Simon's Plan

[jude2425]

Just finished the SoA series and I loved it (although I have to admit I enjoyed SRL's Pendragon books better and am looking forward to Patrick). Like many, I have a few questions, which fortunately this forum has cleared up. However, I am a little confused about Simon and I hope you can help me out.

When I first read TPW, I thought Simon's first trip to the Otherworld was haphazard and accidental. . .but now I'm not too sure. After rereading portions of TPW and TEK I wonder. . .Siawn Hy is such an evil. manipulating character that I can't help but think conspiracy from the beginning. Simon's impromptu recitation on the way to the aurochs site, his initial interest in aurochs, his relationship with Susannah, his "natural" sunwise circle walk (3x) around the cairn, his relationship with Lewis (a Celtic Studies student), all this makes me think he may have sought out the Otherworld "gateway" much earlier than when TPW begins.

Any thoughts???

[Tegid]

Welcome here, jude2425! And wasn't Song of Albion great, though! (I'm about halfway through the Pendragon cycle, and Patrick is yet to come.)

I believe you're right to think this was not haphazard. Simon didn't find enough "room" here for what he wanted out of life. When the possibilities of the Otherworld were suggested to him, he started to pursue them back then, but not because of any business interest.

Maybe his first several attempts were leads offered by the Society or by his own delving into matters, and none of those panned out. But his driven pursuit enabled him to learn ever more about that Otherworld and also convinced him ever more that it must be real.

The newspaper article was more than just an academic lead, though. It described just exactly what he knew he was looking for, and he was so sure of success this time that he brought Lewis along. We're getting all this from Lewis' perspective, and so we are just as innocent at the start as Lewis is about Simon's prior involvement.

Hmm. What if Lewis, at Simon's urging, had followed him on into the cairn? How different would things be? Would Simon have succeeded then?

[dgan]

Ha! Another Pendragon lover! I keep telling these people that Pendragon is even better than SOA (which was awesome), but it is a point of friendly contention.

As for Simon. That is an interesting viewpoint. I never really assumed Simon was an evil person trying to get into the Otherworld for the purpose of power. I just thought he was a messed up kid that did have an idea how he might get into the Otherworld. Once there, his messed up ideals and motives were completely foreign and enticing to the, shall I say, 'weak minded' of the Otherworld's own race.

I guess I never looked at Simon as someone with a master plan, but just someone that kept looking for more and more. I don't know if that agrees or disagrees with what you're saying, but I definately agree it was not an accident. He knew exactly what he was doing to get into the Otherworld.

Great to have you here! Explore, read, post, and most of all, have fun!

[jude2425]

Thanks dgan & Tegid. I appreciate your thoughts on Simon. I know Lewis is changed dramatically in Albion, but to not see Simon's sinister side in the manifest world is interesting. Was Lewis that blind, or Simon that good at hiding his heart?. . .perhaps both?

SOA is a great trilogy with characters so rich and fascinating wrapped in a story equally deep and interesting. I love books that make me contemplate them long after I'm done. I look forward to reading them to my kids.

[Tegid]

I think that the evil that grew in Simon can be seen in incipient form from the very beginning. But who knew that the way he treated Lewis at the table, or the superior attitude he displayed at Motorman Inn, for example, concerning just about everyone else, would later take fruit the way it did? So many around us have those same tendencies and don't become full-blown Siawn Hys. But then, many might actually take such a turn, if given the opportunities that were presented to Simon once he was able to cast off restraints in the Otherworld.

[DanTheMan]

I think that in the beginning Lewis was confused and didn't see (or want to see) certain characteristics in Simon. After being in Albion, and learning some key lessons from Scatha and other, he then began to see Simon in a new light. Simon, for his part, seemed to go the opposite direction. The lessons he learned, coupled with his own character tendancies, pushed him over the edge.

Boy, this all makes me want to read the series again, for a third time. Now I just have to figure out where to fit it in!

[Iestyn]

Simon's little rant over his less-than-edible food actually reminds me alot of myself as a teenager- before I started looking into this Jesus person I had always been taught about a little more closely

In my mind:

-Nothing was ever good enough.
-I was always looking for something better, because "everything sucked".
-I was spoiled too, but I didn' know it. It took having everything taken away to realize that.

I think a lot of teenagers might go through that....

I don't know if he planned his trip into Albion, but when Simon got there he clearly saw "something better". He also managed to ruin it with no regret just like a spoiled kid might ruin expensive toys without a second thought.

Ol' Siawn Hy is the kind of guy who just doesn't appreciate anything.

Whats more, as Tegid hinted, lots of us have the potential to become him barring a desire to change.


My two cents anyway.

[Dred]

That's a very good point. We all have potential for great things, either good or bad, but it is the choices we make that dictate how that goes.

[reguba]

I personally think that Siawn Hy was just lazy in a way. He expected everything to just be HIS just because he was Simon Rawnson, and when it was withdrawn from him or someone like him, such as Meldron ap Meldryn Mawr, he couldn't stand it and ruined the very thing he'd been searching for his whole life.