(urth) Vodalus & the Old Autarch

Dave Gottlieb dmgottlieb at gmail.com
Wed Aug 11 10:35:09 PDT 2010


In that scene, it is said to be a combination of Thecla's recollections and
the Autarch's "tone" that leads Severian to finally recognize him. If we
allow ourselves to emphasize the "tone" part, it may be that the Autarch has
some power of concealment (hypnosis?), and intentionally casts off the veil
for some reason at the end of the exchange.

At the end of Citadel, Severian is privy to some Autarchial knowledge (power
words?) that command instant recognition from a broad swath of servants of
the Commonwealth. Perhaps the Autarch is using similar techniques to control
who does and doesn't recognize his identity.

On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 3:03 AM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com> wrote:

> On 8/10/2010 11:52 AM, DAVID STOCKHOFF wrote:
>
>> Possibly. And yet autarchal profiles figure prominently in the story (as
>> do counterfeits). They can't be quite as poor as the Romans'. I actually
>> took that observation to mean that the true and counterfeit coins had
>> the same origin (different materials?). Did the Autarch fund Vodalus
>> with false coins?
>>
>> I was thinking of when Sev meets Inire (cowled) looking for the Green
>> Room in the House. Thecla would have been disoriented meeting him later,
>> certainly.
>>
>
> I notice that in that scene (CLAW XXI) Thecla's imprint only belatedly
> recognizes the Autarch herself, after several minutes of conversation even
> after getting a direct face-to-face look at him, so Vodalus' failure to
> recognize him is not unique.
>
> And yes, I do believe that bent little man is Inire. I don't see any need
> or ability for him to be Rudesind, who apparently is so tall that he makes
> his stepladder look like a stool when he sits atop it.
>
>
> --
> Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
> IEEE Student Chapter Blog at
> < http://ieeetamut.org >
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