"Myfather's mountedguard"

Jeff Wilson · 15 Oct 2008, 03:00 · from 2008-October.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:00:20 -0500
Subject: (urth) "Myfather's mountedguard"
In-Reply-To: <W245478603180331224024612@webmail12>
References: <W245478603180331224024612@webmail12>
Message-ID: <48F55CC4.8040702 at io.com>

Son of Witz wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: John Watkins [mailto:john.watkins04 at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 02:33 PM
>> To: 'The Urth Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: (urth) "Myfather's mountedguard"
>>
>> It's my impression that the Severian and Thecla personalities and
>> memories are far more prominent.  Neither the old Autarch nor his
>> predecessors had either the Claw, which made Thecla "alive" in
>> Severian, nor Severian's eidetic memory, so the old Autarch's memories
>> of Autarchs past would be dim and imperfect compared to Severian's
>> Thecla-memories.
>>
>> Certainly Thecla asserts herself in Severian in ways that the others
>> do not, or rather, certainly Severian records Thecla's moments of
>> self-assertion in ways he does not record such moments for others.
>> But that could be in keeping with his general reticense about the old
>> Autarch, whose name Severian surely knew.
> 
> 
> That makes a lot of sense as to why it is always Thecla and not the other memory characters we notice.  

Sev specifically says that the previous autarchs' memories are present 
but faint, only his immediate predecessor and Thecla are "there" enough 
to have initiative and identity of their own.  I don't think the Claw 
would make a big difference, since Sev is the ultimately the source of 
the Claw's power. If anything, the conciliatory aspect of the Claw would 
have more of an integrating, assimilative effect, granting peace from 
such an internal division.

As for more Thecla-moments being recorded, that's largely because Thecla 
is the only passenger memory available for 2 1/2 volumes, with the a 
tiny snippet of Autarch-memory at the end of Volume IV. By the time URTH 
begins, Sev's already had ten years of time to adjust, so there's just 
not as much opportunity for other such takeovers to be recorded. 
Although, by the time Sev returns to the Citadel, he is speaking in the 
plural as more than just a royal affectation, as if the collective 
autarchs are speaking through him.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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