Mystery of Agia

Jeff Wilson · 20 Jan 2011, 17:54 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:54:10 -0600
Subject: (urth) Mystery of Agia
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W9DBEA04427A6FB86773EBCFF90 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W9DBEA04427A6FB86773EBCFF90 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4D3876C2.5010305 at io.com>

On 1/20/2011 10:04 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>> Jeff Wilson: And if she really is part of Hethor's sekrit mishun to provoke Severian
>> into revealing his true nature, once it is revealed he has become the
>> new Autarch that's also run its useful course and again it would be an
>> obvious time for them to cease tracking him.
>
> I would say no. Because even at the end of CotA, we know Severian's true fulfillment is not
> as autarch but as something higher.

Yeah, but the team sufficient for tracking a wandering torturer won't 
work on the Autarch. Sev suddenly had tens of thousands of allies to 
keep an eye out for Hethor and Agia, and some of them are really good at 
fighting back, like the Pratorians. Agia might go ahead and hunt him 
under those odds, but I doubt Hethor would be eager. He might 
superficially go along with such mad industry for the sex, though.

> I think Agia appears in UotNS but it requires that we again recognize Severian as an unreliable
> narrator who repeatedly misidentifies people on various mistakes; one that is repeated a couple
> time is mistaken gender. This becomes plausible especially with older characters.

I recall you think he mistakes the elder in Casdoe's cabin for a man, 
who else?

> After Severian resurrects the assassin in the catacombs, he(she) seems confused and Severian
> just walks on to the throne room. The assassin apparently gains enough sense of purpose to
> follow Severian, find the throne room and stab Valeria through the heart, nicking Severian in
> the chest in the process. I find all of this reinforces the idea that the assassin is Agia.
> The assassin follows Severian as Agia always did. The assassin kills the Autarch as was Agia's
> assigned role. Agia was always the jealous type in regard to Dorcas and Thecla, so killing
> Valeria would make sense.

Forty years (less time dead) after he was MIA? Why bother?

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

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