The purpose of the Arch.

[Mr. Broken]

Foul is not trapped inside time we are.

[CovenantJr]

Yes and no. I don't think 'we' could exist without time, whereas Foul existed outside time to start with.

[deer of the dawn]

Apples to oranges.

But what evidence is there that Foul exists outside of time?

Or, for that matter, that we don't?

[Mr. Broken]

Look at your watch and then ask your boss if you can leave early.

[deer of the dawn]

But I'm talking about the larger context- a realm over which my boss has no dominion.

[deer of the dawn]

Anyway, here in Africa it's 5:12 and I'm free, while over there in the Western world, you are indeed, still trapped.

[Mr. Broken]

Im 34 years old and time without a doubt is catching up with me, as for the Arch Ill be trapped inside at least until "The Last Dark", and Im not so sure SRD will let me off that easy.

[Zarathustra]

But what evidence is there that Foul exists outside of time?

Donaldson said so.

Of course we are trapped inside the Arch. The Chronicles are a metaphor for what it means to be human. "Despite" is something that transcends time here, too, since it hassles us generation after generation. And it is also "trapped" in time here, too, since it lives through us. That's a pretty nifty metaphor, when you think about it.

[wayfriend]

This may be helpful.

• The Arch of Time *is* a prison for Lord Foul because he is an atemporal (eternal; unfettered by time, causality, or sequence) being who is forced to exist temporally, and who cannot--at present--return to his natural state. Such an “unrealistic” state of affairs is only possible in a work of fiction.
  
  As for the Arch itself: well, I admit that the language is inherently misleading. It implies a pre-defined structure with--among other things--two necessary ends (because an “arch” can’t stand without two ends which are attached to foundations). I regret that. I simply don’t have (and perhaps the people of the Land don’t have) a better way to refer to what is actually a *process*; or a set of on-going rules or mechanics which simultaneously enable things like chronology and consecutiveness (without which life as we know it would be impossible, and the Earth of “The Chronicles” would certainly cease to exist) and prevent things like wandering through eternity, or being everywhere at once, or even being in two places at once. My best analogy is the act of storytelling. “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” would be gibberish if I didn’t abide by a number of rules (like the Law of Time), some of which are so obvious that we don’t even think about them. Like sequence, linearity: sentences don’t actually mean anything unless the words are arranged in a very specific order. If you change the order, you change the meaning. And if you remove “order” itself, you remove all meaning. *That*, in its simplest terms, is the Arch of Time. It both imprisons and enhances each individual word, each individual character, each individual situation; each LIFE.
  
  (03/15/2006)

The Arch is a prison for Foul, not only because it contains him, but because it forces him to live a linear existence. This latter sense - that sequentiality itself is a prison, that order itself is a prison - applies to all of us, not just Lord Foul. However, to us it's our natural state, but for Foul it is not.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

The Arch is a prison for Foul, not only because it contains him, but because it forces him to live a linear existence. This latter sense - that sequentiality itself is a prison, that order itself is a prison - applies to all of us, not just Lord Foul. However, to us it's our natural state, but for Foul it is not.

And this is the fulcrum around which the LC operate - the foundations of the Land's reality are being mucked with, challenging the linearity of events with each move through time. Jerry has a talent for it as do the Insequent. Wild magic can be made to cause caesures, which do further damage to Time, even as gives Linden&Co. the flexibility to accomplish the otherwise impossible. Acceptable risks and such...
Although I love the imagery invoked with white gold as the metaphorical keystone, I have never seriously imagined the AoT as a structure that in any way physically resembles an arch.

dw

[wayfriend]

Spoiler

And I could not help noticing the reference to "being in two places at once". Now that I've read FR, that seems much more significant. :)

[CovenantJr]

The Arch is a prison for Foul, not only because it contains him, but because it forces him to live a linear existence. This latter sense - that sequentiality itself is a prison, that order itself is a prison - applies to all of us, not just Lord Foul. However, to us it's our natural state, but for Foul it is not.

That's pretty much exactly what I was trying to say, but you made more effort. Foul, like the Creator, existed before the Arch of Time was 'built'; 'we' didn't. We are inherently creatures that require time. For us, it is both our prison and our means to exist; for Foul, it is both prison and torment.

[amanibhavam]

The Arch is a prison for Foul, not only because it contains him, but because it forces him to live a linear existence. [... cut ...]
dw

this post should've been spoilered I guess


must be a weird experience, to be atemporal, be unfettered of time, linearity

[wayfriend]

this post should've been spoilered I guess

Correct! Fixed.