The Dragon was Lews Therin until he died. Then he was Rand for approx 20 years until for some reason, possibly the Taint, he began to remember his past life. Rand is Lews Therin by nature, but without the memories; his nature has been moulded by and added to by his upbringing in the Two Rivers. This is what a personality is - both nature and nurture.

The problem was that he was thought to hate and fear his past life and when he started to remember it he wouldn't accept it... so he dissociated himself from the memories through constructing the voice of Lews Therin. He could then console himself by believing that it wasn't him who killed Ilyena, but the voice in his head.

What happened in VoG is that he, among other things, reconciled with himself and accepted the memories of Lews Therin as his own.

But this still leaves us with the post-VoG Rand being an amalgamation of both Lews Therin and the Rand that Tam raised in the Two Rivers. They are distinct at least up until tEotW. He's an amalgamation now because the memories he gained and accepted as his own changed him from the old Two Rivers Rand, into Cuendillar Rand and eventually Rand Sedai.

I always got the impression that she was sexually abusing Egwene in her dreams and then blocking the memories.... intending to remove that block later on and cause havoc.

But no, nothing seemed to come of it.

I think Aran'gar was messing with Egwene's dreams. Perhaps sexually, it's never really explained.

Are you saying that Mogheden can enter TAR but not the gap of infinity?

It's probably the a'dam, but it's never mentioned.

Did Moghedien use TAR in any way when she was being held captive in Salidar, either to try escape or to mess with the minds of Elayne/Nynaeve/etc?

If not, why not?

I think she was the one Rahvin caught and compelled. You see her in one of his scenes, as far as I can recall.

Mat's luck seems to be functionally the same as Rand and Perrin's ta'veren abilities, in that it bends chance. The only real distinctive factor is that he gets a vague warning of the impending significance of an event (whether good, bad, or whatever) through his hearing the sound of dice in his head.

What we know is that the dice ter'angreal bends chance. It was stolen by the Black Ajah. Lanfear, Verin and Alviarin (plus others that I probably can't remember) were in the vicinity at the time.

This doesn't mean they used it on him, but as he was escaping Tar Valon there are several unusually lucky occurrences for Mat, more so than he previously enjoyed. Like the gambling scene and the bit where he falls off the building. His luck might not have started there, but as far as I can remember there are no earlier instances of it. Correct me if I'm wrong; I don't pretend to have the encyclopedic knowledge of this series that some do.

Why is this ter'angreal mentioned at this specific place and time, and then forgotten about? It could be meaningless. It could not. I'd like to know.

Also, are Mat's memories of being Aemon during his perspective chapter in TDR an effect of the dagger? And if so, how does this account for his speaking in the old tongue in TEOTW?

I looked through TDR again and couldn't find any mention of dice ter'angreal. For some reason, I thought Mat had woken up and seen it on his bedside table. Dunno why. Sorry about that.

Iirc, Egwene was also described as on the brink of understanding what Mat said in the Old Tongue. And that happened several times during TEOTW too.But other than that, I dont think others have displayed that ability. Not even Rand afaik?

Mat had memories of being Aemon when he woke up from being Healed in the White Tower. That was also pre-Eelfinn.

Yeah, I faintly remember those now... Haven't read anything in a while.

So, is this an early-bookism where RJ hadn't worked out quite where Mat would get his abilities from... or is this a deliberate hint that there is more to Mat's memories than a gift from the Finns?

I remember also that when he woke up in the White Tower, Lanfear visited him with that dice ter'angreal and a little afterwards when he was making his escape from assassins he fell off a walkway or a roof or something and survived without a scratch. This is a separate question, but is there any example of Mat's luck before Lanfear appeared with that ter'angreal? Did she do something to him?

In TEOTW, Chapter 18: The Caemlyn Road, Mat speaks in the Old Tongue. Later, this is explained as being the result of the "old blood" or some such. However, none of the other main characters, or indeed any of the sub-characters from the Two Rivers have displayed this ability, besides Rand. (As far as I can remember)

Mat does this before he even gets to Shadar Logoth or anywhere near any doorframe ter'angreal. So, what gives? Did he originally have access to memories from previous lives or what?

@A. Pseudonym

I absolutely disagree with you, but hey, free speech and all. I think Sanderson is a very, very talented writer.

Well I absolutely disagree with that, so there you go. I'd put Sanderson at about the level of Eddings. Not worthless, but certainly not remarkable.

I really like Sanderson's work, and while yes, Mat is different, I attribute this more to his growing (and reacting to the changes he is seeing in his own character) than to Sanderson 'getting him wrong'.

Well this is the usual excuse, yes.

Mat becomes mature in CoT and KoD. I would go as far as saying that the difference in personality evidenced in the Sanderson books is more indicative of either ignorance or inability on Sanderson's part.

I have said this before, but an author brings themselves and only themselves to their work. Sanderson writes American stereotypes and American points of view in a fantasy setting. He could do it in a sci-fi or period setting and the differences would be superficial. That is the extent of his abilities. Jordan had the ability to immerse the reader in the point of view of a character from an alien culture in another world to the extent that one sees the world as they saw it, shares their reaction to it and believes their interpretations of it. The reader is Rand. The reader is Elayne. Or whatever. For this reason I never disliked, became annoyed by or resented any character's behaviour because it was presented in such a way as to be sympathetic and understandable. To the point that I could see myself in their place. With Sanderson, you're given patronising exposition declaring that X is so because Y.

It's this sort of primitive approach that I resent as it implies not only an inability to sell a perspective or a reaction but is a dumbing-down of what once was a very deep and moving story.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm impressed with Jordan and respect both him and his work, to the extent that one can respect a fantasy novel. Because of this, I find Sanderson's mishandling of a story that I've been reading for many years to not be something that I can blindly accept or view through a lens of pure positivism.

It's good that he's finishing it, but I could wish that it weren't him who's doing it. Then again, who else is there?

I think the only real mistake was the major spelling mistakes in the letter - a few mistakes would have been subtler, funnier and been more in keeping with Mat (a character who would make mistakes, I'm sure). There were too many, and they were too glaring.

It shouldn't have been a joke at all. That's probably where the problem is. Mat is funny, yes, but he isn't a clown.

The problem is that Sanderson is generally inferior as a writer and what's worse far more immature. His understanding of human motivation, self-justification and a character's willful or unwillful blindness towards themselves and others does not compare with Jordan's.... but because Jordan based his humour upon this, any attempt that Sanderson can make to immitate this humour, especially with Mat, will fail. Badly. So, he turns to his own brand of "humour" which saw it's conclusion in that ridiculous letter to Elayne. Path of least resistance for one with mediocre talent: can't understand why a character is funny? Make him into a clown.

I wouldn't have chosen him for this job, but then again I don't have a clue what the alternatives were. I suppose it's good that the plot will be resolved but equally I sometimes think I would remember this series better in the future if it had not been finished by this writer.

I wonder if a few years down the line, Tor will get another writer to have a look at Jordan's notes and do what Sanderson couldn't.

I'm not a fan. ;)

In CoT the main focus is Perrin's character development and the relationship between Mat and Tuon.

In Perrin's case you have to acknowledge that he is misguided and childish in his shirking of responsibility as a leader, his neglect of Aram (who has nothing to live for but Perrin) and his somewhat psychotic fixation on his wife and reaction to her kidnapping.

Mat and Tuon have to go from strangers to man and wife. This requires that they build a relationship, that Tuon comes to respect Mat.

Now these are boring sequences when you're shouting at the book to refocus on Rand and get going with the Last Battle, which has been built up for so long. It's what I was doing since Path of Daggers, if not earlier. These loose ends need to be tied up before all the rest can be advanced, however.

Things that could have -and should- have been cut out were Faile's plotting to escape from the Shaido and as you pointed out Elayne's chapters. I would have preferred if CoT and KoD were compiled into one book, without all the padding.

Some more:

Aes Sedai = Ace Seddee

Damane = Dam-Ann

Myrdraal = Meer-Draal

Aybara = Eye-Bara

Aiel = Ale (Always and forever)

Seanchan = San-Chan

Taim = Tame (Always and forever)

Cairhien = Care-Heen

Rhuidean = Roo-Iddy-An

Semirhage = Semmir-Hayg

Shaido = Shy-Doh

Regarding Ghosts.

When Mat is bringing Tuon and Selucia into that town in Altara, he sees ghosts, but the other don't and assume that his dodging of the ghosts is a sort of dance.

On another occasion, Ituralde is watching a column of Seanchan soldiers charging along a road and assumes that they have run down a group of peasants that they seemed not to see.

Why is it that the ghosts are not visible to everyone when they appear?