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Welcome back to "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog. Continuing from last week, we'll explore other possibilities of who/what Nakomi might be. 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. A few weeks ago I suggested that Nakomi might be the equivalent of a female Dragon—someone who went through the same thing as Rand and therefore has the same abilities. Doing my research for this week however, I found a helpful interview with Brandon Sanderson: There are a few other things Brandon has flat-out denied, like this one: And this one: With those few tidbits, a lot of choices for who Nakomi might be get eliminated. And I think the only answer we have left is that she is a "magical" force. Perhaps magical isn't the right word, but let me explain. There won't be a natural explanation for Nakomi. In the world of Wheel of Time there are things we accept as being natural, even though there is a magical reason for them begin there. For instance, we can rationalize that Aviendha might have been in Tel'aran'rhiod and that makes sense to us. The answer still involves magic—or something we don't have in our normal lives—but we don't question it because we accept Tel'aran'rhiod as being part of their world. But Nakomi won't have logical explanation. Her existence won't make sense. One of the reasons I've come to this conclusion is following Brandon's other endeavors. If you aren't aware, Brandon—along with Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, and Mary Robinette Kowal—hosts a weekly podcast called "Writing Excuses." He and the other podcasters talk about the dos and don'ts of writing fiction. One of the things they talk about regularly is the act of foreshadowing. In another interview, Brandon has said he wrote the scene with Aviendha and Nakomi: This, to me, means that the only appearance of Nakomi would have been at the Bore, when she talks Rand through the body-swap. From a literary standpoint, that would have seemed odd to most readers. The foreshadowing wasn't there. We would have been very confused, wondering why there was a random woman in the Bore. With the added scene, we see Nakomi actually exists and that she is working for the side of the Light—or at least working for the good of the Aiel. Sure, we are still confused about her identity, but we don't feel like it was deus ex machina. Throughout the series, there are several occasions when coincidence saves the day. Most of the time we attribute it to ta'veren luck. But, other times we know it is the Pattern. I've argued before that, although Moiraine says the Pattern is neutral, it has to be allied with the Light. If the Shadow wants to unmake the Pattern, it would naturally align with the side that doesn't want to destroy it. And since so many characters—those who aren't ta'veren—get saved in coincidental ways, it shows that the Pattern is looking out for the Light. Which leads us back to Nakomi. What if Nakomi is an avatar—not for the Creator, who takes no action—but for the Wheel and the Pattern? She could be the embodiment of Balance, the entity who makes sure things stay on track. The few times we see her are extreme cases, ones that effect the whole world. With Aviendha, Nakomi's words prompt her into to seeing the second vision, and leading the Aiel away from the ruin the glass-column ter'angreal predicted. The second time, she allows Rand—who has given so much to the world—to have a real life. She's setting things into motion that would not have happened without her help. It's like the Pattern was unable to correct these two events without taking direct action, so someone had to step in. But there can be other explanations. One of the major theories is that Nakomi is the Creator's avatar. This seems quite likely since we see that the Dark One has Shadar Haran. If the Dark One can have a vessel on the planet, it seems the Creator could have one too. This has also been foreshadowed throughout the series, so it doesn't feel like deus ex machina either. But, we also know that the Creator doesn't take part, so why would he send his avatar to speak with Aviendha, of all people? There were several others who could have benefited from direct communication with the Creator. Egwene, for one, with her battle against Taim. If she knew the details earlier of balefire and the new weave, the Flame of Tar Valon, things wouldn't have ended so badly for her. Why would the Creator only choose to help Aviendha? Could it be possible that the Aiel are the Creator's chosen people? To bring in the Biblical reference, there are a few similarities between the Aiel and the Jewish religion. Rand, the savior, was born into the Aiel. Jesus, the Christ, was Jewish. Rand was accepted by some Aiel, but the Shaido refused to believe he was the Car'a'carn. In the story of Jesus, he was accepted by some, but rejected by others of the faith. In this comparison, it's easy to see how the Aiel could be special in the eyes of the Creator, and therefore Nakomi would be willing to offer guidance to them only. But does the Creator have those tendencies? We all know he doesn't take part in the affairs of the world. Robert Jordan said: Would Nakomi, being a part of the Creator, suggest the same thing? If he needed to come to earth, in any form, and "fix" things, he wouldn't be perfect. Which leads me back to the Wheel or the Pattern. If any of these entities wants the world fixed, it's the Pattern. There's been some speculation that Nakomi might be answered in the Encyclopedia. But it's not confirmed, that I've seen. With what we have, and if no new information is given, I'm going to say Nakomi is the avatar of the Pattern/Wheel, not the Creator. Even with the Biblical connection, it doesn't make sense for the Creator to take part in only two events. The Pattern, however, would see these events as significant for its own existence. It would want to set things right. And it has also acted on the world, making Pattern Level Events, like the fight between Rand and Ishamael over Falme. That's all for this edition. Next week we'll talk about the state of Channelers and what might be in store for their future. Thanks for reading!
Welcome to my first blog as the new Weekly Roundup Blogger! I’m excited for this opportunity to spread the word of what’s going on in our fantastic Social Groups. For those of you that do not yet know me, I’m Moon Sedai, and have been a member of Dragonmount for four years. Because it has been a few weeks since the last Weekly Roundup, I'm going to tell you what's been happening around Dragonmount during the month of June. Ever find something weird on Craig's List or Ebay and want to show it off? This month, Shayol Ghul is running a Craig’s List/Ebay summer event. The link I provided is the index link for the event, and is being updated with each new event. There are weird item hunts, personals, an Amazing Race game, and even a thread entitled "Dope or Nope?" where people can discuss the experience of purchasing used items from the Internet. The Aiel Raids are in full-swing this month. Much like the Aiel characters of the books, our Aiel Social Group is taking the opportunity to "visit" the other social groups in the form of "raids," where they host a variety of threads throughout Dragonmount. The Black Tower is hosting a One Power tournament. Members of the Black Tower are pitted against each other in a battle, fighting with their saidin skills to see who will emerge victorious. The Band of the Red Hand is hosting an interesting poll and discussion: what item of Mat Cauthon's is the most useful thing he acquires throughout the tale of The Wheel of Time series? Here's your chance to answer the poll and weigh in your answer to this fascinating question. Well, that's the big news for the Month of June. I look forward to telling you all about July's events in our next Weekly Roundup.
Some of you may be familiar with the Suvudu" rel="external nofollow">http://suvudu.com/'>Suvudu cage matches, which pits popular characters from sci-fi and fantasy against each other. Starting next week, Dragonmount will be hosting our own version of the cage matches, featuring only Wheel of Time characters, right here on our forums. " rel="external nofollow">http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/forum/374-wot-cage-match/'>forums. Here's a list of this years competitors: Alivia Asmodean Berelain Elaida Faile Galad Grady Halima Moghedien Narishma Siuan Slayer Sulin Tam Tuon Uno This year, we've added a few special features. First, we have %22team%22" rel="external nofollow">http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/82825-team-siggies/'>"team" signatures for anyone to wear to support their favorite character. We are also having a friendly prediction" rel="external nofollow">http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/82838-prediction-competition-info/'>prediction competition—submit your guesses for each round and you'll win points if you're correct. Round 1 begins on June 30th, but there's plenty going on right now.
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 we re-visit the "Features of Dragonmount," a series of articles which we began a few weeks back by looking at the General Discussion forum here at Dragonmount. This time, let's begin exploring the different Social Groups you can take part in. Social Groups here at Dragonmount are separate sections of our forums, each with it's own identity based on one of the groups of people found within The Wheel of Time books, located under the Social Community part of the forums. Each one tends to have its own theme or themes and its own individual vibe. I'd certainly encourage anyone to explore them all before deciding which one (or ones!) they would like to settle in. To provide a bit more information, let's take a little look at a couple of them. The Wolfkin Social Group, for example, is loosely based upon the golden-eyed characters in the books. As such, they have tasks you can complete in order to earn your "name" among them, and fittingly, their overall theme is one of nature and travel. Like all the Social Groups, you can find many good friends there and enjoy good conversation with like-minded people. The Black Tower Social Group is a crazy, crazy place. If you have read far enough in the books to understand the reference in their name, you'll get why we can say that. To reflect this, the Black Tower tends to have a lot of crazy conversations, and a lot of what we call "spam," which is Internet forum-speak for topics without a set direction, or idle, crazy conversation. They do also have ranks you can progress in, however, and their own "dueling system" where you can duke it out with other members to see who is the strongest or canniest saidin wielder! That's a tough one to explain in brief, so if you want to see how it works, you'll just have to go over there and ask them.... And probably never come out alive, or at least sane. There are many other Social Groups we haven't yet mentioned, like the White Tower and Warder's Guild, Shayol Ghul and others--they'll probably be the focus of a future "Features of Dragonmount" article. In the meantime, dive right in and begin exploring the Social Groups! I guarantee you will meet a bunch of fun, like-minded people with mutual interests and make some good friends. Have fun! Until next time, friends!
The Waygate Foundation has posted another answer from Team Jordan. More answers can be found on their Facebook page.
Animalistic Unrestrained Dangerous Trolloc The newest fragrance from Caemlyn Climb For that darker you ________________________________________________________ A gentle breeze down a mountain side The smell of apples blooming Dragon From Caemlyn Climb Be reborn!
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.
Broken Cart Wheel? Dead Horse? No Worries Ji'e'Tow is here to provide you Emergency Road Side Service Our gai'shain are standing by A no obligation trial is available We'll run out to where you are and pull or carry your cart to your destination Fast and dependable Service Offer not available in the Blight or to Treekillers
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.
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