(urth) Appearances of Inire

[Ryan Dunn]

On Jun 28, 2010, at 3:26 PM, David Stockhoff wrote:

> It's one thing to suggest multiple Inires. He could probably handle that. And if so, then one of them could be blind without them all being blind. And I suppose the multiple names would be so he could keep himself straight.
> 
> Also, since Father Inire himself never appears, it follows that he must appear as something other than Father Inire.
> 
> But I agree with what I think is your skepticism: there is the principle of conservation of characters, but this is overapplication. At this rate, anyone (male) could be Inire after several hundred years, even Severian if he works on his tan.


Personally, I think all of the coincidences or overly convenient happenings in BotNS are a product of design, not chance, or an easy way out for Wolfe. Would you agree?

If so, why not suspect two known time-travelers in this text, Severian and Inire (in no particular order). What is the endgame for them? To bring the New Sun, correct?

Not sure why it is such a stretch to see Inire in disguise, helping the way. In fact, Rudesind giving different directions may have saved him from (I dunno) an armiger's ambush? Not drawing random conclusions, just saying there would be a "reason" for Inire to plant himself along Severian's journey, no?

...ryan