I tried to bend the Pattern to my will once.

Mr Ares, you forgot to add that you faced everything on your own feet.;-)

Feet? Did the other one grow back then?

 

- When you become very, very, very good at Aes Sedai answers to questions you don't want to answer.

I find not answering at all is usually easier. But I can couple it with a look of arrogant contempt that AS everywhere would envy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMKSJhb83Ps

Dictionary!

*nukes the chipmunk*

This thread

The snot on the outlaws boot by George gramham

Magician by Raymond e feist

 

What u reckon to the Magician, Owayn?

Shockingly little of it read so far, been a bit hectic round these parts the last while. What i have read has been quite interesting, the first few lines grabbed by imagination straight away, a great vivid picture of Pug dancing along the stones.

Compared to tad Williams dragonbone chair its streaks ahead. Again thats a book I'm only a fraction of the way into.

Cool well I think you'll like them Midkemia books, theres quite a few. Riftwar Saga with the Magician is still prob my favorite though

Finally, I've got to also nominate the EotW Prologue.

Definitely. Cant believe I forgot that.

Also in ToM when Rand goes to see Egwene at the beginning.

Egwene: This isnt ended, Rand.

Rand: There are no endings, Egwene.

Loved that. Very Creator-like

I cant decide which so Im guna say a few.

Rands fight with Ishamael when they appeared in the sky. Very messiah-like.

Taims introduction in Lord of Chaos has always been one of my favorites. Dumais Wells also.

The time when Rand uses Callandor against the Seanchan, where both sides think they lost. Rand was really on his high horse. "You cannot strike at me! I am the Dragon Reborn!" Blasts them with Callandor, taint-induced wild mind moment, ends up shooting lightning in all directions as in the viewing/Dream vision and injuring some of his own men. Bashere mans up and knocks the Dragon Reborn to the ground. Awesome.

The Cleansing for the sheer magnitude. The good guys really showed what they were capable of, yet in the same breath it took all that to beat the few Forsaken that turned up, so I think the only person I was disapointed with was Demandred, despite the excuse that everyone gives him (please dont). I like the fact that Nynaeve was the one to work with Rand.

Veins of Gold as well. EVERYONE remembers that title by name.

I also like the scene in TGS when Rand talks about how to fight someone smarter than you. And the two "Do you believe that I could kill you?" moments.

you know, i'm going to say yes he did know

 

why you ask? well i don't know, but i just always assumed noal was jain farstrider even before the whole towers scene. i also vaguely remember there being reference to it, or a conversation about it in one of the previous books.

 

i'm actually in the process of re-reading the series so if i come across it i'll be sure to update this post

Cant remember which book it was in but when Noal tells Mat his name is Charin Mat questions him about it, saying that that was Jains surname. Noal said "Oh yeah we're cousins." And then goes on to almost say Jain was manipulated by [ishamael?] but stops himself before saying too much. It was obvious just from that conversation I think, and while Mats PoV never made the connection directly I just think the idea wouldnt have been surprising to him until he really thought about it, which he didnt have chance to do til after the Tower

1. Rand. The early heroics, the late darkness, the epic development, philosophies of a weapon. Kicks ass all the way through.

2. Mazridin. Balls of steel, Ishamael. Balls of steel.

3. Nynaeve. She finds the perfect balance of Two Rivers Wisdom and Aes Sedai. her consistent loyalty to the Emonds Fielders is one of my favorite aspects about her, particularly the way she behaved towards Rand in TGS. She told him she hated what he had become, but still didnt turn her back on him.

4. Graendal. I like the intricacy. I like it how in TGS she seems to be Moridins favorite, and I also like the semi-feud between her and Demandred.

5. Davram Bashere. His introduction was awesome, the way he threw a knife at the Dragon Reborn and didnt even move when everyone started kicking off. But alas, I think he was played, and he had an opportunity to expose it right at the start but didnt push it hard enough.

6. Mat. So many pieces that fit together. Aside from Rand, I would say he looks the part of Hero of the Horn more than any other character, what with his black broad brimmed hat, scarf, and foxhead medallion and the ring with the fox and raven, matching up with his title Prince of Ravens, and the ashanderei... Mat makes it as much of a fashion accessory as a weapon.

7. Pre-TGS Cadsuane. At the end of KoD she was SO well set to being the next best thing to Moiraine, I really liked her. Especially the way she handled the false meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons. She wasnt prepared to take any crap. I know her fall from grace wasnt her fault, but I still think it ruined her.

8. Pre-revelation Verin. Sometimes I think some things are better left implied, and I think this was one of them. I cant see why she couldnt have simply left the book somewhere Egwene would have found it and left some clue that IMPLIED it was her but didnt say outright. She should have found a loophole in the Dark Oath(s) IMO that would have been more satisfactory.

9. Padan Fain. Used to be higher up but still awesome. Sure there was a bit where he thought to himself early on that he was invincible. I also like it when Rand and Lan go after him.

10. The Dark One. Nobody ever says anything about him in threads like this. When you look at the grand picture you have to admit the guy knows what hes doing. My favorite Dark One moment is in Lord of Chaos. "Would you be Nae'blis? Then I will tell you who lives and who dies." Then, offscreen, tells Demandred to bring Taim so Ishamael can come back in his body. Moridin is introduced, Dark One declares Moridin Nae'blis, and Demandreds like "But, but, but have I not done well?" Demandred joined the Shadow because he hated being second to LTT, who he hates, but he just ensured that he would still be second place, but to someone else that he hates. The Dark One laughs his head off because Demandred is a fool, and cant see whats right under his nose.

This thread

The snot on the outlaws boot by George gramham

Magician by Raymond e feist

What u reckon to the Magician, Owayn?

Im afraid not no. I have an online Xbox 360 name, Tricerabass, but I only created that because I used to live with someone who had one and you get the first month for free on Xbox Live. So I only had Tricerabass online for a month anyways. Shame :(

Romans Revenge by Nicki Minaj

Thanks Red.

Um. My PSN name has been mixed up with someone elses. Mine is BORNAGAINH1TLER (the I in Hitler is a 1)

Thanks for adding me to the list though! Currently havent got PS3 access as Im not staying at home at the mo but I'll be online next week sometime, will send friend requests when I get back.

LordOfChaos is CardboardCannon I believe

Id put it down to Rands naiveness. Another example from the same bit, Taims introduction. When Taim tests Damer Flynn for the ability to channel, we already knew that Flynn was a learner because of his age; if Flynn was a sparker he would have known he could channel already. But that hadnt been spelt out for Rand like it had for us with the RJ interview. Basically, Taim does the test and Rand feels the resonance, but Taim waits a minute before finishing the test. Now it seems plain to me that if Flynn was a sparker-which we know he isnt, because of his age-then something else would have happened in that extra minute after the small resonance. But Rand doesnt know about learners or sparkers like we do, like Taim clearly does. So Rand and his naive, arrogant state of existence assumes he felt the resonance before Taim, and comes to the conclusion that he is better than Taim in that regard. A reasonable assumption if you dont have a clue, but we as readers know more, and Rand by LoC assumes he knows more than most other Third Agers.

I dont think Rands ignorance is a plot convenience, I think its a great part of the series. I LOVE how Rands lack of knowledge hinders him, it is realistic. But that first thing where he "proves" Taim is Taim, there is no excuse for that one. I never thought of Rand having Wise Ones with him to meet Aes Sedai though, thats a good one.

No Im not saying he is annoying, he is my favorite character by a long way! Im saying he is one of the stupidest. Look at how he "proves" to himself that Taim is Taim in Lord of Chaos at the beginning, and tell me you do not agree. And yes, the Light has been in a lot of trouble because of it, because of the Darkfriend Ashaman situation

 

Under normal circumstances, I'd definitely agree with you 100%. But, in Rand's case, we know he's been losing it, almost since the beginning of the series, so IMO, you'd have to make an exception in his case. Y'know, like a "hey, I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid" kinda free pass?

 

'cause, IMO, that's what's going on with Rand. He is crazy and, while many of his decisions (especially concerning Taim and the Black Tower, I agree) may strike us as unorthodox or just plain stupid, that's 'cause those are the decisions of a sick mind, not a stupid one. At least he does have this advantage over say, Egwene, Elayne and many others, IMO.

Look at it like this.

Bashere: You're Taim?

Taim: Yes

Rand: Prove it, channel for me

Taim: *channels*

Rand: Thats enough for me, screw Basheres doubts. You are Taim, not some randomer claiming to be Taim, not a Forsaken in disguise, even though all the Forsaken Ive met so far channel and use disguises and a guy sent to headhunt you doesnt know you. Hey, handy thing you can test for the ability to channel, very odd that you figured that out after meeting only five others that can channel. But hey, you can channel, and Ive heard of you before, so you MUST be Taim. So watch out for the rest of these recruits showing the sort of knowledge I have from my past lives, or the unrealistic amount of knowledge you pulled out of your ass. They might be Forsaken!

Thats basically what happened when Taim came into it. Rands insanity doesnt impair his judgement on this, its his own stupidity. Whether or not Taim is Taim doesnt matter; how Rand proves it to himself does. He might as well have said "Hey Taim, do you know the Forsakens secret handshake?" and when Taim says "Duh, of course" Rand then says "Okay great, tell me if anyone else here knows it, they must be Forsaken."

Rand. Sometimes he can be quite clever, but other times he can be such a dumbass, and the beauty of it is that half of the time his reasoning is understandable until you look at it closely.

 

Wait a minute, not sure I'm getting you here...

 

Are you calling Rand the most annoying or stupidest character in the series? Or, both?

 

Because if you consider him the most annoying (though the guy's been gradually losing his mind, which would sorta justify many of his antics, IMO) then that's a matter of personal preference and I respect that, of course. Though I strongly disagree because I can think of 15-20 characters in WoT who are far more annoying than Rand al'Thor.

 

Then again, if you're calling him the stupidest, then man! Is the light in trouble or what? I mean, since they'd be led by the stupidest character in the series, I'd have to say that the Light is in deep, deep sh*t now.

 

And if it's both, well, all of the above applies.

No Im not saying he is annoying, he is my favorite character by a long way! Im saying he is one of the stupidest. Look at how he "proves" to himself that Taim is Taim in Lord of Chaos at the beginning, and tell me you do not agree. And yes, the Light has been in a lot of trouble because of it, because of the Darkfriend Ashaman situation

Rand. Sometimes he can be quite clever, but other times he can be such a dumbass, and the beauty of it is that half of the time his reasoning is understandable until you look at it closely.

Dawn

Ocelot

went out and saw  Dear John last night with Bubba. cried my little eyes out cause it touched so close to home with having actually dealt with most of that.  brought back alot of memories for both of us, like having to drop him off at the airport when his 15R&R was over, among other things.

 

the only thing i can't relate to in that movie is her breaking up with him. it really makes me mad that chicks can be so selfish to break up with a guy while he's over in there. i could never understand it and never will. a chick who does that is not only selfish but also a coward.

 

awe you can't stand being apart from him   >:( . well he's goign through the same thing only he's getting shot at and having to kill to stay alive. trust me you stupid , what ever you're going through, he's going through 10 times more  

 

gettting that letter over there is sometimes the only thing keeping those guys sane while their over in that hell hole.  i have no respect or sympathy for any chick that does that. 

Has anyone told you how wonderful you are recently? ;)

Why would you have to be marked to use the TP? You can only draw on the TP with the Dark One's express will and permission. It's not like he's a large trolloc that needs to be told who can and who cannot use the TP. It's his power.

 

The reason you have to be marked to control the trollocs is because they are inherently violent creatures that seek to kill and destroy humanity, so obeying a human is against their nature. Having the DO's mark showing that you are to be obeyed by his creatures makes sense.

 

The two are entirely different things that don't relate. It's like comparing apples and bacon. (To borrow a phrase I heard at a bar in Washington DC last weekend.)

 

The problem is that DO is bound, imprisoned, exiled or whatever. The thinnest in the Pattern is everywhere but manifested in SG. Throughout the series we have seen that SG(not to mention is connection to Lords of the Ring) is the place where the DO interacts. I am almost certain that there needs to be a link between the DO and the channler to give access to TP. I am certain this link was Moridin.

And yet when Rand and Moridins balefire connected them it began the merge, so the mark, permission, whatever, begins to exist in two place at once. So Rand could get the True Power, through the connection. Which is not semi Deus Ex Machina at all.

I think Rand accessed the True Power due to the link, whatever part of Moridin holds his permission to channel it exists in Rand as well because of the strengthening of the merge. I also think Rands sickness might very well be a side effect of True Power access, like each time he siezes saidin he skims over the True Power for a split second, causing the sickness. Maybe. But I do not think Rand was granted permission intentionally, the only way to get him to use it was to block saidin but not the True Power, and the sad bracelet was the key for that.

Yeah and a woman cant sense a man channeling in the slightest, so if Rahvin or Sammael had done something the only way they could have countered properly is if they were already holding saidar. They wouldnt have had any warning like a man would against a woman.

Thanks for the quote Dreamwalker