The following is answering the above post, but I can't be arsed with the silly black spoiler tags. So...
**SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER**
I think the "what came before" bit is not meant to be taken literally. I might be wrong, but it seems to tell events almost from the
narrative's point of view.
It talks of Fane:
Quote
Fane, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the so-called Solitary God.
But it does not state whether or not Fane was truly what he claimed to be. In fact, this section is written almost from the POV of the Inrithi, since that is the subject being dealt with at the time. The language used to describe Fane (i.e. "self-proclaimed") and his Solitary God ("so-called") is the kind of language a sceptical Inrithi would use (without the swear words).
Other sections deal with events from other points of view as well. When it says that Kellhus went mad, this section is being told from Moenghus's narrative, and of course that was the exact conclusion that Mo came to when he met Kellhus: that he went mad. But this is still up for grabs in the main text. We don't know.
The part about Cnauir is also ambiguous, because it is told not from Cnauir's POV, but actually from something close to Kellhus's POV.
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But he had made one mistake. He had allowed Cnauir urs Skiotha, a Scylvendi chieftain who had accompanied him on his trek to the Three Seas, to learn too much of his true nature. Before his death, the barbarian revealed these truths to Drusas Achamian, who had harboured heart-breaking suspicions of his own.
Now, it is completely ambiguous in TTT whether Cnauir died or not - he says just before the end that he plans to create one last swazond, at his throat, but he doesn't actually do it before the scene blacks out. In fact, he sees Serwe's/the skin spy's face, just as Mo's last sorcerous light disappears. I think it entirely possible that the Consult, who had been fucking with his head for the entire book, would use Serwe's face to keep him on-track, doing whatever they wanted of him.
However, what seems to be clear is that none of the other characters saw him alive again.
They believe him to be dead, and as such the narrative truth is that he is dead. But he might not be.
In my opinion, the "what came before" section is the truth from the narrative's point of view, but not necessarily the
absolute truth. It is what the world believes has happened, and should not be taken at face value. I think Bakker could have one or two surprises left yet. Like I say, I might be wrong... in which case the surprise is for me
Do I think Kellhus has gone mad? Yeah, probably. But I think it's going to be more complicated than that. The third series of books has not been named because apparently it'd be a massive spoiler. I've long held the suspicion that it will be called "The No-God", as I think this is what is going to happen to Kellhus. The names of the series suggest a progression in Kellhus's position. The Prince of Nothing. The Aspect Emperor.
Something higher than aspect-emperor.
If he doesn't become the No-God (and yeah, I have no idea how he would become the No-God... but the similarities between him flying at the end of TTT and the No-God's Whirlwind are very strong), then I have a suspicion that it will be revealed that he is actually divine after all. Maybe the series will be called The One God or somesuch.
But yeah, he's still probably batshit insane. Doesn't mean he's not right, though!
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Dolorous Menhir, on Apr 8 2009, 07:30 PM, said:
