(urth) Severian's Journey: Happenstance or Masterplan?

[António Pedro Marques]

I think 2 things are more or less clear.

1. Severian's journey is followed by higher powers. It is fact that his 
death is averted more than once - something is not letting him die. (Though 
it looks as if, other than that, he is left to roam at will. It rather seems 
to me that the old Autarch is sent to him than he is guided to the old 
Autarch.) Then, one isn't told why should those higher powers spend that 
effort with Severian, rather than just shift their hopes to someone else. 
One possible reason is that they have not much time (cf. Severian's saying 
to Master Ash that the latter told him his own time was just some 
generations removed from Severian's, though Master Ash doesn't bother 
confirming that that's what he was saying and I still suspect he may be from 
other universe.) Kind of reminds me of Revelation 12 ('12. Therefore, 
rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell therein. Woe to the earth and to the 
sea, because the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing 
that he has but a short time.')

(Incidentally, this is why Agia interests me so much: to me, she is the one 
character that shows some independent action.)


2. Time in Briah doesn't work quite like ours. Gene Wolfe seems to imply as 
much in the final paragraph of the appendix to CA. He takes the time to 
'speculate' that the Ships travel through time much the same way as they 
travel through space, or something like that, and that Severian seems to 
have premonitions. My impression is that the inhabitants of Urth may have 
more power over their dimension of time, all by themselves, than we have 
over ours. Just what the implications of that may be...