(urth) Is Agia a Robot?
David Stockhoff
dstockhoff at verizon.net
Fri Jun 18 18:34:06 PDT 2010
Try this on. It's quite a bit of backstory for Wolfe keep to himself,
but it makes some sense.
(1) Agia and Agilus represent the alchemical union of Man and twin
sister in Love.
(2) Because They are in love, this alchemical union is also holy (her
name; the aureole), thus not just alchemical but gnostic.
(3) Agilus is a rival True Man, probably a lot better than Severian in
many ways. Together they represent a different path for the universe,
one that leads to a new universe, but not to a new universe of new hope
for Man. I don't think the reason for this can lie just in Agilus, but
rather---necessarily---in Their union and pseudoincestuous love. Agia is
just as good an example of Robot, and They click.
(4) Thus they oppose Severian, who is the true Man who will unite with
his sister and create a new universe of new hope for Man.
(5) Agia was some kind of intelligent Asian facedancer/sex-doll ninja on
the ship. (A weird skill set, but also a cliched one, which makes it
fair fodder for Wolfean mythical analysis. I suspect the facedancing is
more for sex than for killing---that she is specialized for sex, not
killing.) Hethor only controlled her because of his powers; he probably
acquired her through his powers.
(6) She escaped the lemon-wood box, or else someone released her. She
met Agilus and fell in Love. She made herself in His image. She
awakened, or rather Awakened, since she was sentient already, but now
she is more than that. Now she knows who and what she is and what she
can become: she is holy in her Love. (Severian catches glimpses of this.)
(7) Too bad she has no scruples whatsoever, but then she's an assassin.
Remind you of anyone? Yep, Agia would happily kill the world to spawn a
new one under her holy rule; so would have Agilus. (Call it AEgypt.)
Possibly the Heirodules even considered them rivals of Severian. perhaps
planning to Test them if he did not kill Agilus.
It may seem odd for this transformation to happen to a robot, but it
doesn't matter what she was, only what she becomes. Remember that robots
are people in Wolfe's thinking, capable of good and evil regardless of
their base, Man-made, subcreated origin. If Man can be god, why not
robot too? What more proof of God's reality---what more of a
miracle---than for a robot to be another rival false gnostic Christ
figure? And she does suffer, justly, when Agilus dies.
How cool is it that robots (rather a robot-human couple) maybe even had
a shot at becoming Conciliator? And aren't the Heirodules created?
Obviously robots could indeed have supplanted humans if they were truly
better and passed the Test---didn't that already more or less happen in
a previous universe? So there is the answer to the excellent question,
"So what if Agia is a robot?"
(8) She resists Hethor, who pursues her. Enter Severian, who burns
spiritually for her. She probably doesn't see who he is at all, just
that he is a good target, but maybe she does. After Agilus is beheaded,
she masters Hethor and goes after Severian. She fails to kill Severian,
but becomes Vodalus, rebellious subruler of the Commonwealth in her own
right. Note that she doesn't ally with the Ascians, "once she sees
them." She's not one of them at all.
I retract any speculations that Agia was a significant time-traveler or
that she was allied with Gunnie or Ida. Also, that Agilus was not human.
Ryan Dunn wrote:
> Agilus is the obvious suspect here. The one who obsesses over Jovinian steel. The one whose image she has assumed. The problem is just the misdirect with Hethor coming to their rag shop, which we are to assume Agia and Agilus inherited from their mother. Either that or simply take that story as a lie, and Hethor's as a truth.
>
> I don't hate the idea, it just bugs me.
>
> ...ryan
>
>
> On Jun 18, 2010, at 7:45 PM, David Stockhoff wrote:
>
>
>> That is possible as well, and it's very Wolfean. But then it becomes even more important to explain what changed her.
>>
>> And whence her strength and familiarity with weapons? She's no Pinocchio.
>>
>> brunians at brunians.org wrote:
>>
>>> If the paracoita theory is correct, she pulls the strings *now*.
>>>
>>> She is an object that has developed a soul, become a person.
>>>
>>> .
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> No, Agia pulls Hethor's strings. See Father Inire's letter to Severian.
>>>>
>>>> Adam Thornton wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On 06/18/2010 05:32 PM, Ryan Dunn wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> We DO agree that Agia is one of the more important characters in the
>>>>>> book, no doubt. But try as I may, I can't shake the notion that
>>>>>> Hethor's monologue was not just a demonstration by Wolfe to show off
>>>>>> his writing chops. Who is the girl in the box?????????
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> The same one from the Toy Theater? Perhaps Hethor is pulling Agia's
>>>>> strings.
>>>>>
>>>>> Adam
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