Timewaster's Guide Archive

Too early for that, it's only the fourth or fifth time he channels.  If he started going insane that quickly he would have gotten a lot worse before Winter's Heart than he did.

Yes, that was Ishamael.  If you read the discussion among the Forsaken in The Fires of Heaven prologue closely that should be fairly obvious.

- Prologue was good, but the meeting of the remaining Forsaken at the end was SUPER cool.

Let's see, at that point Aginor, Balthamel, Be'lal, and Ishamael are all dead and Asmodean is captive.  Lanfear, Mesaana, Graendal, Semirhage, Moghedian, Demandred, Sammael, and Rahvin remain at large.  Huh, now that I think about it it's rather interesting how the casualties are uniformly male at that point, and there are enough of them to reverse which gender holds the majority among the Forsaken.

-Siuan, Min, Leane, and Logain managed to escape the trouble for accidentally burning down that barn. Not sure exactly where their story is going but it's still interesting to see how Siuan and Leane live without the Power.

Four lonely travelers, no less than three of them stilled or gentled.  Quite a reversal for the whole lot of them, yet they still manage to make something very interesting of it.  Just wait a bit longer.

-Moiraine explains balefire to Rand. How it doesn't actually obliterate, but erases from time whatever it hits. Depending on how powerful the wielder is, the amount of time you actually erase the subject from changes. Erase too much, and other events linked to the victim are subject to change. Even the Forsaken rarely used it for fear of this. AWESOME concept. I'm glad it isn't just another sonic boom or some crap like that. It's nice how RJ didn't explain EVERYTHING about all the Powers in one book, but stretches it out over the series. That keeps the excitement up because it means there's a lot more to learn.

As I recall it is mentioned at some point that, for one year, both sides in the War of Power used balefire without restriction.  At the end of that year, both sides unilaterally stopped using it roughly simultaneously without any discussion or agreement.  Try to imagine Rand wielding Callandor and shooting the strongest beam of balefire he could straight at a city.  Now think about the chaos that would result from an entire city being retroactively annihilated for multiple days in the past.  That kind of damage on that scale is, apparently, capable of threatening the Pattern itself and potentially causing the end of the world if repeated enough times, and even the bad guys wanted the world to still exist so they could rule over it.

-Apparently, Couladin has gathered quite an army and is traveling across the Waste to cross the Dragonwall to attack Carhein I think. Rand immediately makes it his mission to take his army and catch up with them.

Four clans sought King Laman's head and no army Carhien and all its allies could field could stop them before they accomplished their goal and turned back of their own accord.  Couladin and Rand between them are now leading all twelve clans across the Dragonwall.  It's going to get messy.  Fortunately, most of them are following Rand.

BTW, I just want to thank all you guys for your responses. Especially douglas, whose post really helped me. You must have spent a long time on it and I appreciate it!

Glad to be of assistance.

I don't remember how long Knife of Dreams took me, but I finished Winter's Heart in a single day.  Of course I didn't do much of anything else that day except eat and use a toilet, and it was about midnight when I finished, but something about that book just made all the other Christmas presents I'd unwrapped that morning seem uninteresting by comparison...

She is proud, arrogant, prejudiced, utterly blind to the possibility she could ever be wrong, and wrong.  The combination leads to quite a number of very stupid acts with no signs of change, ever.

One thing Douglas' summary left out was the reason why Aiel do not use swords.  The original group tried to get around the Way by using farming tools instead of swords as weapons.

Yeah, I think it was in Lewin's scene.  After killing the kidnappers with wild surprise attacks swinging pots and such, someone with Lewin goes to take the bandits' weapons.  When he goes to pick up a sword, Lewin scolds him and says that swords can only be used for killing people while spears can be used for hunting.  Thus, swords are anathema but spears are fine.

The Jenn take a dim view of this distinction, of course, but it's one of the few remnants of the Way of the Leaf that remained with the Aiel.

Ooooh I bet all you people that had to wait between books must really hate me LOL

Yes, that is by far the worst part of the whole series.  We will all be gloating quietly when you finally finish Knife of Dreams and have to join us in waiting for A Memory of Light.

BTW I'm really loving the personality differences between the Forsaken and I'm glad they are not all fanatic drones. Some even have their own plans (Lanfear is sneaky!)

"Some"?  Try "almost all".  They all have their own reasons for serving the Dark One, they are all ambitious, and there can only be one top dog...

Rand revealed the truth to the Aiel in front of the clan chiefs. They were ALL Tinkers back in the day. I got that when I re-read Rand's journey in Rhuiden. THAT'S why that other Aeil in there with him was clawing his eyes out.

Yep.  The Aiel call Tinkers "Lost" because the Tinkers broke the Second Covenant - to guard the immense cache of ter'angreal, angreal, and sa'angreal that (mostly) ended up in Rhuidean.  The Tinkers call the Aiel "Lost" because the Aiel broke the First Covenent, which was to keep the Way of the Leaf.  Only the Jenn Aiel kept both, and they died out long ago, not too long after the very first scene in the Ruidean history sequence.

A more full and detailed explanation of that sequence if you care to read it is at the bottom of the post.

Where did he get the dragons on his arm btw???

Asmodean gave them to him to provide a distraction for Rand.  It's an easy detail to miss as I recall, but it is mentioned somewhere in there.

I think this is the Traveling Weave that they talked about, but I'm not sure because they didn't call it that.

Close.  There are two major move-long-distances weaves, and this is the other one.  The official name and their differences are explained fully not too much further into the series.

This is a guy who has had incredible power for thousands of years and is all of a sudden defeated and becomes a servant basically?? No way. You know this guy will be plotting and scheming to get his revenge.

Not really.  As Forsaken go, Asmodean is rather tame.  He tells Rand he turned to the Dark mainly for the immortality so he could continue studying and composing music for all eternity, not for the power, and Lanfear has personally made certain that any other Forsaken will kill him out of hand if he tries to go back.  And, well, Rand NEEDS to learn to channel well and there is quite literally no other option available for that.

Elaida stilled the Amyrlin!!!

I'd forgotten exactly when that happened.  Major event, major repercussions, and the first really significant action by one of my favorite characters to hate.  I'm sure you'll understand why as the series continues.

I'm actually going to take Moiraine's side on her little tiffs with Rand. None of the three boys trust her, and their distrust borders on hatred. I understand they feel that she plucked them from their cozy lives and brought them into this and hopes to control them. I understand they are worried about being lapdogs for the White Tower. I truly don't feel that is her intention. The scene where she tells Rand "I want you to confide in me. I want to help you." was kind of sad. Moiraine is actually opening up to him (took her long enough) and I really get the sense that she fights for his best interest and the best interests of the world. I personally would tell her everything. About the dreams, Lanfear, all of it. She is a strong character and would truly be an anchor for someone in as difficult a position as Rand is in. She could help with his confusion. Though, I admit, she does need to be more forward and stop with the riddles and games. Aes Sedai or not, if she wants cooperation she should give it to. I see stubbornness on both sides.

Moiraine is really an exceptional Aes Sedai.  She has learned some harsh lessons from traveling with Rand that most Aes Sedai wouldn't even recognize, chief among them that maybe she really doesn't know best and that the Dragon Reborn needs to do some major free moving and shaking up of the world long before Tarmon Gai'don.  Some of the more extreme Aes Sedai want to essentially put him in a cage until the Last Battle, go on as if he doesn't exist, and bring him out just for the battle itself.  That is, obviously, not going to work.

Mandein goes to Rhuidean and is the first to undergo the new test for clan chiefs.  This scene serves mainly as a starting point.

Rhodric: The Jenn Aiel have not yet crossed the Dragonwall into the Aiel Waste.  Rhodric is a familiar Aiel, armed, dangerous, and veiled.  The Aiel are serving as escorts for the peaceful Jenn.  A town is actually allowing the Aiel to draw water freely, an unheard of kindness and act of generosity for the Aiel.

Importance of scene: The descendants of this town eventually found Cairhien, and much later the Aiel figure this out and pay them back with Avendoraldera and permission to cross the Aiel Waste, two priceless gifts.  King Laman later cuts down Avendoraldera to make a throne for himself, triggering the Aiel War in which four clans cross the Dragonwall specifically to kill Laman.  The final battle of that war was on the slopes of Dragonmount, where Rand was born.

Jeordam: Grandfather of Rhodric.  A group of Jenn Aiel come to Jeordam's camp with a tale of kidnapped children.  One of them is a woman, and she insists on helping with the recovery raid.

Importance of scene: This is the beginning of the Maidens of the Spear.  This is also where the short spear used as the primary Aiel weapon is first made.

Lewin: Jeordam's father.  His sister and some others have been kidnapped.  The true Jenn Aiel way to deal with this is to just accept it and move on.  Lewin and company refuse to do so, and end up killing the kidnappers only to be rejected on their return.

Importance of scene: This is the beginning of the Aiel as opposed to the Jenn Aiel, and the first abandonment of the Way of the Leaf.  The wording of the rejection is the origin of the Aiel custom of putting on veils before killing.

Adan: Lewin's grandfather.  Bandits have attacked the caravan.  Some reminisce about the Age of Legends, the powerful songs in tales, and scoff at the uselessness of their task of guarding a bunch of relics of the one power, then leave.

Importance of scene: This is where the Tinkers split off from the Aiel.

Adan again: Younger this time.  The Aiel encounter some Ogier.  They exchange some news, and learn that Myrddraal and Trollocs still exist and that the Blight is growing.  There is also mention of an Aes Sedai who claimed that Ishamael is not fully trapped.

Importance of scene: The beginning of the Ogier Longing.  Ever since this time, Ogier who stay outside a stedding for too long suffer crippling mental breakdown.  This scene also places some emphasis on the importance of the Way of the Leaf to the Aiel and mentions the volatility of geography at the time, placing it as during the Breaking of the World.

Jonai: Adan's father.  He is in a major Age of Legends city, enters the Hall of the Servants, and observes some discussion among Aes Sedai.

Importance of scene: Callandor is here.  The Aes Sedai who made the Foretellings that are collectively called the Prophecies of the Dragon is here.  Time is short because two powerful male Aes Sedai who have been driven insane by the taint are on their way to the city and will certainly destroy it soon after arrival.  A group of young and inexperienced, but not yet insane, male Aes Sedai is mentioned.  This group will assist the female Aes Sedai present in creating the Eye of the World and the wards around Callandor.  The last of the Nym, Someshta, is also there and becomes the Green Man later.  The gigantic collection of objects of the one power that ends up in Rhuidean is entrusted to the Aiel here, and they are charged with both protecting it and keeping the Way of the Leaf.

Coumin: Jonai's father.  He is a young boy participating in a planting ceremony involving Someshta and a strange and powerful song.  He receives news from a soldier, and finds his great-grandfather hanged.

Importance of scene: This is The Song that the Tinkers are seeking.  This is also very shortly after the Sealing of the Bore.  This could be said to be the moment the War of Power ended and the Breaking of the World began.  This also shows a violent attitude towards Aiel by some.

Charn: Coumin's great grandfather.  He is the servant of an important Aes Sedai and sees the result of a catastrophic experiment.

Importance of scene: This scene shows what Da'shain Aiel life was like originally, way back in the Age of Legends before the Dark One was doing anything.  More importantly, however, it is the creation of the Bore, the hole in the Dark One's prison that allows him to touch the world.  Also, this plus a few references in the other scenes reveals that the legendary Tree of Life is but one of a kind of tree that was plentiful and grown everywhere in the Age of Legends.  On another note, Mierin Sedai is Lanfear's original name.

I have the feeling that there's a lot more to learn about Tam.

Yeah, like where he got that genuine Power-wrought heron mark sword he gave Rand way back in TEotW.  Not exactly a typical possession of a rural farmer.

I don't remember when Tam's history gets revealed, but I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that he earned it.