Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 23:25:27 -0700
From: maa32 
Subject: (urth) for Benjamin  - sev as conciliator

Hi Benjamin.
Of course there are plenty of indications that Severian is the conciliator all 
over the place in BOTNS.  First off, there is mention of him as the Dark Sun 
(sev's fuliginous cloak).  Agia emphasizes that he is the master of time as 
they approach the botanic gardens, that he could be "right around the bend of 
the street", or something similar.  Of course he is - he's right there talking 
to her, and it's situational irony, as well as foreshadowing the power of the 
claw to reverse the passage of time and Severian's own travels.  There's a ton 
more - at the party in Sword of the Lictor where Severian is supposed to throw 
the woman off the cliff, he talks about how the Conciliator could be masked at 
the party and not even know it, clearly talking about himself.  Wolfe uses a 
lot of that situational irony, which I believe can be attributed to a very 
knowing Severian trying to hint that he is indeed the conciliator, long before 
we ever get Urth of the New Sun.  The New Sun is the Conciliator, and Severian 
compares himself obsesses about light over and over again.  Whatever one 
believes, Severian, and therefore Wolfe, certainly insinuates that he is the 
conciliator well before the sequel was written - but most of it relies on a 
kind of ironic spin.
Marc Aramini



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