(urth) Agilus and Agia
David Stockhoff
dstockhoff at verizon.net
Thu May 2 05:16:38 PDT 2013
On 5/2/2013 7:04 AM, Gerry Quinn wrote:
>
> For me the interesting aspect of Agia/Agilus is how Agia becomes
> entwined in Severian's story, becoming in some sense his Nemesis. It
> would have been possible to leave her at the end of the first book,
> but instead she becomes a recurring villain, and eventually becomes as
> Vodalus was to the previous Autarch.
>
> I'm not inclined to pay too much heed to the masks and whether they
> imply a connection to sorcerors etc. Agilus's mask is, after all, the
> modus operandi [somehow I want to make a fake singular 'operandum'] of
> the con game which we know they have played on travellers before.
> They want to separate Severian from his valuable sword, at the cost of
> his life if necessary.
>
> But the question remains, why so *many* tests and trials. We expect
> the hero to have to overcome certain difficulties on his journey, but
> does Severian suffer more than we would expect, and do they more
> commonly than we would expect take the shape of tests and trials,
> which of course resonates with the overarching plot. Obviously some
> element that can be interpreted in this way exists in all hero
> stories, and I think one would have a hard time *proving* that there
> is more of it in BotNS. But let us say such a series of tests is
> intended: then who is setting them?
>
> The Hierodules have motive, but unless everyone is their direct puppet
> it is hard to see how they could organise tests of a specific kind.
> Abaia might tempt Severian, or Agia try to kill him, but both are
> seemingly operating according to their own motives. The same goes for
> Typhon, the sorcerors and the rest. It doesn't seem feasible that
> *someone* is orchestrating events directly.
>
> But suppose we consider a more science-fictional explanation, based on
> the cyclic universe concept. Severian is not the first Severian - so
> he declares himself, and the adventures of the first Severian were
> different in detail. Perhaps there was a series of iterations
> [considered as a series in some kind of pseudo-time dimension,
> obviously] of which the history of the book's Severian is the final
> successful case [an interesting opposite to the story in 5HOC].
>
> *Over the successive iterations, the moving parts become enmeshed in a
> machine that leads to the Severian who will bring the New Sun. It is
> the New Sun - or Whatever is behind it - which ultimately selects the
> history that brings about its creation. No personality or group in
> the story, not even the Hierodules, are controlling events. The New
> Sun creates reality - timelines that are incompatible with it - such
> as the timeline of Master Ash or the first Severian - fade away. *
>
> *Obviously the Hierodules understand this process, but they themselves
> are moving parts like all the rest. The tests and trials are as they
> are because that is the series of trials that will create the Severian
> who brings the New Sun. Agia plays her part, but she is not directly
> motivated in any way to set tests. But this is the Agia who happens
> to set the right tests. In other iterations there were other Agias
> who acted somewhat differently and perhaps had more or less success. *
>
> - Gerry Quinn
I absolutely agree. The Hierodules merely manage the iterations---they
don't direct them. It's time/history/chance/evolution that "directs"
them to the extent they are directed at all. The New Sun creates itself
in the process, and it is the "head" of the process. I suppose you could
say it looks back on its creation and judges it "good."
It's bigger than Inire, that's certain. It's not just a huge conspiracy
run by some tentacle-faced little man behind a curtain. And that's a
great observation about contrast with 5HOC, especially given recent
discussion about the relation/opposition between it and BNS.
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