(urth) Gideon

[Dave Tallman]

David Duffy wrote:
> I have reread Margaret's lines, and haven't spotted any dead giveaways. <snip>
Margaret plays her role very low-key, so it is hard to find a smoking 
gun in her words. Here are some more emotional indications based on 
Cassie's reaction to her.

"I have no secrets from my dresser, Agent Martin," (132). This seems to 
be true. Cassie trusts Margaret immediately and completely. She trusts 
Margaret to call Chase for help the first night (63). She asks Margaret 
about the "mountain whose wife washed clothes" (83). She admits the 
truth about a phone call: "It was really Gideon Chase" (138). Cassie 
seems to know instinctively that Margaret is a twin soul.

We have this from the Volcano God play, p. 145:

    "It's only when I'm quite alone
    That I can see my soul."

    Her vidimage stood beside her and seemed about to speak.

    "It's then that I am Woman
    the one thing God made whole."

    She clasped hands with her soul, and the two began to dance.


When Cassie is with Margaret she is "alone" and she can "see her soul." 
The closest real-life analog is when Margaret gets Cassie to sing "Walk 
in the Reign." This is a powerful moment between them. Perhaps Margaret 
is hoping that by opening up Cassie's spiritual side she will receive 
guidance to avoid danger.

Cassie's strong feelings for Margaret continue after the kidnapping. 
Cassie even eats breakfast like her because she misses her so much (186).

Then comes the night of the dinner at the Silent Woman. Chase gives 
Cassie a painstaking description of the signs of a werewolf (206-207). 
He didn't need to spell out that he meant Margaret, but he did say 
"There's often a swift, loping walk, even in women."

It seems to have worked. After that, Cassie calls everyone from Takanga 
except Margaret.  After the dinner at the Silent Woman, Margaret has 
been silenced. With her trust broken Cassie doubts everything that 
happened with Margaret. Cut off from her "soul," Cassie falls into the trap.

> We're told that Reis is also _raised_ in the same way Cassie is.I have a 
> feeling that the only problem with becoming a mythic figure is that you 
> become particularly prone to reenacting traditional stories.
>   
There are many classic stories and love triangles echoed in this one (I 
see Venus/Adonis and My Fair Lady, for example). I like your Guinevere 
analogy because there aren't too many love triangles where an evil 
fourth party tries to use the triangle for his own benefit (King Kanoa 
as Modred).

I don't see that we are told explicitly that Reis has been "raised" like 
Cassie. People treat him with deference, mainly because of the power of 
his wealth, but I don't get a sense of "star-power" from him. Do you 
have a reference? The name itself, pronounced as in German, would sound 
like "rice," but it's an anagram of "rise," as in the invocation Cassie 
gives at the end for Wally to return to her.