On the DO and Forsaken...

Interview: Jan 25th, 2005

TOR Questions of the Week Part II (Verbatim)

Week 1 Question

The Dark One has promised his followers immortality and power above all others on the Day of Return. In previous interviews you have said that this is within his power. My question is, will he? I mean, he doesn't seem very loyal or trustworthy to me. If (Light forbid) he breaks free, will he remember the "little people" or just destroy all the puny humans when he remakes the world in his own image?

Robert Jordan

That's the big question for the Forsaken, isn't it. Can they trust the Dark One? You're right; he isn't very trustworthy or loyal. Greed leads people to believe strange things, to excuse the most abhorrent behavior on their parts—just check out the nightly news for confirmation—and at the root, that is what motivates the Forsaken and, in truth, most Darkfriends. Greed for power, greed for immortality. That makes them believe, because they want to believe. So will he grant these things? Maybe. After all, he gains more willing followers, more eager followers, if he is seen to give rewards. But will he care whether he has any followers at all in a world where he is all-powerful? Flip a coin and check which way the wind is blowing. Maybe you can find the answer there.

The DO wasn't totally free, he was chipping away at the bore making it larger however and as he did so his ability to influence the world increased.

 

 

Is Moiraine still bound to the Oaths (since she still lives) or were they "disconnected" (since her bond with Lan was disconnected)?

 

The warder bond was severed, not her connection to the source. One would think that the oaths hold.

 

Its an interesting question though.  What exactly caused the Warder bond to be severed?

 

It was do to the severing of the link between worlds.

Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

Terez

Why did Moiraine's bond with Lan break when the doorway burned? Did she intentionally release it?

Brandon Sanderson

She did not intentionally release it. RJ has something about this in the notes, but I don't have the quote handy. It basically has to do with the severing of the link between worlds.

When the portal was destroyed it destroyed the bond.

Is Moiraine still bound to the Oaths (since she still lives) or were they "disconnected" (since her bond with Lan was disconnected)?

The warder bond was severed, not her connection to the source. One would think that the oaths hold.

The thing to keep in mind with Graendal is she was a healer of the mind without compare in the AoL. It is explicitly stated in the books that her "favorites" were so heavily compulsed it made people forget how subtle and light her touch could be.

I thought there was a quote from one of the other Forsaken that Graendal was exceptionally heavy handed with the compulsion?  I may be thinking of something Rand said though, which might not be too reliable.

Well she is at times, that often makes people forget though that she is the most skilled person alive with the weave. She has everything from mindless slaves to people that are barely touched.

I don't think its completely right for Egwene to say those Aes Sedai are better off dead.  After all, she survived her captivity, and I don't think she wanted to be 'put out of her misery' while she was captive.  Alivia is another example of an ex-damane who was leashed for hundreds of year, and I think (could be wrong) that in WH/CoT some of the captured damane are beginning to adapt to freedom.  There is also the former Aes Sedai who has adapted completely to being a damane.  I don't think she wants to die.  Regardless, I don't think its Egwene's choice to make for them, just as it isn't Rand's choice not to give Nynaeve (or Sumeko, Flin, etc.) a chance to Heal the compulsion.

For all that it's what she personally believes, there is also the need to try and keep the Seanchan from gaining more channelers and potentially travelling. It's a tough moment to be sure. Again though as Mr Ares said:

Rand simply doesn't care, he's killing these people not to save them, but merely because it's expedient, because the best way to kill Graendal is to nuke her entire palace and everyone in it. Rand's actions are thus demonstrative of his lack of humanity.

That is why it comes of worse to the reader IMO.

 

4) We have the juxtaposition of Rand's killing Graendal's compelled minions with Balefire, and Egwene deliberately targeting raken carrying captured Aes Sedai during the Seanchan raid.  Both characters state something roughly equivalent to 'they're better off dead', but Rand's action comes off as much worse (to me anyway), and I'm not sure why.  Rand's goal is killing a Forsaken he doesn't know how to defeat otherwise; Egwene's is preventing Seanchan from having more damane and from learning Travelling - both good goals, I think.  The people Rand kills are essentially unhealable given that we now know what happens to people when Compulsion is removed, while the Aes Sedai Egwene kills would theoretically (depending on their mindset and length of captivity) be rescuable without too much lasting harm - this makes Egwene's action look slightly worse from a moral perspective.  In terms of results, both of them are only partly successful - Rand drives Graendal away and destroys her power base but doesn't kill her, and Egwene kills many of the Seanchan, but is unable to kill all of the captured Aes Sedai with the result that they learn Travelling anyway.  In terms of mind frame, neither Rand nor Egwene feels bad about what they are doing, they both think they are making the right decision.  So why does Egwene's scene come off as a crowning moment for her, while Rand's makes him seem a monster?

Egwene has been traumatised at the hands of the Seanchan, and so believes that she's saving these women from a fate worse than death. Rand simply doesn't care, he's killing these people not to save them, but merely because it's expedient, because the best way to kill Graendal is to nuke her entire palace and everyone in it. Rand's actions are thus demonstrative of his lack of humanity.

Indeed. That was a very low moment for Dark Rand. It's also important to point out that there are various levels of compulsion, not all are turned into mindless slaves and certainly don't fit into a "better off dead" category. Finally Nynaeve sure as hell would have wanted a shot at healing those people. I would bet on her to succeed eventually.

Again Nyn is the obvious choice but it doesn't necessarily make sense that he didn't trust Cads post DM epiphany.

1. She swore on oath to do what was best for him, not herself or the WT.

2. She saved his life multiple times throughout the story.

3. When told about his plans for the cleansing she doesn't blink an organizes a pitch perfect defense(something Rand didn't even seem to consider) that allowed the whole thing to even happen.

In short she has constantly kept her word toward him and worked for his(and all male channelers really) benefit. All though it took a lucky break at the end Rand himself credits her with putting him on the right track to emerge from the darkness.

Brandon has admitted bias against the character and IMO that leaked into the story a bit.

Rand trusted Nyn completely, and he knew that she wouldn't second guess him, unlike Cadsuane. Right or wrong, Rand had a plan, and needed someone who would have his back no matter what. He didn't trust Cad to be that person..

Second guess him? Cads has backed Rand to the hilt as much as anyone in the series(see the cleansing as an example). Nyn makes more sense, but certainly not because Cads would second guess him.

@False

The battles take a fairly large suspension of disbelief to get through at times. It's clearly not what we would have gotten under RJ.

 

 

That's cool.  I like it better that way.  It's a small reminder that the DO is not all powerful.

The fact that he always ALWAYS loses without fail should be reminder enough of that (sadface)

 

DO we know THAT for sure?  It's been said that the Dragon has fallen to the shadow in the past, what happened then?

 

It resulted in a draw.

Interview: Jan 16th, 2003

COT Signing Report - Tim Kington (Paraphrased)

Question

(inaudible)

Robert Jordan

Yes, the Champion of the Light has gone over in the past. This is a game you have to win every time. Or rather, that you can only lose once—you can stay in if you get a draw. Think of a tournament with single elimination. If you lose once, that's it. In the past, when the Champion of the Light has gone over to the Shadow, the result has been a draw.

 

Am I the only one who read her as a plot device and simply moved on afterwards.  (Especially considering what happens next for Avi).

Not in the slightest...

Not sure if it's exactly what you are looking for but click on "items" here.

http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/

 

He didn't decide to kill Siuan if that's what you mean.  Harriet made that call.  There is one character BS was responsible for killing but he hasn't said who yet. 

 

Brandon did say he was the one who killed off Hurin.

 

Think they may have been referring to Brandon being coy about who was responsible for Egwene's death. There has to be a story there else why not just lump it in with the others.

  Interview: 2013

Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

Jeffrey Bernard (23 January 2013)

With all the deaths that occurred in A Memory of Light, were there any that hit you harder than any others?

Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

Egwene. After that, Bela. I'd promised she would live, but Harriet decided that I was cheating to keep her alive.

Interview: 2013

Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

Can (13 January 2013)

@Terez27 Do we know which character is dead by Harriet's choice?

Terez

Bela. @BrandSanderson told us twice that she would survive. :( But apparently Harriet later insisted she should die.

Brandon Sanderson (13 January 2013)

Yeah. Harriet felt that we had painted that character into a corner, and the story demanded that conclusion.

Daniel Shepard

Is that the GRRM moment? Or the character that was gonna recover from their injuries?

Brandon Sanderson

Character was going to recover.

Brandon Sanderson

She was right to make that call, but it does turn me into a liar. That's what I get for speaking too soon...

 

I still don't like the rape in Ebou Dar. Or whatever it was. It certainly didn't seem consensual.

 

What's worse is that it happens around the same point where a similar thing happens to Morgase and it's played dead straight.

 

Da hell, Robert Jordan.

"Spun out" is probably the wrong way to put it, it implies that the Pattern or the Wheel was spinning out his thread at ~1000 year intervals similar to how it spins out Heroes Birgitte or other, more mundane souls.  More likely, Ishamael was only partly trapped, and his talents with Tel'aran'Rhiod helped him "bypass" his imprisonment from time to time.  

Yes that is what I meant, thanks for that Thrasy...

RJ could not have let the Rand/Egwene relationship stand without ruining Rand and turning the Dragon Reborn into a joke. Egwene would accept nothing less than complete subservience from any man in her life, one willing to submit to her in everything, both behind closed doors and in public. The world could not afford to have its savior be her lapdog.

Just once can we leave aside the hyperbole in this discussion.

You yourself said that they each had a role and had to oppose each other - put Rand under her thumb as her manslave, and all you have is Egwene running the show, which means the seals would never have been broken and Rand would've been forced to reseal the DO the same way LTT did it.

With the bolded, just please stop.

For the seals....AS researched the topic and Egwene came around to the seals needing to be broken, just that it needed to be done at the correct time. She even gave the order to be passed on to Logain so yeah...

That would've also left saidin tainted again, something that Egwene was perfectly content to see happen again, but would've kept the balance in the world completely and utterly skewed to the WT and women.

She was not content to see it happen again. It was one idea of many during an end of world situation that got tossed out and quickly discarded.

How is Demandred with Lewis Therin when he goes mad (prologue of EotW)?? Weren't all the Forsaken sealed in the Bore, which caused the Dragon to go mad?

That was Ishamael and he was only partially sealed. He got spun out at various intervals, hence being able to influence Hawkwing etc.

It was the balefire streams crossing that caused the link and it seemed to be a side effect.

Moridin has been very active in his plotting with Rand howeve and he does use the link laterr. The game of Sha'ra is a good hint as to what is going on overall with his strategy.

People seem to spend every waking moment complaining about the final three books.

Sorry but I hope you can understand the irony here given the vast majority of your posts at DM since you started the series.

 

"You're Aes Sedai," Mat said, shrugging. "I figured you . . . you know, saidared it."

 I don't care. I think that's a great line.

It's cringe worthy and totally out of character. Even Brandon admitted he botched it:

BS

I didn't understand Mat. I tried so hard to make him funny, I wrote the HIM out of him.

That said I do agree with Rhienne. If you make it through again Emperor, you pick up more and more. You have been complaining for a long time about the series however. I have some other recommendations for you when you finish that might be a better fit.

 

 

I don't know about a full page describing a dress but there were ten back to back pages describing toe nails and nail polish. From memory Elayne had red toe nails, Aviendha red, Egwene red, Min red, Moiraine red, Nynaeve red ... or was that yellow? I can't remember :-(

Don't mock that scene, RJ was a master, Moraine's red nail polish (as opposed to her accustomed blue) foreshadowed her duel with Lanfear. Also Nynaeve's were green remember like those dresses she wore for Lan...

 

Indeed!

 

I know man, that level of detail and foreshadowing just got too tiring. How can anyone keep track! Thankfuly Brandon made things much easier and saved the series. Now we can enjoy the WoT setting with all the bluntness, hand holding and simplicity of Dungeons and Dragons. Strong prose...psshhh who needs it with gems like this.

"You're Aes Sedai," Mat said, shrugging. "I figured you . . . you know, saidared it."

Can a suldam be cut from the source since she is still a channeler even though she has never held it or learnt it?

KOD Signing Report - Frenzy (Paraphrased)

FRENZY

But what I DID get to ask, was this: Can a person who hasn't actively channeled yet be severed or stilled?

ROBERT JORDAN

Jordan's response (paraphrased) "No, you have to have something to take away something, so a person has to have an active connection to the Source to be able to have it cut."

Not sure about that specific instance but the timelines under Sanderson are screwed beyond reckoning.

Watched Man of Steel last night.

IT was good, but I think It COULD have been better.

My one fear for the movie, was that the narrator overtone of the trailers would be just as heavy handed in the movie.

The movie almost felt abstract, and less character driven, and more narrative/action orientated. Hell, I almost wish the movie was 4 hours long, just to better balance the story/plot/ect with the action.

 

The action scenes, got a bit sloppy to. They did a lousy job of going from CG, back to "real people". Kind of like how they did a crap job of that in the Matrix 2.

Awesome review from "Locke Lamora" author Scott Lynch.

perhaps i cnat remember, but was there a resolution to the ways & machin shin?

AMoL Spoiler