The krill was life.

[earthbrah]

It was very brief in its description, but I was fascinated at how TC used the krill and Joan's intensification of it to heal the fractures of his mind and make himself whole. The text states (pg. 568):

"Bleeding from more wounds than he could count, Covenant found the path that led toward his present self. At once, he began to work his way along it. And while he arose from the Earth's past, he fused fissures behind him. He closed cracks. Rife with silver fire, he healed breaks until all of them were mended.

Deliberately he annealed fragments of his former being, rendering them inaccesible so that he could be made whole."

I believe that this act of his--necessary for that moment in the story, for him to be present in his body so that he could handle the situation--will have repercussions. It is directly implied in the quote above that TC could only be made whole when his mind was sealed against his time participating in the Arch. Perhaps this is what Linden was not able to do when she resurrected him.

At any rate, what do y'all think? What implications will this have? What does it say about TC? About the krill? About healing and wholeness?

[lurch]

I like the inclusion at this point of the Chrons of the concept of " Whole". Whole and Health versus being Conflicted ( fragmented) and not so healthy has been brought to the surface. Yes, the Krill makes it happen. I said something in the Fart thread about TC sticking the Krill down his pants and it immediately begins to throb..so..the Krill as The Life Force metaphor, the author has going on at various levels...What a beautiful metaphor of the metaphor was it( how surreal is that?) ..to disclose that instead of trying to remove it from the stump by pulling on it straight up, alls he had to do was wiggle it from side to side abit to get it loose. Alls it takes is The smallest change in Perspective to get what one wants..Wholeness and Health.,

[earthbrah]

To me, wholeness always implies some form of integration. Covenant integrates the rifts in the bedrock of his mind, thereby making himself whole (again?). And this integration is not a mere synthesis of differing aspects of his being, but is rather a concretization of the very structure of his mind.

Thus, this making solid what was once fragmented seals him off from his "former being," allowing his reincarnation to be completed.

The krill was life. Covenant had been able to use it through wild magic to anchor him to his present. His first act thereafter was to give Joan "the only gift that he had left" (pg. 571): death.

[thewormoftheworld'send]

4/27/2004 GI:

"The Last Chronicles" will explore this theme further as Covenant's quest to become whole continues. (Linden Avery is also on a quest to become whole, but hers takes an entirely different form.)

Covenant requires integration, wholeness, but at the cost of his memories as Timewarden.

[earthbrah]

I have found it interesting that both Linden's and Covenant's inner state have been compared to rock. The hardening into granite of Linden's heart in FR; the fault lines and fragility of Covenant's mind caused by "the burden of too much time" in AATE.

Permanence at rest is the essence of a stable state, an end goal. The metaphor of fusing these fragments of mental stone was a powerful image for Covenant healing his mind. I wonder if Linden's healing will, in some way, make use of this same allusion. But then, her fate is written in water...

[wayfriend]

I have found it interesting that both Linden's and Covenant's inner state have been compared to rock. The hardening into granite of Linden's heart in FR; the fault lines and fragility of Covenant's mind caused by "the burden of too much time" in AATE.

That's a really excellent observation.

Rock may be too hard; rock may be too brittle.

"Every weakness is a strength misapplied."

A little flexibility, and little softness, is also a good thing.

"Every strength is a weakness which has found it's proper use."