wayfriend wrote:In the end, what frees She Who Must Not Be Named from her torment, and her prison, is the release of the souls she kept within herself. She did not know who She was, because She had made of herself an amalgamation of individuals, and in her grief had drowned herself in a sea of misery.
I need to publish a public retraction about this.
I have been
listening on my last pass through the Chronicles, and I picked up some things that I hadn't picked up before.
In [i]The Last Dark[/i] was wrote:"I AM MYSELF!"
When Linden's heart beat again, she was no longer inside the bane. Instead she had the sensation that she was being carried; cradled with the tenderness of a lover. Powers that surpassed understanding protected her from the ruination of the Lost Deep.
She was given a moment to watch the bane release souls into the waiting arms and mouths and bodies of the ur-viles and the Waynhim: a torrent of long anguish so suddenly relieved that she could not name what became of it.
As you can see, my earlier interpretation of the order of events is wrong. SWMNBN did not release the souls and then become herself; she became herself and then released the souls.
The former sequence suggests that the captured souls are part of her identity problem - an idea I was fond of. The latter sequence suggests that the souls were released as a gift perhaps, or were unloaded, as Linden suggests, so that they would not hinder Her departure. Or maybe She simply didn't care any more.
The sequence of events is much clearer to me now.
- SWMNBN tells Linden she must have her true name in order to be released.
- Linden suddenly deduces that Emereau Vrai must know her true name.
- Linden requests Emereau Vrai be released to the Demondim-spawn.
- Emereau Vrai is released to the Demondim-spawn; they accept her "gladly".
- The Demondim-spawn "consume" Emereau Vrai; they become taller, more human.
- The Demondim-spawn chant "at the bane".
- She responded with the cry, "I AM MYSELF".
It's fairly straightforward now to see that Emereau Vrai must have known Her true name all along, that the Demondim-spawn learned of it when they incorporated her spirit, and then they barked it to She. A bit clever, really, in that we never get to hear her name as it's spoken in Vilish, but neither do we need to.
So if anyone else understood it this way and I suggested you were not entirely accurate, my apologies.
I don't think any of this has larger implications for the Redemption of She Who Must Not Be Named. It was still Linden who had the insight, and who provided the impetus, for Her restoration. But the Demondim-spawn provided a necessary element that I did not see.
Alas, I am not as fond of this better interpretation of events. Linden's sudden idea feels a bit unearned. And the solution to the whole name issue is far more mundane, less connected to the larger issues of identity explored in the Chronicles. I admit I was maybe seduced by the beauty of my incorrect notions.