Just Use the Horn of Valere, Dummy

[Superhal]

Is a massive troop buildup really necessary?

 

All they need to do is have Mat sit somewhere comfortable, and when there's a battle, Travel him to the right place.

 

Other issues:

1. The DF's are after the horn as well, and need to kill Mat to use it. I assume it takes about 30 seconds for the HotH to appear, so he just needs a token force to protect him from assassins.

 

2. If those ninnies absolutely must have a bannerman, I guess you could get like 20 channelers, encase the bannerman in an air shield, and levitate him over the battle lines.

 

3. What sends them away? Just blow the horn all the freaking time. Blow it before bed, after you wake up, during lunch, etc. They don't cost anything, don't eat, and never lose.

 

It seems like all the important items in the book are chased after, used once, then forgotten entirely. If the Horn was used even slightly more often, hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved.

[Din]

The Last Battle is between humanity and the Shadow.

[Jimvzyl]

HoTH are not an unstoppable force.

Check TGH and notice how the sway of battle was reflected by the fight between Ishamael and Rand.

[Skeeve the Great]

You need the Banner and the Dragon for HoH to do anything. That's two components required.

[Sid]

Mat doesn't have the Horn. Mat hasn't even been near Rand since the middle of Lord of Chaos. I'm not sure where the banner is. Cairhien maybe? Most people don't even realize the Horn has been found. Thus, build up the troops. Even if they were all together waiting it would be mad to not have massive armies to defend against Trollocs.

[mb]

Banner & the Dragon be needed for the Heroes to do anything?

I would count that as no more than reader opinion at this point; unless either author commented about it.

Earlier in the book Siuan told that the Heroes could work for either side.

 

 

The Horn alone might not be enough during Tarmon Gaidon. The Dark One may then have powers that would work against the Heroes.

One purpose for all the forces could be to keep the Dark One occupied.

[Mats Spare Hat]

Banner & the Dragon be needed for the Heroes to do anything?

I would count that as no more than reader opinion at this point; unless either author commented about it.

Earlier in the book Siuan told that the Heroes could work for either side.

 

 

The Horn alone might not be enough during Tarmon Gaidon. The Dark One may then have powers that would work against the Heroes.

One purpose for all the forces could be to keep the Dark One occupied.

 

 

*elbow nudge...Dude, TGH in the schpeel Hawkwing gives after being summoned: They have to follow the banner, and the Dragon

[randsc]

"The banner is here. The weave of this moment is set. We have come to the Horn, but we must follow the banner. And the Dragon."

[mb]

Yet the scenes after showed that they did not always follow Rand.

And Mat's battle reflections in the next book seem to imply that they did not always follow the banner either.

[Durinax]

I am pretty sure that blowing it like that would have unexpected and potentially deadly side effects. "let he who blows me think not of glory, but of salvation" usually cryptic things like that are a warning to not be an idiot

[Graveyardhag]

There aren't enough HoTH.

 

If I am remembering right, there are a little over a hundred? MInus the ones who have been/are waiting to be reborn.

 

 

So, 100 odd misty people are going to beat hundreds of thousands (if not more) of trollocs, darkfriends, dreadlords, and other shadowspawn all by themselves. Somehow I don't see that happening.

[mb]

To me the numbers do not matter.

 

The One Power can not harm Heroes. The scene shows that human-made weapons cannot harm them either. Those two cover dreadlords and darkfriends.

The opening chapters seem to imply that Trollocs & Shadowspawn cannot either.

 

Only the Dark One would need to be worried about.

[BananaOnDrugs]

All right so we've got a 100 or so immortals. So what. DO can send enough trollocs to make them stay put for a few centuries(it does take even them some time to kill something and they are just 100) and still completely overwhelm any light side armies that don't have rand with them. So what does that mean? They are good at spreading panic(so useful as the 1st wave in a full scale attack) or as peeps guarding a relatively small area/passageway(which I think will be what the most important part of whatever they're going to do(they could do both too).

Anyway they are going to be about as useful as the massive armies gathering all over but the light needs both of them to stand a chance of making trough TG. Besides what kind of books would we be reading if the main characters had the most powerful thingy in the universe and actually used it. It would be boring.

[ravenfier]

also the fact is we dont know if Mat is still tied to the horn as horn sounder, he did "die" twice since blowing the darn thing, first time was being hung in Rhu, the other was the Dead but balefired back to life thing, which because he was dead for a while there could have very well snapped the tie to the horn, maybe Lan has it in his saddlebags and blows it before a trolloc can bash his head in.

[Mr Ares]

Banner & the Dragon be needed for the Heroes to do anything?

I would count that as no more than reader opinion at this point; unless either author commented about it.

Earlier in the book Siuan told that the Heroes could work for either side.

 

 

The Horn alone might not be enough during Tarmon Gaidon. The Dark One may then have powers that would work against the Heroes.

One purpose for all the forces could be to keep the Dark One occupied.

*elbow nudge...Dude, TGH in the schpeel Hawkwing gives after being summoned: They have to follow the banner, and the Dragon

On that occasion they did - Hawkwing did say that the weave of this moment was set. Doesn't mean it always works like that.

 

 

also the fact is we dont know if Mat is still tied to the horn as horn sounder, he did "die" twice since blowing the darn thing, first time was being hung in Rhu,

Then he was only left hanging long enough to be almost dead.