A Memory of Light Speculation

[GB]

Re CynFear's current plight (as of the end of ToM): there is much speculation on whether it's a trap or not. Surely, Rand Sedai's DF-detector-stare will be able to tell?

 

maybe the ability doesnt work in the dream world?

[FarShainMael]

He seems to be having an ordinary dream; and he does recognise her soul though her face is different. I'd need some persuading that he can't see the Darkness in that soul.

[gloweye]

He seems to be having an ordinary dream; and he does recognise her soul though her face is different. I'd need some persuading that he can't see the Darkness in that soul.

 

Agree with above... And even before I thought about his DF.indentifying ability, I thought she was genuine.

[Byzantine279]

Her being genuine does not rule it out as a trap, however, sicne it is entirely possible Moridin is dangling her out as bait in order to lure Rand into a trap.

[FarShainMael]

That's more likely, agreed. But what would CynFear's inclinations be, if/when Rand rescues her? Would they still be Dark? (Have they ever been 'Dark', exactly, or just self-serving?)

[ptolemy99]

Maybe it will by symbolic. Lanfear's fall lead to the opening of the DO's prison. Maybe her redemption will be finding her way back to the light to help recreate it.

[Konteil]

Hmm.

 

-MoL begins with final preparation for the Seanchan attack on the White Tower, Fain is traveling north of the Blight, Caemlyn is burning, the Black Tower conflict is laid out, peasants are arriving at the fields Merrilor.

 

-The Black Tower plotline is the first resolved, in something of an anti-climax, and Logain becomes the new Black Tower leader.

 

-Meanwhile, Mat, Thom and Moiraine go to Caemlyn; things are looking bad until Logain and the Asha'man show up and clear a path. The dragons are rescued, Mat sends Logain and the Band ahead to the fields of Merrilor.

 

-Mat arranges to visit the White Tower, and is retrieving the Horn when the Seanchan start opening gateways in to invade. Mat demands to see Tuon, convinces her to slow down and go to the fields of Merrilor.

 

-The book catches up completely with Towers of Midnight (bar Lan's epilogue); there's a meeting where Rand, Min, Perrin, Nynaeve, Elayne, Faile, Galad (maybe), and Gawyn (maybe) are joined by the arriving Mat, Thom, Moiraine, and Aviendha. We see the start of this scene at the end of Towers of Midnight. Egwene is absent.

 

-The meeting occurs. Rand kneels before Tuon and says that he'll serve the Crystal Throne... because his purpose is to be the Servant of All, not just the Crystal Throne but everyone who is, was or who will be.

 

-Egwene and Rand Sedai have a war of words, and Egwene loses. Everyone supports Rand, including the Hall of the Tower. Egwene loses it a little and gets really angry, Nynaeve delves Egwene and discovers that Aran'gar put compulsion on her to drive a spike between her and Rand. Nynaeve heals Egwene, but Egwene is still waffling when Nynaeve senses that Lan is riding into battle.

 

-Rand essentially says that Egwene needs to make a decision, to join the Dragon Peace or stay out of the way. Nynaeve throws away her Great Serpent ring and says she's with Lan first, Aes Sedai second, and that she'll go alone if she has to. Egwene decides to throw in with the rest of the good guys. The stress of everything causes Elayne to go into labor, and she gives birth.

 

-Mat takes command of the combined army of Light with Rand's blessing, and they travel to the Gap; Rand will embark on a mission to rescue Lanfear. Lanfear will reveal how to heal the Bore, through Ogier and Aiel singing. Then she'll be forced by Moridin to attack Rand, and Rand will need to retreat.

 

-The good guys win and save the army Lan gathered, but Lan dies in Nynaeve's arms due to injuries from shadow forged weapons, injuries too great for even her to heal. Lan's death will shake the will and resolve of everyone in the army of Light.

 

-Rand will come, and bring Lan back from the dead. One final war conference will occur, and the plan will essentially be Mat leading the combined forces of Light in a massive distraction battle, where he'll blow the Horn and keep the main army of Shadowspawn off of Rand's back, while Perrin provides support for the actual assault itself. We'll see Nynaeve vs. Moghedien, Logain vs Demandred, Egwene, Elayne and Aviendha tag-teaming Lanfear and Graendal, and finally Rand squaring off against Moridin while Fain lurks nearby. Gawyn and Lan battle Shaidar Haran, Gawyn using the Seanchan rings to give himself a massive power boost. After dispatching Moghedien, Nynaeve helps Lan; after being separated from the battle with Lanfear and Graendal, Egwene helps as well.

 

-On the battlefield, Mat is holding his own, barely. A breakthrough of Shadowspawn puts Mat on the front lines; Tuon instinctively uses the One Power to burn away the Shadowspawn attacking Mat, saving his life.

 

-Perrin ends up taking the battle into the Dream World, slipping into it physically due to the weakness of the Pattern near the Pit of Doom. First he's fighting back Slayer, and then aiding the Ogier and the Aiel by forging a new Seal in the Bore in Tel'aran'rhiod. He's defended by the spirits of the wolves of the world.

 

-Loial, the Aiel and the Ogier will succeed in their song, and the Pattern will start to heal. The Dark One will reach out, and the healing will slow - as long as the Dark One is still reaching through, they can't seal the Bore, and something needs to push it back. Rand will see it as his destiny, and go to be the Seal himself with Callandor (linked to Moiraine and Alivia). Pain will take his chance, and stab Rand while Moridin strikes at Rand.

 

-In the fragile reality around the Pit of Doom, Elayne, Aviendha and Min are combined to become one person. She looks mostly like Elayne, but she's every bit as much Min and Aviendha. Lanfear recognizes their combined nature as Ilyena, which makes Lanfear sad. Ilyena finishes off Lanfear, and goes to the Pit of Doom itself to back up Rand.

 

-Pain falls into the Pit of Doom, and the taint on him counteracts the Dark One's taint, causing the Dark One to recoil and gives the Pattern the freedom to heal; Rand holds on long enough to seal it with Callandor. The connection between Rand and Moridin leads to their body swap as Moridin strikes at Rand with massive flows of spirit. Rand, in Moridins body, escapes; Alivia sees what's happened, and helps Rand "die" by not telling anyone what she realizes. Moridin, in Rand's body, dies of Rand's wounds. Ilyena, having Min's powers, realizes what happened.

 

-The good guys regroup and get out. Egwene says the eulogy for all those who died. Rand's funeral leads to a gathering of all the main characters in the series, and we have minor characters from throughout the series say their goodbyes to the man who saved them all.

 

-Mat and Tuon finally sleep together, and Tuon finally recognizes that the existing Seanchan system might need to change. She and Mat return to the Seanchan controlled territories to start making changes.

 

-Nynaeve and Lan travel to Malkier, where the Blight is receding. Lan will rebuild his country, and Nynaeve will be with him.

 

-Perrin returns to the Two Rivers, and we have a chance to see what it's become. He tells Tam about what happened. Faile announces she's pregnant.

 

-Moiraine and Thom get married.

 

-Ilyena asks Egwene if she can bury Rand's body on the Dragonmount, and Egwene agrees. She takes a boat across the river to the Dragonmount, and flowers and trees bloom at her passing. She buries Rand's body, and Rand shows up in Moridin's body. The series ends with Rand/Lews/Ilyena/Min/Aviendha/Elayne finally being reunited, to face the future together without fear of the past.

 

 

 

That's my best guess.

 

wow just wow

[MasterAblar]

That's more likely, agreed. But what would CynFear's inclinations be, if/when Rand rescues her? Would they still be Dark? (Have they ever been 'Dark', exactly, or just self-serving?)

 

She'll do whatever benefits her the most. Problem is, even if her situation with the Shadow is currently really bad, I don't see how changing sides would improve it. Even if she does change sides, I wouldn't consider it true redemption if she's doing it for self-serving reasons.

[Sharaman]

@Konteil - You're wasting your talents by only posting here. Go out there and write your own fantasy series! Awesome

[gloweye]

That's more likely, agreed. But what would CynFear's inclinations be, if/when Rand rescues her? Would they still be Dark? (Have they ever been 'Dark', exactly, or just self-serving?)

 

She'll do whatever benefits her the most. Problem is, even if her situation with the Shadow is currently really bad, I don't see how changing sides would improve it. Even if she does change sides, I wouldn't consider it true redemption if she's doing it for self-serving reasons.

 

She wouldn't be a good person, but if she gets the bore locked up, than she's definitely usefull. I think this is the only kind of turn avalable for her without falling out of character.

 

In short, she will be helping the light - but out of hatred for the shadow.

[Clayden69]

Egwene, Elayne and Aviendha tag-teaming Lanfear and Graendal

 

 

erm... Im sure this happened in my dreams

 

and quite frankly its all that needs to happen in AMoL

[Kamin_Majere]

I'm actually more curious about after the last battle. The Avi "vision" from ToM has almost confirmed something that i have thought for a few books now... the Seanchan are going to win.

 

With the whole thing being a large and over reaching cycle of 7 ages, much like the dark one has to be imprisoned long enough by the age of legends so does the act of channeling have to be forgotten and be able to be rediscovered. If Tamrylin was the one to "discover" channeling and LTT wore the Ring of Tamrylin then channeling will have to be forgotten by the first age or so. The best way to do that is the Seanchan to actually win and slowly but surely cull the channeling out of the populace with leashing them.

 

Seems like a hard pill to swallow because alot of the main characters are channelers and we kind of want them to "win" but over the past few books i've pretty much came to the same conclusion that was shown in avi's vision. The Seanchan are going to pretty much take all of the world and lead in the "technological" ages until channeling is only wrote about in books about sword and sorcery and used in reference to games played with dice. Eventually sometime around the 7th or 1st age it will be rediscovered but this time with no dark one influencing things so will lead to another age of legends but the 4th age isnt looking so hot for the channelers i fear :(

 

 

yay first post :)

[Suttree]

I'm actually more curious about after the last battle. The Avi "vision" from ToM has almost confirmed something that i have thought for a few books now... the Seanchan are going to win.

 

Most think it is highly unlikely that Avi's vision will come to pass. It was a warning against a potential future and that is all.

[Kamin_Majere]

I agree that her vision was made in a way to alter it (maybe for just her people, or maybe for everyone) but I still see the seanchan being some sort of unstoppable juggernaut.

[Konteil]

one of the biggest things that i am waiting to see resolved is avhiendas vision of the Aiel . There was something there to avert it but cannot put my finger on exactly what. It also reminds me very heavily of how the Aiel were when tehey fled into the threefold land to begin with. And the Seanchan with shocklances? where would they have gotten those from? Stasis box? So many questions there.

 

As for the rest there are a few options that could come into play.

 

Agree that Thom and Moraine will end up together.

 

Olver at this point will almost have to be gaidal cain. Birgitte will meet him and know his soul.

 

Mat saves caemlyn at the last minute and gathers the dragons and the reamining armies to the field of merrilor.

 

Perrin and the asha man that made the hammer will forge more power wrought weapons for the final war. tho it would also make sense that it just be mat perrin and rand thathave those weapons as well as some few that remain like the one that lan owns.

 

Rand uses the world of dreams to save lanfear who then turns on the shadow.

 

The seanchan prophesies say that when the wolf king holds the hammer the end is near or something like that. Perrins arrival heralds this and the seanchan note it.

 

War in Seandar?

 

more to come later im suer ther is much that i am missing but i am currently on 2nd reread.

[snooze1128]

Hey everyone, just finished the series--only took me 12 months, but I kind of wish I'd dragged it out a little longer so that I wouldn't have to wait around 8 months for AMOL!

Anyway, I've read through this thread, and have some input:

1) @ Konteil, I believe Thom and Moraine are essentially as "together" as they're gonna get. Yea, we might have a scene or two in AMOL where they have to explain their relationship to the others, but besides that, I really don't see room in AMOL for Sanderson to go into any sort of formal marriage ceremony.

2) Also @ Konteil, I love your theory that Olver is Gaidal Cain. However, I can't imagine that Bridgette never saw Olver earlier in the series when they were all in Ebou Dar ... Still, I love this theory. I mean, thus far we really haven't seen a reason for Jordan to have Olver exist as a character, and I think this would be a nice "so who the heck is Olver" resolution.

3) I'm interested to learn more about the whole Lanfear situation. In the Tower of G., the fox dudes tell Mat that some man had already come by to claim Lanfear. I think it's quite obvious that this was either Moridin or Damodred, either acting alone or on behalf of the "Dark One." Lanfear is going to have to play a significant part in AMOL, else the forsaken never would have risked their necks to fetch her from the foxes. I'm very interested to see how Rand interprets his Lanfear dream. I think it's very likely that one of the male forsaken got Lanfear out of the tower of G. to set up a trap for Rand (by the way, I'd say Moridin is the more likely choice here, rather than Damodred, as Moridin might be able to manipulate Rand's dreams, and thus make sure Rand dreams of his Lanfear trap).

What I think will happen is that Rand will realize this is surely a trap (it's been shown in TOM that Rand now has Darkfriend radar detection skills), but will decide to get Lanfear anyway. He knows she, along with Moridin/Ismaheal are the 2 strongest of the Forsaken, and he knows she could help him.

4) The concept of blood transfusion is going to be important, else it never would have been brought up in TOM. Likley, Nynave performs one (maybe from Galad) to keep Rand alive.

5) I think it's safe to assume Mat will not try to recover Caemlyn by force. He's supposed to be some uber general, and using the Band to take the city from the outside-in doesn't seem like a very good strategy.. I think Mat will make the decision to book it to the WT for the horn, or to Rand if he knows he'll be at the Fields of Mellinor.

[FarShainMael]

1. I think we may lose Thom, but that's a really far-out thought. Still, there is Egwene's dream of a man dying in a narrow bed.

 

2. RJ has stated that Olver is not Gaidal Cain. He's too old. (I made that mistake as well!) RJ and Brandon have said that he still has a role to play, apart from bringing out the daddy in Mat.

 

Look for the tag 'olvercain' here:

 

http://www.theorylan...view-search.php

 

 

3. Yeah.. Lanfear built the Bore. I wonder if one of Moiraine's gifts from the Eelfinn was to have her memories, as Mat got memories from various people to fill the holes in his own.

 

If it's a trap, then as someone else has pointed out, Lanfear may not know that herself. I don't find that very likely, though.

(Did you mean Demandred?)

 

4. Or perhaps Rand will donate blood to someone. Can you give a ref for that,  I don't recall it offhand.

 

5. Mat has to save the cannons, so he's going to have to take the Band in for that at least.

[snooze1128]

4. Or perhaps Rand will donate blood to someone. Can you give a ref for that, I don't recall it offhand.

 

"I had one survive an entire hour after the transfusion... I count it as one of my greatest victories. He was in pain the whole time, of course. True pain, agony that he could feel in every vein of his body, right down to the near-invisible ones in his fingers. I know of no other way to bring such suffering to every part of the body at once... I will show you the weave some day." --A Tale of Blood (The Gathering Storm)

 

 

I'll admit, it would be pretty far-fetched to whip out blood transfusion as a back-door method of bringing a character back to life. It's possible that this is such a forbidden weave that nobody has ever tried it for any purpose other than pain--there's a good chance Nynave figures out this is the only way to bring somebody back to life?

[FarShainMael]

Right, I remember now. I don't have the book with me, but didn't she replace blood with something else, hence the pain? But it would work with blood, of course. I just hope they've got somme O-neg handy

[Rufae]

Towards the end of ToM, Rand and crew were looking at Callandor.

 

1) Cadsuane warns Rand about carrying it around openly as he sheaths it on his back. She recommends hiding it somewhere.

 

2) Min sees a vision of a black fist grabbing Callandor.

 

Does this mean Callandor will be stolen? The bland hand "like obsidian" makes me think of the Black Tower. So Taim will steal teh sword which will prompt Rand/Logain into open battle with Taim. Taim, not realizing the sword's weakness of requiring two women to use it correctly, will try to use the sword and destroy himself.

[snooze1128]

Does this mean Callandor will be stolen? The bland hand "like obsidian" makes me think of the Black Tower. So Taim will steal teh sword which will prompt Rand/Logain into open battle with Taim. Taim, not realizing the sword's weakness of requiring two women to use it correctly, will try to use the sword and destroy himself.

I really like this idea, except I don't think it stacks with the whole "Taim = Moridin" theory. I think it has to be one or the other, as I assume Moridin (being the top dog forsaken) has at least an inklinkg of an idea as to how Callandor should and shouldn't be used.

[sleepinghour]

2) Min sees a vision of a black fist grabbing Callandor.

 

Does this mean Callandor will be stolen? The bland hand "like obsidian" makes me think of the Black Tower. So Taim will steal teh sword which will prompt Rand/Logain into open battle with Taim. Taim, not realizing the sword's weakness of requiring two women to use it correctly, will try to use the sword and destroy himself.

 

In the Ragnarök myth—which is basically the Last Battle for the Norse gods—one of the main villains is a giant named Surtr ("the black one") who wields a sword that shines brighter than the sun. He also has a female companion named Sinmara ("the pale nightmare").

 

Surtr's opponent is the god Freyr, who loses the fight with Surtr because he has no sword of his own, having previously given the sword away to a servant. In some versions of the myth, Freyr's lost sword is the same one Surtr used.

 

So there is a mythological precedent for a scenario in which Callandor is lost. I think we'll see Callandor either stolen or made useless somehow, or it would be too easy for Rand to defeat Moridin. One of my old theories was that Rand would lend Callandor to Narishma to help Lan at Tarwin's Gap, only for Callandor to somehow end up in the Shadow's hands. But I think the loss of Callandor is more likely to happen at a later stage in the book.

[Rufae]

Snooze>> But if Taim=Moridin=Ishmael, then Ishy was locked up when the sword was made and it is likely he doesn't know about the weakness. The only saving thing would be if a Black Ajah tells him, but the BA was a product of Mesaana so they might not decide to spill the beans since they may not know she is toast.

 

Sleepinghour >>> Like the theory but the black fist thing is what tickles my neck. Black is heavily Moridin or Taim's color. Unless Narshy losies the sword and then it ends up in one of their hands.

 

Perhaps when Moridin weilds Callandor, he becomes "Lord of the Evening"?

[FarShainMael]

Re Colinda, the channelling wise one..

http://encyclopaedia.../c/colinda.html

 

While reminding myself of some of Min's Viewings, I came across this, which took place just after Rand ( who is resting after struggling with LTT and saidar in LoC49) is thoroughly examined by the Wise Ones Sorilea, Amys, Bair, and Colinda:

 

Once Sorilea and the rest reluctantly concluded that all he needed was rest, and departed ordering him to see that he got it, Min made herself comfortable on his lap again. "They talk in dreams?" she said, shaking her head. "It doesn't seem possible, like something out of a story." A frown creased her forehead. "How old do you think Sorilea is? And that Colinda. I saw - No. No, it doesn't have anything to do with you. Maybe the heat is affecting me. When I know, I always know. It must be the heat."

 

Earlier we meet Colinda in the Royal Library, where she is in a group who are watchng for Nesune, who is interested in the seals (LoC25). Later on she is routing various AS to Verin for questioning. And that's about the last we see of her.

 

So I'm wondering what's going on with Min's Viewing of her. None of her Viewings are insignificant. What exactly did Min see? Was it that Colinda was unbelievably old? Something to do with Dreamwalking? And is the part about the seals in the Library significant?

[Terez]

I think Jesse Bilal must have ordered the Browns to find out as much as they could about the seals, because Demira was doing the same thing in Caemlyn. As for Colinda, the context seems to imply it has something to do with her age, but it could be anything. Perhaps something embarrassing or extremely personal, which would explain Min's reluctance to share.