Mark McDonald wrote:why did you not make Lena one of Covenant's dead in the Second Chronicles?
That is not the easy answer, that is the weak answer. My re-reading of TWL indicates that anybody traveling to Andelain meets their own Dead, that's why they come back all crazy and the entire region has been banned from travelers. I don't suppose they meet the Earthpowerful Dead, but their average moms and pops etc. from the grave.SRD wrote:The easy answer would be that Lena is not there because she wasn't Earthpowerful in life: her spirit has less of the requisite energy. Atiaran at least studied in the Loresraat, and Trell was a Gravelingas, but Lena had no special relationship with the "soul" of the Land.
Donaldson goes on to write:
I realize there are multiple levels implied in such questions, and I am very certain Donaldson wouldn't consider any of his serious answers copping-out. But the cop-out answer on the GI is always something like "the story didn't need her." Or, "I killed off Kasreyn because the story was finished with him." Or, "The people of the Land speak fluent college-graduate-level English because it is all just Covenant's dream." In this case, the strong answer, on the level most meaningful to the plot of the story, is that "he doesn't need reminders of his guilt." The Dead were there to help him, not bring him down by reintroducing him to a very uncomfortable past.SRD wrote:That answer is accurate enough--as far as it goes. However, it feels like a bit of a cop-out. It might be more useful to say that she didn't fit in with what I was trying to accomplish in "The Second Chronicles." I didn't want to reintroduce the themes she represents because I was hoping to move beyond them. To move, perhaps, from guilt to restitution or reconciliation (as expressed by Covenant's caamora for the dead Giants in Seareach), which is arguably the main thrust of "The Second Chronicles." (Incidentally, this also explains Elena's appearance as healthy and loving, despite the fact that she wears a very different aspect later. There, unlike "The Last Chronicles," the Dead are trying to bring Covenant what he needs--and he doesn't need reminders of his guilt. He's going to get plenty of that from Lord Foul via the soothtell.) So I wouldn't say that Lena isn't there because Covenant wants to forget her. I would say she isn't there because--brace yourself--the story doesn't need her. (Now where have you heard *that* before?)
(11/03/2010)
Anyway, I hesitate to think what kind of gift Lena would have brought for Covenant. And would she have appeared as old and anile, or young and nubile? (Hmmm, is "nubile" the antonym of "anile"?) If she appeared as the young Lena, maybe that would be the best gift: a version of Lena that Covenant can't even touch, much less rape.