The Aiel Thing in the Epilogue

[RyanDuranGeiger]

How does sharpened teeth = cannibals?

 

I personally know a few indigenous people (Living in Panama, Central America.) who have sharpened teeth.. Doesn't make you a cannibal..

Could simply mean ceremonial (Which I find more likely.)

 

 

More likely some sort of tradition, that you're forced to do when you want to become a "warrior"

[Durinax]

it was sometimes used as intimidation, which is the most likely thing. The shadow likes being scary.

 

and many people make the comparison between sharp teeth and cannibalism because of animals, cats and dogs for example have sharpened teeth, and have a mostly meat diet. For humans sharpened teeth would be useless for cannibalism, since the roots of the teeth arent strong enough for tearing meat apart (or so I think)

[didymos]

The sharpened teeth should be a big clue for us. They are cannibals, obviously. We haven't heard of any culture that practices cannibalism so my guess is that they exist in the Blight, as a civilization undiscovered.

 

It's possibly hinted at with the "half civilized, and less than half tamed" Kaensada hill tribes in Seanchan: Ajimbura has that lovely goblet made of a human skull he takes anywhere he goes. If they do it'd probably be some sort of ritual of warfare, though. And of course, the Trollocs are quite happy to indulge in a little cannibalism. They do have a rudimentary culture, so it counts. As for sharpened teeth, yeah the others are right: it doesn't instantly signify "CANNIBAL!"

[bloody ashs]

I agree with Durinax. It just something to make them look evil. I would have done it as a author because evil is suppose to be ugly and creepy.

[dwn]

None of these explanations really jump out as an obvious answer. My first impression was that they were a group of Aiel that ran afoul of Fain near the Blight, but that doesn't really seem right either.

 

We've been frequently told that 'strange things' happen near and in the Blight. This could merely be a group of Aiel caught in some Hinderstap-style twisting that turned them into... that.

 

-- dwn

[Sharaman]

Filed teeth are generally associated with cannibal ancestry, though as others have pointed out, it continues ceremonially in tribes that have given up on cannibalism. Given the care with which RJ incorporated Celtic, Norse, Islamic and Arthurian legends and the multiple cultural strands he drew from, this would not be a random accidental detail. (I'm assuming the description is not Brandon filling in on a RJ note that says "generally scary" fellows.)

[didymos]

Filed teeth are generally associated with cannibal ancestry, though as others have pointed out, it continues ceremonially in tribes that have given up on cannibalism.

 

That's folk anthropology at best. Really it's just pulp fiction and old colonial prejudice that's lingered in popular imagination. It's not well-established fact. There are plenty of instances where filed teeth have nothing to do either currently or historically with a culture practicing cannibalism. See this, for example:

 

http://jeromehandler...t_AfBirth94.pdf

 

Can anyone actually cite a case of a real culture where the reason they modified their teeth was specifically because of cannibalistic practices?

[mossman87]

i thought the unmasking before a kill clearly represented a twisted cannibalistic version of aiel.

 

Agreed here.

[Durinax]

/quote

Can anyone actually cite a case of a real culture where the reason they modified their teeth was specifically because of cannibalistic practices?

/endquote

 

I doubt a person could find one, its too impractical, especially since our teeth are already designed for cutting meat, whereas if they did they would have to rip apart the meat adn would likely tear out some of their teeth.

[Bizzie]

My opinion is that the "worms" in the Blight learned to shape shift again and are running around like that. That way they look like Aiel from a distance and aren't seen as a threat by anyone else(as we saw from the dying man's point of view).

That said it's also quite possible they are some creatures that were kept alive in a statis box and therefore seen as valuable to the shadow.

And the part about the blight patch in Ghealdan - is it not all too possible that the shadow has villages of darkfriends itself? People raised in the Shadow.

 

My best bet is that they're Aiel that have been severely corrupted by the Shadow. No Aiel come back from the Blight, so it's possible some were taken and turned into that.

 

Also, what of the male Aiel channelers which go to the Blight to die? It is all to possible that they succumbed to fear and madness by the time they got there and turned to the shadow of their own will. Lets not forget who's taint it was on saidin anyway.

 

Also, living in the Blight would support their sharpened teeth. It's not like there's vegitation around the place so they just filed down their teeth to points, and some of the people from raids into the Borderlands are brought to them for consumption. Or even Trollocs.

[Durinax]

/quote

My best bet is that they're Aiel that have been severely corrupted by the Shadow. No Aiel come back from the Blight, so it's possible some were taken and turned into that.

/end quote

 

warbands come back

 

 

as for teeth, unless they have firmly rooted teeth, leaving them as is would be the best, biting down and cutting the meat like that is better than biting and tearing.

[r2debo]

The fact that they have veils like the Aiel and short spears like the Aiel is that we are meant to think they are like the Aiel...only horribly different.

 

If the Aiel are the People of the Dragon, these Aiel are the People of __________. Demandred? He is insanely jealous of Lews Therin and so it's not a stretch to say that he would want his own army, mocking the Dragon's. But I don't think so. I think they are meant to be People of the DO and have existed for that reason for who knows how long.

 

During the War of Power, there were entire civilizations dedicated to the Shadow, not just dreadlords and Forsaken, but whole civilizations. It stands to reason that many of those people survived just like everyone else, remaining dedicated to the Shadow.

[Durinax]

During the War of Power, there were entire civilizations dedicated to the Shadow, not just dreadlords and Forsaken, but whole civilizations. It stands to reason that many of those people survived just like everyone else, remaining dedicated to the Shadow.

I thought there was just one global civiliazation, with a large amount of the population shifting into the shadow side. But once LTT did his job that most of the shadow controlled lands started infighting. Not much of a civilization survived.

[didymos]

During the War of Power, there were entire civilizations dedicated to the Shadow, not just dreadlords and Forsaken, but whole civilizations. It stands to reason that many of those people survived just like everyone else, remaining dedicated to the Shadow.

I thought there was just one global civiliazation, with a large amount of the population shifting into the shadow side. But once LTT did his job that most of the shadow controlled lands started infighting. Not much of a civilization survived.

 

Yes. There was just a single world government.

[Sharaman]

Whoever those blokes are, they are post Trolloc Wars, not an ancient DO-dedicated band of brothers.

We haven't heard any references to weird Aiel type dudes fighting on the Shadow-side before.

[Jblaylock]

Maybe they started out as normal, but Fain/Mordeth corrupted them. Remember in the prologue when he attacked that band of trollocs, he sent out what I assumed was his cloud of mashadar, or whatever, and it entered their bodies, then it said something along the lines of "they were his." I thought that meant that he basicaly posessed them and gained control over them. Maybe that's what these Aiel are. Maybe Fain/Mordeth has them posessed.

[Durinax]

Maybe they started out as normal, but Fain/Mordeth corrupted them. Remember in the prologue when he attacked that band of trollocs, he sent out what I assumed was his cloud of mashadar, or whatever, and it entered their bodies, then it said something along the lines of "they were his." I thought that meant that he basicaly posessed them and gained control over them. Maybe that's what these Aiel are. Maybe Fain/Mordeth has them posessed.

didnt it also say their bodies where pock marked and such. That they where twisted versions of trollocs

[Jblaylock]

Maybe they started out as normal, but Fain/Mordeth corrupted them. Remember in the prologue when he attacked that band of trollocs, he sent out what I assumed was his cloud of mashadar, or whatever, and it entered their bodies, then it said something along the lines of "they were his." I thought that meant that he basicaly posessed them and gained control over them. Maybe that's what these Aiel are. Maybe Fain/Mordeth has them posessed.

didnt it also say their bodies where pock marked and such. That they where twisted versions of trollocs

 

I think so. It didn't describe the "Aiel" like that, did it?

 

If not, that might be hidden beneath loose Cadinsor (spelling?)

[Durinax]

the trollocs

The Trollocs screamed, dropping, spasming. their hair fell out in patches, and their skin began to boil. blisters and cysts. when those popped, they left craterlike pocks in the Shadowspawn skin, like bubbles on the surface of metal that cooled too quickly.

 

The corrupted Trollocs climbed to their feet behind him, luching into motion, spittle dropping from their lips. their eyes had grown sluggish adn dull..."

 

 

the 'Aiel'

In front of him, three figures wearing black and brown approached with a sleek grace. Myrddraal!

 

The Aiel's dark eyes were glassy and hard. the Aiel man undid his veil, and revealed a smiling face.

 

Barriga stuttered, looking at that horrific maw and the glee in this man's eyes as he reaced in for the kill.

 

the visual descriptions of both of them are too different to be from Fain using the same type of control mechanism. Especially when it comes to the eyes, and movement

 

somethign I noticed is trolloc always capitalized or just during fains thing?

[moratcorlm]

somethign I noticed is trolloc always capitalized or just during fains thing?

Yes.

[Blackhoof]

i think that they are scouts for demandreds sharan army, which is either waiting in the blight or the waste for the last battle to begin.

 

Reasons for this:

 

-demandred has an army somewhere. As already stated, he cant really be anywhere but Murandy (a good possibility, granted), land of madmen (too much of a stretch, RJ probably just added it for australia to have somewhere to morph into lol) or shara. Shara is closer to the action and is mentioned more than land of madmen, but murandy is better still. Oh well.

 

-The reason the man thought they were aiel are many. Either they are or used to be aiel (ruining my theory), they are sharans disguised as aiel, or they are sharans wearing desert robes and a hood that Barriga automatically assumed was of aiel origin. the aiel are the only ones that wear veils and desert robes, so it is a natural response.

 

-they have dark eyes. Aiel dont.

 

-it isnt that hard to go through the waste, into the blight, and send scouts out to where Barriga was.

 

-it seems the most logical explanation; shara has to have SOME input in the series, and a whole Dark Clan is a bit complicated for the last book. And the black-clad guards of Moridins fortress could easily have been trollocs. It said nothing about them being human, just that they had a black uniform. We all know the colour of trolloc armour. Or the guards could have been myrdraal, or a modified Forger (the ones who make myrdraal swords) or any number of shadowspawn. It would be cool for their to be huge darkfrind cities and fortreses in the blight. But it would also be cool for rand to give up his Ghandi wannabe-ness and just One Power-nuke the seanchean. Unfortunately, it isnt likely.

[Val Mickey]

Light, I've been posting about these Aiel on the Lan thread. Blood and ashes.

[MikeRiley]

I think the pointy teeth and veil are red herrings, or at least only minor clues. Nobody's really talking about the color scheme of the cadin'sor but there's only one place I can think of where black would be a dominant color and that would be the area of the blight around Shayol Ghul. I would say they are the farmers and guards at Moridin's fortress and some of the occupants of that abandoned village in the patch of the Blight Perrin found.

 

I don't think they have anything to do with Demandred. They had to have been around much longer than Demandred was free for and that to me screams Ishamael. The guy was known for planning ahead, what if he didn't just form the Black Ajah but also formed a new Aiel clan? There are darkfriends everywhere and he had a lot of time to work with to build something up. There could be a whole Aiel nation hidden in the blight and that would also provide him with dreadlords for his armies.

[Isahn]

My money says that Demandred is behind a whole army of these creepy dudes/ (gals)?. Would explain why noone knows where he is, or what he has been up to.....I'm just sayin...

[Jblaylock]

Wait. I forget. What happens to Aiel men who are born with the spark and/or learn to channel?

Is that what the Island of madmen is? Are they sent there? My mind is drawing a blank... forgive me.