The Mahdoubt

[Creator]

Another interesting point brought up by your mention of the Old Lords, and the Mahdoubt possibly having been "sculpted" by someone in the past, is that not all of Kevin's Wards were discovered.
If I remember correctly, only the First (given to the new Lords by the Giants), the Second (found in the catacombs of Mount Thunder), and the Seventh (Amok) were ever found.

Could it possibly be that she is another manifestation of one of Kevin's Wards? And that the aforementioned "sculptor" was Kevin himself?

....

Why not Amok? The Law of Death and Life have been broken - perhaps Amok has returned in another form!!

[High Lord Tolkien]

Another interesting point brought up by your mention of the Old Lords, and the Mahdoubt possibly having been "sculpted" by someone in the past, is that not all of Kevin's Wards were discovered.
If I remember correctly, only the First (given to the new Lords by the Giants), the Second (found in the catacombs of Mount Thunder), and the Seventh (Amok) were ever found.

Could it possibly be that she is another manifestation of one of Kevin's Wards? And that the aforementioned "sculptor" was Kevin himself?

....

Why not Amok? The Law of Death and Life have been broken - perhaps Amok has returned in another form!!

I hope she's neither Amok or a Ward!
Another human construct as a Ward?
Uuughh!
I liked Amok but one was enough.
How could a Being of EarthPower survive the Sunbane anyway?
Was she running carefree out of the Land with the Ranyhyn and Sandgorgons like Amok did?
I mean. if she was contained in one of the locked doors like the Krill all these centuries she would have been ravaged by the Sunbane and....been..... misformed like...Marid......and then when the Earthpower was healed she might have been restored but would look physically a mess... hey wait a minute!
What does Mahdoubt look like again?
Naw, no way.

Actually I suspect that she's evil but I hope that she's not.

[dlbpharmd]

You have the spelling right, with the exception of the dash. I think that'll pass.

You're right. And anundivian yajna is the lost Ramen art of bone scuplting. Given what is happening with time, perhaps that art has been found again. Or perhaps the Mahdoubt was brought forward from another time (where she was sculpted thousands of years ago).

If SRD used the word scultping, and he did, then he certainly did not mean suru-pa-maerl.

So who was the sculptor? A Raman, perhaps, or even an Old Lord. Who knows what they're capable of.

Your reference to suru-pa-maerl makes me remember the chapter in TIW "The Rock Gardens of the Maerl." I don't have my copy of TIW with me, so I'm going on memory here.

Covenant along with the Lords and Hile Troy travel through the rock gardens until they come up on a collection of rocks which can only be viewed from a distance. The boulders are arranged to form a face with a huge smile.

Covenant tells the story of another leper from the leprosarium, a woman who was horribly disfigured but still had her smile.

After Covenant tells the story, Mhoram says that he is a prophet. Someone asks if he foretells the fate of the Land, and both Elena and Mhoram answer "no".

I wonder - is the Mahdoubt the revelation of that prophecy?

[burgs]

That's an excellent interpretation of that possibility.

Donaldson did say that most of the seeds for the these Last Chronicles are to be found in the second chronicles, but surely he farmed the first chronicles as well.

[Sheriff Lytton]

I'm willing to bet £1 that she's Kastenessen's hapless lover. If you read Findail's comments in "The One Tree", she had obtained enough power and knowledge from Kastenessen to create the merewives, who in turn are sufficiently Elohim for their offspring to navigate time, so it would follow that their creator would have more than a dash of Elohim about her.
In ROTE it is mentioned that the Mahdoubt is significantly powerful. And her comments on the nature of love and how it leads to destruction seem to lend themselves to my little thory.

So ner.

[burgs]

How is it mentioned that she is significantly powerful?

[Edge]

I'm willing to bet £1 that she's Kastenessen's hapless lover ...my little thory.

So ner.

I completely agree. Which is why I posted exactly that on the second page of this thread, weeks ago. I'm glad you like MY little theory.

[burgs]

The problem is, she's far from attractive. So this is the woman that gave birth to Sirens?

I have a very, very hard time seeing that. Nothing that she said gave me that impression at all.

Did I miss something? I'd love to see a quote.

[Zahir]

Just a thought--who knows what would seem attractive to an Elohim? Recall that these are not human beings, not in even the slightest way. They might just as easily be a tree, a flock of seagulls, a cockroach, a cloud, a pile of sand, etc. Whatever their standards might be--and even among humans "beauty is the eye of the beholder"--it seems utterly certain they'd have no relationship to what we look for in a mate.

And keep in mind also, we never got a single glimpse of the merewives. We've no idea what they look like.

[Old Darth]

My best shot at her purpose is that she is related to some event that occurred after the Second Chronicles.

Since the Masters have tried to suppress all knowledge of Earthpower she might be the Earthpower's attempt to circumvent such an act. She is a physical manifestation of Earthpower just waiting for the appropriate circumstances to play a larger role.

Could it be that she and Anele have some personal history? Pure conjecture - nothing to back this up.

Since she is tied to Revelstone so deeply could the Giants - when they repaired Revelstone - be responsible for her?

I believe she is a new piece of business that Donaldson has added to the story.

Additional thought - her patterned garment is definitely an important piece of the puzzle. Since it has been established that Jeremiah has pattern recognition talents perhaps he will be able to discern the meaning of her clothes?

[burgs]

I think we have finally reached the point of overthinking her. Strange as that may be.

That said, I'm going with my original (although recently altered) belief that she is related somehow to the anunduvian najna or the suru pa maerl. The physical description of her face taunts me, and could speak directly to these two crafts. Someone could have found her shape inside the walls of Revelstone. No doubt that Anele will figure it out.

[Sheriff Lytton]

I completely agree. Which is why I posted exactly that on the second page of this thread, weeks ago. I'm glad you like MY little theory.

I promise you that when you posted that I'd not even read ROTE. I agree wholeheartedly with you apart from one thing... you have a theory - it appears I have a thory. Praise be to the great God of typos.

How is it mentioned that she is significantly powerful?........Did I miss something? I'd love to see a quote.

1) "Significantly powerful"

Quote:
"In spite of the gloom, however, Linden soon recognised the Mahdoubt. The comfortable complacency of the older woman's aura was unmistakable.
Still shadows seemed to trail about the Madhoubt like wisps of fog. But then she faced Linden with her startling eyes; and at once every scrap and tatter of obscurity dissipated, evaporated by her oblique warmth. Now she became more vivid to Linden's health-sense than any of her companions, more distinct than the stone of the halls. The Mahdoubt's presence shone in the dimness, lambent with abundance and implications. She appeared to command a personal dimension which was at once more ordinary and more numinous than any other place in the Keep. " (emphasis added free of charge by yours truly)

Well, she's the most significantly powerful caterer I've ever seen (Gordon Ramsay excepted). Mahrtiir's reaction to this is interesting, upon seeing her for the first time he tries to place himself in between her and Linden Avery...

Quote:
Mahrtiir peered through the dimness. "She serves?" He sounded surprised. "Yet she is -" He hesitated. "There is that about her which -" Then he shook his head. "Perhaps I am mistaken"...

and shortly afterwards...

"Strange-" Mahrtiir murmered, gazing after the woman. "For a moment - a moment only - I seemed to see another in her place. Yet the seeming was brief. It mystifies me.

2) Quotes from the Mahdoubt herself that may possibly contain implications she is Kastenessen's lover...

"... And the Mahdoubt can no longer recall her first youth, though she has been shamelessly charmed." (She's a flirtatious old woman who babbles a fair bit and she was originally implying Liand had been flattering her, but this sentence was what originally got me wondering)

"Be cautious of love. It misleads. There is a glamour on it which binds the heart to destruction." (That's the biggie for me anyway. If that were Kastenessen's lover saying those words... )

3) Other bits and bobs

If the Mahdoubt were a physical manifestation of Earthpower, then surely Linden would notice. She noticed when she encountered Elohim in the Second Chronicles, and she saw the Earthpower in Anele.

I'm not sure if Kastenessen's lover gave birth to the merewives or created them with the knowledge and power she had gained from Kastenessen. She was human, yet the merewives and Esmer are in some measure Elohim. And the merewives came into being a long time ago. After all that time she's entitled to look like she's been spanked with the ugly stick a bit.

Esmer is half Haruchai and it seems would like to see the Haruchai destroyed. And the Mahdoubt is slap bang in the middle of the Haruchai seat of power.

Hang on, I've changed my mind. I think she's a tennis player trying to escape from the rigours of the professional circuit. Ignore everything I just said.

[burgs]

Jeez, I almost feel like I didn't even read the book.

Now that you've brought that to my attention, of course I remember reading it (the word lambent cemented it). Ta-Da.

Also, still a good candidate for Berek's Queen. "She serves?"

[Edge]

I promise you that when you posted that I'd not even read ROTE. I agree wholeheartedly with you apart from one thing... you have a theory - it appears I have a thory. Praise be to the great God of typos.

Cool, I can take your thory as independent confirmation of my theory.

And thanks for doing the backup with quotes, that I was too lazy to do.

[Sheriff Lytton]

My pleasure. Now I think I'd better let my daughter get her hands on the computer, as she's been waiting to get onto nickjr.com for the last hour.

[Aleksandr]

The problem is, she's far from attractive. So this is the woman that gave birth to Sirens?

I also had the impression from Findail's tale that K's lover was fairly well looney tunes after partying with Earthpower Incarnate all that time. The Elohim were unable to heal her. That, and she was mad as can be at having K taken from her. The Madoubt seems entirely too sane and gentle for the role.

[duchess of malfi]

I like that theory.

One thing is for sure -- this "caterer" is like no other being Linden has yet met in the Land. If she were an Elohim in disguise or someone subjected to the breaking of the Law of Life like Anele, Linden would recognize that.

I am looking forward to finding out!

[Plissken]

As I'm reading this, one thought keeps returning to me: The "sculptor" of Mahdoubt could be Foul, Joan, or Roger. Drool's mutated bird keeps springing to mind every time I read her description.

If that's the case, her presence could well be the "something broken" returned to Covenant to cause him more anguish - with the Law of Death broken, she could even be the "Fatal Revenant" of Lena, Elena, or even - and because of her love of Revelstone, and of Service, I'm leaning this way - Atiaran.

Of course, Lena spoke in a similiar way in her madness, had trouble keeping her memory straight, has reason to be cautious of love, and was "shamelessly charmed" by Covenant - from her point of view...

Regardless, any of the three returning to torture Covenant with their presence gives a nice bit of completion to the series - especially if Covenant or Linden decides to restore her to her "pre-sculpted" condition.

Hell, it's as good a theory as any.

[drew]

Hell, it's as good a theory as any

My favorite so far!!!

[dlbpharmd]

I like it as well, especially the part about Atiaran.