(urth) Summary of the case for Silk as Typhon's clone

[Gerry Quinn]

From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <danldo at gmail.com>
> Suppose that Silk were Pas's son of the body, or even his clone. Would
> people point at him and say, "There goes Pas"?
>
> Not necessarily.
>
> If this were the case then Silk would look -- modulo
> environmental/developmental differences -- like young Typhon, to be
> sure.
>
> But does Pas look like young Typhon? I question this. We know that at
> least _some_ of the other gods of Mainframe present as god-forms,
> either idealized versions of themselves or otherwise different. Why
> would Pas be different? I suspect that Pas-in-Mainframe does _not_
> look enough like Typhon for a much-younger version of himself to
> attract that much notice.
>
> This leaves two special cases: Mamelta and Rigoglio.
>
> Rigoglio we can dismiss; the Silk (body) he sees is missing an eye and
> otherwise scarred by time and sorrow.

I don't think you can dismiss him, actually.  Silk has just replicated 
Typhon's military strategy of taking the side of the underdog in a military 
conflict and winning, something which Rigoglio has discussed.  'Almost like 
a young Typhon' must have been a phrase that crossed his mind.

> Which leaves Mamelta -- whose memories may have been tampered with,
> and who has been possessed by Mucor. Is it that unreasonable to
> suppose that she wouldn't recognize a much-younger version of the
> Monarch?

The Monarch who dominated the lives of his subjects, to the extent that his 
family danced through their dreams?  The Monarch she TALKS ABOUT with Silk? 
Wouldn't she at least mention a resemblance?

But you also left out Echidna, Kypris and Scylla.  Remember, the gods may 
not appear as they used to in life.
But all three know how they iused to appear.

> I believe then that there is no serious bar to Silk being Pas's son,
> or even his clone. But that's not the same as positive evidence.

The five people listed above effectively rule out the possibility that he is 
a clone of Typhon. Remember, this is literature, not life.  It is a variant 
of Checkov's gun.  A clone must be recognisable as such, or the author must 
give a reason why.  Wolfe would never write anything so lame.

Of course, if he is Typhon's son the negative evidence is probably just 
about surmountable.  He seems to have the same colour hair, at least.  You'd 
still expect a stronger gesture from the author to note a familial 
resemblance.


> Why then would I believe that Silk is Typhon's clone?
>
> Typhon is psychically adept in some way. And he isn't willing to have
> his consciousness downloaded into another (such as Piaton), though the
> technology is clearly available to him.

He has charisma, aggression and self-confidence, that is certain.  I'm not 
convinced his powers extend to the supernatural.

As for downloading, it could be that Wolfe hadn't considered that option 
when he wrote BotNS.  Also, Typhon thought his face was important to 
maintaining his power - that was the reason he gave Severian for not having 
a simple brain transplant (it also suggests again that his powers are not 
psychic).

> I suggest that it isn't just (though Typhon seems to say so) that
> people are "accustomed" to obeying that particular face; it is that
> Typhon has psychic ability to make people follow him. He was unwilling
> to give this up, so he had to preserve his brain -- and a brain
> transplant was too risky for a number of reasons. So he sought to
> immortalize himself by having his head put onto Piaton's body.

He actually said a brain transplant was his doctors' first idea, but he 
vetoed it on account of the face.


> But also he sought to be the Father-God of the _Whorl_; and I suggest
> that he was not going to give that authority up when the _Whorl_
> reached its destination. He intended to lead the Cargo to its new
> home, and to do so required a body. What body would Typhon want?
>
> Why, one with the psychic ability to make people follow him. He may be
> a god, but he isn't giving up any advantage. That body would be a
> clone of the one he left behind.

I agree that that is a possible motivation.  But you still need evidence 
that that is what happened.   And as I pointed out above, the negative 
evidence really is quite damning.


> Now, who has an uncanny ability to make people follow him? Why, Silk...

Not everyone with leadership ability can be Typhon.  Silk showed no ambition 
to conquer the Whorl, for example.  He doesn't really seem like Typhon at 
all.

(I said earlier that he replicated Typhon's military strategies on Blue. 
But by that time, he really did have a piece of Pas in him.)

- Gerry Quinn