Is Randland on Earth?

[GrandpaG]

Could it be in one of the "strange worlds" that Egwene saw in her travels in dreamland?

 

Maybe our earth was one of her "strange worlds"?

 

I know it appears to be similar to our world a few centuries ago, but is it ever clearly stated that Randland is on a future or past Earth as we know it?

 

During his trip to Falme, Rand saw thousands of parallel possibilities.

He, Huron (sp?), and Loial traveled in a parallel dimension to get ahead of Padan Fain to get the horn back.

 

Maybe Randland is not Earth.

 

Maybe there really is a place where the wheel turns and ages reoccur that is one of the possibilities that parallel our earth?  And all we have to do to visit there is to open a portal or use our imagination?  No.  I haven't been smoking any Two Rivers tabac.  ;)

 

What do you think?

[Arath Faringal]

General consensus is that we are the first age.  So due to the nature of the wheel of time, we're past and future.

[Vordreller]

TBH, I always thought that Randland looks a bit like Spain...

[Mardragon]

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Could it be in one of the "strange worlds" that Egwene saw in her travels in dreamland?

 

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Maybe our earth was one of her "strange worlds"?

During his trip to Falme, Rand saw thousands of parallel possibilities.

He, Huron (sp?), and Loial traveled in a parallel dimension to get ahead of Padan Fain to get the horn back.

 

Maybe Randland is not Earth.

 

Even if our world were one of the 'strange worlds' or it would still be Earth. The way I understand it they're all earths, just Earths where things happened differently. You mention parallel possibilities yourself.

 

I could be wrong about that though. I'm thinking of those strange animals the Seanchan use, wild versions of which are found on another world. (I think Jordan mentioned once the domesticated versions were brought over from there rather than being indigenous to the Seanchan lands, but this hasn't been confirmed in print.) They have a markedly different physique to the vertebrates of our (and Rand's) world. Then again, their world is probably just a different Earth where certain forms evolved differently. I think this is most likely the case.

 

Concerning the nature of the wheel of time itself, how literally are we meant to take it? Is time literally a wheel in that the past is in also the very far future? Or is it merely symbolic of the fact that certain events have a tendency to repeat themselves. I'm thinking particularly of the points where Ba'alzamon speaks of having faced Rand again and again throughout time. The implication is that things change, as do their names, etc, Llews Therin, etc.

[Mr Ares]

According to RJ it is our world in the past and future.

[Lherick]

In the Path of Daggers the world is actually referenced to as Earth by Graendal.

 

Chapter 12

"A man I've never heard of has been named the Great Lord's Regent on Earth?"

 

This sentence is interesting.  Would the dark one have a regent on another planet?  Do the forsaken know of other lifeforms elsewhere in space?

[mb]

Like another poster told, Robert Jordan told that the Wheel of Time series is both past and future to us.

 

If I remember correctly, he compared time to a wheel.  Have not been able to find exact quote.

 

[The Watcher and Wanderer]

It does take place on our Earth.  RJ has stated this saying that they are the source many of our myths and legends and we are the source of many of theirs.  While it is both our past and future due to the circular nature of time I would still say that it is in our relative future.  The general consensus is that we are the first age, the AOL is the second age and of course the story takes place in the third age.

[draconian]

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It does take place on our Earth.  RJ has stated this saying that they are the source many of our myths and legends and we are the source of many of theirs.   While it is both our past and future due to the circular nature of time I would still say that it is in our relative future.  The general consensus is that we are the first age, the AOL is the second age and of course the story takes place in the third age.

ishaemal said the wheel has turned a 1000x so randland could be millions of years removed from our age

but it would explain alot if the 1st age was a repeat of our age

[Ashaman DeRouge]

I think the implicit meaning is that the 1st age (current) is our time (current).

 

I'm not saying I'm right, though :P

[Thorn]

There are a couple of extremely weird but irrelevant details thrown in here and there that you could use to argue it's a parallel earth (for example, peaches are poisonous in Randland), but even those are more likely explained by the Turnings of the Wheel than by alternate worlds.

[GrandpaG]

There are infinite possibilities, each of which are spawned by decisions made and paths taken.

 

For example, how would this series have been different had Rand decided against going back to his house during the trolloc attack?  A whole new scenario would have evolved.  His life would have been different.  He might have been killed or captured by the fade along the road.  Tam might have died before they reached the village.  That parallel world exists as a possibility.  Rand glimpsed some of the other possible worlds while in transit to Falme.

 

Nobody has brought up Merc and Mosc.  ::)

 

In the reality that I know, nobody knows how to channel.  The concept of repeating ages is only known to those who have read some of the wheel of time series.  I don't consider my earth to be part of that earth.  It could be in a parallel possibility somewhere in the future or the past or both, maybe.  Or, maybe it's just very good fiction?

 

Our civilization would seem like the Age of Legends to someone living in the Dark Ages.  They might consider us to be the product of some author's wild imagination.  Flying from one place to another?  Reading after dark?  Talking to someone who is miles away?  Instant hot water?  Heart surgery?  Making popcorn in two minutes?  10,000 people hearing music in a huge stadium?  Paying taxes?  Government aid for commoners?  Nonsense.

 

Randland could probably exist on a parallel earth.  I've never been there or seen it except in my own mind while reading the series.  Sure is fun to think about, though.

[Arath Faringal]

Why would the story need to take place in a PSW?  We're already two ages removed from the time of the story, why add the unnecessary complication of making it a parallel world as well?

[Nae Bliss]

PEACHES ARE POISON!!!?... dude that sucks  :'(

[Arath Faringal]

Technically speaking, peaches ARE poinsonous.  The pits contain cyanide.  We're talking very small amounts.  You'd have to eat a whole bunch of them in order for it to have a bad effect on you.  They have been known to effect animals, like cows, which eat them.

 

I'm guessing either someone did a horrible job of breeding their peach trees and Randland ended up with super toxic peaches, or its simply one of those things that people traditionally assume to be true.

[Thorn]

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I'm guessing either someone did a horrible job of breeding their peach trees and Randland ended up with super toxic peaches, or its simply one of those things that people traditionally assume to be true.

 

Or our present-day peaches are the result of positive selective breeding/engineering on prior age's poisonous peaches :P

[nnokwoodeye]

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I'm guessing either someone did a horrible job of breeding their peach trees and Randland ended up with super toxic peaches

 

Or our present-day peaches are the result of positive selective breeding/engineering on prior age's poisonous peaches :P

 

Since time is a circle, both explanations are probably true.

[Alternate34]

Why is the concensus that our age is the 1st Age?  Is it because channeling had yet to be discovered in the 1st age?  Since time is circular in WOT world, the age preceding the 1st age, the 7th age, may have eradicated channeling in someway.  Or the 6th Age.  Or the 5th Age.  Really the only Ages that couldn't be our present time are the 2nd age, 3rd age, and 4th age I suppose unless the ending of the series throws us some craziness.

 

If there is some RJ input pointing in the direction that our age is the first age, I could be persuaded.

 

BTW, I think our age is in the past and future.

[Mr Ares]

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Why is the concensus that our age is the 1st Age?

Because of the stories Thom tells, of the Age before the Age of Legends.

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BTW, I think our age is in the past and future.

Time is a Wheel. That's a given.

[Blackhoof]

I dont think that Randland is, or was Earth. Thewy call it Earth, because it is the only Earth they know. The first age had our technology, but it wasn't actually earth.

 

Ps: Are there any maps of what the world looked like before the Breaking? It would be cool to know.

[Mr Ares]

According to RJ, it is supposed to be our world, past and future. Hence the stories told of the Age before the Age of Legends, with such curious similarities to our own history. Hence the similarities between the characters and our own legends. We are the source of their legends, and they ours.

[Blackhoof]

Hmmmm.... well, I suppose we now know what the world looked like pre-breaking... I wonder where Australia fits into Randland. I hope it didn't sink.

[Mr Ares]

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I wonder where Australia fits into Randland. I hope it didn't sink.

I think sinking might be an improvement.

[Hallow]

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Hmmmm.... well, I suppose we now know what the world looked like pre-breaking... I wonder where Australia fits into Randland. I hope it didn't sink.

 

The land of madmen perhaps.

[Blackhoof]

Well, at least the Land of Madmen doesn't have Football anymore.  ;) I hate football.