I still don't like the rape in Ebou Dar. Or whatever it was. It certainly didn't seem consensual.

What's worse is that it happens around the same point where a similar thing happens to Morgase and it's played dead straight.

Da hell, Robert Jordan.

sleep is nice

God, I feel so tired.

And I have no idea if it's just tiredness or me being emotionally weary

I think I'll headcanon that he's afraid of breaking the Choedan Kal.

For my own sanity

 

Doesn't Rand have the Choedan Kal?

 

Why isn't he using that to roflstomp all of his problems? (like the Seanchan) It's not like he has to worry about taint anymore.

 

Is he afraid that it'll break if he uses it too much like with Nynaeve so he's saving it for when he really needs it?

 

Well, aside from using it putting you in a rather oblivious state of bliss that lights up like a beacon that can be sensed anywhere on the continent, he's terrified of wielding that amount of power. Part of it has to do with his early experience with Callandor.

 

And keep reading.

 

God I hate that reasoning.  Villains may as well not exist.

The only reason Rand ain't winning is because he's afraid of wielding too much power.

Doesn't Rand have the Choedan Kal?

Why isn't he using that to roflstomp all of his problems? (like the Seanchan) It's not like he has to worry about taint anymore.

Is he afraid that it'll break if he uses it too much like with Nynaeve so he's saving it for when he really needs it?

 

Why is Rand continuing to entrust the clearly evil megalomaniac with his most powerful group of weapons?

 

Taim emits an AURA OF VIOLENCE when he enters a room!

 

Might as well leave Grand Moff Tarkin in charge of the Rebel Alliance!

 

No joke, Mazrim Taim is the most obviously evil ANYTHING I've ever seen. Lucius Malfoy is more trustworthy than this guy.

Just because someone is evil, doesn't mean they're not on your side. Or at the least, can be used for your benefit.

 

He's also giving orders and claiming they're Rand's and herding up all the most skilled Ash'aman into his own private coven.

Why is Rand continuing to entrust the clearly evil megalomaniac with his most powerful group of weapons?

Taim emits an AURA OF VIOLENCE when he enters a room!

Might as well leave Grand Moff Tarkin in charge of the Rebel Alliance!

No joke, Mazrim Taim is the most obviously evil ANYTHING I've ever seen. Lucius Malfoy is more trustworthy than this guy.

Actually, why didn't they send actual forces there. Like, I dunno. Couldn't Demandred have poked his head in, seen that they had a means of sensing male channelers, then left via gateway to amass some actual channeling forces then come back?

Hm, makes you think that Aginor might've fit well in their little alliance.

Oh, and how differently do you think things would've gone had Mesaana and Semirhage showed up when Rand was cleansing Saidin?

Any particular reason why those 3 worked out a relatively stable alliance? Semi doesn't seem the sort to work with ANYONE

What's the nature of the deal Demandred, Mesaana and Semi have? Is it just, "I stay out of your way, you stay out of mine?"

The 13 black Ajah that get sent to Tear in book 3. Did Mesaana and Be'lal work together. Does Mesaana rent out Black Ajah to whomever asks for them? or did he contact them himself and they left without her blessing? If they could, then how did he get in touch with the elusive Black Ajah?

but if the Pattern is contriving means by which Rand can discover what he's fighting for, why didn't it do the same for Lews?

This is why the Pattern bothers me so much. Because it can do stuff like plan out the circumstances of a person's birth, and yet it can't keep the male half of the source from being tainted, and we're meant to buy that the DO has a chance of winning.

Rahvin used an actual plan to get in Morgase's good graces. Did Be'lal and Sammael do the same? or did they just blunt force compulse their way to the top

Sammael basically tricked an entire kingdom into fighting the Dragon Reborn.

In the AoL or the Third Age?

Wait, can the Dark One win only at the last battle? Or can he win at any point in the cycle?

Where was the Pattern in the AoL? Was it taking a nap. How come it wasn't beating the hell out of the Chosen like it is now? Sammael is a brilliant strategist and managed to fend off Lews Therin on a few occasions?! That's... not really how it came off in the third age. Granted, he seemed pretty smart, but he also didn't bother to check to see if any chanelers were going through any of his OTHER gateways. Not the mark of someone considered a great military planner.

The pattern REALLY couldn't contrive a way to beat him in the AOL?

Or Mogheiden. A woman who was foiled by goddamn PIGEONS!!!

Ah, I can't help it. I love you, Aginor. Forsaken of Useless. I can't stay mad at you and your complete idiocy

RJ did answer this. 

 

Basically, the DO is misinformed. He thinks the Forsaken are the greatest because they come from a more advanced time - and they are the ones he gets most of his info from, and while he doesn't rely solely on the Chosen for info, he is bias towards them. So he thinks that they are the best tools for the job and the 3rd Age people are not as good. Also, resurrecting someone isn't a walk in the park, he can't just pull up dead people at will. So he chooses what he thinks is the most effective. Aginor is pretty useless in context, but to the DO at the time, he was still useful. He did best Lews Therin once, and is the second most Powerful channeler behind Rand and Ishamael. Turns out he doesn't do much, but the potential was much more than a random Darkfriend that can't channel, the chances of the random Darkfriend being useful again besides the chances with Aginor pale in comparison. 

 

Nonetheless, he doesn't turn a blind eye to all of them. He does make special exceptions for those deemed worthy enough. Alviarin being the no.1 example so far. If she died, I would say the DO may bring her back. There are also other special people the DO gives his approval to, but IIRC, none have died, or if they have, they've been balefired etc.. so he is unable to bring them back. 

Ok. The Dark One has been at this for the entirety of reality. It's kinda said that things go in a cycle. Something is built. There's a breaking. Then there's the last battle, and since reality is still around, that kinda implies that he's LOST all those times as well. Now, if he's lost every single time, why would he have a bias towards those from a more advanced time, since the people from after the various breakings from across history have been the ones who've beaten him and his forces every single time.

Why did the Dark One spare Aginor? He's utterly useless in this time period. And he proves to be useless even AFTER coming back.

He doesn't save the more competent Darkfriends that the forsaken kill off. Like that guy in Fires Of Heaven who Lanfear skins alive.

I always took it that the Dark One's effect on the pattern only extends to stuff relating to his own forces most of the time. Like how Shaidar Haran's reality warping only seems to work on Darkfriends and Forsaken.

It's mentioned several times that it seems like the Dark One's influence over the pattern has been growing. in book 1 he's able to hold winter in place and then later on he can hold summer in stasis too.

I just assumed he could pull strings a little. Making sure Darkfriends happen to see certain things, making sure that certain attacks hit home. Not often, and nowhere near to the extent of Ta'veren, but nudges here and there as he gets stronger.

Like, say, making sure that the Balefire Mogheiden fired at Nynaeve actually hit the boat, rather than missing completely. Or making sure that the Seanchan found the male A'dam

The Dark One tugging at the Pattern so that Moridin's balefire could hit Rand's?  I am not so sure about that.

I think the Dark One either allows or disallows True Power use, and maybe also specific True Power weaves; not much beyond those.

the direction of True Power weaves seems doubtful to me.

 

When I said making sure the Balefire hits Rand's. I didn't mean moving the flows themselves, but making it more probable that Moridin would aim in that direction.

 

I assumed that the Dark One tugged on the pattern when Moridin fired his stream, causing the two to connect.

 

I know that Rand goes mad due to using the True Power, however, without this link, he wouldn't have been able to do that. What would Moridin have done then?

 

Sorry, I just want the Forsaken to be cunning, y'know?

 

And I still want to know why Mesaana (the one who orchestrated the tower schism and manipulated every remaining tower sister into hating each other) didn't believe one of her best agents about a plot to uncover the Black Ajah but the Dark One did. Could the Forsaken stop losing IQ points the second they appear on page? yeesh!

You use the tools you have. If they didn't have the link, they would have used something else to push him over the edge. I'm not aware of any indicator the link was deliberately caused, though.

 

but do you buy that they could've found another means that was just as effective?

I know what CAUSED the link.

My issue is whether the creation of the link was intentional.

Moridin could've crossed the streams on purpose. or the Dark One could've altered probability using his influence over the pattern to make sure Moridin's stream hit Rand's

I assumed that the Dark One tugged on the pattern when Moridin fired his stream, causing the two to connect.

I know that Rand goes mad due to using the True Power, however, without this link, he wouldn't have been able to do that. What would Moridin have done then?

Sorry, I just want the Forsaken to be cunning, y'know?

And I still want to know why Mesaana (the one who orchestrated the tower schism and manipulated every remaining tower sister into hating each other) didn't believe one of her best agents about a plot to uncover the Black Ajah but the Dark One did. Could the Forsaken stop losing IQ points the second they appear on page? yeesh!