[End of Disc One]

Finally finished AMoL. While for most of the book it seemed merely a serviceable final book, I almost teared up at the last few pages. I think it was just the fact that I was finishing something that I started so long ago and used to be my favorite series. I've never felt this specific emotion before while reading a book.

Random thought, spoilers for both AMoL and The Way of Kings:

Spoiler

When Lan charged into Demandred's ranks and leapt off his horse to strike at Demandred, was anyone else reminded of Kaladin's rush across the bridge and jump over the gap? Probably the best moment in both books.

[Cause]

 Bearmione TROUBLEMAKER Grimger, on 19 February 2013 - 02:03 PM, said:

Why didn't the good channelers just box the shadowspawn in with gateways at any given point, and jus stab them through the gateways instead of being surrounded and overrun? At Tarwin's Gap for example, the Ashaman could have just opened a gateway across the entire gap, stood on the other side and killed the trollocs and such with ranged attacks and been more or less safe since shadowspawn can't fucking enter a gateway without dying...is there something I'm missing here?

The Truth?

Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson allowed channeling to become too powerful towards the end of the series. I forget the book (somewhere in 6-10)but once Rand and about ten Ashaman kill 100 000 trollocs in about ten minutes with zero casualties. The light Side also had far more channelers than the dark side and the ace of the forsaken (these people were like PhDs to most modern day Aes Sedais primary school education)had also been eroded over the last few books. The truth is given what had come before: Trollocs should not have mattered, human armies should not have mattered. The whole battle should have been channeler vs channeler. Thing is that would suck, especially when so many of the books have been about gathering the resources of mundane nations. So instead of bringing in new dangerous shadowspawn, or using the red veiled Aiel effectively to cancel out the Light sides magic or using dream spikes or whatever cleverly to limit the uses of channeling Brandon Sanderson instead chose to fight the last Battle like every leader on every side was a moron. Why did no one on the Light side form a super circle of 70 and nuke one trolloc army after another? Why did the White tower seemingly not call upon every serangreal and angreal they had? Why did the Novices get sent to safety when their use as batteries of magic in circles would have been more useful than any 1000 soldiers? Why did the thousands of channeling wise ones just not make appearance? Why did Shadar Haran who could block the true source just by his presence disappear from the story instead of being used. Why not extend that ability to more super fades? The thing they do with gateways and cannons? they could have been doing that from the start, and with channeling through the gateways as well (super weapons are not shaved knuckles in the hole- they are game winners). The last battle is a big flop if you over analyze the tactics of any side. When Rand attacks the Dark forces and tries to repeat his storm trick he uses the little fat man serangreal! Why not go in with Callandor, linked to a circle of 70? Why not get Androl to drop the ocean on Shayol Ghul. Why where their not more Grey men, a grey man channeler? The possibilities were endless and we got army A slogged it out with army B.

[Illuyankas]

I remember an interview with Sanderson where he mentions Androl's tricks with the gateways almost being cut and him having to argue Harriet into keeping them, because they were too different from how it'd been set up in the rest of the series. I think it may have been kcf's spoiler interview? I think?

[Werthead]

There are a lot of flaws in the Last Battle. The Light should have outnumbered the Shadow in channellers by about 7 to 1, even with the Sharans, but this is never made clear. The combined armies of the Light should have added up to about a million troops, meaning the Shadow would have needed to have brought 3-4 million to outnumber them by as much as is said, but we never get the sense that there are so many people around (that number should have filled up the Field of Merrilor easily).

A few of these questions are answered, however:

Quote

Why did Shadar Haran who could block the true source just by his presence disappear from the story instead of being used. Why not extend that ability to more super fades?

The Dark One was using Shaidar Haran as his avatar, so there could only ever be one. He also needed Haran to project his power more effectively beyond the Bore so he could engage Rand at Shayol Ghul, preventing him from appearing on the battlefield.

Quote

Why where their not more Grey men, a grey man channeler?

IIRC, Shadowspawn don't have souls. This prevents them from being resurrected and it prevents them from being able to use gateways or channel. The gholams were specially created so they could use gateways, so maybe a Shadowspawn who could channel could have been theoretically created, but they never got around to it.

Quote

did the White tower seemingly not call upon every serangreal and angreal they had?

I think they did. There is no indication they didn't, anyway.

Quote

When Rand attacks the Dark forces and tries to repeat his storm trick he uses the little fat man serangreal! Why not go in with Callandor, linked to a circle of 70?

Rand didn't want the Shadow to know that he'd figured out how to use Callandor safely. He also wanted to blindside them by going to Shayol Ghul undetected, which rules out any taking part directly in the Last Battle.

Quote

Why not get Androl to drop the ocean on Shayol Ghul.

This would have no effect on the Bore or the Dark One at all, and would have only harmed the relatively small number of Shadow forces at the mountain. It would also have killed many prisoners and slaves taken from the Borderlands working in nearby Thakan'dar.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

I finished AMOL in three days. Somehow, even though things irritated me about it, I couldn't put it down.

Was it a satisfying ending? Well I had a very love-hate relationship with the series as a whole. I flew through 1-5, struggled caring about 6 and 7 and then found 8 and 9 to be marginally better. Eventually I tried 10 and 11 and thought I'd seen the last of me reading the series. I picked TGS up in a three for two deal, and then bought ToM straight after. Can't quite put my finger on the difference (aside from the obvious lack of telling me the exact detail of everyone's dresses - if you tell me she's wearing a dress, I'll believe you, honest! ) but it made me care about AMOL again.

I was pretty satisfied all round if I'm honest. I liked the way the direct conflict between Rand and The Dark One played out as it made a nice change from the straight up sword-on-sword, weave-on-weave battles of the rest of the book. The actual ending itself? Meh..... I felt there were some holes, but all in all I smiled when I closed the back cover, and I think especially for my relationship with the series, I couldn't really ask for more than that

[Tehol the Only]

Finished Amol about a couple weeks ago (and now i'm reading the crap out of the dresden files).

I REALLY enjoyed some parts (Rand vs the dark one, Egwene's death, Lan's charges, Perrin vs Slayer, Androl's awesome awesomeness and a handful more) and the whole book was quite a pleasant read and a satifying ending. (even with a couple pretty big faults along the way.. i'm looking at you, flame of tar valon)

So now for the real question.

When did Rand save mat's life the second time? (can't remember the exact wording)
We know that Mat was "revived" a couple times with balefire.. but since balefire itself caused the deaths to never actually happen, why should they "count" for the horn of Valere?
But. (wild theory time)
Just when Mat and Lan are about to make a last stand on the heights in amol we are switched to a Rand PoV that starts with "there were two bodies on a battlefield"... Rand then snatches the Pattern and starts playin God.
Is it possible that Mat and Lan died then and were brought back by Rand's re-weaving?
I'm sorry if this has already been discussed but i haven't found anything similar in what little research i've done around. Afaik everyone assumes that Mat's second death is one of those resolved with balefire.

This post has been edited by Tehol the Only: 04 April 2013 - 07:24 AM

[acesn8s]

I believe Rand saved Mat from hanging in Rhuidian (which didn't count as a death) and then in Camlyn when he balefired Rahvin. It was in Camlyn that Mat's bond with the horn broke.

[Terez]

Right, but as to the question of whether the balefire incident (the true death) should have severed the bond with the Horn when it technically didn't happen: balefire is paradoxical, so this was always a matter of debate. Some believed that it wasn't severed because it didn't really happen; others argued (based on the fact that people who witnessed those events still remember them) that it was severed. Either way, it's clear that Olver was always intended to blow the Horn. He was introduced in LOC, and Mat died/didn't die at the end of TFOH.

[Tehol the Only]

Ok but then... what DID Rand do in that chapter? He says something like "I'll show what i can do with the pattern" but then nothing really happens apart from Olver blowing the horn. (and that reference to the two bodies)


Edit: "Rand stretches out his palm, containing the world, and on the battlefield, two bodies on the ground."

This post has been edited by Tehol the Only: 05 April 2013 - 10:53 AM

[Terez]

I think it's pretty clear that the two times Rand saved Mat were in Rhuidean and when he balefired Rahvin. Mat was immune to Mashadar; he didn't need Rand to save him from that. Lan is a different story, and a subject of some discussion.

[Illuyankas]

I'd say the two bodies were Demandred, and Lan before he gets up again. Rand-inspired resurrection or not.

[Terez]

Right, that's made a little more obvious when you compare that quote with Min's viewing in TOM:

Quote

New viewings spun around his head. She normally ignored those, but she couldn't do so now. An open cavern, gaping like a mouth. Bloodstained rocks. Two dead men on the ground, surrounded by ranks and ranks of Trollocs, a pipe with smoke curling from it.

And the whole 'dead' bit contributes to the questions of whether or not Lan died and was somehow resurrected via Rand. (I personally don't like the idea, because why would Rand choose to resurrect Lan and not the others? The only reasons you could come up with are lame.)

[Tehol the Only]

The Demandred/Lan explanation makes sense. But then the whole line feels somewhat forced... i mean why focus the attention on those two? There's a gazillion more dead bodies around and Lan himself is rather unimportant in the following events.(and as you said, had Rand the power to resurrect people, why Lan and not everyone else?).

The line could've been "Rand stretches out his palm, containing the world, and in the kitchens, Laras stuffing a turkey for dinner" without making much difference.




Edit: Oh, i didn't mean to say that Rand saved Mat from Mashadar.. that happened quite some time later. I was speculating on an off-screen death in battle.

This post has been edited by Tehol the Only: 05 April 2013 - 03:24 PM

[D'iversify]

Finished on the weekend. Have the same feeling as many others on the book - thrilling whilst reading but afterwards a bit of dissatisfaction with certain lack of resolution and holes in the story. Personally, I think we should have heard what Hawkwing said to Tuon given that I'd have liked to have known whether it would have affected future treatment of damane or Seanchan military policy. Perhaps what Hawkwing says explains why they keep to the Dragon's Peace until the Aiel attack them, as in Aviendha's vision (whether the Aiel attack at all being still open to interpretation). Also, I'm interested as to why Moridin carries Rand out at the end (assuming the body swap occurs in the chamber itself) given that Rand has basically ensured that Elan remains bound to the Wheel, which is the worst of punishments for someone who sought oblivion. Would be interested to read 'River of Souls' when it comes out (a deleted chapter from Demandred's perspective) given that I felt that he was the most well humanised of the Forsaken (minus his tendency towards stark-raving anti-Lews Therin madness). Would have liked to know perhaps a little bit more about the nature of the Wyld and the Sharan Dragonslayer prophecies, so perhaps there'll be more info in this exert.

EDIT: Also agreed that whilst the Last Battle was suitably epic, both sides could have used better tactics. Moreover, as Werthead mentioned neither side appeared to use their full potential numbers. The Battle certainly wasn't as sprawling as I imagined it would be (I thought it would be WWII Eastern Front-esque in terms of numbers, spread and brutality of troops but it was more Napoleonic in those terms than anything else).

EDIT 2 - especially in the early chapters of the book Sanderson does some very irritating stating of the obvious along the lines of 'this thing is happening and that's bad because you know what x & y do in combination' or 'z was a Saldaean' and then proceeds to list a load of associations with Saldaea well known to fans. And then repeating such redundancies.

This post has been edited by D'iversify: 08 April 2013 - 01:09 PM

[Goaswerfraiejen]

I was saving the book for a stretch of time when I could really enjoy it. Well, I started last week, and finished last night.

I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I think it's a fitting end to the series, and was happy not to get a whole ton of epilogue crap (cf. Harry Potter's Brady Bunch ending). I'll be re-reading the series relatively soon, I think, because too much of what happened in the previous novels was foggy in my mind (Sanderson did a good job of plunking me back into the story, but that of course comes at the cost of some subtlety). It leaves me incredibly sad, however, because this is a series that was basically 28-29 years in the making, and one which I started at a very formative time, 13 years ago. It strikes me that I'm not likely to ever encounter anything quite like it again, and that leaves me rather melancholy.

So, three questions for whoever's still reading the thread:

1.) What, exactly, was the purpose of the Seanchan withdrawal? Mat's narrative made it seem like a really big deal and a major, ultra-secret portion of the plan, but their return was made to strike him as something of a surprise. What happened here? Initially, I figured this was probably just a question of resting the shock troops to have them come back in what was effectively a flanking manoeuvre and crush the Shadowspawn. But it sounds like their return to the field was delayed too long for that, and Fortuona's POV made it seem like she was thoroughly unconvinced. The other possibility I came up with was that they had to leave remove the spy from the field/discover who it was. That explains the delay, but not really the purported importance of the withdrawal.

2.) What was Luc's deal? What was he prophesied to accomplish at the Last Battle?

3.) What was Rand's gift to Aviendha? He gave Min and Elayne gifts, and Cadsuane (or was it Moiraine?) makes a point of pointing out what he's doing, and that he's yet to give her one (that she's seen)... EDIT: Oh, wait. It could plausibly be the inclusion of the Aiel in the Dragon's Peace.



Also, FWIW... I like to think that at the end, Rand (as an Aiel) "woke from the dream" (and so has some measure of control over the "dream", what we've taken to be the real world).


EDIT 2: Finally, I'm all for future books fleshing out the WoT universe and its history, much like SE and ICE have done with the Malazan world and its history. I don't see any moral problem here, even if it's all just authorial speculation since RJ didn't leave much in the way of notes. I'd be more into novels that delve into the WoT universe's past (and maybe present) than its future, however. And, hell, RJ left plenty of notes about that stuff anyway (e.g. Trolloc Wars, Hawkwing's conquests, maybe even Shara, etc.) in the form of the WoT books themselves.

This post has been edited by Goaswerfraiejen: 09 June 2013 - 09:02 PM

[Cause]

Re point 1: You have it exactly, the truth is though as the strategy was employed its nonsense! Sanderson's grasp of tactics in this book and his ability to write a battle this size just did not exist.

The way they protected Shayol Ghul from counter attack reminded me of something I might have thought war was like when I was 12. Build walls of thorns and set up logs on the hills....

[Goaswerfraiejen]

FWIW, I'm at the end of my latest re-read of the series, and the point I raised in (1) above makes more sense now. Sanderson made it so that Fortuona is unsure whether it's best for the Empire to follow Mat's plan and rejoin or to allow the Shadow to spend itself crushing the rest of the world before swooping in with rested troops (thereby crushing them and gaining the rest of the world in one blow). Upon my re-read, it makes sense, and is in keeping with what's been established of her character.

Re-reading also made clear (obvious) Rand's gift to Aviendha (re: my (3) above). I think I somehow missed Rand's gift to Min, however. I can't remember for the life of me what it was supposed to be.


I see so many more connections, now that I'm reading the series cover to cover for the first time as a proper adult. So much of what I thought was silly or bizarre when I was a teen just makes a lot of sense now. It really is a beautifully crafted fictional world.


Incidentally, if anyone is interested, I've spent some time dreaming up a WOT Total War mod, and I'm going to start putting it together very soon. It'll take me quite a long time (I have no help, so some things I'll have to learn from scratch), but I'm determined to get there, an hour a day. If you've got any modding experience and are interested in helping out, let me know. Help would speed the project up quite a bit.

[Terez]

Zombie post! Which will hopefully answer one of Goaswerfraiejen's questions (What was Luc's deal?) and explain many other things, including Rand's pipe.

 Illuyankas, on 25 January 2013 - 03:56 PM, said:

I heard a nice theory that Nakomi is Tigraine, since why should only the evil dead come back?

This theory has been floating around for a while, but in my opinion no one was ever able to make a truly compelling argument for it. There were too many questions: how did she get there? How did she make these supernatural things happen? The easiest explanation was that she was a hero of the horn—the heroes reside in Tel'aran'rhiod in the afterlife, and the loosening Pattern explains how Nakomi was able to appear to Aviendha—but only one person was really making a compelling argument that Tigraine was in fact a hero of the horn, and I found his theory hard to accept. Compelling, but seeming a bit out there. After the series was done, I found it much easier to accept because it explained so much.

Basically the theory is this: Tirgaine and her brother Luc (who is half of Slayer along with Isam) are Calian and Shivan, the sister-brother Heroes seen at Falme (mentioned only in Mat's flashback when he finally recognizes Birgitte in Ebou Dar).

ACOS 21, Swovan Night said:

Shivan the Hunter behind his black mask. He was said to herald the end of Ages, the destruction of what had been and the birth of what was to be, he and his sister Calian, called the Chooser, who rode red-masked at his side.

Most people thought that Calian and Shivan would be Elayne's twins, but Tigraine and Luc are a better fit. They herald the end of Ages, unlike Elayne's twins who are born after the new Age has begun. Both are masked, Luc behind the mask of Isam, and Tigraine behind the mask of Shaiel. Gitara Moroso's three Foretellings that were important to the story: that Luc would find his fate in the Blight, that Tigraine would find hers in the Waste, and that Rand had been born on Dragonmount, Gitara's last words. Shaiel died in childbirth, and Janduin went to the Blight where he died at Luc's hands because he could not strike at a man who looked like Shaiel.

The theory goes further, which is what made it hard for me to accept, but which in the end makes it a stronger theory: Slayer's power to step in and out of Tel'aran'rhiod was dependent on Luc being a hero of the horn. They were merged, and Luc was killed, and his soul resides in Tel'aran'rhiod, but his life thread is still merged with Isam's. Brandon went a ways toward confirming this in AMOL when Slayer told Perrin that the ability came from a soul being "melded" with "something else". In Perrin's case, his soul was "melded" with Hopper's, and the wolves, like the heroes of the horn, reside in Tel'aran'rhiod in the afterlife.

I did not come around to this theory until after the end, mostly because I was very much against the "body-swap" theory. I still am, for some of the same reasons: the foreshadowing and prophecy that supported the idea pointed to a merge, rather than a swap. For Rand to survive the series in this way pointed to a permanent merge, which I did not think likely. No one else thought it was likely either, which is why they championed the body-swap theory, in which Moridin dies in Rand's body. Now that it is over, I think that a permanent merge is exactly what happened.

There are three crucial pieces of foreshadowing and prophecy related to the merge of Rand and Moridin.

TEOTW 24, Flight Along the Arinelle said:

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

TGH 8, Blood Calls Blood said:

The man who channels stands alone.
He gives his friends for sacrifice.
Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying,
one to life eternal.
Which will he choose? Which will he choose?
What hand shelters? What hand slays?
Blood feeds blood.
Blood calls blood.
Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.
Isam waited in the high passes.
The hunt is now begun. The Shadow's hounds now
course, and kill.
One did live, and one did die, but both are.
The Time of Change has come.
Blood feeds blood.
Blood calls blood.
Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

ACOS 35, A Bath said:

"I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and... " Her mouth tightened worriedly, and she went on in a very small voice. "I don't know what it means, Rand, except that one of you dies, and one doesn't. I—Why are you grinning? This isn't a joke, Rand. I do not know which of you dies."

"I'm grinning because you've given me very good news," he said, touching her cheek. The other man had to be Lews Therin. I'm not just insane and hearing voices, he thought, jubilant. One lived and one died, but he had known for a long time that he was going to die. At least he was not mad. Or not as far mad as he had feared.

In the end, it was Rand who died...or at least, it was his body that died. His soul goes on to Tel'aran'rhiod, but his mind still lives in Moridin's body.

There are some obvious differences between Luc/Isam and Rand/Moridin that come up at this point. Is Moridin still some part of Rand? I suspect that he still is, but that Rand won the battle for control on Dragonmount, in "Veins of Gold". That is where he chose life eternal, rather than death "beyond dying", which in retrospect probably means "death without the release of death". And speaking of the release of death, or rather oblivion, why should Moridin get what he wanted? I suspect that, with Rand entirely in control, the experience is, for Moridin, something like this:

ACOS 25, Mindtrap said:

"I am one of the Chosen, boy," she said, fury burning through caution. She sat up straight, facing him with all the knowledge of an Age that made his little different from times of mud huts. As much of that knowledge as she had, anyway, and in some areas, concerning the One Power, no one outstripped her. She almost embraced the Source no matter how close Shayol Ghul lay. "Your mother probably used my name to frighten you not so many years gone, but know that grown men who could crumple you like a rag sweated when they heard it. You will watch your tongue with me!"

He reached into the open neck of his shirt, and her own tongue clove to the roof of her mouth. Her eyes fixed on the small cage of gold wire and blood-red crystal that he drew out dangling on a cord. She thought vaguely that he tucked another just like it back in, but she had eyes only for her own. It definitely was hers. His thumb stroked, and she felt that caress across her mind, her soul. Breaking a mindtrap did not require much more pressure than he was using. She could be on the other side of the world or farther, and it would not matter a hair. The part of her that was her would be separated; she would still see with her eyes and hear with her ears, taste what crossed her tongue and feel what touched her, but helpless within an automaton that was utterly obedient to whoever held the cour'souvra. Whether or not there was any way to get free of it, a mindtrap was just what its name implied. She could feel the blood draining from her face.

"You understand now?" he said. "You still serve the Great Lord, but now it will be by doing as I say."

"I understand, Mia'cova," she said automatically.

Again he laughed, a deep rich sound that mocked her as he put the mindtrap away beneath his shirt. "There is no need for that, now you've had your lesson. I will call you Moghedien, and you will call me Moridin. You are still one of the Chosen. Who is there to replace you?"

They are still merged, but for Rand, he is the same as he was before the Last Battle. Merged with Moridin, but in control of himself. As I have said elsewhere: in order for him to defeat his enemy, he had to become his enemy. He merged with Moridin, and then defeated the part of himself that was Moridin, which did not matter much to Moridin until Rand died and used the merge to gain control of his body. And then, the above quote.

Another difference between Slayer and Rand: Slayer's merge gave him the power to step in and out of Tel'aran'rhiod, while Rand's power seems to rather be that the real world can be manipulated like Tel'aran'rhiod, hence the pipe. But that is easy enough to explain: the power of Tel'aran'rhiod is all in the mind, and Rand has had the experience of shaping the Pattern at the Bore. That experience did not give him the power of the pipe, but rather gave him the ability to wrap his head around it. And thus he has no real need to step in and out of Tel'aran'rhiod like Slayer and Perrin, because in his mind, the two worlds are one and the same.

I posted about this some after AMOL came out, but it wasn't until recently when I responded to someone's request for my take on the Rand-Moridin link at Theoryland that someone brought up Nakomi=Tigraine in connection to the Calian-Shivan theory. It wasn't until then that I realized Tigraine was really the only perfect explanation. I had stopped caring about Nakomi for two reasons: 1) Brandon implied that she was his own creation, based on something "deep in the notes", and more importantly, 2) most people seemed to think that she was the Avatar of the Creator, which was annoyingly ridiculous, more so because Brandon refused to debunk it.

Again in retrospect, Brandon probably did not make her up completely. He always said that RJ wrote the scene where Rand came out of the mountain, which didn't seem to jive with Nakomi being his idea. (It is a short scene.) What probably happened is that RJ wrote a visit from Calian/Shaiel in that scene, very subtle, and Brandon perhaps changed only the color of her hair (to gray) so that he could use her with Aviendha, more discreetly. At the time Rand came out of the mountain, the Horn of Valere was still active, but Brandon was able to make the Aviendha scene work because of the loosening Pattern.

Luc is, like Shivan, the Hunter—he hunted for fame in the Blight, and as the Shadow's hound, he hunted for Rand, Padan Fain, and the wolves in Tel'aran'rhiod, which he made into T2-Darkhounds—and Tigraine, like Calian, is the Chooser, who chose to sacrifice her life when the Pattern called her. And thus, the choice of words here is probably deliberate:

AMOL Epilogue, To See the Answer said:

Rand tripped. The body in his arms was so heavy. He slipped to the ground.

He could . . . see, just faintly. A figure kneeling down beside him. "Yes," a woman whispered. He did not recognize the voice. "Yes, that's good. That is what you need to do."

He blinked, his vision fuzzy. Was that Aiel clothing? An old woman, with gray hair? Her form retreated, and Rand reached toward her, not wanting to be alone. Wanting to explain himself. "I see the answer now," he whispered. "I asked the Aelfinn the wrong question. To choose is our fate. If you have no choice, then you aren't a man at all. You're a puppet . . ."

How did Nakomi know what Rand had to do? Perhaps because, after Perrin killed Slayer, her brother was finally at peace, and she knew what he knew.

This post has been edited by Terez: 03 April 2014 - 08:42 AM