The Mahdoubt

[Sheriff Lytton]

Radagast ?

[native]

Might she be Elohim? She seems to melt away into shadow like one? And the Ramen, who previously encountered an Elohim, one of them seemed to recognise her for a moment.

[drew]

Yeah, but the Haruchai certainly know the Elohim, and they sure as hell don't like them! Also Linden would be able to perceive the Mahdoubt as an Elohim.
I think any theroy is deffinatly possible though, and heck, maybe we've guessed it right in one of these (many) theroys, but until Revenment comes out; I don't think well really know.

--What if Revenent DOESN"T talk anymore about her?!?!?!

[native]

Yeah, but the Haruchai certainly know the Elohim, and they sure as hell don't like them! Also Linden would be able to perceive the Mahdoubt as an Elohim.

iirc neither Linden nor the Haruchai spotted Findail when he hid himself inside the mast of Starfare's Gem. But I can't quite remember the details.

[drew]

Ah, but she's not hiden.
I see what you're saying though, she could hide her true self from them if she wanted.
My REAL point, is that there are numerous good ideas for what the Mahdoubt is in this thread, so it's really anybody's guess.
If you were to go with the Elohim thing, I like the earlier ideas that she may be Kassy's lover, or another offspring of Cail and the Merewives.

[amanibhavam]

I think if the Mahdoubt were like Amok, Linden could've perceived her as a made thing, not living. It's an interesting theory, though.

[Warmark]

a mahout is an elephant carer
so perhaps the mahdoubt will care for the lands animals

[sindatur]

This may be silly, but, alot of SRD's names are exactly what they are (Hot Ash Slay, Ra Men, etc)

So, could The Mahdoubt be someone we are supposed to doubt? (I have ma doubts). Or a Mother figure who doubts?

[drew]

What a possiblility of word-play with That one.
Unbeleif is a form of Doubt.
Doubt is what broke the Bloodguard Vow....

[wayfriend]

I think I pointed out earlier - Mahdoubt --> Doubting Thomas

[kldrawdy]

I think the Mahdoubt IS a living manifestation of Revelstone itself.

[wayfriend]

Here is a new¹ idea: Recently in the GI, SRD spoke about sight metaphors (3/16/2005). This eventually got me thinking about the ol' Mahdoubt again. Particularly, this bit of description:

And for the first time, Linden could see the mismatched color of her eyes. Her left was the rich blue of violets, but her right held a startling orange which gave the impression that it was about to burst from her head.

If SRD really has a tropism for sight metaphors, then our metaphor alarms should go off when we read this, right?

My first thought is that, a person with two different eyes is able to see things in two ways.

But blue and orange more than different, they are opposites.

So my second thought is that a person with eyes that are opposites of each other is able to see opposite sides of things; they are able to deal with both sides of a paradox at the same time.
______________
¹ New to me; if someone posted about this, I missed it.

[ur-bane]

Oh no! Now I am thinking about the Mahdoubt again, as well.

You have a very interesting point about the eyes of the Mahdoubt.
I don't recall any previous reference to her ability to deal with both sides of a paradox. This truly is a new idea.
One which I must now think about.
So the Mahdoubt would be a kind of prophet in that she may be able to visualize with accuracy the possible outcomes of certain choices.

Kind of reminds me of Esmer, who must seek to harm those who he also seeks to help. The Mahdoubt may see the harm in the help.

[Sheriff Lytton]

Perhaps it's Linden after suffering the ravages of the usage of the staff and white magic and a lot of tinkering with the fabric of time.

Either her or one of the Blue wizards. Allatar and Pallando I think they were called.

[Usivius]

OK, I can't beleive I read this whole thread. It made my head spin. For a character who is in the book for less than a few pages of writing, she has spawned a slew of theories. But, interesting nonetheless.
I have no theories on who or what she may be. But to reiterate the important elements of this character:
-she serves Revelstone.
-the Masters accept this and don't question nor point out how long this has happened. This is really peculiar since she is NOT just a regular old lady. IF she is connected as an essence of Earthpower, it would explain the Masters' attitude, for they are not against Earthpower (ther revere it) they are just against mortals using it.
-her different coloured eyes and patch-work cloak are a clue to her mystery
-her life was affected by a love to a point where she gives advise upon it. In fact her two main 'jobs' (if you will) are to serve Revelstone and give advice, or talk about 'love'.

OK, I know I've done little but rehash, but I just needed to lay all the tangibles in line.

[drew]

What were some of the theroy's you liked Usivious?


It's nice to get a new point of view once in a while.

[finn]

The Haruchai wanted to keep Anele at Revelstone and perhaps he may have ended up serving it. There was no reason to think Anele would have been harmed if he'd have become a 'ward' of the Haruchai, their problem seemed to be a control issue, they didn't want him wandering about using earthpower randomly.

The Mahdoubt referred to others (I seem to recall) and maybe these are also waifs and strays picked up by Haruchai patrols and brought to Revelstone. The place could be full of Unfettereds, Aneles or Mahdoubts.

If this were the case, it might raise the question of having so much concentrated power (call it being Earthpower literate) in one place. Could it be enough to be linked with Kevin's dust?

[Avatar]

Hmm, I like WayFriends take on it I must say. And Finn raises an interesting point if there is a reference to "others".

--A

[native]

A theory that occcured to me last night about the Mahdoubt:

She wants to associate with Haruchai. She appears to have (possibly residual) earthpower which the Haruchai nevertheless cannot detect, and her eyes and her being reflect a capacity to reconcile conflict and paradox. She's also old. One of the Ramen thought for a moment he recognised her. And she warns against love.

Could she be Esmer's elder sister? Could she be his mother the Merewife, Cail's lover, or even his grandmother, Kastenessen's lover?

[Khat]

Wow - Native --- we must have been sharing the same dream last night... I am rereading Runes and I also seem to feel a connection between Esmer and the Mahdoubt! I betcha there are others here at the Watch that will see this connection!

Good post!