Kevin's Watch

SPOILER CAUTION

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SPOILER CAUTION

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SPOILER CAUTION

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Perhaps I am nitpicking on this point, but the disaster that occurred in the chapter Andelain Forgive! (from White Gold Wielder) was pretty colossal, and it could have been averted by Covenant and his friends.

When Caer Caveral sacrificed himself to break the Law of the Dead Returning, and also thus brought Hollian back, his protection of Andelain ended and the Sunbane attacked Andelain immediately.
The first day after Caer Caveral's death was like July - the sunlight is lessening, the hemisphere has begun it's cooling towards winter - but you don't feel it yet. It still seems like complete summer. In Andelain, there was no apparent effect.
The second day was like August. Summery with a slight cooling. The Sunbane was visible to Linden, and it's warping effects would have occurred against the Giants. Otherwise, it was still invisible and had no other effects.
The third day was like September. The Sunbane became visible to everyone, and began inflicting damage by midday. The first rot appeared in the deep earth of Andelain.
The fourth day (the first day of the Fertile Sun) was like October. The Land lost it's ability to speed Covenant along, as all it's shrinking power went to hold off the surface effects of the Sunbane, and the rot in the deep ground rapidly increased.
The fifth day was like November, and the explosions began, as Andelain began to rapidly die.
On the sixth day, Covenant and his friends reached Kiril Threndor.

Why didn't Covenant and the others build a raft, and sail down the Soulsease River?
They could have reached Mount Thunder in three days that way. They could have reached Mount Thunder and dealt with Lord Foul before the near destruction of Andelain.
They did build a raft to bypass the mutated Cave Wights. Why not again for this situation?

Obviously, it didn't matter either way in the end, because the heart of Andelain survived and apparently the whole of Andelain recovered after Linden ended the Sunbane.
Yet still, it would have saved Covenant and his friends a lot of grief (Pitchwife, for example, looked like he was about to commit suicide, there on the slopes of Mount Thunder.) It would have saved Andelain a lot of agony.

Well, first and foremost, Caer-Caveral had to break the Law of Life (that is what it was, not the Law of Death, that was broken by Elena when she called Dead Kevin with the Earthblood). This event was necessary, for with the breaking of the Law of Life, it allowed the Dead to take "action." CC knew this, and he knew Covenant was planning to sacrifice himself in Kiril Threndor, as did all the Dead. Andelain did suffer pain, yes. But, had they not taken Hollian into the Hills, had Sunder not slayed CC with the krill and had Hollian not been restored to life, the Law would not have been broken and Covenant's sacrifice would have been meaningless.

Covenant, himself, explains it best at the end of WGW...

"Caer-Caveral made it possible. Hile Troy." An old longing suffused his tone. "That was the 'necessity* he talked about. Why he had to give his life. It was the only way to open that particular door. So that Hollian could be brought back. And so that I wouldn't be like the rest of the Dead—unable to act. He broke the Law that would've kept me from opposing Foul. Otherwise, I would've been just a spectator.

"And Foul didn't understand. Maybe be was too far gone. Or maybe he just refused to believe it. But he tried to ignore the paradox. The paradox of white gold. And the paradox of himself. He wanted the white gold—the ring. But I'm the white gold too. He couldn't change that by killing me. When he hit me with my own fire, he did the one thing I couldn't
do for myself. He burned the venom away. After that, I was free."

Also, the heart of Andelain remained strong and resisted the Sunbane those few days after CC was slain. And then afterwards...well, the Sunbane was eradicated so Andelain was safe.

Also It was necessary for Linden to meet dead Kevin: it helped to prime her for the final showdown with Foul; it probably gave her the final push that she should try to get the ring - she only did not know yet why.

The other thing to note is that building a raft to carry all of them might have _taken_ those four days... did any of them have appropriate tools along? Hatchets? Rope?

And do _you_ want to be the one cutting down trees in Andelain?

tonyz wrote:The other thing to note is that building a raft to carry all of them might have _taken_ those four days... did any of them have appropriate tools along? Hatchets? Rope?

And do _you_ want to be the one cutting down trees in Andelain?

Not to mention, what if a desert sun had come along during that time? The river would have dried up again.

Just finished WGW last night, and I must say, the point raised in this thread is the only one that I found lacking, perhaps in the entire series!

And do _you_ want to be the one cutting down trees in Andelain?

I'm not sure it even had to be on a raft... they didn't have a raft when the rode the river to Andelain, did they? Why not just ride the river as they did before?

Why didn't Covenant and the others build a raft, and sail down the Soulsease River?

like tonyz said

[/quote]And do _you_ want to be the one cutting down trees in Andelain?

You just dont go around choppiong down trees in andelain, linden would go insane and covenant wouldnt alow it
and i guess they could swim it