Is Agia a Robot?

Tony Ellis · 17 Jun 2010, 18:18 · from 2010-June.txt.gz

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From: tonyellis69 at btopenworld.com (Tony Ellis)
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:18:53 +0100
Subject: (urth) Is Agia a Robot?
Message-ID: <AANLkTik8q4okRfHDUjNPoRh68A6eWmfNwUq7cf5HfOQd at mail.gmail.com>

Agia is definitely a robot, and of a particularly expensive kind. But
she was initially human. We can actually pinpoint the moment her
robofication begins, when Severian sees her outside the rag shop:

She wore a pavonine brocade gown of amazing richness and raggedness,
and as I watched her, the sun touched a rent just below her waist,
turning the skin there to palest gold.
TSOTT, chapter XVI

Dorcas is also a robot:

'He wears armor,' Dorcas called again. 'This man has not even a
shirt.' Her voice, always so soft before, rang in the twilight like a
bell.
TSOTT, chapter XXVII

Bells are metal, just like hammers. How much more of a clue do you
need? Of course, she's also Severian's grandmother so it follows that
he is a robot too.

Brunians wrote:
> She and her brother are associated with Hethor, a sailor.
>
> They are ship's robots.

That must be why all those cogs and wires fell out when Severian cut
Agilus's head off.

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