Subject: Winter's Heart - Boye's Random Thoughts (Spoilers)

From: "Richard M. Boye'" <[email-masked]>
Date: 08 Nov 2000 01:21:20 GMT

Admittedly, I've been skimming the book. Don't ask, but I always do this
with WOT books, before I actually set down to read it. I've been
noticing things that I thought I'd like to comment on.

Spoilerage by the tonnage.

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In no particular order...

RJ seems to be having a fine time of reintroducing characters that he
brought on screen as seeming bit-players, books ago.

For example, Selande was first brought about as an ingenue that
Colavaere thought to have seduce Rand, but latter she becomes the leader
of Cha Faile.

Speaking of Cha Faile, another of them, this one a Tairen ladyling,
Medore. She was mentioned -way- back in tDR as the girl that one of
Mat's lordling drinking buddies wants to marry. In WH, she shows up as a
member of Cha Faile.

Btw, there appears to be no particular regimental code for Cha Faile's
dress. Medore, a Tairen, is wearing a Tairen style coat with puffed,
striped sleeves, whereas the Cairhienin wear the dark coats with stripes
of rank.

Moving on....

The Lieutenant-Commander of Elayne's bodyguard, Caseille, is described
as an Arafellin with bells in her hair. Guess what? We've met her before
also.

Another set of random thoughts.

The pale-skinned damane/Aes Sedai in Suroth's train is -not- Temaile
Kinderode. She's still unleashed. I'm still trying to figure out who it
is, but I suspect it was one of the original Aes Sedai captured, and I
suspect it is Rhyma/Pura.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tuon's collection of damane are certainly
interesting. One of which, I guess, is the Aes Sedai that Bayle Domon
saw being captured by Rhyma, and was shipped back to Seandar. Moiraine
mentions two of her sisters that she was unable to rescue. Also among
the Tuon Collection are twin sisters. RJ certainly seems to be beating
us over the head with the notion that channeling is a genetic trait.

Speaking of Tuon and her entourage - yes, Semirhage hs finally made her
appearance. There seems little doubt that Anath=Semirhage.

Lastly, in reference to Seanchan, in the past RJ has mentioned that they
contain cultural elements of China and Japan, as well as places like
Egypt and even the Byzantine Empire. I was never able to catch some of
what he was speaking about.

Now, the Japanese references as well as the Chinese have always been
easy to spot, and the Egyptian ones were present if more oblique (mostly
the fashions) but yeesh, they really appear is this book. The most
obvious example is the name of Tuon's former truthspeaker "Neferi."
Nefertiti, anyone?

Meanwhile, there are plenty of Byzantine/Greek ones as well - for
example, Tuon's personal dresser is named "Selucia," which seems to be a
take-off on the Selecuid kingdom, a former region of Turkey and the
Black Sea that was founded by one of Alexander the Great's Greek
generals. Also, one of Tuon's names is "Kore," an another name for
Persephone, and which means "Daughter" or "Maiden."

Also, I'm loving the Faile icon.

More to follow, in perhaps a more detailed fashion.

-- 
Richard M. Boye'	  * 	     [email-masked] 
http://www.webspan.net/~waldo/           UIN:9021244
"Some men lead lives of quiet desperation. 
	My desperation makes a pathetic whining sound."