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<pre wrap="">Marc Aramini-
Yes, the question of what exactly Blue is remains a big problem of understanding
what happened when the New Sun came, why there is a city there underwater, maybe even what caused
the eclipse that spared Severian's life in the time of Apu Punchau.
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<pre wrap="">
Lee-
Hm. I already mentioned the ruins beneath Blue's Ocean. And I have long thought the "Accepted Lupine
Gospel" was on the wrong track with regard to the eclipse ("Tzadkiel's Ship caused it"). What is the
direction of your thoughts, Marc?
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<br>
This is an aspect of Marc's evolved theory that people sometimes
miss. There is a lot about Blue that might recommend it to a long
ago flooded world. That's the way Marc originally saw it. But after
Wolfe's comment to him he began focusing on elements of the text
that seem to connect Urth and Green. <br>
<br>
The fact that Marc's theory has dramatically changed direction
doesn't undercut it in my mind. A broad theory has lots of moving
parts, and it is not uncommon for someone to correctly note that a
surreptitious crime has been committed, but then finger the wrong
suspects. Happens all the time. Some avoid that mistake by only
noting the evidence of the crime's /commission/ such as Ryan Dunn
did with Inire & Fetchin & Co's simian traits. But
ultimately--to have any hope of making an arrest-- you have to start
grilling suspects and you run the risk of people asking questions OF
YOU that you can't answer--an investigator prefers to be the one
asking the questions. The people who say "nothing's there" feel free
to offer the flimsiest excuses for some really bizarre passages (or
to just ignore them) while expecting the Theorist to explain the
most arcane, vaguely implied technicalities about his explanation.
<br>
<br>
I'm not saying Roy has done that with Marc's Theory. Although,
arguably, it hasn't been necessary. You see, Marc's theory has some
real posers--I mean, <i>/regarding setting/</i>, not exposition, /<i>not
what people say</i>/. Deciding that Green=Urth (or, to a lesser
extent, Blue=Ushas) is no less strange to my mind than if the Rajan
had come to Urth and found young Severian growing turnips on a farm
speaking like a hillbilly. And this weird discrepancy is --at this
time, Roy and others not withstanding-- the greatest refutation of
the Green Urth theory. (I mean "refutation" as "an argument against"
not as "proof that is untrue".) <br>
<br>
I'm troubled by some statements and events that imply Urth is closer
than anyone imagines. I'm troubled much more by the claim that Blue
or Green is Severian's planet because the conspiracy is sooo big
that I wonder that it could be kept hidden. Some people probably
think the same thing when I say Horn was possessed by a Neighbor or
Hyacinth is Fava and the Rajan is Hy's father. But I consider
physical changes between Urth and Green truly daunting and
categorically different. In each of those other cases, I argue, one
only needs to re-interpret the scenes and dialog as they are
presented. Green Urth means explaining massive events of which we
were hitherto unaware. <br>
<br>
I don't like it, but I think tha's where we are. If I sound like a
devout believer who has lost his faith, I'm not. I'm someone who was
always skeptical of this theory but _did_ expect it to yield some
fruit. But I got to the end and discovered, unhappily, I had the
same questions I started with. It explains why the dream travelers
ended up on Urth. But it raises up massive really scary puzzles that
are left unanswered.<br>
<br>
u+16b9<br>
<br>
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