2015 Re-Readalong: Dragon Reborn

About Liandrin, Mother, we find out a little later that she has a "trick" with the Power. It isn't Compulsion, but she can use it to make it easier to convince people to do what she wants. But she can only use it to make them easier to persuade; she isn't able to make someone do something that they would never do.

Also, you're dead right Mother about the number of Forsaken that are dead beyond retrieval, it's just Be'lal at that point.

OK, so the question of who Compulsed Juilin is still open. Hrm.

That question has been bothering me since it first came up, Mother. We'll all have to keep a careful eye out for any hints dropped in the upcoming books; maybe Juilin makes some tiny comment about it down the road. If we don't get any more information about it, I think the most likely scenario is Be'lal did the Compulsion; perhaps the Black Ajah caught him snooping around and reported it to Be'lal to find out what he wanted done about it. Since Be'lal is the Netweaver, he would probably think it would be much more productive to use Juilin in that manner, rather than outright killing him.

I'm glad you brought up Juilin's comment Mother, about how the High Lord doesn't look so special, unconscious on the floor like that. That was a poignant little moment.

If Ingtar had been around longer, I might be more inclined to agree. We didn't get too much of him though, he barely evolved beyond an archetype character.

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Just because he is an archtype does not mean he is bad, also if you look at his actions through book 2 under the knowledge that he suspects who Rand really is, which turns some of their conversations a bit.

"You are a bit young, but I think you have it in you Rand"

and his feverish desire to get the horn, he thinks that The Dragon has been reborn and desperately wants to break from the shadow because the hope of winning, that Humanity might not be washed away has appeared and he is desperate to come back to the light before the last battle.

Why do the Aiel kneel? Aiel don't kneel.

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It is a Cop out Mother, but Ta'veren.

Eeeeeh, maybe. They do end up doing things that are out of character (like settling the blood feud). But this just seems really really wrong, and the Aiel never do anything like it again (do they?).

I'll have to add this to my growing list of "Things to Watch Out For"... This bothers me too, Mother; from what I know of the Aiel, I think bowing like this would shame them to their bones. If I had to come up with a reason for it, my guess would be this:

Since they're all fighting the Tairen Defenders when Rand appears with Callandor, the Aiel see all the Tairens bow in submission. Maybe the Aiel assume that bowing to Rand is the "wetlander" way of surrendering, or announcing their intentions to stop fighting? The Aiel think wetlanders are so strange and don't understand them, maybe they want to be sure that they use a gesture that will be understood.

Sure, it's a bit flimsy, but that's the best I can come up with...

It's possible Jordan screwed up, too.

Rhed al'Tere said:

It's possible Jordan screwed up, too.

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*gasp*

Nooooooo!





You're probably right. :P

Certainly a possibility, Mother, there are a few inconsistencies scattered around. Perhaps at that point, Robert Jordan hadn't fleshed out the Aiel society.

Remember, this is the end of a book, when all the Aiel society stuff does not come until the next book I don't know how long it was between those books, but he might not have thought out all the Aiel stuff yet...

After all, Robert Jordan was only human Which he proved when he died on us before giving us the end