Rand's changing Personality

[dimlight25]

In the series, Rand's personality changes throughout the whole thing. To me, i originaly liked his personality in books 1-3 and also liked his personality once it started to change in 4-6, but through 7-12 though... I just didn't really like that Rand at all. Seriously, feeling emotions doesn't change how "strong" one person is.

I liked how he was a very nice man in the early books and the fact he got very nervous a lot. Those were the good times in the series on how you would laugh at how much he gets nervous and how weak and small he seamed, but now he is an emotionless bad-ass kinda dude who doesn't care about anything period.All he cared about was killing all of the Forsaken and the Dark One. Even the Forsaken feared him for the fact that he blasts balefire all over the place almost unraveling everything... He didn't even care for his adopted father that much...

Then he changes into a very calm, godlike person in book 13 to the point that he didn't fear the whole White Tower. I liked that fact, this personality was much better then the careless bad-ass... In this godlike state i belive he could take on the Dark One and survive just barely, but who knows... Brandon Sanderson killed off basically all his main characters in the Mistborn Trilogy, who says Robert Jorden won't do the same? At least with some characters I'm sure. Don't get me wrong, I like this kind of story, i was just telling an example of how you think everything would end happily for the main characters when the actually get their asses handed to them because they left them in the world of the living... lol.

And don't think i'm charater bashing or whatever, Rand is my favorite character, i just felt like bitch slapping Rand out of his state of carelessness, he seemed like a real dush... you know?

This series, to me, is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I used to hate books to the hell, and didn't do anything but TV and sports, but now I read all the flipping time. I read just about every book by Brandon Sanderson, like the Mistborn Trilogy, 1st book in the Stormlight Archive(which is a close 2nd or even rivaling for 1st place on my favorites list) called The Way of Kings, and Elantris. I also like the author Harry Turtledove, who wrote the series World War: and magic, which is just like world war 2 with fantasy stuff in it. Dragons are jets with bombs strapped to their waist, Leviathans are submarines with larger bombs strapped to their waist, and have creatures as tanks and have a special type of gun they call sticks which shoot a white beam that reminds me of balefire, and also have freaking nukes! Dragons, leviathans and nukes! What more could a fantasy person ask for?(not for kids...has... BAD scenes you could say)

Sorry i got off topic for a second, but that is basically what type of stories i like. :)

Please post what you guys think of Rand. I would like to hear it from all of you guys :)

[JKN-SW]

I think most would agree with how you feel about Rand and I guess that it is also exactly what RJ (and BS) wanted us to feel.Rands change is, of course, one of the main parts of the story. How does a normal, everyday youth react to beeing told, and realizing, he is the saviour of the world and will die to save humankind? There has to be some real character-development there.

[OptimusPrime]

I like Rands changes through the series, all except the bit where he cried when Tam showed up. It felt so out of place, not just because it was Rand, but because it felt too forced... I duno. Maybe just me. Im not saying I dont like the fact that he cried, just the way it was done in that scene.

 

In all honesty I do like Rand Sedai but he aint got diddly squat on Dark Rand. Theres no madness anymore, theres no suspense. The only thing I can think of now is to snap the Warder bonds or 13x13 him, otherwise nothing poses a threat, even Moridin doesnt pose a direct threat to Rands life beyond the link.

 

VoG was an awesome chapter and he was bound to change, fair enough, but... it doesnt feel like a change, it felt like a complete character remold. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, Rand Sedai reminds me of Richard Rahl. Not the other way round. I do not like it.

[dimlight25]

I did like how bad ass Rand was, and it really built suspence when he started to go to far with curtain stuff after taking in the Dark One's power, like balefireing a whole freaking fortress... Crazy bastard... lol

 

Rand is my favorite character, and he has red hair and gray-blue eyes like me :D the current Rank in ToM just seaqms a little... overpowered... if you know what i mean.

 

He seems he could take on anything.

[KLF]

I did like the Dark Rand character better that the new all-loving Rand. I wonder if he will use the Dark Power in the Last Battle, using it on the Dark One itself.

[Randommer]

Well, my main opinion of Rand and his development is pretty much that he has Bipolar II Disorder with psychotic features. Pretty sure it was intentional on RJ's part. Really, if he intended Rand to go 'crazy' it would make sense that he based the symptoms on a real disorder. So...yeah. Probably not what this thread's about...

[Saguin Venart]

I wonder if he will use the Dark Power in the Last Battle, using it on the Dark One itself.

 

It's been hinted at in the book that this would mean an overall loss for humanity. It would be like flooding the world to save it from burning. For humanity to truly be free at the end Rand needed to be in the state he is now. Fully synched with Lews Therin. To me Rand from 6-12 was just annoying, that's when Mat became my favorite character. I understood why he was the way he was, but I didn't like the 'I'm so dark and edgy now'. His epiphany on Dragonmount was my favorite scene, it replaced the Battle of Dumai's wells.

 

 

Also I don't know why people didn't like Rand crying. It felt good seeing him and Tam reconcile like that. To be honest I welled up a little bit at that. Also by laughing after his epiphany and crying seeing Tam he's effectively accomplished becoming human again.

[dimlight25]

Lol, those are some pretty good assumptions. I like they young Rand before he turned to Dark, overly careless Rand. RJ is really good with his making of characters. I can tell he spent a lot of time with the development of Rand, and also Mat and Perrin, with how they change as well.

 

Mat goes from the mischievous little boy at the beginning, to a commanding general of his own group of men. He is basically immortal to any One power attacks, unless they throw a rock at him or something... and i think balefire would be able to break through it, kinda like it can still break through the shell that Rand used to block out everything, including air. I liked the faces of all the women who tryed to use the power on him... hehehe...

 

Perrin changes from the shy little blacksmith's apprentice to a half human half wolf with yellow wolf eyes. I like how he was one of the first people to trust the Asha'man because Rand asked him, and I also like the new wolf hammer forged in the One Power at the end of ToM. I can tell it will be put to good use in Tarmon Gaiden.

[dimlight25]

I agree 100% with you on Rand and the Dark power. I also just loved the scene how he cryed in front of everyone to his father. It shows that he was still a human like everyone else.

[shadowofomioc]

Remember when Nynaeve explores his mind to try and heal his madness she finds a mass many thousands of times larger then the other Asha'Man she healed. So yes, Rand was trully mad before his time on Dragonmount when he finally defeated the darkness.

 

Is Rand mad now? Personally I do not think so. That brilliant light is blocking, or pushing away the madness. I think Rand is back to normal. He is just no longer thinking of Lews Therin as someone in his mind. Now he has full control of both of them. He is Lews Therin, and he is Rand. There is no battle anymore.

[SylvanFox]

Remember when Nynaeve explores his mind to try and heal his madness she finds a mass many thousands of times larger then the other Asha'Man she healed. So yes, Rand was trully mad before his time on Dragonmount when he finally defeated the darkness.

 

Is Rand mad now? Personally I do not think so. That brilliant light is blocking, or pushing away the madness. I think Rand is back to normal. He is just no longer thinking of Lews Therin as someone in his mind. Now he has full control of both of them. He is Lews Therin, and he is Rand. There is no battle anymore.

 

Now Rand is shiny and golden. I wonder what Moridin's brain would look like if Nynaeve looked at it.

 

"This is your brain on drugs." (if the TP counts as a drug).

[MatBloodyCauthon]

I wonder what Moridin's brain would look like if Nynaeve looked at it.

 

"This is your brain on drugs."

 

Priceless :)

[Luckers]

I liked young Rand, I enjoyed Dark Rand... post VoG Rand... I find him unrealistic. More like what you would conceptualise an enlightened person to be, rather than an actual enlightened person. It's like Brandon sat around thinking 'what would Jesus do', and wrote him based on that--which all sounds like it might be nice, except a) Jordan stated Rand was not meant to be a Jesus-style messiah, but rather more of the human King Arthur-style messiah. And b) as Drekka said, it often feels way too forced, which alternatingly makes Rand seem sanctimonious and caricturistic.

 

Of course some have suggested Rand's zen-like new attitude may be a back lash from his time as Dark Rand, exposing him to manipulation and over-confidence, which I sort of hope will be the case because it would make him three-dimensional again. As it is I find him almost inhuman in his goodliness, which makes him unrelatable--and quite frankly, unlikeable. Divinity is always better in theory.

 

I dunno... just the way I feel, I guess.

[dimlight25]

My favorite of all the "Rands" out there is the first, very young Rand that never got mad, never wanted to kill anything, even a trolloc... and was scared out of his books before he figured out he could use the power. I have always enjoyed rereading the first and second books, mainly because it introduced the story from the beginning all over again. It never gets old :D. Also i almost forgot that the madness could be healed and i don't think the the madness of Rand should go away, or he would be 100% light... no more normality to him...

[dimlight25]

His personalities are just crazy like that ya know? Dark goes on and ... i just want to know what happens to the seanchan after the last battle... remember the visions Avhienda(hope i spelled that right) had at the crystal pillars. The Fuckin seanchan deserve to be obliterated to hell. that's what i thank of them...

[dimlight25]

And what happened to the reborn Asmodean?

[Mr Ares]

Asmo wasn't reborn. He died the final death.

[Quazie89]

Yeah, I miss the old Rand, too, and I also read the firt two books in the War Between the Provinces by Harry Turtledove a long time ago, but I remember thinking that they were pretty cool. They sound like the War Wotld books you're talking about.

[MasterAblar]

I liked young Rand, I enjoyed Dark Rand... post VoG Rand... I find him unrealistic. More like what you would conceptualise an enlightened person to be, rather than an actual enlightened person. It's like Brandon sat around thinking 'what would Jesus do', and wrote him based on that--which all sounds like it might be nice, except a) Jordan stated Rand was not meant to be a Jesus-style messiah, but rather more of the human King Arthur-style messiah. And b) as Drekka said, it often feels way too forced, which alternatingly makes Rand seem sanctimonious and caricturistic.

 

Of course some have suggested Rand's zen-like new attitude may be a back lash from his time as Dark Rand, exposing him to manipulation and over-confidence, which I sort of hope will be the case because it would make him three-dimensional again. As it is I find him almost inhuman in his goodliness, which makes him unrelatable--and quite frankly, unlikeable. Divinity is always better in theory.

 

I dunno... just the way I feel, I guess.

 

Well, you can always hold on to that last bit in the epilogue where Rand is feeling all lustful for Cyndane.

[gloweye]

You're Right Luckers... Zen Rand doesn't feel Human anymore. even so, i hope aMoL brings us a few of his PoV which will either show us why he looks like that, or that he jusyt feels... drugged. drugged almost the right word. almost.

[Randommer]

I liked young Rand, I enjoyed Dark Rand... post VoG Rand... I find him unrealistic. More like what you would conceptualise an enlightened person to be, rather than an actual enlightened person. It's like Brandon sat around thinking 'what would Jesus do', and wrote him based on that--which all sounds like it might be nice, except a) Jordan stated Rand was not meant to be a Jesus-style messiah, but rather more of the human King Arthur-style messiah. And b) as Drekka said, it often feels way too forced, which alternatingly makes Rand seem sanctimonious and caricturistic.

 

Of course some have suggested Rand's zen-like new attitude may be a back lash from his time as Dark Rand, exposing him to manipulation and over-confidence, which I sort of hope will be the case because it would make him three-dimensional again. As it is I find him almost inhuman in his goodliness, which makes him unrelatable--and quite frankly, unlikeable. Divinity is always better in theory.

 

I dunno... just the way I feel, I guess.

 

Well, you can always hold on to that last bit in the epilogue where Rand is feeling all lustful for Cyndane.

Lol that line saved the book for me. It was like, "Yes! He's still Rand!"

[Tyzack]

I liked young Rand, I enjoyed Dark Rand... post VoG Rand... I find him unrealistic. More like what you would conceptualise an enlightened person to be, rather than an actual enlightened person. It's like Brandon sat around thinking 'what would Jesus do', and wrote him based on that--which all sounds like it might be nice, except a) Jordan stated Rand was not meant to be a Jesus-style messiah, but rather more of the human King Arthur-style messiah. And b) as Drekka said, it often feels way too forced, which alternatingly makes Rand seem sanctimonious and caricturistic.

 

Of course some have suggested Rand's zen-like new attitude may be a back lash from his time as Dark Rand, exposing him to manipulation and over-confidence, which I sort of hope will be the case because it would make him three-dimensional again. As it is I find him almost inhuman in his goodliness, which makes him unrelatable--and quite frankly, unlikeable. Divinity is always better in theory.

 

I dunno... just the way I feel, I guess.

 

Well, you can always hold on to that last bit in the epilogue where Rand is feeling all lustful for Cyndane.

Lol that line saved the book for me. It was like, "Yes! He's still Rand!"

 

I never saw Rand in books 6-12 as "dark" I saw him as uncompromisingly realistic and/or fatalistic. If that is dark, well, that is a discussion for another time. In the series, though, that ultra-realistic/fatalistic trait is generally protrayed as evil (Moridin is the example of this; a completely sane, reasonable and intelligent making the choice to which all of his logic forced him to go.) New, post VoG Rand, well, we never saw his PoV in ToM, so I don't think that we can really say _what_ he is like; he certainly acts different and his dialog is a bit, um, over-the-top, but remember the line when he visits the border lander army "If I had come here two weeks ago I would have Balefired all of you - the Guardains only block the One Power" That read to me as a bit of old Rand coming through, though slightly subdued.

[dimlight25]

Yeah, I miss the old Rand, too, and I also read the firt two books in the War Between the Provinces by Harry Turtledove a long time ago, but I remember thinking that they were pretty cool. They sound like the War Wotld books you're talking about.

yep those are the books... and there are 6 of them now :D im on the last one currently.

[dimlight25]

 

 

I never saw Rand in books 6-12 as "dark" I saw him as uncompromisingly realistic and/or fatalistic. If that is dark, well, that is a discussion for another time. In the series, though, that ultra-realistic/fatalistic trait is generally protrayed as evil (Moridin is the example of this; a completely sane, reasonable and intelligent making the choice to which all of his logic forced him to go.) New, post VoG Rand, well, we never saw his PoV in ToM, so I don't think that we can really say _what_ he is like; he certainly acts different and his dialog is a bit, um, over-the-top, but remember the line when he visits the border lander army "If I had come here two weeks ago I would have Balefired all of you - the Guardains only block the One Power" That read to me as a bit of old Rand coming through, though slightly subdued.

yep he would have balefired them all... lolz, i felt that he really was goin to destroy the guardian as well.

[Luckers]

I liked young Rand, I enjoyed Dark Rand... post VoG Rand... I find him unrealistic. More like what you would conceptualise an enlightened person to be, rather than an actual enlightened person. It's like Brandon sat around thinking 'what would Jesus do', and wrote him based on that--which all sounds like it might be nice, except a) Jordan stated Rand was not meant to be a Jesus-style messiah, but rather more of the human King Arthur-style messiah. And b) as Drekka said, it often feels way too forced, which alternatingly makes Rand seem sanctimonious and caricturistic.

 

Of course some have suggested Rand's zen-like new attitude may be a back lash from his time as Dark Rand, exposing him to manipulation and over-confidence, which I sort of hope will be the case because it would make him three-dimensional again. As it is I find him almost inhuman in his goodliness, which makes him unrelatable--and quite frankly, unlikeable. Divinity is always better in theory.

 

I dunno... just the way I feel, I guess.

 

Well, you can always hold on to that last bit in the epilogue where Rand is feeling all lustful for Cyndane.

Lol that line saved the book for me. It was like, "Yes! He's still Rand!"

 

I never saw Rand in books 6-12 as "dark" I saw him as uncompromisingly realistic and/or fatalistic. If that is dark, well, that is a discussion for another time. In the series, though, that ultra-realistic/fatalistic trait is generally protrayed as evil (Moridin is the example of this; a completely sane, reasonable and intelligent making the choice to which all of his logic forced him to go.) New, post VoG Rand, well, we never saw his PoV in ToM, so I don't think that we can really say _what_ he is like; he certainly acts different and his dialog is a bit, um, over-the-top, but remember the line when he visits the border lander army "If I had come here two weeks ago I would have Balefired all of you - the Guardains only block the One Power" That read to me as a bit of old Rand coming through, though slightly subdued.

 

 

Yeah, I do know the arguments, and I hold to the hope as well that what we see is not the truth--whether because Rand is in some way play acting, or because Rand himself has let his Dragonmount Therapy Session go to his head. The problem is that the scenes with Rand in TofM are among the most clumsily written scenes in the book, and therefore it is difficult to tell what might be Brandon giving us a clue that all is not as it seems, and what is just the result of post-VoG Rand exposition. I mean Brandon is hardly subtle when it comes to character work.

 

The Cyndane thing is definately the high point, though.