Rand by Gusdal is one of the best rands I've ever seen (although I've seen that particular one before). Selene is also great. And the Tinker women - that's something absolutely new to me. And... I can't believe I see pumpkin Rand! :)

@jack - Thanks for kind words about my Dragon post.

Where's that post? Could I have a link, please? :)

I think it would be really beautifully and romantically done, i.e. Birgitte dying and then seen again - and for the last time - when the horn is blown. I wonder if Min, Elayne or Aviendha would recognise her somehow in the future if she bacame a child of one of them? What do you guys think? After all, it would be the only situation - and rather unusual one - when the mother had known her child's soul before it was born... Weird.

Actually, I don't quite understand why should Birgitte's connection to the Horn get severed. I think it's just as if she was reborn - her soul will return staight to TAR. What I do understand is that her being ripped out may not have been due to the Wheel's will, therefore there's no long life ahead of her.

Thank you for the covers anyway Wolfbrother, great job :)

I've already seen that picture of Liandrin many years before, it's lovely. But what I absolutely love is the covers, they are beautiful! I want the books with them!

I agree that it's important to be able to imagine your favorite characters, the good fan art helps a lot. Thanks, peregrine! :)

I'd say you're right that the Wheel was showing off, but that it had a good reason to do so. The Wheel spins out the Dragon, right? Well, part of what "the Dragon" is all about is the mystique that surrounds him and the effect it has on people. A person doesn't attain the status of hero just by fighting and defeating evil, they have that something special that sets them apart. So part of the Wheel's spinning of the Dragon is making that mystique, especially when Rand isn't making it himself yet.

Good point. Basically, the Wheel had plenty of reasons for doing what it did, and we had such a great time reading it. Actually, it's one of my favorite WoT parts - just as tGH in general is fantastic - it's so intense!

In fact I've always felt confused about that: is the Wheel actually neutral? What is the balance we always speak of? Now I read for the first that the Wheel is kinda intelligent, not just a blind mechanism. And I think I'm with Mashiara in that it leans towards the Light - look, has there ever been a scenario in which the DO wins? Yes, the Wheel lets the bad guys act, sometimes they can even rule the world if the Dragon fails, it spins out the heroes and ta'veren to prevent the chaos and to weave as it wants, and the Dragon himself has always a choice, free will - so there is internal balance. But, as the Creator himself doesn't interfere, perhaps the Wheel is programmed for self-preservation. For maintaining the Pattern, which the DO seeks to destroy. The DO is outside the Pattern, so it seems logical that the Wheel is not to let him come and destroy it. If there's no more Pattern or Wheel, there's no more balance - the DO must stay outside to provide the evil factor.

Of course, there's always the Dragon factor, which complicates things a little bit - the Wheel may weave as it wants, but he can choose to let the DO win. Would it be an act of his free will or the Wheel's weaving, i.e. the scenario in which the DO finally wins? Is the Dragon's will outside the Pattern??? I think it's very biblical in fact - we are not able to imagine how the free will and predestination can work together, yet they do just that, they both exist.

I think that jack is right - after Falme, when Rand woke up and saw the picture of him fighting with Ba'alzamon, he wanted Moiraine to burn it to prevent anyone from seeing it. But it was too late for hiding, although all that he wanted was to disappear as quickly as possible. In this way the Pattern finally forced him to make a decision and to truly become a Dragon. It made him understand what the expression "duty is heavier than a mountain" means. That was very clever of the Wheel, given how stubborn Rand is - "So you think you can outsmart me, redneck? Take this!" :)

And I simply loved reading that part of the WoT, it was so emotional.

Yeah, I think the soul must be marked as the DO's in order for him to be able to grab it.

... And let's just forget "the great battle done" - there were enough (too many in fact! And sometimes not very polite, to my surprise) discussions on this on the forums and it makes my head wanna explode, so I tend to avoid the topic and just wait patiently for aMoL :)

If Min does die--and I'm not convinced she will--it will have to wait till after the Last Battle. There's been too many viewings she's been a part of to die before/during the battle. First off, she sees her own face around Rand's funeral pyre, so she's alive after he dies; then, we have Nicola's foretelling which says "Three on the boat, and he who is dead yet lives" (Lord of Chaos, Chapter 14, "Dreams and Nightmares"), so we know she lives after Rand is resurrected and the "great battle" is done.

This is all true. But it may happen before the LB is done, i.e. Rand dies, gets resurrected and then completes his task.

By the way, isn't it ironic - Min is the best for Rand, but in the long run they can't actually be together, especially + Aviendha and Elayne. She's the only one in the party who will get older and die of old age normally. Imagine - your 2 sister-wives are forever young and beautiful, as well as your husband, and there are hundreds of years ahead of them, while you become desperate as your 40th birthday comes... Moreover, your children may not be able to channel and therefore they'll soon look older then their father. Horrible!

@Edsel,

I'm too of the opinion that Min is the first among the major women to die. Although it'll break my heart, for she's my favorite girl, apart from Nynaeve.

I think we could even assume that Nynaeve is not pregnant yet because she, with her channeling awesomeness, will be too important in the LB (imagine how the difficulties would piss her off :).

WoT is all about many different PoVs :D

@wolfgirl, it's been confirmed that Olver is not Gaidal.

I think Rand will send help north just because he said he would, didn't he? Let it even be wolves, if only he will become aware of that possibility, but the contrast between the Dark Rand - who would sacrifice his friend to win - and the new one must be shown - now he's not going to compromise and he would help friends, even if it doesn't seem reasonable from the military pov.

I find all those ter'angreal showing past, future, fears, beliefs, parallel universes or whatever very mysterious - one can never say for sure what it actually is they show. When pondering the nature of the girls' tests we can add one more factor: no Aes Sedai knows those ter'angreal intended purpose. I wonder what it had been used for.

They are all really great, I mean the artists managed to capture personalities well. And Eldrene - she's awesome. I want more of your works! :)

@mark,

don't you think that her babies already have souls? :)

Very clever! But I'm wondering... if it's that simple - just grab a soul and it's done - wouldn't Aes Sedai have resurrected people in the AoL? If they had that kind of knowledge and skill - and Rand should have it now - one would think there were some limitations preventing grabbing souls just like that. Perhaps they could place a soul in a construct like Nym but not in a human body - but then, why? With no limitations it would be quite a dark business, close to playing the Creator. It's mysterious, anyway.

A very nice topic. Ariel's Tuon I think is the most boyish one, Vild's has too ample a bosom :)

Mashiara, I like this week blog very much! No big theories, but some very interesting details we have here. I've always wondered why Myrddraal are needed to turn someone to the Shadow. And if they can instinctively channel the TP, that explains a lot.

Also, the paragraph about vermin made me suddenly realise that it can really be Fain who will break the Seals - the First among Vermin... That would fit in very well, I think. He used to be a very special vermin, changed by the DO himself to be his eyes on Rand from the very beginning.

And the point about the eyes - there seems to be a subtle link between the facts that the Myrdraal have no eyes, Ishy lost them upon his death and the DO is the Sightblinder. I'm wondering what becomes of one's eyes when there are more and more of saa - do they turn into the caverns of fire in the end as the person becomes mad, like in case of Ishy? Probably we'll never find out.

"We need better writing"... :)

Nice ones, jack! I think one could write an essay on the eye in tWoT.

I've always loved this cute, pastel Moiraine, and above all - Tarmon Gai'don. The pencil Rand picture I haven't seen before, it's interesting. After some serious stuff, good choice to end up with cute little Lan :) And, to the contrary, I like the idea of letting us see the more everyday stuff of these artists'.

Love the ideas :)

Come on people, I can't read the Prologue so I don't want to read the Chapter either. It's not fair :(

I think that the fallen blacksmiths pride refers directly to Perins pride in being a simple blacksmith in TOM he realized that he was wrong and could no longer hold to that pride.

Yeah, these are my thoughts as well. Perrin was kinda proud - he stubbornly denied his own destiny, the way to actually serve the people he loved. He had to be broken just as Rand was. Now he's finally a badass :) So the prophecy is actually good for him.

As to the Broken Wolf again, let's not forget that he literally knows Death, like Metal Head said. And if the theories of Rand's death and resurrection - and 3 days of the darkness between them - are right, the Prophecy is not just a possibility how the Shadow could win, it tells us straight what could happen. But still it doesn't know the ending. Therefore, Rand becomes consumed by the Midnight Towers aka Forsaken, the DO's darkness covers the sun ("His

glorious cloak shall smother the Pattern") , the people's will itself is shaken, and then the Lord of the Evening rules. Next, I don't know if his facing the Broken Champion refers to the previous Rand's fall or to their ultimate showdown after the supposed resurrection - the phrase "bring us the Darkness so beautiful" seems to imply the former. Well, the ending is open and seems to suggest that the Lord of the Evening rules. But we know it's not going to end like that :)

Have you noticed that the dark ToM prophecy is a paralell to the Karaethon prophecy from tGH? Look (the phrase from the ToM goes first):

"Lo, it shall come upon the world that the prison of the Greatest One

shall grow weak, like the limbs of those who crafted it." vs "And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered"; "Once again, His

glorious cloak shall smother the Pattern of all things, and the Great

Lord shall stretch forth His hand to claim what is His" vs "and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man"; "The rebellious

nations shall be laid barren, their children caused to weep." vs "Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth". Then goes the Shadow pov vs the Light pov - either the Lord of the Evening fights or the Dragon confronts him but anyway the blood is spilled... though a result of it is seen in such a different light!: "And the Lord of the Evening shall face the Broken Champion,

and shall spill his blood and bring us the Darkness so beautiful" vs "yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light". Finally, "Let the

screams begin, O followers of the Shadow. Beg for your destruction!" vs "Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation."

Isn't it fascninating? I'm sure I said nothing new, but still - I find it exciting.