Sev's common lineage

Dave Tallman · 01 Jul 2008, 22:58 · from 2008-July.txt.gz

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From: davetallman at msn.com (Dave Tallman)
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:58:11 -0600
Subject: (urth) Sev's common lineage
Message-ID: <1bf4dd40807011558h8b613ccteed5dc3dee7a5bc6 at mail.gmail.com>

Roy C. Lackey wrote:

Dave takes the mention of the names of two people who are not even in the
> Play and extrapolates a whole series of obliging khaibits, seventeen years
> for Sev's mother in the nut-case lower level of the Matachin tower, her
> execution and burial a year and a half before Sev's elevation
> (accomplished,
> apparently, without his knowledge), all of this orchestrated by unseen
> Hierogrammate agents and with the necessary complicity of the Guild and,
> presumably, the autarch they serve. He also requires an extra-textual trip
> in time to augment the Conciliator's speech for Canog's edification. It's
> just too great a leap and too much for me to swallow on faith.

The extra trip or trips back in time are not extra-textual:
"Often I have dreamed of going back, and perhaps sometime I shall. Certainly
more guests came to our aid when Zama broke our door than there was any
reason to expect, and I would like to think that one or even several of them
were myself. Indeed it sometimes seems to me that I caught a glimpse of my
own face in the candlelight that night." (Urth XXXII).

I just extrapolated that Sev might have done some more talking to people,
not just gawking in the hallway at the inn. It solves an otherwise serious
continuity error. And it need not be Canog himself who recorded the extra
details. Any other written source would do for Talos to consult in writing
his play. Some other time traveller could have carried back the information,
but it's economical to use Sev himself since we have this reference.

We know that Catherine was confined in Matachin tower when she gave birth to
Severian. "Perhaps I was too distant from myself, from the Severian of bone
and flesh borne by Catherine in a cell of the oubliette under the Matachin
Tower." (Urth XLIV)

The idea that she was also the corpse in the necropolis is separable. If she
was not, she could die much sooner. There are a few difficulties explaining
the memories Vodalus and friends might ingest, so that part can be taken or
left IMOP. It could be any ordinary corpse, and the recollection of the
graveyard scene only suggested by the thought that Ultan has been "buried"
in his underground library for years.

Where I insist on finding new evidence is in the names of the maids. It's
not "two people who are not even in the Play," but three people, one of whom
is protrayed and the other two called for by name. Why have the Contessa
call out those other names at all? Gratuitous details are suspect in Wolfe
books. When I find that all three name beheaded saints, I want to tie it
into a theory. I also find that Saint Carina was a mother and her son was
beheaded. A sequence of beheaded women to me suggests the Feast of St.
Katharine. The unaging look of the woman could be explained by a series of
khaibits. It could also be a single time-traveler, but I think you'd agree
that's worse.

There are other indications in the play that I have mentioned: the
Contessa's desire to get pregnant to save her life, and the morning-glory
and moonflower metaphors. By themselves they might not mean much, but they
add to the case for the theory.

One more thought -- there's a mention in both BotNS and UotNA of the arches
in the loggia which make Sev seem to appear and disappear to the Contessa.
("I shifted from one arch to the next to keep them in view" ). This may tie
in with Master Ash -- he could only exist in a past where his future had a
good chance to occur. Catherine could have an alternating existence
depending on the varying chances of Sev bringing the New Sun. That might
make it interesting to keep her around for observation.
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