Agilus and Agia

David Stockhoff · 02 May 2013, 12:16 · from 2013-May.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Thu, 02 May 2013 08:16:38 -0400
Subject: (urth) Agilus and Agia
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On 5/2/2013 7:04 AM, Gerry Quinn wrote:
>
> For me the interesting aspect of Agia/Agilus is how Agia becomes 
> entwined in Severian's story, becoming in some sense his Nemesis. It 
> would have been possible to leave her at the end of the first book, 
> but instead she becomes a recurring villain, and eventually becomes as 
> Vodalus was to the previous Autarch.
>
> I'm not inclined to pay too much heed to the masks and whether they 
> imply a connection to sorcerors etc.  Agilus's mask is, after all, the 
> modus operandi [somehow I want to make a fake singular 'operandum'] of 
> the con game which we know they have played on travellers before.  
> They want to separate Severian from his valuable sword, at the cost of 
> his life if necessary.
>
> But the question remains, why so *many* tests and trials.  We expect 
> the hero to have to overcome certain difficulties on his journey, but 
> does Severian suffer more than we would expect, and do they more 
> commonly than we would expect take the shape of tests and trials, 
> which of course resonates with the overarching plot. Obviously some 
> element that can be interpreted in this way exists in all hero 
> stories, and I think one would have a hard time *proving* that there 
> is more of it in BotNS.  But let us say such a series of tests is 
> intended: then who is setting them?
>
> The Hierodules have motive, but unless everyone is their direct puppet 
> it is hard to see how they could organise tests of a specific kind.  
> Abaia might tempt Severian, or Agia try to kill him, but both are 
> seemingly operating according to their own motives.  The same goes for 
> Typhon, the sorcerors and the rest. It doesn't seem feasible that 
> *someone* is orchestrating events directly.
>
> But suppose we consider a more science-fictional explanation, based on 
> the cyclic universe concept.  Severian is not the first Severian - so 
> he declares himself, and the adventures of the first Severian were 
> different in detail.  Perhaps there was a series of iterations 
> [considered as a series in some kind of pseudo-time dimension, 
> obviously] of which the history of the book's Severian is the final 
> successful case [an interesting opposite to the story in 5HOC].
>
> *Over the successive iterations, the moving parts become enmeshed in a 
> machine that leads to the Severian who will bring the New Sun.  It is 
> the New Sun - or Whatever is behind it - which ultimately selects the 
> history that brings about its creation.  No personality or group in 
> the story, not even the Hierodules, are controlling events.  The New 
> Sun creates reality - timelines that are incompatible with it - such 
> as the timeline of Master Ash or the first Severian - fade away. *
>
> *Obviously the Hierodules understand this process, but they themselves 
> are moving parts like all the rest.  The tests and trials are as they 
> are because that is the series of trials that will create the Severian 
> who brings the New Sun.  Agia plays her part, but she is not directly 
> motivated in any way to set tests.  But this is the Agia who happens 
> to set the right tests.  In other iterations there were other Agias 
> who acted somewhat differently and perhaps had more or less success. *
>
> - Gerry Quinn

I absolutely agree. The Hierodules merely manage the iterations---they 
don't direct them. It's time/history/chance/evolution that "directs" 
them to the extent they are directed at all. The New Sun creates itself 
in the process, and it is the "head" of the process. I suppose you could 
say it looks back on its creation and judges it "good."

It's bigger than Inire, that's certain. It's not just a huge conspiracy 
run by some tentacle-faced little man behind a curtain. And that's a 
great observation about contrast with 5HOC, especially given recent 
discussion about the relation/opposition between it and BNS.

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