The Tomb of the Unknown Severian

Roy C. Lackey · 20 Dec 2007, 09:02 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:02:12 -0600
Subject: (urth) The Tomb of the Unknown Severian
Message-ID: <001a01c842e7$05846360$decb5a42 at rclackey.stic.net>

Jeff Wilson quoted and wrote:
>> I don't think that the Green Man was involved in the Antechamber episode,
>> but in any event it is far from certain that Sev1 ever even met the Green
>> Man. Though the general outline of the life of Sev1 was the same as
Sev2's
>> between the time of the near drowning and becoming autarch, the details
>> varied considerably. Sev1 didn't have the Claw, so everything associated
>> with it, including the burning of the tent-cathedral and the Pelerines'
>> flight from the city, didn't happen the same way for him. No Dorcas, no
>> excuse for Jonas to intrude himself on the theater troupe, no blue-light
>> special for the man-apes, etc. And the Green Man came from a sunny
future --
>> Ushas -- that Sev1 did not bring.
>>
>> Any other candidates?
>
>Given that Sev1 succeeded in becoming Autarch but failed in Yesod, a
>pro-New Sun agent may have arranged for a change in history to drown
>him, clearing the way for another candidate to become Autarch and win
>Yesod.  Then Juturna has a justifiable reason to save Sev2, hoping to
>restore the timeline and serve Abaia by preventing the New Sun.

But neither version of Severian drowned in either historical timeline. At
the time Juturna promised to save Sev2 in his past, Nessus had been
underwater for two days and the House Absolute was minutes away from
inundation. The white fountain was at most hours away from rendezvous with
the Red Sun and it was unstoppable. Sev2 was near the peak of his god-like
powers when she spoke. She knew for a fact that Sev2 had succeeded in
bringing the New Sun. Saving Sev2's life when he was a boy would not be the
way to stop him.

>This would mean that the Green Man may have been lurking about, hoping
>to kill or otherwise derail Sev2, rather than save him. His greeness is
>pond scum after all, making him likewise adapted to lurking camoflaged
>under yucky Gyoll water. This also explains his exceptional change of
>mood at being given a whetstone by Sev2; touching his hand, he is able
>to feel that presence extending through time into Ushas, affirming the
>arrival of the New Sun.

The Green Man helped to rescue Sev2 from the Ascians in the northern jungle.
He didn't want Sev2 dead. He came from the far future where mankind had
evolved to make use of sunlight more directly than using the medium of the
usual food chain. He owed his very existence to the New Sun. As he told
Severian in chapter XXX of CITADEL, speaking of his kind, "We are your
children . . ."

-Roy

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