I think the First Among Vermin could be either Rand or Fain ( I prefer the latter, thanks to your recent article!) and He Who will Destroy is the DO > "his destruction" = Rand's death (then the Broken Wolf would have to be Rand; I can't see anyone else's death shake people's will itself). But the prophecy seems too ambiguous right now since it's time I went to bed and can't think any more today :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Fain say that he wanted to kill the DO? Anyway, it seems that he wants to confront him, so I like the idea of Fain actually breaking the Seals. And I like very much the idea of him attracting the DO's power, helping Rand to act in result - it could be really exciting.

Who would think that all about Fain should be that obvious... At least now I see that we must treat him seriously - Mordeth sought to destroy the DO and nothing changed about it. From now on I almost pity the DO...

As to the disappearance of the Power some of you are pondering here. Maybe it's not only the technology which will replace it with time. If my memory serves, Jordan said in an interview something along the line that the appearance of new Talents in this Age is very telling and that there will be more and more of Mins, Hurins etc. Wolfbrothers existed before the AoL. maybe not Power-related Talents show up when the Power decreases.

luv u DM! HB :)

Metal Head,

Though the question of how to get rid of the bore is the WoT greatest mistery, I'm not a fan of the TP option. There are a few points: first, while "unmaking" the world means annihilating it, in relation to the bore it would be something else - there is already an emptyness, the Pattern needs to get healed, recreated, sewn or whatever. Second, why would the TP stop the DO? Do you mean using Fain as a buffer which will push him away? If so, Rand could simply use the OP. But, like yours, these are only my thoughts :) And I personally don't wont to see Rand use the TP anymore. What is more, if he has access to the Light now, he doesn't need to. By the way, isn't the ability - or the permission - to channel the TP tied to one's soul, not the body? If so, Rand wouldn't obtain it by possessing Moridin's body.

Although I don't think it probable, I like the idea of the bore getting healed by the very presence of 3 ta'veren together, possibly with the help of the Song.

It's not very Perrin-and-the-pull-related, is it :)

The Light wins when the bore is unmade. They tie when the Dragon doesn't fulfill his destiny but the DO doesn't break free as well.

You may be right as long as "always making good choices" indicates the Light's triumph as well as a draw between the Light and the Shadow. Because the good guys don't always win. On the other hand, the DO never wins.

IIRC, Despothera's blog never had that many comments and this is the best recommendation, I think. The theories were cool, but I never felt able to add any comment to them. Now I easily find space to join the discussion.

I think I'm going to agree with Metal Head. Bravo, Mashiara, for pondering such an original topic.

Absolutely fantastic! Please, let some band play and record this version, it would become WoT hit! :)

I enjoyed reading the article :)

@ jack

I totally agree, one may be able to understand complexities of the Seanchan culture, but let Rand mightily kick their arse anyway! :)

Of course children are not the biggest problem, but I could see Avi trying to avoid risk that way. Although I hope that she will be a really wise Wise One instead and will find a better solution.

And, like snowball, I also hope for better showdown this time. It's needed if Rand's kids are to live a good life :)

I think that Aviendha is one of the characters who believes the most in "doing what needs to be done". And is she stunborn? Oh yeah she is. My bet is that she will decide not to bear Rand's children. That would definitely change the odds.

I also think she would be able to make such a decision, but what about Min's vision? There was an oddity about the kids, but there WERE kids, nothing like Gawyn and Egwene - as if the Pattern itself wasn't sure what would happen in that case. Could the fact of seeing the future possibly interfere somehow with the otherwise infallible visions? Besides, the oddity doesn't seem to refer to the kids' possible inexistence but to them being permanently connected to the Source.

Nice stuff, but I think some of her characters lack... sharpness? I don't know how to say it in English, sorry :) For example, Lan is quite druid-like, Rand's face is expressionless and Faile is too mild. On the other hand, I find Elayne's expression perfect, and I also like Min, Nynaeve and Avienda.

Lol indeed :)

This interviewwith Robert Jordan talks about Aginor's desire to channel the Eye of the World. Jordan's reply seems to fit in with the Eye being a pool of saidin.

It seems to be a perfect Aes Sedai answer, actually :) And if this is all we've got... Well, then I'm surprised.

Maybe it's a dumb question, but was it actually confirmed that the Eye was a pool of saidin? Could it be the pool of Light instead, Moiraine being wrong one more time?

There's one thing that bothers me: mysterious statements concerning the DO blinding the Eye and the Eye serving Rand. What does it mean? I know Ishy could lie, but the pool of saidin seems too unimportant for such serious statements - unless the Eye was made to protect the Seals and the Shadow was aware of that. Perhaps "blinding the Eye" meant in fact acting to the detriment of Rand, not the Pattern or the Creator directly, as without the Eye Rand would have stayed blind - and he actually was blind anyway, for a time.

Oh my, Eldrene - I'm already in love with her! It's going to be amazing, I wish you good work.

Quite a nice Loial there, such a rare thing to see.

:)

fernandan, on , said:

 

There's one detail you missed. In The Eye of the World the voice is ITALICIZED, but in Lord of Chaos when the Dark One speaks its voice is simply ALL CAPS. I always took that as more evidence that in EotW it was not the same voice, but the other deity, the Creator.

 

Also, I assumed the reason the Forsaken felt ecstasy (as well as pain) at being spoken to by the Dark One wasn't because its voice was inherently nice to listen to, but because they were sworn to the Shadow and worship evil, its voice has that effect. Maybe Light-sided people would just feel agonized at having that voice in their skull.

 

You are absolutely right! I can't believe I left off the italics! From that, I would gather the thought is coming from inside Rand. Italics in a novel mean the words are internal thoughts. That would lead me to believe it's Lews Therin, or some other form of the Dragon's Soul, or that the Creator is INSIDE Rand and speaks through him...

Yeah, that would indicate the link between Rand and the Creator, established by the Eye and renewed in VoG... Very interesting.

Oh my, this Eggy picture (the last one) makes me feel sorry for her!

Absolutely love the ponies.

It's such a nice break from all that serious theorising :)

(and from working on my MA thesis as well :(...)

Aielyn, I really like your theory - maybe apart from the idea that the Seals were made after the actual sealing of the Bore, since according to the Big White Book the disks of cuendillar had already been prepared before LTT and the 100 Companions went on their mission (and this book is supposed to always be right, right?...). They used them as the focal points for making the real Seals of saidin.

I don't know if it's right, but I've always thought that the Seals were breaking due to something important Rand just and did that's why for the Shadow it's vital that he live. Using up the Eye would be first such thing. But then what about the remaining 2 if he can just break them with his bare hands... Maybe this could go together with your theory of the pool of clean saidin as a protection for the Seals until the Dragon comes.

So, guys...

Padraig, we are of the same opinion then? :) As to tEotW, I admit I didn't remember those things because it's been a while since I last read it.

Trollocslayer, Ferdawoon - I think the word Mashiara used is accurate: paranoia. I've always considered Rand's hardness etc the natural result of the pressure he's been put under, his character developement, of course. But then I read what Nynaeve saw in his head.

I remember this beautiful deiscussion on whether the voice was real (the real madness, right? :) or was a result of developing split personality, like Ferdawoon said. I've never liked the second option (by the way, the discussion was one of the first things I read on DM and made me think: "these people are insane, I must join in!" :)). Therefore I don't think it madness.

What I really think is that all those Rand's natural predispositions and attributes became the foundation (sorry, I can't find the word since English is not my first language) for his madness which made them grow to the state of paranoia.

I like to think so, but, honestly, you may as well be right and maybe this is one of the WoT things we'll never really find out :) Especially after what you reminded me about tEotW. I'm not a person who says "it's this way, amen" and - by the way - I'm actually shocked to find such pronouncements here on DM, while, come on, this is all about the interpretation! I'm sure Shakespeare would be proud of Jordan, since this is exactly what he loved and how he created Hamlet, so that both it's characters and the readers try their best to interpret prince Hamlet... and all of them may be right, there's no one exclusive explanation.

Oh, Trollocslayer, I think that Rand was deeply mad indeed... The ultimate proof of that is the unhealable mess which Nynaeve found in his brain while Delving. In the latest books we learned that the male channellers' madness can have as many shades as many personalities there are. Rand's madness was: getting always harder and harder, growing self-condemnation (wasn't counting the dead women quite crazy?), building the wall between himself and the world, sudden outbursts of anger, constant fear of beig manipulated and controlled... As the story develops it gets harder to dfferentiate between the taint-caused madness and the growing dark influence through the bond with Moridin, but still - I think there's enough of it. On the other hand, Rand going crazy on the mast in tEotW wasn't crazy at all, it was a spontaneous act of a still innocent boy... IIRC.