[Dragaera] Reborn Phoenix

[Scott Schultz]

>Actually, I'd reverse that -- if the Phoenix portion of a cycle goes
through 
>more than one emperor, the first ones are always reborn Phoenixes.  If a 
>Phoenix became decadent, it would always end a Phoenix reign -- because 
>then the Dragons would take over.  A reborn Phoenix may or may not end 
>a Phoenix reign; they might resign in favor of one of their own House or, 
>as in Zerika IV's case, in favor of the Dragon Heir.  (Of course, there
being 
>no other Phoenixes, Zerika can't well abdicate in favor of one of her own
house ...)

The problem with this scenario is that Zerika's reign operates exactly
opposite to it. 

In fact, for there to be a Reborn Phoenix, there has to be some sort of
rebirth to mark it. I don't think you can really identify a reign as
"Reborn" after the fact, by judging them to have been non-decadent. Zerika
again being a case in point.

Now, it's possible that the Reborn Phoenix is mostly a sham - that is, that
it's mostly an idea that's taken hold of the popular imagination rather than
anything with true metaphysical meaning. It may be that a reign of two
Phoenices is no different than that of any other House that suffers
catastrophe of some kind before the Turn of the Cycle and has to replace the
Emperor. 

There's some evidence for that view, if we accept Paarfi's account of the
events in the Halls of Judgement as an accurate accounting. The Gods don't
give a fig for decadence or rebirth. All they care about is whether the
Cycle has Turned. As far as the Lords of Judgment are concerned, it's the
Phoenix Reign. Period, end of story. They don't recognize any sort of
transition, and they don't treat Zerika as anything special aside from her
birthright as the current legitimate Heir. We are never shown that the Gods
are even aware of something called a Reborn Phoenix. Intuitively, we can
assume that  they do understand the significance, but their lack of concern
about the whole affair could suggest that they understand that the
designation is more symbolic than anything else.

It's possible that Zerika manages to avoid "decadence" because her reign is
cut short by the Cycle before she has the opportunity to become decadent
rather than by any special virtue of her own nature. This is the murky area
where the influence of the Cycle isn't really understood: Does she turn the
Cycle by abdicating, or does the Cycle turn, which somehow prompts her to
abdicate?

For my part, I tend to view the "Reborn Phoenix" as a kind of prophecy.
Zerika fulfilled the prophecy where Adron figured he could defy fate and
instead, Oedipus-like,  he played his own pre-determined  role in fulfilling
the prophecy. (How you interpret Adron's actions depends to some extent on
how much weight you give to Paarfi and how much to Aliera.) I think this
jibes with Aliera's first words to Morrolan. 

Zerika is not just a Phoenix who managed to avoid decadence. She was
literally "reborn" - She entered the Land of the Dead and returned alive.
That's a bit larger accomplishment than just managing to be a competent
ruler and abdicate while you're still on top.