The hardest I've laughed in the TC series *spoilers*

Book 3 of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

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NomNomNom
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The hardest I've laughed in the TC series *spoilers*

Post by NomNomNom »

So...

I'm almost at the end of AATE right now. First read-through of the Final Chronicles.

And I busted out laughing at one part and I want to see if anybody else has found this part as ridiculously absurd as I did.

So Thomas Covenant has just killed Joan. Good times. And the Harrow's horse is gone. Two Masters/Haruchai are with him with their two Ranyhyn. A tsunami is coming, and they've gotta book it, pronto. He refuses to break his promise to never ride a Ranyhyn, and here I quote:

"The Humbled did not object or argue. They did not waste time. Quickly they mounted their Ranyhyn. Then they leaned down to Covenant, one on each side of him, grasped him by his arms near his shoulders, and lifted him into the air between them."

:roll: :roll:

Okay. I get it, he, like, rrrreallllllly respects the Ranyhyn. Or maybe he just really respects his own word. I get that. But at some point, sacredness is just a construct.

OK, I get that there's an argument to be made that sacredness is never dispensable. Maybe it speaks more to my own glibness than to Thomas Covenant's cartoonish intransigence. But when I read that, I imagined myself as a young kid, holding both of my parents' hands and lifting myself up to swing between them. It just seems impudent. Childish.

I'm losing the immediate visceral reaction I had, lost in the philosophy trying to theoretically justify what SRD wrote here. My immediate laughter was more just "OK, really? Come ON, man, just get out of there and worry about that crap later." I mean, it's not as if he's breaking a promise to anyone but himself, and that was just out of his own self-effacement. Whatever happened to "In accepting the gift, you honor the giver?" He has not honored the Ranyhyn by refusing to ride them, despite what the Ramen might think. He's just displayed a little too much gratuitous humility.

ANYWAY. This ended up being way more philosophical than I intended. All I know is, I read that paragraph and busted out laughing.
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ussusimiel
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Post by ussusimiel »

I too found TC's continued adherence to his promise not to ride the Ranyhyn ridiculous. It served some purpose in the 1st Chrons, but seemed a redundant and needless device in the LCs. C'mon, he's saved the Land (twice!) and has been the Timewarden for thousands of years!!

My own chuckle-out-loud moment came later on. You can read it when you've finished TLD, NNN:
Spoiler
I had a similar moment during TLD when, as someone else put it, the image of Covenant 'reverse-Tarzaning' across the Sarangrave on the Lurker's tentacles just left me chuckling at the absurdity of it.
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dlbpharmd
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Post by dlbpharmd »

I was frustrated by Covenant's refusal to ride as well. If anyone in the Last Chronicles was truly worthy of doing so, Covenant was. And, the Ranyhyn should have realized that they had nothing to fear from him. They should have offered to bear him, and by doing so, made their will known.
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Ananda
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Post by Ananda »

I agree it was silly if you look at it from a 'these actions are real' viewpoint. If you take it at the internal conflict level with all activities an externalisation of his inner conflict, then you can see maybe why, if only just, though it was still funny. If it is his internal conflict externalised, then maybe this is him still refusing to fully accept himself? The horses represent Joan, or his idea of Joan, don't they? She was a horse tamer. This would explain his earlier attitudes about the horses and their fear or whatnot of him in return, but, after killing Joan (with the help of one of these horses), I would think he could then ride. His self hate, persecution, etc. over Joan should have resolved at him killing her representation, maybe? Maybe he stubbornly hated himself in that moment for what he'd just done? But no, he then goes to Linden and marries her. Maybe it was just silly any way you look at it? :lol:
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