That's the way I took it, looking back over things. 3-4 men/women were needed to seal the bore, Perrin was needed to lead the wolves, and Mat was needed to lead the armies and blow the horn. It's a pattern, and from the way it seems it's been repeated before and those people have met before. Well and it's not like they "can't" be bound, in a way they are bound to it, they just can't join the heroes because that's not their place. An interesting side note I just thought of, but channelers aren't bound to the horn, so that's kind of weird. But yeah, it seems like this type of "last battle" happens often enough where it's a thing and the same players appear each time.

I think they are worthwhile, being around that (not anywhere close to a historian here in this context) first generation or so of what we would call fantasy. Or at least what seems to be the split from fairy tails and folklore and into the fantasy we would know. They are children's books, are very to the point, and are pretty short. I'd skip the Magicians Nephew until later in the series, or just power through it if the audio book starts with that one (mine did). The last book "The Last Battle" is ok, I studied Revelation from the Bible so I could get some of it and what he was going for, but I can give or take the first part of that book. Growing up, I wished these stories were used to teach kids about the Bible and faith, the concepts are easier to get here (and I'm sure in other of his writings) than trying to slog through parts of the Bible. So yeah, I'd recommend. It's short, some books are better than others, but it's worth it and it's a historical series. I'll check out Belgariad, I'm looking for something new to move on to at the moment.

The last movie I watched was Knives Out. I really enjoyed it because it mixes mystery, humor, and clever storytelling. The plot keeps you guessing the whole time, and every character seems to have a secret.

cool I haven't heard about it before

Totally agree here. I think Mat and Perrin are very special souls and spun out of the pattern as needed and can't be bound to the horn. (Perhaps similar to the Dragon)

I never read the Narnia books, but imagine I should at some point - I enjoyed the first movie. There is a thread on here somewhere where I compared WoT to the Belgariad by David Eddings. There was a lot of stuff there that compared directly to WoT. Then of course the comparisons to Tolkien as well.

2-3 more books

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showed how to make these adaptations successfully. You stick to the story as it was written, easy.

Her being present when the Bore is made is so interesting. She was still a researcher at that point, and while scorned by Lews, wasn't evil yet. Could she have been affected by the dark one in that moment?

Good point about the true power. And I agree, Demandred is pretty much out of his mind the whole time, so we can't apply logic to the duels.

I like Alanna. She deserved a better death than she got

Her story is definitely the most tragic of the main cast. She has become one of my favorites after re-reading the series. I've always thought of Egwene as the female counterpart to the Dragon. Loial's quote about Rand kinda fits her too "he came like like the wind, like the wind he touched everything, and like the wind he was gone".

Most times the lore discussion goes deeper than the author intended. It's one of the things that makes this sort of story enjoyable. That being said, don't kill the verisimilitude

Just a quick note, finished the Narnia books lately, and wanted to come back to this before going on to other things. It's super interesting how a lot of the WOT pulls from Narnia, and some of the themes or things going on there. Not a one for one, but yeah, plenty of stuff was like "oh this is this" and it was pretty interesting.

They had self determination, but they were put there by the pattern and were needed by the pattern. Yes they were great, but everyone needed one another to reach the end the pattern needed.

I think most ages take place without channeling. In my head canon, fewer and fewer channelers are born and the ability fades away until the pattern requires it in another age

iirc on this... I guess in my take on this we aren't sure exactly where those columns came from. Aviendha touches it, and didn't recognize them as anything angreal or saangreal. There seems to be a bunch of stuff in this world that just is there. The horn is one, and things like this could be others. Who knows where they came from, maybe the pattern set them in place and they are "they are" rather than being made. Dunno, but that's how it came across to me. I thought the city was built later, because after the fall or the bore was opened the Aiel went into exile and tried to bring with them all of the items trusted to them by Aes Sedai. I had thought that trek ended at that city site, and then the city built around it. Maybe I'm wrong. From listening to R. Jordans quick audio book interview at the end of A New Spring, I have a different take on the "prophecy". This is explained in a different thread, my review after I fished the book. At least with the end of the last age, it wasn't prophecy at all. They knew exactly what had to be done. It was detailed instructions. Then, as time went on, primary sources were lost, accounts were lost, and all that was left of the plan was fragments that were now framed more in lore and legend rather than a how-to procedure. The only issue they had before was no one got along enough to trust one another to do it, thus it didn't work. Either way maybe I'm missing something, and either way this is all just an essay and opinion (even yours) since as per my other post, B. Sanderson said that he wrote this because he wanted to. It's not any deeper or more thought out than just a scene the author wanted to include because why not.

If Google hasn’t helped, you could try checking dedicated fan forums, social media groups, or even Discord communities focused on the series - people there often know where longtime fans have moved.

Although I don't think it paid off quite as well as RJ intended, I enjoyed the idea that the 13 demons sealed away at the creation of the world were just the 13 people who happened to be present at a particular Evil Inc. meeting.

I've been around since those days and, while I've seen the occasional post from someone, it's pretty rare. I expect the main reason is that the series ended and most of the analysis/prediction discussion is more or lest finished at this point. There was a system purge/rebuild or something around 2009 that nuked a lot of old accounts, too, but that was before those you mentioned above. My first account (under the same name) was lost then. If you really want to go spelunking, check out the old newsgroup rec.arts.written.sf.robert-jordan. You should be able to find the archives on Google Groups. That's where the old WoT FAQ came from.

How he did magic, was so good that the Terry Goodkind stole it,

The city was built by the Aiel who continued to follow the Way of the Leaf. At some point towards the end of their journey, they were joined by Aes Sedai who guided them. One of these Aes Sedai is present when the first of the Aiel come to make the pact to go through the columns. Presumably they are given instructions to enter only once. Aiel generally do what Aes Sedai tell them and also, many die just entering the columns, so that would serve as a pretty good warning to follow the directions. In the instance someone does go through twice and gains knowledge of the future, they likely are driven mad. As far as why the city and items of the power end up where they do. Ancient Aes Sedai had a far greater knowledge of prophecy and probably knew how certain things needed to/would happen. They made the prophecy of the Dragon during the Breaking, as well as making Callendor and the Eye of the World, and stashing the Horn in the care of the only creature capable of safeguarding it until it was needed. They sent the Aiel on their journey to protect the Aiel and the items in their care. It also gave them purpose and ensured their people would survive the breaking.

Thoughts on ACoS... Enjoyed lots of this, but getting pretty tired of Rand being like "I'm the Dragon Reborn, so do what I say". Love Lan being all "Are you talking about my WIFE?" with intimidation level 1000 to Mat, who does the sensible thing and immediately backtracks and cowers. And, of course, the best ending in the series by far. What surprises me is how long I took to get through this one. Yes, I've been busy, yes, I enjoyed it, but also...yes, the pace has slowed, and now I am about to start books 8-11. I have feels, just not sure what all of them are.

I've gotten so many different answers on reddit and none of them are right. This plays in the prologue of Eye of the World and can be heard below