Conjectures [SPOILER]

mattjaq · 11 Feb 2001, 15:45 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: mattjaq at telocity.com
Subject: (whorl) Conjectures [SPOILER]
Date: 11 Feb 2001 15:45:49
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Hi all,

A few questions/conjectures for anyone to comment on:

(1) Is Horn's black sword from Green and his dream journeys in any way rela=
ted to Severian's "Terminus Est"?

(2) Who is the "new figure, tall and tightly wrapped in a colorless cloak, =
approaching with stiff, bird-like strides"? This was when Horn/Silk returne=
d to Green to rescue Jahlee's spirit and fought off all the inhumu on the t=
op of the peak. (RttW p. 191)

(3) Do the events in Book of the New Sun actually happen after BotLS and Bo=
tSS? In RttW, Horn/Silk appears to dream travel to other places in the same=
 time period as he is (he meets Sinew at the right age, etc.). I don't thin=
k that he's time traveling, and if he meets Severian as a young boy, then t=
hat means Severian's story happens after BotLS and BotSS. Earlier somebody =
was theorizing that Severian became Tartaros, but I don't think that's poss=
ible if all of Severian's adventures took place after the BotLS and BotSS.

(4) Are there inhumu on Urth? Horn/Silk mentions that Green is much larger =
and brighter when seen on the Red Sun whorl. Since inhumu can get to Blue, =
that would mean they could probably get to Urth much easier.

(5) What does the following passage mean:
"It was the magnetism that drew others to him that caused his embryo to be =
put aboard the lander. That was the work of Pas's scientists, as Pig's size=
 and strength were. (Recalling the Red Sun Whorl that it became, I cannot b=
ut wonder whether it did not sacrifice too much for us.)" (RttW p. 96)

The phrase in the parentheses really mystifies me. What does the first "it"=
 refer to? What became the Red Sun Whorl? Is he merely talking about Urth i=
tself? Is he talking about Silk's embryo? Is he talking about Pig's size an=
d strength? Is he talking about the work of Pas's scientists? I just don't =
get it.

And what is the second "it" referring to? What sacrificed too much for us? =
I assume he is referring to the first "it" as well, which means I still don=
't have a clue.

This passage also indicates that Pig was also a genetically modified embryo=
/sleeper, which may add eveidence to the "Pig-as-godling-theory".

(6) I found the following passage interesting:
"Father nodded and sipped from his wine bottle; sometimes it seemed like he=
 was just pretending to eat and drink, and this was one of them.... Juganu =
had been listening to us, and had even swallowed some soup." (RttW p. 361).

This is interesting because here we see Horn/Silk pretending to eat and Jug=
anu the inhumu actually eating. I'm not sure what Wolfe intends here, but i=
t is ceratainly something to think about.

(7) At the end, Silk is sorry because he says that he killed Hoof and Hide'=
s father. This is very mysterious. Is this simply because he feels it was h=
is fault that he didn't orginally take the landers in BotLS with the other =
people, and as a result people felt the need to return to find him? Or is i=
t because he had some other plan of reviving Horn?

For instance, we know that inhumu's take on some of the blood of their vict=
ims: "A part of the blood you drink becomes your own blood. Surely you must=
 know that." (RttW p.155). Is it possible that Silk allowed Juganu to drink=
 from him in the hopes that he would take Horn out of his body, allowing Ho=
rn the chance to be reborn as an inhumu child, in such a way as Krait was b=
orn from Horn's child? Therefore, when Silk was forced to kill Juganu at th=
e wedding, he actually "killed Horn" because he killed any chance of him be=
ing reborn. I know this is kind of wild, but who knows?

Appreciate any comments...

...Matt

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