Although the substantiation during battle is the same, I hardly think that the Despiser and the Guardian are the same. There is just too much evidence against such a claim. Although you have brought up an interesting point, it raised more questions than supplies answers.Believer wrote:I think it's time someone posited that the Despiser and Kenaustin Ardenol are the same being. As both were attacked they became more and more substantial. QED.
How is it possible that the Guardian(s) were also the Despiser? Do not both the Giants and Haruchai bleed when wounded?
Had Lord Foul had a hand in the placing of, or renewing of, the Guardian, surely the Elohim would have known of this, and possibly, had they deemed the threat great enough, Appointed one to oppose such a placement. Yet Findail, nor Chant, nor Daphin or even Infelice, for that matter, make any mention of such a stain on the Guardian. Yes, Findail himself is the only Elohim to even speak of the Guardian, and that is only to announce his presence on the Isle. But surely had the Despiser placed the Guardian, we would have been informed, or at least have been given hints in the text that this could be the case. Yet nowhere is that true.
Yes, we know the Despiser and his servants had previously tricked the Old Lords into taking them in as friends and Allies, but do you think that it was the Despiser's hand that caused the Earthpower to first make itself known to Berek? I think not. Surely the Despiser found ways to burden the hearts of the Friends of the Land, but at that time, the Earthpower was pure.
We know Earthpower is not the answer to Despite, but it did offer the Lords hope. It gave them the opportunity to find their own answers, to find strength within themselves to resist Despite. Kevin succumbed to Despair, and wrought destruction to the Land. That was the Despiser's work. But the Earthpower itself was as it was meant to be.
And although the new Lords were not nearly as strong in the ways of Earthpower, their Earthfriendship was stronger. The Oath of Peace bound them to the Land in ways the Old Lords could not match.
Kevin's lore was flawed in that it was poerful, but not proof against Despite.
But let us not forget that this Lore was a compilation of thousands of years of works of the Old Lords. Berek himself, the Lord-Fatherer, although an infant in it's ways, laid the foundation for the future. He was guided by the Earthpower itself to find the One Tree and create the first Staff of Law.
Granted, the Despiser was surely aware that this was not the answer, but he also must have known that it did offer resistance against him.
But it did offer Berek hope, a hope that he sorely needed. Surely it was the Earthpower that Guided him to place the Guardian, knowing that it was necessary to prevent further intrusion upon the One Tree. In this, the Despiser was absent.
He did, however, know the outcome of Covenant's attempt. And although the Guardian was not the Despiser or one of the Ravers, Lord Foul knew the consequence of Covenant's touch on the One Tree, and also knew that the Worm of the World's End would be made restive by the winning of passage through combat, and therefore wanted that attempt made.
The Guardian and Lord Foul the same being? No. Not while one Servant of the Land remains to resist Despite.
