Is there any indication that new threads are woven into the pattern, not merely recycled ones?

You could say that New Threads itself is an indication but it would be debatable. I think there's more evidence for the position that the Creator created all the threads at once and no actual new ones have been inserted since then.

I don't believe there's a large enough population of Tuatha'an for a sparking male channeler to occur very often at all.

Why do the Aiel insist on addressing the Wetlanders with their full names and they consider it rude when Wetlanders address each other with just their first names, yet the Aiel themselves don't have last names? How did they develop this taboo when they don't even have last names?

An Aiel name is the whole name. Think in terms of shortening 'Aviendha' to 'Avi' rather than in terms of shortening 'Rand al'Thor' to 'Rand'.

Cadsuane is from Far Madding (unless I'm horribly mistaken).

This, at least, I can confirm.

It seems to me that the 'Lord of Chaos' title and quotes are all intended to refer to Rand, especially considering his ta'veren effect.

I guess we'd have to ask someone from Team Jordan about it then.

Also it may be some sort of scene in a fantasy novel or something.....

You're correct though. There are a number of things that happen in the first book or two that don't really make a lot of sense given the information present in the rest of the series. I'd rather not read too deeply into it when I can just chalk it up to the fact that RJ was still developing the world at the time

Well Ishamael wasn't exactly a normal human. Considering this guy knows exactly how power-wrought swords are made and the fact that the True Power can sap even cuendillar, I don't really think it's too odd that he could melt Tam's sword like that.

I'd expect Harriet owns the IP now.

I'd like to see miniatures of pretty much every character but an idea occurs to me for how to do it; produce sets of characters from specific scenes or parties in the books. Examples follow:

The party who left Emond's Field - including Moiraine, Lan, Thom, Rand, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve, Egwene.

The first meeting with the Tinkers - including Perrin, Egwene, Raen, Ila, Elyas, Aram.

The otherworld trip - including Selene, Rand, Hurin, Loial.

The palace - including Rand, Elaida, Morgase, Gareth.

The warder training yard - including Mat, Gawyn, Galad, Hammar.

The triple bonding - including Rand, Min, Aviendha, Elayne.

The possibilities are limitless and you get a nice temporal gradation without even trying.

Either way, speculation about Whitebridge is not suitable for this particular thread. If someone makes a different thread for it then I'll post my pet theory :)

Speaking of Rand's swords, I forget: what the hell happened to the one he was using before?

That always bothers me too.

[...]But I don't think we know for sure, that if a Warder is bonded by both a woman and a male channeler - Both to Saidin and Saidar that he or she would not be stronger. Clearly that would not work for a channeler - as they already have a connection, but should for a Lan or Mat/Perrin. We don't have any characters (almost kind of strange) that have been bonded to both sides of the One Power. We are told over and over that Saidin and Saidar complement each other and the relationship seems to be almost Exponential in nature. It is intuitive that such a character would be stronger.

You're right, we don't know for sure but personally I don't think there will be any extra effects. Remember that for everyone else in the world the Power is just the life-force of the universe. Which side is which only matters to those who can actually channel it.

I can assure you that I think him being better than Lan is kind of silly, but there is nothing to say that he isn't as good as or better than Lan at this point. He beat a guy that beat Lan one-on-one a few times, and Sleete had the help of another warder when Gawyn beat him. This means nothing concrete except that we know for sure that he's better than Sleete is now, but it leaves the door open for the possibility.

A more than warm breeze stirred, ruffling the dead leaves that carpeted the ground, and with shocking suddenness, Lan was moving, shifting from stance to stance, blade a whirling blur in his hands. Faster and faster, till he seemed to sprint from one to the next, yet all as precise as the movements of a clock. She waited for him to stop, or at least slow, but he did not.

I think this scene is a good example of how far Lan has developed since leaving the White Tower. I don't think Sleete would have a chance of defeating him now. I always remember the scene in New Spring where he defeats six men single-handedly. Maybe Gawyn is comparable to Lan as a young man but Lan has a vast experience to draw on now as well as being in the best shape of his life.

I think Lan is the best alive, currently, and that he could give Jearom a run for his money.

I have been looking for a Blademaster page. IMHO- Lan is the best. But... it has been posed that Gawyn (gag) is a better swordsman than Lan. What is the current rankings of WoT Blademasters? Woof™.

I haven't seen a Blademaster ranking but I can assure you Gawyn is nowhere near as good as Lan.

do we know why the ogier couldnt reach Manetheren in time to help? I am doing a reread of EotW and loial says to rand

"...Your pain sings in my heart, Rand Al'thor. We could not come in time."

I love that line. I don't think a reason is explicitly given but I think it's likely they couldn't make it either due to logistical reasons, due to being engaged in battle or blocked by enemy units or due to being too slow to make a decision.

If trollocs (and other constructs) are able to be sent to those worlds, there are at least these risks:[...]

That's good. Risks like those form a limit on the number of Trollocs that can reasonably be produced.

But would a Warden who was not a channeler such as Lan was bonded by both male and female channelers. Whould he be a super warder?

No he wouldn't. Warders derive their extra abilities from a passive link to the power through their bond-holder. Once you are connected, being connected again has no further effect.

Where are the seemingly infinite hordes of trollocs coming from? there seems to be way too many of them around.

Well the blight isn't a small place, I imagine it can produce quite a lot. Also there's a theory that the Dark One is using other worlds as breeding grounds. Imagine taking a group of breeder trollocs to a mirror world via portal stone and leaving them there to mate for a few months. How many worlds would you have to seed before you had a virtually endless supply?

The male Forsaken didn't go insane because they weren't embracing saidin at the time. All of the Companions were.

Sorry to dredge up an old question / answer.... but isn't it possible that after his transformation in Veins of Gold that Rand will see the need to bow?

Yes, I think seeing how the Seanchan run the place will have changed his mind about that.

Can we assume / has it been assumed that the picture shows that it's Noal that accompanies Matt & Thom?

Secondly.... skimming through TGS, and at one point, Verin's Tomas is described as stout. I thought he was skinny and tough, like an old root.

The Ghenjei party was organised in TGS.

Tomas' description could be an error on Brandon's part, there are quite a few of those.

the 'warning' seems to take the characteristics of things that the person relates to. mat-dice or gambling. nynaeve- the weather. rand- his reborn soul... just some ideas but idk im not too worried about it.

That's a very interesting comparison but I think it's much more likely to be a coincidence than anything particularly meaningful.

hey i just had a crazy thought and i figured id throw it out there.

could rand hearing lews therin's voice be to him what the dice are to matt? like a "warning" of something to come?

No, they're different. Unless you think Mat's soul was previously several sets of dice.

There could be what... 100 leagues between both location?

And that's not enough to make them distinct?

Peace, I was only pointing out that it was the same phenomena - in case someone thought it wasn't or had forgotten.

DovienGleeman, that is the same war/moment

Yes but it's a distinctly different location.

Can anyone tell me if it was ever revealed what made handling sadin near Ebou'dar difficult in a Path of Daggers? Thanks guys.

Not explicitly, no. Same goes for the battle against the Seanchan in Illian.

I'm sure it is nothing definitive since there's no number system but I was curious to see if anyone did some work to see a rough chart on who the strongest channelers are.

I understand Team Jordan uses a 21-level system.

Moiraine mentions a tingle when Siuan channels. Is it seen else where?

No, it's unique.

I was wondering if RJ said anything about if they will be in the books or if we have already met them.

So far as I know, that's just additional background for the Heroes of the Horn.

I'm wondering, did nobody ever think through this saying? The War of Power is also universally known (which involved the Forsaken and the DO) so why would they think up such a stupid phrase?

Well the Dark One was bound outside the pattern so that much is right. Remember that it has been three thousand years since the breaking so we shouldn't be surprised to find errors like this.

I wonder why RJ gave so much importance to Moiraine Siuan relationship in that book and not mention anything of it in the actual series.

Because they've been working together all along to find the Dragon and save the world. Considering they are almost never in the same place at the same time, we need to know they are close so we can believe they'd stay faithful in their task.