Matt and his memories

[Zen]

There was a thread a while back in which it was brought up past lives, while i do not recall the entire gist of the thread anymore I remember putting forth the theory that Matt's memories are in fact parts of his past lives.

 

Someone shot that down saying that his memories were a result of the finn's giving him memories of others who had been through the terangreal (sp?).  I have recently started a reread of the series for the 4th or 5th time and just reached the part where he is given the memories.

 

Now as a bit of an explanation on how I read, i tend to not remember words and skip things almost like a speed reader so i may have missed where it was said that these memories were or were not his. If I am wrong please point out where it is written so i can reread that part.

 

Why i think that it is possible that these are Matt's memories from past lives is simple.  From the first he can speak the old tongue. When he goes through the door he asks for/ demands they fill the holes in his memories which could be interpreted as just giving him anyones memories but i think they give him his memories back just not the ones he was looking for.  Also from what I have been rereading most if not all of his memories are from Manetheran and one of Jordan's favorite sayings through the book being the blood will tell and or the old blood is strong in the two rivers, the memories would be a subtle way of pointing that out to us as the story moves along.

 

The big recurring theme this plays into is the wheel of time itself, what was old has come again. I.e. Rand aka Lewis Therin, Perrin aka wolf brother, Nyvene/Egewne/Elayne rivaling the Forsaken in strength (think about it for a second they are the strongest in centuries) and last example i can think of atm Matt and his memories.

 

Sorry if this is not well thought out, been up to long w/o sleep so my thoughts are a little scattered atm, but I was thinking about this and wanted opinions or proof of my thinking being wrong.

[Serenla]

THe problem with the memories being past life memories of Mat's, is the time frame.  He remembers fighting against the same leaders that he fought for.  As different people.  Some of the memories are too close together for this to be the same soul.  Or he would have had to of been in battle as a baby or very young child, which is not what the memories show.

 

The foxes just filled the holes with memories.  When Mat made his demand the wording was not specific enough for them to worry about what the memories were of or who they came from.

In the Shadow Rising Chapter Rhuidean at the very end Mat says "If I had my way, I would want those holes filled,"

Hope this helps.

[CUBAREY]

Also many of the memories that Mat has are from people that have no connnection to Manatherin. In fact, many seem to be about men who fought with or against Arthur Hawkwing who was alive a 1,000 years after the destruction of Manatherin.

[Kaznen]

And he remembers dying, a lot.  But has no memories of childhood, aside from his own.

 

One thing I find intresting now that I think about it is how he has no memories of himself paly Snakes and Foxes.

[Mr Ares]

The memories come from people who went to visit the Finns. According to RJ.

 

Week 12 Question: You stated in another interview that Mat's memories came from adventurers who traveled through the ter'angreal. However several of Mat's memories end with the adventurer dying. Since adventurers probably didn't go through the ter'angreal after they died, how could the 'Finns have obtained these memories?

 

Robert Jordan Answers: A good question. I was wondering when someone would ask that. I expected it as soon as Mat started revealing those old memories. At least a partial answer will be coming up in the next main sequence book, so I guess you could say this is a RAFO. But I will say that if I said those adventurers all entered through the two ter'angreal, I misspoke. A good many entered through the Tower of Ghenjei, which was more widely known in earlier years, if never exactly a household name.

In KoD Mat thinks about having the Eelfinn in his head, still taking his memories.

[MikeRiley]

Right, when a person entered the Tower of Genjei or the doorframe ter'angreal, they created a connection with the finns. The finns were able to experience what they were experiencing right up until the time of their death. Mat's head was filled with the collected memories of all those people that entered and that is why he remembers dying but doesn't remember any of their childhoods. They were adults when they entered finn-land, where the memories started getting logged.

 

Matt notes this in Knife of Dreams and says they already know about their plan to rescue Moiraine because they are still in his head from his trip through the doors.

[Zen]

Thank you all for setting me straight. :)

[Sab]

Mat just can't figure out what they use the memories for or why they collect them.

[ShinyThingsGood]

Mat just can't figure out what they use the memories for or why they collect them.

 

I don't remember which book it was in or the exact words, but when Moiraine was discussing the finn with Rand and Mat she said she could feel them rummaging through her memories and experiences, and perhaps feeding off of them.  It's far from precise, but it seems to me that they may use them as some sort of sustenance, and goes well with the finn also making human leather and perhaps eating human flesh as well.