(urth) Mystery of Agia

[Son of Witz]

On Jan 19, 2011, at 8:57 PM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com> wrote:

> On 1/19/2011 3:21 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>> 
>> What is that B.S.? At the least it is a gun on the wall in Act 1 which is never fired. (actually
>> I think Severian encounters both Agia and the Green Man in different guises in UotNS but that's
>> another story). Why does she let Severian go, never to find him again?
> 
> Agia is impulsive but not stupid; she knows exactly where to find him, but the odds of an enjoyable revenge against the Autarch are slim.
> 
> > Why not tie him up and
>> drag him off for his weeks of torture, or whatever. She is afraid of the green man???
> 
> She doesn't have a way to facilitate such a fate for him while the Vodalarii are on the move, and no means to strike out on her own in the contested territory.
> 
>> Why was she trying for months to kill him in ways that wouldn't work if she (supposedly) had a
>> foolproof way (the worms)?
> 
> Not knowing any more than we do about how specula work, we can't presume all the monsters were available at all times. We have the old Autarch's word that the longer the specula are left closed, the more powerful their summoning ability becomes, so Hethor may need to take longer times between to get larger monsters or ones from farther away in space and time.
> 
> >Neither the arrows nor the notule, nor the slug nor the salamander would
>> have provided the "weeks of agony" she demanded. So why use all those methods?
> 
> The weeks of torture idea was probably planted by Vodalus to manipulate her into serving him longer.
> 
>> Why is she relentless
>> in following Severian but not killing him?
> 
> It took her a while to sort out her true feelings. She's a pretty mercurial person, and she may have found ruling over Hethor and later over the Vodalarii to be more to her immediate satisfaction than continuing to prepare a place to keep Sev racked up for weeks.
> 
> -- 


Jeff's layout here is compelling.
But there is something that makes me think Hethor is using Agia more tham she is using him. He seems to genuinely consider Severian "Master". No?
Has anyone picked up on anything that sheds light on his motivations, beyond the stated one of Agia's sexual submission?