Yes. And in the dream sequence Moridin says Rand came to him. Also, Rand can obviously use the True Source now, which he shouldn’t be able to do. They are most definitely linked, and I’m sure it will play a crucial role in the final book.
-XT
My thanks…I hadn’t heard that. I suppose there is quite a bit to go before the Last Battle, though it seems VERY close now. Of course, Matt still needs to both build his cannons (and muskets to, if he figures out how to do that part) AND rescue Moraine in the tower. Also we haven’t heard anything about Elayne, and there is still Aviendha’s final to become an official Wise one.
Did I read the part when Tam was talking to Rand that it’s come out that Morgase is still alive? I assume that this will all be filled in sometime during the next book, but that should have a pretty profound impact on Gawyn, if nothing else.
-XT
They got bonded by Asha’man. Egwene referred to it at least once in TGS as “that atrocity.”
Also…what of the black tower? Is it completely corrupt, with all of the Asha’man on the Dark Ones side, or will some come to Rand before the last battle?[/qote]The leadership of the Black Tower are all almost certainly Darkfriends. There’s enough in Knife of Dreams to make it clear that (a) Taim is a Darkfriend, (b) he’s gathered a coterie around him, and © Logain is still on the side of the Light.
Probably the latter, but we’ll have to see.
The last book got split into three. The next volume will be called Towers of Midnight, and the last one A Memory of Light. Brandon Sanderson estimated he was at 400,000 words when he’d cleared the decks of everything that had to happen before the Last Battle. That might have been increased a bit.
I think you are wrong here…or you are thinking of something else. I’m asking what happened to the women who went to the Black Tower to bond Asha’man in response to the bonding of sisters earlier in the story? Rand had said that a balance in numbers was acceptable…since X number of sisters were bonded then the Asha’man would allow a like number of them to be bonded. At the end of book 11 they even talk about it in the epilogue. The ‘atrocity’ Egwene is referring too is the previous bonding of sisters by Asha’man, which is just coming to light in the tower but that was discussed much earlier in the story.
At least, that’s how I see it.
-XT
Is Egwene still wearing that kicky traveling outfit that was described for 35 pages back in, oh, book 4 or so?
I agree with you. Egwene’s atrocity happened several books ago, and I think she’s more pissed that the Aes Sedai were bonded against their will, if nothing else. Narishma and others approaching the Rebel AS with Rand’s balance suggestion happened while Egwene was captive in the Tower, and it’s possible she hasn’t really caught up with that yet. As for the Aes Sedai in question, those are the Reds that went to the Black Tower in this book, and I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
I’m pretty sure it’s stated in the prologue for Winter’s Heart (whichever one has a POV from Toveine) that none of Taim’s coterie bonded any of those captive Aes Sedai–it was all Logain’s bunch that did it. The Reds that wandered up to the tower in Memory of Light all ended up talking to Taim and his posse, which does not bode well at all for what’s going to happen to them. Taim seems to be thrilled about the idea, but it’s almost certain that they’ll find a way to Compel their Aes Sedai, which will not be a Good Thing ™ when the Last Battle comes and those guys are on the wrong side.
No, Bela’s wearing that now. 
Yeah, this is my thought as well. I think Ishamael was, in the previous turning of the Wheel of Time, a Dragon who went over to the Dark Side. Lews Therin was a Dragon who stayed on the Light Side, but went insane and, essentially, failed. Rand, I suppose, will be the Dragon who stays on the Light Side and wins Tarmon Gaidon (although the True Power seems like a pretty good lure to take one over to the Dark Side… in my theory, that’s what got Ishy over to Shai’tan’s side). So the three of 'em are connected.
And as long as I’m on the subject, is there only ONE Tarmon Gaidon? Or does each turning of the Wheel have its own Last Battle? Or are we not supposed to know?
Each turning has its own. The whole point being that the Dragon has to win every time while the Dark One only has to get one victory to break the wheel.
Of course, I don’t think that’s necessarily the case, but that’s what everyone talks about in the books.
If the Dark One broke the wheel, it’ll all end, past, present and future. As the world exists, he obviously never breaks the wheel.
It seems clear to me that in this Age, nobody is allowed to kill Rand because Rand is the only one (for some reason) that can actually break the seals on the prison, thus allowing the Dark One to get free fully. So, he can’t be killed until the right time, and only Moridin knows what that time is - specifically, after the seals are broken and before the Bore is re-sealed with male and female channelers.
I also think that the Last Battle isn’t going to be because the Dark One finally makes his move and everyone has to resist him, but is instead going to be Rand being proactive because the Dark One is slowly strangling the world.
EDIT: Oh yeah, it’s been so long I can’t remember something. Moridin is Ishmael after he was killed by Rand in the Stone of Tear. Ishmael is ALSO Ba’alzamon, which was the name he used while semi-trapped in the Bore, right?
-Joe
Yup, all the same guy.
Something else I was thinking about–Lews Therin seemed to be saying that the seal on the Bore didn’t work because not only were they only using saidin, but because the Power had to actually touch the Dark One, he was able to taint it. I’m under the impression that this means the only real way to seal the Bore fully is to use the True Power, which already stems from the Dark One and is therefore untaintable. (And unlikely to affect any plain ol’ human channelers because thus far, only the Forsaken and Rand have been able to get anywhere near it.) Anybody with me on this?
That’s Ishamael, if you please.
Ish-Ah-ma-ell
As in this dialogue…
Rand:
Ishamael, Ishamael
I do not like Ishamael
Ishamael:
Would you like an angreal?
Rand:
I would not like an angreal.
I do not like them, Ishamael.
:smack:
Shit. That’s ALL I’m ever going to think now. Thanks a lot.
Fortunately I’ve always mentally pronounced them “ISH-uh-male” and “ANNE-gree-uhl”, so they don’t rhyme at all.
Me, too, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to giggle every time I see either word. sigh
Well, I just finished it. I normally re-read the Wheel of Time every few years in anticipation of the new ones but I went into this one cold. I had to supplement my reading with judicious use of online wikis and encyclopedias, though I probably would have needed them anyway.
But, to the book. Thank god Rand’s emo BS is done, it was just piling up to ridiculous levels. Verin’s death was excellent, though my second favourite scene would be when Semirhage was sniffling and eating beans off the floor. Shocking and amusing in a schadenfreude way. It seemed a bit off to me that torture was referred to so baldly, I think Jordan would have been euphemistic and called it being put to the question or something. Also, is it me or does torture seem to be more effective in fantasy novels in general? Which is to say it’s effective at all, especially in medieval-esque fantasy. I suppose that would be part of the fantasy - the fantasy that evil is obvious and can be readily identified.
As for the stuff I’ve been anticipating, well, I’ve been waiting years for Rand and Tam’s reunion. I’m glad it’s finally been shown. I think I read somewhere that Sanderson said there was a small hint about who killed Asmodean in this book, but god only knows where it is. I wonder if, come the Last Battle, anyone besides Demandred will be left of the original Forsaken? And who the blithering crap is he, anyway? The showdown with Taim still hasn’t happened, I guess that’s for next year’s book. But what’s the haps with Logain, anyway? He was there with both of his hos when Semirhage got taken. And was the bit with Rand wandering alone in Ebou Dar supposed to satisfy the viewing of him being a blind beggar? Oh yeah, apparently when Min saw gold, silver, and blue flashing around Sheriam, it was a viewing of her beheading. What a fakeout, RJ. The “to be or not to be” scene with Lews Therin was pretty decent and the healing of Rand’s psyche did not go down like I thought it would: I had vague ideas Tel’aran’rhiod would be involved in a Superman III/Street Fighter 2 kind of way - not necessarily violent but definitely through facing the other directly.
Final verdict? Honestly, aside from some small bits it’s hard to tell this was from an entirely different author, and some of those small bits could still be justified as Jordan-esque. The poetry isn’t as good, no “For his peace was the peace of the sword”, no “Who would sleep when the new dawn breaks”, but I’ll take it anyway.
I think Ishy relating to Rand that balefire was the only way for Forsaken (or anyone else) to be unable to be resurrected by the Dark One was a ploy for Rand to use balefire more often and further destabilize the pattern and play into the Dark Ones goals.
The True Power also seems to be another way for the Dark One to try to control Rand. It has been stated before that the True Power comes straight from the Dark One and he must allow someone to use it. Therefore Rand could only have accessed the True Power if the Dark One let him. This is another attempt of the Dark One to tempt Rand and to try to turn him further to the “dark side” if you will. With the trouble Rand has accessing the One Power now with getting violently ill each time, if the Dark One is able to make Rand more tempted to access the True Power, the Dark One is setting him up for the Last Battle.
I greatly enjoyed this book, and was probably the first time I ever enjoyed reading chapters about Egwene. I also appreciated nothing relating to Elayne or her political snorefest in the book.
I’m not sure if Rand has access to the TP due to DO permission, or if his link with Moridin has progressed enough that the DO can’t tell them apart
Yeah, I never found the Salidar stuff compelling, though politics in general in WoT is boring. I mean, did anyone out there find Rand’s political horse trading with the Tairens and the Cairhienin from previous books to be exciting? It’s way better than the politicking in, say, a Final Fantasy game, but really, who gets into these things for the realpolitik? It’s all about cutting Trollocs in half and Rolling Ring of Earth and Fire and whatnot. But Egwene’s part was definitely cool, though the confrontation with Elaida seemed to go too smoothly for Egwene. I think Elaida would have shut Egwene up when she realized she’d lost control of the conversation rather than continuing to be hectored and heckled.
I could ALMOST see that, but if that were actually the case, the Dark One would have his minions out there vaporizing villages left and right.
Yeah, but one of the big themes of these books is those On High underestimating and refusing to lose face to those below them. Lose a debate? To a novice? Never!
-Joe
Just finished the book. I’m very happy that between this and book 11, things are finally moving again.
Mat - He’s my favorite character as well, but I must admit that his appearances while mildly entertaining regarding the planned invasion, were less than stellar. Cannot wait to see the rescue of Moraine be launched.
Perrin - Also underwhelming.
Rand - Glad to see him finally killing the people that need killing and doing it in a competent fashion. I thought his use of the court idiot to determine if he killed the Forsaken was brilliant. I was also touched by the scene of him and Tam meeting.
Egwene - A little long in coming and difficult to continue to suspend disbelief, but I’m glad that she’s finally in firm control. What I give her huge credit for is killing all the Black sisters. I was worried they’d try and reform them or some other nonsense.
Nynaeve - One of my least favorite characters, blah.
Elayne - Glad she was absent.
There was one line that Rand said about how shadowspawn can’t travel through gateways.
Didn’t they do just that at the beginning of The Shadow Rising when Sammael sent a whole bunch of trollocs into the Stone (the ones Rand killed with that shadow-seeking lightning)?
I agree with the assessment that Rand can reach the True Source because of his connection with Moridin. I don’t see the Dark One betraying Semirhage immediately after pardoning her (via Shadar Haran). Especially since they could force him to break the seals with the domination band.
Moiraine knew how to use balefire (she used it on Sammael’s hounds in Dragon Reborn) so Rand is not the only one.