(urth) Typhon's nature

[David Stockhoff]

On 10/12/2011 9:03 AM, Gerry Quinn wrote:
>
> *From:* Lee Berman <mailto:severiansola at hotmail.com>
>
> > I don't think so. Again, I will invoke Typhon's namesake, the 
> Mandragora. For me
> > the connection between these characters is nearly undeniable and I 
> find the
> > prospect of Severian being delusional about both their mental powers 
> to be a very
> > bleak one in regard to the enjoyment of the story.
> I don’t see any connection between a long-dead emperor and the pretty 
> standard homunculus in a jar that Severian finds in the Autarch’s 
> quarters, along with many other objects of a similar nature.
>
> > > David Stockhoff: Does anyone have any opinion on whether or how 
> Abaia and Erebus rule
> > > without resorting to ESP powers?
>
> > I have a nagging feeling the text does make some mention of Abaia 
> controlling humanity
> > purely through the power of his thought, but I can't pin the passage 
> down.
> Wasn’t there something about the Wall being built to defend against 
> the human forces of the sea monsters? I have a vague impression of 
> something of the kind too.
> But if we look at the Ascians, the coin, Typhon etc., what I think we 
> see is a deliberate blurring of the boundaries between powers of 
> charisma, force of personality etc., and powers which we would 
> consider telepathic. Mucor’s telepathic abilities, apparently the 
> result of brain modification, suggest to me that in Wolfe’s world some 
> elements of telepathy exist in everyone, but are stronger in some, and 
> probably trainable (c.f. Decuman and the village of sorcerers). Typhon 
> probably does have some telepathic powers which enhance his already 
> great powers of charisma etc. It is a not uncommon trope in sf/fantasy.
> Severian (and other narrators) are not delusional about the existence 
> of such powers, but the powers are not of any special significance to 
> the story.
> - Gerry Quinn
>
Downplaying mental magic seems pointless if such magic serves the 
narrative, which it obviously does. There's no question that telepathy 
is a classic pulp trope that simply must appear in TBotNS, and therefore 
it appears. Typhon's powers, great or little, came up in a discussion of 
cloning and Silk---THAT is their critical significance. (Note: Mucor’s 
telepathic abilities are NOT the result of brain modification but of 
genetic modification, since they are present in embryo and such embryos 
are very special.) But there is more.

I agree that various technologies are deliberately blurred, as is 
(famously) the line between technology and magic. This seems to be both 
a stylistic approach and a philosophy. For example, in Wolfe, there is 
little distinction between human and machine. Machines can read minds 
and project eidolons. Machines can do anything humans can do and vice 
versa, because both are material and explicitly non-divine. Both can 
manipulate time and space, because both are material and not divine. 
This "law" underlies all of Briah. Blurring and ambiguity can hardly be 
said to weaken the significance of the elements that are blurred---only 
the significance of the original distinctions.

I see Typhon's role in TBotNS as a sort of hyper-anti-Autarch, a Satan 
to Severian's parallel/opposite Christ figure, who demands that Severian 
kneel and accept him as his lord. Sev is practically just out of the 
womb of the Tower and has left the guild for good when he meets Typhon 
and is at a very low point. So what's the first thing Typhon does? He 
feeds Severian and demands an oath of loyalty.

What is wrong with this oath? The more unique Typhon is, the more that 
oath would be to his person and less to his throne. Typhon is all 
arrogance and denial of love and death. His military prowess is implied 
at best, but hints are dropped, in the context of the very SF tradition 
you call "not uncommon," as to his unique mental powers. What good does 
it do to drop fake hints? They can mislead or provoke thought or lead to 
other points, but they should not confuse.


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