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It Works in Theory: Are You Afraid of the Dark Prophecy?


hazelkrs1

Salutations, my savvy sojourners of Dragonmount! Welcome to another weekly installment of "It Works in Theory", the new theory blog this gentleman has the giddy pleasure to write. I hope everyone's had fun so far in picking my brain apart; I know I've had plenty of fun (not as much sleep, however). I have enjoyed your comments so much, in fact, that I was inspired with what I think might be a great idea. Many of you who have left comments or have posted on our forums have very good theories of your own that often have my head nodding and my mind thinking of all the implications they would entail. So, I thought it would be serendipitous if some of you could send in some of your ideas, and I could pick one idea once a month (or perhaps several if they can fit) and elucidate on all the ins and outs on my blog. Just to clarify: I more than likely wouldn't pick one out that I disagree with just to pick it apart. It's more than likely I'll go with one I find to be interesting or provocative, and try to expound in other ways that the theory could be significant.

 

If this sounds like a good idea, or if you had any other suggestions or possible topics for my blog, you can either PM me here on Dragonmount or e-mail me at hazelkrs110@hotmail.com. If you think this is me being lazy and you don't feel like doing my work for me, feel free to pretend your computer monitor is my face and dash it, dash it good. Now, on to our weekly disclaimer:

 

WARNING!!! Spoiler Alert!!! WARNING!!!

This blog is based on theories that will include facts and material from the latest books in the series, so if you have not read through Towers of Midnight, continue reading at your own risk! "It Works in Theory" is not intended for human consumption. Should any hypothesis or presupposition come into contact with your skin or eyes, flush the affected area with a tepid saline solution for at least 10 minutes. Should a rash or itching persist, consult a physician or visit the forums.

 

I figured we'd go with something slightly different this week, both to give my fingers and my readers' eyes a rest. Instead of breaking down another one of my wacky, convoluted theories for umpteen paragraphs, I thought it might be nice to highlight an individual set of prophecies or viewings every now and again. We already have a great resource for general Wheel of Time questions in our Wheel of Time FAQ, and there you can find an explanation of what the prophecies might be referring to, so this is just another take on it. Today, we are going to examine the Dark Prophecies.

 

There's some uncertainty over one of the prophecies--the one introduced to us when Padan Fain escapes from the dungeons in Fal Dara, towards the end of The Great Hunt. It was written in blood on the walls of the dungeon, and we were lucky enough to have Verin record it down for us so that she could study it and give her thoughts on it. It was verified later to be a Myrddraal, possibly influenced by Ishamael, who actually wrote the prophecy on the wall. When asked about whether or not the Fal Dara prophecy was a true dark prophecy, Robert Jordan gave us a Read And Find Out response, leading us to believe that even if it's not true prophecy, there's still something we can gain from studying it.

 

The Great Hunt

Chapter 7, "Blood Calls Blood"

 

Daughter of the Night, she walks again.

The ancient war, she yet fights.

Her new lover she seeks, who shall serve her and die, yet serve still.

Who shall stand against her coming?

The Shining Walls shall kneel.

 

The Daughter of Night is obviously Lanfear, and she walks again in the world after being released from the prison containing the Dark One. She fights his ancient war against the Light. I will say there might be subtle foreshadowing in the phrasing of "yet fights" relating to her capture and "death" in the land of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn, which she survives to fight yet again.

 

I talked about the next line last week in my blog when I spoke of the possibility of Lanfear gaining control of Rand through Callandor (here's the link in case you missed it). I think Rand is her new lover--new because he's not quite the same person she remembers from the Age of Legends--but others have brought up the possibility of her falling for someone else. I'm still not quite sure how Rand might serve her after dying, though, but I've got a theory (not to be revealed this week, however).

 

The last couple of lines are fairly important because part of them might be overlooked. "Who shall stand against her coming" could possibly be a reference to Moiraine, who stood up against Lanfear in The Fires of Heaven, but could also be foreshadowing of a future event. Then we come to "The Shining Walls shall kneel", which many take to mean that the White Tower (Shining Walls) will defer to someone else's authority, most likely Rand's. I contend that the line is both a metaphor and not one at the same time. "Shining Walls" refers to the White Tower, but when it says the "walls" shall "kneel", I take that to mean the shining walls and towers of the White Tower will fall.

 

We know the Seanchan are gearing up for a second attack on Tar Valon, and that the White Tower is lightly defended because so many forces are currently gathered at the Fields of Merrilor. There isn't any indication, however, that the Seanchan would want to hold the White Tower. They just want to capture as many marath'damane as possible, so it could very well come to pass that they simply demolish the Tower after they pillage it for whatever resources and treasures they can find.

 

Blood feeds blood.

Blood calls blood.

Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

 

This is the refrain from the prophecy we're currently reviewing, and I just wanted to address some things I felt were relevant. We have a good amount of references to the Dragon's blood having something to do with mankind's salvation, but nothing indicates why we might specifically need his blood for the Dark One to be defeated. I also have a theory on that (yes, I'm saving that one too), but I feel the last line of the refrain might be hinting at something. Blood is--Rand is the Dragon Reborn, and the Champion of the Light. Blood was--Lews Therin was the Dragon and helped seal the Dark One away for three millenia. Blood shall ever be--either the Dragon will always be reborn to fight the Dark One, or perhaps that Rand survives Tarmon Gai'don using his "blood"?

 

The man who channels stands alone.

He gives his friends for sacrifice.

Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying, one to life eternal.

Which will he choose? Which will he choose?

What hand shelters? What hand slays?

 

The channeling man is Rand, and the second line is referring to the callus way in which Rand uses those around him to get what he thinks he needs. He puts Mat and Perrin, as well as countless others he meets, directly in harm's way with little hesitation. The next part is very interesting because it can be interpreted in two completely different ways. The first way is from the perspective of Darkfriends: one path leads him to "death beyond dying" because either he's balefired, the Dark One grabs his soul, or his soul is destroyed in Tel'aran'rhiod; the second path leads him to life eternal, for that is what is promised by the Dark One should he come to rule the land.

 

The alternate way of looking at it is that Rand can either end up destroying the Pattern, which leads to "death beyond dying", or he can take the other path and seal the Dark One away. The last line is also very significant because it is ominous foreshadowing to both the hand that he lost when he captured Semirhage and to Rand's internal conflict as he wonders which hand was destroyed, the one that shelters, or the one that slays.

 

Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.

Isam waited in the high passes.

The hunt is now begun. The Shadow's hounds now course, and kill.

One did live, and one did die, but both are.

The Time of Change has come.

 

This whole stanza involves the origins of one of our most mysterious bad guys, Slayer. Perrin knows there is some relationship between Slayer and Lord Luc, who he met when he went to the defense of the Two Rivers in The Shadow Rising, because their smells are somewhat similar. One of the most interesting aspects of Slayer is the fact that both halves of his makeup have very interesting lineages that could have many possible outcomes in the last book: Lord Luc is Tigraine's brother, making him Rand's uncle; Isam is the son of Breyan, the woman known for having a large part in Malkier's betrayal, and through this line he is Lan Mandragoran's cousin. This is better than daytime soap operas, huh? The last bit we can glean from this particular passage is the reference to the Darkhounds' hunt, which Slayer is at least involved in, and more than likely leading. He's also been referenced as being given the task of hunting Padan Fain down, so he has plenty of possible confrontations in his future. The "time of change" simply refers to the last days before Tarmon Gai'don and the possibility of the Pattern being unraveled.

 

The Watchers wait on Toman Head.

The seed of the Hammer burns the ancient tree.

Death shall sow, and summer burn, before the Great Lord comes.

Death shall reap, and bodies fail, before the Great Lord comes.

Again the seed slays ancient wrong, before the Great Lord comes.

Now the Great Lord comes.

 

The "Watchers" are clearly the "Watchers over the waves", who wait for the return of Artur Hawkwing's armies from across the ocean. The "seed of the Hammer" refers to Hawkwing's descendants, the Seanchan, where he was known as "The Hammer of the Light". The Seanchan burned the ancient tree when they defeated Tarabon because Tarabon's sigil is a tree, which is supposed to be a sapling of Avendesora, the Tree of Life. The middle two lines are pretty cryptic and hard to discern, but the next line is somewhat enticing to me. One way to look at the "seed" slaying ancient wrong is by correlating the Seanchan with the earlier mention of seed. The ancient wrong that they would slay could potentially be the practice of leashing channelers as damane, or possibly even slavery in general. Another way to look at it is switching Rand out with the Seanchan, and his ancient wrong could be the Dark One himself. I see this possibility and other obscure references as hints to Rand's possible re-altering of the Pattern itself, in which he replaces the cyclical expression of time in his universe with a linear expression of time. This is very iffy, but I'll probably explore that idea further some other day.

 

Next, we have the grade "A" approved Dark Prophecy, found at the end of Towers of Midnight. This prophecy is misinterpreted earlier in the same book by Graendal, when she attempts to set a trap for Perrin and his army.

 

Towers of Midnight

"Epilogue"

 

Lo, it shall come upon the world that the prison of the Greatest One shall grow weak, like the limbs of those who crafted it. Once again, His glorious cloak shall smother the Pattern of all things, and the Great Lord shall stretch forth His hand to claim what is His. The rebellious nations shall be laid barren, their children caused to weep. There shall be none but Him, and those who have turned their eyes to His majesty.

 

The seals holding the Dark One's prison are weakening, and the "limbs" more than likely refer to the the ancestry of the male channelers who created his prison, and how the skill and ability to use the One Power is being culled out of humanity. Channelers today aren't able to complete anywhere near the same type of feats as they were able to in the Age of Legends. The rest of the excerpt goes on to elaborate on how awful and dark things will get as the Dark One's influence grows.

 

In that day, when the One-Eyed Fool travels the halls of mourning, and the First Among Vermin lifts his hand to bring freedom to Him who will Destroy, the last days of the Fallen Blacksmith's pride shall come. Yea, and the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known, shall fall and be consumed by the Midnight Towers. And his destruction shall bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men, and shall shake their very will itself.

 

The one-eyed fool is Mat, and the halls of mourning could possibly be when he went into the realm of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn to rescue Moiraine. The Aelfinn and Eelfinn feed on emotion, and it seems the particularly delectable morsels are the emotions drawn from those suffering and in agony. It also seems pretty clear that many have died in its halls, which is another reference to mourning. Lastly, they describe themselves as "the warriors of final regret".

 

The "first among vermin" is most likely Rand because it's a good play on the wording of Lews Therin's title in the Age of Legends: First Among Servants. There's other ideas relating the first among vermin to either Fain, Perrin, Moridin, or possibly Slayer, but Rand is the best option because he's the one who will be most directly responsible for freeing the Dark One when he breaks the seals.

 

As for the "fallen blacksmith", that most definitely is Perrin, but the fallen part might be more ominous than we realize. There is a chance that Perrin might be one of the characters who don't survive the Last Battle. Don't start throwing things at me yet! The great thing is that even after he died, he could still have a hand in shaping things, especially concerning his abilities in Tel'aran'rhiod. Many would say, though, that the part concerning "the fallen blacksmith's pride" was fulfilled when he quit trying to deny the mantle of leadership, which is a reasonable enough conclusion.

 

One idea I thought of, though, could be the possibility that the pride here refers to his wolf friends. We've had an image ready to visualize for a long time of Perrin riding into battle with thousands of wolves running with him and burning through the hordes of Trollocs like a brush fire in west Texas. They're his pack, not a pride as we normally think of with lions, and his connection to the wolves is where he gets a big source of strength, individuality, force of will, and pride. So, the line could refer to Perrin leading a very large number of wolves to their death, which would be heartbreaking because it would be the second time Perrin will have been responsible for that many wolf deaths (the first being Dumai's Wells). Wow, I really like theorizing about deaths of characters and races, don't I?

 

The way you interpret the last part of the passage depends on your idea of what "broken wolf" means. Some might think this would be Perrin, or a bunch of other alternatives that make less and less sense, but there's a much stronger case for Rand. There are a couple of comparisons made between Rand and wolves in the books, and he even has his own wolf-name, Shadowkiller. The point is that Perrin isn't the only one in the series who could be connected with wolves somehow. A much more thorough and elaborate argument is made by Terez in the Wheel of Time FAQ; she pretty much lays it all out very well.

 

Still, after all that, there is one line which is usually interpreted one way but could easily mean something else.

His destruction shall bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men, and shall shake their very will itself.

 

"His destruction" is generally considered to be his death, but it is very possible it could be referring to the destruction he will cause. There's still only one person who truly could be said to cause enough destruction that it could shake the very will of men. That's right, you guessed it, Dark Rand 2.0 came back to rear his giant, ugly, prophetic head. I actually meant to make this connection last week, but forgot in my sleep deprived, zombie-like state of mind. Imagine Rand going to the Midnight Towers to be used like a puppet, wreaking a wild, destructive force across the countryside, balefiring friend and foe alike. Yeah, that would shake the will of men alright.

 

And then, shall the Lord of the Evening come. And He shall take our eyes, for our souls shall bow before Him, and He shall take our skin, for our flesh shall serve Him, and He shall take our lips, for only Him will we praise. And the Lord of the Evening shall face the Broken Champion, and shall spill his blood and bring us the Darkness so beautiful. Let the screams begin, O followers of the Shadow. Beg for your destruction!

 

The Lord of the Evening more than likely refers to Moridin, in that as Rand is known as the Lord of the Morning, Moridin as his arch nemesis would be the opposite. Being that the Lord of Morning will face the Broken Champion, it stands to reason that Rand would be the Broken Champion for a few reasons. No one else could really face Moridin and have a chance, unless they had some kind of sa'angreal or something, which would probably be referenced in the prophecy. Rand is the Light's Champion, and he refers to himself as being broken several times in the books.

 

Then we come to the last part of the prophecy, another reference to the spilling of Rand's blood possibly being a necessary catalyst for the freeing of the Dark One/defeat of the Dark One. I definitely want to contemplate this "Blood" issue hopefully in the weeks to come, so I might need a little more time for dramatic build up and eager anticipation to occur. You might or might not be seeing a blog from me next week, as the site will be busy handling the Dragonmount duties at Dragon*Con this coming weekend (plus it's my birthday next Monday), so it might be a good idea to emotionally, mentally, and physically prepare for a possible week of no theory blog. I'm sure you'll manage!




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"Yea, and the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known, shall fall and be consumed by the Midnight Towers"

 

How about that the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known, be Hopper?

 

And the end of Perrin's pride means that he will finally stop fighting what he must become?

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The problem with Hopper, as with many other potential candidates for Broken Wolf, is you can't justify there being a way for Hopper's death or destruction to "bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men." This line stresses the fact that the broken wolf must be someone who would be an extremely polarizing character who everyone knows about. Terez's article that I linked to in the blog, talks about this.

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i think the broken wolf might be perrin...

 

perrin because of his fight with slayer, where he got arrowed in the leg in TAR... in TGS (i forget where), he has "a shadow of pain" across his leg when he stepped through a gateway... and if he dies, it will bring fear and sorrow to many men... *goes looking for the reference*

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yet, in that quote "Yea, and the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known" Death is capitalized, meaning it probably is a proper name... moridin... and as far as i know, moridin and perrin have no connection... *scribbles out the theory*

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i think theres a good case of the broken wolf being Lan, the verse already mentions rand, mat and perin so i dont think it is one of them but if it is then it is probs perin..

 

its the way the verse is layed out..

"Yea, and the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known, shall fall and be consumed by the Midnight Towers"

the "and" in Yea, and the Broken Wolf implies 'oh and him aswell, don't forget to mention that guy..' do u get what i mean..

and Death might mean the dark one, not mordin as many think, and the darkone definatly must know about Lan

 

also, lan is often assosiated or described as wolf like so he cud be the 'broken wolf'

also if lan died that wud have a big affect on alot of people since he has had his personal war with the shadow for a long time and survived..he's almost like an icon as a thorn in the dark ones foot and his death after years of definance, well it cud even be said to "bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men, and shall shake their very will itself."

..?

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The broken wolf may be Jain Farstrider (or Noal).

 

In line with the Thor, Odin and Tir thing. Lord Luc may have some correlation with Loki.

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The phrase "the one whom Death has known" makes me think the Broken Wolf is Slayer. From the other dark prophecies, we know that "one did live, and one did die, but both are." Also, there is the fact that he especially likes hunting and skinning wolves in the Wolf Dream. Slayer is shaping up to be Perrin's nemesis, and an anti-wolf theme would make sense.

 

Perhaps, (and this is reaching a bit) either Luc or Isam is a Wolfbrother. That would cover a lot of things; the Broken Wolf, since he's serving the Shadow; his affiliation with the Dark Hunt, since the dark hounds are wolf souls; his enjoyment of hunting wolves, and his hatred of Perrin. That is pure speculation, but it seems to fit.

 

As for his destruction bringing "fear and sorrow," perhaps the fact that Luc is Rand's uncle and Isam is Lan's cousin would be enough. The revelation that these long lost relatives of the Dragon and the King of Malkier are actually alive (sort of) but are fighting for the Shadow could have substantial impact. Or, it could just be that the destruction Slayer causes will "bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men." Either way, my money is on the Broken Wolf being Slayer.

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I think the Broken Wolf is either Hopper, or Lan. Hopper was already dead, so obviously death has known him. Prophecies have a way of being completely literal, but in the least obvious way. And I believe that every prophecy is probably as factual as any other, depending on the interpretation. Karaethon Cycle, Jendai, Aiel, Dark, Seahchan - whichever. They probably all are true depending on how you look at them. I think it's sort of the nature of prophecies.

 

The reason I think it is Hopper is that if he hadn't died, Perrin would not have been driven to craft Mah'alleinir and would not have named it after Hopper.

The Blacksmith carrying the Hammer is one of the signs of the Last Battle in the Seanchan prophecies.

"When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known. When the fox marries the raven, and the trumpets of battle are blown."

 

Because Hopper dies and Perrin crafts the hammer, the Last Battle really begins and that makes people terrified, for obvious reasons.

 

Unless of course you consider the first words of the sentence: IN THAT DAY. Do all of these things happen on the same day Mat goes to the Tower? Does it mean that while Mat was in the Tower, Rand broke the seals, and Lan dies while charging the Gap? If THAT DAYis literally the same day, it can't mean Hopper's death and must mean another's.

 

Death has known Lan, as Lan has courted death from nearly his very birth? His bond snapped with Moiraine, making him believe her dead. Will he fall? I do not believe Lan will really die, honestly. Nynaeve's Talent for Healing has done nothing but improve and progress. The constant reference to Healing everything except death, to my mind, means that she will eventually be able to bring anyone back from the very brink itself. One miniscule spark of life remaining and I believe she can Heal him. By doing this she will be able to Heal Rand after all is said and done. Once she does a thing, or sees a thing done - she has learned it. Besides, I read foreshadowing in the comment made by Elayne when she says Nynaeve won't be satisfied until she Heals someone 3 days dead. (Ahem, Rand. She will pull his butt out of T'A'R and slam it back into his body after the 3 on the boat business is done.)

 

Anyway, IF Lan is the Broken Wolf, and he falls at the head of the Borderland charge it will break the people following him, so that does work, too.

 

If THAT DAY is a more esoteric concept meaning a short time period, then my money is on it having been Hopper and his death heralding the change in Perrin required to fulfill his part of launching the Last Battle.

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Despothera, I like your theory on the 'Shining Walls shall kneel' line. I hadn't considered that as a possible interpretation.

 

'In that day, when the One-Eyed Fool travels the halls of mourning, and the First Among Vermin lifts his hand to bring freedom to Him who will Destroy, the last days of the Fallen Blacksmith's pride shall come'

 

On one hand, I completely agree with your interpretation of this, but on the other, what if the first three words are to be taken literally?

 

Unless of course you consider the first words of the sentence: IN THAT DAY. Do all of these things happen on the same day Mat goes to the Tower? Does it mean that while Mat was in the Tower, Rand broke the seals, and Lan dies while charging the Gap? If THAT DAYis literally the same day, it can't mean Hopper's death and must mean another's.

Angela, unless I'm gravely mistaken it's flat out impossible. Mat is now out of the tower and Rand has yet to break the seals. Of course it's possible that he has done so in secret, but I think we should have seen some MAJOR signs if true.

 

Broken Wolf; As I've said in the Broken Wolf thread, I belive it's Rand. Most of it is self explanatory, though alot of people seem to discredit it through the 'Wolf" part. As you said Despothera, they have named him Shadowkiller. Now I'm under the impression that they would only grant such an honour to their wolfkin. This, along with their presence at Dragonmount during Veins of Gold, adds alot of weight to the argument IMO.

 

Lord of the Evening; At first glance, I also assumed this to be Moridin. However, the wording of the rest of the stanza, IMO, must be refering to the DO. The capitalization of Him and He indicates a god-like being. Along with the 'souls bowing before Him', the 'flesh serving Him' and the 'only Him shall we serve' lines.

 

Also just to be my usual pedantic self... (apologies for that by the way,)

 

The "time of change" simply refers to the last days before Tarmon Gai'don and the possibility of the Pattern being unraveled.

More specifically, the end of an Age;

Verin, tGH- 'The Time of Change, of course, refers to the end of an age,'

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Daughter of the Night, she walks again.

The ancient war, she yet fights.

Her new lover she seeks, who shall serve her and die, yet serve still.

Who shall stand against her coming?

The Shining Walls shall kneel.

Blood feeds blood.

Blood calls blood.

Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

 

I almost want to say these lines remind me more of Tuon than Lanfear.

Daughter of the night and Daughter of the nine moons.

She walks again, idk maybe due to her having to reveal herself before being recognized as daughter of the 9 moons

her new lover...serves still. The whole die yet serve still reminds me of matt who died yet still lives.

Who shall stand against her coming, who will fight the seanchan

If the shining walls are the white tower she might attack again.

And all the blood lines sound like the seanchan's focus on hawkwing bloodlines.

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Thats a pretty cool take on it.

 

The obvious hole is that Daughter of Night is a known name for Lanfear, and the walks again part; her release from the DO's prison, but otherwise I really like that interpretation.

 

It kinda fits Fortuona better doesn't it. For Lanfear, on the surface anyway, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Yet. Although we did get that little teaser at the end of ToM that Lanfear may have a big role to play.

 

Interesting.

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Its a good interpretation.But you are forgetting one thing. The prophesies of the shadow must not be fulfilled. If they succeed then the prophesies of light will fail.

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@krishna, thats not exactly true;

 

Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.

Isam waited in the high passes.

The hunt is now begun. The Shadow's hounds now course, and kill.

One did live, and one did die, but both are.

The Time of Change has come.

 

The Watchers wait on Toman Head.

The seed of the Hammer burns the ancient tree.

Death shall sow, and summer burn, before the Great Lord comes.

Death shall reap, and bodies fail, before the Great Lord comes.

Again the seed slays ancient wrong, before the Great Lord comes.

Now the Great Lord comes.

 

Both these stanzas have been fullfilled.

Obviously the ones about the DO winning the LB cannot come to pass but some aspects of the Dark Prophecies can and have come to pass.

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There's actually a good link showing various QnA with both Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson here at this link, pulled from Theoryland's interview database, addressing this issue. I too thought at first that the "light" prophecies and dark prophecies were mutually exclusive, and one prevented the other from happening, much like in David Leigh Eddings The Belgariad, but this turns out not to be the case. The Dark Prophecy will come true, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee the shadow's victory.

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Thanks for the link, that was a very interesting read. I really do need to start lookin into a few more of those.

 

I can't believe the aparent number of people who didn't connect Perrin's hawk to Berelain... Strangely enough my sister is in the same boat. (her first time through, up to aCoS and still wonders who the hawk is :happy: )

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About one-eyed-fool traveling halls of mourning. It reminded me about when Olver dashed out of tent alone when he and Talmanes noticed that Caemlyn was underattack. Olver is kinda useless now that Moiraine is saved so his death could kinda make sense and that last scene about revenge to aiel that killed his father made him - not as nice person as we thought. Well I never liked him anyways.

 

Other option is that Band is heavily hit. I mean somewhat wiped out maybe even with dragons. Mat has always felt really responsible about his men following him. They followed him to Caemlyn and he left them even when saving Moiraine was important for world he would feel guilty. He was not there when they needed him most and if they are wiped out with dragons they died because he wanted to get new weapons. I really hope Band will survive that battle I have always loved them, but I think they will lose if Mat does not return soon.

 

Well anyways my point is that I think halls of mourning do not mean world of Aelfinn and Eelfinn they probably mean that Mat will lose someone or something dear to him.

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Brainwave, would the Broken Wolf be the WHOLE of the Borderlands? Ituralde, Bashere, Lan, etc are all described as wolf-like or nicknamed wolves etc. The Borderlands destroyed by the Trolloc Invasions orchestrated by the Forsaken, just a thought

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Hey,

New to the forum, first post, but huge long-time WoT fan. Just stumbled across this blog and love it.

Simply had to pitch in an idea on the Broken Wolf. Bear in mind I have not in any way thought this through to conclusion, but it struck me as I read the comments that no-one seemed to have considered it.

 

The most obvious character "whom death has known" is Mat. The same Mat who has a Band of men who will almost certainly be at the last battle, who place all their faith in him and would be fearful, sorrowful, broken etc. were he to die. The final piece in the jigsaw is, of course, the broken wolf. But this is Mat - long protected from danger from channellers by a foxhead medallion.

 

Now here's where I get a bit wacky, so if you completely dismiss the rest of what I say, please treat it as separate from that which has gone before. But IIRC the midnight towers are the place in Seanchan where the Aes Sedai who created a'dam was made damane. And, I'm sure, somewhere, it says that in times of need the empress will return there to right a great wrong. Wouldn't it be great if Mat, so distrustful of female channellers, had a part in freeing the damane - in large part due to his love for Tuon. Somehow relating to all this he becomes vulnerable, his medallion is broken, and one of is killed by a female channeller (maybe Elaida, maybe a Forsaken, maybe even Tuon).

 

All kind of crazy, and I don't think that's right - but I don't really buy any of the theories so far and want to shake up the discussion a little.

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ah, crap, I thought it was a wolfhead medallion. I even managed to type it correctly, even though I was thinking incorrectly!

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"And then, shall the Lord of the Evening come. And He shall take our eyes, for our souls shall bow before Him, and He shall take our skin, for our flesh shall serve Him, and He shall take our lips, for only Him will we praise. And the Lord of the Evening shall face the Broken Champion, and shall spill his blood and bring us the Darkness so beautiful. Let the screams begin, O followers of the Shadow. Beg for your destruction!"

 

The above quote is very similar to the Karaethon Cycle quoted in The Great Hunt:

 

"...Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation."

 

The last two sentences cannot just be coincidence. Plus both referring to Rand's blood. Was one an altered version of the other? Thoughts?

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Great post, I enjoy the interweaving prophecies and am looking forward to these playing a large role in the final book.

 

One major point of contention I had was the interpretation of the Seanchan's role in this prophecy. No doubt the are the watchers on Toman Head, but I do not think the "Seed" relates to them.

 

 

Quote

The Watchers wait on Toman Head.

The seed of the Hammer burns the ancient tree.

Death shall sow, and summer burn, before the Great Lord comes.

Death shall reap, and bodies fail, before the Great Lord comes.

Again the seed slays ancient wrong, before the Great Lord comes.

Now the Great Lord comes.

 

I believe the Seed refers to the Choedan Kal access key, namely the male half. The first point mentions Burning the Ancient Tree, which could reference Tarabon, but more likely refers to Avendesora burning, during Rand's fight with Asmodean. The second time the Seed is mentioned, it slays ancient wrong. The next time the Choedan Kal played a large part was Rand cleansing the source of the Dark One's taint.

 

My assumption was the Watchers was a misdirect, and the rest of the stanza refers to later events (the endless hot summer from later books, the dead rising, etc.)

 

My two cents.

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