(urth) The Sorcerer's House Questions (*Major Spoilers*)

[Gwern Branwen]

On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 5:37 PM, Mr Thalassocrat
<thalassocrat08 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 7:51 AM, Gwern Branwen <gwern0 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 4:31 PM, Mr Thalassocrat
>> <thalassocrat08 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > But it's Bax who makes a will in favour of George, and Bax who
>> > "disappears".
>>
>> According to the message from George, they both make a will in favor
>> of each other. Bax has a good reason to want to replace George and not
>> just kill him: there will be zero questions asked this way (notice
>> that the final letter's lame explanation of Bax just going off into
>> faerie for no stated reason, forever, apparently is completely
>> successful - the endnote presents 'George' as having no trouble
>> whatsoever managing Bax's estate, George's estate, or having Bax
>> declared dead).
>>
>> > Everything about the replacement is under Bax's control, really, if he
>> > can
>> > get George to come to him, set George up to be killed, dispose of the
>> > body &
>> > get Millie to accept him (Bax) as "George". Faerie isn't an essential
>> > element for this scheme.
>>
>> Neither twin seems to be especially in control. Both need to kill each
>> other. Bax *might* be able to forge George's signature, but he still
>> needs George dead, and vice versa. I don't really follow what you're
>> saying here - if there's any advantage accruing to Bax, isn't that
>> just further evidence that Bax did kill & replace George?
>>
>
>
> Sure - we're agreed that Bax killed & replaced George. The discussion (I
> thought) was about whether Bax planned it all along. I think he might have.

OK; I'll reiterate - how could Bax have planned the inheritance, the
various events that made George willing to come, George's offer, the
two pistols, Faerie, and the independent corroboration that makes the
final replacement at all possible (the psychic's letters, the letters
from his prison friends, the end note's asseveration that Bax really
did come into the wealth he claimed to've in his letters), all from
the very getgo as a starving ex-con who was breaking into houses and
construction sites?

-- 
gwern