Timewaster's Guide Archive

I don't think that anyone has compiled such a list before.  I think that would be fun to read and theorize about.  If I may make a suggestion how to go about it.  If I was compiling such a list I would start by getting a highlighter and whenever I came across a prophecy I'd highlight it and take not of book, page paragraph.  That way it wouldn't disrupt my reading as much.  That way when I would post I could give a brief description of the prophecy, give reference , and my opinion of what it said.  I think that would be the most enjoyable way of doing it instead of typing out every prophecy verbatim.  This is just a suggestion, you do it anyway you want to.   I like the idea.

If you go back a few pages you can read about our thoughts on who's going to die and who's not.  I personally have predicted that Rand, Perrin, and Avienda and perhaps even Min will die.  I also explained why I thought Rand wouldn't live to marry Min, Elayne, and Avienda; however, that was made by using admittedly shallow information, and a few people called me on it.  I still  stand by those predictions even though I admit that I could see mass resurrections in the last chapter.

Let's change gears now.  I was thinking of the last battle and noticed that everyone seems to fit into a particular battle in the end.  Rand will fight the dark one.  Perrin and the wolves will fight the dark friends.  Egwene and the Aes Sedai will battle the Black Ajah, and so on, and so on.  Where does Mat fit in?  He kind of seems out of place to me.  What does the signet ring and the medallion mean?  We know the nine moons means Tuon, but what does the fox chasing two ravens mean?  What's the medallion supposed to be meant for.  I know what the medallion does, but what is it meant for? 

Mat seems to be the wild card in all this.  He's always late to the party in this series. Rand found out he was the Dragon Reborn, Perrin found out about his wolve senses long before Mat discovered his luck.  Likewise, Rand found all his women, Perrin found Faile long before Mat found Tuon.  So I wonder where Mat fits in any ideas? 

What's the significance between Perrin choosing between the Hammer and the Ax?  If you hit someone in the face with either on of those and neither is a pretty sight.  Prophecy said that bad things happened if he picked the ax, but is there  any significance to the hammer that we know of?

One power = Saidin and Saidar (what aes sedai and ashaman use)

True power = Is much more powerful, and granted by the Dark one. Ishy/Moridin uses it exclusively,  and currently is the only one that uses it. It also drives you insane very quick. Channelers of the OP can't detect use of the True power.

Would I be right in assuming that the One Power would be the opposite to the True Power?  Or is the True Power just the One Power with an added kick, or don't we know yet?  Maybe Rand has to combine Saidin and Saidar, so he can defeat the Dark One?  There is also that soup bowl thing that I vaguely remember that I think combines Saidin and Saidar that must play an important role.

On another note, how can RJ condoning polygamy be more averse to his religious beliefs than one man having sex with three different women he is not married to?  Since he has already "condoned" polygamy with the Aiel, it shouldn't be a big deal to have Rand (who is an Aiel, by the way) engage in a similar practice.  They are already bonded to him, the marriage is just a formality.

You very well could be right, I don't know.  Personally I would have a hard time with that ending because it just doesn't feel right to me.  Remember the difference between sleeping with three unwed women and polygamy is that one is celebrated by popular culture and the other is illegal.  My basic argument is that there is a difference between having a race of secondary characters acting a certain way and having the series ending in a four way marriage.  Could it end that way?  Yes, I suppose but I don't think it will.  I still think that Rand may live, but he will still be gone from the world.  He'll become some kind of higher being. 

I had thought for a second that perhaps Rand would be reborn as Elaynes baby.  That thought only lasted for a second though because it got real weird the more I thought about it.   Rand would be his own father and his wife would also be his mother who he would've slept with.  No, I'm pretty positive that won't be in the final plots!

There is no third VOICE, however, rand keeps seeing a face when he seizes saidin. The face is Moridin, from the time their balefires crossed at Shadar logoth. I don't know if this is because of balefires crossing, or because of streams of the one power and the true power crossing.

Refresh my memory, what is the difference between the one power and the true power?

 

When I finished Hero of Ages, my first thought was what a great ending.  How awesome the people of that world got to look upon a blue sky and green plants, too bad that the fallen characters couldn’t be there to see it.  Thanks to the open ended ending I kept thinking about what would happen next.  I eventually put myself in their situation.  What would be our reaction if we woke up tomorrow and the sky was red, ash was falling from the sky, and the Roman Coliseum was now located across the street from my house?  In the Mistborn series red skies would’ve been normal.  Ash falling from the sky would be normal.  I think that most people would freak out.  Probably blame everything on aliens or a top secret American military project.  In the book though, I think that they’d blame the mistborn and the Church of the Survivor.  I think that they’d be hunted down and persecuted until they had to flee.

So the direction that I’d take this story is that they would leave possibly head across the oceans in search of new land where they could live in peace and practice their religion.  The journal entries at the beginning of each chapter would be about the persecution and the early years in the new world.  The government would be based off of writings of Eland Venture.

I would break this new world up into a civil war between those who want a monarchy and those who want a democracy.  (Technically the US has never had a civil war because the South never wanted to overthrow the North they just wanted to secede.)  This would be like the American Civil War.  Religious differences would also play in this war between the different sects of the Church of the Survivor. 

Then when that starts building to a climax, I’d throw in an all out sea invasion from the old country.  This would be a combination of the Revolutionary War and Civil War, with a lot of political maneuvering.  This would allow me to introduce the other smaller less important countries in this world.  You’ve hears the saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”? 

After reading the WOT , I had gotten the feeling that RJ was a church going man where other authors I didn't get that feeling from their writing.  After reading RJ's blog and seeing the pictures of his funeral, I believe him to be a religious man.  That's why I doubt that there will be a polygamist ending because it would fly in the face of his beliefs.

True in some cultures polygamy is practiced, but polygamy in America is rare and at best taboo.  Pretty much anyone who has dated has dated someone who has cheated on them.  I think that some, especially the female readers, may find a polygamist ending to be a bitter pill to swallow.  In today where political correctness and hyper-sensitivity runs wild, I think that ending very well could be seen as RJ endorsing polygamy.  Which could cause some readers to turn away from RJ and not buy anymore of his books.

When RJ was telling the ending in his living room to family and friends shortly before his passing.  I don't see him ending with Rand, Min, Avienda, and Elayne all getting married and living happily ever after, I don't see Harriet standing and clapping her hands.  It would also go against the overall theme of the women in the book that of the strong  independant female.  Lan could have three wives and get away with it, but not Rand.

The little that I know of RJ tells me that the overall character of the man would not let him write that ending.

Lews Therin talks to Rand, but I believe if my memory is correct, there is a third unknown voice also.  Assuming that all three girls are former wives, perhaps somehow Rand gets split in three?  This is the only way that I can see it working.  The unknown voice would go with Avienda, Lews would go with Elayne (her name is to close to Lews wives name to ignore), and Min would go with Rand. 

If you really want a happy ending then lets say that people die, and Rand gets split.  Instead of all the people fighting in the same age, Tarmen Guiden is fought in all ages.  So Lews would go back to the Prologue and get a chance to save his wife who'd be Elayne, at the same time that Rand fights to save Min, and the unknown voice would fight in the Wastes and saves his wife who'd be Avienda.  After the battle mass resurrections ensue.  What would Mat, Perin, and everyone else have to do with everything?  I don't know....perhaps their just there for the pre-battle before Rand splits. 

That's the only scenario that I can think of where Rand and all his wives live.

I understand why people doubt that RJ will kill any off his characters because he hasn't killed any yet assuming that Moraine is still alive.  Someone described RJ's writing style as being escapism which is a perfect description of it, but I don't see how you have a great battle without anyone dying.  The ending is what inspired RJ to write all these books.  How could an epic battle with no deaths inspire so many books?  I am fully prepared and willing to accept mass resurrections in the last chapter, I'll be ok with that as long as the battle is a battle and it feels real.

Shaggy made a good point about the wolves not being able to tell the "two legs" apart, and that got me thinking again.  What if in the heat of the battle Perins wolf senses take over and Rand has to kill Perin? 

I've already given two characters and the reason's why I think they'll die, Rand and Perin, I have one more.

It's been a longtime  since I've read this series, so if my reasons are wrong please correct me.  Warders go crazy when their Aes Sedai dies and that is why Lan was passed on to Nynaeve.  Cadsuene is worried that Rand is too serious, to firm, to uncompromising, I forget the term used in the book, but she's worried that Rand will snap under pressure if he doesn't learn to laugh.  Rand also has three warders in Avienda, Min, and Elayne that is a lot of warders.  I think one maybe even two of them die.  Avienda seems to me to be the best one to go "boots up" because she's a warrior who'll be in the thick of it.  If I had to pick between the other two it would probably be Min because Elayne is pregnant, and I think that is important to the ending.  Anyways after Avienda dies he snaps, maybe that's why he kills Perrin, and the remaining warders are needed to bring him back under control. 

Someone thought that the Prologue in tEotW was foreshadowing of Tarmon Gaiden.  I don't know, but I do know that their were a lot of dead bodies laying around there.
 

If you have read Martin, then you know that Edard Stark was an EXTREMELY important character.  If you've read Erikson, then you know that Whiskyjack was perhaps the MOST important character up until the point he bites it.

First off I'm on page 167  of Gardens of the Moon, so please try and be vague if talking about Eriksons work.  No big deal I was thinking that Whiskeyjack was going to get knocked off.  Martin is ok.

I'm going to engage in a little word play and see if you'll agree with me or not.  I would say that an Important character and a major character are different.  In that a important character sets more of a foundation for other characters on how and why they act as they do.  A major character would be one that has the story line revolve around them. 

I'll try not to get to far off topic.  It's been a while since I've read a Game of Thrones, so correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't that story been told with Eddard Stark already dead?  He could have spoon fed us information about who he was and what he did through other family members.  Granted it wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic, but the story would've ended up right where it is now, wouldn't it?  Where as if Jon Snow were to have been eaten by his wolf on page 200, that would've changed a large part of the story.

One of the reasons why I like the WOT is that it's easy to suspend disbelief.  I find the world is believable, the characters are believable, and the magic system makes sense.  When I think about where this story started from and where it's heading, it just doesn't seem believable that everyone walks away alive. 

If it is one thing that I would place money on it's that Rand is either going to die, or he is going to become some higher power.  Perhaps he'll become the One Power.  Either way he won't be a part of the world in my opinion.  Think of it this way, Rand is already fulfilling prophecy, so he has become a religious figure.  Lets say he battles the Dark One  and wins, no one dies.  Then what?  According to prophecy his skin is going to rot, and he's already missing limbs, so basically he'll be an ugly cripple.  From there I only see two options.  Either he becomes a farmer which would be anticlimactic, or he'd become king of the world which would suck also.

 That's just why I think that some characters are going to die in the final book.

Oh, and as far as Major Fantasy Series having MAJOR characters getting killed off early, it happens all the time.  Erikson and Martin are the big players in that realm.

I'm going to argue that with the exception of Kelsier from Mistborn, that if a major character dies early in a series he's not really that major of a character.  Kelsier is different because he is the foundation of a religion, so the series would be vastly different if he didn't die.

a) He fakes his death and then comes back at a key moment.   To the public it large, it looks like he has died and been resurrected.

Why would he fake his death in the last book?  That would fit about as nicely as having the Enola Gay fly over Tarmon Gai'don and drop a atomic bomb on everyone...