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

[Ananta]

I don't find it odd that the Age of Legends kept very careful track of everything made of cuendillar--unbreakable things have the potential of growing cluttersome over time, and people who live 700 years themselves would realise this. I fact, the number of utterly useless things that are made of cuendillar might be why tracking and control was begun. If people are wandering around making their cups into the most ultimate form of not-biodergadable simply because they could, someone would need to step in and put strictures in place to track and control the creation of cuendillar.

 

As such the chance of this directory surviving the Breaking even though the making did not doesn't surprise me.

Nah, I don't think they'd have problem with that. They'd just establish some extra-dimensional junkyard where to stick them all.

 

Anyhow, I was also wondering how long a murder would actually smell, since he was close to Verin too, and Verin said she has done some preeetty evil and nasty stuff while in the BA... So it should've been possible for him to smell the violence Verin has done, unless her violence had already 'expired' xD

 

Or then RJ just overlooked those things by an accident, but I find this very unlikely.

[Terez]

I'm guessing that Verin avoids violence as often as she can possibly get away with. She has obviously done some (though the only violence we know of from her POV was self-defense), but I don't find it incredibly unbelievable that Hurin didn't smell it on her.

[Gythwyn]

IIRC, doesn't Hurin smell Violence on the place, not the person?

 

He'll walk into a pub and smell a murder, and be able to follow that trail. But he can't walk upto someone and 'sniff' the murder out without having been there.

 

I'm a sniffer, you see. Been one four years this Sunday. I never heard of such a thing before then, but I hear there's a few others like me.

It started slow, catching bad smells where nobody else smelled anything, and it grew. Took a whole year before I

realized what it was. I could smell violence, the killing and the hurting. Smell where it happened. Smell the

trail of those who did it. Every trail's different, so there's no chance of mixing them up. Lord Ingtar heard

of it, and took me in his service, to serve the King's justice."

 

"You can smell violence?" Rand said. He could not help looking at the man's nose. It was an ordinary

nose, not large, not small. "You mean you can really follow somebody who, say, killed another man? By

smell?"

 

"I can that, my Lor - ah - Rand. It fades with time, but the worse the violence, the longer it lasts. Aiie, I

can smell a battlefield ten years old, though the trails of the men who were there are gone. Up near the

Blight, the trails of the Trollocs almost never fade. Not much to a Trolloc but killing and hurting. A fight in

a tavern, though, with maybe a broken arm . . . that smell's gone in hours

 

 

Thats how I see him anyway :D

[Durinax]

its a mixture of both, with the smell coming off the person that will linger for a bit.

[MasterAblar]

The person will have the smell too. In TGS, Hurin says that something smells really bad went he meets Rand. Though obviously he would never suspect Rand.

[PhoenixUK]

when Rand taps the True Power while trapped with the male a'dam by semirhage, was this because of his link to Moridin? Or did the Dark One directly give Rand access in order to taint him via use of the TP? Or is it something we don't know yet? Semirhage freaks out and says "Great Lord, why have you betrayed me?" and certainly I think the Dark One would be happy to sacrifice her if he thought it would drive the Dragon to the dark side (which seems to be more important than having rand under an a'dam) but she could have been mistaken. Thoughts?

[Finnssss22]

when Rand taps the True Power while trapped with the male a'dam by semirhage, was this because of his link to Moridin? Or did the Dark One directly give Rand access in order to taint him via use of the TP? Or is it something we don't know yet? Semirhage freaks out and says "Great Lord, why have you betrayed me?" and certainly I think the Dark One would be happy to sacrifice her if he thought it would drive the Dragon to the dark side (which seems to be more important than having rand under an a'dam) but she could have been mistaken. Thoughts?

 

We don't know which is correct yet.

 

However, RJ answered with this quite a few years ago...

 

Yes, the Champion of the Light has gone over in the past. This is a game you have to win every time. Or rather, that you can only lose once--you can stay in if you get a draw. Think of a tournament with single elimination. If you lose once, that's it. In the past, when the Champion of the Light has gone over to the Shadow, the result has been a draw.

 

Kinda makes you wonder why so much perceived effort was put into turning Rand.

[Ashandarei]

when Rand taps the True Power while trapped with the male a'dam by semirhage, was this because of his link to Moridin? Or did the Dark One directly give Rand access in order to taint him via use of the TP? Or is it something we don't know yet? Semirhage freaks out and says "Great Lord, why have you betrayed me?" and certainly I think the Dark One would be happy to sacrifice her if he thought it would drive the Dragon to the dark side (which seems to be more important than having rand under an a'dam) but she could have been mistaken. Thoughts?

 

It isn't conclusively stated anywhere whether or not he had the DO's permission. Personally, I think he didn't have it, and it was solely through his link to Moridin that Rand gained access. Here's a quote from Sanderson:

 

Driving Mr. Sanderson (from Half Moon Bay to San Jose), 21 November 2009 - Matt Hatch reporting

Matt: There was some confusion about Rand and the Dark One’s permission, so for clarification’s sake, did Rand have the Dark One’s permission to use the True Power?

Brandon: I have not answered that. If anyone says that I have, I have not. What I have said specifically is, this is recording: generally one must have the Dark One’s permission to use the True Power. Semirhage believed that the Dark One had betrayed her by letting Rand use it.

 

Quote Link

(Underlines added) While BS doesn't come out and say one way or the other, he seems to be strongly implying that "generally" one must have permission, but Rand didn't, and that while Semi "believed" the DO betrayed her, the DO wasn't really involved in the matter, it was simply the Moridin-Rand link.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Ashandarei

[Luckers]

Nah, I don't think they'd have problem with that. They'd just establish some extra-dimensional junkyard where to stick them all.

 

That would be incredibly irresponsible of them. Energy and matter is neither lost nor created, so every piece they dumped would then be matter lost to reality--for all time. How many turnings of the wheel would that be sustainable for?

 

The Age of Legenders are the type of folk who think of this. As a result I've no problem that they'd strictly monitor each piece of cuendillar created--which is precisely what Siuan implies they did.

[PhoenixUK]

[

 

That would be incredibly irresponsible of them. Energy and matter is neither lost nor created, so every piece they dumped would then be matter lost to reality--for all time. How many turnings of the wheel would that be sustainable for?.

this is the problem with WOT anyway - there are only a limited amount of ores and metals in the earth that are accessible by reasonable means. Unless Delving allows you to reach faaaar into the earth's molten layers, within a limited number of turnings of the Wheel, eventually planetary resources will be depleted (unless there are Ages where matter can be reshaped at the molecular level from one thing to another). Even if that's true, the Sun will eventually run out of fuel.

[FarShainMael]

There are theories of the universe which propose a Big Bang, expansion and cooling, ending in the 'heat death', followed by contraction and collapse in the Big Crunch, followed by another Big Bang. I wouldn't like to say what WoT Ages might correspond to these, though.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_Universe

 

To change the subject a bit: What is Birgitte's 'life status'? She appeared in T'A'R with a 'dream body'; she was expelled in that body by Moggy; she was kept alive - or given life - through the Bond with Elayne. If that Bond snaps, she would, I presume, die instantly. So is she a more-solid-than-usual ghost? We know that she can affect the physical world by e.g. shooting arrows at Nynaeve; she can fight; she can eat and drink. But just how real is she? And is it relevant? I have this thought of her asking Elayne to release her Bond so that she can go back to T'A'R, ready to be reborn 'properly' and meet up with GC when they both reach a more compatible maturity.

[Terez]

Min's viewings suggest that won't happen. They also suggest that her body is real enough that when she dies, she'll be born again. If she were still in dead-hero form, then it would be permanent death, but apparently the ripping process creates a legitimate and more or less normal body, though the past life memories are still active (which is what causes Min to see multiple lives in her viewings of Birgitte).

[DavyLeneveu]

Hello, there is my simple question :

 

In "The Path of Daggers", when Maighdin / Morgase has joined the camp of Perrin in Ghealdan : Why has nobody recognised her ?

Annoura Sedai is from the grey ajah : she must known all the rulers of Randland, doesn't it ?

 

Thanks ! :)

[Luckers]

Hello, there is my simple question :

 

In "The Path of Daggers", when Maighdin / Morgase has joined the camp of Perrin in Ghealdan : Why has nobody recognised her ?

Annoura Sedai is from the grey ajah : she must known all the rulers of Randland, doesn't it ?

 

Thanks ! :)

 

Not every Gray will have met every ruler. Evidentally Annoura had not met Morgase.

[konkoivu]

In tSR how did Asmodean learn a song about wars of Manetheren? It's been over 1000 years before and after his improsiment to anything happpen in that region.

And i'd love some quotes since i'm quite lazy.

[Luckers]

You won't get quotes because there aren't any. However, for a talented musician, learning new songs would not have taken a great deal of time. Asmodean had months to make such an effort--and given his stated reason for joining the Shadow was to live forever so he could learn and play music... not a huge problem to think he did so after gaining his freedom.

[konkoivu]

You won't get quotes because there aren't any. However, for a talented musician, learning new songs would not have taken a great deal of time. Asmodean had months to make such an effort--and given his stated reason for joining the Shadow was to live forever so he could learn and play music... not a huge problem to think he did so after gaining his freedom.

It still sounds Deus ex Machina to me. There are literally dozens of forgotten nations other than Manetheren

[Luckers]

There aren't dozens of nations the Dragon was born to. Asmodean may not be the most saavy Forsaken, but it doesn't take a manipulative genuis to make the connection.

 

As a side note--how is it a Dues ex Machina? I mean even say Asmodean knowing a song from Manetheren was a mistake on RJ's part, how would that constitute an act of God coming down in a bid to complete the narrative? It solved no convuluted plot points, so why do you name it so?

[konkoivu]

There aren't dozens of nations the Dragon was born to. Asmodean may not be the most saavy Forsaken, but it doesn't take a manipulative genuis to make the connection.

 

As a side note--how is it a Dues ex Machina? I mean even say Asmodean knowing a song from Manetheren was a mistake on RJ's part, how would that constitute an act of God coming down in a bid to complete the narrative? It solved no convuluted plot points, so why do you name it so?

Like all Manetheren stories it sounded just too fitting to mee. I get your point too.

[dholm]

There are theories of the universe which propose a Big Bang, expansion and cooling, ending in the 'heat death', followed by contraction and collapse in the Big Crunch, followed by another Big Bang. I wouldn't like to say what WoT Ages might correspond to these, though.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_Universe

 

The heat death of the universe is a different theory, actually. It refers to the possibility that the expansion continues forever, and when the stars die out, the universe dies from a lack of energy -- i.e. heat.

 

But that doesn't work in Wheel of Time -- the stories have to survive in some form for the mythos to work, and if the universe has a Big Crunch, that will not happen -- all human beings would be dead.

 

More likely, there will be an event like the Breaking, but on a more massive scale, and people will only barely survive, perhaps only just hanging on for several thousand years. This "Breaking" will cause previously used resources to reenter the cycle.

[herid]

There aren't dozens of nations the Dragon was born to. Asmodean may not be the most saavy Forsaken, but it doesn't take a manipulative genuis to make the connection.

 

As a side note--how is it a Dues ex Machina? I mean even say Asmodean knowing a song from Manetheren was a mistake on RJ's part, how would that constitute an act of God coming down in a bid to complete the narrative? It solved no convuluted plot points, so why do you name it so?

 

It might not be Deus ex machina but it certainly stretches believability. I agree with Atsnok on that. The whole idea that the Forsaken could even learn to speak the current language so quickly in pretty ridiculous IMO. RJ said that the language of Randlands is very easy to learn. I don't care how easy it is, they can't learn it that fast, learn various stories and the politics of the current world and speak without an accent too. Balthamel and Aginor seem to have only just been freed and yet they speak perfectly. Lanfear shows up early in TGH and yet she speaks perfectly too, presumably with a Cairhienin accent. Nobody suspects her of being a foreigner, certainly. Hurin quickly identifies the innkeeper at Foregate as a foreigner by her accent yet he never suspects "lady Selene" of being one.

[plague fiend]

Hello, there is my simple question :

 

In "The Path of Daggers", when Maighdin / Morgase has joined the camp of Perrin in Ghealdan : Why has nobody recognised her ?

Annoura Sedai is from the grey ajah : she must known all the rulers of Randland, doesn't it ?

 

Thanks ! :)

 

Not every Gray will have met every ruler. Evidentally Annoura had not met Morgase.

I thought about that to. Morgase went to the WT to train, and unless Annoura was completely absent from the WT, which maybe she was, she would recognize an important person like Morgase. Morgase, a celebrity, was a direct link to Andor for the WT.

[capuga]

Hello, there is my simple question :

 

In "The Path of Daggers", when Maighdin / Morgase has joined the camp of Perrin in Ghealdan : Why has nobody recognised her ?

Annoura Sedai is from the grey ajah : she must known all the rulers of Randland, doesn't it ?

 

Thanks ! :)

 

Not every Gray will have met every ruler. Evidentally Annoura had not met Morgase.

I thought about that to. Morgase went to the WT to train, and unless Annoura was completely absent from the WT, which maybe she was, she would recognize an important person like Morgase. Morgase, a celebrity, was a direct link to Andor for the WT.

 

Morgase was only 16ish when she was in the White Tower. So if that's the only time that Annoura saw her, the difference twenty something years makes in her appearance would be enough for Annoura not to recognize her. Plus think of the situation - Morgase was believed dead. She was pretending to be a maid and wearing plain clothes. People see what they expect to see. In this case, they see a maid and not a Queen that is believed to be dead.

[plague fiend]

How strong is Moridins link to Rand? It appears to me that it is getting stronger as time goes by. Moridins hand seem to be affected, may be physically, by that fact Rands was destroyed. I wonder if it may get to a point that the death of Rand would mean the death of Moridin? May be there is some confusion with Moridin about how strong the link is and that is why he is pushing the Forsaken to not kill Rand now(tGS). I know that there is some discussions about Rand and Moridin swapping bodies at the end, if I am correct, body swapping between Rand and Moridin would be a mute point. Another thought on this. If Moridin is using the True Power almost exclusively, and the True Power is poison, how long would Rand survive, even if he swapped bodies?

[FarShainMael]

There are theories of the universe which propose a Big Bang, expansion and cooling, ending in the 'heat death', followed by contraction and collapse in the Big Crunch, followed by another Big Bang. I wouldn't like to say what WoT Ages might correspond to these, though.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_Universe

 

The heat death of the universe is a different theory, actually. It refers to the possibility that the expansion continues forever, and when the stars die out, the universe dies from a lack of energy -- i.e. heat.

 

Ah yes, of course. Getting a bit lax in my terminology, sorry.