1
The Unholy Consult / [TUC Spoilers] The Seven Revelations of SuJuroit (Kellhus and Ajokli)
« on: August 03, 2017, 03:11:31 pm »
I had a number of questions about TUC (and still do), but following the revelations from yesterday’s AMA, I think I now have enough information to answer one of the biggest (to my satisfaction anyway), namely, WTF is going on with Kellhus and Ajokli.
The key piece was RSB’s confirmation in the AMA that Kellhus’ goal was to stop Resumption and “save the world”. That, coupled with Kellhus’ claim that he’d “struck bargains with the Pit” made the pieces start to fall into place for me.
1. When did the partnership between Kellhus and Ajokli start? Not super important, but interesting. My best guess is the Circumfixion; the whole Serwe's heart (HitB) thing was Kellhus performing a miracle using Godpower. How did he access the Godpower considering he’d never been to the Outside at this point, let alone know the Daimos? Block universe. Once Kellhus allied with Ajokli in his future, he was always allied with Ajokli from the perspective of Ajokli.
2. What did Ajokli and Kellhus get out of a partnership? Kellhus apparently really did want to stop the Consult/save the world. Being Kellhus, he determined that he needed a trump card, a power even greater than the meta-Gnosis and his kung fu mastery. Especially with the high likelihood he’d be facing one or more Dunyain. Godpower from Ajokli gives him that power so he can pull stunts like “I am Master here!”. He probably also wanted to avoid Damnation. Ajokli wants several things. First and foremost, he wants to manifest in the Inward to feast on it. But he also doesn’t want the Granary to be closed with him baying at the gate like a hungry wolf. He’d sensed something was off the last time the No-God manifested, but now here comes this reverse prophet telling him what was what AND offering to help keep the Granary open? Deal. Especially since Ajokli apparently planned on screwing Kellhus and manifesting in the Inward when he had the opportunity (Ajokli gonna Ajokli).
3. What’s the Head On A Pole? Dunno, but it’s pretty clearly not Ajokli, since Kellhus apparently needed it/used it to strike his treaties with the Pit. I wonder if it had something to do with all those mysterious murders in 4021? Perhaps the manifestation of the Head requires the sacrifice of somebody who loves/trusts the Daimotic sorcerer?
4. Why are the rest of the Hundred hunting Ajokli? Because they don’t see what he sees or know what he knows (remember, he's always been allied with Kellhus, which is how his Narindari know this in the WLW). From their perspective, he’s just being a dick, trying to raid the ‘fridge and hog all the food for himself.
Ajokli: “Hey guys, there’s some serious shit about to go down in the Inward and we risk getting shut off from the yummy food.”
The Hundred: “Yeah sure Trickster God, pull the other one. How about you stop messing around with the Inward before we come over there and kick your ass?”
Ajokli: “Grrrrrrr….” .
Here’s the weird timey-wimey thing about the blindness of the Hundred to the No-God though; they can’t see him at all, in any way, but they CAN see the results of his presence (which they ascribe to men being jerks). IF the No-God ever actually succeeded in closing the world, the Hundred would see that because they see the entire timeline at once and they would see a time where the world is closed, thus no more Granary. But there’s no textual evidence they see anything of the sort. Therefore, it’s pre-ordained that the No-God MUST fail and the world is never closed. Probably due to Ajokli’s fiddling with Kellhus and the timeline.
5. Did Kellhus want/intend for Ajokli to manifest in the Inward? Kellhus is super smart, and he’s well aware of topoi, the nature of Ajokli, etc., so the possibility couldn’t be a surprise to him. RSB indicated in the AMA that it wasn’t really what Kellhus intended or wanted, but he couldn’t stop it due to a combination of lack of knowledge (darkness), lack of spiritual strength due to his feeble Dunyain passion, etc. The most common reading of the Decapitants glossary entry seems to be that Ajokli tried to manifest into the Inward through Mengidda but Kellhus was able to resist him. That seems reasonable to me, and might explain why Kellhus took the risk in the Golden Room; “I was able to keep him out once, I can probably do it again. And if I can’t, well Resumption will still be prevented because that’s the one thing Ajokli desperately wants to avoid as well.”
6. Where’s Kellhus post TUC? We know three things for sure; he is dead, Ajokli can’t find him, and he is NOT Mimara’s baby. I see 3 likely possibilities. 1. Kellhus is in the other Decapitant. 2. Kellhus found Oblivion. 3. Kellhus saw himself descending as Hunger in the Inverse Fire, so he’s in the Outside where he’s used his super smarts to create an “intentional reality” where he can hide from Ajokli.
7. Why did Kellhus want to stop Resumption? This is the one question I can’t really answer, and it probably goes to the heart of what RSB is trying to accomplish in creating a “crash space” of meaning and morality. Resumption means genocide and the likely extinction of humanity. But it also means 144k souls will escape Damnation and no new souls will be born to eventually wind up in the Pit, which we’ve been repeatedly told is the worst thing imaginable. Stopping Resumption means mankind gets to keep existing but Damnation awaits the vast majority of them. And Ajokli’s manifestation in the Inward seems like the worst of all possible worlds. He creates Hell on earth and THEN people die and their souls wind up in the Pit. Even if Kellhus, in his hubris, believed he could prevent Ajokli from manifesting in the Golden Room (which he couldn’t), the Granary keeps on functioning in all its horror. A headscratcher, which it was probably intended to be all along.
The key piece was RSB’s confirmation in the AMA that Kellhus’ goal was to stop Resumption and “save the world”. That, coupled with Kellhus’ claim that he’d “struck bargains with the Pit” made the pieces start to fall into place for me.
1. When did the partnership between Kellhus and Ajokli start? Not super important, but interesting. My best guess is the Circumfixion; the whole Serwe's heart (HitB) thing was Kellhus performing a miracle using Godpower. How did he access the Godpower considering he’d never been to the Outside at this point, let alone know the Daimos? Block universe. Once Kellhus allied with Ajokli in his future, he was always allied with Ajokli from the perspective of Ajokli.
2. What did Ajokli and Kellhus get out of a partnership? Kellhus apparently really did want to stop the Consult/save the world. Being Kellhus, he determined that he needed a trump card, a power even greater than the meta-Gnosis and his kung fu mastery. Especially with the high likelihood he’d be facing one or more Dunyain. Godpower from Ajokli gives him that power so he can pull stunts like “I am Master here!”. He probably also wanted to avoid Damnation. Ajokli wants several things. First and foremost, he wants to manifest in the Inward to feast on it. But he also doesn’t want the Granary to be closed with him baying at the gate like a hungry wolf. He’d sensed something was off the last time the No-God manifested, but now here comes this reverse prophet telling him what was what AND offering to help keep the Granary open? Deal. Especially since Ajokli apparently planned on screwing Kellhus and manifesting in the Inward when he had the opportunity (Ajokli gonna Ajokli).
3. What’s the Head On A Pole? Dunno, but it’s pretty clearly not Ajokli, since Kellhus apparently needed it/used it to strike his treaties with the Pit. I wonder if it had something to do with all those mysterious murders in 4021? Perhaps the manifestation of the Head requires the sacrifice of somebody who loves/trusts the Daimotic sorcerer?
4. Why are the rest of the Hundred hunting Ajokli? Because they don’t see what he sees or know what he knows (remember, he's always been allied with Kellhus, which is how his Narindari know this in the WLW). From their perspective, he’s just being a dick, trying to raid the ‘fridge and hog all the food for himself.
Ajokli: “Hey guys, there’s some serious shit about to go down in the Inward and we risk getting shut off from the yummy food.”
The Hundred: “Yeah sure Trickster God, pull the other one. How about you stop messing around with the Inward before we come over there and kick your ass?”
Ajokli: “Grrrrrrr….” .
Here’s the weird timey-wimey thing about the blindness of the Hundred to the No-God though; they can’t see him at all, in any way, but they CAN see the results of his presence (which they ascribe to men being jerks). IF the No-God ever actually succeeded in closing the world, the Hundred would see that because they see the entire timeline at once and they would see a time where the world is closed, thus no more Granary. But there’s no textual evidence they see anything of the sort. Therefore, it’s pre-ordained that the No-God MUST fail and the world is never closed. Probably due to Ajokli’s fiddling with Kellhus and the timeline.
5. Did Kellhus want/intend for Ajokli to manifest in the Inward? Kellhus is super smart, and he’s well aware of topoi, the nature of Ajokli, etc., so the possibility couldn’t be a surprise to him. RSB indicated in the AMA that it wasn’t really what Kellhus intended or wanted, but he couldn’t stop it due to a combination of lack of knowledge (darkness), lack of spiritual strength due to his feeble Dunyain passion, etc. The most common reading of the Decapitants glossary entry seems to be that Ajokli tried to manifest into the Inward through Mengidda but Kellhus was able to resist him. That seems reasonable to me, and might explain why Kellhus took the risk in the Golden Room; “I was able to keep him out once, I can probably do it again. And if I can’t, well Resumption will still be prevented because that’s the one thing Ajokli desperately wants to avoid as well.”
6. Where’s Kellhus post TUC? We know three things for sure; he is dead, Ajokli can’t find him, and he is NOT Mimara’s baby. I see 3 likely possibilities. 1. Kellhus is in the other Decapitant. 2. Kellhus found Oblivion. 3. Kellhus saw himself descending as Hunger in the Inverse Fire, so he’s in the Outside where he’s used his super smarts to create an “intentional reality” where he can hide from Ajokli.
7. Why did Kellhus want to stop Resumption? This is the one question I can’t really answer, and it probably goes to the heart of what RSB is trying to accomplish in creating a “crash space” of meaning and morality. Resumption means genocide and the likely extinction of humanity. But it also means 144k souls will escape Damnation and no new souls will be born to eventually wind up in the Pit, which we’ve been repeatedly told is the worst thing imaginable. Stopping Resumption means mankind gets to keep existing but Damnation awaits the vast majority of them. And Ajokli’s manifestation in the Inward seems like the worst of all possible worlds. He creates Hell on earth and THEN people die and their souls wind up in the Pit. Even if Kellhus, in his hubris, believed he could prevent Ajokli from manifesting in the Golden Room (which he couldn’t), the Granary keeps on functioning in all its horror. A headscratcher, which it was probably intended to be all along.