A book 11 question

[jwillis7]

So i am rereading 11, and just got through the part where rands hand, well you know.  So my question, Semirhage told all of them that rand is crazy, but Graendal knows more about the insanity.  How do either of them know anything about the taint or the madness. Didn't the taint come about because they sealed DOs prison and weren't the Forsaken sealed with him.  I guess they could have been told about the taint but how would they have worked on people after the fact.  If this has already been asked sorry. 

 

 

 

O and why does Gaul have a sword on, on the cover ( i just noticed this right before i posted).

[OptimusPrime]

The fact that Graendal has encountered this type of madness means it cannot possibly be exclusive to the Taint. So from that scene we learn that Rands problems with Lews Therin might still get worse.

[Luckers]

The taint is not a type of madness, it causes madness. All of the insanities that result from exposure to the taint as insanities that can occur without it. All the taint does is cause people to go made--it is a catalyst to get the disease, not the disease itself.

[Mr Ares]

O and why does Gaul have a sword on, on the cover

Because Sweet does awful cover art. Get the Orbit covers, and then you don't have to be embarrassed.

[Ashaman DeRouge]

Are orbit covers the coloured ones with the coloured design and no artwork?

 

They look so damn good lined up on the shelf, but the version I saw for tGS was all silver and grey, not black. Concerning!

[Locke]

After The Eye of the World, all of the covers were really bad.... Except for maybe like Path of Daggers.  I don't really remember all of then, I just remember them being bad.

[Red Hand Man]

So i am rereading 11, and just got through the part where rands hand, well you know.  So my question, Semirhage told all of them that rand is crazy, but Graendal knows more about the insanity.  How do either of them know anything about the taint or the madness. Didn't the taint come about because they sealed DOs prison and weren't the Forsaken sealed with him.  I guess they could have been told about the taint but how would they have worked on people after the fact.  If this has already been asked sorry. 

 

 

 

O and why does Gaul have a sword on, on the cover ( i just noticed this right before i posted).

 

I think that's supposed to be Tallanvor.

[Jemlin]

So i am rereading 11, and just got through the part where rands hand, well you know.  So my question, Semirhage told all of them that rand is crazy, but Graendal knows more about the insanity.  How do either of them know anything about the taint or the madness. Didn't the taint come about because they sealed DOs prison and weren't the Forsaken sealed with him.  I guess they could have been told about the taint but how would they have worked on people after the fact.  If this has already been asked sorry. 

 

 

 

O and why does Gaul have a sword on, on the cover ( i just noticed this right before i posted).

 

Like said before, the Taint causes madness, but the madness isn't exclusive to the Taint. HOwever, I think Semirhage hinted that there was more to it.  First off, your right, there has to be something prior to the Taint that she was hinted at if Graendal knew about it, and I think its the double personality issue of a reborn soul.  Then, we add to that the odd connection he now shares between Moridin.  Then, lets add on a little oddness that he has as leftovers from being a young inexperienced sheepherder hit over the head with overwhelming scenarios over and over and over.....and THEN lets also add that he's trying to be *hard* and not *strong* therefore, he is ready to shatter and crack, rather than bend.

 

So....I expect we'll see our Dragon go bonkers before the end.  Hopefully, if he does do some kinds death/rebirth trick, it also cleans up his head a bit.  I liked him better when he was a confused sheepherder, rather than the cold insane dragon.

 

 

Also, I think the only other thing that was exclusive to the Taint was the rotting it caused on the body. 

[Locke]

I don't think Rand is very mad. He's just mistaken.

[Mr Ares]

Are orbit covers the coloured ones with the coloured design and no artwork?

If you mean the black ones with the coloured snake and wheel on the front, yes.

 

the version I saw for tGS was all silver and grey, not black. Concerning!

The hardbacks they've done previously (CoT and KoD) are red and green respectively, so the paperback of this one will be black as well. Although the storm cloud look of the Orbit TGS cover is very good.

[jwillis7]

So i am rereading 11, and just got through the part where rands hand, well you know.  So my question, Semirhage told all of them that rand is crazy, but Graendal knows more about the insanity.  How do either of them know anything about the taint or the madness. Didn't the taint come about because they sealed DOs prison and weren't the Forsaken sealed with him.  I guess they could have been told about the taint but how would they have worked on people after the fact.  If this has already been asked sorry. 

 

 

 

O and why does Gaul have a sword on, on the cover ( i just noticed this right before i posted).

 

 

 

I think that's supposed to be Tallanvor.

 

 

The HUGE red head wearing gray green clothes, who also has spears? maybe your right haha

[Red Hand Man]

So i am rereading 11, and just got through the part where rands hand, well you know.  So my question, Semirhage told all of them that rand is crazy, but Graendal knows more about the insanity.  How do either of them know anything about the taint or the madness. Didn't the taint come about because they sealed DOs prison and weren't the Forsaken sealed with him.  I guess they could have been told about the taint but how would they have worked on people after the fact.  If this has already been asked sorry. 

 

 

 

O and why does Gaul have a sword on, on the cover ( i just noticed this right before i posted).

 

 

 

I think that's supposed to be Tallanvor.

 

 

The HUGE red head wearing gray green clothes, who also has spears? maybe your right haha

 

I figured that was the scene with Tylee, though that's probably Berelain not Tylee (Gaul wasn't at that meeting).

[richnewton82]

.

[YellowAjahForever]

I have a theory about Rand's madness. Everyone knows that the Dragon Reborn is doomed to go insane and break the world, but the taint cannot be the reason. Since the taint has been cleansed none of the Ash'aman have gone mad besides Taim and I think he is Demandred or some other real bad guy. Being that none of the Black Tower has gone insane as far as we know, there is only one option left to consider. Lews Therin Telamon is inside Rand's head, and since Min saw the fusion of two men when she viewed Rand, that could work. Or it meant that the man he saw in Shadar Logoth will morph into him, but if he is Moridin, which means he is Ishmael, I doubt it. Rand and Lews Therin will have to become and that is where I think the breaking point in the Last Battle will be. If Rand is able to unite with Telamon and not be super insane then the Dark One can be defeated and a New Age can begin in peace and men in black coats. Now if Lews Therin's insanity carries over, well everyone is screwed.

 

I hope that made sense, I love these books, they are so complex.

[jsbrads]

Listen to what she says, she is from the age of legends where she could have lived a thousand years, she knows of cases where people were reborn, the integration of the voice was common as the lack of rehability of their minds.

 

There is a hole in your mind Sheridan.

[Mr Ares]

but the taint cannot be the reason.

Why not? The Cleansing does nothing to Heal the insanity of those who have already gone mad, like Rand.

I think he is Demandred

Taim is not Demandred. RJ ruled that out.

Being that none of the Black Tower has gone insane as far as we know

Fedwin Morr?

 

There is a hole in your mind Sheridan.

Sinclair was the one with the hole in his mind.

[YellowAjahForever]

Okay, so there were a few flaws in my statement, and I had forgotten about Morr. But Morr had gone insane in book 8, the cleansing happens at the end of book 9. Flinn, Narishma, and the few others have not gone mad. I think Narishma was one of the dead Ash'aman, but I don't remember, I am rereading that book right now, but until I see him dying he is on the list. And since Taim isn't a Forsaken since there are only three men alive, Ishmael Demered and Aran'gar, other though she isn't really a man anymore she can channel saidin.

 

I repeat, REPEAT!!!! Saidin CANNOT be what is driving Rand mad, it just can't. From what we have learned about Healing, mostly about my favorite Wisdom's strength in Healing and since Rand is BA, when a wound is Healed, it is Healed. The taint was a wound for sure, and when Flinn starts wanting to build a tower around Rand to make himself I will eat my words happily, but I believe I am right.

[Red Hand Man]

Okay, so there were a few flaws in my statement, and I had forgotten about Morr. But Morr had gone insane in book 8, the cleansing happens at the end of book 9. Flinn, Narishma, and the few others have not gone mad. I think Narishma was one of the dead Ash'aman, but I don't remember, I am rereading that book right now, but until I see him dying he is on the list. And since Taim isn't a Forsaken since there are only three men alive, Ishmael Demered and Aran'gar, other though she isn't really a man anymore she can channel saidin.

 

I repeat, REPEAT!!!! Saidin CANNOT be what is driving Rand mad, it just can't. From what we have learned about Healing, mostly about my favorite Wisdom's strength in Healing and since Rand is BA, when a wound is Healed, it is Healed. The taint was a wound for sure, and when Flinn starts wanting to build a tower around Rand to make himself I will eat my words happily, but I believe I am right.

 

If you look at it... Rand has been talking and muttering to himself since the very first book.  It's all probably stemming from post-traumatic stress.  He  needs something big to pull him out.

[Muad Cheade]

Robert Jordan has said that if a man was already mad before the taint was removed, he is still mad. Rand has most likely been mad since TGH. There are something that cannot be healed right now and Nynaeve isn't even the best Healer right now.

 

I highly doubt rand is the only Asha'man who is half-mad or entirely mad. Even Morr was able to hide it for a little while.

[ErikTheBald]

I actually thought to myself when I first saw the cover that he finally got something right.

 

Gaul is described as a head taller than Perrin.  He got that more or less right, depending on the perspective. 

 

As to the other, it's not a sword.  It's the heavy bladed belt knife that all Aiel carry.  Think of a really long heavy Bowie knife, which can have a blade up to 18 inches long, but it's not a sword. 

 

It's mentioned in the text:

"When Sulin stepped around in front of Rand, she took one look at his face, and her breath caught. "They did this to you," she said softly, and reached for her heavy-bladed belt knife. A foot or more of steel, it was almost a short-sword, though none but a fool would say that to an Aiel."

 

This to me (and yes, I have an large collection of swords and knives and am fairly knowledgeable) is a bowie type knife with a 10-14 inch blade and a 4 to 5 inch haft which would make the entire weapon between 14 and 19 inches long.  Or about the length from a grown man's elbow to fingertips. 

 

That's a pretty long knife and would look like a sword.

[jwillis7]

haha those Aiel are getting a little iffy on the no sword thing if they call a 10-14 inch blade a knife. but i guess what ever works for them

[WWWwombat]

I have a theory about Rand's madness. Everyone knows that the Dragon Reborn is doomed to go insane and break the world, but the taint cannot be the reason. Since the taint has been cleansed none of the Ash'aman have gone mad besides Taim and I think he is Demandred or some other real bad guy. Being that none of the Black Tower has gone insane as far as we know, there is only one option left to consider. Lews Therin Telamon is inside Rand's head, and since Min saw the fusion of two men when she viewed Rand, that could work. Or it meant that the man he saw in Shadar Logoth will morph into him, but if he is Moridin, which means he is Ishmael, I doubt it. Rand and Lews Therin will have to become and that is where I think the breaking point in the Last Battle will be. If Rand is able to unite with Telamon and not be super insane then the Dark One can be defeated and a New Age can begin in peace and men in black coats. Now if Lews Therin's insanity carries over, well everyone is screwed.

 

I hope that made sense, I love these books, they are so complex.

 

8/10

[deathgate]

haha those Aiel are getting a little iffy on the no sword thing if they call a 10-14 inch blade a knife. but i guess what ever works for them

 

Wasn't it that a sword had no purpose except for killing while a spear, knife and ax were tools that could also be weapons?

[Mr. Micawber]

Pretty sure what Rand has is Taint-magnified PTSD.

 

I'm damn sure RJ - or at least Jim Rigney - knew more of them than I do, but a hell of a lot of the guys at my Grandpa's VFW had a look to them. Some of them were as bad as Rand is, just without the superpowers.

 

There are some guys who did a tour - and tours of duty were not that much different than the time that Rand's had in the series so far - and never really came home.

 

They were still in Khe Sanh, or the Delta, or the Central Highlands.

 

Rand's only 22 at most. In the last two years, he's seen friends and enemies stabbed, ripped apart, burned alive, and blown to bits.

 

Hell, there were guys at Grandpa's VFW who were still in Chõsin or Okinawa or Manila or the Hürtgen, fifty or sixty years later. And it was worse, far worse, for the fathers of my German friends or my relatives from the Soviet Union. That's what makes me feel so bad for Rand, because I know he's so wrong about how he's doing things now, but I can't help but feel for the guy.

 

There are a lot of young men who go out, and never come back. But they're never in his kind of responsibility.

[jsbrads]

Rand accepts the he is Ltt not a seperate person with memories of Ltt