Could Linden have made any other choice?

[Rigel]

One thing I've noticed this time through is that Linden is NOT the same person she was a the end of the 2nd Chrons. In fact, she's not even the same person she was at the beginning of the 3rd.

Her character has already been altered (abused and destroyed, I would even say) to the point that, at the end of FR, I don't think she was capable of any other choice than what she did.

Constantly having it thrown in her face how insignificant she really is... Roger and the Croyel making a fool of her (not to mention her inability to defeat them, despite having access to the Earthblood), the Sandgorgons threatening to attack both her and the Woodhelven with rapturous glee, the Masters questioning her every move (and threatening to quit her of both her Staff and Ring), her ability to fight hampered by Kevin's Dirt, the Harrow nearly sucking her soul, et cetera et cetera.

Not to mention the fact that noone who knows anything will answer any of her questions! It's small wonder that she feels she needs TC back, and that she's been infected with a serious case of hero worship.



In fact, I think Donaldson might be trying something new with this series... in the first series, the possibility was presented that TC would either "save or damn the Land." While I never really credited the idea that he would end up the Villain, on re-reads now it certainly seems plausible (at least until TPTP).

Now, however, I'm seriously wondering if LA will end up "damn(ing) the Land." After all, Donaldson has shown that he doesn't write the same story twice... maybe, after two other victories, it's time to show a failure? Or maybe TC will end up having to save the Land from LA.

Putting a spin on that interview comment Donaldson gave a few years ago (mid nineties, wasn't it?), maybe LA will become the Despiser. We've already seen that she "doesn't forgive," and she herself stated that "I'm not Linden. She never left Melenkurion Skyweir," indicating the depth of change in her.

We'll just have to wait and see...

[wayfriend]

FYI: See What else could she have done?

And also A Letter to Linden Avery (aka, I just finished FR)
and AAAggghhhh!!!! HOW COULD SHE?? (ending spoiler)
and Should Linden Avery be Forgiven?.

Maybe others.

[Zarathustra]

I don't see the connection between the title and your post. But to answer the titular question: yes, she could have made another choice. And since she didn't, I think it must have been the right choice.

After reading Donaldson for many years, I have come to the conclusion that you can tell the good guys by their empathy. (That's one of the main reasons Roger didn't feel right.) So, Mahdoubt is a "good guy." She trusts Linden. Stave is a "good guy." He trusts Linden. Ditto for all her friends.

Donaldson doesn't write about how "good guys" are fools. Therefore, I don't believe their trust is misplaced. I don't believe Linden is going to damn the Land . . . or if she does, it won't necessarily be a *bad* thing.

Everything else (well, not *everything*) is just dramatic misdirection--like Eremis almost convincing Terisa that Geraden was a "bad guy."

Trust yourself. Trust your heart. Trust Donaldson. Trust Linden.

[lurch]

Well..Rigel in a way, you've answered your own question..To you, it seemed TC would never have ended up as the villian in the first two chrons. Now combine that with not writing the same story twice.

The author is evoking doubt from the reader about LA like hardly never before. There wasn't a son, Jeremiah, either in the first two.
As pointed out by a few so far...the magic in the 3rd Chrons is this " feeling" by the reader like we are one of the characters in the book. The author has us involved in the mystery of TC and Jerry as if we were Linden,,or at least right next to her. The same questions the readers have,, the characters of the Land have and do voice.

In the beginning of dissecting FR I pointed out a neat trick the author was using ...the metaphor ,,or the state of being of the Metaphor,,was being made a reality...Reality of the Land and the Metaphor of it ,,the author merged,,or was in the process of merging. This is Surrealism...Mystery,,as in the first section of FR is a core element of Surrealism. Determining what is real and what is Illusion is at the foundation of Surrealism. But Mystery as applied by the author gets even more ethereal in the 2nd section of FR..The Mystery, the Unknown is..which way will Linden go? Sacrifice the Land for Jerry?..or not? This is the number 1 concern of the Land's characters and its the number 1 concern for the reader. The metaphor and reality has merged and created a new reality..the surreal. Your question is the same as the Land's character...is the same as TC's at the end of FR..Linden, what have you done?
..And thats exactly right. No answer, just Mystery. But the author is being fair here. As a Mystery writer he is giving us clues, just as he did in the 1st section of FR. In hind site those clues were rather obvious. But in the second section..the author is making it bit more challenging. I have suggested to be looking at what Linden is learning or coming to Understanding,, the Earned Knowledge the author made such a point of in Runes and in FR as well; its in the How she is going forward,,its in the How of Linden in the 2nd section,, that the clues are being dropped.

So, could she have made any other choice? It seems to me,,this is exactly what her Earned Knowledge is..Her re-born self..making decisions,,seeing the consequences of them,,earning knowledge. Whats she has earned in her,, How she goes forward ,will shape the answer to , Linden, what have you done?

The " new" in this story..is how the author is telling it. Its,,for me anyway,,thinly disguised,,that the author,,is a character of the Land just as much as we the reader have become. The surreal is..which one is he?..For now,,for me,, the author is Lord Foul. He has manipulated the reader into believing the worst of Linden Avery.

[wayfriend]

Now that we're dissecting FR again, I think I see Rigel's point. Linden's spiritual transformation through the Final Cs DOES bear on her final act in FR.

To put it simply, and as a question: is Linden summoning Covenant?

If she is, then there are several things that we know. We know, from enough hints, that the summoner and the person summoned have a link, a connection. A connection which, by the way, Lord Foul evaded at great cost in these last Chronicles.

We also know, from other hints, that the nature of the summons is related to the spirit of the summoner.

Of course, the question is, do these Laws related to summoning apply with resurrections? Well, we do know from TPTP that summoning is related with the Law of Death. And in the Second Cs we can see that the Dead can be summoned, and dismissed. And, finally, we get hints, in the second book of FR, that Linden is thinking along these lines: she is asking about Covenants summonsings and about the Necessity of Freedom at the same time she's figured out what she's going to do in Andelain.

All in all, I think the nature of Linden's spirit will have a significant impact on what happens to TC subseqent to his ressurrection.

[Rigel]

I don't see the connection between the title and your post. But to answer the titular question: yes, she could have made another choice. And since she didn't, I think it must have been the right choice.

Sorry, as far as the connection goes, I guess I just wasn't clear enough... the point is, Linden has been so damaged and hurt throughout the previous two books, that I think she is completely incapable of "trust(ing) (her)self." She's reached the point where she cannot take any other form of action than something that will endanger the Arch.

What she chose to do was summon Covenant. However, the other choices she might have conceivably made would all be equally drastic (levelling Mount Thunder to look for her sun, for instance). She is, at this point, categorically incapable of reasonable responses to her situation.

[Endymion9]

Not sure how on topic I am here, but just some thoughts as I read thru this thread.

Although it keeps being pointed out that SRD doesn't write the same story twice, there has been one consistent thread thru all three series. Power is never the answer. So it is highly unlikely that TC using his ring or LA using either staff or ring will defeat the enemy.

I see both endings of the first two series as "I won't fight you." So I would not have expected LA using earthblood and the staff to "win". We've seen that principle ever since Kevin was resurrected. I remember how excited I was to see him enter the series and really thought he would kick some Lord Foul behind. Could not believe how quickly SRD shoved it in our face that power is never the answer <grin>.

Like others I suspect Jeremiah's traps as having a big part, but don't see Foul exiled as someone would just take his place. If SRD truely intends a final answer to evil it can only happen with the end of all things, which I really hope does not happen. It would mean despair truely won.

So I guess the point of all my rambling is I agree, LA realized power wasn't going to win and that she has no answer...so what else could she do but beg for help from the one person who might have the answer and summon TC.