Ages

[Mr Ares]

I don't see why saidin couldn't be tainted in the middle of an Age.

[olso4644]

I always assumed the AOL and Randtime were one age. They remember too much of the AOL for it to be a previous age. I can see the characters thinking of AOL as a previous "age" but so much of the world set up is the same. I mean, thinking about Ishydin having lived through 20% of one age and 70% of another age... doesn't seem right. Also, doesn't Brigette set a good example of people being reborn multiple times in one age?

 

This is exactly why I find this topic frustrating. There's too much about the Ages we don't know. There's nothing to indicate that there's any sort of average length of time for Ages. Who's to say "they remember too much of the AOL for it to be a previous Age"? Like what is that based on? There's certainly nothing to indicate that everything is forgotten from one Age to another. In fact, the infamous opening paragraph only indicates that myth will be forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again...ie, a complete turning of the Wheel. The point is, we don't have much to compare. I'm inclined to believe the Age of Legends is the Second Age. That glossary quote does a lot to convince me, as the glossary information isn't really subject to wrong/misinformation the way some of the characters are (that I can recall, correct me if I'm wrong by all means).

 

As far as the creation of the Wheel goes, I firmly believe this will remain a paradox unless Sanderson ever decides to weigh in (and on this type of subject he'd probably stay mum). Sure, there are plenty of times where we're told the Creator created the Wheel of Time, but at the beginning of every book we're told there are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel. If the Creator created the Wheel, there was a beginning. But the book says there are no beginnings. These two statements are irreconcilable barring more information. You can theorize, sure, like the idea of a Big Bang/Big Crunch universe that is destroyed and created eternally (which does solve some questions). But there's not much to prove one way or the other. Most of this type of questioning Wheel of Time cosmology is totally speculative with how little we know from the books and other resources like the Guide and the various RJ/BS interviews.

 

 

There aren't any beginnings nor endings to the TURNING of the wheel. Turning being the key word. Turning comes after creation.

[Leyrann]

I don't see why saidin couldn't be tainted in the middle of an Age.

 

It's just too important to just be something little in the middle of an Age. Not to mention that there are still legends about the last age. Things about the time before the AoL can surely not be called legend. Myth at most. And we still got five ages to go before the AoL is forgotten.

[Tud]

Has anyone determined how an Age ends? I mean we know that the AOL ended, but when exactly and how was this moment determined. We know that this Age is ending but when will it occur and how will it be marked ?

 

I know that one of the Heroes of The Horn is supposed to presage the ending, but how does he do it ..Especially since he's a spirit and if he needs to be re-borm to effectuate the change, why hasn't he been in this instance?

 

tud

[Agitel]

I don't believe there is a definitive marker. The wheel turns smoothly from Age to Age with no exact moment of transition.

[FarShainMael]

As far as the creation of the Wheel goes, I firmly believe this will remain a paradox unless Sanderson ever decides to weigh in (and on this type of subject he'd probably stay mum). Sure, there are plenty of times where we're told the Creator created the Wheel of Time, but at the beginning of every book we're told there are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel. If the Creator created the Wheel, there was a beginning. But the book says there are no beginnings. These two statements are irreconcilable barring more information. You can theorize, sure, like the idea of a Big Bang/Big Crunch universe that is destroyed and created eternally (which does solve some questions). But there's not much to prove one way or the other. Most of this type of questioning Wheel of Time cosmology is totally speculative with how little we know from the books and other resources like the Guide and the various RJ/BS interviews.

 

Look at it like this.

 

Time is not independent of the WoTverse; it is part of it, and therefore, like everything else in that domain, must be a product of the Creator.

 

You can't assign the creation of time to a point in time. So you can't ask 'when was time created' - or, for that matter, 'where was space created'.

 

It must therefore be the case that the Creator's own time-equivalent is different and distinct from that of His creation. Think of a super-Programmer writing a computer game. Game time is not the same as Programmer time.

 

(my brain hurts.........)

[Sloth]

The Creator is the reason why time exists. You can't hold the Creator subject to an entity/principle that he/she transcends. It is for this reason that time is considered an infinite dimension (since it defines itself, there are no beginnings or endings).

[Child Olaf]

After the Creator defeated the Dark One in their timeless battle through the "Chaos" or "Darkness" before the order of Time, the Creator made the Wheel to be the Dark One's neverending prison. Time is created to loop back on itself and thus have no ending to serve as a permanent prison for this troublesome Dark One. To escape his prison, the Dark One must destroy the Wheel. The Wheel is the prison, the Wheel is time, Time is the prison.

 

Does that make sense? It made sense before I started typing...

[Mr Ares]

I don't see why saidin couldn't be tainted in the middle of an Age.

 

It's just too important to just be something little in the middle of an Age. Not to mention that there are still legends about the last age. Things about the time before the AoL can surely not be called legend. Myth at most. And we still got five ages to go before the AoL is forgotten.

I never said it was something little. It can still be a massive event in the middle of an Age.

[Vermillion]

The time thing does make things difficult to explain. But the DO does operate inside time.

 

The question I've always had if there is no beginning nor end how does the DO escape since he admited himself he operates inside time. He's already failed in his infinite attempts. The only answer I had was that he creates a paradox or breaks a paradox by breaking the wheel thus killing time. Isn't he know as serpent killer or something like that?

[Terrapin]

Jörmungandr==> Snake biting its own tail may signify eternity or at least a redundent process till Ragnarök. blinding the eye==> would process proceed in the same manner or would fail safes begin to falture after subsequent repeat attempts at breaking the process (seven ages or attempts to break)? Sightblinder, may emphasis the DO's objective of breaking a repeating cycle. If broken, then what will time look like? Nothingness/Oblivian or an alternative flow of time. All conjecture but always fun......cheers