The Tomb of the Unknown Severian

Todd · 24 Dec 2007, 10:30 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: heliumhead at charter.net (Todd)
Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 04:30:29 -0600
Subject: (urth) The Tomb of the Unknown Severian
In-Reply-To: <9a33123d0712231145n6127e24cmee1542c337e48cc3 at mail.gmail.com>
References: <9a33123d0712231145n6127e24cmee1542c337e48cc3 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1198492230.5696.43.camel@todd-desktop>

I think that in one sense,  there is only one Severian and this is his
way of describing the paradoxes involved in passing into his own past.

On the other hand,  it is an apt metaphor for the two divergent
histories of Urth which are set up,  where everyone experiences the
alterations made by Sev1,  thus everyone lives alternative existences.

If I may be excused for quoting a popular British Science Fiction
program,  "it is a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey,"  in the sense
that neither the future nor the past are set in stone.

When considering the world of Sev1,  in his journey to the Phoenix
Throne and eventual judgment,  it would have been a world where the
Conciliator never existed and he himself would have possessed no special
abilities.  If we remove both of these from his history  (and other
instances of Sev1 in the past),  that should give us an idea as to his
adventures.  It should be obvious that he would never have rescued
Triskele,  found Dorcas,  or acquired the Claw.  On the other hand,
short of giving up Terminus Est and fleeing,  I do not see how he would
have survived his duel with Agillus...  To make a long story short,
when he was eventually judged favorably,  and acquires access to the
power of the white fountain for the entire term of his life including
retroactively.  He then goes on to wander the corridors of time to be
various important people such as Apu-Punchau,  the Conciliator and,  no
doubt others who have not been named.

Sev2,  whose story we are familiar with,  thus lives in the world
created to some degree by Sev1 including the power to occasionally
access the power of the white fountain.  Though,  clearly the future is
still not written and he can fail when his time comes to be judged.
(This is evident by his meeting men from two disparate futures.)

As to why does Sev2 need to be judged when Sev1 was successful,  perhaps
it is to determine whether the initial judgment was correct,  or as a
fail-safe against Sev1 abusing such power as he was given.

Todd

On Sun, 2007-12-23 at 19:45 +0000, Tony Ellis wrote:
> Roy wrote:
> >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?
> 
> I think the stuff about Sev1 has to be read in the context in which it
> was written, that is, as part of the final words in a tetralogy that
> was intended to make sense by itself, without any fifth volume.
> 
> The relevance of Sev1's time-travel ability, in this context, is that
> it tells us we can expect Sev2 to gain the power to walk in time too,
> as he is following in Sev1's footsteps. And *that* has some major
> implications.
> 
> "I know now the identity of the man called the Head of Day." TCotA, XXXVIII
> 
> Paradoxes notwithstanding, the fact that Severian will one day become
> a magical man called The Head of Day is a pretty huge hint that he is
> going to be successful in bringing the New Sun - something that we
> don't actually know at that point (although we've had some other
> pretty big hints).
> 
> More than that, as I realised on about my third read-through of the
> tetralogy, if the power of time travel makes it possible for Severian
> to be Apu-Punchau, it also makes it possible for him to be another
> long-ago magic man: the Conciliator. Revelation!
> 
> All this is confirmed in UotNS, obviously, but UotNS wasn't written then.
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