TWoT Companion: Why did they change the fate of one of the characters?

[Occams whiskey bottle]

In the companion it says that Bela survived after all and is retired in the field. Did they say why they changed her fate? In my opinion, Rand was supposed to ride off into the sunset on the back of Bela, so whether she actually lived or not is pointless because that event didn't happen. 

[Sabio]

Think it was just an acknowledgement to how much support Bela had with fans.  I know team Jordan had said it took them by surprise how popular Bela was.  So think it was just something fun they did for the fans.

[szilard]

In my opinion, Rand was supposed to ride off into the sunset on the back of Bela, so whether she actually lived or not is pointless because that event didn't happen. 

 

To me the series ends with LOC (of course I read up to KOD every time), so I have infinite endings.   He lives, he dies, he is on another planet (Book of Translation), exile, jail, king of the world (

That had a good sound to it.

) ...

 

 

Don't let every minuscule thing set you off.

[Nikonis]

Especially odd seeing as I believe somewhere it was said that Brandon wrote Bella as surviving and Harriet said he needed to change it.  Though would need to find my reference and reread to be certain on that.

[Ryrin]

Harriet killed Bela and Siuan, I think.

[Guest Looney751]

It may just be a cop out by the team editing the companion, but i think Bela's presumed death might have been due to Olver being the POV character when it happened. You figure a kid like him being chased by trollocs and terrified out of his wits might have saw her fall and start to fade, and thought she was dying and assumed the worst. 

[Barid Bel Medar]

Harriet killed Bela and Siuan, I think.

 

Yeah, that's what happened. 

 

With the Companion, they are releasing stuff written in RJ's notes. Some of that differs from what eventually got put in the books. 

 

Basically, that was RJ's notes on Bela - but Harriet - being the WoT editor - made the decision to kill her off (a good editing decision, IMO.). 

 

So some things may contradict what is in the books. Not much though. 

[Gabriel Kross]

 

Harriet killed Bela and Siuan, I think.

 

Yeah, that's what happened. 

 

With the Companion, they are releasing stuff written in RJ's notes. Some of that differs from what eventually got put in the books. 

 

Basically, that was RJ's notes on Bela - but Harriet - being the WoT editor - made the decision to kill her off (a good editing decision, IMO.). 

 

So some things may contradict what is in the books. Not much though. 

 

If I'm not mistaken the companion is also written from the point of view of a scholar and not just compiled notes right?

[Terez]

With the Companion, they are releasing stuff written in RJ's notes. Some of that differs from what eventually got put in the books. 

 

Basically, that was RJ's notes on Bela...

 

Not so sure that's true. I think that entry was all Harriet. She made the editorial decision for the story because she found it unrealistic that Bela would survive in the scene Brandon had written, with her surrounded by Trollocs and all. But at the same time, she has always had a thing for Bela (she loved the Bela=Creator theory of old) and she got a kick out of the fact that Brandon had promised fans Bela would survive and then he had to go back on his promise. So I think it simply amused her to turn the tables again for the Companion.

[Cosmic Champion]

.

Yea. I just checked out the post aMoL quotes over at theoryland regarding Bela, and it most certainly is the case; Bela was written into a no win situation by BS. She had to buy the farm.

 

Also, I remember reading somewhere(might be the ToR reread - I am not sure) that Harriet, also, wanted to avoid copying 'Bill the pony' from LotR; after being locked out of the Gates of Moria with hungry Wargs chasing the Fellowship there, Bill made the impossible, miraculous journey back to the safety of Bree, and survived the story.

 

I do agree with Bela's demise, as it would have been copying Tolkien way too much.

 

Bela's change in the Companion seems a bit of obvious fanwank to me.

[sffnews]

The series ended with KoD for me. The last three books are just fanfic. Even the parts RJ wrote as we don't know how much was changed by Harriet and Sanderson.

[Cosmic Champion]

The series ended with KoD for me. The last three books are just fanfic. Even the parts RJ wrote as we don't know how much was changed by Harriet and Sanderson.

 

Yes. I have to agree, as I see what you and some of the other posters have been saying now.

 

During my first read of the series I was so engrossed with the story heading to it's conclusion, that I either missed or ignored the mistakes and very uncharacteristic character actions and speech. Perrin's story line having the most numerous and egregious examples. My second read of these three which I just finished a week ago did not go so pleasantly.

 

From now on when I read the series ending, I will just view it as some narrator 1000 years in the future reciting a very changed story by a campfire.

 

Some of the examples are so erroneous that I am going to guess that the publisher was rushing to get these books published to make money quickly, and that the rechecking of the final written story was done very hasty. 

[DemandredFO]

Partially it was that but some of it which alot of fans conveniently ignore is that after LoC or CoS the story went off the rails. KoD began cleaning it up but too much time had been wasted by that point. Brandon wasn't perfect but I doubt anyone could've been. Maybe someone will write a book explaining what choices were made. Yes Brandon is much better known now but I think it's an insult to say he dislocated his book schedule to write fan fiction. one example, I'd rather RJ finish the story than know every excruciating detail of Faile's rescue, the cleansing from Everyone's perspective, Nyneave and Elayne's travels with Valen Luca and 1000 other details that were nice to know but not essential.

[jack of shadows]

@demandredFO,

 

hear,hear.

[sffnews]

Partially it was that but some of it which alot of fans conveniently ignore is that after LoC or CoS the story went off the rails.

And some fans need to understand that not everyone shares there opinion on those "off the rail" books.

[DemandredFO]

You can't say Brandon wrote fanfiction but every RJ word or even chapter until the end was brilliant.

[sffnews]

There is a lot of ground between "Brilliant" and "Off the rails" most of which is all better than Sanderson's Fanfic effort imo. I just don't like Sanderson's version of the characters or how he and team Jordan put together the last three books. 

[Occams whiskey bottle]

There is a lot of ground between "Brilliant" and "Off the rails" most of which is all better than Sanderson's Fanfic effort imo. I just don't like Sanderson's version of the characters or how he and team Jordan put together the last three books. 

 

Regardless of who finished the books though there was going to be "different versions of the characters" that was always going to be unavoidable because of the change in authors. I think much of the mistakes though could have been avoided if they just took their time instead of rushing the books out. However, I really hated the way that Brandon used the gateways in the novels. It felt like a shortcut.

[mb]

not sure about the last 3 books being fan fiction.

the writing style in them to me seem similar to the writing style in the rest of the series.  though a portion of that could be due to Harriet's editing.

 

the last books might have been significantly different with other authors.

[Cosmic Champion]

..., Nyneave and Elayne's travels with Valen Luca and 1000 other details that were nice to know but not essential.

 

Oh my! 

 

That is one of my favorite plots from the series, and the main reason that tFoH is my number two favorite book.  IMO, I feel that Jordan is in top form here. Specially his great humor. This is the part in the story where Nynaeve became one of my favorite characters. She is an absolute riot here; her being chased around the cook fire by Valan Luca being one of many examples. Just thinking of this part of the story being edited down gives me the ]]]shakes[[[.  I wouldn't change a thing here.

 

 

There is a lot of ground between "Brilliant" and "Off the rails" most of which is all better than Sanderson's Fanfic effort imo. I just don't like Sanderson's version of the characters or how he and team Jordan put together the last three books. 

 

Regardless of who finished the books though there was going to be "different versions of the characters" that was always going to be unavoidable because of the change in authors. I think much of the mistakes though could have been avoided if they just took their time instead of rushing the books out. However, I really hated the way that Brandon used the gateways in the novels. It felt like a shortcut.

 

 

I feel that this is most likely what happened here. I really feel that these last three were rushed without giving them proper examination for errors. Plus some of BS also.

 

not sure about the last 3 books being fan fiction.

the writing style in them to me seem similar to the writing style in the rest of the series.  though a portion of that could be due to Harriet's editing.

 

the last books might have been significantly different with other authors.

 

But as I mentioned earlier, there is quite a bit of absolute bizarre mistakes that I noticed in Perrin's section(his goofball trial being one example, along with his powwow with Elayne).  Also, is there not quite a bit of fan homage in these versions too?

[DemandredFO]

It took 13 books for Perrin to develop and then the next book lost most of it. Perrin couldn't let those 2 whitecloaks go even though he somehow managed to live with the ones in tDR. That's one part I never understood

[Cosmic Champion]

It took 13 books for Perrin to develop and then the next book lost most of it. Perrin couldn't let those 2 whitecloaks go even though he somehow managed to live with the ones in tDR. That's one part I never understood

 

Well, the bunch from the Dragon Reborn only had three other witnesses: Gaul, Lan and Faile; good guys! And they sure are NOT going to spill the beans about it, so that incident will not keep chasing/haunting him. The two that he wasted from tEotW, had other Whitecloak witnesses that would not leave him alone, as we saw. 'That', was what was bothering him.

 

As for his multi book character development, remember, it's relative to the length of the story also. While the first two books take place in one year, the next eleven books span about one year too. Also, keep in mind that Perrin's own story only takes place in bits and pieces of all those books. Some of those books he only has a few chapters in them. There are dozens and dozens of other plots beside his going on. Since Perrin's main theme is his passivity, this seems to drag along with all those other stories. If Jordan managed to end the series in, lets say....six books, there would be bitching and moaning about that too. Seeing that this series does span soooo many books, the author needs to make sure that the character ends up having his story line stay interesting along with it((THIS is where Faile comes in, including her kidnapping)). When I was first going through this long story, I was quite a bit perturbed that one of my favorite characters(Perrin) was not running around all over the place kicking ass with his wolf buddies. However, I now really have no problem with it, as Matt and Rand in the meantime are traveling around doing their Conan and He-Man impersonations.

 

So, the reason it took Perrin 13 books to develop, is because, the story spans 14 books.

 

 I am glad that Jordan decided to go a much different route for Perrin then the other two TR lads, as I feel that it would have been a bit redundant to have him follow the same type of paths. His story is certainly not perfect, and I do have a couple hair pulling moments while reading it, but IMO I feel that Jordan did a pretty good job with him from beginning to end.

 

My most difficult time that I have with him, is the first book and a half of the BS versions.

[Sabio]

Perrin's issue is he seemed stuck  in mud.  The faile rescue took  forever, his not wanting to be a leader took forever, and his afraid of hiswolf self/learning the wolf dream took forever.  Its just his issues span so many books I had the "just get it over with" mindset.

[jack of shadows]

@cosmic champion,

"...and they sure are not going to spill the beans about it,so that incident will not 

keep chasing/haunting him".

what's witnessing  got to do with perrin's internal conflicts?

perrin wasn't bothered by the fact that someone witnessed him kill,he was bothered by the fact

that the blacksmith became a killer.

with him it was always a question of balance or lack thereof,could he control the killer lurking

inside?could he avoid being consumed by his wolf nature?is he a good and true leader or just

a blacksmith pretending to be one? etc etc...

heck,even on the eve of the field of merrilor gathering perrin was still struggling with the same 

problems when he said to rand:"i wonder when the man who owns all these fancy clothes going

to walk in on me and start yelling,then send me out to muck the stables.."

13 books(not 14) full of constant whining and self doubting ad nauseam.(in the fires  of heaven

robert jordan left the "dynamic duo" at the two rivers to celebrate their marriage and gave us a 

break from the stinking miasma these two created and it was like a breath of fresh air).

[Occams whiskey bottle]

 

 

not sure about the last 3 books being fan fiction.

the writing style in them to me seem similar to the writing style in the rest of the series.  though a portion of that could be due to Harriet's editing.

 

the last books might have been significantly different with other authors.

 

But as I mentioned earlier, there is quite a bit of absolute bizarre mistakes that I noticed in Perrin's section(his goofball trial being one example, along with his powwow with Elayne).  Also, is there not quite a bit of fan homage in these versions too?

 

_________________________________________

 

 

Remember, there were ton of holes in the notes that BS had to fill in. I think you have to cut him some slack on that one. You spend 15 years theorizing on something, fall in love with it, and then you're in control of creating it. It could have been the best option available, or maybe he couldn't find a better one. 

 

I still believe that Rand was going to ride off on Bela in the epilogue before they decided to kill her off. However, who knows if that is correct or not...