What was the 'BLANK in the Blight'

[Mystica]

if it's a city, then Wilson pulled a fast one over us. Because my initial reaction to the idea of 'there's a city in the Blight' was quite literally: DUH!

Of course there's a city in the Blight. I bet there's several cities in the Blight. Trollocs may be murderous, chaotic beings, but that doesn't mean they can't have a place they dwell in. In LoTR the Orcs and Uruc'hai also lived in a city, right under the nose of their disembodied master and while they engaged in a lot of mutual murder, they still grew in to hords of unseen proportion. There's nothing to assume the same can't be happening with the Trollocs. Especially with Myrdraal keeping them in check (who would also be dwelling in those cities).

 

 

My first thought was also an actual Dragon. It always bugged me that the canon used the 'Dragon' as a title. Why? where did it come from? Why call the serpent creature a dragon and not something else? Why not a made-up word like so many others in the Old Tongue? No, it's specifically a 'dragon'. Where did they hear that word and how is that they link it to such a realistic image of a great, four legged serpentlike creature (as we recognise dragons from our legends, stories, fairy tails, etc)? So this continues to be an itch I can't scratch. All other exotics in the books have names that are either made-up or are very different from what we know of them. Ogier in WOT are nothing like the Ogier we know from other stories. The only raken (that I know of, at least) we're familiar with are squidlike monster creatures from the sea. Perhaps I'm not sufficiently updated on all literature, though, which is certainly possible. But still..... why 'dragon'?

However, since RJ said that there are no real dragons in the story, that can't be it. (going on faith that he actually did say that)

 

 

Assuming Wilson did not pull a fast one over us and his reaction to he revelation of RJ was genuin + the reaction of the rest of his entourage. This must be something that THEY would never have seen coming (let alone us). They have been privileged to much mùch more story information than any of us ever has. If THEY reacted in such a shocked way, it has to be something completely shocking. A city just doesn't cut it.

 

 

So some wild ideas of mine, just for fun. I have zero to back them with, but I'm sharing anyway

 

 

there's a brother/sister of Rand in the Blight.

there's a dark child in the Blight. (more than facing a female, imagine Rand's face if he's to take it up with a child)

 

 

 

Other than that I liked the ideas of a Tinker and also the one of the fake seal.

[The Don]

Maybe he was reading our RPs and took the idea of the Tower of the Black Dawn *g* Basically a darkfriend fortress

[Din]

The talk of a possible false seal made me think...

The seals are supposedly the focus points for the weave which seals the bore, much like Moiraine used to use items as focus points for weaves. If this is the case then why has no one been able to detect the slightest hint of those weaves? No one handling a seal has mentioned feeling anything that might suggest the presence of a weave and I don't think we've had a perspective from Shayol Ghul that mentions feeling that weave either.

[FarShainMael]

Nynaeve mentions feeling evil 'oozing' from the seal she found in the Panarch'a Palace 'as if the Dark One really was trying to break through' (TFoH48), but that's not really a weave.

[Apotheosis]

Not to be a downer or anything, but if they were surprised by 'blank' then how on earth are we supposed to know. I mean, perhaps the fact there's a Hold in the Blight could be a little surprising, but you'd think it would be expected that not all Aiel are saints. The red veiled Aiel do make me wonder though. But if that is the huge surprise I'll be a little disappointed. And I suppose Blighted Aiel could take 2 hours to explain, but I doubt that. Besides, if this secret Hold was in the far North of the Blight what on earth were the red veiled Aiel doing at the border?

[hazelkrs1]

There's an impenetrable wall of text in the Blight. Not even the True Power can penetrate it, so all Rand has to do is copy-and-paste it enough times to seal the Bore with it. Callandor has a cut-and-paste feature, but the documentation is long-lost, so Rand needs some women to help him figure out how it works.

 

This had me rolling

 

I was also going to post the the ______ in the blight was a red herring, but someone beat me to the punch.

 

Someone else mentioned that the ______ must be complex because it took long to explain, but in that circumstance it never would have been described as a ______ in the first place, maybe just referred to as Big Unrevealed Thing or something. I have a feeling that some of us might be on the right track, it should be something that you can say very simply, like a city I guess, but when you mention that it's in the blight all of a sudden your eyelids run away from your pupils. Describing the implications of the ______, or how the ______ will fit into the plot would take much longer.

 

I'm not crazy about the city idea for the same reason everyone isn't, it's not really that big of a surprise at all. I'm going to put this out there, might be incredibly dumb, but had we completely ruled out the possibility that the male sa'angreal that Lanfear mentions being stronger than Callandor wasn't the male CK? If we haven't, then my money's on there being a sa'angreal in the blight that noone on the Light side is prepared for. HUGE implications. The extra seal also makes an insane amount of sense though. As for the nondarkfriend city in the blight, it's a novel idea but it seems pretty shaky. A second Avendesora isn't a bad idea at all, but it's a little harder for me to see the dire implications of this. I really hope that it's another Nym, that somehow the tree that the Green Man sprouts from the acorn right before he dies has something to do with this, it seems somewhat pointless for it to be just a regular tree. The Green Man tended his little garden in the EoTW with much love and care, but using your last action before dying to sprout a simple tree would be like a man on death row tidying up his cell right before his execution.

 

...

 

That analogy sounds really stupid when I think of it because I'm sure there have been some OCD serial killers that did that same thing, but meh I can't think of a better one that fits so there you go.

 

Anyways, assuming there's another Nym in the blight, it makes it even more likely that the Talent of Singing will be rediscovered for the Aiel, Ogier, and the newfound Nym to use in containing the DO.

[hazelkrs1]

my thoughts on this matter: It works in theory... (pt. 2)

 

 

 

/shameless self promotion

[ImNoBloodyHero]

I think the BLANK is a second EYE OF THE WORLD. We had one eye, why not a second?

[RyanL24]

I think the BLANK is a second EYE OF THE WORLD. We had one eye, why not a second?

 

WoW, that's really good. Two eyes makes sense. All of us have two. Well, most of us. Well, OK, but...

 

It would have to be a dark (TP) pool though, to balance the light (OP) pool.

 

The eye from the first book was good. The eye in the last book will be bad.

 

It would be interesting! Maybe these silly forsaken will put up a fight after all, when they get their secret weapon...

[ImNoBloodyHero]

I'm going with Eye of Saidar to balance the Eye of Saidin.

[jwood01]

An Aiel hold or a city of darkfriends just doesn't seem to justify Wilson's surprise.

 

My initial reaction was stedding or 2nd eye of the world, that Rand could somehow use to defeat the DO and save himself.

 

 

However, after reading everyone's posts, IMO none of the ideas would come as a big shock. Maybe in a world where magic is so at the forefront, not much really shocks me. But I could be totally off base in guessing how easily shocked Wilson can be. The BUT revealed in ToM IMO was totally a misnomer; "Big" was definitely an understatement. So I totally expect the BLANK to be entirely unsurprising and less significant than we are thinking.

[rageofwar1978]

although i beleive that most of it was destroyed there was a city around the bore when it was opened. it stands to reason that it was rebuilt or possibly never destroyed. colaam dam or something similar.

[hazelkrs1]

my thoughts on this matter: It works in theory... (pt. 2)

 

 

 

/shameless self promotion

 

There's a Dark Callandor in the Blight.

[Ashlyn]

my thoughts on this matter: It works in theory... (pt. 2)

 

 

 

/shameless self promotion

 

There's an Dark Callandor in the Blight.

 

Having read through all the theories, I can only say that I'm convinced that there is a Deathstar in the Blight. That's why the Two Rivers lads are so good with bows - so that, right at the end, they can blow up the Dark One in his little command ship with a carefully placed arrow.

 

Ok, back to serious: if I absolutely had to bet on something, I'd go with Dark Callandor or some kind of True Power thingamajig. A city/stedding/hold full of DF's or Shadowspawn just doesn't seem like a surprise at all. I don't think even casual readers would be terribly shocked by that outcome. It would also fit better, what with Fain frolicking about in the Blight, Moridin with his city/town/farm and most of the Rand-dying-or-swopping-or-whatever theories.

[Lisa Campbell]

I like the idea of Nym in the blight.

 

References (probably not exact because I'm not looking stuff up at this time of night) that I think back this up are:

 

1. Avienda went through the glass columns twice. Even though it is behind the scenes I think it's pretty safe to say that she would have seen something like what Rand saw with the Nym and Aiel (Jenn? Dai'Shan?);

 

2. When Rand went through and his ancestor spoke with Someshta (Nym from the Eye) while they were waiting for the Aes Sedai to finish with Callandor, part of that conversation pertained to Someshta being the last of the Nym but Someshta was confused and I think he said something about one of his brothers (for want of a better term) being taken while feeling at the scar/injury on his head. He tells Rand's ancestor that he can't remember everything. I think that he received that injury fighting allied with the 2nd last Nym who was maybe taken by the shadow.

 

3. Depending on whether or not the shadow has this Nym or if he is only a 'prisoner' in the sense that he can't leave due to being surrounded by the blight and has a sanctuary similar to the Eye, where some Jenn Aiel or Dai'Shan Aiel have constructed the 'village' and that it and a bit of the surrounding blight is transported to where ever Perrin found it due to the pattern getting all screwy. Hopefully the inhabitants of the sanctuary haven't been oblitered or sunken into the ground etc. because they will be needed during the last battle. If the shadow are keeping him prisoner (probably in one of the cities everyone is so keen on) perhaps his prescence allows for crops to be planted and harvested and evolved (new strain re: Graendal's comment) or something even worse that I can't even imagine.

 

4. Finally, I don't think that the Nym in the blight is Someshta transformed somehow from the oak tree that marks his grave. It has been discussed here that the Nym are constructs made with the power.

[caemlyn-native]

I think its male aiel channelers turned dark and their city. Maidens go up as well capture a few and make a population.

[Mats Spare Hat]

I heard it was a 7/11, where the only flavors for Big Gulps were Garlic, and Radish.

 

By the by, the 'dark callendor' theory made me think of friggin He-Man...*shrug

[PsyQuestor]

Watch, it'll be a Stedding...crazy? just crazy enough?

 

That was kind of my thought. I actually thought a grove; as Loial is constantly going on and on about the groves. This would call into play Treesingers, "the song" and possibly one hidden Nym. Also it would tie back into tEotW which would make sense in a way. Perhaps a stedding exists with Ogier ready to battle. It would possibly be nearby a city, as we all know the groves were nearby one.

 

I like the theory about the Portal Stone and also the army being raised by Damandred raising an army there per his quote about being secure and ready.

 

PS What about Lan and the Malkier? That needs to be tied up as well. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if this last book will be able to call an end to all the different threads of this book?

[PsyQuestor]

During one of Rand's final visions, Jonai was given orders to lead the Aiel by Solinda Sedai, in the Hall of Servants. Could the blank in the blight be Paaran Disen? This would seem to make sense.

 

Sorry for the mulitple theories, sometimes thinking out loud like this can cause someone else to come up with the correct answer (think pot).

[ZeshanHamdani]

ok, so i didn't read all of these posts.

 

while i was reading through ToM again, i came upon the chapter where there Perrin and his crew come across the Blight infected grass with the weird houses built there.

so, this lead me to believe that there is a city in the blight. if its trollops fades draghkars or those wicked looking Aiel that live there i don't know. but, it pretty cool.

 

maybe the blight is filled with its own culture like the rest of the world, but they view rand as the bad guy.........

[FarShainMael]

I'm wondering about the 'finns.

 

When Mat goes through the twisted redstone doorway in Tear, he looks oout of a window and sees three spires (TSR15). After he enters the ToG, the party walks for a while, and Mat realises he's not in the Tower any more, but in one of the spires he had seen during his first visit, apparently the one he reached through the Rhuidean doorway (ToM53).

 

There are three of those spires. So far we have only seen two doorways (both now destroyed). Is there a third doorway, for the third spire, in the Blight? Is this where the red-veiled 'Aiel' have come from?

[Louise]

I'm wondering about the 'finns.

 

When Mat goes through the twisted redstone doorway in Tear, he looks oout of a window and sees three spires (TSR15). After he enters the ToG, the party walks for a while, and Mat realises he's not in the Tower any more, but in one of the spires he had seen during his first visit, apparently the one he reached through the Rhuidean doorway (ToM53).

 

There are three of those spires. So far we have only seen two doorways (both now destroyed). Is there a third doorway, for the third spire, in the Blight? Is this where the red-veiled 'Aiel' have come from?

 

I've had that exact same thought, just seems strange to me to only mention two of the three spires.

 

I don't know how the red-veiled Aiel fit in but it makes sense to me for the 'Blank in the Blight' to be the third spire. I don't know where else it could be.

[mackoY-kun]

I understand it like this, 1 spire is for the Wolf'finns, another for the Snake'finns, and the 3rd is for the Tower of Ghenjei. The Terangreal entrances are in the finns' respective tower.

[FarShainMael]

There's an asymmetry about that which, for me, does not match up with the three spires that Mat saw.

 

Through one circular window he saw three tall silvery spires, curving in toward each other so their points all aimed at the same spot.

 

As for the red-veiled Aiel.. a number of people have said that they remind them of the 'finns. We don't get much of a description, but let's see:

 

Blightmen: Three figures approaching with 'a sleek grace'. They wear black and brown, and those red veils. They have dark eyes which are 'glassy and hard'. Their teeth are filed to points. (ToM Epilogue)

 

Snakes: Human at first glance, though perhaps too graceful, too thin for its height, narrow elongated face, scaly looking skin and straight black hair, slit pupils. (TSR15)

 

Foxes: Taller than an Aiel, sinewy, wide shoulders and narrow waist, paper-white skin, big deepset colourless eyes, short reddish hair, slightly pointed ears, sharp teeth. (TSR24)

 

Not really conclusive, is it.. just intriguing.

[Louise]

Hmmm, I was just re-reading ToM-ch53 to cross reference a quote only to discover that I think we're all wrong lol.

 

 

Mat looked to the side. Could he see the three spires he had noted on his first visit? They did not seem to be about, though in this place, the very next window they passed could show a different scene. They could.... He paused, then glanced sharply through the window. He could mke out a spire to the left. And then he knew. He was in one of the spires he had seen in the distance during his first visit.

 

During both his trips through the twisted doorways, Mat saw the three spires in the distance. However going via the ToG he wound up in one of the spires.

 

I did have a point here but for some reason everything I was about to say seems to have vanished. Here's hoping that you get my drift despite the fact that I'm making no sense at all

 

I blame sleep deprivation.

 

Oh and FSM; I do also think that the evil-Aiel could be connected somehow, what I meant to say was I'm not sure as of yet how to connect the dots.