The Tomb of the Unknown Severian

Roy C. Lackey · 23 Dec 2007, 05:05 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 23:05:11 -0600
Subject: (urth) The Tomb of the Unknown Severian
Message-ID: <002901c84521$674e9660$3bca5a42 at rclackey.stic.net>

Tony wrote:
>Ah, but Sev1 doesn't exist in the universe this narrative is set in -
>young Severian became Sev2 instead. So his New Sun doesn't exist in
>this universe either. There presumably *is* a  white fountain 99.9% of
>its way to the Red Sun by the time our narrator is born - but it's
>Sev2's white fountain, the one he will later go to fetch.

There is still a paradox there, no matter whose white fountain it is. It had
to be 90% of the way home by Typhon's era, before there was even a need for
it! But that's an old argument that can't be resolved.

>But all this is by-the-by. The bottom line is this: Sev2 went to
>Yesod, passed the test, and as a result acquired the power to travel
>time. The Old Autarch went to Yesod, failed the test, and as a result
>was sent back to Urth a eunuch. Sev1 went to Yesod, and acquired the
>power to travel time. What is a reasonable conclusion to make as to
>whether or not he passed the test?

Sure, it's a reasonable conclusion; it's the time-walking part that bothers
me. If Sev1 doesn't exist in Sev2's universe, as you put it, what is the
relevance of his stipulated ability to walk in time? Yesod's agents
presumably put Sev1 in Typhon's era, just as they did with Sev2. From there,
Sev2 walked the Corridors back to the future to the last day of Urth and the
arrival of the New Sun. Where (or to when) did Sev1 walk from Typhon's era,
and for what purpose? Do any actions he took while time walking manifest
themselves in Sev2's timeline where he (Sev1) does not exist?

-Roy

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