Why did Linden think the ur-viles were all killed by Foul?

[native]

In 'White Gold Wielder' after Foul was destroyed, it says:

"Somewhere above them, the few surviving ur-viles watched Kiril Threndor
in a reflective pool of acid and barked vindication at Vain's success."

So why do she and the Haruchai think there should not be any ur-viles left? Is this a genuine mistake in the text?

[Baradakas]

Although the waynhim and ur-viles were long lived, 10,000 years had passed in the Land. The ur-viles had only continued to propogate to fulfill thier Wurd, i.e. Vain. Since Vain, thier ideal of perfection had served his purpose, then it would stand to reason that the ur-viles would in fact be extinct 10,000 years later.... IMO

-B

[dlbpharmd]

Where are you getting the 10,000 years from?

[native]

She said she thought Foul had killed them all, not that they'd died out.

[jelerak]

It states 'somewhere above them', but doesn't actually state that they are physically present, does it? I don't have my copy here at work with me.

Could it be that it was the ur-viles version of their 'dead' looking down at their success in vindication?

[Akasri]

Could it be that it was the ur-viles version of their 'dead' looking down at their success in vindication?

the few surviving ur-viles

That implies to me that they are not dead. I think it's an author oversight. Earlier in the book it was implied that the Sunbane-warped ur-viles were all that were left, and they were wiped out weren't they?

And it was only 3,500 years or so, not 10,000, but yeah, you'd think they would have died off.

*edit* for clarity

[jelerak]

Ooops...I missed that 'surviving' thing now, didn't I?

[CovenantJr]

Come on people, make an effort! What's the point of being an obsessive fan if you can't try to cram every blip and error into some kind of cohesive plot fragment.

The ur-viles were hidden away from the Sunbane, and then Foul's released noxious odours that caused them to choke...

Hmm.

[native]

Come on people, make an effort! What's the point of being an obsessive fan if you can't try to cram every blip and error into some kind of cohesive plot fragment.

OK how about this. Linden saw so many things at the same time when her health sense expanded to encompass the land, the first time she wielded both staff and ring, that she forgot most of them almost immediately.

And so did the author.

[CovenantJr]

Nice effort Now if only the others would join in

[Borillar]

It is kind of weird how in Runes, there's this sudden line early on where Linden thinks "Because the ur-viles had turned against the Despiser, he had destroyed them all." I can't think of a reason in the world why she would have thought this; although in WGW she had seen the warped ur-viles who were probably forcibly exposed to the Sunbane by Foul, she had no reason to believe that this was all of them. This seems like it might be an error...

[CovenantJr]

This seems like it might be an error...

Like the window that opens onto both the rising sun and the setting sun in early versions of Mordant's Need

[MrKABC]

In the first Chronicles there were tens of thousands of ur-viles.

In WGW, there were "...warped ur-viles. Hundreds of them."

It stands to reason that ur-viles weren't all destroyed by the Despiser, the statement "...the few surviving ur-viles looked at Vain's success in a reflective pool of acid and barked in vindication" makes me wonder what happened to all of the other thousands of ur-viles that are unaccounted for? A caesure?

[Nerdanel]

I think it's a mistake on Linden's part. She was too busy with everything else to detect the hiding ur-viles with her health sense and later just assumed all the ur-viles were killed. I think Lord Foul didn't have the time to deal with every ur-vile before Covenant appeared with the ring, and also it wouldn't have been an absolute top priority for Foul when he was going to break the Arch of Time in short order anyway. Then later Foul was in no condition to punish any ur-viles for a very long time.

You know, it's just possible the ur-viles that helped Linden really didn't appear from a caesure. Perhaps they are again on peaceful terms with Lord Foul (you forgive Vain, I forgive the attempted end of the world). It could also be that the caesure was from a time earlier than the Sunbane. I have the strongest feeling Linden was being manipulated at least part of the time, but there are several possibilites...

[High Lord Tolkien]

I think in the GI, SRD answers this very question.
He basically said he screwed up about it in Runes if I remember correctly.

[Aleksandr]

Somewhere above them, the few surviving ur-viles watched Kiril Threndor in a reflective pool of acid and barked vindication at Vain's success

Anyopne else ever note the problem in the above statement? It bothered me the moment I read it in WGW. Ur-Viles don't have eyes. How were they "watching" anything?

[wayfriend]

That does seem like a mistake.

But, then again, are they ever described as blind?

Eyeless, yes, but that doesn't make them blind: consider Hile Troy.