any significance in the title?

[dimmu666]

Does the title of the book mean anything? Could it be that the Dark one wins the last battle, kills rand and all that is left is 'a memory of light'?

 

Please RJ let the DO win!! this compulsory happy ending in all of high fantasy is getting to me! why can't the bad guys win for once? Whats so good about wiping out evil!?

the aes sedai symbol itself is derived from the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang. There must be evil for there to be good and vica versa. The only thing different in the two symbols are the black and white dots respectively in the middle of the tear shape. It means that there is evil in good and good in evil. NOW someone explain to me what winning the last battle will do!!! HAPPILY EVER AFTER, THE END!?

please don't let it end like that, it will ruin the entire series.

[Guest cwestervelt]

The lion sword, the dedicated spear, she who sees beyond. Three on the boat, and he who is dead yet lives. The great battle done, but the world not done with battle. The land divided by the return, and the guardians balance the servants. The future teeters on the edge of a blade.

Lord of Chaos Chapter 14: "Dreams and Nightmares"

 

Regardless of who wins Tarmon Gaidon, it will not be a "happily ever after" ending. Nicola's foretelling is quite specific about that. That is also why heroes like Gaidal Cain are just now being reborn. They won't be able to take part in Tarmon Gaidon unless it spans 20 or 30 years. That means the Pattern knows they will be needed afterwards. They are heading for years of strife and division if the Light wins. Death and destruction of the Dark wins. Either way "the good times" will be nothing more than a memory.

[Dionysus]

I take this to have a different meaning...

 

The Great Battle done I believe will be the Battle of the White Tower. Rand being dead but yet lives, will be after his battle with Moridin but before they reseal the DO's prison. The land divided by the return is because Rand has achieved a truce with the Seanchan dividing the land. Guardians balancing the Servants is the beginning of having men and women actually working together, literally in circles which will probably be needed against the Dark One and figuratively with Egwene's/Logain's group.

 

The future teeters on the edge of a blade confirms this all for me and isn't just filler. They have fought the Dark One through Tarmon Gai'don, but they still have to seal him away.

 

For Robert Jordan to end the book after T'G and defeating the Dark One, but the world can still be destroyed in their wars with the Seanchan/civil fighting/etc seems a pretty pathetic way to end the book series. We've waited 20 years for this series to finish, at the least he could somewhat finish it. I know he said there are going to be loose ends, but I highly doubt one of those loose ends is going to be the fate of Randland.

 

As for a Happily Ever After finish, most of the Aiel are going to be destroyed, some of the main characters are going to bite the dust, perhaps even Rand/Mat/Perrin. We don't know what else he has up his sleeve, but its going to be a battle fought with the blood of our favorite characters, at the very least he could make their sacrifices mean something.

[RobertAlexWillis]

The great battle has to be Tar'mon Gaidon. The use of the definitive article mean that that particular battle is more great than any other. Nothing is going to TOP the Dark One breaking loose.

 

The land divided by the return certainly does refer to the Seanchan, they call themselves the Corenne which literally means the Return.

 

I envision that after the "great battle" there will be loose ends to tie up, and this is where I've placed Mat sacrificing "half the light of the world" to save the world. Losing his eye (if that is what it means) could easily be part of reaching accomodation with the Seanchan (given their great symbolic importance of eyes), and preventing a Seanchan/Randland war in the aftermath of Tar'mon Gaidon would certainly be saving the world.

 

The Guardians balancing the Servants certainly refers to the Asha'man and Aes Sedai as you point out. They've already begun reaching accomodation on various levels.

 

I doubt the series will end with "And the Dark One was resealed, the END". Rand's resurrection/reincarnation would have to take place AFTER the Dark One is resealed. Given the difficulty RJ seems to have with actually killing off anyone in the "Rand's personal friends" category, (the masses go into the grinder, but Herid Fel is probably the most significant good character to die)it seems unlikely that anyone important will die permanently. Rand will die, but he will come back, in some form or another. Just like Mat has already died and lived again, arguably twice. Just like Moiraine is coming back. I can't say that I wouldn't LIKE for some of them to get killed off (I enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire, and G.R.R. Martin would kill off his own mother if she was a character in his books) but it doesn't seem likely.

[Guest Majsju]

It makes perfect sense to have the series end with seeing the start of a continued struggle. Not necessarily Randland vs Seanchan, though that seems most likely. But there is a possibility that we will see the start of a massive downfall of most of the world's nations. The world divided by the return doesn't mean that the Seanchan will take half the continent, only that they will have a strong hold on a part of the land, perhaps not even greater than they currently do. With Mat being married to Tuon, it's quite possible they will stop there.

 

We have previously heard how great nations have collapsed because they haven't had enough people to claim all the lands they once had on the map. Well, after TG there will be quite a few years with a huge decrease in population. Which gives a number of lords an opportunity to try to carve out little kingdoms for themselves. I wouldn't be too surprised if the aftermaths of TG is similar to what happened after Hawkwing's death.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Actually, and this is just a side note, the population should begin to increase very rapidly following Tar'mon Gaidon. RJ has indicated that the low population is due to a lower birth rate caused by the Dark One's touch on the world.

[Dionysus]

Rand and Aviendah should be able to repopulate Illian and parts of Cairhien in fairly short order as well.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Especially if Aviendha keeps having his babies FOUR AT A TIME! hehehe

[dimmu666]

sweeet...just like freakin adam and eve or noah's ark. So Rand and avi repopulated the world with freakazoid babies that can blow up mountains.

 

but is it possible that Lew Therin comes into play somehow? he wasn't called the kinslayer for nothing yeah...Rand might get lose control for a while and LTT kills elayne, min, avi and all the babies! oh no...then we'd have to start off again as carbon based soup in the ocean!

[RJJT86]

Okay,

 

We know that LTT and Rand inhabite the same body, and we know that LTT is more than a fictional voice in Rand's head. We know that it is the actual Lews Therin with all of his memories. We even know that LTT thinks that Rand's body is his, and that sometimes he thinks Rand is the disembodied voice. I know I'm new here, but it seems to me, that Rand's death is going to have something to do with him physically dying, but in reality LTT dies off and Rand lives again without LTT in his head, and perhaps without the power. At least that's one of my theories.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Ooo Ooo! Ask Luckers about the body swap!

 

I'm going to get some popcorn.

[Guest cwestervelt]

I hate the body swap theory. :x

 

Don't get me wrong, I understand where it comes from and I can't say I disagree with it, I just don't like it. It's just one of those things that I would be really sorry to see happen.

[Luckers]

I don't really know if i like it either, but i think its going to happen. I think it must happen.

[rochaid]

i also can see the reasoning behind the body swap theory,and i think the link between rand and moridin will be a big factor in aMoL but i don't think that they will actually swap bodies.one of my reasons for this is that it is simply too predictable,with the remark that they (rand and moridin) would touch if they moved a hair's breadth.

 

i also see the "twice dawns the day when his blood is shed" prophecy being the key,but with no reversal of time,i don't like that idea.i have no theory as to what will happen,as i believe the answear will be something nobody has predicted or can perdeict,and that RJ is laughing at our futile attempts to decipher his mind.

 

on saying that,i think dragonmount,where it all begun,will play a part in the end,with its new found activity.

[Gandaal]

I thought it was pretty obvious myself. Maybe not as obvious as "Return of the Jedi" or "Return of the King" or other similar series ending titles but still...

[raydurz]

The lion sword' date=' the dedicated spear, she who sees beyond. Three on the boat, and he who is dead yet lives. [b']The great battle done, but the world not done with battle. The land divided by the return, and the guardians balance the servants.[/b] The future teeters on the edge of a blade.

Lord of Chaos Chapter 14: "Dreams and Nightmares"

 

Regardless of who wins Tarmon Gaidon, it will not be a "happily ever after" ending. Nicola's foretelling is quite specific about that. That is also why heroes like Gaidal Cain are just now being reborn. They won't be able to take part in Tarmon Gaidon unless it spans 20 or 30 years. That means the Pattern knows they will be needed afterwards. They are heading for years of strife and division if the Light wins. Death and destruction of the Dark wins. Either way "the good times" will be nothing more than a memory.

 

I always took the "world not done with battle" line as meaning that there will still be Fades and Trollocs to contend with, and perhaps the Seanchan.