Question from a newbie

[francois60]

What's the deal with wild magic? Why is it that Covenant can't use his ring at will, but all he had to do was hand it to Hile Troy and Troy could use it with no problem? So could Linden and Lord Foul.

Did he have some kind of mental block, a rejection of power that made him incapable of using it even when he wanted to unless it was triggered by something like the Staff of Law or Illearth stone?

[Believer]

That's always been my take on it.

Foamfollower said he didn't know how to call on it unless it was like any other form of magic, which was triggered by an act of will and passion. I think it *was* the same as every other kind of magic, but no one else had the same insecurities, the same instinctive shying away from power, as TC did.

Damn... I'm posting too many serious posts lately... I've got to stop.

[kevinswatch]

'Cause it's called "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever", not "Thomas Covenant the Badass Who Runs Around The Land Throwing Wild Magic Everywhere And Killing Everything In Sight".

Heh...ok, don't mind me. That was a bad answer.-jay

[danlo]

oooo you're so mean to the poor innocent new person!

**takes Jay to Mithil Stonedown for a time out**

[I'm Murrin]

And people wonder why newbies have mistaken danlo for the admin before...

[The Leper Fairy]

'Cause it's called "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever", not "Thomas Covenant the Badass Who Runs Around The Land Throwing Wild Magic Everywhere And Killing Everything In Sight".

Heh...ok, don't mind me. That was a bad answer.-jay

Ahahahahahaha!

[Plissken]

I always figured that it was Covenant's self imposed disconnect from himself that kept him from wielding the white gold effectively - remember, he IS the White Gold.

Hile Troy had no problem telling Covenant exactly what to do, either.

[Kymbierlee]

'Cause it's called "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever", not "Thomas Covenant the Badass Who Runs Around The Land Throwing Wild Magic Everywhere And Killing Everything In Sight".



Oh now THAT is funny!!!!!!!!! What a mental image that creates!

[ur-bane]

That's part of the beauty of the Chronicles: to have all that power, and yet at the same time feel effectless.

To be a part of Covenant's struggles to find another answer, to find strength from within to combat the evils in the world, is a major reason the Chronicles are so appealing to me. Covenant had to come to grips with himself, and be true to himself. There was no other way.

[francois60]

'Cause it's called "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever", not "Thomas Covenant the Badass Who Runs Around The Land Throwing Wild Magic Everywhere And Killing Everything In Sight

Heh. At least not until Wounded Land.

There had to be some kind of subconcious issue as well though, because there were times when he actually wanted to use the wild magic but couldn't.

I'm a few chapters into the Last Rune. Waited 15 years for this!

[caamora]

The wild magic is there for anyone to use - like earthpower. However, not everyone has the paradox of the white gold. TC does. He has all the power in the world but cannot trigger it. Hile Troy doesn't know HOW to use the power. His passion to save the Land sparks it. But, the forestal stops Troy saying that it is against the natural law for Troy to use it.

You know, you really need to read the books about 5 million times before it really starts to make sense!

[BraulioB]

Covenant learned in the Leprosariam<sp?> to drown his passions because they would only distract him from the most important thing he should be doing, his VSE. He was determined to live and anything to distract him would kill him. Passion is a distraction. Hey, that almost rhymes.

B

[drew]

Hey, you're a poet, and you're totally unware of the fact that are one.

[Akasri]

In TWL, he mentally made the connection between his ring and the Orcrest stone that Sunder had and called up the power for the first time willingly.

I think in the first series, he probably could have done it if he tried, but he never really tried to actually call it up on command, just always relied on it to be triggered.

[amanibhavam]

Covenant cannot call up the ring's power because he is afraid of all forms of power. It has been ground into his mind that power is dangerous. Partly because it can cause injuries, partly because it creates the false impression that leprosy can be overcome. It cannot. It is incurable.

[Nav]

Unless you ask the Creator nicely, anyway.

[MrKABC]

This actually brings up a gaffe, so to speak..

If Hile Troy assumed control of the wild magic on Gallows Howe (it was freely given by Covenant) and had called it up, how was Caerroil Wildwood able to stand up against Troy and disable the wild magic?

Earlier in the chapter Wildwood had stated that "...they bear with them a power that even I must respect - I am bound by the Laws of Creation."

Shouldn't Hile Troy have been unstoppable by the Forestal?

[[Syl]]

The way I see it, Troy was able to get a round in the chamber, but Wildwood stopped him before he could pull the trigger.

I don't doubt Wildwood respected the White Gold. But there's a thin line between respect and fear. Had Troy not owed one to Wildwood, I'm not sure the Forestal would have been able or willing to stop him, and I sincerely doubt he could've just killed him regardless.

[Skyweir]

This actually brings up a gaffe, so to speak..

If Hile Troy assumed control of the wild magic on Gallows Howe (it was freely given by Covenant) and had called it up, how was Caerroil Wildwood able to stand up against Troy and disable the wild magic?

Earlier in the chapter Wildwood had stated that "...they bear with them a power that even I must respect - I am bound by the Laws of Creation."

Shouldn't Hile Troy have been unstoppable by the Forestal?

Troy never used the wild magic against Caerroil Wildwood .. he used it to try to save Elena .. no matter how futile in hindsight.

Wildwood never attempted to defend himself of an attack by HT .. CWW simply claimed TROY ..

Wildwood had power over TROY .. not over the wild magic which he himself conceded was a power greater than his.

"I will not permit it" ... "the promise of the irrevocable." In the name of the One Tree and the One Forest - in hte name of the unforgiving Deep - I claim the price of my aid"

Troy could not weild the power of the ring .. it may have exalted him .. given him a buzz .. but he was incapable of weilding it to any real end.

I think Wildwood intuitively sensed the danger in endowing a novice with such great power .. and at the transformation of Troy .. he did say .. that when he had "gained an incondign mastery over the wild magic" he may use it to recant the price owed to Wildwood in his service as Forestaal.

[CovenantJr]