Its Time for a new Plan

[Timesire]

No matter what happens these people (Covenant, Linden, and ect.) need to come up with a permanent way of dealing with Foul. They can't keep fighting him in the same way. The Land has been being "saved" every ten years (or 3,000 years in "land' time) how many times must the people of the land be forced to suffer Fouls wrath and then have to rebuild the land from scratch. Personaly, I would have gotten the hell out of Dodge after the second time. Besides SDR isnt getting any younger he has to bring this to a permanent conclusion, or maybe just let Foul destroy the whole thing and be done with it!!!!!!

[avial]

..I tend to concur - I really believe Foul will "escape" this time - it's what happens then that marks these books from the others

[danlo]

They could throw water on him... ...no wait, that's been done...

[avial]

They could throw water on him... ...no wait, that's been done...

hehe - now there's a thought!

[Fist and Faith]

Build a bridge out of him!

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

<b> That's a pretty bold statement, Timesire </b>

Get it? Bold? Ha!

[Reisheiruhime]

Drop a house on him and be done with it.

Hmmm..... Linden as Dorothy..... YAY! I get to demean more people!

[Softheart Fistfollower]

I've allways wondered why he coudn't be destroyed permanently by white gold. It isn't 'of' the Land it could be possible it is a source of power used by the ceator, or at least from the realm of the creator. If it's not possible to destroy him (the old good can't exist without the balance of evil) could he at least be changed or converted to good or at least diminished beyond the capacity for evil?

[ur-bane]

Yeah..convert him.
Maybe we could get him to join a 12 step program.

"Hello. My name is Lord Foul, and I've got an Arch of Time problem."

<a chorus of guttural voices>"HELLO LORD FOUL!"

Foul:" I just can't help but feel trapped. I feel I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, pinning me down. It makes me angry, and I do bad things. I don't want to feel trapped anymore."

"Excellent, Lord Foul. The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem."

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

I think the true nature of Lord Foul and his relationship with Thomas will be revealed during this series.

I think we're in for learning a whole lot about both of them

[Thaale]

I don’t think he ever can be finally defeated. Foul doesn’t seem to just be an external force of evil persecuting those who would otherwise be living in some paradise. From the things he and TC have said to each other, it seems that some mix of the following statements would be true:

•Foul is not totally distinct from the dark sides of humanity and/or TC. As long as you have people (or life at all), you’re going to have Despite
•Good cannot exist without evil
•Since even the Law of Time is not unbreakable, Foul being obliterated at point X and forward would be equivalent to his never having been at all, which cannot be true

I’m not saying that SRD subscribes to any or all of those philosophies, or a mix of them, in the real world. But within the series, it seems obvious that Foul can’t be killed or exiled forever. For one thing, if he could, why wouldn’t the elohim do so, or work toward that end? Why wouldn’t Berek have done so? Why wouldn’t Kevin, or Damelon or someone, use the Earthblood to command Foul to cease to exist (ob answer if above is true: because then everything would cease to exist). Why wouldn’t white gold have killed him in the First Chronicles?

Metaphysics aside, the fact that he can survive the worst that White Gold can throw at him and eventually bounce back stronger than ever would indicate that he’s unkillable.

[drew]

So if you can't beat him..join him..or join with him, and maybe cause him to stop dispising everything.

[Thaale]

So if you can't beat him..join him..or join with him, and maybe cause him to stop dispising everything.

You’re still seeing him as being independent of human experience and concerns. What I’m saying that as long as anyone is still capable of violence, envy, etc. there will be Despite.

Lord Foul isn’t just an evil being. He’s a product of the existence of malevolence, not its cause.

[Variol Farseer]

Lord Foul isn’t just an evil being. He’s a product of the existence of malevolence, not its cause.

Very well put!

I believe that if somehow Lord Foul were persuaded to stop being a Despiser, that would simply rob him of his power and he would fade away for ever. But then all the evil that fed him would be lying around loose, so to speak, looking for another way to express itself. Despite would take a new form, and the new Despiser would not be so very different from the old.

[lurch]

..Yes, I expect SRD in some fashion or another to " Liberate" all his characters by series end. There is precident..Herbert's " ChapterHouse" of the Dune series for an example.
...but doing away with despite?...???...what part of guilt as a motivator have you all missed?...Its part of being human..okay, no despite= no humans....MEL

[High Lord Tolkien]

Build a bridge out of him!

Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?

[amanibhavam]

Simple. Foul will be allowed to escape if he can answer three questions.
'What's your favourite colour?'
'Ebon... no, ichor... no, viridian... aaaaaaarrrgh!'

[dlbpharmd]

Foul will never escape until he masters the one truly great talisman of power - the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

[lurch]

…Consider the tale of Runes, from the vantage point of one Thomas Convenant. I mean, there you are, la de da’ing it as The Arch of Time. Years slipping by with little or no regards to much happening. Alls relatively calm under the Stars,,then way far away, out of the corner of your perception,,lika cockaroach dashing away when the lites are turned on, something slithers unwelcomed. Hhhmm you wonder,,whats the Foul up to now?
…Then poof!,,theres your ex-wife , out of her mind, wandering around the Land, Then , your Son, possessed, along with a half hand kid and boinnng Linden Avery!! What in the Desecration is going on !!..Lord Foul You Piece of Crap!!
…Okay, take it down a notch or two. Maybe some have this experience. The experience that begins the book. The Past coming back to haunt you. Or, falling in Love with one ,,with much Baggage.
…Consider TC’s situation. His Son, His ex-wife. His ..ex? love and her son. This strikes me as rather,,a modern situation. Perhaps it’s a set up for a modern fantasy darkest of dark situation comedy…almost oxy in its moronic proposition. But it could work. A dark and stormy Father Knows Best.
…So there he is, seeing it all, and alls he could do is wait his turn for Linden’s attention. And Lord Prissy Pants isn’t telling anybody his bottom line goal, while He prances around full of gloat!…AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
,,And all TC can do, is hint and hope for Linden to make the right decisions. He can’t tell Joan anything,,hhhmmm maybe he can,,,he can’t tell Roger much that he’ll listen to,,Jerry he mite relate to but that’s a thin thread, and Linden, he has to have full respect for, or maybe not. It seems to me that by the ending of Runes, its apparent TC , in some form or another, comes out of his barcolounger and gets involved. Poor dude, even in death he can’t escape from his troubles. Perhaps, its not Linden, Fangthane wants to strike at after all. Hes got a ancient score to settle,,and Linden , Joan, Roger, and Jerry could just be the rite mix to drive TC crazy enough to break the arch of time.
…In any case, it’s apparent ( pun intended) that TC in some shape is now an active part of the story…But, his son is grown, his wife is ex, the two being allied against him, his lover , well its been years, and she has more important business , her son, who is not directly related to TC..so, like,,TC appears to be really screwed. But he was screwed the second he contracted leprosy. ,,I mean., even after hes dead, hes still the wacko who got leprosy.,Interesting that his lawyer and the sherrif,,both representatives of The Law,,still refer to him with a certain amount of disdain.
…I can now see a way that the Final Chrons will become TC’s story once again,,or at least , TC and Lindens. There has to be these Two..because thru them, we get to see the depth of Lord Crap For Brain’s machinations. Baron Von Barf Breath is calling the shots here. Maybe by only dropping a suggestion here and there,,but still,,even as if part of the main character or characters, he is calling the shots. Our favorites react to and struggle against the Saint of Stench….Maybe like Sir AC Doyle, SRD will send the whole group , locked in struggle, over a waterfall of pure EarthBlood, destroying them all and leaving the Land to peace and return of the One Forest….Just how much will this series become TC’s story do you think?………..MEL

[amanibhavam]

A very entertaining post, really. Bravo

When I first read Runes, I told myself: if SRD really had wanted to spice up things, we would've dragged Sheriff Lytton to the Land alongside Linden. Imagine that...