Wild Magic

[KAY1]

I actually asked SRD a question re 'being' the white gold in his gradual interview and his reply was as follows:

I think the point on which I've failed to be clear is that it's a question of *degree*. White gold is the instrument of wild magic. Any passing stranger with a bit of lore and/or sensitivity could get *some* use out of the ring. And the more lore and/or sensitivity that someone-not-Covenant has, the more useful the ring will be. But only the ring's true wielder, someone who has an organic relationship with that specific ring (Covenant, Joan), can access *all* of the power of wild magic. The Elenas and Lindens of the Land can evoke a LOT of power from white gold; but a LOT is a far cry from the near-absolute power required to destroy the Arch of Time.

Lord Foul has no use for a LOT of power: he needs near-absolute power. Hence the somewhat oblique focus of his machinations.[quote]

[matrixman]

Thanks for asking SRD, KAY! And thanks to SRD for a good answer! His explanation has definitely helped to give a clearer picture of the white gold and its relationship to its wielder(s).

[wayfriend]

Thanks for asking SRD, KAY!

Ditto. Plus, it's nice to find out which Watcher asked which question.

Looking back to what Donaldson said in the GI one year ago, I think that he has been actively re-engineering all of these concepts in order to make them more internally consistant. He's been spackling holes and slapping on paint, moving some furniture around. Probably in response to the GI.

The problem here is that you have different answers now than you had before. And there are probably a whole new set of inconsistencies which will be uncovered over time.

JP
I have a question about the nature of personal choice as it relates to Covenant's [ring]. Covenant tells Linden that the reason that Foul hasn't simply possessed him with a Raver to obtain the ring is that it has to be given by choice in order for its power to be unlocked. And when Hile Troy is about to use its power, it was given to him willingly by Covenant. Yet:

1) Dead Elena is able to utilize it when it's forcibly swiped from Covenant in Power That Preserves, and

2) Linden is able to "possess" Covenant to use the ring at various times.

Are there explanations that fit these instances into the theory of personal choice?

<sigh> All of this would be so-o-o much easier if I hadn't *forgotten* that Covenant gives his ring to Troy in "The Illearth War" and has it taken from him by Elena in "The Power that Preserves." I tell ya, folks, internal consistency's a bitch.

The key points to keep in mind are "the necessity of freedom" and Mhoram's assertion to Covenant, "You are the white gold." So, taking the questions that have come up from easiest to most difficult:

Troy is able to raise power from the ring because a) Covenant gave it to him, and b) Covenant's will, his volition, supports what Troy wants to do with the ring (save Elena from dead Kevin).

Elena, of course, doesn't actually raise power from the ring, but there are a couple of reasons why she might have been able to do so. (In any case, she isn't bluffing when she threatens the Colossus. She *believes* she can exert wild magic. She has, after all, lost her mind.) Volition is a complex thing: there are unconscious as well as conscious choices. And sometimes the unconscious choices subvert the conscious ones. At that point in his struggle, Covenant must have been feeling a certain amount of "death wish" (why else would he even think about tackling Lord Foul when he believes he has no power?), and his unconscious volition might have enabled Elena to use the ring against him. In addition--on a somewhat more conscious level--Covenant has known for a while that external forces can trigger a response from the ring; and he may have been hoping (volition again) that Elena's use of the Staff would trigger a reaction she didn't expect.

Linden's actions raise even more complex issues (not the least of which is my still fallible memory) (and let's not even mention my unwillingness to spend an hour or two researching each question in this interview). She has an emotional bond with Covenant that goes far deeper than consciousness. And on those occasions when she "possesses" him, she always seeks to control him in ways with which some part of him agrees. He certainly doesn't *want* to destroy Starfare's Gem, and he isn't exactly eager to walk into the Banefire--just to pick two examples that happen to come to mind. In other words, she taps into his unconscious volition (not always wisely, I might add).

It follows, naturally, that a Raver--or Lord Foul himself--could not make use of the ring as Linden does. They don't love him; have no bond with him; share none of his impulses, conscious or otherwise. And so they cannot win the cooperation (if you will), the volition, of any of his complex impulses.

All of these points, as I'm sure you can see, depend on the identification between Covenant and the ring. Which raises interesting questions for "The Last Chronicles." Now that Linden has the ring, is *she* the white gold? Does it truly *belong* to her as it once did to Covenant? As Spock might have said (deadpan, of course), "Fascinating."

(10/02/2004)

As you can see, Donaldson's own explanations for how the ring works is changing over time.

[Fist and Faith]

Maybe I am missing the point. Maybe I'm making the story mean what I'd like it to mean.

Of course. That's the point of literature, and everything else in life. Everything is an inkblot. We use everything for our own self-contemplation.

Not that it's not nice to know what the author actually had in mind! He told a fantastic story, even if we don't use it for our own purposes. No point in missing out on what he had in mind.

I believe that when Mhoram said that Covenant was the white gold he meant it symbolicly.As in Covenant had some of the same properties as white gold and/or wild majic-that for good or ill made him the proper person to wield it.Get it?

Extremely good point! Maybe of all the white gold wielders walking around in Covenant's world, he was the most like the paradoxical nature of white gold/wild magic. This was necessary:

"Sure? Ah, no. There was great hazard-risk for the world which I made-risk even for me. Had my enemy gained the white wild magic gold, he would have unloosed himself from the Earth-destroyed it so that he might hurl himself against me. No, Thomas Covenant. I risked my trust in you. My own hands were bound. I could not touch the Earth to defend it without thereby undoing what I meant to preserve. Only a free man could hope to stand against my enemy, hope to preserve the Earth."

Covenant heard sympathy, respect, even gratitude in the voice. But he was unconvinced. "I wasn't free. It wasn't my choice."

"Ah, but you were-free of my suasion, my power, my wish to make you my tool. Have I not said that the risk was great? Choiceless, you were given the power of choice. I elected you for the Land but did not compel you to serve my purpose in the Land. You were free to damn Land and Earth and Time and all, if you chose. Only through such a risk could I hope to preserve the rectitude of my creation."

Here's a couple threads about wild magic:
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1271
kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1714

[matrixman]

Looking back to what Donaldson said in the GI one year ago, I think that he has been actively re-engineering all of these concepts in order to make them more internally consistant. He's been spackling holes and slapping on paint, moving some furniture around. Probably in response to the GI.

The problem here is that you have different answers now than you had before. And there are probably a whole new set of inconsistencies which will be uncovered over time.

Makes me wonder if indeed a main reason for setting up the GI was to help SRD address the niggly inconsistencies of the Chronicles, or if that was an unintended benefit. After all, what better way is there for SRD to know about problems in TCTC than to have sharp-eyed readers point them out to him directly via e-mail? Sure, the GI is a general inquiry area, but SRD must have known he'd be flooded and flooded by Chronicles questions, heh. By now, he's probably very pleased with the success of the GI...but likely also exasperated by our relentless "dissection" of every microscopic detail in the Chronicles.

Maybe SRD shouldn't have bothered starting the Last Chronicles. With that and the GI, he's opened up so many can o' worms that he'll be fielding questions til the day he dies...well, okay, for all eternity, since he has promised he'll NEVER die.

[dlbpharmd]

Wayfriend has an excellent point. I've been thinking the past couple of days that maybe the GI is NOT such a good thing, since SRD's answers, particularly on this issue of wild magic, have their own problems with consistency.

[Fist and Faith]

One of the reasons I don't write is because, unless it's a fluff piece, it's too difficult to tie up all the loose ends, eliminate inconsistencies, and all that. I avoided asking SRD certain questions in Albuquerque and the GI because I don't want to give him the grief that I know I would have to go through if I wrote. I get more out of his books than I can say, and, fortunately, that's not diminished by what I percieve as inconsistincies.

[CovenantJr]

Wayfriend has an excellent point. I've been thinking the past couple of days that maybe the GI is NOT such a good thing, since SRD's answers, particularly on this issue of wild magic, have their own problems with consistency.

This is one of the reasons I rarely read the GI...

[Borillar]

Ditto. Plus, it's nice to find out which Watcher asked which question.

That was my GI question that you quoted, Wayfriend (the one about how the uses of the ring fit into the theory of personal choice), and I'm inclined to agree that SRD's position on some issues has been "evolving". I might go even further and argue that he's creating some retroactive justifications that may never have been in his mind when he wrote the passages. But that's not really problematic; it's often said that writers may themselves not be fully aware of all the implications of their own writing.