Are there blacks in Randland?

[JenniferL]

No, Selucia is NOT a man. Thom saw her fighting, realized that she's not just Tuon's maid, but also her super secret last line of defense bodyguard, and subtly reassured her that her secret was safe. Apparently too subtly for some of you.

 

Gah, I should have put this in the WOTFAQ under "Stupid theories that just won't die, no matter how many people you murder."

[randsc]

No, Selucia is NOT a man. Thom saw her fighting, realized that she's not just Tuon's maid, but also her super secret last line of defense bodyguard, and subtly reassured her that her secret was safe. Apparently too subtly for some of you.

 

Gah, I should have put this in the WOTFAQ under "Stupid theories that just won't die, no matter how many people you murder."

 

 

 

If all there is to it is that Selucia is a bodyguard, then "subtle" isn't the description you are looking for. "Badly written" would be more like it.

[JenniferL]

Dude, spoilers. I'll let you off this once, because you're right, I've been wrong before. But not this time. Selucia is very much a chick.

[Hadilmir]

If all there is to it is that Selucia is a bodyguard, then "subtle" isn't the description you are looking for. "Badly written" would be more like it.

 

Is it just me or is anyone else having trouble trying to think of how Thom could supposedly discover Selucia's true gender by watching her fight? It doesn't even make sense; what do you think happened, he took a peek up her skirts while they were fighting? The simpler and infinitely more likely solution is as jenniferl put it.

[Sid]

Badly written? No, I think not. Tuon's own thoughts mention being impressed that Rand saw who her bodyguard was, so it's not nearly as obvious to the characters in the series as it is to the readers.

 

As for that other idea, that's pretty much ludicrous.

[moratcorlm]

It's an old joke. Selucia, of course, is not actually a man.

[Luckers]

Umm. Selucia is Demandred, and therefore a man. Lawyered.

[Majsju]

Nonono, Selucia is Bela, ie the creator.

[Exy]

If all there is to it is that Selucia is a bodyguard, then "subtle" isn't the description you are looking for. "Badly written" would be more like it.

I gotta agree with this. I didn't even get what he saw until this thread.

[Ozzie]

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/164

 

A great breakdown of the cultures that I think fits very well. And sometimes the accents don't fit with the descriptions, Taraboners have an Indian accent, while wearing veils like Arabs, and look somewhat Swedish (Honey colored hair, lush lips)

 

THIS.

 

Also, the cover of crossroads of twilight has Tuon on it as well.

[Ozzie]

Nonono, Selucia is Bela, ie the creator.

 

 

[/thread]

 

Please turn off the lights on your way out.

[Evoke]

[capuga]

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/164

 

A great breakdown of the cultures that I think fits very well. And sometimes the accents don't fit with the descriptions, Taraboners have an Indian accent, while wearing veils like Arabs, and look somewhat Swedish (Honey colored hair, lush lips)

 

THIS.

 

Also, the cover of crossroads of twilight has Tuon on it as well.

 

Citing the DKS covers as evidence is not really a compelling argument. His Trollocs are people with animal helmets on (tGH) and Perrin is a bearded midget (KoD). Plus a whole list of other inaccuracies.

[randsc]

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/164

 

A great breakdown of the cultures that I think fits very well. And sometimes the accents don't fit with the descriptions, Taraboners have an Indian accent, while wearing veils like Arabs, and look somewhat Swedish (Honey colored hair, lush lips)

 

THIS.

 

Also, the cover of crossroads of twilight has Tuon on it as well.

 

Citing the DKS covers as evidence is not really a compelling argument. His Trollocs are people with animal helmets on (tGH) and Perrin is a bearded midget (KoD). Plus a whole list of other inaccuracies.

 

Amen to that. I very nearly didn't read the very first book because of the cover. Which was the BEST of the covers in the entire series. I know what they say about judging a book by its cover, but man, these are awful.

[raolan]

Land of Madmen: Australia?

 

Fail.

[Aliriel]

Land of Madmen: Australia?

 

I kinda have to agree. According to the depiction in The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, it appears to be the same approx size and relativily the same shape.

 

And it may be a bit of personal bias from being a New Zealander, but everyone in the world know Auzzie's are crazy. KIDDING!

 

A.

[justincrb]

I think the only culture in Randland that isn't multiracial are the Aiel who are almost universally blond with blue eyes. The racial descriptions are there, but RJ describes so things in such detail that it kind of washes over me and its hard to keep straight what everyone that isn't a main character looks like. The only black characters that really stuck with me were Tuon and the Sea Folk, though now that I think about it there were a lot of black secondary characters.

 

I remember reading somewhere someone speculating that thanks to planes, trains, and automobiles making the world a smaller place, in a few hundred years there would be no more natural blonds, as blond hair is a recessive genetic trait. Given the Breaking scrambling the planet, it would make sense that most people in Randland would be of indeterminate race, unless they were completely geographically isolated. The Aiel, Sea Folk, and Two Rivers fit that. Elayne also qualifies as she is the product of generations of royal inbreeding (which also explains her behavior).

[randsc]

I believe the article I read about mobility and heritable traits said that the world's last blond would be born somewhere in Finland, sometime in the realtively near future. 400 years from now, or something like it.

 

I would point out that there are also a lot of ginger Aiel, and some with dark hair. They do seem to be universally blue, green or gray-eyed, however.

[randsc]

Actually, it seems it may be sooner than that. Right about 200 years.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2284783.stm

[moratcorlm]

One thing that would prevent people from believing things like that is an introductory biology course. That science journalists are so credulous as to repeat it sadly falls right in line with my expectations of them.

[Nooska]

One thing that would prevent people from believing things like that is an introductory biology course. That science journalists are so credulous as to repeat it sadly falls right in line with my expectations of them.

Aye.

 

Having bred rats for a while I studied genetics (having never had highschool level biology as that was an optional course) its pretty clear that it could be the other way arround. You can only breed out dominant traits (by selectively not breeding the trait) - any recessive trait will simply be dominated by the.. dominant ... traits, but anytime 2 carriers mate there is a 25% (mendelian) chance of the recessive trait being the one in the offspring. Hence why 2 browneyed people can beget blueeyed offspring, but 2 blueeyed people cannot beget browneyed offsprin (barring spontanerous mutation and chimaerism).

 

(and the explanation is for everyone else, as moratcorlm clearly knows this already).

 

This also has bearing on some of the TOM theories, but this is the wrong board to elaborate on that (gaah, spoilers suck! :P)

[randsc]

Beyond the simple genetics, it is entirely possible that light coloring could turn out to be an evolutionary disadvantage, in which case it would be selected against. Maybe we'll all get skin cancer and die.

[Nooska]

randsc; the genetic disadvantage wouldn't make it die out, just make it less probable, and only if said disadvantage manifested early enough to prevent bearing children - at least if you are talking natural selection and not eugenics.

[justincrb]

One thing that would prevent people from believing things like that is an introductory biology course. That science journalists are so credulous as to repeat it sadly falls right in line with my expectations of them.

 

Didn't expect a biology lesson on Dragonmount, but thanks. It's been a while since I've studied anything but computers, so my biology knowledge is about 10 years rusty. It's good to know that humanity will retain its full spectrum of racial traits, it would get pretty boring if everyone looked the same.

[Nooska]

One thing that would prevent people from believing things like that is an introductory biology course. That science journalists are so credulous as to repeat it sadly falls right in line with my expectations of them.

 

Didn't expect a biology lesson on Dragonmount, but thanks. It's been a while since I've studied anything but computers, so my biology knowledge is about 10 years rusty. It's good to know that humanity will retain its full spectrum of racial traits, it would get pretty boring if everyone looked the same.

Any dominant trait can be bred out of the genepool (be it human or animal) by selective breeding or general unattractiveness.

So brown eyes could be lost, but blue eyes can't.