This is a subject that has made me annoyed for a long time. I have been waiting on Rand to do something so obvious that it truely annoys me that this hasn't happened yet. What am I talking about?
When Rand decided to create the Black Tower with men that can channel, he should have tested the Aiel, but he hasn't done this yet. In fact, he addresses the issue with the Seafolk in TGS before addressing it with the Aiel where his control is much greater. He asks the Seafolk what they are doing to men that channel. He is alarmed at their answer and angry that they haven't changed even though he has cleansed the taint.
However, what the Aiel do is little better and maybe worse since it could provide a steady source of Dreadlords to the Dark One. For men that start to channel, the Aiel send them to the Blight to fight the DO. It would be a simple matter for any Forsaken to capture an Aiel male channeler that went to the Blight for this purpose. They can channel, but they don't know enough about channeling since they are untrained. I can see the DO or Moridin having normal patrols with the sole purpose of finding Aiel male channelers. These channelers can be converted to the shadow with the Black Ajah and Fades.
Rand now has a problem with the loyalty of the Ashaman in the Black Tower because Taim has divided the Tower, and we know he is a dark friend (maybe he will be the first raised to the Forsaken in this age). If Rand were to test the Aiel, he would triple the size of the Black Tower and almost all of these channelers would be loyal to Rand.
Based on how many Wise Ones there are that channel, there should be an equal number of men that can learn to channel as well. This would boost the numbers of male channelers significantly. While Rand is doing this he can address the issue with the Seafolk. It would be an easy matter for Rand to make a bargain with the Seafolk Mistress of Ships to allow those men the chance to go to the Black Tower. As long as the Seafolk get something they want like Rand being required to visit at the behest of the Mistress of Ships twice in a year! or something similar. It is worth it to Rand to get these male channelers to the Black Tower.
I even think that Rand should start a testing requirement of all men in every territory that he controls to find men that can channel and send them to the Black Tower. Of course Rand or Logain need to wrest the Black Tower from Taim's control, but this will be done. In a parallel to the White Tower, the attack by the Seanchan failed to hurt the Tower but instead increased the strength of the Tower, and in fact made the Tower whole.
The breaking of the Black Tower will have the same effect, and hopefully we will finally see the Black Towers ranks expanded with male channelers from the Aiel and Seafolk.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Logain's Halo of Glory
This is a theory of what Logain will do to earn his "Halo of Glory". In the past I thought that this meant he would defeat Mazrin Taim, and take over leadership of the Black Tower. Even though this will happen, this is not sufficient to give Logain "more glory than most men can even dream". In some other discussions I have had with my friend, we decided that Rand would not be involved with the sealing of the bore, but that he would be fighting the Dark One and keeping the DO at bay while the bore was sealed. Therefore who will seal the bore in this instance.
While researching some other items I came across the following in the "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time", i.e. the guide or white book. It states that in the Age of legends, Lews Telamon's plan was to seal the bore with a linked group of Aes Sedai with 7 female and 6 male channelers. Also in the guide, we know that in a linked group of 13 channelers with more than one male, the man has to lead the circle. In the age of legends that man would have been Lews Telamon. Many people will believe that Rand would lead this circle, but I believe that Rand will be welding Callendor with Advindha and Elayne. He will be fighting or holding the Dark One at bay while the bore is being sealed as mentioned earlier. Therefore the only remaining channeler that could lead this circle would be Logain. This also fulfills the aura of great glory. Logain will get great glory if he is the one to seal the bore especially if Rand is dead.
While researching some other items I came across the following in the "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time", i.e. the guide or white book. It states that in the Age of legends, Lews Telamon's plan was to seal the bore with a linked group of Aes Sedai with 7 female and 6 male channelers. Also in the guide, we know that in a linked group of 13 channelers with more than one male, the man has to lead the circle. In the age of legends that man would have been Lews Telamon. Many people will believe that Rand would lead this circle, but I believe that Rand will be welding Callendor with Advindha and Elayne. He will be fighting or holding the Dark One at bay while the bore is being sealed as mentioned earlier. Therefore the only remaining channeler that could lead this circle would be Logain. This also fulfills the aura of great glory. Logain will get great glory if he is the one to seal the bore especially if Rand is dead.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Thoughts of WOT and Moiraine
With the new book Towers of Midnight hopefully to be published in Oct. 2010, I have been getting excited again with the Wheel of Time series. Of course this book will finally have the event most of us, that have been reading the series for 10+ years, have been waiting for: the rescue of Moiraine. I had hoped that this would appear in the Gathering Storm, but I guess I was being overly optimistic as I always am when a new book is being published. Here then are some of my thoughts about this big event.
Why is this so important to the story. We know from prophecy that Matt is:
"To give up half the light of the world to save the world."
I believe that Matt will lose an eye in his dealings with Eelfinn to save Moiraine. This is foreshadowed by Egwene's dream where Matt rolls dice with blood streaming from his eye, and Thom reaches into the fire to pluck out Moiraine's blue stone. So from this viewing, Moiraine is crucial to saving the world.
Min has a viewing as well that shows that Rand cannot win Taimon Gaidon without the help of Moiraine. This poses the question: how or why is Moiraine so important? What does she do or know that will allow Rand to save the world. It is my theory that Moiraine will be help Rand seal the Dark One's prison. Here are some possible ways this could happen:
1) Knowledge - Moiraine will gather some knowledge from the Eelfinn. Could it be that Moiraine will learn information from Lanfear that will help Rand to seal the DO's prison? We know that the Eelfinn can give memories / knowledge between individuals (Matt's holes and other men's memories). Of all the Forshaken, Lanfear would know the most about the DO's prison since she was a researcher, and she not only was the first to discover the prison, but she was also the one that helped to create the bore.
2) Ter'angreal - Moiraine will get some device that will be crucial for Rand to seal the DO prison. This could be a shield that protects against the True Power (DO's power) like the amulet that Matt has that protects him against the One Power. Lews Therin tells us that he had to touch the DO with Saidin, and this is why the Dark One was able to taint Saidin. Rand faces the same problem. Even if he uses Saidin and Saidar to mend the prison, one has to touch it; and therefore, the Dark One would taint one or even worse both of the powers. It could be a device that actually mends the Bore. Although this seems too convenient, and I do not believe this will be done. Of course Lanfear could have used a ter'angreal to create the bore, and this ter'angeal could also be used to seal the bore. Another intriguing thought is that Rand will seal the bore the same as Lews Therin did with the Cuendillar seals. Moiraine may bring with her these unused seals. (I will post a theory about sealing the bore with both Saidin and Saidar).
Of course it could have nothing to do with sealing the Bore since we know that Min has started working on this piece of the puzzle. What else can Moiraine add that will help Rand. We have seen that many characters wish Moiraine was still around as Rand's advisor (including Rand). She tempered him to some degree and she was the last AS that Rand truly trusted because of her oath to him. Rand felt more confident with her around. I do not believe that Cadsuane will return as Rand's advisor. I think Cadsuane's role has ended; therefore, Moiraine can in fact fulfill this role for Rand. But for some reason this doesn't seem to be so important as to be "saving the world". I feel she needs to be contribute more than just being a guide to Rand.
I certainly hope that Rand will have become his "true self"! He has healed his own madness fulfilling another Dragon prophecy ("What wounds of madness will he heal"). I am hoping that Rand will now be totally sane. His anger and temper will be gone. He will be sure, confident, and hopefully on his way to divinity. Certainly Moiraine will be an advisor to Rand. Someone he will trust and share his plans with, but again, I do not believe this has enough of an impact to make her crucial to saving the world. I doubt that Rand will share many of his plans. He correctly believes he has to make the decisions because he is the Dragon.
In summary, Moiraine is definitely critical to saving the world based on the different prophecies, viewings, and dreams, but how she is important or what she will do still remains elusive. I have suggested a couple of ways that she will save the world.
Why is this so important to the story. We know from prophecy that Matt is:
"To give up half the light of the world to save the world."
I believe that Matt will lose an eye in his dealings with Eelfinn to save Moiraine. This is foreshadowed by Egwene's dream where Matt rolls dice with blood streaming from his eye, and Thom reaches into the fire to pluck out Moiraine's blue stone. So from this viewing, Moiraine is crucial to saving the world.
Min has a viewing as well that shows that Rand cannot win Taimon Gaidon without the help of Moiraine. This poses the question: how or why is Moiraine so important? What does she do or know that will allow Rand to save the world. It is my theory that Moiraine will be help Rand seal the Dark One's prison. Here are some possible ways this could happen:
1) Knowledge - Moiraine will gather some knowledge from the Eelfinn. Could it be that Moiraine will learn information from Lanfear that will help Rand to seal the DO's prison? We know that the Eelfinn can give memories / knowledge between individuals (Matt's holes and other men's memories). Of all the Forshaken, Lanfear would know the most about the DO's prison since she was a researcher, and she not only was the first to discover the prison, but she was also the one that helped to create the bore.
2) Ter'angreal - Moiraine will get some device that will be crucial for Rand to seal the DO prison. This could be a shield that protects against the True Power (DO's power) like the amulet that Matt has that protects him against the One Power. Lews Therin tells us that he had to touch the DO with Saidin, and this is why the Dark One was able to taint Saidin. Rand faces the same problem. Even if he uses Saidin and Saidar to mend the prison, one has to touch it; and therefore, the Dark One would taint one or even worse both of the powers. It could be a device that actually mends the Bore. Although this seems too convenient, and I do not believe this will be done. Of course Lanfear could have used a ter'angreal to create the bore, and this ter'angeal could also be used to seal the bore. Another intriguing thought is that Rand will seal the bore the same as Lews Therin did with the Cuendillar seals. Moiraine may bring with her these unused seals. (I will post a theory about sealing the bore with both Saidin and Saidar).
Of course it could have nothing to do with sealing the Bore since we know that Min has started working on this piece of the puzzle. What else can Moiraine add that will help Rand. We have seen that many characters wish Moiraine was still around as Rand's advisor (including Rand). She tempered him to some degree and she was the last AS that Rand truly trusted because of her oath to him. Rand felt more confident with her around. I do not believe that Cadsuane will return as Rand's advisor. I think Cadsuane's role has ended; therefore, Moiraine can in fact fulfill this role for Rand. But for some reason this doesn't seem to be so important as to be "saving the world". I feel she needs to be contribute more than just being a guide to Rand.
I certainly hope that Rand will have become his "true self"! He has healed his own madness fulfilling another Dragon prophecy ("What wounds of madness will he heal"). I am hoping that Rand will now be totally sane. His anger and temper will be gone. He will be sure, confident, and hopefully on his way to divinity. Certainly Moiraine will be an advisor to Rand. Someone he will trust and share his plans with, but again, I do not believe this has enough of an impact to make her crucial to saving the world. I doubt that Rand will share many of his plans. He correctly believes he has to make the decisions because he is the Dragon.
In summary, Moiraine is definitely critical to saving the world based on the different prophecies, viewings, and dreams, but how she is important or what she will do still remains elusive. I have suggested a couple of ways that she will save the world.
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