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DRAGONMOUNT

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What is your favorite foreshadowing in the series?


herid

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During her Accepted test Nynaeve was told that she would face her fears. The first thing she though was that she hoped they did not know about her fear of spiders! I dont know how to quote the book but i thought that was awesome. Also, the Green Man in EotW said that Rand was one of the People of the Dragon. We did not know about the Aiel being the People of the Dragon for two more books.

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If I had to choose a favorite pre-AMOL, I'd probably pick this one:

 

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

 

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

 

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

I have other favorites (such as the ones for this theory), but for the most part they're not proven yet. :biggrin:

 

Oh wait...I can use one of those because it has fulfilled foreshadowing in it (I think this is Brandon's):

 

"We can find a way, Rand," Nynaeve said. "Surely there is a way to win but also let you live."

 

"No," he growled softly. "Do not tempt me down that path again. It only leads to pain, Nynaeve. I . . . I used to think about leaving something behind to help the world survive once I died, but that was a struggle to keep living. I can't indulge myself. I'll climb this bloody mountain and face the sun. You all will deal with what comes next. That is how it must be."...

 

..."I do trust you, Nynaeve. As much as I trust anyone; more than I trust most. You think you know what is best for me, even against my wishes, but that is something I can accept. The difference between you and Cadsuane is that you actually care about me. She only cares about my place in her plans. She wants me to be part of the Last Battle. You want me to live. For that, you have my thanks. Dream on my behalf, Nynaeve. Dream for things I no longer can."

The first bolded bit is fulfilled. The second is yet to come. :biggrin:

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If I had to choose a favorite pre-AMOL, I'd probably pick this one:

 

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

 

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

 

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

yes, this is a good one, although one might argue that it hasn't been fulfilled quite yet.

 

 

I have other favorites (such as the ones for this theory), but for the most part they're not proven yet. :biggrin:

 

Oh wait...I can use one of those because it has fulfilled foreshadowing in it (I think this is Brandon's):

 

"We can find a way, Rand," Nynaeve said. "Surely there is a way to win but also let you live."

 

"No," he growled softly. "Do not tempt me down that path again. It only leads to pain, Nynaeve. I . . . I used to think about leaving something behind to help the world survive once I died, but that was a struggle to keep living. I can't indulge myself. I'll climb this bloody mountain and face the sun. You all will deal with what comes next. That is how it must be."...

 

..."I do trust you, Nynaeve. As much as I trust anyone; more than I trust most. You think you know what is best for me, even against my wishes, but that is something I can accept. The difference between you and Cadsuane is that you actually care about me. She only cares about my place in her plans. She wants me to be part of the Last Battle. You want me to live. For that, you have my thanks. Dream on my behalf, Nynaeve. Dream for things I no longer can."

The first bolded bit is fulfilled. The second is yet to come. :biggrin:

oh, I'm sure there are lots of foreshadowings that will only be fulfilled in aMoL. I was trying to stay away from those (not completely successfully, as I mentioned one :biggrin: ). For example, there are a couple of references to Rand's possible resurrection after being dead 3 days. If I recall correctly you were the one who mentioned them to me although they are not mentioned in the theory you linked.

 

Aes Sedai had been stilled studying ter’angreal. Burned out, it was called when it happened by accident, yet it was just as final. Nynaeve did not think so, of course, but Nynaeve would not be satisfied till she Healed somebody three days dead.

-LoC, Ch 7

and this

 

Norry nodded once. He might have been reporting the current state of street repairs. “So my correspondent reports, my Lady. Aes Sedai, perhaps, or Asha’man, or even the Forsaken. She repeats gossip here, I fear. The wing housing the apartments of the Dragon Reborn was largely destroyed, and he himself has vanished. It is widely believed that he has gone to Tar Valon to kneel before the Amyrlin Seat. Some do believe him dead in the attack, but not a great many. I advise doing nothing until you have a clearer picture.” He paused, head tilted in thought. “From what I saw of him, my Lady,” he said slowly, “I myself would not believe him dead unless I sat three days with the corpse.

-WH Ch9

 

These seem to use the common trick of foreshadowings being told as a joke that I mentioned above so they might be just that.

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Not really foreshadowing but thought this was cool in WH Ch. 12, when Rand gets bonded by his three ladies:

 

"He is the Car’a’carn,” Aviendha said, laughing, “as strong as the Three-fold Land itself!” Her face was proud—oh, so proud—but even as she laughed, tears streamed down her sun-dark cheeks. “The veins of gold. Oh, the veins of gold. You do love me, Rand."

 

Always loved the chapter Veins of Gold, and in my re-read just smiled when I went over this part.

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Then there is Brandon's 'innocent' foreshadowing from the TGH #wotrr which I believe (for now) is probably this:

 

Leane blinked, and her smile faded to a thoughtful look. "This is supposed to be a shepherd, Lan Gaidin? He was not so sure of himself this morning."

 

"He is a man, Leane Sedai," Lan said firmly, "no more, and no less. We are what we are."

 

The Aes Sedai shook her head. "The world grows stranger every day. I suppose the blacksmith will wear a crown and speak in High Chant. Wait here." She vanished inside to announce them.

Another unfulfilled one, but we can probably expect this one to be fulfilled in AMOL based on Brandon's comments. (Unless I find something else in those few chapters that I have poked at before. Not only is that unlikely, but it's also unlikely Brandon has read much of my theorizing, so it pretty much has to be this.)

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I don't know if it will end up foreshadowing anything, but Moiraine once told the three ta'veren that she would sooner kill them herself than let them go over to the Shadow. She repeated that sentiment in TDR and TSR, if memory serves, in direct connection to Lanfear. If Cyndane now helps Moridin take over Rand...

Only, wouldn't that be Moiraine usurping Alivia's role?

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Not at all. Alivia is only going to 'help', which implies that she will not kill Rand alone. She will help him die.

 

I'm very fond of the idea that Moiraine will balefire Rand in fulfillment of that promise (given in TEOTW13). Balefire because it would theoretically prevent the Dark One from grabbing his soul at the point of death.

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Rand calls Moiraine "Little Sister" In FOH in the Waste when she is trying to help him and Egwene is being a twit.

Just got to it in my re-read and dunno if anyone mentioned it. Pretty cool to see the forshadowing of Randhi :)

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This one is alittle more blatant than what most of you have been coming up with, but I will post it nonetheless.

 

Sheriam's watchful eye would make it doubly hard to carry out a search for the Black Ajah. For a moment she felt like laughing hysterically. If the Black Ajah doesn't catch us, Sheriam Will. The urge to laugh vanished. If Sheriam isn't Black Ajah herself. She wished she could make that thought go away.
The Dragon Reborn, The Red Sister.

 

There were subtle hints throughout the series, but I still like seeing RJ planning 9 books ahead of himself. Really makes you believe when he said he had the whole story worked out when he started.

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I've been doing my read through on audio book so I don't have a copy of the text, but in TGH Rand becomes agitated by some of the women he is dealing with and says they all want to put him in a box.

That would be a nice foreshadowing but I can't find anything like this in TGH. an idealseak search of TGH for "box" produces only a few hits none of which are relevant.

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One of my favourite little moments is in Knife of Dreams, if I remember right and Ituralde is pondering his plans to attack the Seanchan and the consequences he is likely to bring down on himself when the Seanchan retaliate as they would never stop until they'd crushed him. I don't have the book to hand for the exact quote but he basically says to himself (or someone else, can't remember) that he was embarked on his course of action and that was that and possibly the only thing that could pursuade him to turn away would be the Dragon Reborn appearing before him and telling him to, and since that (to Ituralde) was a near impossibility it meant he wouldn't be stopped.

 

The next book and who walks right into Ituralde's camp and tells him he's in the wrong place and fighting the wrong people and he's needed somewhere else and oh, by the way, I'm the boss now? You guessed it :rand:

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I was reminded of this one just now:

 

“Banner-General Mikhel Najirah, High Lady. Captain-General Galgan’s compliments, and he has received communications from Tarabon.”

 

Suroth’s eyebrows climbed in spite of herself. Tarabon? Tarabon was as secure as Seandar. Automatically her fingers twitched, but she had not yet found a replacement for Alwhin. She must speak to the man herself.

 

...

 

The large map of Tarabon spread out on the table in front of her and held flat by four lamps gave reason enough for worry. Markers covered it, red wedges for Seanchan forces on the move and red stars for forces holding in place, each supporting a small paper banner inked with their numbers and composition. Scattered across the map, across the entire map, lay black discs marking engagements, and even more white discs for enemy forces, many of those without the banners. How could there be any enemies in Tarabon? It was as secure as…

 

“What happened?” she demanded.

 

...

 

Semirhage’s laughter was so shocking that it shut off Suroth’s tears. That head of fire was thrown back, emitting great peals of mirth. At last she regained control, wiping away tears of flame with fiery fingers. “I see I didn’t make myself clear. Radhanan is dead, and her daughters, and her sons, and half the Imperial Court, as well. There is no Imperial family except for Tuon. There is no Empire. Seandar is in the hands of rioters and looters, and so are a dozen other cities. At least fifty nobles are contending for the throne, with armies in the field. There is war from the Aldael Mountains to Salaking. Which is why you will be perfectly safe in disposing of Tuon and proclaiming yourself Empress. I’ve even arranged for a ship, which should arrive soon, to bring word of the disaster.” She laughed again, and said something strange. “Let the lord of chaos rule.”

Sometimes I think the short-term foreshadowings are every bit as nice as the long-term ones.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I read a great one at the end of tEotW - where after Rand first channelled he said that he would cut his hand off before he did that again...

 

Makes me wonder whether it was actually Saidin that he channelled then, or the True Power...

Ah, I never noticed this one before. There are a few more foreshadowings about Rand loosing his hand later on. The best fitting one IMO is this one

"Trust me, Min. I won’t hurt you. I will cut off my arm before I hurt you.” She was silent, and he finally looked down to find her peering up at him with a strange expression.

“That’s very nice to hear, sheepherder.” Her voice was as odd as her face.

 

-Lord of Chaos, The Mirror of Mists

I think there is another one in TGH somewhere.

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I read a great one at the end of tEotW - where after Rand first channelled he said that he would cut his hand off before he did that again...

 

Makes me wonder whether it was actually Saidin that he channelled then, or the True Power...

There's a similar quote re:Min in I think LoC (although I don't recall exactly, been a little while) where he says he would "cut off his own arm" before hurting her - and proceeds to both lose his hand and then strangle her within half a book of eachother. Pretty clever foreshadowing to put something like that in plain sight in a phrase that is used offhand in everyday life.

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