do the Hierogrammates care about the megatherians?

Lee Berman · 17 May 2011, 17:15 · from 2011-May.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 13:15:28 -0400
Subject: (urth) do the Hierogrammates *care* about the megatherians?
Message-ID: <SNT123-W41EFC6ADDAE1EAB0420149CF8C0 at phx.gbl>

>James: Lee thinks they are working in concert and others wonder how a flood 
>would get rid of them.
>Analogizing with the inhumi in 'The Book of the Short Sun' and the Storm 
>King in 'An Evil Guest', I suspect that getting rid of the Megatherians 
>is irrelevant to the plan for the Rise of the Heiros. They are plagues 
>of opportunity. They prey on our moral weakness. Not our physical or 
>technological weaknesses.

We only have a handful of Hiero-types to consider- B, F and O, Malrubius, 
Tzadkiel and Apheta. I don't recall any of them mentioning the Megatherians
(I'd want to double check Malrubius' words though). Considering the similar level of
playing field of these major players, the omission seems almost conspicuous
to me. The closest I can think of is extra-terrestrial (and perhaps non-human origin)
Typhon mentioning that he will enslave the powers in the sea.

Despite the words of the Caloyer of Saltus (as Lane mentions) it *is* puzzling
as to why a Flood would eliminate ocean-bound monstrosities. Perhaps such contradictions
of logic are part of all religions.  Of course, the fact that the New Sun will bring a 
flood is meticulously disguised, even to us readers, until the end of the series/story. 
Perhaps Wolfe is also saying that deception is a necessary part of God's Plan.  Our 
destruction may be necessary but it does us no good for us to know about it.

Anyway, it is easy to see the converse- a future of global ice with frozen oceans and
atmosphere would certainly spell the end of ocean-bound monsters. Tzadkiel does
seem to do most of the arrangement to bring a Flood to Urth. Yesod is mostly a water
world. We have the cryptic hints that B and F have an aquatic evolutionary origin 
(like kelpies). 

There is the reference to Fomalhaut (Fish's Mouth) and so many other fishy refrences.
There is Marc's cryptic Wolfe note that "Green is Urth" (I hope I have that right) which
I take to mean that Green is like Urth so Blue is like Ushas- flooded and dominated by
undersea god(s) who feed on humans.

Apologies for recovering ground already covered in the past, but in my view in the Sun Series
there is a triangle of beings- humans, megatherians and hiero-types. In The Blue-Green domain
the triangle is represented by humans, inhumi and Neighbors.  On ancient Earth, the same 
triangle is represented by humans, demons and angels. (with an understanding that demons are
fallen angels but also appear in human legend as pagan gods).

So I think we are meant to use this analogy to understand the relationship between Hierogrammates
and Megatherians. It is the same relationship as that between angels and fallen angels. One group
lives on/in and is closer to the Earth and thus has more power here. But the other group, being 
closer to God, will ultimately prevail. One group is labeled "evil" the other "good". But God uses 
both equally to achieve His goals.

I don't agree with James that Megatherians are irrelevant to the Hiero's plan for self-reproduction.
I think they are related sorts of beings and I don't know if they are "really" in cooporation or
competition. We get hints of both. But I think both are necessary to launch the Hieros into the next, 
the higher, universe whether they are working at odds or together with each other. (many have asked
the same questions about the relationship of God and Satan).

I think the humans on Urth and Ushas, and on Blue and Green have the same relationship 
with the other beings that humans on Earth have with angels and demons. We are the stupidest,
weakest but most numerous elements in the triangle. We are necessary and some of us even capable of 
heroic, admirable acts. But ultimately we are too stupid to fully share in and understand the plans 
of our superiors. I see this in the relationship between Severian and B, F and O, Severian and Tzadkiel, 
Horn and The Mother/Seawrack, Horn and Krait, Horn and Jahlee, Horn and Neighbors, etc.

Our human inferiority and stupidity in comparison with God's mightier creations is illustrated by Wolfe 
by making it so that even we human readers can never fully "get it". Perhaps the best wisdom Wolfe can 
hope for us is a realization that we are not the top dogs in the universe.

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