The Field of Merrilor

[TheAngryDruid]

 

I wonder who that group of 'farmers' were that Egwene notices, 'with mismatched tents and little understanding of how to set up an army camp'. At first I thought, that's the boys from the TR, but then I realised Tam et al would never stand for such sloppiness. Could it be the people we met in TGS Prologue?

 

 

I'd imagine Almen Bunt is among them and they are done picking the apples. Bunt felt a tug the way Rand was walking, but had to pick the apples first. I'd imagine others felt the tug, and the story spread.

[TheAngryDruid]

Put me in the camp that thinks the Dragon's Peace (with some changes made by Avi) will be agreed to. Aid will have to be sent to Caemlyn, Lan, the Borderlands, and probably the WT, too.

 

Caemlyn. Has 1/2 the Band, the Kin, some WF's, and whatever Elayne left behind. Plus the rebel AS delegation to the BT. I'd assume the rest of the Band would hurry back from Cairhien through a gateway, and that Mat & Mo will arrive as well. If it comes to light that gateways don't work there, and Rand mentions the Dreamspike, and Perrin connects the dots, then I think he AND Rand could also go, with a large part of their forces.

 

The Borderlanders will go to reinforce the Borderlands, and to help Lan. As will Nynaeve. I think most of the Aiel will also head north, along with the Wise Ones. Black veils verses red. Plus, whatever happened to Renald Fanwar? They've got to be somewhere.

 

That will leave Tear, Illlian, Cairhien, Egwene's force, the Famer's army, and whatever is left of Perrin's forces to deal with the WT attack. I think the remnants of the BT will join them. Also, Egeanin has to save Egwene's bacon.

 

After Caemlyn/BT and the WT are secure, the rest of the forces will head to SG or be used to help the Borderland defense, as needed.

 

Though I didn't really like the way ToM unfolded, too many jarring oddities and time left unaccounted for, the first 10 chapters of aMoL should be dynamite.

Why do people keep thinking Mat will go back to Caemlyn? Grady went with Perrin to the FoM. That's where he'll end up with Moiraine and Thom, imo. Others will be left to deal with the invasion of Caemlyn.

 

Well, the Band is in Caemlyn and probably in the think of a fight. Hard to imagine Mat leaving them when they were in a fight. Especially when the whole thing his kind of his fault (he may not know that yet, of course). It wouldn't be that difficult to hop back. Plus, that is assuming Grady doesn't hop back to the traveling ground (in Caemlyn) before making the hop back (though that could be complicated if it is overrun).

[Cyf]

Wouldn't that be awesome if Egwene was schooled by /Almen Bunt/ and the farmers? 'You're here, fighting over power while the Dragon wants to save the world?' :)

[FarShainMael]

 

I wonder who that group of 'farmers' were that Egwene notices, 'with mismatched tents and little understanding of how to set up an army camp'. At first I thought, that's the boys from the TR, but then I realised Tam et al would never stand for such sloppiness. Could it be the people we met in TGS Prologue?

 

 

I'd imagine Almen Bunt is among them and they are done picking the apples. Bunt felt a tug the way Rand was walking, but had to pick the apples first. I'd imagine others felt the tug, and the story spread.

 

Good one! I hope they brought some of the apples..

[Maji]

Reading this thread especially convinces me that there's no way Sanderson's going to be able to do this in a single book, or else that book is going to be an enormous disappointment.

 

New Book binding proccess, just like RJ said he would do if necessary! ;)

 

I'm really anxious to see how Rand, Mat, Egwene, Perrin, Nynaeve, etc all handle Rand's plan for the Dark One. In a couple of POVs we get to see Rand in he states he doesn't even know how he's going to defeated the DO so this scene is definitely on the top of my list that I am waiting for. Plus it's the first time all the main characters will be together again since Tear.

[Caius Callus]

People keep saying Rand has to be in a position of strength with Tuon and not kneel to her, but I don't see this. I know we don't want him to kneel to her, but it's not really a big issue. In what Aviendha saw, the Seanchan were holding to the peace fine. It was the Aiel's opinion that they wouldn't hold to it because he had knelt. That wasn't actually the truth of the matter.

 

I can see Rand saying he'll kneel to her if Mat is standing right beside her. They can make a joke out of it.

He will bend his knee. I sense a faction battle starting!

To quote the messianic saviour-inspiration of the WoT series: "I will bend like a reed in the wind."

(And even if he didn't say it in the book, it was a pretty good movie.)

 

Btw, where in WoT-land is the field of Merrilor? Next to Merrilor's farm?

[randsc]

If Merrilor's Farm is in the largely de-populated lands north of Tar Valon, maybe.

[BladeDancer]

I don't think Egwene has thought this meeting through. She is going to be at this meeting in front of all the Monarchs and Generals and the most important Aes Sedai. Rand will appear with Rhuarc accompanying him. Rhuarc will say Egwere Al'Vere you have toh to towards me and must fulfill it. To meet your toh I will beat you down in front of all these people unless you agree with Rands plans. Egwene will then either have to take a caning from Rhuarc and be humiliated in front of the VIPs thus losing their respect and support (because they do not understand toh) or she will have to agree with Rand.

 

Egwene has toh towards Rhuarc because for months when she studied with the Wise Ones in the Waste and Carhien, Egwene pretended to be a full Aes Sedai. When Egwene was summoned to Salidar to become their Amyrlin, she had to confess to the Wise Ones prior to leaving. To meet her toh to them, they beat the crap out of her! LOL. For some reason, Rhuarc was not there, and she has not met him again since, so she still has to meet her toh towards him. So Rhuarc can give her a beating the next time they meet. In fact, both of them will likely insist on it, to discharge the toh!

[Sharaman]

Yay! Egwene will get another flogging. An Egwene arc always seems incomplete without her getting spanked.

[BladeDancer]

I assume too that this Field is not a very big place either, as the meeting may be problematic if it is huge and Rand is in one place and Egwene is 20 miles away! LOL.

 

Rand is stating that he is going to meet Egwene and then the very next day, go to Shayol Ghul and remove the seals. The last War of the Shadow lasted decades. Sound like Rand wants to get this one done and dusted within one day! LOL.

 

Having Rand and Egwene and all the other VIPs from Light side in one place that is known in advance is a big security risk imo. The Shadow would undoubtedly hear of the meeting and could plan an attack. Put a Dreamspike there, lots of BaleFire and the Light could incur loads of casualties before the Last Battle! Would the Shadow try something sneaky? I would! LOL

[f3llyn]

Using balefire to such an extent that it would actually put a dent in the numbers present there would probably unravel the pattern. It's already unstable as is, too, as has been said severely times in the last few books. That would probably not be a wise thing for them to do.

[AutomatedTeller]

I figure the combined armies of light are, what... 500K? 700K? borderlanders are 100K, I think Perrin has 100K, rebels had 50K, aiel is what... 200K?

 

How much room do half a million people need?

[madmike]

Actually think Perrins next saving will come at Shayoul Ghul. The Fields will most likely be in the first 10 chapters of amol. Preparing everyone for the war, and binding the monarchs to Rand. Still curious about the absence of the Seanchan. I always assumed they would have to fight as well.

I think the Seanchan armies will be dragged back to Seandar because the shadow has already invaded there. Also Aviendah and Mat have the most to gain from taming Tuon and the Seanchan.

[Bob T Dwarf]

I figure the combined armies of light are, what... 500K? 700K? borderlanders are 100K, I think Perrin has 100K, rebels had 50K, aiel is what... 200K?

 

How much room do half a million people need?

 

Figure 12 square feet per man if you're going to leave them enough room to draw a sword. Six million square feet, give or take. Pack 'em in and it'd be about one mile by 1/4 mile.

[Terhan]

I figure the combined armies of light are, what... 500K? 700K? borderlanders are 100K, I think Perrin has 100K, rebels had 50K, aiel is what... 200K?

 

How much room do half a million people need?

 

It depends on how long they are staying, and whether or not they are in danger from attack. Half a million to a million soldiers would require more than your average field, to be certain, but if they were only staying for a short time, say long enough to be sent to other positions, then they could pack in pretty tight and fit them all in the same general area. However, this makes them vulnerable. If the remaining Forsaken decide to team up with the BT baddies, they might be able to nuke a good portion of the Light's forces all at once. That would suck, eh.

[madmike]

About the seanchan issue, Rand needs to confront her as a superior, she can not be percieved as above him.

 

The issue about the seals i think will disappear at first because:

 

Rand will arrive with Aiel and Asha'man at the field.

 

Reports will come in of battle at the WT and in Caemlyn

 

Rand will forcefully order all the groups into two big armies, attacking the seanchan and shadospawn. Ta'veren will make this impossible to resist, even for Egwene who will not voice one word of complaint.

 

The caemlyn force will be in trouble, and at the end i think the seanchan will be lured into the alliance and be removed of their damane. Possibly with the help of Egwene who has secretly trained every Aes Sedai and accepted to use the windtrick to remove a'dams.

 

Tuon will have no choice but comply, and meet the Dragon with lowered eyes *sneer*

 

Nobody can stop Rand breaking the seals

Mat Thom and Morraine will fix Caemlyn

The Seanchan will be too busy saving Seandar to interfer with Tarman Gaidon

[Caius Callus]

Yay! Egwene will get another flogging. An Egwene arc always seems incomplete without her getting spanked.

Yes, I missed that in ToM. Another reason why Terry Goodkind would be better at writing WoT.

[AutomatedTeller]

I figure the combined armies of light are, what... 500K? 700K? borderlanders are 100K, I think Perrin has 100K, rebels had 50K, aiel is what... 200K?

 

How much room do half a million people need?

 

Figure 12 square feet per man if you're going to leave them enough room to draw a sword. Six million square feet, give or take. Pack 'em in and it'd be about one mile by 1/4 mile.

 

Add in horses, wagons and tents, plus enough room to move around - that's one big honking field alright.

[Sanctume]

Merrilor is just a meeting / staging spot? Is it like next door / walking distance to SG? The breaking of the seal would be a conflict between Rand and Egwene mostly. And I think it will be in Perrin's hand to lead Rand's army on this front.

 

In other fronts, Caemlyn is under attack, surely Elayne will withdraw her assets and army from Merrilor. Team Lights forces will not all go there to defend, so it's a matter of who will join Elayne in this front. Since Perrin is not engaged in battle at the moment, he would be in the position to defend Caemlyn.

 

Mat is also heading to Caemlyn to go to his army and his dragon cannons. And of course will want to reunite Moi with Rand. Would Mat necessarily need to go to the WT to get the horn himself, or is it handed back to him? Hmm.

 

On how the BT is handled, we still have Logain a missing in action peace with a Min viewing for glory--that's a player to handle the situation.

 

As for the Seanchan threat / plans for the WT, this will pull the AS to defend. There's also a whole lot more channelers in the WT from the Kins who will be somewhat vulnerable from Seanchan collaring.

 

The main players in handling the Seanchen in Randland are: Tuon, Mat and Rand. And the main gripe is collared channelers that affect the AS, Aiel WO, kins, and Seafolks. One piece of information that can break the Seanchan society / thinking is the fact that Tuon can channel, or those who hold the leaches of the adam can learn to channel.

[Gerrendus]

What if Mat swears fealty to Rand and Fortouna has to comply with something the Prince of Ravens does

 

Mat is the Prince of the Ravens because he was married to the Daughter of the Nine Moons, that person no longer exists. She is now the Empress, that will change his title and power to something more as well.Errr I guess

 

Sorry to jump back like this...actually Prince of the Ravens is the title for the Empress's husband as well. In the Fortuona chapter we see in ToM she specifically thinks of Mat as "Prince of the Ravens" Mat still being essentially Seanchan Royalty I think will play a huge role in Rand binding the Seanchan to him.

[Byzantine279]

During the AoL T'A'R was a battlefield much like the waking world, Rand is likely very familiar with it, familiar enough to turn slayer into a statue, literally, oh a whim.

[anthonypero]

The caemlyn force will be in trouble, and at the end i think the seanchan will be lured into the alliance and be removed of their damane. Possibly with the help of Egwene who has secretly trained every Aes Sedai and accepted to use the windtrick to remove a'dams.

If there's one unnecessary non-sharing of information in the series that grates me more then any other it's the trick to open a'dams. Lets remember here the Seanchan are still copying the original design, they don't design new ter'angreal. They aren't the Borg. If the AS know this trick and are still captured, they don't have time to come up with a new version, create them and distribute everywhere.

 

My biggest gripe against Egwene is different to most others and given her history as a damane utterly unforgivable IMO. That at the bare minimum as soon as she took control of the rebels she had every AS, Accepted and Novice in the rebel camp learn the trick. It's a flick of the Power. Any Novice who can juggle the little globes of light should be able to do it.

 

Then when she's captured by the Tower, they disregard her warning. How fraking hard would it have been for her to go 'I know you don't believe me, but here is the Weave to open an a'dam just in case' for each 'lesson' she took? Tiny amount of Power she could have woven whilst drugged with Forkroot. I mean she KNOWS an attack is coming, has an extremely useful and timely Weave that could make a MAJOR difference to the outcome and doesn't even TRY to teach a SINGLE Aes Sedai it?!?

 

Then the Seanchan attack and she's made Amyrlin. Oooh, golden opportunity to have every Aes Sedai learn it, so when the inevitable round 2 comes around the Seanchan are busy fighting the AS only for their damane to keep on being freed. Which from earlier reactions, result in either the Damane punching the Sul'dam (TGH), striking out at everyone with the Power (which given they are trying to take down the AS, makes it no worse for them) or cower awaiting re-collaring. In all cases the Sul'dam are at best without the Power for a time or worse - beaten or dead at their 'pets' hands.

 

Oh and how about she passes it onto the Kin, Windfinders and Aiel. It's not like any of them have lost channelers to the Seanchan It's a plot contrivance to make the Seanchan remain a threat. The next battle against them SHOULD be a cakewalk with their damane being freed left and right. That this weave requiring so little Power is kept for the story as a 'wondergirl' only trick - you could drive a truck through that plot hole. I'd be happy to be proved wrong in AMOL and find off screen Egwene has passed this knowledge onto everyone and the Seanchan get their rears spanked and Tuon is left facing Rand in chains, but I wouldn't put any money down on it.

 

Only Randland damane would fight against their attackers. Almost everyone else they've freed has asked to be recollared. And it's a pretty precise weave. It would be hard to make it work unless you were in close quarters... and by then, the damane would have made your head explode.

[anthonypero]

Using balefire to such an extent that it would actually put a dent in the numbers present there would probably unravel the pattern. It's already unstable as is, too, as has been said severely times in the last few books. That would probably not be a wise thing for them to do.

 

Um... that would be exactly what the Dark One is trying to accomplish. The destruction of the Pattern, etc... the DO wants a big, fat balefire battle. It would do His job for Him.

[Cyf]

I don't know. If it was as easy as that, they'd have kept balefiring cities in the AoL. I think the unraveling of the Pattern isn't what the DO wants. Remember, there are other worlds out there. Would it unravel /everything/? It gets down to the usual questions that come up: Must the Dragon free the DO? If not, then what method will win? Obviously, the worlds where the Trollocs won didn't have a freed DO, so what works?

[anthonypero]

Doesn't Rand have the remaining seals already? I think he's going to break them before he even addresses the world's leaders. Or, he's going to break them right in front of them while they are all arguing with each other about what he should do. Lol... that would be a great scene. They are all gathered together, and Rand isn't even speaking, Egwene speaks. She gets others on her side, then Perrin starts arguing with her, and everyone else. Meanwhile Rand calmly takes out the seals and snaps them in his hands. They all stop talking in stunned silence.

 

Rand: Now that's out of the way, I can tell you what my demands are to die for your miserable hides. Do these things, or I will not go to Shayol Ghul and face the DO.

Egwene: But Rand, you have to face the DO

Rand: No, no I really don't. Oh yeah, and you better decide if you're going to meet my demands pretty quick, since I just broke the seals to the DO's prison.

 

I mean, what the hell are they going to do at that point? They'll be forced to capitulate to whatever he says.