From: "Don Doggett" 
Subject: (urth) King Jesus/Autarch Severian/Calde Silk - Part Two
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 14:58:56 -0800

Ok, so here are some of my crazy theories vis a vis my "enlightenment" after
reading King Jesus.  A few of them bear directly on the current conversation
regarding Typhon/Pas and his intentions with the Whorl.  I'm still working
most of them out in my head so feel free to help me solidify them or debunk
them.  It's the conversation that's
most important.  Here we go.

Jesus is the grandson of Herod.  If we accept that Severian is an echo of
Jesus and Silk is an echo of Severian then they must both be of the blood of
"Herod".  So who is "Herod".  Silk is the easiest to figure out and I've
always felt this but now I am convinced.  If Silk is not the son of Typhon,
he is either the grandson, or a clone.  I like the clone idea because then
Silk is the sun giving birth to himself as well as a descendant of Herod.
It also gives me great pleasure to imagine Silk's head on Typhon when
reading Sword or UotNS.  Plus one of Typhon's heads is blond.  Which one is
never specified but Severian says that his stare "was the poisoned regard of
the yellowbeard."(Urth p.274)  I realize he is speaking metaphorically of a
viper, but why use yellowbeard? And I doubt Pas is a faithful visual
representation of the
real Typhon. This also fills in several plot questions, such as how
Pas/Typhon intended to continue his rule on Blue and why Silk was invited to
merge with Pas.  Silk is Typhon.  It is the face that is most important.
Maybe.

Typhon is not Severian's father.  I believe that Ymar is.  More correctly,
Ymar is the original Severian and Severian is his khaibit.  A major clue is
the psuedo koan involving Ymar beneath the plane tree.  He follows a dog,
laughing.  Laughing indeed.  This is a parallel of Severian following
Triskele and finding the Atrium of time- a time travel device.  Severian is
being disingenuous when he says he is not the first Severian.  Only Ymar and
the previous Autarch went to Yesod and both failed (and were presumably
unmanned).  I believe the mausoleum where Severian played is Ymar's.  As a
khaibit he is in a sense his own father and a son of a king.  To carry this
extravaganza further, I believe that Typhon may be Ymar's father, mainly
because of the Tale of the Boy Called Frog.  Spring Wind could be another
name for Typhon and the Black Killer is the Torturer's Guild who protects
Frog.  Both Ymar and Severian are sheltered in the Guild.  Strange
coincidence from an author who is not known to be coincidental.  Plus, this
makes Silk and Severian not only of Herod's bloodline but it also makes them
cousins (I think).  This is really stretching but l have to indulge myself.
Assuming that Blue is Ushas (which I am nearly certain of, but that's
another can of worms) Silk, by travelling through time, can be John to
Severian's Jesus while Severian (who makes many appearances throughout SS
imho) can be John to Silk's Jesus on Blue/Ushas.  I know that's a stretch
but the Moebius strip logic of it entertains me immensely.  I also think
that the Mandragora is also Severian (a failed clone) and that Valeria is
his sister (if he even has one).

That's all I have to offer at the moment.  I haven't gotten to a second
reading of LS or SS though I thumb through them often enough.  One parallel
that I forgot to mention between Graves' Jesus and Severian and Silk is that
none of them are truly divine.  So that's it.  I am afraid that my arguments
have been as convoluted as Robert Graves' own and not one thousandth as
scholarly, but I hope they are worth reading.
"Jesus added boldly:  'Let any man dispute this who dare!'"

D.D.









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