Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 20:56:58 -0800
Subject: (urth) The Book of Typhon part two:  Silk as Typhon
From: Lisa Schaffer-Doggett 

Hi everyone, Don again.  This obviously needs a lot of work and=20
support, but the ideas are sound, I think.

The Book of Typhon part two:  Silk as Typhon

	This segment is more speculative than the last since I haven=92t =
gotten=20
to a second reading of the Long Sun books.  Nevertheless, I am firmly=20
convinced of its correctness overall.  My argument is simply that Silk=20=

is a clone of the monarch Typhon and, by extension, the genetic father=20=

of Severian who is a clone of Ymar.
	Let=92s establish some basic facts.  First, Silk was an embryo =
frozen at=20
the time of the Whorl=92s launch, and thus from the time of Typhon. =20
Second, Silk is blond, as I=92m reasonably sure Typhon is (though I=92ve=20=

never found a conclusive statement of this).  Third, Silk is very tall,=20=

like an exultant, and a natural leader, charismatic enough to be known=20=

all over the Whorl and on Blue.  And finally,  Wolfe describes Silk as=20=

having a =93reddish-blond beard=94 (Litany of the Long Sun p. 187).  So? =
=20
Here is a passage from Graves=92 King Jesus describing JC:
	=93You have a Typhonic, or harvest-red, beard. . .=94 (KJ p. =
221)
How coincidental that Wolfe gives Silk a feature that ties him not only=20=

to sacred kingship but also directly to Typhon.
	Now, here are a few rhetorical questions.  Why did the White =
Headed=20
One, Hierax (who most likely really was Hierax, much as Oreb was Scylla=20=

in SS) attack Silk so violently?  Could it be he recognized him?  Why=20
was Kypris so helpful to Silk, and so drawn to him?  (A tangent=20
question to this is why did Kypris spend so much time possessing=20
Hyacinth, who I think was also an embryo.  My guess is that Hy is=20
Kypris, or rather her Urth counterpart and thus Severian=92s genetic=20
mother.)  Why was Silk allowed to merge with Pas?  I=92ll answer this. =20=

It is because Pas couldn=92t collect all of his personality that he=92d=20=

scattered.  Pas is a scan of Typhon, so the easiest solution is to scan=20=

Typhon back in to complete Pas.  But, as Quetzal says, the jokes of the=20=

gods are long.  The Outsider has had twenty years and an enlightenment=20=

to work on Silk in Pas=92 absence.
	So here is my version of the Plan of Pas.  The Whorl flies to =
wherever=20
it is supposed to go.  When the time is right, the embryos of Silk and=20=

Hyacinth (not their names in this version) are thawed and brought to=20
fruition.  They are then possessed by Pas and Kypris and effectively=20
become Typhon and =93Katharine=94.  Most likely the other =93gods=94 =
have=20
embryonic counterparts as well, but perhaps Typhon pulled a=20
doublecross.  But this didn=92t happen.  Pas is scattered, Silk is =
thawed=20
early, and the Whorl ends up back where it left from (sorry, couldn=92t=20=

resist).  Silk is the Outsider=92s long joke, the redemption of Typhon.
	This father-son relationship between Silk and Severian is the=20
operative principle in where the =93astral=94 travel takes place in the=20=

Short Sun books.  Silkhorn ends up on Green to seek out Sinew, Horn=92s=20=

son.  If you believe Severian is on Green, then he ends up there=20
because Severian is Silk=92s son.  This also explains why he ends up on=20=

the Red Sun Whorl.  It has nothing to do with Rigoglio.  Silk=92s tie to=20=

Severian is what draws him.
	I realize that this argument about Silk is not as well =
documented as=20
I=92d like, but I haven=92t given LS and SS a second read yet. (so many=20=

things on my list!)  I plan to revise this as well, but in the interest=20=

of completeness, I=92ll send it in this form.

Thanks for reading.=


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