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The hotel where Filomena Xaldera Caldera (FXC) was supposed to meet V.M. Straka for the first time was the San Sebastián Hotel in Havana, Cuba on June 5, 1946. In this hotel, the translator and author would meet face-to-face for the first time, and the final manuscript for Chapter 10 of Ship of Theseus would be completed and handed over for translation.

Instead, just after midnight on June 6, FXC found VMS’s hotel room ransacked with evidence of a violent struggle. On the street three stories below, she noticed the police loading a body and driving away. FXC claims to have gathered up as much of Chapter 10 as she could. VMS was assumed dead and never heard from again.

The name San Sebastián appears to be a direct reference to Saint Sebastian, a Christian who was martyred twice. He was first tied to a pole and riddled with arrows (can you say, Archer’s Tales?) and assumed dead. He somehow survived, and later was clubbed to death.

In the TV show LOST, main character Jack Shephard and his father work out of San Sebastian hospital. And, the city where Eric   Husch found Filomela Fabregas Caldeira in Brazil is Marau, aka San Sebastian of Marau.

It is interesting that J.J. Abrams has now twice referred to Saint Sebastian in settings that involve the main characters of and key events in his stories.

Is this to tell us that V.M. Straka survived the attempt to kill him, like Saint Sebastian?  Is this to tell us to use the location San Sebastián, Spain, on the EOTVOS wheel? Is this to give us another clue to the meaning behind The Archer’s Tales? 

What do you think?