Another Huge Unoticed Thing

[Jblaylock]

Or maybe not... but I don't recall reading any posts about this.

 

 

Okay, so, the taint on Saidin, which drove LTT to the madness he's experiencing in the Prologue to EotW, happened after he and the hundred homeboys sealed the Forsaken and the DO in the prison, right? It was the DO's last backlash, or whatever...

 

well then... how the HELL does Ishamael show up in the freaking Prologue?

 

 

If LTT is mad, which he is in the Prologue, then that means the Prologue takes place after the Forsaken have been sealed up, which means that Ishy should have been sealed up with them. If he wasn't, or wasn't completely sealed up, but was "present" enough in the world to show up and grant LTT a moment of sanity (which is pretty damn present, if you ask me), then why the hell did it take him so long to gain enough physical power to approach Rand? Why not show up on the slopes of f'ing dragonmount when he's born and step on his head?

[moratcorlm]

Ishamael was never completely bound as the others (except Aginor and Balthamel) were; he was apparently freed from the seals in forty-year intervals at various times. At least a century into the Breaking, the Aes Sedai who took angreal from Jonai "claimed one of the Forsaken was only partly trapped, or maybe not at all; Ishamael still touched the world, she said." Most notably, he used the name Ba'alzamon during the Trolloc Wars, and under the alias Jalwin Moerad manipulated Artur Hawkwing to turn against the Aes Sedai, send his sons to conquer Seanchan and Shara, and precipitate the War of the Hundred Years upon his death. Twenty years ago, we know that he physically killed Jarna Malari, the head of the Black Ajah, for attempting to hunt the Dragon Reborn. And there's this:

Consider what I did learn from Fain. Three years ago the Dark One had to have Fain brought to Shayol Ghul to touch him, despite the fact that Fain is a Darkfriend dedicated to his marrow. One year ago, the Dark One could command Fain, the Darkfriend, through his dreams. This year, Ba’alzamon walks in the dreams of those who live in the Light, and actually appears, if with difficulty, at Shadar Logoth.

I'm not sure Moiraine's conclusions can be trusted considering how little she knew, but if they are accurate, this describes his exit from the seals.

 

Aginor and Balthamel, by contrast, could see but not touch.

[Aquarius]

Besisdes, after the 100 male AS went mad it may have taken some time for them to go break the world, for LTT to go kill his kin. So maybe just a few days after the breaking was Ishamael's first "free time" outside the bore. who knows.

[Jblaylock]

Ah. Okay then. That makes sense.

But why did Ishamael wait so long to try and capture Rand, and turn him to the dark side? Why not take him when he was a baby, and raise Rand himself? That would have left little chance for Rand becomming anything but a darkfriend.

[fikkie77]

Simple: he didn't know Rand has been born for quite some time. The BA squeezed what they could from Tamra, but they didn't know the Dragon was already reborn.

[Mr Hindley]

Something I've wondered about - if they all went mad right away, what happened to the Seals? Let's presume other people, who knew the details of the plan but weren't involved, at least knew that there would be seven seals. But let's say seven of the champions were each holding a seal in their hands when the Bore was sealed and saidin was tainted - it seems odd that not just some, but all, of them eventually ended up in the hands of modern day people. Seven madmen busy running around blasting the hell out of things would seem very liable to lose a Seal in such a way it would never be found again - in the middle of nowhere, down a hole, into a lake...

[Aquarius]

Something I've wondered about - if they all went mad right away, what happened to the Seals? Let's presume other people, who knew the details of the plan but weren't involved, at least knew that there would be seven seals. But let's say seven of the champions were each holding a seal in their hands when the Bore was sealed and saidin was tainted - it seems odd that not just some, but all, of them eventually ended up in the hands of modern day people. Seven madmen busy running around blasting the hell out of things would seem very liable to lose a Seal in such a way it would never be found again - in the middle of nowhere, down a hole, into a lake...

Good question.

 

The seals could have been dropped right here in shayol gul by whoever was holding them. Or carried away only to be found near the Aes Sedai's body after they were put down. But in that later case they would be picked up by someone I guess. I feel it's rather weak solution :/