<div>If we accept that Severian died and was resurrected in Gyoll (which, contextually, seems to be right: cf. the chapter title, the child's skull, the feeling of his death), then we have to assume that the Hieros (or perhaps just Tzadkiel) have always known that Severian would be the New Sun. Of course, in Severian's timeline, there has always been an Apu-Punchau and always been a Conciliator, so to avoid a paradox, Severian must also always have had to go to Yesod and return by the brook.</div>
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<div>Bringing a little more philosophy in the discussion, we might say that it was in fact necessary that Severian be the New Sun; that in all possible worlds, no matter what else happens, Severian is the New Sun and so the Hieros refuse to let him "die" in the sense of never creating a new aquastor for his body to inhabit.</div>
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<div>Maybe our aquastor-counting can be simplified some -- what happens to Severian that night in the Stone Town where he encounters Apu-Punchau? I always read that scene as one of the two aquastors colliding, and since two (presumably) identical things existing together in separate spaces would be a paradox itself, the two merged.</div>
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<div>Lane</div>