FR Part 2, Chapter 2: In the Care of the Mahdoubt

[danlo]

The protagonist wakes up after 2 days, regurgitates stuff, learns new stuff, the crazy old lady disappears, maybe...



You probably know the first part of this question already, I have no clue how to answer the second...: What do a matchbook cover and Ursula K. LeGuin have in common?

Part One: OK this is one of those transition chapters and is, comparatively, small, no problem, see synopsis above. What the heck did size ever mean to Steven R. Donaldson? This guy can write more compelling stuff on a matchbook cover than 96% of the world's population. (take that you blithering critics!)

Part Two: I have no frickin' idea. I know I'm subbing, but this chapter was custom made for Fist and Faith. He's a huge Ursula K. LeGuin fan and I can see similar pacing, discourse and use of natural magic here as in her Earthsea series. If you haven't read those books you must. There's the wildest match up between both author's language flow and usage sometimes. A key part of LeGuin's system of magic are names and the power associated with them. When Linden asks, "How do I know the Theomach's true name? Where did I hear it?" and the Mahdoubt says, "My lady you haven't inquired of the Mahdoubt's true name.", that's one of those moments-you can almost hear LeGuin speaking through Donaldson.

"...I'm not convinced that I deserve to know. And I'm sure that I don't have the right to ask. Your people don't use titles instead of names by accident. When the Theomach does it, he's hiding something. That makes me suspicious. But you're my friend. You didn't just save my life. You saved my reasons for living. Obviously you know all kinds of things that you've decided not to tell me/ And I respect what ever you do. Or don't do."

The Mahdoubt reveals her true name is Quern Ehstrel and I've tried to look deep into the meaning of the name: Queen Thrusher? I have no idea. By doing so she grants Linden the power to compel her and answers the question posed in the previous dissection: of course Linden's using her! She wants to be used! Soon after this The Mahdoubt disappears as if she had stepped into a gap between instants and slipped out of time. Don't you just love that? Such exquisite writing! You can hear Le Guin's voice there too. Here's a sample from A Wizard of Earthsea that you can compare, and what they're talking about is very akin to the "glamor" that Kastennesen's hand allows Roger to place on himself and Jer/croyel.

"Illusion fools the beholder's senses; it makes him see and hear and feel that the thing is changed. But it does not change the thing. To change this rock into a jewel, you must change its true name. And to do that, my son, even to so small a scrap of the world, is to change the world. It can be done. Indeed it can be done. It is the art of the Master Changer, and you will learn it, when you are ready to learn it. But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard's power of Changing and of Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is the most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow..."

Wow, amazing! Makes you wonder what price that "glamor" (allowing Roger to appear as TC and to drink springwine, ect..) will exact in the Land if we follow the karmic logic. OK Eric (Fist), that was my best imitation of you, better quit while I'm ahead.

I have gone ahead, so I'll try to back up and, maybe start at the beginning, but it's so dam hard when seeing a fully naked Linden hugging the Mahdoubt and before that exposing her breasts whilst fondling her staff. Ha ha Syl, your chapter may have been more important but I got more skin!

If we do go back to the beginning, and the first sentence I wrote, Linden will find out she has been asleep for over two days. She begins, slowly, to awaken, she can only pray, hope and assume she's now back in her rightful time having no idea where she is. Standard fantasy fare right? Oh no. Is she back in our world recovering from her wounds? No she knows she's already bought the farm (and it's not named Havenrimshot). And then' there's always the matter of the continued existence of the Arch of Time and whether or not a zillion laws have been broken. She's been swaddled in a sheet, bathed and smells nothing but the faint tang of wood smoke. Too exhausted, spent and dissociative to even begin to contemplate what happened in Berek's time she finds her healthsense is gone. But that's a good thing, however, it indicates that Kevin Dirt may be active, so she's somewhere close to her appointed time.

Jeremiah's presence had accomplished Roger's intention's perfectly: it had distorted her judgment, leaving her vunerable.

Linden finds herself in a strangely familiar room and realizes she's in the same chamber in Revelstone she occupied before Roger and Jeremiah ripped her out of time. The Staff of Law is there against the wall and at the foot of of the bed she lies in sits the Mahdoubt with twilight reflected in her crazy mismatched eyes,

Spoiler

but not the type of crazy we'll soon see in another of her kind's eyes

. It's all about the eyes in the Chronicles, isn't it? The Mahdoubt tells her not to speak right away (baby steps, baby steps-that's the important lesson she learned for her in Garroting Deep) and begins the restore Linden with water from Glimmermere. Cleanliness becomes an important theme here granite and Linden scrubbed perfectly clean as juxtaposed to the Staff in an odd way. Many things about the Mahdoubt are odd, but here she is back in Revelstone back in her wilful scullery-maid service. She tells Linden that they both were initially discovered near the waterfalls of Glimmermere by Ramen, and that Liand, Stave and all of her friends wished to stand vigil over her, but she dismissed them in order to provide the deeper care and healing that only the Mahdoubt could.

"When you washed my clothes, she asked, holding images of Jeremiah's plight at bay, "did you find a piece of red metal?"

There's that dang toy car again that must have seemed as alien as white gold to the Mahdoubt. Which stirs up the whole matter of Jeremiah's possible "real" role in the Land, just another tool for Foul or something more? Jeremiah's box, an interconnected construct like his legos, tinkertoys and racetracks, that translated the three to the EarthBlood under Melekurion Skyweir, proved that he does have power, power abused by Foul through the croyel. But what is the extent and implications of that power? Linden remembed that Jer/croyel had said that (during his encounters with Jeremiah in his, etheral, between two worlds state), --the Vizard had coveted a gaol for the Elohim, so, perhaps the Vizard was somehow aware of his power and planning on abusing it for that purpose. Remember that Vain was an ur-vile construct that fostered immediate opposition from the Elohim. The Mahdoubt even says to Linden,

"The purpose of the 'box,' as you name it, was to blind the eyes of the Elohim. They are"---she searched visibly for a cautious description---"susceptible to such structures. It's nature interacted with their fluidity, enabling your companions to elude detection. Thus were you compelled to met the crisis of the EarthBlood alone."

This quote is full of intense hints regarding Jeremiah's power-not only can he transport people through the construct it can be used as cover to slip by the Elohim and, possibly, imprison them. It also leads me to believe that there's a "hyperbolic" relationship between the Insequent and the Elohim. The Theomach has a limited field of preception, but a linear, almost "vertical" command of sequential time (as the Mahdoubt seems to share in a way with her comfort zone and ability to jump through time). The Elohim appear to be able to see everything as it happens now: a "horizontal" plane yet are restricted by their Wurd and inner dimension, perhaps that dimension and range of perception are the axis or come close to the axis. So, maybe Jehemiah's power is a means of breaching those worlds (not to mention our world), which could, in a strange way threaten the Insequent as well.

I need to talk about the imagery of shadows and if the Insequent are the shadow on the heart of the Elohim, Linden's transformation to becoming "greater" as the result of the conflict at the Earthblood and her own personal shadows. But I have to pick up my daughter at daycare before they close-so I'll be back to say more and leave you to discuss how the Theomach covered things up and how, interestingly enough, Linden became the first of the Unfettered Ones. See, I told you how crowded these 12 little pages are...

[Relayer]

Good stuff, danlo, look forward to the rest. I'll just add a couple quick comments...

I first read Quern Ehstrel as "Queen" and thought oh my god, it's Berek's queen. Then I read it again and saw my error and what the name really was. Obviously I was being dyslexic, but I wonder if this happened to anyone else? (dan, you tried to translate it as queen, too). Online definitions of quern refer to things like "A primitive hand-turned grain mill" or of stones used for grinding. For whatever that's worth...

Makes me wonder if SRD intentionally used a word similar to queen... the same way he used Lena / Elena.

[danlo]

If we approach it from another angle we could call this chapter "Cloaks"

Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks.

Surely you've seen this passage before as Frodo and Samwise hide from detection on the high rubble overlooking the Iron Gate. Gifts of invisibility from Galadriel? There are, at least, four instances in In the Care of the Mahdoubt that deal with this theme: The Mahdoubt's patchwork cloak of many colors that she must have wrapped around Linden to protect her from the passage of time, fashioned from love and appreciation of service. The glamor, or cloak of guise that Kastenessen's hand allowed Roger and Jer/croyel to fool almost everybody and also allowed them to consume aliantha (in the springwine) and not be exposed as servants of the Despiser. Of course, Jeremiah's cloak or construct that blinded the Elohim as discussed above. And the Theomach's way of cloaking the Land's history and Linden's existence in Berek's time.

I find it interesting that even though the Mahdoubt and the Theomach are adepts of time their approaches to it are markedly different: the Mahdoubt appears selfless while the Theomach is selfish. When she says she is unable to witness her own future does that mean that she can jump through time but can only remember the past or does it mean that pure service is more important than what may ensue? The Theomach, on the other hand seems to be able to travel the length and breath of time and chooses Berek's time to become his tutor and works to influence events for his own purposes along the continuum between then and now. However the Mahdoubt indicates to Linden that his power is greater than hers and that his purposes must be benign as neither the Insequent or Elohim desire the destruction of the Earth.

It gets more confusing: if it's the job of the Insequent to observe but not interfere, if they live to gain knowledge then only the Mahdoubt seems close to this role-clearly the Vizard has other intents as it seems to me that imprisoning the Elohim may not be the best way to preserve the Earth. She said that the Theomach gains knowledge through time and works for his aggrandizement, but why? Did he foresee Linden coming to Berek's time? Can he manipulate the outcome of events in the Land on the "vertical" plane that somehow elludes the Elohim? When Linden asks the Mahdoubt if the Insequent are the shadow are the heart of the Elohim she replies,

"My lady, the Theomach has given the Elohim cause to doubt their surquedry. Oh, assuredly. For that reason, many among the Mahdoubt's race name him the greatest of all Insequent. Yet she deems that her kind are not a shadow cast by the unspoken Wurd of the Elohim. Nor do the Insequent themselves cast such shadows. They are merely men and women who crave knowledge as diligently as the Elohim desire the sopor of self-contentment. "

There are those Donaldsonian words again! Sopor means a "dream-like state", but I can't even find surquedry in my American Heritage dictionary! Does that word mean? That he's one step ahead of them on a plane they're not adapted for? Or that he can control history in a way they can't? We see the Elohim here being "humanized" to some degree especially when Linden remembers Esmer telling her that no the Elohim aren't the equal to all things and that their "shadow" may simply be the fear of rousing the Worm of the World's End. It was, apparently, the Theomach's plan to influence events by becoming Berek's tutor. Did he foresee that the future could effect things in the past and contrived to create excuses to explain these effects and a way that wouldn't damage the Arch of Time? In other words history rewrites itself and comes back on it's own natural course. So what is he? A ghost writer?

This is enough for a thread of it's own, but the Mahdoubt states this regarding Linden's healing of Berek's fallen warriors,

"My lady, he made you the first of the Unfettered, those who in the time of the Lords sought lore and wisdom solitarily, as do the Insequent , according to their private natures. At the Theomach's word, a tradition began and a legend began from the wonderment of your aid, and all that has since transpired in the Land has confirmed it."

It's also highly interesting that even if the Theomach was not all seeing on the "vertical" Roger's image of Covenant would convince him that a Halfhand would return to meet the Land's need. The Lords would need hope even if Berek and TC didn't look like each other. Berek was so addled by his encounter with the Fire-Lions that the Theomach could have told him anything and he'd believe it. Fascinating dynamics at work here: what are the Insequent's strengths and why? The Elohim are, actually, weaker than they appear and the history of the Land doesn't need a prequel because the future can rewrite itself through the Theomach. Weird.

I think one of the final things I said I would talk about are shadows. Like the boiling thunderheads in Runes of the Earth as Linden and Stave race back from the horserite there seems to be a looming of shadows here. We may still not know the true shadow that lies upon the heart of the Elohim-it may be something beyond the Worm, the Insequent or some strange manipulation by Foul as stated in arguments involving Chant, for instance, here on the Watch. The Mahdoubt didn't interfere with the battle at the EarthBlood stating that it was something Linden had to face alone in order to make her greater. In a way there is some kind of shadow cast on the Staff, the croyel casts a grave shadow on Jeremiah.

"In its fashion, my lady, your comprehension of these matters is as great as the Mahdoubt's---or the Theomach's. Assuredly so. Have you not grown familiar with shadows?" Her mismatched eyes searched Linden deeply. "And is your heart not filled with darkness still? You have already encountered them within yourself."
Involuntarily Linden squirmed. She had known Ravers: she recognized the nature of the passions which had driven her ever since she had coerced Roger Covenant and the croyel to reveal themselves. Her own shadow had responded to Gallows Howe. But she had gone beyond doubt, and did not question herself. Instead she chose to ignore the warning implicit in her companion's reply.

Ignore the warning? Wouldn't fall into Foul's snares again? She may have become greater, but maybe not smarter. But this may be very important to her development as a protagonist. Maybe finally we see her mental landscape becoming her interpretation of the Land as it was for Covenant. So where will it's nexus occur? Hopefully not with Lord Foul saying, "I am your father!" Or mother for that matter. And, finally, maybe, despite the fact that it was Roger in the guise of TC he unconsciously did her a favor by limiting her use of the Staff. Now that we're back on the "horizontal" the use of the Staff and white gold may have karmic effects not yet known and Leguin reiterates this when she says, in the quote in my first post,

"A wizard's power of Changing and of Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is the most. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow..."

Paradox? No way!

[Cameraman Jenn]

Wow. Simply Wow. Nice job Danlo!

[danlo]

I hope that made sense, I've been battling the flu for the past two days. Boy you do read fast!

[matrixman]

Flu or no flu, danlo, yours is one of the most discerning dissections I have yet read. Bravo! You've made me think about a lot of things in a new light, or crystallized into words ideas that were just vaguely floating in my head -- way too much thinking on a Friday night.

[lurch]

To add my 2 cents to your brilliant dissect Danlo, I have to say how the whole awakening after two days sleep struck me as a " birth" or a re-birth perhaps. An innocence seemed apparent at first that slowly became cloaked. Yet the Mahdoubt is satisfied enough with Linden by end of chapter to allow Linden to " summon" the Mahdoubt at any time.

Mahdoubts Orange Eye perceives a dimension of Linden that is beyond the Light of the candle and the shadow that it casts. The Light exists. The Shadow exists, but the Mahdoubt sees in Linden the realization of more than that...thank you Viles. Your " axis" analogy applies here?

Again, rather than a single phrase or sentence as a metaphor, a whole chapter strikes me as metaphoric. As you expertly put it Danlo,, this chapter's 12 pages struck me as a matchbook cover dense pack. From the "innocence" of birth or re birth...to cloaking oneself, preparing for those that must come ,making ones self presentable,,but with the knowledge and access to the Love that Mahdoubt inspires. To me, a sober, or " real" perspective on the " Surreal" perspective, or for that matter, any perspective on life: no matter what, you still have to eat,,still have to keep warm, and have shelter. Those are the " whats" of life and perhaps this chapter simply emphasizes the importance of the " how" in dealing with them.

I've only read one or two of Ursula LeGuin's books.Dispossessed being a Title I easily recall. Thanks for the comparison! As i recall, her politics seemed closer to the surface in her writing than perhaps Donaldson. But i'm on a vapor cloud of memory on that.

[danlo]

Not so with her fantasy works...

[wayfriend]

What a great dissection, danlo! I hope I can squeak in some comments before the next chapter comes online, so I can claim not to be behind again.

I actually did not find too much to talk about in this chapter. Shame on me! You have shown me my error.

The Theomach has a limited field of preception, but a linear, almost "vertical" command of sequential time (as the Mahdoubt seems to share in a way with her comfort zone and ability to jump through time). The Elohim appear to be able to see everything as it happens now: a "horizontal" plane yet are restricted by their Wurd and inner dimension, perhaps that dimension and range of perception are the axis or come close to the axis.

The impression I have is that the Theomach cannot move through time, but he can see through time, see the future, in detail. While the Mahdoubt cannot see through time, but can move through time.

So the Mahdoubt cannot see the future, as she relates. The Theomach can, which is how he can steer Linden clear of those Arch-breaking pitfalls back in Berek's day.

And the Elohim, as Donaldson says in the GI, simply don't NEED to time-travel. They are all-knowing, and simply deal with whatever needs dealing with when it goes through the time that they are living in.

... The Elohim (or Insequent) can easily prevent an attack on Time by going back even further before. ...

• As a people, the Elohim exist at every (known) moment of the Land's history. Therefore they already exist prior to any malign (or benign) adventure backward in time. And they would always act to preserve the Arch of Time. So they don't need to go leaping around through the ages: they are already present (as a people: not necessarily as specific individuals) wherever the danger might occur.
  
  (02/13/2008)

This also means the the Theomach always would have encountered Berek, would always have became his advisor.

The way I see it, the Theomach (in every consistent time-line <rueful smile>) was always aiming to become the Guardian of the One Tree. Linden's imposed appearance facilitated a (small) portion of the quest he had already undertaken for himself.
(02/29/2008)

So I think that settles a few points.

So the Theomach, seeing the future, saw Linden's travails, and as he was passing through the right time (in an ordinary, living day-to-day way), he used his power to snag her and Jeremiah and Covenant and bring them to him.

I find it interesting that even though the Mahdoubt and the Theomach are adepts of time their approaches to it are markedly different: the Mahdoubt appears selfless while the Theomach is selfish.

As I said in the last chapter, the Mahdoubt seems to be the oddball. All Insequent are selfish. Except the Mahdoubt, as she has lived beyond her time and has found happiness in service.

Ignore the warning? Wouldn't fall into Foul's snares again? She may have become greater, but maybe not smarter.

danlo, danlo, danlo. You have to enter his snares to defeat them, remember? It boots nothing to avoid his snares, for they are ever beset with other snares, and life and death are too intimately intergrown to be severed from each other.

--------------------------

New points I had.

Her attempts to open her eyes, confirm the substance of her surroundings, felt hampered by caducity.

caducity: weakness, frailty.

This is a chapter of revelations. So, to borrow someone elses great idea, I provide a simple Q&A summary of what is revealed.

Q: Who bathed me?
A: The Mahdoubt and Pahni.

Q: Have you seen that racecar?
A: It's under your pillow.

Q: How come the Waynhim didn't try to stop Roger, like the ur-viles did?
A: They don't want to mess with the Masters, their old allies.

Q: How can I save my son.
A: I don't know, I cannot see the future like the Theomach can.

Q: Why didn't you expose Roger to me before?
A: To make you stronger, and to gain you knowledge.

Q: How could Roger and Jeremiah drink spring-wine, with all that aliantha?
A: Roger's Elohim hand protected him.

Q: How did the Theomach protect history from my actions?
A: Congratulations, you are the very first Unfettered.

Q: What was up with that box Jeremiah made?
A: It blinds the Elohim, leaving you without their help. Oh, and Jeremiah's power is real and very important.

Q: Are the Insequent "the shadow on the hearts of the Elohim"?
A: nope.

Q: How do I know the Theomach's true name?
A: Don't you want to know mine? It's Quern Ehstrel.

Q: Do the Insequent hide their names because it can compel them?
A: Gotta go. Maybe you should get dressed.

Is there significance that now Linden has the car, and not Jeremiah?

[Cleburne]

A great dissection Danlo it made for a great read, a job well done

[Mortice Root]

Nice job, danlo.

And wayfriend wrote

The impression I have is that the Theomach cannot move through time, but he can see through time, see the future, in detail. While the Mahdoubt cannot see through time, but can move through time.

I read this, and it finally clicked for me. That makes perfect sense. Thanks, wayfriend.




On another subject:

The Mahdoubt says

"Lady, you have become greater. That the Mahdoubt deemed needful."

and a paragraph later SRD writes

She (Linden) had not become greater. She had simply been made harder and more certain.

Assuming that the narrative voice is from Linden's POV we can take this last part to be Linden's opinion of herself. While I think it is true (and this should be borne out later) that Linden is "harder and more certain" I think that the Mahdoubt's evaluation of Linden being "greater" is probably a more perceptive viewpoint here than Linden's. Though it is interesting that Linden does not (yet?) recognize this about herself.

Wayfriend touched on this too, but

She (Linden) had confronted Lord Foul's snares now. She would not fall into them again.

.....Linden, so much more to learn, so much to learn.

[tonyz]

>But she had gone beyond doubt, and did not question herself.

That's a very bad sign. Consider Covenant insisting to the Giants (in Andelain, during the last trip towards Mount Thunder) that they need to doubt him. Certainty is the route to being Foul...

[lurch]

>But she had gone beyond doubt, and did not question herself.

That's a very bad sign. Consider Covenant insisting to the Giants (in Andelain, during the last trip towards Mount Thunder) that they need to doubt him. Certainty is the route to being Foul...

There is an exception to that sentiment. Consider, not questioning the open ended, not questioning that, perspective is entirely subjective, hence doubt becomes only what is held internally against the internal, not questioning the freedom of the infinite, not questioning the Imagination. True, not everything created from the imagination is a person's Truth, but that which sticks, adheres to, resonates with, becomes ones Truth; Who the Person Is. Not questioning that process ,,is a leap of Trust and the process can't become fulfilled when encumbered by doubt.

Lord Foul will be there in everything that does not " stick", adhere to" and or " resonates with" in Linden. After all, this section of the book is called " victims and enactors of despite".

[tonyz]

Lurch, I have no idea what anything you said means... sorry.

[lurch]

T..nothing to be sorry about.

There is a realm. This realm is infinite, without bounds. This realm can be labeled,,Imagination. The access to this "realm" is easier to gain by being the less encumbered( weighted down, parametered, boxed in,prejudiced etc) by the way a person thinks and perceives. To even " think" can be an anchor that grounds one from gaining access to ones Imagination. The Imagination is " open ended", unlimited. The cost to gain access is,," Free"..being " Free" of all the ways that you have been taught and habitualized into thinking and perceiving.

Linden has seen the "Illusion" that Roger and Jerry are. She has burned them out of her immediate existence, She is Free of the Illusion . But she is empty now. A walking emptyness. She has gotten rid of that which encumbered her. Wildwood shows her the despair thats available to fill the void and asks her to find a different answer to her conundrum. Then, in comparison, Mahdoubt pushes Linden into discovering her Imagination and being creative with what she finds there...the parable of the Red Flannel. The hint there is..with Love one can gain access to the Imagination and begin the self-discovery process. Love is open ended, unlimited, Unencumbered, as is the Imagination.
So..Linden being beyond doubt..suggests to me,,she has Transcended doubt,, has from experience, begun to fill the void that she was,, coming out from beneath Skyweir. Linden now knows the Process and Trusts it to some degree.. That is not to say..that there will be no pain, suffering and loss.She has a lot to work out. It hurts to let go of old habits.

[Endymion9]

From the book:

"The purpose of the 'box,' as you name it, was to blind the eyes of the Elohim. They are"---she searched visibly for a cautious description---"susceptible to such structures. It's nature interacted with their fluidity, enabling your companions to elude detection. Thus were you compelled to met the crisis of the EarthBlood alone."

And Danlo's quote:

This quote is full of intense hints regarding Jeremiah's power-not only can he transport people through the construct it can be used as cover to slip by the Elohim and, possibly, imprison them

Makes me wonder if blinding them is how Jeremiah can trap the Elohim. They can't see to find their way out of the construct.

Great discussion. Sorry to have so little to add.