Father Inire-Hethor

Jeff Wilson · 17 Oct 2011, 15:31 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at clueland.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:31:35 -0500
Subject: (urth) Father Inire-Hethor
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W10BC106DEF015D472E8B6DCFE70 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W10BC106DEF015D472E8B6DCFE70 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4E9C4A57.9030404 at clueland.com>

On 10/15/2011 9:58 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
> When DO the powers-that-be first know that Severian is the one? Very early I think.

Strictly speaking, "our" Severian is always known to be the one by the 
agents of the Yesodis, from their meddling with the previous timeloop 
Severians. The cthonic powers are probably limited in the way that you 
detail, though.

> That thing is:  SEVERIAN IS IMMORTAL.
>
> (and yes, that implies he is a god).

Or that he is a favorite pawn of the gods, and perhaps a demigod.

> We might wonder why Juturna or some other undine saved Severian from drowning before the
>
> action of the story begins. I think it is because she is not, like human/pawns, bound by
>
> linear movement/perception in time. She (like B, F and O) knew that Severian would be the
>
> New Sun and wanted to curry favor with him. Seduce him to their side.
>
>
>
> I think if Juturna had not rescued Severian from the weeds of Gyoll, he wouldn't have died.
>
> He would have done a self-resurrection a he did on the Sanguinary Fields. Or some hierodule
>
> would have created an eidolon and that would have popped to the surface while Severian's old
>
> body drowned and disappeared.

I agree with you here, except for 1) I believe the eidolon capability is 
limited to about the time of his elevation and later, and 2) Juturna has 
a second, purer motive below.

> Someone recently asked about the significance of Severian pondering his own skull after Urth
>
> has been flooded to Ushas.  I think it is a Hamlet-Yorick reference of course as Severian
>
> ponders his own mortality. But it might also signify that he was able to live after the flood
>
> and breathe underwater because he was another eidolon and that power was within himself, not
>
> because he finally allowed himself to be seduced by the mermaid/undine kiss which grants the
>
> power to breathe underwater (as Baldanders experienced). 		 	   		

I don't recall anything to suggest the skull Severian finds after the 
flood is literally his own. If it had some further plot function, the 
time travel would trump the laws of probability but it's ultimately just 
a stimulus to soliloquy and it could be any of the zillions of boy-sized 
skulls of similar vintage from the necropolis, if it turned out he 
actually drowned in the "current" timeloop.

His water breathing after the flood I believe is a mark of kinship with 
Juturna, along with her ability to access the corridors of time. In 
fact, I would say that it is as likely that Juturna is Sev's sister as 
Merryn. "Where is Severian's sister?" "She's right there, 100 feet tall! 
How could you miss her?"

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

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