whats up with shara

[akuhn]

i'm sorry everyone but i have no clue were shara fits in but its there can someone please fill in the missing pieces here.

 

sorry if this subject was cavered but i'm really new at all this

[algspkr]

Shara has very little to do with the story other than being the place where silk and ivory come from.

 

(Please forgive me I don't have my books so I can't point to where the information is coming from)

 

Grendeal captured the "king" and "queen" of Shara to manipulate Sammeal into fighting Rand. This caused a civil war there.

 

The Sharans have only known war that we know of twice since the breaking, the Trolloc Wars and a fleet sent by Author Hawking, they were victorius in both cases. They have altered their history denying both events.

 

Rand was told by and Aiel (I think it was Rurac or Avendia) that the civil war was caused by them hearing of him and so blames himself.

 

The Sharans had laws similar to the Ancient Chinese in an effort to prevent silk and ivory from being produced elsewhere.

 

In KoD we see a man with some silk worms for sale showing how far order has broken down, previously the westlanders did not even know where it came from.

 

Rand and the Forsaken agree that Shara has no role to play until after TG. Robert Jordan has said we won't see Shara.

[Luckers]

Actually Rand was only told of 'unrest' which may very well be civil war, or may just be rioting.

 

Shara would be incredibly hard to bring in the last book. The development and exposition of an entire new culture would be hard to buy--the Aiel Instant Army wa shard to buy, and that took two books. I dont see them coming to the aid of the light, and the nature of their society with the Ayyad in power, forbids a single forsaken being able to claim the reigns.

[Leopoled Boothe]

I have to suspect that RJ must have had some bigger plans for Sarah that he has sense decided to scrap. Considering that Tarmon'Geidon (sp) has the entire world at stake it seems odd that there could be an entire country (and a rather large one at that) who could be oblivious to its comming. At this point it seems a little late to get them involved and I think it would be rather cheap to suddenly have the cavelry form Sarah come riding in to save the day at TG. Its ok as far as I'm concerned, the story works just fine without any involvment from Sarah and we'll just have to assume that they will fight TG in thier own way and as with everthing else will keep it to themselves.

 

Then again Sarah may be the subject of one of those outtrigger novels that RJ has been considering writing.

[demonspawn]

Since only the thirteen Forsaken who were actually at Shayol'Ghul (sp?)(there must have been more!!) at the time of the sealing of the Bore were the only ones Sealed. Imagine if the remaining Forsaken actually managed to breed a whole society (if not, Nation!) of Darkfriends could this be Shara?

 

To be honest, I don't really think this is true but who knows?

[n00l3y]

I definitely doubt such an occurance, but it may be possible. I too liken Shara to the Chinese. Distant, unknown, and tales about them are often far more exxagerated than they really are. However, continuing with this historical comparison, the Chinese generally avoided the numerous European wars, though their military technology was rather great and their unity under one ruler created a large, powerful army.

 

The Sharans are similar, if not for the fact that they do not run as a monarchy, but more like the Roman senate. In terms of the overall signifcance, I suppose it would be more major after TG, with the Sharans possibly crossing the Aiel Waste and entering the Wetlands. This would create an opportunity for a sequel, yet could end quite nicely on its own.

[Luckers]

The word Forsaken was given to all of the Aes Sedai who swapped sides in the Age of Legends of which there must have been thousands... likely hundreds of thousands (3% of the population could channel + larger population + everyone tested and all channelers found + longer life + better long term healthcare and diet = many, many channelers).

 

But of the Chosen, those who led, there have been 29. At least that is my guess based on what Moghedian said about only 29 people ever getting to channel the True Power. Since we know that privalledge was reserve only to the Chosen it makes sense to suggest that there have only been 29 Chosen.

 

Also, don't confuse the word dreadlord with the non-Chosen forsaken. Dreadlord was a term coined in the Trolloc Wars refering to the channelers on the side of the Shadow in that time.

 

As for the theory... i doubt it. Based on what we have seen--that the Sharans are in unrest, asking when the Dragon shall break the world and so forth + the fact that we know they fought the Shadow in the Trolloc wars i would suggest that the Sharans, for all their nasty nature, are indeed of the light. The surviving Forsaken were likely in much the same position as the surviving Aes Sedai. We know that the men went mad, just like all the other men, and the female ones would have been hunted down, or died in the course of the breaking.

[demonspawn]

I wasn't actually insinuating that the Sharans were Darkfriends, it was a two-fold question really.

 

Will the Sharans play a part in TG?

 

What if the remaining Forsaken who weren't bound in Shayol Ghul decided to create a nation of darkfriends? Preaching the shadows prophecy.

[Luckers]

Ah ok.

 

Well, on the first, no i dont think the Sharans will play a part. If they are sided with the Light, then they have no chance of getting to Randland in time, and the reality of the exposition RJ would have to go into would be... substantial. Too much to put in a single book. No one would accept it--again i remind you of the Aiel Instant Army, who took 2 books to bring in, and even that was a stretch.

 

If they are on the side of the light, under the direction of a Forsaken, again it seems unlikely. For starters the nation is a monolithic bueracracy unmatched by any other nation in the Wheel. The Ayyad control from the background using compulsion. Very likely they have someone near every figure of power in the nation making decended, displaced rings of power. They are also very familiar with the use of compulsion, and very likely look for it carefully amongst their own leaders.

 

You know why i dont think the Sharans are darkfriends, but even if they were the exposition problem remains.

 

As for the second question i have a theory about the Land of the Madmen. What have heard of that land--men and women both insane and channeling. Volcanoes, and so forth--makes me think that it is an elaborate smokescreen to keep people away. I've theorised that it is a stronghold for the Shadow where Dreadlords are being trained... but meh. I created a post about it some time ago, dont know what happened to it.