Undines, Predestination, Time

Xury, I find it easier to believe that the undine saved Severian as part of an effort to (if you will excuse the expression) lure him to the "dark side of the force." All the exemplars of evil (except for Agia and the Sorcerors) try to win Severian over to their side, not kill him. The undines (or is it the same undine each time?) are particularly persistent in this regard. I still think (mantis' opinion aside) that the "original" Severian didn't succeed in bringing the New Sun. On the other hand, even after more rereadings than I remember, I still don't have it straight exactly how many Severians there are, and how many times he dies, and what the original timeline looks like. Was Apu-Punchau always Severian? How did Severian end up buried in the tomb below the Citadel? How much time elapsed between Typhon's reign and Severian's? I suppose it is only to be expected that a novel in which time is a major player should be somewhat confusing in this regard. I accept, but I do not understand... -vizcacha (david_lebling at avid.com)

Vizcacha said:

I don't think so either. Why would Tzadkiel need to rework the timeline so that Severian would live to bring the New Sun if it had been brought in the past iteration?

Mantis has said that about a chiliad (1000 Urth years) passed between the reign of Ymar and the Reign of Severian. Typhon was the last of the Monarchs, Ymar was one of the first, or the first, of the autarchs. Thus, about 1000 (Urth) years have passed between Typhon's reign and Sev's reign.

I hope this question may be answered in the Book of the Short Sun. However, Gene Wolfe used the word 'cameo' when he mentioned Sev and Merryn are going to be in it, so I wonder if Severian's death will be told of in the BotSS. Christopher R. Culver <crculver at aol.com> http://members.aol.com/crculver/index.html ------------------------------------------------ "Ignorance, that light of fools steers a wayward path" -Brendan Perry