I just finished my re-read of TGS and I was wondering if in the very end when Rand meets with Tuon, if he tried to use compulsion on her. There was some text that stated how she started thinking that she should obey Rand, but she was able to resist. I also don't even know if Rand knew the weave for compulsion. The only other explanition I can think of is his ta'veren pull. Which one do you think is correct?

Rand didn't use compulsion on Tuon. BS said so in an interview. Besides, even the dark Rand never did anything really inexcusable like compulsion if you think about it. He is made to look very menacing but he's never really gone over the edge.

a couple of quick Wise Ones questions.

1. how many are there? and how many of them can channel? Sevanna had at least 300 Wise Ones that could channel with her in Malden. and that's just Shaido. Rand has 11 clans. So he has over 3000 Wise Ones channelers? that's an army bigger than Asha'man and Aes Sedai put together. yet he hardly seems to use them.

2. Sorilea is supposed to be over 300 years old yet she can barely channel. how is it that she slowed so much? we are told that the slowing effect depends on strength in the OP.

 

Alivia is supposed to be far older than that (I can't remember off the top of my head) and she looks barely middle aged, so Sorilea being a wrinkled out walnut at 300 seems reasonable enough to me!

I'm not talking about the looks here but of the fact that Sorilea lived as long as she did (and is still going strong). Alivia is extremely strong in the OP so no wonder that she slowed so much more than the other. Sorilea can barely channel, yet she lived over 300 years.

 

 

Well the life span of a channeler who's not bound by the Oaths is supposed to be something like 600 years. So for her to make it to half of that as a weak channeler is not unbelievable.

 

but if I do remember correctly Alivia is 500 or 600 years old and looks like a middle aged woman, so if the lifespan would be maxed at 600, shouldn't she look like someone about to drop dead?

no. 500-600 is supposed to be the average channeler lifespan for an average channeler. Alivia is super strong in the power so her natural lifespan is presumably significantly longer than her current (admittedly very old) age.

RJ stated that Wise Ones very rarely live to their full age due to the higher fatality rate inherent in living within the Waste--note the stories of Mora, the Wise One who was three hundred when she died of a bloodsnake bite, yet still looked young. Longer exposure to a hostile enviroment increases the odds of falling victim to it. Bair's clear belief that the age may well be exagerated shows this--its not a mistake, the age and the appearence of youth are consistant, yet it is rare due to the dangers of the Waste.

thanks for the explanation. I must say it still doesn't make sense though IMO. RJ should have thought it out better. with so many Wise Ones channelers (thousands as I said) there would still be some that live to their full potential. the fact that there is not a single one around and that the weakest channeler among them is actually the oldest is completely improbable.

@Ashandarei I don't know if the OP usage has effect on slowing. It might but I don't think it's ever been mentioned. In any case it would still not explain Sorilea.

a couple of quick Wise Ones questions.

1. how many are there? and how many of them can channel? Sevanna had at least 300 Wise Ones that could channel with her in Malden. and that's just Shaido. Rand has 11 clans. So he has over 3000 Wise Ones channelers? that's an army bigger than Asha'man and Aes Sedai put together. yet he hardly seems to use them.

2. Sorilea is supposed to be over 300 years old yet she can barely channel. how is it that she slowed so much? we are told that the slowing effect depends on strength in the OP.

 

Alivia is supposed to be far older than that (I can't remember off the top of my head) and she looks barely middle aged, so Sorilea being a wrinkled out walnut at 300 seems reasonable enough to me!

I'm not talking about the looks here but of the fact that Sorilea lived as long as she did (and is still going strong). Alivia is extremely strong in the OP so no wonder that she slowed so much more than the other. Sorilea can barely channel, yet she lived over 300 years.

 

Well the life span of a channeler who's not bound by the Oaths is supposed to be something like 600 years. So for her to make it to half of that as a weak channeler is not unbelievable.

she is supposed to be the oldest among the Wise Ones of which there are thousands. most of them are channelers and every single one is stronger than her in the power. why aren't there hundreds of Wise Ones which are 400 or 500 years old?

a couple of quick Wise Ones questions.

1. how many are there? and how many of them can channel? Sevanna had at least 300 Wise Ones that could channel with her in Malden. and that's just Shaido. Rand has 11 clans. So he has over 3000 Wise Ones channelers? that's an army bigger than Asha'man and Aes Sedai put together. yet he hardly seems to use them.

2. Sorilea is supposed to be over 300 years old yet she can barely channel. how is it that she slowed so much? we are told that the slowing effect depends on strength in the OP.

 

Alivia is supposed to be far older than that (I can't remember off the top of my head) and she looks barely middle aged, so Sorilea being a wrinkled out walnut at 300 seems reasonable enough to me!

I'm not talking about the looks here but of the fact that Sorilea lived as long as she did (and is still going strong). Alivia is extremely strong in the OP so no wonder that she slowed so much more than the other. Sorilea can barely channel, yet she lived over 300 years.

a couple of quick Wise Ones questions.

1. how many are there? and how many of them can channel? Sevanna had at least 300 Wise Ones that could channel with her in Malden. and that's just Shaido. Rand has 11 clans. So he has over 3000 Wise Ones channelers? that's an army bigger than Asha'man and Aes Sedai put together. yet he hardly seems to use them.

2. Sorilea is supposed to be over 300 years old yet she can barely channel. how is it that she slowed so much? we are told that the slowing effect depends on strength in the OP.

I've got three years invested in reading the WOT series and this is the closest I've come to giving up. I can't help but notice that the pacing of the series slowed tremendously over the last few books but now, halfway through COT, I am so sick of reading page after page after page of women conspiring and manipulating and talking and sniffing and snorting and smoothing dresses when they're not planting "fists on hips" (I swear if I read that phrase one more time I'm going to throw, THROW this book out of my window) and doing pretty much absolutely nothing that I'm close to giving up on this book and this series.

 

I'm not sexist. I have always found the female characters fascinating and one of the reasons I enjoyed this series. But now, I find myself asking, is there a reason for investing 20 or more pages describing Elaine's effort to get houses on her side by chatting and talking and complaining about her tea? Is there really a purpose in describing the details of a day in the life of Egwene Aes Sedai? Faile is still captive! Rand was trying to cleanse the male half of the source! Matt was escaping the Seanchan...and we get pages and pages and pages and pages of tea drinking, bath taking, sniffing...oh, you get the idea.

 

Tell me it gets better.

 

Tell me it's all worth it!

I feel your pain. I also almost gave up on COT. Just couldn't stand it for exactly the reasons you mention. It's still the only book in the series I've only read once. KoD is MUCH better. it's one of my favorites actually. I think SR is the only one I like better.

TSR, Chapter 26, "The Dedicated." I'm not really sure I even need to say why; I think it's a common choice for many fans. But I will say that, in particular, I loved the actual vision of the creation of the Bore at the end, including the Mierin tie-in.

+1 on this. Well, I liked the whole trip through the columns but this was the best part of it. Very original concept, lots of action and very well developed characters in a very short space - the best of Jordan.