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

[AnthonyJamesEnglish]

Also it may be some sort of scene in a fantasy novel or something.....

You're correct though. There are a number of things that happen in the first book or two that don't really make a lot of sense given the information present in the rest of the series. I'd rather not read too deeply into it when I can just chalk it up to the fact that RJ was still developing the world at the time

 

I can understand small discrepancies here and there when fleshing out something as large as the WoT however Ishi is one of THE main characters, from how i see it, plays as large a role as Rand so why wouldn't his character be as fleshed out? surely RJ would have come up with some excuse why a sword would melt when stabbed into someone, let alone someone of extreme importance.

[dovien]

I guess we'd have to ask someone from Team Jordan about it then.

[Tiinker]

He had to get his hand branded so ta'veren made sure of it

[mb]

Unless I am mistaken, all swords in this series were made from steel. Steel melts from extreme heat.

Rand's sword was a Power-wrought weapon. They don't dull or break, so why should we expect them to react to heat like steel (whichever specific form of steel that happens to be)?

Maybe the inside of Ishamael's body was hot enough to melt the sword.

How does that work? We're talking temperatures of at least 1700K here, and that's for steel, not Power-wrought metal. The guy should have been insta-ash. It forces us to assume all sorts of things to explain how he could survive that, and with no real evidence in sight. If he were that physically tough, I don't even see how a mere sword would even inconvenience him.

I could be mistaken about the inside temperature.

If my speculation about Ishamael not being fully free was right, maybe the melting related to that.

[feedspeed]

Hi,

 

New poster and new WoT reader here!

 

I've gone through a few threads on this forum couldn't find an answer to my question. When Aes Sedai are leashed as damane by the Seanchan, how do they get around the three oaths and use the power as a weapon?

 

I'm sure it's quite simple and perhaps a stupid question, but I haven't figured it out or read anything on it so far :D

 

Thanks!

[Sid]

They cannot use the power as a weapon, and their oaths hold. There is a comment on it in Knife of Dreams about how a former AS damane was useless as a weapon, making her so distraught that the sul'dam had to console her with compliments on how pretty her skylights were and how wonderful her healing was. (Seanchan Death Guard's PoV)

 

 

There is speculation that the Seanchan might somehow figure out how to circumvent this, like by threatening to kill them if they don't comply and thus making their lives in danger enough to use the Power as a weapon in war.

[capuga]

They cannot use the power as a weapon, and their oaths hold. There is a comment on it in Knife of Dreams about how a former AS damane was useless as a weapon, making her so distraught that the sul'dam had to console her with compliments on how pretty her skylights were and how wonderful her healing was. (Seanchan Death Guard's PoV)

 

 

There is speculation that the Seanchan might somehow figure out how to circumvent this, like by threatening to kill them if they don't comply and thus making their lives in danger enough to use the Power as a weapon in war.

 

Not sure this would allow them to attack anyone but the source (the sul'dam) of their danger though.

[Jblaylock]

Rand's sword was made from the one power, and Ishamael was a wielder of the True Power, so perhaps when Rand stabbed Ishamael with it, while it damaged Ishy, Ishy acted as a sort of cryptonite for the power wraught weapon.

[Jblaylock]

They cannot use the power as a weapon, and their oaths hold. There is a comment on it in Knife of Dreams about how a former AS damane was useless as a weapon, making her so distraught that the sul'dam had to console her with compliments on how pretty her skylights were and how wonderful her healing was. (Seanchan Death Guard's PoV)

 

 

There is speculation that the Seanchan might somehow figure out how to circumvent this, like by threatening to kill them if they don't comply and thus making their lives in danger enough to use the Power as a weapon in war.

 

 

But the oaths are tricky. The Aes'Sedai cannot wield it as a weapon, at least not against any save shadowspawn, but why should that matter if the Aes'sedai is not wielding it, but is being wielded by the seanchan, and the seanchan is wielding it through her? That seems plausible, and an ironic twist fit for an Aes'sedai who has spent hundreds of years (possibly) twisting truths, only to have the truth twisted on her in such a way.

[Demiandre]

Yes, but it is the damane who weaves. The Oath won't let her weave a weapon, even if the sul'dam wants the damane to do it.

 

A chanelling sul'dam (Bethamin and Seta for example) could draw the Power from the damane and meld the flow, as they are leading the circle, and so use the damane to make a weapon with the One Power

[blazetheearth]

Unless I am mistaken, all swords in this series were made from steel. Steel melts from extreme heat.

Rand's sword was a Power-wrought weapon. They don't dull or break, so why should we expect them to react to heat like steel (whichever specific form of steel that happens to be)?

Maybe the inside of Ishamael's body was hot enough to melt the sword.

How does that work? We're talking temperatures of at least 1700K here, and that's for steel, not Power-wrought metal. The guy should have been insta-ash. It forces us to assume all sorts of things to explain how he could survive that, and with no real evidence in sight. If he were that physically tough, I don't even see how a mere sword would even inconvenience him.

I could be mistaken about the inside temperature.

If my speculation about Ishamael not being fully free was right, maybe the melting related to that.

 

"Ba'alzamon screamed. And the Dark behind him screamed. The world exploded in fire."

 

That's how the chapter/scene ends before we get switched to Min's PoV. To me, it seemed that the "exploded in fire" was a description of a weave, from either Ishy or the Dark (possibly of TP), that Rand blocked (subconciously, via LTT-memories/instinct) to protect himself. We see him later use a similar weave in the attack at the Sun Palace, when he claims that the shield he weaves is strong enough to keep out anything but balefire (including air which is why he dropped it then). While Rand had been able to shield himself from the fire blast from Ishy, he was unable to protect the sword because it was in Ishy at the time, but the fire that Ishy created was hot enough to melt power-wrought steel. That was my take on it, that it was not just a reaction to stabbing Ishy instead I feel that Ishy did something that ended with the sword destroyed.

[Feral]

Got a question about EotW. It says at one point that Warders accompany Logain into Caemlyn. But then later Moiraine says something like "There are perhaps 20 other Sisters in Caemlyn at the moment, and all but me are Red Ajah." So who did the Warders belong to? Was this simply an error? I know it's possible for Aes Sedai to "lend" Warders, but knowing the attitudes of most Red Sisters, I really doubt any would have anything to do with Warders.

[Sid]

I knew I had answered that at some point (at least quoting someone else's answer), and I found it

do the red ajah borrow warders from somewhere? during my reread of EotW Moraine says that there are 20 AS in the city and all are red but her, but during the description of the parade there are warders mentioned

 

(From the old version of the FAQ)

What about those Warders in Caemlyn around Logain in TEOTW? [TEOTW: 42, Remembrance of Dreams, 535] Didn't Moiraine say that they were all Red sisters? Reds don't have Warders! RJ's answer, as reported by Tony Z: Moiraine never mentioned the sisters escorting Logain (not all of whom were Red). The ones with Logain weren't in Caemlyn at the time (evidently they stayed with the army, which stayed outside the city). Moiraine was referring to those that were in Caemlyn.

[Feral]

Oh ok thanks. Seems a bit weird though that there were so many Red Sister in Caemlyn that weren't anything to do with Logain...

[Suttree]

So I was doing a reread of George R.R. Martin's "A Feast For Crows" and noticed this for the first time. Asha Greyjoy and Lord Rodrick are discussing the upcoming Kingsmoot and Rodrick says

 

Archmaester Rigney once wrote that history is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again, he said.

 

Pretty cool. Does anyone know if RJ has gotten mentions like this in any other series?

[Feral]

Why does Elaida refer to Logain as the unbeliever in EotW? I don't believe the term is ever used again.

[Majsju]

So I was doing a reread of George R.R. Martin's "A Feast For Crows" and noticed this for the first time. Asha Greyjoy and Lord Rodrick are discussing the upcoming Kingsmoot and Rodrick says

 

Archmaester Rigney once wrote that history is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again, he said.

 

Pretty cool. Does anyone know if RJ has gotten mentions like this in any other series?

 

Not sure about other series, but there is one more nod in ASOIAF. Have fun finding it (quite easy)

[EmeraldCastrol]

Can someone please answer this for me -

 

What was the importance of RJ including in the story (in one of the earlier books, can't remember which exact one) that when Perrin first met Taim, Taim was bristling with suppressed fury. Also, LTT insisting in Rand's head that Taim must be killed. Obviously, Taim is not one of the forsaken, so I don't see that it was necessary to describe such events and yet they were included - why? Are they just red herrings?

[Feral]

Can someone please answer this for me -

 

What was the importance of RJ including in the story (in one of the earlier books, can't remember which exact one) that when Perrin first met Taim, Taim was bristling with suppressed fury. Also, LTT insisting in Rand's head that Taim must be killed. Obviously, Taim is not one of the forsaken, so I don't see that it was necessary to describe such events and yet they were included - why? Are they just red herrings?

 

Well it's not certain that he isn't some kind of new generation Forsaken for starters. Secondly, LTT starts ranting about killing Ashaman quite often, not just Taim.

[moratcorlm]

Well, it helps characterize Taim. Not that it really takes us that long to realize he's a Bad Guy, but another POV adds to the story. As for Lews Therin, if you buy Construct Theory it is simply a suppressed realization of Rand's that Taim is blatantly untrustworthy that got mixed in with other things Rand's trying to suppress, like the memories of his last life that are becoming increasingly available to him, and the nearly constant low-grade homicidal rage he's experiencing.

[Moon Sedai]

I think so, Nooska

[LemonPastie]

Question about Artur Hawkwing and the Stone of Tear,

 

Artur united all lands west of the spine of the world and yet the stone of Tear hasn't fallen - did the Tairens just submit to Artur? I thought he may have grown up in Tear and thus started there, but he was king of another country to the north of Tear

[moratcorlm]

Quoting from the BBOBA:

The next nineteen years were not continuous warfare for Hawkwing, but the periods of respite were so short, never more than a year and seldom so much, that they might as well have been. Nations came against him and were defeated. By FY 963, except for the territory ruled by Tar Valon, Artur Hawkwing was undisputed master of every mile from the Spine of the World to the Aryth Ocean. With the exception of Moreina, where the High Governor of the Stone of Tear declared for Hawkwing and a rebellion by dissident nobles gave him most of the rest of the country, all of that land had been taken by conquest. In all that time he had not lost one battle.

[Medo123]

Who is the Lord of Chaos?

 

Is it the DO? is it Moridin?

 

I forgot.

[mb]

Lord of Chaos; I guess you are referring to the command "Let the Lord of Chaos rule". That statement I have interpreted as "Spread chaos" and/or as "Let chaos spread".

The Lord of Chaos I take to be no character in particular. If the Lord of Chaos is anything, I would guess it is chaos itself.

Edited December 21, 2010 by mb