The Two Katharines

Jeff Wilson · 17 Aug 2010, 17:58 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:58:52 -0500
Subject: (urth) The Two Katharines
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W398325E13088541BF61C67CF9C0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W398325E13088541BF61C67CF9C0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4C6ACDDC.6020208 at io.com>

On 8/17/2010 9:33 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>
>> Dave T- Sev saw his mother on the Path of Air, about to be sent back to the
>> past so he can be born.
>
>> Jeff Wilson- My counter-theory is simpler and avoids most time-meddling:
>
>
> This counter-theory (pasted in full below) bothers me for a few reasons.
>
> 1. Why would it be desirable to avoid most "time-meddling"? We do have time-
> travel in the story. Why is it to be avoided?

Minimal hypothesis, plus we have it that Severian was discovered *by* 
time travelers already on the path to the throne, so he presumably had 
an origin without their direct intervention. Other changes might 
subsequently undo that, requiring further measures to bring him back, 
but his parents seem to be already in place and motivated to do what 
comes naturally. It also avoids making the masters lying bastards like 
that shameless Ben Kenobi.

Oh, I forgot #7) The mental fatigue and nested dreaming Severian 
experiences on the occasion of his journeymanhood is a side effect of 
the aquastor-projecting machinery being tuned in to his mind; it is that 
night that Palaemon makes his first posthumous appearance when the 
Yesodis finally get a good signal and the haziness clears up.

> 2. Severian seeing his mother's face everywhere is explained psychologically.
> Orphan trauma. But in 5HoC we are shown that seeing one's own face everywhere is
> the product of cloning. We do have cloning in this story. As I find common threads
> tying all Wolfe books together, I think cloning might be the first theory to
> consider in explaining a repeated face, not the mental condition theory.

I'm not ruling out the possibility that Catherine is a clone, in fact 
being a fugitive khaibit who pretends to be a destitute optimate to sell 
herself to the Pelerines is fairly plausible.

> 3. It does not explain why this is called the Path of Air. Nor why a such a small
> blip in Severian's mind is so important that it should end up being expressed in
> Dr. Talos' play, 60 years earlier.

A loggia is similar to a breezeway, and it's not much of a stretch for a 
path of wind to become a path of air, especially if it is surrounded by 
baffled and baffling architecture that prevents a direct wind, but still 
lets people get some air. As for the blip, could you be more specific?

> In the real world, I think Occam's Razor can and should cut out explanations which
> involve time travel, clones, dragons, etc. Not so in SF&  F. They are on at least
> equal footing with more prosaic explanations.

SF is supposed to appeal to the authority of science for the suspension 
of disbelief.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
IEEE Student Chapter Blog at
< http://ieeetamut.org >

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