Ask A Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer (No AMoL Spoilers)

[Aquarius]

Just wondering about the nature of the Forsaken/Moridin.

 

My first question is, how many "living" days does the forsaken actually have? Has there been any estimation on that?

 

And second, as Elan Morin Tedronai joined the DO out of logic, does this mean that his particular soul is bound to the shadow? (as he's been fighting the Dragon since, well, since ever..)

The forsaken didn't "live" during those 3000 years in prison. They were in some sort of hibernation, a dreamless sleep.

BUT, before they were caught by Lews Therin, they were well known Aes Sedai whose lives could span hundrerd of years, so you can safely say that they all are a couple of hundred years old.

Moridin has been free at many points during those 3000 years but I don't know if we have more information on how that add up. A couple of months every 20 years ? That would mean a few decades of life for him.

[Terez]

The evidence suggests that Ishamael was free for periods of about 40 years three or four times. Just after the sealing, around the Trolloc Wars (maybe more than once), and during the War of the Hundred Years, and again around the time of the Aiel War. He added at least a couple hundred years to his life during those 3500 years but he got a new body, so...

 

I think most of the Forsaken were somewhere between 300-400 years old at the time they were sealed up.

[Sharaman]

I am sorry if it has already been discussed elsewhere. Also it is hardly a simple question, but maybe somebody will come up with a simple answer

 

Is the DO the source of all evil in WOT, or is evil somehow independent from him and he is simply the most powerful evil being?Im most tales about good v. evil conflict that I know the heroes are always cautioned that they cannot defeat evil using its own methods, that they would only make it stronger. To quote Ged from U. Le Guin's masterpiece "A wizard of Earthsea": "It is light that defeats the dark".

 

How come Fain can succesfully fight DO and his creatures with hate and madness? Or maybe he really doesn't?

 

Related to that: how exactly did Mashadar come into being? Even in WOT, human hate and parania alone are unable to create an evil mass-murdering fog

I have read some very ambigous quotes from Brandon that Mardeth brought something to Aridhol. What was that? Was it related to DO and how? If not, from where came its power? Maybe somebody has some good ideas, because I'm clueless...

I'm just re-reading the Eye of The World now and I'm not sure on most of this, but I do know it says mashadar is a different kind of evil separate from the dark one. Fain uses this different kind of evil against the dark one's evil.

We see a lot of evil characters who aren't Darkfriends. The GLoD isn;t the only evil or the only source of evil in WoTland.

[Callern]

 

The forsaken didn't "live" during those 3000 years in prison. They were in some sort of hibernation, a dreamless sleep.

BUT, before they were caught by Lews Therin, they were well known Aes Sedai whose lives could span hundrerd of years, so you can safely say that they all are a couple of hundred years old.

Moridin has been free at many points during those 3000 years but I don't know if we have more information on how that add up. A couple of months every 20 years ? That would mean a few decades of life for him.

 

The evidence suggests that Ishamael was free for periods of about 40 years three or four times. Just after the sealing, around the Trolloc Wars (maybe more than once), and during the War of the Hundred Years, and again around the time of the Aiel War. He added at least a couple hundred years to his life during those 3500 years but he got a new body, so...

 

I think most of the Forsaken were somewhere between 300-400 years old at the time they were sealed up.

 

Thanks, yes, with 'living' days I meant the days before the sealing, I should have rephrased that.

But as to the other part of my question about Moridin. I should have rephrased that too I guess, but in the Eye of the World, in the prologue, Moridin is saying all that stuff about blabla "I've beaten you X times" etc. Where does this put him? Is he some kind of a champion for the dark side? And if he is, which he must be??, how come he had to logically find his way to the shadow in this life?

In tEotW prologue Elan Morin says something like "This war has not lasted 10 years, but since the beginning of time. You and I have fought a thousand battles with the turning of the Wheel. A thousand times a thousand."

To make my question clearer, I'm not talking about the time since the sealing, but the time before it.

[yoniy0]

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Elan Morin was born during the AoL. He later came to believe that Creation should be ended and allied with the DO. By the end of the War of Power he seems to know that LTT's soul champions the Light at each Turning of the Wheel, and apparently he believes his own soul always battles it for the Shadow. Whether he's correct in this belief and how he came by it we simply don't know, but it stands to reason that the DO helped him along (that doesn't mean that it's true, obviously).

[Terez]

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Elan Morin was born during the AoL. He later came to believe that Creation should be ended and allied with the DO. By the end of the War of Power he seems to know that LTT's soul champions the Light at each Turning of the Wheel, and apparently he believes his own soul always battles it for the Shadow. Whether he's correct in this belief and how he came by it we simply don't know, but it stands to reason that the DO helped him along (that doesn't mean that it's true, obviously).

Actually, Brandon confirmed that his soul is often twined together with the Dragon soul through the Ages, like Birgitte and Gaidal (his comparison). So that pretty much confirms he's the Champion of the Dark. However, his thoughts in the TPOD prologue suggest that he doesn't have past life memories, unless he's merely complaining that he does not remember back quite far enough. Hard to say, but I'd guess he remembers only this life (starting with Elan Morin) and that everything he knows about his past role comes from the Dark One.

[yoniy0]

Did he now? Good to know.

[Callern]

Ah, thanks both. Exactly what I was asking. I just could not add up the times ishy had been fighting ltt, with the years from the Bore was made until Rand was born.

[Guest DarkShade4932]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else noticed but whilst reading the wheel of time books every now and again i would come across small pieces of writing at the bottom for example: in The Eye Of The World pg 719 at the bottom it says E.O.T.W. - 33 and i know it shows up in the other books as well.

Was wondering if anybody had any idea what they were about, because they only pop up every now and again and dont really correspond to anything?

 

Thanks For Any Replys Given

[Sid]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else noticed but whilst reading the wheel of time books every now and again i would come across small pieces of writing at the bottom for example: in The Eye Of The World pg 719 at the bottom it says E.O.T.W. - 33 and i know it shows up in the other books as well.

Was wondering if anybody had any idea what they were about, because they only pop up every now and again and dont really correspond to anything?

 

Thanks For Any Replys Given

I've never seen what you're describing. What edition do you have?

[yoniy0]

If you're looking for all the posts about the BT-DS and Caemlyn, I've moved them all to a new topic.

Now you can post away with your theories about it, but please do so over there.

[FarShainMael]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else noticed but whilst reading the wheel of time books every now and again i would come across small pieces of writing at the bottom for example: in The Eye Of The World pg 719 at the bottom it says E.O.T.W. - 33 and i know it shows up in the other books as well.

Was wondering if anybody had any idea what they were about, because they only pop up every now and again and dont really correspond to anything?

 

Thanks For Any Replys Given

I've never seen what you're describing. What edition do you have?

 

I've seen numbers like these before, and I think they are something to do with the organising of printing and binding the pages. That is, the pages are sorted into batches of N1 pages (including the introductory ones giving details of title, author, publishing history, and so on). and the book is bound by combining N2 such batches. If this is what they are, they should appear at regular intervals. Have a look and let us know!

[Sharaman]

Yes it could be printing folio nos. Depends on the binding method used.

[sVieira151]

I have a question.

 

What would happen to the Warder if his Aes Sedai was balefired? And Vice Versa...

 

Would it just be the same feeling that comes through the bond as death, or would it have a different affect/feeling?

[Byzantine279]

It would simply be the normal death recoil, balefire would simply cause them to have been dead for a time before they actually remember feeling the pain/rage.

[yoniy0]

Unless the Bonding occurs shortly before the BFing

[sVieira151]

Thanks. Thats what I thought originally, but wasn't 100% sure

[A Rant Lord]

I always wondered why Rand didn´t Balefire Alanna the minute she bonded him. Was he not really aware of the effects of balefire or did he not know how to weave balefire or was it because he didn't kill women? Don't know if this is the correct spot to post this...

Edited April 1, 2011 by A Rant Lord

[Terez]

It would never have occurred to him to kill her for it. Just like it didn't occur to him to balefire Semirhage to get his hand back...

[mb]

What would happen to the Warder if his Aes Sedai was balefired? And Vice Versa...

The books have at least one example:: Elza in Gathering Storm.

How it affected her warder, Gathering Storm does not tell.

[Finnssss22]

Just like he couldn't bring himself to kill Lanfear even knowing she was going to kill him only a couple of months earlier at the Cairhien docks.

Edited April 1, 2011 by Finnssss

[Tiinker]

Can someone link me to a topic about the Prophecies? Or is there a list of them all with crossing off where they've been completed? :p

[Finnssss22]

Can someone link me to a topic about the Prophecies? Or is there a list of them all with crossing off where they've been completed? :p

 

Can't link you an all encompassing topic but there is this... http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/

[ryanphlp2002]

Another question on Balefire - It is my understanding that the DO has a limited amount of time to "grab" a soul for recycling ie. in a new body before it is lost to him. This does not mean the soul is "destroyed", cast into the void etc. just that they will/might be recycled by the pattern/creator again instead of by him and as such the soul will have no memories of its past life/lives. So Rahvin and the rest may be reborn but with a chance to choose the course of their lives again as opposed to "forever damned" in traditional christian thinking. RJ said something like this about Sammael, didn't he (I know that wasn't balefire but for some reason Mashadar excluded him)? And the DO's only problem with balefire is that he loses the opportunity to "grab" his favourites. Is this right or am I off track somewhere?

[Finnssss22]

Another question on Balefire - It is my understanding that the DO has a limited amount of time to "grab" a soul for recycling ie. in a new body before it is lost to him. This does not mean the soul is "destroyed", cast into the void etc. just that they will/might be recycled by the pattern/creator again instead of by him and as such the soul will have no memories of its past life/lives. So Rahvin and the rest may be reborn but with a chance to choose the course of their lives again as opposed to "forever damned" in traditional christian thinking. RJ said something like this about Sammael, didn't he (I know that wasn't balefire but for some reason Mashadar excluded him)? And the DO's only problem with balefire is that he loses the opportunity to "grab" his favourites. Is this right or am I off track somewhere?

 

 

You heard right.

BS has mentioned this quite a few times now at various signings.

 

blindillusion: Is there any way for someone to be removed completely from the Pattern?

Brandon: (Sorry I cannot put out his precise words, but here is the gist) – Jordan started by having balefire do this, but he later debunked this theory by saying someone killed by balefire can be reborn at some point. We currently know of nothing/no method that will completely remove someone from the Pattern.

- I thanked him and turned to walk away at this point, so that he could continue with the signing. But he called me back and commented that: The wolves in the Wolf Dream. We know that in the Wolf Dream something can be completely removed from the Pattern. (Again, not his exact words, but this pretty close. Perhaps J.D can back me up here. He was there.)

 

Terez keeps track of as many interviews/twitter responses/Q&A's that she can get her grubby lil hands on http://www.theoryland.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=372

Edited April 3, 2011 by Finnssss