First exodus theory revised

Andrew Mason · 12 Feb 2011, 22:20 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com (Andrew Mason)
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:20:52 +0000
Subject: (urth) First exodus theory revised
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=FapYZYUjzq=Qe=0qz=wPmPU1P-MxbXxNKLBmH at mail.gmail.com>

Antonio Pedor Marquez wrote:

> >From another angle: we're told Typhon wanted an heir. We're not told
> in what sense he wanted an heir - to be around on Urth or to rule on
> Blue/Green.

I think the natural sense of 'heir' (and, even more so, 'son to
succeed him', which is what Lemur actually says) is one who would rule
after him in the empire he currently ruled. A ruler on Blue/Green,
where he had never been, would only be an heir in a rather stretched
sense.

Both Scylla and Lemur link his wanting an heir with his having so many
children (by Echidna). Moreover, Lemur says 'he _had_ wanted a son to
succeed him', which suggests this desire was a thing of the past by
the time the Whorl was launched.

It's true that Scylla, after listing his children, goes on to say 'and
after that - ' before interrrupting herself. This could mean that he
had a child with someone else. (But would Scylla know about that?) But
equally it could mean 'After that he gave up on having an heir, and
decided to become immortal by having his head grafted'.  (It's not
till after this that she reveals his name was Typhon.)

> One might argue that if any of his children by Echidna were fit, they
> could have been sent in the Whorl.

As sleepers? But if he had had a child with Kypris (or Thyone, I
suppose) who was fit, he could have sent them as sleepers too. Silk
was sent as an embryo, too early to judge his fitness.

Now, there is a question why Typhon's desire for an heir is referred
to repeatedly. My guess is this: at the end, Silk does in fact become
his heir, though in a way he could not have anticipated, since I don't
think he was planning to be killed on the Whorl. Silk may be Typhon's
son, though I can see some problems with it. If so, I don't think it's
because he is a destined heir, but because Typhon thought that having
sons (with suitably selected mothers, and the possibility of genetic
modification) was a good way of producing people of special ability.
In that case Silk becoming Typhon's heir does, after all, fulfil his
desire, though in an unexpected way.

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