I have no idea where I should actually post this question/thought, so I'm going to do it here and hope that the powers that be either tell me I'm a moron or put it in an appropriate place. My fundamental thought is that there is no such thing as a 'wheel' of time in the WOT series and that the entire idea of infinite/many previous battles is a fabrication/misunderstanding perpetrated by Elan Morin.
I think this because, for starters, the WOT series has frequently established that the 'knowledge' possessed by any character should be taken not as fact, but as simply the opinion of that character. So fundamentally, why do we think that there is a 'wheel of time', or that reality in this fantasy world is cyclical? As far as I can tell, we think this for two reasons: because 'everyone' in the WOT world seems to think so, and because Elan Morin told us it was so.
As to the latter, why should we believe anything that Ba'alzamon says about anything? He is, at least through the first 12 books, clearly 'the bad guy' and is a servant of the Father of Lies. Yes, he seems to possess greater knowledge than Rand (or Lews Therin for that matter), but seems does not make it so. He may be lying about the cyclical nature of reality in order to dishearten the Dragon (which almost happens in tGS), or simply be mistaken.
As to the former, why should we believe the religious conviction of a populous that is clearly out of touch with reality. The prevalent catechism seems to be that 'the Creator bound the Dark Lord and the Forsaken at the beginning of time'...or something to that effect. Clearly, based on the memories of Lews Therin and the Forsaken themselves, we know that that is not true, at least insofar as it concerns the Forsaken. So why should we persist in thinking that it is true with respect to the Dark Lord. As far as I can tell, the only reason to believe it is that so many citizens in the WOT world believe it...but when was that a reasonable explanation?
I have a lot of ideas about what is, singularly temporally, going on, but I'd like to hear first whether people think this is just a stupid idea........thoughts?
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Ask A Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer (No AMoL Spoilers)
in Wheel of Time Books
Posted
I have no idea where I should actually post this question/thought, so I'm going to do it here and hope that the powers that be either tell me I'm a moron or put it in an appropriate place. My fundamental thought is that there is no such thing as a 'wheel' of time in the WOT series and that the entire idea of infinite/many previous battles is a fabrication/misunderstanding perpetrated by Elan Morin.
I think this because, for starters, the WOT series has frequently established that the 'knowledge' possessed by any character should be taken not as fact, but as simply the opinion of that character. So fundamentally, why do we think that there is a 'wheel of time', or that reality in this fantasy world is cyclical? As far as I can tell, we think this for two reasons: because 'everyone' in the WOT world seems to think so, and because Elan Morin told us it was so.
As to the latter, why should we believe anything that Ba'alzamon says about anything? He is, at least through the first 12 books, clearly 'the bad guy' and is a servant of the Father of Lies. Yes, he seems to possess greater knowledge than Rand (or Lews Therin for that matter), but seems does not make it so. He may be lying about the cyclical nature of reality in order to dishearten the Dragon (which almost happens in tGS), or simply be mistaken.
As to the former, why should we believe the religious conviction of a populous that is clearly out of touch with reality. The prevalent catechism seems to be that 'the Creator bound the Dark Lord and the Forsaken at the beginning of time'...or something to that effect. Clearly, based on the memories of Lews Therin and the Forsaken themselves, we know that that is not true, at least insofar as it concerns the Forsaken. So why should we persist in thinking that it is true with respect to the Dark Lord. As far as I can tell, the only reason to believe it is that so many citizens in the WOT world believe it...but when was that a reasonable explanation?
I have a lot of ideas about what is, singularly temporally, going on, but I'd like to hear first whether people think this is just a stupid idea........thoughts?