Our Era in Relation to the Series

[Hadilmir]

Really it's all pointless, RJ never said that Rand and Co. live in the Third Age. So any guess is a good guess I guess...  ;D

[Blackhoof]

well, he didn't say, but the books say many times. "In one age, called the Third Age by some" Is pretty clear.

[Mr Ares]

where were the wilders then they must have disscovered channeling but we cant be first age because "magic aint real" so we would have to be an age where channeling was completelly eliminated

Channeling was discovered at the end of the Age before the Age of Legends. Therefore, unless we are at the end of our current Age, the non-existence of channeling cannot be taken as evidence that we are not the First Age.

[Druugan]

Here's how I see it:

 

1st Age - Stone Age, Creator seals the Dark One away in prison, shelters humankind, the Creator or Pattern allows humans to access the True Source to ensure humankind's survival... Portal Stones created to join various pockets of humans scattered throughout the world... Ogier enter the world... the global community leads to...

 

2nd Age - Age of Legends, known to modern humans as the Bronze Age, but not as our modern history tells it... more like how the mythologies of the world describe it, with giants (Ogier) and gods(Aes Sedai) walking the earth wielding the power of the elements and mankind possessing "technological" wonders(*angreal) that they use to build the wonders of the ancient world etc., etc., the search for new sources of the One Power leads to the Bore, and the...

 

Breaking of the World - Marked by historical/mythological/religious accounts of a great flood, heavy volcanic activity, earthquakes, sinking of Atlantis, etc., pockets of civilization survive to rebuild during the...

 

3rd Age - Randland, the gods and giants and mythological creatures are not as prevalent in the world, the battle against the Dark One culminates at...

 

Tarmon Gaidon/Final Battle - humankind loses access to the True Source, Ogier leave the world, Shadowspawn are all wiped out, creatures of the Seanchan return to the portal worlds from whence they came, a 2nd Breaking of the World but humankind persists into the...

 

4th Age - The eventual emergence of more recent ancient civilizations such as Rome, Greece, and leading up to and including the Middle Ages and ending with...

 

5th Age - Starting with the Renaissance and the dawn of science leading up to the Industrial revolution, technological revolution and quickly into the...

 

6th Age - The Space Age, Digital Era, Modern Time, this age ends with global nuclear war; however, civilization is not entirely wiped out, the war opens the eyes of humanity and they embrace in a long period of peace and scientific efforts intended to heal the planet, leading to the...

 

7th Age - Humankind reduces its footprint on the planet, they section off large areas of the planet for wildlife preserves for formerly extinct plants and animals such as Dinosaurs brought back through the wonders of genetic engineering, trans-dimensional gateway technology is created,  gateway inadvertently opens to Dark One's prison leading to...

 

Dark One Reigns - Dark One enters the world and brings chaos and destruction, global catastrophe causes mass extinction of most life on earth and destruction of all civilization, the Creator intervenes...

 

Rinse... Repeat...

[Tom Sawyer]

I think we'd be the 5th Age.  It looks like the 4th Age is starting with both magic and technology both being present.  Eventually, one's going to gain supremacy and we'll burn all the witches and end up with just technology.

[Hadilmir]

well, he didn't say, but the books say many times. "In one age, called the Third Age by some" Is pretty clear.

 

Note the "...called by some..." RJ always liked to play on the fact that people are generally wrong. Stilling cannot be healed, remember?

 

Really, every age is probably called the third or fourth age by the inhabitants. Memories only last so long, two to three ages seems to be a good cut off. So every turning people will assume that since there are only records of the past two/three ages then the beginning must've been two/three ages ago.

 

But that is confusing the topic. I'll agree with Tom Sawyer. We're either the fifth or sixth. Fourth, seventh, and second seem unlikely. First is possible, but I don't like it.  ;)