(urth) The Ship

[Lee Berman]

>Jeff Wilson: The way Sev and his emotions have nothing to do with the flying cathedral?

 

Wrong story ;-). That's the beginning of Shadow and we are all the way to the end of Urth.

Severian has gone through some changes in the duration, yes? Anyway, there is no suspicion

raised that Severian caused the cathedral to fly using his power.

 

>Tzad already gives him legitimate godhood as the New Sun by connecting 
>him to the White Fountain. Tzad is also already complicit in at least 
>two other flim-flam jobs on Sev and the sailors.


Severian seems able to draw power from the Urth (and the Ship) not just the White Fountain.

Earlier in this discussion it was postulated that his time travel abilities come from the

WHite Fountain while perhaps his human healing powers come from the Urth, since he does 

some of that as Apu Punchau. I think the storm and earthquake are also Urthly in nature so

perhaps the eclipse also.

 

Yes, Tzadkiel is a deceiving scoundrel (as are his avatars on Urth, imho). No argument there.

But it seems like overkill. Why would he/she go through the gargantuan effort of parking the

Ship for hours and playing tug-of-war with Urth's, Lune's and the Sun's gravity just to save 

Severian's life from some primitives? Seems a lot easier (and amazing to primitives) to do

what was done when Apu Punchau actually was killed: send in Ossipago and create an eidolon.

 

>>The Ship may be big enough and all that but it is an unatural and unnecessary
>>addition to the story since a large body to block the sun already exists.

 

>Unnecessary? Was he going to take the train to Yesod?


He wasn't going to Yesod at the time of the eclipse. There was no reason for the Ship to be

there except to participate in elaborate, extravagent and unnecessary theatrics.

 

>"The ship's always been outside the circle of Dis."

 

>"Sometimes they bring the big one in a good bit closer than this," the 
>hand detailed to guide us confided as we came aboard. "Only they can't 
>help getting between somebody's eyes and a few stars when they do. So 
>you'll be about a day with us."

 

Yes, the above quote is the best evidence for the Ship being the cause of the eclipse. And it

is pretty good. I've never denied it. I've only argued that I have doubts because of counter-

evidence, which I've been listing. The tender captain may know more about the Ship than Severian 

but Wolfe still has Severian say the Ship has always been outside the circle of Dis (alternate 

name for Pluto). Why is this necessary? Is Tzadkiel trying to avoid all the spying eyes living on 

Neptune and Uranus? Must we postulate unmentioned human civilizations on gas giant moons to make

this theory work?

 

Anyway, it might be the Ship causing the eclipse. But it might not be. There are numerous other 

WOlfe puzzles which appear deliberately  to have two or more contradictory answers. This may be 

an example of one and it seemed worth mentioning and participating in the inevitable debate.