Would you have preferred a different ending?

[Silencia Roamadred]

Simple question - do you think Rand being "resurrected" in Moridins body to be a cheap trick? Or do you think it works? Would you have preferred to see Rand make the ultimate sacrifice in his death, or was the abandonment of his life enough of a sacrifice to make it worthwhile?

Any thoughts?

 

[Arella Mathara]

@Silencia Roamadred, could you please edit your thread title so it's not a spoiler? There are people using the "New posts" function and haven't finished the books

 

[Silencia Roamadred]

I've done that now. Really sorry - I posted it in the Wheel of Time Spoilers section which has spoilers for all books. I didn't think about the title!

I'll be more mindful about my thread titles in future as I definitely don't want to spoil anyone's reading experience.

 

[Arella Mathara]

Thank you!

 

[Elyas]

Part of being a satisfying conclusion is that it surprises us. We lost Egwene, which was heartbreaking, and Rand - whom we expected to die - lives on. The stage was set for it nicely with the appearance of the female Dragon (forgetting her name) to Aviendha on her way to Rhuidean, without that scene, the ending would not have worked.

It also kind of fits the source material - the Dragon is clearly a savior/Christ archetype, so there's an obvious parallel with bodily resurrection occurring after his sacrifice provides that salvation.

 

[Silencia Roamadred]

Part of being a satisfying conclusion is that it surprises us. We lost Egwene, which was heartbreaking, and Rand - whom we expected to die - lives on. The stage was set for it nicely with the appearance of the female Dragon (forgetting her name) to Aviendha on her way to Rhuidean, without that scene, the ending would not have worked.

It also kind of fits the source material - the Dragon is clearly a savior/Christ archetype, so there's an obvious parallel with bodily resurrection occurring after his sacrifice provides that salvation.

I'll be honest - I kind of expected Rand to survive. As we had seen the Forsaken souls placed into new bodies I did expect Rand to survive - I didn't see it as a cheap plot device though, it was very well done.

Your point about Egwene is a really good point and something I did not consider - we did see Sacrifice it just maybe wasn't where we expected it to come from, although Egwene was always selfless and willing to stand up for others, her being the one to create a weave which literally heals the pattern is quite fitting.

 

[Linkelivar Miou'Mai]

I would have preferred for Rand to have been reborn in Lewis Therin's body.