The Claw of the Conciliator: Chapter XXI

Hydromancy

Many apologies for the long delay in getting to this next chapter! Barring any more unexpected tragedies, we should be back to a weekly schedule.

“Several seconds passed before I rightly understood what it was the androgyne had said. Then the remembered scent of Thecla’s roasted flesh rose sickening-sweet in my nostrils, and I seemed to feel the unquiet of the leaves. Forgetting in the stress of the moment how futile such precautions must be in that deception-filled room, I looked about, seeking to assure myself that no one could overhear us, then found that without my having willed it (consciously, I had intended to question him before betraying my connection with Vodalus) my hand had taken the knife-shaped steel from the innermost compartment of my savretache.

The androgyne smiled. “I felt you might be the one. For days now I have been expecting you, and I have kept the old man outside and many others under instructions to bring promising strangers to me.”

This is one of the slipperier chapters, I think, in part because of how concise this all is. The androgyne is only in the novel at this point for a handful of pages yet we must ask ourselves: who is the androgyne?

We know he is the owner of the brothel in Nessus that Severian went to previously, many chapters ago, when he paid for the Thecla mimic’s time. Severian draws his knife, though, as if to kill him. If you remember, Vodalus wanted Severian to kill the Autarch.

So Severian believes the androgyne is the Autarch. But then the androgyne is also revealed to be Vodalus’ spy. And yet we also discover that the androgyne is the Autarch, or at least Severian believes him to be. But let’s examine how this confirmation occurs. I’ll quote again at a bit of length.

“Good. There is something else you must do as well. The Autarch is here, but long before you reach Thrax he will be in the north too, with the army. If he comes near Thrax, you are able to go to him. In time you will discover the way in which you must take his life.”

His tone betrayed him as much as Thecla’s thoughts. I wanted to kneel, but he clapped his hands, and a bent little man slipped silently into the room. He wore a cowled habit like a cenobite’s. The Autarch spoke to him, something I was too distracted to understand.

Let’s take this in turn, because I do think this is all easy to miss or be blindsided by.

The androgyne is telling Severian that he must kill the Autarch. In saying so, Severian judges something amiss. Perhaps a lie or a bit of deception in this room of deception. More than that, Thecla’s memories stir and reveal the androgyne for the Autarch.

And then we’re off to the fountains and Severian runs in fear through the Gate of Trees.

But let us linger here on the Autarch and this strange meeting. I think teasing about this chapter is instructive for the kind of writer Wolfe is.

He wants you off balance. Because you could be reading this chapter as just another in a sequence of Severian stumbling into curious characters, only to find yourself tripping over the reveal that this random guy is the Autarch. So you page back and try to find the hints and explanations, but there are none.

Or, there are some, but they’re easy to miss. Almost like they’re written in a secret language.

The House Absolute, which has the public house and the second house, where Severian meets the Autarch. I feel that Wolfe is commenting on the book itself, here.

You can read The Book of the New Sun as a winding, strange, adventure. A picaresque trek across Urth where Severian encounters many strange people and does many strange things with them.

But underneath all that, there are layers unfolding. They’re difficult to grab onto, to keep inside your head. And you might run right past them without a glance at what’s unspooling beneath your feet, behind the drapery.

What does it mean that the Autarch is telling Severian to kill the Autarch? What does it mean that the Autarch met Severian previously while in disguise at a brothel famous for disguises its whores as nobles? Was Severian merely fooled by the costume, here?

Or is this the Autarch?

If we take it at face value, how did the Autarch becomes Vodalus’ spy?

There are all kinds of knots forming here in the novel and no clear answer. No clear way to cut through or untangle.

And that’s okay.

That’s part of all this.

You may get lost and confused and you’re going to miss details—perhaps you even missed this central reveal—but that’s al right. That’s fine. Just carry on and hope you find your feet again.

Because you will.

What I find funny about the structure of this novel, too, is that it may be familiar to anyone who has played an open world videogame. Urth is a playground for Severian and Wolfe and Severian spends his time narrating his strange adventure full of sidequests.

Early on in the first book, Severian is sent to Thrax to become the executioner. We’re in the back half of the second novel and he’s still on his way to Thrax! But we’ve had hundreds of pages of Severian milling about and wandering into little sidequests and adventures.

And this is the doubling of the novel.

On the surface, this sequence of sidequests is the treat. It’s the whole of the novel. So if you’re not bought into this adventure full of adventures, then you can get off the train. But if you’re enjoying the ride, you can scratch at the paint and see what lies beneath.