Author Topic: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)  (Read 21985 times)

Reaves

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #30 on: April 02, 2009, 11:49:32 PM »
Nah, Vatdoro is right. Although I can see how you could argue that one is right, one is dead wrong, and two are somewhat close.
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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #31 on: April 02, 2009, 11:50:32 PM »
That's more what I was thinking…can you (or someone  :P) PM me?
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douglas

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #32 on: April 03, 2009, 12:55:43 AM »
It seems to me that this time through the Wheel turning the Dragon will be a good person.  The prologue made it seem that the last time the Fourth Age was met everything was good until the Dragon appeared and eventually messed everything up.  So this time the world basically sucks.  I can see the Dragon coming to make things better this time.
The current age is the Third Age.  The prologue is at the end of the Second Age, more commonly called the Age of Legends.

In the prologue, you see Lews Therin Telamon, aka The Dragon, in his final moments after having been driven insane as the result of a rather extreme Pyrrhic victory.  When he was still sane he was in fact the foremost champion and leader of the good guys.  Every time he is reborn he is always the Creator's Champion and leads the fight against the Dark One.  His current rather negative reputation is due to just how bad the consequences of said Pyrrhic victory were, along with everything all the False Dragons since then have done.

So was Tam a Master Swordsman at one point?
Yes.  Still is.

So the uhm, angreal allows someone to be able to draw more on the One Power than if they didn't have one right?
Yes, by a pretty substantial margin.  Exactly how much depends on the angreal in question.

Wait, if the Myrddraal could see through the dark and see Rand, why didn't it attack him?
The Dark One still isn't sure exactly which man is the Dragon Reborn, and in any case would ideally prefer to turn him rather than kill him.  If all else fails, the Dark One can always try again next time.

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Re: My readthrough of WoT
« Reply #33 on: April 03, 2009, 03:02:42 AM »
...

There seemed to be a couple inconsistencies. (i.e.  First a lot of houses were burned, then just two of them.  The Myddraal didn't see Rand, but then it's said he can see perfectly in the dark.)

...


Only two outlying farms were attacked, but "half the village" is indeed in ashes.

As for the other, I guess sometimes ta'veren just get lucky.  More seriously, I don't think it's a big inconsistency.  Myrddraal can see in the dark, but that doesn't make them all-seeing -- and as you read, you'll learn another reason this one may have suspected somebody was in that area.

Miyabi

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #34 on: April 03, 2009, 09:32:57 AM »
@douglas - o.O oh.  I thought the prologue was the last time the world reached the fourth age. . . Hmm.  I must have read something wrong.

@Dasch - Sorry, I worded that wrong.  I meant that they say that only two farms and two houses were burned, but it is also said that half the village was in ashes. So that tripped me up a bit.
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douglas

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #35 on: April 03, 2009, 12:05:54 PM »
The time scale for a full turning of the wheel is MUCH longer than that.  As the first paragraph or two of Chapter 1 of every book states, by the time an Age gets repeated even the vaguest hints of myths inspired by the last occurrence of that age are beyond the knowledge of even the most dedicated scholars.  In the current age the series is set in, knowledge of the previous age is fragmentary and knowledge of the age before that is almost nonexistent (there are a few hints that it's the present day modern world).  Knowledge of the 7th age, which would be 3 ages ago (less than half of a full turn of the Wheel of Time), just doesn't exist.  Something like one specific mountain created by the final act of one person and named for him, along with his identity being common knowledge?  That's not going to still be there in 7 ages time, but if you look on the map you'll find Dragonmount right next to Tar Valon and I doubt any adult on the entire continent west of the Spine of the World doesn't know about the Dragon, probably his name, and certainly that he'll be reborn.

And, well, part of the whole point of the Wheel of Time is that the broad outlines, and possibly a fair number of the specifics too,  of history for each Age are constant - every Second Age is an Age of Legends, a time of utopian advancement that gets ended by the rediscovery of the Dark One, a war against him led by the Dragon, followed by a cataclysmic event like the Breaking of the World (possibly the same cataclysmic event; this probably isn't the first time the Dark One has tainted saidin).  Every Third Age is the world dealing with the fallout for a few thousand years until the Seals on the Dark One's prison start to weaken, the Dragon gets reborn, and the leadup to Tarmon Gai'don begins.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2009, 12:12:39 PM by douglas »

Renoard

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #36 on: April 03, 2009, 03:15:14 PM »
****Spoiler Content****
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Douglas make a good point there.  I've wondered if Rigney intended to suggest that this was the last circuit of the wheel, that maybe some events have gotten so far out of hand that the cycle of ages will not repeat at the end of this iteration.  Things like certain of the archetypes being yanked out of Telarienrhiod (sp?), are some indicators.  Where it goes now is not entirely up to Rigney though.  New eyes and a new hand may introduce a new direction that none of us expect and that is still valid and satisfying for the reader.
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« Last Edit: April 03, 2009, 06:06:21 PM by Renoard »
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Vatdoro

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #37 on: April 03, 2009, 04:56:50 PM »
Are we talking about things and throwing around terms that Myabi hasn't come across yet?

Telarienrhiod?
Tarmon Gai'don?
ta'veren?

Funny how those are all T words.

Bookstore Guy

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #38 on: April 03, 2009, 05:21:51 PM »
no. people need to stop throwing spoiler terms and scenarios in here.
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Patriotic Kaz

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #39 on: April 03, 2009, 07:02:27 PM »
all of you goofs who like to spoil **** can go post in shaggy's thread AMoL...I would love to join you





P.S. yes i am a hypocrit as i said a spoiler in the splitting AMoL thread and i was surprised to learn had readers that weren't finished with the series yet...why they were reading it i don't know...you think they would have expected me and my spoiler about someone doing something in book 11 or someone else saying something they wouldn't like to hear
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Miyabi

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #40 on: April 03, 2009, 07:18:32 PM »
Thanks for marking it as a spoiler Renoard.  If you hadn't I would have had to like . . . hurt you. ha ha.

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@Douglas - oh I see.  I thought it was saying that by the time the wheel has completely turned the last turning of the wheel is almost forgotten and I thought that the ages were sections of the wheel so one revolution went through all of the ages.
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Renoard

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #41 on: April 03, 2009, 08:01:28 PM »
You're right on that Miyabi, one rotation goes through all ages. But the implication is that there an an awful lot of ages and that each is maybe several thousand years, meaning that a full iteration includes ages that we have no knowledge of at all.  (maybe even an age that includes WWI, WWII, etc.)
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Miyabi

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #42 on: April 03, 2009, 08:06:07 PM »
OK, so wait.  I'm confused as to why there are passages from the Fourth Age in the prologue (that sound like their talking about the events in the prologue) if it didn't take place in the Fourth Age?
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Renoard

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #43 on: April 03, 2009, 08:16:58 PM »
I could be wrong, but I think the intention is that the third age ends with the climax of the series and the narrator is writing history from the perspective of the fourth age.  The Age of legends stuff, though, is from the past.  The death of Elenya and the suicide by a bar of light that destroys a large chunk of land take place before the chapter 1 and are very ancient history to our narator and the characters.

I'm not sure if the prologue says those are in the fourth age but if so I think that might have either been a booboo or else ages are even LONGER than we are thinking.
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Miyabi

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Re: My readthrough of WoT (**Spoilers**)
« Reply #44 on: April 03, 2009, 08:35:48 PM »

Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

Questions

So it IS possible for a male to successfully tap into the One Power right?  Just the Aes Sedai don't like it because they are afraid they will become the Dragon and join the Dark One?

Is the Flame and the Void a teaching of sword-users such as Warders and Master Swordsmen?

Thoughts

The talk of the One Power not being wielded by men is way more than a 'it can't be done without going insane, drop it' type situation.

Things are moving too slowly for my taste.  I want something more to happen.  I'm sure it's just to build up the world and explain things in a timely manner, but I would like either A) more information on things such as Aes Sedai, Warders, Master Swordsman, etc. or B) More action.

Predictions

At least one of the boys in the party (perhaps more) will learn to tap into the One Power.

At least one of said boys will go insane and become a bad-guy in some fashion.

Egwene will be an extremely powerful Aes Sedai.  Like extremely powerful.  She will probably discover something lost that will help her become more powerful than others.

HA!  There is someone else from the village that will come in later.  Whoever it was that can touch the One Power.
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