As far as the hall are concerned Siuan and Moraine were implicated in a plot to raise a male channeler up as the Dragon Reborn. For a long time even after Siuans overthrow many Aes Sedai see Rand as still a potential false dragon. There was also the fact that even if Rand was the Dragon Reborn moraine and Siuan where letting him roam free instead of packing him up in cotton wool, keeping him shielded to be pushed out for the last battle. After all remember he may well break the world.

For me I feel this is one of the ways Brandon Sanderson changed things with the characters from what RJ might have done. There are lots of little things where I feel the voices change in terms of things they say, ways they behave (slightly) and sometimes actions they take.

Did Nynave use bale fire here? I have never seen it as that, she just used normal fire. If someone has confirmed it def was balefire please correct me but the description of it is very different to how balefire is described elsewhere. and ignore me went back and re read and yes it is very balefire ish.

I feel that apart from the way the series ends, having reread it again recently I have realised just how bad the writing gets in the last 3 books, and how much Brandon changes the tone and voice of the characters and the overall story. I don’t blame him for that, it was an unenviable position, but it just sours the series for me now. I also always have more then one book on the go at once so alongside WOT I am reading through the Horus heresy series, the reading the Thomas covenant series (I think marginally better then WOT) and picking up random one off books as well.

Sorry I don’t see her being involved in the transfer in anyway. It was something independent of anything anyone could do, all she did was get his money, clothes etc (Rand says this himself at the end). The transfer is a combination of things . The crossing of balefire linking the 2 together. The fact that Rand and Moridin where linked through Callandor when they both died. Nakomi doing “something” We have seen throughout the series that the dark lord could swap souls from one body to another. In many ways this foreshadows this very action, either the fact that Moridins body was not his original one made it possible for the souls to “swap”, or something directly was done by the creator. There is no way a wilder channeler who’s only skills have been waging war can suddenly facilitate the swapping of souls.

I now only buy from second hand book sellers online, there are so many books floating around the world that it is better to buy used then new. https://www.wob.com/en-gb?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=1424181577&cq_con=56710850395&cq_med=&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuODG5Ym3gAMVGrjtCh1jhwCxEAAYASAAEgKdPfD_BwE that is one site I use.

So I have always assumed that as reincarnation happens in WOT and there is a defined pattern, that there must be a finite fixed number of total souls that exist. Each one being reincarnated at different points. However this can’t be true, new souls must be being created, otherwise the total number of souls would steadily deplete. Balefire is the first cause for this depletion. Not so much an issue now but we know the in the war of shadow it was being used to eradicate entire cities. Millions of souls removed from the pattern to never be reincarnated, The DO may be the other reason, he removes the souls of various of his tools now we do not know if these souls are then destroyed, or if they get spun back into the pattern once the original body has been destroyed. Over the course of turning to turning, if there is a finite resource of souls to start with, both of these things will steadily remove more and more souls. So last shadow war may not have exhausted it, but there will be another one and, balefire will be re learnt in one age and used to eradicate more souls. Over turn after turn the souls steadily trend down. So do you believe that new souls are created and not everyone is a reincarnation. In return is it possible that some souls do in fact pass on to whatever there is after, spinning out of the pattern? Or is the only way souls are removed the active intervention of other people?

Not sure if we ever saw this event but. If someone channeled Balefire to kill a person and then someone else channeled Balefire to kill that person. Is the first balefire undone, even if there is no pattern to recover?

In the book forum I posted the sense I get that, or all the major events to happen to the main characters throughout the books, the 3 arches experience of Nyn and Egwene has no long term character impact The scenes themselves are told well, and they include some minor foreshadowing. But neither character is significantly changed by the event, neither character has a moment later on where there experience here “pays off”, either in a choice they make, or an action they succeed in. The scenes post more questions than answers and these questions are never followed up. Yes you can argue as a world building exercise they add something, we get to experience what becoming accepted involves. But in terms of character development the only thing that happens is the girls become accepted. So with that in mind, I will not be disappointed if they remove those scenes from the TV series. It is never good to have questions left that can never be paid off, or to have scenes shown that never then feed into a future action. So you would have scenes that will take time and budget to film and then never pay anything off. They do not impact the last battle other than being a test, a first step on the journey for the female leads. So many bigger things shape them later. Especially when you compare this with Avi’s equivalent journey which we don’t see but drastically impacts her character and changes her. So thoughts are the silver arches scenes an absolute must for you?

The age of legends is presented as a truly peaceful egalitarian period, where people wanted for nothing, there was no crime, no war. But on re reading the series I find myself wondering if RJ is giving hints that this isn’t strictly true. I am seeing now a world with a 2 caste system, those who channel and those who don’t. It appears channelers occupy every important role in society. They make decisions, they lead, they run the schools universities medical facilities. Channelers have everything. This isn’t surprising, every channeler will live far longer and so over time would become more and more in control not needing to retire due to age, or illness. Then you have non channelers, from the books you only catch glimpses but it seems almost like they are a 2nd lesser form of humanity. They act as servants, looking after and supporting, they tend crops. If you think of humanity this makes perfect sense. People with powers slowly taking over and controlling those without. Giving the sense that “this way is better” because war and conflict has ended. There is no crime because us with powers have ended it. I wonder if the age of legends was more like a benign dictatorship. Those without always seen as something lesser. This idea of superiority then leads to the great mistake. If you feel you are better then most of humanity you will be less likely to stop and question. So thoughts, was the age of legends truly as fair as those in rand land try to believe?

Has Robert Jordan ever talked about where the word Ashaman comes from? Is it as simple as being A Shaman? Taken from the medicine men and shamanism of our age?

I am re reading the entire series again, and having reached LOC have either never realised, or forgotten, how much page space is wasted on RJ reminding us of everything that has happened to each character as you come to them. Generally through them remembering. For instance I have just gone through the scene of Mat dancing in the inn, which is a nice little scene, made far to long as he recalls the scar round his neck, the holes in his memory etc. This seems to be the case for each major character so far, and seems more pronounced in LOC then any of the prior books. Trying to remember if RJ keeps this up in future books, and wondering how many pages would be saved if he assumed that the reader started at book 1 and was capable of remembering the key story points. It all just feels like needless prose.

I have found myself recently wondering if the wheel chose not to create 1 dragon reborn, but instead create 3 aspects of the last dragon in order to win the final battle? It is clear that at the final battle, the way it plays out, the 3 boys have equally important roles. Yes Rand fights the battle with the dark lord, but, without Mat leading the battle on the physical plane and Perrin leading the fight in the Tel'aran'rhiod the battle would probably have been lost altogether. Therefore I wonder did the pattern effectively create 3 aspects of the dragon reborn. Rand the main splinter, consisting of the memories of Lewis, his spirit, of course his ability to channel. He is the Dragon reborn of the prophesy. But throughout the series he is never the general Lewis was, you could argue he does not have the natural leadership of Perrin and, he doesn’t have the same abilities in Tel'aran'rhiod as Perrin (although we don’t know what Lewis Theron’s abilities where there). Mat the general, at points even the forsaken mistake him for Lewis Therin in terms of how he uses his armies. He represents the martial experience of the original dragon but he doesn’t have the natural leadership of the 3rd aspect. Perrin, as well as being the force in Tel'aran'rhiod Perrin is the most natural leader. Where Rand rules with an iron fist through fear, power or because of prophecy he doesn’t inspire. Mat leads through experience and because he is a great general, but he would struggle to lead a city in peacetime, getting bored and not really inspiring the people. Perrin however represents that aspect of Lewis Therin that the people loved, the would die for him not because of what he was or could do but because of him. this is what many of the Forsaken hated him for, jealous not just of his power but his nature and ability to lead. Perrin leads because he inspires, those that follow him do so because they love him. Even Berlain could be considered Perins Lanfer maybe, the spurned women who then works against him. That may be a stretch though. I do think it Interesting that Lanfer attempts to seduce all 3 of them, almost as if she is drawn to the other 2 despite knowing Rand is Lewis reborn. So thoughts, did the pattern split Lewis into 3 in some way knowing that on his own he could not be in all 3 aspects he would need to be at the last battle, did Rand become weaker in some aspects because those sides of Lewis Therins personality where spin out to Mat and Perrin?

I was talking to a friend recently who lamented that ASOIAF was still unfinished, she had invested time in reading all the available books and questioned if she would get to read to the end. Her words to me "At least with WOT you knew it had ended". I had to explain to her that when I started reading WOT only 6 books had been released and throughout the following 18/19 years I had many moments of wondering if I would get to see the end. It is for this very reason that I never started reading George RR Martins work, and why, with the exception of the black libraries Horus Heresy series, I won't start any series that has not yet been finished. Even with a trilogy I find myself now waiting until the 3rd book has been released before I will start them. So for other WOT readers who where there at the start experiencing the waiting and wondering if it would finally, did that experience make you tentative to start a series before it has been completed?

A Stedding cuts someone from the one power, effectively working as a null field for them. However does this effect include any weaves that have already been set on a person, for instance Compulsion? Would someone under the effect of that power then become immune to it in a Stedding, either temporarily while inside it, or maybe even permanently?

So everyone talks about who their fav WOT characters are but I wondered what are peoples from other IP's. This can be fantasy, sci fi, comics, TV, Animation, Good Guy or Bad Guy and for any reason. I will start Lucius the Eternal - Warhammer 40K, take the most evil sadistic but very very vain being you can think of and ramp it up to 11. Lucius loves causing pain, suffering and just being a bit of a troll. But, he can't ever die. If someone kills him (and they have), then if they gain any satisfaction from his death, even for a microsecoond, the demonic god that Lucius serves starts the process of brining him back, inside them. It starts with dreams, then they start carving or getting strange scars, replicating the ones Lucius has given himself, then eventually he just posses them completely and they morph into him, the only sign sits on his armour, where an image of their face appears, screaming as their soul is forever tortured. This doesn't have to be a direct killing either, there is a fantastic short story where a guy, who works in a factory, building landmines, slowly goes crazy, kills his family and then becomes Lucius, all because one of the landmines he built blew him up a galaxy away. Why do I like him, the character just defines the Grim Dark of Warhammer 40K, there have been inordinate debates online about the ways you might be able to finally kill him, but also the story of his descent form arrogant but fairly good space marine to crazy chaos champion is told really well, and, he is just really really over the top cool :). Death - Discworld Need I say anymore, the ultimate in dry wit, the master manipulator while also being inept and sometimes very very lucky. I like him early on when he has a very different personality "Isn't it dark in here" still brings a smile to my face, and I like him later on when Terry P changed his personality and made him more of a distinct character. So 2 to get us going ?