Lord Foul Getting Smarter

[Avatar]

Agreed - one of Foul's proxies created the Dirt.

Ooh ooh - don't forget the Demondim. Are they proxies or cannonfodder?

I'm guessing cannon fodder, but I won't bet on it.

--A

[Tjol]

I think the dirt is similar to the sunbane. Just instead of coming to the land already broken, and trying to fix it before it dies..... this time, the dirt is only the beginning, and linden (and TC?) are going to be made to see that even given a head start they can't stop the dirt from becoming more and more powerful.

Granted the dirt may also be similar to Elena's wish, to the Haruchai claiming the illearth fragment as a weapon against foul, the dirt is fearing more than loving (a little twist on Mhoram's understanding of the secret of the ritual)...

The dirt is a bit like alzheimer's. I'm sure a few of you have seen it at work on people you know. The dirt is alzheimer's on the land. Foul has probably enabled the people of the land to put this upon themselves unknowingly, even if he himself did not create the problem, he's always there to help it be created.

These are all speculations on my part though. One of the things I really enjoy about the depth of SRD's writing, is it's ability to be just vague enough, in sharp detail... leaving all sorts of possible kinds of interpretations... leaving just enough of the story unwritten so that the reader can write a few words in between.

[blackholearmy]

I personally prefer the idea of the dirt as an expression of greater despair, and despite.

In the original Land, Foul did what he could to spread despite and despair. However, the Lords had such a deep and abiding love of the Land, that little could take it away from them.

Under the Sunbane, however, instead of attacking the love of the Land, and Earthfriendship, he attacked the Land itself, making it less of an object to love. However, there was still hope under the Sunbane.

Under Kevin's Dirt, the people cannot see the Land, and they cannot love it. The Stonedowners and Woodhelvennin hold no abiding love of the Earth, and they have no healthsense. Firstly, Foul tried to cut off the love itself, and, failing that, harmed that which was to be loved, and, finally, seems to be striking at the abiliyt to love, rather than the love itself.

And, without the abiding love of the Land, despair is much easier to come by, is it not?

[Tjol]

^ Good post. Looking at it that way does make Foul's efforts a little more rational... the way you put it, Foul may not know what makes people tick exactly, but he's always trying new things in an effort to figure them out.

[KAY1]

I agree that simply taking away people's health sense so that they cannot see the wonders of the Land was a smart move. With the Sunbane Foul may have made people afraid and even hate the Land, but they still had passion and where there is a strong negative passion, there will always be people who feel just as strongly the opposite way and want to take action. If everything is made pretty bland you don't feel strongly one way or the other. I think it is more than that though. After all the Masters are there and also the Land is beautiful enough anyway for people to love it. but without knowing about the wonders the Earth holds (Foul takes away their health sense and the Masters withold information about Earthpower), they cannot use any of the power or understand the threats against them. The Masters are definitely Foul's servants in this, albeit unwillingly/unwittingly.

[wayfriend]

But if the Harachai are right in their opinion, or even merely in the ballpark, then the people of the Land's ability to access Earthpower has always served him. Even under the Sunbane, he went out of his way to ensure that a form of Earthpower was accessible. In fact, all of his attacks usually involve giving people power, from giving Covenant venom to giving the Clave the Banefire to giving Elena the Staff to helping Kevin utter the Ritual. Maybe you can argue that he's seen the light and changed his modus. But I see no evidence of that yet.

[Nerdanel]

There was no health sense under the Sunbane either (except for Linden, who I suspect was simply too powerful for the blocking effect, like Anele in Runes). The lack of health sense was very beneficial to Lord Foul. Without it, it wouldn't have been possible to position a Raver as the High Lord equivalent. Also, with people unable to see the inner states of others, cruelty like sacrificing of strangers comes much easier to them.

I think Lord Foul analyzed the reasons for his defeat in the Second Chronicles and came to the correct conclusion that the beauty of the Land and the kindness of its people swayed into Covenant becoming a savior. In the Second Chronicles there was little of that left, but Covenant and Linden prevailed anyway. Naturally Foul again refined his tactics.

Friends were a crucial help for Covenant and Linden. I think this time Linden is surrounded by some less than trustworthy people, either because they are consciously treacherous and either Esmer or able to avoid finding their intentions known by her health sense (ur-viles, the Mahdoubt) or because they are sincere and don't know of the danger they pose. The latter might either be constructs with preprogrammed instructions (like Vain but more realistic - a highest accomplishment of ur-vile skill doesn't have to remain so, for example) or dead brought to life with some critical memories wiped so that they don't know that they are dead and can be commanded when it best suits Lord Foul.

With Linden now in possession of both the ring and the Staff of Law, she has the constant temptation to give one of them to someone, but if she gives either to a wrong person, the consequences can be disastrous.

In the past Lord Foul eschewed turning a white gold wielder into a tool, but now he has changed his mind. Joan is a powerful tool, and it's possible that even Linden is an unknowing tool of the Despiser. In this situation Lord Foul can first beat every conceivable opposition in the world even better than under the Sunbane and then concentrate on getting the white gold without interference. He only needs to make sure that the white gold will be passed to somebody able to access its full power.

Unlike in the past when the people of the Land could do a fair job of defending themselves, this time they have been reduced into a state of ignorance, as perfect an innocent victimhood as possible. When the inevitable Bad Stuff starts happening for real, the suffering of the people of the Land is going to be really hard on Linden, particularly if Lord Foul find a way to blame part of it on Linden herself, which I think will be the case.