I considered Mat and Egwene to be direct descendants of the "old blood" because they both demonstrate memories of the old tongue (though in Egwene's case, this could be related to her abilities in the World of Dreams)... Mat not only speaks the old tongue (Aemon's war cry) before Shadar Logoth, but also has memories of what appears to be the battle to defend Manetheren in the Trolloc Wars. I saw someone point out somewhere that in the memory right after being Healed, Mat sees himself commanding an army and his personal banner is the Red Eagle. This would be evidence of him being Aemon himself in this scene... all this before the Finns, so I suppose these abilities (speaking the old tongue and remembering commanding the armies of Manetheren) would be the result of him being Aemon reborn AND a descendant of the "old blood"!!!

I think you're right!!! Philosophically speaking, I agree that the bore in the Dark One's prison can be considered the beginning of the Breaking of the World... historically, the actions of male channelers with tainted saidin mark the beginning of the Breaking and this was obviously already happening when LTT killed himself... so I guess what I meant is that the biggest perceived events during the Breaking of the World would be the death of the Dragon and the actions of the Kinslayer...

Well, I think it's safe to say that no one alive at the end of the Third Age (perhaps with the exception of the Forsaken) knows exactly what the Breaking of the World was like... Thanks for replying!!!

Yup, I believe Elayne as Ilyena reborn is very likely!!! Thanks for replying!!!

Manetheren Theories: - It seems that Mat is Aemon reborn; could Elayne be Eldrene reborn??? - Could Eldrene be Ilyena reborn??? - Could Egwene be a direct descendant of Eldrene??? - Could Mat be a direct descendant of Aemon (as well as the reincarnation of the King of Manetheren)???? - If Eldrene used balefire to destroy the Shadow forces, could it have brought back to life some of the people killed in the Battle of Aemon's Field??? These theories are connected to another one that I call the Dragonmount Paradox, where Ishamael used True Power balefire on Lews Therin at the moment of his suicide via overload of One Power, resulting in an unraveling of the Pattern ("the Dragon is one with the land" and "the land" cannot be balefired). This broke the seal later found in the Eye of the World (temporarily freeing Elan Morin), but also damaged LTT's mind (the entire "Dragonmount" prologue would be a time loop from Lews Therin's point of view). Furthermore, some of the effects of LTT being struck by Ishamael's True Power balefire at the exact moment he killed himself with a One Power overload were the beginning of the Breaking of the World and the return to life of those recently killed by the Kinslayer—Ilyena, her sons, daughters, etc. They would have hidden their identities, keeping the Dragon line alive through descendants who would later found Manetheren — the "old blood" and, in a sense, the People of the Dragon as well!!!

Yup, I think it may be the case of the unreliable narrator: we know when Ishy appeared in Tar Valon but I believe he could easily follow LTT (he had just Healed the Dragon using True Power), Traveling to the place that became Dragonmount without Lews Therin noticing; there he balefired the Dragon (who is one with the land, and "the land" cannot be balefired) and entered in flesh in Tel'aran'rhiod, reappearing in Tar Valon after LTT's suicide... and I believe the lightning WAS made by Lews Therin with the One Power, both things, the lightning AND balefire happened at exactly the same time, unraveling the Pattern, cracking one of the seals and beginning the Breaking of the World!!! Of course, it's just a theory I really wanted to share!!! Thanks for the reply!!!

Acordind to Robert Jordan balefire is NOT the eternal death of the soul, it simply makes impossible to the Dark One to take someone's soul; in fact if Ishamael balefired Lews Therin he ensured that the Dark One WOULD NOT BE ABLE to take the Dragon's soul (according to Ishy's own belief)... This is the description of Lews Therin's death: "The air turned to fire, the fire to light liquefied." I believe THIS is the POINT OF VIEW of Lews Therin being balefired by Ishamael... continuing: "The bolt that struck from the heavens would have seared and blinded any eye that glimpsed it, even for an instant. From the heavens it came, blazed through Lews Therin Telamon, bored into the bowels of the earth. Stone turned to vapor at its touch. The earth thrashed and quivered like a living thing in agony. Only a heartbeat did the shining bar exist, connecting ground and sky, but even after it vanished the earth yet heaved like the sea in a storm. Molten rock fountained five hundred feet into the air, and the groaning ground rose, thrusting the burning spray ever upward, ever higher. From north and south, from east and west, the wind howled in, snapping trees like twigs, shrieking and blowing as if to aid the growing mountain ever skyward. Ever skyward." This is suicide by overload of One Power. I believe BOTH happened!!! But "the Dragon is one with the land" and CANNOT be balefired. Thus the Breaking of the World, thus the unraveling of the Pattern and the cracking of the seal found lately in the Eye of the World. Thus the Dragonmount paradox!!! And finally, about Ilyena and the others killed by the Kinslayer: I believe THEIR LIVES WAS RESTORED!!! Ilyena and the others understood part of what happened and went into hiding... Lews Therin's blood survived and I believe his descendants FOUNDED MANETHEREN!!! If this theory is possible, the ancient blood of Manetheren is also (in a way) THE PEOPLE OF THE DRAGON!!! Jordan and Sanderson have always been vague when answering some questions about the prologue; I don't believe I've "discovered the truth" or anything like that, it's just a theory I'd like to share!!! Thanks for the reply!!!

Yes, that's the point, I believe he drew as much of the Power he could, turned it on himself BUT ALSO was balefired by Ishy!!! I believe the only reason the entire Pattern hasn't unraveled is because the real battle against the Dark One is a battle of Will, a matter of choices, as seen in "Veins of Gold" and AMoL... And I believe the paradox in "Dragonmount" exists because "the Dragon is one with the land" and "the land" cannot simply be balefired... Thanks for the reply!!!

The "slog" was real to me during chapters 12-14 in book 10, "Crossroads of Twilight", but that was it!!!

Hi, you can call me Ogier Jr., this is my first post on this forum!!! What I would like to know is: has the hypothesis that Elan Morin BALEFIRED Lews Therin at the time of his suicide been COMPLETELY DISMISSED??? I know it's been said that LTT didn't balefired himself but I haven't found any statement that Ishy didn't do it... my theory is that the prologue is a TIME LOOP, a result of the Pattern being unraveled by using balefire on the Dragon (which is one with the land, leading to the beginning of the Breaking of the World)... This would explain Lews Therin's memory loss - the effect of the balefire, NOT the taint - and Elan Morin's freedom - he WAS imprisoned along with the other Forsaken but the use of balefire on the Dragon and its effect on the Pattern caused one of the seals to crack (YES, the one found in the Eye of the World would have been broken since then) and allowed his presence in Lews Therin's palace believing he had never been contained!!! There is another consequence (involving the people killed by the Kinslayer, INCLUDING ILYENA, HER SONS AND DAUGHTERS) if this theory is viable, so I ask: IS IT VIABLE???