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

[Suttree]

I enjoy them all(except for the Faile one dragging on perhaps ;) but as I said some people don't. Shrug.

[EmperorAllspice]

I''ve had people complaining about the succecion arc for ages. I really don't see the problem.

 

Then again, I REALLY like the Game Of Houses

[mb]

unanswered (some of them edided)::

 

Towers of Midnight Chapters 36 through 38; 2 groups of saidar channelers fight each other in telaranrhiod.  What was the total number of participants within those groups?

 

Around that time, Perrin and some wolves fought Slayer.  How many wolves participated in that fight?

 

What was Mesaana doing while Seachan attacked the White Tower?  (Gathering Storm Chapters 40-41)

Also, did she get word of it from anyone either before or during the attack?  If so, how & when did she find out and what was her reaction?

[Rhienne]

Question relating to chapter 47 of tSR.  This is the chapter when Elaida and co. come to Siuan's office to depose her.  When they leave the office, Siuan stumbles when she sees that her Warder Alric has been killed (knife to the back).  My question is, how did Siuan not know he had died through the bond? 

[Hagazussa]

Question relating to chapter 47 of tSR.  This is the chapter when Elaida

and co. come to Siuan's office to depose her.  When they leave the

office, Siuan stumbles when she sees that her Warder Alric has been

killed (knife to the back).  My question is, how did Siuan not know he

had died through the bond?

 

This part I have been wondering about as well, it seam odd to me as Aes Sedai usually know at once and react with great sorrow when their Warders die. The only explanation I could think about is that the bond become muddied when the Aes Sedai is shielded, perhaps the stress of the situation made Siuan not notice that her Warder was dead due to the bond becoming weaker since she at the time was shielded, that do seam a bit odd as well but I guess that could explain it.

[Rhienne]

Yeah, I thought of those things too, but from Alanna's description of one of her Warder's death, and from descriptions of the bond in general, I had got the impression that the shock of your Warder's death was pretty big (i.e. not the kind of thing you wouldn't notice!).

[EmperorAllspice]

Could someone please PLEASE explain Rand's insane logic at the end of Winter's Heart regarding the cleansing of Saidin

[Suttree]

Yeah, I thought of those things too, but from Alanna's description of one of her Warder's death, and from descriptions of the bond in general, I had got the impression that the shock of your Warder's death was pretty big (i.e. not the kind of thing you wouldn't notice!).

Interview: Oct 5th, 2005                                          

Robert Jordan's Blog: YET ANOTHER, IT SEEMS

Robert Jordan                                            

 

For Roland Arien, a lot of people have asked questions about Alric's death. I should have made matters plainer. As I envisioned it, Alric, having sensed Siuan's extreme shock, came running to her and arrived just in time to be stabbed just before Siuan was taken into the anteroom. She should have sensed the knife going in, but that was masked by her shock. When she sees him lying there, he is dying, though not yet dead. As I said, I should have made it plainer.

 

@Allspice

 

Are you looking for his logic around how to cleanse the taint?

Edited March 9, 2013 by Suttree

[EmperorAllspice]

Yeah. the way I saw it he was expecting the two of them to cancel each other out. Except... he has no reason to think they would. The wounds on his side for instance. They don't cancel each other out. They react violently and cause him more pain than they do seperately

[Agitel]

Yeah. the way I saw it he was expecting the two of them to cancel each other out. Except... he has no reason to think they would. The wounds on his side for instance. They don't cancel each other out. They react violently and cause him more pain than they do seperately

 

He knows that the energies work against each other, that they're waves out of phase in such a way that it results in destructive interference. As Flinn stated, the two evils in his wound were fighting each other, not working together (Rand would have died from Fain's dagger otherwise). I believe in Rand's narrative he also says that he asked the Finns about cleansing saidin and that they hinted at an answer (he doesn't explicitly say what his question or the answer was, but he does imply he asked and got a hint). I think the wounds helped him understand what they meant. Also, I think he noticed his wound behaving differently at Shadar Logoth in his fight with Sammael, too, or maybe it was when he went to ward the waygate with the maidens, though you may want to check that one.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Agitel

[Suttree]

He did ask the Fins and then told Herid Fel the riddle he got in answer.
TPoD Ch. 14

He had asked once, warily, where he knew the answers would be true, how to cleanse the taint from saidin. And got a riddle for answer. Herid Fel had claimed the riddle stated "sound principles, in both high philosophy and natural philosophy,"

 
Here is RJ's explanation for the cleansing.

Interview: Apr 4th, 2001
Leiden Signing Report - Aan'allein (Verbatim)

Isabel
Can you give some more details on how the taint was cleansed? I was sort of confused reading the book.
Robert Jordan

You don't think it's obvious? Err, let's see. You have... You're using both repulsion and attraction of opposites here. Repulsion of things that are opposite and [attraction] of things that are the same. The Taint upon [saidin] as versus the conduit, which is made of saidar through which the saidin passes. The saidin and saidar, as men and women, are in many ways opposite. It repels one another. It is safe to make this conduit of saidar between saidin and Shadar Logoth, because there can be no mixing. As the eh... as [saidin] passes through, as the taint passes through, the saidar actually repels it, pushes it away from [saidin]..., alright?

Now, you have a taint on... the eh Source, the male half of the Source, you have the taint on Shadar Logoth. They're not the same, yet they are. The taint on Shadar Logoth did not come from the Dark One. The taint was created by humans, who believed that they must do whatever was necessary, anything that was necessary to defeat the Shadow. And because they would accept no limits to what they would do, to what could be done, to what needed to be done, they created their own destruction. Their evil is, or was, as great as that of the Dark One, but diametrically opposite. It is an evil created for the best of intentions, created for good intentions. So it is the opposite. So, this attraction created the conduit begins to pull the taint from [saidin] to siphon it off. Remember, it's always been described it's not as mixed all through [saidin], it is like a thin skin of rancidness, think of a thin skin of rancid oil floating on a pond, and if you get through it, you've got clean water, but you can't get through it without putting your hand in that oil. You're getting it on your hand...

To attract one another because they are opposites, but because even being opposite, they have gone far enough around the circle, they act to destroy one another. You see, it's not opposites along a straight line. We're actually talking opposites along a circle. Continuing the motif of the Wheel of Time, if you will. So you've got two things that are both opposites and the same. [He's been waving his hands in the air for this. Hands far apart for the straight line versus hands together, making a circle and coming together again] That will both attract one another and negate one another.

Do you understand better now?

[EmperorAllspice]

then why don't Rand's wounds cancel each other out? That explanation is fine but I just wanna know how Rand came up with it. and why he used his wounds as an example. and how did he know the aftermath would be as localized as it was. why the taint and the shadar lagoth evil wouldn't explode and shower evil across the entire world or something

[Suttree]

twhy the taint and the shadar lagoth evil wouldn't explode and shower evil across the entire world or something

Well it was a dice roll. One he deemed worth it.

 

WH

 

"I must ask the same question," Nesune said sharply. She sat very straight in her saddle, and her dark eyes met Rand's gaze levelly. "By everything I have read, the attempt to use those sa'angreal may result in disaster. Together, they might be strong enough to crack the world like an egg."

Like an egg! Lews Therin agreed. They were never tested, never tried. This is insane! he shrieked. You are mad! Mad!

"The last I heard," Rand told the sisters, "one Asha'man in fifty had gone mad and had to be put down like a rabid dog. More will have, by now. There is a risk to doing this, but it's all maybe and might. If I don't try, the certainty is that more and more men will go mad, maybe scores, maybe all of us, and sooner or later it will be too many to be killed easily. Will you enjoy waiting for the Last Battle with a hundred rabid Asha'man wandering about, or two hundred, or five? And maybe me one of them? How long will the world survive that?" He spoke to the two Browns, but it was Cadsuane who he watched. Her almost black eyes never left him. He needed to keep her with him, but if she tried to talk him out of it, he would reject her advice no matter the consequences. If she tried to stop him . . . ? Saidin raged inside him.

"Will you do the deed here?" she asked.

"In Shadar Logoth," he told her, and she nodded.

"A fitting place," she said, "if we are to risk destroying the world."

Edited March 10, 2013 by Suttree

[gpace1216]

is tuon's horse a zebra?  or is it just a cool black and white horse?

[Suttree]

is tuon's horse a zebra?  or is it just a cool black and white horse?

RJ

For those of you who think the razor that Mat gave to Tuon is a zebra, it isn’t. I was thinking of a horse I once saw a picture of, an American paint, which in memory seemed to fit my description (white meeting black along dead-straight lines) very closely. In fact, the memory fit so well that I decided not to check whether the actual horse looked the way I recalled it. The recollection made a terrific image.

[Agitel]

then why don't Rand's wounds cancel each other out? 

 

We don't have an explicit answer. If you'd like me to speculate, however, I've just thought of something. The wounds in Rand's side have something to feed off of: Rand. His body tries to heal, but the wounds and the evil in them keep eating away at him. By themselves, the wounds could overcome Rand, but they also are fighting and destroying each other, limiting their growth. But they can't die off completely because they have fuel to grow with. Altogether it has reached an equilibrium.  The evil of Shadar Logoth and the taint on saidin weren't feeding off of anything. What was put there, remained there. When combined, they used each other up.

 

EDIT: I'm horrified by the number of simple spelling and grammar mistakes I sometimes make.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Agitel

[patrick5988]

I dont know where to find news on this..

 

but will the legacy continue? if so will they give rand his peace, or will he come back as an aragon in a cloak in a tavern?

 

 

whats the 4th age mission? maybe a dimensional gap OF TIME UNKNOWN?!?!?!

 

 

any insight?

[Agitel]

I dont know where to find news on this..

 

but will the legacy continue? if so will they give rand his peace, or will he come back as an aragon in a cloak in a tavern?

 

 

whats the 4th age mission? maybe a dimensional gap OF TIME UNKNOWN?!?!?!

 

 

any insight?

 

I'm not sure what your questions actually are.

 

What do you mean by legacy and "4th Age mission?"

Edited March 10, 2013 by Agitel

[EmperorAllspice]

I wanna know what the hell happened with Demandred in the battle of Shadar Lagoth. Isn't Demandred supposed to be the 2nd strongest channeler who's EVER lived. Just barely second to Lews Therin in everything. A near unrivalled master in both chaneling based and physical combat.... yet he couldn't beat a single Asha'man in a small circle?

 

Yeah, that's a dignified introduction for one of my favourite villains -____-

Edited March 10, 2013 by EmperorAllspice

[Agitel]

I wanna know what the hell happened with Demandred in the battle of Shadar Lagoth. Isn't Demandred supposed to be the 2nd strongest channeler who's EVER lived. Just barely second to Lews Therin in everything. A near unrivalled master in both chaneling based and physical combat.... yet he couldn't beat a single Asha'man in a small circle?

 

Yeah, that's a dignified introduction for one of my favourite villains -____-

 

I think you're missing the advantages being in a circle brings. And was this the circle wielding Callandor?

[EmperorAllspice]

No it was not the Calandor circle. Also, Lews Therin in book 6, when Rand was not even near his full potential, with a weak Angreal was confident that he could fend off a circle of 7 ars sedai. But Demanded one of the strongest channelers ever can't beat a circle of 3?

[sVieira151]

Lews Therin probably suffers from the same overconfidence that the rest of the AoL channelers (i.e him and the forsaken) seems to have in this age, so the likelihood is he was talking out his arse. 

 

EDIT: Also, who was in that circle of 3? I can't recall.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Vieira151

[EmperorAllspice]

Damer Flinn, Corele and Sarene

[EmperorAllspice]

Does the Gholam have ANY moments of dignity or competence left before MAt somehow duplicates the Foxhead MEdalion? -____-

 

(god my head. All this stress over the villains is gonna give me gray hairs)

[Agitel]

Does the Gholam have ANY moments of dignity or competence left before MAt somehow duplicates the Foxhead MEdalion? -____-

 

(god my head. All this stress over the villains is gonna give me gray hairs)

 

He kills more people. You really should stop spoiling things for yourself. And by spoiling, I don't just mean finding out more on the story, it really sounds like you're spoiling the whole experience.