Altering the Song?

[Nerine]

I'd never wondered this before, but today I was thinking about Deep Wizardry and this occurred to me.
We know that the Song of the Twelve is not something that's just history, over and done with; it has to be repeated at regular intervals to keep the Lone Power bound. And more important, it has to be done *right*; the wizard that sings the part of the Silent One has to die as the original Silent One did. The wizards that sing the Untouched and Undecided are subject to the same temptations as the original wizards were, and have to resist these temptations. In other words, the Song is not just a reenactment of history, it's a literal repeat of history.
Now, we can see that the Lone Power tries to use this to his advantage. He sings as persuasively as possible, trying to get the new representatives of the Untouched and Undecided to accept his temptations. In one case, he succeeds; Ariennye succumbs to his lure, and this nearly spells disaster for everyone involved in the Song. Essentially, the Lone Power is trying to change history by altering the Song to his advantage.
Now my question is, if such an "alteration" can work in the Lone Power's advantage, why not the other way around? Why don't the wizards singing the parts of the Betrayed resist the Lone Power's temptations, and in doing so strengthen the Song? I'm sure that those three wizards are not fated to give in to the Lone Power - I don't remember who they were, but wasn't Roots one of them and Hotshot another? - in fact, I'm positive they could resist. So, if the world could be altered for the better by changing the Song, why don't they?
I guess the counter-argument could be that you have to get every little detail of the Song right for it to work. But this can't be the case, because when Ariennye and the krakens attack before the "battle" in the Song, S'reee cries, "Forget the battle! H'Neeet (sp?), sing!" In other words, forget about following the script literally - make the Sacrifice, and nothing else matters. Come to that, why do they bother going through the whole Song every time? Why not just tell the Silent One (and Ed as well, I guess) to go down to the undersea mountain where the Lone One is bound, make the Sacrifice, and leave it at that?

Nerine

[Telaldalin]

hmmm...good questions.
my guess as to why they need to go through the whole song, if at least just the beginning, is because it puts more reasoning into the Silent One's sacrifice.
there had to be the argument amongst the other lords otherwise the Silent One wouldn't have had a reason to die
i don't know if i'm making any sense. do you get what i'm trying to say?
since the Song is a repeat of history, you have to present each Silent One the same type of arguments as the first so that the sacrifice is similar
grrr! it makes sense when i'm thinking about it but i don't know if i am conveying in words correctly!
maybe i'll think of a better way to explain it later

[Gryphon]

I don't know how well I remember that book, but here's what I can say.

I see what you're getting at Nerine, but like what Tel said, there's no reason for the sacrifice to be made, if you skip the rest of it. You don't need the sacrifice without the conflict. If everyone truly refuses the Lone Power, then what would the sacrifice accomplish? Another death. That's all. The Lone Power gains none, and the wizards loose when they didn't need to.

[Ankaa]

I think the LP can try to wreck the Song but the Twelve can't strengthen it because then, in a way, that would be sabatoge, even if it meant well. I think that the singing before the sacrifice invests more power in the sacrifice itself. Like a gamble. If the Silent One dies but before the Song was properly sung, then it would do nothing...or very, very little. But even if the Song isn't complete, enough might have been put into it to make the Silent Lord's death worth it...

[the_peridexis]

it would be pointless if nita had to just make the sacrifice and die; her life would have been wasted. think of it like this; to get to any good thing, you have to struggle twords it, or it's not worth going after.

[illiriam]

Sacrifice doesn't equal death

I know its been forever since anyone posted on this topic, but I was reading it and just HAD to chime in. lol
Everyone is making really good points, and they made me remember part of a conversation in the book (I don't know exactly where, I'm at school and don't have the series with me). I think it was during Carl's conversation with Nita, and she says something about just getting the sacrifice over with, and Carl pretty much responds with an adamant NO. He explains that just dying to fulfill the death required by the sacrifice doesn't do any good. She has to MEAN the sacrifice, not just willingly but meaningfully, know why she is doing it, and do it, if not happily, at least not resentfully. Only then will it really be a victory against the Lone Power.
So if the manner in which the sacrifice is performed is such an important factor, then the way in which each of the others accepts or denies death is just as important; each actor has their own role. All the parts add up to the whole, and without one, the whole is diminished. (Sorry if I am explaining this in a really complicated manner when it could be shorter..) So if they just skipped right to the sacrifice of the Silent Lord, then it would be just the destination without the journey.
whew! Hope i didn't forget anything I meant to say.

[Emi]

I like your explaination illiriam. I understand what you're saying. It's like the Song wouldn't have really worked if no one was putting their hearts and souls into it. God, it's been awhile since I've read DW.... but if I recall they all seemed like they wanted to participate in the Song. Except when Nita found out that she was going to play that part that ends up sacrificing herself. And maybe that's why the shark... Ed, was the right sacrifice for the Song. Because he had his mind made up at the time to do it willingly. I think he didn't want Nita to die and lose her family and friends... when he didn't have anything to lose. I have to read that book again. It dawned on me... as you get older you tend to learn more from these books. I think that's why I love them so much.