DRAGONMOUNT

'Twas a time of recov'ry, the Breaking now past The Dark One lay dormant, though 'twas sure not to last Strong new watch posts were set by the Blight with great care, In fear that Ba'alzamon soon would appear.   Ten nations, in vigilance, lay cross the land, Backed up by Tar Valon, where the Tower did stand My Aes Sedai in her shawl, and I with my sword Had just been dispatched north for the passes to ward   Oh, young fool was I then, for action did I long When from out of the mountains, an army did throng. The guardsmen did tremble, the watch posts did yield All our forces were pushed back, Trollocs took the field   Then Barsine was destroyed as more towns were then crushed Ten nations were rallied to plug where it gushed, But once poor Aramaelle had lost the day The foul Trollocs' dark leader then entered the fray   With a crash of loud thunder, our terror so stark, I knew in a moment 'twas the Heart of the Dark. On a steed made of smoke, laughing like a madman, He did curse them, and shouted, and drove them by clan!   Now, Al'ghol! now, Ahf'frait! now, Ghar'gheal and Ghob'hlin! On, Gho'hlem! on, Ko'bal! on, Dha'vol and Ghraem'lan! To the lands of the south! Past the Borderlands' wall! Now clash away! Bash away! Smash away all!   As all things must before the wild hurricane go, When they met with a foe, they did deal a deathblow. Down to Manetheren, past Aridhol they flew, With a couple of Draghkar, and some Myrddraal too.   He was dressed all in black, from his head to his toe, And his mouth and his eyes had an infernal glow. A bundle of Dreadlords around him did stand, All ready and waiting to fulfill his command   His eyes--how they smoldered! they sparked and did fume! His face was all ashen, so inspiring of doom! His foul little mouth then drew up in a sneer, And I knew what it was then to be seized by fear   The hilt of a sword he raised high in his hand, And black smoke encircled his head like a band. His voice shook like thunder when he gave the order And quite caught off guard this frightened young Warder!   He was evil and vile, a right troubling beast, And given a chance, on this world he would feast! With a glare from his eyes and a tilt of his head, I learned all to know that I could about dread.   He spoke so few words, just went straight to the fight, it turned the whole battle, a dark day for the Light. but as quick as he came the dark lord did abscond, and I hope that he stays there, where'er he spawned!   His forces now routed, thanks to the Amyrlin But the kingdoms were failing, much to our chagrin And Ba'alzamon's last words in my ears did burn "Let the Lord of Chaos rule, for I shall return!"

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to "WoT If?". This week's topic will be the former damane, Alivia.   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.   To me, Alivia has been one of the biggest mysteries in the series. There aren't too many theories about her, at least that I could find. I think that is so intriguing. It seems that everyone just accepts her—readers and characters alike. Ever since she was first introduced, I've had a hard time understanding the characters' acceptance of her. She's always stood out to me as being out of place with Rand's inner circle. So, let's look a bit closer at her and see if we can find out what she's hiding.   Alivia is first introduced—though not mentioned by name—in The Path of Daggers, Chapter 23, "Fog of War, Storm of Battle." She is one of five damane captured by Rand during his fight against the Seanchan. It's in Winter's Heart when we first hear anything about her, though. And the things we learn are that she was collared at age thirteen or fourteen, has been a damane for more than four hundred years, and she hates sul'dam (Chapter 8, "Sea Folk and Kin"). A leashed woman for over 400 years and she hates sul'dam? How unlikely is that? Damane are broken. It would take so much effort for one to want to be free of the collar.   In fact, the other two Seanchan damane don't want to be let off their leashes. Why would Alivia? The Randland damane want to be free, but they are still very beaten down; Reanna says, "I doubt either one could stand up to a sul’dam. I think if a sul’dam ordered either to help her escape, she would, and I fear she might not fight too hard if the sul’dam tried to collar her again." Yet Reanna says Alivia, "hates all the sul’dam, and she certainly makes a good show of it, snarling at them and cursing them, but…". How is it possible for women used to freedom to be cowed by the sul'dam but not a woman—a Seanchan woman—who has been leashed for 400 years? This should be a huge red flag to readers because of the impossibility of it.   So, after Alivia is let out of the a'dam, she is supposed to have a Kinswoman with her at all times, but rarely does. No one appears to do anything about it. Nynaeve tells her, "You aren’t supposed to go anywhere without an escort!" and then later, "You won’t let me see you without two or three Kinswomen again, if you know what’s good for you" (Winter's Heart, Chapter 11, "Ideas of Importance"). But, that very same day, Nynaeve takes Alivia with her when she leaves with Rand. Why?   This is just outrageous, the way she is instantly trusted and taken into the group. I can see a bit of reasoning on Nynaeve's part, though. She has been struggling with keeping to the Aes Sedai hierarchy—which is based on strength. She has used her own strength as a tool to get what she wants from others, so she would need to follow the rule as well. Alivia is stronger than Nynaeve, so it would be only Aes Sedai politics, maybe even subconsciously on Nynaeve's part.   Even so, how did Alivia even discover Nynaeve was leaving? Or did Nynaeve go and seek out the ex-damane? That seems even more unlikely since Nynaeve is obviously uncomfortable around the woman.   After leaving the Palace in Caemlyn, the party goes to Far Madding. It's here that Min has a viewing of Alivia:   Finally, we have someone who is suspicious of Alivia, though it makes Rand trust her more, for some reason. But the woman continues to be in their group. Why don't they interrogate her? Why don't they do something to find out her reasoning for hating sul'dam and wanting to help Rand? The fact that this is accepted without any explanation is mind boggling, to me.   Because of Min's viewing, even Nynaeve won't trust Alivia—though why she trusted her in the first place is a mystery. Nynaeve and Lan discuss it briefly:   This exchange can go both ways. A popular theme in the series is women knowing what's best, and another is women not understanding when they think they do. So, this could be foreshadowing either way, but I thought I'd point it out.   So, Alivia wanders free, not being taught by the Aes Sedai, but paying attention to their weaves. She is able to learn something just by seeing it done once (Knife of Dreams, Chapter 20, "The Golden Crane"). That means any channeling she sees, she can duplicate. This includes all the secret weaves that Sisters don't even pay attention to. Perhaps even secret weaves used to keep a wooden box—with the Domination Band inside—safe?   This leads me to my ultimate conclusion. Though there's very little evidence, I'm going to speculate anyway. I think Alivia was ordered by a sul'dam to gather information about their captors. They were captured by Rand, the Dragon Reborn, so the sul'dam could have told her to spy on him by any means possible. I think that's one of the only explanations for why Alivia was so eager to get the collar off: she was ordered to. Surely a damane would only be willing to be uncollared if she was ordered to. I think this is proved by the other Seanchan damane's insistence that they need to remain collared.   Either that, or there's another explanation: she is a Darkfriend. There is a certain sense of foreboding around Alivia, in the things I pointed out and other places. Perhaps she used Compulsion on Nynaeve to get to go along with the group? I did hint that she might have been the one who helped Elza get the Domination Band out of Cadsuane's room. Let's look at that a bit closer.   Cadsuane has the Domination Band in a document box in her quarters (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 14, "A Box Opens"). She disarms the box (which has inverted weaves on it that capture a person with Air, makes sounds like trumpets blasting, and has flashing lights) and shows the contents to Sorilea and Bair. Later, when the box had been opened, the wards didn't go off (Chapter 23, "A Warp in the Air"). Rand says servants searched Cadsuane's room; they would have mentioned if anyone was stuck floating with weaves of Air.   Sorilea saw the box disarmed, and likely armed, though it's not mentioned. But Cadsuane showed Sorilea the weaves she used on Semirhage, so it seems likely. Now, there have been a few theories that Bair might be a Darkfriend, but she can't channel, so she couldn't disarm the box. Sorilea as a Darkfriend is unlikely. But, what if Sorilea practices the weaves and Alivia happens to see? The next time we see Alivia, Rand thinks: "To the side, Alivia watched her [Min] go with curiosity. The former damane had stayed aloof recently, as if biding her time, waiting until she could fulfill her destiny in helping Rand die" (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 29, "Into Bandar Eban"). No other time has the damane been "aloof" in personality. If anything, she's overbearing. Why would Alivia suddenly be aloof? Because she's afraid of drawing the eye since her involvement with the Forsaken.   I think Alivia is working on one of those two sides. And her "helping Rand die" will not be for his own good, like he believes.   That's all for this edition. We have a break next week for the holidays, but the week after will be my last minute predictions for A Memory of Light. Thanks for reading!

We're getting closer and closer to Christmas! Because it's the holiday season, all our bloggers will have next week off from their duties here. They already have some interesting things planned for you the week after that, though!   Last week, Leigh Butler regaled readers with juicy, mysterious clues in her review of A Memory of Light. If you enjoy picking apart teasers and making predictions, head to our A Memory of Light Spoiler Discussion forum and join the fun.   The Hobbit has been in movie theaters for a few days. How did you like it? Did it live up to the hype, or was it a disappointment? Let us know in the Movies and Games Discussion forum.   It's Winter in the Waste at the Aiel Social Group! Partake in games, recipe exchanges, card exchanges, and more. See the thread linked above for a guide to the events.   The Wolfkin Social Group would like to know your opinions about winter. Do you like the season, or dislike it? What does the season mean to you?   That's it for now. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Here's the last of the eBook wallpapers that Tor is making available before the release of the last book. This time, the featured eBook wallpaper is for Towers of Midnight. The artwork is by Raymond Swanland. Here is the image:     Go here to download different sizes of the wallpaper and to read more about how this art was created. How do you like the art for this eBook?

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!