<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><div><font size="3"><x-tab></x-tab></font></div></blockquote>I think Severian's many loves are not an aside but are instead a very purposeful and central part of the books. Each of these women helps Severian to discover an important part of himself, or represents some crucial decision or period in his life: Thecla engages his intellect and is the (perverse) beginning of his start down the road toward mercy; Dorcas teaches him to protect the innocent and care for others; Agia challenges his budding committment to mercy, and is the foil for his evolution from a callous person who in the past would have casually dispatched a dangerous enemy to one who spares life and protects it where he can. Et cetera.<br><br>macronaut<br><p> 
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