As was bound to happen, Leigh Butler’s spoiler review of Towers of Midnight is getting overloaded with comments. We’ve opened up a new post here so folks can still jump in on the conversation without getting timed out of the original page (which can be accessed through the above link).
Folks that are talking about using a Mac or their default browsers... slap yourselves and come to your senses paying more for less I use my little mule here, Pepe, and this thread loads just fine. I have Firefox as my browser- Sponge Bob skin and all- and things are just peachy.
Egwene is a smart gal and I believe the balance of evidence will convince her to work with Rand
I'm reminded of Erwin Rommel's African campaign when I think of Itrualde.Or von Manstein's withdrawal of Army Group South after Stalingrad. I've recently read his memoirs, and heartily recommend them.
Regarding Isam/Luc - I have always been hopeful that Rand survives Shayl Gul and "his blood on the rocks" refers to his uncle Luc's blood.
Towers of Midnight book tour 7 November 2010 Harvard Coop, Cambridge, MA - kamarile reporting
Carlinya's death, specifically whether that was a mistake. I had assumed that it was, because Min's viewing regarding her hasn't, to my knowledge, come to pass. (That viewing being the one of ravens, drawings of them, settling on her shoulders.) According to him, that was NOT a mistake, and that that viewing doesn't necessarily mean what most people take it to mean.
Rand cut him off. "You are not teaching me very well." "As well as may be expected, under the circumstances. You can grasp saidin every time you try, now, and tell ne flow from another. You can shield yourself, and the Power does what you want it to." He stopped playing and frowned, not looking at Rand. "Do you think Lanfear really intended me to teach you everything? If she had wanted that, she would have contrived to stay close so she could link us…I've told you I am not a very good teacher, especially without a link.Men can’t link without a woman, so for men this sort of teaching is done in a circle of 3: the male teacher, his pupil and the woman linking them. I think this procedure is the explanation for the rapid increase in channelling skill that Logain’s faction notes for a couple of Taim’s cronies, Nensen and Kash.- The Fires of Heaven, Pale Shadows
"The men who take Taim's private lessons learn too quickly," Nalaam said. "Nensen was barely powerful enough to be considered for Dedicated just a short time ago. Now he's full Asha'man.
- Towers of Midnight, Working Leather).
52. FeatherDancer Regarding Isam/Luc - I have always been hopeful that Rand survives Shayl Gul and "his blood on the rocks" refers to his uncle Luc's blood.
LOL! It doesn't even have to be Luc's blood, it can just be Luc himself. Maybe Rand defeats the shadow by pushing Luc onto a black rock in Shayol Ghul.
Of course, it could be Galad as well, no?
My "looney theory" concerning "Nakomi" is that she is of the Jenn Aiel, and that she is somehow ta'veren. What else could explain her finding Aviendha out in the middle of nowhere and how she managed to make Aviendha have such a tasty meal?
What she didn't have, however, were channelers to use in battle. She knew she couldn't ask this of the Kin. They'd never agree to it, nor would Egwene. Nor would Elayne herself. Forcing a woman to use the Power as a weapon would make her no better than the Seanchan themselves.[...]
She needed something. An edge against the Seanchan. Something to balance their channelers in combat. The only thing she could think of was the Black Tower. It was on Andor's soil. She'd told them that she considered them part of her nation, but so far she'd gone no further than sending inspection parties.
What would happen to them if Rand died? Dared she try to claim them? Dared she wait for someone else to?
kraefzke @ 86Yes. And probably this means that in Age I channelling was unknown.
Could it be that Callendor's flaws have to do with channeling the one power through it? What if the flaw was corrected by channeling the "True Source"? If channeling saiden and / or saidar linked together is risky what if the channelers male and linked female have to all be channeling the true source to make it work correctly? Not sure if someone mentioned this or not?I think you are confused. Saidan and saidar together comprise the True Source, also referred to as the One Power. It's all the same.
By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
In the first place, who says Brandon even wrote that scene? It could have been one of the sections already written by Jordan, for all we know. Secondly, who says Brandon didn't have the specific interpretation of the viewing right in front of him? Just because he didn't say so, and you didn't see the interpretation given, doesn't mean Brandon did it wrong. IF it's wrong, then you'd better get busy blaming Harriet, Maria and Alan too. It certainly would have been very easy to have Carlinya killed by a bloodknife instead of the BA battle in TAR. That in itself is a fair argument that the way it happened in the book was purposeful; the other would have been so easy that I'd say there must be a reason not to have done it that way. (For example, if Jordan had clear notes as to the meaning of the viewing, and this scene was written to fit.) And no, she didn't have a Warder. Enough said; if you don't like it, you'll just have to live with it unless Team Jordan decides they used the wrong name and they change it in the next edition.
Why do you expect Cadsuane to "try to upbraid Moiraine" anyway? I don't get it. Not saying I think there will be a great deal of respect or awe, but I don't see the need for a big confrontation.
To others: calling someone younger than herself a child is not a disparaging remark for Cads. Nearly everyone is a child compared to her. Get over it.
He found himself wondering if Morgase played dice. Wool-headed thought. Queens don't toss dice. But when I give her this letter and tell her somebody in the Palace means to kill Elayne, I'l wager she gives me a fat purse. He indulged himself in a small fancy of being made a lord; surely the man who revealed a plot to murder the Daughter-Heir could expect some such reward.
I got it, Nakomi is Bela! But seriously any ideas were Bela might be
"Verin says you are ta'veren," she said at last, "and I can feel it in you. That I can do so means that you must be very strongly ta'veren indeed, for such Talents ever run weakly in us, if at all."(TGH, ch. 36)
Once she had thought herself on the point of rooting out the Black only to watch her quarry slip through her fingers like smoke, her bitterest failure except possibly for failing to learn what Caraline Damodred's cousin had been up to in the Borderlands until the knowledge was years too late to do any good.Caraline Damodred's cousin is Moiraine and her being in the Borderlands is for those who've read New Spring.
A figure, pull-ing free his sword. A hiss, a flash of metal. Byar's eyes, alight with anger.
"Dav and I caught a big old badger, all grouchy at being pulled out of his den. We're going to let it loose on the Green and watch the girls run."
Rand's smile broadened; it did not sound as much like fun to him as it would have a year or two back, but Mat never seemed to grow up.
"Do not keep me waiting, Alanna," she said in an icy tone. She had no sympathy for the other woman. Alanna was another in a line of sisters, from Moiraine to Elaida, who had bungled and worsened what they should have been mending. While she herself had been off chasing first Logain Ablar and then Mazrim Taim. Which did not soothe her mood.
She had begun gathering sisters she trusted, those here with her and others, the day she first heard of strange events in Shienar—her eyes and ears had kept watch on Siuan Sanche and Moiraine Damodred for years without learning anything useful until then—yet just because she trusted them did not mean she intended to let them start going their own way.
Things I cared for not so much.
Perrin / Thor reference. Mah'alleinir - Mjöllnir ... really?
Mat / Odin reference. Give an eye for knowledge, ravens on the ashandarei and hung from a tree... REALLY?
We discussed the gholam, if someone had pushed it through a gateway, would it have just died? Brandon said that gholam CAN go THROUGH gateways (from one place to another). He mentioned that this was the first time he had shared this information. Gholam are Shadowspawn of a more perfected kind. It would have been way too easy to kill if you just needed to shove it through a gateway (to another place). However, falling through the Skimming gateway for a few minutes did kill the gholam and it is really dead and it's not going to show up again.From Robert Jordan:
Q: Why can't Shadowspawn pass through gateways?
RJ: It's because they're artificial constructs. They can't tolerate the passage.
Q: So would a Nym have the same problem?
RJ: Yes.
Q: How about Ogier?
RJ: No. Ogier are not artificial constructs.I'd imagine the notes were pretty clear on this. Perhaps not the specifics of how Mat kills the Gholam, but yes, I'd imagine somewhere is the notes on the Gholam that in mentions they can go through a gateway.
Hmmmm. Has it been sixteen months yet?
Knife of Dreams book tour 11 October 2005 - WinespringBrother reporting
WSB: Since you said at an earlier signing that the Dark One couldn't have brought back Asmodean if he wanted, was that at the time of Asmodean's death, or after that?
RJ: The Dark One couldn't bring back Asmodean because of the combination of 2 factors: HOW HE DIED and WHERE HE DIED. Not one or the other, both factors.
Netherlands tour 8 April 2001, Elf Fantasy Fair - Gonzo reporting
RJ: Sammael is dead. He is dead. He is dead. He may be reborn again, but then he will not remember he was Sammael. He cannot be reincarnated. He is dead.
The Gathering Storm Book Tour, Scottsdale Public Library, Phoenix Arizona 16 November 2009 - kcf reporting
Q: Are there any circumstances of death that could prevent the Dark One from resurrecting someone (other than balefire)?
A: Yes, but I’m not going to tell you what.
This lead to a fair amount of discussion about balefire and such. At one point, Brandon said ‘all Forsaken other than Sammael who haven’t come back were balefired’. I immediately jumped on this and asked if that included Asmodean – Brandon said that he wasn’t talking about Asmodean (we all didn’t even want to go there), but this is further evidence of Brandon slipping hints that Asmodean was balefired. This lead to a small debate about Osan’gar – I didn’t think he was balefired, everyone else at the table thought he was.
Brandon also said that the Dark One would have liked very much to transmigrate Sammael but didn’t. Apparently, since he died by Mashadar, Sammael was either unable to be transmigrated or it would have been a very bad idea. Basically, Mashadar tainted Sammael’s thread somehow.
It was also mentioned that balefire does not mean that someone can’t be reborn into the Pattern. I was very surprised by this and hadn’t heard it before, but apparently Brandon has said it in previous Q&A sessions. Brandon said he was also surprised but that Maria was very insistent about this – so if the Dragon Reborn was balefired, he could still be reborn.
HBFFerreira on Twitter - 20 July 2010 2:35 pmThe Gathering Storm: Rand's dark aura was an effect of channeling the True Power, right? Winter's Heart prologue: didn't Taim cast a similar aura?Brandon - 21 July 12:18 amYou're the first to notice that that I've seen.
If/when Perrin finds out that Faile murdered Masema - what will his reaction be do you think?
Unrelated subject. Re-reading ToM. I think the info that Graendal gave Mesaana (in exchange for Mesaana's angrael) was knowledge of a weave that would circumvent the effects of a binder (i.e. the Oath Rod).
And why does Ishy get a pass on the punishments for failures?
"Don't let them ruin you, Nynaeve. They'll try." "Ruin me?"
"Your passion is part of you," Rand said. "I tried to be like them, though I wouldn't have admitted it. Cold. Always in control. It nearly destroyed me. That is strength to some, but it is not the only type of strength. Perhaps you could learn to control yourself a little more, but I like you as you are. It makes you genuine. I would not see you become another 'perfect' Aes Sedai with a painted mask of a face and no care for the feelings and emotions of others."
"To be Aes Sedai is to be calm," Nynaeve replied.
"To be Aes Sedai is to be what you decide it is," Ran said, his stump still held behind his back. "Moiraine cared. You could see it in her, even when she was calm. The best Aes Sedai I've known are the ones who others complain aren't what an Aes Sedai should be."
"I did what I had to. Who among you would not run if you saw people in danger? Who among you would forbid herself to channel if she saw Shadowspawn attacking? I acted as an Aes Sedai should." "This test," Barasine said, "is meant to ensure that a woman is capable of dedicating herself to a greater task. To see that she can ignore the distractions of the moment and seek a higher good."
Nynaeve sniffed. "I completed the weaves I needed to. I maintained my focus. Yes, I broke my calm - but I kept a cool enough head to complete my tasks. One should not demand calmness for the mere sake of calmness, and a prohibition on running when there are people you need to save is foolish.
"My goal in this test was to prove that I deserve to be Aes Sedai. Well, then, I could argue that the lives of the people I saw were more important than gaining that title. If losing my title is what would be required to save someone's life - and if there were no other consequences - I'd do it. Every time. Not saving them wouldn't be serving a higher good; it would just be selfish."
[...]
"I wonder if," Nynaeve said, "we sometimes put the White Tower - as an institution - before the people we serve. I wonder if we let it become a goal in itself, instead of a means to help us achieve greater goals."
Tuon would have to willfully allow herself into a circle, and that would demoralize her entire people.
The documents were Seanchan plans for attacking Andor, along with a detailed plot for the assassination of the Queen. Underneath that were similar plans for dealing with the rulers of Tear, The Two Rivers, and Illian.
Tom [sic] just chuckled, then glanced down at the scroll in his other hand. "And this was unexpected as well."This is a very subtle reference to Thom being the one who murdered the king of Cairhien way back about 9 or 10 books ago, which is the very reason why the throne is open for Elayne to claim in the first place.
"Well, Andor doesn't have a court-bard," Mat said.
"Yes," Thom said, looking over the scroll. "But there's a pardon written in here too, for any and all crimes -- known and unkown -- I may have committed in Andor or Cairhien. I wonder who told her..."
"Told her what?"
"Nothing, Mat. Nothing at all."
Nevertheless, I was generally pleased with the escapade to free Moiraine, though I think Noal's death came across as kind of cheap, considering the way they finally got out. I guess it kind of had to happen but when the solution was so simple, I have a hard time with Mat only figuring it out after Noal died to give them more time. That just bothers me a little.The way I read it, the Ashandarei would only work on the wall of the room where the remains of the twisted doorframe were found. That room was "adjacent" to the skin of the Tower (or whatever term you would use for the Finn's strange geometry.)
Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mount Crumpit, He rode to the tiptop to dump it!"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
"They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
"The all the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!"
(snipped a little)
And what happened then...?
Well...in Who-ville they say
That the Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day!
And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light
And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he... ...HE HIMSELF...!
The Grinch carved the roast beast!
He has been anointed the third best blade master by BS. Lan, Galad, then Gawyn. Also Rand was on the same level as Gawyn, by BS.
Her thoughts:
Cadsuane did not like losing two of her people in return for no more than a few singed Forsaken and one dead renegade.
-Winter’s Heart, With The Choedan Kal
She wasn’t on Verin’s list either, and Verin identified over 90% of the Black Ajah. She was also able to look Rand in the eyes after Rand’s epiphany with no hesitation, whereas Darkfriends are unable to (Towers of Midnight, For What Has Been Wrought).
TITLE - Towers of MidnightCHAPTER: 52 - Boots
As she rode down that broad passageway, lined with the rectangular buildings Cairhienin favored, she realized that perhaps these people had been waiting for an event like this. Talking of it, spreading tales. Some of those tales had been hostile, and those were what Norry had reported. But they now seemed to her more a sign of worry than hostility. Cairhien had been too long without a monarch, their king dead by unknown hands, the Lord Dragon seemingly abandoning them.
(anyway - Rhuarc and Gaul could take the lot of them)
I actually think Gawyn's going to use the rings intentionally and die in the last battle.
Side Note: I hate this new comment editor Tor has saddled us with. It's one of the reasons I haven't been hanging around here that much anymore.
"Makashak Na famalashten morkase," Nalaam mumbled, "delf takaksaki mere!" It wasn't a language Androl knew--it wasn't the Old Tongue, that was for certain. It probably wan't even a language at all.
@sleepinghour Who is the best swordsman in #WoT right now? Lan, Galad, or Gawyn?Gawyn is not necessarily luckier than other people, his sword skill is just more luck than pure skill.
Brandon Sanderson: Lan. Then Galad. Then Gawyn. Gawyn is luckier than he thinks he is.
...Byar put a gauntleted hand on Galad's shoulder and leaned close.
"He likes to strike at the arms and legs," he said in a low voice, casting glances over his shoulder at Valda. From the way he glared, some matter stood between them. Of course, that scowl differed little from his normal expression. "He likes to bleed an opponent until the man can't take a step or raise his sword before he moves for the kill. He's quicker than a viper, too, but he'll strike at your left most often and expect it from you."
The only reason he was still alive was because the three were being careful, wearing him down. Once he fell, that sul'dam had indicated they would go on a rampage through the White Tower...
No! Gawyn thought as one of them tried The River Undercuts the Bank. He leaped forward, dodging between two blades, swinging his weapon. Amazingly, he actually struck, and a voice cried out in the room. Blood sprayed across the ground, one shadowy form falling.
The two others muttered curses, and all pretense of wearing him down vanished. They struck at him, weapons flashing amid dark mist...
...Blades cut the air around him as he spun and slammed the pillow on the lantern, smothering it.
Plunging the room into darkness. No light. No shadows.
Equality.
...
He raised his blade for a desperate strike, using Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose, predicting where the Bloodknives would move. He was no longer distracted by their misted figures, and his strike hit true, sinking into flesh...
...
Gawyn was feeling shaky now. He'd lost too much blood. If he had something to throw to create a distraction. . . but no. Moving would rustle clothing, would give him away.
So, gritting his teeth, he tapped his foot and raised his blade to protect his neck, praying to the Light that the attack came low. It did, cutting deeply into his side. He took it with a grunt, but immediately lashed out with all he had. His sword hissed, and with a brief tug it sliced true. A thump followed...
Gawyn slumped against the bed, blood gushing from his side...
He hit the floor a moment later. His last thought was that he still didn't know whether or not she was dead.
He recognized the forms the High Lord used; they were a little different from what he had been taught, but not enough. The Swallow Takes Flight met Parting the Silk, Moon on the Water met The Wood Grouse Dances...
Also, throughout Cadsuanes inner monologue in " A Promise to Lews Therin" her comments could be taken both ways - probably a deliberate tool used by the Authors. The only thing she says that could suggest she is for The Light is that she calls the Forsaken "The Forsaken" rather than "The Chosen" - although other Darkfriends with POV's have mentioned that it's a habit that is difficult to lose.
These actions {balefiring Natrim's Barrow} would tear at al'Thor, rip at his soul, lash his heart raw and bleeding. He would have nightmares, wear his guilt on his shoulders like the yoke of a heavily laden cart. She {Graendal} could vaguely remember what it had been like, taking those first few steps toward the Shadow. Had she ever felt that foolish pain? Yes, unfortunately. Not all the Chosen had. Semirhage had been corrupt to the bone from the start. But others had taken different paths to the Shadow, including Ishamael.
She could see the memories, so distant, in Moridin's eyes.
The only reason he was still alive was because the three were being careful, wearing him down. Once he fell, that sul'dam had indicated they would go on a rampage through the White Tower...
Moridin is no dummy and is a philosopher. He knows if the DO wins, the Wheel will be destroyed as well as the world. Being Top Dog over nothing ain't such a great thing. What does he have to gain if the the DO wins?
Oblivion. At least, that's what he seems to believe. He's tired of the endless cycle of death and rebirth and wants an end to everything.
First, in chapter 46, Working Leather on p 689, Nalaam spouts some gibberish after the encounter between Androl's group and Cotereen.
Well - wait a minute. Each time you're reborn, you start from scratch. You don't have all the memories of your previous incarnations. It's your own life you're living, not an appendix to someone else's. This line of reasoning works for Moridin only if he has all the memories of his previous incarnations, and hates it.I disagree...even if you don't actually remembering, knowing that everything you did with your life was just repeating the exact same steps over, and over, and over, and over again, and that ultimately, no matter what you did, it would be completely pointless and change nothing, and that you would suffer life after life. As you said, its not so different from what Rand went through, except that Moridin has no love to try for again. There is no 'good' outcome, just an endless stream of crappy ones...well i could see how that could get depressing enough to want to end it, and the only way it can end is the destruction of the wheel.
A thought on Moridin.
Perhaps he wants the wheel to stop, because Old Grim will not allow his soul to be reborn. Just keeps claiming him from death, and now to add insult to injury, he can not even remember his past lives.
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. 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!
So yeah gonna say he doesn't remember his previous lives
One of the Chosen is in the Tower, child. It's Mesaana, I'm certain of it. I had hoped to be able to bring you the name she was hiding under, but the two times I met with her, she was shrouded to the point that I couldn't tell. What I did see is recorded in the red book.
"A friend left me a secret," Rand said. "The White Tower collected Mattin Stepaneos to 'protect' him. Well, it wasn't too much of a leap to wonder if they might have done that with other monarchs. And if they sent sisters to Arad Doman to seize him months ago, before any of them knew of gateways, they could have gotten trapped in the snows on their return trip."
“There was a flash of movement, and something spun in the air. Gawyn threw himself to the side, and steel struck stone. ... The knife that had been thrown for his heart skidded across the tiled floor. ...
"A person leaped out, swinging a sword for Gawyn’s head. He whipped his blade into Cutting the Reeds, knocking aside the attack. The assassin was much shorter than Gawyn, so he should have had a strong advantage in reach. Yet the assassin moved with a blurring speed, sword darting at Gawyn in a series of thrusts, not using any sword forms Gawyn recognized.“
One other assassin had turned up. They'd lost two soldiers and a Warder killing her.
"Obliquely, she realized what she was doing. She was using Rand's proclamation as a beacon by which to gather and tie the monarchs to the White Tower. They would come to support her arguments against breaking the seals. But in the end, they would serve humankind in the Last Battle." (p 428)
and 2-handed seems to be the main Warder/Warrior fighting style in RandlandActually, Rand says/thinks as much in KoD, after Semirhage burns off his hand:
"I'll have to learn the sword forms all over again, though." Bashere nodded. Most forms required two hands.
Hey! That could be a new poll—make a list of seven impossible things for Egwene to do in the next book.
Get Rand to put the seat back down
Floating in emptiness, he drew his sword from the scabbard Bornhald proffered, and the slightly curved blade became part of him.......Galad was not distracted.Every creak of saddle leather was clear and distinct, every ringing stamp of hoof on paving stone. He could hear flies buzzing ten feet away as though they were at his ear. He almost thought he could see the movements of their wings. He was one with the flies, with the courtyard, with the two men. They were all part of him, and he could not be distracted by himself.
one thing the Aiel could do afterwards was enforce the Dragon's Peace
The Dragon's peace needs to be enforced, otherwise it won't work. The Aiel are the best people to enforce it. Therefore, the Aiel will enforce the Dragon's peace. This also explains why they were not a part of it.betrays some naivete about how foreign affairs actually work.
I assume an Aes Sedai can’t write a lie more easily than she can speak one?” He did not wait for her nod.
"Looking at reports will be safer than asking questions with no idea who we're really asking. Logically, a Black sister must be able to lie despite the Oaths." Otherwise, the Black Ajah would have been revealed long since. That name seemed to be coming more easily with use. "If any sister wrote that she did one thing when we can prove she did another, then we have found a Darkfriend."
speak - verb (used with object)
14. to declare in writing or printing, or by any means of communication.15. to make known, indicate, or reveal.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/speak
So a definite ix-nay on the ie-lay concerning gestures like nods...
The Taint is nothing more than the Dark One's touch on Saidin. The True Power, his essence. It's not much of a leap to think Callandor can also channel the True Power because of its flaw.
Q: Can Moridin use a male angreal if he channels the True Power?
RJ: No.
Azral Hanan
Are the taint and the True Power the same?
Brandon Sanderson
No, they are different.
I suspect she may go as far as inciting the rulers supporting her to attack Rand's armies just to stop him, hence her insistence on Darlin bringing all of his troops.
I know that the Seanchan are a danger to Tear, but let us not forget that the Dark One, not the Seanchan, is our primary concern during these worst of days. Perhaps it is easy to think yourself safe from the Trollocs when so distant from the battle lines, but how will you feel once the cushions of Andor and Cairhien have fallen?"Her primary reason, of course, is to get Rand's attention. Do we have any evidence that she had even been thinking in terms of Rand bringing "armies" to the FoM? She was collecting all his allies to look him in the face and say "Don't do it," not finding or creating enemies to fight him down.
" I thought I was being forged into a sword," Rand said, eyes growing distant. "But I was wrong. I'm not a weapon. I never have been." Min later asks, "then what are you" but Rand doesn't answer.
Q: Was Demandred or his proxy in Towers of Midnight?A: No he was not; he will be in A Memory of Light.
I agree that Olver's winning of Snakes and Foxes has nothing to do with any attribute of Olver's. I attribute it to his close relationship with Mat, whose combination of luck and ta'veren pull generated the win.
"Did you intend keeping these new weaves for your favorites, like Taim? Those gateways. Where did we send those Trollocs? I just copied your weave exactly."
"It doesn't matter where they went," Rand said absently. His attention was focused on Lews Therin. The madman, the bloody voice in his head, drew a little deeper on the Power. Let go. man. "Shadowspawn can't survive passing through a gateway."
...
"Not too many in any one place, though. The destination shifts every time a Deathgate opens." Rand rubbed at his temples. That pain was a warning. He was close to the amount of saidin he could hold without dying or being burnt out. You can't die yet, he told Lews Therin. We have to reach Tarmon Gai'don or the world dies.
We discussed the gholam, if someone had pushed it through a gateway, would it have just died? Brandon said that gholam CAN go THROUGH gateways (from one place to another). He mentioned that this was the first time he had shared this information. Gholam are Shadowspawn of a more perfected kind. It would have been way too easy to kill if you just needed to shove it through a gateway (to another place). However, falling through the Skimming gateway for a few minutes did kill the gholam and it is really dead and it's not going to show up again.
Q: Why can't Shadowspawn pass through gateways?
RJ: It's because they're artificial constructs. They can't tolerate the passage.
Q: So would a Nym have the same problem?
RJ: Yes.
Q: How about Ogier?
RJ: No. Ogier are not artificial constructs.
Q: Why don’t the Forsaken every just open a gateway for floods of Trollocs to pour through, instead of messing with the dangers of the Ways?
RJ: RAFO, my child. RAFO.
"The Wheel has turned, for better or worse. And it will keep on turning, as lights die and forests dim, storms call and skies break. Turn it will. The Wheel is not hope, and the Wheel does not care, the Wheel simply is. But so long as it turns, folk may hope, folk may care. For with light that fades, another will eventually grow, and each storm that rages must eventually die. As long as the When turns, Ast long as it turns..."..."That has the sound of a song about it, Thom."
"Aye," Thom said, almost with a sigh."An old one, forgotten by most. I've discovered three versions of it, all with the same words, set to different tunes. I guess the area has me thinking of it; it's said that Doreille herself penned the original poem."
I think real victory will be if Rand figures out a way to tie the DO into the Pattern so that the DO has to give up on destroying the pattern because if he is tied to the pattern, he will destroy himself by destroying the pattern.
"Are you ever going to give up that affectation, Cadsuane Sedai?" Rand asked. "Calling me boy? I no longer mind, though it does feel odd. I was four hundred years old on the day I died during the Age of Legends. I suspect that would make you my junior by several decades in the least. I show you respect. Perhaps it would be appropriate for you to return it. If you wish, you may call me Rand Sedai. I am, so far as I know, the only male Aes Sedai still alive who was properly raised but who never turned to the Shadow."
"Ok - here's another thought. Since Rand is just the most recent incarnation of the Dragon, and LTT was the previous Dragon, and both are the "Dragon Reborn", as the wheel spits out a reborn dragon near the end of each age, why is there no recollection of the person who was the Dragon Reborn at the end of the First Age; the one just before LTT's turn?"I've pondered that one, and what I settled on was why this memory of a previous incarnation was unique to Rand. Why? Well, what else is unique to Rand about this lifetime? The Taint. That had never happened before. Also, we see numerous references to Asha'man "talking to themselves." I took this as a hint that they, like Rand, heard voices in their heads. Plus, I love the irony that the DO's contamination of saidin had a little unexpected side effect: a memory of a previous life. Ahh, the clever Wheel - always looking for a way to keep turning. As to why Rand doesn't remember lives from before LTT, the story doesn't need him to - and neither does the Wheel.
"A ruthless killer, she was responsible for the deaths of Aran'gar and Asmodean and for the destruction of Mesaana."Very clever. Very Aes Sedai. "responsible for" does not necessarily mean she killed Asmodean directly. She could have ordered him killed and still be "responsible." Can you tell us that Graendal actually killed Asmodean herself? Pretty please? Thanks.
Really good book...only thing that I experienced and wanted to see if others noted it as well: THE TYPOS!
Nope! I did not notice 'em. I listened to the audiobook , but I can't spell anyone's name, either.
He felt something on his neck. Warmth.
He hesitated, then turned weary eyes toward the sky. Sunlight bathed his face. He gaped; it seemed so long since he'd seen pure sunlight. It shone down through a large break in the clouds, comforting, like the warmth of an oven baking a loaf of Adrinne's thick sourdough bread.
The clouds had returned.
As she watched Naeff hasten away, she noticed that the clouds above were breaking. Rand had returned.
Overhead, the clouds broke, melting away above the city in response to Rand's arrival.
As she waited, the clouds above grew thinner.
Suddenly they split, the dark thunderheads pulling back. The sky became an open field of blue, a deep, pure expanse. Elayne's eyes opened wide, and she turned on her horse, looking at Perrin's section of camp.
He's come, then, Egwene thought. And the calm is here. The brief moment of peace before the storm that destroys.
The flames died, the black and white clouds cleared and opened to a blue sky.
The streets of Caemlyn were busy, even at this late hour. The paving stones were damp from a recent shower, though those clouds had passed by and — remarkably — left the sky open to the air.
The clouds still lurked on the horizon, but they were broken around the city in an unnatural ring. Perfectly circular.
Gawyn smiled, breathing in the scents of roses and mud around the pond. The scents of life. He glanced up at the sky as they walked. "I can't believe how much sunlight we've been seeing here. I'd nearly convinced myself that the perpetual gloom was something unnatural."
"Oh, it probably is," she said nonchalantly. "A week back the cloud cover in Andor broke around Caemlyn, but nowhere else."
"But . . . how?"
"Something is happening to him. I can feel it, feel him changing. Cleansing. He drives back the clouds and makes the roses bloom."
Morning light peeked through the drapes. Elayne sat back, feeling the powerful warmth through the bond with Rand that had appeared there. Light, but that was a wonderful sensation. The moment she'd begun feeling it, the cloud cover around Andor had broken.
There was a distinct irregularity here. The clouds broke around Caemlyn. The cloud cover had been so universal elsewhere that Faile started upon seeing this. The clouds formed an open circle above the city, eerily even.
Aviendha's foot hit the flagstones. Around her, the forest of glass columns shimmered with prismatic color. It was like standing in the middle of an Illuminator's firework. The sun was high in the sky, cloud cover remarkably gone.
I was feeling somehow off about Mat's letter to Elayne with the weird spelling and all that. And then I remembered that he already has,in the past, written a note to Nynaeve and Elayne (in ACoS, at his first meeting with Tylin, so I went and hunted it down.You're absolutely right. My thoughts went down exactly the same path, and I've spent a bit of time pondering it.
"'Purpose?' asked the uniformed Arafellin, hair in braids. 'Traveling to Fal Moran,' Lan said. 'Because of the Last Battle.'"Now take a look at the endpaper maps in ToM. The Fields of Merrilor were described as being north of Tar Valon on the border of Shienar. There is a road from Tar Valon to Fal Moran. It continues on to Fal Dara and then on to Tarwin's Gap. So it seems entirely probable that they will connect somewhere in that vicinity.
In ToM, Elayne has no idea Mat is in town and he has been unable to reach her. So he writes her such a letter that she has no doubt or suspicion in her mind that it's from him and immediately grants him an audience.
Robert Jordan's blog 2 October 2005 - 'ONE MORE TIME'
And finally, the Old Tongue is written in a script that has more letters than the English alphabet, some representing diphthongs. That script will be in the Encyclopedia that Harriet will do, along with 950 or so words of the Old Tongue derived from what is called Basic English, the 950 words necessary to carry on an understandable conversation. Some words I dropped as essentially unnecessary to the books — electricity, for example — while others — such as sword and names of birds and animals – I had to add. The total might come nearer 1000 words by now.
Towers of Midnight book tour 7 November 2010 Harvard Coop, Cambridge, MA - Zaela Sedai reporting
Harriet is working on this project and it will be out probably about a year after A Memory of Light. Harriet said she plans it to be “like the 11th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica”. Brandon is trying to convince Harriet to let him do Annotations of the WoT books he co-wrote when the series is over. If he is allowed to do so it will come out in book form.
Rand did not use Compulsion, or any other weaves, on Tuon at their meeting. Tuon's refusal was mainly due to her innate sense of self. At this point, she firmly believes that she is the most important person in the world.
For as far back as you destroyed the creature, whatever it did during that time no longer happened. Only the memories remain, for those who saw or experienced it.
"A personal trick of mine," Cadsuane said, undoing the weaves and remaking them to show how they were done.
Not that she trusted Sorilea. The Wise One had her own goals, and they might not completely coincide with Cadsuane's.
Cadsuane almost snapped a no. But ...
As Sorilea closed the door behind the three of them, Cadsuane disarmed the box's traps.
...
Instead, the weaves - inverted to be invisible - sprang out in twisting threads of Air ...
For all of those ragging on Egwene, how do you account for the dreamwalking Wise Ones' ongoing great esteem for her? Their opinions generally seem to be well-founded, and their respect for her has only grown.
Cadsuane purposely drove Rand to the brink and beyond with Tam... what she did was a huge risk and she faced death, but she basically saved the world from what Rand was becoming.Nnnnnnnggggh nah, I can't accept that. That's like saying that
a) the Wise Ones respect her;
b) that she’s a capable Amyrlin (When has she retreated from a poorly chosen position? Who defined the position as poor?)
and
c)she competently exercises her authority for the good of the White Tower,
“find within yourself a reason to oppose or complicate the Dragon’s efforts in regards to his plan to battle the Dark One,”
Egwene opened her mouth - and realized that she was about to tell him all she knew about Salidar. Barely in time she clamped her teeth shut so hard her jaws ached, and she opened herself to saidar . the sweet feel of life, so strong it overwhelmed everything else seemed to help; slowly the urge to talk began to ebb. He sat back with a sigh, and she stared at him wide-eyed. It was one thing to know he was the strongest ta'veren since Artur Hawkwing. But quite something ese to become caught up in it herself. It was all she could do not to hug herself and shiver.
"My father trained on one of those", {Two Rivers bow} Nalaam noted. "Learned the art from a Two Rivers man whom he rescued from drowning in Illian. Has the bowstring as a memento."
the bar sawed sideways, carving a swathe through both walls; between, cases and cabinets and wired skeletons collapsed and crashed. Severed columns quivered;
He swept it across the springing creatures; for an instant they became strange shadows of themselves, all colors reversed, and then they were made of sparkling motes that broke apart, smaller and smaller, until there was nothing.
and finger-thin balefire burned past her, an arrow of solid' light, to take the Draghkar in the head. The effect of that narrower stream was slower, but no less sure than with the Darkhounds. The creature's colors reversed, black to white, white to black, and it became sparkling motes that melted in air.
So why does balefire destroy all of a living creature (as well as burn the thread back), but only carve a non-living object?Wow - we're repeating a discussion that happened some time back. I had noted the same thing that J Dauro notes and had advanced pretty much the same explanation as birgit.
Living people have a thread in the Pattern. Balefire burns the thread out of the Pattern back some time depending on the strength of the balefire. If only part of a living creature were destroyed, the surviving body parts would be in the place where they would have been in the past, not where they are when the person is balefired. (Maybe there are body parts lying around elsewhere, they just aren't on screen because the characters have moved). Objects don't have a thread and are only destroyed in the part where they are hit. Cuendillar is not
destroyed by balefire.
Will she channel? We don't know. It does seem unlikely, at least on the surface. The future that Aviendha saw seems to indicate that she will not, but that future can (and most likely will) be changed. Tuon might spontaneously begin channeling like Bethamin did if she encounters a situation where there is no other way to save her own life, or Mat's, or Selucia's, etc. She might finally be convinced by the arguments of people like Mat and Setalle, perhaps with the help of some omens or her fortune-telling damane.
I doubt that things that were already destined to happen were not accounted for in her vision. In other words, the Wheel has known that Mat would go to Ghenjei for some time now. Everything should be the same save for whatever she will do to change the future.
He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.
The creatures had pointed teeth.Six pages later:
"The bargain has been arranged," one of the Eelfinn males said, smiling, showing pointed teeth.Down the same page:
She smiled more broadly than the others. Her teeth were pointed too.So, that's three references to Eelfinn teeth. Now let's look at how they move:
. . the Eelfinn made no threatening moves. It glided around them . . .Several pages later:
Quick, supple, predatory.Then, most significant, I think:
If Mat looked right at one, he could almost mistake them for ordinary men and women, but the way they moved in darkness, sometimes on all fours . . .Now some description from Barriga's POV in the final chapter:
...figures wearing black and brown approached with a sleek grace. . . . They walked at a crouch . . .Interesting that once again we have this, after all the smiling the Eelfinn were doing:
The Aiel man undid his veil, and revealed a smiling face . . . The man's teeth had been filed to points. His smile broadened . . .
Matt: …some item of Power?So the *Finn have a huge stash as well, and while they are not chums with the DO they are pretty evil themselves - I would imagine the a lot of these items are going to end up with Team Dark. Or at the very least be used against Team Light in some manner.
Brandon: Some item of Power, something like that…of which they have great stores…
[what???]
Matt: Really? Heh, so the obvious question, where did the 'Finns get great stores of ter’angreal, angreal, and is that part of the Pact they made?
Brandon: RAFO…but if you just think about it, we don’t even have to go to the notes for this if you think about it logically, we know of them providing certain items of Power to certain individuals that they were able to match very nicely with certain requests very easily. If you run the statistics on that, it's either a huge coincidence or they have very many to choose from.
Matt: So, how many Finns are there?
Brandon: RAFO. I’m going to RAFO a lot of 'Finn stuff just so you know.
