Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining me for another week of "WoT If?". For this edition, I want to look at some of the facts surrounding the glass column ter'angreal and the visions/past lives it shows to those who enter. There will be a focus on Aviendha's trip through them, trying to determine if it's actually the future of her line, or if it's a warning of things she can change.

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.

Many fans agree that Rand's trip through the glass column ter'angreal is one of the finest scenes in the series. It's a wonderful display of Robert Jordan's storytelling abilities. It's intriguing, captivating, and gives us a lot of information about life before the series began. Even Brandon Sanderson said, "However, as I consider it, probably my favorite sequence of scenes in the entire series is the one with Rand going through the ter'angreal at Rhuidean."

From Rand's trip inside the ter'angreal, we get a detailed view of what life was like for the Aiel. We see their decline from serving Aes Sedai and practicing the Way of the Leaf to being desert nomads who are constantly at war with the world and each other. This is a tragic fall for their people, losing their purpose as well as their home and native lifestyle.

Rand understands right away that he saw the "lost history of the Aiel's origins" (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 34, "He Who Comes With the Dawn") when he went through the ter'angreal. His assumption is correct; Rhuarc confirms it:

The Shadow Rising

Chapter 34, "He Who Comes With the Dawn"

 

"No two clan chiefs I have spoken with have seen through exactly the same eyes, Rand, or exactly the same things, until the sharing of water, and the meeting where the Agreement of Rhuidean was made. Whether it is the same for Wise Ones, I do not know, but I suspect it is. I think it is a matter of bloodlines. I believe I saw through the eyes of my ancestors, and you yours."

This is important because it shows us that the ter'angreal shows factual events. It shows actual pieces of the Pattern through the person's ancestor's thread. Rand's experiences were seen through the eyes of that ancestor, even knowing their thoughts. It's as if he was transported into their body and mind completely for the duration of the vision. That means the ter'angreal has access to weaves already woven into the Pattern. It can step outside of time and pull out the threads it needs to, in order to show the person their past.

It's not too surprising that a ter'angreal can do this. The one used to test novices shows "what was" (The Great Hunt, Chapter 23, "The Testing"). And it could be argued that Nynaeve's first encounter in this test was in a past life. She did have an experience fighting Aginor in The Eye of the World, but during the test, she knows things she shouldn't. She is able to sense Aginor's channeling and alters his flows of saidin; this doesn’t become possible in the main storyline until Knife of Dreams, Chapter 23, "Call to a Sitting." Nynaeve's knowledge hints that this comes from a past life, not something based off their fight during The Eye of the World.

So, if the glass column ter'angreal can show the factual past, can it show the factual future? I think this is the biggest concern facing our characters. Because, even if the Light wins the Last Battle, the Seanchan empire still rules over everything, eventually. Jason Denzel, in his review of Towers of Midnight, implies that if Aviendha's visions are correct, it leads to a not-so-happy-ending:

"The other scene that rocked me to read is one that completely embraces the spirit of the whole series. It's the epitome of what makes The Wheel of Time stand apart from all other fantasy series. To say that I was moved by it is an understatement. After reading it, I honestly began to question whether this story will actually have a happy ending or not. I mean, let's face it. Most of us assume the series will conclude with a victory at the Last Battle, with maybe a few heroic deaths along the way, right? Well this sequence I'm talking about proves that even victory can be disaster. It shows that even the most noble of intentions can have a butterfly-effect ripple across the Pattern. The sequence was beautiful to behold, and that alone makes ToM worthy of being on the shelf with your other WoT books."

With that in mind, I think we can see two different ways of looking at this sequence. The first way is that the ter'angreal is unbiased, showing the facts, not wanting to take any part. With this way of thinking, Aviendha's vision is true, unchangeable, the irrevocable future. The other way is that the ter'angreal is caring, showing a possible future, wanting to lead the viewer in a new direction. If this is what happens, Aviendha's vision is a warning and can be changed.

I think I've already established that the ter'angreal's past visions are accurate, but here's more proof. In an interview, Robert Jordan was asked about the glass columns:

Question: Rhuarc indicates that an Aiel in Rhuidean sees the past through the eyes of one of his ancestors. Is this true for the women as well? What would a non-Aiel see, if anything?

 

Robert Jordan: Yes, a woman would also see through the eyes of her ancestors, at least in the "forest of crystal spires" ter'angreal, and she, too, would live the history of the Aiel, in effect. Someone who wasn't Aiel could wander through those spires forever and never see a thing except the spires. He or she might think it was a monument, or maybe a work of art.

If Robert Jordan says they see "through the eyes" of their ancestors, then it's got to be true. The ter'angreal is accurate, showing the exact past. And because it doesn't lie about the past, why would it lie about the future? I think this is the main proof that what Aviendha sees will come to pass. She thinks so too:

Towers of Midnight

Chapter 49, "Court of the Sun"

 

This was not like the events she had seen when passing into the rings during her first visit to Rhuidean. Those had been possibilities. This day’s visions seemed more real. She felt almost certain that what she had experienced was not simply one of many possibilities. What she had seen would occur. Step by step, honor drained from her people. Step by step, the Aiel turned from proud to wretched.

Still, Aviendha decides to try to change the future, whether or not she can:

“Can I change it?” she asked.

 

If I can’t, she thought, will that stop me from trying?

 

The answer was simple. No. She could not live without doing something to avert that fate. She had come to Rhuidean seeking knowledge. Well, she had received it. In more abundance than she had wanted.

But, in her last vision, Padra remembers her mother (Aviendha) talking "often" about the challenges the Aiel would face after their part in the Last Battle was done:

Others nodded. But that raised a larger problem, one her mother had often spoken of. What was it to be Aiel, now that their duty to the past had been fulfilled, their toh as a people cleansed?

To me, this sounds like Aviendha trying to tell her children about the dangers she saw in their future. Trying to instill in them the consequences of going down a path toward war. However, it's Padra's desire to prove herself that makes her agree to the plan of war against the Seanchan. I don't think there's anything Aviendha can do to remove a child's desire to gain "great ji" like her parents.

That makes it seem pretty certain that events will unfold as they have been shown in the ter'angreal, but there is a counter argument. First, as Jason said, it leaves the reader with a sense of unhappiness. Obviously, Robert Jordan's story won't end with "they lived happily ever after," but I think the readers want a sense of peaceful closure. There will be war in the world's future—we know it eventually becomes our own time, which is constantly at war—but I don't think Robert Jordan would leave us with such a sour taste in our mouths.

So, could the ter'angreal be lying? Could it be a warning, not prophecy? It's possible. When Aviendha tries to read the ter'angreal, she senses that it is alive:

Towers of Midnight

Chapter 48, "Near Avendesora"

 

She sensed the powerful aura of the pillar. It was far more potent than any of the ter’angreal she had handled with Elayne. Indeed, the pillars seemed…alive, somehow. It was almost as if she could sense an awareness from them.

 

That gave her a chill. Was she touching the pillar, or was it touching her?

 

She tried to read ter’angreal as she had done before, but this one was vast. Incomprehensible, like the One Power itself. She inhaled sharply, disoriented by the weight of what she felt. It was as if she had suddenly fallen into a deep, dark pit.

 

She snapped her eyes open, pulling her hand away, palm quivering. This was beyond her. She was an insect, trying to grasp the size and mass of a mountain. She took a breath to steady herself, then shook her head. There was nothing more to be done here.

After she touches it and takes a step, she sees through the eyes of Malidra. This is important because she steps away from the columns, not into them. The ter'angreal, when it touched her, sensed her need for more answers. Or perhaps Aviendha accidentally flipped a switch, making it show the future rather than the past? If so, is the flip permanent? Will another Aiel see the past now, or the future? Either way, it acted on its own, not waiting for her to enter a second time.

This fact suggests that the ter'angreal is sentient and that the future might be changed. It has a desire to show Aviendha this for a reason. If there was nothing she could do, why would the ter'angreal bother showing her?

Well, one reason could be the fact that the future was difficult for her to see. The whole point of the test was to weed out people unworthy of becoming Wise Ones and Chiefs. Aviendha had no problem seeing the past; in fact, she thinks that "everything she’d seen had been expected. Almost disappointingly so" (Towers of Midnight, Chapter 48, "Near Avendesora"). There's no longer a challenge for them going into the ter'angreal. But seeing the future could kill. Aviendha really struggled with the visions. She is disgusted by what the Aiel have become, sickened that it starts with her line. If they want to continue to test their Chiefs and Wise Ones, this seems a better challenge.

Could the ter'angreal know its purpose? Could it know that it is supposed to test the Aiel? If so, it could understand that the past wasn't enough of a challenge now. It could have changed so its usefulness wouldn't end.

I don't think we will find out the answer to this question in A Memory of Light. I bet this is one of those things Robert Jordan wants left unsaid. I think more evidence points out that it's the actual future and Aviendha can't change it no matter what she does. However, my understanding of the Pattern is that it's not woven yet. So perhaps there is some wiggle room for certain threads.

There won't be a post next week due to Dragon*Con, so I'll keep you guessing about what the topic will be for the week after that. Thanks for reading.