b sharp wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote"><pre>I feel the need to tout my interpretation of the eclipse again. By having Severian himself<br>
<br>(subconsciously) cause the eclipse, the multiple problems of a ship-caused eclipse are <br>eliminated. It addresses Roy C. Lackey's observation that the eclipse ended much more quickly<br>than a natural eclipse.</pre>
</blockquote><br>Severian went back several years before the time
when the light of the White Fountain would reach Urth. His power was
weakened; we know he couldn't time-travel, though he could do minor
healings. I don't think he had enough power to pull off a lunar
eclipse. He wasn't even thinking of doing such a thing at the time.<br>
<br><blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote"><pre>I haven't heard any explanation for why the Hiero-dudes on a cosmic mission would bother <br>
<br>parking their vehicle in an exact spot for an exact time period to perform the useless task of <br>saving Severian's life, when he will be killed again soon and can't actually BE killed.</pre></blockquote> <br>
He
could be killed if he died then, so long before the White Fountain's
light that he "lost all count of years" (Urth L). By the time the light
reached him his body would be nothing but bones. There would be no
revival. To decode what happened we need to trace a historical rewrite.<br>
<br>1) The Hierogrammates find that Sev has disappeared. He is no
longer available to help build the new Ushas, or supply his genes to
new generations. This is a catastrophe for their plans.<br><br>2) They investigate and eventually question Joturna, finding out that Sev has gone into the past.<br>
<br>3) They know the outer limits of the time range he could get to.
"Flying his time, he runs til he must halt; then halts he here because
he cannot run." (Urth L).<br><br>4) They comb history for anomalies
until they find the sudden use of Inca arches. (Sev made a building
with arches before he died, and taught the hetmen how). (Urth XLIX).<br>
<br>5) They realize Sev needs a miracle to stay alive until the White Fountain light will let him return to the future.<br><br>6) They stage the eclipse.<br><br>Next
stage: history develops with the legend of Apu-Punchau. He is strangled
by his people when he attempts to leave, but the light of the White
Fountain allows him to revive and stay with them. Millenia later,
Hildegrin learns of Apu-Punchau and enlists witches to bring him back.
Sev is involved and the merge happens. The Hierogrammates learn of this
incident and figure it out; this is a new disaster that must be fixed
to prevent the loss of Sev. F, B, and O go back to that time and split
off a new eidolon. Problem solved.<br>
<br>With the early knowledge of who Apu-Punchau is, the investigation
is simpler when Sev disappears from Ushas. But they still must stage
the eclipse.<br>