Boatman as Inire

Gerry Quinn · 08 Aug 2010, 09:28 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 10:28:21 +0100
Subject: (urth) Boatman as Inire
References: <SNT123-W17B2D60FBAB9A2AE81714DCF910 at phx.gbl><AANLkTimd7+E5emifpW7PEdQ-o+m0g0ow0O+5gQfL=EaX at mail.gmail.com><EB0A851B9854459390876B743FC9866F@jill><AANLkTi=aDsJx+-bYhTOJcFmfONSRZJVGwpM+DrjpDEaQ at mail.gmail.com><037767d49031b2aed40038dfb35848ce.squirrel at webmail.prismnet.com>
	<AANLkTim3Pq_i9iruQ1RjQxNHqY2Mu9qfQov8+X-wqJj4 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4B2F969B255C410E889C0E09509705B1@jill>

From: "John Watkins" <john.watkins04 at gmail.com>
>I was joking.
>
>>> Presumably Tzadkiel could take the form of one of a spermatozoon, maybe
>>> even
>>
>> That's.....quite a presumption. Textev?

My proposal about Severian becoming his own grandfather by way of 
time-travelling sperm was kind of a joke.... but to be honest I find it at 
least as plausible as quite a few of the proposals I've seen seriously put 
forward!

It has a certain symmetry to it.  It fits reasonably well with Severian's 
known powers, which at the time of his relationship with Dorcas were not 
under his conscious control.  It also gives a rational explanation for the 
subplot in which Dorcas turns out to be Severian's grandmother (without 
bringing in a load of unrelated incest stuff for which there is not that 
much in the way of textual evidence).

[I wonder did such an idea inspire the makers of Futurama, in one episode of 
which Fry saves the Earth from the brain monsters because he is immune to 
their powers as a consequence of being his own grandfather?  Or did they get 
this idea elsewhere, and if so where?]

- Gerry Quinn

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