gold and Baldanders

b sharp · 16 May 2006, 19:22 · from 2006-May.txt.gz

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From: bsharporflat at hotmail.com (b sharp)
Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 15:22:29 -0400
Subject: (urth) red ,gold and Baldanders
Message-ID: <BAY103-F1926C0CB85EE5BAE97E79DD7A00 at phx.gbl>

mourning glory presents two bits of evidence that Jolenta is Sev's sister:

>One comes from the play, Eschatology and Genesis. At one point the 
>Inquisitor tells the Familiar, "Bring in the woman said to be a witch, 
>Brother." To which the Familiar responds, "The Contessa waits outside, and 
>as she is of exalted blood, and a favorite of our sovereign's, I beg you to 
>see her first." Indeed, the Contessa -- played by Jolenta -- is presented 
>first, but if she really is Severa the Inquisitor's command has actually 
>been obeyed, if ironically so.

>Then there's a passage about Agia and Agilus, and following the latter's 
>execution:  "From far away came a scream, Agia's voice as unmistable as *a 
>face seen by lightning.* Something in its timbre made me feel she had not 
>been watching at all, but had known nevertheless when her twin died."
>
>Now compare this to Severian's description of Jolenta after the events in 
>the stone town:  "Our mounts were gone. On the roof, so were the witches; 
>Dorcas, alone, bent over the body of Jolenta. *By lightning, I saw the dead 
>face* of the waitress who had served Dr. Talos, Baldanders, and me in the 
>café in
Nessus."

Thanks for bringing those to attention! Both seem significant. The lightning 
face echo is more convincing to me and I've not written off Jolenta as 
Severa yet.  On the other:  the Contessa might be associated with Jolenta, 
playing her, but she might also be related to a few other key characters who 
might be connected the witches.  More on that later.

On to yesterday's quiz:
>so who is the character decribed in unequivocally golden terms.  He has 
>several pieces of gold jewelry and
>golden hair (and blue eyes).

Very interesting guess, Dr. Talos.  He does have that gold headed walking 
stick and that could be relevant here.  But he has red hair not golden. What 
IS Dr. Talos anyway?  Severian asks and is told "a homunculus".  What is a 
homunculus (latin for little man)?

Well, the alchemist Paracelsus' homunculus was a creation from "a bag of 
bones, sperm, skin fragments and hair from any animal of which the 
homunculus would be a hybrid. This was to be laid in the ground surrounded 
by horse manure for forty days, at which point the embryo would form." Was a 
fox actually involved with Talos? Um nah...? Baldanders is a real scientist.

300 years ago some true scientists felt that "each sperm was in fact a 
"little man" (homunculus) that was placed inside a woman for growth into a 
child;" This sounds more like cloning.

There are a couple references to Baldanders as Dr. Talos' father which 
originally led me to believe that Baldanders cloned Talos from his own 
cells.  Now both are small men (originally) but I think Baldanders has dark 
hair thatched with gray.  Why would Talos come out with red hair? What other 
gene source could have been used?  Someone who is strong in all the ways 
scientist Baldanders has weakness.

A few posts ago I tried to compile a list of red haired characters coming up 
with, aside from Talos: Roche, Jolenta, Fechin and Daria. Let's add the 
alzabo to that list for completeness.

A surprising amount of circumstantial evidence points to Fechin as a 
candidate.  Aside from having red hair he is from the right time frame (2-3 
generations ago), and is probably from the right geography (north, near 
Thrax and Lake Diuturna).  Also to consider is the obvious artistic flair of 
Talos and his ability to quickly convince a woman to do anything (leave your 
job, undergo major surgery, cavort naked on stage, no problem!).  His lack 
of interest in money may also be Fechin-like.

Well, once you have created a zygote/embryo/homunculus, you need a place for 
it to grow.  Thus, perhaps we can determine the use of the eviscerated Pia 
look-alike in Baldander's lab.  And what homunculus did Baldanders recently 
grow there?

In Baldander's bedchamber, Severian encounters a giant baby catamite (boy 
sex object of a pedophile).  If there is doubt on whether there is sexual 
intention, the baby's gold jewelry, the rich red bedding and the mirror on 
the ceiling should leave no doubt.

Pedophiles are often attracted to children because of their perceived 
innocence.  Baldanders had recently been in close contact with a person 
repeatedly described as innocent looking, the only other character (along 
with the catamite) to have golden hair and blue eyes.  But perhaps just a 
bit too feminine for Baldy.

I think it is interesting that the other biological scientist we meet later 
in the jungle is also a pedophile. Remembering the boy Mamas, it all makes 
me wonder which of Talos' duties he resented more when he was a boy himself. 
Whacking Baldanders with his cane could be motivated by more than just 
caretaker duties.

-bsharp

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