DRAGONMOUNT

Paul Bielaczyc, co-owner of Aradani Studios and well-known within the fandom for his Rand al'Thor costume, recently had another photoshoot featuring a new Trolloc costume.  These photos were taken by Dim Horizon Studio.         The entire gallery can be viewed here.  And last year's photoshoot can be found here.   Paul has also added a tutorial on how to make the Trolloc helmet on Aradani Studios' website.  

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To honor Robert Jordan's military service, Ta'veren Tees is donating 10% of its new Challenge Coin proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project.           Jim Rigney (Robert Jordan), Soldier in uniform  

Hello, and welcome back to "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  Today's topic is the Talent of Singing.  There's an interesting phrase used by Lews Therin in The Eye of the World prologue about "the Voice," and I wonder what its connection is to Rand and some of his abilities in A Memory of Light.  But before we start:   SPOILER WARNING.  This will include content from A Memory of Light.  Please DO NOT read this if you have not completed the book.   In The Eye of the World, after Lews Therin has killed his whole family, Elan Morin arrives to try and bargain with the Dragon.  Driven insane by the Dark One's backlash, Lews Therin doesn't recognize Elan Morin and instead treats him as a causal visitor.  Here's where it gets interesting.  Lews Therin says, "Ah, a guest.  Have you the Voice, stranger? It will soon be time for the Singing, and here all are welcome to take part."   At JordanCon earlier this month, I got to talk with Maria and a few other fans—including Matt Hatch of Theoryland—and one of the things we discussed was Rand's ability to make plants grow.  Rand demonstrates this skill several times throughout A Memory of Light.  In Chapter 7, he makes a dozen trees grow that are "towering, healthy, huge-limbed, beautiful trees, hundreds of feet tall with massive trunks" ("Into the Thick of It").  And Rand did this within a couple of minutes.  But when he meets with Empress Fortuona, we actually see him singing.     Here, we see that the growth is associated with singing, that Rand has to sing in order for the plants to grow.  Our discussion at JordanCon brought up the idea that Rand may have been singing to make things grow since his epiphany on Dragonmount (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 50, "Veins of Gold").  For example, when Rand makes the apple trees bloom in Towers of Midnight, he could have been using his singing abilities even then (Chapter 1, "Apples First").  Or when he made the grain the Sea Folk brought to Arad Doman become unspoiled (Chapter 14, "Return to Bandar Eban").   This brings me back to Lews Therin and his talk of "the Voice."  We know seed singing was used in the Age of Legends to help the crops grow faster, larger, and to be inherently insect free.  This is done only by Aiel, Ogier, and the Nym, according to The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, Chapter 3, "The Age of Legends."     And Ogier, in the current Age, have Treesinging.  Loial is a Treesinger, and is able to fashion items from tree trunks by singing to them—we see this happen in The Great Hunt, Chapter 15, "Kinslayer."  During that event, Rand even thinks, "It seemed so familiar, that song, as if he should know it."   Loial also talks of the Tinkers' desire to learn the Treesongs, and says, "I taught the Tuatha'an what they could learn, but the trees never listen to humans" (The Eye of the World, Chapter 42, "Remembrance of Dreams").  Yet, in direct contradiction to that, Rand seems to be able to sing to the trees.  They do listen to him. The question is do the trees listen because he knows the right songs, or do they listen because he is the Dragon Reborn?   In the Age of Legends, Lews Therin speaks of the Singing, and in his house, "all are welcome to take part."  This implies that in other places, not everyone is welcome.  Which would suggest that Singing is something similar to a Talent, that only certain people are gifted with the ability.  And is this Singing different from seed singing?  It must be.  Albeit, Lews Therin is so insane at this point in The Eye of the World's prologue, but he must have some grasp on the way the world works.  And what would be the purpose of seed singing at his estate?  Only Aiel, Ogier, and Nym do that.   That must mean that Singing would be for some other purpose.  Could it be used on any living thing, or only plants?  What about non-living things?  Could Singing be used on sacks of grain to make them become unspoiled?  Could Singing be what gave life to the Nym during the Age of Legends?  Could Singing change more of the world, like lighting a pipe?   Our discussion at JordanCon didn't provide any answers, only more questions.  Robert Jordan's world is so large and encompassing that no one can say for certain how all of these abilities work.  Either way, I think all of these Talents are so similar they are probably just different names for the same things.  Loial's use of Treesinging in the Blight had seed singing effects—he said, "The Blight will not have Treebrother" (The Eye of the World, Chapter 53, "The Wheel Turns"), showing the tree that marked the Green Man's grave will be strengthened and not give in to the poison of the Blight.  And Ogier, in an uncharacteristic display of pride, assumed they were the only ones who could do Treesinging, though humans can too—Rand is proof of that—they just forgot how.   And I think it is this forgotten Talent that let Rand manipulate the world around him.  There is the idea that "the Dragon is one with the land," which could have aided Rand in certain situations—but he had to have the ability born inside him to use it whenever he wanted for the ultimate effect on the world.  He needed this Talent to convince Tuon to side with him.  He needed it several times throughout the last few books.  It might even be something that is free of the One Power, something that lets his will become one with the land—because even though the Last Battle is done, Rand is still the Dragon, tied to the land.   That's all for this week.  Next time we'll discuss the possibility of Rand being immortal.  Thanks for reading!

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! For many readers of The Wheel of Time, the Blademasters are some of the most interesting characters in the books. Sure, we may fantasize about what it would be like to wield the awesome power and the fine subtleties of saidin or saidar, but skill with the sword, a master of the blade, is something very relatable, something we can cross reference with history and other fantasy series, and even something we can experiment with in real life. The whole notion of being a Blademaster is a fascinating one. The sword forms are, I think, one of the most interesting concepts that Robert Jordan introduced into the series, and one I can't off the top of my head think of something similar to in another work of fantasy fiction (feel free to leave a comment below if you can think of a parallel idea in another book or series). And the sword forms, it should be noted, whilst possibly learned and of some use to an experienced fighter, are actually the Blademaster's forms, designed to be learned by those seeking to reach mastery of sword fighting, duelists and purists in the use of the the katana-like curved swords of Jordan's world. One only becomes a Blademaster if they either defeat in single combat another known Blademaster or are judged on their skill by a panel of five Blademasters, being declared as one only by unanimous vote. There are said to be fewer than 100 Blademasters within the Westlands. A big part of the fantastical desire to earn this title for myself (and, I am confident, many other readers) is being able to carry a Heron-marked sword, one which is designed to proclaim to all your skill as a weapon, a wielder of the sword. You can imagine that to carry one would be the kind of thing to cause a room to fall silent as you enter, to cause your opponents to reassess you with a vague uncertainty, to strike fear into the hearts of your foes. "He carries a Heron-marked sword. Blademaster! Blademaster!" The whispers would almost certainly go along in your wake wherever you passed. Sublime. So. Where can I get me one of those? I have selected a link for you to take a look at. I have chosen one from Amazon because it is an officially licensed replica, seems to be at a saving, and of course Amazon is an international supplier. Leave a comment below if you know of a better place to find one or a wider selection online. If you want to own your very own Heron-marked sword, then have a look online, there are plenty out there. Not only will you look and feel like a total boss, but it would be great for meets and conventions, and in general, anyone who recognized the significance of it would be another Wheel of Time fan, and that would be a great way to meet new fans. If you do get one, or have one already, please be sure to sign up here at Dragonmount to the forums and spread pictures of you with your gorgeous blade! I would certainly like to see it over at the Warder's Guild! Have fun! Until next time, friends!

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Welcome back to another exciting edition of "WoT If?".  This week's topic is Lanfear/Cyndane, but before we jump into the theory:   SPOILER WARNING.  This will include content from A Memory of Light. Please DO NOT read this if you have not completed the book.   As I said last week, the idea for this theory came from the Looney Theories panel at JordanCon.  It was proposed by Jenson, a member of the audience, and immediately struck down as too plausible.     He said that Lanfear is still alive.  We know that Perrin overcame her Compulsion and killed her before she could attack Rand, Nynaeve, and Moiraine.  However, Jenson pointed out that her cour'souvra is still intact.  That means her soul is still in the world.    We've talked before about the nature of the soul; rebirth is a major theme throughout the series.  But we don't know exactly what happens to a soul after a person dies.  We see the Heroes of the Horn go to Tel'aran'rhiod to wait, but what of normal souls?  We also know there is only a short time that the Dark One has access to a soul.  But if the soul is still in the world, the Dark One wouldn't be able to touch it or reclaim it—plus, he's cut off from the world now, so he couldn't even if it were possible.  Perhaps the Creator could take the soul from the cour'souvra and place it with the other waiting souls.   Most likely, I think Lanfear's soul would be stuck in the cour'souvra until someone comes along and releases it.  She wouldn't be able to be reborn at all until she was released.  There's no way her soul could be woven back into the Pattern if it's still alive in one form or another.   That opens up a lot of possibilities.  First, how long can a cour'souvra survive?  Perhaps Lanfear's soul inside would die eventually, after her normal lifespan was used up—another 600 years or so?  Or, would it be stuck in a state of limbo for the rest of existence?  Or, if we want to take this into the crazy theory category, maybe Lanfear's soul could be used in a construct—like the Nym.     At JordanCon, I asked Maria about the Nym's souls.  We talked about it in a blog last year, and I was wondering if she knew where the souls came from and how the ancient Aes Sedai got them into the construct.  She didn't have an answer.  Maybe this is where Aes Sedai got the souls.  Perhaps Aes Sedai who went to the Shadow could use this as a last resort to come back to the Light?  If they had their cour'souvra they could give it to the Light Aes Sedai and have it transplanted into a Nym's body.   Even I'll admit that's a bit of a stretch.  Regardless, I think it's quite possible for Lanfear to still be "alive" through her cour'souvra.  And there's even more of a twist when you think of where Lanfear's soul might be.  The last time we saw it…     So, if it was still around Moridin's neck, that means Moridin likely had it with him in Shayol Ghul.  Which means it was there when Rand and Moridin switched bodies.  Which means it was around Rand's neck when he woke up and rode off.  Which means Rand has access to Lanfear's soul!   The irony of this makes me grin.  What would Rand do with it?  I think he forgave her—or at least let go of his anger—so that he would be willing to release the soul, either into a construct, or out of the cour'souvra and let it die.  Rand might see releasing it as a mercy, instead of allowing it to be stuck for eternity in the mindtrap.   That's all for this week.  Don't forget to post your comments below about your thoughts on Lanfear's fate.  Next time we'll talk about something along the same lines—or at least with a connection to the Nym: seed singing and the Voice.  Thanks for reading!

Along with its newly launched Epic Fantasy mobile alerts, Tor is currently running a sweepstakes to win advanced copies of Brandon Sanderson's soon-to-be-released YA novel, The Rithmatist.   And for those of you who still haven't signed up for Tor's Epic Fantasy mobile alerts, it's not too late.    

At JordanCon V, I had the distinct privilege to purchase one of Michael Whelan's original concept paintings for A Memory of Light.  The story behind is this image is that it’s one of several concepts that Michael provided to Tor Books. From what I understand, this particular painting was one of the top choices to become the actual book cover, but the publisher wanted an image which included the lunar eclipse.  If this image had been selected, Michael would have re-painted it, and added a significant amount of more detail.   The painting depicts Rand, holding Callandor, outside the cave at Shayol Ghul, right before he descends to face the Dark One.   Detail:   More images and details about how I acquired the painting can be found on my personal website. Also, be sure to look at Tor.com's behind-the-scenes feature at how the AMOL cover was designed.   What do you think?

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! This week, I thought I would begin a series of articles I plan on continuing from time to time in this blog. It will highlight some of the different areas of Dragonmount which you may not yet have begun enjoying, just to see if we can tease you into that direction... We begin by appealing to you hardcore Wheel of Time enthusiasts out there. First, I'll highlight something which you may enjoy if you have perhaps finished reading the series now, maybe even more than once, and then we will look at something that will appeal to all fans of the series, even if they are on their first incomplete read through. One of the sections of our Dragonmount forums is the Wheel of Time Discussion area, and within that you can find the Full Spoiler Discussion board for A Memory of Light, the final book in The Wheel of Time series. Now, I won't highlight any of the articles on this board to you in case I spoil something you haven't read yet (and also because I haven't read A Memory of Light myself yet...Shhh...Don't tell!), but if you have completed the series and the final book, or if you are adventurous enough not to mind being told about things you haven't read in the series, then dive right in and see what everyone is discussing! The series may have ended, but the crazy theories from the minds of fans everywhere certainly have not! Within the same section of Dragonmount, you can also find the General Wheel of Time Discussion forum. This has all sorts of interesting discussions ongoing, and is spoiler friendly to those who may not have finished the series yet. For example, right now, there is an engrossing debate about who the deadliest Blademasters in Randland may be, an interesting discussion on the way Brandon Sanderson wrote compared to Robert Jordan, and a great thread that has been going strong for some years where you can ask a simple question, get a simple answer to anything you have come across in the series you found confusing, and that's just a brief selection of the topics on offer. There really is plenty to get involved in on these Dragonmount boards and they are one of the most popular features of the site, so feel free to join in and have your say or benefit from hearing other people's opinions. As a final note, be sure to read the pinned topics at the top of each board to familiarize yourself with any of the posting rules that may apply. Other than that--have fun! Until next time, friends!