DRAGONMOUNT

The Waygate Foundation has posted another answer from Team Jordan.     More answers can be found on their Facebook page.

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Hello, all!  And welcome back to "WoT If?".  This week's theme is something that we will be debating for a long time: Nakomi.  I don't think there's any concrete information on her, and all the interviews with Brandon Sanderson and Team Jordan that I've seen are very vague.  That means it's up to us to put the pieces together and puzzle out who/what she is.  But first:   SPOILER WARNING.  This will include content from A Memory of Light.  Please DO NOT read this if you have not completed the book.   When Nakomi first appeared in Towers of Midnight, I'll admit that my first thought was she might be Verin.  The reasoning for this is that Verin was the one person we saw hopping around from place to place, passing on secret information.  Nakomi's appearance and advice seems to be in the same vein as this.  There's also the fact that in the audio books, Kate Reading reads Nakomi's voice like she reads Verin's.  However, all this evidence—and many fans thought the same—has been debunked.  Here's an interview from the A Memory of Light book signing tour where Brandon actually gives us a straight answer.     So Verin is out.  But the questions asked lead to another idea.  Rand wouldn't have recognized her face, but, as pointed out, he didn't see all of the Jenn Aiel.  It could have been someone else from the past who had the longevity of a channeler.    Let's explore that a bit.  When Nakomi is first introduced (Towers of Midnight, Chapter 39, "Into the Three-Fold Land"), Aviendha notices the other woman can't channel.  This doesn't necessarily mean the woman can't.  The characters are often wrong in what that think is "truth."  We know it's possible to mask the ability.  Aviendha also thinks the woman is "middle aged" and that she has "furrowed skin."  Again, this implies that the woman can't channel since she has signs of aging.  But, we know from the dealings with the Kin that a woman who can channel—but isn't bound by the Oath Rod—will still age, but slowly.    With that information, I think we can't say one way or the other if Nakomi is a channeler.  If she is a Jenn from the past, how old would she have to be to be alive today?  Reanne Corly—Eldest of the Kin in Ebou Dar—is 412 years old (A Crown of Swords, Chapter 31, "Mashiara").  Reanne has gray hair and looks middle-aged.  If her life is only half over, that means she could live to about 800 or 900 years old.  (Lews Therin was also around 400 years old when he died, and he is called "a tall man just into his middle years" (The Eye of the World, Prologue, "Dragonmount"); that would mean he would have lived to about 800 or 900 as well.)   So, if Nakomi is a "middle aged" unbound channeler, she would be about 400 years old, or a little older.  The last time we see the Jenn Aiel is in the glass-column ter'angreal in Rhuidean.  In the first vision Rand sees, he is the sept chief, Mandien.  The Jenn are dying off, so they need some other way to pass on the secrets of the past.  But, it's hard to tell how much in the past Mandien's timeline is.  There are a few clues, though.  The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (the Big White Book) says that the Aiel made peace with the Cairhienin in 509 NE (Chapter 14, "The New Era").   In the glass-columns, the memory before Mandien is Rhodric, and the scene shown is the Aiel receiving water from the Cairhienin.  Because Rhodric is Mandien's greatfather, that must mean that Rhodric's memory is sixty or seventy before Mandien's.  Since Rhuarc said, "It took us long to discover who they [the Cairhienin] were," (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 34, "He Who Comes With the Dawn"), I think it's safe to say that Mandien's memory is before 509 NE.    With that logic, if Nakomi was of the Jenn, she would have been alive before 509 NE, making her at least 500 years old.  Most likely, Mandien's memories are from much earlier than 509 NE.  It just depends on Rhuarc's definition of "long."  Probably a couple hundred years—making Nakomi 600 or 700 in this scenario.   But the Jenn's reason for brining the chiefs to Rhuidean in the first place still holds.  The Jenn will die off.  And it must have been coming soon, if the chiefs were assembled then.  One of the old Jenn women said, "A day will come when the Jenn are no more, and only you will remain to remember the Aiel. You must remain, or all is for nothing, and lost" (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 25, "The Road to the Spear").  If even one of the Jenn remained alive, the glass-columns would not be necessary.  If Nakomi was Jenn, she could have instructed the Aiel about their past, not relying on the ter'angreal.    Those two points—how old Nakomi would be and the fact that no Jenn should still be alive—makes me assume Nakomi is not Jenn Aiel.  So what are some of the other possibilities?   Another idea is that Aviendha is taken—somehow—into Tel'aran'rhiod during this scene.  There are several clues that point to the encounter being more than what it seems.  First, Aviendha wonders why she hadn't heard the woman approach.  Second, Aviendha thinks that it's odd for Nakomi to be wandering around by herself.  Third, the coals of the fire appear as if from nowhere.  Fourth, the food gets cooked quicker than it should have and tastes better than it should have.  And finally, Nakomi disappears abruptly.    These point to Tel'aran'rhiod because of how easily that world is to control with thought.  The coals could appear out of nowhere.  The food could taste delicious.  But Aviendha isn't a dreamwalker.  Is it possible she had been pulled into Tel'aran'rhiod against her will, possibly by another Wise One?  They say it is an evil thing to pull someone into the World of Dreams, but we know the Forsaken make use of it frequently.  Perhaps the Dreams told the dreamwalkers that Aviendha needed to see something in Tel'aran'rhiod.  If it was for the greater good, I think the Wise Ones would have broken the rule.  Especially because this one event was what caused Aviendha to go into the glass-column ter'angreal a second time, resulting in her saving the Aiel from destruction.     Another explanation could be that, because the layers between the worlds was already becoming thin, Aviendha was caught up in the World of Dreams on her own—without the help of anyone else.  In that case, Nakomi could be a Hero of the Horn.  Someone waiting in Tel'aran'rhiod and, like Birgitte, willing to break the precepts against aiding those who enter.  This would also make sense how she was able to gain access to the Bore and encourage Rand to perform the body-swap.  Since she is not physically in the world, she wouldn't have a problem getting into the area.  She also didn't come out of the Bore, only Rand and Moridin did.  Nakomi, if a Hero, wouldn’t have to.  She would just return to Tel'aran'rhiod when the need for them was finished.   Just when it starts to make sense, though, we need to remember that Brandon said Rand wouldn't have recognized her.  Would Lews Therin—a Hero himself—fail to recognize another?   There's so much more to discuss about Nakomi, so we'll continue this next week.  Of the two options here, I think it's much more likely she's a Hero of the Horn, but even that theory has plenty of doubts.  And there are some other possibilities too.  So, keep thinking about it and we'll discuss more next time.  Thanks for reading!

The Waygate Foundation is updating their Facebook page with answers to questions submitted to Team Jordan.  Here's today's entry.  

Hello, friends! The Wheel has turned all the way around to Thursday again, which means two things: the weekend is not too far away, and it's time for our Rotating Features blog!   What does the title of this week's blog mean?! Well, you have more than likely recognized that it is the Old Tongue, a language created by Robert Jordan as the partially lost, yet very intriguing, ancient language in the world of The Wheel of Time. It is used on various occasions by different characters within the books, in some of our favorite scenes--one of my personal favorites is in The Eye of the World when the young characters from Emond's Field remember their heritage and begin speaking in the Old Tongue.... Something which becomes more and more common for one of the most popular characters in the books, as many of you know, I am sure!   The Old Tongue, as we know it, is pieced together mostly by various phrases which Jordan and later Brandon Sanderson translated within the series. There is not (to my knowledge, at least!) a complete language volume anywhere.   However, if, like me, you have more than just a passing interest in languages, and in this one in particular, and find the little snippets we get throughout the books very interesting, there are some online resources that have compiled everything we know about the Old Tongue. One that I like to use is The Old Tongue Dictionary, linked to the following entry in the Wheel of Time Wikia. That page links you to a dictionary of sorts of all the Old Tongue words, both in Old Tongue to English and English to Old Tongue, as well as a list of the phrases they come from.   This is not only very interesting, and a lot of fun for those uber-fans who would love to be able to spout random phrases at times (try it! It's great!), but also can be very useful here at Dragonmount within your posts--especially if you are taking part on the Role Playing forums--and if you're not, maybe you should consider it! In fact, next week I'll be taking a look at them in this blog so that you can get an idea of what they are and how you can join in. Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

The Waygate Foundation has released the latest question answered by Team Jordan.     You can find other answers on their website or Facebook page.

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In May, Brandon Sanderson was a guest at the Phoenix Comicon and had a panel that focused exclusively on The Wheel of Time.  During the panel, Brandon shared the story of how he was chosen to finish the series, and then did a Q&A with the other panelist and the audience.  I'm very please to say that I was asked to join this panel, along with Nadine Armstrong and Patrick Young.  

Hello, and welcome back to "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  Today's topic is the state of ta'veren-ness within Rand, Mat, and Perrin at the close of the story.  Please remember:   SPOILER WARNING.  This will include content from A Memory of Light.  Please DO NOT read this if you have not completed the book.   At the end of the series, all our ta'veren have had a transformation of some sort.  Perrin realizes that there is no longer a tug pulling on him.     Perrin thinks he is no longer ta'veren.  And he assumes Rand is not either.  But Rand's powers seem to transcend those of a ta'veren anyway.  He is able to manipulate the Pattern by his will alone.  This seems quite logical to me since, during the battle with the Dark One, Rand learned how to weave Weaves of the Pattern.  I think an apt comparison is from The Matrix film where Neo finally learns how to see the numbers.  Rand is able to see the world as it naturally is, weaves woven by the Wheel.  Therefore, Rand no longer has a need to be ta'veren.    Perrin, as well, no longer has a need.  He accepted his responsibilities while he had to, and now that the trial has passed, he will be able to move on.  He will be a King, and help lead the world into the new Age.    So, Rand and Perrin have moved past needing their ta'veren abilities.  But what about Mat?  Brandon Sanderson answered this—kind of—at a recent signing.     Notice that Brandon doesn't state that Mat is no longer ta'veren.  He says in past lives, Mat was still a lucky person, so some of his lucky nature is innate.  But what if Mat will keep his luck after the Last Battle because he is still ta'veren?   We never get a scene where Mat thinks about the swirls, or his luck, or anything.  I'm sure the swirls will be gone, since his connection to Rand has been severed.  But I think Mat is still ta'veren.   My reasoning for this might seem a bit thin, but I'll explain my logic.   1. Mat without his luck would be weird.  We've become so use to Mat's luck, that it would just seem strange seeing him without it.  Albeit, Brandon said Mat would keep some of his luck, but I don't think that would satisfy us.  Ever since his gambling spree at the beginning of The Dragon Reborn, one of the only things in the series we could count on 100% has been Mat's luck!  If he lost that, he'd stop being Mat.   2. He resisted when the others gave in.  To me, this could be a sense of irony.  As stated earlier, Perrin hated being ta'veren, but he did what he had to.  He shouldered the heavy burden and fulfilled his part in the responsibility.  Mat did not.  He spent most of his time hiding from his responsibilities and trying to weasel out of what was expected of him.  So it would seem fitting, in a twisted way, that Mat would have to put up with being a ta'veren  longer than the others.  He's paying for his attitude towards his ta'veren abilities and towards Rand—Mat's flippant treatment of Rand even got him scolded by the heroes of the Horn: "Remember him,” Amaresu snapped. “I have seen you murmur that you fear his madness, but all the while you forget that every breath you breathe—every step you take—comes at his forbearance. Your life is a gift from the Dragon Reborn, Gambler. Twice over" (A Memory of Light, Chapter 39, "Those Who Fight").     3. The outrigger novels were going to be based on Mat's journey to Seanchan.  Since more of the story centered on Mat, I think the Wheel and the Pattern weren't done with him yet.   My conclusion, Mat is still ta'veren.  I don't see any reason why Rand and Perrin can finally step out of the Pattern's influence, but Mat remains.  The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, after all.  And I think the Wheel likes messing with Mat.   That's all for this edition.  For next week, we'll look at who or what Nakomi might be.  Thanks for reading!

A Game of Stones, an online Wheel of Time Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), is launching a new version.  Version 10, with all the new updates, goes live June 8th.