the Epitome

Roy C. Lackey · 09 Apr 2005, 23:52 · from 2005-April.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Sat Apr  9 23:52:15 2005
Subject: (urth) the Epitome
Message-ID: <000a01c53d99$d2f09540$523ec6d8 at rclackey.stic.net>

Thalassocrat wrote:
>If Sev the eidolon had died in the battle in Yesod, why not just
>make a new eidolon and try again, until the they got the right
>outcome?

Logically, there is no reason not to. In fact, they did make a new eidolon
again when Sev died back in Apu's era. Venant's death was also logically
meaningless; if the Hierogrammates could, in effect, bring humans back to
life, they could do the same for their own kind. But this story isn't about
reason -- it's about religion.

That's why I've maintained throughout that the destruction of Urth and the
birth of Ushas was largely symbolic. The H's told Sev there were but two
choices -- the New Sun or the ice future for Urth. If Sev died in the brawl
there would be no New Sun. If the H's were to be held to their word (and who
but the Increate could bind them?), and Sev had been killed by the
ice-future faction of sailors in that post-"trial" brawl, then they would
have been obliged to abide by the advertised rules of their own game to
leave Urth to its long, slow decline. That or they were lying. And if they
lied about that fundamental tenet, then everything about them is suspect,
and Wolfe's story falls flat.

That's why, at a minimum, they would "have to wait for a new cycle".

-Roy

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