Elaida's Foretelling in tSR

[murf2011]

Me again :)

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on Elaida's Foretelling?

 

The very first thing Elaida had ever Foretold, while still an Accepted - and had known enough even then to keep to herself - was that the Royal line of Andor would be the key to defeating the Dark One in the Last Battle.

[Medo123]

Well, Rand is the son of the daughter heir of Andor after all.

[David Selig]

Rand is Tigraine's son, and she was the Daugher-Heir of Andor when this Foretelling was made. He will obviously be key in defeating the Dark One. This is the most common interpretation. Though

 

Elaida of course didn't know that and logically assume the Foretelling must'be about the new ruling House in Andor - the Trakands. The stupid part is that she completely dismissed the possibility that it could be, at least partially, about Gawyn or Galad, and even tried to get Gawyn killed. I can understand why she thought it's most probably about Elayne, since she's a powerful channeller and heir to the throne, but totally dismissing the other options shows once again how sexist Elaida is.

[Nooska]

The "Rand is the fulfilment" does ignore one key point, the royal line is not a single person, thus, Tigraine and Luc are more likely to be the referenced persons in the foretelling. Tigraine had 2 children - Galad and Rand, Rand is clearly important, but Galad possibly is too. Luc is playing a major part so far, though not key in defeating - queue redemption before/during TG?

[ranjitb]

Actually, "Royal Line" doesn't equate to "Every single person in the ruling House" - because otherwise, why stop at Tigraine and Luc ? After all House Mantear still exists, they just can't hold the throne because of Andors reverse-Salic inheritance laws.

 

With this one, I tend to go with the simplest explanation i.e. Tigraine's son - i.e. Rand.

If you are feeling more generous, then of course Galad is LC/Whitecloaks and Elayne and Gawyn aren't slouches either. You could even argue that Morgase had a part to play by prevent a Galad-Perrin war.

[Nooska]

Actually, "Royal Line" doesn't equate to "Every single person in the ruling House" - because otherwise, why stop at Tigraine and Luc ? After all House Mantear still exists, they just can't hold the throne because of Andors reverse-Salic inheritance laws.

 

With this one, I tend to go with the simplest explanation i.e. Tigraine's son - i.e. Rand.

If you are feeling more generous, then of course Galad is LC/Whitecloaks and Elayne and Gawyn aren't slouches either. You could even argue that Morgase had a part to play by prevent a Galad-Perrin war.

Well, Morgase and her ilk are not of the royal line of Andor (at the time of the foretelling) and are thus disqualified. At least it is heavily insinuated throughout the books that Elaidas interpetation is erroneous.

At the time of the foretelling the royal line is Tigraine and Luc, in the first generation, and Galad in the second (I think, I am not 100% sure if Galad was born at the time of the foretelling, but I'm guessing he has to have been, otherwiser he would have been the logical choice for Elaida).

After the foretelling, Rand is borne of Tigraine.

If "The Royal Line of Andor" was a single person, then it wouldn't be the royal line which is more than one person.

 

We seem to agree that Galad will probably play a key role (his whole persona is that of the martyr, doing the right thing no matter the cost), so the question is whether Luc has a key role as well, or whether its only Tigraine and her offspring.

[moratcorlm]

Morgase is an underrated player in the story. A lot of people don't really enjoy reading her parts, because so much that's horrible happens to her, but her role in events has driven a lot of the plot.

• She releases Rand from Elaida's clutches in EOTW. Pedron Niall's schemes against her in EOTW are what entangle Perrin with the Whitecloaks in the first place.
• When Liandrin spirits Elayne out of the Tower in TGH, she expels Elaida as her Aes Sedai advisor, which several months later precipitates the Tower coup. Her fury at Siuan later causes Gawyn to fight off the Warders attempting to prevent it.
• Mat's detour to see her in TDR allows him to learn of Rahvin's assassination attempt on Elayne, Nynaeve, and Egwene.
• After learning of Perrin's activity in the Two Rivers, she fights off Rahvin's Compulsion and absconds, causing Rand to avenge her and take Andor in TFOH, rather than attacking Sammael's superior defenses. This in turn causes the major events of LOC in Rand's storyline.
• Her presence in the Fortress of the Light precipitates Valda's assassination of Pedron Niall in ACOS, preventing him from preparing defenses against the Seanchan invasion of Amadicia. This allows Suroth to sweep into Ebou Dar ahead of schedule, trapping Mat to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons, sending the Kin to Andor, and convincing the Seanchan that the Aes Sedai were a major threat.
• Jaichim Carridin's attempt to use her presence in Amador as a lure for Elayne in ACOS infuriates her enough that she asserts her authority over the other Aes Sedai, gains control of the Kin, and learns where the Bowl of the Winds is.
• Joining Perrin in TPOD played a role in Faile's escape from the Shaido in KOD and the pacification of the Whitecloaks in TOM.

But none of that is likely "key to defeating the Dark One in the Last Battle." Rand alone is the most likely interpretation.