Mordeth

[SinisterDeath]

1 minute ago, Elder_Haman said:

That's true and it caused me much consternation on my first several reads. But then I began to take more notice of Mat's use of the old tongue. He uses it several times prior to visiting the Finn. So my understanding now is that Mat always had the memories, the Finn just brought them to the surface and allowed Mat to access them.

Chicken/Egg? (I can't recall. Was he the only one shouting in the Old Tongue?)

Didn't it get particularly worse while wielding the dagger/getting healed?

[Elder_Haman]

9 minutes ago, SinisterDeath said:

Chicken/Egg? (I can't recall. Was he the only one shouting in the Old Tongue?)

Didn't it get particularly worse while wielding the dagger/getting healed?

He was the only one shouting in the Old Tongue (as best I can recall - I don't have the book right at hand to double check). His Old Tongue use did get worse while he had the dagger and while he was being healed, true. But he used the Old Tongue before he came into possession of the dagger too, which suggests to me that memories of his past lives already floated close to his consciousness and that the connection with Mordeth and the dagger brought them even closer to the surface.

[Thrasymachus]

It's absolutely canon that the memories Mat received from the Finns were not memories from his past lives, if he indeed had any past lives.  (It is not canon that he is Aemon reborn, though it is possibly implied by the canon and I think highly likely).  Indeed, I seem to recall Mat having memories from both sides of the same battle, from men who were contemporaries with one another, obviating the possibility that the Finns just gave Mat access to his own past lives.

 

I think the most likely explanation for Mordeth's reaction in the treasure room is that it is nothing to do with the boys, or Moiraine's warding, but that it is coincidental to the Trollocs and Fades crossing the walls of Shadar Logoth.  The evil that consumed Shadar Logoth would have been especially sensitive to the encroachment of the Dark One's forces, and if Ba'alzamon/Ishamael was in fact driving them in, it may have been reacting to that presence specifically.

[SinisterDeath]

1 hour ago, Elder_Haman said:

He was the only one shouting in the Old Tongue (as best I can recall - I don't have the book right at hand to double check). His Old Tongue use did get worse while he had the dagger and while he was being healed, true. But he used the Old Tongue before he came into possession of the dagger too, which suggests to me that memories of his past lives already floated close to his consciousness and that the connection with Mordeth and the dagger brought them even closer to the surface.

Just confirmed. Chapter 18. Mat alone shouted “Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!”. Rand & Perrin both shouted "Manetheren!" in response to Lan shouting "For the Seven Towers!"
Egwene confronted the boys about it. She understood it for a moment but lost it, and Mat can't recall him saying anything. 
Moiraine Pipes in saying it means "For the honor of the Red Eagle. For the honor of the Rose of the Sun. The Rose of the Sun. The ancient warcry of Manetheren"