Thing In The Blight PoV

[Barid Bel Medar]

Good idea about Fain hunting Moridin-- that idea is entirely possible. I am very intrigued to see what Fain will do next.

 

I can't believe how powerful Fain has become. Here is a question for those well-versed in WoT: Was it Fain that created the mists that destroyed the rebel Cairhien army or was it a bubble of evil? It seems more likely now that it was Fain himself that destroyed Caroline Damodred's army.

 

One last thought: Could it actually be Fain that was leading the attack on Kandor right now?

 

Just with Fain hunting Moridin. It makes perfect sense.

 

Rand is linked with Moridin, they are starting to act like each other and such.

 

Soon, Fain could mistake Moridin for rand?

 

Edit: OH, and it was a bubble of evil .

[ghenjei]

Trolloc zombies?

now that's just pathetic

[Luckers]

I really liked Fain in this. At first with all that 'creature' this I thought it was going all gollum, but when you read a bit further it makes perfect sense.

[jemron]

I just want people to know that I thought of that Fain is looking for Moridin but thinks he's Rand theory on my own too. I want some credit if you read it first!

 

Also a few things that stood out to me/theories/etc:

 

1. Fain will soon have a new name. Does anybody else think it will be Shai'tan?

2. For some reason I'm having a hard time picturing a worm that is purple as being scary/dangerous

3. Mashadar FTW!

4. As to Fain bleeding, I got the impression he was bleeding because he liked it, but whoever mentioned that he was probably doing it to attract Shadowspawn; well that makes way more sense

5. Interesting comparison that somebody made about Fain becoming Machin Shin. Very interesting; though I think he's actually becoming the new DO. If not, he's too close to Gholum for my tastes. I mean, if all he will be used for will be to just kill the DO... that would feel too much like LotR to me; though I do think that they could both potentially destroy each other, just as Mashadar killed the taint on saidin

 

That is all (what's with me making all these lists lately?)

[marianmi]

I was under the impression that cutting himself (with the knife) gives him the powers. That's why if he would use gloves with a fade, he could not cut himself and control the fade.

[jemron]

Hmm... Interesting. So the more he cuts himself, the more powerful he becomes as the evil of SL is in him more an more. And because he's got some of the DO in him so-to-speak, he's able to withstand the evil of the dagger from killing him, and instead he absorbs it.

 

It is interesting that when he first gets the dagger back from the tower, he nicks his finger and begins to bleed. Maybe that was the first clue to him that he needed that to gain more power.

 

Very cool idea.

[Owayn The Traveller]

Fain, yes the number one villain is back!

The whole red and black thing was cool. so Moridin Taim and Fain all had a thing with it.

I don't think he is after Moridin as he was saying don't hunt but go to where Rand has to go, Shayol Ghul.

The sad thing about thus is we won't see him again till aMoL I'd say.

I hope he renamed him self soon as that was slightly irrating.

[Luckers]

Terez, I'm curious, why do you think this confirms Fain as the Shadowspawn stealer? Nothing in this matches that--Myrdraal die at his touch, they don't mistakenly think he has the Chosen Mark. And he directly implies that had the Myrdraal not died, he would have had to use iron nails to torture it as per The Shadow Rising.

 

Yes, his powers have expanded, but in a way the works against him being the Shadowspawn stealer. Nothing here answers him having the ability to command them as Chosen.

[theblacksmith]

I read somewhere that Fain, well the guy who lead to the destruction of SL had dedicated many many years of study to finding power to destroy the DO, and that he found many many things. After his return all of the details of SL and how it became SL instead of the ally of Manethren took place.

 

I got the impression that the Red & Black were alluding to something more than just (cutting) I believe and I only read it once so far, that the colors were the appealing/prevailing thought of the thing that used to be...

 

Lastly, I do not believe Fain had anythig to do with sending the attack on Rand, and I agree that Fain is no longer looking for Rand, he is waiting for him. Perhaps he may come across Moridin and perhaps he will mistake him as their tie may be strong enough for that by then but...Everyone agrees that Rand has to die ok, but why does Moridin get to live through this death? Wouldn't it be could if Fain found them together and killed them both providing the time pocket for Rand to deal with the sealing as the DO saves his start servant.

[Owayn The Traveller]

Yeah I think the colours might be important

[Sentinel78]

Firstly, I thought the color of the dying Worm being purple was due to the bloated-skin effect that a prick from the ruby dagger gives.

 

Secondly, (this part not serious) forget the body-swap theory! Rand will die and come back as ZOMBIE RAND. Zombie Rand will kill the Dark One, freeing men of the Shadow in the Pit of Doom. After freed of the Shadow, Fain will eat the blood and guts of mankind or something like that.

[lsm]

Trolloc zombies?

now that's just pathetic

not your ordinary zombies, super trolloc zombies when the time to fight comes....

[Owayn The Traveller]

Could this mean the return of Narg? Admitable he would be fairly decomposed by now but any Narg us good Narg.

[Duskfire]

Ahhhh, it was Fain. :D Not really a LOT of details, but enough to make it obvious he's the Shadowspawn thief. And Mashadar...that rocks. I was thinking RJ had ruled it out, but I should have known better. It makes a lot more sense that way.

 

Really? Strange, when I read it I actually thought the complete opposite; it basically confirmed it wasn't him. It just doesn't fit his thoughts, his ramblings. He has to torture Fades to get what he wants, and the way the Trollocs respond to him; surely if he was able to theoretically steal thousands of them, a small band would be nothing?

 

At the very least, its far from obvious.

[Charles Mahan]

Actually, it seems Fain is no longer hunting for Rand. "You didn't hunt something when you knew exactly where it was going to be. You merely showed up to meet it." He's going to go somewhere that he knows Rand will put in an appearance and wait for him to show up. Considering Fain is one of the few principles who must still walk everywhere it makes a lot of sense for him to stop chasing a Traveler around on foot and go someplace where you can be sure to bump into your prey. Fain is going to Shayol Ghul. It seems obvious at this point.

 

Fain would not have sent Trollocs after Rand since he wants ever so badly to kill him personally. Even if he wanted to he didn't send those Trollocs. He seems to have gained the ability to create his own personal Zombie Trollocs, but he can't control the Eyeless the same way. Besides the Trollocs who showed up at that particular party didn't have the boils and disfigurements that are described in the prologue.

[DemandredFO]

Zombie men or trollocs must have been the unnatural assassins that Mordeth sent after that guy(Carr maybe). I think Moriane threw that out there in book 1. Yeah Fain couldn't have been Sammael even if Fain has access to him because as said before Fain wants mono y mono.

[TreeJoe]

Amazing prologue on Fain.

 

First off - I thought it was pretty clear that he's cutting himself because:

 

1. He's mad, embraces it, and madmen do stuff like cut themselves

2. He loves the dichotomy of red below and black on top

3. He's enjoying killing things like worms and they will come to the scent of blood (considering Lan's take on Worms in tEotW, and how casually Fain decimated one, I think that gives a good impression of Fain's powers now).

 

...he's also very clear that he's going to personally kill Rand, and that he would kill anyone who threatened to take that away from him...

 

His powers are starting to grow a little beyond belief: he's a mixture of Dark-One branded soul, Machin Shin, Mashadar, Mordeth, and Shadar Logoth (as a whole). He can generate illusions, kill by touch, infect people with suspicion and hatred (See: Elaida), control Shadowspawn, nail a Myrrdraal to a barn with nails, raise "Zombie" Shadowspawn, make people insane with "tricks", kill Myrrdraal at significant distance....

 

For comparison, I'd say that he's shown a greater deadliness than Shaidar Haran. Perhaps Fain vs. Shaidar Haran? They seem like natural enemies to one another.

 

In terms of Fain becoming the new Dark One? Come on. Seriously? That's a pretty huge leap, even by dragonmount standards :)

[ghenjei]

Trolloc zombies?

now that's just pathetic

not your ordinary zombies, super trolloc zombies when the time to fight comes....

 

 

Will they ride on Dark Unicorns and have flying Death Kittehs?

[jemron]

On a side note, does anyone else feel like there have been more zombies in this series since BWS took over? :-)

[MagnusDahlerNorling]

I saw the red on black quote as an allusion to the "red on black, the dragon's blood stains the rocks of Shayol Ghul" prophecy. It may also bear other significance, but that was what I thought first.

[Owayn The Traveller]

@jemron - hah!

 

I also don't think Fain sent the tellings. He wants to kill Rand. How would he know that that many trollocs wouldn't kill Rand? He doesn't know who is with went Rand and that they can nearly all channel. Whereas Moridin or other forsaken have a pretty good knowledge of Rands business, well far more than Fain.

 

Also the whole it's been so long or too long, in the prologue kinda goes against it. It hasn't been that long since KoD but it's been a while since we saw him threading that fade. So I don't think he could be feeling nostalgic for them in that short while.

 

Also if he has been walking places. I don't think he could find the time to organise it and maybe that's why we have not seen him that much as he had just been walking

[TreeJoe]

I also really enjoyed some of the insights into the madness (from Machin Shin, presumably). How he should honor a friend. How things need to be wrong to be right, etc.

 

I thought this section was expertly written. I don't want to say it sounded 100% RJ, but it didn't sound B.W.S. either....it sounded awesome :)

[Duskfire]

For comparison, I'd say that he's shown a greater deadliness than Shaidar Haran. Perhaps Fain vs. Shaidar Haran? They seem like natural enemies to one another.

 

In terms of Fain becoming the new Dark One? Come on. Seriously? That's a pretty huge leap, even by dragonmount standards :)

 

The problem with the SH fight is that in theory SH could just balefire him, or hold him in air. And being an extension of the Dark One, I wouldnt be surprised if he was immune to Mashadar. However Fain could also have funky abilities when it comes to channelers, so who knows with him.

[Corvinus]

I would also like to say that looking at Fain's increasing powers, Slayer stands very little chance against Fain if he ever manages to catch up with Fain. Yes, Slayer still has the advantage of stepping in and out of TAR at will, but that would mean that he had to know where Fain was, and Fain had to be stationary for a little while. So far Fain has always been a step ahead of Slayer. So among the bad guys, only Moridin or Shaidar Haran can take on the formerly known as Mordeth.

[Duskfire]

I would also like to say that looking at Fain's increasing powers, Slayer stands very little chance against Fain if he ever manages to catch up with Fain. Yes, Slayer still has the advantage of stepping in and out of TAR at will, but that would mean that he had to know where Fain was, and Fain had to be stationary for a little while. So far Fain has always been a step ahead of Slayer. So among the bad guys, only Moridin or Shaidar Haran can take on the formerly known as Mordeth.

 

Well, unless he does have some unknown powers against channelers, in theory any Forsaken could potentially take him down. Its like no matter how badass Lan is, any decent channeler would destroy him, as long as they saw him before he reached them of course. And same with Fain; he has never fought Rand in direct confrontation, mostly because Rand would just fireball his ass and be done with it. The same would apply to any channeler who knows what they are doing. Although if he manages to gather a zombie trolloc army, that does make things a bit more interesting.