Kevin's Watch

Nevertheless, it seems clear that the "don't touch us" rule only applies to Linden, at least that we know of: during Covenant's and Jeremiah's flight, mention is made of how Covenant clung to the Haruchai who was leading his horse.
I tend to side with the idea that just like Covenant was identified with white gold, Linden is identified with the Staff of Law (it was also hinted at in the trailer, if you recall). Regarding Covenant, it is worth noting that, as far as I recall, he did touch Linden once after his death, in the SC, but that was before she created the Staff. If so, then obviously this prohibition stems either from the Staff's existence, or from a change in Covenant's nature over the past millennia. Presumably, however, as the Staff is an instrument of Law, and Covenant's manifestation is only possible due to two broken Laws, touching him with the Staff might indeed cause him to disappear.

As for Jeremiah, though... that is a rather disturbing situation. However... there was speculation - fueled by Roger's words in Runes - that Jeremiah's spirit was trapped either in the Land, or between the Land and Earth, ever since the beginning of the Second Chronicles, and therefore the reason why he was unresponsive in the real world (as well as the reason why he could envision and build Revelstone and Mount Thunder) were because his spirit was simply not there, but capable at least of seeing the Land, perhaps lost in the blackness between worlds.

What does this imply? Well, if that's correct, then it means that the summoning ritual which brought Roger, Joan and Linden to the Land could have had a completely different effect on Jeremiah, or no effect at all. If his spirit didn't occupy his earthly body when the ritual took effect and he died, he might be now stuck in a similar situation as Covenant - in that he died in the real world, but he has no real, corporeal body in the Land because the summoning ritual didn't work properly with him. In this case, he would likely be - like Covenant - a spirit of sorts, who presumably could manifest in corporeal form - again, like Covenant - only because of the breaking of the Laws of Life and Death. In this case, it's easy to see how the aforementioned arguments about the Staff of Law could also apply to him.

Linden notices that Covenant looks younger. Yes, it's true that if he's a spirit now, there's no reason for his appearance to be consistent with the age he was when he died - but it still seems to be more than that, to me. If Covenant's apparent age was irrelevant, it wouldn't have been mentioned, so I feel justified in assuming that there's something important going on there. Now, I can't see Covenant being vain enough to alter his appearance to make himself look younger, so there must be some other influence.

Unless it isn't Covenant. The thing that immediately came to mind for me was Foul having recreated Covenant in some way - and in the way he knows him best. His prime, if you like. *shrug* It's a weak argument, but that was immediate thought upon reading that passage.

By the way, does this mean that Covenant, who was ten years Linden's senior (and now several millennia her senior!) will appear to Liand etc to be a toy boy?

Not a lot of new information really.
Chapter 2 available July 9th, hope that will provide some more details - TC asks the Masters to give him room and board before he explains stuff to Linden.
TC is doing something with Time that allows him and Jeremiah to be in two places/times at once - if Linden uses the Staff it will snap time back into alignment and they will disappear.
The Demondim were herding TC and company to Revelstone because they thought TC had some sort of power that he could use against them if they (the Demondim) attacked.

the red car.

Among the shadows cast by the flames, she saw a small muscle beating like a pulse at the corner of his left eye.