Upcoming Brandon Sanderson Panel.

[KakitaOCU]

Apologies in advance if this isn't a proper forum, didn't see anything specifying appearances and such.

 

So, Mr. Sanderson will be at Phoenix Comicon this coming Weekend (May 23rd-May26th).  He will be having two panels, one dedicated to WoT and one more general.

 

So figured I'd post up and see if there's any question requests for when I see him.

 

Thank you. :)

 

Edit: And I feel silly for not finding it.  Thank you. 

[Gabriel Kross]

http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/forum/214-meets-and-conventions/

 

This would probably be a more accurate board to use

[fionwe1987]

Some questions I'd like an answer to:

 

1) Can you confirm that Vora's Wand is as powerful as Sakarnen? Before her death, was Egwene holding more Saidar than Nynaeve at the Cleansing?

 

2) When Logain broke the Seals, the Dark One burst free. Why then didn't Taim break them to release the DO?

 

3) Why DID the Dark One/Ishamael allow the loophole in the Black Ajah Oaths ?

 

4) Does Cadsuane keep intact most of Egwene new policies? What did she think of them and Egwene in general?

 

5) Can Dreamwalkers all enter TAR in the flesh without using the One Power, or is this ability restricted to Wolfbrothers and Slayer?

 

6) Did Amys survive?

 

7) Did Min have any children? Were they (or could they theoretically have been) like Aviendha's.

[Aulduron]

How many Ogier came to fight?

[Rhienne]

 

1) Can you confirm that Vora's Wand is as powerful as Sakarnen? Before her death, was Egwene holding more Saidar than Nynaeve at the Cleansing? 

 I would guess not to the latter part of that question.  The other AS comment at the cleansing that the amount of saidar passing through Nynaeve would be felt in Tar Valon, and indeed in CoT we find out that it was felt all over the world, and the Black Sister comments on the phenomenal amount of saidar used.  The CK have an access key which acts as a particularly special buffer due to the CK being so much more powerful than any other sa'angreal, and this completely melts when Nynaeve uses it.  Meanwhile, when Nynaeve and Egwene watch a circle using Vora's wand Heal Mat, Nynaeve considers that she could wield half of that power unaided.  Probably an exaggeration, but I think it suggests that the CK are significantly more powerful than anything else, especially considering that Nynaeve and Egwene's comments on Vora's wand were made when seeing it being used in a circle.  

 

I think Egwene describes Vora's wand as being strong enough to crush Tar Valon's walls if a circle used it, while Lanfear says the CK could channel the Creator/DO.  My understanding is that the CK is on a totally different level from anything else.  When Nynaeve uses it she almost becomes senseless with ecstasy and passes out from the exhaustion of using it.  We don't see either of these effects when Egwene uses the wand, suggesting there is much less saidar involved.

[Mithan]

 

 

1) Can you confirm that Vora's Wand is as powerful as Sakarnen? Before her death, was Egwene holding more Saidar than Nynaeve at the Cleansing? 

 I would guess not to the latter part of that question.  The other AS comment at the cleansing that the amount of saidar passing through Nynaeve would be felt in Tar Valon, and indeed in CoT we find out that it was felt all over the world, and the Black Sister comments on the phenomenal amount of saidar used.  The CK have an access key which acts as a particularly special buffer due to the CK being so much more powerful than any other sa'angreal, and this completely melts when Nynaeve uses it.  Meanwhile, when Nynaeve and Egwene watch a circle using Vora's wand Heal Mat, Nynaeve considers that she could wield half of that power unaided.  Probably an exaggeration, but I think it suggests that the CK are significantly more powerful than anything else, especially considering that Nynaeve and Egwene's comments on Vora's wand were made when seeing it being used in a circle.  

 

I think Egwene describes Vora's wand as being strong enough to crush Tar Valon's walls if a circle used it, while Lanfear says the CK could channel the Creator/DO.  My understanding is that the CK is on a totally different level from anything else.  When Nynaeve uses it she almost becomes senseless with ecstasy and passes out from the exhaustion of using it.  We don't see either of these effects when Egwene uses the wand, suggesting there is much less saidar involved.

 

 

 

Agreed, they were definitely on a different level.  This is further shown when Rand gave Elayne the thing that grows angreal and tells her it takes months to grow a regular angreal.

 

 

My assumption is that it probably took decades or even a century or more to grow them.  Would make sense right?  

[fionwe1987]

 

 

1) Can you confirm that Vora's Wand is as powerful as Sakarnen? Before her death, was Egwene holding more Saidar than Nynaeve at the Cleansing? 

 I would guess not to the latter part of that question.  The other AS comment at the cleansing that the amount of saidar passing through Nynaeve would be felt in Tar Valon, and indeed in CoT we find out that it was felt all over the world, and the Black Sister comments on the phenomenal amount of saidar used.  The CK have an access key which acts as a particularly special buffer due to the CK being so much more powerful than any other sa'angreal, and this completely melts when Nynaeve uses it.  Meanwhile, when Nynaeve and Egwene watch a circle using Vora's wand Heal Mat, Nynaeve considers that she could wield half of that power unaided.  Probably an exaggeration, but I think it suggests that the CK are significantly more powerful than anything else, especially considering that Nynaeve and Egwene's comments on Vora's wand were made when seeing it being used in a circle.  

 

I think Egwene describes Vora's wand as being strong enough to crush Tar Valon's walls if a circle used it, while Lanfear says the CK could channel the Creator/DO.  My understanding is that the CK is on a totally different level from anything else.  When Nynaeve uses it she almost becomes senseless with ecstasy and passes out from the exhaustion of using it.  We don't see either of these effects when Egwene uses the wand, suggesting there is much less saidar involved.

Umm.. Vora's Wand has no buffer. There is no limit on how much OP you can draw through it, except ensuring you don't die before you draw it all in. Egwene had already drawn immense amounts of the Power when she matched Taim, and this was even before she overdrew so she could kill him. The book also has this :

 

She closed her eyes and drew in the power. More than a woman should be able to , more than was right. Far beyond safety, far beyond wisdom. This sa’angreal had no buffer to prevent this.

Since Egwene felt Nynaeve channel through the CK, it seems to me this indicates she was drawing more.

[Rhienne]

My understanding, which I admit may be wrong, is that the CK lets you draw way more power than the next level down of sa'angreal.  The impression I have is that there is a very big gap between the two.  I think her comment on 'more than a woman should be able to' is referring to with that sa'angreal, i.e. she is beyond the limit that Vora's wand increases your strength by, which I think is much lower than what the CK allows.  I don't think Egwene has any way of knowing what the max amount a woman can draw is.  In relation to Lanfear it is only speculated that she may be as powerful as a woman can be, and this was in the AoL when they (in general) new more about the power.  

 

A stronger channeler, e.g. Lanfear, Nynaeve, Alivia, etc. would be able to draw more saidar through Vora's wand without burning out.  My opinion is that you can't draw that much more of the saidar than the sa'angreal boosts you buy before burning out, i.e. Egwene drew more than she was able, but I don't think she would have been able to draw that much more before it killed her.  I personally don't believe you would get a reliable answer on this question from BS anyway - he doesn't seem to have a brilliant grasp on the mechanics of the OP.

[KakitaOCU]

So panel went well.  Unfortionately the questions never really got into specifics of the series, was more about his experiences with Harriet and Team Jordan and his thoughts about the project in general.

 

He did have a few interesting things to say about the series and story specifically though.

 

- He stated straight out that Lanfear had additional plans in motion that can be figured out based on AMOL that none of the fandom has found yet (Or at least not posted).  He was asked for specifics and gave a RAFO, then specified he meant that in terms of re-reading AMOL.

 

- He confirmed that Lanfear's compulsion of Perrin was only in AMOL and that she didn't like using it and so had not done so in their previous meeting back in the early books.

 

- Re: Deaths of major characters.  His statement was that Jordan had left ending situations for nearly every character and that, with only two exceptions, if Jordan didn't specify, they had the character live.  He confirmed one of those exceptions was Harriet's decision re: Siuan.  He did not reveal the other.

 

- The idea of Compelling the Great Captains was one he and Harriet worked up.  The notes apparently just stated that several of the great captains died and then everything was given to Mat.  Since it was so vague, they had to come up with a reason for WHY the world would trust Mat like that.

 

- He acknowledged why Asmodean's killer was revealed the way it was.  Apparently when he got the "Notes" from Harriet there was a sticky note on the top that just said "Graendal killed Asmodean" with no further explanation or notes.  So they thought it'd be fun to provide the same type of blank answer to the rest of the community.

 

- Re: Tuon and Arthur Hawkwings meeting.  Brandon said #1: That while Hawkwing might have issues with certain aspects of Seanchan society, as a whole he would have found Tuon and her people to be awesome.  He further said the reason he didn't show the conversation is because that and the fall out was supposed to be part of the outriggers that we won't see, and so Brandon wanted to leave that open the way Jordan would have.

 

- Jordan made the decision of the True Nature of the DO.  He said that straight out.  He and Harriet rewrote and developed the battle the way it turned out, with the possible futures, etc.  But the true key of the DO being needed for the world and Rand having to discover that and just restore the prison were Jordan's directive.

 

- Lastly, and IMO, most important.  While he stated he was paraphraing from memory, he revealed the "Two sentences" that Jordan had left for the outriggers.  The first was a scene of Mat in a wool cap laying in a gutter having gambled away everything.  The second was a scene with Perrin on a ship thinking that he was going to have to go kill a friend.

[Rhienne]

Thanks for posting that, some very interesting bits and pieces.  

 

 

- Re: Deaths of major characters.  His statement was that Jordan had left ending situations for nearly every character and that, with only two exceptions, if Jordan didn't specify, they had the character live.  He confirmed one of those exceptions was Harriet's decision re: Siuan.  He did not reveal the other.

Would be very interested to know who the other non-RJ pre-ordained death was.  I am assuming it was a slightly more minor major character (maybe Bryne, as by deciding Siuan had to die, they almost inevitably had to kill him due to the warder-rage?), as I can't imagine RJ didn't leave an ending situation for Egwene, one of his six main characters.  

[Suttree]

Only thing is why be coy and not say who it was if it was another minor character? Just doesn't relly make sense.

 

Thanks for the info Kakita!

[KakitaOCU]

Personally, I think it actually was Egwene.  I think the noted specified Cadsuane becoming Amyrlin but maybe nothing as to why the seat was vacant.

 

I can see why he wouldn't bring that up for a while, it's such a hot button issue.  On top of that, from how he spoke on the topic of who wrote what it becomse very clear that he REALLY doesn't care to get into it.  He even suggested that he doesn't even really remember anymore.  (He remembers if something was explicitly Jordan and already written, but he said he now has trouble remembering if something he came up with was purely him or something he found burried in the notes somewhere, etc).

 

So agree or not, I could see it being Egwene and between his feelings that it really shouldn't be looked at as him or Jordan and the fact that some fans are already on the warpatch over it, might just not be worth mentioning.

 

Personally, I was the most intrigued by the idea that Lanfear had other plots going on that we missed, heading back to re-read to see if I can skim anything new.

[Southpaw89]

Personally, I think it actually was Egwene.  I think the noted specified Cadsuane becoming Amyrlin but maybe nothing as to why the seat was vacant.

 

I can see why he wouldn't bring that up for a while, it's such a hot button issue.  On top of that, from how he spoke on the topic of who wrote what it becomse very clear that he REALLY doesn't care to get into it.  He even suggested that he doesn't even really remember anymore.  (He remembers if something was explicitly Jordan and already written, but he said he now has trouble remembering if something he came up with was purely him or something he found burried in the notes somewhere, etc).

 

So agree or not, I could see it being Egwene and between his feelings that it really shouldn't be looked at as him or Jordan and the fact that some fans are already on the warpatch over it, might just not be worth mentioning.

 

Personally, I was the most intrigued by the idea that Lanfear had other plots going on that we missed, heading back to re-read to see if I can skim anything new.

 

In the past he has said that he chose to kill Hurin but for this panel, he said that he chose a major character and Hurin wasn't major so idk. I do feel that if it was Brandon who chose Egwene to die, he didn't do it out of randomness or what he felt was best. I'm sure RJ had it in the notes as a possibility and Brandon chose to kill her because it was a good ending to her arc. But yeah, I don't think we'll ever know.

[Rhienne]

I just can't believe that RJ wouldn't have left an ending for Egwene.  She was the main female character, and arguable towards the end of the series she was equal to Rand in prominence, and certainly to Mat and Perrin.  I think if RJ left specific endings including information for all characters but two which included information on whether they lived or died, Egwene would not be one he would skip over.  Of course, its difficult to state exactly who is a major character and who is a minor character in this series with so many different tiers of characters.  I think by choosing Siuan's fate as death, TJ and BS by default also chose Gareth's fate.

[Mr Ares]

- Re: Deaths of major characters.  His statement was that Jordan had left ending situations for nearly every character and that, with only two exceptions, if Jordan didn't specify, they had the character live.  He confirmed one of those exceptions was Harriet's decision re: Siuan.  He did not reveal the other.

One thing that a lot of people picked up on was a certain reluctance to break up couples - they either live together or die together, but no cases of one having to go on with the other dead. If Bryne was slated to die but Siuan wasn't, that would have fit the bill (and Bryne dying would fit in with the "several great captains die" bit in the notes). If Bryne was to die but Siuan not, then I'm disappointed they didn't take advantage of the opportunity.

[jack of shadows]

@rhienne,

i agree with kakita,something tells me that robert jordan was undecided about egwene's fate.

he clearly intended to substitute the amyrlin after the last battle,but making cadsuane a new

amyrlin doesn't necessarily mean death to egwene,he could have burn-out egwene's ability

to channel during the battle,and an amyrlin can not remain in her position of power without it.

however,from egwene's point of view,i am not sure that being alive after the last battle bereft

of the white tower is preferable to death.

at least she did die with her boots on.

and like suttree said,why still be coy almost six months after the release date if it's only a minor character?

[shortkut]

- Jordan made the decision of the True Nature of the DO. He said that straight out. He and Harriet rewrote and developed the battle the way it turned out, with the possible futures, etc. But the true key of the DO being needed for the world and Rand having to discover that and just restore the prison were Jordan's directive.

I think this is one of the most important reveals. I know most people were wondering about the battle with the dark one and now we know a lot more about it and the dark one itself

[fionwe1987]

What makes me wonder if it is Egwene is that if she lived, her parallels to Rand would continue (burned out saving the world, no longer bearing an immense responsibility). Her death, however, was a very LTT-parallel moment, and her post-death conversation was also very important to cap her Lanfear-mirror aspect.

 

The only way to handle all three requirements would have been to have Egwene come back from the dead in some way, which might have been an understandably confusing choice for RJ.

 

What makes it even more likely is that it was Harriet who decided Bela had to die. I can't quite see RJ not insisting on that if Egwene's death was set in stone.

[fionwe1987]

My understanding, which I admit may be wrong, is that the CK lets you draw way more power than the next level down of sa'angreal.  The impression I have is that there is a very big gap between the two.  I think her comment on 'more than a woman should be able to' is referring to with that sa'angreal, i.e. she is beyond the limit that Vora's wand increases your strength by, which I think is much lower than what the CK allows.  I don't think Egwene has any way of knowing what the max amount a woman can draw is.  In relation to Lanfear it is only speculated that she may be as powerful as a woman can be, and this was in the AoL when they (in general) new more about the power.

 

 By the very fact that Vora's Wand has no buffer, it can theoretically be used to draw more of the OP than the CK. What makes the CK impressive is that they allow one to draw so much OP safely.

A stronger channeler, e.g. Lanfear, Nynaeve, Alivia, etc. would be able to draw more saidar through Vora's wand without burning out.

Yes, but Egwene in her last moments was past caring about that. She was already beyond any safety limit, and she drew on even more of the Power at that point. She was beyond limitations imposed by her strength at this point.

 

My opinion is that you can't draw that much more of the saidar than the sa'angreal boosts you buy before burning out, i.e. Egwene drew more than she was able, but I don't think she would have been able to draw that much more before it killed her.

The text contradicts you here. She was already drawing enough that she would have been burned out. It's only after acknowledging this that she draw on even more. If all she drew was a little more, what exactly did she mean by "far beyond safety"? Wouldn't that be "a little beyond safety" instead?

 I personally don't believe you would get a reliable answer on this question from BS anyway - he doesn't seem to have a brilliant grasp on the mechanics of the OP.

You're most likely right...

[Rhienne]

 

 By the very fact that Vora's Wand has no buffer, it can theoretically be used to draw more of the OP than the CK. What makes the CK impressive is that they allow one to draw so much OP safely.

I think we will have to agree to disagree.  I personally think that Egwene would have been able to draw the amount of power she drew through Vora's wand safely if she had drawn it through the CK, i.e. I think the amount that the CK allows you to draw (buffered) is on an exponentially higher level compared to Vora's wand/Callandor, etc.   This is based on comments by Lanfear, comments by Nynaeve and Egwene on witnessing Vora's wand used in a circle, and the reactions of other Aes Sedai to channelers using Vora's wand and the CK.  

[fionwe1987]

 

 

 By the very fact that Vora's Wand has no buffer, it can theoretically be used to draw more of the OP than the CK. What makes the CK impressive is that they allow one to draw so much OP safely.

I think we will have to agree to disagree.  I personally think that Egwene would have been able to draw the amount of power she drew through Vora's wand safely if she had drawn it through the CK, i.e. I think the amount that the CK allows you to draw (buffered) is on an exponentially higher level compared to Vora's wand/Callandor, etc.   This is based on comments by Lanfear, comments by Nynaeve and Egwene on witnessing Vora's wand used in a circle, and the reactions of other Aes Sedai to channelers using Vora's wand and the CK.  

 

You're not disagreeing with me. You're saying exactly what I am. When Vora's wand was used in a circle, around Aes Sedai who commented on it, etc. it was being used within its limits. Obviously, it was channeling far less of the OP at that time than the CK.

 

My question is specifically about its final use, when Egwene clearly states she drew in amounts that were "far beyond safety". I just want to know how far beyond. As much as the CK would allow? More? Slightly less?

 

As you said, though, that is likely to be left unanswered.

[Agitel]

- Jordan made the decision of the True Nature of the DO.  He said that straight out.  He and Harriet rewrote and developed the battle the way it turned out, with the possible futures, etc.  But the true key of the DO being needed for the world and Rand having to discover that and just restore the prison were Jordan's directive.

 

Finally. That was clearly the case, in my view, but I remember some heated discussions over this and blaming Sanderson for coming up with the whole "paradox" of the Dark One being necessary and how it "didn't fit" anything Jordan had done before.

[shortkut]

 

 

- Jordan made the decision of the True Nature of the DO. He said that straight out. He and Harriet rewrote and developed the battle the way it turned out, with the possible futures, etc. But the true key of the DO being needed for the world and Rand having to discover that and just restore the prison were Jordan's directive.

Finally. That was clearly the case, in my view, but I remember some heated discussions over this and blaming Sanderson for coming up with the whole "paradox" of the Dark One being necessary and how it "didn't fit" anything Jordan had done before.

Same. I would have found it unbelievable that RJ would not leave notes on that

[Jeremy Tews]

Ask him why he didn't try harder to emulate Jordan's subtle use of plot and story development instead of ham-handedly telling us EVERYTHING and over-explaining it. Is it because...*gasp* he's a bad writer? Or just lazy? Either way, please ask him for me :)

[Terez]

We actually have several other clues that the other major death that was not in RJ's notes was Egwene. When asked directly about Egwene, Brandon has refused to answer. I need a new database tag to sort all this out. I might do 'wot deaths'.