dorotea, on Aug 8 2003, 04:10 PM, said:
1. Imoen mentions that 'you will come too late' - there can be several explanations, but most logical one is the simplest : you worry about her and thus you dream of her, and not symbolically imagine her as your soul
2. Irenicus must have got the taint as well as the soul - because not only he can turn into the Slayer, he has some degree of control over your Hellish plane while he is holding to your soul - thus soul contains essence which is also the taint. I cannot separate the essence onto 'bad' and 'good' part, it is just raw power.
Arguments pro and contra? Anybody interested?
1) Yes, that's a good one alright. Tricky.
"Do you remember... me? I... I can almost see... I want to, but... too late. You will come too late."
The only way I can interpret this and still maintain any credibility in what I say is:
"Do you remember who you are? Past events have shaken you to the core, do you still remember your own spirit? Something has come between us now... I am distant, but not yet gone... I almost have the power to see you, to force my way back to you but - too late! You will come (to full realisation? Back to me? Into your power?) too late!"
And with the appearance of the growing fears and disturbances within you(Irenicus), your soul becomes a statue - as far away from you as your guiding mentors, who laid the groundwork for your personality, or Sarevok, your shadow, who by opposing you allowed you to affirm who you were. You are losing touch with your soul, possibly as a result of something the real Irenicus did... but your psyche is clearly not giving up without a fight, as the Irenicus-figure asserts 'She clings to her old life.' I need a dictionary of Freudianism or something for this.
2) I'm not sure the essence and the taint are the same thing. Every reference to the taint of Bhaal seems to indicate that it is something deep within you, almost like a cancer, or lycanthropy. References are made to your 'tainted blood'... how you are 'born of that which takes life'... it's all very physical metaphors when referring to the taint. No-one ever says your *essence* or your *soul* is 'tainted'... divine in their' own way, yes, but not tainted.