> > Spoilers for _Issola_. > > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10 > 11 > 12 > 13 > 14 > 15 > 16 > 17 > 18 > 19 > 20 > 21 > 22 > 23 > 24 > 25 > 26 > 27 > 28 > 29 > 30 > 31 > 32 > 33 > 34 > 35 > 36 > 37 > 38 > 39 > 40 > > --- Alexx S Kay <alexx at TheWorld.com> wrote: > >> On 10 Mar 2003, Jag wrote: > [...] > >> [3] Tangent four: how sure is it that souls consumed by > >> Morganti weapons are really gone forever? > [...] > > I would say "not remotely", since we have at least one clear > > counterexample. > > The concept that souls might be truly immutable and > indestructible (as they are in the Platonic and most Christian > models) is difficult to reconcile with Vlad's concern in > _Issola_ for saving those parts of Lady Teldra that can still be > saved. If she's really still there, and just can no longer > reach this reality -- and certainly if there were any way to > undo the process -- I would most certainly expect Morrolan (1) > to tell someone about it and (2) to do something about it; and I > would expect much the same of Sethra, who I think is sincere > when she tells Vlad she would never have permitted Teldra's > death / transformation to happen intentionally. (I know that > Morrolan is unconscious at the end of _Issola_, but I don't > think that Steve has set all this up just to undo it in the next > book.) I may not have made it clear in my previous post, but I don't think that "getting a soul out of a Morganti (non-great) weapon" is, in practice possible, though it may be theoretically. Nor do I think that any non-Serioli besides Vlad has ever done what he does at the end of Issola. Once again, Vlad pulls off something unprecedented, that no one else has even considered to be possible. > Vlad is strongly of the opinion that a Morganti weapon resembles > a living or semiliving predator, though -- isn't there also a > bit in _Issola_ where Sethra talks about Morganti weapons as > semianimate? -- and while Vlad may always be wrong, I don't > think there's enough evidence on the other side to make us > seriously doubt his perceptions here, nor do I see any reason > for him to lie about this particular fact. I don't disagree with any of this. But I don't see that it's incompatible with my own theories, either. Alexx Alexx Kay Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers alexx at world.std.com http://world.std.com/~alexx "Max, death has brought you close to Art as we know it today. There's a concept album in this. You hang in there, and I'll be right over." -- Auden