Ask A Simple Question, Get A Simple Answer

[johthohar]

Regarding gateways, there's one little thing about the prologue of tEotW that has always bugged me. When Ishamael shows up in the castle it says something like, "The air behind him began to shimmer and then solidified into a man." Is this a form of Traveling that we haven't seen yet? Or was Ishamael already there and simply let some kind of invisibility weave unravel? (I think that's kind of unlikely since he acts as if he only just arrived after he appears.) I've always kind of just accepted that Jordan hadn't decided how he wanted to portray Traveling yet at this point and the "gateway" idea hadn't yet come to him but is there a quote from him that explains this? That would set my mind at ease.

[moratcorlm]

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be Traveling with the True Power, which as we later learn involves going outside the Pattern and ripping it apart to re-insert yourself. I'll see if there's anything in the interview database.

 

Edit: here we go.

Q: You’ve wrote somewhere that Moridin used the True Power and he stepped out of the Pattern or something like that.

RJ: No, he’s made a hole in the Pattern as a way of Traveling which uses the True Power, which is a different thing. If you notice as far back as the Prologue of The Eye of the World, when Ishamael Traveled in to meet Lews Therin, who was mad, the description does not match the Traveling that we see later. It’s because at that point, Ishamael is using the True Power, which produces a different sort of effect for Traveling. It is a different method of Traveling than either men or women use with saidin and saidar.

Q: The descriptions are quite similar when he arrived by Travel with saidin. You also say 'bore a hole trough the Pattern', and for the True Power, I think in one instance, 'ripping a hole in the Pattern'. And in one other instance you wrote that he stepped back inside the Pattern.

RJ: It’s similar. Similar, but it’s not the same thing. It’s why it produces that fading in and fading out effect.

 

Now, this could be a BS retcon, but the ability's important enough, and well-enough developed later on, that I'm willing to believe it.

[johthohar]

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be Traveling with the True Power, which as we later learn involves going outside the Pattern and ripping it apart to re-insert yourself. I'll see if there's anything in the interview database.

 

Edit: here we go.

Q: You’ve wrote somewhere that Moridin used the True Power and he stepped out of the Pattern or something like that.

RJ: No, he’s made a hole in the Pattern as a way of Traveling which uses the True Power, which is a different thing. If you notice as far back as the Prologue of The Eye of the World, when Ishamael Traveled in to meet Lews Therin, who was mad, the description does not match the Traveling that we see later. It’s because at that point, Ishamael is using the True Power, which produces a different sort of effect for Traveling. It is a different method of Traveling than either men or women use with saidin and saidar.

Q: The descriptions are quite similar when he arrived by Travel with saidin. You also say 'bore a hole trough the Pattern', and for the True Power, I think in one instance, 'ripping a hole in the Pattern'. And in one other instance you wrote that he stepped back inside the Pattern.

RJ: It’s similar. Similar, but it’s not the same thing. It’s why it produces that fading in and fading out effect.

 

Now, this could be a BS retcon, but the ability's important enough, and well-enough developed later on, that I'm willing to believe it.

 

OOOOhhhhkay! I don't know why I never considered the True Power. Thanks for the quote. Very helpful.

[vanceme]

Can someone refresh my memory about the seanchan's practice of using the a'dam to make men of the blood nervous? Is it the collar or the bracelet that they put on the man? I want to say the male is linked to a damane, but I was really hoping it was the collar. If a man who could learn to channel was collared, the a'dam would try to force control to the woman while we know in this situation nature requires the male to lead a circle

[bysomy]

Fades have souls. Forsaken have souls. DO Transmigates souls. can you have a forsaken in a fades body?

[David Selig]

Can someone refresh my memory about the seanchan's practice of using the a'dam to make men of the blood nervous? Is it the collar or the bracelet that they put on the man? I want to say the male is linked to a damane, but I was really hoping it was the collar. If a man who could learn to channel was collared, the a'dam would try to force control to the woman while we know in this situation nature requires the male to lead a circle

It's the bracelet:

 

TGH, Ch.40

 

Not men.” Renna chuckled. “All sul’dam are women. If a man put on this bracelet, most of the time it would be no different than if it were hanging on a peg on the wall.”

 

“And sometimes,” the blue-eyed sul’dam put in harshly, “you and he would both die screaming.” The woman had sharp features and a tight, thin-lipped mouth, and Egwene realized that anger was apparently her permanent expression. “From time to time the Empress plays with lords by linking them to a damane. It makes the lords sweat and entertains the Court of the Nine Moons. The lord never knows until it is done whether he will live or die, and neither does the damane.”

[Ananta]

" Bela does not talk about Fight Club."

 

 

 

 

 

would you mind if I made this my sig?

 

Oh wow... That's probably one of the best ones I've ever seen.

 

 

GG.

[nolirion]

Can Shadar Haran Chanel the power of the Do ?

[johthohar]

Can someone refresh my memory about the seanchan's practice of using the a'dam to make men of the blood nervous? Is it the collar or the bracelet that they put on the man? I want to say the male is linked to a damane, but I was really hoping it was the collar. If a man who could learn to channel was collared, the a'dam would try to force control to the woman while we know in this situation nature requires the male to lead a circle

 

The reason they used it to scare men was that if a man who could channel was linked to either side of the a'dam he would die instantly. I think. I could be remembering wrong.

 

Fades have souls. Forsaken have souls. DO Transmigates souls. can you have a forsaken in a fades body?

 

Interesting theory.

 

" Bela does not talk about Fight Club."

 

 

 

 

 

would you mind if I made this my sig?

 

Oh wow... That's probably one of the best ones I've ever seen.

 

 

GG.

 

Thanks.

 

Can Shadar Haran Chanel the power of the Do ?

 

IIRC Shadar Haran is basically just an avatar for the Dark One. Like a puppet Shai'tan can use to roam the physical world. So, I guess the answer would be yea. I'm sure the Dark One can use his own power lol.

[Durinax]

vanceme, on 30 December 2010 - 07:17 PM, said:

Can someone refresh my memory about the seanchan's practice of using the a'dam to make men of the blood nervous? Is it the collar or the bracelet that they put on the man? I want to say the male is linked to a damane, but I was really hoping it was the collar. If a man who could learn to channel was collared, the a'dam would try to force control to the woman while we know in this situation nature requires the male to lead a circle

 

The reason they used it to scare men was that if a man who could channel was linked to either side of the a'dam he would die instantly. I think. I could be remembering wrong.

it scared the blood because if he could channel both died screaming.

[Majsju]

Can Shadar Haran Chanel the power of the Do ?

 

Sort of. SH is the DO in a shadowy form, and thus he has the same powers. Only, nowhere near the strength the DO would wield if those pesky seals weren't in the way.

 

I think you can compare it to Asmo, and that shield Lanfear put on him that allowed him to channel a trickle of his actual power.

 

OMG, Asmo is SH! gasp!!!

[blazetheearth]

Fades have souls. Forsaken have souls. DO Transmigates souls. can you have a forsaken in a fades body?

 

While I am not specifically trying to be abrasive or controversial, I have to wonder exactly what quote from the books gave you this idea. I do not recall anywhere that is says that Fades (or the Trollocs from which they are spawned) have souls. Give me a reference to it and I will willingly convert to your idea, but I don't think that the quote exists IIRC.'ll be happy to be proved wrong, but I don't think that I am. Many people assume that Shadowspawn have souls, but they are created Creatures not something natural which the Pattern spun out. That would imply that the Shadowspawn were no different than a 'cloned creature' from the current time. If you were duplicated, and mixed with wolf or boar or eagle blood, do you think that the spawn created from it would contain a soul?

[yoniy0]

While I am not specifically trying to be abrasive or controversial, I have to wonder exactly what quote from the books gave you this idea. I do not recall anywhere that is says that Fades (or the Trollocs from which they are spawned) have souls. Give me a reference to it and I will willingly convert to your idea, but I don't think that the quote exists IIRC.'ll be happy to be proved wrong, but I don't think that I am. Many people assume that Shadowspawn have souls, but they are created Creatures not something natural which the Pattern spun out. That would imply that the Shadowspawn were no different than a 'cloned creature' from the current time. If you were duplicated, and mixed with wolf or boar or eagle blood, do you think that the spawn created from it would contain a soul?

It's sometimes worthwhile to look at things RJ said in his book signings and such. A comprehensive Interview Database is hosted on Theoryland:

Q: How does the idea of souls apply to constructs such as Nym and Trollocs? Could either of them be reborn?

RJ: To whoever put this one forward, this is one of the best questions I've ever gotten! Nym and Trollocs both have souls, and either could be reborn, but since Nym were a pure construct (i.e. each of them was individually made, like hand-crafting) a Nym would not be reborn as a Nym. You might say that a Nym's soul was borrowed temporarily from the supply of souls awaiting rebirth. A Trolloc, however, bears a twisted, or corrupted soul, and would be reborn as a Trolloc. Though frankly, a Trolloc's soul is such a pitiful thing, it hardly seems worth calling a soul.

 

Also, this seems to relate to the original question:

A man asked if the Dark One can resurrect anyone after death?

RJ answered that, yes, the Dark One can resurrect any soul, but probably doesn't want to bring back someone who hates him.

[blazetheearth]

Thank you. And thank you for the link. I've read most of the RJ quotes that are posted on 13th Depository but don't remember seeing this one there. But now I can read through those at Theoryland also. The couple of times that I had visited there I found getting around more cumbersome than here at DM so I had pretty much stayed away from it. But I have to give it a more in depth look.

 

 

edit: puncuation

[Lironah]

During Eggy's dream in 'The Amrylin's Anger', there are 3 parts. In the last part that she interprets as Rand breaking the seals, she refers to "an enormous sphere made of the finest crystal. It sparkled in the light of twenty-three enormous stars, shining down on where it sat on a dark hill top." She goes on to talk about seeing Rand cutting the ropes that are holding the crystal together. The thing that she seemed to take away from the dream as being most important was the act of Rand cutting the ropes, but to me the part I bolded really stands out. Why 23? It seems like a very odd number of 'stars' to be shining on this crystal. And these are 'enormous stars', I would appreciate any thoughs on the interpretation of this part of the dream, because it seems important to me, maybe more important that the rest in she finds out about Rand breaking the seals within hours of waking from this dream. It would seem useless to simply have her Dream about something she will learn that day anyway, unless the Dream contains other information that is at least as important. And with the specific imagery mentioned about the number of stars makes me think that they are important.

 

...

 

Perhaps rather than 23 countries being represented, it's the number of armies/forces/leaders which will be present at Merillor.

 

Alternately, it could represent something we don't know about yet, such as the exact nature of the Seal, or the number of channelers who will be waiting to make a new seal. Maybe even 23 circles...that'd be something.

[Nooska]

To me the interpretation of that dream seems missed by Egwene.

The dream occurs before Rand marches in to the hall of the tower (7 Ajahs of 3 sitters, 1 Amyrlin and 1 Keeper, 23 highest ranking AS) and announces that he will break the seals - IMO egwene is having a short term forewarning of what happens in that chapter (which in turn inspires her to oppose the idea, because the dream showed it as dangerous in her interpretation).

[GB]

how come in chapter Working Leather, there is sunlight in the sky?

 

is it because how close it is to Caemlyn? I thought the cloud cover broke only around Caemlyn?

[moratcorlm]

how come in chapter Working Leather, there is sunlight in the sky?

Working Leather is a very, very early chapter, probably taking place before Rand's mood starts turning the sky black worldwide. My timeline has it about 40 days before Rand's epiphany.

[bysomy]

Have we seen the red veiled aiel before, only without the red veils and sharpened teeth? LoC ch 46 when Aiel with black eyes try to kill a salidar AS.

[Ananta]

Have we seen the red veiled aiel before, only without the red veils and sharpened teeth? LoC ch 46 when Aiel with black eyes try to kill a salidar AS.

 

The Aiel didn't try to kill her. They wounded her so she would almost die, but also gave her a message to deliver once she'd been healed. Message to stay away from The Dragon Reborn. They were trying to prevent the Aes Sedai and Rand from forming an allience, I suppose.

 

 

Anyhow, I think they are just Shaido... I'd think that the Red-Veiled Aiel are something far more evil than the bunch in Caemlyn. And something far more epic, too.

[Callern]

I'm sorry if this is asked before, but 31 pages is alot to read through.

 

When Mat is going to meet Elayne, Guybon (2nd in command of the Crowns army) is escorting him. He asks if some of the rumors about Mat is true.

Some of them are:

Mat dangling from a tree in 9 days.

Mat entering the realm of the Finns.

 

Who started those rumors? As far as I can recall, few people know any of it?

[Nooska]

Have we seen the red veiled aiel before, only without the red veils and sharpened teeth? LoC ch 46 when Aiel with black eyes try to kill a salidar AS.

 

The Aiel didn't try to kill her. They wounded her so she would almost die, but also gave her a message to deliver once she'd been healed. Message to stay away from The Dragon Reborn. They were trying to prevent the Aes Sedai and Rand from forming an allience, I suppose.

 

 

Anyhow, I think they are just Shaido... I'd think that the Red-Veiled Aiel are something far more evil than the bunch in Caemlyn. And something far more epic, too.

The bunch in Caemlyn were not Shaido, in fact they were not Aiel - they had dark eyes.

Really the same problem as the veiled persons in the epilogue - dark eyes, and we know that Aiel have light eyes (blue, green, grey) and that light eyes are a recessive trait, so dark eyes don't naturally appear. Hence the red-veiled people are not Aiel unless something has been done to each of them specifically that has the sideeffect of changing the eye color (13x13 is not plausible due to the logistics).

[shaiel]

I'm sorry if this is asked before, but 31 pages is alot to read through.

 

When Mat is going to meet Elayne, Guybon (2nd in command of the Crowns army) is escorting him. He asks if some of the rumors about Mat is true.

Some of them are:

Mat dangling from a tree in 9 days.

Mat entering the realm of the Finns.

 

Who started those rumors? As far as I can recall, few people know any of it?

rumors have they own lives, are a kind of independent being

this is my logical explanation :D

[Feral]

I'm sorry if this is asked before, but 31 pages is alot to read through.

 

When Mat is going to meet Elayne, Guybon (2nd in command of the Crowns army) is escorting him. He asks if some of the rumors about Mat is true.

Some of them are:

Mat dangling from a tree in 9 days.

Mat entering the realm of the Finns.

 

Who started those rumors? As far as I can recall, few people know any of it?

 

Second this question. Seems very suspicious to me that suddenly everyone knows about Mat and they all know so MUCH, even if it isn't quite accurate. And the people who know about these things in the first place (eg. Rand, Moiraine) wouldn't repeat them. If this doesn't get explained at some point and it turns out to just be a throw away thing then I'll be really quite annoyed. BTW, haven't quite finished reading TOM yet, so sorry if it's covered at the end.

[moratcorlm]

That was Brandon's explanation for the time inconsistencies in the rumors in TOM8, and it don't make no sense.

 

The "Aiel" who attacked Demira in LOC46 included this one, the only one individually described: "a squat fellow with villainous eyes [...] black eyes mocking". Now, even if by some miracle there are dark-eyed Aiel, there are no Aiel short enough to be called "squat", so it seems more likely that Demira's attackers were just dressing as Aiel in order to cause dissension. Taim is a likely employer, Fain too (his Whitecloaks attacked Rand in LOC26; if the 'Aiel' are more of them, that could be a reason they used the word "witches").

 

But the red-veiled folks in the Blight still have dark eyes.