When Jordan said this

[udbabor520]

I need to find that qoute but I don't know where to look.

 

He said something like this: 'There was nothing important in this Age. / Nothing important happened in this Age.'

 

But he wrote 12 books about it. Can anybody explain this to me?

[Suttree]

Think this is what you are referring to and it matches up with his cosmology perfectly.

 

Interview: May, 2001
Marcon Report - Sorilea (Paraphrased)
Question
At one point in the story we see Ishamael talking to Rand, and telling him that they have fought countless times in the past, but this is the final time. Is there anything about his Age that makes it special?
Robert Jordan
"No...every Age is repeated, there is nothing that makes this age any different from any other turnings of the Wheel. The Wheel is endless."

[udbabor520]

 

Think this is what you are referring to and it matches up with his cosmology perfectly.

 

Interview: May, 2001

Marcon Report - Sorilea (Paraphrased)

Question

At one point in the story we see Ishamael talking to Rand, and telling him that they have fought countless times in the past, but this is the final time. Is there anything about his Age that makes it special?

Robert Jordan

"No...every Age is repeated, there is nothing that makes this age any different from any other turnings of the Wheel. The Wheel is endless."

 

 

Thank you!

 

And what do you think about the last sentences?

 

[Vassili]

While the sci fi stuff is fun, what makes the Wheel of Time series so great is that it is about regular people struggling to overcome pain and their own failings. It is a uniquely human story. When RJ said that this third/fourth age isn't important I think he meant it wasn't "unusual": the same forces that bear upon these characters are present right now in the real world, and will probably be present in some form until humanity goes extinct.

[dawnflower8]

 

 

"No...every Age is repeated, there is nothing that makes this age any different from any other turnings of the Wheel. The Wheel is endless."

So pretty much, this means not only did nothing important happen in the 3rd Age, nothing important happened in any ages. 

[Elaevia]

I've kinda thought that he meant that each age and each turning of the wheel contains events as important as the one he has written about

[jradnut]

I think you might be reading to much into his statement.

[dawnflower8]

That's what we do here. XD

[The1stAge]

Ishamael had a point.  The whole concept of the wheel is kind of existential.  

[Orderofolde]

 

 

Think this is what you are referring to and it matches up with his cosmology perfectly.

 

Interview: May, 2001

Marcon Report - Sorilea (Paraphrased)

Question

At one point in the story we see Ishamael talking to Rand, and telling him that they have fought countless times in the past, but this is the final time. Is there anything about his Age that makes it special?

Robert Jordan

"No...every Age is repeated, there is nothing that makes this age any different from any other turnings of the Wheel. The Wheel is endless."

 

 

Thank you!

 

And what do you think about the last sentences?

 

 

It simply means that each time the wheel turns to the first age again, there is nothing special about it than from all the other times the first age has come about, the third age, etc.  History is pretty much going to repeat itself.  If you have a crappy life, guess what...it's going to be your lot this time around, every time.  Good luck next reincarnation in another age!  ...or not!

[damandred]

didnt RJ then go on in that quote and say the same ages are like tapestries, seen from afar they appear identical, but when seen from up close can look quite different. That reads to me that key events in a age have to be the same as it was in a previous turning of the wheel, like, the trolloc war, Hawkwing and the LB its self, but how these events are fought and the lives of the people who live through them can be very different.

[Sabio]

I doubt the wheel would be so cruel that if you had a sucky life now you will have a sucky life for every age.  Brigette was a farmer once.  Dam is right, there has to be specific things that will always happen. Such as at some time people will forget about the DO, a hole bored into the DO's prison, guessing taint on male half (don't remember if RJ said the female half has never been tainted.  I know someone asked but don't remember what his answer was), partial seal of Do prison, seals weaken, and then LB.  What happens before, in between, and after is what will be different. 

 

I wonder if Ishy not being fully trapped is something that always happens.  Does he need to be spun out to ensure humanity always suffers setbacks.

[magatsu17]

 

I wonder if Ishy not being fully trapped is something that always happens.  Does he need to be spun out to ensure humanity always suffers setbacks.

I would guess that Ishmael being partial sealed is not always what happens.  When he talks about how he and LTT have found countless times and even been on the same side sometimes, so i'm guessing that each time is different though the results are the same it seems.

[damandred]

has it ever been said if ishy has fought for the light?

[Pinzarn]

To the OP...

 

 

 

Think this is what you are referring to and it matches up with his cosmology perfectly.

 

Interview: May, 2001
Marcon Report - Sorilea (Paraphrased)
Question
At one point in the story we see Ishamael talking to Rand, and telling him that they have fought countless times in the past, but this is the final time. Is there anything about his Age that makes it special?
Robert Jordan
"No...every Age is repeated, there is nothing that makes this age any different from any other turnings of the Wheel. The Wheel is endless."

 

 

Thank you!

 

And what do you think about the last sentences?
 

 

 

The events described in the book are important to the people of that age.  How I took RJ's statement is that the events of this turning of the Wheel are no more important and no less important than any other turning of the Wheel.  This turning wasn't the end-all-be-all finale, but "just another turning".

[Barid Bel Medar]

It was aimed at a theory which survived right up until the end of the series really, that somehow Rand's Third Age would change the Wheel. Some theorized the DO would be killed. Some that the Wheel would be broken and time become linear. All sorts of theories in that vein. 

 

Here, RJ is pretty much warning people that they will not get that. This turning, this 3rd Age is no different from any other turning. Not in a every-turning-is-exactly-the-same way, but in a universal sense that while this age is unique, it won't change the Pattern or the Wheel. 

[udbabor520]

It was aimed at a theory which survived right up until the end of the series really, that somehow Rand's Third Age would change the Wheel. Some theorized the DO would be killed. Some that the Wheel would be broken and time become linear. All sorts of theories in that vein. 

 

Honestly, that could have been awesome.

 

(There is no free will, the same souls reborn and reborn again, the same things happening all over again, hmm, it is not a very heartwarming prospect.All right, there are little differences but the big picture is the same.)

[Orderofolde]

I doubt the wheel would be so cruel that if you had a sucky life now you will have a sucky life for every age.  Brigette was a farmer once.  Dam is right, there has to be specific things that will always happen. Such as at some time people will forget about the DO, a hole bored into the DO's prison, guessing taint on male half (don't remember if RJ said the female half has never been tainted.  I know someone asked but don't remember what his answer was), partial seal of Do prison, seals weaken, and then LB.  What happens before, in between, and after is what will be different. 

 

I wonder if Ishy not being fully trapped is something that always happens.  Does he need to be spun out to ensure humanity always suffers setbacks.

I wonder, with the ages spanning a few thousand years each, if a person's soul isn't spun out a few times allowing some variety.