(urth) heartburn was: Re: travelling north

[Roy C. Lackey]

Jane Delawney wrote:
[snip]
> Severian wakes up in Apu-Punchau's tomb, with the dead body of his
> 'other self' alongside him; he is baffled (as usual!) and frightened,
> but fortunately the white-clad figures of the Hierodules are there to
> explain things to him, or to help him construct his own explanation.
> During the course of this Ossipago offers to take all of them back to a
> 'better time'; an offer that is refused. Over the page Famulimus tells
> Severian that if they had allowed Ossipago to do this, he would have
> taken them back to an earlier time and 'That would not have been a
> better place for you, I think.' All this after the two non-machine
> Hierodules have prostrated themselves before the 'resurrected' Severian,
> 'the head of his  race and its savior'.
>
> One is left with supposition. Are we to gather that if so allowed,
> Ossipago would have transported the party 'back' in time (using
> Severian's perspective) to another tomb, and another Resurrection?
[snip]

I think not. There is a much simpler explanation. When Sev fled Ushas and
went backwards in time, he went only as as far as he *could* go. That is, he
went back in time only to just before the creation of the White Fountain.
More properly, to the point just before the first light from the Fountain
reached Urth (p-353). He was unable to use the Corridors to escape the tomb
until the first light of it reached him (p-358). In other words, Sev's
personal travels in time were bound by the light of the New Sun.

-Roy