The Shadow's Economy

[Llewin]

I would be surprised if at SOME Point especially in the later books once he really knew how discerning his audience had become, he did some calculations...

 

That said though... my questions would not be *did* RJ do the calculations so much as is there sufficient evidence to lean the plausibility of a large and supportable population of Trollocs toward "yes", "no", or is it in the middle... If it is in the middle or leaning toward yes, I can suspend disbelief, if it is leaning toward no, i have trouble...

 

I would say that there are equally valid theories on both ends so it is right in the middle... if it is right in the middle why not, since RJ has put so much detail in to the rest of his universe, give it the benefit of the doubt...

[RAND AL THOR]

We will likely see a considerable amount of the Blight in the upcoming book. We will likely receive answers there.

 

PS: Is there any possibility that one of the members here is BS in disguise? If I was him, I would definitely visit the forums to see what people are thinking and what they want fulfilled. Even the best of authors doesn't remember everything.

[Jonn]

I think a lot of us are familiar with similar debates about the Lord of the Rings model...

 

If we suppose that RJ did not initially flesh out the details of how trollocs sustain themselves, I think we can probably see him deducing that many of his readers would probably be able to suspend their disbelief up to a point, being familiar with similar problems with Tolkien's model.

 

As he went along plotting and world building, I do think he probably thought it through up to a degree, but has chosen not to elaborate simply because the narrative doesn't actually follow a path that ponders on the day to day life of a common trolloc. Fascinating as it may be to aficionados like us, there really hasn't been a need to delve further than he has on the subject.

 

I see that the animal model applies to some people's ideas, but I also believe that there is a hierarchy that we don't know about where leadership roles have been assigned to a class of trollocs and myrddraal. This leadership caste do the bulk of the organizing of every day tasks to maintain the Dark One's army.

 

I also would see that probably some left over technology from the Age of Legends, designed to feed the masses, could be in use in the Blight.

The Age of Legends was a Utopian society, so such technology would be in the realm of possibility, and as the Shadow covered large portions of the civilized lands of those times, it would be a plausible supposition that this technology would be in the hands of the leadership castes of the Shadow's armies, consisting of trollocs.

 

You might also imagine that in all likelihood, trollocs don't actually bury their dead...so take from that what you will.

Shortened lifespans with no sentimentality attached to the eating of corpses or cannibalism, ca we agree on that?

 

If the death rate is equal to the birth rate, you might be able to picture the trollocs having an ample source of supplemental sustenance.

 

So:

 

Ruling caste organizers.

 

Implementation of Age of Legends technology.

 

Adaptation to and use of the living environment.

 

Cannibalistic behavior favored by an even death to birth ratio...perhaps a higher birth ratio.

 

And finally, the "unknown" factor.

 

As for 3000 years not being a long enough time to develop dramatic adaptation or coping skills to the environment...

 

In a humanoid society, adaptation can actually come rather fitfully and in rapid jumps because inasmuch as humans can measure physical genetic variations, the most dramatic developments for us are social, intellectual and technological.

 

Even physically...over the last 100 years alone, many studies note that humans have gotten bigger, taller, more resilient against disease. This has a lot to do with our technology as well as our standards of social education.

 

If trollocs are advanced enough to conjure language, social structures in the form of clans, technologies in the form of weapons and equipment, even writing, cooking...

 

It really isn't that hard to see that the amount we don't know about the trollocs can fill volumes, and within those volumes, surely lies the answer to these nagging logistical questions.

 

I mean, how do most scientists suppose that there are worlds like Earth in the universe with life, perhaps even sentient life, without having even a shred of Empirical proof or evidence to support these suppositions?

 

It's simply the odds.

 

We have A LOT more evidence of trolloc intelligence and coping abilities than we do of any alien lifeforms outside our own solar system, and trollocs are constructs of fiction!

 

 

[Shaidar]

Nice work Shaidar!

 

Thx

 

I am curious Shaidar, does your estimate of even odds put the average soldier of the light (Borderlanders, Seanchan, Aiel, Rand's crossbowman, and all the various other standing armies which are/will be wandering around) as an equal fight with the average Trolloc? How about the average Myrddraal?

 

Certainly not. If I recall correctly Trollocs = 4, Fades = 20, Aiel = 3, most soldiers = 1-2, etc. Check out the thread I linked to it's all there.

 

But the question is, did RJ do these calculations?

 

Seriously doubt it.

 

I also would see that probably some left over technology from the Age of Legends, designed to feed the masses, could be in use in the Blight.

 

That's a very good idea. The thing that I think of is:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_meat

 

If they have ter'greals for doing that it seems quite reasonable.

[benr]

If the Shadow would join the European Union and adapt to the Euro, all problems would be solved.

[Mr Ares]

If the Shadow would join the European Union and adapt to the Euro, all problems would be solved.

There's a difference between the Shadow and the EU? Neither can accept no for an answer - reject a treaty and they keep going till you accept, reject their kind offer of world rule and they make it again, forcefully, until you agree and accept dominion under the Shadow.

[benr]

And some of us here in the U.S. thought the Bush administration was the Shadow.  I feel much better now! 

[RAND AL THOR]

In that case, the Bush admin can be considered as Shadar Logoth. A different evil-yet evil all the same.

[Mr Ares]

In that case, the Bush admin can be considered as Shadar Logoth. A different evil-yet evil all the same.

The victory of the US is all!

[Luckers]

Does that make Dick Chaney Mordeth?