(urth) Typhon's nature

[David Stockhoff]

On 10/11/2011 3:06 PM, António Pedro Marques wrote:
> David Stockhoff wrote (11-10-2011 03:47):
>> On 10/10/2011 7:00 PM, António Pedro Marques wrote:
>>> David Stockhoff wrote (10-10-2011 22:56):
>
>>>> If Typhon has superpowers that are genetic in origin, he'd lose 
>>>> them if he
>>>> transferred to another brain, unless that brain also has that
>>>> genetically-derived infrastructure. Might this explain his 
>>>> reluctance to
>>>> lose his "face"?
>>>
>>> That's a pretty good idea.
>>> I find that face stuff strange, unless there is some deeper meaning of
>>> faces to be reckoned with.
>>
>> Yes. Typhon says something about loyalty or command, and that makes 
>> sense.
>> But it's not just the face that conveys presence---especially if you are
>> telepathic. So who knows.
>
> What bothers me is that I think there is something hidden there but I 
> haven't got a clue what, so I'm left with the sensation that maybe 
> there is nothing - and in that case my impression that there is 
> becomes an uncomfortable reminder that I have no clue about the whole 
> books.
Is it possible that Sev's observation that Typhon grips his mind like a 
vise is simply invalid? And Jeff is right, and Typhon's machines simply 
monitored Ascian radio traffic for millennia, and they analyzed the data 
for him?

30 years ago I read TBotNS and read the line "sent my thought" 
literally. I was suspicious, naturally, since I knew Wolfe, and 
suspended judgment until I read the above about Typhon gripping Sev's 
mind. To me, this confirmed that Typhon had limited but super mental 
powers. Mucor's existence confirmed it further. Yet there was always a 
nagging thought that something was missing. There seemed no point to 
Typhon's possessing these abilities. But beyond these two potentially 
misleading statements, there is no evidence for them---only evidence 
that they exist in Briah. Is Typhon's power merely that he can convince 
people he has powers?

Beyond that, the face stuff points to Silk. But as James points out, 
it's maddening!


---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 111011-2, 10/11/2011
Tested on: 10/11/2011 8:38:18 PM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2011 AVAST Software.
http://www.avast.com