Kevin's Watch

When Mhoram learned of the RoD from the marrowmeld sculpture, how exactly did he learn it? From Elena? Kevin? Anyone else?!

That's a tough question! After some thought this is the best I can think of: It was lord Ahanna who led Mhoram to the knowledge. She said that the reason Elena carved the sculpture to resemble both TC and Bannor was because both required Absolute answers to their lives. With Bannor it was pure service or none. With TC it was wild magic saving or damning the Land. No other alternatives. Thus Mhoram learned that all that was required for the RoD was absolutely desiring to. Anyone could do it(depending on how much power they had.) Trell, in his despair, enacted the RoD but could destroy only a small part of Revelstone.(And himself) The OoP and RoD are both absolutes.

Thats a perplexing idea. Possible, too. But consider this. If the key to Desecration is desiring it, then that may work w/Trell and Kevin, but not Mhoram. He didnt desire Desecration. He desired the opposite.

That's very true, He didn't enact the Ritual because he didn't want to. Having the knowledge and not using it is not a contradiction.

Mhorham also realized that the Oath of Peace was holding them back from the lore that would enable them to have that kind of power. Or did someone already say that?

Nope. Thanks for your insight, Caamora!

Mhoram discovered that all that is required for Desecration isn't necessarily the will to carry it out, but the despair that comes with believing there is no other alternative and the release that comes with such despair. Thus, although he did not have the powers of a Lord, Trell was able to initiate a RoD because in his despair he lost the reserve of the Oath of Peace.

After Mhoram had saved Trell from the Ritual, he decided that it was better to share the secret he had discovered rather than let the other Lords find it in their own despair. It was a risk, but by doing this, he enabled the other Lords to face the Ritual with their Oaths intact, which virtually guaranteed that they would not enact the Ritual themselves.

One other theme here is that any "extreme" is undesirable. Absolute anything is bad. Absolute service, Absolute perfection (like LF). That's one of the paradoxes of being human. We can't be absolutely anything. We do good things sometimes, other times we fail.

We can't achieve the paradox of perfection (either good orevil).

TC's and LA's triumph is in the acceptance of that paradox. People are neither all one or another. It's an alloy like white gold.

And therein lies POWER!

wow that is really perceptive!! I think you have clinched the dilema between the OoP and the Lore itself. The desecration was the extreme/ or the absolute .. but it was undesirable in and of itself.

The extreme's may well be what SRD is out to identify as the most undesirable elements of our humanity or lack of it. The absolutes as the Creator says.

The perfect balance is a balance .. a blend .. as you so eloquently said .. an alloy ..

wow .. that just made perfect sense to me .. and took my understanding of the chrons to a new level

.. thanks Creator

.. that was good .. really good!!

Nice and insightful post Creator.I agree with Skyweir.I'm going to start reading the Chronicles again because of this.

My thanks to both of you, Skyweir and dennisap!

If you like that, how's this?

The link between the Lore and the RoD is passion. Treating the Lore as some kind of tool, misses the heart of it. All power arises from our inmost passions, else it's just going thru the motions. We need to engage our hearts to accomplish the impossible.

However, our passion is our most unreliable attribute. It's not logical (Mr. Spock) and can easily carry us to an extreme.

So, where's the balance? Either un-engaged ritualistic magic or fully emotional, uncontrolled desecration? Isn't there a middle road here?

Yes indeed! Again, the right mix of GOOD passion, (love, loyalty, "fear for the Land became greater than fear for myself") and logical, structured Lore is High Lord Mhoram's Victory.

White Gold is the paradox upon which the Earth was founded! The metal itself is an alloy, as I've noted. The term "Wild Magic" is a mix of something uncontrolled and something ritualistic. A paradox. Comprehending that paradox and putting it into practice enables you to tap into its power.

I LOVE these novels. Every time you get more.... ("Further up and further in" - works in the Land as well as in Narnia.)