Fatal Revenant, Part II, Chapter 1 - From the Depths

[danlo]

Really!? I had forgotten that. In The Wounded Land dissection and other threads, way back when, such "What was Foul's name as a Lord?" I continuously proposed that.

[wayfriend]

Yep. You were correct, danlo! Have you been hiding in SRDs hedges, sneaking peaks through the windows?

[Aleksandr]

I wouldn't say that this is definitely the source of the chapter's name, but it's a good starting point.

There's an ancient Christian mourning hymn based on the Pslam, once fairly common. The Latin version begins "De Profundis..." (Latin "de" also is both "from" and "out of"). Recall here that Hell is also envisiosned in Christian mythos as the ultimate Deep Place. I don't think Donaldson chose this title without full knowledge of these associations.

[Mortice Root]

I've got a question in this chapter about the Mahdoubt's conversation with Linden. In response to Linden's repeated question, "Why didn't they just kill me?" the Mahdoubt says:

"The Mahdoubt may answer none of the lady's sorrows. Time has been made fragile. It must not be challenged further. Of this she gives assurance."

Seeming to say that, because of the potential for futher damage to time, she can't answer Linden's question. But then she says:

"There is much in all sooth of which she must not speak. Yet the Mahdoubt may speculate without hazard - yes, assuredly - if she speaks only of that of which the lady has properly heard, or which she might comprehend unaided, were she whole in spirit."

So, as long as the Mahdoubt is speculating, Time is not endangered. But how does the Mahdoubt know what Linden "has properly heard..." about what has happened? Linden hasn't told her.

The Mahdoubt goes on to speculate, then, about Roger and Jer/croyel's motives. Then, by the end of the chapter, she moves Linden back to her proper time. This was, presumably, the Mahdoubt's purpose in meeting Linden in Garrotting Deep - to give her aid, and to bring her back to the appropriate time frame. Given that this was the Mahdoubt's intention, why the hesitancy in answering Linden's questions? Why does she have to worry about the fragility of Time, knowing that she's going to move Linden to the appropriate moment anyway? Oh, I guess Linden could have been unable to figure out the "gratitude" that the Mahdoubt required, but I'm not sure I see the reason for not answering her questions.


Oh, and I love "the looming threat of melody" to describe the coming of the Forrestal. A threating melody? Perfect description.

[wayfriend]

It is true that the Mahdoubt seems to know what happened inside Earthroot. Not to mention she knew what point in time Linden could be found in.

Perhaps she is one of thise inscrutable powers that seem to know everything when it is handy.

On the other hand, if she had seen through Roger and Jeremiah's disguises, she could probably guess quite a bit. She also may have been able to follow them back through time somehow.

[Relayer]

The Mahdoubt may also know about other plans or options, for which Foul or Roger still want her alive... things that haven't happened yet. These would be things she can't tell Linden, because she hasn't "properly heard" them. She seems to hint that she knows what Linden plans to do; yet must allow her to act freely, just as she has in the past.

[lurch]

As a person with plenty of earned grey hair this holding back of info by Mahdoubt is easily related to. Their isn't a parent of a teen ager out there who,,sometimes just had to let the youngster learn a lesson the hard way. You can tell them, suggest to them, hint, lay it out plainly,,but ,,as teen agers,,they know better of course. So, even tho one may see the consequences before they do,,one has to let it go and see what happens. btw,,what i am saying doesn't just apply to teenagers.Mahdoubt is there for Linden after the fact. That is the completion of the Deal, the completion of the gestalt so to speak; a loop that is to be repeated in future chapters.