What is the basis for the Old Tongue? A mix of Gaelic, Russian, Spanish, Japanese. Lots of different sources not traditionally used to make up fake languages. RJ has only a few phrases and a few small guides on usage written down.[Dan Rouk at a book signing, 10/94]
Why doesn't the Old Tongue bear any relation to the New Tongue spoken by Rand & Co? It probably does, but RJ has kindly "translated" the New Tongue into English so that we can read the books and he can make lots of money :). The Old Tongue is not "translated" in order to add "flavor" to the story. Think of Tolkien. (Who _did_ create entire languages.) Even he didn't write The Lord of the Rings in Middle-Earthish.
Elayne denies that Galad is her brother. Thom was around at the right time. Thom clearly had something to do with Taringail's disappearance. Thom was Morgase 's lover. In [TFoH: 19, Memories, 252], Morgase thinks about Taringail, and how the only good to come of the marriage were "two beautiful children." This could be Elayne and Gawyn , or she could mean Galad (adopted) and Gawyn.
Evidence from the Glossary: "A Royal Prince of Cairhien, he married Tigraine and _fathered_ Galadedrid. When Tigraine disappeared and was declared dead, he married Morgase and _fathered_ Elayne and Gawyn." [TEotW: Glossary, 787, entry "Damodred, Prince Taringail", 661] Although the glossary entries have been misleading before (e.g. Ba'alzamon), I do not think that RJ has ever lied outright in them. I personally cannot think of a way that the above could be a sneaky, Aes Sedai-like twisting of the truth.
Furthermore, Moiraine says Thom was Morgase's lover for a while, after Taringail died (emphasis mine) [TSR: 17, 277, Deceptions, 194]. Here, Moiraine is trying to impress Thom with how much she knows. She wouldn't include a detail she had any doubt about. To be wrong about something in such a situation would indicate faulty research, and Moiraine would not risk showing any gap in her knowledge. If she had any doubt at all, she wouldn't have mentioned the timing of events. Plus, Thom didn't say or think anything to contradict Moiraine's statement.
If Morgase had been having an affair with Thom while still married to Taringail, it is very unlikely that she would have been able to keep it entirely under wraps; surely some rumor would have been around, especially in Cairhien. However, we see no evidence of such a rumor existing. Specifically, in [LoC: 50, Thorns, 628] when Rand mentions to some Cairhienin that he means to have Elayne rule Cairhien, the Cairhienin think she'd be a good choice, due to her descent from her father Taringail Damodred. Somebody says something like "Taringail's greatest dream was for his son to be king of Cairhien and his daughter to be queen of Andor." If Morgase was unfaithful, surely there would have been some doubt as to Elayne's right to the throne of Cairhien.
In a report from a signing in Seattle, Tony Z. says, "Jordan also strongly implied that Thom was not Elayne's father."
Survey Says: Is Thom Elayne's da? Yes: 53, No: 28.
Moiraine says she knows the face of the man she will marry better than the girls know their future husbands. [TSR: 6, 126, Doorways, 90-1] This could mean that she will never marry. The reason that seems unlikely is because, according to Elayne, Moiraine had some passion in her voice when she mentioned husband, despite her attempts to then brush it off. After going through the Tear twisted doorway , which only answers personal questions, she immediately tells Thom that he will live through the next set of adventures. Thom keeps referring to Moiraine as a good looking woman with more and more sincerity as time progresses and discovers he no longer loves Morgase.
Possible scenario: How would she know who it was? Being Aes Sedai she'd likely have a lot of chances, but here's my guess. When Min describes how her viewings work her standard example is this; I see two people who have never met and know they will marry-and of course we had both Thom and Moiraine in front of her in Baerlon. So, this would also be the reason why 1) Moiraine was so sure Thom hadn't been killed by a Fade, despite Rand's and Mat's protestations, and 2) why she tells Thom "I will see you again. You will survive Tarabon." [TSR: 17, 278, Deceptions, 195] (After her little trip through Rhuidean she may have decided that perhaps Min was wrong and that Lanfear would kill her)
Survey Says: will Thom marry Moiraine, if she is alive? Yes: 53, No, 28.
Well, we don't know what happened after Moiraine & Lanfear fell through the twisted doorway into the land of the Foxes . Lacking such information, the only evidence we have is:
More interpretation on Eg's "blue stone" vision: Michael Steevens suggests that it could possibly mean that Thom will do something to preserve her dream of Rand facing the DO alive and well at Tarmon Gai'don.
In [LoC: Glossary, entry "Moiraine", 710], it says "She vanished into a ter'angreal in Cairhien while battling Lanfear, apparently killing both herself and the Forsaken." That "apparently" definitely leaves the question open.
Survey says:
Perhaps he was involuntarily bonded to a Black or to a Forsaken. His eyes were glazed and he was not necessarily in control of himself [TSR: 47, 779-782, The Truth of a Viewing, 539-41]. Alviarin says with some confidence that " Gawyn will be brought under control". [TFoH: Prologue, 19, The First Sparks Fall, 17] Then again, it is personally reasonable to assume that he was in full control of his faculties during the coup. By that time, he had developed a good & solid hatred for SS, due to Elayne and Egwene's mysterious disappearance.
From his behavior in LoC, it seems pretty apparent that he acted under his own will during the Coup, motivated by grief and anxiety over Elayne and Egwene. He develops a similar fierce hatred for Rand due to the rumors that Rand killed Morgase.
Survey says: What was up with Gawyn during the Tower Coup?
Probably some sort of leader of the Ancient Aes Sedai. The Tamyrlin had a ring just as the Amyrlin has a seat. From [TEotW: Prologue, xi, Dragonmount, xi] Elan Morin grimaced. "Look at you," he said scornfully. "Once you stood first among the Servants. Once you wore the Ring of Tamyrlin, and sat in the High Seat. Once you summoned the Nine Rods of Dominion. Now look at you!"
Possibilities:
Daughter of the Nine Moons indicates the heir to the throne of the Seanchan . This is most likely Tuon, the second daughter of the Seanchan Empress who is mentioned by High Lord Turak in Falme. [TGH: 34, 497, The Wheel Weaves, 420]. An outside runner is Berelain, who is descended from Hawkwing and thus "of the Blood," literally. Part of that theory is that "half the light of the world" refers to Mayene being a great supplier of lamp oil.
In Ebou Dar in [LoC: 52, Weaves of the Power, 641], Mat runs into a Seanchan guy who recognizes the name "Daughter of the Nine Moons." This makes it pretty clear that the Daughter of the Nine Moons refers to somebody Seanchan. The epilogue makes further clarification [LoC: Epilogue, The Answer, 697]: "Perhaps the Return would come soon, and the Daughter of the Nine Moons with it." The Daughter is maybe a leader of the Return. Somebody has suggested that the Seanchan themselves don't know who the DotNM is, and that the Return will reveal her identity to them. (I gather this theory is that the DotNM is some sort of messianic figure for the Seanchan, or something like that.)
Survey Says: Who will Mat wed?
See also: Various prophecies - Aelfinn & Eelfinn
The prophecy: "Into the heart", etc. (see Various prophecies ) suggests that maybe somebody besides Rand is going to remove the Callandor from the Stone: "Who draws it out shall follow after".
Maybe Logain (His future glory - see Min's Viewings )?Now that he is un-gentled and at large, he might end up with the Sword That Ain't. Even though somebody (Moiraine?) said that Logain would be burnt to a crisp trying to control the sa'angreal, we know by now that AS don't know everything.
In [LoC: 32, Summoned in Haste, 453] Rand thinks about how he modified his traps after learning to invert weaves, and makes reference to somebody besides himself drawing the sword and "following after."
Survey says: Will Logain pull the sword? Yes: 38, No: 42
When Elayne tries to use the Power on Mat in [LoC: 38, A Sudden Chill, 504], she describes the effect as "The flows just...vanished." It seems that the medallion works by dissolving or destroying Power Flows. The fact that it acts on the actual flows indicates that it probably works on saidar and saidin. The medallion only works on direct weaving of Power flows against the wearer; indirect effects of the power, such as picking up a rock with Air and throwing it, are not blocked. This probably applies to lightning bolts, as well, if they are produced by building up atmospheric charge with the Power, not by directly weaving the Power. Thus the failure of the medallion to protect against the lightning strike at the end of TFOHi can be explained.
There is ample evidence that this is the way it works against saidar. Elayne & Co.'s extensive testing of the medallion in [LoC: 47, The Wandering Woman, 589-593] certainly support the hypothesis. There are less data points for saidin. Rahvin's lightning strike certainly worked, but that can be explained by the "indirect effects" loophole.(Note, however, that Rand believes that the medallion "had not saved [Mat] from a man's channeling." Rand doesn't know everything, though.) The only other possible data comes from Halima/Aran'gar, who we think channels saidin, not saidar (See Aran'gar and Osan'gar ). She tries to channel at Mat in [LoC: 44, The Color of Trust, 554], and fails.
Evidence that Aran'gar uses Saidin: [LoC: Epilogue, The Answer, 697] (Moghedian's thoughts as she was being freed by Aran'gar) "A woman. But that ball of Light had to be saidin!" Moggy is somebody who knows the difference. Plus, there is [LoC: Epilogue, The Answer, 698] "[Egwene] had felt [Moghedian's] necklace come off, and felt the flash of pain that meant a man who could channel had brushed the link."
Note further that Mat asked for a way to be free of Aes Sedai and the One Power, not AS and Saidar, or AS or the OP. If the A/Eelfinn are bound to grant wishes as stated, then the medallion must protect against Saidin as well as saidar. See also: Aelfinn & Eelfinn
Read the following references:
[TEotW: 40, 606, The Web Tightens, 508] : Elaida doesn't like Rats.
[TSR: 1, 38, Seeds of Shadow, 29-30]:Elaida thinks about how Rand Al'Thor must be stopped from causing trouble in Andor, since Andor and its royalty are they key to defeating the DO.
[TFoH: Prologue, The First Sparks Fall, 13-21] and [TFoH: 19, Memories, 260]: Elaida is pretty clearly a dupe.
From [LoC: 52, Weaves of the Power, 651-2], we see that Lan is now bonded to Myrelle, as promised by Moiraine. Question now is, what is she going to do with it. Moiraine said in [TGH: 22, 322-4, Watchers, 271-3] that Myrelle had promised to pass the bond to somebody who would need him when the time was right. Moiraine later thinks several things that indicate that she has arranged for Nynaeve to get him eventually. [TSR: 21, 337, Into the Heart, 236], [TFoH: 7, 190, A Departure, 135] "He denied...that he could ever have her...That, at least, Moiraine had taken care of, though he would not know how until it was done." It seems as if Moiraine told Myrelle that Ny was to have him. In LoC, we see Myrelle pushing Ny to overcome her block - possibly so she can become AS by the time Lan gets there, and so can get a Warder? And finally, at the end of LoC when Lan shows up, Myrelle wonders if she can "keep him alive long enough." Long enough for what?
He noticed Asm was gone. He thinks Asm ran away. Note that this implies there was no body left. "If they discovered that he had held one of the Forsaken prisoner and allowed him to escape...He would deal with Asmodean himself if the man ever turned up again."[LOC, ?, A Woman's Eyes, 92]
Whoever killed Asmodean must have:
From the LoC prologue, we see that Demandred doesn't know what happenned to Asmodean: "Lanfear has vanished without a trace, just as Asmodean did." Hence, Demandred didn't kill him. But the Dark One's response seems to imply the DO might be behind of what happenned to Asmodean: "WHO BETRAYS ME SHALL DIE THE FINAL DEATH. ASMODEAN, TWISTED BY HIS WEAKNESS." [LoC: Prologue, The First Message, 15]
At a post-LoC signing in Chicago, RJ said that we have all the clues to figure out who killed Asmodean. I look upon this statement with skepticism.
Survey Says: Who killed JoaR?
If we can figure out why he was killed, we might be able to throw some light on who killed him. One possibility is that he was the target of a pre-meditated assassination. The Shadow (ie the DO and all the Forsaken) would want to do this, because he was a traitor. Fain would want to do this, because either Fain knew Asm was helping Rand or he thought Asm was trying to kill/turn/etc Rand, and didn't want a Forsaken to defeat Al'Thor - that is Fain's mission in life. (Then again, Fain might not know anything about Asm's existence at all.) If it was premeditated, then how did the killer know Asm was heading for the wine closet? Maybe Asm was a frequent customer? Maybe the killer was hiding there, and took his chance when Asm walked in? Maybe he was close enough nearby to observe Asm's movements?
A second possibility is that Asm was not the specific target of the killer; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps the killer was/is spying/plotting/etc from within the ranks of the Dragon Reborn. Asmodean bumped into him on his way to the wine closet, recognized him, and got killed to protect his secret. Quoting from the relevant passage: "He pulled open a small door, intending to find his way to the pantry. There should be some decent wine." Then we have, "You? No!" He was going to look for wine. He probably opened a door to an empty storeroom or hallway. It was not a wine pantry. He hadn't found it yet. If you reread the passage yourself, it seems that it may have even been an accident he ran into his killer (i.e. the killer wasn't planning on it, but since Asmodean saw him...). This motive fits well with the body being removed/destroyed. If the killing was for punishment, it would have made more sense for the body to be left, and the death widely publicized, to set an example. So how could the body being discovered disclose something about the killer (to the other characters)? I can think of 3 possibilities.
[J. R. Feehan, Anthony Padilla]
All Rand can remember of her was her smile. Nynaeve said it was obvious that she loved Rand, and that she was very nice. Even still, she was only in the Two Rivers for a few years, if all Rand can remember is her smile. She probably had known Tam for quite a while, while he was in Andor. At any rate, their relationship went on long enough for him to say in his fever dream that she "Always said you wanted to have children." That "always" would imply that her and Tam didn't get hitched after like a month-long romance, and that maybe they'd been married a while before they found Rand, and maybe tried to have kids of their own to no avail, which would have taken a while to find out.
At a book signing, RJ is reported to have said that we'll find out a little more about Kari later.
Loony Kari theories: People have thought that Kari was Tigraine (somehow still alive after dying on the slopes of Dragonmount) or an Aiel Wise Woman looking after Shaiel's kid (which cannot be b/c Moir. said that Kari's from Caemlyn) or an Aes Sedai who'd been stilled (someone said she was wasting away and that's why she died and Tam was her Warder, etc. Wouldn't the White Tower have gotten to Emond's Field faster if Kari had been one?) or a Tinker or she was related to some Caemlyn noble we know. Don't know why exactly, but she does have red hair, and the Caemlyn nobles, who say they're descended from Aiel blood, also have red hair.
There is definitely something up with Aram :
Egwene's Dream [TFoH: 15, What Can Be Learned in Dreams, 214] indicates that Aram is going to get Perrin into trouble: "...the tinker. Every time he moved closer to Perrin it was if a chill of doom shot through everything."
This may just mean that there is something doom-filled about Aram being a tinker with a sword.
In LoC, Aram doesn't do much besides follow Perrin around. No evidence there.
Survey Says: Is Aram a Darkfriend? Yes: 37 - No: 42
The Ter'angreal is described in [TDR: 25, 294, Questions, 237-8] - Not bloody likely.
Possibly. The WOs have a plot to make Rand "know (the Aiel's) blood for (his) own." Aviendha has "been more successful than [the WOs] know," according to Amys. [54, to Caemlyn, 643] Then again, they could just be meaning for him to fall in love with and marry Aviendha, and are congratulating her on 'getting into Rand's pants,' as Sean Hillyard so eloquently puts it. Evidence for the latter: Rand has asked Aviendha many times now to marry him, and that at one point a Wise One comments [TSR: 50, 882, Traps, 570] "I will make you know our blood for yours is I have to lay the..." Aiel ask to marry by laying a wreath of flowers at a mans feet, ie their goal is marriage and Aviendha has been quite successful-all she has to do now is accept.
If Avi was pregnant, she would surely be showing some symptoms by now. For sure she would know it, having missed a few periods. I'm sure that this would give her more toh towards Elayne , and yet she doesn't say she's pregnant with Rand's child when she confesses to El. She only says she is in love with him, and has lain with him. [LoC: 40, Unexpected Laughter, 523]
Survey says: Is Aviendha pregnant? yes-68, no-14
Survey says: Cain is...
It seems as if the Seanchan have certainly taken Tanchico. The Seanchan spy's thoughts in [LoC: Epilogue, The Answer, 697] indicates that the next target is Ebou Dar. Even if they do invade Salidar , the AS are gone from there, marching towards the Tower.
Survey Says:
Survey says: Are all the seals broken? Yes: 08, No: 74
Read the end of TDR. Notice that he has split in two? (Similar to Asmodean splitting in TSR, but Asmodean was re-joined.) Does this mean anything? This seems very troubling. [TDR: 55, 666, What is Written in Prophesy, 570] NB: Everybody (all the Forsaken ) seems to think he is dead.
Asan/Osan'gar throw a new light on the subject. Even if one of them is Ishy, there is no reason not to expect that the DO won't resurrect the servant who has done the most for him over the last 3000 years.
Family trees by Erica FAQ-Dowager Sadun:
TRAKANDS & MANTEARS / ANDOR D A M O D R E D S/
(rumored to have Aiel blood) C A I R H E I N
--=--------------------- +---------=LAMAN---=BARTHANES
| | | | | (cousin)
| LUC* (JANDUIN) -+- TIGRAINE(M)m TARINGAIL MOIRAINE
| (M) clan chief | (Daughter Heir (heir?) (half sister
| of Taardad | of Andor ---+---------+ of Taringail)
| | AKA SHAIEL) | |
| | | |
| | GALADEDRID |
| RAND |
| |
MORGASE(T)-------------------+---------------+
|
GAWYN(T)**
&
ELAYNE(T)**
(Daughter Heir of Andor)
M A L K I E R I
----------------------------------------------
| |
LAIN m. BREYAN allied with COWIN AL'AKIR m. EL'LEANNA
| |
ISAM LAN
* Merges with ISAM, son of BREYAN to form SLAYER
** Possibly bastard of THOM MERRILIN, the gray fox
= Exact links unknown
See: <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam> - <@@indnam>
by Ruchira Datta.
It is a certainty that Tigraine was Rand 's mother, Shaiel.
Tigraine was the Daughter-Heir of Andor, and was married to Taringail Damodred. They had a son, Galad . Tigraine and her brother Luc were sent to Tar Valon, in the usual tradition of the royalty of Andor. Tigraine vanished mysteriously from Tar Valon, never to be heard from again. [TEotW: 34, 525-6, The Last Village, 441-2]
In [TSR: 34, 562, He Who Comes With the Dawn, 392-3], we learn about Rand's mother, Shaiel. Her tale corresponds marvelously with Tigraine's.
Add to this the fact that so many people comment on how Rand looks like the Royal Family of Andor (Lord Barthanes, [TGH: 32, 464, Dangerous Words, 392], and many Andoran nobles [LoC: 26, Connecting Lines, 380], the description of Luc [TSR: 33, 526, A New Weave in the Pattern, 368]), and there you have it. Finally, TFoH left off with a bunch of Aiel hanging around the Palace in Caemlyn, where one of the older ones can conveniently take a stroll through the Royal Portrait Gallery!
by John Novak.
"Who are Slayer, Lord Luc , and Isam ? How do they relate to each other and the books as a whole?"
The shortest answers possible are that:
Isam is first mentioned late in tEotW. In [tEotW, 47, More Tales of the Wheel, 595], Agelmar begins his tale of the history of the fall of Malkier. Briefly, it is revealed that al'Lan Mandragoran is the son of al'Akir and el'Leanna. Al'Akir had a brother, Lain Mandragoran, who was wed to Breyan. Lain and Breyan were parents to a child named Isam.
Agelmar goes on to explain Breyan's jealousy and grief over her husband's death in the Blasted Lands, and her plot with Cowin Fairheart, hero and Darkfriend, to seize the throne for her son Isam. This plot failed, and Breyan fled south with her infant son Isam, and were overtaken by Trollocs. Their bodies were never recovered.
It was at this time that el'Leanna and al'Akir sent their own infant son, al'Lan, south to Fal Moran to safety. The Glossary of LoC places al'Lan's birthdate in 953 NE, and thus we can surmise that these events took place no later than 956 NE.
Lord Luc is the brother of Tigraine, former Queen of Andor. In [tEotW, 34, The Last Village, 441] we learn that Luc died in the Blight while ostensibly in training to become the First Prince of the Sword. Tigraine later vanished, before properly assuming her throne.
Later, in [tSR, 34, He Who Comes With The Dawn, 392] we learn that Tigraine ran off to become a Maiden of the Spear with the Aiel at the directions of Gitara Moroso Sedai, some four years before Laman's Sin. The Glossary of tSR places the Aiel War, which begun as a direct result of Laman's Sin, from 976 to 978 NE. Thus, Tigraine disappeared circa 972 NE.
Finally, in [16, LoC, Tellings of the Wheel, 277] we learn that Luc himself may have been sent into the Blight by Gitara Moroso Sedai. After his disappearance, a year before Tigraine's flight, or about 971 NE, rumors whispered that Gitara sent him to find fame, or fate, or the Dragon Reborn or the Last Battle. Given her connection with Tigraine's flight, it seems very likely that the rumors are true.
The first reference tying Luc and Isam together in any way comes from the Dark Prophecy, scrawled on the walls in Fal Dara after the Trolloc raid. A relevant stanza says:
Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.
Isam waited in the high passes.
The hunt is now begun. The Shadow's hounds now course, and kill.
One did live, and one did die, but both are.
The Time of Change has come.
[tGH, 7, Blood Calls Blood, 89]
Now, the only time we know of that Luc or Isam enter the picture in person, rather than as background, is in those segments of tSR set around Perrin's trip back home to the Two Rivers.
Lord Luc appears as a middle aged man who claims to be a Hunter of the Horn who has stayed in the Two Rivers area to help the people there rid themselves of Whitecloaks and Trollocs. Is this the same Luc who disappeared into the Blight? Almost certainly. His age and coloring are correct, and Perrin muses that if he resembles anyone, it is Rand. A cousinly resemblance, no doubt. Luc is Rand's blood uncle.
Isam appears only in the Unseen World, and only by implication.
In [tSR, 28, To the Tower of Ghenjei] Perrin has several encounters in the Unseen world. One is with a man who tries to kill him, a man with a cold, inhuman scent to Perrin's nose. Hopper later identifies this dangerous creature as 'Slayer,' after Slayer leads Perrin on a chase to the Tower of Ghenjei. Birgitte appears, then, identifies the Tower, connects it with the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn, and warns Perrin away from it, and Slayer.
Later, Perrin sees Slayer in the Unseen World looking much like Lan, dressed and styled in the Malkieri fashion [tSR, 42, A Missing Leaf, 476]. He muses that the man looked enough like Lan to be a brother.
In [tSR, 53, The Price of a Departure, 614-615] Perrin faces Slayer in the Unseen World, and shoots him with an arrow. Slayer disappears from the Unseen World, and when Perrin wakes up, learns that Lord Luc had suddenly run off as if wounded.
Here, Perrin connects the two. He notes the simultanaity of the wounds, and notes the same icy, inhuman smell from both of them. And he also notes that if Luc resembles anyone, it is Rand, further reinforcing the fact that this Luc is in fact Rand's uncle.
Finally, in [tSR, 56, Goldeneyes, 645-646] the Trollocs in the Two Rivers form a battle cry out of the name Isam. Clearly, even though his activities seem limited to the Unseen World, his influence extends to the physical flesh.
So much for evidence. What the Hell does any of this mean?
The best anyone has been able to do is note that Luc and Isam now seem to be separate parts of a single being, aptly named Slayer by the wolves he kills in the Unseen World.
We know from Egwene's training what some of the properties of the Unseen World are. Relevant properties here include the loss of one's humanity (as in, a cold, icy, inhuman scent coming from both Luc and Isam) after going to the Unseen World in the flesh, and the Unseen World's tendency to reflect the traveler's mental state. Given that Slayer always appears as Lord Luc in the world of the flesh and as Isam in the Unseen World, it is a fairly safe to assume that Isam is somehow piloting Luc's body.
From the stanza, it seems likely that Luc is the one who lived, because his body is still wandering around, twitching and talking, and that Isam is the one who died. In any other discussion, we'd just call this a possession, and be done with it. There are no firm answers on how or why Isam was given control over Luc's body, nor how much of the future Gitara Moroso saw when she sent Luc to his doom.
However, it should be noted that odd phenomena concerning life and death, the mind and memory are hardly unknown in the Wheel of Time. Specifically, channelers of skill and strength are perfectly capable of forcing spirits bound to wait their next incarnation in the Unseen World back into the physical world. See Moghedien and Birgitte. Channelers are perfectly able to directly and powerfully impose their wills on others through Compulsion. The Dark One is capable of taking deceased souls and reincarnating them directly into new bodies, as with Aran'gar and Osan'gar. (In fact, David Wren-Hardin goes so far as to suggest that Aran'gar and Osan'gar have undergone the same process as Slayer.)
It does not seem unlikely that Ishamael, perhaps with the counsel or active help of the Dark One could have managed this feat for some obscure purpose.
Survey Says: will Perrin free Luc from T'A'R and kill Isam? Yes:42, No: 36.
The "Severed Hand" controversy centers around several of Min 's visions. For Elayne , she has seen:
RJ said, at a signing, that he deliberately made Rand like Tew/Chew, the Norse god of strife, who lost a hand.
Survey says: will Rand lose a hand? Yes: 52, No: 32.
by Courtenay Footman, Sean Hillyard, Pam Korda
Rand: In TFoH, Moiraine notes that it has been almost 21 years since the
search began for the Dragon Reborn. [TFoH: 15, What Can Be Learned in
Dreams, 214] That puts Rand's age at about 21, and so he started
at about 19.
Egwene is two years younger than Rand, so about 19, started at 17.
Elayne is about the same age as Egwene (19).
Min is older than Rand, younger than Nynaeve, say 23, starting at 21.
Gawyn, MAT, and PERRIN are the same age as Rand (21).
Galad: Tigraine disappeared in 972 when he was an infant. Puts
him at 27.
Nyneave was just old enough to recall Tam bringing baby Rand back to Emond's
field - say about 5. That puts her at 26 now, 24 at the beginning.
Moiraine was Accepted (and about to be raised Aes Sedai) at the end of the
Aiel War. Age approx. 25 (older Accepted Age) + 21 =
mid-forties
Lan was an infant when Malkier fell, which occurred less than 50 years
from the start of the series. So Lan is something under 50, say
mid-40s?
Liandrin is referred to as young, not just young seeming as are
all Aes Sedai, about 27.
Elaida has about 5 years (was one of the Accepted who watched over her when
she was a Novice) on Moiraine, late forties-early fifties.
Siuan Sanche is about the same age as Moiraine - mid-forties, although she
looks very young due to stilling.
Isam was a child when Malkier fell, so he is a few years older than
Lan, say about 50.
[ Aes Sedai may be translated as 'Servant to All' although they were called at times 'Servants of the Light']
Blue: Meddle in causes
Red: Prevent another Breaking (i.e., hunt down men who can
channel)
White: Philosophers -"Consider the questions of truth with implacable
logic"
Green: The Battle Ajah - "love men"
Brown: Seekers of old knowledge, librarians
Yellow: Healers
Gray: Arbitrators/Mediators.
Black
: Do ya' really need to ask?
On tinkers , soldiers, warriors and the dragon
He is the last of the Nym, a type of creature which was made of vegetable matter. He is described first in [TEotW: 49, 739-40, The Dark One Stirs, 621]. However we find out exactly who he is in the fourth book.
[TSR: 26, 432, The Dedicated, 303] "A stir at the end of the field told him one of the Nym was approaching. The great form, head and shoulders and chest taller than any Ogier, stepped out onto the seeded ground, and Coumin did not have to see to know he left footprints filled with sprouting things. It was Someshta, surrounded by clouds of butterflies, white and yellow and blue...Each field would have its Nym, now...the Nym were older than anyone. Some said the Nym never died, not so long as plants grew..."
Many years later, after the breaking, we see him again, this time with the characteristic fissure in his face. He is being set to the task of guarding the Eye of the World, the Horn, the dragon banner and one of the seals. [TSR: 26, 428, The Dedicated, 300-1]
The Tinkers, an early offshoot of the Aiel, decided to give up their duty of hiding *'angreal and instead dedicate their lives to refinding the safety and peace of their past. [TSR: 26, 423, The Dedicated, 296] They believe this will come about through finding the "growing song," described in [TSR: 26, 432, The Dedicated, 303]:
"The Ogier began it, as was fitting, standing to sing, great bass rumbles like the earth singing. The Aiel rose, men's voices lifting in their own song, even the deepest at a higher pitch than the Ogier's. Yet the songs braided together, and Someshta took those threads and wove them into his dance...The song caught him up, and he almost felt that it was himself, not the sounds he made that Someshta wove into the soil and around the seeds."
The Song is not to be confused with the Ogier Tree-Songs. The Ogier songs may be the Ogier part of the growing ceremony described above, or they may be something similar, but different in purpose. The Tinkers' Song is the human part of the ceremony.
The primary contenders are Aram , Perrin and Rand . Aram's stated life goal had been to find the song until he took up the sword in defense of Emond's Field and became 'Lost' to his people. To find the song would reinstate him and justify his choice of giving up the peaceful 'way of the leaf'.
Perrin on the other hand keeps getting faced with the choice of ax or hammer: that is, the choice of creation or destruction, war or peace, way-of-the-warrior or way-of-the-leaf. Furthermore, Perrin is a contender to find the song because of Min's viewing of Perrin standing among the flowering trees.
Rand, and probably some of the Aiel clan chiefs, have actually _heard_ the Song in the glass columns of Rhuidean.
Further Evidence that Rand will find the song: [TEotW: prologue, xv, Dragonmount, xv] "ages past and will be in ages to come. Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs."
Another opinion is that the Song will not be found. It is a thing of a past Age, not of the coming one.
Survey says: Who will discover the Song?
Survey says: Will Perrin pick the axe or the hammer (whatever that means)?
The Aiel (formerly the Da'shain Aiel) were the Dedicated who worked for the Ancient Aes Sedai. The group was hereditary and had feature of light skin, gray or blue eyes and mostly reddish or blond hair. All Aiel could be identified by their particular hair style which was cut short with a tail hanging in the back. They were dedicated to a life of non-violence, following the way of the leaf.
The male Aiel worked with the Ogier and the Nym in planting as they had the gift of the Voice, the seed singing. Although the Ogier continue to have tree singers, the voice of the Aiel seems to be a talent that has disappeared.
When the Aiel did their work in the fields, they wore light gray and brown working clothes (cadin'sor). The clothes, the hair style and the avoidance of the use of weaponry which cannot be used for other purposes remains today, but the talent of the Voice is currently unknown.
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