Subject: Let's Review, Shall We? (Uber-Spoilers)

From: Leigh Butler <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 20:35:15 GMT

Okay, I haven't even looked at the other threads yet, seeing as I'm at
work and loathe Deja, but dammit, I'm determined to get in my bid to be
part of the WOT FAQ credits...

Okay.

I'm not about to cover everything, but there are some theories and
points of interest I want to discuss, so this'll jump around a bit.
First:

Did anyone else read WH and think that RJ was going, "All right, FINE!
You've been complaining that I don't wrap up plot threads? HERE'S SOME
FRIGGIN' CLOSURE FOR YA!" I mean, yeesh. Not that I'm complaining,
really, but sometimes it seemed almost...sledgehammerish.

Well, whatever. What have we wrapped up here? Flipping around:

TAIM IS NOT DEMANDRED, TAIM IS NOT DEMANDRED, NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAH!

Taim is _not_ Demandred, at least AFAI am concerned. Chapter 22 "Out of
Thin Air", pg. 441-442. I'm sure some die-hards will insist that
these two paragraphs could be a trick, but RJ couldn't have been more
blatant about clearing up the mystery if he'd tried.

Osangar is Dashiva (CH. 35 "With the Choedan Kal", pg. 645).  Wow. This
is one theory I'd been sure was wrong...

And he's dead. Again! (pg. 653). And killed by a Black sister! (Or is
that former Black sister? What the hell is Elza's deal?) Not balefire
though, which brings up the question of whether he's going to be
resurrected. Again. God, I hope not. Enough with the goddamn
resurrections already.

Cadsuane's hair ornaments ARE ter'angreal. It's also even more clear now
than it was in POD that the "thing she's going to teach" Rand and the
Asha'man is laughter and tears - which probably has nothing to do with
the hair ornaments, really. This is probably obvious to everyone, but I
brought it up as just one more FAQ section Pam can finally finish off.

Luc/Isam was the one who killed the two Black sisters in the Stone of
Tear (their names escape me at the moment) AND the Gray Man in the Tower
a zillion books ago (Ch. 22, pg.448). This revelation makes it very
likely, IMO, that Luc/Isam has something to do with Sheriam's torturer
(though he couldn't BE the tormentor, since whoever it is can wield the
OP and Slayer can't) - the body was left in Sheriam's bed as either
part of or the beginning of her torture. Why Sheriam? Probably something
to do with the fact that she was Mistress of Novices at the time (access
to the Supergirls) and was part of the Salidar Six later.

If anyone needs any MORE clues that Ishamael is Moridin, they're
brain-dead.

Same goes for Cyndane/Lanfear. Though I'm really not clear
on whether she died (again) at Alivia's hands. In fact, other than
Dashivan'gar, it's not at all clear who of the Forsaken _did_ survive.
More on that below.

Mat's back, baby! I was so relieved. I got to almost the halfway point
without him appearing and was about to have a heart attack. And Tuon is
the DOTNM. Is anyone really shocked by this? Though her character was
not really what I was expecting.

Of course, of course, of COURSE, Egeanin and Domon didn't drop the Sad
Bracelets in the sea, and now Suroth has them. Way to go, guys. Bang up
job there. Dumbasses.

Okay, enough of wrapping up, I know there's more but I'm more interested
in other stuff at the moment. Like:

New mysteries:

The colors Mat, Perrin, and Rand see now whenever they think of each
other. They only seem to actually hurt Rand (cause he's, y'know, so
well-balanced and all anyway). I propose that they are directly related
to Min's viewing of the fireflies and darkness. How? Dunno.

This third guy LTT keeps blathering about. I don't know who he is, but I
bet HE is the one involved in Min's viewing about Rand and another guy
merging into each other and one dying, and _not_ LTT. Also - could this
third guy be the face Mat and Rand almost seem to see in the colors at a
couple of points?

New Icons! Dude.

Faile gets her own? (Ch. 3 & 6) Dammit, that probably means she's even
more a major character in the future than she's been so far. Crap.
Though she seems to be improving...I was gratified, by the way. that she
and Perrin only appeared in the first few chapters and then disappeared
for the rest of the book. I needed a break from them and that whole
storyline. Will someone PLEASE kill Sevanna already?

What's with the hand/sword/oval flag icon? (Ch. 23 & 32) Was that for
Far Madding or is that some kind of reference to Rand losing a hand?
Probably Far Madding. Though what it means then, other than just being
a coat of arms or something, is beyond me.

I think that the sword-and-anchor icon of Ch. 21 is new (it doesn't
appear in the FAQ, at any rate). Stands for Egeanin and Domon, seems
like. Or maybe battle at sea.

I just have one comment to make about the entirety of Chapter 12, "A
Lily in Winter":

FUCKING FINALLY!

(And you can take that any way you'd like.)

Okay, last comment, I promise. Chapter 35, "With the Choedan Kal".

That was some crazy shit.

Dude. I'll have to reread that, but now I predict we will spend the next
two years arguing over who of the bad guys did and did not survive and
why. And hey, while we're at it, did you notice that only the Forsaken
who were at the meeting earlier showed, with the notable exception of
Moridin? No Semi, no Mesaana, no Sammael (who you know goddamn good and
well is not dead). It's not like they couldn't have noticed...right?

And I'm spent. I'll probably think of tons more I wanted to say right
after I post this, but this is long enough already.

Discuss.

--
Leigh Butler              [email-masked]
***********************************************************
The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect
those of Paramount Pictures or its affiliates.

--
Leigh Butler              [email-masked]
***********************************************************
The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect
those of Paramount Pictures or its affiliates.

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