Rand Al'Thor, Dragon, Man or Monster?

[Goramier]

 

 

If you truly believe that I promise you have to read more.

 

I do truly believe that and I promise you I have read plenty. Care to name any character who has taken such a long, drawn out tortured life through a book or are you going to just toss a rather childish, "I disagree therefore clearly right" type of response?

 

 

Maybe because he has totally integrated LTT's past life memories and experiences that he didn't have previously? Two different incarnations of the same soul now exist within him with a whole other life to draw from that shapes his outlook and decisions. That isn't exactly coming back full circle to good old 2Rs Rand. You said it yourself, he "become something the likes of which have never been seen before". How is that possible if it's not something new?

 

I think you just don't understand the concept behind what happened to Rand. He built up that "new zen Rand" through out the entire series. He simply came full circle after having battled both internal and external demons from book one. He was growing during that entire conflict, learning, changing...it was a constant struggle. When he went to dragonmount, it all came to a head. It was in essence the climax of the series. He was either going to go completely insane or resolve it all and walk away balanced. Rand walks away very powerful and yes as I said, "the likes of which haven't been seen before." But this isn't something that just happened spur of the moment...it is most definately not a new development. It developed from book one. The entire amount of absolute torture RJ put Rand through all brought him to that point.

 

Rand would have been that zen Rand much, much sooner but a weaker version. Like the previous souls had been. Because he was so tortured for so long and fought and fought and fought, he never gained that level until after all the time and circumstances brought him to DM where he left having finally resolved it. He finally came full circle. He become much more powerful because of it. He didn't leave DM as some sort of "new zen" Rand. It was that Rand finally left DM as a free man you could say. RJ had been building up to that since book one. That was my point. So he is something new (free from his tortured demons)...but really he isn't (its just Rand as he is without all the baggage) sorta thing. I don't think it is that hard to grasp.

[Suttree]

 

 

If you truly believe that I promise you have to read more.

 

I do truly believe that and I promise you I have read plenty. Care to name any character who has taken such a long, drawn out tortured life through a book or are you going to just toss a rather childish, "I disagree therefore clearly right" type of response?

 

Tyrone Slothrop "Gravity's Rainbow, Lester Ballard "Child of God", Benjamin Compson "Sound & The Fury, etc, etc, etc.

 

As to the DM scene, I don't think there was anyone that didn't get it. It really wasn't all that complex of a scene. BS uses a sledgehammer to do the job, not all that subtle. I like how you try to change your meaning into this isn't something that "just happened spur of the moment". I know I(not sure who did) never made that claim. In addition I would be stunned if there is one person on the boards that doesn't understand that Rand's maturation has spanned the entire series. Not sure why you feel you have a special insight to such a straight forward concept? Just because Rand has been changing since the early books however does not mean his "Zen Rand" character is not now something new and he most certainly didn't just come full circle to Rand without the baggage/how he was before the changes started.