[Agraba]

We only know of one legendary character who is capable of it, of the Eres race, and she specifically is referred to as the Eres'al. The woman who had sex with Trull, and followed Bottle around (and relieved Icarium, etc...). Then, Steven Erickson seems to go by the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy theory of time travel, that every action done back in time is already pre-set, so if you go back in time to do an action, then that action has already been done at that time, before you were born, by you yourself, and therefore you don't change the world by going back in time.

Then, was there another legendary figure who could time travel? The time interval of Midnight Tides was certainly less than 6 years, (less than one, I think), and Menandore was impregnated by Udinaas. Yet the child grew up in Withal's floating city until it was destroyed by ice; the event before the start of Midnight Tides. But then, it could be argued that Menandore didn't travel time, but she just went to a realm which is created by a land's memory (example: what Wither explained to Udinaas when he saw the conversation with Osric; also the memory of Raraku that L'oric visited to see his father [Osric]), and the child only lived through a replay of the city's destruction. There's still the issue of the six year (and nine months) interval, but it's said that time can go much faster in some realms (which would mean that Udinaas and Feather Witch aged a few days in that realm). This would mean that Menandore didn't travel in time, so the case of whether or not she time travelled is ambiguous.

Are those the only two figures (maybe not Menandore) who could time travel? I'm pretty sure a new genius mind has also uncovered the art. K'rul told Kruppe that the wilderness they were in was a memory of what the wilderness was in the ancient times, but the events that unfold in GotM seems to show that they were in that age itself. Pran Chole was a flesh and blood Imass in that dream, as they were before the ritual. He was perfectly manifest, because he impregnated the Mhybe, and the only way to get a flesh and blood bonecaster to lead the T'lan Imass was for a flesh and blood Imass to give birth, which was clearly impossible in Kruppe's time (1163 Burn's Sleep). And, as Kallor fortold, K'rul would fade due to lack of worship/recognition. Could he have made himself manifest once more via Kruppe's dream, since in the time that Kruppe dreamt about, K'rul was manifest? Just like Raest was able to travel in and out of Kruppe's dream, K'rul could have used it to go forward in the time that he stopped existing. (This is also ambiguous; he could have become manifest in the present time due to other reasons, but the case of Pran Chole's seed going forwards in time seems pretty solid.)

Anyways, obviously the reason that Kruppe discovered time travelling is because he's the foremost genius of the world (or at least of the mages; maybe Tehol could have discovered it, had he been a mage). So were the Eres'al woman and (possibly) Menandore also brilliant? Are these the only three (or two) figures that ever knew time travelling, or could there be more?

[Dolorous Menhir]

When Udinaas spoke to his son, the boy made a comment about how he grew up unnaturally fast. I think that meant that his age is much lower than his appearance would suggest, and that if Menandore's pregnancy was similarly accelerated then there was sufficient "normal" time between his conception and Udinaas meeting him for him to reach his current age.

That seems muddled, what I'm trying to say is that for some reason Rud Ellale has matured extremely fast, and so time travel on Menandore's part is not required to explain his age.

I think Kruppe's dreams are a special case, he met various people from disparate time periods, but they were all themselves dreaming at the time. He did not influence past events as the Eres'al does for the future (her future, our present) .

And even if it is true time travel, perhaps a distinction between travelling back in time (Kruppe's dreams) and forwards (the Eres'al) should be maintained. They are two very different things.

[Cause]

I dont get what you mean by traveling back in time and past events are set? The eresal is traveling into the future?

Something I never quite got. is the iron prophet from the future?

[buddhacat]

Pran Chole did not impregnate the Mhybe - IIRC, she was already pregnant.

The iron prophet (Whiskeyjack) was not from the furture. He was from the present, at that time.

[Cause]

The iron prophet (Whiskeyjack) was not from the furture. He was from the present, at that time. how did you work this out?

[Dolorous Menhir]

Because the Iron Prophet is a legend of the [insert Boatwalker's tribe]. Prophets and legends are generally things that happened in the past, no?

[dktorode]

isnt the warren of Tellan .....timeless?
thats how they got the old bone castor and krull and tattersails soul all in the one place at once! i remeber reading something like that!
so it wouldnt be "time travel" since there just plane old aint no time to travel!
unless i dreamed the tellan thing and fell down a hole or sumin.

[Dravon]

It's more that kruppe's dreams are outside of time then time traveling. As for the other incedents those were all memories/shadows of the past and if the present is effected by actions in these....well then lets just say then SE seems to have a casual aditude towards temperal theory. Either way the stories are still great and really thats all that matters=)

[Cause]

I meant what makes you think its whiskeyjack

[Dolorous Menhir]

The description is reminiscent of Whiskeyjack. Grey, hard, in a position of authority over Malazans. It's known that WJ and the BB's were in 7 Cities in the Emperor's time (though not confirmed that they were in that particular part, which didn't seem to have been formally conquered or occupied in the original invasion).

And the name - Iskara Jarak - does bear a certain mangled resemblence to Whiskeyjack. Moreso than any other character, anyway.

[Murrin]

Rud Elalle definately said he was six weeks old, and that the Bentract had told him this was because he was a dragon (no time to read and comment on much in this thread, be back later).

[Morgoth]

though the Malazan world did exist before Burn, so there is some question regarding that..

[Dolorous Menhir]

I wrote a thread asking that a while ago - how can the world be Burn's dream, when she's only been sleeping for ~1000 years and the world is much more than 300,000 years old?

http://www.malazanem...read.php?t=4265

Didn't get many responses. Be nice to know what people think on it now, post-BH.