The Outsider

Jeff Wilson · 19 Dec 2010, 03:35 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:35:20 -0600
Subject: (urth) The Outsider
In-Reply-To: <3AB6E4C7-BB56-4920-9614-E3BBD5E29614 at butcherbaker.org>
References: <992115.57023.qm at web84102.mail.mud.yahoo.com>	<B52E8752-75F0-49DD-A661-7A2437A3A3BC at butcherbaker.org>	<4D0C6454.50603 at io.com>
	<3AB6E4C7-BB56-4920-9614-E3BBD5E29614 at butcherbaker.org>
Message-ID: <4D0D7D78.2070007 at io.com>

On 12/18/2010 10:30 AM, Son of Witz wrote:
>
> On Dec 17, 2010, at 11:35 PM, Jeff Wilson<jwilson at io.com>  wrote:
>
>> On 12/17/2010 7:35 PM, Son of Witz wrote:
>>> True, it may mean between suns. But I'd wager Ultan is learned enough to
>>> choose his words carefully, and would likely know as much about this
>>> stuff as Malrubius's aquastor.
>>
>> I don't see any way for Ultan to know about Yesodi-level goings on and yet feel free to share it so casually with someone he can't positively identify.
>>
>
> Well...
>
> Are we convinced that Severian going to Ultan isn't part of his being steered?

No, it *is* part of his bieng steered, and he acknowledges it when he 
confirms the steering orders to Rudesind after his Ascension. But we 
have no reason to think that Rudesind knows anything of the Yesodi plot, 
do we?

> Do we take Ultan at face value when he just knows, off the top of his head, that a book is leaning in such a way on such a shelf, even when he's been blind for years and his apprentice has no idea about?  This is a book that seems soooooooo important to Severian that he carries it through the entire BotNS. It is plausible that this is a truly random event, but NOTHING else about Severian's life, or the tasks he's assigned, seems random at all, so it is just as likely, perhaps more likely, that Ultan has had a hand in shaping him.


Does Ultan need to know any more than Rudesind about the Yesodi plot in 
order to obey a secret order to have a specified, named book ready to go 
when asked for?

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >

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