Third Age = First Age

[Angel of Death]

I thought of this while writing my "AoL is us" post.

 

I see the 'Third Age', as it is called by some, is really the first age of the wheel.

 

I see it this way.

 

The AoL was the peak of human civilisation, this is like the final(seventh?) age. So throughout the turning of the wheel, civilisation grows (tech wise and society), then falls back again.

 

I remember reading that the 'First' age, was a time of war, and we know the AoL was a time of peace (until the War of Shadow). I believe the technology they had in the AoL (see my post mentioned above), would have been like that of the 'First Age' so maybe we are the first age (contradicting my other post i know), i mean, our world isn't exatcly at peace know. Maybe the 'Third' age is just called so, because absoulutly no inoformation is known from the age before the 'First'.

 

Any thoughts.

[Toman Zahere]

I've always pictured the first age being one where there is no Aes Sedai or channellers. Nobody knows anything about the One Power or possibly the Dark One as well. It's during this age or it sets of the beginning of the next age when the One Power is discovered and people start learning to channel.

 

I could agree with you about the state of technology being at a similar level as it is in Randland.

[Graendals favourite]

This would fit in with the Randlanders still having tales of our times, as in Thom's stories in the beginning, Lenn and Salya, the Giant Mosk and his wars with Elsbet the Queen of all, Materese the Mother of the wondrous Ind, and the like.

 

Wars or ecological disasters could easily bring an end to our age soon, so the Age of Legends would start with people basing technology on the non-polluting One Power once it's discovered. I mean as an example that comes to mind.

[Garat Jax]

I've always pictured the first age being one where there is no Aes Sedai or channellers. Nobody knows anything about the One Power or possibly the Dark One as well. It's during this age or it sets of the beginning of the next age when the One Power is discovered and people start learning to channel.

 

I could agree with you about the state of technology being at a similar level as it is in Randland.

 

That's an interesting thought. i'd always kind of assumed that Channellers would always be present thorough out the ages, maybe not always very apparent but there never the less. That would make the AoL something of a Golden age, followed by the breaking of the seal (and the world) and all that follows as a rough equivalent of the Dark Ages. Which brings us to the WoT series itself as possablly the begining of a "Channelling renaissance" period.

[dalic]

I have wondered about the One Power use in different ages. What if the use varies from max use in AoL to minimum use in something like the age we would be in now? Part of my wonderings concern the stedding. What if in our age the stedding is all there is? But something happens in a future age that breaks the stedding it starts to recede into pockets around the world until in Randland they are almost gone completely.

[Angel of Death]

Glad to see some comments.

 

Yeah, we are on the verge of a huge world change, in more ways than one. This could let us build into the Age of Legends. How technology isn't quite there yet but...