WoT:A Memory of Light-By grace and banners fallen, the Last Battle has come

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VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE: Aug 1, 2004; whoa, what just happened here?; College Slice

A Memory of Light is the fourteenth and final novel of the 23 years in-the-running massive The Wheel of Time series. It will be released on January 8, 2013. (Work actually began on the first novel in 1984, and it was not published until 1990.)

The thread for the thirteenth book, Towers of Midnight, can be found here.

This is the cover art for AMoL, done by Michael Whelan. A first for the series is is that this will be the cover art for both the hardcover and the e-book versions.

Why is that? Well, the original artist that did the cover art for books 1-13, Daryl K. Sweet, passed away before completing the cover for AMoL. This is his incomplete concept version.

Just what, exactly, is the Wheel of Time series?

It is by now a 14-novel (plus a prequel) series of bestselling books by author Robert Jordan (which is a pseudonym, his name is actually James Oliver Rigney Jr.) and Brandon Sanderson (more on this later).

The series draws influences from various Eastern philosophies and religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, as well as Nordic and Irish mythology, Arthurian legend, and Christianity, and of course more. It builds a fully-realized mythological world around these influences and concepts such as reincarnation, a circular nature of time, and a dualistic view of the world.

With the estimated wordcount of AMoL at 360000, by the time of its release the series as a whole will have a pagecount of over 11000 and a wordcount in excess of 4 million.

Yes, But What Is It About?

�Wikipedia� posted:

At the dawn of time, a deity known as the Creator forged the universe and the Wheel of Time, which, as it turns, spins all lives. The Wheel has seven spokes, each representing an age, and it rotates under the influence of the One Power, which flows from the True Source. Essentially composed of male and female halves (saidin and saidar) in opposition and in unison, this power turns the Wheel. Those humans who can use this power are referred to as channelers; the principal organization of such wielders in the books is called the Aes Sedai or 'Servants of All' in the Old Tongue.

The Creator imprisoned its antithesis, Shai'tan (or Dark One), at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, in a time called the Age of Legends or the Second Age, an Aes Sedai experiment inadvertently breached the Dark One's prison, allowing his influence into the world. He rallied the powerful, the corrupt and the ambitious to his cause and these servants began an effort to free the Dark One fully from his prison. In return, the Dark One promised them worldly power and immortality. Few even among the servants of the Dark One realized that one of the consequences of freeing him might be the breaking of the Wheel of Time and the end of existence itself.

In response to this threat, the Wheel spun out the Dragon as the champion of the Light. The Dragon was a male Aes Sedai named Lews Therin Telamon, who rose to great influence and power among the Aes Sedai. A century after the initial breach of the Dark One's prison, a time during which the Dark One's influence spread throughout the world, causing society to become corrupt and decayed, open warfare broke out between the forces of the Dark One and those of the Light. After ten years of a grueling, world-wide war filled with atrocities on a scale never before imagined, the Light found itself facing the real possibility of defeat.

In desperation, Lews Therin led a hand-picked force of channelers and soldiers in a high-risk, daring assault on the site of the earthly link to the Dark One's prison, and was able to seal it off, although imperfectly. However, at this moment of victory the Dark One tainted saidin, driving male channelers of the One Power insane. The male channelers, in the "Time of Madness," devastated the world with the One Power, unleashing earthquakes and tidal waves that reshaped the planet, referred to in subsequent ages as "The Breaking of the World."

In his insanity, Lews Therin himself killed his friends, his family and anyone in any way related to him, and was known afterwards as Lews Therin Kinslayer. Given a moment of sanity by Ishamael, chief among the Dark One's servants, Lews Therin realized what he had done. In his grief, he committed suicide by drawing on far more of the One Power than even he could handle unaided.

Over time, the remaining male Aes Sedai were killed or cut off from the One Power. In their wake, they had left a devastated world: the land and the oceans reshaped, people scattered from their native lands, civilization itself all but destroyed. Only women were now able to wield the One Power safely. The female Aes Sedai reconstituted and guided humanity out of this dark time. Men who could channel eventually became objects of fear and horror, as they would inevitably go insane unless stopped, and even the Dragon became a loathed figure. Among the Aes Sedai there were women whose sole function was to hunt such men down and cut them off from accessing the One Power.

What followed was three [...] thousand years of history that was marked by a series of rises then inevitable declines in civilization, a time of troubles and chaos that stood in marked contrast to the now mythical Age of Legends. Nations and civilization itself fell, rose, and fell again. Occasional periods of uneasy peace were punctuated by warfare. There were two major conflicts that were of particular importance, in terms of their effect on civilization as a whole. The first were the Trolloc Wars, in which servants of the Dark One tried to destroy civilization once more, in a more or less continuous war that lasted for several hundred years. This period finally came to an end thanks to an alliance of nations led by the Aes Sedai. The second was the War of the Hundred Years, a devastating civil war that followed the fall of a continent-spanning empire ruled by the High King, Artur Hawkwing.

These wars have prevented the human race from regaining the power and high technology of the Age of Legends, and left humanity divided. Even the prestige of the Aes Sedai has fallen, with their terrible power and shrinking numbers, and the emergence of organizations such as the Children of the Light, a militant order who hold that all who dabble with the One Power are servants of the Shadow. The human race has clawed its way back to a level of technology and culture roughly comparable to that of our 1450 to 1600 (although without the sciences, formalized learning, or the military use of gunpowder), with the difference that women enjoy full equality with men in most societies, and are superior in some. One likely explanation for this is the power and influence of the female-only Aes Sedai spilling over into everyday life.

During the last war of note, called the Aiel War and taking place 20 years before the start of the series, the nations of the modern era allied themselves against the warrior-clans of the Aiel, who crossed into the western kingdoms on a mission of vengeance after suffering a grievous insult at the hands of one of the western Kings. The Aiel have since returned to the Aiel Waste, with some saying that they were defeated and fled, but others saying that they got their vengeance and left on their own terms. Despite this confrontation, little is known of these fierce warriors in the kingdoms of the east.

Mankind now lives under the shadow of a prophecy that the Dark One will break free from his prison and the Dragon will be reborn to face him once more, raining utter destruction and chaos on the world in the process of saving it from the Dark One.

Who's Brandon Sanderson? And why?

Robert Jordan passed away in 2007 after battle with cardiac amyloidosis, but left ample notes and audio recordings of what he intended for the final book, as yet largely unwritten, to contain. Included are the verbal instructions for the conclusion of the series. The intentions were to find a suitable author to complete his work.

The publisher of The Wheel of Time, Tor Books, suggested Brandon Sanderson (among a very short list) to Harriet McDougal Rigney, RJ's wife and editor, as a possible candidate to complete Jordan's work. Harriet chose Brandon after having read some of his work and his eulogy of Robert Jordan, who he considers one of his influences.

At the time, Brandon Sanderson would have been considered an up-and-coming author, with multiple relatively popular books having been released. His taking on of TWoT has certainly brought further fame, and he is now writing his own best-selling long-running series in The Stormlight Archives.

Brandon Sanderson picked up RJ's notes and proceeded to flesh them out to a wordcount of nearly 1 million. By January, when this is all said and done, Brandon Sanderson will claim influence over nearly 1/4 of the published entirety of The Wheel of Time series.

When Brandon took over the project, the intent at that point was to release one final novel, the 12th, named A Memory of Light, to complete the series. RJ at one point joked that they would have to invent a new binding process and each copy of the book would come with its own wheelbarrow, but this became obviously impossible as Brandon and Team Jordan (the staff that grew around the series on RJ�s side) took stock of the scope of the story yet to be covered.

A Memory of Light became The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and yes, A Memory of Light. One book split into three, while BS took care to try to keep complete plot arcs isolated to their own books. This resulted in some �time lag� with some characters as they raced to catch up, in particular Perrin remained at least half a book behind in the timeline for much of Towers of Midnight, even measured against characters and their plot arcs in the same book. But the results are almost overwhelmingly positive, as Brandon Sanderson decided that Rand al�Thor�s descent into madness arc and Egwene al�Vere�s contest for the White Tower arc would take top billing in The Gathering Storm. These quickly became two of the favorite culminations in the series, alongside other longtime fan favorites such as Dumai�s Wells, the battle for the Two Rivers, and the entire end of The Fires of Heaven, book 5 of the series.

Resources

Something Awful Let�s Read Thread. Goon-run re-read thread, spoiler tags rules are in effect to keep pace with the re-read. I think we�re in Knife of Dreams, book 11, by now as of 2012/09/20.
Tor Books-hosted re-read by a long-time hardcore fan-freak (HCFF) of the series, the previous editor of the original WOTFAQ from the USENET days.
Wikipedia
Dragonmount - considered the de facto official fan site, with all the benefits and baggage that comes with it
Tor�s own Wheel of Time site - look here for lead-up events to AMoL�s release, if anything
Theoryland. The �Hardcore Fan-Freak� forum for The Wheel of Time. With all the benefits and baggage that comes with that.

And of course:

What�s Available to be Read for A Memory of Light So Far?

Every time they launch a new The Wheel of Time book, at least for the past few, they�ve released select portions of it online as teasers. So far we�ve gotten the entire prologue and selections of other chapters:

�By Grace and Banners Fallen�, the prologue to A Memory of Light, available on Amazon or DRM-free on Dragonmount.com

quote:
A man who loves the hunt begins a new pursuit, red veils appear, and one of the Forsaken stands newly revealed. The forces of the Shadow swell in triumph as the world unravels. By grace and banners fallen, the Last Battle has come.
The opening POV of the above prologue, for free.
The entirety of Chapter 1.
The opening of Chapter 11.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Sep 27, 2012

# ? Sep 21, 2012 02:28

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 23:31

Bluedust: Jan 7, 2009; by Ralp

Prologue has me so loving excited. Cannot wait, I started this series when I was in 6th grade, I'm 29. goddamn.

Edit: I'd say change WoT to Wheel of Time in the title.

Bluedust fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Sep 21, 2012

# ? Sep 21, 2012 03:38

lobotomy molo: May 7, 2007; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

I started reading Wheel of Time back in high school. Of course, then I started reading A Song of Ice and Fire because I thought WoT was never gonna end, and look where that got me... Back when I read Knife of Dreams, years ago, I thought this series was many years from completion. Decades, even. It would either rush towards a conclusive finale, or putter on for a dozen more books with only minor developments. It felt nowhere near completion�none of the characters, or settings, or plot seemed ready for a grand finale. I spent years away from the series, reading other books, before I finally picked up The Gathering Storm.

It's been nothing but incredible since then. Rand's epiphany on Dragonmount was probably the most chilling, inspiring part of any book I've ever read. And I've read a lot of books. I honestly stopped reading and just sat there for a while, thinking, before I picked it back up and continued. It was incredible.

I'm sure Jordan could have written and ending as good as the one we've gotten so far. Better, even. Maybe. But Sanderson really brought me back to the series in a way that I had never thought possible, and the last two books have led up to The Last Battle in such a convincing, heartfelt way that I'm almost hesitant to buy A Memory of Light. I've been left with such high expectations for what it could be, what it should be, that I'd almost hate to read something incredible but disappointing.

And then I read this prologue. Holy poo poo. This is it. The Last Battle is here, and it's exceeding all expectations. Talmanes, Moridin, Luc/Isam... it has such a sense of finality about it. This is the end, in ways my teenage mind never expected. The characters are making peace with this conclusion in so many different ways, and really, so am I. I've never been this excited for a book before. I forgot who major characters were for years at a time, yet I'm going to buy this book in hardback when it comes out. Then softcover. Then maybe even an ebook. Because I can tell you now, I'm gonna read this bitch cover to cover, front to back, so many times that the pages are gonna start falling out.

Someone needs to make a bigger :black101:

for this book.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 04:09

TURTLE SLUT: Dec 12, 2005

Holy poo poo, it's the last book. That's kind of hard to grasp.

I think a lot of people, myself included, kind of wandered away from the series around book 9 and 10. I used to be a huge fan in my teens, but when I got to book 8 the plot didn't seem to be going anywhere and I just kind of forgot to read the next book. Not paying enough attention to the Aes Sedai intrigue for it to make any sense of it probably also explains why I got bored. At some point I even spoiled myself about book 10 on Wikipedia.

But then I decided to reread the series once again and got to Knife of Dreams. Then Gathering Storm came out and solidified Wheel of Time as my favorite book series ever. There is just nothing out there that can rival the scope and complexity combined with such solid writing.

Anyway, I suppose prologue discussion should be in spoilers? Talmanes was badass and the sequence was written very well. I liked how he was going out like a hardcore motherfucker but still holding on to hope that he'd be healed and wanting to live, like a real person would.

Was it ever revealed by the way why Luc and Isam share a body?

# ? Sep 21, 2012 08:18

Atlas Hugged: Mar 12, 2007; Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

From the previous thread:

There's been some debate as to whether or not Taim has been working for Moridin or Demandred. I was firmly in the Moridin camp, but I think the prologue actually puts that debate to rest.

Demandred has seen Taim before and they are either rivals or competing for the same goal (killing Rand). That's made explicitly clear. Moridin is the one to make the M'Hael reveal. It's now my opinion that Taim was either trained or encouraged by Demandred initially, but then snatched into Moridin's schemes when it became clear he was both valuable and competent. Demandred now no longer cares for him very much and the Black Tower is clearly not what his game is.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 08:54

Affi: Dec 18, 2005; Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA

Sorry but Taim has been around for way longer then Demandred has been free of his prison. It's only been two years since eotw.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 09:13

calandryll: Apr 25, 2003; Ask me where I do my best drinking!; Pillbug

I can't believe this is finally coming to an end. Started it in high school, almost 20 years ago, actually made a friend because I was reading the first book. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel once this is over. Brandon Sanderson has done an excellent job with finishing the series.

Also, you bastards are going to make me buy the prologue, I was trying to wait on reading anything about it.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 11:21

Cartoon Man: Jan 31, 2004

Well, here is the list of nations that the prologue can now be purchased in outside the US. :911:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/09/qby-grace-and-banners-fallenq-now-available-in-select-non-us-markets

This does not include countries where Orbit UK has the rights to the books!

Cartoon Man fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Sep 21, 2012

# ? Sep 21, 2012 11:26

Atlas Hugged: Mar 12, 2007; Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

Affi posted:

Sorry but Taim has been around for way longer then Demandred has been free of his prison. It's only been two years since eotw.

Yes? But it was only recently that he got together with Rand and began undermining him. At that point, all of the Forsaken had been free for some time.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 11:53

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE: Aug 1, 2004; whoa, what just happened here?; College Slice

Haraksha posted:

Yes? But it was only recently that he got together with Rand and began undermining him. At that point, all of the Forsaken had been free for some time.

At which time Taim must have had already been holding off insanity for close to a decade, if he were a sparker.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 13:35

zonohedron: Aug 14, 2006

Haraksha posted:

There's been some debate as to whether or not Taim has been working for Moridin or Demandred. I was firmly in the Moridin camp, but I think the prologue actually puts that debate to rest.

If anything, I think it answers the question with "both"; my guess is that Ishamael either taught him to channel (if he's not a sparker) or kept him from dying of power-acquisition syndrome or whatever (if he is), but when Ishamael disappeared, Demandred figured Taim could be co-opted into his service, and Moridin didn't challenge it.
Unless you count changing his name to "Leader" and making him Demandred's peer a challenge...

Cukel posted:

Was it ever revealed by the way why Luc and Isam share a body?

Not really: http://steelypips.org/wotfaq/1_dark/1.4_whats-up-dark/1.4.02_slayer.html is what we knew about them/him/it as of Winter's Heart. The prologue adds that Isam didn't merely "survive the Trollocs", as the WOTFAQ has it, he was actually raised (more or less) in a city in the Blight. Looking at the Dark Prophecy, he and Luc might have been merged because one of them had died before fulfilling some other prophecy, and merging them lets the combined entity fulfill prophecies for either half.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 15:42

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

zonohedron posted:

If anything, I think it answers the question with "both"; my guess is that Ishamael either taught him to channel (if he's not a sparker) or kept him from dying of power-acquisition syndrome or whatever (if he is), but when Ishamael disappeared, Demandred figured Taim could be co-opted into his service, and Moridin didn't challenge it.
Unless you count changing his name to "Leader" and making him Demandred's peer a challenge...

Not really: http://steelypips.org/wotfaq/1_dark/1.4_whats-up-dark/1.4.02_slayer.html is what we knew about them/him/it as of Winter's Heart. The prologue adds that Isam didn't merely "survive the Trollocs", as the WOTFAQ has it, he was actually raised (more or less) in a city in the Blight. Looking at the Dark Prophecy, he and Luc might have been merged because one of them had died before fulfilling some other prophecy, and merging them lets the combined entity fulfill prophecies for either half.

Does this mean we'll finally find out how Blight agriculture works? :allears:

# ? Sep 21, 2012 15:57

GO FUCK YOURSELF: Aug 19, 2004; "I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who beat you, and pray for them to beat the shit out of the Buckeyes" - The Book of Witten

I just bought the prologue because I can't stand all the spoilers! Curse you all!

# ? Sep 21, 2012 17:07

Cartoon Man: Jan 31, 2004

GO gently caress YOURSELF posted:

I just bought the prologue because I can't stand all the spoilers! Curse you all!

Think of it this way. This is the last time you will have to buy it.

...

:smith:

# ? Sep 21, 2012 17:08

Rohan Kishibe: Oct 29, 2011; Frankly, I don't like you
and I never have.

Cartoon Man posted:

Well, here is the list of nations that the prologue can now be purchased in outside the US.

Woo, now to just check -

quote:

This does not include countries where Orbit UK has the rights to the books!

Motherfuckers!

# ? Sep 21, 2012 18:06

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

Geez, I don't read the thread for a couple of days and someone goes and makes another, taking the thread over for the final book. That stings a little.

thrawn527 fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Sep 21, 2012

# ? Sep 21, 2012 20:13

Streebs: Dec 6, 2003; RIP

thrawn527 posted:

Geez, I don't read the thread for a couple of days and someone goes and makes another, taking the thread over for the final book. That stings a little.

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills dude

I'm really excited for this book, I can't believe I've been reading this series for over a decade. And that's a short amount of time compared to many other fans! Sanderson has given me nothing but confidence that he will do a fantastic job.

I read the prologue too and it was incredible. But who was the person talking with Isam? Was it Cyndane?

# ? Sep 21, 2012 20:58

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE: Aug 1, 2004; whoa, what just happened here?; College Slice

thrawn527 posted:

Geez, I don't read the thread for a couple of days and someone goes and makes another, taking the thread over for the final book. That stings a little.

You totally got Elaida'd.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 21:57

Rohan Kishibe: Oct 29, 2011; Frankly, I don't like you
and I never have.

Basically thrawn is Robert Jordan and Arioch is Brandon Sanderson.

# ? Sep 21, 2012 23:12

tithin: Nov 14, 2003; [Grandmaster Tactician]

FYI the audiobook version of the prologue is now up at audible for $2.85. It's 3 hours long.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 00:05

My Friend Radio: Nov 6, 2003; Clichéd

Streebs posted:

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills dude

I'm really excited for this book, I can't believe I've been reading this series for over a decade. And that's a short amount of time compared to many other fans! Sanderson has given me nothing but confidence that he will do a fantastic job.

I read the prologue too and it was incredible. But who was the person talking with Isam? Was it Cyndane?

That was the conclusion I leapt to. Everybody else is accounted for in the later scene.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 01:15

Cartoon Man: Jan 31, 2004

Heh, Brandon just tweeted that he can't remember whether "By grace and banners fallen" is his line or Jordans.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 02:01

Spermy Smurf: Jul 2, 2004

thrawn527 posted:

Geez, I don't read the thread for a couple of days and someone goes and makes another, taking the thread over for the final book. That stings a little.

I cant stop laughing at this. What the gently caress is this shoolgirl poo poo? I bet 99% of people posting in the old thread had no idea who made it and who deserved the 'SA cred' for it. I have no idea who created this thread if that makes you feel less like a 4 year old girl.

Paid $3 for the prologue and loved it. Its definitely worth it for those of you on the fence of buying it.

Edit: If you are Robert Jordan I am sorry and also terrified. You deserve to create the thread, sir.

Spermy Smurf fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Sep 22, 2012

# ? Sep 22, 2012 02:20

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

Spermy Smurf posted:

I cant stop laughing at this. What the gently caress is this shoolgirl poo poo? I bet 99% of people posting in the old thread had no idea who made it and who deserved the 'SA cred' for it. I have no idea who created this thread if that makes you feel less like a 4 year old girl.

Paid $3 for the prologue and loved it. Its definitely worth it for those of you on the fence of buying it.

Edit: If you are Robert Jordan I am sorry and also terrified. You deserve to create the thread, sir.

Good God man, I was kidding, calm down. I don't give a poo poo, and thought it was kind of funny. And it was totally worth it for the, "You totally got Elaida'd" comment. Sorry it seems to have upset you.

Anyway, I haven't bought the prologue yet, but the spoiler text here is making it extremely tempting. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to hold out.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 02:45

Spermy Smurf: Jul 2, 2004

thrawn527 posted:

Good God man, I was kidding, calm down. I don't give a poo poo, and thought it was kind of funny. And it was totally worth it for the, "You totally got Elaida'd" comment. Sorry it seems to have upset you.

You whined in the other thread too.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 02:49

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

Spermy Smurf posted:

You whined in the other thread too.

Didn't really see it as whining, but saying I'd go ahead and close it if it wasn't needed now, but I guess I can see how it came off that way. My mistake. Really just thought it was kind of funny.

Anyway, I'm done with this derail. I've added the link to the new thread to the end of the book 13 thread.

thrawn527 fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Sep 22, 2012

# ? Sep 22, 2012 02:55

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Streebs posted:

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills dude

I'm really excited for this book, I can't believe I've been reading this series for over a decade. And that's a short amount of time compared to many other fans! Sanderson has given me nothing but confidence that he will do a fantastic job.

I read the prologue too and it was incredible. But who was the person talking with Isam? Was it Cyndane?

I've been reading this for near a decade as well but I cannot remember so many of these characters, like these two in the spoilers. Even looking it up on google I am still lost. I almost want to reread the series to refresh my mush brain and beyond the first few books and the last couple I don't know if I can handle the middle slog. There was one book I remember (maybe it was Winter's Heart) where like nothing happened at all, so much filler, until the end. I really liked the last two Sanderson ones, he really cut down the noise and got back to the main characters as best as possibly anyone could, but still, so many names!

:negative:

# ? Sep 22, 2012 03:31

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

Hondo82 posted:

I've been reading this for near a decade as well but I cannot remember so many of these characters, like these two in the spoilers. Even looking it up on google I am still lost. I almost want to reread the series to refresh my mush brain and beyond the first few books and the last couple I don't know if I can handle the middle slog. There was one book I remember (maybe it was Winter's Heart) where like nothing happened at all, so much filler, until the end. I really liked the last two Sanderson ones, he really cut down the noise and got back to the main characters as best as possibly anyone could, but still, so many names!

I agree, there are some names being mentioned here that I just don't remember. As far as the two names in spoilers, Isam is Slayer/Lord Luc, right? That whole plot always confused me. But Cyndane I know, that's Lanfear reincarnated. Still a Forsaken, but weaker, and being controlled by Moridin.

...right?

# ? Sep 22, 2012 03:36

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE: Aug 1, 2004; whoa, what just happened here?; College Slice

Isam was a child in the Darkfriend noble family who betrayed Malkier (I believe the King's brother? so Isam is Lan's cousin). So he's mentioned in TEoTW already, as lost in the Blight.

He's then directly named in the Darkfriend Prophecy Verin translates in the beginning of TGH, when Fain is let loose from the dungeons in Fal Dara. This same Darkfriend Prophecy also directly mentions Luc. I note that Luc and Isam are the two people directly named in any Prophecy (and this seems to one of those early mis-steps by RJ).

The trolloc army that ravaged the Two Rivers, in the final confrontation at Emond's Field, used Isam's name as a battle call.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 03:49

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

api call girl posted:

The trolloc army that ravaged the Two Rivers, in the final confrontation at Emond's Field, used Isam's name as a battle call.

Oh, yeah, about that. Have there been any concrete theories or explanations as to why they were doing that? Were they sent by him? Is his name famous among them for some reason? I remember when I read that being really curious who that was, and when we'd meet him. And then we didn't hear it again, that I remember, for quite some time after that. And when we did, I couldn't figure out how it was connected.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 04:04

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE: Aug 1, 2004; whoa, what just happened here?; College Slice

thrawn527 posted:

Oh, yeah, about that. Have there been any concrete theories or explanations as to why they were doing that? Were they sent by him? Is his name famous among them for some reason? I remember when I read that being really curious who that was, and when we'd meet him. And then we didn't hear it again, that I remember, for quite some time after that. And when we did, I couldn't figure out how it was connected.

Er, long and rambling write-up here.

There's a couple of plot arcs running in that whole section. One is that the Shadow is very intent on plugging Padan Fain since he turned on his rescue party in TGH and went afield with the Horn of Valere, such that he's become a priority target for Slayer whenever he appears.

Slayer was the one assigned to harrowing the Two Rivers to try to provoke Rand into returning there to be trapped, from the Shadow side. Padan Fain led Whitecloaks from Pedron Niall there to do the same, for his own purposes.

One of the early things in TSR was that once Rand had conquered his first nation (Tear) he was stuck there as a highly visible target, so Sammael had sent trollocs against him, then the DO ordered Semirhage to send trollocs against Sammael's because, well for obvious reasons. Rand realized that staying in one place is a trap so he decided to jump the gun himself and not do anything predictable--such as going back to the Two Rivers himself. Perrin went in his stead, and Perrin at that point didn't rate the effort from the Forsaken group made up of Graendal, Rahvin, Sammael, Lanfear, etc., so Slayer was left basically alone in the Two Rivers to do his thing.

Slayer could, after a fashion, "Travel". Step into T'A'R, imagine himself somewhere else, step out. This made him ideal to command trollocs assigned to him since he could go to any Waygate, open it, let the trollocs who had managed to get past Machin Shin through, without tying up a Forsaken.

So, Slayer's letting trollocs through on some Forsaken's orders to try to lure Rand, Slayer finds "the renegade", Padan Fain, doing the same thing. Slayer doesn't have the resources to take on a full Whitecloak encampment, and he's perennially unable to locate Padan Fain himself, so his frustrations mount. He starts taking it out on the local wildlife both within and without T'A'R, and Perrin finds him and starts stalking him in the Dream.

Once Perrin shuts the Waygate, thousands of trollocs die in the Ways until Slayer reopens the Waygate, then he turns his attention to completing the destruction of the Two Rivers by requesting as many trollocs and Fades as he could get his hands on. He's uncovered in his Luc persona, who in the real world doesn't have all that many powers so he wouldn't go face to face with Perrin there, so he grabs as many trollocs as his Forsaken handler would give him and turns them loose in the Two Rivers, burning Taren Ferry and working inwards towards Emond's Field.

Those trollocs and Fades, by orders, are working directly for Isam.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 04:33

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

api call girl posted:

Isam.

That makes...well, more sense than it did before. Thanks!

# ? Sep 22, 2012 04:58

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

api call girl posted:

Isam was a child in the Darkfriend noble family who betrayed Malkier (I believe the King's brother? so Isam is Lan's cousin). So he's mentioned in TEoTW already, as lost in the Blight.

He's then directly named in the Darkfriend Prophecy Verin translates in the beginning of TGH, when Fain is let loose from the dungeons in Fal Dara. This same Darkfriend Prophecy also directly mentions Luc. I note that Luc and Isam are the two people directly named in any Prophecy (and this seems to one of those early mis-steps by RJ).

It's not a misstep. The Prophecies of the Dragon are vague because they were written thousands of years ago, and possibly also to prevent Darkfriends hunting down the Dragon Reborn in his cradle. The Dark Prophecy is contemporary, and the events including Luc and Isam weren't prophecy at all - they'd already happened. Also, the Dark have good reason for wanting Slayer dead, so revealing his identity to the Light is not a bad play.

Does anyone yet know anywhere to obtain the Prologue outside the US and without massive fiddling?

# ? Sep 22, 2012 09:49

Cartoon Man: Jan 31, 2004

Did anybody mention that Isam and Lord Luc had their souls merged into one? Supposedly that process is whats given him his TAR powers.

Also, Isam killed Janduin (Rand's father) in the blight.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 10:32

navyjack: Jul 15, 2006

Cartoon Man posted:

Did anybody mention that Isam and Lord Luc had their souls merged into one? Supposedly that process is whats given him his TAR powers.

Also, Isam killed Janduin (Rand's father) in the blight.

That was Luc. Janduin wouldn't raise his spears against him because he looked so much like Shaiel/Tigrane.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 11:24

Streebs: Dec 6, 2003; RIP

navyjack posted:

That was Luc. Janduin wouldn't raise his spears against him because he looked so much like Shaiel/Tigrane.

Luc is Rand's uncle too in case anyone didn't know. I don't think it's stated outright in the books and my mind was blown when I realized it.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 20:03

RembrandtQEinstein: Jul 1, 2009; A GOD, A MESSIAH, AN ARCHANGEL, A KING, A PRINCE, AND AN ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE.

Streebs posted:

Luc is Rand's uncle too in case anyone didn't know. I don't think it's stated outright in the books and my mind was blown when I realized it.

There are a million things like this and they all rule.

I hope some of the characters in the books realize these things. Probably won't happen, but ~who knows~

# ? Sep 22, 2012 22:50

Rohan Kishibe: Oct 29, 2011; Frankly, I don't like you
and I never have.

RembrandtQEinstein posted:

There are a million things like this and they all rule.

I hope some of the characters in the books realize these things. Probably won't happen, but ~who knows~

I agree totally. I think it took a while for it to sink in with me that Rand and Galad are brothers.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 23:26

Recursive Expanse: May 4, 2011

Most of the time, these things are noticed. It's a long running joke that I'll never get tired of, that characters will realize these small but likely important connections as a throw-away observation. In this case, I think the first time Perrin see's slayer in TAR, he remarks "That guy could be Rand's uncle", just because of his height and hair/eye color.
The same thing happens with predictions too, like Rand's old mantra that he'd remove his left hand before he'd hurt Min.

# ? Sep 22, 2012 23:31

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 23:31

Ahz: Jun 17, 2001; PUT MY CART BACK? I'M BETTER THAN THAT AND YOU! WHERE IS MY BUTLER?!

$4 well spent. I tell myself I would like to do a full re-read before MoL, but it wont happen.

# ? Sep 23, 2012 00:31

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > WoT:A Memory of Light-By grace and banners fallen, the Last Battle has come

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