I hear what you are saying, but I don't think it maps well on to the WoT as we know it. Remember, Rand is described as the "Lord of Chaos"...and, that is certainly true. But just because the DO and the Forsaken wanted the Lord of Chaos to "rule" doesn't make the DO the embodiment of Chaos...
:) And further --- Semirhage = Cruelty, Messana = Envy/Jealousy (she wanted to be a researcher but didn't measure up), Rhavin = Lust (for Power). Very Catholic (and I say that as a Catholic. :) ). D.GOOCH
I don't see how you get there. The pattern is balance -- good balanced by evil. This is why Rand's t'averen effect had good and bad outcomes, but when the Dark One was touching the pattern too strongly, it shifted over to purely good outcomes (to balance the imbalance introduced by the Dark...
The Dark One doesn't represent an elimination of choice. The Dark One is the choice (or one of the options of the choice between Evil/Shadow vs. Good/Light). The Dark One is Evil. Selfishness. Greed. Vanity. Jealousy. The view of Good/Evil put forward by RJ is very Catholic. Note how the...
In my head, I heard the theme from Excalibur throughout the LB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6kellint2M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8vOC0gte0
D.GOOCH
Or, perhaps Shadar Logoth and it's particular kind of evil is unique to this Turn, because the way that the Dark One tainted the source is unique --- Shadar Logoth was the Pattern's response, in this Turn, to the 'unique' counterstroke of the Shadow for this Turn. IOW, "uniqueness" in this...
But wait, the Pattern allows change (i.e. uniqueness). That is explicit. Every thread can weave a number of different ways that the Pattern can accomodate. Even t'averen have a bit of leeway in making choices (the Pattern allows for even variation there). I've read nothing in the series that...
I've read through your argument here in this thread, but I don't get this point. What about it doesn't make sense? I get that you don't like it, and that it doesn't fit your previous theory. What I don't get is why you think the ending doesn't "make sense"...or is somehow inconsistent with...
Aspects of the series where choice is intergal:
1) The Dark One "turns" channellers to the Shadow, against their will, by removing their capacity for real choice. The series clearly establishes that this is a fate worse than death.
2) Compulsion is considered inherently evil, and the worst...
Hi Kass! Thank you for the welcome. When I was younger, my favorite character was Rand. Then, in the middle of the series, Mat was my favorite character. Mat handled by Sanderson hasn't been a favorite (I don't think Sanderson got Mat's character/voice right)...though it improves in AMoL. I...
Hopper. He had "known Death" is scarred (hence "broken") and "falls." Not really sure how that was supposed to shake "will" itself...unless "men" is just Perrin (the Fallen Blacksmith). Of course, I'm not sure whether Dark Prophecies are supposed to be fulfilled. Really -- would it make...
I agree with a number of your points (though I wouldn't say I'm disappointed -- I was mostly satisfied with this book. Especially when I compare it to, say, most of POD...or the awfulness that was COT). One of my meta-criticisms of Sanderson's trilogy is that a number of the plot resoultions...
Hello. I've been reading WOT since 1991 and had some involvement with explicating some of the theroies of WOT back in the 1990's. I've mostly stayed away from the online communities to avoid spoliers the past decade or so. Now that the series is done...I want to talk about it! ;) D.GOOCH
I agree. And while that's true...I guess I come back to -- this isn't REAL large-scale battle -- this is an epic fantasy novel with an existential battle between good and evil. The epically good should have...epic deaths. And even if we needed one or two 'real' deaths among the cast of...