"ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL."

[Guest Dreadlord]

Get your copies of Eye of the World out, turn it to page 758, and look at the speech in capitals just over half way down.

 

Speculation has been made that this was the Creator, yet recently I have begun to question this.

 

Why would the Creator intervene at that point, if any? Rand already used the Eye and wrecked most of the Shadows army, meaning he had done what he needed to there, so he himself wasnt iin any grave danger. Why would the Creator reply to Rand when he screamed Baalzamon?

 

When the "Creator" says "IT IS NOT HERE" I can only begin to speculate on what its on about, but it isnt the Eye, and it definitely wasnt Baalzamon/Ishamael because he WAS there.

 

I find it less likely to be the Creator, and more likely to be the Dark One. Any thoughts?

[Luckers]

I've never really seen enough in that to guess at who it was--but one point, Ishamael/Ba'alzammon was not there. The voice speaks to him at Tarwin's Gap, Rand had to move after that voice spoke to him to find Ishamael. And the inference of the mode suggests it was indeed talking about Ishamael--Rand curses the Dark One saying it has to end, the voice speaks telling him it wasn't there, and Rand 'travels' to Ishamael.

 

That whole section is wonky, but yeah--i'd say it was about finding Ishamael.

[Guest Dreadlord]

Im at work at the mo so I cant check but Im sure Baalzamon appeared just after he spoke to the voice. I'll check that again.

 

Im sticking by my guns on this one though, I very much dont think it was the Creator at all

[Luckers]

Well, in some respects yes Ba'alzammon did appear directly after the voice spoke--but it was because Rand obeyed the voice and 'travelled' to were ba'alzammon was.

 

The wind died. The screams died. The earth was still. Dust and smoke swirled back down the pass to surround him. "The Light blind you, Ba'alzamon! This has to end!"

 

IT IS NOT HERE.

 

It was not Rand's thought, making his skull vibrate.

 

I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL.

 

"Where?" He did not want to say it, but he could not stop himself. "Where?"

The haze surrounding him parted, leaving a dome of clear, clean air ten spans high, walled by billowing

smoke and dust. Steps rose before him, each standing alone and unsupported, stretching up into the murk that obscured the sun.

 

NOT HERE.

 

Through the mist, as from the far end of the earth, came a cry. "The Light wills it!" The ground rumble with the thunder of hooves as the forces of humankind launched their last charge. Within the void, his mind knew a moment of panic. The charging horsemen could not see him in the dust; their charge would trample right over him. The greater part of him ignored the shaking ground as a petty thing beneath concern. Dull anger driving his feet, he mounted the first steps. It has to be ended!

 

Darkness surrounded him, the utter blackness of total nothing. The steps were still there, hanging in the black, under his feet and ahead. When he looked back, those behind were gone, faded away to nothing, into the nothingness around him. But the cord was yet there, stretching behind him, the glowing line dwindling and vanishing into the distance. It was not so thick as before, but it still pulsed, pumping strength into him, pumping life, filling him with the Light. He climbed.

 

It seemed forever that he climbed. Forever, and minutes. Time stood still in nothingness. Time ran

faster. He climbed until suddenly a door stood before him, its surface rough and splintered and old, a door well remembered. He touched it, and it burst to fragments. While they still fell, he stepped through, bits of shattered wood falling from his shoulders.

 

The chamber, too, was as he remembered, the mad, striated sky beyond the balcony, the melted walls,

the polished table, the terrible fireplace with its roaring, heatless flames. Some of those faces that made the fireplace, writhing in torment, shrieking in silence, tugged at his memory as if he knew them, but he held the void close, floated within himself in emptiness. He was alone. When he looked at the mirror on the wall, his face was there as clear as if it was him. There is calm in the void.

 

"Yes," Ba'alzamon said from in front of the fireplace, "I thought Aginor's greed would overcome him.

But it makes no difference in the end. A long search, but ended now. You are here, and I know you."

 

The voice guides him directly to Ba'alzamon.

[Navaros]

It might very well be the Creator. Just before the "Creator" spoke Rand said "The Light blind you, Ba'alzamon! This has to end!" If we assume that Light=Creator, which for the most part I think RJ wanted us to do, we get the reply "IT IS NOT HERE" i.e. the Creator replying that he can't "blind" it (Ba'alzamon) because he isn't there and this is still not TG when it all has to end. Realizing that this is not TG where he might have to intervene, the Creator says that "ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL" i.e. take all the necessary steps to get the events down to TG and then seek the help of the Light/Creator.

[mb]

The Dark Lord seems to only speak at Shayol Ghul; and by evidence in the chapter, the location seems to be somewhere else.

So the person would not be the Dark Lord.

 

If not the Creator, maybe a Hero of the Horn; though I am not sure if any of them could speak inside a person's head.

Or maybe some kind of speaking creature, though I am not sure if they could do it either.

 

According to the FAQ Library, Robert Jordan responded with RAFO.

 

[Alderthal]

I think it was the Creator who spoke.

 

IT IS NOT HERE.

 

Implies the end I think. Rand had previously said "The Light blind you, Ba'alzamon! This has to end!"

 

So the creator said The end is not here.

 

That or it was Saidin speaking to him, but I'm aiming for the Creator ;)

[Vassili]

Hmmm... Rand is hearing strange voices in his head telling him to fight the shadow. Who talks in Rand's head? Puzzling...

 

Motives Means and Opportunity, he has it all.

 

I doubt it, but ill throw it out there since no one else has.

[sillyman]

^^ i assume you are referring to LTT.

 

Personally i doubt it because i don't think the barrier between there two consciousness had broken down enough for LTT to converse so freely.

[Roxinos]

Hmmm... Rand is hearing strange voices in his head telling him to fight the shadow. Who talks in Rand's head? Puzzling...

 

Motives Means and Opportunity, he has it all.

 

I doubt it, but ill throw it out there since no one else has.

 

It is highly unlikely that Lews Therin is responsible. We've only ever seen one other instance of a speaker talking in all caps. That's the Great Lord. We assume it's the Creator because it makes sense.

 

Besides that, it's unlikely it is Lews Therin because he does not appear again for another three books. He's silent until The Shadow Rising. And it's just a single word that he says, "Now," in a regular voice. And that was under the influence of The Sword that Cannot Be Touched. Lews Therin only started appearing as the taint started affecting him.

[benr]

It seems to me to be the Creator, and it also seems to me that if RJ could have gone back and changed anything, this would have been it.

[Kravchenko]

It is the Creator, so very obviously it is the Creator.  Telling Rand that the last battle is not there.  It is not the end, just a beginning.

[Spirit1025]

The words "I will take no part" make me believe it's the Creator. That's pretty much been his stance on the world so far. He doesn't interfere. He made it, and now he's just sitting back and watching. Which makes me wonder why the characters sometimes pray to the Light/Creator. If they believe in a God/Creator who does not touch the world, why do they ask him to? ( In theology, this is referred to as Deism. A God/gods who made the world, but then do not take an active role in sustaining it. )

 

The Dark One wouldn't be telling Rand he won't intervene. Intervening is exactly what the Dark One wants to do! He's always going on about remaking the world. And if the voice meant only in that situation, why would the Dark One tell Rand (in his head, which I'm pretty sure he only does to Darkfriends, or else why wouldn't he do it to everyone, to scare them?) "Ok, Aginor and Balthamel are dead. Now you want Ishamael. Go ahead and kill all my best people, I won't stop you"? It just doesn't seem to make sense.

[Cockta]

I think it is the Creator, but I think we will all have to RAFO when it comes to this little subject. Bewsides, it is what RJ said after all, so I think we will find out in AMoL.

[Valinthros]

**Hopes** we'll find out in AMOL.  Personally, for alot of the reasons already stated, I'm with the creator on this one.  It will be interesting if we get a chance to find out in AMOL.

[mb]

That or it was Saidin speaking to him, but I'm aiming for the Creator ;)

 

As far as I know, saidin does not have a voice; or if it did/does, I am not sure if would say the mentioned words since it was tainted at the time.  And why would it speak only during that event?

 

The Pattern could be another candidate if we add saidin.  Though same kind of comments could be made against it.

 

[Jonn]

That or it was Saidin speaking to him, but I'm aiming for the Creator ;)

 

As far as I know, saidin does not have a voice; or if it did/does, I am not sure if would say the mentioned words since it was tainted at the time.  And why would it speak only during that event?

 

The Pattern could be another candidate if we add saidin.  Though same kind of comments could be made against it.

 

 

I can see it being the Creator or even the Pattern. Rand was channeling a massive amount of untainted Saidin at the time, so I think the voice likely saved Rand from either burning out or killing himself like Lews Therin did trying to channel more than he could handle.

 

I don't think that the Creator can physically speak to anyone, kind of like how God supposedly needs other means to convey his message through prophets and angels like Gabriel or Metatron.

Note that when the Dark One speaks it can only be in the place near the bore and when he does it has a physically painful and ecstatic effect on whoever hears him. Such symptoms weren't seen when Rand heard that voice, so I think we can rule out the Dark One.

 

It might be the Creator via some device in the pattern.

[DemandredFO]

I hope the Creator doesn't have any role in AMOL.

[Luckers]

Me too.

 

And its not the pattern. RJ stated directly that the pattern has no direct conciousness or sense of self--it has a sort of 'fuzzy logic' (his words) but certainly no personality, and the voice clearly refers to itself as a distinct being.

[benr]

Any thought by anyone that the use of the word CHOSEN is of any significance?

[Jehaine]

Just my two cents, but i've been wondering about this as well. Maybe it was the Dark One after all, knowing Rand (as the DR) needed to survive long enough to actually be there to lose or be turned during TG?

 

A small voice in the back of my head is telling me that, considering how he didn't order all his Forsaken to jump him ASAP

[GrandpaG]

THE CHOSEN ONE = the Dragon Reborn

 

IF HE WILL = has a choice

 

 

 

RJ is using "whoever" the voice is to tell us, his readers, that the Dragon Reborn will have to make the choice to either end it or not to end it...the Fisher will continue to play or not...it's his choice.

[Cockta]

I seriously hope the Creator will play some role, maybe when Rand is at SG, the Creator does something, just because it is TG after all, and the DO has been playing a role all the time.

[Alderthal]

But if the DO could speak to Rand, wouldn't Rand have been freaked out? All those who have spoken to the DO tend to say it is an unpleasant experience, and that the voice is horrible and all that.

 

But if you won't swallow a Creator talking to Rand, how about saying it's the sound of the 'song' of Saidin? Since he was more or less using the purest saidin available.

[Vassili]

I'm sorry, I don't buy Saidin talking. Not now. Not ever. Its far more likely to be the DO than a consciousless, monliving "force". Besides, if Saidin could talk, it would have done so by now. Its not like the Creator that may not want to take part because he is a gardener, and the whole flower theory. Don't you think Saidin would be like, "Hey Rand. Cleanse me. Cleanzzze meeee." if it could? (thats assuming Saidin talks like that annoying friend you don't want)  :D