What will the World be like in the next Age?

[stoneface]

The Age of Legends (called the Second Age by some) had the One Power to "fuel" non-polluting technology, and no Bore. The WOT is set in the next Age (called the Third Age by some), apparently at the end of that Age; saidar is available but saidin is tainted, and the Bore is patched; mankind is in retreat and mostly "Middle Ages" technology. There are definite indications that a new Age will start in the aftermath of TG, presumably in the ending of aMoL. What will the new Age be like? No, I don't expect the "Fourth Age" to resemble our own world.

 

Because of the numbers of red herrings in the series so far, I think in terms of (1) expected, (2) possible, and (3) speculative. No guarantee that aMoL will actually address these predictions, of course. I offer one or two of each; feel free to respond or to add on your own.

 

Expected: Min's viewings - there will be others with her visions.

 

Expected: Wolf brothers (and presumably wolf sisters) will become common.

 

Possible: Technology - the ideas that started in Rand's schools survive the new Breaking and take root.

 

Possible: Mankind - will start to spread out and reclaim lost lands. More likely than "technology" above, but less likely to be in aMoL.

 

Speculative: One Power - all forms of the Power are no longer accessible. Among other things, Moiraine's remark about "making the world dance to our tune" foreshadows this. I make no guesses about how, just about the result. (Yes, I know that this speculation may unsettle many forum members who are already practicing surrendering to saidar or wresting saidin, but don't worry, you are just on the forefront of the next Age.)

[algspkr]

The Age of Legends (called the Second Age by some) had the One Power to "fuel" non-polluting technology, and no Bore. The WOT is set in the next Age (called the Third Age by some), apparently at the end of that Age; saidar is available but saidin is tainted, and the Bore is patched; mankind is in retreat and mostly "Middle Ages" technology. There are definite indications that a new Age will start in the aftermath of TG, presumably in the ending of aMoL. What will the new Age be like? No, I don't expect the "Fourth Age" to resemble our own world.

 

Because of the numbers of red herrings in the series so far, I think in terms of (1) expected, (2) possible, and (3) speculative. No guarantee that aMoL will actually address these predictions, of course. I offer one or two of each; feel free to respond or to add on your own.

 

Expected: Min's viewings - there will be others with her visions.

I expect this will happen, especially as Min begins to develope a more practical use for it in the second half of the series with her "may be" viewings.

Expected: Wolf brothers (and presumably wolf sisters) will become common.

I doubt it. I believe there may be one or two more generations where they show up but it is an aboration thrown up by the wheel during the transition period between ages, I would not be surprised to learn that the same thing happened between our age and the AoL as there are surviving legends of wolfbrothers in the AoL which seem to provide more and better information to Moiraine than a complete library of our closest legends, Warewolfs.

Possible: Technology - the ideas that started in Rand's schools survive the new Breaking and take root.

The new breaking is not going to be geological upheaval as it was in the Time of Madness. Rather it will be a continuation of the present human upheaval. Rand has begun to instill a more libral attitude in the lands he rules. I believe Mat will, with help, convince Tuon to liberate, or at least stop the continuation of dominae. The technology is already starting to spread, and developements are being made outside of Rand's schools. The prolifferation of technology will contribute to the new breaking.

Possible: Mankind - will start to spread out and reclaim lost lands. More likely than "technology" above, but less likely to be in aMoL.

It is already starting with the Return.

Speculative: One Power - all forms of the Power are no longer accessible. Among other things, Moiraine's remark about "making the world dance to our tune" foreshadows this. I make no guesses about how, just about the result. (Yes, I know that this speculation may unsettle many forum members who are already practicing surrendering to saidar or wresting saidin, but don't worry, you are just on the forefront of the next Age.)

I do not see a signifigant tragedy to more of the main charectors which this most definately would be, and with the cleansing of sadin the culling will stop and the number of channellers will again increase. If the One Power does vanish in the fourth age it will take at least a thousand years, probably closer to two.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Expected: Min's viewings - there will be others with her visions.

 

Expected: Wolf brothers (and presumably wolf sisters) will become common.

 

I agree with both of those, if you mean that Wolfbrothers will become more common. I'm not sure that they will ever be a majority of the populace or anything, but there will be more of them.

 

Possible: Technology - the ideas that started in Rand's schools survive the new Breaking and take root.

 

Very probable.

 

Possible: Mankind - will start to spread out and reclaim lost lands. More likely than "technology" above, but less likely to be in aMoL.

 

Almost certain, since I think the Bore is the cause of the decline in birth-rates seen in Randland.

 

Speculative: One Power - all forms of the Power are no longer accessible. Among other things, Moiraine's remark about "making the world dance to our tune" foreshadows this. I make no guesses about how, just about the result. (Yes, I know that this speculation may unsettle many forum members who are already practicing surrendering to saidar or wresting saidin, but don't worry, you are just on the forefront of the next Age.)

 

I would promote this from Speculative to Probable. The percentage of channelers in the population has been steadily decreasing, and Jordan has said more than once that things change drastically from Age to Age.

 

I picture the Fourth Age as the source of our Atlantis-type myths. Shamanistic connections with animals, prophecy and oracles, combined with a different kind of technology than we use in our Age (which, in my thinking, is probably the Sixth Age). A largely peaceful world with the Dark One's influence removed.

 

Anyway, there's alot of speculation in that.

[Thor]

I think that one power may become inaccessible.

 

Technology will take off, that is certain.

 

I don't think Wolfbrother and talents such as Min's viewings will become common, that is against technology.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Min, and the sniffers, and wolfbrothers appearing are all highly indicative, you know. New abilities, for this Age, are appearing, and that in itself indicates great changes coming. Great changes underway. Min's abilities will not remain unique; we have already seen one wolfbrother besides Perrin and Elyas, though a pitiful soul who couldn't master his gift, and there will be other sniffers. The Age is changing. The Wheel never stands still.

 

Thats from Jordan, here: http://www.wotmania.com/faqtopic.asp?ID=152 (from the answer to question 16 in the August 17th, 2004 - January 25th, 2005 section)

 

That would seem to indicate to me that the "new" things appearing at the end of this Age are the things that will become more common in the next Age, and that the things dwindling at the end of this Age are things that will disappear in the next Age, making Pattern-viewing prophecy and Wolf-siblings (for lack of a better term) the wave of the future, so to speak. And giving the hint that channeling will not be available for long (of course, in terms of Ages, a few hundred years is "not that long"). I would tend to think that channeling would become unavailable because people lose the ability, not because the Power that drives Time itself is somehow "inaccessible".

 

I don't see why any of those things would be incompatible with technology. In fact, they would help technology develop differently from the way it has in "our" Age.

[Thor]

Don't tell me you're going all minority report on us. :lol: Even in the movie/film itself, it has been proven to have flaws.

 

How is wolfbrother good for technology? Maybe you want to track someone down? But then, you can just use satelites and infrared and stuff.

[Jellybelly]

Give one good reason why it should be one or the other, Thor.

[Thor]

Technology is better, is that good enough a reason?

 

edit: or maybe Wolfbrother is better?

 

You only use the better one, don't mix them up, this is not trading, don't use what's his name's theory about how trading brings more efficiency. (But then again, who knows.) And since we know that Technology is on the rise, it is only logical that talents is going to drop.

[Jellybelly]

I do not think that is logical at all, nor is your argument. I also do not see how wolfkinship is detrimental to technology, nor how technology is intrinsically "better". We have no way of knowing how the Wheel designs these things, making your speculations quite baseless, in my opinion.

 

Additionally, we are reading Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, not Thor's The Wheel of Time. It strange in my view when you find you have grounds to go against a direct quote from the author himself. The quote given by RobertAW quite clearly states that the "exclusive" skills of Min and Perrin will be more widespread. This fits nicely with the idea that the Fourth Age will take a different direction than the one seen in the books, as well as a direction which might be unfamiliar seen in the light of our own history. Your argument against this is extremely weak, as I see it, as the only basis you provide is very ad hoc and impressionistic comments on how "technology is better" and "it [wolfkinship] is against technology".

[CandymanGT-]

How is wolfbrother good for technology? Maybe you want to track someone down? But then, you can just use satelites and infrared and stuff.

 

Just because we have cars doesn't mean we never walk anywhere.

 

There's no reason why the two can't live side by side quite happily.

[Thor]

Walking actually has some practicallities (sp?), eg some places are too close to drive, some places have no parking, etc. Give a scenario where Wolfbrother will be more practical.

[CandymanGT-]

In a powercut.

When you've left your technology at home.

When the technology costs money but you've got the talent for free.

When you want to talk to a wolf (not sure what you can buy to let you do that)

 

But most of all. Nobody chooses this talent off the shelf. It's not a question of choosing to have it. It is (In RJ's words)"something recently returned to the Pattern after Ages of absence"

 

The fact that we have technology doesn't change the fact that some of us can roll our tongue and some can't. It's just something you are born with. Even if it is pretty useless.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Walking actually has some practicallities (sp?), eg some places are too close to drive, some places have no parking, etc. Give a scenario where Wolfbrother will be more practical.

 

Well, if there are several of them, they can have meetings in the wolfdream, which kicks the crap out of any telecommunications system I know. Thats one of several possibilities.

 

Its ludicrous to think that technology excludes those talents. A HOUSE is a form of technology, and there are plenty of those around when Perrin becomes a wolfbrother. Nobody said the technology they develop would be exactly the same as ours. In fact, I said:

 

In fact, they would help technology develop differently from the way it has in "our" Age.

 

Since viewing the Pattern and being a Wolfbrother might help them develop technologies WE DON'T HAVE, I can't really tell you what they would be, or why they would be cooler. But, if I run into any Wolfbrothers, I'll ask.

[Thor]

Also about these strange abilities and things, I have a feeling that perhaps some people really were able to do these things back in the dark or middle ages.

 

However, with the purging of heresy and all that, the ability may have been culled from our world. Much like the ability to channel was drastically reduced in randland due to culling of male channelers.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Also about these strange abilities and things, I have a feeling that perhaps some people really were able to do these things back in the dark or middle ages.

 

You think people could view the Pattern and enter the Wolf Dream in the Middle Ages?

 

-raising one eyebrow very slowly, and reaching for the thorazine-

[Thor]

No, but they could probably tell the future and yeah, maybe communicate with animals to a certain degree.

[Jellybelly]

Yeah, all evidence points to that.

 

:roll:

[Thor]

Owww, now you're going all techno on me, I thought you didn't support the techno idea that I have a few posts back. why suddenly now so adament in repelling the possibility of talents in the dark ages?

[Gentled Ben]

Well, you can make a case for Thor's argument by pointing out that most myths and legends have their basis in fact, and we certainly went through a well-documented age in which people who were suspected of or actualy displayed any tendencies toward the inexplicable were "culled."

 

Didn't we all recognize Perrin's condition as the basis of our werewolf myths? Thor, if I follow him correctly, is just sayng, "Well, maybe once upon a time, something like that WAS possible or DID happen, but society freaked out and killed off everybody that could do it, thereby culling the genetic recessive gene from the human pool."

 

I didn't take him to be saying that things from the story really happened in RL, just that maybe, things that the story bases some of its ideas on (like lycanthropy) really happened for a while.

[RobertAlexWillis]

-sigh ... getting a second dose of thorazine-

[Thor]

Well' date=' you can make a case for Thor's argument by pointing out that most myths and legends have their basis in fact, and we certainly went through a well-documented age in which people who were suspected of or actualy displayed any tendencies toward the inexplicable were "culled."

 

Didn't we all recognize Perrin's condition as the basis of our werewolf myths? Thor, if I follow him correctly, is just sayng, "Well, maybe once upon a time, something like that WAS possible or DID happen, but society freaked out and killed off everybody that could do it, thereby culling the genetic recessive gene from the human pool."

 

I didn't take him to be saying that things from the story really happened in RL, just that maybe, things that the story bases some of its ideas on (like lycanthropy) really happened for a while.[/quote']

 

And who's to say it's not true? Did you live in the dark/middle ages? And do you deny that many people were killed for no reason in the dark/middle ages? (mostly for the profits of a small number of people I would imagine, nobles or people higher up always use the peasants to do their dirty work)

[Gentled Ben]

Why are you arguing with me? I defended your point.

[RobertAlexWillis]

And who's to say it's not true?

 

Every credible historian.

 

Did you live in the dark/middle ages?

 

No, and neither did you. Some of the historians whose books I've read did though.

 

And do you deny that many people were killed for no reason in the dark/middle ages?

 

No, I don't deny that. What I deny is that such a thing is evidence that there used to be real Wolfbrothers and Pattern-readers.

 

(mostly for the profits of a small number of people I would imagine, nobles or people higher up always use the peasants to do their dirty work)

 

OK, I can buy those reasons. Again, how is that evidence that the fictional powers Jordan writes about actually existed?

 

This is truly ridiculous. You've been watching way too many movies.

[Thor]

Why are you arguing with me? I defended your point.

 

really? :P oops sorry.

 

there is no question in my mind that there were people with slightly strange abilities in those old days, just as there are people with super strong teeth and can generate electricity from their body in our days. You are just close minded, RobertAlexWillis.

[RobertAlexWillis]

there is no question in my mind that there were people with slightly strange abilities in those old days

 

Just because there's no question in your mind, doesn't make it so. Give me one teeny, tiny bit of proof.