The Change of Mat's Personality from Brandon Sanderson

[Xhojin]

Wow... people need to cry less.

 

Of course characters are a little different. There is a different author putting pen to paper. If you didn't expect that you need a reality check.

 

That said, most of the characters are pretty spot on. The only obvious difference was Mat in TGS. The Hindenstrap stuff with the RPG stuff was obviously a misfit. However since then, in ToM Mat is pretty much back to normal (barring the changes he is going through in the story; married, noble, learning responisiblity, etc). None of the characters in ToM were glaringly mishandled...and for "evidence" of that... people couldn't tell if it was Rj or BS who wrote the ToG sequence.

 

Also, to the people who claim Mat is not a clown.... ya right... Releasing a badger into a dance isn't a clown move? RJ's mat has long been a bit of a clown and down things for a laugh.

[ice9planet]

Sanderson had really big shoes to fill walking into an immense project like this. He agreed to finish a series with Millions of fans worldwide eagerly anticipated it's conclusion. Writing is no simple task in general, and writing/finishing someone else's magnum opus would be even harder. Jordan was a great storyteller. He was truly one of a kind and I think Sanderson hasn't done a perfect job, but I am satisfied.

 

To call Sanderson a bad writer based on him finishing someone elses series is unfair. I happen to like his writing style. The Mistborn trilogy and Elantris are really unique and clever stories. I mean, really, it's all preference and what you enjoy. Everyone has an opinion and that's cool in my book. We aren't always going to agree with eachother and that's fine too. If everyone thought and felt the same, this would be a pretty sad and boring planet to be a part of.

 

The characters feel a bit different, yes, but like previously stated, you are getting these characters through a different writer. I actually think Nyn is more tolerable under BS. When Jordan was writing her, there were times when I cheered(ie:vs Moggie), but most of the times I wanted to slap her(constant sniffs, whining, pushing others around).

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I think that The Gathering Storm was one of the best books in the series, that said I think Towers of Midnight is the worst book in series. A lot of this feeling is because of Mat. He did not have a big role in The Gathering Storm so his change wasn't really that noticable. In Towers of Midnight, every time Mat cursed I wanted to scream that not the curse Mat would have used. I know its kind of stupid but that is just how it seemed. It was like watching the Twilight Zone version of Mat. There were two huge events I have been waiting for years and years to happen they were ruined because Sanderson's version of Mat. The scene with Gholman just pissed me off not just because of Twilight Zone Mat but because Sanderson used what I think of as a cheat for the surprise ending. Mat's thinking about how Tolmanis is disobeying orders when it turns out that he really was obeying orders. WTF! I want to be mislead for the surprise but its another thing to lie about it using a character's thoughts. A character's thoughts is the most honest view you can get. The Tower of Genji wasn't as bad as the fight with the Golem but my eyes went to the back of my head when Mat cursed at them during the escape.

 

Robert Jordan wrote the end to Memory of Light which is all I am really looking forward to right now.

[The Fallen One]

I think that The Gathering Storm was one of the best books in the series, that said I think Towers of Midnight is the worst book in series. A lot of this feeling is because of Mat. He did not have a big role in The Gathering Storm so his change wasn't really that noticable. In Towers of Midnight, every time Mat cursed I wanted to scream that not the curse Mat would have used. I know its kind of stupid but that is just how it seemed. It was like watching the Twilight Zone version of Mat. There were two huge events I have been waiting for years and years to happen they were ruined because Sanderson's version of Mat. The scene with Gholman just pissed me off not just because of Twilight Zone Mat but because Sanderson used what I think of as a cheat for the surprise ending. Mat's thinking about how Tolmanis is disobeying orders when it turns out that he really was obeying orders. WTF! I want to be mislead for the surprise but its another thing to lie about it using a character's thoughts. A character's thoughts is the most honest view you can get. The Tower of Genji wasn't as bad as the fight with the Golem but my eyes went to the back of my head when Mat cursed at them during the escape.

 

Robert Jordan wrote the end to Memory of Light which is all I am really looking forward to right now.

 

From what I have been heard, Mr. Jordan wrote the ToG part or at least most of it. Also, I know what you are talking about with Mat's thoughts on Talmanes durring the Gholam scene, but give him a break. He wrote that huge book at a break neck pace and it was rushed through editing to meet the deadline that was set on it. There was bound to be errors and they will probably be fixed when the paper back comes out.

[Guest PiotrekS]

I recall Brandon's quote that he "can't claim much credit for ToG scene" - and it seemed to me more "jordanesque" than many other scenes with Mat, especially ridiculous Hinderstrap and Seven-Striped Lass...

 

I think that some change in Mat's personality comes from RJ's notes - Mat is reacting to a shocking change in his life (marriage) and trying to get back to his boyish past to "resist" becoming a married, responsible man whose freedom is ended for good. But he is no longer this boy, so his pranks no longer work out and he eventually realises that he really has changed...

 

But I agree that the execution of Mat's character in new books is not good. I think that Brandon had bigest problems with Mat, Aviendha and Siuan. It is interesting that they are quite colorful characters, with certain "something" - it was very difficult to get it right, especially since Brandon has been exeedingly straightforward in his writing, as was pointed out earlier.

 

As an aside, I liked ToM, although I definitely would't call it the best in the series(c'mon - The Shadow Rising is beyond any competition).

 

I've found TGS to be the worst book in the series for following reasons:

-writing style - too modern or simplistic, too straigthforward, it gave me an awkward feeling.

-abandoning the rich, pattern-like style of the narrative for one narrowly concentrated on Rand and Egwene, which was not true to the spirit of the series (it is a complicated, sweeping story about many characters) and it artificially inflated Egwene's importance, setting her as Rand's counterpart

-too much filler material (Mat's and Perrin's chapters - I would love them, provided something would really have happened in these chapters)

- I strongly dislike Egwene, so I didn't like that a half of the book was a panegyric to her glory.

Edited May 15, 2011 by PiotrekS

[Lord Soth]

I am currently rereading the entire series again and I am Towers of Midnight. I think Mat changed a lot, and Matt seemed to become dumber, I don't think he would spell things wrong, the letter he wrote in Lord of Chaos/Crown of Swords, (I can't remember which right now) its said that he his letters are undeveloped but never mention misspellings. Also the fact that never cared about writing or reading and all of sudden he wants to start writing and making up backstories for people? Seems out of the blue. The way he acts and assumes his smiles can break hearts? I am pretty sure he knows or says that he isn't that good looking, especially when he was unsure why Tylin had him as a pretty. The first time I read through the Sanderson written ones I didn't like them as much and as I am rereading them, they aren't as bad, Matt is still a problem.

As a side note, did anyone else notice that people are using words that they wouldn't know, or "Randlanders" wouldn't have in their vocabulary, like the word slave and devil.

[William Vaughn]

I have to admit that i am not keenly enough aware of the differences in Mat’s personality between authors to responsibly offer a valid opinion on the matter, but I will say that the scene in MoL in which Rand and Mat have a good old-fashioned pissing contest over who is winning in terms of general heroism, is my absolute favorite interaction between the two characters. This

was a very heart-warming and nostalgic moment that had belly laughing with tears of joy. Sanderson did something right here IMO. For reference:

 

....“Sure,” Mat said. “By the way, I saved Moiraine. Chew on that as you try to decide which of the two of us is winning.” Mat followed Tuon, and behind him rose the laughter of the Dragon Reborn.