Kevin's Watch

Wishful thinking. Foul wished Elena could use it, but she never would have been able to. But Foul pretty much knew that. He was just testing to see if it could be done. No point in leaving that stone unturned.

There is wild magic graven in every rock, contained for white gold to unleash or control
gold, rare metal, not born of the Land, nor ruled, limited, subdued by the Law with which the Land was created
(for the Land is beautiful, as if it were a strong soul's dream of peace and harmony, and Beauty is not possible without discipline and the Law which gave birth to Time is the Land's Creator's self-control)
but keystone rather, pivot, crux for the anarchy out of which Time was made, and with Time Earth, and with Earth those who people it:
wild magic restrained in every particle of life, and unleashed or controlled by gold (not born of the Land)
because that power is the anchor of the arch of life that spans and masters Time: and white -- white gold, not ebon, ichor, incarnadine, viridian because white is the hue of bone: structure of flesh, discipline of life.


This power is a paradox, because Power does not exist without Law, and wild magic has no Law;
and white gold is a paradox, because it speaks for the bone of life, but has no part of the Land.

And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox for he is everything and nothing, hero and fool, potent, helpless and with the one word of truth or treachery he will save or damn the Earth because he is mad and sane, cold and passionate, lost and found.

But when she touched him, the gap was bridged, and his emptiness flooded into her. At once, she could see everything, hear everything. All her senses functioned normally. Her companions had fallen silent: they were staring at her in despair. Kasreyn stood near Covenant with his ocular held ready, his hands trembling as if they could no longer suppress their caducity. But behind what she saw and heard, she wailed like a foretaste of her coming life. She was a child in a field of flowers, and the older boy she adored had left her. The love had gone out of the sunlight, leaving the day bereft as if all joy were dead.

Yet she saw him-saw the boy in the man, Thomas Covenant-as life and will spread back into his limbs. She saw him take hold of himself, lift his head. All her senses functioned normally. She could do nothing but wail as he turned toward Kasreyn, exposed himself to the Kemper's geas. He was still too far away from himself to make any defense.

But before the Kemper was able to use his ocular, the instructions she had left in Covenant reached him. He looked straight at Kasreyn and obeyed her.

Distinctly, he articulated one clear word:

"Nom."

That name seemed to stun the air, appalling the very stone of the Sandhold.

From a great and lonely distance, Covenant watched Kasreyn of the Gyre recoil. The Kemper dropped his eyepiece. Dismay and rage crumpled his old face. But he could not call back the word Covenant had spoken. An anguish of indecision gripped him for a moment, paralyzing him. Then the old fear rose up in him, and he fled to preserve his life.

It seems to me that that evidence is open to interpretation. The fact that there were "faint glimmerings of emerald" deep within the krill's gem could simply mean that the Illearth Stone's wielder was in possession of Covenant's ring. Maybe that is just wild magic's way of alerting everyone to the fact that white gold is in the Land, so there's some hope, but is not under the control of somebody good, so don't count on it being able to help any. Certainly it means something. It's obviously not coincidence that there were emerald glimmerings at that exact time. But exactly what it meant is largely a matter of speculation.

Without a word, Amatin turned and left him alone the knowledge
that Covenant's ring had fallen into the power of the Despiser.

He bore the krill within his robe and could feel Lord Foul's sick
emerald hold upon it growing. Soon, he knew the cold of the
green would begin to burn his flesh.

But now Mhoram Mhoram felt the fire which burned against his flesh
under his robe. In a rush of exaltation, he understood it, grasped its
meaning intuitively. As the Stone reached its height over his head,
he tore open his robe and grasped Loric's krill.

Its gem blazed like a hot white brazier in his hands. It was charged
to overflowing with echoes of wild magic; he could feel its keenness
as he gripped its hilt.

It was a weapon strong enough to bear any might.

I am very intrigued by your thought that Elena may have been able to use it because she was Covenant's daughter! I had never thought of that before. Hmmmm. It could be that wild magic does not get passed along genetically. OTOH...

KaosArcana wrote:

It was a weapon strong enough to bear any might.

(The last line doesn't really prove my point but it was too good to not include. *G*)

KaosArcana wrote:Actually, I hadn't thought of that myself until I wrote it.

KaosArcana wrote:(Now I think it could be argued that Elena could use the ring because she was Covenant's child ... after all, if he is the wild magic and he has a child in the Land, wouldn't that child be at least partially wild magic herself? *G*)

Anyway, the reason I think those things should be interpreted other than the way you have is because I think it makes Foul out to be an idiot. You can't tell me he wasn't watching the scene at the Colossus very carefully. If Elena could have used it, I wouldn't think Foul would have let the situation fall apart like it did. He could have commanded her to do anything at any point. But instead, he had her play games, giving them time to fight back, talk to Triock... He never even had her make a spark, either to prove that she could or to dishearten the good guys. Wouldn't Foul be just as aware of her ability to use it as anybody else would be?