Severian as Savior; Destruction Of Urth As Redemptive Act?

Matthew DeLuca · 21 Aug 2006, 17:52 · from 2006-August.txt.gz

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From: straylightrise at gmail.com (Matthew DeLuca)
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 13:52:25 -0400
Subject: (urth) Severian as Savior;
	Destruction Of Urth As Redemptive Act?
In-Reply-To: <008101c6c4e7$82239fa0$2c3ec6d8 at rclackey.stic.net>
References: <008101c6c4e7$82239fa0$2c3ec6d8 at rclackey.stic.net>
Message-ID: <7ADA6F93-7BDA-45FD-BF38-81EAA4E3B9B4 at gmail.com>

Yea but wasn't Severian's Ushas supposed to reconcile the sins of the  
previous human race that had damaged the universe ?


On Aug 21, 2006, at 2:03 AM, Roy C. Lackey wrote:

> Jack Redelfs wrote:
>> I got a very different impression on reading UOTNS. In my reading,  
>> Severian
>> may have killed billions of people, but it was a justifiable  
>> "cracking of
>> eggs" in order to bring about a righteous purpose. The ultimate  
>> outcome was
>> not just redemptive for the aging sun, but for humanity as a whole.
>
> Then you won't agree with Wright's ATTENDING DAEDALUS. <g>
>
>> 2) It was a physical redemption, preserving the bloodlines of
>> Urth. Immediate trauma is preferable to eventual extinction.
>> Humanity was trapped on Urth (although probably by choice)
>> and the sun was fading very fast. True, Severian has the
>> ability to escape by various means, but he seems a special
>> case. Despite the ephemeral presence of cacogens, there was  
>> nowhere for
>> Jonas and co. to dock, and no more Whorls in the making.
>
> The "Ice Future" would take a long time to come about. But no  
> matter what
> happened to Urth, mankind had already spread, minimally, all across  
> the
> galaxy. Ushas was not necessary to the survival of the species.
>
> -Roy
>
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