An enduring solution?

[I'm Murrin]

All the stuff about facing the bane and maanging to go within it without being consumed pretty much covered that angle.

The more significant criticism is, IMO, after spending this series repeatedly telling us how it is the people of the Land, Linden's friends, working with Linden that enable her to achieve what she does (and there was a sense that she needed to learn to accept the help and trust them), she leaves them all behind to go and confront this thing alone.

[lurch]

well,,yes.. yes everything can be metaphor..I mean..what part of being able run around in fantasy world after you've died can be taken literally? Death itself becomes a metaphor. Heck, the author even unhinges the language by using archaic long forgotten words...just for starters. There is a freedom in perceiving ...the message is in the metaphor. Its ,,really good Art what Donaldson has accomplished here,,imho.

This thing alone..SWMNBN..is Linden.Its not the True Linden just as its not the True Elena, etc...Its the Person..that an individual becomes when everyone else creates it,,shapes it.. It MUST NOT BE NAMED...because it is a FALSEHOOD...It exists out of being screwed over ,,abused by others,,their hearts broke by the actions of others... What did Linden say so many times to Jerry...We Are Not Our Failures,,we are not defined by our failures..Well SWMNBN..is FAILURE. So..Linden has to learn how to deal with this Failure aspect of herself..She overpowers the Failure with a forgiveness, a Love that liberates. She learns to forgive herself,,and thus isn't divided by her horrible past and her Doctor status now..She becomes Whole.....imho.

[Zarathustra]

I thought Linden already learned how to deal with this failed aspect of herself in the 2nd Chrons. Which failure did she need to get over this time? She didn't start failing until she got to the Land. Her failure had nothing to do with a man betraying her. She never felt betrayed by Covenant. Where in the text did she work through all this stuff? Where/when did she learn to forgive? At that last moment with the Bane? What was the process leading up to that? Was it just an instantaneous reversal? She kept saying the Bane was her biggest fear--which she had to face (not forgive). But for her the scary part about that Bane was She also represented death, carrion. So was her biggest fear death? Or betrayal? I don't see how it could have been betrayal; there's not a single word about her worrying over this. And hadn't she already faced her death many times over by risking her life for her goals? Why did she need to face it again? She'd already proven herself fearless.

This is a very confused metaphor. That's fine, but in everyone's attepts at clarity on this issue, I'm not seeing evidence in the text to justify those interpretations.

[lurch]

She betrayed herself by Loving a dead man..All her Love was un-Reciprocated..Jerry.. TC..She had no successful relationships. Her life was with out Love returned,,failure. She accepted that as,, Herself..She was self defeat.

In the metaphorical world of The Land,,she was able to learn to accept Love from TC..They finally admitted to Loving each other and got married and then made able to face her worse fear..fear itself..the failure of accepting Failure as self definition. ...She preached it to Jerry but still had to conquer it with in herself..the self defeat of not having Love , real Love, in ones life..or..the Loveless nature of Fear. Its the " real knowledge" that the author harps on. She had to experience Real Love with TC,,before she knew its Real Power.