(urth) Pike's ghost

[Larry Miller]

Severian sees him as a "man" because Piaton is a human.  Typhons head
however may closely resemble a human or might even be the head of
another human body he possessed so that could explain why Severian
doesnt remark upon any alien characteristics.  His psychic abilities
(if he does possess any) seem to be quite different than Decuman who
IIRC is the only other human who has any mental powers.  His comment
about sending his thoughts seem much more in common with the astral
travel done by the Inhumi and the Neighbors who are not human.  It
seems Typhon engineered abilities akin to his into humans (as in the
case of Mucor) later.

On 11/27/11, Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Sergei SOLOVIEV
>
> I agree with Sergei – Typhon may well have come from off-Urth but he is
> human, or close enough for government work.
>
> Even if he has psychic powers (I personally think he has near-supernatural
> charisma and leadership abilities) that doesn’t really disqualify him from
> being human I think.
>
> It’s true that Severian makes much of his astonishment at Typhon, given that
> we would probably be less amazed by him than by other things Severian
> doesn’t make a fuss about,  But he never mentions anything else strange
> about him, and when you think about it, he does refer to “the flesh of
> humankind”.
>
> A possibility occurs to me: do the people of Severian’s time recognise a
> constellation called Typhon, probably represented as a two-headed man?
>
> - Gerry Quinn
>
>
>> Well, if Typhon would be an alien, it would be much more difficult to
>> graft
>> his head to Piaton. And why take such risky and complex operation? I think
>> that the straightforward explanation is much more convincing.
>
>> Larry Miller wrote:
>
>> > [—] I think hes an alien mainly because
>> > of Wolfes naming strategum and some things that he says to Severian.
>> > When telling him about his grafting to Piaton he mentions the solar
>> > decay and says "I should have left then."  I think maybe hes refering
>> > to escaping back to his homeworld.  His comments about "sending his
>> > thoughts into far places" are a reference to some psychic abilities he
>> > has (and I know there are those on here that disagree).  And theres
>> > Severians initial description of the newly resurrected Monarch.
>> > "...it was as though one of the monstous constellations of the night
>> > sky had fallen to Urth and clothed itself in the flesh of humankind."