This thread is awesome.
To those saying Linden is unnecessary. Yes, Thomas Covenant is the protagonist. But damn, he needs Linden as much as the story does, and if the Land had had just TC in the Second Chrons, they all would have been
screwed. Allow to lift a quote out of Half Life 2:
You have destroyed so much. What is it exactly that you have created? Can you name even one thing? I thought not.
All of Covenants actions, in the entire series, have been reducible to one of two basic abilities: destroy and endure. All of his actions, negative or positive, have either involved him destroying something or enduring terrible suffering. The best ones have been a combination of both: the
caamora for the souls of the Giants in TWL, his own
caamora in the Banefire in WGW, his self-sacrifice to Foul. But, really that's all he can do. He can't create. He's a leper. Flesh rots and nerves don't regenerate. He can't heal; he re-enacts the destruction of his own life and body, first on the Land, then on the Land's enemies. And, he's the wild magic. The crux, the pivot to the arch of time. Pivots don't choose what is balanced upon them. His is to bear what must be borne.
Goddamit,
he needs Linden. Linden is the healer. Linden is the one with the ability to create...at least so far. It seems that responsibility has been passed to Jeremiah for these Last Chronicles. On that, I'll have to RAFO. I have no doubt that all three of them will play crucial parts in the conclusion. I also have no doubt that, as in the Second Chrons, the conclusion would not be complete without both Covenant and Linden.