Jordan, Sanderson and King Roedran... and Bela too

[Dravid ter'Mand]

Brandon Sanderson (/u/mistborn on Reddit) commented on a thread in Reddit's Wheel of Time subreddit which asked if Rand's suspicion of King Roedran as Demandred was simply lip service to the fans.

It's impossible to separate Brandon the fan from Brandon the writer, so I can't say 100% certain what things I wrote because of fandom influence and which I wrote because the story demanded it. I tried to separate the two while working on the project, but who knows. Bela is a good example. Did I know Bela needed to have a role in the ending because it was thematically promised by her relevance to the earlier books, or did I put her in because the fan in me couldn't imagine an ending where Bela didn't show up? Is there a difference?

For what it's worth, with Roedran, when I was plotting that scene my thoughts went like this: "Rand HAS to have a theory on who Demandred is. Following the way he's thought before, and the places he's found the Forsaken, I think Roedran is going to be his prime suspect." His comment was meant to be an acknowledgement of this, not a nod to fans. There were a ton of fan theories about Demandred; this was the one Rand arrived at himself.

But, as I said above, this might have been my thought process--but writing is an instinctive process, and thoughts are often less relevant than what your gut tells you. The gut reason could easily have been a direct reaction to fan theories.

As a side note, if it wasn't clear, this was me, not RJ--though Merrilor is one of the sequences with a lot of hybridizing between the two of us. Moiraine's appearance later in this scene, for example, was his.

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/2de52v/jordan_sanderson_and_king_roedran/

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Interesting ...

 

[LordOfBattle]

I'm still at lost as to why bella died a pointless unfit death. When egwene died I cried but how bella died left me confused and annoyed.

 

[Sabriane Diamodred]

I'm still at lost as to why bella died a pointless unfit death. When egwene died I cried but how bella died left me confused and annoyed.

In wars, and life, there are a lot of pointless and unfit deaths. I think it speaks to RJ's genius that that not everyone makes it, and when they don't it's not always for some grand reason. Some deaths are just horrid and unfair.

 

[Axis m'Troutilas]

In wars, and life, there are a lot of pointless and unfit deaths. I think it speaks to RJ's genius that that not everyone makes it, and when they don't it's not always for some grand reason. Some deaths are just horrid and unfair.

That one is down to Harriet being a poor writer in my opinion, she should never have been in charge of making plot decisions.

 

[Rhandhal al'Deez]

That one is down to Harriet being a poor writer in my opinion, she should never have been in charge of making plot decisions.

It's just a horse, and there was nobody else who knew what Jordan wanted better than his wife.