Runes WHGB

[dlbpharmd]

This post doesn't really contain spoilers but I'm posting it here in the Runes forum for courtesy's sake.

SRD wrote the What Has Gone Before section for Runes, a major change from the previous WHGBs (which IIRC were written by Lester Del Ray.)

I really like SRD's WHGB - the change in style was very refreshing. But I do have two problems with either a) his memory or b) his internal consistency:

a) SRD tells of the incident at the Isle of the One Tree - he says that Seadreamer's Earthsight vision which took away his voice was Covenant's risk to the Worm; I always thought it was the Sunbane.

b) SRD tells of Covenant's caamora in the Banefire, and says that Covenant quenched the Banefire by it - that is not what happens at all. Linden and Nom quenched the Banefire by routing Glimmermere down into the city.

[Gart]

There was one more I picked up on:

c) SRD says that Covenant believed that a battle with Lord Foul would "unleash enough force to destroy Time". Not so, as I recall he believed that using power once he was wild magic/venom alloyed would contaminate the Arch of Time with venom and desecrate the whole earth.

[UrLord]

I think it was both, actually...

[Revan]

heh, no ones perfect, not even SRD

[dlbpharmd]

But that's what editors are for, Darth. If SRD doesn't have someone who checks to make sure his continuity is consistent, then he needs to.

And I volunteer.

[Revan]

heh, cool.

[burgs]

He may not be perfect, but he did write these books. Perhaps there is deeper meaning in the reasons he gives than is readily apparent.

I also liked the WHGB segment. It was a terrific summation for people who have never read Covenant. Obviously they're interested in getting new readers, as well as old. I pointed this out almost to prolixity in a review that I posted on Amazon. My intent with that was the same as SRDs and his publishers - I want to see new readers come to Covenant too.

[dlbpharmd]

I noticed this line for the first time tonight:

And if those ploys fail, Lord Foul has other strategems in place to achieve his ends.

Echoes of The Last Chronicles, perhaps?

[burgs]

Definitely one of the seeds that SRD said he planted.

[dlbpharmd]

Bump

Wayfriend, you've never weighed in on this thread, and I'd like your imput. I've just re-read the WHGB section again, and I'm struck by how revealing it is.

[burgs]

It's been so long that I'm not sure what we're talking about anymore. Not that I'm "Wayfriend", but anyway...

And if those ploys fail, Lord Foul has other strategems in place to achieve his ends.

Where is this from? Or has it just been too long since I've read the damned thing and it should be obvious - like a thought in Joan's mind?

[dlbpharmd]

You're always welcome here, burgs.

That line is from the WHGB section of Runes, at the top of page xviii (hardcover.)

[iQuestor]

You know, I don't think I read this section carefully, and definately is very different now that SRD has written it. It does have a lot of great insight.

I'd like to weigh on on these discrepancies, if I may:

1. Cable Seadreamers Earthsight: I remember that Cable Sea Dreamer's vision was thought to be the sunbane after the purpose of the search was revealed to Covenant and Linden, but I can see also how Sea Dreamer reacted to the visit to the island of the One Tree. I think that SRD relating that the events at the One Tree were in fact the evil he saw with the Earth Sight is plausible and in keeping with the text.

2. Rending the Raver:

Grimmand Honniscrave sacrifices his life to make possible the "rending" of the raver.

This is technically true, he held the raver within his body and asked Nom to kill him while he held it. Nom killed Honniscrave and rent the raver:

"You must slay me." The words bled from his lips, but they were distinct and certain. His face turned murderous, then regained its familiar lines. "I will contain this Raver while you slay me. In that way, it also will be slain. And I will be at peace."

Sheol writhed for freedom; but Honniscrave held.

then Nom comes forward and gently breaks his neck. Cail, suprisingly can speak to the sandgorgon in the mental speech of the haruchai:

"It says it has rent the raver. It does not say slain. The word is 'to rend'. The Raver has been rent. And the shreds of its being Nom has consumed.

3. Contamination versus destruction of the Arch: I also think it was both. The purpose of the venom was to rob Covenant of Control, which would cause him to destroy the Arch because he couldn't control its use. There is various support for both positions in the text.

4. Quenching of the Banefire: Covenant's caamora in the banefire served to cause Covenant himself to ascend to near godhood - he was a new being, an alloy of venom and white gold, if you will. This act, however, did not put out the banefire, the routing of Glimmermere through Revelstone actually did this, which is supported by the text:

Linden had Nom make a channel from Glimmermere, and the Giants worked the stone to route the water through the fortress and ot the hall where the banefire fed the sunbane...

It was an open door at the base of the sacred enclosure, where the banefire still burned as if Thomas Covenant had never stood within its heart and screamed against the heavens.

In rage and despair she had conceived this means of quenching the Clave's power.

[I'm Murrin]

On the banefire thing, I don't believe it matters much. As a catch-up for those unfamiliar with the previous books in the series, it works just as well as stating specifics about the banefire. Ditto with the Earthsight: He saw the sunbane, but also saw Covenant and the danger that would occur at the Tree--and that he would have to sacrifice himself. It was the event at the isle that was the more important and powerful of his visions.

[burgs]

Agreed

[Avatar]

Fair enough point Murrin. And since the other WHGB's were even more inaccurate...

--A

[Borillar]

In addition to the error about who put out the Banefire, the WHGB for Runes also says "The Sunbane remains, but its evil no longer grows." I don't believe that assessment is supported by the text either. When Linden surveys the Land with the Staff and ring in hand, I think the narrator comments that the Sunbane may grow to destroy the entire Earth even without the Banefire, unless it's stopped (although I don't have text in hand to support this).

[wayfriend]

That's fair enough. It should have said something like "The Sunbane remains, but a significant contributor to its growth has been removed" to be more accurate. But, for a synopsis, I think that "but its evil no longer grows" is sufficient.

[Zarathustra]

On the Sunbane vs Worm danger that Seadreamer perceives, the WHGB actually says:

Traveling eastward, toward the Sunbirth Sea, Covenant and his companions encounter a party of Giants, seafaring beings from the homeland of the lost Giants of Seareach. One of them, Cable Seadreamer, has had a vision of a terrible threat to the Earth, and the Giants have sent out a Search to discover the danger.

Convinced that this threat is the Sunbane, Covenant persuades the Search to help him find the One Tree; and in The One Tree, Covenant, Linden, Vain, and several Haruchai set sail aboard the Giantship Starfare’s Gem, leaving Sunder and Hollian to rally the people of the Land against the Clave.

So Covenant was wrong. He assumed that the danger was the Sunbane (as did we), when the Sunbane was just the bait. The real danger that Seadreamer perceived was Covenant and his actions at the One Tree. His vision led him to the Land because that's where Covenant was. What is ironic is that if his vision had never led them to the Land, then there would have never been a threat to the One Tree, because they are the ones who take Covenant there! But then again, there would have never been a solution to all this, because Vain needed to be transformed.

[wayfriend]

That might possibly be true -- I haven't thought of it that way.

But isn't it possible that Seadreamer has seen more than one thing?

"With the eyes of the gift, he beheld a wound upon the Earth, sore and terrible-a wound like a great nest of maggots, feeding upon the flesh of the world's heart. And he perceived that this wound, if left uncleansed, unhealed, would grow to consume all life and time, devouring the foundation and cornerstone of the Earth, unbinding Stone and Sea from themselves, birthing chaos."

I'm hard pressed to read such imagery and interpret it to mean 'This is Covenant at the One Tree'.

(BTW, just how did Seadreamer ever communicate that bit to anyone? I shall not look to closely ... )