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danlo
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 Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:48 pm Post subject: WGW Epilogue: "To Say Farewell" |
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| Quote: | There Linden let go. The mountian towered over her, as imponderable as the gaps between the stars. It was heavier than sorrow, greater than loss. Nothing would ever heal what it had endured. She was only mortal: but Mt. Thunder's grief would go on without let or surcearse, unambergrised for all time.
And the wind took her, and she felt herself go out.
Out into the dark.
_________
But when she was fully in the grip of the wind, she no longer felt it's force. It reft her from the Land as if she were mist; but like mist she could not be hurt now. She had been battered numb. When the numbness passed, her pain would find it's voice again and cry out.. But that prospect has lost its power to fighten her. Pain was only the other side of love; and she did not regret it. |
Thus Linden's transition from the Land truly begins and for some reason I'm heartstuck by: Pain was only the other side of love. That seems to be Linden in a nutshell. In the last dissection Variol Son wrote,
Now however, with Covenant's help, she has accepted her parent's legacy, her own blackness, and decided that it does not prevent her from making choices that count.
Evil was another side of the equation. No matter how Gibbon tried to pluck her soul apart and all the fears she faced...she had learned how to fight. Despite the trials, abominations and lessons of possesion...she had learned how to reach out. And by accepting help and friendship she finally moved out from behind her defenses and found love. She had become mortal.
My heart has rooms that sigh with dust
And ashes in the hearth.
They must be cleared and blown away
By the daylight's breath.
But I cannot essay the task,
For even dust to me is dear;
For dust and ashes still recall,
My love was here.
I know not how to say Farewell,
When Farewell is the word
That stays alone for me to say
Or will be heard.
But I cannot speak out that word
Or ever let my loved one go:
How can I bear it that these rooms
are empty so?
I sit among the dust and hope
That dust will cover me.
I stir the ashes in the hearth,
Though cold they may be.
I cannot bear to close the door,
To seal my loneliness away
While dust and ashes yet remain
Of my love's day.
Indeed the refrains of Pitchwife's song sum up the deep psychological/emotional madness and beauty that are the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Thomas' nightmarish journey and lonely triumph at the end of the 1st and Linden's tormented healing and loss of her beloved in the 2nd.
Akin to Covenant's returns (to our world) Linden is but contamplative vapor stretching between two worlds. As she floats through the void she interperates the tune in terms of her father but, this time, looks at the situation in another way: his ashes aren't hers and his choices aren't either--she merely used her (preceived) quilt in that instance to build her defenses and block the light of love out of her world.
| Quote: | | His loathing of himself had grown so great that it had become a loathing of life. It had been like her mother's religion, only able to prove itself true by imposing itself upon the people around it. But it had been false; and she thought of him now with regret and pity which she had never been able to afford. He had been wrong about her: she had loved him dearly. She had loved both of her parents, although she had been badly misled by her own bitterness. |
Covenant's spirit comes to her in the translation: thanking and consoling her and wondrous at her ignition of the healing of the Land. (I don't know about you, but it's hard to go on at this point--all I want to do is breakdown and cry all over again...). Linden infused the Sunbane into her soul but couldn't do it till she accepted and transcended the "blackness", after that it was all sheer will. But as to how Convenant did what he did he credits Hile Troy.
Caer-Caveral had to give up his life to open the door between life and death to restore Hollian, break the Law and to the give power of action to Thomas' specter. Since Covenant was the white gold he could oppose Foul even in death. Foul didn't understand that and, fortunately, focused his millenia formed angst on his "tool's" taunting mortal form. Then by blasting Convenant's own fire at his specter Foul burned away Thomas' venom and freed him.
| Quote: | | He and I are one. But he doesn't seem to know that. Or maybe he hates it too much to admit it. Evil can't exist unless the capacity to stand against it also exists. And you and I are the Land--in a manner of speaking, anyway. He's one side of us. That's his paradox. He's one side of us. We're one side of him. When he killed me, he was really tring to kill the other half of himself. He just made me stronger. As long as I accepted him--or accepted myself, my own power, didn't try to do to him what he wanted to do to me--he couldn't get past me. |
(ah so TC wasn't as foolish as we thought after all!)
Linden then asks him how the First and Pitchwife were able to flee the Cavewrights. Covenant's spiritual chuckle amazes her, she had never heard him come close to laughter. He had to do something, Foul had given him so much power that he decided to make something, anything, rise out of the Wightbarrow (which always makes me wonder just what "abomination" would the Cavewright's have summoned if not Drool?  ) and while the Cavewright's bowed to it the Giants were free to seach for her (with TC's help).
Thinking about what he had done for her, she almost forgot she would never see him alive again.
The void begins to come into definition and Linden know she is losing him, but Convenant says.
| Quote: | "There's no need for that. I'm part of you now. You'll always remember."
At the edge of her heart, he stopped. She was barely able to hear him.
"I'll be with you as long as you live." |
__________
The cool air of springtime caresses Linden Avery's pain as an older man calls her name and attempts to help her to her knees.
| Quote: | Her eyes were slow to focus; her sight seemed to come back from a great distance. She was conscious of the dawn, the blurred gray stone, the barren hollow set like a bowl of death into the heart of the green woods. But gradually she made out Covenant's form. He was stretched on the rock nearby, within a painted triangle of blood. The light stroked his dear face like the touch of annunciation.
From the center of his chest jutted the knife which had made everything else necessary.
The man holding her repeated her name. "I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I never should've gotten you into this. We shouldn't have let him keep her. But we didn't know he was in this much danger. |
As Dr. Berenford tends to her wounds he tells her about Mrs. Jason and her children and how they came to his house each with their right hands horribly burned. The same family that Linden had seen at the courthouse, on her first day in town, carrying a sign that said 'Repent". Apparently they, and others, had killed a horse for the blood splashed at Haven Farm. What they had against Covenant or Joan Dr. Berenford couldn't fathom but regardless they had been caught up in an apocalptic/religious fever that didn't break until Linden, herself, had snapped them out of it. Mrs. Jason had given him directions him to the altar.
He notified Sherriff Lytton and they both discoved Joan asleep in the house. She had shown no signs of violence on the way to the hospital.
Berenford had directed Lytton to take Joan away, he didn't want the Sherriff to think Linden was responsible for any connection to the sacrifice. As Linden regards the Doctor's worrisome face and compassion a revelation comes upon her that goodness and Covenant's spirit are alive in the world. Then he guides her back to town where they might try to heal a multitude of burned hands.
| Quote: | "I'll tell the Sheriff where to find him. At least we can make sure he gets a decent burial."
"Yes, " she answered. The sun filled her eyes with brightness. Together, she and her companion started up the barren hillside toward the trees.
With her right hand, Linden Avery kept a sure hold on her wedding ring. |
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Last edited by danlo on Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:18 am; edited 3 times in total |
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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You did a great job, Danlo.  A great wrap-up to one of the greatest works of fantasy. 
I hope when we start Runes, someone will come behind and pick up on a lot of the things you said here, as this is the springboard to the situation at the beginning of that story! (Hope that's not too spoilery!  )
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matrixman
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| Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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| danlo wrote: | | Akin to Covenant's returns (to our world) Linden is but contemplative vapor stretching between two worlds. |
Evocative image, danlo. Nice! "Contemplative" also nicely sums up the closing pages of the book. The resolution to the conflict here is much more an internal process than the obvious external clashing of power between Covenant and Foul in TPTP.
It's a lonely kind of victory in WGW, like danlo said: unlike TPTP, there are no noble spectres of Dead High Lords sharing in Covenant's or Linden's triumph over Lord Foul. There is no "Lord Mhoram's Victory" -- no celebratory gathering at Glimmermere to witness the birth of a new age; not even the voice of the Creator around to acknowledge our heroes' extreme sacrifices. No, it's just Covenant and Linden saying farewell to each other, but that also makes this a much more intimate and poignant ending than TPTP's.
I liked francois60's and Xar's observations in the TC forum:
| francois60 wrote: | Actually, I thought both chronicles ended definitively. Except they didn't. 
But they felt like they should have. |
| Xar in reply wrote: | | Or another way to look at it is, a reader isn't forced to buy all three Chronicles, but he/she can stop at the first trilogy if he/she wants, or stop at the second if he/she prefers, or continue all the way through the last tetralogy if he/she is wise |
Back in '83 I had no clue that SRD already had a 3rd Chronicles in his head, so in my mind, WGW truly was the end of the saga. Which made the book even more meaningful to me.
| Quote: | "There's no need for that. I'm part of you now. You'll always remember."
At the edge of her heart, he stopped. She was barely able to hear him.
"I'll be with you as long as you live." |
A beautiful moment. What a change from their first meeting in TWL! A scene like this persuades me that I would have been content to live in ignorant bliss, completely unaware of the existence of a 3rd Chronicles. Of course, now that I know, I can't live in peace until it all really, truly, absolutely ends. That SRD is a fiendish, diabolical mastermind...  |
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Revan
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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Great job danlo. Excellent, It was a little sad... Thomas being dead and all, the first time I read it, I could bearly keep the tears in... and the same time it's happy... Linden's changed, become a new woman. But I was a little angry at her for leaving Thomas' body to rot... I suppose she didn't have much choice though...
And reason I liked this is because of Dr. Berenford; he's a very good man... and you must remember that he was Thomas Covenant's only friend for 10 lonely years... I respect him for that, and anyone can see he is very upset at Thomas' death...
Spoiler: | Leaving Joan with Sherriff Lytton though... a mistake if I ever saw one... |
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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Great job, Danlo - not only for this thread, but for heading up the entire Dissecting the Land forum!
| Quote: | | But I was a little angry at her for leaving Thomas' body to rot... I suppose she didn't have much choice though... |
Pitchwife took his body from Kiril Threndor, remember? |
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Revan
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| Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:48 am Post subject: |
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| Not in our world genius. |
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Fist and Faith
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:56 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | For the last time, she lifted her voice toward him, spoke to him as if she were a woman of the Land:
"Farewell, beloved." |
I'm not sure I can put into words why this moment means so much to me. As if she were a woman of the Land. After all she went through, and did, for the Land, I say she IS a woman of the Land. If she wants to claim all the glory that comes with being a person of the Land, I'll be glad to invite anyone who trys to stop her to step outside. She's had many powerful moments, but this one is the most beautiful. "Farewell, beloved."
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Fist and Faith
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:20 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, Murrin. Sheesh, Elena was so messed up!
I was also thinking that Linden may have said Goodbye to Covenant in that way because she thought it would mean more to him. I mean, his real world was not something he particularly loved. At times, he only lived there because he was too stubborn to commit suicide.
But the Land saved him! It taught him nearly everything of importance he knew. (T-shirt idea: All I ever needed to know about life I learned in the Land.) When she said Goodbye to him, maybe she wanted him understand and remember that she also loved, and learned from the Land. And/or maybe she thought it would be anti-climactic for him if her last words to him reminded him of his real world.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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Ah man, this was great. Perfect ending for a perfect 2nd chron. (okay... so... nearly.)
Something I thought of when I read it was, "It's such a shame Covenant didn't live to come back to the real world."
Now, not only because Linden would be left with much less pain, etc., etc.... but if he was in the same shape before he defeated Foul at the end of TPTP, his questions of the world being real or not would be answered.
The transformation between the Land and the real world, I believe, had one flaw this time. When Covenant and Linden went to the Land, Covenant still had his ring. Now, Linden has it... though she never went to his body.
Everyone else probably realized that too, but, I just thought I'd state it.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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Flaw? No. Surely there can be just a little magic in our world, too.
Especially for someone who deserves it so.
Cannot the Land reach out and give her a little hug? 
(Didn't Covenant also receive a magic gift at the end of the first Chronicles?)
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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Haha I should have clarified. More so a flaw in hiding the transformation; something that would prove that the Land was real.
In the end of the first Chronicles... Covenant still could have thought it a dream if he _really_ wanted to. It'd be hard to believe.... but that's besides the point. =P
She does deserve it though.
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matrixman
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Linden having the ring at the end of the book does not appear to be a flaw, but rather an intentional loose end to be explored in the Last Chronicles. SRD hinted in the Gradual Interview some time ago that this apparent "flaw" in the story might be explained in the Last Chrons. |
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wayfriend
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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| In the GI was wrote: | Are you going to explain how Linden got Covenant's ring? I never quite caught how she ended up with it.
-Alis 
Alas, I can only tell you: wait and see.
(03/25/2004) |
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matrixman
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:51 pm Post subject: |
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Darn, I could've sworn SRD wrote a 4-paragraph essay about it.
(kidding...) |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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Fist and Faith wrote:
| Quote: | | I'm not sure I can put into words why this moment means so much to me. As if she were a woman of the Land. After all she went through, and did, for the Land, I say she IS a woman of the Land. If she wants to claim all the glory that comes with being a person of the Land, I'll be glad to invite anyone who trys to stop her to step outside. She's had many powerful moments, but this one is the most beautiful. "Farewell, beloved." |
This is absolutely spot on, Fist and Faith!
It's so beautiful I feel I should quote her again:
| Quote: | | "Farewell, beloved." |
Linden has become what she always had the potential to be, because at the end, despite the words of mad Kevin and her belief in her essential unworth, she loves and trusts Covenant to
| Quote: | | bear what must be borne |
Reading WGW has left me emotionally shattered in a way that none of the other Chronicles quite managed, I've said it before but this is a truly transcendent book. The ring didn't strike me as odd or out of place at all, as I think has been said before Linden was part of Covenant, his beloved in the Land, had been through so much for him and so they can't be separated even in death, as he says.
Oh, Covenant!
Oh, Linden!
Hail!
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| Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:27 am Post subject: |
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Good post. Nice to see these getting revived as well.
Yeah, the end of WGW was always a kick in the stomache moment for me. After all that...
Wow. Cemented my opinion of SRD's story-telling skills. No happy ending there...
--A
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| Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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Ah, Linden Avery. Is she not well Chosen?
Even in the grimmest (or Grimest) moments of the 2nd Chronicles, that line of Pitchwife's always makes me smile. He holds things together for Covenant and Linden on so many occasions...
I'm off to find a copy of Runes tomorrow...
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| Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:31 am Post subject: |
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the only thing I feel the end needed was an epilouge for the first and pitchwife; just would have been nice to hear the coversations and see the reactions of sunder and hollian, and the giants of the starefare's gem.
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