Yeah but i have this ocean thing to cross as well. I would road-trip drive it if i could.I have a car and plenty of time, Or walk it.

In fact it would only be fitting if i walked it. The slog of slogs, boys!!!

"No sinking on the Slog!"

I thought it was transformed to look like the original head once placed. Seems hardly worth the effort if the thing looked like a Demon.

I doubt Kosotor would have been beheaded by surprise, and his re-decapitated-ciphrange-head subsequently tied to another's beard without anyone realize or mentioning it. For one, he'd be more powerful than that, and two, I'd imagine that once redecapitated it would transform back to ciphrange.

When you suggested that it wouldn't be worth the effort if the thing didn't look like Malowebi, it made me think about what Kellhus is trying to accomplish.

For starters, those Decapitants are extremely valuable, now that we know they can be reanimated and commanded. Second, they do not reanimate in their original (?) form; rather, they take the form of the body to which they're fused. So Kellhus now has an agent, who appears to be Malowebi, that he has sent on a mission to end the line of Nganka'kull. Presumably, that's a mission within the demon's scope. It will be interesting to see to what purpose Kellhus uses the second Decapitant.

Speaking of transformations, this thread appears to be turning into a discussion of the Decapitants. Also, I never thought I'd see the word "redecapitated" used in a coherent sentence. The wonders of fantasy fiction. Well done, Wilshire!

Quote from: profgrape on March 20, 2017, 04:27:43 pm

Re: The Pursing, I wonder if Malowebi's head ends up tied to Kellhus' belt after the first scene. Meaning he becomes the second Decapitant referenced later in the chapter.  The Decapitants are sentient; maybe the final passage is from Dacapitant-Maliwebi's perspective?

Now we're cooking with gas! It's either that or Kellhus steps away from the battle with Meppa, takes care of business in the palace (with both of the original Decaps dangling), and then returns to battling Meppa.

I think your solution is more interesting. It allows for some arcane speculation on the necessity of keeping Malowebi's head. But wouldn't Esmenet notice the head of Malowebi? No, upon further review, I'm sticking with my theory, which has the virtue of leaving the timeline intact.

Well, I am forced to abandon my theory that Kellhus teleported to the palace during the battle with Meppa, since Kellhus tells Esmenet that Fanayal is dead. That clearly establishes a timeline for Kellhus: He arrives in Momemn, kills Fanayal, tosses Psatma, vanquishes Meppa, transforms Malowebi, and then he goes to the palace to "salvage what [he] can".

My guess on the decapitants is one is Kosoter and one is now Malowebi.

I rationalised it by thinking he beheaded Malowbi, too a head from his girlde and fused it, took malowbi's head and attached it to his girlde, that turned demonic cause the demon had his face so he took the demons face. Thats why esmi see 2 heads on his Kellhus's girdle.

OK. So apparently Malowebi's head (great band name, btw...) is on Kellhus' girdle (not such a good band name, imho...). That's believable. Barely. As for the second Decapitant's head being Kosoter's....I don't buy it. Where's Ciphrang- Kosoter? Where's the scene of Kellhus reanimating the headless corpse of Kosoter? How would Kellhus even find the headless corpse of Kosoter? How would Kellhus find Sarl, who is in possession of Kosoter's head? Questions.....

Speaking of questions, this new timeline leads to a new speculative question: Who survives the earthquake? It seems clear to me that Issiral does not survive; however, does anyone else die? Kellhus?  Esmenet?  Kelmomas?

God,  I hope Kelmomas is dead. I'm tired of his sorry ass.

You never know, Esmi's first line in TUC, while weeping at Kellhus' feet could be something like "why the fuck is Morgan Freeman's head on your belt?"

Ha ha! That's a long shot, but I like the way you think. Hey, that would make a great thread: "Possible opening lines for TUC".

I am working my way through a series of podcasts from a radio show on XRAY-FM, a public radio station in Portland, Oregon. Called "The PM Show", it features progressive rock, jazz fusion and related styles. I discovered an East Coast band named Frogg Cafe, which began as a Frank Zappa tribute band. First-rate.

I think it's meant to be Malowebi's reliving his doom. As if his soul is trapped (see his reference to the Pursing) and he's continuously experiencing his last moments.

That being said, I didn't interpret it this way until I re-read the section today. 

Interesting, but I'm not sure he's reliving his last moments. Instead, Bakker gives us a particularly intense look of Malowebi's death from his doomed POV. I agree about the Pursing; I just don't see any hint of circularity.

My interpretation was Kellhus defeats Meppa, beheads Malowebi, return to the palace and encounter TWLW. But yes there was definitely bad editing in that chapter.

Not sure it was the fault of any perfidious editors. Actually, it's effective writing: imho, the disorienting shifts of POV and location give the reader some sense of what it must be like to encounter Kellhus in extremis. As Malowebi asks, "What are you?"

But your timeline is a valid one. Especially if you accept....

I rationalised it by thinking he beheaded Malowbi, too a head from his girlde and fused it, took malowbi's head and attached it to his girlde, that turned demonic cause the demon had his face so he took the demons face. Thats why esmi see 2 heads on his Kellhus's girdle.

Wow! I like this! But I lean to the theory that Kellhus visits the palace during the battle with Meppa. IIRC, Kellhus disappears at least once during the battle.

The way I read it, we witness a fork in the Decision Tree/ Tree of Events either "unhappen" or become obsolete/ impossible. It's so far unclear to me what exactly triggers this. To me it's a ripple in the timeflow somewhat like what happens just before Korringhus had his final revelation.

This explanation is above my pay grade. There are definitely timeflow difficulties, and timeflow difficulties always make my head hurt.

The shifting narrative style is very like that of the climax of TTT. I'm willing to wager that TUC ends in a blazingly virtuosic fugue of interlocking narrative POVs.

Its not a historical text, its a narrative written by Bakker. Sometimes things are plot devices lol.

WHAT???  Not a historical text?? Heresy!

"Sometimes a plot device is just a plot device."
-Freud