The game of Sha'rah

[Shig]

The game of Sha'rah, a game that was ancient in the Age of legends, sort of the ancestor of stones in the 3rd age, what is going on here?

 

The Fisher King, a black and white piece with a bandage blinding it's eyes and one hand pressed to it's side with drops of blood dripping through the fingers, obviousy resembles or symbolises Rand. Morindin ponders that it may have been designed on a previous dragon incarnation, but why would it symbolise Rand so very very obviously, both figuritvley(the theory that he was blind to what he was doing/becoming, and his blood on the rock of Shayol Ghul) and literally, his vision problems after the encounter with Semmirhage and his side wounds. As far as we have been told, in regards to the details of LTT life(limited as they are), the Fisher king doesnt resemble the dragon in his previous incarnation, Lews Therin(although arguably LTT's actions of going ahead with attempting to seal the bore without saidar was alittle shortsighted, as obviously it wouldnt work[almost from the get go the concept that the greatest act's utilise both Saidin and Saidar-------Balance of all things]).

 

Furthermore, im not quite sure how to express this, but the gist of it is that we are presented with a sutle reminder that those individuals of some prominence play stones, Thom, Mat, Tuon(Fortuna, or however it's spelt) Gareth Byrne, i think rand may have played it in a scene or two(don't quote me on that). In Book 8, for the first time i beleive, Moridin introduces us to the link between Stones and Sha 'Rah, the first time we hear of this link(i think although i'm reluctant to state this, because it sounds like a little fact the Moiranine, Thom or maybe even Lan may have tossed out early in the books). The description of the Fisher king is that its attributes change quite dramatically depending on which colour tile it is on(black or white), but i'd also like to throw in that the two preferable ways to win(from what moridin says, although he may have been refering to a real life situation,) is too move the Fisher king from the black and white(symbolic maybe?) onto the outside layer of colours, could potentially symbolise the last battle and possibly the way for the dragon to finally win(killing the dark one, but due to the whole concept of balance, saidin v saidar, male v female, dark v light etc this is sort of unlikly).

 

Finally, the Fisher king as some would know is a figure from Arthurian legends, incharge of keeping the Holy Grail. BTW, another name for the fisher king is the Wounded King

 

So what do you guys reckon, was Robert Jordan sort of hinting at something? something he's been doing throughout the series

 

Furthermore, does anyone have any theories as to why the fisher king resembles rand so blatantly, and what this symbolisim means(in regards to the fact that it exists)

 

Opinions?

[Mr Ares]

The Sha'rah game is used as a metaphor for the conflict between the Light and the Shadow. Moridin notes that there are three ways to win - control the Fisher (subvert Rand to the Shadow), force the Fisher to do what you want (have a Light-aligned Rand who furthers the Shadow's plans) and total destruction. Moridin notes that the one time he did try to go for all out carnage it didn't end well - a reference to his attack on Rand in TDR. In ToM, we see "Dark Rand" - a Rand who is still nominally on the side of the Light, but whose actions can be seen as destructive, and in some ways helpful to the Shadow. Hence why the Shadow isn't solely focused on killing Rand - he can serve them in life, even if he won't join the Shadow. So we can determine the Shadow's grand strategy from this game.

[yoniy0]

However, it is fairly clear that Rand now believes the only avenue open to the Shadow is an open war (i.e., the method Moridin never managed).

 

PS Mr Ares, why do you believe Moridin (or RJ) referred to his attempt on Rand's life at the end of TDR? To me, this is foreshadowing of what's to come, not a reference to past events (except the actual game Ishamael lost, I guess).

[GYLD]

PS Mr Ares, why do you believe Moridin (or RJ) referred to his attempt on Rand's life at the end of TDR? To me, this is foreshadowing of what's to come, not a reference to past events (except the actual game Ishamael lost, I guess).

 

Moridin describes the experience of his failed attempt as painful. That's an odd choice of words if Moridin is simply reminiscing over something as mundane as a board game. Moridin also immediately flips out after thinking over his failed attempt, nearly crushing his Mindtraps, which again, is an odd reaction over a board game.

[yoniy0]

I have to say, I don't read it that way at all. Not at all. It has no value as a metaphor if it's not actually something that happened to him while playing the game. Using a fight with Rand to symbolize a grander fight with Rand? Doesn't work for me.

 

As to the points you raise, I would definitely use 'painful' to describe a game in which I was defeated. As in (and this is a true story) "my grandpa obliterated me in canasta today. It was painful". And, Moridin had reason enough to lose his calm there.

[Mr Ares]

PS Mr Ares, why do you believe Moridin (or RJ) referred to his attempt on Rand's life at the end of TDR? To me, this is foreshadowing of what's to come, not a reference to past events (except the actual game Ishamael lost, I guess).

Because it fits with what hapened. We saw Ishamael attempt to kill Rand, and he died in the attempt, which is something I feel I'm fairly safe in calling a painful failure.

[spoke]

His failure that ended painfully, IMO is referring to his defeat in the Age of Legends. They tried to obliterate the light side completely, but the strike at Shayol Guhl ended that quite painfully.

[yoniy0]

As you say, there was more than once that Ishamael attempted to kill the Dragon, rather than turn or force him. That painful failure was on-of-a-kind. I strongly believe that he's talking about a past Sha'rah game. It ties very well with the metaphor used in that section.