Spoiler alert MoL last scene Hook

[Fanatic Mr Fox]

I read a review of A Memory of Light, in which the blogger gave aMoL and the WoT series, five-out-of-ten. I am a WoT fanatic, and found the blog/review hilarious. But what astounded me the most, was the blogger told of how Robert Jordan said there was a 'hook' in the last scene, and then went on to say that for the life of him, he could not see that 'hook'; I had to laugh.
But then again, no one seems to be talking about the 'hook' and I wondered why.
The 'hook' got me good! (Laughter and Tears indeed Mr Jordan.)

Did you get the 'hook'?

Are we even allowed to talk of the 'hook' on open forums? or will it anger the Empress?

 

[Syera Faelron]

Re: The 'Hook'.

MOD NOTE:

It would be defined as a spoiler, so you would have to contain it in a spoiler tag.

 

[Elya Trimrode]

The hook?

 

[Axis m'Troutilas]

RJ always planned from the beginning to plant a 'hook' in the last scene, a teaser for an unresolved issue.

He liked the idea of it seeming like the world would go on even after the books were ended.

 

[Almira ni'Caldazare]

There were quite a few questions left unanswered at the end of the series. There are so many side characters that there have to bd a few loose ends unless there are about ten more books. I am happy with the over-all ending in AMoL!

 

[Fanatic Mr Fox]

Thank you Syera Faelron for reposting my original question.
When I originally posted the 'hook' , I thought I was going mad because no one was talking about it, but after an extensive reread and reading Liegh Butlers reread, I am convinced I have got the 'hook' right and also see the deliberate attempt by team Jordan to conceal it.
At first I wanted nothing more than to shout from the peak of Dragonmount just how brilliant RJ's story is and the amazing complexity of RJ's woven tale, but unfortunately I now know the 'hook' is not my story to tell.
I hope and pray Harriet will unveil it to everyone in the proposed WoT's encyclopedia but I understand if she doesn't.
I admit it took three days after I finished aMoL for the 'hook' to dawn on me... ('he who comes with the dawn!' absolutely priceless!). The 'hook' bit me hard and honestly broke my heart whilst filling it with a brilliant lance of light.
If you are interested in what I think the 'hook' is you can email me, but I will not post it online...
(fanaticmrfox@gmail.com)

 

[Axis m'Troutilas]

If you are interested in what I think the 'hook' is you can email me, but I will not post it online...
(fanaticmrfox@gmail.com)

Why not?

Seems to me that the best place to discuss this is right here if you have a theory or an opinion.

 

[Aulrick Vendour]

Yeah... Your phrasing sounds like "well I have no idea what the 'hook' is, so I'll post as if I know it hoping someone will write what it is."

I didn't see any "hook," the ending seemed rather straightforward to me, even if not all questions were answered.

 

[Fanatic Mr Fox]

Ok. If I am an EelFinn, then so be it.
I think…
…the Author of the Wheel of Time series was the victim of unspeakable tragedy at an early age in his life, symbolized in metaphor as ‘the Bore’ created by the Forsaken’s thirst for power.

Consider the Horn of Valere as a metaphor for the entire Wheel of Time series. Think of little Olver trapped in a hole, clawed at by terrifying horrors, sounding a Horn, not for Glory but for Salvation.

For me, the final piece in the ‘Black Smith’s puzzle’ was Egwene’s death. I mourned the loss of her character for a couple of days, but then ‘He’ came with the dawn…
Who does Egwene become?

What if a man, grown from a boy with tragedy in his past, told us all a deeply personal story in the guise of an epic fantasy tale? What if he fractured his very Being into archetypal male characters and wove them into a story with the people in his life who meant everything to him… and some that didn’t.

What if Lan Mandragoran, the king whose kingdom was taken from him, is the unyielding and noble warrior in RJ? ‘A man whose family was taken from him, but who stood tall in his sorrow and protected those he could.’ And what if Nyneave is the naïve healer in Harriet? One of ‘Those who fight’; ‘a Woman who refused to believe that she could not help, could not heal those who had been harmed.’

What if Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn and Kin-Slayer’s descendant, is the part of RJ that was strong enough to become the Man he needed to be to heal a rift? A man who felt the weight of Duty like a Mountain, but who shouldered it with Courage and Honor. A man who knew he was ‘the only one we know for certain will not walk away from this fight.’ Are Rand’s three Angels the loves throughout RJ’s life? …Come on people, if Aviendha isn’t a woman RJ met in the Army, then I’ll eat Matt’s hat!

What if Perrin, the simple blacksmith, whose family was brutally taken from him, is that part of RJ that struggled with his ‘inner wolf’?Who spurned the Axe for the Hammer and was reluctant to lead others to fight his battles, but is solid and dependable, and protected the Dragon by doing what he couldnot. Does that first scene with Zarine and Perrin alone in the Winespring inn mean so much more than we first thought? It breaks my heart, but in keeping her Blacksmith alive, was Harriet always doomed to Faile?

What if Matt, the gambler and canny general, is that part of RJ that took a wager and lost half the light of the world to the snakes and the foxes, to save his world? A general who marshaled his forces when all hope seemed lost, and pulled a glorious victory from the jaws of certain defeat. ‘A hero who insisted with every breath that he was anything but a hero.’ How many people have picked up their own ruby hilted daggers, only to have it turn on them? I admit freely that I fear the wraith of the Empress by writing this.

What ifThom, the story-telling bard who angered a queen, and saved a fool boy is RJ also? Did Moiraine -the prophetic woman- set RJ on a path to write us an ‘exquisite’ story?

What if Loial, the servant of the written word, and lover of nature, is RJ too? Remember, ‘he had a book to finish’. I’ve never seen Harriet’s ears, but I’m sure they’re as lovely as Erith’s.

Then there is little Olver…
…the innocent child who lost his Father to the Shaido and his Mother to a wasting illness… is that the boy in RJ that was brave enough to cry out for help? Sounding a horn of Salvation loudly for all of us to hear. Don’t we all owe a debt to Noal, for pulling our Dragon from the darkest of holes?

The more you look, the more of RJ is revealed in every word. From the craggy monument to Lews Therin’s pride-filled down fall, to Androl’s massive gateways spilling the contents of Dragonmount on to the forces of evil. Astounding literary imagery coupled with the power of genuine metaphor… you will never read another story like it.

I bet when Harriet gave Brandon RJ’s notes, he made an uncannily similar yell to Vanin’s, when the horse thief went looking for a stash of two rivers’ leaf and stumbled across the Horn of Valere.

About three days after I closed A Memory of Light, it dawned on me… it’s all a true story!

So there is the ‘Hook’…Lan or al’Lan became Allan, and Rand al’Thor became Randal, giving way to the name Allan Randal; the blazing white part of the ancient symbol of Aes Sedai, with the Dark One gripped firmly in his clenched fist.

Brutally on the flipside, my sorrow for the loss of Egwene became despair at the thought of what the title of Amyrlin must mean…Amy Lynn Randal. Consider the imagery of Egwene’s sacrificial Flame of Tar Valon on the bleakest field of black as the opposite Saa. Think of when Rand says to Egwene, ‘You’re like the sister I never had’… even till this day it still hurts; imagine what RJ went through.

I’ve read how some fans felt short changed by the ending. At not been given that ‘Elysian Fields’ moment, where all the heroes get together and sing the ‘Yub Nub’. Can’t you see the reunion of heroes in the Author? It could end no other way.

For me, as some who grew up without a father, reading of how Lan taught Rand to stand and fight, has resonated with me immensely, and now I honestly feel like a son of the Dragon. The ‘Flame and the Void’taught me peace of mind, and ‘his’ story fills me with inspiration daily. To be taught the true meaning of words like Honor, Courage, Duty, Obligation, and Sacrifice in the most Epic way possible means everything to me. That is why I felt like I shouldn’t post this.

How could I honor a man who means so much to me, by setting a bunch of ‘Snakes’ onto those who he loves? It just feels wrong.I mean, the only way to prove if I’m right, is to harangue a grieving widow; that aint gunna happen.

So there it is… In my opinion The Wheel of Time is actually a masters’ piece of brilliantly woven metaphorically themed semiautobiographical non-fiction, which becomes fiction as the Dragon wanders off into the sunset smoking that ‘impossible’ pipe.Exquisite.

In my country of New Zealand, our greatest hero is ‘Sir Ed’; a man who first conquered the world’s highest peak. To me, the Author I know as Robert Jordan is a man of the same substance; no one can say RJ didn’t conquer his own mountain. Be proud of him America; a national treasure he may well be.

N Lancaster.

 

[Axis m'Troutilas]

This obviously means a lot to you, so I hesitate to make this reply.

Yes most authors take aspects of their personalities and use them as basis for characters, and yes even events from their lives as inspiration too, that is to be expected.

But saying "The Wheel of Time is actually a masters’ piece of brilliantly woven metaphorically themed semiautobiographical non-fiction" is really drawing a long bow in my opinion.

But if you like the idea more than just a talented author writing a great story, well good for you I guess.

 

[Aulrick Vendour]

What if a man, grown from a boy with tragedy in his past, told us all a deeply personal story in the guise of an epic fantasy tale? What if he fractured his very Being into archetypal male characters and wove them into a story with the people in his life who meant everything to him… and some that didn’t.

Than he'd be like many other authors out there? :scratch

most authors take aspects of their personalities and use them as basis for characters, and yes even events from their lives as inspiration too, that is to be expected.

But saying "The Wheel of Time is actually a masters’ piece of brilliantly woven metaphorically themed semiautobiographical non-fiction" is really drawing a long bow in my opinion.

^This.

I think the reason you seem to be very excited over this is that you perhaps find a lot of yourself in this series. There is no "wrong" or "right" here. One's interpretation of a story depends on one's self. I'm not sure most writers put of themselves in their characters knowingly. And so the amount of equality between the characters and author depends on how much others see of him in them.

But either way, I fail to see how this is considered a "hook" in the plot...

 

[Fanatic Mr Fox]

Sweet as mate. A long bow it is for sure, but that is the point. The part you highlighted is just my ego driven conjecture, clumsily trying to describe... what exactly?

Writers obviously personalize their work, and writing is an art form subject to the Eyes of the Beholder... 'Fire to Blind'.

We all tend to see what we want to see. When I read, I try to put my ego down with my book mark, but it doesn't always work. Although I do admit, I have invisioned myself as Rand a 'few' -ahem- times.

I didn't know RJ said there was a 'Hook' in the last scene until I read this idiot's review of aMoL.

A filed interview asked RJ if he was in tWoT and he said NO!

It must be all in my head then... damn those voices!

 

[Axis m'Troutilas]

A filed interview asked RJ if he was in tWoT and he said NO!
!

Well technically in RJ's typically subtle way he did write himself into the story in a small cameo as a Library ter'angreal storing thousands of thousands of books. Something I always thought appropriate.

Interview: Jan 25th, 2005

TOR Questions of the Week Part II (Verbatim)

Week 23 Question

In The Path of Daggers, Unweaving, Elayne discovers a ter'angreal that looks like: 'A stout, bearded man with a jolly smile, holding a book.' Was this a sneaky cameo appearance by yourself?

Robert Jordan
Well, I may not be Alfred Hitchcock, but I do like to show up now and then.

 

[Fanatic Mr Fox]

Aw hell, RJ's turned me into a crazy WoT conspiracy theorist!!

*sniff sniff* What does Masema smell like? the 'Church of WheelofTimeology ' anyone??

When I see M'hael, i see Michael...

Amyrlin cancels out M'hael...

Like James Oliver Rigney's, robert JORdan, I see something similar in the name MORidin.

Lanfear becomes Allan's fear...

Merrilor is Merril...

al'Lan's back story...

Olver's back story...

Bella means Beautiful Girl! (a little horse just brought a tear to my eye; damn you RJ!)

Empress Fortuona is Harriet the Editor...

ENOUGH! Either you see it or you don't, or i'm seeing what I want to see, or a King is protecting a Queen from rude and intrusive questions, or...

Whatever way you look at it, tWoT is a heroic undertaking from a brilliant Author. I just thought this 'hook' business added something truly special to RJ's WoT and the whole Heroic Fantasy genre in general.