(urth) Resurrections

[Ryan Dunn]

On Jul 30, 2010, at 12:32 PM, Lee Berman wrote:

> So, why doesn't Wolfe have Severian reject the Autarch's pharmicon at the
> last second and have him find the true, Increate-given, path toward becoming
> the New Sun and Conciliator? Are we to conclude that Urth itself has an 
> allotted lifespan and it has no right to be reborn and all who assist Severian
> in this task are as sorcerous and evil as Vodalus and the Old Leech and others
> who seek artificially extended life?


Lee,

Aren't we supposed to get the vibe that "the power was in Severian all the time, he just didn't know it?"

Meaning pharmacon or not, claw or not, he had these powers. I thought that was demonstrated with Triskele in a very clear way. Severian does strive at length to attribute powers to the claw, but that is a bit of a loophole that suggests it was Severian, not any other talisman/affectation, that beholds the power.

So the question would be, where do HIS powers come from? Is it part of him being a 2nd iteration of himself? The first having gained access to the corridors of time, gone back to become Conciliator, and the Severian we follow being a product of prior Severian achievements?

...ryan