Or you can just assume that the pattern intended it. After all, even the concept of Ta'averen is deus ex machina. 

EDIT: Ta'averen concept comes with lots of extras, but at the heart it is a deus ex machina device. And I think that is quite cleverly done.

He had a similar job. He was just there to spy on and gain the trust of the Amyrlin. Which is almost the exact same job. Except he had a little more people to work with (Black Ajah).

I assume it's just the basic earning Rand's trust/spying. It was really his last chance, so the DO probably gave him a simple job. Demoted him, really. "I'm trusting you with this shit little job, since I don't think you can do anything important".

You have to decided for yourself (who to trust and who to take as talking sense). Looking up the interviews takes away the fun. 

I'm re-reading tGH and have just read the chapter with Nynaeve's testing for Accepted.  My question is, why isn't Nynaeve stilled by channeling during the testing?  And why can she remember more than she should be able to during the test?  Sheriam tells her that women who have channeled in the ter'angreal were burned out/stilled when they came out.  Why doesn't this happen to Nynaeve?

I remember Sheriam mentioned something that they used to do that caused burning out/stilling (or was it just a reduction in power?) even if they didn't channel inside the ter'angreal (can't remember if this was for Eg or Nyn). I can't remember exactly what it was she said, and I don't have the books handy, but as far as I can remember people stopped being burned out after they stopped doing the thing they said they did, albeit they stopped women channeling at roughly the same time. I got the impression it wasn't the channeling that burned the Novices/Accepted out, but rather what they (the AS) were doing to the ter'angreal while the Novices/Accepted were doing the test. 

Though I may be misremembering. 

True, true. That doesn't help all that much though, that while it will be Egwene's soul that is spun out and so forth, it won't be Egwene - of the Two Rivers, Amyrlin etc. She is the only one of the original cast of characters that we were introduced to in Emond's field that won't be seeing the 4th Age. I find that kinda heartbreaking, despite the good she did the world. 

EDIT: I suppose I should start tugging on my braid now. 

EDIT2:

Moved to discussion thread.

As I said in the sad thread, Egwene's death didn't hit me all that hard at first. Maybe it was because of writing or because I secretly knew that is what would happen (even though I hoped against it), but it was only until after I had finished that I was hit with a wave of sadness at her death. So i guess it wasn't so much the writing, though it was very well written, or the fact she did feel a changed character in that book, but just at the idea of the loss of her character from the world. The thought that I felt summed that up was:

At the start, out of the 5 main Emond's Fielders, only one wanted to go.

And by the end, only one did.

Thinking that is what got me, and it got me quite hard. While her character in the book was far from flawless, and the fact I didn't like her all that much (I certainly didn't dislike her) throughout the series, it was the idea of a lack of Egwene in the Wheel of Time universe that got to me. I think if more than one of the EFs had to die, it wouldn't have impacted on myself as much as it did. 

I thought it was just a homage to Lord of the Rings in general. 

I'm not certain, but there was an execution practise in which a man was hitched to nine horses, two for each leg and arm, and one around the neck. The horses were then lit on fire and panicked, riding in different directions essentially ripping the man to pieces. It originated in France, i believe.

 

That being said, most of RJ's inn names actually mean nothing, they just sound like they mean something ('easing the badger?'), and that practise isn't very well known... i've encountered it in two sources to date, the diary of a french monk, and a commentry on animal husbandry. But still... its possible.

Actually, I'm sure The Nine Rings means something. Especially since it's named after an adventure story. :P

EDIT: Just noticed that Luckers post was in 2006. My bad. 

"A thousand years of sheep! "

"No wine for me. Strange enough things happen when my head is clear. I want to know the difference."

Thanks. Thats what I thought originally, but wasn't 100% sure

I have a question.

What would happen to the Warder if his Aes Sedai was balefired? And Vice Versa...

Would it just be the same feeling that comes through the bond as death, or would it have a different affect/feeling?

Most used word?

Probably: 'the'.