That knife in the chest....

[Barnetto]

Near the start of WGW (Leper's Ground), TC and Linden have a serious falling out. One of the main reasons, it is stated, is that TC withheld from Linden the fact that nothing that happened in the Land affected the continuity of what happened back in their real world - so the fact that he had healed himself in the Land with white gold made no difference to his plight in their real world with a knife sticking out of his chest. This seems to come as something of a shock to Linden.

However, back in TOT (Also Love in the World), when they first become lovers, TC tells Linden:

"...maybe I'm not even going to live through it....Maybe we're not going to get back in time for you to do anything about that knife in my chest".

OK, it goes on to say that "the knife wound in his chest wasn't real to her", but he's not really withholding the facts from her. Perhaps he is not going out of his way to fully explain all his previous experience, but he is saying essentially that back there he's still dying and he's relying on her to save him.

It just seems to me that this start to WGW is a bit harsh on old TC in that respect?

And as a minor follow up, I had assumed when I read that part of TOT that TC and Linden had a full on sexual relationship. But of course he is still a leper and one of the consequences of his leprosy is his impotence. Now he can heal cuts, wounds etc with his white gold but there is no evidence that he can affect his leprosy with it. So either the nature of their physical relationship is ambiguous or I'm missing something? (I thought I did read something about his impotency in TOT but cannot find it now - and don't have an electronic searchable version!)

[Blackhawk]

And as a minor follow up, I had assumed when I read that part of TOT that TC and Linden had a full on sexual relationship. But of course he is still a leper and one of the consequences of his leprosy is his impotence. Now he can heal cuts, wounds etc with his white gold but there is no evidence that he can affect his leprosy with it. So either the nature of their physical relationship is ambiguous or I'm missing something? (I thought I did read something about his impotency in TOT but cannot find it now - and don't have an electronic searchable version!)

Good point... I do not remember TC being touched by anything that could heal or bring back feeling in his nerves.. one possibility though not stated would be the Gift of The Waynhim and Hamako. I dont know if Vitrim would act as Hurtloam but it did have healing qualities. but your right.. I cannot find anything stating that his feeling had come back to his hands or feet.

Wait.. when he first came to the land he did heal himself with wild magic.. could be he healed everythign but while escaping from Mithil stonedown Linden clearly could see his leprosy with her health sense. maybe he just regenerated his nerves during the healing of his chest but the leprosy itself was to deeply intertwined with his being..

this is during his summons to KW in TWL:

TWL: His fingers were too numb to tell him anything. But he could feel their pressure on his chest. He could feel their touch when they slipped through the slit in the center of his T-shirt.
There was no pain.
He withdrew his hand, took his gaze out of the sky to look at his fingers.
There was no blood. He sat up with a jerk that made his head reel. For a moment, he had to prop himself up with his arms. Blinking against the sun-dazzle, he forced his eyes into focus on his chest.
His shirt had been cut-a slash the width of his hand just below his sternum. Under it lay the white line of a new scar.
He gaped at it. How-?
You are stubborn yet. Had he healed himself? With wild magic?

I remember thinking something about this before. he did heal himself..but he did not regenerate his nerves. and there was no hurtloam available in the land either.

I looked through TWL, TOT, and WGW and his hands and feet were numb though all of them. I wonder if theres anything about it in the GI.

Here it is.. I Found this in the GI.

Matt:
I really have enjoyed everything you've written...
I just have one small question, and I apologize ahead of time if you've covered this before. I recently re-read the first 6 Covenant books in anticipation of Runes...and I noticed something I never noticed before.
When Covenant returns to the land in The Wounded Land, he is not healed as before. Thus, he remains impotent. And yet, at the end of The One Tree, Covenant and Linden...well, you know...Am I missing something?
Thanks! Matt

SRD: The explanation is pretty simple. Covenant's impotence was psychological, not physiological. Leprosy doesn't necessarily cause impotence. The degree of psychological health that he regained during the course of the first "Chronicles" enabled him to return to writing; and with creative potency came, well, procreative (I mean sexual) potency.

that answers that part anyway

[SGuilfoyle1966]

Covenant admitted to Linden his impotence was psychological.
He said, "I used to be impotent. When I thought leprosy was all there wsa in the world."
Or something like that.