Who is Evil Book?

To close this analysis I would like to venture deep into speculative waters and offer a suggestion regarding the actual identity of "Evil Book". My discussion will explore the supporting evidence for my contention, but will make little effort to be "fair and balanced", though much of the evidence is certainly capable of other interpretations. Be warned: my previous theory regarding the identity of "Teacher" was quickly exploded by the release of End of Ages, so my track record is not good.

I strongly suspect that Evil Book is none other than ex-Guildmaster Kadish. My suspicion begins with Yeesha's apparent fixation on this character. His Age of Tolesa is one of the four primary Ages chosen to present the lessons of Yeesha's first Journey for the Called. His life permeates the lessons of the second Journey along the Path of the Shell, and his death and re-birth are intimately involved with the climax of that Journey. What makes this defrocked Writer, minor merchant, and pathological liar so important?

1. From Yeesha's Bahro Cave speeches in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst: "Only death can conquer pride so strong ... for Yeesha, it was death that moved me to return." I submit that the source of her pride was the power she gained through her studies with Calam, and it was only Calam's death that could shock her out of it, making this statement a reference to the battle in this sequence.


2. Yeesha feels responsible for the death of Calam, though Evil Book killed him. From Yeesha's third imager speech in End of Ages: "Did I ask to cause the death of Calam?" I believe her pride led her to an act that ultimately resulted in the battle with Evil Book, which is why she feels responsible, and why Calam's death was the cure she needed. If she did not feel responsible, then Calam's death would simply be a tragedy and not a lesson, and she has already told us that the lesson of death is about the consequences of pride.


3. When did this prideful act take place? I suggest that her pride was at its greatest height in the first flush of discovering her power, as she learned from Calam and taught him.


4. What was this prideful act? The torn note written by Yeesha and found in Kadish's empty vault is plainly written by someone in the grip of a pride that borders on megalomania. From the fourth fragment: "These are the powers of gods and I now have this power." This note suggests that Yeesha saved Kadish's life during her prideful period. Did Yeesha then just leave him in the vault with no option but to link back to D'ni and die there? Just to give him a "nobler" end than the one he originally chose for himself? Even that would demonstrate incredible arrogance on her part, but it seems unlikely. I suggest that she brought him forward in time to make use of his undoubted skills in the re-birth of D'ni, so his end would not be the waste that she considered it, based on her scrawlings on Kadish's last testament.


5. Yeesha's victory in the battle also resulted in a loss of innocence, according to her journals. In addition to pride, was innocence required to motivate Yeesha's actions in the vault? I think the answer to that is "yes". A sophisticated person would have thought twice about using such wonderous power to alter the history of someone of Kadish's character. I believe it took a significant degree of naivete to save his life long after his death, and that Yeesha was then naive enough to expect lasting gratitude and respect from the Deceiver. This again suggests that the rescue of Kadish took place prior to Calam's death, as Yeesha no longer had such innocence afterward.


6. The vault note is in fragments. Why? I believe that Yeesha later tore it up in angry remorse, because her prideful act of saving Kadish's life went tragically wrong. If she had simply saved Kadish's life and let him go his own way, or if Kadish had gone on to do good works and be kind to widows and orphans, I don't see what reason she would have had to revisit the vault, to tear up the note, or to add Tolesa to her list of lessons about pride and death. Her proud act would have justified itself in this case. But these things become understandable if her act turned out to be a major mistake with a deadly impact.


7. The "glow symbol" suggests that Evil Book considered himself to be the Grower, or was at least a pretender to the Grower's powers, assuming my interpretation of the symbolism is correct. This description certainly fits what we know of Kadish. Thus, Kadish would have had a strong motive to attack Yeesha and/or Calam, once he found out that one of them might be a competitor for the title. This is especially true if Kadish had actually deluded himself into believing he was the Grower. His hunger for power would have led him to try to wipe out any potential challengers, and he certainly couldn't have deceived Yeesha or Calam into becoming followers.


8. Kadish was originally a Writer, as Evil Book seems to be. Evil Book's red costume is suggestive of the red cloak on Kadish's skeleton, and the pictured headgear is suggestive of the helmet found in the alternate vault. While these parallels are far too thin to stand on their own, I believe they do add to the weight of the other evidence.

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