DRAGONMOUNT

Shayol Ghul Dock Side Restaurant   Winter Raids Holiday Feast   Appetizers   Choice of   Seanchan Dumplings Choice pieces of To'raken steamed in a sweet bread shell.   or   Twice Baked Warder Skins These pesky troublemakers couldn't save their skins, so enjoy them with a hot cheese and bacon filling.   Soup and Salad   Choice of   Wolf Bone Soup A slow cooked and heavily seasoned stock of Wolf Bones, served with a dollop of cream and crackers.   or   Cream of Vegetable Soup For our non-Trolloc visitors, something that won't remind you of what will happen should you fail the Great Dark Lord.   either will be served with a Blightberg Lettuce Salad with Tremalking Island Dressing A delicious collection of local non-deadly vegetables from the Blight, tossed with tangy Tremalking Dressing.   Entree   Choice of   Surf and Turf A slab of farmer with a slab of Sea Folk, cooked to order and lightly seasoned.   or   Farmer's House Potluck Surprise Cow, sheep, horse, all meats and vegetables from the farm thrown into a pot and cooked to perfection. A local favorite.   Dessert   Lady Fingers and rich Seanchan Kaf Guaranteed Noble, Our Lady Fingers are fried and covered in chocolate, then served with a steaming cup of Seanchan Kaf.

Welcome back to "WoT If?"! A Memory of Light is only four weeks away, so I'm going to try to make these last few pre-release blogs meaningful. This week, I'm going to look into Moridin's character and motivation and try to come up with a few ideas about why he does what he does. As always:   Spoiler warning! This will include content from many books in the series, including Towers of Midnight, and speculation about A Memory of Light. Please read at your own risk.   Also, this WILL NOT contain spoilers from A Memory of Light's Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 11, or Tor's daily previews. Please refrain from posting any spoilers from A Memory of Light in the comments section. The A Memory of Light spoiler discussion board can be found here.   There's a lot of background information about Ishamael/Moridin that's important to his reasoning. I'll try my hardest to be brief, but I don't know how much I'll succeed.   Ishamael was only half-sealed into the Bore and was able to touch the world occasionally. This small freedom left him "half-mad" and "less than half-human," according to Sammael (The Fires of Heaven, Prologue). I think there's also insinuation that he was mad before being sealed. However, since his full release (and his rebirth as Moridin), he seems more cunning and clever than insane. Or perhaps that's part of the insanity?   Does this madness aid his plans or hinder them? Are some of the contradictory actions we see him take a result of this lack of sanity? Or are his plans so well developed that he can pull them off despite having a scarred mind? He had 3000 years to influence the world and events, so I'm sure his ideas are perfectly planned, but there are inconsistencies.   One inconsistency of Ishamael's plans (or the Dark One's?) is his desire to kill, then not kill, Rand. I haven't gone through and counted how many times the orders have been flip-flopped, but we all know it's happened several times. Here are a few examples. The first is a Dream Egwene had:   So, here, in book three, Ishamael wants Rand dead. Is that his own desire, or the Dark One's? Later, Sammael says to Graendal:   Now, Rand shouldn't be harmed. But it's changed once again by orders from Taim, Demandred, and Moridin to the Asha'man Kisman:     Now, it's okay to kill Rand. And once more there's a flip-flop when Moridin commands the other Forsaken:     The last change must be because of Rand and Moridin's link. Moridin says later that he "could throttle Semirhage for what she did" (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 15, "A Place to Begin"), because Rand's lost hand has affected him as well. This is a major piece of evidence for the body-swap theory because it shows how much their link has turned physical.   What's the reasoning behind this inconsistency? As I said previously, it might be Ishamael's insanity. Whether or not he was technically the Nae'blis before, he surely had more authority than the others, and most likely had a hand in most of their plans (he did have 3000 years to organize and manipulate that the others did not). Or does this reflect a change of heart in the Dark One? That seems unlikely to me. Though Verin does say:     Perhaps the Dark One is capable of changing his mind in quick succession. Maybe a lot has to do with the plans Rand was doing at the time. Naturally, the Dark One would want Rand dead rather than have him successfully remove the taint.   There are many, many times when Ishamael says Rand will serve him, even in death. But is that true? That may be a boast on the Dark One's part—trying to scare Rand into serving him willingly. In earlier blogs, we've talked a bit about Rand's soul—and other Heroes'—and whether they go to Tel'aran'rhiod right after death. If that is the case, Rand's soul wouldn't be available to the Dark One. If the Dark One isn't able to get his hands on the Dragon's soul if Rand dies, then he would definitely want Rand to serve him alive, if possible. But if there is no Dragon, the Dark One wins, so he could still want Rand dead, whether or not he can access the Dragon's soul. Logically, there's motivation for wanting to keep Rand alive and wanting him dead.   What of Moridin being the Dark One's champion? He seems to think he is, saying he and Rand/Lews Therin have fought thousands of times with the turning of the Wheel. But how much can we trust his reasoning? He is mad, and possibly deranged. Metal Head said,     This is a great idea! Why would the Dark One recycle a soul that failed him so miserably? Even with the Forsakens' constant scheming, they prove themselves weak and childish, after their own desires, not the Dark One's. Why would he want them to serve him again in the next Age? Although, maybe the Dark One doesn't have any of the power he claims. If Ishamael's soul is eternally bound to the Dark One the way the Dragon is bound to the Light, then the Dark One's control over events is a lot less than he boasts.   Brandon Sanderson said in an interview that, "Rand and Moridin are also frequently woven together in the Pattern." If that's the case, Moridin is eternally tainted by the Shadow. That means he was predestined to go to the Shadow during the War of Power. That means he was a bad guy before he even realized he was a bad guy. Keeping with the theme of the series, this doesn't sound right. Very few things in The Wheel of Time are black and white—no one is pure evil, no one is pure good. Each character has flaws and talents. Even the Forsaken aren't absolute Shadow; they do what they do out of selfishness, but not out of a desire to be evil. Because of this, I don't think Ishamael is eternally tainted. He has to be able to get salvation.   I don't know how popular the theory of Moridin returning to the Light is, but I think it's a real possibility because of that argument. It was logic that sent him to the Shadow to begin with (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 15, "A Place to Begin"). That same logic can bring him back.   And here's where it gets a little crazy. What if Moridin is the double agent? With his logic, he knows there needs to be someone on the inside, getting close to the Dark One, understanding the Shadow's ultimate goals. Now, with that information, he has been fighting Rand, but what if the fights have been for Rand's own benefit? Each battle, each struggle, has led to Rand being more in control, more sure of himself and victory. Even Rand sinking to his lowest and his use of the True Power led to his epiphany on Dragonmount in "Veins of Gold."   When Egwene stands up to Elaida they have a bit of an argument:     This exchange might seem off topic, but it shows that everything Rand has done has been the Pattern's purpose, including fights with the Shadow, namely Ishamael. Ishamael had to know each battle was doomed, since Rand was fated to at least survive until Tarmon Gai'don. So, why did he continue with these plans to kill Rand? Because each one ultimately helped Rand. I think Ishamael is going to be important to the Light's victory, and I think he's already aware of what he must do.   As I said, we only have a few more weeks before we know for sure. That's all for this week; I'm looking forward to the comments on this one. Thanks for reading!

We all know who the ta'veren are in the Wheel of Time books, but who are the ta'veren from the history of our world? Who from the real world has shaped the course of history? Visit our General Wheel of Time Discussion forum and let us know.   The Aiel Social Group has introduced a new feature. Each month, they will have a discussion about one of the world's cultures, featuring guest speakers from each of the discussed cultures. This time, they are discussing Russia.   This month, the Black Tower Social Group is talking about random acts of kindness. What random acts of kindness have you done for others? What random acts of kindness have others done for you?   It's Holiday Mayhem over at the Shayol Ghul Social Group! The Black Ajah has planned some creative events for you, including games and a "Secret Stabber" message exchange to show your friends you care. Watch this thread for a guide to events as they are posted.   It's a role play featuring Wolfkin! I haven't seen one of these for awhile. Check out Finding the Wolves from our role players.

Tor Books has released the second of several promotional videos for A Memory of Light.   This video, called, "The Robert Jordan Story", is an insightful look at the life or James Rigney, aka Robert Jordan. It includes stories and photos that most fans have probably not heard.   As with the first promotional video, this one features interviews with Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal, Tor publisher Tom Doherty, and Dragonmount founder Jason Denzel.   Expect to see at least one more video from Tor over the next several weeks. Here's the video:     Please pass this video onto your friends and family. This is a great way to share the phenomenon of the Wheel of Time with a wider audience.   About A Memory of Light   Dragonmount features complete coverage of AMOL. Check back regularly for updates! Visit our complete AMOL info page. Read our spoiler-free review of the book. Purchase the prologue and support our website Read the opening portion of the AMOL prologue for free. Read the opening portion of Chapter 1 for free. Listen to Chapter 2 for free. (Tor.com) Read the opening portion of Chapter 11 for free. Book Tour dates and locations (Apply to be a Memory Keeper) Get daily AMOL quotes emailed to you (Tor.com) Discuss A Memory of Light on our forums. Follow us on Twitter or "Like" us on Facebook.

Dragonmount is pleased to announce that our friends at the Waygate Foundation have launched their first fundraising campaign, entitled "A Story Begins."   The Waygate Foundation is a non-profit organization which strives to unite fans and authors in the science-fiction and fantasy field to work together for philanthropic purposes. The goal of their first campaign is to raise $10,000 to benefit Patrick Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders charity.   If they are successful in raising their goal, then they've been given permission to share a sneak peak of the forthcoming Wheel of Time Encyclopedia. The Encyclopedia will be the definitive reference book for all things related to the WoT saga. It will most likely be published in 2014.   Please consider donating to this charity. It goes to a great cause, which you can learn about on author Patrick Rothfuss' website. To read more, and make a contribution, visit WaygateFoundation.org.   Here's the full press release: More Information WaygateFoundation.org Waygate Foundation on Facebook (Please "Like" them!)

It's time for another giveaway! Here are the rules again for those who aren't familiar with them:         This week, we will be giving away a copy of Towers of Midnight. I haven't received an audio clip from Macmillan, but will add it here if/when I do.   This giveaway's question is: How has the Wheel of Time series changed your life? You have until Wednesday, December 12th to answer in the comments section. Good luck!

It's beginning to look like Tarmon Gai'don everywhere you go All that is, was, and might have been, unraveling once again With melting swords and rotting food to show   It's beginning to look like Tarmon Gai'don Everyone's at war But the scariest sight to see will be the Dark One running free Out of Shayol Ghul   A good sword by your side or a safe place to hide Is the wish of most of the world Or a way to not fight and yet still serve the Light As the Dragon Banner's unfurled And the Nae'blis can hardly wait for chaos to start again   It's beginning to look like Tarmon Gai'don The Dark wants you afraid; Trolloc armies up in the Blight, all itching for a fight And on each side the shadows hide a Fade   It's beginning to look like Tarmon Gai'don Say your last goodbyes Since the thing we have yet to know, thanks to R-A-F-O will be just who dies     -----------------------------------------------------------------------     His name it was Lews Therin He was an Aes Sedai but then saidin was tainted And the people all did cry   Oh Dragon Dragon Dragon, You've destroyed the world today Then you turned into a mountain We are glad you've gone away   The world it did recover Though many were left dead But Foretellings started showing up And this is what they said   Oh Dragon Dragon Dragon You'll be reborn someday You'll break the nations of the earth and make the Dark One pay   His name it was al'Thor And farming was his trade but he caused a lot of trouble making women pull their braid   Oh Dragon Dragon Dragon, The Aes Sedai want you They'll put you in a tiny box and make you come unglued   He came into his powers And then went a little mad We hope he soon gets better cause it's getting pretty bad   Oh Dragon Dragon Dragon, Why must you go and brood You better get over yourself Or else we're really screwed

Welcome back to "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog. For this week's post, I want to look at Nicola's Foretelling.   Spoiler warning! This will include content from many books in the series, including Towers of Midnight, and speculation about A Memory of Light. Please read at your own risk.   Also, this WILL NOT contain spoilers from A Memory of Light's Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 11, or Tor's daily previews. Please refrain from posting any spoilers from A Memory of Light in the comments section. The A Memory of Light spoiler discussion board can be found here.   We all know Nicola's major Foretelling that happens in Lord of Chaos, Chapter 14, "Dreams and Nightmares." It has been analyzed to death, and most everyone is sick of it. So, we won't even touch it at all. Rather, I want to look at her Foretellings that have happened "off-screen," so to speak. This happens in Crossroads of Twilight, where Janya Frende is complaining to Egwene about Nicola.   Janya doubts the credibility of Nicola's Foretellings, and even says the novices don't believe her. Because of that, we—the reader—should dismiss it as well. But you'll notice that one aspect of that list happens at the end of this book: an Amyrlin imprisoned. I think what's meant to be a throw away line, in an effort to discredit Nicola, becomes important when we realize at least one is correct. Because of that one line, I think the rest is important as well. Nicola struggles very hard to be noticed, but that doesn't mean she can't also be right.   The first part talks of battles with the Seanchan or the Asha'man. Since Nicola is the one saying it, I'm assuming that the battles will be between the White Tower, which she is a part of, and the Seanchan/Asha'man. We get one battle with the Seanchan in The Gathering Storm, or does that not count? It's technically a raid. And the phrase used is "battles," so that could mean more than one attack on the White Tower. With the Seanchan discovery of Traveling, they are planning a second raid—but I thought it would be post-Tarmon Gai'don. Perhaps it won't be. Besides knowing that the Last Battle constitutes a 50,000 word long block in A Memory of Light, we don't have clues about what happens before or afterwards (without going into spoilers). So, I think because of Nicola's Foretelling, it's possible another Seanchan raid could happen before the Last Battle begins.   The next part is a battle with the Asha'man. Again, people have suggested that there won't be time for this before Tarmon Gai'don. But we know that at the end of Towers of Midnight, Pevara and Androl are trying to find a way to escape the Black Tower. There is definitely a battle looming here. In a previous blog, I talked about Logain and the possibility that he is recruiting other channelers—maybe male and female—to help him take back the Black Tower. That would count as the White Tower—as Aes Sedai are initiates—battling Asha'man. And since we all know this is coming, it also gives credibility to Nicola's words.   That leads to the most important part of Nicola's Foretelling, in my opinion: the Dragon Reborn doing nine impossible things.   We see Janya repeating this in Crossroads of Twilight, but that doesn't mean Nicola said them all in that time. They could have been spread out from when her Talent appeared (in Lord of Chaos) to this point, at least half a year later. So, I would list the cleansing of the taint as one of the nine impossible things. But what else has Rand done that's considered impossible?   What about the balefire streams crossing (A Crown of Swords, Chapter 41, "A Crown of Swords")? I think most people would believe weaves that cross and cause a semi-merging of two people is impossible. Plus, this is going to play a huge part in the Last Battle. Whether or not you believe the body-swap theory, Min says to Rand, "I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and...one of you dies, and one doesn't" (A Crown of Swords, Chapter 33, "A Bath"). Since Min doesn't believe this refers to Lews Therin, I don't either. And Rand and Moridin's connection has greatly increased over the past few books. So, if the streams crossing isn't the impossible aspect, perhaps Rand merging with Moridin—literally or figuratively—would be.   Rand was able to destroy cuendillar. That's impossible. In The Gathering Storm, Chapter 22, "The Last That Could Be Done," Rand uses the True Power to destroy the Domination Band. When it's first introduced, Moghedien says, "You cannot destroy it. That is not metal, but a form of cuendillar. Even balefire cannot destroy cuendillar" (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 54, "Into the Palace"). I think that counts.   Another feat: Rand becoming "Light and Power" (Towers of Midnight, Chapter 32, "A Storm of Light"). He defeated hundreds of thousands of Shadowspawn. By himself. Without an angreal. Impossible.   That's four we've seen, leaving five to be fulfilled. I've got a couple ideas on those.   1. Have a hand made of the One Power.   There's been some foreshadowing that Rand might be able to get a new hand—Min saw a viewing above Rand's head that was "a glowing sword, Callandor, being gripped in a black hand" (Towers of Midnight, Chapter 51, "A Testing"). This image has led many to speculate that Rand could make a new hand from the One Power. We know that using the Power on yourself doesn't work, so that would be impossible.   2. Break the seals.   Though they are cuendillar, they can be broken with a bare hand, so the physical destruction of them isn't impossible. It's the concept of destroying the seals that is ludicrous! Therefore, I think many would believe it impossible, just because it's a bad idea—and that's why Egwene plans on stopping him. However, Min says, "You have to destroy the seals to the Dark One's prison," and Rand replies with, "Yes, that sounds right. I doubt that many will wish to hear it. If those seals are broken, there is no way to tell what will happen. If I fail to contain him..." (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 15, "A Place to Begin").   3. Making the Aiel give up their spears.   We've seen through Aviendha's second trip through the glass column ter'angreal that Rand intends to leave the Aiel out of the Dragon's Peace agreement (Towers of Midnight, Chapter 49, "Court of the Sun"). Perhaps to avoid this dismal future, Aviendha will make Rand include the Aiel, having them give up their spears. That would be considered impossible by everyone, even the Aiel. If so, the Shaido heading back to the Three-Fold Land could be the "remnant of a remnant" (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 34, "He Who Comes With the Dawn")—meaning they will still act as warrior Aiel.   4. Surviving after the Last Battle.   Everyone believes Rand will die in the Last Battle—"twice to live, twice to die" (The Great Hunt, Chapter 26, "Discord")—so him surviving is pretty much impossible. Yet, many of us still think he will live, though the method in which he comes back is heavily debated.   5. Actually destroying the Dark One.   Rand seems to have the intent to kill the Dark One, not just reseal him in the Bore. When he speaks to Moridin in Tel'aran'rhiod Rand says, "I mean to kill him. Slay the Dark One. Let the Wheel turn without his constant taint." (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 15, "A Place to Begin"). Moridin replies with, "I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement," implying that it may be impossible for Rand to kill the Dark One.   I think most of the ideas on this list are likely, no matter that they are deemed impossible. And I think Nicola should be given a bit of credit for her Foretelling abilities. Even if only the imprisoned Amyrlin is correct, that's still a better record than Elaida, who always seems to misinterpret her Foretellings.   That's all for this edition. Please join us next week for a discussion—suggested by Metal Head—on what Moridin's true intentions are, and why there's a constant flip-flop in the orders to kill Rand. Thanks for reading!

Tor Books has released the first of several promotional videos for A Memory of Light.   This video, called, " ", is designed to introduce new fans to the series, and explain why now is a great time to investigate the series.  The video features interviews with Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal, Tor publisher Tom Doherty, acclaimed fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss, and Dragonmount founder Jason Denzel (me!).   Expect to see several more videos from Tor over the next several weeks. :  http://www.youtube.com/embed/YOJiyFf8gW4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>     Please pass this video onto your friends and family. This is a great way to share the phenomenon of the Wheel of Time with a wider audience.

On November 27, Dragonmount was hit by an overwhelming cyber attack. The result was similar to a "Distributed Denial of Service" (DDOS) attack, and resulted in our servers being overwhelmed with tens of thousands of page requests within a very condensed amount of time. Our web servers are powerful and well maintained. It's a testament to their resilience that they didn't immediately meltdown. Despite seeming to be offline, they never crashed, and immediately recovered as soon as we blocked incoming traffic. In the end though, even good web servers like ours succumb to these type of attacks. Because the overall assault originated from thousands of infected PC's across the world (mostly, if not entirely all Windows machines), it was impossible for us to simply deny a specific machine or IP address.   I want to make it clear that no data from our servers was compromised or lost. Your passwords are safe and encrypted on a database server unaffected by the attack. Dragonmount does not directly process or store any credit card information, so nothing related to our online store was anywhere near at risk.   People have asked our staff why we were targeted. There is probably no easy answer to that. Most likely, we were not singled out for any reason other than the fact that we are a medium-sized, established website with a large user base. The specific distributed attack that affected us is known to seek out sites just like ours. This specific one is too weak to tackle huge sites like Google or Facebook, so it seeks out sites like ours that seem like easy prey.   They will not find us so easy next time.   To combat this issue, we've significantly increased the security settings on the DM web servers, and also invested in an industry-leading security service. I won't go so far as to say this will never happen again, but I can assure you that we've literally done everything we can, with the resources we have, to make the site as secure and stable as possible.   Thank you for your patience and support. As a whole, the you continue to amaze me with your kindness. On behalf of the entire DM staff, I want to thank everyone who emailed us with ideas, suggestions, offers of help, or just friendly encouragement. Special thanks to Brent Wentworth for his outstanding assistance during the most stressful part of the downtime.   If you have any questions, feel free to email us, or just comment below.   And now... back to preparing for A Memory of Light!   Jason Denzel