Typhon

Thanks to Matthew and Thomas for their responses to my Two Typhons note. Let me just say that I was trying to reconcile the physical details of Typhon's reign on Urth (in URTH) with the nature of the Whorl. In URTH, Typhon doesn't seem terribly much more powerful than the succeeding Autarchs (who after all also carved mountains in their own images). He can't escape when the rebels close in, so his interstellar and even interplanetary travel capability appears rather limited. And Urth being impoverished by the needs of the Whorl's construction would explain a lot, both materially and thematically. And the Cargo are definitely from Urth (see the forthcoming IN GREEN'S JUNGLES).

It may be that the revolt took him by surprise. From the indications in The Book of the New Sun, he was left abandoned in his divan on the mountain, perhaps deserted there by his own troops. Just a thought....