The Book of Typhon part two: Silk as Typhon

Lisa Schaffer-Doggett · 07 Mar 2003, 04:56 · from urth-v0303.mbox · original

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From: Lisa Schaffer-Doggett <harlekin at earthlink.net>
Subject: (urth) The Book of Typhon part two:  Silk as Typhon
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 20:56:58 -0800
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Hi everyone, Don again.  This obviously needs a lot of work and=3D20
support, but the ideas are sound, I think.

The Book of Typhon part two:  Silk as Typhon

	This segment is more speculative than the last since I haven=3D92t =3D
gotten=3D20
to a second reading of the Long Sun books.  Nevertheless, I am firmly=3D20
convinced of its correctness overall.  My argument is simply that Silk=3D20=
=3D

is a clone of the monarch Typhon and, by extension, the genetic father=3D20=
=3D

of Severian who is a clone of Ymar.
	Let=3D92s establish some basic facts.  First, Silk was an embryo =3D
frozen at=3D20
the time of the Whorl=3D92s launch, and thus from the time of Typhon. =3D20
Second, Silk is blond, as I=3D92m reasonably sure Typhon is (though I=3D92v=
e=3D20=3D

never found a conclusive statement of this).  Third, Silk is very tall,=3D2=
0=3D

like an exultant, and a natural leader, charismatic enough to be known=3D20=
=3D

all over the Whorl and on Blue.  And finally,  Wolfe describes Silk as=3D20=
=3D

having a =3D93reddish-blond beard=3D94 (Litany of the Long Sun p. 187).  So=
? =3D
=3D20
Here is a passage from Graves=3D92 King Jesus describing JC:
	=3D93You have a Typhonic, or harvest-red, beard. . .=3D94 (KJ p. =3D
221)
How coincidental that Wolfe gives Silk a feature that ties him not only=3D2=
0=3D

to sacred kingship but also directly to Typhon.
	Now, here are a few rhetorical questions.  Why did the White =3D
Headed=3D20
One, Hierax (who most likely really was Hierax, much as Oreb was Scylla=3D2=
0=3D

in SS) attack Silk so violently?  Could it be he recognized him?  Why=3D20
was Kypris so helpful to Silk, and so drawn to him?  (A tangent=3D20
question to this is why did Kypris spend so much time possessing=3D20
Hyacinth, who I think was also an embryo.  My guess is that Hy is=3D20
Kypris, or rather her Urth counterpart and thus Severian=3D92s genetic=3D20
mother.)  Why was Silk allowed to merge with Pas?  I=3D92ll answer this. =
=3D20=3D

It is because Pas couldn=3D92t collect all of his personality that he=3D92d=
=3D20=3D

scattered.  Pas is a scan of Typhon, so the easiest solution is to scan=3D2=
0=3D

Typhon back in to complete Pas.  But, as Quetzal says, the jokes of the=3D2=
0=3D

gods are long.  The Outsider has had twenty years and an enlightenment=3D20=
=3D

to work on Silk in Pas=3D92 absence.
	So here is my version of the Plan of Pas.  The Whorl flies to =3D
wherever=3D20
it is supposed to go.  When the time is right, the embryos of Silk and=3D20=
=3D

Hyacinth (not their names in this version) are thawed and brought to=3D20
fruition.  They are then possessed by Pas and Kypris and effectively=3D20
become Typhon and =3D93Katharine=3D94.  Most likely the other =3D93gods=3D9=
4 =3D
have=3D20
embryonic counterparts as well, but perhaps Typhon pulled a=3D20
doublecross.  But this didn=3D92t happen.  Pas is scattered, Silk is =3D
thawed=3D20
early, and the Whorl ends up back where it left from (sorry, couldn=3D92t=
=3D20=3D

resist).  Silk is the Outsider=3D92s long joke, the redemption of Typhon.
	This father-son relationship between Silk and Severian is the=3D20
operative principle in where the =3D93astral=3D94 travel takes place in the=
=3D20=3D

Short Sun books.  Silkhorn ends up on Green to seek out Sinew, Horn=3D92s=
=3D20=3D

son.  If you believe Severian is on Green, then he ends up there=3D20
because Severian is Silk=3D92s son.  This also explains why he ends up on=
=3D20=3D

the Red Sun Whorl.  It has nothing to do with Rigoglio.  Silk=3D92s tie to=
=3D20=3D

Severian is what draws him.
	I realize that this argument about Silk is not as well =3D
documented as=3D20
I=3D92d like, but I haven=3D92t given LS and SS a second read yet. (so many=
=3D20=3D

things on my list!)  I plan to revise this as well, but in the interest=3D2=
0=3D

of completeness, I=3D92ll send it in this form.

Thanks for reading.=3D

--=20

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