Hiya folks. Thought I'd drop my crackpot thoughts about the TUC (just read it over the weekend, I have no idea how many pages is that book).

Still reeling from the ending going ''OMG OMG WTF JUST HAPPENED THIS IS AWESOME NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED''

So I hope perhaps together we can achieve a semblance of meaning and perhaps catch up to our Dunyanic author (Bakker!).

Here's a few observations.

Kellhus'scene in the Thousand Hells with the head on a pole. There is hinted textual evidence that the ciphrang he is talking to (the most crocodillian of Sons) may be none other than Cnaiur. Recall, in TUC, Moe JR thinks that Cnaiur's swazond ridden skin looks crocodillian when Cnaiur is in the tent with him (it was one of the scenes).

So that's one viable guess for the scene in Hell. The other which was deciphering the head on the pole, I saw was puzzled over in these forums, the Onkis image - which looks like a head on a pole is actually a head on a tree. Nonmen Siol link aside, trees are a recurring and persistent motif in Dunyain thought - Little Kellhus is taught to be like a tree during combat, Kelmomas if I recall correctly had thoughts about a tree, Kellhus on the circumfix also saw a tree (with the dunayin monk (himself) with legs bent like an animal). Don't know how to put all of this together, though.

There might really be some time-travelling paradox that is involved in Kellhus's possible survival after he became salt. There is definitely an implication of that in the Hell scene (with our boy going ''But I have never been here'').

Still don't know what that damn head on the pole is. Short of beating Jason Deem (and if I surmise correctly, he posts here) for the answer, it's guesstimates. Though with the decapitant entry in the glossary, and perhaps, just perhaps, if Kellhus somehow switched heads with Ajokli when he was conversing with the Dunsult, then maybe somehow his head ends on a pole in hell? How, I've no idea, especially with the Dunsult creeping around the pillar of salt etc.

Also, all the living who died are in hell, The Ordealmen, the men of the first Holy War, Serwe, Proyas, everybody. If Kellhus, with his unseen power (who descends as hunger in the Inverse flame, Ciphrang or God, who knows) creates a whole subreality of his in the Outside, might have very curious and crazy interactions with the Damned mentioned above.

So, it is a good guess, that the next series will be about stopping the Second Apocalypse with some storytelling in hell as well, quite possibly Kellhus dunyaning the Thousand Hells.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Gah! Another crackpot idea hit me. So if the Gods see past, present and future (not sure about alternate timelines) and the Outside is out of time and perhaps offers a vantage point to past, present and future... what happens if a Dunyain with his probability trance is afforded that vantage point. What happens if Kellhus and his TTT and whatever follows his TTT includes this possibility (as it quite probably does)? Time-travelling paradoxes abound, saw few theories about that and Kellhus becoming the God of Gods etc etc etc. Madness...