Let me preface this by saying: I haven't read FR Chapter 1 yet, and I'm not sure I will. So no spoilers, please.
This is something I thought up a couple of days ago.
Look at the following lines:
In [u]White Gold Weilder[/u] was wrote:But each assault hit nothing except the specter, hurt nothing except Covenant. Blast after blast, he absorbed the power of Despite and fire and became stronger. Surrendering to their savagery, he transcended them. Every blow elevated him from the mere grieving spectation of the Dead in Andelain, the ritualized helplessness of the Unhomed in Coercri, to the stature of pure wild magic. He became an unbreakable bulwark raised like glory against destruction.
At the same time, each attack made Lord Foul weaker. Covenant was a barrier the Despiser could not pierce because it did not resist him; and he could not stop. After so many millennia of yearning, defeat was intolerable to him. In accelerating frenzy, he flung rage and defiance and immitigable hate at Covenant. Yet each failed blow cost him more of himself. His substance frayed and thinned, denatured moment by moment, as his attacks grew more reckless and extravagant. Soon he had reduced himself to such evanescence that he was barely visible.
Is it possible that, during this scene, Lord Foul poured
himself into his blasts, blasts which Covenant's spectre
absorbed? Could the result be that Thomas Covenant now
contains the Lord Foul?
At this time, Covenant is no longer mortal, he is a spirit - he is the Arch of Time. He is now at Lord Foul's level, or perhaps even greater, as the Arch dominates Foul. So it could be possible in a metaphysical sense.
Each of Foul's blasts diminishes him. And they make Covenant stronger. Something is clearly transferred.
And did Covenant not say to Foul, "You're just another part of me" ? And later, to Linden, "He and I are one"? These words could prophesy, could underscore, just such an outcome.
Other actions in the story have set a precident for such
unification. Nom and samadhi. Vain and Findail. Covenant and the Arch and venom. Ravers and their victims. Even Earthpower and the Staff. The Land is filled with the capability of spiritual unity.
So Covenant absorbs Lord Foul. Lord Foul would at first be dissolute. But over time, he could be restored, as part of Covenant himself. They are one. Lord Foul is not an alien entity in Covenant; they partake of each other. He would be restored.
And what would happen as a result? There are lots of clues in
Runes that point to such an outcome.
Consider the matter of Anele's possession. Who are his possessors? Two, whom we know. Lord Foul, and Covenant. And I have always wondered, why would Covenant agree to possession? And some of the words that Covenant speaks make you doubt it is him, this has been remarked on before. But, if Covenant and Lord Foul were now the same person, this could be explained.
And Foul said to Linden about Jeremniah, "Yet this I vow. In time you will behold the fruit of my endeavors. If your son serves me, he will do so in your presence. If I slaughter him, I will do so before you. Think on that when you seek to retrieve him from me. If you discover him, you will only hasten his doom. While you are apart from him, you cannot know his sufferings. You may be certain only that he lives." In other words, Jeremiah is safe as long as Linden doesn't find him, and if she does, Foul will either demonstrate Jeremiah's service to him, or slaughter him."
How do we reconcile this vow with the ending of Runes, where we see Jeremiah riding up to Revelstone with Covenant? Linden has apparently found Jeremiah. How can Foul fulfill his vow, if he is nowhere around?
If Lord Foul and Covenant are now one, then Lord Foul is riding up to Revelstone, too. That is how he would fulfill his vow.
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