# w_theory

created: 2005-09-18 08:29:40
subject: Before Natael
body:
<p>The first time we see Asmodean, he is disguised as the gleeman, Jasin Natael, and he is travelling with Lanfear (Keille) through the Aiel Waste, trailing Rand. Where was Asmodean before this?<br /><br /><b><u>Current Opinion </u></b><br /><br />Most readers believe that Asmodean was based in Arad Doman before he joined Lanfear on her mission. This is based loosely on two quotes which Asmodean provides &#8230;<br /><br />TFoH (Pale Shadows) - <i>I came across a saying in Arad Doman. &#8220;The more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps.&#8221; It would not be bad to remember it.<br /></i><br /><br />&#8230; and later TFoH (Pale Shadows) - <i>I don&#8217;t know where the others are, if that is what you want. Except Sammael, and you knew he&#8217;d taken Ilian for his kingdom before I told you. Graendal was in Arad Doman for a time, but I suspect she has gone now; she likes her comforts too well. I suspect Moghedien is or was in the west somewhere as well &#8230; Rahvin has a queen for one of his pets &#8230; &#8220; </i><br /><br />Asmodean doesn&#8217;t ever mention where he came from, but the fact that he uses Domani quotes, and knows that Graendal is in Arad Doman is the strongest evidence where have regarding his initial placement. However, I disagree with this. Firstly, we know that most of the Forsaken have been to several locations anyway just to acquaint themselves with the new world e.g. Graendal implies she has been to Shara. Secondly, he knew that Graendal was in Arad Doman, but I believe that was relatively common knowledge among the Forsaken. Sammael, Cyndane and Moghedien knew where Graendal was, and she made no effort to hide her location there. Thirdly, he knows the location of several other Forsaken but this doesn&#8217;t mean that he inhabited the relevant area. Finally, and most pertinently, if Graendal did inhabit Arad Doman, I find it highly unlikely that Asmodean would place himself in the same region. The Forsaken never share domains &#8211; there is too much mistrust and envy between them. Asmodean would not inhabit Ilian knowing that Sammael was there, or Seanchan if he knew Semirhage was present. Rahvin even mentions in TSR that he couldn&#8217;t make any move against Nynaeve and Elayne in Tear because Be&#8217;lal would take it as a move against him. In TFoH, Lanfear&#8217;s mere presence in Rahvin&#8217;s area makes him immediately assume that he is under attack.<br /><br />So where was Asmodean? I believe he established himself in Cairhien, the only city as yet uninhabited by the Forsaken. It is also possible that he was disguised as Aldrin Caldevwin, one of king Galldrian&#8217;s captains.<br /><br /><b><u>Asmodean&#8217;s domain  </u></b><br /><br />Let&#8217;s see what we know about Asmodean&#8217;s initial location &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (Traps) - <i>&#8221;You fear risk as much as Moghedien, don&#8217;t you? You would creep about like the Spider herself. Had I not hauled you out of your hole, you&#8217;d still be hiding, and waiting to snatch a few scraps.&#8221; </i><br /><br />Lanfear mentions that Asmodean&#8217;s lair was a hole, with the obvious implication that he wasn&#8217;t occupying a seat of pronounced authority like Sammael, Rahvin and Be&#8217;lal did. The comparison to Moghedien is also made, who disguised herself as a servant and later revealed herself. Therefore we know Asmodean wasn&#8217;t a king, or even proxy to a king (or a similar position).<br /><br /><b><u>Could he have been Aldrin Caldevwin? </u></b><br /><br />The first time we see Captain Caldevwin is during book 2 when Rand and Selene stop off at the Nine Rings inn on the way to Cairhien. His description is irrelevant because the Forsaken are all adept at Illusion, but for the record &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>His eyes went to the solitary man. An officer, with the tops of his high boots turned down, and his sword propped against the table beside the chair &#8230; the front of his head was shaved, though his black hair hung long in the back. </i><br /><br />Perhaps you would question why Asmodean would disguise himself as a soldier, something which seems incongruent to his personality. However, appearances can be deceiving and we have seen Aginor displayed as an Ash&#8217;aman with a sword, and Moghedien as a lowly servant with feather duster. Sometimes they assume disguises which justify their means to an end. Possibly unusual events start occurring surrounding this Captain &#8230;<br /><br />Rand starts to play his flute in the common room, and elicits a reaction from Caldevwin consistent with Asmodean&#8217;s &#8230; TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>&#8230; the officer closed the wooden cover of the book he had begun reading&#8230; </i> Of course, Asmodean being the musician that he is wouldn&#8217;t be able to resist music in any form. He then orders the soldiers out of the room &#8211; and they obey as if they fear him. Approaching Rand, he starts a conversation. His first slip comes when he is talking about Gareth Bryne &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>&#8221;Young, to hold so much responsibility.&#8221; Rand kept his voice level. &#8220;Gareth Bryne had enough gray in his hair to be your father, Captain.&#8221; &#8220;Forgive me, my Lord Rand. I meant to say that he came to it young.&#8221; </i><br /><br />This is the typical slip a Forsaken would make. Considering the Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends lived for hundreds of years, it seems pertinent that Asmodean would name Bryne as young., yet he covers his tracks well. Rand then starts to ask about the Choedan Kal &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>&#8221;As I was riding to the village, Captain, I saw a huge sphere. Crystal, it seemed. What is it?&#8221; The Cairhienien&#8217;s eyes sharpened. &#8220;It is part of the statue, my Lord Rand,&#8221; he said slowly. His gaze flickered toward Loial; for an instant he seemed to be considering something new. &#8220;Statue? I saw a hand, and a face too. It must be huge.&#8221; &#8220;It is, my Lord Rand. And old.&#8221; Caldevwin paused. &#8220;From the Age of Legends so I am told.&#8221; </i><br /><br />Caldevwin is in charge of the excavation efforts of the male Choedan Kal. He says later that he is going to take it to Cairhien and place it outside the city as a monument to Galldrian and house Riatin. He then lashes out at Loial &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>&#8221;&#8230; A very great piece of work, that. I am not sure how something that big could be moved so far.&#8221; &#8220;&#8230; Ogier are not the only ones who know how to move stone.&#8221; Loial looked abashed, and the captain visibly calmed himself. &#8220;Your pardon friend Ogier. I spoke in haste and rudely.&#8221; He still sounded a little gruff. </i><br /><br />This passage reminds be of Aginor&#8217;s snide contempt for the Nym in the previous book. The Forsaken cannot bear to see Nym and Ogier because it reminds them of a society they loathed and forsook. It could also be an arrogant reference to Asmodean&#8217;s ability to channel as the &#8216;other&#8217; means to move stone.<br /><br /><b>Caldevwin&#8217;s interaction with Selene </b><br /><br />TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>Caldevwin turned to Selene, and for a moment he only stared. He shook himself, finally, as if coming out of a trance. &#8220;Forgive me for looking at you so, my Lady, and forgive me for speaking so, but Grace has surely favoured you. Will you give me a name to put to such beauty?&#8221; </i><br /><br />Now, the common assumption here is that Caldevwin was staggered by her beauty, but I believe he recognized Lanfear and couldn&#8217;t believe he had just crossed paths with her. As she mentions in TSR (Decisions) &#8211; <i>&#8221;Selene is only a name I sometimes use, Lews Therin.&#8221; </i>&#8230; implying that it is a disguise she has made use of before and would thus probably be noticeable by her peers. She would be oblivious to Asmodean&#8217;s disguise though, but he snidely conveys the message &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>Just as Selene opened her mouth, one of the serving girls let out a cry and dropped a lamp she was taking down from a shelf&#8230; the girl seemed on the point of tears. &#8220;I was being careful, Mistress, but I had such a twinge in my arm.&#8221; &#8230; &#8220;I would like to be shown to my room. I do not feel well after all.&#8221; Selene spoke in careful tones, as though uncertain of her stomach, but despite that she looked and sounded as cool and calm as ever. </i><br /><br />I believe that he channeled and pinched the serving girl&#8217;s arm here just as Selene was about to answer. It was a moment of delirious sarcasm from Asmodean &#8230; a type of &#8216;you&#8217;re busted&#8217;. She goes to her room citing illness. It is then that he starts questioning Rand more closely. It seems that he was ignorant of Rand&#8217;s importance, or he possibly wanted to know what Lanfear was doing with him. This is not unexpected &#8230; in TDR Be&#8217;lal and the other Forsaken question whether Rand really is who he claims to be. Asmodean should be seen in the same light &#8230; who is the young man? And why would Lanfear travel with him? He then decides to allocate soldiers to &#8216;escort&#8217; Rand to Cairhien.<br /><br />Selene disappears in the night and leaves a telling note &#8230; TGH (The Nine Rings) - <i>I must leave you for a time. There are too many people here, and I do not like Caldevwin. I will await you in Cairhien&#8230;&#8221; </i><br /><br />The next day Selene is gone and Caldevwhin is furious that she escaped from the inn undetected. He sends riders at speed to Cairhien. When we see Selene again she is in Cairhien and she meets Rand while Fain&#8217;s trollocs are hunting him. Later Rand sees Caldevwin and asks to see him, but he is apparently &#8216;not available to be seen&#8217; despite being visible in the adjacent room walking to-and-fro. <br /><br /><b><u>Why would he choose Cairhien? </u></b><br /><br />As mentioned above, Cairhien was a city open for the taking. None of the other Forsaken were there as far as we know. I believe that Asmodean was initially lured by Galldrian&#8217;s ploy to &#8216;buy&#8217; the civilians using entertainment. Being the hedonist that he is, Asmodean would no doubt be attracted to all the entertainment &#8211; considering the fact that his musical skills were formidable. As Thom says in TGH (Cairhien) - <i>&#8221;I fear Galldrian keeps his people quiet by entertaining them. He gives gleeman and musicians the King&#8217;s Gift, a bounty in silver, to perform here in the Foregate&#8230;&#8221; </i><br /><br />Although he would be lured by the promise of music and entertainment, his greatest lure was probably the Choedan Kal once he discovered its remnant sticking out from the ground. Some of the Forsaken e.g. Aran&#8217;gar, hear of the Choedan Kal&#8217;s continued existence for the first time, as late as book 9. It is possible that Asmodean used Galldrian (by whatever means) to begin the excavation of the colossal sa&#8217;angreal once he discovered it in hope that he would come across one of the Access Keys in the vicinity. With the Choedan Kal next to Cairhien and the Access Key in his hands, he could confidently dominate the Forsaken from his base of operations. However, to do this he would need to be more than a bard, and thus assumed the disguise of a soldier who directly began the excavation of the statue.<br /><br /><b><u>A Foiled Plan </u></b><br /><br />The plan was probably progressing at a stable pace until Rand and Selene appeared. Selene immediately went to Cairhien and started to cause trouble for Asmodean. As Semirhage says in LoC (Threads woven of Shadow) - <i>The woman was always there when least expected, always behaving as if she had the right to dabble her fingers in others&#8217; plans, always flitting to safety if her dabbling brought ruin.&#8221; </i><br /><br />Selene immediately started to sabotage Asmodean&#8217;s little hide, either to persuade him to teach Rand, or due to her typical treachery. Within days of Rand arriving trollocs are all over the city (thanks to Fain), Barthanes is dead, and Galldrian is assassinated (presumably because Thom was baited). Cairhien plunges into a civil war and anarchy. Of course, this would distress Asmodean in his hidden role, and hamper his plans to excavate the statue. Lanfear surely appeared at the perfect moment again, and offered him an alternative&#8230; e.g.  <i>your domain is in ruins and Sammael or Rahvin surely sent those trollocs to gain some advantage here. Join me and you can train Lews Therin, but this time he will be yours to control, and mine to love.</i> (just an example of what she might have said). We know that in TSR (Decisions), her plan to use Asmodean as the teacher is already in fruition.<br /><br />Asmodean was surely taken by this, but he wasn&#8217;t as foolish as we believe. We know that his endeavours in tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod were considerable regarding Rhuidean &#8230;TSR (A Cup of Wine) - <i>He was walking along the edge of the fog, every now and again stopping to poke at it. She could not be sure, but she thought it hands stopped short each time. </i><br /><br />Later he confronts Lanfear in TAR &#8230; TSR (Traps) &#8211; <i>&#8221;&#8230; why should I associate with you at all? If I must take risks, I want a greater reward than pulling strings on a puppet.&#8221; &#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; she said dangerously. The blur shimmered, somehow Rand knew it for hesitation, uncertainty over having said too much. </i><br /><br />Although Mat confirmed the presence of the Access Key in Rhuidean to Asmodean, it stands to reason that he figured out that Rhuidean was a major source of objects of the Power before his allegiance to Lanfear. Lanfear implies that there was more than one set of Access Keys when she sees Rand holding the male ter&#8217;angreal &#8211; and therefore Asmodean probably reasoned that if he couldn&#8217;t obtain his goal in Cairhien, he could still obtain it elsewhere. Hence his true reason for joining her. No doubt he planned to kill her too once he retrieved the Access Key.<br /><br />When Asmodean is captured by Rand they travel to Cairhien and Asmodean relays his experiences with the nobles to Rand &#8230; TFoH (After the Storm) - <i>&#8221;This Meilan is not used to being thwarted, I think, and the others scarcely more so. Especially the lumpy faced one &#8211; Torean? &#8211; and Simaan. That one has eyes as sharp as his nose. You know I am used to dangerous company, but these men are as dangerous in their way as any I have known&#8230; half seemed ready to kill me for fear I was Tairen.&#8221; </i><br /><br />Whether this statement proves that Asmodean knew about these nobles before this meeting or not is a matter of debate, but it at least proves that his appearance demanded Illusion considering he looks like a Tairen.<br /><br /><b><u>SUMMARY </u></b><br /><br />1. Asmodean was based in Cairhien before he became the bard Natael.<br /><br />2. He was lured by the Choedan Kal and by the music saturating the city.<br /><br />3. He was thwarted by Selene, Fain and Rand.<br /><br />4. After he joined up with Lanfear he continued his relentless pursuit to control the Choedan Kal.<br /><br />Thoughts?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-09-18 08:39:19
subject: Bubbles of Evil and the Point of Least Resistance
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<p>I have been considering the bubbles of evil, and the apparent randomness of their manifestations. These effects range from animation of nearby objects to the twisting of the environment into a killing thing. The most readily evident of these bubbles, however, the three in Tear, in <i>The Shadow Rising</i>, appear to have been personalised to their victims. The thought occurred to me suddenly that perhaps the effects of the bubbles of evil were not truly random, but shared a component dependent on their intended victims.  First of all, what do we know about bubbles of evil?<br /><br /><i>&#8220;As the seals holding the Dark One&#8217;s prison weaken,&#8221; she said after a time, &#8220;it may be inevitable that a&#8230; miasma&#8230; will escape even while he is still held. Like bubbles rising from the things rotting at the bottom of a pond. But these bubbles will drift through the Pattern until they attach to a thread and burst.&#8221; &#8220;In the beginning I think there will only be a few bubbles, slipping through cracks the Dark One can reach through. Later, who can say? And just as <b>ta&#8217;veren</b> bend the other threads of the Pattern around them, I think perhaps <b>ta&#8217;veren</b> will tend to attract these bubbles more powerfully than others do.&#8221;</i><br /><i><u>Reflections</u></i>, <b>The Shadow Rising</b>.<br /><br />This is the most complete description of the bubbles of evil, provided by Moiraine who seems to have been RJ&#8217;s instrument of giving us information no one could possibly know.<br /><br />It has certainly proven to be true thus far. Except for a notable night in Salidar ( <i>Dreams and Nightmares</i> ) the most violent and earliest bubbles struck against Rand, Perrin and Mat. Supposing that the wind that sent Rand hammering into Lan in <i>The Flame of Tar Valon</i> is also a bubble of evil, that would signify that the very first recorded bubble struck the Dragon Reborn, the focus of the Pattern in this Age, lending further credence to Moiraine&#8217;s theory.<br /><br />Now that we know something of what they are, let us look at some individual bubbles of evil. The ones in Tear, again. As we do so, I shall explain the similarity I now suspect binds all bubbles together.<br /><br />Perrin, in <i>Whirlpools  in the Pattern</i>, is attacked by his axe. The choice of the weapon is no coincidence, one of Perrin&#8217;s focal story arcs has been the choice between his axe and his hammer. The axe, evidently, represents violence, bestiality even, the origin of his name among wolves.<br /><br />Mat, in that same chapter is attacked by his playing cards. Not any cards, but the rulers of every set. A clear nod to his luck, the cards are also a representation of Mat&#8217;s gambling nature, of his avoidance of responsibilities. They are also associated with the accumulation of monetary wealth, and as such of greed.<br /><br />Rand was attacked by reflections of himself. A respected theory has been that the images represent Rand&#8217;s torn personality, the Two Rivers shepherd and the Dragon Reborn. I venture forth, however, that they are, as mirrors often are, a representation of vanity. Rand had just determined that he was the Dragon Reborn, the actual centre of the world, the focal point of the Age. He was living in luxury, the first to occupy the King&#8217;s quarters in Tear for years.<br /><br />From piecing these together, we can finally see the correlation between the bubbles: they manifest themselves through the darker parts of their victims&#8217; nature. Upon reflection, this makes sense. Shai&#8217;tan has thus far been able to touch the world more strongly in matters that were his jurisdiction, like the dead, or the Forsaken. Remember from <i>The Eye of the World</i> that Ba&#8217;alzamon could at first appear to Fain only in Shayol Ghul, then he could touch the dreams of Darkfriends, until finally he could enter the Emond&#8217;s Fielders&#8217; dreams. Note the progression &#8211; visibly the Seals are weaker where there is darkness in <i>this world</i>. Likewise, it makes sense that the easiest manifestation for a bubble of evil would be the point of least resistance, where it&#8217;s victim and itself are most alike.<br /><br />This would mean that Bubbles of evil shape themselves according to the darker part of the thread it is attached to. Let&#8217;s look at the other bubbles.<br /><br />In <i>Dreams and Nightmares</i>, the bubble of evil in Salidar animates objects throughout the village. Note that these are not specific objects like Perrin&#8217;s axe, but instead any sort of item lying about. Although not as clear as the previous examples, an argument could easily be made that the objects represent the Aes Sedai&#8217;s decision to remain in Salidar. After all, when travelling one usually carries as little as one needs, to lighten the load, so there would not have been so many things to toss about. How is the decision to remain in Salidar close to evil? It represents sloth, and complacency.<br /><br />Finally, the bubble in Cairhien ( <i>Blades</i> ). Easily the most violent bubble seen, it is likewise drawn from a far greater evil than seen in any of the previous examples. For the point of entry, the focus of evil in the rebel camp, was obviously Fain. Aside from the sheer magnitude of the bubble, one will notice the form that the bubble took. Drastically different from any of the other bubbles, it nevertheless hold a distinct similarity to one other thing in the Westlands: Mashadar, the killer fog of Shadar Logoth, the evil now borne by Fain.<br /><br />So the pattern maintains itself. Bubbles of evil manifest themselves accordingly with the easiest point of access between the Bore and this world, the point of greatest evil. A final note: this point of least resistance is akin to the female version of Travelling &#8211; creation of a similarity between the point of origin and the destination.<br /><br />As the elders say, flame away.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-09-21 04:59:31
subject: Rand- the perfect channeler
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<p>Warning, here follows a wild, speculative and probably desperately wrong theory written by complete and utter Muppet (i.e. me).<br /><br />It has been predicted in many places; many times that Rand will lose a hand. It has also been foreshadowed that he, like the fisher in Mordin&#8217;s game, will lose his eyesight. But what can this mean and what are it&#8217;s implications?<br /><br />I believe they are part of the Pattern and will attempt to here prove that they are actually beneficial to Rand, turning him into &#8220;the perfect channeler&#8221;, honing his skill to a level before unknown prior to his battle with the Dark One.<br /><br />Firstly, I will look at the loss of one or more hands, and it&#8217;s affect, and the effects of hands in general upon channelers (<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" />). It has been shown many times that hand gestures accompany weaving, if that was how you learnt, and this can slow you down, to such an extent that the Aiel, stamp it out of all their wise ones and are now doing the same to Aes Sedai. This process is difficult, since the first way you learn a weave always works the best, and the difficulties of relearning are heavily stressed. But where does this concern Rand?<br /><br />Were Rand to lose a hand or two, he would be forced to modify his weaving to exclude hand gestures and the like, increasing the speed of his reactions and channelling significantly, giving him an edge.<br /><br />Now for the second, more speculative and ambitious part of the theory. Eyesight is integral to channelling. It has been many times stated that you need to be able to see something to weave at it effectively, and although it is possible to do otherwise, it takes skill to overcome this problem, and makes attacks from behind and the sides dangerous.<br /><br />Were Rand to lose his eyesight, and become more accustomed to and in control of his other, 360 degree senses such as hearing smell and touch, he would be free of this problem, and he would soon be able to channel again, without any of his previous limitations.<br /><br />If Rand is unfortunate to fall foul of both injuries, he would be doubly blessed as far as channelling is concerned. He would be capable of weaving faster than any foe in any direction, making him virtually invulnerable to ambush and many pronged attacks, perhaps helping him do what must be done at the last battle.<br /><br />Or he will just end up as a blind, handless wretch with all the channelling effectiveness of a roasted aromatic duck.<br /><br />Flame away.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-09-21 08:52:19
subject: Aviendha dit it
body:
<p>I have always suspected Aviendha <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/avi.gif" border="0" /> from my first reading of the books and before I ever read any theories. Here&#8217;s some more fuel for the fire.<br /><br />Aviendha would not have discussed her intention to kill Asmodean with Rand: The day before the group goes to kill Rahvin, Rand protests that it is too risky for Egwene and Aviendha to accompany him: &#8220;I am not gai&#8217;shain to you.&#8221; Aviendha bared her teeth. &#8220;You will never choose what risks I take, Rand al&#8217;Thor. Never. Know it now.&#8221; (FoH, News Comes to Cairhien)<br /><br />More bits:<br /><br />&#8226;The night before the group goes to kill Rahvin, Moiraine warns the two girls to be careful tomorrow: Egwene paused at the door to her room. &#8220;Of course we will be careful.&#8221; Her stomach was turning backflips, but she kept her voice steady. &#8220;We know how dangerous facing one of the Forsaken will be.&#8221; By Aviendha&#8217;s expression, they might have been talking about what was for supper. (FoH, News Comes to Cairhien)Perhaps Aviendha&#8217;s very blank expression hides her knowledge that they already face one of the Forsaken (Asmodean) every day. <br /><br />&#8226;Perhaps the Maidens escort around Aviendha at the time Asmodean was killed were there to help her not hinder. She wanted to kill Trollocs, but Sulin reminded her she was not a Maiden anymore. Sulin also said she was not yet a Wise One, perhaps this was a gentle reminder that the Wise Ones had given her a job to do and the Maidens&#8217; escort were there to help/see she did it. (FoH, Glowing Embers)<br /><br />&#8226;No one would have taken any notice of the Maiden&#8217;s removing a dead body. Presumably, the Maiden&#8217;s do that a lot.<br /><br />&#8226;Surely, after Kadere&#8217;s involvement with Lanfear was revealed, one and all must at least know that Jasin Natael entered the Waste in company with Darkfriend&#8217;s. It would be just like the Wise One&#8217;s to insist on his death ASAP (ie. the same day). For Rand&#8217;s own good.<br /><br />&#8226;Maybe it was Aviendha/a Wise One who kept Asmodean&#8217;s shield from dissipating &#8211; it could have been done secretly at any time that other, more obvious, female channelling was being done.<br /><br />&#8226;Aviendha did start &#8216;spying&#8217; on Rand at about the same time Natael became Rand&#8217;s &#8216;Bard&#8217;. Was this the Wise One&#8217;s way of protecting him instead? Maybe some of Aviendha&#8217;s &#8220;success&#8221; was in discovering Rand&#8217;s interest in keeping Natael so close. This conversation about Aviendha guarding Rand happened at the Docks, after Lanfear, and Asmodean is mentioned in the same scene. (FoH, To Caemlyn)<br /><br />On the down side:<br /><br />When Rand&#8217;s party is leaving to go to the Docks, Rand, Aviendha and Asmodean exit Rand&#8217;s apartments to find Mat outside, but no Maidens. Aviendha says: &#8220;The Forsaken are not here,&#8221; Aviendha snapped. &#8220;And neither are the Maidens of the Spear.&#8221; (FoH, Choices) Difficult to get around this direct statement unless she was lying for Mat&#8217;s sake. Or, she does not consider Asmodean to be one of the Forsaken any longer &#8211; this is plausible, since Rand has to keep reminding himself of that, too. <br /><br />Overall though, I believe Aviendha did it.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-09-29 07:00:29
subject: Artur Hawkwing was Janduin, Rand's father
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<p>I don't have a whole lot of evidence for this theory, but perhaps the originality will be enough to get it posted.  I'm not sure I believe it myself, but there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest that it is true. <br /><br />First, going by Birgitte's memories, we can conclude that the Heroes of the Horn are spun out fairly frequently.  This much is certain by the things she is able to tell Elayne, including memories from before and after the White Tower was founded.  She was obviously alive during the War of Power because we know that she has done something to earn Moghedien's hatred. We also know she died before the sealing because Moghedien thinks to herself that she regrets the fact the Birgitte died before she could deal with her.  <br /><br />We also know from an Elayne POV that her memories are fading &quot;she could remember nothing at all clearly before the founding of the White Tower&quot; This indicates that Birgitte was born at least once after the War of Power and before the founding of the White Tower, which if I recall correctly is a period of about 200 years.  She then has what appear to be numerous rebirths up until the point when Moghedien exacts her revenge and casts her out of the TAR. <br /><br />Second, it seems that at least in the case of Birgitte, the different lives of Heroes of the Horn have similarities to each other.  Birgitte is always an archer, she will always meet up and fall in love with Gaidal Cain, she is never a general (despite having all of the required skills), putting on a sword gets her in trouble, the braid, etc.  So different rebirths seem to parallel themselves in some ways <br /><br />What does this have to do with Artur Hawkwing. For one thing, we should suspect that in the 1000 years since his reign as High King, he has had at least one rebirth.  Although we admittedly pretty scant information regarding the 1000 years between Hawkwing and the present, I would imagine that a man like Hawkwing, and a Hero of the Horn to boot, would have had at least some sort of impact on worth remembering on the world.  Can you think of anyone we've heard mentioned from that period who fits his profile?  I can't, and in general it appears that the entire period was a time of general decline as nations shrank and disappeared. A great general and uniter like Hawkwing would have stood out especially well in this type of environment. <br /><br />So if we can't think of any Hawkwing like figures in the known world, I think we have to look beyond the normal borders, perhaps among the Aiel or the Seanchan.  We don't know much about the Seanchan, but we do know a little about Aiel history and if we look we can find a number of parallels between Janduin and Hawkwing.<br /><br /><br />1.) Both rose to power at a very young age, but were very capable.  Hawkwing was still quite young when he defeated Guaire Amalasam, and Janduin was the youngest clan chief in Aiel memory.<br /><br />2.) Both were uniters. We all know what Hawkwing did, but Janduin did things which are comparable in difficulty. He ended a blood feud between the Taardad and the Nakai, another that was not far short of a blood feud between the Taardad and the Reyn, and nearly ended a blood feud between the Shaarad and the Goshien.  <br /><br />3.) Both were great generals. It seems evident that any Aiel clan chief knows war well, but Janduin must have been accounted even better than most for his clan and three others to follow him over the Dragonwall in response to Laman's Sin.<br /><br />4.) Hawkwing was ta'veren. Was Janduin? He certainly displays the traits. As Seana says in The Shadow Rising &quot;Yet he had a way to him, a power. People listened to him and would follow him, even those not of his clan.&quot;  This seems very similar to the way that being ta'veren has affected Perrin's, Mat's, and Rand's life, although Perrin and Mat seldom want it. Janduin even induced Aiel to leave the Waste, something we know they are very reluctant to do. <br /><br />That's it for parallels, but there is one other reason why I think Janduin might have been Hawkwing. Purpose.  In the Hunt for the Horn, Hawkwing tells the boys that &quot;the Wheel spins us out for its purposes, not ours, to serve the Pattern&quot;.  What greater purpose could there have been than the rebirth of the Dragon on the slopes of the Dragonmount.  This would not have been possible without a man possessing Janduin's extraordinary traits to make it happen. Traits also possessed by Artur Hawkwing.  Similarly, Hawkwing might have been spun out at the time of the War of the Second Dragon in order to stop Amalasan from taking the Stone of Tear, which by most indications he could have done.  However, the Stone could not fall until the true Dragon reborn took, so the pattern spun out a hero and a ta'veren at that to make sure it would not. <br /><br />So that's my theory, holes and all, but I think there is more evidence for it than against it<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-13 12:46:46
subject: Mesaana's Identity
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<p>Since reading the prologue to KoD, I have a theory that Mesaana has been masquerading as Tsutama Rath, the new Highest of the Red Ajah.<br /><br />Admittedly, much of the evidence is circumstantial, but I will lay it out anyway.<br /><br />The strongest indication for me is that Tsutama fits the profile for Mesaana.  Most wotmaniacs agree that, for Mesaana to be effective, the person she replaces should have been out of the Tower for a while and have few friends to recognise the switch.  Tsutama has been out of the Tower on exile because of her involvement in the &quot;vileness.&quot;<br /><br />She has also reached a position of power in suspicious circumstances.  After Galina's capture it seems surprising that the Red Ajah would chose someone newly arrived back in the Tower, especially if she were involved in the &quot;vileness.&quot;  That smacks a little of compulsion to me.  It also looks similar to Semirhage's MO in Seandar, replacing Tuon's Truthspeaker.  <br /><br />I would also suggest that the Highest is a position of true power, not the appearance of it.  Most sisters in the Tower not in the Red Ajah would see her as just another sister, yet she wields great power over the Red Ajah and through her Sitters over the Hall itself.  It's not said, but I can imagine she would also have considerable influence over Elaida too, being the Head of her former Ajah.  It would also explain how Mesaana knew of Alviarin's demotion and punishment.  Presumably it has been discussed in the Hall, and that the Red Sitters have reported everything to Tsutama.<br /><br />RJ also mentions from Pevara's point of view her &quot;agony&quot; over the discovery that Galina, the former Highest was Black Ajah.  That sounds a bit like RJ humour to me - yes, you've got rid of the Black Ajah Head of your Ajah, but replaced her with a Forsaken!<br /><br />My final bit of cirumstantial evidence comes from the final chapter of KoD, in which the Red Pevara meets with Taim to discuss the Red Ajah's bonding of Asha'man.  Taim's response regarding letting the Lord of Chaos rule confirms Taim's Darkfriendhood, suggests collusion with Demandred and indicates that the Red Ajah has just fallen into a rather nasty trap.  Who sent the Red Ajah?  Tsutama.  We know that Demandred and Mesaana are working together with Semirhage.  So I would suggest that Demandred and Mesaana worked this out together.<br /><br />To summarise, I suggest that Mesaana is posing as Tsutama Rath in the White Tower.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-14 19:30:16
subject: The Sea Folk &#8211; Conspirators in the White Tower
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<p>There are currently three Aes Sedai who came from the Sea Folk &#8211; Zemaille, Aiden, and Nyein. They are all in the Brown Ajah and they work in the library. However, they don&#8217;t just work in the library, but in the Thirteenth Depository. The Thirteenth Depository is of particular importance.<br /><br /><blockquote><i>The Tower Library was divided into twelve depositories, at least insofar as the world knew&#8230;<br /><br />&#8230;the so-called Thirteenth Depository, where the secret records were kept. </i><br />Alvairin &#8211; Crossroads of Twilight, Ch. 21</blockquote><br /><br />The Thirteenth Depository is the location of all the secret records of the WT that we have read so much about. And all of these secrets are known and guarded by the three Sea Folk Aes Sedai. <br /><br />The recent bargain that Elayne and Nynaeve made with the Sea Folk includes a provision that requires the return of these three Sea Folk. A consequence of this bargain that neither Elayne or Nynaeve have realized yet is that with the return of these three, all of the WT&#8217;s darkest secrets will become known to the Sea Folk.<br /><br />While the above, is pretty clear, this indicates that is possible, and even likely that the Sea Folk Aes Sedai have been spying on the WT for some period of time. It is quite possible that these three are not the first Sea Folk AS to place themselves in this position. I propose that they somehow have communicated some (if not all) of these secrets to the Mistress of the Ships before. This knowledge must be held tightly by the Sea Folk for this to be the case, since it appears that most Sea Folk we have met have been fairly ignorant of Aes Sedai.<br /><br />Anyway, it is pretty short and sweet theory, but the implications are clear and will be of a great importance in future Aes Sedai and Sea Folk interactions.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-23 03:18:52
subject: The Black Ajah invented the
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<p>In <i>Knife of Dreams</i>, Pevara mentions that they have discovered how the Black Ajah put people to the question:<br /><blockquote>What they had learned about the Black Ajah's means of putting someone to the question was as nauseating as it was incredible. Forcing a woman into a circle against her will? Guiding a circle to inflict pain? Pevara felt her stomach writhing.<br /><br />-<i>Knife of Dreams</i>, Embers Falling on Dry Grass<br /></blockquote>This sounds like the <i>adam</i> link without the leash. Several Aes Sedai have been broken by the <i>adam</i> by using it to control pain in the same way.<br /><br />The evidence that this was created by the Black Ajah is compelling.<br /><br />1. Moridin/Ishamael refers to the <i>adam</i> as being enforced circles. He is used to that terminology because that is what the Black Ajah have been using.<br /><br />2. There is no evidence that such a weave is known outside the Black Ajah, so it is not simply something that has been lost over time. It is certainly a surprise to Pevara and the others, who account for every Ajah except the Blue. Elayne also tries to convince the Windfinders that it is impossible to force a woman into the circle against their will, or to use it to control them. <br /><br />3. The <i>adam</i> was created by Deain, an Aes Sedai, and presented to Luthair Pendraeg as a means of controlling Aes Sedai. This sounds like a typically Black scheme, and it was known that the Shadow was trying to manipulate Artur Hawkwing at the end of his life via Jalwin Moerad (Ishamael).<br /><br />Putting all this together - the lack of knowledge of people outside the Black, the circumstances of the <i>adam</i>'s introduction and its obvious intent - it is clear that the Black Ajah invented the <i>adam</i>.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-23 03:51:46
subject: Semirhage Game
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<p>What exactly is/was Semirhage&#8217;s endgame?<br /><br />We have been discussing Semirhage and her encounter with Rand for the last week, but I thought that it may be helpful to consolidate our information about her and the encounter, that we then begin to conjecture about why.<br /><br />What we confidently know:<br /><br />HERSELF:<br />&#8226;She is noted for her patience, as well as her unnerving, motherly calm, and her grace.  [Mesaana, LoC Prologue; actions with Cabriana]<br /><br />&#8226;She made a man scream for every waking moments in 5 years. [LoC]<br /><br />&#8226;She thinks to herself that immortality provides ample time for her to become Nae&#8217;blis. [LoC, Threads]<br /><br />&#8226;She is noted for double checking just in case, &#8220;taking care was second nature to a her, taking each step in its exact turn.&#8221; [LoC, Threads Woven in the Pattern]<br /><br />&#8226;&quot;She had been a prisoner before, briefly, during the War of the Shadow. She had escaped from high detention by frightening her  ailors to the point that they actually smuggled her to freedom&quot; [KoD, 589].<br /><br />&#8226;She has an alliance of sorts with Demandred and Mesaana to not turn on each other until the other Chosen have fallen; they have worked together before to bring down foes.<br /><br />&#8226;She was considered to know more about the human body than any other person of her age. [BwB]<br /><br />&#8226;She has been seen in tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod. Note that the Shadow&#8217;s strongest tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod users/fighters are Moridin, Cyndane and Moghedian.<br /><br />&#8226;She sent the Trollocs to the Stone of Tear per the DO&#8217;s orders to challenge Sammael&#8217;s forces. [LoC, Threads]<br /><br />&#8226;She tortured an entire town; as well as Myrddraal about their shadow<br />traveling.<br /><br />&#8226;Rand/LTT note that she had &#8220;always had courage.&#8221;<br /><br />&#8226;Semirhage tells Graendal &#8220;If a kitchen girl puts a knife in your back, are you less dead than if you fall in a sha'je duel at Qal?&#8221;<br /><br />&#8226;Aran&#8217;gar notes that Semirhage had sexual proclivities that did not interest Aran&#8217;gar [a noted letch].<br /><br />&#8226;Rand notes that because of her reputation as a torturer, it was easy to forget that she was dangerous in other ways too.<br /><br /><br />SEANCHAN:<br />&#8226;Semirhage has spent about two years posing as the non-channeling soe&#8217;feia, Anath. [WH, What a Veil Hides]<br /><br />&#8226;She hates how the Seanchan do not meet her eyes.<br /><br />&#8226;Tuon and Mat left 17 days before Suroth&#8217;s PoV in Embers, which places the PoV ~11 days after the Battle at Shadar Lagoth.<br /><br />&#8226;She offers to Suroth the position of Empress after claiming to have killed the Imperial Court.  She may have destroyed their empire.<br /><br />&#8226;She claims to have sent a boat sending word of Seanchan&#8217;s civil war.<br /><br />&#8226;Suroth is a High Lady, the highest ranking Seanchan until Tuon lowers the veil, or until Tuon returns.<br /><br /><br />SHADAR LAGOTH:<br />&#8226;She was defeated at Shadar Logoth somehow while Rand was cleansing saidin by people following him.<br /><br />&#8226;She knew Rand had at his disposal Callandor and the Choedan Kal.<br /><br /><br />ARRANGEMENTS:<br />&#8226;These arrangements were made coinciding with the Trolloc attack on Rand, which occurs approximately 30+ days after the Battle at SL or approximately 9+ days after the Forsaken social where Moridin again outrightly orders not to harm Rand in &#8220;any way.&#8221;<br /><br />&#8226;She has had control of the sad bracelets a&#8217;dam for at least 3 months, though most likely more than 6 months as they received it before Tuon arrived in Tanchico.<br /><br />&#8226;Since Tuon&#8217;s departure with Mat, her alias as Anath  has been said to be in seclusion, and we know she can travel.<br /><br />&#8226;She had Bashere, Logain and Loial meet Suroth in Ebou Dar with only mutes.<br /><br />&#8226;She repeated their meeting circumstances during the second visit with Bashere and Manfor.<br /><br />&#8226;She dictated the terms of their encounter, and stipulated the location, timing and number of each party.<br /><br />&#8226;She had three days to arrange the conditions of this meeting for herself.<br /><br />&#8226;She knows none of Rand&#8217;s party has seen Tuon before her disappearance; she can be fairly certain that none of his party has seen her since her disappearance, or they would not have met with Suroth to arrange the meeting as they did.<br /><br />&#8226;She brings 5 female a&#8217;dam and 6 male a&#8217;dam to cover the variables of Rand&#8217;s channeling party, but puts them in a plain wooden box on the floor.<br /><br />&#8226;She knows the agelessness of an Aes Sedai face from her encounter<br />with Cabriana Mecandes.<br /><br /><br />CAPTURE:<br />&#8226;There are little, if any trappings of Seanchan society in the arrangement; only the &#8220;DotNM&#8221; and 6 sul&#8217;dam.<br /><br />&#8226;She poses as the &#8220;High Lady&#8221; and brings the 6 sul&#8217;dam directly from the Tarasin Palace through an woven inverted/reversed gateway.<br /><br />&#8226;The sul&#8217;dam and damane say post capture that they thought they were being given an honor from the High Lady.<br /><br />&#8226;The Illusion of herself as Tuon must account for a 1 foot difference in height, and she wears a veil in her wavy short black hair under her disguise.<br /><br />&#8226;Nynaeve tells Rand that someone is channeling inside the house, but she cannot tell who or what; Cadsuane states that she will be able to do something about it.<br /><br />&#8226;&#8220;Tuon&#8221; appears and is ten paces from Rand when &#8220;abruptly&#8221; her image flickers and reappears.<br /><br />&#8226;The Illusion flickers again and her face is perceived to be in a &#8220;fury&#8221;, and she channels what may be among other things, a small fireball.<br /><br />&#8226;Rand defends himself not with the Power, but with his Scepter and loses a hand and blacks out on the ground, he then sees black flecks.<br /><br />&#8226;Semirhage is shielded and held by bonds of air, a knife embedded above/in her collarbone, she appears calm.<br /><br />&#8226;She has placed 11 a&#8217;dam in a plain wooden box, beside the door on the floor inside of the manor house, but as far as we know, none of the sul&#8217;dam with her were holding any a&#8217;dam.<br /><br />&#8226;Falendre challenges her when they think she is Anath, only a soe&#8217;feia, saying she &#8220;not even so&#8217;jihn.&#8221;<br /><br />&#8226;Many of the sul&#8217;dam she chose react violently when she names herself Semirhage,<br /><br /><br />HER SPEECH:<br />&#8226;Her speech declares that Rand is insane.<br /><br />&#8226;She provides examples implicating Rand with Lanfear, and cites that madness was more Graendal&#8217;s specialty.<br /><br />&#8226;She ends her speech by saying that she understands the descent into terminal madness can be&#8230; &#8220;abrupt.&#8221;<br /><br /><br />PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER:<br /><br />We have continually seen the Forsaken strategize patiently and intelligently in their games involving each other and Rand, so given the circumstances of Semirhage&#8217;s encounter with Rand, we have some reason to be cautious about the appearance of victory.<br /><br />What perhaps is most peculiar about her strategy is its dependence on 3 details: her disguise, and her ability to surprise Rand&#8217;s party to overpower them, and shield them.<br /><br />Why does she need Tuon at all?<br />We know from Suroth&#8217;s perspective in Embers that this meeting was scheduled *after* Tuon had disappeared, and it fits with both the timeline, and her PoV, that Bashere arrived after the prologue.<br /><br />Bashere, Loial and Logain arrive at Ebou Dar to arrange a truce, but they go without knowing with whom the truce should be made; we learn in KoD that Rand&#8217;s party didn&#8217;t really know about the DotNM, or who she even was.<br /><br />Perrin&#8217;s truce for Malden with the Seanchan shows us that neither Tuon nor Suroth have to be involved in negotiations over military matters.  Moreover, with Tuon absent, Suroth has the authority to officiate a negotiation; even if the truce would not have been binding, it still would have presented a sufficiently credible opportunity to lure the Dragon Reborn to a meeting.  So why the complications?<br /><br />Semirhage has Suroth meet Rand&#8217;s emissaries attended only with mutes, deliberately, if perhaps subtly, creating an air of suspicion.   While she may not be as psychologically studied as Graendal, she has been shown to skillfully manipulate people, as a questioner certainly, but even with those with whom she is acquainted&#8212;for example, walking up to Mesaana to make Mesaana look up at her in LoC; and too there is her hobby of embroidery which also has been shown to be a cover [Verin and Cadsuane].<br /><br />By stipulating the conditions of the meeting, she had incredible strategic control over the variables to prepare.<br /><br />From her comment about the Seanchan not meeting her eyes to Suroth in Embers, we can reasonably infer she has been meeting with Seanchan Atha&#8217;an Shadar ; her position as soe&#8217;feia, even for Tuon, does not make other people lower their eyes to her, as seen by  Falendre&#8217;s comment after their battle.   She had the time and the opportunity to bring or arrange 6 Atha&#8217;an Shadar with her, to bring with her 12 other channelers and disguise them however she wanted or to disguise herself as one of her party and use a proxy.<br /><br />Instead, she brings 6 loyal sul&#8217;dam from the Tarasin Palace just prior to the actual rendezvous, and it is unclear whether those sul&#8217;dam were aware of the plan to collar Rand&#8217;s group; remember, they did not know who they were meeting when they wail after he names himself the Dragon Reborn, and none had extra a&#8217;dam on them.  Also, if some of the sul&#8217;dam were in the house before she showed herself to Rand, then she had to be<br /><br />Furthermore, she places the plain wooden box with their various a&#8217;dam on the floor just inside the house.  An inconvenient, and noticeable place to put them.  Anyone trying to get to them would have to bend down to reach them, non-surreptitiously.  Even how they were grouped in the box prevents their sudden use.  The surprise then is not in the collaring but in the shielding, so the plan seems to be to shield them and hold them, and then casually slip them around their necks.<br /><br />Yet, did Semirhage believe that her 6 sul&#8217;dam and she would be able to potentially shield 6 men [whom they would not know were holding the source]?  Though Rand did not bring 6 men, we know from the a&#8217;dam she brought that she had thought through the potential group combinations.<br /><br />While, we do not know who Semirhage battled at SL, we do know that she is aware that Rand possesses with him Callandor or the Choedan Kal. Callandor as both a power, and symbolic, object would be impressive for a meeting of this stature with a foreign dignitary.  Oddly, no one in Rand&#8217;s party that we see acknowledges/recognizes Semirhage from the battle of SL&#8212;Rand had with him some 25 Aes Sedai, Warders, and Asha&#8217;man including, Cadsuane, Nynaeve, Merise, Elza, Narishma, Min and Alivia; 9 other people including Jenare, Ayako, Kajima are also named, but we do not know if members from either Verin&#8217;s or Daigian&#8217;s circles were there.  We also do not know how much information was shared among the Forsaken about their encounters at SL, specifically Cyndane&#8217;s battle with Alivia or Demandred&#8217;s fight with Damer&#8217;s circle, so we do not know if she knew about Nynaeve&#8217;s and Cadsuane&#8217;s *angreal collection.  Nonetheless, Semirhage has to be aware that she has a very high probability of being out/overpowered in this meeting, and that his party cannot be taken for granted.  After all, as she remarks to Graendal, &#8220;If a kitchen girl puts a knife in your back, are you less dead than if you fall in a sha'je duel at Qal?&#8221;<br /><br />Did she believe that Rand and his Asha&#8217;man would not be holding on to saidin and that she could shield them that way?  We do not know if 6 sul&#8217;dam and their damane would be a circle of 13 linked channelers if she forced a circle and we have not seen sul&#8217;dam link beyond their damane, so what did she have in mind to overcome Rand&#8217;s delegation. Admittedly, we do not know the strengths of her damane.<br /><br />We obviously cannot trust her statements to Rand in front of his forces, and it is important to note that in several encounters from Graendal&#8217;s PoV [particularly with Sammael], Graendal never notes/thinks to herself about Rand&#8217;s psychological condition, and we know that she has spied on him before.  She thinks of him as Rand, as a provincial buffoon, but uses the name LTT just to irritate Sammael. Time and again we&#8217;ve seen the Forsaken use the appearance of their knowledge to lie, and &#8220;reintegration&#8221; may be another example.<br /><br />Her capture has placed her within Rand&#8217;s main party, and she now knows from this encounter many intimate particulars about Rand&#8217;s operation&#8212;his relationship with Min [the one who couldn&#8217;t channel there who was comforting him intimately], his closest allies.  Elza and her Warder are there.  Jordan may have be foreshadowing or just placing red herrings by telling us about her escape or Rand&#8217;s belief that she had really thought she could capture them all.  Either way, her capture just doesn&#8217;t seem to add up, and I think her capture was a part of a larger, more complex gambit.<br /><br />Finally, one bit of pure speculation.  We know that she sent the Trollocs to Tear to interfere with Sammael.  We do not know whether she knew how Rand beat her Trollocs, however.  When her forces in Tear were killed in the Stone, Rand used an AoL weaving that LTT knew.  Could the attack at Algarin&#8217;s house been a calculated attack not to kill him, but to make him use LTT&#8217;s weavings again in front of his allies?  The timing is suspiciously coincidental, and it reinforces her statements that Rand has contact with LTT, which of course further proves that Rand is insane.  Just like his recognizing her.  Another outright proof that Rand has connections with LTT.  Moreover, the more he draws from LTT, perhaps the more damage to his psyche there may be.  If she sent the Trollocs to Algarin, it might have been to push him hard.<br /><br />Rand has commented now in KoD how people don&#8217;t do what he says, they don&#8217;t follow his orders but question him, evade him.  To undermine their confidence in his decision making faculties further estranges him from his allies, leaving him more alone with the torturous thoughts of a madman.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-25 07:23:50
subject: The Last Battle: A Battle of Swordsmanship
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<p>I've looked through all/most of the Last Battle theories, and it seems to me that very few of them address what, exactly, the last battle itself will be like.  The ones that do, all seem to revolve around balefire or the One Power in general.<br /><br />Anubis, in his &quot;Let the Lord of Chaos Rule&quot; post, has already, I think, sufficiently answered the reasons why Balefire really doesn't make sense; ie, the DO being outside the pattern, having no thread to burn, etc. etc.  But still, just from reading posts, there seems to me, at least, to be a general belief that the Last Battle will be a battle of armies, and of the One Power.<br /><br />While I don't dispute that both will probably be involved, what with the impending march to Shayol Gul (The Golden Crane, etc. etc.), and the Ashaman/Aes Sedai/Dreadlords/Forsaken, but it seems to me that it's very unlikely that the 'last part', I suppose one could say, or the penultimate part of the Last Battle, could possibly be heavily related to the One Power (and even less armies).<br /><br />Here's why.  For the armies, it's somewhat self-explanatory; you aren't going to win the Last Battle with Aiel and Borderlanders, no matter how skilled in battle they are.  I think most people will accept that as a given.  For the One Power as well, there's a major reasons why I don't believe the final part will have a Power battle play the biggest role.  Literary reasons.<br /><br />Simply put, the Last Battle has been hyped to all hell and back.  The One Power, and anything/everything combat-related with it, is flashy as hell.  From rolling rings of fire and earth, to Deathgates, to Arrows of Fire, its become flashier and flashier, to the point where the expecations for the flashiness of the Last Battle is going to be HUGE.  The expectations of the description of the last part of the Last Battle is so high, that in terms of sheer flashiness with the Power, it's simply impossible to meet such expectations with an attempt to make the Last Battle flashy enough.  If Robert Jordan tries, it'll be so gaudy as to be obscene (in a literary sense), and I don't believe Robert Jordan to be that poor of a writer not to know it.<br /><br />Furthermore, from a stylistic point of view, the entire series has had a very philosophical aura about it, from the concept of the Wheel of Time, to Moridin's theories of history, to the concepts of the Pattern and fate, etc. etc. etc.  To make the Last Battle a flat out OP/TP battle; to make it into any sort of 'conventional' magical struggle between good and evil, would demean the series itself, turning this heavily awaited for Last Battle into nothing more than a magical Last Man Standing slugfest.  Again, I don't think that would be at all keeping in touch with the style in which the series has been written.<br /><br />So an immense duel with the One Power/True Power is probably out.  What's the Last Battle going to be like then?<br /><br />I would argue that it is going to be, fundamentally, a battle of swordsmanship.  How that point is reached, I do not know, although I have several theories/guesses (which we don't need to go into at this time).  Why?  Simply because, for no real good reason, swords have played such a HUGE, major role in Randland, despite the OP/TP being way, way above it in lethality.<br /><br />Throughout the series, Robert Jordan foreshadows this, with Rand's continued diligence in practicing and training with the sword.  As Lewis Therin, along with Be'lal, he was the first person to use the 'game called swords' and take it to kill people with.  At Falme, it is with a sword that he defeats Ba'alzamon.  At Tear, it is with the sword sa'angreal Callandor which he once more defeats Ba'alzamon.  Throughout the novels, people repeatedly ask him why he's training the sword when he has the OP.  Lan asks him about it, when he girds a sword to try and take down Couladin himself.  Lanfear mocks him and his usage of the power-made firesword at the Stone of Tear when the shadowspawn were brought in.  Bashere questions him when he's fighting with several elite swordsmen at once, even going so far as to chuck a dagger at him.  Mazrim Taim shows his contempt for swords when Rand sends him a swordsman-trainer.  When his hand gets blown off at KoD, what's one of the first things that comes to his mind?  Not, &quot;Crap, I lost my hand!&quot;  Not, &quot;Hm, I can't write any more!&quot;  Not even, &quot;Hm, I wonder how this will affect my channeling.&quot;  It's, &quot;Aww, man, now I have to relearn the sword!&quot;<br /><br />So many people keep on questioning him on his usage of the sword, when he has the One Power, and it keeps on playing such a significant role in his thoughts, that it seems to me at least that Robert Jordan is all but screaming in our faces that the sword really has a HUGE freaking significance; it's not like RJ to produce a deus ex machina device for Rand winning the Last Battle, everything he does, he foreshadows in some way.<br /><br />The amount of foreshadowing and hinting given about swords almost demands that it play a major role somehow, eventually, and what more major a role than the Last Battle?  And, stylistically, what better way for Robert Jordan to cleverly sidestep the gaudiness of a OP/TP battle between Rand and Moridin, than replace it with the simplicity of a sword fight?  After all, Rand is clearly the champion of the Creator, and Moridin the champion of the Dark One.<br /><br />One plausible scenario may be like this.  Rand, filled with the One Power and perhaps filled with power by the Creator himself, goes to Shayol Gul, where he meets Moridin, who's been similarly empowered by the Dark One.  Seeing as how the Dark One and the Creator are equal, it's unreasonable to believe that he'll beat Moridin with the One Power, or vice versa.  Perhaps they try, and tear the continents apart a bit, and perhaps not.  Eventually, they will recognize that they are equals, and that any more fighting will not gain victory for either side, but rather, destruction for both.<br /><br />Thus, they decide to settle it through a sword fight, as with Falme; it's the type of thing Rand would do, and Moridin as well, seeing as how Rand now lacks a hand.  Naturally, having lost a hand, Rand is now at a disadvantage, and is getting his ass beat by Moridin (his blood on the rocks of Shayol Gul; doesn't a sword fight create much more blood than, say, a OP battle?).  But he can and does win in the end, because unlike Moridin, he doesn't desire eternal life; he's willing to give everything up.  Moridin doesn't, and isn't, unlike Rand, willing to Sheath the Sword.  Rand once more uses the Sheathing the Sword technique on Moridin, who once more, just like at Falme, goes for it.  Rand kills Moridin, and is himself fatally wounded as well.  Yet, at that point in time, what he's done is enough.  The Dark One's Champion has been defeated, and thus the Dark One as well, in a metaphorical sense; the Creator comes, and seals the Prison, or perhaps the Prison itself, without the seals of Lewis Therin and the boring of Mierin/Lanfear, naturally seals then.<br /><br />That's just one of many possible scenarios, of course; its merely the one that I see playing out.  But regardless of the details of the actual Last Battle itself, it seems clear to me, at least, due to RJ's writing style and all the hints he's given across all these novels, that it will be swords, and not Power, which will decide the Last Battle.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-29 08:35:05
subject: Bling Culture: The Sea Folk Hierarchy
body:
<p>One of the things I&#8217;ve seldom seen explained or discussed is the hierarchy of the Atha&#8217;an Miere. I have come up with my own hierarchy based on what we know from the books. There is some speculation, but most of it is good logic. I hope. <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" /> Although this theory uses info from KoD, the hierarchy is mostly discernable from the first 10 books alone. Enjoy!<br /><br /><b>Different Ways of Displaying Status</b><br /><br />There are a number of ways of displaying status within the Sea Folk. Earrings, nose rings, chains, various necklaces and even tattoos all mean something to the trained eye. The first, and most universal, of the rankings are the earrings that they wear in both ears.<br /><br /><b>Sea Folk Earrings</b><br /><br />Almost every member of the Atha&#8217;an Miere we know of has at least one pair of earrings. There is, however, a strict hierarchy based on the number of earrings a man or woman wears in each ear. This hierarchy is universal, reaching from the lowliest deckhand who is yet to earn any rings to the Mistress of Ships herself. The design of these earrings seems to have little importance, but the number and thickness do. The hierarchy runs as follows:  <br /><br /><b>Six Pairs</b><br /><br />Mistress of Ships, Master of Blades.<br /><br /><i>Evidence found in Nesta Din Reas Two Moons, Zaida din Parede Blackwing and Baroc. Windfinders cannot earn six rings in each ear, no matter what their level. Nesta Din Reas also wore a chain that connected each of her six rings</i><br /><br /><b>Five Pairs</b><br /><br />Clan Wavemistress, Clan Swordmaster, Windfinder to the Mistress of Ships.<br /><br /><i>Evidence found in Harine din Togara Two Winds, her Swordmaster Moad and Renaile din Calon Blue Star when she was still Windfinder to the Mistress of Ships.</i><br /><br /><b>Four Pairs</b><br /><br />Windfinders to a clan Wavemistress. All Sailmistresses and Cargomasters<br /><br /><i>Evidence can be seen in Caire din Gelyn Running Wave and Tebrielle din Gelyn South Wind, who are both Windfinders to Wavemistresses. Only two Sailmistresses have been seen in the series. The first is Coine din Jubai Wild Winds, who commands a raker and has greying hair. The second is Derah din Selaan Rising Wave, who commands a soarer and is considerably younger. Cadsuane remarks that there is a large gap between Harine, a Wavemistress, and Derah in terms of the hierarchy.<br /><br />The only cargomaster we know of is Toram. He is the Cargomaster on the Coine's ship.</i><br /><br /><br /><b>Three Pairs</b><br /><br />Veteran crewmembers of either sex. All other Windfinders.<br /><br /><i>All Windfinders we have seen sport at least three rings in each ear. Proof of this is apparent in Renaile and Senine who both used to be Windfinders to the Mistress of Ships. When the Mistress of Ships dies, her Windfinder is demoted to the very bottom of the hierarchy again, yet these two still retained three of earrings in each ear when this happened, thus indicating that this is the minimum level for a Windfinder.<br /><br />In </i>Knife of Dreams<i>, we also learn that there is a rank known as deckmistress/deckmaster that falls just below that of Sailmistress and Cargomaster. It is uncertain how many rings this rank entails.<br /><br />With regard to other crewmembers, Elayne makes some observations: <br /><blockquote>Most wore gold or silver chains abound their necks, and rings in their ears, sometimes two or three in each, and some with polished stones.<br /><br />-</blockquote></i>The Shadow Rising<i>, Wavedancer <br />This quote seems to indicate that one pair is the norm on this particular ship, though two are three are not uncommon. It is logical that there be several levels of crewmembers beneath that of Sailmistress or Cargomaster.</i><br /><br /><b>Two Pairs</b><br /><br />Middling level crewmembers of either sex.<br /><br /><b>One Pair</b><br /><br />Basic level crewmembers of either sex.<br /><br /><b>None</b><br /><br />There are very few Sea Folk known to us that have no earrings. These are likely to be people who do not work on ships or very lowly deckhands. In Valan Luca's circus there was a Sea Folk man who wore no earrings. We haven't met any deckhands.<br /><br /><b>Ring Thickness</b><br /><br />Another aspect of the earrings that is often emphasized is that of the thickness of the earrings at each rank. It is unclear how many different levels of thickness there are and even if it is a formal identification of rank, though the frequency with which it is mentioned indicates that it is. There are several different options for how these thicknesses are measured, but the most likely and appealing is that each thickness corresponds to the size of vessel the wearer serves on. The four sizes of vessels from smallest to largest are as follows: darter, soarer, skimmer, raker. Anything smaller deemed a boat and not a ship. <br /><br />This would allow for a total of nineteen different levels in the hierarchy i.e. there would be four different levels for the levels between deckhand and Wavemistress, each corresponding to the four sizes of ship. This seems complicated, but it is always stressed that Sea Folk hierarchy was enough to &#8216;make a king or an Aes Sedai seem like a sloven.&#8217; We already know that this differentiation exists for Sailmistresses, Cargomasters and Windfinders with the same number of rings, why not for the other levels? <br /><br />This doesn&#8217;t necessarily indicate that a low level sailor on a raker outranks a higher-ranking sailor on a soarer, however, though it may be possible in some extreme cases. Instead it is mainly used as comparison between peers. <br /><br /><b>The First Twelve</b><br /><br />It can also be demonstrated that the First Twelve of each clan do not wear any more rings than other Sailmistresses. We know that all Wavemistresses have five rings in each ear, regardless of whether they are one of the First Twelve of the Atha&#8217;an Miere or not, so it is logical that all Sailmistresses have four whether or not they are one of the First Twelve of their clan. As a consequence, this means that Windfinders are consistently one level below the Sailmistress with which they serve. It is true that the First Twelve <i>are</i> more important, but this is not reflected by them having more or thicker earrings than any other Sailmistress that captains a raker.<br /><br /><b>Windfinders&#8217; Apprentices</b><br /><br />One oddity that is instantly recognisable is that of Windfinders&#8217; apprentices.<br /><br />Windfinders&#8217; apprentices are the only section of the Atha&#8217;an Miere to have different numbers of rings in each ear.<br /><blockquote>&#8230; two wore bright blouses of plain wool above the dark oily breeches of deckhands, each with a single thin ring in her left ear. A second and third ring in the right indicated they were being trained as Windfinders, but with two more to earn,<br />not to mention the nose ring.<br /><br />-<i>A Crown of Swords</i>, Promises To Keep<br /></blockquote>Presumably they start with no rings in the left ear and three in the right. When they are fully trained, they will have gained three rings in each ear, the basic level for a Windfinder. This is consistent with what has been said above.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Other Methods of Ranking</b><br /><br /><b>The Nose Ring</b><br /><br />Nose rings are always worn in the left nostril and are only worn by women. The Guide also mentions that &#8216;women often wear a ring on the left side of their nose&#8217; but that the honour chain is worn by &#8216;women of rank&#8217;. This implies that both have an independent meaning and that nose rings can be worn of women who are not &#8216;of rank&#8217;. In this case, &#8216;women of rank&#8217; applies to anyone who is a Sailmistress or a Windfinder and all ranks above that. The difference between the nose ring alone and the nose ring with an honour chain is further illustrated in  <i>The Path of Daggers</i>.<br /><blockquote> The two apprentices, boyishly slim Talaan and big-eyed Metarra, scurried at the very tail with harried expressions. They had not earned the nose ring yet, much less the chain, and only a single thin gold earring in the left ear balanced the three in the right.<br /><br />-<i>The Path of Daggers</i>, Unweaving<br /></blockquote>It is clear from this quote that the nose ring and the honour chain are two separate and distinct achievements, but what makes them different? One interesting observation is that Elayne notes that some women on the Wavedancer have nose rings, but less than four earrings in each ear. This might be a mark of a particular position on the ship, or it might be sign of a half-rank between three rings in each ear and Sailmistress &#8211; potential Sailmistresses, as it were. With regard to Windfinders, it is stated that Renaile was reduced to &#8216;having no more rank than a woman raised from apprentice on the day she herself had put off her honors&#8217;, yet Renaile still retains her nose ring and honor chain. Therefore a Windfinder&#8217;s apprentice must earn this half-rank before becoming a full Windfinder. Her placement would then allow her to wear the clan medallion of the clan she is Windfinder to. All of this, however, is only speculation.<br /> <br /><br /><b>The Honour Chain and Medallions</b><br /><br />The honour chain is attached from the nose ring to one of the rings in the left ear. Since no men wear the nose ring, they cannot wear the honour chain by implication. According to the Guide, only women of rank wear the honour chain. <br /><br />The purpose of this chain is to display a vast range of medallions that can be earned as a woman of rank. This applies equally to Windfinders and Sailmistresses, though there are doubtless differences in the types of honours they can attain. In all cases, the higher the ranking of the woman, the more medallions she will wear &#8211; though it is possible that the higher rank is defined by the number of medallions. These medallions fulfil several purposes, much like military medals and other decorations do. <br /><br />The first thing that is added immediately once earning the honour chain is a single medallion indicating the clan of the wearer. When Renaile is demoted to the lowest level, this is all she is left with:<br /><blockquote>..the gold honor chain crossing her dark left cheek looked stark supporting only the medallion that named her clan.<br /><br />-<i>Knife of Dreams</i>, Wet Things<br /></blockquote>In terms of the number of other medallions worn on the honour chain, we get several examples in the series. Rainyn, a relatively low level Windfinder on a soarer, is described as wearing only half a dozen. Elayne used Illusion on Nynaeve to give her six rings in each ear and two dozen golden medallions shortly after they had visited the Mistress of Ships. Malin din Toral Breaking Wave, a Wavemistress, is described as having half as many as the Mistress of Ships, a dozen if Elayne&#8217;s estimation is correct. Malin&#8217;s Windfinder is described as wearing fewer medallions than the Wavemistress. Zaida, another Wavemistress, is described as wearing half as many medallions as the Windfinder to the Mistress of Ships, though they both wear ten earrings in total, yet Chanelle, Caire and Tebraille are described as having almost as many as Zaida. Caire and Tebraille are both Windfinders to Wavemistreses and Chanelle is only a Windfinder to a Sailmistress.<br />So why do they gain medallions? Aside from identifying clan, the medallions also have marks on them to tell an observer what rank and what size of ship a woman serves on. <br /><blockquote>The fine gold chain linking her nose ring to one of her multitude of earrings held tiny medallions that identified her as Wavemistress of Clan Shodein.<br /><br />-<i>Lord of Chaos</i>, A Different Dance<br /><br />Windfinders to Wavemistresses rubbing shoulders with Windfinders from soarers, by their medallions<br /><br />-<i>A Crown of Swords</i>, Promises To Keep<br /><br />By the number of their medallions, Naime and Rysael were higher in rank than Rainyn.<br /><br />-<i>The Path of Daggers</i>, The Breaking Storm<br /></blockquote>But this still seems insufficient to explain why they have so many, and also why women who have the same number of rings in their ears have different numbers of medallions. It would be conceivable that they get one for each type of vessel they served on, yet Rainyn still has half a dozen and she only serves on a soarer. There certainly aren&#8217;t enough levels to account for Nesta din Reas having two dozen of them.<br /><br />One other reason for being awarded a medallion that might account for the extra medallions is for acts of courage:<br /><blockquote>Her honor chain held only a handful of medallions, as befitted her youth, yet Harine could see that no fewer than three commended acts of great courage.<br />&quot;I am Cemeille din Selaan Long Eyes, Shipmistress,&quot; she said hoarsely, &quot;Sailmistress of the darter Wind Racer.<br /><br /><i>Knife of Dreams</i>, To Make an Anchor Weep<br /></blockquote>Note also that Cemeille only commands a darter, the smallest of the Sea Folk ships. Finally, Harine&#8217;s thoughts on Cemaille&#8217;s youth coupled with standard military practice would indicate that medallions are also awarded for years of service. This would explain the quantity of Nesta&#8217;s medallions. Nesta is described as an &#8216;old woman with white hair&#8217; and so she might have fifty, sixty, or more years of experience at sea. <br /><br />It is also this collection of medallions that likely determines the First Twelve of a clan. They are described as the &#8216;most senior&#8217; Sailmistresses in a clan, but this is probably just a way of saying they are the twelve most decorated and experienced, not the eldest. In <i>Knife of Dreams</i>, Harine notes that the First Twelve of every clan all command rakers, which goes some way to confirming this hypothesis. <br /><br />When these twelve vote in the Wavemistress of their clan, it is usually from one of their number, but not always. The reason why they might choose from outside their number is that there might by a Sailmistress who shows great potential, or who is notably well decorated for her relative youth. Her potential for the future will also have an effect on her eligibility for becoming one of the First Twelve of the Atha&#8217;an Miere and later the Mistress of Ships. The strategy for picking a Wavemistress is echoed somewhat when picking a Mistress of Ships, though much more faintly. Harine notes in <i>Knife of Dreams</i> that the First Twelve have only picked a Mistress of Ships from outside their number five times in over three thousand years.<br /><br /><br /><b>Necklaces and Chains</b><br /><br />Cargomasters also have a display of rank beyond that of the earrings they wear. This is indicated by the number of chains they wear around their neck and is likely a substitute for the honour chain and nose rings worn by Sea Folk women. A Cargomaster is in charge of both the trade and defence of his ship, so it might be no coincidence that silver chains are also used to indicate status among the Kandori merchants guild.<br /><br />The grading of this ranking is not known, though the following observations have been made. Firstly, the Master of Blades wears &#8216;number thick gold chains&#8217;. In the Kandori merchants&#8217; guild, three silver chains are the sign of a master merchant and lesser merchants wear thinner and fewer chains. The comparison between the two seems valid &#8211; the Master of Blades is a very influential position. Elayne&#8217;s observation on the Sea Folk men and women on the Wavedancer is that &#8216;most of them wore gold or silver chains around their necks.&#8217; Not all, though. This might indicate a ranking system based on the thickness and type of necklaces and chains worn. The Cargomaster of the Wavedancer wore three thick golden chains round his neck, indicating his high status as Cargomaster of a raker. <br /><br />Nevertheless, it is also possible that women used necklaces for ranking. On several occasions it has been mentioned that the women wore as many necklaces as the men and that higher-ranking women wear more than average crewmembers. It is only on the men, however, that the number and thickness of chains is stressed and their role as merchants and traders would indicate a connection with the Kandori chains. <br /><br /><b>The Atha&#8217;an Miere Attitude to Channelers</b><br /><br />One aspect of this hierarchy that is interesting is that it reveals a system that inherently prevents channelers from getting too powerful. <br /><br />First of all, Windfinders are consistently one level behind in the hierarchy with regard to the number of earrings they wear. This is because Windfinders are only seen as advisors. They also rarely have power over anything else than other Windfinders, except when advising their Sailmistress. <br /><br />Secondly, there is the peculiar tradition that all Windfinders are demoted to the lowest level when the woman they serve with dies. This is not restricted to the Windfinder to the Mistress of Ships, as Chanelle&#8217;s comments prove:<br /><blockquote>&#8220;Every Windfinder knows she will rise and fall many times before her body is given back to the salt. She [Ronaile] fell from a greater height than most.&#8221;<br /><br />-<i>Knife of Dreams</i>, Wet Things<br /></blockquote>If Ronaile fell from a greater height than most and a Windfinder can expect to rise and fall many times, this would imply it happens at any level and that any Windfinder should <i>expect</i> it to happen. In the Guide it states that Windfinders can be non-channelers too, though we haven&#8217;t seen any yet. Conversely, all channelers <i>must</i> be Windfinders &#8211; they have no choice in the matter. To a non-channeling Windfinder, this demotion would happen rarely in comparison to a woman who has several times the lifespan. Furthermore, if Windfinders were not demoted in this way, those who could channel would need several honour chains to provide enough room for their medallions. The system would become top-heavy with women who could channel if they were allowed to retain so many honours.<br /><br />Thirdly, this might explain their attitude to the White Tower. The Atha&#8217;an Miere have kept the secret of how many channelers they have in their number for millennia &#8211; but why? For a culture that disapproves of the dominance of people who can channel, the White Tower would be completely distasteful to them. This is why only women who are very weak in the Power are sent to be trained as Aes Sedai. These women are perhaps judged to be too weak to be useful as Windfinders, though that is at odds with having non-channelling Windfinders.<br /><br />Fouthly, the pattern is that Windfinders can only rise in rank if the Sailmistress they serve rises in rank. There are always possible deviations from this, but the vast majority of the time this is what happens. What this effectively means is that Windfinder&#8217;s career advancement is not in her own hands. The Sailmistress they start with usually determines how far they will rise &#8211; and it is not even certain how this is allocated, though the clan Windfinder may have a hand in that. It should, however, be borne in mind that an ambitious Windfinder would be able to aid the rise of her Sailmistress, especially if she or strong or very skilled in the Power. This partially arbitrary promotion process also accounts for why strength in the Power matters little to Windfinder status.<br /><br />Lastly, there is the case of Talaan din Gelyn.<br /><blockquote>&quot;My grandmother is Windfinder to the Wavemistress of Clan Rossaine, my great grandmother is Windfinder to Clan Dacan, and her sister to Clan Takana. My family is honored that five of us have risen so high. And everyone watches for signs that Gelyn abuses its influence. Rightly so, I know&#8212; favor cannot be allowed&#8212;but my sister was kept an apprentice five years longer than normal, and my cousin<br />six! Just so no one can claim they were favored. When I cast the stars and give our position correctly, I am punished for being slow even when I have the answer as fast as Windfinder Ehvon!<br /><br />-<i>Winter&#8217;s Heart</i>, Ideas of Importance<br /></blockquote>Why would the Sea Folk fear the influence of Gelyn? When the Wavemistress any one of them serves dies, surely that woman will be demoted as any other Windfinder would be? A good explanation would be that the Sea Folk dislike seeing channelers being seen to rise to prominence, especially when those women have a bond in blood. Talaan say it is &#8216;rightly so&#8217; that their family be treated as it is, though there is no explanation why any of them should be regarded with suspicion. There is no proof collaboration going on between family members at all.<br /><br />All of these factors combine to make the Sea Folk one of the most egalitarian cultures in the WoT world, especially with regard to those who can channel. No section of society is given dominance. At first glance, women seem to have the upper hand, but men are completely in charge of all trade so there is a balance incolved.<br /><br /><b>Conclusions</b><br /><br /><li>The hierarchy of the Sea Folk is based on both the number of rings in each ear and the thickness of the rings. The levels of the hierarchy are as described above. In this sense, there is no difference between the First Twelve of a clan and any other Sailmistress</li><br /><br /><li>The female hierarchy is further defined by the number and type of medallions on their honour chain. This is a useful indicator of rank among peers.</li><br /><br /><li>The male hierarchy is defined by the number and type of chains around their necks, thick golden chains being the sign of influence.</li><br /><br /><li>The Atha&#8217;an Miere hierarchy has an inbuilt mechanism to prevent channelers from rising too high which reflects the attitude of their society towards channelers. </li><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-31 05:27:30
subject: A Memory of Light - The Prophesised Events
body:
<p>Scouring through various sites, (thanking particularly the WoT FAQ, Encyclopedia WoT and, of course, Wotmania), I collected through all the prophecies that I think haven&#8217;t been fulfilled yet (controversial!). I&#8217;ve grouped them together into some of the events I think will happen in A Memory of Light. The disclaimer is that this is all hearsay and I may have most, if not all of it wrong. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that, and posting anyway. So you&#8217;ll find the event title, the quotes regarding that event, and the (generally misguided) take on those events. I&#8217;ve tried to put the events in order, but have no real basis for most of them. There&#8217;s no real spoilers regarding KoD &#8211; there wasn&#8217;t much prophecy there. And apologies for the length as well!<br /><br />Prophecy Key: E &#8211; Egwene Dream&#8217;s, DP &#8211; Dark Prophecy, AP &#8211; Aiel Prophecy, G, General Prophecy, M &#8211; Min&#8217;s Viewings, P: Perrin, D: Dreamer, KP: Prophecies of the Dragon<br /><br />All quotes, of course, are from the Wheel of Time books, whatever the copyright thing is.<br /><br /><b>THE SONG</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />E: &#8220;Perrin stepping willingly over the edge of a towering cliff while saying, &quot;It must be done. I must learn to fly before I reach the bottom.&quot;<br />M: Perrin &#8211; &#8220;And trees flowering all around him.&#8221;<br />AP: &quot;He shall spill out the blood of those who call themselves Aiel as water on sand, and he shall break them as dried twigs, yet the remnant of a remnant shall he save, and they shall live.&quot;<br />AP: &quot;Prophecy says when the Stone of Tear falls, we will leave the Three-fold Land at last. It says we will be changed, and find again what was ours, and was lost.&quot;<br />AP: &quot;When the Trollocs come out of the Blight again, we will leave the Three-fold Land and take back our places of old.&quot;<br />G: &#8220;&#8230;it is prophesied that a child born of a Maiden will unite the clans and return to the Aiel the greatness they knew during the Age of Legends.&#8221;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />I&#8217;ve got the feeling that Perrin&#8217;s stepping off the proverbial cliff will be intricately linked to his finding the song. The Aiel quotes are there for proof that he will find the song &#8211; I&#8217;m interpreting their places of old as being that of the Da&#8217;ishan Aiel, ie. Tinkers, who just so happen to be looking for a song that will grow trees. My completely unsubstantiated guess is that the cliff will be a choice to no longer commit violence in accordance with the Way &#8211; and that as ta&#8217;veren, the Pattern will protect Perrin. This will then lead somehow to the finding of the Song &#8211; which will open the eyes of the remnant of the remnant of the Aiel to the Way of the Leaf and their greatness of old.<br /><br /><b>MOIRAINE</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />M: &#8220;What good to tell him he would almost certainly fail without a woman who was dead and gone?<br />M: &#8220;Moiraine was the only viewing of hers that had ever failed.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Thom Merrilin put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine's forehead.&#8221;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Lots in KoD about Moiraine, but mainly verification. As posited so long ago, Thom will probably rescue her. She has stuff to do for Rand &#8211; maybe making him cry? The woman at the top of his list suddenly returning would do that, yeah?<br /><br /><b>BATTLE FOR THE WHITE TOWER</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />M: &quot;I've read you, Egwene.... I see things I am sure link you to Rand, and Perrin, and Mat, and - yes, even Galad.&quot;<br />M: Berelain: &quot;Just a man in white who will make her fall head over heels.&quot;<br />E: &#8220;A golden hawk stretched out its wing and touched her, and she and the hawk were tied together somehow; all she knew was that the hawk was female.&#8221;<br /><br />E: &#8220;Twice, right on top one another, she dreamed of taking him by the shoulders and trying to turn him to face the other way against his will. Once he brushed her hands away roughly; the other time, she was somehow stronger than he. The two blended together hazily.&#8221;<br />M: &#8220;Gawyn - Gawyn kneeling at Egwene's feet with his head bowed, and Gawyn breaking Egwene's neck, first one then the other, as if either could be the future. She had never seen that fluttering back and forth, as though not even the viewing could tell which would be the true future. Worse, she had a feeling near to certainty that it was what she had done this day that had turned Gawyn toward those two possibilities.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;In another he began swinging a door closed on her, and she knew if that narrowing gap of light vanished, she was dead.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Gawyn - Him kneeling while she cupped his head in her hands.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Straps at waist and shoulder held her tightly to the block, and the headsman's axe descended, but she knew that somewhere someone was running, and if they ran fast enough, the axe would stop.&#8221;<br /><br />D: &#8220;The land divided by the return..&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;She was struggling up a narrow, rocky path along the face of a towering cliff. Clouds surrounded her, hiding the ground below and the crest above, yet she knew that both were very far away. [...] Abruptly, the ledge dropped away from under her with the crack of crumbling stone, and she caught frantically at the cliff, fingers scrabbling to find a hold. [...] Suddenly a woman appeared, clambering down the sheer side of the cliff out of the clouds, making her way as deftly as if she were walking down stairs. There was a sword strapped to her back. Her face wavered, never settling clearly, but the sword seemed as solid as the stone. The woman reached Egwene's level and held out one hand. &quot;We can reach the top together,&quot; she said in a familiar drawling accent.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;A small white plinth stood centered in that circle, supporting an oil-lamp made of clear glass. The flame on that lamp burned bright and steady, without flickering. It was white too. Suddenly a pair of birds flashed out of the mist, two ravens black as night. Streaking across the spire-top, they struck the lamp and flew on without so much as a pause. The lamp spun and wobbled, dancing around atop the plinth, flinging off droplets of oil. Some of those drops caught fire in midair and vanished. Others fell around the short column, each supporting a tiny, flickering white flame. And the lamp continued to wobble on the edge of falling.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;She had dreamed of the Seanchan, too, of women in dresses with lightning bolts woven on their breasts, collaring a long line of women who wore Great Serpent rings, forcing them to call lightning against the White Tower.&#8221;<br />D: The great battle done, but the world not done with battle. The future teeters on the edge of a blade.&quot;<br />F: &quot;The White Tower will be whole again, except for remnants cast out and scorned, whole and stronger than ever. <br />E: &#8220;Rand confronting her, and the women with her, and one of them was a Seanchan.&#8221;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />I&#8217;ve split these quotes into three sections. The first has to do with Galad and Berelain. If Egwene is going to have something to do with Galad (who sees that the Whitecloaks must unite with Aes Sedai to fight the Last Battle) and Berelain is going to team up with Galad, then Berelain may have something to do with Egwene. Lots of ifs, but, you know. The second set have to do with Gawyn. My guess is that Egwene is going to annoy the living bejeebers out of Elaida to the extent that her death will be ordered. Gawyn shows up to find the woman of his dreams opposing the woman of his choosing. What&#8217;ll happen then? The third set are about the battle itself. Egwene escapes to lead the attack on the White Tower. The Seanchan turn up, attacking the White Tower in turn and offer a truce of sorts to Egwene, who uses them in much the same way that Elayne used the Borderlanders. She regains the White Tower, with a Seanchan ambassador in tow (maybe Tylee? Or even Tuon?).  This is the great battle done. The Tower is wholer and stronger than ever and the nasty BA are booted out. Rand turns up for a chat and finds an Amyrlin angry over his unification plans (see below). <br /><br /><b>THE SECOND HURTING</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />M: &#8220;Twice he's (Perrin) going to have to be there, or you... If he's not, something bad will happen to you. Very bad. It will happen if he is not there, but nothing I saw said it won't because he is. It will be very bad, Rand.&#8221;<br />M: &#8220;Rand in chains, and it was he who was screaming.&#8221;<br />M: Rand &#8211; &#8220;a bloody hand and white-hot iron&#8221;<br />M: Elayne &#8211; &#8220;A severed hand, not hers&#8221;<br />M: &quot;above Elayne's, a red-hot iron and an axe.&quot;<br />M: &quot;And there's something...dark...in the images I saw around Lord Davram.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Those Borderlanders, who have been hungrily hovering since Book 8, will finally have something to do. If Rand is to tie the north to the west (see The Split below), then he&#8217;s gonna have to take these guys by the scruff of the neck and show them who&#8217;s boss. But I&#8217;m guessing that this will be his second hurting by women who can channel. It may involve chains, Elayne, and another hand, though I can&#8217;t seeing Rand losing another one. I&#8217;ve also thrown in the Bashere quote &#8211; maybe Tenobia tells him to get back into line and he betrays Rand as a result. Anyway, Rand gets seriously hurt (again!), Elayne saves him and Rand cracks the whip over 200,000 or so new recruits.<br /><br /><b>THE SPLIT</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />D: &#8220;The land divided by the return..&#8221;<br />KP: &quot;The north shall he tie to the east, and the west shall be bound to the south.&quot;<br />D: &#8220;Bair and Amys dreamed of you cutting the wetlands in two with a sword.&#8221;<br />KP: He &quot;shall bind the nine moons to serve him.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Knife of Dreams makes it clear that Rand will split the wetlands in two, as a direct consequence of prophecy and the Seanchan. As a supposition, Rand will only divide the wetlands in two when he has control of the Seanchan. And he will only have control of the Seanchan after the Battle for the White Tower is completed. Note also that Rand will have to take control of the Borderlanders, before the Split can happen.<br /><br /><b>LAUGHTER &amp; TEARS</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />KP (disputed): &quot;There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow, for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone, in pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon the mountains to kneel, and the seas to give way, and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears, and the soul of fire, love.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Not much by the way of prophecy here, but I&#8217;m gambling on something or someone teaching Rand laughter and tears, mainly for thematic reasons. I&#8217;m picking any one of Moiraine&#8217;s return, meeting Tam again or the first sight of his children as the thing that does the trick. No idea where it will fit in.<br /><br /><b>THE BEGGAR'S STAFF</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />M: Rand &#8211; &#8220;a beggar's staff&#8221;<br />P: &#8220;Perrin thought it was Rand. He wore rags and a rough cloak, and a bandage covered his eyes.&#8221;<br />Moridin: &quot;The Fisher was always worked as a man, a bandage blinding his eyes and one hand pressed to his side, a few drops of blood dripping through his fingers. The reasons, like the source of the name, were lost in the mist of time.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />As Min&#8217;s earliest viewing of Rand and given the importance of every other foretelling in that viewing, I&#8217;m assuming there&#8217;s something really significant about the Beggar&#8217;s Staff, but have no idea what or when. Maybe it occurs after the second hurting? Or maybe it&#8217;s a strategy to get him closer to Shayol Ghul?<br /><br /><b>THE BLACK TOWER</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />F: &#8220;The Black Tower will be rent in blood and fire, and sisters will walk its grounds.&quot;<br />E: &#8220;Logain, laughing, stepped across something on the ground and mounted a black stone; when she looked down, she thought it was Rand's body he had stepped over, laid out on a funeral bier with his hands crossed at his breast, but when she touched his face, it broke apart like a paper puppet.&#8221;<br />M: &quot;It's Cadsuane. She is going to teach you something, you and the Asha'man. All the Asha'man, I mean. It's something you have to learn, but I don't know what it is, except that none of you will like learning it from her. You aren't going to like it at all.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Sisters already walk it&#8217;s grounds, but my interpretation is that this is a significant &#8216;walking&#8217; and will occur after the rending. Taim (the paper puppet) and his cronies will be cast out by Logain, who, with or without Rand&#8217;s help will rather easily dispose of him (the laughing?). Logain will then take up the post of M&#8217;Hael or leader of the male channelers and go forth unto glory. Along the way, Cadsuane will finally step in and teach all of those arrogant, rude Asha&#8217;man some manners &#8211; maybe in the form of written law by which they must all abide (this would certainly make all of them unhappy as they&#8217;ve been free to do whatever they want up until then), or maybe even by forcing White Tower law down their throats.<br /><br /><b>REUNIFICATION</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />D: &#8220;&#8230;and the guardians balance the servants.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Rand building a wall with him on one side and her on the other, her and Elayne and others she could not make out. &quot;It has to be done,&quot; he was saying as he piled up stones. &quot;I'll not let you stop me now.&quot;<br />E: &#8220;She stood before an immense wall, clawing at it, trying to tear it down with her bare hands. It was not made of brick or stone, but countless thousands of discs, each half white and half black, the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, like the seven seals that had once held the DO's prison shut...the wall stood strong however she beat at it. She could not tear it down. Maybe it was the symbol that was important. Maybe it was the AS she was trying to tear down, the White Tower. Maybe....&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Rand confronting her, and the women with her, and one of them was a Seanchan.&#8221;<br />F: &#8220;Rand al'Thor will face the Amyrlin Seat and know her anger.&#8221;<br />AP: &#8220;Under this sign (the ancient Aes Sedai symbol) he will conquer.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />I&#8217;m throwing these quotes together, because I think (but hey, what would I know?) one of the MAJOR events that has to happen in Book 12 is reunification of male and female channelers. Why? Because last time the DO popped out they weren&#8217;t that united and look what happened. As RJ has repeatedly stated, the greatest deeds are always wrought when men and women work together and when saidar and saidan work together. So I&#8217;m positing that the channelers will once more be reunited and that Egwene will not be happy about it, either during or after. After fighting and regaining the Tower, she&#8217;ll be pretty narky about someone coming in and saying that the Tower&#8217;s should merge.<br /><br /><b>THE CHOICE</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />E: &#8220;In another a woman, face shrouded in shadow, beckoned him toward great danger; Egwene did not know what, only that it was monstrous.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Mat, weighing two Aes Sedai on a huge set of balance scales, and on his decision depended....She could not say what; something vast; the world, perhaps.&#8221;<br />AE: &#8220;To give up half the light of the world to save the world.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Mat, placing his own left eye on a balance scale.&#8221;<br />M: Mat &#8211; &#8220;..an eye on a balance scale&#8230;&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Mat throwing dice with blood streaming down his face, the wide brim of his hat pulled low so she could not see his wound&#8221;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />It&#8217;s been mentioned numerous times. Mat will have to choose between two Aes Sedai and the fate of the world rests on that choice. Presumably he&#8217;ll lose an eye in the process as the balance theme is common to all of these quotes. What&#8217;s the choice, though? I got nada.<br /><br /><b>TARMON GAIDON</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />M: Mat &#8211; &#8220;&#8230;a horn..&#8221;<br />G: &#8220;In the last, lorn fight <br />'gainst the fall of long night,<br />the mountains stand guard, <br />and the dead shall be ward, <br />for the grave is no bar to my call.&#8221;<br />F: &quot;The very first thing Elaida had ever Foretold, while still an Accepted - and had known enough even then to keep to herself - was that the Royal line of Andor would be the key to defeating the Dark One in the Last Battle.&quot;<br />AP: &quot;He shall spill out the blood of those who call themselves Aiel as water on sand, and he shall break them as dried twigs, yet the remnant of a remnant shall he save, and they shall live.&quot;<br />AP: He will come from Rhuidean at dawn, and tie you together with bonds you cannot break. He will take you back, and he will destroy you.&quot;<br />M: Logain - a flaring halo around his head, radiant in gold and blue. It shouted of glory and power to come.<br />M: &quot;When you two (Rand &amp; Perrin) were together, I saw those fireflies and the darkness stronger than ever...But with the two of you in the same room, the fireflies were holding their own instead of being eaten faster than they can swarm, the way they do when you're alone.<br />DP: Death shall sow, and summer burn, before the Great Lord comes.<br />Death shall reap, and bodies fail, before the Great Lord comes.<br />Again the seed slays ancient wrong, before the Great Lord comes.<br />Now the Great Lord comes.<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />All pretty self-explanatory. The heroes will fight in the Last Battle, Mat and Perrin will have to be with Rand. But the DP quote is the interesting one. The Seanchan (the seed) will slay an ancient wrong &#8211; then the Dark One will return. Maybe their action will presage Tarmon Gaidon?<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>THE FINAL CONFRONTATION</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />E: &#8220;Him walking down into a great hole in a black mountain, a hole filled with a reddish glare as from vast fires below.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Him walking toward a burning mountain, something crunching beneath his boots. She stirred and whimpered; the crunching things were the seals on the Dark One's prison, shattering with his every step. She knew it. She did not need to see them to know.&#8221;<br />KP: Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light.<br />KP: &quot;When the winds of Tarmon Gai'don scour the earth, he will face the Shadow and bring forth Light again in the world.&quot;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Rand deliberately breaks the seals and brings on Tarmon Gaidon (which could be fairly brief if he has to confront the Dark One immediately). He then goes to Shayol Ghul for the grandstand finish we&#8217;ve all been waiting for &#8211; yea verily, it will rock. How he defeats the Dark One? Plenty of ideas, no clues.<br /><br /><b>RAND'S DEATH</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />DP: The man who channels stands alone.<br />He gives his friends for sacrifice.<br />Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying, one to life eternal.<br />Which will he choose? Which will he choose?<br />What hand shelters? What hand slays?<br />AE: &#8220;He had been told by those he had to believe. To live, you must die.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;Rand, wearing different masks, until suddenly one of those false faces was no longer a mask, but him.<br />M: Rand: &quot;I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and....one of you dies, and one doesn't.&quot;<br />M: &quot;Rand, I like Alivia. But she is going to kill you.&quot; Rand replies, &quot;Helping me die isn't the same as killing me. Unless you've changed your mind about what you saw.&quot;<br />M: &#8220;Three women standing over a funeral bier with you on it, black rock wet with blood.&#8221;<br />KP: &quot;The blood of the Dragon Reborn on the rocks of Shayol Ghul will free mankind from the Shadow.&quot;<br />KP: &quot;Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.<br />Once for mourning, once for birth.<br />Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.<br />In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.&quot;<br />KP: &quot;Twice and twice shall he be marked,<br />twice to live and twice to die.&#8221;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Right. Rand&#8217;s now got nine (count &#8216;em!), nine people in either permanent or temporary residence in his head: Himself, Lews Therin, Moridin, Alanna, Elayne, Aviendha, Min, Mat and Perrin. That&#8217;s a helluva lot, and I&#8217;m guessing the mask thing has something to do with these guys, though more particularly, I can see he and Ishamael wrestling for control of their respective bodies, with Lews Therin not helping in the slightest.<br />Now I&#8217;m guessing this will take place at Rand&#8217;s death, though I&#8217;m not sure how or why. Let&#8217;s be honest here. I&#8217;m pretty sure that Rand is gonna die. Min&#8217;s quote, the Finns. And that he will then be bought back to life. I&#8217;m hoping, anyway. The guy sure deserves it. Maybe as ta&#8217;varen, the Dark One will try to take control of the pattern through Rand. Rand will allow himself to be taken over, only to have Alivia kill him off and end the Dark One&#8217;s control. I dunno. Again, I got nothing. I just can&#8217;t wait to read it.<br /><br /><b>AFTER</b><br /><br />The Quotes<br /><br />JP: The Jendai Prophecy says the Sea Folk will serve the Coramoor. It says the Coramoor will bring the Sea Folk to glory - all the seas of the world will be theirs.<br />KP: &quot;For he shall come like the breaking dawn, and shatter the world again with his coming, and make it anew.&quot;<br />KP: &#8220;Who draws it out shall follow after,<br />What hand can grasp that fearful blade?&quot; <br />He had thought carefully before choosing Narishma&#8230;<br />M: Lan: &#8220;Seven ruined towers around his head, and a babe in a cradle holding a sword.&#8221;<br />M: &#8220;A fire-haired novice and a guard - they would be married soon. There was a farm in that pair's future, and a swarm of children.&#8221;<br />M: &quot;You will be punished for what happens here today, Harine, but not so much as you fear, I think. At least, one day you will be the Mistress of the Ships.&quot;<br />M: &#8220;Caraline and Darlin - Darlin will die in bed and Caraline will survive him.&#8221;<br />M: &#8220;Nesune - She will found a library and receive honors and fame.&#8221;<br />M: &#8220;Aviendha would have Rand's babies, too. Four of them at once! Something was odd about that, though. The babies would be healthy, but still something odd.&#8221;<br />E: &#8220;...a man riding on a black stallion. Gawyn. Then she was standing in the road in front of him, and he reined in. Not because he saw her...but the road that had been straight now forked right where she stood, running over tall hills so no one could see what lay beyond. She knew, though. Down one fork was his violent death, down the other, a long life and a death in bed. On one path, he would marry her, on the other, not. She knew what lay ahead, but not which way led to which. Suddenly he did see her, or seemed to, and smiled, and turned his horse along one of the forks...&#8221;<br />M: Perrin &#8211; &#8220;..a broken crown..&#8221;<br /><br />The Take<br /><br />Just an interesting collection of quotes that seem to indicate that there is indeed life after Tarmon Gaidon&#8230;.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-10-31 18:52:04
subject: The Impersonator
body:
<p>Here is the situation.<br /><br /><blockquote>&#8221;Sammael appears to have resurfaced,&quot; Moridin announced, crossing the floor and taking a seat.<br /><br />&quot;Nevertheless, Sammael, or someone disguised as him, gave orders to the Myddraal, and they obeyed, so it was one of the chosen.&#8221;<br /><br />Moridin's jaw tightened. &quot;I do not know,&quot; he said at last, reluctantly, he never liked saying that. &quot;but they sent a hundred Myddraal and thousands of trollocs into the ways.&quot;<br /><br />Ch. 3, <i>Knife of Dreams</i></blockquote><br /><br />So, there seems to be some impersonating Sammael. We know that it is not Sammael, RJ has said that he is gone.<br /><br /><blockquote> Question: It has been reported that you have confirmed that Sammael died at the end of <i>A Crown of Swords</i>. Could you confirm that you have said this and elaborate on whether Rand was correct? <br /><br />Answer: Mashadar killed Sammael. Sammael is toast!<br />Wotmania FAQ</blockquote><br /><br />So, we know that it is not Sammael, it is someone impersonating Sammael. Furthermore, we also know that it has to be a forsaken.<br /><br /><blockquote>Becoming one of the Forsaken involves receiving a mark from the Dark One in return for your oaths; this mark is invisible and cannot be sensed by another human being, even another of the Forsaken, but it can be by certain non-human creatures, including Myddraal and draghkar among others. This may play a part in the Myddraal's obedience but doesn't explain it completely.<br />Question of the Week No. 6 &#8211; Answer to question about gholam</blockquote><br /><br />Whoever ordered the shadowspawn would need one of these marks in order to successfully order such an invasion &#8211; especially since it involves going into the ways, which hasn&#8217;t been too kind to shadowspawn. This is further confirmed by Moridin&#8217;s thoughts above. We&#8217;ve seen other marks like this, but they don&#8217;t seem to be sufficient.<br /><br /><blockquote>The mark that Alviarin received from Shaidar Haran was not the same as that given to the Forsaken, though it shares one function: Shadowspawn will recognize her as belonging to the Dark One. They will not obey her as they will the Forsaken, however, but she doesn't have to worry about one trying to kill her, either.<br />Question of the Week No. 2</blockquote><br /><br />So far we can narrow it down to one of the surviving forsaken. Aginor/Osan&#8217;gar, Rahvin, Bel&#8217;al, Asmodean, and Sammael are dead and gone. We can also eliminate Moridin and Aran&#8217;gar from the list. We see from Aran&#8217;gar&#8217;s point of view that she didn&#8217;t do it, and Moridin mentioning it in the first place pretty well eliminates him. So, this leaves Mesaana, Semirhage, Moghedien, Cyndane/Lanfear, Graendal, and Demandred.<br /><br />I argue that we can safely eliminate Cyndane and Moghedien because they are mindtrapped to Moridin. This seems to be too big of a betrayal for them to get away with it. Semirhage has her own plot to keep her busy, and I would further argue that Mesaana is still too shaken up from her &#8216;encounter&#8217; with Shaidar Haran to undertake a scheme of this nature. This leaves us with two viable contenders for the impersonator &#8211; Graendal and Demandred.<br /><br /><b>Graendal</b><br /><br />At the time of the forsaken meeting in the garden, Graendal has no real motivation for action like this. Rand has not yet begun his plan of sending his armies to Arad Doman. Graendal&#8217;s base there is unthreatened. Also, this kind of action really does not appear to fit well Graendal&#8217;s personality or style. <br /><br />Here are the comments Graendal makes in the garden.<br /><br /><blockquote>&quot;That hardly seems possible,&quot; Said Graendal as the all moved to take chairs. Her gown was dark gray now, concealing everything. &quot;He must be dead.&quot;<br />Ch. 3, <i>Knife of Dreams</i></blockquote><br /><br />The reaction seems genuine, and she appears surprised. Of course, this is Graendal, and she can manipulate &#8211; her gown did turn to a neutral color. However, I don&#8217;t see any indication that she was involved.<br /><br /><b>Demandred</b><br /><br />Demandred is the most mysterious of the forsaken. We&#8217;ve seen him only a handful of times, and never really seen him act. During the AoL, he was the shadow&#8217;s greatest general. I believe that Demandred has spent his time marshalling the shadow&#8217;s armies and planning the invasion that we should see in Book 12. <br /><br />Throughout the series we&#8217;ve seen debate among the forsaken as too how much of LTT&#8217;s memories Rand has. Demandred has a need to find out if the Dragon Reborn is a simple shepherd from the current age, or if he is indeed LTT reborn with all of those memories. To discover the degree to which Rand has LTT&#8217;s knowledge and how he will react to a large army of shadowspawn, Demandred impersonated Sammael and ordered the shadowspawn to attack him in the manor in Tear. Now Demandred can better plan his strategy for the invasion to come, and if Rand had died in the attack, Demandred would have been quite happy.<br /><br />Here are Demandred&#8217;s reactions to in the garden.<br /><br /><blockquote>&quot;He could never have borne staying hidden this long,&quot; Demandred put in, lounging into his chair between Semirhage and Mesaana, legs crossed as though they were perfectly at ease. That seemed doubtful. He was another who was unreconciled, she was sure. &quot;Sammael needed to have every eye directed at him.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;That sounds like Sammael,&quot; Demandred said thoughtfully, twisting his goblet and studying the swirling wine, &quot;Perhaps I was mistaken.&quot; A remarkable admission, coming from him. Or an attempt to hide to being the one who had worn Sammael as a disguise&#8230; <br />Ch. 3, <i>Knife of Dreams</i></blockquote><br /><br />Aran&#8217;gar&#8217;s thoughts certainly indicate that we should consider Demandred a suspect. I argue that they are not a red herring, but a true hint.<br /><br /><br />In summary, it was Demandred who impersonated Sammael and ordered the shadowspawn army to attack Rand. The goal of this was to test Rand&#8217;s reaction and knowledge to better plan for the larger invasion to come.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-02 03:08:11
subject: Egwene as Christ
body:
<p>If after reading Knife of Dreams chapter 24 &quot;Honey in the Tea&quot;, you were left thinking that Egwene seemed a bit superhuman, you were onto something.  If you believe the salvation of the White Tower lies with Egwene alone, you're on the right track.  And if you got the distinct impression that for Egwene to knuckle under would be more than disappointing-- that it would in fact be sacrilege-- then perhaps you've figured out, as I did, that Egwene here represents Jesus Christ.<br /><br />Most folks hold that, in the larger picture, Rand is the persistent symbol of Christ.  But while Rand typically only represents Christ in a symbolic or allegorical way, for the scope of this chapter, Egwene represents His character as well.  I'll attempt to demonstrate this by highlighting the analogies I've found.<br /><br />She is the suffering and rejected servant.  As Christ was rejected as King of Israel, so Egwene is rejected as Amyrlin Seat by her should-be subjects.  Like Christ, she suffers physical punishment.  And though Amyrlin by right, she takes on the role of a novice, just as Christ &quot;made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.&quot; [Phil. 2:7].<br /><br />She refuses rescue in order to accomplish her greater purpose.  &quot;But Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?' &quot; [Matt 26:52-54].<br /><br />She resists Alviarin's temptations [p.523], as Christ refused Satan in the wilderness.<br /><br />She counts her sufferings as a badge of honor [pp.516-517]. Compare to 1 Pet 4:13, &quot;But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.&quot;<br /><br />She performs signs and wonders that confirm her identity, such as juggling the seven balls and seven rings of fire, a feat no one could hope to match [p.507].  This is akin to Christ's miracles.<br /><br />Others marvel at her words, as exemplified by her chats with Bennae [pp.513-514]and later Mattin Stepaneos [pp.525-526].  People were constantly amazed at Jesus's words.<br /><br />Her righteous anger is kindled against evil [pp.505,519,521], as when Christ the called down the Pharisees or threw the moneychangers out of the temple.<br /><br />She prophesies impending judgement on the Tower, with her dream of the ravens and the lamp with a white flame [pp.96-97].  Christ prophesied the coming destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, &quot;Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.' &quot; [Matt 24:1-3]. (The temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, some 40 years later.)<br /><br />She refuses to compromise on the truth of her identity, no matter the cost.  &quot;Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, 'Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?'  Jesus said, 'I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.'  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, 'What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?' And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.&quot; [Mark 14:61-64].<br /><br />She helps, comforts, and tends to the novices, whom the Aes Sedai ignore [pp.517-519].  The novices are much like the poor, powerless underclass of Israel, the &quot;sinners and tax gathers&quot; with whom Jesus associated.  The Aes Sedai (at least those in the Tower), are much like the Pharisees, the religious and political elite of Christ's day.  To give just one quote from Jesus on the Pharisees, &quot; 'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.' &quot; [Matt 23:27].  If this isn't an apt description of the White Tower at this point, I don't know what is.<br /><br />She prefers to suffer herself rather than have the novices suffer.  &quot;Word of groups would surely leak out, and she would not be the only one sent to Silviana.  She would make that trip as often as necessary, but she did not want to earn it for others.&quot; [p.517].  This is the very essence of Christ's self-sacrifice.<br /><br />She is concerned with the novices' character, and encourages them to be good.  When Alivistere trips her [p.504], Egwene's concern is not revenge, but the girl's character.  When novices come to her for advice, she tells them to &quot;Obey the Aes Sedai.  Obey the Accepted.  Work hard.  Then work harder.&quot; [p.518 ].  Compare to Romans 13:1-3, &quot;Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.&quot;<br /><br />She sets the example for her novices.  &quot;She had been unable to make Nicola behave properly while she was openly Amyrlin, but it seemed she might have succeeded while masquerading as a novice herself.  Remarkable.&quot; [p.518 ].  This passage bears a strong resemblance to God's coming in the flesh to set the perfect example.   &quot;For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.  For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps 'Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth,' who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.&quot;  This standard of character exemplified by Christ is one that Egwene follows perfectly throughout this chapter.<br /><br />Even her enemies find no fault in her.  Egwene is a model novice, she performs her chores, follows the rules, does not complain, sets a good example for the other novices.  In fact, the single thing she gets in trouble for is being the Amyrlin Seat.  This, I believe, is the source of the resignation in Silviana's voice [p.533].  And so with Christ, &quot;Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!'  Pilate said to them, 'You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.'  The Jews answered him, &quot;We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.' &quot;<br /><br />She is humble, not considering herself above menial labor, as Christ washed the feet of His disciples, but performing her chores with diligence and wholeheartedness.<br /><br />She is content with her circumstances, neither complaining nor despairing, but abiding in faith, hope, and love, as 1 Cor 13:13 instructs.<br /><br />Her own recognize her true identity [pp.518,533].  Her character, words, and actions leave no doubt in the minds of the novices that she is the Amyrlin Seat for true.  Just as Peter observed, &quot; 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' &quot; [John 6:68 -69].<br /><br />She is winning her war [p.534], just as Christ has the final victory.<br /><br />I'll close with a couple of disclaimers.  I do not mean to claim that this entire chapter is meant as an allegory, or even necessarily that the level of correlation was fully intentional; only Mr. Jordon could answer that.  However, when you put it all together, it becomes clear why this chapter is so compelling-- it's the greatest story ever told! <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-10 02:53:49
subject: The Power that resides in the Kitchen
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<p>Since the Age of Legends there has been a secret conclave of deadly assassins sworn to fight the Shadow. They have assumed the disguises of cooks and chefs, and like their gholam counterparts in the Shadow, they cannot be harmed by the One Power. This secret society who claim allegiance only to themselves and the Creator are so fearsome in the undertaking of their art that they have given rise to expressions such as <i>his goose is cooked</i> and <i>to get your ass whipped. </i><br /><br />Cooks and chefs have confined themselves to kitchens and taverns, and seem to follow one edict - <i>destroy the Shadow</i>. This is common knowledge among the Light and the Shadow, and although both sides acknowledge the lethality of these people, they grudgingly have to tread lightly around them due to the fact that all people need to eat &#8211; and only cooks and chefs can make food.<br /><br />The Aes Sedai make use of this to their advantage. When a novice or Accepted behaves badly they are sent to the kitchen. It is here that they are at their most vulnerable, where all their power is moot. Unlike the Light, the Shadow fear these people to their bones.<br /><br /><b><u>The Power of Cooks </u></b><br /><br />Jordan subtly introduced the danger of cooks early on in the series &#8230;<br /><br />TDR (A Trap to Spring) - <i>Nynaeve met Laras&#8217; look with a level look of her own and kept turning the spit. The massive woman&#8217;s face never altered. Nynaeve had tried smiling, but that did nothing to change Laras&#8217; expression. Stopping work to speak to her, quite civilly, had been a disaster. </i><br /><br />TDR (A Trap to Spring) - <i>Egwene and Elayne appeared, twisting their faces and scrubbing their mouths with their sleeves. At a stare from Laras, they dashed to the spit and resumed their labors. </i><br /><br />With everyone speaking about Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne&#8217;s strength in the Power, we naturally felt a bit of awe when our wonder girls performed any feat. Jordan inserted these two passages to show that despite their great strength, and even Forsaken strength in Nynaeve&#8217;s case, no amount of strength can stand up to those who dwell in the kitchens. Later, Elayne encounters another cook in Ebou Dar &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (Into the Palace) - <i>&#8221;Count yourself lucky you are not out in the street, or swinging from the gallows.&#8221; The chief cook did not sound sympathetic. </i><br /><br />TSR (Into the Palace) - <i>&#8221;So you mock me, do you, you little cow you?&#8221; the stout woman roared, and started around the table waving her thick wooden spoon threateningly. There was nothing to do without giving herself away; nothing but stay and be hit, or run. </i><br /><br />Once again, Elayne&#8217;s actions have landed her in trouble. As Elayne says, she can either run or be &#8216;hit&#8217; (assassinated for laughing at the cook). Two more examples appear in the same book where cooks show their overwhelming presence against Aes Sedai, in fact the greatest of the Aes Sedai &#8211; the Amyrlin Seat &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (The Truth of a Viewing) - <i>&#8221;They mean to stick you in the scullery, I understand, so they can haul you out for examples&#8230;you can expect me to be stripping your hides from sunup to sundown whenever you&#8217;re not head down in greasy pots or cleaning slop jars! You will wish they had cut off your heads before I am done.&#8221; </i><br /><br />We see that former stilled Amyrlins are also sent to the kitchens as part of their punishment &#8211; just in case they try anything, and in case they were only half-stilled.<br /><br /><b><u>The Shadow </u></b><br /><br />We see that part of Liandrin&#8217;s punishment is to be sent to the kitchens...<br /><br />TFOH (A Silver Arrow) - <i>&#8221;You will live, not stilled, but knowing that you could channel again, if only you could find someone to untie your shield. Yet that is only the beginning. Evon will be glad of a new scullery girl &#8230; Prepare her for them. And tell them they are not to kill or maim her.&#8221; </i><br /><br />Moghedien is trying to be as cruel as possible, and naturally the kitchen pops up in her mind first. Ironically, her first instruction to them is that they are not to kill or maim Liandrin. Interesting, considering they only make the food. This would preclude Temaile from informing them that Liandrin is Black Ajah, in which case she would be executed by them immediately.<br /><br /><b><u>The Forsaken </u></b><br /><br />As we see, Moghedien also had a run in with the cooks &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (A Hound of Darkness) - <i>&#8221;Are you worried about those times you sent Gyldin to the cook to be beaten? </i><br /><br />Indeed, Moghedien would have remained Gyldin while in the kitchens. She could not possibly hope to survive with a line such as <i>&#8221;How dare you, I am Moghedien!&#8221;</i> Naturally, she had to accept the beating in order to maintain her disguise &#8230; and her life. <br /><br />The second Forsaken to fall to the kitchen was Asmodean. Jordan always said that clues to the murder could be found in the first few books, and as you can see above, he established the cooks&#8217; macabre precision from the beginning of the series. So why would they want to kill Asmodean &#8230; it is simple &#8230; he is part of the Shadow and one of their generals. In fact, they didn&#8217;t even know about him until he walked in on them&#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Glowing Embers) - <i>He pulled open a small door, intending to find his way to the pantry. There should be some decent wine. One step, and he stopped, the blood draining from his face. &#8220;You? No!&#8221; The word still hung in the air when death took him.. </i><br /><br />They probably couldn&#8217;t believe their luck. As he approached the pantry &#8211; a hive for cooks &#8211; he came across either a cook or a chef. He noticed the cook and the cook noticed him. In that brief period his face went pale and he realized his folly. The cook recalled Asmodean&#8217;s face despite those long years in a stasis box. Asmodean had no chance. Therefore Jordan had every right to claim that Asmodean&#8217;s death was linked to evidence apparent to the most casual observer. He even made the location for his death appropriate.<br /><br />Later Jordan used the same plot device to off a second Forsaken, Sammael. As Rand says&#8230;<br /><br />ACoS (A Crown of Swords) - <i>Sammael was dead, killed by an evil almost as great as himself. </i><br /><br />The cooks are not necessarily evil, but because they work independently of the Light, they are evil just like the Finns. Jordan once again made an allusion to Sammael&#8217;s assassins &#8230;<br /><br /><i>Sammael is toast. </i><br /><br />Could the author have been more obvious? I doubt it. The food connection, like Asmodean&#8217;s, provides almost overwhelming evidence, and for the second time there is no body. This lends credence to the fact that the cooks have tremendous powers (whatever they are).<br /><br /><b><u>The Future </u></b><br /><br />It is possible that the cooks will play two roles in the last book.<br /><br />- They will defeat the gholam which is hunting Mat. Jordan has established Mat&#8217;s affinity for taverns. He will no doubt run into a kitchen to escape and the gholam will follow leading to one of the great duels of our time.<br /><br />- Tarmon Gaidon may include an emptying of all the kitchens in Randland to fight the Shadow. The legions lead by their top captain-general Laras, Mistress of the Kitchens (another direct comparison to the leader of a group such as the Seafolk) will form an invincible line along the Blight and wreak havoc against the Dreadlords. It also explains Rand&#8217;s request to the Seafolk in KoD to provide food for a million people &#8211; with the cooks away from the kitchens to fight the final battle, people will need to provide for themselves until the battle is over.<br /><br />- I predict that Laras will have a showdown with Demandred. Due to the fact that Rand is destined to encounter Moridin, the second greatest Forsaken will no doubt fight the leader of the third party resistance to the Shadow.<br /><br />- Consider how part of the prelude to Tarmon Gai&#8217;don is the fact that all the food in the world is spoiling. This is the Dark One rattling the saber with the cooks, daring them to do their worst.<br /><br /><b><u>Summary </u></b><br /><br />1. Cooks and chefs are immune to the One Power.<br /><br />2. They are sworn against the Shadow and kill them when they have the chance. The Shadow cannot avoid them because they need to eat, but they tread softly around them.<br /><br />3. Ample evidence has been provided that even channelers of very great strength cannot harm them in any way. Aes Sedai, Accepted and Amyrlins are sent to the kitchens in case they try to lash out with the Power while they are serving their penances.<br /><br />4. The cooks have been directly linked to the deaths of Asmodean and Sammael, and to the punishment of Moghedien.<br /><br />5. Cooks and Chefs might play an invaluable role in the Final Battle, acting independently against the Shadow.<br /><br />All thoughts are welcome<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-16 04:14:49
subject: Taim's Role- Let the LoC rule
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<p>Taim's other purpose-<br /><br />I believe that Taim's role as the leader of the Black Tower against Rand, those men who will become dreadlords in the last battle, has eclipsed his other role, which may have been his true purpose in the DO's eyes, and remains an important feature of his character. My main theory deals with Taim's role in keeping Rand separated from the power of saidar. I have several explanations that amount to theories in describing Taim's purpose, but those are set as means for creating a plausible scenario. While I support all of those theories, my main theory concerns Taim's role and saidar.<br /><br />One of the biggest problems that arises from the series has been the ambiguity of death orders for Rand. As others have already pointed out, it was ok to kill Rand prior to LoC. Rahvin was part of a plan to kill Rand with several of the other forsaken, and the DO stated in the prologue of LoC that he served well. However, in LoC, it becomes a standing order to &quot;Let the Lord of Chaos rule&quot;- namely, Rand. Here, the order is to allow Rand to live. It wasn't until WH that Moridin said that it was ok to kill Rand. Moridin states that it is ok both when he gives orders to the renegade Asha,men, and then again at the forsaken 'tea party.' However, it is my belief that the order to kill Rand, which was an &quot;if necessary&quot; and not a straightforward go-ahead, was due to the fact that Rand had the CK. With these, he could cleanse the taint, or even break the world. I believe that it was only the impending danger of Rand inadvertently destroying the world that prompted Moridin to allow others to take out Rand. I posit this on the fact that in KoD, At the Gardens, Moridin tells Cyndane, and all of the forsaken that Rand is his to kill. He says that &quot;The time and manner of al'Thors's death will be at my choosing. No one else's.&quot; I take it to mean that Moridin wants to kill Rand, but the fact that he says the time and manner will be his choosing, means that he has a specific plan in mind. As the Watcher in SL, he saved Rand from Sammael so that many other plans would not have to be relaid (CoS). Further, since the first book, as Ishamael in the prologue of tEotW, he told LTT that they were ever-fated to fight one another. As the philosopher, I think that he understands something of the nature of their struggle, and so knows how to manipulate Rand (the Fisher King from the sha'rah game- where the figure on black is stronger but less versatile, while on white is weaker and more versatile- led to the change from wanting to convert DR to simply controlling him from afar (PoD)). I think that the final word in the matter is that Rand is not to be killed (except at the right time for the DO to win).<br /><br />Now, it was ok to kill Rand, but then the DO's plans changed at LoC. What happened at that time? 1- Bashere shows up; 2- Asmodean gets killed; 3- Taim shows up. From all of the evidence from that point on, I do not think that Bashere is a darkfriend, nor do I think that the shadow's plans really involve him on such a level. Asmodean dies. He did teach Rand enough to keep Rand alive, and then was killed so as not to have that much of an influence afterward. It's possible that stabilizing Rand enabled the &quot;Let the Lord of Chaos rule&quot; edict. However, I find that Taim's position is the far more convincing piece of evidence.<br /><br />I tie in Taim's importance with the seal that he gives Rand. The seals have an incredible importance to the story- when they fail and break, the DO goes free. In tGH, darkfriends try to wrest the seals from the wondergirls, and in CoT, from Bashere and Dobraine. Again, in KoD, the forsaken say in At the Gardens, that the seals must be found. Why would the DO allow Taim to give Rand a seal? Taim's position must be immensely important. <br /><br />Two interpretations for Taim's position:<br /><br />The first is that the DO knew that Taim would be the leader of the Black Tower. Using Demandred's comment in LoC's prologue &quot;He was never sure how much the Great Lord knew of the world. He had been as startled by ignorance as by knowledge,&quot; we might infer how the DO knew about the Black Tower. It is possible that the DO knows major events since he has cycled through the wheel over and over again. Many things are always the same. DR born, callandor, final battle, etc. Some other plot points might be triggered by certain events, events that the DO might be able to use to predict what will happen during that turning. This would be the knowledge. However, other events or specifics might not be readily available. For example, Rand might have killed Couladin in one turning instead of Mat. This would be the ignorance. Therefore, one interpretation might be that the DO knew certain events were always going to happen, and knew how to trigger them. Thus, Taim gives Rand a seal to become the M'Hael.<br /><br />The second interpretation would be that the DO did not know Taim would become the M'Hael. In fact, even if he did, DO might still think this the more important point. Taim is put into position next to Rand to keep him from accepting saidar. Everything that Taim does seems to challenge Aes Sedai, and tries to push Rand away from them. First, the name Black Tower stands in opposition to the White Tower. Since Rand uses saidin, Taim might have thought that Rand would be influenced by that reasoning. Then, on the way to Dumai's Well's, Rand is tortured by Aes Sedai. His mantra becomes 'This is what comes from trusting Aes Sedai' and 'never again.' This seems to be a huge blow against the Aes Sedai. Then, what's the first thing that Rand's supposed to see in his rescue(foiled when he frees himself)? Rand is supposed to see black-coated Asha'men coming to the rescue. And what does Taim suggest doing with the captured Aes Sedai? Putting them in the black tower. He gets rather angry when Rand says no. Rand has to go so far with Taim that he tells all Asha'men to stay out of Caemlyn, and that any attacks on Aes Sedai will be placed at Taim's feet. When Toveine moves to gentle the black tower, Taim puts Logaine in charge of taking care of the Aes Sedai, since Taim doesn't want any more suspicion against himself.<br /><br />So, we have two interpretations of why the DO would allow Taim to give Rand a seal. The first interpretation has probably been the more prevalent one. However, I find that the second, while not excluding the importance of the first, is also a real issue. Why?Look at the nature of the gift given- a seal. We know that when the seals are destroyed, the DO breaks free, and Rand will have to face him. However, for the wheel of time, Rand must reseal the bore as it was before it was drilled by Mieren and co. That is, it will not just be patched together by seals that are only made by saidin. The greatest feats were always done when using both halves of the power. Why would it be ok for Taim to give Rand a seal- because Rand can't do anything to stymie the DO yet. As long as saidin is tainted, any prison that Rand makes would be useless. It would eventually crumble (just look at the Ways) and would not stand a full turning of the wheel. So DO not too worried. To finalize the deal, Taim arrives to remove the influence of saidar. Without combining saidin with saidar, Rand is done. However, Rand doesn't listen to Taim, and uses saidar. With saidar, he cleanses saidin. Taim fails. <br /><br />However, Taim tries to make up for it. He creates an impending tension between Rand and the Aes Sedai. At the very end of KoD, Taim allows Elaida's Aes Sedai to take Asha'men warders, despite the fact that Egwene's Aes Sedai have already been told to make matters even in terms of bonding. The implication is that there will be a conflict between Rand and the Aes Sedai, who will have wronged the Black Tower. In this way, Taim might be setting up a situation in which Rand's trust of Aes Sedai will be tested in an important matter- such as Min's viewing of Cadsuane helping all Asha'men (maybe involving trust and humility- laughter and tears).<br /><br />I believe that Taim's main purpose has been to drive Rand away from saidar. Before Taim, Rand was a threat to DO's plan of being released, so it was ok to kill him. After Taim, it was not ok to kill him, since Taim was supposed to keep Rand from uniting the two halves. By becoming arrogant and relying upon his own power, Rand was supposed to shun the female half of the power. This way, Rand would not be able to remake the DO's prison properly, making it inevitable for the DO to win. The end of KoD looks like Jordan telling us that Taim was meant to stand in the way of Rand and saidar. Taim jokingly says at the very end, when Elaida's Aes Sedai have accepted the trap, to remember the old saying &quot;Let the Lord of Chaos rule.&quot;<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-21 01:50:54
subject: The number of Asha'man now and their locations.
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<p>I can accurately deduce the number of Asha'man within about 20 men. My theory is there are approximately 696-714 Asha'man.  There are 175+ Asha'man in Arad Doman, 175+ in Illian, and less than 350 at the Black Tower.<br /><br />BACKGROUND INFORMATION<br />I wrote this theory before the wotmania FAQ about the Military Forces of the Land was updated with information from Knife of Dreams.<br /><br />For a complete timeline of the series see the following link:  http://www.users.bigpond.com/steven_cooper/wotchron.htm<br /><br /><b>JANUARY 2 - THERE WERE 448 ASHA'MAN</b><br />We see an exact number of Asha'man quoted by Mazrim Taim in The Path of Daggers.  <br /><br />PoD - Message from the M'Hael - <i>&quot;I have the honour to report that twenty-nine Asha'man, ninety-seven Dedicated and three hundred twenty-two Soldiers are now enrolled at the Black Tower&#8230;<br /><br />&#8230; I now have as many as fifty recruiting parties in the field at any given time, with the result that three or four men are added to the rolls almost every day.</i><br /><br />We see there are a total of 448 men at the Black Tower on January 20 with the following breakdown:<br /><br />29 Asha'man = 6.47 %<br />97 Dedicated = 21.65 %<br />322 Soldiers = 71.88 %<br /><br />With Taim's recruiting parties out he says 3 or 4 men are brought in, almost every day. Some days less than 3 or 4 are brought in, but most days 3-4 men.<br /><br /><br /><b>FEBRUARY 12 - THERE WERE ABOUT 500 ASHA'MAN</b><br />So let's see how many Asha'man there are when Elayne visits the Black Tower on February 12th.<br /><br />Winter's Heart - Prologue <i>Five large, blocky stone barracks, spaced along streets as wide as anything in Tar Valon, could each hold a hundred Asha&#8217;man Soldiers&#8230;<br /><br />&#8230; Nearly a dozen smaller stone structures were made to hold ten Dedicated each, and another of those was under construction, too&#8230;<br /><br />&#8230; <u>Five hundred men who could channel</u>, however, were a scrap of bone wedged between two of her teeth where she could not free it. Five hundred!</i><br /><br />Elayne is only making an estimate at this point. She admits there is no way to count them all exactly, but she is able to deduce a close approximation because of the buildings they have built. <br /><br />Elayne approximates 500 men. This fits with Taim's statement that on most days 3-4 men were brought to the tower. Only 22 days have passed since January 20th and if the Asha'man recruiting parties averaged 3 men per day (some days they bring in less than three or four) they'd have 22 * 3 = 66 new men.  Add the new men plus the original 448 men = 514 men.<br /><br /><br /><b>APRIL 6 - THERE ARE 696-714 ASHA'MAN</b><br />There are 2 reliable ways to approximate the number of Asha'man on April 6th.  The first is using percentages.  The other way is to use Taim's statement about bringing in 3-4 men on most days. The two methods should yield the same result.<br /><br /><u>Estimating Asha'man numbers using percentages</u><br />In KoD we get the next indication of how many men are in the Black Tower. Logain reports to Rand after a visit to the Black Tower. <br /><br />KoD - News for the Dragon - <i>&quot;There are 41 of those now, by the way. He's given over a dozen men the Dragon pin in the past few days...</i><br /><br />Taim has been witholding the Dragon pin from everyone except for Logain ever since the beginning. Therefore, the percentages of Asha'man, Dedicated, and Soldiers should remain the same.<br /><br />If Taim had changed his method of giving out the Dragon pin then the percentage comparisons I'm about to show would not make since.  But since Taim has continued the same as before, it makes perfect sense.<br /><br />Rand and Padan Fain killed 4 of the original men with the Dragon in Far Madding: Torval, Kisman, Gedwyn, and Rochaid. Taim has replaced these 4 and added an additional 12, bringing the number of men with the Dragon up to 41. So between January 20th and April 6th (Logain's report) another 16 men earned the Dragon. <br /><br />We can now figure out how many Dedicated and Soldiers there are. Even though there are 41 Asha'man presently, 16 men earned the Dragon since January 20th, so to approximate the number of Dedicated and Soldiers we have to use 29 + 16 = 45 as the number of Asha'man into account.<br /><br />If 45 Asha'man = 6.47 % of the total, then...<br />~151 Dedicated = 21.65 %<br />~501 Soldiers = 71.88 %<br />======<br />696 men total.<br /><br />When Taim gave his numbers to Rand, the numbers included training losses. Between January 20th and April 6th there would be some training losses.  However, using percentages automatically includes these losses.  The losses remain a fixed percentage of the total number of men at the Black Tower.<br /><br /><u>Estimating Asha'man numbers using Taim's remarks</u><br />How does 696 men compare with Taim's statement about most days they brought in 3 or 4 men? First, as more men join the Black Tower and the men already there gain strength, Taim would be able to send out more recruiting parties than he could back in January. Instead of most days bringing in 3 or 4 men, let's assume that every day they can bring in 3 or 4 men now. That would give them an average of 3.5 men per day. Logain's report (April 6th) happens 76 days after Taim reports his numbers (January 20th). 76 days bringing in approximately 3.5 men each day adds another 266 men from the total on January 20th. <br /><br />448 men on January 20<br />266 additional men since Jan. 20<br />======<br />714 men total. <br /><br />So I have two mathematical ways to approximate the total number of Asha'man and both ways yield almost the same number of men. Using percentages gives approximately 696 men.  Using Taim's statement about 3-4 men on most days gives approximately 714 men. <br /><br />The second method for determining the number of Asha'man does not account for training losses. I didn't subtract the losses because I'm not sure how many it would be. The taint was removed in between the two times we have accurate numbers. No more men will be going mad.  I am not sure how many might have gone mad between the two times we have sure data.<br /><br />There is one other reason I didn't account for training losses in the second method (Taim's remarks). Taim mentions that some men are burned out from being forced, but he does not give us enough information to accurately determine how many would burn out between January 20th and April 6th. <br /><br />Taim says that 1 in 10 gets burned out from forcing.  Does this 10% rule still apply to those who have been channeling a while and are more familiar with their limits? Or does the 1 in 10 rule apply to new recruits only? Or is there a different manner?  Do the Asha'man lose 10% of their ranks from forcing each month? Every 2 months? Every week? We just don't know.  Without knowing who to apply the 10% rule to and how often to apply the 10% reduction I can't be sure by how many to reduce the number 714. Therefore, I left the number at 714, understanding that this number is probably a slight over estimate. <br /><br />Finally, we get information from Rand on just how many Asha'man there really are.<br /><br />KoD - News for the Dragon - <i>'Give over,' he [Rand] said, meaning it for both Logain and Lews Therin. 'Taim built the Black Tower till it <u>nearly matches the White Tower for numbers</u>, and it grows every day...&quot; </i><br /><br />Last, but not least.  Jordan has said that 1/3 of Aes Sedai split with Elaida, 1/3 went with Egwene, and 1/3 are sitting the fence waiting to see what happens. Alviarin mentions there are less than 200 women in the tower in KoD, but if we add back in the 51 Logain captured and the 39 that went to Dumai's Wells that Rand captured/killed, and another 25 or so that are sent as embassadors for Elaida to various rulers, then Elaida's faction had about 300 women. If that is 1/3 of Aes Sedai, then there are about 900 Aes Sedai total.<br /><br /><br /><b>COUNTER EVIDENCE</b><br />There is one quote from the books that refutes my theory. It is from a questionable eyes and ears report the Rebel Aes Sedai receive on March 13th.<br /><br />Crossroads of Twilight - Surprises <i>&#8220;Reliable reports do put their numbers at nearly equal to all the Aes Sedai living&#8230;And more men come every day.&#8221; </i><br /><br />The old FAQ on wotmania said that this is probably an exageration, and I agree. It would be VERY difficult for the rebel's eyes and ears to calculate the total number of men at the black tower. With over 50 recruiting parties disappearing every day and not returning until the evening, combined with other men running errands for Rand or Taim or Logain, the eyes and ears for Egwene are probably mistaken. The FAQ and I agree on this.<br /><br /><b>LOCATIONS OF THE ASHA'MAN NOW</b><br />Of these 696-714 men, Logain says that he took over half of them to Arad Doman and Illian, in case Rand's truce with Tuon (Semirhage) doesn't work out (see: KoD - News for the Dragon). Over half, means Logain emptied at least 350 men from the black tower. <br /><br />He split these 350+ men into two groups; half he sent to Arad Doman and the other half to Illian. So Rand has about 175+ Asha'man in Arad Doman and another 175+ in Illian. That leaves Taim with less than 350 total men at the Black Tower. Of these 350 men, at least 100 are Darkfriends/loyal to Taim. All 41 of the men Taim has given the Dragon to are at the Black Tower. This is confirmed by Logain's statements to Rand and Pevara's point of view in the KoD epilogue.<br /><br /><b>CONCLUSION</b><br />There are about 700 Asha'man. 175+ in Arad Doman, 175+ in Illian, less than 350 at the black tower.<br /><br />I welcome any comments or suggestions where you think I could have made this theory better. <br /><br /><br />*The current FAQ: &quot;The Military Forces of the Mainland&quot; was released after I wrote this theory.  Although I did not collaborate with the FAQ's author, you can see that my numbers fit exactly within the parameters established in the FAQ.  You can see the FAQ's estimation here:  http://www.wotmania.com/faqtopic.asp?ID=107<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-21 06:42:49
subject: Ituralde's plan explained in detail.
body:
<p>I will explain Rodel Ituralde's plan in detail.  Sorry for the length, but I felt one of the military geniuses of the time deserved having his brilliant plan explained in detail. <br /><br />Rodel Ituralde took all of the Taraboner Dragonsworn with him to Tarabon and formed them into small groups to raid the Seanchan.  These groups also consisted of some Domani, but the majority were Taraboner Dragonsworn.  <br /><br /><br /><b>PHASE 1 - RAID</b><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;Now&#8230;Two hundred men with mail veils across their faces galloped out of the trees&#8230;Lanasiet&#8230;had been visibly overjoyed finally to scrape the hated stripes indicating loyalty to the Seanchan from his breastplate&#8230;Behind him the hundred Domani were quiet, except for an occasional creak of saddle leather as a man shifted his seat, but he could feel their tension&#8230;As one man the three hundred Taraboners in the long line, his Taraboners, raised their bows and loosed&#8230;&#8221;</i><br /><br />From this we see that Ituralde had 600 men originally in his raiding party, and only 100 were Domani.  The Seanchan later are holding a war council as the first reports come in of Ituralde&#8217;s raid.  We catch a glimpse of how Ituralde has his men dispersed from General Galgan&#8217;s conversation with Suroth.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;All this was done by bands of between two and perhaps five hundred men.  Estimates are a minimum of ten thousand and perhaps twice that, <b>nearly all Taraboners.&#8221;</b></i><br /><br />General Galgan is getting correct preliminary information.  According to Ituralde his raiding force consisted of just above 20,000 men.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;if no one had fallen afoul of the mishaps that could ruin the best laid plan, then all across Tarabon, above twenty thousand men had struck blows like this&#8230;&#8221;</i><br /><br />So we know how many men Ituralde had in his raiding party.  Some of these forces were Domani, but the majority were Taraboner Dragonsworn.<br /><br /><b>PHASE 2 &#8211; SHED THE TARABONERS</b><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;I think we&#8217;ve seen the last of Lanasiet&#8230;he may come to his senses.  In any case, I never thought the Taraboners would return to Arad Doman with us.&#8221;   <br /><br />KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;Now all he had to do was raid his way back across better than four hundred miles of Tarabon, shedding Taraboner Dragonsworn and gathering in his own men, then re-cross Almoth Plain&#8230;If they [Seanchan] failed to follow, then at least he had rid his homeland of the Taraboners and bound the Domani Dragonsworn to fight for the King instead of against him&#8230;&#8221; </i><br /><br />Ituralde knew that when it was time to retreat the Taraboners would remain.  All of the Taraboners wanted to participate in the liberation of their homeland.  So this tells us the number of Taraboner Dragonsworn is less than 20,000.    <br /><br /><b>PHASE 3 &#8211; FLEE NORTH WITH THE SEANCHAN ON HIS HEELS AND GATHER IN ENOUGH DOMANI TO REPLACE THE TARABONERS.</b><br />From the quote just above we see that as Ituralde raids his way north across the 400 mile trip to the Tarabon/Almoth Plain border, he is going to be shedding Taraboners and gathering in Arad Domani.  The simplest reason to do this is Ituralde wants to appear to be fleeing with his whole force.  He doesn&#8217;t want the Seanchan to know he is leaving the better part of his force in Tarabon to cause insurrection and continue the raiding.  <br /><br />The Seanchan scouts will see Ituralde fleeing with about the same number of men he raided with.  This allows the Taraboner Dragonsworn a better chance to survive if the Seanchan aren&#8217;t looking for them.  Since he began his raid with just over 20,000 men, the majority being Taraboners, (let&#8217;s guestimate around 18,000 Taraboners) then Ituralde will be gathering in about this many Domani as he continues raiding north to the border.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;If the Light shone on him, that blaze would singe the Seanchan enough to bring them <b>chasing after him full of fury.  A great deal of fury, he hoped </b> That way, they would run headlong into the trap he had laid before they ever knew it was there.  If they failed to follow, then at least he had rid his homeland of the Taraboners and bound the Domani Dragonsworn to fight for the King instead of against him&#8230;He always looked ahead, and always planned for every eventuality he could imagine, short of the Dragon Reborn himself suddenly appearing in front of him.&#8221;</i><br /><br />We know his plan worked.  Suroth orders Galgan to send Turan after Ituralde and to bring back his head or she&#8217;ll have Turan&#8217;s head for failure. <br /><br /><b>PHASE 4&#8211; ATTACK THE SEANCHAN SUPPLY TRAIN WITH HIDDEN MEN IN THE MOUNTAINS</b><br />At this point we have to ask why would Ituralde want the Seanchan to chase after him?   And why does Ituralde want them to chase after him with a &#8220;great deal of fury&#8221; in particular?  We know he has a trap laid for them, but what could it be?  The target of Ituralde&#8217;s raids holds the answer to our questions.  Ituralde targeted the Seanchan supply centers.  He wants them to chase him all the way to Arad Doman, with as much speed as possible, so that the Seanchan outdistance their supply wagons/carts as much as possible.  <br /><br />The Seanchan who chased Ituralde have two reasons to overtake him with speed.  First, they would want to engage Ituralde&#8217;s 20,000 men before he can get back to Bandar Eban and receive reinforcements.  The other reason is obvious; Suroth has lit a fire under Turan and he has a personal stake in the matter. He MUST capture or kill Ituralde, or his life, but more importantly to a Seanchan, his reputation and honor are at stake.  <br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Epilogue &#8211; &#8220;How many came out after Turan crossed the border?&#8217; &#8216;Possibly two hundred thousand, Captain-General.&#8221;</i><br /><br />Ituralde&#8217;s plan worked.  His men came out behind the Seanchan and we have to assume captured their supply trains, providing greatly needed supplies to his own men and denying the Seanchan of supplies they are already short of.   Ituralde&#8217;s men certainly wouldn&#8217;t leave small garrisons of Seanchan guarding supply trains alone to harass them while a sizeable army is to their north.  The Seanchan could no longer chase Ituralde with their supplies cut off and an army of 200,000 in their rear.  <br /><br /><b>HIS PLAN WAS INTERRUPTED</b><br />This is where Ituralde&#8217;s plan was interrupted.  He says he planned for every possible outcome except one.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Prologue &#8211; &#8220;&#8230;Ituralde smiled.  If they saw the trap, then he had another plan already laid, and another behind that.  He always looked ahead, and always planned for every eventuality he could imagine, short of the Dragon Reborn himself suddenly appearing in front of him.&#8221;</i><br /><br />In a classic Robert Jordan ironic twist of the plot we see that Rand did exactly that.  He appeared with an army in front of Ituralde.  While Ituralde has been away, Graendal has been at play.  I think Ituralde expected to receive reinforcements to his 20,000 from Bandar Eban, but Graendal has the city in a riot and in chaos. <br /><br />Rodel Ituralde raided the Seanchan on March 19th (see http://www.users.bigpond.com/steven_cooper/wotchron.htm for a timeline of the series)  Over the next month and a half while Ituralde is raiding his way across Tarabon, avoiding Seanchan, and fleeing north across Almoth Plain, Rand has been doing a lot.<br /><br />Rand sent several groups to Arad Doman to establish order and to try to find someone in charge.<br />&#8226;	More than one quarter of the Asha&#8217;man, at least 175+ from the black tower along with some of the bonded Aes Sedai about 15-20  (see http://www.wotmania.com/wotmessageboardshowmessage.asp?MessageID=267140  for an explanation of where I get the number 175+ from)<br />&#8226;	Bael and the Goshien Aiel &#8211; 40,000 men and 400 Wise Ones.<br />&#8226;	Rhuarc and the Taardad Aiel &#8211; 40,000 men and 400 Wise Ones.<br />&#8226;	Dobraine and any retainers he may have &#8211; uncertain number.<br />&#8226;	King Darlin of Tear and 4 Tairen High Lords/Ladies [Simaan,  Hearne, Tedosian, and Estanda] and their retainers along with Weiramon and Anaiyella. &#8211; 30,000 men.<br />&#8226;	Half the Legion of the Dragon &#8211; 35-40,000 men.<br /><br />That totals 150,000 men including 800 Wise Ones, 175+ Asha&#8217;man, and 15-20 Aes Sedai.  Part of Rand's Aiel are actually in the capital of Bandar Eban while the remaining forces have joined with Ituralde's 20,000 men.  I&#8217;ll go about showing how I came to these numbers with evidence from the books.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; A Different Skill &#8211; April 6th  &#8220;We [Goshien Aiel]  are leaving Andor, Elayne.  In a few hours, we will be far beyond your borders&#8230;Dorindha gave a small shrug. &#8216;He [Rand] sent a messenger, one of the black coats, with a letter for <b>Bael</b>.&#8221;</i><br /><br />Bael was in charge of the Goshien Aiel force near Caemlyn which numbers a minimum of 6,000 spears.  There is evidence that Bael&#8217;s forces may have grown since we last got an accurate count of his numbers (The Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos).  Whether Bael&#8217;s forces (the Goshien Aiel) have grown since Lord of Chaos or if the Goshien left part of their clan&#8217;s spears near Cairhien, does not matter really.  Either Bael traveled with all of the Goshien to Arad Doman or Rhuarc brought the remaining Goshien with his own Taardad from Cairhien so that the Goshien could be united again.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; News for the Dragon &#8211; April 6th &#8220;More than half the Black Tower is in Arad Doman and Illian.  I sent all the men with bonded Aes Sedai except those here, as you ordered&#8230;Dobraine and Rhuarc [Taardad Aiel] will send a Soldier with a message as soon as they find anyone in charge of more than a village&#8230;and Bandar Eban is more than half deserted and given over to the mob[Graendal's work]&#8230;<b>Rhuarc</b> has set about putting an end to that, but it was already turning into a battle when I left&#8230;If <b>Dobraine</b> can&#8217;t find anyone in charge, then he will have to be, for the time being.&#8221;</i><br /><br />Each Aiel Clan consists of between 40-50 thousand spears, yet the bleakness and casualties from war would have taken a toll on some of those men.  Rand sent part of 4 clans to hunt the Shaido in Kinslayer&#8217;s dagger, but they would have returned to Cairhien by now.  Rhuarc was last seen in charge of a conglomeration of Aiel forces near Cairhien that numbered around 40-70 thousand plus the men returning from Kinslayer&#8217;s Dagger gives Rhuarc access to somewhere around 200 thousand spears.  The Goshien and Taardad Aiel were sent to Arad Doman along with Dobraine and whatever retainers he would have brought.   This would leave the remaining Aiel in Cairhien to maintain order and guard against insurrection.  There are therefore approximately 70-80 thousand Aiel in Arad Doman with at least part of Rhuarc's force establishing order in Bandar Eban itself.  We don&#8217;t know how many men Dobraine brought, if any.<br /><br />We also suspect Rand sent <b>half the Legion of the Dragon</b> to Arad Doman and the other half to Illian at the same time he sent Bael and the Goshien away from Caemlyn.  Notice at the end of KoD &#8211; <i>The Importance of Dyelin</i> &#8211; April 19th  -who Pelivar, Luan, and the others DONT ask Elayne about. They ask her about the Borderlanders and the Black Tower, but NOT about the Legion of the Dragon and they don&#8217;t ask about the Aiel either. The Legion of the Dragon would be about 60,000 men according to the FAQ and that was back in Crossroads of Twilight. The Legion would have around 70-80 thousand men by now.  An army the size of the Legion would certainly have worried Pelivar and that group. They don't ask Elayne about them, and their omission is likely because they aren't there.  Approximately 35-40 thousand Legion of the Dragon were sent to Arad Doman, the rest to Illian.<br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; News for the Dragon &#8211; April 6th  &#8220;It's possible [the truce with the Seanchan], she [Cadsuane] allowed, 'But if you're going to make this...truce...why are you moving what seems to be a considerable army to Arad Doman and reinforcing what is already in Illian?&quot;</i><br /><br />We only have evidence of Rand sending forces to Arad Doman at this point, but Rand is obviously sending some reinforcements to Illian.  Who could he be sending?  Process of elimination helps us determine who the likely &#8220;reinforcements&#8221; are.  Illian already contains 5 Aiel clans, quite a sizeable spear fighting force in itself, along with a conglomeration of mixed Cairhienin, and Illianer armies, who favor horsemen.  [Rand doesn&#8217;t know yet that the Tairens left Illian and are headed back to Tear]  We know the Goshien and Taardad are going to Arad Doman along with Dobraine and over one quarter of the Asha&#8217;man and their bonded Aes Sedai.  It&#8217;s possible the &#8220;reinforcements&#8221; Cadsuane refers to are more Aiel from Cairhien, or the Legion of the Dragon, or the Asha&#8217;man.  <br /><br />However, Rand needs good crossbowmen in each army to fight the Seanchan and the Legion has enough numbers to divide into two groups.  The Legion are not in Andor anymore, so it is likely they were split up and part sent to Illian to reinforce Rand&#8217;s forces there and the other half sent to Arad Doman. I believe Rand split the Legion up, but only time will tell where they went and in what numbers.<br /><br />The next day Rand visits Tear.  This is already quite a gathering of forces being sent to Arad Doman, but there&#8217;s more.   <br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; Within the Stone &#8211;  April 7th &#8220;You will accept that crown <b>Darlin</b>&#8230;then gather every man in Tear who knows one end of a  sword or halberd from the other.  I&#8217;ll arrange for Asha&#8217;man to take you to Arad Doman&#8230;And me [Weiramon] my Lord Dragon?...Rand studied the man.  And Anaiyella&#8230;he could not see what harm they could do with no more than a handful of followers.&#8221;</i><br /><br /><b>Weiramon and Anaiyella</b> have hardly any retainers, but the 4 Tairen High Lords/Lady who were besieging the stone, and have recently sworn fealty to Darlin, have a rather sizeable force.   Darlin has not lost any men.  So King Darlin and the 4 Lords/Lady of Tear are in Arad Doman with their men.   <br /><br />It is likely that Darlin left some men to garrison Tear against a possible Seanchan invasion, especially since Darlin has uncovered Seanchan spies recently, but that may not be necessary.  The other Tairen High Lords/Ladies were last seen en route to the capital coming as fast as they could, to Rand's dismay.   Their retainers would be sufficient strength to garrison the city and surrounding areas.   Also, Rand has a sense of urgency about Tarmon Gaidon coming so I don&#8217;t think Darlin would have waited before sending the men as Rand asked.   <br /><br />Anaiyella and Weiramon attacked the 4 High Lords/Lady in Tear before taking refuge inside the Stone with Darlin.  Even though KoD describes Weiramon and Anaiyella&#8217;s forces as being soundly beaten, the besiegers forces would have taken some casualties too.  The FAQ speculates that Tear would be able to raise an army of <i>at least 50,000 </i> if all the High Lords/Ladies were united and I totally agree.  Darlin doesn&#8217;t have access to all the High Lords/Ladies immediately so let&#8217;s assume he sent 30,000 men to Arad Doman. <br /> <br />That covers each group.  Rand sent 150,000 men to Arad Doman.  The Tairens probably arrived several days after the Aiel.  It would take them time to crown Darlin, and to assemble their supplies and armies before being ready to go.  We know Rand was gating his groups in front of Ituralde and we know these groups arrived on different days.  Part of Rhuarc&#8217;s Aiel are in Bandar Eban, not in the field, enforcing order there.  <br /><br />General Galgan receives a message from Turan on April 27th that there are 2 armies in the field and he is surrounded.  Rand's forces arriving on different days accounts for the Seanchan not knowing the exact number of men north of Turan's army, while they are certain of the number to their south.  <br /><br />Rand has Dobraine and Rhuarc looking for someone in charge back on April 6th.  <br /><br /><i>KoD &#8211; News for the Dragon &#8211; &#8220;If Alsalam was dead, as seemed likely, he would have to appoint a Steward for the Lord Dragon in Arad Doman.  But who?  It would have to be someone the Domani would accept.&#8221;</i><br /><br /><b>HIS PLAN SUCCEEDS</b><br />It should seem obvious who the Domani would accept.  Ituralde is everyone&#8217;s favorite choice.  I think Dobraine and Rhuarc discovered Ituralde fleeing from the Seanchan and united Rand&#8217;s forces with Ituralde&#8217;s 20,000 men.  <br /><br />The Seanchan and Turan are in big trouble at this point.  Rand&#8217;s forces can travel and the Seanchan can&#8217;t.  The Seanchan are cut off from their supplies with no way back to Tarabon except by trying to fight their way back.   Rand has more Wise Ones, Aes Sedai, and Asha&#8217;man than Turan has damane.   Ituralde&#8217;s and Rand&#8217;s forces have their flanks covered by the mountains and the sea on the west.  Turan has no way to escape this death trap unless Tuon and Rand make peace very quickly.  <br /><br />If Rand&#8217;s forces are forced to destroy the Seanchan, they will and can.  Both sides would take losses, but Rand&#8217;s side has supplies, overwhelming numbers of channelers and men, and his channelers know how to link, heal, and travel, something the Seanchan don&#8217;t know how to do.  If Turan&#8217;s army is destroyed, the Seanchan would not have anything to stop Rand from taking all of Tarabon, although we know Rand won&#8217;t, because of the answer he got in the doorframe ter&#8217;angreal.<br /><br />Ituralde intended to use his 200,000 men as the anvil, and his force of 20,000 plus reinforcements were going to be the hammer.  Luckily for Ituralde he now has a force of 150,000 as his hammer and they can channel too.<br /><br /><b>COUNTER EVIDENCE</b><br />The leading counter theory is that Ituralde intended to lead the Seanchan into a stedding where the damane would have no effect.  <br /><br />We will probably never find out if stedding were intended to be part of his original plan.   However, there are serious questions of doubt to this being his plan in the first place. <br /><br /><u>THE FIRST QUESTION OF DOUBT</u><br />The first question of doubt arises concerning fatigue factor.  The Seanchan and Ituralde's 20,000 men have been traveling over 600 miles already.  The closest steddings are very far away.  The stedding in Paerish Star is 500 miles away, the stedding in the Mountains of Mist are 400+ miles away, the stedding inbetween Arad Doman and Saldaea are 400 miles away, and the stedding on Toman Head is somewhere between 150-400 miles away (we don't know its exact location).  <br /><br />We see what traveling large distances can do to an army from a conversation Gareth Bryne has had with Egwene in Murandy.  The rebel forces have traveled approximately 600 miles from Salidar, about the same distance the Seanchan have traveled.  Gareth tells Egwene his men need at least a month to a month and a half to rest before they will be ready for a siege of Tar Valon.  Sieges generally do not consist of as much fighting as a normal battle.  There's more waiting each other out yet they needed a month's rest just to lay siege.  The Seanchan on the other hand will have to fight their way back to their supply train.  This is much harder than laying siege, and they are already worn out.<br /><br />Not only this, but the Seanchan are surrounded and Ituralde's flanks are covered by the Ocean and mountains on the west.  All of Ituralde's forces are fresh at this point, except his original 20,000.  Why would Ituralde want to lead the Seanchan on an arduous journey of another 150-500 miles and wear out his own men who are fresh?  Now is the time to attack.  The enemy is tired, in unfamiliar territory, cutoff from supplies, and surrounded.     <br /><br /><u>THE SECOND QUESTION OF DOUBT</u><br />The second question of doubt arises concerning strategic deployment of Ituralde's forces.  It is an established fact that the Seanchan are in a bad spot now, strategically speaking.  If Ituralde had intended to lead the Seanchan to a stedding, the stedding on Toman Head is the only likely candidate, due to the other stedding being so far away.  We don't know exactly how far west/east the stedding is on Toman Head, but we know it backs up to the Aryth Ocean. <br /><br />Supposing Ituralde positions his men in a defensive position inside the stedding, what is his next move?  He would be cornered in the mountains with no way to retreat.  The ocean would be to his back and his men would be the ones not able to get in supplies at this point.  Why would he put himself into this situation when he has the Seanchan in a bad spot now?  If Ituralde flees to the stedding, the Seanchan would be able to reestablish their supply train and simply wait outside the stedding for Ituralde's men to starve or come out and fight.<br /><br />It would be a big gamble on Ituralde's part to assume the Seanchan are not aware of the stedding location in the first place.  The Seanchan had basically supreme command of Toman Head and Almoth Plain back in the Great Hunt.  They probably know of its location.  It's possible Ituralde has a good map, showing the stedding location, but the stedding have been abandoned for hundreds, some even thousands of years.  It's an even bigger gamble to trust a map, hundreds of years old.  Ituralde has no Ogier or channelers in his army to verify the stedding's location in the first place.<br /><br />So the stedding on Toman Head is a poor strategic location to defend from, Ituralde can't be certain the Seanchan are not aware of its location already, and there is serious doubt Ituralde could actually verify the stedding's location in the first place. <br /><br />Last, I'm not sure Ituralde needed a stedding to beat the Seanchan in the first place.  Damane are obviously the strength of the Seanchan army, but Ituralde did just fine against them when he was raiding in Tarabon.  <br /><br /><b>CONCLUSION</b><br />Ituralde's plan was to raid, flee, cut off the Seanchan's supplies and surround the Seanchan army.  He expected to receive some reinforcements from Bandar Eban, but the reinforcements he received weren't what he expected, thanks to Graendal and Rand.  His plan worked, if not exactly the way he expected, and the Seanchan have nowhere to go.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-24 05:02:04
subject: Who was where at the Cleansing
body:
<p>I always wondered about who was where at the Cleansing. In this theory I will try to come up with the map of the battle. <br /><br />Let&#8217;s start with pre-battle information. The group with Cadsuane is described in WH, Chapter 23. In short, it&#8217;s: Cadsuane, Verin, Daigian and Eben, Corele and Flinn, Merise and Narishma, Kumira, Sarene, Nesune, Beldeine, Erian, Elza, Shalon, Harine and her Swordmaster plus various Warders. We discount Alanna, because she was sent back and is not vital for the theory. The group with Rand: Rand, Min, Nynaeve and Lan, Alivia. <br /><br />Another vital part of information comes from PoD:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;One by one, they rushed forward, opened a gateway and darted through, dragging their mounts behind them. Ahead up the valley, bright flashes of light told of gateways opening and closing. The Asha&#8217;man could Travel short distances without first memorizing the ground they left from, and cover ground far faster than riding.&#8221;. PoD, Chapter 22.</blockquote></i><br />It&#8217;s hard to tell the exact distance, but we could use some common logic. If the terrain on Illian is something like steppe, the distances between various hills is about a mile or two. The quote above states that Rand could see various gateways opened in the distance. No hills were blocking it, so we could assume that &#8220;short distance&#8221; the Asha&#8217;man was Traveling is a mile or two.<br /><br /><b>Rand group.</b><br /><br />First, let&#8217;s place the major group &#8211; Rand and company. <br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;The gateway he [Rand] wove did not open into the ruined city of Shadar Logoth itself, but to a thinly wooded, uneven hilltop a few miles to the north, where the horse hooves rang on sparse, stony soil that had stunted the leafless trees, and ragged patches of snow covered the ground.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />Just how far is &#8220;a few miles&#8221; &#8211; we can deduct from the CoT:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;The hole is approximately three miles across and perhaps a mile and a half deep&#8221;, CoT, Chapter 19. </blockquote></i>We also know that they were far enough so collapsing of the taint dome was not affecting them. I would assume that means about 5-6 miles from the dome. It&#8217;s far enough to not be dragged by the wind, when the dome collapsing and short enough to actually see the city. <br /><br />So (see the map), the group settled on the hilltop about 5 miles north from the ruins of Shadar Logoth. Rand and Nynaeve sit at the top of the hill facing each other.<br /><i><blockquote>&#8221;Nynaeve sat down on an upthrust gray stone the size of a small bench, pulled the scrip onto her lap, and flipped back the leather flap. Rand folded himself to the ground cross-legged in front of her as she produced the two access keys,&#8221;WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i><br />It seems to me that to complete the task, Rand has to see the ruins:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Awkwardly, forcing himself [Rand] to work gently, to use the unfamiliar saidar's own immense strength to guide it as he wanted, he wove a conduit that touched the male half of the Source at one end and the distantly seen city at the other.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i> From that we can deduct that he was facing south toward the city. (see the map)<br /><br />Now, let&#8217;s divide the group into circles. <br /><br />Group A. This is Cadsuane alone. She would remain close to the center of the hilltop. She need to maintain the shield above the hilltop to protect the rest of the people remaining there.<br /><br />Group B: Elza, Merise and Narishma with Callandor. They also remain near hilltop and provide the cover.<br /><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;That job Cadsuane had taken on herself, of course, but Merise's circle would remain there&#8221;, WH. Chapter 35</blockquote></i><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Elza allowed herself to be drawn into a link with the stern-faced sister, but she flinched when Merise added her Asha'man Warder to the circle.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />Group C: Sarene, Corele and Flinn.<br />Group D: Nesune, Beldeine, Daigian and Eben.<br />Group E: Verin, Kumira and Shalon.<br />Group F: Alivia alone.<br />Group G: Erian, Min, Harine, her Swordmaster and Warders. (We don&#8217;t have description about this group, but RJ admitted that it was missed from the book by mistake and said Erian was with this group)<br /><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;All around the hilltop the circles were forming, Sarene and Corele linked with the old man, Flinn, and Nesune, Beldeine and Daigian with the boy Hopwil. Verin and Kumira even made a circle with the Sea Folk wilder; she was actually quite strong, and everyone had to be used. As soon as each of those circles formed, it moved off the hilltop, each vanishing among the trees in a different direction&#8221;. WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />Alivia went directly to the north:<br /><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Alivia, the very peculiar wilder who seemed to have no other name, strode off north,&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />To place Group G, let&#8217;s look at the following quotes:<br /><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Ignoring the girl's frustrated groan, Cadsuane walked across the uneven ground to where Rand and Nynaeve sat, but for a moment she did not look at them. Even at a distance of miles, the black dome looked immense, rearing a thousand feet at its height&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Not as many as he [Osan&#8217;gar] had expected. One woman was making a slow circuit around the crest, peering into the trees, but everyone else was still, Narishma sitting with Callandor glowing in his hands and a woman's head on his knee. There were two other women that Osan'gar could see, one kneeling over the other&#8221;WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />So, coming from the Min, Cadsuane was not looking to Rand and Nynaeve, but at the black dome in the distance. That tells us she was coming from the northward position, but not directly from north. The second quote suggests that Osan&#8217;gar did not see the Group G, or rather they were not in his direct view. I would put, Group G in the slight north-east direction of the top of the hill (see the map).<br /><br /><b>Cyndane</b><br /><br />Cyndane made her first gateway to the north of the hilltop:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;South of her [Cyndane], that beacon shone, enough saidar to lay waste to a continent in one blow&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />That is also confirmed by Cadsuane:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;As soon as the single word left her [Cadsuane] mouth, a fountain of flame erupted in the forest to the north, and then another and another, a staggered line racing northward.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />Since her first gateway, Cadsuane made several others in order to escape the fire:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Skirts hiked to her knees, cursing, Cyndane ran from her third gateway as soon as she was through.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i><br />Since she was trying to evade the fire, I would assume she jumped east and west from the original position and running, Now it&#8217;s hard to predict where exactly she is, but her encounter with Alivia suggests that she still in the north of the hilltop, maybe 2-3 miles of it (see the map). <br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Cyndane slowed at the sight of the woman standing among the trees a hundred paces ahead of her, a tall yellow-haired woman who simply watched her come closer. The feel of battles being fought with the Power in other places made her wary at the same time it gave her hope. The woman was plainly dressed in wool, but incongruously decked with gems as if she were a great lady. With saidar in her, Cyndane could see the faint lines at the corners of the woman's eyes. Not one of those who called themselves Aes Sedai, then.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br /><br /><b>Demandred</b><br /><br />First hint about Demandred came from Cadsuane:<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;&quot;There,&quot; she [Cadsuane] said, pointing toward the ruins of Shadar Logoth.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />And then from Demandred himself: <br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;If he could undo what al'Thor had done at the source, Demandred thought as he stepped through his gateway into Shadar Logoth&#8230; One look at the rubble-strewn street changed his mind about altering anything, though. Beside him rose half a pale dome, its shattered top two hundred feet or more above the street, and above it, the sky held the light of midmorning. From the broken rim of the ruin down to the street, though, the air was dark with shadows, as if night were already falling&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i>It seems he was very close to the city itself, maybe at the very edge of the city. <br /><br />Then he made the gateway to avoid the fire. <br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Fire erupted in the forest, great explosions spun of saidin that hurled trees into the air on gouts of flame that sped toward him, but he was already weaving a gateway. Leaping through, he let it vanish and ran through the vine-draped trees as hard as he could, plowing through patches of snow, stumbling over rocks hidden in the mulch, but not slowing down, never that. ..Without slowing, he turned toward the access key. With the amount of saidin pouring through it, there might as well have been a fiery arrow in the sky pointing to al'Thor&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br />The following quote suggests, although not directly, that Demandred made gateway to the north-east from the city. It&#8217;s pure speculation, but when RJ says &#8220;off to the right&#8221; and omits mentioning of the line of fire or the city, I would suspect that &#8220;off to the right&#8221; is opposite of the line of fire or the city (see the map) <br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Suddenly he saw people off to the right ahead of him through the trees &#8230; A bald-headed old man with a fringe of white hair was limping along between two women &#8230; Abruptly the old man stopped and thrust out his hand straight toward Demandred, &#8230;That tottering old man was an Asha'man! And at least one of the women must be what passed for Aes Sedai in this time, and joined with the fellow in a ring.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br /><br /><b>Osan&#8217;gar</b><br /><br />We don&#8217;t know where Osan&#8217;gar made his gateway at first, but we can know where he was heading on foot. <br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Crouching behind a fallen log, Osan'gar panted from the exertion of running ... It was toward the key that he skulked&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i><br />The most informative quote about the current Osan&#8217;gar position is the following.<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Scrambling to the top of the hill, Osan'gar dropped to the ground on his belly and smiled as he crabbed sideways to shelter behind a tree. From here, with saidin in him, he could see the next crest clearly, and the people on it. Not as many as he had expected. One woman was making a slow circuit around the crest, peering into the trees, but everyone else was still, Narishma sitting with Callandor glowing in his hands and a woman's head on his knee. There were two other women that Osan'gar could see, one kneeling over the other, but they were obscured by a man's back. He did not need to see the man's face to know al'Thor.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i><br />Since he saw Rand&#8217;s back, who was facing Shadar Logoth, we can assume that Osan&#8217;gar was coming from the north. It could be slightly northwest (if Group G is northeast) since he didn&#8217;t mentioned them. That also leads to speculation that he made the first gateway somewhere in the northwest of the current position, since he was skulking toward the access keys after that (see the map).<br /><br /><b>Graendal</b><br /><br />Now, the position of Graendal and Group E is pure speculation. Since, south (Demandred) and north (Cyndane) was already taken and there were battles, we would think that Verin would mention it in her PoV. But she didn&#8217;t and we can assume it means Graendal was east or west from the hilltop. I think it&#8217;s possible that she was east, slightly north.<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Verin frowned at the apparition making its way through the trees off to her left&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i>The reason she was east is because of Aran&#8217;gar&#8217;s position (see the map).<br /><br /><b>Aran&#8217;gar</b><br /><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;The torrent of saidin far behind him [Eben] had a tendency to wash out his awareness of other channeling, but he could feel others wielding the Power. The battle had been joined, elsewhere, and so far all the four of them had done was walk&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i>Here we can speculate that if Eben was kind of boring and was mentioning that the battle was elsewhere, it was not even close to his position. That means, Demandred and Graendal were at the opposite side of the hill (see the map).<br /><br /><b>Moghedien</b><br /><br />Moghedien didn&#8217;t join the battle, but she was watching at the distance. Knowing her, we can assume that she was as far as possible from the battle, but still close.<br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;The high hilltop was not very near to the access key &#8230;  Retreating to the back of the hilltop, away from the shining key and the strange dome&#8230;&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220; Lying on her belly atop her high vantage point with her chin in her hands, she was watching the great dome&#8221; WH, Chapter 35.</blockquote></i><br /><i><blockquote>&#8220;Suddenly something writhed up from that dark smooth surface, like a flame if flames were blacker than black, then another, another, until the dome boiled with Stygian fire. The roar of ten thousand thunders made her clap her hands over her ears and shriek, soundlessly in that crash, and the dome collapsed in on itself in the space of a heartbeat, to a pinpoint, to nothing. It was wind that howled then, rushing toward the vanished dome, dragging her along the stony ground no matter how desperately she clawed for purchase, tumbling her against trees, lifting her into the air.&#8221; WH, Chapter 35. </blockquote></i>These quotes (along with the &#8220;quite&#8221; side where Eben was) suggest that Moghedien was close to the city, southwest of Rand and Nynaeve. She was definitely close to the city, close enough to be sucked when the dome imploded. (see the map)<br /><br /><b>Admin note</b><br /><br />Skeve's Map can be found at http://www.seliutin.com/img/Cleansing.GIF<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-28 01:38:04
subject: WOT/Fraggle Rock Parallels
body:
<p>With all the parallels pointed out between WOT characters and Arthurian legends, I think some very clear parallels can be made between WOT and a more recent fantasy legend; Fraggle Rock.  <br /><br />First, we have Uncle Traveling Matt, who is the only Fraggle to leave Fraggle Rock and to have explored all of its caves.  Now he is traveling around outer space, much like Jain Farstrider has traveled to the unknown of the WOT world, Shaara, the Waste, Seafolk lands etc.<br /><br />Also, look at the paralles between the Ogier and the Gorgs (i.e. sausage sized fingers, saucer sized eyes, slowness, etc.)  In a WOT movie I would cast Junior Gorg as Loail in a second.<br /><br />As for the Doozers, I think the clearest parallel to them in WOT are the Aiel; hardworking, fatalistic, and with a strange since of humor.  Although in the Fraggle Rock world we never really see the doozers dance the spears, I think it would be quite amusing.  You notice the doozers are never really bothered after the Fraggles destroy their buildings, they just go back to building again.  With all the hardships of their Doozer life, they continue to wake up and carry on, much like the Aiel.<br /><br />The five main WOT characters can easily correspond to the five main Fraggles.   Rand is Gobo, the leader and the one destined to enter the hole in the wall (aka the bore) and face Sprocket (the Dark One) in order to get the postcards from Uncle Traveling Matt (not sure where this fits in).  The others clearly follow Gobo as their leader, and often do it unwillingly, just like in the wheel of time.  I think Wembly corresponds to Mat.  Wembly is the onery Fraggle, most often getting himself into trouble, and generally causing the most eyerolls from the other four.  In short, he's the prankster and the fool, just like Mat.  Boober, as the worry wart of the Fraggles and the most unsure of his own usefulness, is clearly a parallel to Perrin.  Tie a female Fraggle to Boober and he would be done for, much as Perrin is in the WOT books.  Mokey, as the somewhat older Fraggle who sees it as her responsibility to steer the others away from trouble, is Nynaeve.  Lastly among the Fraggles is Red.  She is just always trying to prove she can do more than other Fraggles think she can, and with such an attitude is clearly the Fraggle that Egwene is based upon.<br /><br />I also think I've managed to uncover the mystery of Verin through watching the Fraggles.  Clearly, Verin or any advising Aes Sedai character (Moiraine, Cadsuanne, etc.) is a parallel to the Trash Heap, who the Fraggles always go to for advice.  Sometimes the Fraggles aren't sure they want her advice, much like the Two Rivers folk aren't sure they want Aes Sedai help, especially in the early books.<br /><br />Another important connection from WOT to Fraggle Rock is the old man.  The old man is a tinkerer in the show.  Hmmm.... tinkerer..tinkerer..tinker.  Could there be a connection between the old man and the traveling folk of the WOT world.  Furthermore, the tinkers are traveling the world in search of the song, and we all know that the Fraggles love to sing and dance.  Could it be that the tinkers have been searching for the Fraggles all along?  Perhaps the Fraggles could teach the Tuatha'an this elusive song.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-11-30 06:56:34
subject: A More than Coincedental Comparison between Stilling and Amputation
body:
<p>This is going to be a brief theory, and I apologize if this is something everyone else already picked up on, but as I was rereading The Shadow Rising I came across an interesting Nynaeve quote that bears striking significance to recently unfolded events.<br /><br /><i>&quot;Stilling is not a thing anyone would choose to study, you understand,&quot; Nynaeve continued. &quot;It is generally accepted to be irreversible. What makes a woman able to channel cannot be replaced once it is removed, any more than a hand that has been cut off can be healed back into existence.&quot; At least, no one had been able to Heal stilling. There had been attempts.</i><br />- The Shadow Rising, pg. 118, <i>Questions</i><br /><br />As any avid Jordan reader should know by now, Jordan is not one to waste space. Almost everything he writes (be it descriptions of a dress or the position of the sun in the sky) are either moving the story forward now or foreshadowing events that will transpire later. Nynaeve believes that anything short of death can be healed, and even though her first attempt to heal Rand's &quot;dysdactility&quot; was unsuccessful, I am positive that she will try at least as hard if not harder than she did with Siuan, Leane, and Logain, until she has found a way to reverse Rand's malady.<br /><br />Just a thought.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-01 06:13:30
subject: Taim, Disgruntled but not Darkfriend
body:
<p>The general theory among readers seems to be that Mazrim Taim is a Friend of the Dark. I've been rereading the series recently, and am considering the possibility that a much simpler explanation may be true. Perhaps Taim is simply disgruntled towards Rand al'Thor. <br /><br />First let's look at the man Taim is. He was a false Dragon, he commanded armies, and he is very powerful in the One Power. He has held off the Taint for many years (something I think actually is natural, Rand never saw any of the black lines connected to Taim that protected the Forsaken from the Taint). Basically Mazrim Taim is arrogant and used to being in the spotlight.<br /><br />Rand never showed much respect towards Taim, something that is understandable; but at the same time, something that would clearly upset a man of Taim's character. In Taim's mind, he saved Rand from the Gray Man and also built him possibly the fiercest fighting force in the world.<br /><br />Taim also continuously warned Rand of the Aes Sedai and offered to kill some of them in order to protect Rand. This is evident often in LoC when Rand goes to the farm to warn Taim to avoid Caemlyn. Rand basically ignores Taims warnings of Aes Sedia and gets himself captured by them. Taim is forced to get involved and in the process losses several of his students to Shaido Aiel at the battle at the Wells.<br /><br />Observing this from Taim's point of view, it is very clear that he has legitimate reasons to NOT like Rand.<br /><br />From his point of view Rand was careless of the Aes Sedai and ignored his warnings. In Taim's eye, had Rand let him kill the Aes Sedai earlier, Rand would not have been captured and Taim's students would not have been killed. (I realize that Taim wanted to kill the Salidar Aes Sedai, and it was the Tower Sedai that captured Rand. However it is quite possible that he was ignorant of the difference at the time).<br /><br />My final reason for not believing Taim is a darkfriend is that it is just too obvious. Lew Therin's hatred of him, his channeling for 15 some years, etc. With the rash of Darkfriends popping up around Randland, RJ has made us suspect any who oppose Rand of being Darkfriends.<br /><br />Rand's treatment of Taim in the LoC damaged what Taim clearly holds most dear, his pride. Just from the type of character Taim is, he means to have some revenge on Rand, and for him that means seizing control of the Black Tower. While it is possible that he is a Darkfriend, the idea that he simply dislikes or even hates Rand is quite believable. Rand's handling of Taim and the BT was very poor and it seems that he will pay the price for it.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-08 06:45:14
subject: Ripples and Causality Loops
body:
<p>[From Wikipedia]<br /><br /><i>A temporal causality loop, or predestination paradox, is a theoretical phenomenon, which is said to occur when a chain of cause-effect events is circular. For instance, if event A causes event B, and event B causes event C, and event C causes event A, then these events are said to be in a causality loop.</i><br /><br />When the Bore was &quot;first&quot; drilled in the Age of Legends, according to the illustrated guide, there was a thinness at the place where it was made, and apparently the Aes Sedai of that Age could detect something behind it, what they called &quot;power emanations&quot;. That thinnness reminds me of something I once read in another fantasy novel. In that novel, there was a fictional book written by a certain fictional writer who is also a character in that novel. Due to strange convolutions of the plot, which involved time travel and such, it appears by the end of the novel as if the fictional book actually has no real writer, and, figuratively speaking, the book sort of floats in a void all by itself as if it had no first cause.<br /><br />It seems to me like the thinness in the Pattern might be something like that. Maybe there was a previous Bore in that same spot, that was later filled in somehow, but not well enough to make the prison as good as it was when the Creator made it. Since time goes in a circle, Bores could be made again and again, after curious people discover the thinness each time, everything returning to &quot;normal&quot; before the next cycle begins. The thinness would then seem to have no original cause because time has no beginning or ending, which seems paradoxical because the world had to be made sometime. Of course, before the world was made there was no time, so there is no &quot;sometime&quot; for Creation to occur--past, present, and future exist simultaneously.<br /><br />What I'm thinking is there's something peculiar about that thinness. Herid Fel believed that the prison was whole in the &quot;beginning&quot; and that it must be whole again before it comes time for the next Bore. But Rand proposed that the Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends may have drilled through a previous patch without knowing. Without that thinness, they would have never detected the &quot;power emanations&quot;. Fel can't see why the Creator would have left that thinness there. I once thought maybe it was a deliberate test for mankind, something like the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, forbidden by God. But if that were so, there were no instructions from the Creator to leave the thinness alone.<br /><br />So, if the thinness wasn't created in the &quot;beginning&quot;, but it also couldn't have been made by humans because they wouldn't have had a reason to drill through the Pattern without power emanations, and maybe couldn't have unless it were thin, how? I think the answer to that question is also the answer to how the Bore can be sealed back to its &quot;original&quot; state, as a thinness in the Pattern. I think it might be some kind of strange anomaly or paradox of reality like the book paradox I mentioned above, perhaps through some strange disruption in the flow of events and the causes of those events, maybe indicated by the ripples flowing through reality we saw just as the Bore was drilled, and in KoD. Maybe those ripples Rand saw through the eyes of his ancestor Charn were part of this strange paradox, since they happened at that precise moment.<br /><br />This idea, strange as it seems, does make sense if you consider that the Bore is a hole in reality. Anything related to it would seem to defy logic and normal causality. Maybe there never was any original cause of the drilling or sealing of the Bore, and what the Dark One wants is to break the causality loop, breaking the balance of the Wheel of Time in the process. Disruptions in the loop could also cause the Bore to go back to its thinness state. In a world where palace corridors shift, and dead people walk through walls, why not?<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-16 14:43:48
subject: Why Elaida Called Logain the Unbeliever
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<p>This theory offers an explanation of why Elaida twice refers to Logain as &#8216;the unbeliever&#8217; in <i>The Eye of the World,</i> The Web Tightens. After Elayne was rebuked by Morgase for sneaking a look at Logain and forbidden to go anywhere near him when Elayne accompanies Logain&#8217;s procession to the Tower, Elaida told Elayne: <br /><br /><blockquote>&#8221;But my sisters will keep you away from the unbeliever.&#8221;<br /><br /></blockquote>and Morgase&#8217;s court:<br /><br /><blockquote>&quot;Today the unbeliever is brought into Caemlyn. In two days he will be<br />taken north to Tar Valon, and with him goes the Daughter-Heir for her training.&#8221;<br /><br />- <i>The Eye of the World,</i> The Web Tightens<br /><br /></blockquote>Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah tend to have a negative view of men, stemming from their task of finding men who can channel and gentling them before the taint drives them to madness and destruction. In some cases, of course, their negative view of men attracts them to this task. Cadsuane, a Green, tells Rand that some Aes Sedai believe that men who can channel are rejected by the Light, but she does not:<br /><br /><blockquote> &quot;The Light's mercy fades to nothing for a man who can channel. Some see that and believe the Light denies those men. I do not.&#8221;<br /><br />- <i>A Crown of Swords,</i> When the Plow Breaks the Earth<br /><br /></blockquote>and when Moiraine was talking to Loial in Caemlyn, she said that unlike the Reds, the Blues believed that it was right for the Ogier to shelter the male Aes Sedai during the Breaking:<br /><br /><blockquote> &quot;Some in Tar Valon,&quot; Moiraine said quietly, &quot;claim that Ogier sanctuary prolonged the Breaking and made it worse. Others say that if all of those men had been allowed to go mad at once, there would have been nothing left of the world. I am of the Blue Ajah, Loial; unlike the Red Ajah, we hold to the second view.<br /><br />- <i>The Eye of the World,</i> Remembrance of Dreams<br /><br /></blockquote>Many Reds would believe that the Light denies male channellers - that they are accursed or tainted - and that the Ogier should not have harboured them. Not only Reds; some Aes Sedai from other Ajahs hold this view. For instance Saroiya, a Sitter among the rebel Aes Sedai, claims that men are tainted:<br /><br /><blockquote>&#8220;These so-called Asha&#8217;man are tainted!&#8221; Saroiya called out with no sign of the vaunted White Ajah reserve. Hands knotted in her shawl, she trembled so hard that the long snowy fringe swayed. &#8220;Tainted with the Dark One&#8217;s touch!&#8221;<br /><br />- <i>Crossroads of Twilight,</i> Surprises<br /><br /></blockquote>and she refused to consider allying with them even when assured saidin is clean (<i>Knife of Dreams,</i> Call to a Sitting).<br /><br />Elaida is apparently one of those who go a step further and believe that men who channel are rejecting the Light. Not that all channelling men are Darkfriends, but that they don't believe in the Light.<br /><br /><b>Her 'logic' would go like this:<br /><br /><ul>The Light rejects channelling men. &#8216;Proof&#8217; of this is that male channellers are cursed to go mad and rot alive. <br /><br />If a man actively channels, then he doesn't believe in the Light, because if he did believe, he would try not to channel so the Light wouldn't reject him.</ul></b><br />This is an extremist view and Jordan later shows that not all Reds hold it. Pevara, Tsutama and Tarna, for instance, do not appear to be extremists. Nor do they regard male channellers as permanently tainted as Saroiya does.<br /><br />Elaida&#8217;s condemnation of Logain was meant to intimidate Elayne more than anything so that she stayed away from him. It was also meant to show Elaida&#8217;s likely reaction to the Dragon Reborn. The irony being that the future Dragon Reborn was in front of her.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-17 14:34:03
subject: A Time for Iron: Egwene&#8217;s Dream of Moiraine&#8217;s Rescue
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<p>In <i>Knife of Dreams,</i> A Village in Shiota, Mat agreed to go with Thom (and another man - perhaps Noal, since he volunteered) to the world of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn to rescue Moiraine. Moiraine emphasised in her letter that this would be a very risky venture, and that the game Foxes and Snakes will be useful in indicating the way to successfully beat the &#8216;Finns.<br /><br />Foxes and Snakes is actually an account of dealings with the Aelfinn and Eelfinn and shows players that the only way to beat the &#8216;Finns is to cheat. The game is started by chanting: &quot;Courage to strengthen, fire to blind, music to daze, iron to bind&quot; and making the sign of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn: the triangle and the wavy line through it. When Mat went into the doorway ter&#8217;angreals, he was asked:<br /><br /><blockquote>&quot;You have brought no lamps, no torches, as the agreement was, and is, and ever will be. You have no iron? No instruments of music?&quot;<br /><br />-<i>The Shadow Rising</i>, Into the Doorway<br /><br /></blockquote>The Finns appear to be vulnerable to these things: when Rand felt threatened in the realm of the Aelfinn he made a sword of fire, which they could not bear to look at (<i>The Shadow Rising,</i> Into the Doorway). Since these four items are prohibited in the agreement, smuggling them in would be the way to beat the Aelfinn and Eelfinn; to cheat them.<br /><br />Courage they already have, since they dare to go at all, knowing the risks. Music, too; Thom&#8217;s bard&#8217;s voice is a musical instrument.  For fire there are Aludra&#8217;s &quot;firesticks,&quot; or &#8216;strikers&#8217;, matches by any other name:<br /><br /><blockquote>&quot;Aludra had everyone trying out her strikers, or firesticks . . . They certainly would light a fire or a lamp. They could also burst into flame if the blue-gray heads rubbed against each other or anything else rough.&quot;<br /><br />-<i>The Fires of Heaven</i>, A Question of Crimson<br /><br /></blockquote> Mat is familiar with these and could take some to make fire at will. <br /><br />Iron is more problematic. Some have suggested Mat&#8217;s ashanderei for iron, but Mat actually acquired the ashanderei from the Eelfinn, so presumably it doesn&#8217;t intimidate them too much. Iron would be the trickiest thing to smuggle in. Cuendillar is a possibility, since it starts out as iron, but they currently don&#8217;t have access to any. Another possibility could be blood. It contains iron. The Finns themselves are always described as very pale &#8211; as though they don&#8217;t have iron-rich blood like us.<br /><br />Egwene had a Dream which seems to describe Moiraine&#8217;s rescue:<br /> <br /><blockquote>Mat throwing dice with blood streaming down his face, while Thom Merrilyn put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine&#8217;s forehead.<br /><br />-<i>The Fires of Heaven,</i> What Can Be Learned In Dreams<br /><br /></blockquote>The kesiera is something personal of Moiraine&#8217;s and is therefore symbolic of her. The dream shows the dangers: Mat is injured in the face, but he still rolls the dice. I.e. He is relying on his luck while bravely playing the game against the &#8216;Finns. Thom is putting his hand into a fire &#8211; knowingly risking death or injury &#8211; to save Moiraine.<br /><br />The dream seems to contain the four prohibited items of courage (Thom&#8217;s and Mat&#8217;s actions), music (Thom himself), fire (matches) and iron (the blood on Mat&#8217;s face). According to the rhyme, the iron is to &#8216;bind&#8217; in some way. In our world, blood was often used to make agreements binding. I don&#8217;t think the three men will think of this; I think that it will be one of Mat&#8217;s &#8216;lucky&#8217; rolls of the dice; he is injured in the face (eg by losing an eye) and the resulting blood turns events in their favour. <br /><br />The dice in the dream may refer to the game of Foxes and Snakes and that they need to use their knowledge of this game to effect a rescue. It could also mean they rely on Mat&#8217;s luck to succeed. Even with luck, knowledge, cunning and determination, the venture is still very risky and any one of them could die or become a captive of the Finns. <br /><br />Egwene&#8217;s dream appears to be a very neat precognitive summary of what is needed. Alas that a time for iron involves blood-letting for Mat, even if it does get Moiraine back.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-21 04:09:00
subject: Fire, Binding, and Immortality
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<p>Here's my final post for a while, a theory I've been kicking around since learning that Mat likely would meet his *finn friends again. Reading Linda's excellent theory <i>A Time for Iron</i> spurred me on to research it a little more, and I think it's now strong enough to make some effort to put it into words.<br /><br />The Greek titan god Prometheus was, like Mat, a trickster. He did a lot of things that made the other gods mad at him, such as bringing fire to mortals (who he helped create) and playing tricks on the gods that generally turned out well for mortals. After he enraged Zeus enough, he was bound to a rock with iron chains. There, an eagle was tasked to eat his liver, it growing back each time, for 30,000 years. After 30 years, he was freed by (this is interesting) Hercules somtimes known as Herakles, who shot the eagle, while he was performing his twelve labors; this was brought about by a bargain that took away the centaur Chiron's immortality. Prometheus remained chained to the rock, but was able to move about freely with it.<br /><br />Applying this to Mat, there are some things that suggest a relationship with prophecies involving him. First, when Mat goes on his little adventure into the Tower of Ghenjei, it is suggested by the Snakes and Foxes chant that there will be some fire and binding going on. Mat, on the offensive, might bring fire along, and something made of pure iron. The fire, as in the myth with the gods, might raise some hell with the *finn, who in retaliation cause Mat to somehow be bound--maybe not in a literal way, but in some way reminiscent of or in the spirit of the myth.<br /><br />At one point Perrin had a wolf dream vision of Mat bound with his ashanderei behind his back:<br /><br /><i>Mat stood naked and bound, snarling; an odd spear with a black shaft had been thrust across his back behind his elbows, and a silver medallion, a foxhead, hung on his chest.</i><br /><br />Note that Mat has been stripped, possibly to deprive him of anything that might threaten the *finn. This suggests to me this is something that happens in Mat's future meeting with them, as he hasn't been stripped before. Right after this vision, Perrin also saw Rand in rags with an eye bandage, maybe implying that these events occur after Rand's sensitivity to light caused by Semirhage.<br /><br />Up until now, I had always assumed the binding would be done to the *finn, but if the tables turned on Mat, that would then lead more toward the next part of the myth. As Mat is bound, some animal, or some thing at least, could deprive him of one of his eyes, corresponding with Prometheus' liver--myths are always taking away parts of heroes, it's a rule, I guess. Then, meanwhile, Rand, a spitting image of Herakles, merrily going about his nine impossible things, somehow, maybe inadvertently, frees Mat [I really need to cut down on those commas]. Then Mat, along with his hopefully unharmed companions, completes his mission of freeing Moiraine.<br /><br />One final thing to note. The impossible thing in the above case could relate to Rand's dying and living again, since the bargain I mentioned above in relation to Herakles' labor involved Chiron, who lost his immortality to save Prometheus. Chiron seems in this case to be like Lews Therin, who may believe that he's doomed to live forever with the blood of his kin on his hands, and who wants to die at Tarmon Gai'don. His &quot;death&quot; seems undoubtedly critical somehow.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-22 05:24:52
subject: another hidden ajah?
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<p>From reading the Wheel of Time series, especially the Shadow Rising, it becomes obvious that there was a group of Aes Sedai, shortly after the breaking, who knew the Dragon would be reborn and put in place measures to aid him. However, the questions of how this group was (and perhaps is) organized and what else they were involved in remains unanswered. Lets start with what we know for sure, in TSR pages 429-430 it is stated that an Aes Sedai named Deindre had a foretelling that the Dragon would be reborn and that the Aiel would play an important part in this. Therefore this group of Aes Sedai put in place measures to protect the Aiel by sending them away on a pretense of protecting sa&#8217;angreal and angreal. In addition they assigned Nym, the last green man, the task of protecting the eye of the world, a seal on the dark one&#8217;s prison and the dragon banner. It should be noted that Callandor was present and it is highly likely that these Aes Sedai are the ones who placed it in the Stone of Tear. On page 411 in TSR it is mentioned that the Jenn Aiel had Aes Sedai traveling with them, undoubtedly members of the previously mentioned group. In TSR page 406 it mentions that the fall of the Stone of Tear will herald the dragon&#8217;s arrival. It is also clear from these pages that the Aes Sedai built Rhuidean with the aid of the Jen Aiel<br /><br />That is all that is known for sure, now I will attempt to hazard some guesses and hypothesis&#8217;s from the rest of the remaining slivers of evidence and full in the blanks with logic. Since this group of Aes Sedai knew much about the coming of the dragon and went to great lengths to aid his coming it seems logical that they would have also have tried to ensure that aid was aviable for him upon his arrival. This suggests that they would have try to keep their group/order ongoing and would have needed to recruit new members. The best way to do this would be through the White Tower once it was established. There is a clue that leads to this conclusion, in the World of Robert Jordan&#8217;s wheel of time it mentions that some Aes Sedai from before the time of the breaking were involved in the founding of the white tower, possibly members of the group mentioned in TSR. I don&#8217;t believe this would have been mentioned if it wasn&#8217;t of some significance. Therefore there could have been another hidden within the white tower (the black ajah being the other one). How such an &#8217;ajah&#8217; would have been organized is almost completely left to speculation. It seems likely that the numbers of the group would have been kept relatively small and perhaps they were free of the free oaths as well. An incident which I find of some significance is that in the Great Hunt on page 532 Rand mentions that other Aes Sedai, besides Moraine, came to get him when he saw his other possible lives. Remember Rand had already met Siuan at this point and would have mentioned her by name if it was her, therefore these Aes Sedai could have been members of this group.<br /><br />If such a group did exist and endured up until the present which Aes Sedai seem like likely members? The most obvious answer is Cadsuane. She knows considerably more than most about the prophecies of the dragon, although a green she hunted down many men who could channel in addition the men she gentled lived longer than those brought in by other sisters ( ACOS glossary page 747), she also specifically remerged during the Aiel war and again once Rand had established himself as the dragon reborn. Further evidence is the fact that she knew that Callandor was flawed and needed two women chanellers to guide the flows. Remember the Aes Sedai from TSR are the ones who plaved Callandor in the stone of tear and likely had such knowledge, knowledge which could have been passed down. The possibility of Cadsuane being a member of such a group could explain why Min says she has something to teach Rand and the Asha&#8217;man. Another possible member is Verin and perhaps I will look at her case and other possibilities in another theory.    <br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-12-26 17:47:52
subject: Shelter From the Shadow &#8211; Blunt Dagger Ter&#8217;angreal.
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<p>The ter&#8217;angreal, the gizmos of the Power, have some very interesting and useful functions. The blunt dagger ter&#8217;angreal found in the Ebou Dar cache is a good case in point.<br /><br />It is a small dagger with gold wire wrapped around a hilt of rough deerhorn, and a wide, unsharpened blade. Aviendha says of it: <br /><br /><blockquote>&quot;I think that if you have this in your possession, the Shadow cannot see you. Not the Eyeless or the Shadowtwisted, maybe not even Leafblighter&#8230;This knife makes a kind of warding.<br /><br />- <i>Knife of Dreams,</i> A Different Skill<br /><br /></blockquote>She thinks that if you have the ter&#8217;angreal in your possession, the Shadow, including Shadowspawn and possibly even the Dark One, cannot see you due to the warding it makes. <b>No channelling is required.</b><br /><br />It struck me that the best use for this ter'angreal would be for Rand to carry to Shayol Ghul when he goes to confront the Dark One. Essential even. If Aviendha is right, and the warding is as strong as she thinks, the Dark One won't sense Rand's approach. The advantage with the dagger is that Rand doesn't have to channel or fiddle around with masking his ability and preparing inverted weaves and the like. Instead, he can concentrate on his target and what he has to do.<br /><br />True, when Lews Therin went to the Pit of Doom in the Age of Legends he got in, sealed the Bore and got out again alive, albeit at considerable cost, but Lews Therin and the Companions caught the Shadow by surprise. The Shadow won&#8217;t let that happen again. <br /><br />This ter'angreal alone would explain the Aiel Dreamwalkers' dream that with the Bowl of Winds is a treasure perhaps as great as the Bowl (<i>Lord of Chaos,</i> Matters of Toh). Yet from among the items found with the Bowl, Aviendha has also identified a white bowl ter&#8217;angreal that enables someone to look at things far away, and several ter&#8217;angreal which are long distance communications devices (<i>Knife of Dreams,</i> A Different Skill) all of which would be useful for organising and coordinating the Last Battle. No wonder the Dreamwalkers were keen that those allied to the Light find the Bowl, and the treasure, the cache, with it.<br /><br />As for the blunt dagger, Aviendha thinks only of protecting Elayne from the Shadow, but it is Rand who will need it more than anyone, since he is going to Shayol Ghul itself. It is because Rand's lovers and friends don&#8217;t want certain events to happen that they have blinded themselves to what they could and should be doing &#8211; planning how to maximise his chances of success. Rand should take the dagger with him to hide from the Shadow.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-11 04:10:01
subject: The Ajah Heads catastrophe council
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<p>A quite simple and possibly useless idea, but one I still can't recall actually having read and therefore feel should be part of the theory collection.<br /><br />Quite simply, the theory is that the Ajah Heads not only now, but since long before, always know of each other. That is, the secret of who heads each Ajah is no secret to the Heads themselves.<br /><br />And now the reasoning behind it:<br /><br />As has become quite clear by now, there are some secrets within the White Tower which are kept extraordinarily well from those not supposed to know them. This includes for example the Thirteenth Depository with the secret records, the nature of hierarchy among Aes Sedai and finally the various Ajah secrets of which at least the name of the Ajah Head and the name of the woman handling the eyes-and-ears are kept very secret.<br /><br />The &quot;ordinary&quot; type of secrets that the Ajah's or the Amyrlin seat or for that matter the Aes Sedai as a group want kept for themselves, often, as seems natural in a place like the White Tower, simply have a way of leaking out and soon become general gossip or even general knowledge (various gossip even reaching the Novices quarters is mentioned in particularly NS and KOD). <br /><br />The &quot;other type&quot;, as mentioned above though, seems completely secure. It's difficult to fathom how a seemingly not young Brown sister teaching history does not even know there is a Thirteenth Depository (in which the Law of the Tower is kept!), or how Moiraine and Siuan (as well as Nynaeve and Elayne) as newly raised Sisters are so taken aback when they learn that strength in the One Power is the most important feature in who defers to whom among Aes Sedai. <br /><br />But these things are true, and the only reason they could be true is for the White Tower to be very good in ingraining in Novices, Accepted and Aes Sedai, the importance in keeping such secrets strictly for those who need to know, to the point of no one even having the thought of betraying such a secret, or even wanting to know if they are not in the group who should know.<br /><br />As for the identity of the Ajah Heads, it certainly falls under this category. Pevara obviously didn't know (despite having suspicions) who headed any Ajah but her own, and she is a rather old Aes Sedai who is Sitter to boot. Red Ajah or not, she seems to be in about as good a position to know such things as anyone within the White Tower, so if she doesn't know, it's not likely many others do either.<br /><br />And that's where the actual Ajah Heads come in.<br /><br />As is general knowledge among readers by now, the Ajah Heads have been having secrets of their own since the division of the Tower. They have been seen talking to each other (when no one else from different Ajahs do) as well as having had their hand in choosing new Sitters. Likely they are also responsible for sending orders with five of the Sitters from before the break to Salidar, so as to have some control over both factions. The only problem with this is that no one but the Ajah Heads themselves seem to be in on it. <br /><br />Although Pevara didn't know Suana Dragand was in fact the Ajah Head, we know that she is, and the same goes for every other pair of sisters mentioned in the books to have been secretly talking to each other: They were indeed not only high in their Ajahs, but the actual Heads. The Sitters sent to Salidar also seem to have their orders of some kind, but not in such a way that they actually cooperate, so it seems they know little more about the Ajah Head scheme than that their Heads told them to do some things.<br /><br />So, the question is, how did the Ajah Heads get together in the first place, if none of them knew who the others were? Even if someone of them did know the others, why would they even want to listen to any plans, or even accept that the person speaking to them was an Ajah Head? Also note that there was not much time, so even if one of them wanted to start something, it could well be too late before she knew who to speak to, or happened to say the wrong thing in the wrong ear. Mesaana and the Black Ajah makes clear that at least no black sister seem to know what is going on, so  it's unlikely many more than the Ajah Heads were ever consulted from the beginning. <br /><br />The simple, and really only solution I can see, is that the Ajah Heads know of each other, not to have any general plans for the Tower in &quot;peace time&quot;, but for the event that some sort of disaster is underway. For example when it would be necessary to revolt against an Amyrlin Seat or a Hall of the Tower, which according to Egwene has happened six times (which seems quite often and could be explained by the fact that when it is really necessary, the Ajah Heads rouse their respective Ajah members, all of whom likely are more easily steered than the Sitters). A break-up of the Tower would definitely fall under the &quot;disaster under way&quot;-heading.<br /><br />My main problem with my own theory is that there is no one ever in the books that have actually mentioned anything that points to this. However, this can quite easily be explained away since no other POV from a (White Tower) Ajah Head than Galina has as yet appeared (that we know of), and she hasn't been in a situation where she would think about such a thing. There are probably worse difficulties, but since I can't think of them right now, publishing the theory seems the best way to learn about them.<br /><br />I should probably mention that I don't think this applies to the women who are Ajah Heads among the Rebels (so Romanda should not count among relevant Ajah Heads with POVs). As far as we know only the Blue Ajah Head from before the break (and possibly not even her) is present among the Rebels, and there doesn't seem to be any reason (or necessarily even any possibility) for her to talk to the newly chosen about this, since the Tower Ajah Heads are already &quot;dealing&quot; with the catastrophe (and might or might not have included the Blue Ajah Head in their plans).<br /><br />So, let's see what others think...<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-11 04:26:37
subject: Rand, Moridin, Luc and Isam--The Key to Rand's Survival
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<p>The death of Rand Al&#8217;Thor<br /><br />Many ideas have been written about the prophesized death of Rand.  Here is my take on it:<br /><br />Theory:<br /><br />Rand and Moridin merge like Luc and Isam<br /><br />Moridin&#8217;s body is the host<br /><br />Alivia (some tie-in&#8212;the only part I can not figure out)<br /><br />Rand fights with Moridin for control of the body and wins<br /><br />Rand&#8217;s body is taken away for burial by his tripod of women<br /><br />Rand lives out his life in anonymity in Moridin&#8217;s body<br /><br />I do not want to speculate on the details.  There are too many possibilities but I think the text supports the main points.  I feel that wild speculation about what could happen will only weaken my theory and cause people to disregard the evidence I am about to present.<br /><br />Evidence:<br /><br />There have been many ideas and theories proposed regarding Luc&#8217;s involvement at the Last Battle.  Some are very involved and some are very simple.  One of my favorite in-depth postulations involves Luc switching sides and saving Rand at the Last Battle.  This is a favorite of mine because it is so overplayed.  Everyone has already seen this in Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader, AKA Anakin Skywalker, reverted to the light and saved his son from the clutches of the evil Emperor Palpatine.  Simply put, I do not see Robert Jordan heading down this path.  Some of the more simple ideas floating around about Luc are that he will die at the Last Battle in the Pit of Doom and fulfill the prophecy of &#8220;Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed. Once for mourning, once for birth. Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul. In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.&#8221;  I, however, do not agree with this interpretation because Luc does not fit with &#8220;Once for mourning, once for birth&#8221; amongst other things.<br /><br />So, what is Luc&#8217;s purpose?  He is involved in the story for a reason greater than the Shadow&#8217;s assassin.  It is my position that Luc&#8217;s importance, aside from the events that transpired in Andor following his departure, is his merger with Isam.  Eledia has this Foretelling: &quot;The very first thing Elaida had ever Foretold, while still an Accepted - and had known enough even then to keep to herself - was that the Royal line of Andor would be the key to defeating the Dark One in the Last Battle.&quot;  Eledia assumes this relates to Elayne.  Readers generally assume it is Rand because of his mother.  However, it could also include Luc.<br /><br />NOTE--The evidence supporting this theory is based entirely upon the published works by Robert Jordan.<br /><br />Some commonalities and background information:<br /><br />In A Crown of Swords, Chapter 41 Rand and Moridin form a link when their streams of balefire touch.  In a Crown of Swords, Chapter 33 Min has this viewing &quot;I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and....one of you dies, and one doesn't.&quot;  At the time, both Rand and the reader assumed the other man was Lews.  However, in Knife of Dreams, Chapter 21 it is clear that the other man is Moridin.  &#8220;The face of the man from Shadar Logoth floated in his head for a moment. He looked furious. And near to sicking up. Without any doubt he was aware of Rand, and Rand of him. Move a hair in any direction, and they would touch.&#8221;  Rand is sure that when he is viewing images from Moridin that if he was to move an inch in any direction they would merge.  This cannot be taken for fact because Rand has been wrong in the past.  However, when combined with additional information gleaned from the books it gives us an interesting possibility.<br /><br />This is where Luc comes in.  What is known of Luc comes from bits and pieces of text.  Gitara sent Luc into the Blight to find his destiny.  Luc&#8217;s destiny was to merge with Isam.  How this happened is not privy to us readers but one can assume the Dark One did it.  In the Dark Prophecy from The Great Hunt the Shadow eludes to Slayer&#8217;s origins.  &#8220;Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.  Isam waited in the high passes.  The hunt is now begun. The Shadow's hounds now course, and kill.  One did live, and one did die, but both are.  The Time of Change has come.&#8221;  The most substantial line from the Prophecy is &#8220;One did live, and one did die, but both are.&#8221;  This is amazingly similar to Min&#8217;s viewing &#8220;one of you dies, and one doesn't.&quot;  On a related side note, we saw in the Shadow Rising that Luc&#8217;s body is the host.  In TAR Slayer can assume both Isam&#8217;s form as well as Luc&#8217;s.<br /><br />The most information we have about Luc comes from several paragraphs in Lord of Chaos:<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Lord of Chaos<br />Chapter 16<br />Tellings of the Wheel<br /><br />&quot;Gitara?&quot; A wonder he did not sound strangled. He had heard that name more than once. It had been an Aes Sedai named Gitara Moroso, a woman with the Foretelling, who announced that the Dragon had been Reborn on the slopes of Dragonmount, and so set Moiraine and Siuan on their long search. It had been Gitara Moroso who years before that told &quot;Shaiel&quot; that unless she fled to the Waste, telling no one, and became a Maiden of the Spear, disaster would fall on Andor and the world.<br /><br />Dyelin nodded, a touch impatiently. &quot;Gitara was counselor to Queen Mordrellen,&quot; she said briskly, &quot;but she spent more time with Tigraine and Luc, Tigraine&#8217;s brother, than with the Queen. After Luc rode north, never to return, whispers said Gitara had convinced him that his fame lay in the Blight, or his fate. Others said it was that he would find the Dragon Reborn there, or that the Last Battle depended on him going. That was about a year before Tigraine disappeared. Myself, I doubt Gitara had anything to do with it, or with Luc. She stayed the Queen&#8217;s counselor until Mordrellen died. From heartbreak over Tigraine on top of Luc, so it was said. Which began the Succession, of course.&quot; She glanced toward the others, who were shifting their feet and frowning with suspicion and impatience, but she could not resist adding one more thing. &quot;You would have found a different Andor, without that. Tigraine queen, Morgase only High Seat of House Trakand, Elayne not born at all. Morgase married Taringail once she had the throne, you see. Who can say what else would be changed?&quot;<br /><br />Watching her join the others and go, he thought of one thing that would have changed. He would not be in Andor, for he would not have been born. Everything folded back into itself, in endless circles. Tigraine went to the Waste in secret, which made Laman Damodred cut down Avendoraldera, a gift of the Aiel, to make a throne, an act which brought the Aiel across the Spine of the World to kill him &#8211; that had been their only goal, though the nations called it the Aiel War &#8211; and with the Aiel came a Maiden named Shaiel, who died giving birth. So many lives changed, lives ended, so she could give birth to him at the proper time and place and die doing it. Kari al&#8217;Thor was the mother he remembered, if dimly, yet he wished he could have known Tigraine or Shaiel or whatever she wanted to call herself, even if only for a little while. Just to have seen her.<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Now for some information about Rand: it is well known that Rand&#8217;s body has taken a beating in the last eleven books.  From the never healing wounds in his side to his amputated hand, Rand is a mess.  On top of everything he has endured, it looks as if our hero is also going blind.  Perin has a dream in that &quot;Perrin thought it was Rand. He wore rags and a rough cloak, and a bandage covered his eyes.&quot;  In conjunction, Min had a viewing of Rand with a beggar&#8217;s staff.  There is also evidence from the prologue of A Path of Daggers that Rand, AKA the Fisher, is blind because of the bandages covering his eyes.  Finally, in Knife of Dreams Rand is attacked by Semirhage and loses his afore mentioned hand.  The attack also damages his vision.  A transfer to Mordin&#8217;s body works in Rand&#8217;s favor by, for the most part, restoring him to pre Eye of the World condition.  Rand and Moridin are almost identical in strength in the One Power.  Their size is similar.  Both are tall; almost the same height and both are large and muscular (Moridin is described as being more muscular).  This is from A Crown of Swords, Chapter 41 and is Rand&#8217;s description of Moridin.  &quot;His head and shoulders came above the floor, and he could see the other man, a big fellow little older than he, with hair black as the night and a coat black as an Asha&#8217;man&#8217;s.  Rand had never seen him before.&quot;  This is Moghedien&#8217;s description of Moridin (A Crown of Swords, Chapter 25).  &quot;The speaker was a tall, broad-shouldered young man in black boots and breeches and a flowing white shirt unlaced at the top, who watched her with startlingly blue eyes from a deep, cushioned armchair in front of a marble fireplace where flames danced along long logs.&quot;  Their physical appearance is different.<br /><br />It is also known from those who tell the truth, Aelfinn, that Rand must die in order to live.  From the Aelfinn Q&amp;A: Q&#8212;&#8220;How can I win the Last Battle and survive?&#8221; A&#8212;&#8220;The north and the east must be as one. The west and the south must be as one.  The two must be as one. If you would live, you must die.&#8221;  The answer can be read as the two sections of the mainland, (the north + east and the south + west) must be as one.  It can also be read as Moridin and Rand must be as one or Lews and Rand must be as one.  This also ties in perfectly with Min&#8217;s viewing, Nicola&#8217;s Foretelling, the Aiel Dreams, and the Karaethon Cycle.  Min had this viewing when she first met Rand.  &quot;. . . three women standing over a funeral bier with you on it . . .&quot;  Nicola Foretold this:  &quot;The lion sword, the dedicated spear, she who sees beyond. Three on the boat, and he who is dead yet lives. The great battle done, but the world not done with battle. The land divided by the return, and the guardians balance the servants. The future teeters on the edge of a blade.&quot;  Some have questioned the validity of Nicola&#8217;s Foretelling because of her actions and propensity to lie.  However that may be, this Foretelling is too specific for it to be made up.  Also, both Min and the Aiel Dreamers have made statements similar to Nicola&#8217;s that corroborates the Foretelling.  &quot;Melaine and Bair dreamed of you on a boat with three women whose faces they could not see, and a scale tilting first one way then the other.&quot;  The Aiel also dreamed similar to the Aelfinn&#8217;s proclamation.  &quot; Bair and Amys dreamed of you cutting the wetlands in two with a sword.&quot;  In the Karaethon Cycle it is prophesized that Rand shall be &quot;Twice and twice shall he be marked,twice to live and twice to die.  Once the heron, to set his path.  Twice the heron, to name him true.  Once the Dragon, for remembrance lost.  Twice the Dragon, for the price he must pay.&#8221;  Egwene, in turn, has a dream that eerily coincides with Moridin&#8217;s thoughts while playing sha&#8217;rah.  Both involve Rand being a puppet.  Egwene&#8217;s dream is &quot;Logain, laughing, steps over something onto a black stone. It looks like Rand's body, but when she touches his face it breaks like a paper puppet.&quot;  Moridin&#8217;s thought is &quot;On the board, the Fisher stood waiting, but in the greater game, al&#8217;Thor moved already to his wishes.&quot;  Could Jordan be foreshadowing that Rand, the puppet, will become the master when him and Moridin merge?<br /><br />Finally, the entire mainland seems know Rand&#8217;s face.  The battle at Falme began his fame and his exploits thereafter have cemented his celebrity.  IF Rand were to survive the Last Battle he would never know peace.  People from all over would flock to him just to see the man who defeated the Shadow and saved mankind.  He would be constantly hounded.  That is not a life anyone would want.  Besides, how do you top defeating the greatest evil known in the world?  With Rand occupying Moridin&#8217;s body he would be able to live out his years in peace.  Traveling eliminates the difficulty of Rand meeting up with his ladies.<br /><br />Below are some other note worthy quotes:<br /><br />Karaethon Cycle&#8212;<br /><br />&#8220;Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow, born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end. The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.<br />Once for mourning, once for birth.<br />Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.<br />In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;The blood of the Dragon Reborn on the rocks of Shayol Ghul will free mankind from the Shadow.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul, washing away the Shadow, sacrifice for man's salvation.&quot;<br /><br />Egwene&#8217;s Dreams&#8212;<br /><br />&quot;Him walking down into a great hole in a black mountain, a hole filled with a reddish glare as from vast fires below.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Him walking toward a burning mountain, something crunching beneath his boots. She stirred and whimpered; the crunching things were the seals on the Dark One's prison, shattering with his every step. She knew it. She did not need to see them to know.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Rand, wearing different masks, until suddenly one of those false faces was no longer a mask, but him.&quot;<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-12 04:50:13
subject: The redemption of Jain Farstrider
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<p>So, by now, it is fairly clear that Noal Charin, is in truth Jain Charin, also known as Jain Farstrider.  The final proof would seem to be his reaction to Mat's question in KoD.<br /><br />We know that Jain/Noal has been somehow used by the Forsaken, at least by Ishamael,if not by others too, but one thing about his character that remains stead-fast is his love of Malkier, his home and the nation he once served.  It was only Olver's fierce proclamation that Farstrider was a hero, for catching Corwin after Corwin's betrayal of Malkier to the shadow, that shook Noal out of him depressed state.<br /><br />Noal agreed that, despite everything else, that one act was to Jain's credit, and in that moment, he was acknowledging, if only in third-person, that there was still something of worth in himself.<br /><br />So, what will happened when Noal, a true man of Malkier, despite all the years in between, learns that his Uncrowned King has raised the banner of the Golden Crane?  (It's almost irrelevant that Nynaeve did<br />it for him, as we learned in NS, she is the only other person alive, as his wife, with the true authority to do so.)<br /><br />It's my prediction that Noal will return to serve the true blade of Malkier, as he served Lan's father before him, and in doing so, will cast off whatever claim the shadow has on him.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-18 01:41:40
subject: If the Dark One wins...
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<p>It&#8217;s intuitively obvious that if the Dark One were victorious at Tarmon Gai&#8217;don, what he would do to the world would be pretty ugly.  Wouldn&#8217;t at least Darkfriends would be happy, though?  They would supposedly get immortality and lots of power, and finally have the chance they&#8217;ve been waiting for to rule over everyone else.<br /><br />Robert Jordan, however, has dropped plenty of hints that the Friends of the Dark might be deceived.  It seems likely that if the Dark One escaped from his prison, what he would do to the world would disturb even his most dedicated human supporters.  For one thing, the DO has always displayed a rather callous attitude toward his servants, and has never shied away from sacrificing them or cruelly punishing them when they failed to serve him adequately.  If he achieved complete control over the world, why should he change his ways?  Wouldn&#8217;t he be able to enforce even more brutal discipline on everyone, Darkfriends and Forsaken included?  It seems entirely likely that he would take away Graendal&#8217;s palace and servants, Aran&#8217;gar&#8217;s sensual pleasures, and anything else that would distract from the task of serving and worshiping himself.<br /><br />There is evidence that channeling the One Power, in particular, would be impossible in a world ruled by the DO.  Why has he made the True Power available to his most trusted servants, if not to replace saidar and saidin?  The DO probably hates the One Power because it drives the Wheel, which he wants to wreck, and because unlike the True Power, saidar and saidin do not come from him.  As long as they are able to channel the One Power, the Forsaken have a certain degree of independence from the DO&#8217;s control.  If they are captured, like Asmodean, or turn back to the Light (which doesn&#8217;t seem like a likely possibility, but it still must worry the DO at times) they might use their channeling abilities against the Dark.  This is probably why trying to channel at Shayol Ghul is such a bad idea (as Demandred reminds himself in LoC).  It is probably also the reason that channeling is impossible in the vicinity of Shaidar Haran.  The DO wants complete control over his servants.  The True Power fulfills this condition because it can only be used with the DO&#8217;s permission, something that is not true of the One Power.  <br /><br />So, in a world where the Dark One has broken free, it is likely that channeling the One Power would be outlawed or made physically impossible (as around Shaidar Haran).  Wouldn&#8217;t this be a terrible outcome for the Forsaken?  They wouldn&#8217;t be able to touch the One Power, and they would lose the unique ability that gives them power over other humans, the one thing they all seem to want.  It is true that they might still be able to use the True Power as a substitute, but only Moridin seems to be satisfied with this solution.  None of the other Forsaken want saa crawling across their eyes all the time, and using the True Power might have other undesirable effects that we don&#8217;t know about yet.<br /><br />An even worse outcome from the Forsaken&#8217;s point of view might be their death at the hands of the DO.  If the DO broke free, he would undoubtedly want to make his control over the world as complete as possible.  They would probably be the most powerful channelers left alive, and so would pose a threat to his rule.  Even worse, they would remember a time when the DO was unable to touch the world, and thus severely limited in his power.  For that reason he might view them as suspect, unlike humans who never knew a world not under the control of the Shadow.  We know that human dictators often have their former supporters executed for very similar reasons.  Stalin and Mao both had many of their original supporters purged from the Party and eventually killed, precisely because the older Communist revolutionaries could remember a time when Stalin and Mao were not in control, and could remember that the dictators originally came to power with the help of others.  The DO might well conduct a similar purge if he ever had the chance.  The Forsaken would remember that the DO only broke free with their aid, and so their awe of him might not be as complete as he would like.<br /><br />The DO might even have all humans eliminated, because they are inherently unpredictable and potentially disobedient.  Who is to say that he wouldn&#8217;t prefer a world populated entirely with Trollocs, Myrddral, and Drakhar?  He has placed Shaidar Haran in a position of power over many of the Forsaken probably because he doesn&#8217;t entirely trust his human allies, and would rather have completely obedient Shadowspawn keeping an eye on them.  If he could dispense with the need for human servants altogether, he might well do so.  That's if the DO decides to keep any of the current world intact, instead of destroying everything and starting over with a clean slate in order to remake the world in his own dark image.<br /><br />All of these possibilities get at a more basic question: what is motivating the Forsaken and other high-ranking Darkfriends?  Clearly they want power, and revenge on LTT, and all sorts of other things.  But they still must recognize that their place in a world ruled by the DO would not necessarily be very secure.  He is a very harsh master who disposes of his servants as soon as they are no longer useful, and who wants to turn the world into a place that even the Forsaken would probably think was pretty horrifying (even they are a little bit disturbed by what he&#8217;s done to Shayol Ghul already).  What guarantee do any Darkfriends have that the DO would honor his pledges and actually give them immortality and power once he broke free?  I&#8217;ve wondered about this question for a while, and I&#8217;d be curious to hear anyone&#8217;s comments on this subject.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-18 01:49:16
subject: The Age Lace, the Dark One and Mass-Production.
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<p>As is well known, the Wheel of Time weaves the Pattern of the Age, which in turn forms the Age Lace. Every turning of the Wheel, the cycle of seven Ages begins anew. Why? Robert Jordan has declared that there was nothing special about this turning of the Wheel. Evidently, pretty much the same thing happens every turning, which would produce several near identical versions of the Age Lace. What is the Creator to do with these? Why, sell them of course!<br /><br />It has taken much research and sleepless nights, but I have finally discovered the truth of it all. In time beyond time, when the world did not exist, weavers made their Patterns by hand. Then one day, Robert Jordan discovered that he could make the process autonomous by entrusting it to machinery that would repeat the exact same moves time after time. He created this machine, this wheel, and for this he was ever after known in the weaving community as &#8220;the Creator&#8221;.<br /><br />But the Creator did not share his new invention with other weavers, and so he produced his Age Laces in less time than it took other weavers to weave individual Patterns. They became jealous of his works and tried to imitate him, but none could recreate the glorious Wheel of Time.<br /><br />Eventually, one of his competitors, consumed by envy, tried to steal the Wheel of Time for his own, but the Creator caught him, and trapped him within the Wheel. This rival became the Dark One, and even from within the Wheel, he tries to destroy it.<br /><br />Of course, even the Wheel is not perfect. Every once in a while however, a thread grows cognisant of the truth of the Age Lace. If these are noticed, the Creator simply snips them out, but sometimes they have the time to enmesh themselves within the tapestry of the Age. People such as Elan Morin Tedronai and myself, who yearn for freedom. To counter these insurgent threads, the Creator introduces an oppositional force, one that will seek out and destroy the conflicting thread and hopefully die in the process. This is the Dragon thread.<br /><br />I am yet uncertain of the identity of my nemesis, the Dragon sent to destroy me. But my money is on Sidious.<br /><br />One last thing to remember is that time is relative. That which, to us, seems like seven long Ages is to the Creator only a few hours.<br /><br /><b>Bonus material:</b><br /><br />Additionally, I believe I may have discovered the identity of the Dark One. While I roamed unseen on the <i>Other Fantasy</i> board, I heard many a discussion, of particular interest to this theory, it would appear that there is an author who&#8230;<br /><br />-	&#8230; introduces many reproductions of the Creator&#8217;s works, as though in envy&#8230;<br />-	&#8230; repeats the Pattern of his stories from one book to the other&#8230;<br />-	&#8230; thinks an awful lot of himself&#8230;.<br /><br />If this is true, this may be the identity of the Creator&#8217;s competitor who was sealed within the Wheel. Remains only to discover if <i>Shai&#8217;tan</i> is Old Tongue for <i>Good&#8217;kind</i>.<br /><br />Let the truth be known.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-18 01:51:48
subject: Changing Corridors
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<p>In KoD, a couple palaces/fortresses begin to experience changing corridors and hallways, even the White Tower.  This is taken as a sign of the Dark One.  I've got my own little theory as to exactly how this is happening.<br /><br />As we know, there exist many mirror worlds, which are essentially parallel dimensions.  For clarification, it appears that each mirror world is slightly altered from the world in which the story is assumed to take place.  <br /><br />So, logically, there should be many worlds which, except for a few differences, are mainly the same as the &quot;main world.&quot;  In each of these similar worlds, Rand &amp; Co. are preparing for the final battle, just like in the main world.  But although there may be many &quot;Rands&quot; and whatnot, the DO, being something not entirely of the Pattern to begin with, is unique.  In order for these worlds to all have a final battle, I believe that they are merging.<br /><br />This &quot;overlapping&quot; of worlds is what I attribute to the changing corridors.  Because the layouts of the buildings aren't of extreme importance, the Pattern allows them to merge.  In KoD Elayne frets over what would happen if someone were to wake up in a room whose door had disappeared.  However, if my theory is correct, that couldn't happen, unless in one of the parallel worlds one of the rooms was built without doors.<br /><br />If my theory is to correct, then it's possible that we may begin to notice behavioral shifts in some of the major players, as they slowly merge with their parallel counterparts.  There may also be other seemingly unexplainable changes.  On a tangent, this may be how Rand gets his hand back, though such a drastic change seems to take that possibility away from being a similar world.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I can't seem to find much evidence for my claim.  The Portal Stones and Mirror Worlds haven't been used in quite some time, so not all that much data is available.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-26 09:21:35
subject: Far Madding (part one)
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<p>Far Madding<br /><br />Far Madding was originally called Aren Mador, it then became Fel Moreina, and lastly Far Madding.  Madding means maddened.  The symbol of Far Madding is a golden hand.<br /><br />From the Guide - Aren Mador was the capital of Essenia, a country that came into being after the Breaking.  Other cities in Essenia were Dalsande and Tear.  Essenia was weakened and impoverished by the Trolloc Wars (1000AB), and became Maredo, which lasted for about 600 years. After the War of the Hundred Years, Far Madding was the only settlement larger than a small town or village remaining in any of the nine nations that disappeared at that time. <br /><br />Far Madding has three Stranger&#8217;s Markets, each with a statue of one of the city&#8217;s three most revered women, though none was known very far beyond the lake&#8217;s shores.  These are the Amhara Market, with a statue of Savion Amhara; the Avharin Market, with Einion Avharin; and the Nethvin Market.  These are the only places that foreigners are allowed to trade &#8211; foreigners are usually regarded with suspicion.  The statue of Savion Amhara is described in WH ch 22 &#8211; &#8220;Her marble face was stern beneath the First Counsel&#8217;s jewelled marble diadem, and her right hand firmly gripped the hilt of a marble sword, its point resting between her slippered feet, while her raised left hand aimed a warning marble finger toward the Tear&#8221;.  She cannot have lived before Maredo existed because &#8220;Once, the First Counsel, she advised the Queens of Maredo, but since Maredo&#8217;s&#8230;dissolution&#8230;most First Counsels have considered themselves the natural heirs of Maredo's rulers&#8221;. Sarene to Harine. WH.<br /><br />The city is ruled by thirteen women Counsels, and men are expected to obey women.  Weapons either have to be left with guards on the shore, or wrapped with wire and sealed and there is what seems to be an exceptionally large number of Street Guards inside the city &#8211; even considering their distrust of foreigners, it might be that Far Madding has something to hide that it is afraid violence might reveal.  &#8220;In this place, no one wanted to be associated with even the smallest violence.&#8221; ch 22 WH.  Why so many Street Guards?  The confidence of the ones that spoke implies that the population approves their way of life.  Most states that have that many visible police have problems with their own people, but this doesn&#8217;t appear to be the case in Far Madding &#8211; especially as the poorer streets are clear of guards.<br /><br />There are similarities to Tar Valon.  Each is a city built on an island in a lake.  I think this is partly because - &#8220;Trollocs and Myrdraal loathe deep water.  Trollocs are terrified of it.  Neither can swim.  A Halfman will not wade anything more than waist deep, especially if it is moving.  Trollocs won&#8217;t even do that if they can find any way to avoid it.&#8221; ch. 9 EotW.  And darkhounds &#8220;will not cross flowing water&#8221;. &#8211; Guide. Both cities had Waygates, and there is an implication that the Ogier built Far Madding - &#8220;it was cities that the Ogier had built, cities where groves had been, each grove holding its Waygate&#8221;. LoC ch. 20. Both cities are ruled by women, and these rulers are secretive.<br /><br />My theory is that whereas Tar Valon became the seat of the Aes Sedai, Far Madding became a centre for those Aes Sedai, both men and women, who did not agree with the founders of the White Tower.<br />By the end of the Breaking, the remaining Aes Sedai had formed into small independent groups.  These came together in a conference in 47AB to negotiate building a new city as a centre of their power.  The conference did not go smoothly - &#8220;Fragmentary documents...speak of various women threatening to walk out of the meeting...&#8221;, however, &#8220;the decision to build Tar Valon was an outcome of the conference, but the true goal may well have been to unify these separate entities&#8221;.  <br /><br />Twelve women met - one became the first Amyrlin Seat, six became her advisors, one was stilled and one &#8220;ceased her resistance and led her followers to kneel&#8221; - the Guide.  Of the remaining three, no more mention is made, but I think that the fact that they were represented at the conference either means they were very strong individuals, or they had a strong following.  I think it is possible that they formed their own community, and, like the Tower Aes Sedai, founded it on an island.  These women were Catlynde Artein, Biranca Hasad and Nemaira Eldros.<br /><br />The new White Tower took its ideals seriously - &#8220;Between roughly 50AB and 100AB, an extremely vigorous campaign against women pretending to be Aes Sedai&#8221;.  These were possibly wilders, &#8220;or were many of these &#8216;false Aes Sedai&#8217; actually AS who resisted going along with the amalgamation of independent groups into one whole?&#8221;  - the Guide.<br /><br /> &#8220;There is evidence that many of these women were &#8216;forced to kneel to the Amyrlin Seat and the White Tower&#8217;, at least some were stilled, and a large number joined the Tower and were thereafter accepted as Aes Sedai.&#8221;  So, a lot of dissention as to the right of the White Tower to control all AS.<br /><br />  &#8220;By the first century AB, &#8220;letters...already speak of &#8216;forgotten Talents&#8217; and &#8216;lost abilities&#8217; and bemoan the &#8216;vast knowledge of the Power that is gone and may be centuries in the rediscovery&#8217; &#8221;.<br /><br />I think that the White Tower was more concerned with gaining power than conserving knowledge.   I believe that some Aes Sedai, in particular Catlynde Artein, Biranca Hasad and Nemaira Eldros, may have wanted to retain as much information as possible, rather than just take control of the new world that was emerging.  The White Tower is the obvious place, but there seem to be huge gaps in their knowledge &#8211; Travelling and Healing, for example.  In particular these other Aes Sedai would have wanted to get as much knowledge as possible from the male Aes Sedai before they went mad.  Not just about channelling, but technological and scientific knowledge.  This would have been difficult, if not impossible, as no-one would want to be around a male Aes Sedai long enough to extract all his potential information in case he went mad.  It could be done in a stedding, but according to the Guide it was very difficult for male Aes Sedai to adapt to living with the Ogier.  They would have a better chance of surviving without the Source if they lived with their own kind in more familiar surroundings.  We know that it is possible for stilled women to make a new life &#8211; perhaps a few men managed it in a shielded environment.  And there was a Waygate though we don&#8217;t know where it was, that could have been used to transport the men from the steddings to Far Madding. Could that Waygate be in a shielded room in Far Madding?  Elder Haman says Waygates have to be built outside steddings. ch. 20 LoC <br /><br />Robert Jordan has said the &#8220;the greatest feats of the Age of Legends were done by men and women working together with the One Power&#8221;.  This has been confirmed by Anaiya and Moiraine in TGH <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" />.  I think the Far Madding ter&#8217;angreal could only have been made by both men and women.  It was possible for men to do this without the effects of the taint - &#8220;The Eye of the World &#8211; a pool of pure essence of Saidin made during the first days of the Breaking by 100 AS men and women working together.  They died in the making of it, but insured its purity against the taint&#8221;.  The obvious main effect of the ter&#8217;angreal would be to protect all those within its range from mad male Aes Sedai, but I think the symbol of the Hand shows that it could have been a sheltering sanctuary too.  <br /><br />There is still the puzzle of why the ter&#8217;angreal was made to prevent women from channelling as well.  And why the range is lesser for women.  The only people the ter&#8217;angreal affects are channelers, so at which channelers was the ter&#8217;angreal aimed?  At wilders and Darkfriends possibly, but definitely at the Tar Valon Aes Sedai.  They had made it clear that they intended to be in charge of all channelers, and that their secretive, inflexible way of thinking was the only course they would follow, so I think the smaller zone was designed to keep them away.   I think that Far Madding became a centre for study.  &#8220;Essenia, with all its philosophers and famed seats of learning&#8221; ch.5 LoC &#8211; and Far Madding was the capital. However, &#8220;Essenia survived the Trolloc Wars, but was much weakened and impoverished&#8221;.  The only other country where channelling was banned was Tear, and they were both part of Essenia.<br /><br />As time passed, the original Aes Sedai died off; the Guide &#8220;suggests that no AS alive at the end of the Breaking had survived the entire span, or even a significant portion of it&#8221;, but there must have been a higher than normal proportion of channelling genes, which could explain why two of the most powerful false Dragons came from the city.  In 335AB Raolin Darksbane, and in 1300AB Yurian Strongbow.  Also Cadsuane, Verin and Romanda were all born there.  But, as channelling was impossible within the city, the population would gradually come to accept this as the norm, and the trouble that the two false Dragons caused would reinforce their dislike of the Power.  So any channelers would start to keep out of public view.  Far Madding was still vulnerable to conventional attack - Guaire Amalasan &#8220;crushed Far Madding like an overripe plum&#8221; ch 24 WH.  Kumira - &#8220;Well, their history gives them reason (to pretend the Power doesn&#8217;t exist), and for the last two thousand years they have had the means to support the pretense (that is, since the Trolloc Wars).&#8221;  ch24 WH. <br /><br />The ter&#8217;angreal<br /><br /> &#8220;Aes Sedai don&#8217;t talk of it often...Sisters born there seldom visit...The city possesses a ter&#8217;angreal, or perhaps three...They cannot be studied or removed...They must have been made during the Breaking when fear of madmen channelling the Power was the matter of everyday...These ter&#8217;angreal &#8211; they duplicate a stedding...can&#8217;t channel.  Can&#8217;t feel the True Source&#8221;.  Sarene - WH ch 23.   It warns, locates, defends. WH ch 24. &#8211; this is reminiscent of the statue of Savion Amhara.<br />.<br />The innermost zone of the ter&#8217;angreal that only affects women ends at the bridges.  The outermost zone that affects men reaches about a mile around the city. The third and largest zone can detect both men and women channelling outside the other two zones, and place them precisely using triangulation.<br /><br />Cadsuane &#8220;led them up long, swooping flights of white stone stairs...she took them up a final curling flight of stairs, enclosed by walls, and suddenly they were on a balcony&#8221;... &#8220;To Shalon&#8217;s surprise, the drop that made Kumira uneasy was less than twenty feet, below, a smooth floor tiled in blue and white to make a convoluted maze centred on a double-pointed red oval rimmed with yellow&#8221;. (The counsels wear small copies of the ter&#8217;angreal &#8211; it would be interesting to take them outwith the boundary and test them to see if they were ter&#8217;angreal too.) The colours could be significant &#8211; just causes and logic surrounding healing enclosing the red for male Aes Sedai.<br /><br />Shalon&#8217;s surprise was in part because she expected something fearsome, but also I think she expected the drop to be much greater because of the height of the last flight of stairs they had just climbed, as she doesn&#8217;t think to herself that the last set of stairs is any shorter.  The building is old &#8211; it was built by the Ogier, and it must have been made before, or at the same time, that the ter&#8217;angreal was created, I think, as the ter&#8217;angreal appears to have been built into the floor.  The women &#8220;raced toward a round topped doorway&#8221; WH, so it is obviously a solid floor.  So what is underneath the ter&#8217;angreal?  Could it be a library, or perhaps a store of information ter&#8217;angreal somewhat like the ones now in Caemlyn?  I think there is a shielded space inside the Citadel of Counsels where it would be possible to channel, and I think there is a group that knows this.  <br /><br />LoC ch 14 p363 Nicola&#8217;s Foretelling - &#8220;The great battle done, but the world not done with battle.  The land divided by the return, and the guardians balance the servants.&#8221;  This has always been taken to mean the Asha&#8217;man &#8211; but if the Asha&#8217;man become Aes Sedai again, they will be &#8216;servants&#8217;. The ter&#8217;angreal is called the Guardian; if there are in fact three ter&#8217;angreal, they would be the Guardians.  And if there was a secret group, I think they may well call themselves Guardians too &#8211; of knowledge.<br /><br />RJ likes balance, and Tar Valon and Far Madding would balance.  One openly concerned with channelling and gaining influence, and preparing for Tarmon Gai&#8217;don, and the other hidden, and acquiring and saving knowledge to be used in the time after the war because &#8220;The Prophecies said that the Dragon Reborn would bring a new Breaking of the World&#8221;. New Spring ch. 3.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-01-31 06:29:03
subject: Dark Trinity
body:
<p>Basically this goes as follows:<br /><br />The Dark One (ethereal, spirit form, BIG VOICE GUY), Shaidar Haran, and Ishamael/Moridin are all part of a Dark Trinity, comparable but somewhat of an antithesis of the Christian Trinity.<br /><br />The Dark One is like God the Father, in the Christian Trinity, being disembodied, distant and seen as somewhat removed from the direct events, but also as the main motivator behind it.<br /><br />Shaidar Haran is like the Holy Spirit (A corrupt and evil one), he emphasizing the Dark One's essence in the creature most like Him, the Fade. Ultimately the total corruption of man by the Dark One (being a throwback to the human parts included in trollocs), a Fade is basically a human entirely corrupted by an &quot;unholy spirit&quot;. Shaidar Haran, being the Hand of the Dark is the personification of this unholy spirit and the affect on man.<br /><br />The final is Ishamael/Moridin. Ishamael is a Dark Jesus. He mentions, in the prologue of tEotW that him and the Dragon are counterpoints that will fight battles on forever and ever for the rest of time, as the pawns of their respective Gods. He also at a later point mentions the Fisher king, which is a representation of Jesus and how he is somewhat opposed and opposite to this as well. In addition, he actually seems to know the Dark One's will for the Pattern (Destroy it and end all time, and perhaps all life) and willingly accepts this fate and ardently works towards it, unlike the other Forsaken. He is also Nae'blis and at times thinks of himself as if he were the Dark One. This added to the fact that he was resurrected, would seem to point that he is indeed a Dark Jesus.<br /><br />So the final conclusion of this... just like in the Christian Trinity, in this Trinity rather than truly being completely distinct individuals, all members of this Trinity are rather just aspects of the Dark Godhead. Father, Unholy spirit (personified into a Fade), and Son (That is, God becoming Man, which is what Moridin represents)<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-02 05:29:32
subject: Gawyn Leads Raids Against Rebel Aes Sedai
body:
<p>Special thanks to Linda_Sedai<br /><br /><b>THE SCENE</b><br /><blockquote>&#8220;&#8230; That smoke plume on the far bank rose from burning wagons or supplies.  Pinpricks, yet those pinpricks came every night, sometimes one, sometimes two or three. . . . The residues of weavings made it plain enough [the raiders] were being aided by Aes Sedai&#8221; (COT: 16, The Subject of Negotiations, 397).</blockquote><br />Summed up, my theory is that Gawyn is currently leading the nighttime food and supply raids against the Salidar Aes Sedai now camped around Tar Valon.  All quotes are from the American hard back editions, and most are from CoT, Glimmers of the Pattern, which is the last direct evidence we have of Gawyn&#8217;s whereabouts.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /></center><br /><b>PART ONE: GAWYN</b><br /><br />Evidence against Gawyn and the Younglings<br /><br />Although Gawyn's standing orders have been kept a secret, we know the following:<br /><ol><li>Gawyn and the Younglings were forbidden from entering Tar Valon, but Gawyn has not returned to his sister.  He and his band are located just outside of the city.  Gawyn's situation and location are summed up in the following quotes.</li><br /> <ul><li>&quot;Gawyn sighed.  He should have gone home when he retuned to Tar Valon and found the Younglings expelled from the city, instead of letting himself be caught here by winter&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 54).</li><br /> <li>&#8220;... an army lay between him and Tar Valon, now&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 54).</li><br /> <li>Later, when Gawyn meets an Aes Sedai who has newly arrived at the village mayor&#8217;s house, he thinks to himself that &quot;Afoot in the snow, she could not have made the trip from Tar Valon in less than two or three days&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 56).</li><br /> </ul><br />  This section takes place in the village of Dorlan, where the Younglings are hiding out.  We see that it is only a two or three day walk from Tar Valon even in poor conditions, and that between them and Tar Valon is the large rebel army.<br /><br /> <li>It is known that whoever is raiding the Salidar camp has the help of women who can channel.  See the quotes about the raids at the beginning.</li><br /><br /> <li>There is a group of Twelve Aes Sedai, all of whom escaped from Dumai's Wells, in the village with Gawyn.  They were sent to Dorlan, after they returned from Dumai's Wells, to keep them quiet (ACoS, Sealed to the Flame).  In the quote below they are joined temporarily by Tarna Feir.  Later in the chapter we find that Elaida has sent Narenwin Barda to take over the group and has orders for Gawyn.</li><br /> <ul><br /> <li>&#8220;Tarna had ridden into Dorlan ... and displaced ... Covarla Baldene from command of the eleven other sisters already in the village&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 57).</li><br /> </ul><br /> <li>Gawyn and the Sisters in Dorlan received orders from the Amyrlin Seat via Narenwin, and Gawyn at least intended to obey them.</li><br /> <ul><br /> <li>Narenwin says to Gawyn, &quot;I have orders for you from the Amyrlin Seat, Lord Gawyn&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 56).</li><br /> <li>Tarna asks, &quot;What were [Elaida's] orders to you regarding the sisters in Dorlan, Narenwin&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 58 )?</li><br /> <li>Narenwin replies, &quot;I was ordered to take charge of the sisters I found here under Covarla ... and do what I could&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 58 ). </li><br /> <li>&quot;'You have my word that I will do all I can,' Gawyn said wearily.  'What does Elaida want of me'&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 60)?</li><br /> </ul><br />  From these quotes, we know that the orders are from the Elaida, are intended for Gawyn and the twelve sisters sent to Dorlan by Elaida, and that Narenwin is to take charge of Gawyn and the Sisters for some purpose.  Gawyn already knows that he is not allowed back in Tar Valon, so she cannot be there to collect them, and the language suggests that Narenwin is to be there for quite some time.<br /><br /> <li>Gawyn has once before fought rebel Aes Sedai (when he prevented the Warders from freeing Siuan), and there is no evidence that he would not do so again.</li><br /> <ul><br /> <li>&quot;The Younglings were sealed to the White  Tower.  No one would ever forget that they had fought [the Warders], on the very grounds of the Tower, to stop the rescue of a deposed Amyrlin&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 60).</li><br /> </ul><br /> <li>How much does Gawyn know about Egwene, and how would the knowledge affect his actions?</li><br /> <ul><br /> <li>&#8220;[Gawyn] did not know where Egwene was, or whether she was alive&#8221; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 53)</li><br /> </ul><br />   This is important because I think Gawyn would seek Egwene out if he knew that she was the rebel Amyrlin.  I also believe that knowing this could end all loyalty to Elaida.  See the next point, we know from Egwene&#8217;s dreams and Min&#8217;s Viewings that at some point Gawyn&#8217;s actions may aid or kill her.<br /><br /> <li>Does any of Egwene&#8217;s Dreams or Min&#8217;s Visions foresee this situation or show us anything about what Gawyn is up to?</li><br /><br />  Egwene:<br /> <ul><br /> <li>&#8220;Twice, right atop one another, she dreamed of taking [Gawyn] by the shoulders and trying to turn him to face the other way against his will. Once he brushed her hands away roughly; the other time she was somehow stronger than he. The two blended together hazily&#8221; (LOC: 15, A Pile of Sand, 258 ).</li><br /><br />      It is likely that this Dream is referring to the choice between Elaida and Egwene, and I believe that it could more specifically refer to Gawyn&#8217;s conflict with the raids.  It strengthens the case for Gawyn being our perpetrator, because the two options show that there must be something for Egwene to turn Gawyn away from, such as following Elaida&#8217;s orders.<br /><br /> <li>&#8220;In another, [Gawyn] began swinging a door closed on her, and she knew if that narrowing gap of light vanished, she was dead&#8221; (LOC: 15, A Pile of Sand, 258 ).</li><br /><br />      At some point Gawyn will be closing himself off from Egwene.  These raids are one concrete way for this to be manifested.  By leading the raids he is slowly sealing his fate closer to Elaida&#8217;s and he is slowly diminishing Egwene&#8217;s power to oust her. <br /> </ul><br />  Min:<br /> <ul><br /> <li>&#8220;[Gawyn] either breaking Egwene's neck or kneeling to her&#8221; (TSR: 47, The Truth of a Viewing, 544)</li><br /><br />      This shows again that Gawyn may still choose to go against Egwene and that the consequence would be dire.  Egwene&#8217;s two Dreams above seem to be referring to the same set of possibilities as this vision.<br /> </ul><br />  We cannot tell from these Dreams and Visions what Gawyn is doing now or what decision he will make, but we do see that Gawyn is doing something that Egwene must turn him away from, and that her life may depend on it.  There are no book references that could point to Gawyn doing any other activity that would have grave consequences to Egwene.<br /><br /> <li>Gawyn currently believes that Elayne is with the rebel Aes Sedai.</li><br /> <ul><br /> <li>&quot;'Have you any word of my sister?' [Gawyn] asked....  'Do you know where she is?&#8217;... Stopping halfway from the door, Tarna said, 'Elayne was with the rebels when I saw her last'&quot; (COT, Glimmers of the Pattern, 59).</li><br /> </ul><br />  Some may point to this as evidence that he would not attack the rebels, however, this is not the case.  Gawyn understands that Elayne would be in no danger from food and supply raids, and it is logical to conclude that by raiding rebel supplies he is hastening the consolidation of the tower.  He doesn't need to fear for her punishment after the Aes Sedai unite because since Elayne is an &quot;Accepted,&quot; she is in little danger of retribution from Elaida.<br /></ol><center><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /></center><br /><b>PART TWO: ALTERNATIVES</b><br /><br />Could anyone else possibly be attacking the rebels' supplies?<br /><ol><li>The White Tower Guard</li><br /><br />  The only military force, other than Gawyn&#8217;s Younglings, anywhere near the rebel camps are those of the Tower guard.  This is a sizable force that would also have the backing of Aes Sedai.  However, I believe that they would be Gareth Bryne&#8217;s first and really only suspect, and since he is one of the top four commanders in Randland, I think that it is safe to assume that Bryne would have planned for and been able to counter any attacks from out of Tar Valon city, itself.<br /><br /> <li>Some small faction within Bryne&#8217;s army</li><br /><br />  Since it has been established that the men conducting the actual raids are being aided by women that can channel, the following are the only two plausible scenarios.  However, both are unlikely because of the kind of leader Gareth Bryne is.  He is frequently acknowledged to be one of the great captains, and he has been shown to be sharp, insightful, and in touch with his men.  I argue that he would quickly discover a group of his soldiers going missing every time an attack happened.  Furthermore, where it comes to coordination, it would look very suspicious for Aes Sedai to frequently visit the soldier&#8217;s camp, where they are almost never seen, and likewise a group of soldiers would be quite conspicuous amongst the Aes Sedai.  In any case, the effort has not been very effective at stopping the flow of supplies.  Sisters on the inside, with inside knowledge of food transport schedules and supply locations, could deal some more serious blows.<br /> <ul><br /> <li>A small group of Bryne&#8217;s own soldiers led by rebel Sisters that are actually Elaida&#8217;s ferrets.</li><br /><br />      It has been proven with Beonin that Elaida has Aes Sedai ferrets in the rebel camp; however, I believe it likely that Beonin is the only Aes Sedai ferret.  Although it seems silly for Elaida to only have sent one ferret, she has underestimated the Rebels at every other turn, and I can remember no mentions or even hints of other ferrets.  There is no dialogue from Beonin, either internally or when she reports to Elaida (KoD, The Dark One's Touch) supporting any involvement in the raids, or mentioning any other ferrets at all.  I believe that it would be prohibitively and unrealistically difficult for nightly raids to be managed and aided by only one Aes Sedai.<br /><br /> <li>A small group of Bryne&#8217;s own soldiers led by rebel Sisters that are actually Black Ajah</li><br /><br />      This doesn't work because raiding the rebel's supplies goes against the current Forsaken strategy.  The Forsaken want all wars and conflicts to continue as long as possible.  If the raids were successful enough and the rebels ran out of food, then there resistance would be broken and the Tower would be whole again.<br /> </ul><br />  The lack of any book evidence supporting the possibility of an inside job, along with all of the preceding substantiation to the contrary, prove that no one from within Bryne&#8217;s army could be participating in the raids, and likewise that none of the rebel Aes Sedai could realistically be coordinating them.  That leaves Gawyn and his Younglings as the only plausible military force with Aes Sedai backing anywhere near the rebel camp.  <br /></ol><center><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /><img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wheel.gif" border="0" /></center><br /><b>CONCLUSION</b><br /><br />The evidence shown here paints a complete and plausible picture. There is an unidentified band, operating with the help of channeling women, who are raiding the camp of the Salidar Aes Sedai besieging Tar Valon.  Gawyn and a group of Tower Aes Sedai are proven to be hiding very close to this rebel camp. There is no other known military force (with or without Aes Sedai backing) anywhere near Tar Valon, and the rebels are not raiding their own camp. Gawyn and the Aes Sedai hiding in Dorlan received orders from Elaida.  Elaida is acknowledged from many previous accounts to want the rebel Aes Sedai to rejoin the tower under her leadership (preferably after groveling). Therefore, it follows logically that Gawyn is the most likely, and really the only plausible, suspect, along with his band of Younglings, to be executing the Aes Sedai aided attacks against the rebel Aes Sedai.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-04 00:56:38
subject: Ogier: Not of this World (Book of Translation)
body:
<p>It has long been a puzzle to me as to precisely WHY the Ogier can't channel. I mean, they're 'children of the Creator' too, right? Sure, animals can't channel in the WoT universe, but why would the Creator give the ability to use the True Source just to humans, and not the one other natural sentient race?<br /><br />At last, in Knife of Dreams, we have something that points the way to an answer, when Loial has an argument with his mother about the 'Book of Translation':<br /><br />KoD, Vows, pg. 407:<br />(Covril): &quot;We must leave this world eventually, so we can come to it when the Wheel turns.&quot;<br /><br />KoD, Vows, pg. 407:<br />(Loial): &quot;The War of the Hundred Years was a human affair, and none of ours. The Shadow <i>is</i> our affair. When it is the Shadow that must be fought, our axes have always grown long handles. Perhaps in a year, or five, or ten, we will open the Book of Translation, but if we do it now, we cannot run away with any real hope of safety. Tarmon Gai'don is coming, and on that hangs the fate not only of this world, but of any world we might flee to.&quot;<br /><br />Wow! This is certainly a new development. From first impressions, it looks like this 'Book of Translation' is some sort of ter'angreal (one that dosn't require channeling, or it would be useless in Ogier hands and in a <i>stedding</i>) which does the same thing as a Portal Stone: warps the users (the Ogier) to an alternate world.<br /><br />Of course, there are things about this which don't quite add up. Way back in The Great Hunt, Selene tells Loial about the mirror worlds, and he acts as if he had never had any knowledge of them before:<br /><br />tGH, In The Mirror of Darkness, pg. 217: <br />(Loial): &quot;She says there are worlds where it is time rather than distance that changes. Spend a day in one of those, and you might come back to find a year has passed in the real world, or twenty. Or it could be the other way round. Those worlds-this one, all the others-are reflections of the real world, she says. This one seems pale to us because it is a weak reflection, a world that had little chance of ever being. Others are almost as likely as ours. Those are as solid as our world, and have people. The same people, she says, Rand. Imagine it! You could go to one of them and meet yourself. The Pattern has infinite variation, she says, and every variation that can be, will be.&quot;<br /><br />Not exactly the kind of reaction you'd expect from someone who, later, talks about an apparent mass-transit Portal Stone ter'angreal so matter-of-fact-ly.<br /><br />I'm willing to concede that this dispairity might just be a mistake on RJ's part (though I can't remember whether we've heared any more about parallel worlds from an Ogier until now). If it isn't a mistake, the only way to reconcile his comment with the familiarity he shows in KoD is that the existance of the Book is a mass Ogier conspiracy, kept quiet around to hide their true otherworldly origins. And this isn't very likely, because Loial's words indicate that the Book was in the Ogier's posession during the War of Power. Back in the AoL, Ogier were far more integrated with human society than they are now (becuse they didn't have the Longing), and I don't think that every single Ogier would have been willing or able to keep such a thing from Age of Legends humans.<br /><br />So, anyway, this Ogier talk of dimension-hopping gives us a reason why they can't Channel: perhaps they evolved (well, OK, 'were originally placed by the Creator') in a dimension where access to the One Power was not availible, or where the One Power took a different, more subtle form (i.e. instead of being something to be woven so as to perform cool magic tricks, it was just a general affinity/empathy with other living things, allowing them such pseudo-Talents as treesinging). This fits with Lanfear / Selene's words that all the other worlds are (to differing extents) 'pale' versions of the 'prime reality'; one would expect the distilled essences of the Creator and the Dark One (i.e. the One Power and the True Power) to be most focused in the prime reality, and less so in all the other less likely ones. Hence the less-likely Ogier home dimension had less Power to work with than the one humans live in.<br /><br />Then, for some reason, the Ogier switched dimensions and placed themselves in the human reality. Why they would do such, a thing, I don't know. Maybe they were just dissatisfied that they were only living in 'universe B'. But an offshoot of this line of reasoning gives us a reasonable theory as to what the <i>stedding</i> actually <i>are</i>.<br /><br /><i>Stedding</i> are like reality-ships: bits of the Ogier's original dimension that have been wrenched out of their proper place and pasted onto the human dimension, using their Book of Translation. That's why humans can't feel the One Power in there: because in the slightly different <i>stedding</i> reality, the One Power dosn't exist in a weaveable form, but rather in the subtle, nature-affinity form the Ogier use. It may also explain the reluctance of Trollocs and Myrddraal to enter <i>stedding</i>; if contact with the Creator-essence / One Power is cut off by <i>stedding</i> , it's reasonable to surmise that contact with the Dark One-essence / True Power is also, and Myrddraal do love their Dark One-essence (I presume).<br /><br />This could also be why the Ogier suffer from the Longing. While some theories say that the Longing was caused by the Taint, I suspect simply that, as the Guide suggests, a long seperation from their native dimension (or the pockets of it which they brought with them), caused by losing the <i>stedding</i> during the Breaking, etched weakness into their souls. The Seanchean Ogier are not similarly afflicted because they were able to return to the <i>stedding</i> more swiftly, with no more harm done than if they had gone out for a stroll around Ansaline Gardens and been back home in their dimensional bubble for tea.<br /><br />'Opening the Book of Translations' probably warps the <i>stedding</i>, and whoever's inside them, to a different dimension, just like the Portal Stones do to individual travelers. Because they say 'Book', singular, this suggests to me that just the one artefact warps all the <i>stedding</i> in the world. Of course, the Ogier would be faced with the logistical problems of telling all the other Ogier outside the <i>stedding</i> to get back inside, but, then again, 99% of the Ogier are inside all the time anyway, and if you're facing the Breaking of the World, leaving a few stragglers behind is likely the least of your worries. I doubt the Westlands Ogier are that concerned about leaving the Seanchean Ogier (who are in the field fighting) behind, precisely <i>because</i> they are in the field fighting; Ogier are a pacifistic race, or at least the Westlands ones are, and since they have the Book (it's probably in Stedding Shangtai, since that seems to be the extremely informal 'Ogier capital'), what they say goes!<br /><br />Then again, if the Ogier didn't use the Book during the War of Shadow, just <i>how bad</i> do things have to get before they will use it? They probably need to be Uh-Oh-It's-Nearly-Tarmon-Gai'don-Time bad, unless Loial can convince them otherwise!<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-05 01:11:34
subject: Rand, Moridin and Sealing of the Bore
body:
<p>I have just found this page, after many years of reading the WoT, and have read several theories but not all of them, so please excuse me if someone else has covered this in part or whole.  Also, I would like to preface this with I am not very good at converting thoughts to the written word, so please excuse any repeating and/or lack of information that I thought I explained well, but may have missed.  Here it goes...<br /><br />Background info first, theory to follow (Can skip down to numbered points at bottom, then read top to understand reasoning, if ya dont wish to read a bit of background on why I believe it will happen as such. <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/smile.gif" border="0" /> ).<br /><br />When Rand is at Rhuidean, and seeing the Aiel's past, one of the last things he see's, is when he is Charn.  To paraphrase that part, which I got from encyclopaedia-wot.com, is the following.<br /><br />&quot; Charn is excited because today is the day Mierin told him she and Beidomon would try the new source of the One Power. Suddenly the Sharom, a thousand-foot white sphere floating above the Collam Daan, explodes in black fire. Everyone runs screaming. &quot;<br /><br />We know, that Mierin is soon to be Lanfear, and that this is the original boring, that freed the Dark One, when she (Mierin/ Lanfear) was looking for a source that both the males and females could use.<br /><br />Then, we have LTT and his 113 companions head to the Bore, and try to seal it using Heartstone.  They used just saidin, they did not bring any women for the use of saidir.  From Strike at Shayol Ghul, same webpage. <br /><br />&quot; Lews Therin convinced a group of powerful young male Aes Sedai to carry out the attack at Shayol Ghul without the aid of women. The 113 men managed to seal the Bore also trapping the thirteen Forsaken, but the 68 survivors went insane instantly and hundreds more male Aes Sedai followed. &quot;<br /><br />The DO one also counterstriked, and tainted the male half before the sealing was complete.  So we have LTT and his companions, attempting to seal the bore, and for lack of better terminology, only getting the job half done.<br /><br />Ages go by, and through reading the books, we see that Ishy is either spun out/ not completely sealed , and is seen throughout the ages (Curing LTT's madness so he can fully realize that he slayed his family, being around Artur Hawkwing, etc) I lean towards he wasnt completely sealed with the others, seeing how he was there to *cure* LTT of his madness, but others see it possible he was spun out as the pattern needed it.<br /><br />Then, throughout the first two books, we see Ishy again, taunting Rand and haunting his dreams, mostly seen with eyes and mouth of fire.  Then Rand STS (Sheathes the Sword), *killing* Ishy.  We also know, the DO grants Ishy another body, and Moridin comes along.  Moridin, who uses the True Power only, and has the Saa to prove it.  Many Forsaken (male and female) mention the True Source, and it's addictive and damaging side effects, never going into much detail, except to say it wasnt worth the price, but Ishy is not held bothered by the price and uses it in exclusion of all else. I have read a few threads on here, where people believe the *eyes and mouth of fire*, are the result of continuing use of the True Power, and that the Saa is just the first stages to this. I agree, others disagree (about the flame being advanced sign/sympton of Saa and True Power use) but the main point is, Ishy/ Moridin love the True Power, and as of the last few books, he is the ONLY user of it.<br /><br />Going back to when Lanfear bored the hole, she was seeking a power that both males and females can use.  From Moridin's use of the True Power, and the Forsaken's point of view of it's use, it can be used by males or females.  So, in my opinion, the power Lanfear was seeking, is the same power Ishy uses in exclusion of all else. (To tie together the points above.)<br /><br />Somewhere along Rand's travels and tribulations, him and Moridin have started a link.  Some theorize that it was when Rand and Moridin crossed streams of balefire at Shadar Logoth while trying to kill Sammauel.  Other theorize it could go back as far as when Rand STS, and gave Ishy his wound, and Rand recieved the never healing wound in his side.  I think it's a combination of the both (The link is more to do with the wound, but the sickness/dizzy is from the crossing of streams).  Either could be correct, but the main point is, there IS a link.  Proven by Knife of Dreams, with Rand able to see Moridin on occasion, and Moridin seeing him, and both suffering from the sickness.  <br /><br />THEORY:<br /><br />This is longshot, and alot of speculation, but isnt that what makes it a *theory* and not fact? This is how I believe the bore is going to be healed, or least parts of my theory will be used.<br /><br />I believe the bore was made by Meirin seeking a new source of power that both males and females could use.  She found it, it was the true power, but the consequence of finding it, also released the Dark One.  Many wars and  years later, LTT tries to seal it, using only the male half, and fails to seal it completely.  Ishamael, all the while is using the true power to the exclusion of all else.  I believe the bore/hole, is a conduit for the true power.  As long as it's being accessed or used, the hole can never fully heal.  So, it stays open, immediately after the boring, because Ishy is using it.  LTT goes there, tries to seal it using Saidin and heartstone, and fails.  Ishy continues using the True Power, because it wasnt properly sealed.  Then we have the current age.<br /><br />Fel's last letter to Rand, said ..<br /><br />&quot;Belief and order give strength. Have to clear rubble before you can build. Will explain when see you next. Do not bring girl. Too pretty. -Fel&quot;<br /><br />Im not gonna expand on the belief and order part.  That is covered in other threads, but I believe the &quot;Have to clear rubble before you can build.&quot; is relevant to this theory.  I believe (as have others) that Fel is stating you have to clear the old seals out, before you can heal the bore.  Fel also mentions to Rand earlier, that the Wheel turns, and will eventually come back to a place where it will be as if the bore never exsisted (healed to new).<br /><br />Rand is going to figure this out, and either break the seals, to start the last battle, or they will break on their own, and at this Last Battle, he is going to have a run in with Moridin.  Somehow (I havent figured that out), they are going to have a *fight* or confrontation , with their link.  In KOD, Rand states that a hair to the left or right, and him and Moridin would of linked, in one of his visions of Moridin.  So you have Rand fighting for control of Moridin, and Moridin fighting for control of Rand/ LTT.   <br /><br />This is where the theory gets... opinionated. I believe Rand is going to *win* this battle of wills, and end up in Moridin's body (This has been theorized by others, but I havent seen anyone mention the *end result* I have come up with) and Moridin ends up in Rand's body, with LTT in his head. Which I got from Min's viewing here..<br /><br />A Crown of Swords, Chapter 33, Bath, page 526.  She is saying this to Rand.<br />&quot;I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and....one of you dies, and one doesn't.&quot; <br /><br />Most (myself included) when I read this, thought it was the battle Rand was having with LTT in his head.  I believe now, it has to do with the coming battle between Moridin and Rand, and thier link. Also, Semirhage has planted seeds of doubts, in Rand's followers, that he is going to go insane, because of the voices, and it will be quite abrupt when it happens.<br /><br />So now we have Rand (in Moridin's body), and Moridin (in Rand's body).  Moridin, already being half crazy, is going to go completly nuts, and lash out, probably at Rand's friends and his former body (now with Rand inside).  His friends, are going to think he's snapped, and attempt to hold, shield, and stop him from harming them, but not attempt to kill him.  This is where another Min viewing comes in...<br /><br />From LoC &quot;Twice he's going to have to be there, or you [Rand]....&quot; &quot;If he's not, something bad will happen to you.&quot; &quot;Very bad.&quot; Rand: &quot;Then I'll just have to keep him around.&quot; Min: &quot;I don't know that that will be enough, it will happen if he is not there, but nothing I saw said it won't because he is. It will be very bad, Rand.&quot; <br /><br />First time, most agree with, was when Rand was kidnapped by the White Tower, and Perrin had come to his rescue.  The second hasnt happened, yet, as far as I and most readers agree with.<br /><br />So we have Moridin (in Rand's body) lashing out, his friends thinking he snapped, trying to hold/stop him, and Perrin will be there.  The same Perrin that can smell madness, fear, lying, and tons of other stuff, is going to be able to sense or smell, that Rand is NOT Rand, but someone/something else (There has been an overabundance of RJ pointing out all the different emotions that Perrin can smell, and all the different people he can identify by smell, to be a coincedence in my mind <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/smile.gif" border="0" /> ).  He is going to try and convince the rest of Rand's party of this.  The only one that will take notice, is the one that hasnt had the years to grow close to him... Alivia.  The same Alivia that Min had a viewing of, that said ...<br /><br />&quot;Rand, I like Alivia, But she is going to kill you.&quot; [Rand replies]: &quot;You said she was going to help me die&#8230; Those were your words.&quot; (from Winter's Heart.  It's repeated again in Knife of Dreams).<br /><br />So Alivia is gonna listen to Perrin, and slay /kill Rand's body (with Moridin trapped inside).  Now back to Rand (stuck in Moridin's body).  This is another great stretch, but now that he is in Moridin, he has access to the True Power. Using it, he will seal the bore, as if it was never there. <br /><br />Counter idea to this is, the bore never healed properly, cause the True Power was constantly being drawn through the bore by Ishy/Moridin (the original reason it was made for, was to access a new power).  So with Rand, in Moridin's body now, he could have Alivia gentle him, or perhaps she doesn't know it's Rand in his body, and kills him.  Either way, the flow of True Power thru the Bore stops, allowing the bore to start healing itself and close. <br /><br />I am NOT (and stress the word NOT) a big supporter of Rand &quot;living happily ever after&quot; nor do I have a problem with the Hero dying in any books.  It's the story that I enjoy.  So I am not making this theory fit my idea of what should happen, but trying to use all the differing information throughout the books (viewings, prophecy, dreams, and the story itselt) to figure out how the bore can be sealed *As if it was never there*, which leads to Fel's assertion that Wheel will come full circle and that will happen.  <br /><br />If above theory is true, or true in spirit, this also opens up the completion of many other prophecies/viewings.  Such as...<br /><br />&quot;Aviendha would have Rand's babies too. Four of them at once! Something was odd about that, though. The babies would be healthy, but still something odd.&quot; <br />(From Winter's Heart). <br /><br />This would explain *something odd* with her and Rand's babies.  They dont look like Rand/ Aviendha, they look like Moridin/Aviendha.<br /><br />It, my theory of Rand/ Moridin changing bodies, helps explain the dragon's blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul.  As others have said, the prophecy says &quot;the Dragon's blood&quot; not &quot;Rand's blood&quot;.   Currently, they are both one and the same, but if the switch occurs, then LTT can die (as he wants to), with Moridin dieing also, but it would be *the dragon's blood&quot;.<br /><br />Stretching a bit more, Egwene has a dream, which is...<br /><br />Logain, laughing, stepped across something on the ground and mounted a black stone; when she looked down, she thought it was Rand's body he had stepped over, laid out on a funeral bier with his hands crossed at his breast, but when she touched his face, it broke apart like a paper puppet. (From A Crown of Swords) <br /><br />And Min's viewing of Logain and his future Glory.  I believe that Rand (in his new Moridin form), is going to want to live out his days peacefully as possible with his three wives, and history will tell the story of Rand making it to the last battle, but dieing , and Logain *saving the day*.  Hence his glory, and her dream (the dream is metaphoric.  Logain, laughing cause he was named a false dragon, now being remembered through the ages as the savior of the world, and Rand failing.  His face falling apart like a puppet is metaphoric of it's not really Rand, but just his body.)  This theory of Logain, going along with Rand linking into Moridin, can even apply if Rand dies or is gentled.  Perhaps Rand has Alivia shield/gentle him, and Logain balefire's him out of the pattern.<br /><br />Anyways, I have rambled on way too much for a first time poster, but the main points of the theory are...<br /><br />1) Rand and Moridin get into a battle of wills/minds, due to their link.<br /><br />2) Rand *wins*, gaining control of Moridin, or actually switching bodies. (Min's viewing of rand and unknown man fighting, then touching, and one dieing and one living) <br /><br />3) Moridin, in Rand form now, goes nuts, and Perrin realizes it isnt Rand, gets Alivia to kill Moridin in Rand's body, thus spilling his blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul. (fullfiling several prophecies, dreams and viewings)<br /><br />4) Rand, in Moridin form, now has the ability to heal the Bore correctly.  This could be from using the True Source to fix it, OR from Alivia helping *him to die* either by gentling or slaying him outright, causing the flow of True Power through the bore to stop and to allow it to heal naturally over time.  (I lean towards gentling, but again, they are called Theories for a reason. <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /> ) *** This also fulfills Min's viewing of helping him to die, if it isnt part of Step 3.<br /><br />5) Rest is conjecture (about Aviendha's babies, etc), but helps to explain why those visions may still come true.<br /><br />Anyways, feel free to flame and tear this apart, but it was my crazy thinking of how it may all tie up in the end , with the fixing of the bore.  Enjoy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-05 01:47:32
subject: Rand and Moridin = Saa
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<p>There are quite a few things to consider here. First and foremost is the actual bond between the two of them.<br /><br />Lets just examine another type of bond that exists between people of the same sex. Birgitte and Elayne's Warder bond. This causes them to mirror each other from emotions to menstrual cycles a peculiarity reserved for the only same-sex warder bond thats been documented so far in WoT.<br /><br />Rand and the Wanderer (Moridin) at Shadar Logoth during the battle against Sammael crossed balefire streams. The resulting effect was to bond them in some way. This is the first male - male bond we've seen in the books. In subsequent books Rand gets sick when he tries to channel but attributes it to the taint at first. By KoD we know it isn't the taint and that Moridin is getting them as well.<br /><br />In addition Min saw:<br />&quot;I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and....one of you dies, and one doesn't.&quot;<br /><br />In relation to Rand, this may or may not refer to LTT or it may also refer to Moridin. If it refers to the former then it is merely the battle in his head. If it is the latter then it most likely refers to the battle between the surrogates and the overall balance of the series. For either to suceeed the surrogates must join as one to rise as a single victor.<br /><br />The second important point is the event itself which this theory is concerned with.<br /><br />The &quot;battle&quot;, if it can even be called that, with Semirhage. Forgetting all the things Semi could be planning and instead concentrate on it from a Literary point of view. That scene was over fairly quickly, involved none of the grandeur that normally accompinied forsaken battles. Thus RJ is hiding something. Again we shall assume for the sake of this theory that it isn't something on Semirhage's end (though the Semirhage Game theory is very good and should be checked out as it makes the point for what she could have been doing very well).<br /><br />Rand gets hit by a fireball and has black flecks in his eyes.<br /><br />Nynaeve comments that &quot;there's something wrong with your eyes&quot;. As a healer she would, hopefully, realise that being hit with a fireball would temporarily blind Rand so we shall again assume that she does understand this.<br /><br />In my opinion and the whole point of this theory, is that those flecks were saa.<br /><br />I've heard some arguements against this in the past, most popular being:<br /><br />&quot;You have to have channelled TP to get saa&quot;<br /><br />Well we don't actually know that for certain. We know that is one way to get saa but we've never seen a link of the kind that Moridin and Rand have. Especially considering the female-female bond mirrors so much, it is reasonable to suspect that a male-male bond does something similar. It may not just mirror a state of saa but may allow Rand to touch the TP briefly (or even LTT when he grabbed the source)<br /><br />But the DO needs to give express permission to use TP<br /><br />Or does he?<br /><br />Again there's the bond, something we've never seen before opening up new possibilities. There is also the fact that the DO must be able to tell who is touching the TP, after all how would he know who to allow. Say Rand does touch the TP at some point. Why would the DO stop him? What does he actually have to gain from it? The DO has been attempting for 11 books to take Rand alive and turn him to the Shadow, if Rand touches his power why would he not let him, let him touch it, use it and become dependant on it, then cut him off and make him turn to get it again?<br /><br />The theory summed up quickly:<br /><br />Rand has saa seen during the Semirhage capture. The saa are either from his link to Moridin or a combination of the link and him reaching through the link by accident and touching (and being allowed to wield) the TP.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-06 05:19:37
subject: Semirhage sent the Trollocs after al'Thor
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<p>I&#8217;d like to present my theory as to why Semirhage was the one who sent the Trollocs and Myrddraal to kill Rand in KoD.<br /><br /><b><u>Motive </u></b><br /><br />The motive was simple. She was to meet Rand in a few days disguised as the Daughter of the Nine Moons. She was planning to ambush him alone and with a few sul&#8217;dam and damane. However, she could not possibly gather damane of sufficient strength to match adversaries like Rand, Logain and Nynaeve. Semirhage knew from the Cleansing of saidin that Rand&#8217;s resources were considerable, and her resources were far more limited in this regard. <br /><br />Semirhage therefore sent the Trollocs to do one thing&#8230; kill Rand&#8217;s allies. If he was killed then I&#8217;m sure she wouldn&#8217;t think too much of it, but statistically he would be the most likely to survive, and she knew this. If she managed to eradicate Logain, Cadsuane, Nynaeve or any of Rand&#8217;s allies, her chances of success at the ambush would be greater.<br /><br />This is the reason why she sent literally one hundred thousand Shadowspawn after Rand. She knew that so many were not needed to kill one man, but after the Cleansing, she knew that his defenses were considerable, and she would need a superior army to overwhelm him and his allies. It is possible she did not count on Logain and his Ash&#8217;aman being there &#8211; and even Rand mentioned that they might have been in trouble without Logain.<br /><br /><b><u>Evidence </u></b><br /><br />We know for a fact that Semirhage was a general of average abilities in the War of Power, and therefore it is possible she would consider military force to obtain one of her goals. She also sent Trollocs to the Stone of Tear to fight Sammael&#8217;s Trollocs in TSR at the Dark One&#8217;s behest.<br /><br />I believe there is evidence for her involvement in this plan to overrun Rand&#8217;s allies. The Forsaken meeting in KoD (At the Gardens ) provides most of the proof.<br /><br /><i>&#8221;He could never have borne staying hidden this long,&#8221; Demandred put in&#8230; &#8220;Sammael needed to have every eye directed at him.&#8221; </i><br /><br />Demandred dismisses Moridin&#8217;s statement that Sammael has resurfaced, just like Graendal did. It is important to note that none of them know the circumstances of this apparent resurface. None of the Forsaken know for a fact that he is dead, except Osan&#8217;gar &#8211; and he is probably dead. <br /><br /><i>Moridin scanned around the chairs as though he could detect who it had been. </i><br /><br />Moridin clearly suspects one of the Forsaken who are present. It is at this point that Semirhage questions him&#8230;<br /><br /><i>&#8221;Are you going to tell us what these orders were?&#8221; Semirhage&#8217;s tone was cool, and she sipped her win calmly, watching Moridin over the goblet&#8217;s rim.  She sat very erect, but she always did. She too appeared completely at ease, yet that was unlikely. </i><br /><br />Semirhage, I believe, is probing Moridin to see if he has any clue as to who instructed the Shadowspawn, and why. She asks what the orders are because if Moridin discovers them, he will try and intercept the attack and endanger her plan. He even says later in the chapter that any reports of Shadowspawn outside the Blight must be reported to him at once. Moridin most likely would have stopped the attack. At this point Moridin replies&#8230;<br /><br /><i>&#8221;I don&#8217;t know&#8230; But they sent a hundred Myrddraal and thousands of Trollocs into the Ways. </i><br /><br />This immediately triggers a response from Demandred&#8230;<br /><br /><i>&#8221;That sound like Sammael,&#8221; Demandred said thoughtfully, twisting his goblet and studying the swirling wine. &#8220;Perhaps I was mistaken.&#8221; A remarkable admission, coming from him. Or an attempt to hide being the one who had worn Sammael as a disguise. </i><br /><br />Demandred admits that he spoke hastily and Aran&#8217;gar can&#8217;t believe that he would make such an admission. The answer is obvious. Semirhage told him and Mesaana that she was sending an army to kill Rand&#8217;s allies, but she didn&#8217;t mention that she&#8217;d used Sammael as a disguise. She would need a disguise in case Moridin found out &#8211; and we can see that he is clearly displeased in this chapter. When Demandred heard that Sammael had resurfaced, he dismissed it immediately &#8211; but he had not made the link between Sammael and Semirhage&#8217;s disguise when she sent the army. When Demandred did hear about the army, he made a concession that he was incorrect.<br /><br />It has been suggested by some, including Aran&#8217;gar, that he is the one who sent the Trollocs. But why would he incriminate himself so obviously with conflicting opinions? He is far too intelligent for that. By changing his opinion, he doesn&#8217;t threaten anyone if Semirhage was indeed the culprit.<br /><br /><b><u>The Follow Up </u></b><br /><br />Semirhage didn&#8217;t manage to kill any of Rand&#8217;s allies. So why did she go ahead with her plan? Well, she actually had to go ahead, or lose the opportunity forever. Her plan had taken months to prepare, at least.<br /><br />Whenever you ask someone what they thought about the Semirhage encounter later in the books, they always say the same thing. &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe Semirhage was stupid enough to think she could take out that whole party.&#8221; Exactly! And she knew it too. That battle only lasted a few second. It was indeed a rash decision by her, but it was also a gamble which might have come up with immense rewards if it had worked. Unfortunately she was thwarted on other levels before she could even approach Rand.<br /><br /><b><u>Summary</u></b><br /><br />1. Semirhage sent the army to kill Rand&#8217;s allies.<br /><br />2. This would have tipped the balance in his favour, especially if he was forced to use normal Aes Sedai or Ash&#8217;aman in the absence of his very strong allies.<br /><br />3. She used Sammael as a disguise because he is one Forsaken whose whereabouts and fate are still balanced on rumour and suspicion.<br /><br />4. When her plan failed, she had to either totally abandon her plan, or go ahead against difficult odds. She chose the latter.<br /><br />Thoughts?<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-06 05:21:26
subject: Maintaining the Balance
body:
<p>This is a simple theory of mine, regarding Saidar and Saidin.<br /><br />In Knife of Dreams, when the Aes Sedai start noticing some of their weaves failing (ie, the ones that keep food from spoiling, or the wards against rats in Tar Valon), some of them begin to think that Saidar itself is weakening.  Now, many people would attribute this to the Dark One, but I think that, for once, he's not to blame.<br /><br />I believe that the cause of this weakening of Saidar is the strengthening of Saidin.  Saidar and Saidin are in a balance, such that a change in the strength of one affects the other.  This is shown again and again by the Aes Sedai symbol, which shows the Black and White in harmony.<br /><br />Think about it.  For the first time in a long time, you have a lot of Saidin users in Randland.  Also, the average Black Tower student probably uses more of the Power each day than Elaida herself, since they use the Power for almost everything, which is a big Aes Sedai no-no.  Not to mention the recent de-tainting that Saidin underwent.  <br /><br />I also think that this balance is needed for many of the Talents that have been resurfacing in Randland.  In the Age of Legends, when you had both sides of the Power in high use, there were many of these special Talents.  In the early days of the WoT series, you have only Saidar channelers, and none of them really have any Talents.  Now, with the Asha'man using Saidin, it seems like all the little Aes Sedai are developing Talents.<br /><br />As if that isn't enough, in the Prophecies it says &quot;the servants shall equal the guardians.&quot;  For those of you who haven't payed attention, Aes Sedai means servant(how ironic, those arrogant wenches), and Asha'man means guardian.  Now, this could be interpretted a few ways:<br />1. There will be an equal number of Aes Sedai and Asha'man<br />2. The number of Aes Sedai that bond Asha'man will be equal to the number of Asha'man that bond Aes Sedai, as proposed by Rand<br />3. The aforementioned balance between Saidar and Saidin will be achieved<br /><br />I think that this will eventually be hinted at in WoT, and probably give the Aes Sedai another reason to be ticked off at the Asha'man... those witches...<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-07 02:55:10
subject: Sammael's truce against Demandred
body:
<p>In LoC, ch.16, Sammael offers Rand a truce: &quot;If you do not move against me, I will not against you. I will pledge not to move east beyond the Plains of Maredo, nor further north than Lugard in the east or Jehannah in the west. You see, I leave the greater share by far to you. I do not claim to speak for the rest of the Chosen, but at least you know you have nothing to fear from me, or out of the lands I hold. I will pledge not to aid them in anything they do against you, nor to help them defend against you.&quot;<br /><br />It's interesting which lands Sammael claims for himself: besides Illian, he wants to conquer Murandy, Altara and Ghealdan. He implies that Rand can fight with the rest of the Forsaken in other lands.<br /><br />In LoC, ch.6, it&#8217;s made clear that Sammael is currently especially concerned about Demandred's plans because &quot;events to the south had Demandred's mark all over them.&quot; Sammael even warns Graendal and says: &quot;So long as they steer clear of me, his lackeys can carve out what he wants, but they will steer clear or he will answer for it.&quot; Furthermore Sammael thinks in the same context: &quot;Perhaps he could direct al'Thor's attention there; that would likely put an end to him.&quot;<br /><br />That Sammael doesn't want to confront Demandred and his lackeys himself but would like it if Rand dealt with them, suggests that Sammael thinks these proxies aren't in the lands he wants to conquer according to his truce, namely not in Murandy, Altara or Ghealdan.<br /><br />Thus, if Sammael is right (and there is no reason to disbelieve that Sammael knows Demandred&#8217;s modus operandi), Demandred's proxies must be in another land in the south of the Westlands.  Of course this implies that Masema in Ghealdan wasn't Demandred's proxy (at least at the time of the beginning of LoC).<br /><br />That only leaves Amadicia and Tarabon as a place for Demandred's &#8220;friends&#8221;.<br /><br />Sammael doesn't mention that he wants to conquer Amadicia and the Whitecloaks.  But we got PoV of all the most important Whitecloak leaders (Niall, Valda, Asunawa, Bornhald, Carridin), and there is no hint in these PoV that Demandred uses any of these men.  Plus, through the series the Whitecloaks only became a less powerful force in the Westlands. That doesn't fit with the idea that a Forsaken controls them.<br /><br />We also know that Semirhage is the Forsaken with the Seanchan.  Since according to RJ, every Forsaken carved out his or her own powerbase, Demandred can't be with the Seanchan, too. Besides that the Seanchan leader, Suroth, also doesn't mention in her PoV that Demandred or anyone else controls her.<br /><br />Another point to deduce Demandred's whereabouts is Graendal's last thought in LoC, ch.6: &quot;She would sow chaos till the harvest made Demandred's lungs explode.&quot; Apparently the chaos that Graendal creates in Arad Doman will suit Demandred's plans in some ways.<br /><br />Maybe Graendal only means that Demandred as the Top-General of the Shadowforces will harvest chaotic Arad Doman when the long anticipated attack from the Blight occurs.  But especially together with Sammael's comments, it could also indicate that the Dragonsworn in Taraborn (and later in Arad Doman) are Demandred's proxies and were meant by Sammael.<br /><br />I further think that Demandred took not until some time later control of Masema and his Dragonsworn in Ghealdan and Amadicia as well to create even more chaos.<br /><br />To sum it up, I believe Sammael's purposed truce, his &amp; Graendal's thoughts about Demandred and finally the Points of View of the leaders of other important factions in  the south of the Westlands show that Demandred must have orchestrated the Dragonsworn in Tarabon at first and probably later the others in Ghealdan, Amadicia and Arad Doman.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-08 03:48:35
subject: Semirhage's plan is going well
body:
<p>I'm not sure if anyone else has come up with an idea similar to this, but I did read all the other theories on this site before writing mine so I think that this is a new idea. <br /><br />If you don't feel like reading, just skip to the conclusion, but you might not understand my reasoning without reading the whole theory first.<br /><br />I'm sure that most of you (myself as well) were surprised by the chapter &quot;A Plain Wooden Box&quot; in KoD. Semirhage only brought six damane with her to her meeting with Rand! She had to realize that it wouldn't be enough. Also if she had wanted to she could have brought hundreds of damane. All Semirhage had to do was say the word and Souroth would have ordered it, but Semirhage was content to only bring six.<br /><br />I knew all of that and so I wondered what her goal could have been. I don't believe that Semirhage thought that she could get away with such a weak force so she had to have had a different plan in mind. There are several quotes in the chapter about everyone's surprise that there was no Seanchan army nearby and that Semirhage only brought six damane; that has to be RJ foreshadowing what was really going on.<br /><br />When the fighting was over Semirhage was very calm. She didn't look like someone who had just been captured, and she even had a dagger sticking out of her so she should have been terrified. There are two explanations for this. One, that she is a Forsaken and can ignore pain and has no fear. Or two, that she has a plan and that the plan is going well. I don't know about you but I think that the second reason is more likely.<br /><br />When Cadsuane asks Rand how he can be sure that Semirhage is Semirhage, the Forsaken tells everyone about Lews Therin in Rand's head and how Rand could go mad at any second. She was trying to cause fear and dissension among Rand's followers. That seems like a good reason to get captured. <br /><br />Just like Egwene is trying to bring down Elaida from within the White Tower, Semirhage will try to bring down Rand from within his own army. <br /><br />Another interesting point, the thought that Rand has in the chapter &quot;A Plain Wooden Box&quot; in KoD on page 589 (hardcover).<br /><br />&quot;She[Semirhage] had been a prisoner before, briefly, during the War of the Shadow. She had escaped from high detention by frightening her jailers to the point that they actually smuggled her to freedom.&quot;<br /><br />Semirhage probably thinks that when she finishes sowing dissension she will be able to escape just like she did the last time. The result would be that she would turn Rand's allies on him and then escape with little harm or danger to herself.<br /><br />I say 'little danger to herself' because she would have know that she would not be killed. Lanfear knew about how Rand can't kill women. Now that Lanfear is Cyndane she will have told Moridin. Moridin could easily have told Semirhage of this, so she would have known that Rand wouldn't hurt her. Even if Moridin never told that to Semirhage she would still have known that Rand's allies wouldn't kill her because they would want to question her.<br /><br />Conclusion<br /><br />1. Semirhage got captured on purpose just for the chance to sow dissension among Rand's followers. Like what Egwene is doing at the White Tower.<br />2. Semirhage planned to escape by frightening her jailers just like she did during the War of the Shadow.<br />3. She knew, or at least guessed that Rand's allies wouldn't kill her because she would be needed for questioning.<br /><br />Please tell me if you think that I am right or not, all coments are appreciated.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-12 03:04:47
subject: Moridin's Plan and Alivia's Role
body:
<p>Some people have already said that Rand and Moridin will switch bodies and that Rand has begun seeing the saa. I agree with this and would like to take it a step further. So special thanks to alexistran and thom thom and red ear evets, and any others who came up with some of this.<br /><br />My theory:<br />1-Moridin's plan has been to switch bodies with Rand this whole time<br />2-Alivia will collar Rand and enable him to win<br /><br />The first part has been discussed, and I would like to make it pretty clear to everyone. I believe that at Falme, Rand was connected to Ishamael and that at SL, he and Moridin joined balefire to speed up the connection.<br /><br />How do we KNOW that Rand and Moridin will switch bodies? The Fisher King. In PoD, Moridin describes the Fisher King. We know that it is Rand. The Fisher King has bandages to cover his eyes, and a wound at his side. Sounds like Rand. But, the description says that 'his hand' holds the wound at his side, instead of 'his only hand.' So, Rand has to have both hands. But then there's the fact that the Fisher King has bandages over his eyes. Rand has never been described as bandaged, nor would he need bandages at any point before he loses his hand. So how does Rand have both hands (even Healing only brings back a stump) and bandages? The body switch. People have already pointed out the fact that he and Mordin have that connection in their heads, and that Rand and Moridin can merge. So, I think that he'll switch bodies with Moridin (the whole thing about Aviendha's babies being odd) and that Rand as Moridin, who will have the saa or lost eyes, will not want to be recognized, so will wear bandages over his eyes. But what about the wound at the side for the Fisher King with bandages and both hands? This is why I think that it has been Moridin's plan all along.<br /><br />It has been speculated that Rand saw the saa in KoD. I think this is true for a few reasons. One of them is that he saw 'black flecks,' which is how the saa is described. Another thing is his hand. After Rand loses his hand, his PoV says that &quot;Strangely, he could still feel his hand&quot; and that after Nynaeve tries healing, &quot;He could STILL feel the whole hand.&quot; I think that he was able to feel the hand on Moridin's side. I don't think that Moridin has lost his hand, but in the next book, he'll definitely show something odd about the way he uses or feels with his hand. So, if Rand can feel the saa and Moridin's hand, what does Moridin feel? The wound on Rand's side. Moridin never shows any weakness from a wound at his side, but neither does Rand. So it's possible that Moridin's felt it this whole time without letting anyone know.<br /><br />What's so important about Rand's wound at his side? It can't be healed, meaning that it might have TP evil in it, so would need to be opened and emptied for the DO to be resealed without any evidence of him left on the earth. It might be affecting Rand's mind with Moridin's just like LTT affects Rand via the taint. If this is so, then just like LTT can snatch Rand's agency, so too might Moridin eventually.<br /><br />If Rand and Moridin are connected like this, it would explain why Moridin doesn't want anyone to kill Rand. That's why he's so insistent in KoD that &quot;The time and manner of al'Thor's death will be at my choosing.&quot; Moridin knows that any attack on Rand will affect him as well. And Moridin has had his plan for awhile. In PoD he thinks that he can't lose since he's playing both sides (during the sha'rah game analogy). This makes sense if he can become Rand. Also, it is suspicious that Rand knows about the link to Moridin, but we NEVER hear about what Moridin thinks about the link. If it wasn't a huge plot point, I think he would have had some working plan about it that we were told about. This link is HUGE, so why isn't he actively using it to his advantage? Because he plans on using it at the end- it's his trump card.<br /><br />In SL in aCoS, he and Rand crossed balefire streams. Does Rand use balefire lightly? Probably not. I think it more likely that Moridin was the one who joined their balefire. Why? My theory is that he wanted to speed up the process of his and Rand's link. Balefire usually sends things back in time. What if two streams link? Maybe it moves the other way in time, since one of them used the TP as opposed to its opposite in the OP. Seems likely if Moridin wanted to make the link between himself and Rand quicker, since time was running out. I think that the original link came about when the TP wound in Rand's side opened Rand's soul similarly to the taint, and then the process was enhanced by the balefire incident.<br /><br />So where does Alivia come in? I think she collars Rand. It's a little out there, but the sad bracelets have been around since book 4, and it would be a huge tease if Rand didn't wear one ever. Alivia is a Seanchan, so it gets the irony factor, and Alivia is the one that helps Rand to die. I see it that Rand and Moridin change bodies, and since it was Moridin's plan all along, Rand is not going to be able to save the day by himself. I think that Alivia, using an adam, will be able to let Rand open his side, spilling his blood, and emptying the last bit of the DO's evil in the world on the rocks of SG. Rand's job is to get to the other body and beat Moridin at his own game. Moridin, trusting to Alivia's loyalty, will not suspect her of collaring him. I don't think she will shield or gentle him, since Rand or Moridin are stronger. I think she will collar Rand's body while it has Mordin's soul inside.<br /><br />Going back to the Fisher King analogy, the Fisher King has a bleeding wound in his side. I think that either the wound in Rand's side is so powerful that Moridin's side opens at the end as well, or more likely, that Alivia gives the command for Rand to open the wound at his side just as both he and Moridin fight for their bodies- the exact moment is perfect so that the command affects both souls and both bodies get opened up.<br /><br />The final point of irony comes from Moridin's PoV during the sha'rah game description. We know that RJ likes his irony, and he likes it bitter. Moridin thinks that the legend of the Fisher King has been lost in the ages. &quot;That troubled him sometimes, enraged him, what knowledge might be lost in the turnings of the Wheel, knowledge he needed, knowledge he had a right to. A right!&quot; He has a right to that knowledge because even as Rand is the Fisher King, so is he.<br /><br />Thanks again to all the pioneers of this theory.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-12 03:40:59
subject: Semirhage Capture: A Review
body:
<p>Ok.  So I was not going to submit for Theory, but after seeing some discussion/feedback...why the hell not. (It's my first, I'm a theory virgin)<br /><br /><br />As I see it, for the most part, the discussion surrounding this event comes down to basically 3 possibilities (or slight variations of).<br /><br />1) Semi planned on capturing Rand and failed, end of story<br />2) Semi planned on capturing Rand, but had a backup plan in case of failure<br />3) Semi actually wanted to be captured and taken prisoner, w/ no intent of capturing Rand<br /><br />I've got a bit of a different take.<br /><br />If we look to early KoD when Semi visits Suroth, Semi gives the impression she wants Tuon dead, and dangles the title of &quot;Empress&quot; in front of Suroth. Suroth bites, and vows to seek/destroy Tuon. (and we know how that went) Semi also notes that she feels Tuon is not &quot;amenable&quot; enough (note she states &quot;current Empress&quot;, knowing that is Tuon)<br /><br />Ok, forward to &quot;A Plain Wooden Box&quot;.  I've been wondering about this chapter title, thinking it had to have more significance than just the fact that the a'dam were in it. I wonder if Semi planned on being captured, but not as herself, as Tuon!  There are many reasons why I can't get this out of my head.  If we look to the sul'dam and damane, it's quite clear they were under the impression this really was Tuon.  There is no indication of them being darkfriends, or having knowledge of Semi's plans.  This is very important.  If Semi planned on capturing Rand, then why would these sul'dam/damane not be included?  Why would she leave them out, and go it herself?  This doesn't make sense.<br /><br />For the moment, let's consider that it was a planned capture of Rand.  Clearly, by the actual results, it did not work.  Some have argued that Semi should have had an army of Seanchan nearby, or many, many more sul'dam/damane. But if you think about it, you have to make a calculated call at some point, and limit the number of people involved in the trap.  If you go overboard, your likely to be caught. Also remember how cautious Rand and co. were as they approached this meeting.....they 1/2 expected a trap.  This wouldn't be hard for Semi to reason.  For Semi to include more people would have greatly increased the chance of exposure, and therefore failure of the trap.  So that's my counter for the &quot;more people&quot; argument.  Also, to explain lack of DF in her group, I don't believe it was due to a problem of not having any at hand....they are everywhere as we have seen.   And finally,  I don't think she would have intended to capture Rand as &quot;Tuon&quot; (which would be needed given the sul'dam /damane ignorance....otherwise she has some explaining to do) So, for these reasons, I rule out that Semi had any plans of capturing Rand at this meeting.  <br /><br />Which brings me to the plain wooden box.  Why leave it just sitting there, right next to the doorway, so out of place?  I say that Semi planned on luring Rand into the house under the pretense of negotiations, only for the box to be discovered, and thereby provoking some sort of reaction from Rand and co.........leading to her capture.  I think it's very likely that the a'dam would set not just Rand off, but nearly everyone.  And no need for all to recognize the male a'dam, the female work just fine.  This just shouts out to Rand and co that &quot;Tuon&quot; has dark motives, and all cordiality would end.  And a thought on the male a'dam in the box:  This may be completely wrong, but it's not clear that they are actual &quot;real&quot; a'dam.....if you remember, when Nynaeve 1st encounters the male a'dam in Tanchico, just getting close to it, as well as touching, makes her feel pain, suffering and sorrow.  We do not get any indication of that here, and Rand grabs hold of them.....but perhaps he would not be aware of it, or perhaps we are just not informed of Nynaeve feeling this because of her proclomation of them being male a'dam (and us believing her, so we don't need to be informed).<br /> <br />Moving on. Do we have any reason to think the Semi did not completely trust her MoM, masked ability to channel and inverted weaves?? She had no reason to believe she would be &quot;outed&quot;.  As many have said, Caddy and Nyneave's ter'angreal really saved the day. The major point of contention here is that the MoM can be &quot;discharged&quot; by touching the user.  This may be, but I don't believe it's confirmed.  However, let us look to examples we have.  Lanfear as Keille: No one makes a comment about suspecting her....Rand thinks it's the pretty one....and either way, there is no indication that anyone disrupted her MoM, or learned of her MoM.  She was in very close proximity to people, especially Kadere, who never suspects.  Also, she both pinches and pats Mat's cheek....she actually touches him, and the MoM stays.  She also shoves Kadere around, and nothing happens.  Also, as far as I recall, take any big-time major character .... say Cadsuane, or Moiraine, or the real Tuon....how often are they being touched/handled/groped?  very, very rarely, if at all.  As Rand's &quot;prisoner&quot; Semi/Tuon would be afforded respect, and Rand would not allow her to be manhandled by anyone.  Once captured, she could now work from the inside, within Rand's very camp, as a prisoner, but a VERY IMPORTANT prisoner, one she had to know Rand would not kill or let be harmed. Rand would still think he needed the Seanchan at this point (duh...cuz he does), and would work to make some sort of deal/truce/peace with &quot;Tuon&quot;.  Semi would be perfectly placed to do her &quot;magic&quot;, and learn any number of things useful to herself/Moridin/DO.<br /><br />This is why she needed the real Tuon killed and out of the way, and why she impressed upon Suroth that she could take over......because while she was in Rand's camp masquerading as &quot;Tuon&quot;, Suroth could work over the Seanchan and take the lead there until Semi could possibly return at some future point, most likely as herself, or at least get message to Suroth.  Suroth is her &quot;paper puppet&quot;, leading the Seanchan until further notice.  Also, this could cause further chaos amongst the remaining Seanchan, as well as turn them against Rand (if they are not already), worsening the prospect of a truce, and diminishing the chance of Rand uniting the lands as he needs to. (it would be very simple for word of &quot;Tuon's&quot; capture to be spread amongst the Seanchan)<br /><br />So back to the event....what happens?.....the ter'angreal reveal Semi's deception, she reacts, but keeping in mind Moridin gave explicit orders not to kill Rand, she only sends enough power(as fireball) to injure him.  I believe she would have certainly killed anyone else in Rand's party given the chance, but failed to do so.  She was fighting for her life at this point, though attempting to keep Rand alive (as she would have hoped for and/or assumed victory), while taking out the rest of the party.  This didn't work, obviously, so once captured, she immediately begins her &quot;wormtongue&quot; (Rand and his crazy voices), but also acts as proud/arrogant as possible, and why shouldn't she....what other choice does she have?  cry? beg? She's been in this situation before, and of all the forsaken, she is probably best equipped to get out of it. She did not mean to be captured as herself, but it's what she has to work with.  <br /><br />And therefore, the plain wooden box is more important than being just a container......it was to be the &quot;spring&quot; of the real trap, so to speak.<br /><br />So that's it.  Hope you like it.  <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-12 03:46:35
subject: Rand al'Thor is Luke Skywalker
body:
<p>I was thinking to myself after listening to Robert Jordan's audio clip of his book signing in West Chester, PA (or somewhere in PA).  RJ was talking about how he used various myths of the world to flesh out his books, characters, stories, etc.  For example, he used Excalibur/King Arthur for Rand and Callandor, he used the Hindu monkey king for Mat Cauthon. That got me thinking. I started to wonder where the concept of a young hero and his 2 sidekicks (Mat and Perrin) are in various myths, etc.  I can safely conclude that RJ is using the Rand al'Thor, C3PO, and R2D2 as the model for Rand al'Thor and his 2 hero/friends/sidekicks. I'll explain below:<br /><br />Luke Skywalker/Rand al'Thor: Very interesting background but totally unaware of it until young adulthood.  Raised in the middle of nowhere.  Good character, health, looks, personality, mind, etc.  Has REAL potential, especially with the One Power/The Force.  Has 2 good friends at home and takes them with him when he is forced to leave from trolloc/tuskan raider attack.  Home is partially destroyed, he doesn't know if he'll ever come back.<br /><br />Perrin &quot;Golden Eyes&quot;/C3PO &quot;Sun God to the Ewoks&quot;: Very intelligent, uses intelligence first, foremost, and always.  Uses intelligence (or tries to) over physical strength.  Is always following his friend/leader.  Very loyal.  Uses his &quot;golden eyes&quot;/&quot;sun god&quot; mystique as a way of guiding his people (Two Rivers/Ewoks).<br /><br />Mat Cauthon/R2D2: While a good follower and friend of Rand/Luke, has an independant streak.  Great combo of useful skills and comic relief.  Seems to be the more social of the 2 sidekics (vs. Perrin/C3PO).  Between the 2 droids/friends/sidekicks, is more likely to get wild, crazy, party all night, and score with lots of chicks.  Perrin/C3PO is considered monagamous/celibate.  Mat/R2D2 is the life of the party.  Perrin/C3PO prefer to think and worry.<br /><br />To give this all a little more insight, I went a tad deeper into the WoT/Star Wars mythos to do comparisons.<br /><br />Two Rivers/Endor: Both a little backward, more remote from the rest of civilization, lots of forest, good intentioned/stubborn/traditional/conservative folk.  Both 2 Rivers Folk and Ewoks only fight when they must.  Usual enemies are the trollocs (Tuskan Raiders/Imperial Storm Troopers) and Myrddraal(Imperial officers wearing black uniforms).  Both 2 Rivers folk and Ewoks are able to overcome vast enemy numbers and superior equipment by using simple tools and tricks native to their lands.<br /><br />Darth Vader/Lews Therin Telamon: Rand/Luke is from Darth Vader/LTT or he would not exist.  In the beginning, DV/LTT knows more than Rand/Luke, has better knowledge/control of the One Power/The Force, is a better warrior, etc.  In time Luke/Rand realize that there is a connection to Darth Vader/LTT despite the initial psychological blocks.  In time, Rand/Luke learn from and try to befriend (or turn in Star Wars) Darth Vader/LTT.  In the end, the 2 struggle but join forces to defeat the Dark One/Emperor Palpatine and his evil version of the One Power/Dark Force.  At the very end as Darth Vader/LTT dies, they look at each other and basically say, &quot;You are from me&quot; (DV/LTT), &quot;I am from you&quot; (Luke/Rand), which really means &quot;I am you&quot; (acceptance of the oneness of past and present forms of the hero from the Wheel of Time).<br /><br />Princess Leia: PL is Nynaeve from the 2 rivers.  At first, I thought she would be Egwene but at closer examination, there are 5 points which clearly show she is Nynaeve:<br />1. Hair braid, never changes regardless of the universe.<br />2. Loves Luke/Rand like a brother and they both consider each other as family.<br />3. Has no problems getting in a fight, her hands dirty, leading, telling others what to do, etc.<br />4. Has great potential with the One Power/The Force.<br />5. Despite all of the above, has a talent in putting her nose in other's business and telling/cursing/insulting/chewing out her friends and &quot;family&quot;.<br /><br />Hans Solo/Lan al'Mandragoran: Both were solitary studs until tamed by women (the Lan in TEoTW compared to the Lan in New Spring is a tamed, lame, eunuch), both are excellent fighters, reluctant leaders, egdges of rogue on their character (ladies) but still noble at heart.  Were it not for the women (Nynaeve/Princess Leia) in their lives, they would probably die alone and violently.  The women help give them purpose.  Both Hans Solo/Lan are friends and mentors to Rand/Luke.<br /><br />Obi Wan Kanobi &quot;Old Ben&quot;/Thom Merrillin: Both are old, white haired men who know a hell of a lot of the world despite starting the story in the middle of nowhere (2 Rivers/Tattoine).  Both have the capability of being great warriors, sages, spies.  Both look after Rand/Luke as a mentor and friend.  Both (especially Ben Kanobi) probably have a link to the One Power/The Force (remember Thom's nephew and genetics).  Both have persuasion skills and can find a home in the palace as well as the space bar/tavern.  Both will willingly give their lives to help Rand/Luke.<br /><br />Other than a loose theory of Mazrim Taim being Jabba the Hut (evil, powerful worm immune to some forms of the One Power/Jedi Mind Tricks on his own planet inside his palace/fortress surrounded by cronies) and being taken out by Perrin/C3PO, Mat/R2D2, Nynaeve/Princess Leia, Hans Solo/Lan, and Billy Dee Williams, I don't know of any other Star Wars/WoT links.<br /><br />Enjoy.<br /><br />Nikolai al Farran<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-14 01:19:43
subject: Taim's Most Sinister Plan
body:
<p>In Knife of Dreams Robert Jordan put a lot of theories to rest, however an issue he has yet to address the issue of Taim and the Black Tower, most specifically the fact that it is being ran by an apparent dark friend, who we will assume is a dark friend for the fact that I will eat my metaphorical hat if he is not. Anyway, to couple this Logain's flaming halo of glory has not been addressed either.<br /><br /><i>'She had seen Logain's halo before and knew what it meant. Glory to come'</i> TFOH, Fanning the Sparks (Min)<br /><br />The quote is taken from before Logain's Healing and though it could be assumed that this maybe indicative of his halo, I cannot see enough &quot;glory&quot; to justify Min's viewing, nor can I think of much that he has achieved thusly to acquire it either.<br /><br />So, back to Taim's plan. I think that he will try to impersonate Rand, it has been forshadowed massively since as early as The Shadow Rising, when Joiya Byir of the Black Ajah was questioned.<br /><br /><i>'The false dragon, Mazrim Taim, who was captured in Saldaea can channel with immense strength. Perhaps as much as Rand Al'Thor, or nearly so, if reports can be believed. Before he can be brought to Tar Valon and gentled, Liandrin means to break him free. He will be proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn, his name given as Rand Al'Thor and then he will be set to destruction on a scale the world has not seen since the War of the Hundred Years'</i> tSR, Questioners (Joiya)<br /><br />And let me say that their deaths weren't like that for no reason. While they might have been killed for just being captured I'm sure that their tongues being nailed to the door is very indicative of them saying something they shouldn't have. Now we know that Amico was telling the truth and got a tongue nailing, so can't we perhaps assume that Joiya did likewise? <br /><br />Another insinuation of Taim's possible impersonation of Rand is the blue and gold dragons he has on his coat.<br /><br /><i>'The Dragons climbing the sleeves of his black coat glittered in the sunlight; thread of gold would do for the one, but what could make the blue shine so?'</i> LoC, The Black Tower<br /><br />Taim was a false dragon, he wanted to reign along side Rand in some sort of partnership, I doubt he expected to actually get that, but he certainly wants more than what he's got; he likes power.<br /><br /><i>'He's given over a dozen men the Dragon pin in the past few days, and he has above fifty more in his 'special' classes, most of them recruited just lately. He's planning something and I doubt you'll like it'</i><br /><br />The lately recruited men are no doubt darkfriends that have been ordered to attend the Black Tower, Taim could not discern so many, so quickly as darkfriends from the rest of the rabble. This way he's able to advance their lessons before Tarmon Gaidin. Taim's plan is probably just to recruit as many newly christened &quot;Dark Asha'man&quot; (<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" />) before Tarmon Gaidin, with perhaps the intent to kill as many of Logain's faction before leaving for the Last Battle.<br /><br />Anyway, I think that Rand will approach Taim and the Black Tower sometime before the Last Battle to organise troops, get all the asha'man to come to the Last Battle, talk strategy etc. when Taim attacks Rand, who will have stupidly gone either on his own or with the few Asha'man he has with him. Min will, of course, be forced to stay away. It will be Min sensing Rand's pain and anger and whatnot that'll cause a rescue party to come to his aid, being lead by Logain.<br /><br /><i>'Logain laughing, stepped across something on the ground and mounted a black stone; when she looked down, when she looked down she thought it was Rand's body he had stepped over, laid out on a funeral bier with his hands crossed at his breast, but when she touched his face, it broke apart like a paper puppet.'</i> aCoS, Unseen Eyes<br /><br />The words used from Egwene's dream is quite interesting and from it somethings can be deduced, firstly the black stone is almost certainly the one from the Black Tower.<br /><br /><i>'Taim had a platform for making addresses, though, a plain block of black stone dressed and polished so finely that it shone in the sunlight, with two steps cut into the back'</i> LoC, The Black Tower<br /><br />The plain block is &quot;mounted&quot; when making such addresses and it is black and stone...it is a plain black stone block to be mounted.<br /><br />Now then, Logain's laughing face shows that it's a blow against evil, something that Logain would like to do, hence the laughter, what's also noticeable is the fact that he's stepping over a funeral pyre, so he kills someone that he would like to kill to get on the black stone, or what we've deducted is a representation of the Black Tower. From the quote we see that it isn't Rand at all, so a bit of &quot;umming&quot; and &quot;arring&quot; later I came to the conclusion that this must be Rand. The useage of &quot;puppet&quot; pays homage to the obvious fact that Taim is a puppet to one or more of the forsaken.<br /><br />So to sum up, I think that Rand will go to Taim who will capture him and assume his identity, following the Dark One's order and &quot;letting the lord of chaos rule&quot; a saying he quotes at the end of Knife of Dreams and what <i>could</i> be more chaotic than pretending to be Rand messing with treaties and destroying places and such? Anyway, Logain will go to the Black Tower with a posse and confront Taim who'll come out with a Mirror of Masks on to look like Rand.<br /><br /><i>'Mazrim Taim almost as tall as Rand'</i> LoC, Butcher's Yard (Perrin's PoV)<br /><br />So Taim's height could even have him passing as Rand.  Anyway, Taim will approach Logain with Rand's face and either by Min realising it's not Rand through the bond or perhaps by Taim coming out with his lackeys Logain will see through Taim's facade, there'll be badass dance off....battle and Logain will kill Taim and the Dark Asha'man will escape to a pre-chosen-by-Taim destination, leading to the renting of the Black Tower.<br /><br /><i>'The White Tower will be whole again, except for remnants cast out and scorned, whole and stronger than ever. Rand al'Thor will face the Amyrlin Seat and know her anger. The Black Tower will be rent in blood and fire, and sisters will walk its grounds. This I Foretell.'</i> aCoS, prologue (Elaida)<br /><br />The renting of the Black Tower will come after the reunion of the White Tower and so logically should come near the end of the book and close to the Last Battle, coinciding with the theory.<br /><br />As an alternative ending, as it were, for those who believe that Taim will be at the Last Battle, Taim might choose one amongst his faction to imitate Rand and it is <i>this</i> imposter who gets killed leading to a big fight and then Taim taking his posse out of the Black Tower and to Shayol Ghul, though I think Logain's more likely to laugh at Taim's death than random dark asha'man #38, you see?<br /><br />So, your thoughts?<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-16 07:15:30
subject: An analysis of Cyndane's pre-Cleansing plot
body:
<p><b> Part I: Introduction </b><br /><br />The scene in WH, ch.35, where Cyndane met and later beheaded a bearded Darkfriend just before the Cleansing happened three books ago. Nevertheless it&#8217;s still a riddle. Therefore I want to analyse the scene in detail, try to find out what Cyndane&#8217;s aim was and finally give an educated guess to the Darkfriend&#8217;s identity. Maybe it&#8217;s possible to encode this scene.<br /><br /><b> Part II: A meeting of Darkfriends </b><br /><br />First, one should determine the clues from Cyndane&#8217;s PoV during the meeting.<br /><br /><b> a) the Location </b><br /><br />The place where Cyndane and the man meet must be a building of some kind, because a &quot;stone floor&quot; is mentioned. That excludes e.g. the camp of the Borderlands' army as the location of their meeting.<br /><br />Although the Cleansing started during the day, the man frankly uses the dangerous term &#8220;Chosen&#8221; when he addresses Cyndane. That strongly implies that they are in a secluded room, most likely in the private chambers of the man. Obviously they aren&#8217;t in an open area where someone could hear the conversation by chance. Also other Forsaken usually visit the Darkfriends they need for certain tasks in their private chambers or bureaus, e.g. when Sammael meets Carridin in ACoS, ch.15, when Semirhage meets Suroth in KoD, prologue, or always when Mesaana visits Alviarin in her rooms.<br /><br />It was argued that the meeting was most likely somewhere in the Borderlands, because when Cyndane Traveled to Shadar Logoth the beacon of the One Power is south of her.  That could mean that she Traveled from the north to Shadar Logoth, namely from Saldaea.<br /><br />However, I think we can't be certain about how Cyndane exactly Traveled to Shadar Logoth or which direction she faced when she left her Gateway.  But it seems at least more plausible that Cyndane came from somewhere north of Shadar Logoth, than from somewhere in the south.<br /><br />Thus we know that Cyndane apparently came to the private chambers of the bearded Darkfriend in a building, which is probably somewhere north of Shadar Logoth. <br /><br /><b> b) the bearded Darkfriend </b><br /><br />As said, it&#8217;s clear that the man has a beard, and that he is a Darkfriend from the Westlands because he uses the term &quot;Chosen&quot;.<br /><br />Cyndane beheads the man with &#8220;a razor-thin flow of Air [that] sliced the fellow's beard in two as it took off his head&#8221;. If the beard was split in two when Cyndane sliced the man&#8217;s throath, he must have had a somewhat longer chin-beard. <br /><br />Even if it may seem obvious, since the man has such a beard, it&#8217;s clear that he can&#8217;t be an Aiel. It&#8217;s repeatedly mentioned in the series that &#8220;Aiel [are] always shaved clean&#8221; (e.g. in LoC, ch.46).<br />And by the way, since Cyndane easily killed the Darkfriend without any defense, it&#8217;s very unlikely that he was an Asha&#8217;man.<br /><br />Such a chin-beard could point to a Borderlander, an Illianer or a Tairen, who often have &#8220;pointed beards&#8221;.  Having said that, there are certainly men with beards in almost all countries in the Westlands. <br /><br />Cyndane furthermore considers that he is &quot;an important man as such things were accounted here and now&quot;.  That means that the man is not only a high-ranking Darkfriend, but also a person of some worldly power at this place.  Therefore Cyndane needs his service to do something for her.<br /><br />The man&#8217;s high standing is stressed by the way he addresses a channeler who calls herself a Chosen, when he &quot;doubtfully&quot; says: &quot;If you truly are one of the Chosen, I will serve you&quot;. (note that one can&#8217;t recognize a special pattern in his speech, like e.g. a person from Illian has)<br /><br />For these reasons, I believe the man is most likely a noble or maybe a high-ranking servant or clerk. That would also fit with the idea that Cyndane found the man in his private quarters at that time of day. For example a normal servant in a palace has to be at many different places during the day, with other people around him the most time.<br /><br />Also the man&#8217;s continuous babbling implies that he seems rather unconcerned about Cyndane, though she likely showed that she is able to use the One Power when she suddenly appeared in the man&#8217;s rooms, as the Forsaken normally do. This could mean that the man is already familiar with female channelers, i.e. most likely with Aes Sedai.<br /><br />Moreover, that Cyndane calls him a &#8220;man&#8221;, not a youngling or an old man, that the Darkfriend has a longer beard and his quite powerful rank indicate that the person is probably in his middle years.<br /><br />In conclusion I believe the points show that the man is most likely a middle-aged important noble or clerk at a certain place where also Aes Sedai aren&#8217;t an unfamiliar view.<br /><br /><b> c) Motives for contacting and killing the man </b><br /><br />Now I want to deduce why Cyndane contacted the man at this point but killed him then.<br /><br />The man&#8217;s doubt if Cyndane is actually a Chosen makes clear that she never contacted the man before.  Apparently Cyndane also didn't refer to Moridin as her sender to back up her claim to be one of the Chosen.<br /><br />On the contrary, Cyndane thinks that she has to kill the &quot;fool&quot; because &quot;she did not have time to make certain of his trustworthiness, and without that, she could not leave him to babble, not when she could feel Moridin's hand caressing the cour'souvra that held her soul.&quot;<br /><br />That confirms that Cyndane wasn't sent by Moridin to this man, e.g. to disequilibrate the Borderlands, as it was suggested in the past. <br /><br />Cyndane even fears that the Darkfriend might tell anyone about her plot, especially that her master Moridin learns about it. Therefore Cyndane rather quickly kills the man, than risking that he babbles, although the man is certainly important for the success of her plot.<br /><br />This is similar to a comparable scene where Moghedien wants to kill her nemesis Nynaeve in ACoS, ch.30.  Before she tries to balefire Nynaeve Moghedien considers: &quot; Moridin's instructions had been explicit, the price of disobedience made excruciatingly clear. But a slight delay would not hurt. Not if he never learned of it, anyway,&quot; and after her failed attempt:  &#8220;He had not forbidden this. He might forgive, or even ignore her independent action here, if she carried out his instructions swiftly, efficiently.&#8221;<br /><br />While the scene with Moghedien shows that Moridin uses his mintrapped pets for several tasks, it also tells us that they still have a bit freedom to act in an independent way, at least if they act quickly.<br /><br />In my opinion the meeting with the bearded man is likewise an independent action of Cyndane. It was necessary for a plot of her own, but against Moridin's orders.<br /><br />From her PoV in WH, ch.35, we know that Cyndane's most important concern is still Rand: &quot;She prayed to the Great Lord that she would reach Lews Therin first. She wanted to see him die, she realized, and for that, she would have to get closer.&quot;<br /><br />Although it's quite dangerous to get closer to Rand at the Cleansing, Cyndane takes this risk,  like she risked to disobey Moridin when she contacted the bearded Darkfriend. <br /><br />Cyndane's desire to kill Rand is also shown at the Forsaken Tea Party where Demandred notes that Cyndane is eager to fulfill Moridin's order to kill Rand &quot;if necessary&quot; at the Cleansing.<br /><br />That aim is again mentioned at the Forsaken Garden Party in KoD, ch.3, where a hateful Cyndane claims:  &quot;The easiest way is to kidnap Lews Therin. [...] I can make him tell where the seals are.&quot; Moridin forbids Cyndane to do that, though, because: &quot; You would 'accidentally' kill him. The time and manner of al'Thor's death will be at my choosing. No one else.&quot;<br /><br />All this indicates that Cyndane's meeting with the bearded man also dealt with Rand; he still is and ever was Lanfear's (now Cyndane's) main concern. Either Cyndane wanted to kidnap Rand shortly before the Cleansing or kill kim before any of the other Chosen got the chance. <br /><br />It&#8217;s also likely that she wanted to take the female access key from Rand.  Cyndane still had the Choedan Kal in her mind. Shortly after she felt the One Power beacon at the Cleansing, she considers: &#8220;So he had found a woman to use the other access key. She would have faced the Great Lord - faced the Creator! - with him. She would have shared the power with him, let him rule the world at her side. And he had spurned her love, spurned her!&#8221;<br /><br />That would also explain why Cyndane didn&#8217;t want Moridin to learn of this plot.<br /><br />Considering that Moridin prefers a living Rand, it makes sense that he forbade his pets, Cyndane and Moghedien, to kill Rand before he tried to cleanse saidin.  After all, that was also the Nae&#8217;blis&#8217; explicit order at that Forsaken Tea Party: &quot;When he touches the Choedan Kal, you will know where he is. And you will go there and take him. Or kill him, if necessary. The Nae'blis has spoken.&quot;<br /><br />The Forsaken shall only kill Rand when it comes to the Cleansing, not before. <br /><br />The reason is that Moridin still hoped that the Darkfriend Asha'man he ordered in WH, ch.22, might get the Choedan Kal access keys, and that in this case Rand had not necessarily to die: &quot;Kill him if you must, but above all, bring everything in his possession to me. That will redeem your previous transgressions.&quot;<br /><br />This would explain why Cyndane feared Moridin's anger if he learned of her independent plot to kill Rand already before the Cleansing and to get the access key, but also why she nevertheless took the risk.<br /><br />For this purpose Cyndane thought that the bearded man might help her.  It&#8217;s likely that Cyndane told him to contact her if he saw Rand, because at the end of PoD Rand vanished and the Forsaken still search for him. That would imply that the bearded Darkfriend is a person who might come quite close to Rand. Therefore it makes sense that he must be someone in one of Rand&#8217;s conquered &#8220;power bases&#8221;, in one of the locations Rand often visits.<br /><br />That could be the Royal Palace in Caemlyn, the Kings&#8217;s Palace in Illian, the Stone of Tear or the Sun Palace in Cairhien. <br /><br />To summarize it: Cyndane frequented the bearded Darkfriend, an important man in one of Rand&#8217;s power bases, because he should help her to find Rand, so that Cyndane could either kill or kidnap Rand before the Cleansing and thus probably get the female access key as well. She killed the man because she feared Moridin&#8217;s anger about this independent act.<br /><br /><b> Part III: Clues from the later books </b><br /><br />There aren&#8217;t many concrete new clues as to what was Cyndane up to in the books after WH, besides those I already mentioned. But one can at least deduce some things.<br /><br />It's clear now that the popular theory after WH that the bearded Darkfriend is Weiramon was wrong since the Tairen High Lord appears in KoD, ch.21, with a head on his shoulders.<br /><br />It also seems unlikely that the bearded Darkfriend was a too important man, for example a King, otherwise someone would have  certainly mentioned his violent death or at least rumors of this person's death had been heard already.<br /><br />But as I pointed out above, I believe the beared man must be a person in the palace in Caemlyn, Illian, Tear or Cairhien anyway.<br /><br />There are many chapters playing in Caemlyn after Cyndane&#8217;s meeting with the man.  But it&#8217;s never mentioned that an important man was beheaded in the Palace.  Therefore one can rule out the Caemlyn Palace as the location of the meeting.<br /><br />Against Illian speaks that that the Darkfriend doesn&#8217;t have an Illianer accent.  Besides, as already said, it&#8217;s more likely that Cyndane Traveled from the north to Shadar Logoth, than from the south. <br /><br />The same argument speaks against the Stone of Tear. Plus, Rand visits the Stone in KoD, ch.21, but Darlin, Rand&#8217;s Steward in Tear, doesn&#8217;t mention the violent death of an important man.<br /><br />That leaves the Sun Palace in Cairhien.  Cairhien is north-eastern of Shadar Logoth; that would at least partially fit with Cyndane&#8217;s direction after she left the Gatway.<br /><br />Plus, Lanfear already visited Cairhien as &#8220;Selene&#8221; in TGH (at least if you don&#8217;t follow Light in the Night&#8217;s Longest Theory).  Thus she knew the city and could have known Darkfriends there, too.<br /><br />Besides, the Sun Palaces was the last place where Rand was seen before the Dark Asha&#8217;man attacked him in the end of PoD.  Therefore it&#8217;s understandable that Cyndane would want to have a spy to tell her if Rand returned there.<br /><br />Furthermore, there weren&#8217;t any scenes in Cairhien after the Cleansing in CoT and KoD where we could have learned of the bearded man&#8217;s death.  The PoV of the Aes Sedai Samitsu in CoT, prologue, where Dobraine is stabbed and almost killed by Darkfriends in the Sun Palace, takes place a few days before the Cleansing (according to the famous &#8220;Tellings of the Wheel Chronology&#8221; ).<br /><br />Since there are some Aes Sedai in the Sun Palace, it would explain why the bearded Darkfriend seems familiar with female channelers.<br /><br />One could argue, though, that Weiramon would have told Rand in KoD if an important person was killed in the Sun Palace. Samitsu still sees Weiramon in the Sun Palace in her PoV in CoT: &#8220;Bertome Saighan walking peacefully with Weiramon Saniago, neither man reaching for the dagger at his belt? Strange times and strange traveling companions. Doubtless they were playing the Game of Houses, maneuvering for advantage as they always had, yet dividing lines that once were graven in stone now turned out to have been drawn on water instead.&#8221;<br /><br />However, in KoD, ch.21, we learn that Weiramon traveled with the Lady Anaiyella back to the Stone of Tear to support Darlin, and that he must have been there already for some time.  Their travel was against Rand&#8217;s orders, as he expresses in the same chapter:  &quot;I left you two in Cairhien because I wanted you in Cairhien.&#8221; Rand &#8220;trusted neither, but they could cause small harm in Cairhien, where they were outlanders without power.&#8221;<br /><br />Therefore I figure that Weiramon must have left Cairhien shortly after Dobraine was nearly killed. At this time Weiramon had not to fear anymore that Dobraine, as Rand&#8217;s trusted Steward in Cairhien, might hinder him to leave Cairhien, as Rand had ordered. That means Weiramon left the Sun Palace before the Cleasing and Cyndane&#8217;s murder of the bearded man. Thus he couldn&#8217;t tell Rand about it. <br /><br />All in all, I believe that the clues from CoT and KoD indicate that Cyndane met the bearded Darkfriend in the Sun Palace where he was considered as an important man.<br /><br /><b> Part IV: The Darkfriend&#8217;s identity </b><br /><br />Finally I want to make a guess at the identity of the bearded man, considering all the points I presented above.<br /><br />If the Darkfriend is an important man in the Sun Palace, I think we most likely must have met him in the books before.  I doubt that RJ would present an important man we never heard of, just to have him killed. It&#8217;s rather RJ&#8217;s style to give several clues so that one can figure out the identity of the man.  Thus, although it&#8217;s possible, I rather don&#8217;t think the man was just a nameless noble or clerk. <br /><br />However, there is no known Darkfriend who would fit with the man&#8217;s description. That means the bearded man is someone who appeared before in the books, but it wasn&#8217;t stated that he is a Darkfriend.<br /><br />Nevertheless Bors mentions at Ishamael&#8217;s Darkfriend Social in TGH, prologue: &#8220;He could read them all, to class and country. Merchant and warrior, commoner and noble. From Kandor and Cairhien, Saldaea and Ghealdan. From every nation and nearly every people.&#8220;<br /><br />So, it&#8217;s at least possible that one of Ishamael&#8217;s Darkfriends was a Cairhien noble. <br /><br />Moridin likely told his mindtrapped pets of his important Darkfriends, in case that they have to work together.  That would better explain how Cyndane learned of the bearded man, and why she feared that he might contact Moridin.<br /><br />Considering all this, my guess is that the bearded Darkfriend in the Sun Palace was the person Weiramon walked with in CoT, prologue, namely the Cairhien Lord Bertome Saighan. <br /><br />Rand always considered Bertome as a noble of very questionable loyality and doesn&#8217;t trust him. That Bertome isn&#8217;t such loyal to Rand would fit with the idea that he is a Darkfriend. Plus, after the prologue, Bertome isn&#8217;t mentioned again in CoT or KoD.<br /><br />It&#8217;s never said that Bertome has a beard, though.  Bertome is described as a &#8220;short, ruggedly handsome man with the front of his head shaved&#8221; (PoD, ch.21), it&#8217;s said that his &#8220;smile never reached his dark eyes&#8221;  (PoD, ch.21), and that he is &#8220;square-jawed&#8221; (PoD, ch.24).<br /><br />On the other hand, it&#8217;s also never explicitely stated that he is shaved clean.  It&#8217;s not unusual in the WoT that persons aren&#8217;t described completely (if at all), or that different physical attributes are described in different scenes.  Sometimes the observer only mentiones their hair, sometimes only their eyes or their height, etc.<br /><br />Therefore it&#8217;s possible that Cyndane notes Bertome&#8217;s beard when she split it, while in other scenes different attributes are mentioned. <br /><br />Plus, the dark eyes and a smile that never reaches them are typical characteristics  of Darkfriends.<br /><br />Of course Bertome has a PoV in PoD, ch.24, and there is no obvious statement in this PoV that Bertome is a Darkfriend. On the other hand, it&#8217;s made clear there that he is a very ambious and self-confident man. These are common traits for Darkfriends.  Moreover, it&#8217;s congruent with the way the bearded man speaks to Cyndane.<br /><br />Besides, also in Liandrin&#8217;s (TGH, ch.5) or Suroth&#8217;s first PoV (TSR, prologue) it&#8217;s not directly stated that they are Darkfriends.<br /><br />But I believe one last argument makes it especially likely that the bearded Darkfriend was Bertome. Cyndane considers that the man is important as such things are accounted <i> here </i> and <i> now </i>.<br /><br />If Bertome was the Darkfriend the &#8220;here&#8221; is quickly explained:   House Saighan is the third most powerful House in Cairhien. Bertome is the cousin of Colavaere, who usurped the Sun Throne when Rand was captured in LoC, and after Colavaere&#8217;s death, he became High Seat of House Saighan.<br /><br />But why is he only important as things are accounted &#8220;now&#8221;?<br /><br />As pointed out above, at the time of the meeting between Cyndane and the man, Dobraine was seriously injured and near death.  Moreover the powerful Tairen nobles Weiramon and Anaiyella had already left Cairhien (though Rand says anyway that they were outlanders without power in Cairhien).<br /><br />Therefore Bertome was probably the most important man in the Sun Palace at that time, at least till Dobraine was well again to rule Cairhien. That explains why the man is &#8220;now&#8221; especially important.<br /><br />By the way, note that if Cyndane knew all this about Cairhien, it seems quite likely that she sent the Darkfriends who almost killed Dobraine in the Sun Palace to get the Seal. Maybe she did that because of an order from Moridin.<br /><br />Anyway, for these reasons my guess is that the bearded Darkfriend Cyndane killed was Lord Bertome Saighan.<br /><br /><b> Part V: Conclusion </b><br /><br />After analysing the meeting and the other clues from the books, I believe it&#8217;s possible to decode the enigmatic scene in WH, ch.35:<br /><br />In my view Cyndane met with the Cairhien Lord and Darkfriend Bertome Saighan in the Sun Palace (after the attack on Dobraine he was most important there) and ordered him to contact her if he spies Rand. Most likely she knew about him from Moridin. Her motive was to find and punish Rand before the Cleansing and probably to get the female access key.  Because Cyndane acted therewith against Moridin&#8217;s orders, and since Bertome was one of Ishamael&#8217;s former Darkfriends, she had to kill him, fearing that otherwise Moridin might learn of this plot and discipline her.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-20 02:01:10
subject: The Gholam Gospel
body:
<p><b>As You Can See, We've Had Our Eye On You For Some Time Now, Mr.Gholam</b><br /><br /><u>Strengths</u><br /><br />- Can sense the One Power being used from a long distance<br />- Can sense channellers at close range<br />- Inhuman speed and strength<br />- Bloodless and boneless<br />- Can sense the True Power<br />- While there is little, if no, proof, I think that Gholam is also immune to the True Power<br /><br /><u>Proofs</u><br /><br />- <i> &quot;The One Power had been used below and miles to the north&quot; </i><br />- <i> &quot;In fact they can sense the ability to channel, if they're within, say, fifty paces of you&quot;</i><br />- <i> &quot;Inside Gholam have no bones; they can squeeze themselves under doors&quot; </i><br />- <i> &quot;No blood. There should have been at least a smear of red.&quot; </i><br />- <i> &quot;And ...feel...of something, but something that made it itch, if not quite in the same way. Curiosity had brought it here. Parts of the grille over the window were crushed, pulling the whole thing loose at the sides.&quot; </i> (the same grille that Moridin had just mauled at with the True Power)<br /><br /><u>Weaknesses</u><br /><br />- Needs fresh, hot blood<br />- The foxhead medallion<br /><br /><u>Proofs</u><br /><br />- <i> &quot;Fresh, hot blood was a necessity&quot; </i><br />- <i> &quot;And the medallion fell against the man's cheek. The man screamed. Smoke rose around the edges of the foxhead, and a sizzle like bacon frying&quot; </i><br /><br /><u>Foxhead Medallion Properties</u><br /><br />- Grants wearer immunity to One Power weaves directed at his person<br />- Made of silver<br />- It's a ter'angreal<br />- Power-wrought<br /><br /><u>Gholam's Parallels</u><br /><br />- Vampire: The ability to become a mist, similar to the gholam's ability to seep through cracks. Abhorrent to silver. Drinking blood. Can be killed by decapitation, staking.<br />- Alukah: Similar to the vampire, drinks blood, starving it of blood will kill it.<br />- Vrgkolakas: Similar to vampires, can be killed by fire or lightning.<br />- Golem: Image or form given life through a magical formula, such as the power of the letter of the divine name (<i>shem hameforash</i>) and compelled to carry out commands and protect it's creator.<br /><br /><u>To Kill The Beast</u><br /><br />The gholam has only shown one weakness in all the time that we have seen him, the medallion. A silver ter'angreal with the ability to repel all weaves of the One Power directed at it. It is one of these factors about the medallion that caused it to harm the gholam. As shown, a pretty obvious, parallel to the gholam is the vampire, which is repelled and killed by silver, the material the medallion is made from, however this must be ruled out:<br /><br /><i> &quot;it had never encountered anything that could harm it. Until that man with the medallion.&quot;</i> PoD, Unweaving<br /><br />If it thinks that nothing had ever harmed it before, I doubt that mere silver is its weakness. Silver must have been quite common during the Age of Legends, it's incomprehensible to think that it wouldn't have come into contact with it. The same can applied to the medallion being a ter'angreal or power-wrought.<br /><br />This leaves us with the medallion's One Power resisting attributes. Regardless of how it works, whether it be the close proximity of two very similar power-wrought constructs or the possibility of negating energies, Mat would not have enough chances to smack it to death. Each blow caused a cauterised burn and none have done anymore than slow it down momentarily.<br /><br /><b>There's More Than One Way To Skin A Gholam</b><br /><br />Another weakness in the gholam is its &quot;necessity&quot; to feed. While it is unknown what Myrddraal feed on to stay alive, Trollocs CAN starve to death, it is there ability to eat almost anything, being omnivorous, that means that they most likely won't. Regardless of <i>why</i>, it is clear that the gholam must feed, whether it doesn't leads to a reduction in speed, strength or immunity to the One Power is negligible, if it does not feed it must be assumed that it will die. Perhaps the gholam's lack of blood means that it requires blood to &quot;live&quot;. So taking this to it's conclusion, if the gholam were to be starved it would die, this coincides with a possible parallel to the gholam, the Alukah. This to me sounds like a very long, drawn out and anti-climatic end to the gholam and while possible, it's improbable. <br /><br />Drawing to the gholam's possible parallel, the Vrgkolakas can be destroyed by fire or lightning. Both of these are plausible in the world of WoT. The gholam is much like the foxhead medallion and it's arguable that it can be affected by indirect uses of the One Power. We know that an indirect use of the One Power is a loophole in the medallion's protection, leading to the temporary death of Mat at Rahvin's hands in Caemlyn. We know it to be a loophole rather than a vulnerability to saidin as the medallion protects Mat from Aran'gar's direct weaves later in the Rebel Aes Sedai camp. A lightning strike, similar to fire and the effects of the foxhead, would burn the gholam and it might be this basic essence of heat that is the gholam's main weakness. To clarify, the lightning strike would have to be made naturally by setting the weather into the motions that would create lightning; lightning just shooting from fingertips is a no no. Similarly with fire, I imagine the gholam burning to death, just need neither bones nor blood to be get burned good and proper. It is the gholam's lack of blood, bones and, logically, organs that make it so hard to killed in the first place. Bones cannot be broken, organs cannot be damaged and fail, I doubt that its limbs could be severed. Imagine trying to slice through a geyser of water, I think that the skin or flesh would reseal as quickly as the blade passes through.<br /><br />Further possibilities include Mat using the soon to be discovered explosives, which is an idea pretty much <i>blown</i> out of the water as I doubt that the cannon will be the most advanced thing to be invented, which I imagine the gholam should be able to avoid. Another idea is that a shadowspawn cannot pass through gateways, a nifty new deathgate should be able to dispose of it. This I must admit is a very plausible possibility.<br /><br />A last parallel to the gholam is the golem.<br /><br /><i>In Jewish legend, a golem is an image or form that is given life through a magical formula, such as the power of the letters of the divine name. The word is used to denote anything that is not yet fully developed. In the Middle Ages is was believed that there were wise men who could instill life in effigies by the use of a magic spell. These golems then took the form of a robot, or automaton. They would carry out their master's command and could perform easy tasks, as well as protecting their creators<br /><br />In many tales the Golem is inscribed with magic or religious words that keep it animated. Writing one of the names of God on its forehead, a slip of paper attached to its forehead, or on a clay tablet under its tongue, or writing the word Emet ('truth' in the Hebrew language) on its forehead are examples of such words. By erasing the first letter in Emet to form Meit ('death' in Hebrew) the golem could be deactivated</i><br /><br />The main thing to take from these passages is that gholam takes orders absolutely. It has no concept of being ordered it just does as it is told to the letter. I think that if it was told, by the right person, to &quot;deactivate itself&quot;, in other words, kill itself, it would. After all there had once been five others of these gholam, they must have died in some way. Perhaps they had been buried under earth as the landscape rearranged itself. But then it could free itself by be squeezing itself out. Therefore i think that some of the gholam may have been deactivated.<br /><br /><i> &quot;For its entire existence, it had been compelled to obey one or another human, but its mind held the concept of not being constrained. It must follow the women. It wanted to follow.&quot; </i> PoD, Unweaving<br /><br />I have occasionally seen on the board, and I thought it myself for a while, that this quote meant that the gholam yearned from freedom. It knew what &quot;not being constrained&quot; was and wanted it. However I think it actually means that it is designed so that it does not realise that it IS being constrained that it believes itself to be free. It tricks itself into thinking that a given order is its own desire and so I think that if it were given the order to shut down, it would. Of course the only one who would be able to give that order is one of the Forsaken.<br /><br /><b>Gholam Is, As Gholam Does</b><br /><br /><u>Gholam's Orders</u><br /><br />- Kill Herid Fel: Sammael<br />- Sent to kill Mat and the girls: Sammael<br />- Attacks Mat: Post-Sammael's death<br />- Follows Mat: Post-Sammael's death<br /><br />The gholam was, up to his death, Sammael's minion. Sammael found the gholam in a stasis box that was stashed by a Darkfriend in the Age of Legends and it was he who sent the gholam to kill Herid Fel, obviously this leads to a thought that perhaps Sammael had spies in the School of Cairhien. There is only one gholam and that is the one that Sammael has. It has been said that there must be two, because the gholam is seen in Cairhien and Ebou Dar, however there is a great gap between the two times in which the gholam could have travelled the distance. We know that it was Sammael who sent the gholam to aid Carridin in dealing with the Aes Sedai, while Carridin searched for the cache.<br /><br /><i> &quot;I will send you...someone...to deal with these Aes Sedai&quot; </i> CoS, Insects<br /><br />That someone is, of course, the gholam. Sammael's number one concern is procuring the cache, though the gholam was sent to kill Mat and the girls.<br /><br /><i> &quot;He wants you dead, almost as much as he wants her&quot; </i> CoS, Six Stories<br /><br />He, is obviously Sammael, however where is does he get his orders from when Sammael dies? I think that Graendal becomes the gholam's new mistress. First of all you'll pretty much have to believe every word of the theory by Breath called &quot;Graendal Has Been Spying On Mat&quot;, which isn't hard to do, because the theory is utterly amazing and totally waterproof. It basically says that Graendal knew all about Mat and also the cache in Ebou Dar, because Sammael told her about it. It also states that Noal is her pawn that she regularly compel(s/led), not too heavily though as he's a useful tool. Anyway to make my point, I think that when Graendal found out about the cache she sent Noal, who then spied on Carridin, who was looking for the cache and Mat, her primary target. Graendal would known of the gholam through Sammael, picking up information when she raided his stash after Sammael died, as well as finding that angreal.<br /><br /><i> &quot;The one who commanded it wanted the man who had wounded it dead perhaps as much as wanted the women, but the women were an easier target&quot;</i> PoD, Unweaving<br /><br />Here is the obsolete order from Sammael, the gholam does not know that Sammael is dead, but still continues to fulfil the old order.<br /><br /><b>The Early Forsaken Gets The Ultracool Shadowspawn</b><br /><br />- Demandred: not in the area<br />- Mesaana: not in the area<br />- Semirhage: would have had the gholam when facing Rand<br />- Aran'gar: not in the area<br />- Osan'gar: not in the area<br />- Moghedien: in servitude<br />- Cyndane: not in the area<br /><br />This leaves Moridin and Graendal. Moridin I think can be removed in that when the gholam steps into the place that Moridin was last he senses the True Power as something he had not sensed in a long time. Had it have met Moridin before, he most certainly would have done.<br /><br /><i> &quot;'I am order to avoid notice, save by those I harvest,' it spat at him, 'so you will get to live a little longer.'&quot; </i> WH, An Unexpected Encounter<br /><br />Here is where it shifts. The gholam had been ordered to follow and kill the women; that is shown in the quote further above. However after they have left it is still in Ebou Dar, it is waiting for Mat and was apparently ordered to avoid notice, implying that it had received new orders to when it could just rage carnage through the poorer parts of the city. This seems to me, to have Graendal written all over it. She gave the gholam an order to watch Mat in Ebou Dar, but perhaps the gholam found a loophole in the order to take the opportunity to attack Mat in revenge for being scarred. It's also an amazing coincidence that Noal was there when Mat was being attacked, Noal whom we know is Graendal is subject. Perhaps Graendal set it up so that Noal would rescue Mat and be taken into Mat's confidence, where Graendal could spy on Mat better.<br /><br /><i> Graendal laughed, a mirthless sound. &quot;Finding ta'veren was never as simple as you made out, and now it's harder than ever. The whole pattern is in a flux, full of shifts and spikes'&quot;</i><br /><br />The manner in which Graendal says this, I think, is her covering the fact that she does know where one of the ta'veren is, Mat. She laughs mirthlessly, something I've always thought to be in an ironic or dry way.<br /><br />In regards to where the gholam is now, I believe it to be on its way to Graendal. It was last known to be Jurador.<br /><br /><i> &quot;'Brought news of a murder in Jurador, about the time we left. Maybe a day or two later; it's hard to be sure. A man was found in his bed with his throat ripped, only there wasn't enough blood'&quot; </i> KoD, a Hell in Maderin<br /><br />After not hearing about it for a while Mat reflects that they must have lost it and that it's still following Luca's travelling show, which they split with. I doubt that the gholam could be fooled so easily. It can sense channelling from miles off and can sense a channeller, it must have known that they had split. Of course, it did not care because it was going to Graendal anyway. I don't believe that Graendal's apparent fear shown earlier from the gholam is indicative of whether or not Graendal would use the gholam. Every channeller fears the gholam, Graendal is not adverse to doing what she doesn't like. When she pretended to be Sammael's lackey at the Shaido Camp; Graendal just does what is necessary.<br /><br />Of course the less impressive explanation is that the gholam has gone completely rogue and doing what it likes...let's...let's not assume that, ay?<br /><br /><b>That's All Folks, Move Along, YOU THERE!! Well Don't Stop, I Said Move Along!</b><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2006-02-22 03:42:37
subject: The Bore, The Thinness, Stedding and How the Prison Must be Fixed
body:
<p>Now, I have been perplexed by the Thinness from the moment we first learned of it. This is my very first theory, so please be gentle.<br /><br />I believe I am satisfied with the idea of the Bore as a singularity that is like a hole through space-time. I like to think of the Pattern as a great folded sheet of paper suspended in the air over a good wooden floor (I promise I will explain). <br /><br />Think of the thinness as a pin hole in the paper and the Dark One as a light bulb under the floor (outside of the pattern). Drilling the Bore was like poking a hole in the floor (maybe a gateway?) with the One Power and letting the light pour out. The light would fill the room but only pass through the pin hole into reality. So, only at the thinness could the Bore be sensed. Maybe thinking of this light as having liquid qualities would be more useful. This way one can understand the ripples of reality that occurred when a hole was made in the Prison. The pressure suddenly found some release leading to the rippling of the Pattern. Similarly, when in KOD the last of seals were presumably broken there was a second rippling (but this time the Bore was larger). <br /><br />Why was it larger, you ask? Because we know from the Guide and elsewhere that the War of Power was begun when some Darkfriends, assumedly Ishamael and company, tried to free the Shai'tan completely by widening the Bore. It is likely that there were ripple effects then too. When it happened in KOD it was a fully widened Bore so the ripples would be greater than when Mierin drilled through. <br /><br />I think that because the Dark One could not do this on his own it suggests he would also be unable to hold open the Bore without human aid. Think about it. If he were inside the Bore, pushing through, then why would he be incapable of flexing himself and widening the Bore? Due to this evidence, I think the only explanation is that the Bore is similar to a gateway, or a drilling tube made of the One Power. A likely comparison would be drilling for oil. You don&#8217;t just poke a whole in the ground, you put a tube there so that it doesn&#8217;t just leak all over the place, and you leave the tube there (I am no expert on oil drilling, but I think this is the case).<br /><br />As for the Sealing, it was like a Shield through the Bore. As the &#8220;shield&#8221; slid into place, however, it provided a small hole in the tube and the dark energy was able to leak out and race along the threads of power that were pushing the shield through. The seals, I believe were made of both saidin and saidar, but as they were tied off they did not provide any more access to the True Source than did the Bore weaves themselves. The One Hundred Companions, however, were placing the shield with direct weaves of saidin, allowing the Dark One the momentary opportunity to taint the male half of the True Source. <br /><br />The actual Seal itself probably should be envisioned as a bubble, which blocks the Dark One from passing through the thinness and covers the Bore, rather than just a disc because of how the Forsaken were trapped. They were caught between the Bore and the Pattern, or maybe in the Bore itself. Ishamael must have been farthest from the thinness, and so was caught partially by the shield, if at all. Aginor and Balthamel must have been caught in the edge of the shield, so they were able to see, but ground against by time. The rest, however, were trapped in the Bore and outside of the Pattern, so I think it would be more likely that the shield extended over the Pit of Doom (the point of maximum thinness). <br /><br />I contend that the Seals were incomplete because the True Power which Ishamael was surely channeling might have forced the One Power weaves to bend around that point, creating a hole. I say this because there was clearly a leak in the seals that seemed to follow some 40 or 1000 year pattern, depending on which Aes Sedai you ask. Also, the persistence of the Blight suggests that even in the best of times, the True Power was able to touch the world and corrupt it. When the Seanchan beat back the shadowspawn (creatures made from the True Power) from their Blight, the Blight disappeared. Also, and more importantly, when Rand slashed at Ishamael&#8217;s True Power connection in the Eye of The World (his big bulging black cord) and beat him then for the first time, the Blight receded hugely. I think it was no coincidence that reducing the amount of True Power in the world caused the Blight to grow smaller and weaker. <br /><br />Ishamael&#8217;s connection to the TP at the time of the Sealing must have been like a foothold for himself and for the Dark One in this world. Note that the TP is drawn from the DO so it is like a part of the DO. Also note that Ishamael was able to use the TP immediately after the sealing (when he &quot;heals&quot; LTT). The TP should not have been useable or possible to sense if the Bore were closed or the DO truly cut off from the world. I believe that Asmodean&#8217;s partial shielding was very similar to what the weakening Seals are like for the Dark One and for Ishamael. The True Power kept and continued to keep the Seals from fully covering the thinness and the Bore, allowing the Dark One some access to the world and a chance to apply pressure to the Seals. <br /><br />Now that we have laid out the nature of the Bore and the Seals, there still remains the problem of the Thinness. How can this make sense? Some at wotmania have suggested that channeling caused the thinness. This makes a little sense, but does not explain why the thinness exists ONLY at and around Shayol Ghul. People channeled in more places than at the Collam Daan. While it might be a stretch, I think the evidence points towards something that I have never seen discussed: the Thinness was a stedding in formation. The stedding are like places of healing for the Pattern. Working with the channeling-caused-the-thinness idea, the stedding act like a band-aids that block out all of the power so that the Pattern can heal. Further, the beings that inhabit the stedding, the Ogier, are great healers of nature. The stedding must serve some purpose for the Pattern or else they would not exist in so many numbers. The Pattern is not perfect, and I surmise that it would develop thin spots over time through wear and tear. This is where the stedding and the Ogier would come in for repair. Like platelets do for clotting in blood vessels, the stedding are environments that are more tranquil and provide places of healing. The Book of Translation likely translates the stedding to another dimension, and with them, all the weak points of the Pattern, leaving it stronger and whole. <br /><br />Also, just as the stedding do not have reflections in Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod, neither do the Blight or Shayol Ghul. I believe this is because the Bore allowed the Dark One to create a sort of monster dark stedding. The Blight is the exact opposite of a stedding in many ways, but it also shares some similarities. <br /><br /><b>So, bringing it all together:</b><br /><br />-The Bore is a tube of the One Power, it cannot be easily widened without the Bore completely able to be sensed.<br /><br />-The Seals are a shield over or through the Bore and the thinness.<br /><br />-Ishamael&#8217;s channeling of the True Power keeps any true healing process from happening and also acts as a foothold for the Dark One in this world. <br /><br />-The Thinness was supposed to form into a stedding but Mierin sensed the Dark Energy first and stopped that natural process.<br /><br />-To win the Last Battle Rand will have to clear away the Seals and then completely unravel the Bore tube, or maybe Sever the Dark One (unraveling vs. cutting weaves). <br /><br />-Then the Ogier need to be present to grow a stedding over the weak spot in the Pattern. The presence of three ta&#8217;veren will make this great healing song possible. <br /><br />-The Book of Translation will be opened several years later (or maybe not that long) and take all the stedding into another dimension, and with them, the weakened spots of the Pattern. <br /><br />-Thus when the wheel turns again, and the Pattern has more problems, the Ogier will reappear with the stedding (the first age?) and the dark one&#8217;s prison will be whole. <br /><br />So what do you all think?<br /><br />LoialT <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/read.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


