Who *are* you, Nakomi? (Full spoilers)

[yoniy0]

We got very little in the way of hints about Nakomi in AMoL, but their location make this thread full-spoilers by necessity.

 

So, let's have it. Did anyone glean anything about Nakomi that we didn't know before AMoL?

 

PS

If you want another poll-option, let me know.

[Dryone]

If you accept that Nakomi shows up in the end when Rand leaves the Pit of Doom, all forsaken incl. Taim are impossible: they are all inconvenienced at that time.

[fionwe1987]

We got very little in the way of hints about Nakomi in AMoL, but their location make this thread full-spoilers by necessity.

 

So, let's have it. Did anyone glean anything about Nakomi that we didn't know before AMoL?

 

PS

If you want another poll-option, let me know.

It seems to me that the powers she displays in ToM were akin to what Rand did in the end with his pipe, as well as how he made food taste good again. She seemed to have managed to add more coals to the fire, and make delicious food. Plus, the inspiration for her comes from deep in RJ's notes on Rand. All this suggests there is a connection to Rand. 

 

Another thing to note is that Nakomi's name is an obvious derivative of Nokomis, an Iroquois name meaning "Daughter of the Moon" as well as "Grandmother". These names can fit Lanfear very well, but even though I can imagine a situation where she wants the Aiel to survive, I can't see her helping Aviendha of all people, nor can she possibly have said anything to Rand when he came out of SG (she was dead by then).

 

The only other character that can be called Daughter of the Moon, and Grand Mother, is Egwene. I really resist this idea, because for Nakomi to be Egwene, we'd need to have time travel involved.

 

But consider these quotes:

 

Startlingly, a smile bloomed on Sorilea's leathery face. Her multitude of bracelets clattered as she shifted her shawl in a satisfied manner. "You see? I told you she would understand. She could be Aiel."

 

If you take what you did to meet your toh and make it so it might as well never have happened, how have you met toh? Remember your Aiel heart, girl.

 

She wished her Aiel heart and her Two Rivers head could get together.

 

Its been constantly remarked that Egwene could easily be Aiel. She even considers that she has an Aiel heart... could she just be Aiel at heart?

 

And then there's the manner of her death. One way or another, her weave plays with time. Its supposed to freeze someone in time, but what if it does more? After all, there are ripple effects to balefire's burning of threads back in time. What if there are ripple effects to the Flame too? What if, instead of unspooling the Pattern, using the Flame does the opposite, and creates events in the past that allow the Pattern to be stabilized in the future? 

 

This is admittedly so far out as to be ridiculous. But perhaps by this or some other mechanism, Egwene was actually there for Aviendha and the Aiel, and is responsible for the remnant of the remnant (the heart of the Aiel?) surviving?

 

And her role with Rand in the end also would make sense. We had a lot of foreshadowing of Egwene "killing" Rand. Instead, she nudges him along the path that will "help him die" but not kill him.

 

So, my theory is this: Nakomi is an ancient name, referring to a soul that's a counterpart to the Dragon's. She complements his purpose (as did Egwene), and also has strong ties to the Aiel. Perhaps her last birth was as an Aiel Wise One, and this is the form she choses to take even after her death in this life. After the death of Egwene's body, perhaps because of the manner of her death, Nakomi was able to do several things. Firstly, as Egwene, she conversed with Rand about death. Then she saw to the Aiel. Then she returned one last time to nudge Rand towards his "death".

 

And a little bit more to hint at a connection:

 

"If you'll excuse me," Nakomi said. "I need to see to nature."

 

In that moment—maiming, destroying, bringing death upon the enemy— she felt as if she were one with the land itself. That she was doing the work it had longed for someone to do for so long. The Blight, and the Shadowspawn it grew, were a disease. An infection. Egwene—afire with the One Power, a blazing beacon of death and judgment—was the cauterizing flame that would bring healing to the land.

 

Egwene does seem to "see to nature" quite a bit in aMoL.

 

Anyway, this is admittedly a whacky theory. Feel free not to add Egwene to the voting list. But... thoughts?

[Spainard]

There were 3 topics BS was not allowed to speak about in TOR's interview.

 

The first 1 was who/what Nakomi is.

 

We'll probably find out more once the encyclopedia comes out.

 

As for the choices in the poll you need to add "none of the above"

[Morden]

Egwene's Parallel from a previous turning of the wheel, wouldnt be that much of a stretch. She wasnt bound as a Hero of the Horn, could there be a reason for that? 

 

Could be that it will be Egwene rather than Nakomi in the next turning talking to the next Dragon Reborn.

 

I dont think Nakomi is the creator because quite frankly why would she involve herself with the Aiel. A previous age Egwene equivalent would involve herself though and she would tell the last vestiges of her former friend that he did well.

[Hellgrammite]

 

We got very little in the way of hints about Nakomi in AMoL, but their location make this thread full-spoilers by necessity.

 

So, let's have it. Did anyone glean anything about Nakomi that we didn't know before AMoL?

 

PS

If you want another poll-option, let me know.

It seems to me that the powers she displays in ToM were akin to what Rand did in the end with his pipe, as well as how he made food taste good again. She seemed to have managed to add more coals to the fire, and make delicious food. Plus, the inspiration for her comes from deep in RJ's notes on Rand. All this suggests there is a connection to Rand. 

 

Another thing to note is that Nakomi's name is an obvious derivative of Nokomis, an Iroquois name meaning "Daughter of the Moon" as well as "Grandmother". These names can fit Lanfear very well, but even though I can imagine a situation where she wants the Aiel to survive, I can't see her helping Aviendha of all people, nor can she possibly have said anything to Rand when he came out of SG (she was dead by then).

 

The only other character that can be called Daughter of the Moon, and Grand Mother, is Egwene. I really resist this idea, because for Nakomi to be Egwene, we'd need to have time travel involved.

 

But consider these quotes:

 

 

>Startlingly, a smile bloomed on Sorilea's leathery face. Her multitude of bracelets clattered as she shifted her shawl in a satisfied manner. "You see? I told you she would understand. She could be Aiel."

 

 

 

If you take what you did to meet your toh and make it so it might as well never have happened, how have you met toh? Remember your Aiel heart, girl.

 

 

 

She wished her Aiel heart and her Two Rivers head could get together.

 

 

Its been constantly remarked that Egwene could easily be Aiel. She even considers that she has an Aiel heart... could she just be Aiel at heart?

 

And then there's the manner of her death. One way or another, her weave plays with time. Its supposed to freeze someone in time, but what if it does more? After all, there are ripple effects to balefire's burning of threads back in time. What if there are ripple effects to the Flame too? What if, instead of unspooling the Pattern, using the Flame does the opposite, and creates events in the past that allow the Pattern to be stabilized in the future? 

 

This is admittedly so far out as to be ridiculous. But perhaps by this or some other mechanism, Egwene was actually there for Aviendha and the Aiel, and is responsible for the remnant of the remnant (the heart of the Aiel?) surviving?

 

And her role with Rand in the end also would make sense. We had a lot of foreshadowing of Egwene "killing" Rand. Instead, she nudges him along the path that will "help him die" but not kill him.

 

So, my theory is this: Nakomi is an ancient name, referring to a soul that's a counterpart to the Dragon's. She complements his purpose (as did Egwene), and also has strong ties to the Aiel. Perhaps her last birth was as an Aiel Wise One, and this is the form she choses to take even after her death in this life. After the death of Egwene's body, perhaps because of the manner of her death, Nakomi was able to do several things. Firstly, as Egwene, she conversed with Rand about death. Then she saw to the Aiel. Then she returned one last time to nudge Rand towards his "death".

 

And a little bit more to hint at a connection:

 

 

"If you'll excuse me," Nakomi said. "I need to see to nature."

 

 

 

In that moment—maiming, destroying, bringing death upon the enemy— she felt as if she were one with the land itself. That she was doing the work it had longed for someone to do for so long. The Blight, and the Shadowspawn it grew, were a disease. An infection. Egwene—afire with the One Power, a blazing beacon of death and judgment—was the cauterizing flame that would bring healing to the land.

 

 

Egwene does seem to "see to nature" quite a bit in aMoL.

 

Anyway, this is admittedly a whacky theory. Feel free not to add Egwene to the voting list. But... thoughts?

 

I like it.  Very interesting, especially the part about it being a counterpart to balefire.  I bet you many of the answers we seek will be revealed when we see these issues in the light of Jordan's fundemental concept of this series, the idea of balance.  

One or the other alone doens't work well, but together things are as they should be.

[Luckers]

She's nothing but a piece of intrigue placed in the books for the fans to be intrigued about. This is made clear by three things.

 

1. Her existence was not something RJ plotted for this book but something based on something Brandon found 'deep in the notes'. Which leads us to two.

2. Brandon has disavowed using the notes--rather, when he needs something, he goes and asks Maria, who does the research.

3. She didn't really do anything. Or rather, she did nothing that wouldn't have occurred just as easily without her presence.

 

Brandon needed something (a mystery for the fans, perhaps--one may note his likening of Nakomi's role to the fandom with Asmodean's), went to Maria who provided him with something he could use, and ultimately the entire thing had little to no plot relevance.

[Kil]

I was thinking that Nakomi's brief appearance in the epilogue was written by RJ, and then Brandon had to go "deep in the notes" to figure out who this random Aiel woman who Rand sees after coming out of Shayol Ghul was supposed to be, and then went and added her appearance in TOM so that she doesn't come completely out of nowhere in AMOL.

[Suttree]

@kil

 

That isn't correct. The concept was based on something found deep in the notes. The character and scenes were all Brandon. RJ never wrote any of her parts.

 

Anyway we have this from a recent Q&A.

 

Regarding Nakomi: “With all of the homages to global myths/legends in WoT is it fair to consider Nakomi as a Wandering Jew/Jenn?” Brandon’s response: “That’s a very clever question that nobody has yet asked me. I’m not going to say more, however.”

[Lutrogale]

Nakomi seems like a  character BS put into the story because he thinks he's being very clever, but that nobody else really gets. Honestly, I feel whatever the real answer is will just seem random and out of place.

[Jul]

I voted for "Creator-Avator" but I also like the idea someone brought up about Nakomi being the previous Dragon to do what Rand did somehow still around (time travel, body trade, being super old, etc). I know Dragons are always male but that doesn't he can't be in a female body. Seems far-fetched still, but no more than the others =)

 

What ties does Verin have to Aiel?

[bond_bhai]

What about Nakomi being Rand's Dead Mother's spirit?

[Suttree]

The poll needs one more option.

 

Theory fodder.

[Rhiadon]

I found the similiarities between the Song of Hiawatha/Ojibwe legends to be quite fascinating. So I'm going to plop some of the intereting things here so that we can use them as discussion fodder. (Hiawatha being the name Schoolcraft used for the figure of legend instead of Manabohzo and then Longfellow used as well)

 

1. Nakomi is very similar to Nokomis, the grandmother of Hiawatha.

2. Nokomis is the Daughter of the Moon, falling from the moon in "unremembered ages"

3. Hiawatha's mother, Wenonah, dies in childbirth and was abandoned by Hiawatha's father Mudjekeewis (The West-Wind).

4. Hiawatha falls in love as a child with Minnehaha

5. Hiawatha's arrival is prophesied by Gitche Manito.

 

I've not really drawn any conclusions yet from any of this. These were just the interesting tidbits that jumped out at me. I plan to actually read the Song of Hiawatha and see if anythign else falls out.

 

I do have some early thoughts though.

 

There seems to be something to Nokomis falling from the moon in unremembered ages. The Sharom, the giant white sphere floating above the Collam Daan in the Age of Legends comes to mind, But it hasn't led me anywhere.

 

Hiawatha's mother dies in childbirth akin to Tigraine

 

Hiawatha falls in love with Minnehaha. Rand falls in love with Min.

 

Hiawatha's arrival is prophesied by Gitche Manito. Rand's is fortold by Gitara Moroso.

 

There's got to be more to this it seems.

 

Please feel free to pick apart my ideas so that maybe we can get somewhere with these ideas. This is a funn kind of mystery.

[Suttree]

Nakomis also was reponsible for dream catchers so there is the Tar connection as well.

[Beidomon]

I agree with Luckers. I don't really care who or what Nakomi was. We'll never know based on the books, but more importantly, she was irrelevant to the story. So not only is it an unsolvable "mystery" - it's an irrelevant one. Reminds me of another mystery that never seemed particularly relevant but sure kept the super fans busy....

[masaru]

She's nothing but a piece of intrigue placed in the books for the fans to be intrigued about. This is made clear by three things.

 

1. Her existence was not something RJ plotted for this book but something based on something Brandon found 'deep in the notes'. Which leads us to two.

2. Brandon has disavowed using the notes--rather, when he needs something, he goes and asks Maria, who does the research.

3. She didn't really do anything. Or rather, she did nothing that wouldn't have occurred just as easily without her presence.

 

Brandon needed something (a mystery for the fans, perhaps--one may note his likening of Nakomi's role to the fandom with Asmodean's), went to Maria who provided him with something he could use, and ultimately the entire thing had little to no plot relevance.

 

According to yesterday's twitter chat, the scene that includes Nakomi in AMOL was written by RJ: 

http://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/294203184098967552

 

 

Mike Cox ‏@Mikecox20 


@BrandSanderson would like to know how much of the last chapter was written by RJ and how much did you do? #TorChat 



 

Brandon Sanderson

Verified

‏@BrandSanderson

@Mikecox20 I did Perrin and some of the in-between writing with Loial. RJ did Mat, Rand, scene exiting the mountain, and others. #torchat

 

So that seems to say that RJ did "plot" her for this book.

Edited January 24, 2013 by masaru

[Suttree]

 

 

She's nothing but a piece of intrigue placed in the books for the fans to be intrigued about. This is made clear by three things.

 

1. Her existence was not something RJ plotted for this book but something based on something Brandon found 'deep in the notes'. Which leads us to two.

2. Brandon has disavowed using the notes--rather, when he needs something, he goes and asks Maria, who does the research.

3. She didn't really do anything. Or rather, she did nothing that wouldn't have occurred just as easily without her presence.

 

Brandon needed something (a mystery for the fans, perhaps--one may note his likening of Nakomi's role to the fandom with Asmodean's), went to Maria who provided him with something he could use, and ultimately the entire thing had little to no plot relevance.

According to yesterday's twitter chat, the scene that includes Nakomi in AMOL was written by RJ:

http://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/294203184098967552

Mike Cox ‏@Mikecox20 


@BrandSanderson would like to know how much of the last chapter was written by RJ and how much did you do? #TorChat 



 

Brandon Sanderson

Verified

‏@BrandSanderson

@Mikecox20 I did Perrin and some of the in-between writing with Loial. RJ did Mat, Rand, scene exiting the mountain, and others. #torchat

So that seems to say that RJ did "plot" her for this book.

No it doesn't and that response wasn't a complete answer. We know Brandon added a number of things. For instance the Cadsuane part of the epilogue was Brandon as well. Brandon has previously stated the character was his.

[Kil]

 

 

 

She's nothing but a piece of intrigue placed in the books for the fans to be intrigued about. This is made clear by three things.

 

1. Her existence was not something RJ plotted for this book but something based on something Brandon found 'deep in the notes'. Which leads us to two.

2. Brandon has disavowed using the notes--rather, when he needs something, he goes and asks Maria, who does the research.

3. She didn't really do anything. Or rather, she did nothing that wouldn't have occurred just as easily without her presence.

 

Brandon needed something (a mystery for the fans, perhaps--one may note his likening of Nakomi's role to the fandom with Asmodean's), went to Maria who provided him with something he could use, and ultimately the entire thing had little to no plot relevance.

According to yesterday's twitter chat, the scene that includes Nakomi in AMOL was written by RJ:

http://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/294203184098967552

 

Mike Cox ‏@Mikecox20 


@BrandSanderson would like to know how much of the last chapter was written by RJ and how much did you do? #TorChat 



 

Brandon Sanderson

Verified

‏@BrandSanderson

@Mikecox20 I did Perrin and some of the in-between writing with Loial. RJ did Mat, Rand, scene exiting the mountain, and others. #torchat

ockquote>

So that seems to say that RJ did "plot" her for this book.

No it doesn't and that response wasn't a complete answer. We know Brandon added a number of things. For instance the Cadsuane part of the epilogue was Brandon as well. Brandon has previously stated the character was his.

 

 

 

But it says right there that RJ did "Rand, scene exiting the mountain." That's the scene in which Nakomi appears. I know he broke up the later Rand POV to add in Cadsuane's, but I haven't seen anything that proves he added in Nakomi to the Epilogue. 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2013 by Kil

[fionwe1987]

 

 

 

She's nothing but a piece of intrigue placed in the books for the fans to be intrigued about. This is made clear by three things.

 

1. Her existence was not something RJ plotted for this book but something based on something Brandon found 'deep in the notes'. Which leads us to two.

2. Brandon has disavowed using the notes--rather, when he needs something, he goes and asks Maria, who does the research.

3. She didn't really do anything. Or rather, she did nothing that wouldn't have occurred just as easily without her presence.

 

Brandon needed something (a mystery for the fans, perhaps--one may note his likening of Nakomi's role to the fandom with Asmodean's), went to Maria who provided him with something he could use, and ultimately the entire thing had little to no plot relevance.

According to yesterday's twitter chat, the scene that includes Nakomi in AMOL was written by RJ:

http://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/294203184098967552

 

Mike Cox ‏@Mikecox20 


@BrandSanderson would like to know how much of the last chapter was written by RJ and how much did you do? #TorChat 



 

Brandon Sanderson

Verified

‏@BrandSanderson

@Mikecox20 I did Perrin and some of the in-between writing with Loial. RJ did Mat, Rand, scene exiting the mountain, and others. #torchat

ockquote>

So that seems to say that RJ did "plot" her for this book.

No it doesn't and that response wasn't a complete answer. We know Brandon added a number of things. For instance the Cadsuane part of the epilogue was Brandon as well. Brandon has previously stated the character was his.

 

 

He did say "scene exiting the mountain". And as it is written, the old Aiel woman is not called Nakomi, and can barely be called a character. If he added her to the Aviendha scene, then he's the one who wrote her as a character, gave her a name, and worked in the small clues to who she is, so that her appearance again at the end is not a total surprise.

 

That seems to make sense, to me.

Edited January 24, 2013 by fionwe1987

[BFG]

 

 

 

 

She's nothing but a piece of intrigue placed in the books for the fans to be intrigued about. This is made clear by three things.

 

1. Her existence was not something RJ plotted for this book but something based on something Brandon found 'deep in the notes'. Which leads us to two.

2. Brandon has disavowed using the notes--rather, when he needs something, he goes and asks Maria, who does the research.

3. She didn't really do anything. Or rather, she did nothing that wouldn't have occurred just as easily without her presence.

 

Brandon needed something (a mystery for the fans, perhaps--one may note his likening of Nakomi's role to the fandom with Asmodean's), went to Maria who provided him with something he could use, and ultimately the entire thing had little to no plot relevance.

According to yesterday's twitter chat, the scene that includes Nakomi in AMOL was written by RJ:

http://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/294203184098967552

> 

Mike Cox ‏@Mikecox20 


@BrandSanderson would like to know how much of the last chapter was written by RJ and how much did you do? #TorChat 



 

Brandon Sanderson

Verified

‏@BrandSanderson

@Mikecox20 I did Perrin and some of the in-between writing with Loial. RJ did Mat, Rand, scene exiting the mountain, and others. #torchat

ockquote>

So that seems to say that RJ did "plot" her for this book.lockquote>

No it doesn't and that response wasn't a complete answer. We know Brandon added a number of things. For instance the Cadsuane part of the epilogue was Brandon as well. Brandon has previously stated the character was his.

 

 

 

But it says right there that RJ did "Rand, scene exiting the mountain." That's the scene in which Nakomi appears. I know he broke up the later Rand POV to add in Cadsuane's, but I haven't seen anything that proves he added in Nakomi to the Epilogue. 

 

 

 

Except that technically speaking when Rand exits the mountain he speaks to a strange woman. We've identified her as Nakomi and BS has heavily implied that that's who it's meant to be, but as RJ didn't reference her by name she could have been meant to be a random person, and BS fleshed her out a little by giving us Nakomi in Towers.

 

EDIT: Ninja'd

Edited January 24, 2013 by BFG

[Kil]

Yeah, that's what I was saying. It looks to me from the quotes I've read on the subject like Brandon created Nakomi out of something found in the notes because he needed to set-up this mysterious Aiel-dressed woman RJ had talking to Rand as he comes out of Shayol Ghul.

[Suttree]

Some more comments from Peter on who wrote what...

 

Jim's ending includes Rand looking back and seeing Cadsuane watching him. Brandon wrote the intervening Cadsuane POV. It breaks up the flow a bit, but they determined this was the best way to include what happens in her POV.

I should also say, Rand's epilogue scene is the one Jim wrote in full, but he did leave summaries of where other characters ended up at the end of the book, plus a few lines of dialogue, and that's what Brandon built the last chapter and the rest of the epilogue from. Brandon said most of this in one of the interviews I did of him this week for various sites, so I think it's OK to say here.

[Mats Spare Hat]

Pff, isn't it obvious:

In AMoL, the case of Nakomi is used to represent Harriet, who is coaxing the 'hero' BS <ridiculous eye rolling> who is carrying the dead man 'RJ' to the end(of the story), from the Pit, where the conclusion of WoT, should the work of this series have gone unfinished, would have remained.

I loathe the analogy, it's retarded, but it stupidly, stupidly, sort of works.

[fionwe1987]

 

Some more comments from Peter on who wrote what...

 

Jim's ending includes Rand looking back and seeing Cadsuane watching him. Brandon wrote the intervening Cadsuane POV. It breaks up the flow a bit, but they determined this was the best way to include what happens in her POV.

 

I should also say, Rand's epilogue scene is the one Jim wrote in full, but he did leave summaries of where other characters ended up at the end of the book, plus a few lines of dialogue, and that's what Brandon built the last chapter and the rest of the epilogue from. Brandon said most of this in one of the interviews I did of him this week for various sites, so I think it's OK to say here.

Yes, and at the torchat, he confirmed that Perrin and Loial were his additions here. Cadsuane is mentioned as being seen in RJ's Rand PoV. Brandon interjected her PoV where she's made Amyrlin. I don't see any of this contradicting Brandon's statement that RJ wrote Rand's exit from Shayol Ghul.

 

Further, Brandon has said the entire Body-swap thing was RJ's, who left it deliberately mysterious. Do you really think Brandon would screw around with that and add a woman who tells Rand he's doing the right thing?