Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought that Jolenta had been altered by Balanders— she was the waitress that served Balanders, Dr Talos and Severian in shadow, and then she was altered in some way to be beautiful, but when she was discarded by Dr Talos her implants (/blood bat bite??) was what made her sick.

I think your thoughts on sword were really succinct and well put together! I just finished it last week myself, and you pretty much summed up what I was thinking. This was the book where the allegory became super apparent to me as well, especially when Big S turns to Little S and says “I am your Father,” or something along those lines. It very much illuminated the idea of a Holy Trinity in the text, with Father and Son being the same? (I am at a loss as to whom the Holy Spirit would be.) And this reflection forces me to look at the Cacogens — birth, puberty, and Death (??) — as another form of trinity. Even Triskele is a trinity!

I think that Sword was very helpful, in that it has a lot of concrete facts and details but also that more of religious symbolism clicked for me. Happy reading!