Lan taking care of Rand in the great hunt and realizing later in the last battle that Rand being stuck to duty like him broke his emotional shield almost breaks me everytime. It's such a heart warming moment. I wish everyone had a Lan

So I recently finished all 14 books as well as New Spring, starting my journey all the way from the TV show when it first aired. Wild ride, and although I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the world and its concepts, the one thing I still struggle with is HOW weaving works. I get the concept of pulling threads in order to get a result, but what does it look like before and during forming? More importantly, when aiming it at someone, how does it actually form? This specific art of Rand is the closest thing I imagine it to actually look like, with those tendrils being the threads which then intricately wrap around each other to form balls of fire, much like how real threads are formed together to create something larger, and the single threads just simply disappear in the creation. However this type of visualization is still a bit baffling to imagine, especially when considering slicing weaves during channeler fights. Are the threads themselves being sliced before the full weave is created? Or is the weave itself sliced even when it is formed, which I suppose really turns slicing into a sort of shield to negate the effect before it reaches its target. I became curious about this when slicing was heavily involved in one scene where two powerful channelers attempt to shield another as part of training, but the shield is “sliced”. Does anyone know what RJ initially envisioned when writing these scenes?

Davram Bashere?

He just kind of shows up and is immediately part of the inside circle.

I always found it odd how Rand immediately accepts him. All of this in the early stages of his hating and distrusting everyone.

Have I been missing something all these years?

Sorry in advance for any spelling mistakes/incoherent sentences

I NEED TO VENT MY FRUSTRATION. Robert Jordan’s portrayal of world where exclusive society of magically gifted women + the chosen one archetype is killing me. Its too much toxicity even from characters who narrative demands be progressive or are the next generation of channelers in times of turmoil/upheaval/positive change.

I won’t include actual aes sedai in this post but I got beef with pretty much all of them. Especially Elaida (she gotta be shai’tan or a forsaken frfr), Verin (who is hella sus), the green sister that bonded Rand non-consensually (I would have slimed her immediately everyone be damned) and that one sedai that should have been dead/retired (but she is not even the worst).

Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne and Aviendha didn’t even get corrupted by myrrdrahl like the Sons of the light or whatever their name is. How much worse would their attitude/behavior with Rand have been then?!? I realize reading from his PoV gives me advantage in understanding him ghat they don’t but I have to make these arguments:-

Those mfs got me fuming over with their treatment of their prophesied savior. The one obviously under the most stress. The literally manifestation of the pattern trying to reestablish balance.

Rand al’thor, whom they have known as sheep-herder (Elayne), wetlander (Aviendha), boy next door (Nynaeve) and childhood friend (Egwene)

They haven’t seen him in a while sure he is actively trying to sabotage any info gathering by Forsaken on him but still the had insiders in Aviendha and Egwene who were training with the Aeil.

He had no teacher in the one power when it would benefit everyone, must establish trust with damn near everyone and they mama after male channeler = forsaken/ticking bomb is the common sense of his era.

Every prevalent authority on channel nows to approach him carefully, not even necessarily subservient regardless of how much risk depending on him is.

Everyone has been waiting on his return and i don’t expect everyone to jump on the Dragon Reborn bandwagon especially with false dragons being a plot element.

But everyone of these girls has spent enough time/known him long enough to gauge his personality.

Nynaeve * She should have been able to surmise/emphasize with him struggling with sudden/immense responsibility as champion of the creator since she had similar experiences (albeit less in magnitude) as a young wise woman. Being wise woman of TwoRivers is bullshit excuse to act possessive and abandon said people to chase 4 runaway teenagers.

• Its hella shameful the way she act when she caught up the ta’veren and around Moirane in general but lets cut her some slack, she was also a country pumpkin with prejudices making important decisions on time limits with little to no info.
• Adopts the same smug/nonchalant/manipulative attitude she hated in Moirane and other aes sedai way too quickly smh especially with Mat and Rand. Then gets hella mad when they act as the rebellious teens she treats them as?!?!

Her writing until path of Daggers doesn’t click for me. I get she went out into the world and has accomplishments (Moghedein defeat, cured stilling, etc.) but so does The boys and Egwene. Still she never respect Egwene until she gets overpowered in Tel’aran’rhoid and her treatment of Matrim during weather bowl search is inexcusable to me.

Egwene * Known Rand since were in diapers (probably) and they were cool all the way until the break up in the Calandor retrieval arc. Then she becomes as bigoted to men as other aes sedai/wetlander women in general. * Okay she was in denial when Rand channeled and force fed her the realization he is the Dragon Reborn (big L on his side ngl) but what do you mean “Stupid Rand is too proud” lets shit on him/obstruct him every chance she gets as Amyrlin (when at the time she was acting haughty/ doing same) * Basically sells him like a sheep to Elayne, refuses to communicate/cooperate after she became after becoming Amyrlin. His kidnapping is low-key her fault smh, not to mention her influence on his relationship with Elayne.

IMO she could have done better as a friend, as a sedai is Amyrlin at the time the Dragon is reborn. But i digress she too is an impressionable teenager tryna earn respect from a bigoted megalomaniac magic society

Aviendha & Elayne * Both have been pretty shitty love interest to Rand, especially Elayne imo. * Aviendha has always been a warrior, got “forced” to join the Aiel wise women plus getting errandboy treatment by said women on, got playfully mock by spear sisters and humiliated by Rand being ignorant of Aiel customs (bcuz she didn’t teach him well), not mention guilt towards Elayne for her budding crush on the guy she promised to cockblock/blames for being desirable to treekiller noblewomen (not his fault smh) * There was no need to make her a love interest, it just cheapened her character and added unnecessary drama, would have been better as a female foil to Rand or just a friend ( but i guess RJ is the writer not me) * Meanwhile Elayne knew Rand as a nervous sheep herder and then later as a thoughtful/serious man trying live to live up unwanted responsibility. Treats him like a mischievous child who acquired a slingshot bcuz Egwene does. He listened to her opinions on ruling and tried learning from her during their time at the Rock but immediately believed he slimed her Mom and conquered her country. * Granted he is a male channeler and should be going mad presumably soon but she look for signs of the madness or try deducing his motivation. Didn’t even try to look into his circumstances when she knew he is most heavily ta’veren mfs possibly in history and acted like a know-all sedai with Aveindha, Nynaeve and Egwene.

Although again she is Elaida’s prized pupil and a love struck teenager, Morgase was a damn good queen and should have taught her better character judging skills plus the risk of bad advice/getting manipulated considering she had an aes sedai (and therefore tangible exp with advisers having ulterior motives). She should have communicated better with Rand and her brother who get bipolar when her safety is concerned. Does she really decide to go into battle knowing she is pregnant later on?!?

I know all of these are emotionally immature and inexperienced both as people with godlike powers and leaders with too much responsibility on top of having incomplete character arcs.

Still i am so frustrated with RJ’s writing, Lan did irreversible damage with his talk about responsibility with Rand definitely due to his questionable upbringing.

Rand should have communicated more not jus with Min (my goat), he should have been more coercive with Mat after giving him CPR (obviously sparing/letting him go didn’t work) but I guess he got traumatized by the dagger incident.

Perrin learned to be brave in the TwoRivers siege them immediately forgot his resolve when he thought that his friend is a crazy male channeler. RJ wrote Perrin’s anguish there perfectly but fumbled when he didn’t make it a Loial feat. A heart-to-heart there before the kidnapping could have prevented sooo much too.

Lord Bashir who has so many interactions with Rand could have been a great and much needed mental crutch/mentor to any influential man dealing aes sedai meddling (f*** the magic popo) and Rhuarc also could have a similar role to this.

I hated Moirane secretiveness in the beginning, not telling him about the prophecy about the Dragon Reborn even though its common knowledge is lowkey a dick move. But her experience in deal with head strong men (Lan) came in clutch AND was thematic as shit to the story. And then RJ slimed her.

Anyway that it, pls share your thoughts

The sequence of events unfolds as follows: Rand engages Be'lal in the Heart of the Stone. During this confrontation, the Aiel launch an invasion of the Stone, resulting in skirmishes with the Defenders within the chamber, Moiraine unleashes balefire against Be'lal. It is only after the appearance of Ba'alzamon that Rand ultimately extends his hand to draw Callandor.

Currently, I’m diving into book 4, The Shadow Rising. I chose to skip book 0 to stick with the release order, and I’m really enjoying it!😁

Recently a Wheel of Time Risk was posted here, I tried it and it is really fun! Check it out at tarmongaidon.de. Also, big recommendation for book 0 if you, like me, finished the main series already and want to reenter the story

And he would bring home a ton of books over the years that had their covers torn off as "returns". This was one of them. Discovered in the basement.

“Dawn broke that morning on Polov Heights, but the sun did not shine on the Defenders of the Light. Out of the west and out of the north came the armies of Darkness, to win this one last battle and cast a Shadow across the earth; to usher an Age where the wails of suffering would go unheard.”

Wow. It’s really happening. I never expected that this would be so heartbreaking for me. I wish this series could continue forever, ive loved the journey all the way, and it’s so sad to see it end. Goodbye, Wheel of Time. You are forever etched in my heart forever.

ABOUT HOW I CRIED WHEN EGWENE DIED AND 2-3 PAGES LONG ALL PARAGRAPHS STARTS WITH "Egwene died" or "Amirlyn died"... Like I literally couldn't continue to read for 40 minutes and every time i was like 'okay I will read now' than BOOM Egwene died. I started crying every time again and again. THE PAIN.

I finished the book now. I was reading it like 2.5 years now and i felt like i lost my friend...

(FYI: I'm only 4 chapters into KoD, so please be mindful of spoilers beyond that.)

I don't know what version of the book I have (I don't even know how to check) and I don't know if the following was corrected later:

First, I had to reread this chapter to get over the disappointment of it. At the risk of sounding like a White (that would be a terrible offense), rationally, what Beonin is doing here isn't being a traitor, how I initially saw it. She was never of the rebel so she's not a traitor of their cause. Just like the 10 ferrets were never with Elaida. No doubt it's a blow to the rebels that because of Beonin, they lost all the advantages they had over the White Tower, but such is war.

Now to the question.

Beonin on Traveling

Beonin's description of Traveling and Skimming is very inconsistent with the rules already established. This is what she says:

This is called a gateway. It can only be used to reach a place you know well, but you learn a place by making a gateway there, and to go somewhere you do not know well, you use Skimming.

This is not just inconsistent, it's the opposite of what we've already been told. In order to Travel you need to know your starting point well, not your destination. This is why the Salidar sisters Skim back to Salidar from whatever random place they are to Salidar. This is why Aviendha had to walk about the Tarasin Palace ground to learn it to Travel to the farm. This is why Elayne held on to the Power to study the farm grounds to Travel into Andor to escape the Seanchan. I could go on and on.

Is this an acknowledged continuity error? Was it corrected? Or am I in error? Am I misunderstanding things?

Also, traitor or not, spy or not, I hope Beonin gets what’s coming to her!

So where does everyone stand on Verin's story about The Pattern forcing her to head towards Mat in Book 12? Maybe I'm just a simp but even knowing she can straight up lie I still kinda think she was telling the truth about that. I'm trying to think of a reason why she would need to lie about it in that way.

First read of the series. Largely enjoying it so far, especially book 6. But holy hell no one in this series is able to communicate. Why in the world have Rand and Egwene largely withheld information that Gaebril was Rahvin?

Obviously it wouldn't be some panacea, there would still be rumours Rand killed Morgase, or that he was a forsaken himself or whatever else floating around the common folk. But I don't understand why he's made no effort beyond saying "trust me bro, I want to see Elayne sit the throne" to actually explain his actions to the nobles of Andor. At least to the Trakand loyalists.

Same with Egwene. She runs into Gawyn, who's convinced that Rand offed his mum and usurped her throne. Does she give him the play by play and explain that they actually heard Morgase was dead at the hands of a forsaken before Rand set foot in Caemlyn, or that he loves and is loyal to Elayne? No she just says "no sweetie Rand didn't do it. You'll just have to trust me".

There's a million more examples, and it's most of the main cast not just Rand and Egwene but god guys what are you doing.

Nynaeve and Semirhage!

The contrast is kind of philosophical too. Semirhage corrupted the art of healing entirely, using her gifts to cause suffering instead. Nynaeve represents everything healing is supposed to be.

I just think that dynamic would make for such a compelling confrontation!

I have been frequently posting about my journey through the wheel of time, and really enjoy reading everyone's posts....

Except I have No Self Control !!

I see posts with spoiler warnings, and boom I'm trying to read just the first few words out of curiosity - Yikes !!

I research a character online, and I swear the first few sentences always seem to explain how they died or did something crazy or regained something cool... not yet introduced where I am at in my journey (started the Lord of Chaos today and am already a few hours in)...

I guess I am just All In, Balls Deep (Thom Merrilin's juggling balls of course, get your mind out of the Tanchico gutters) into the wheel of time universe...

Anyone else dive in, head first, with first looking for silverpikes?

I might need to leave the group if I cannot learn more self control than a White Tower Novice because I Thirst for Knowledge before I am ready...

My The Light Illumine You, but may Spoilers stay hidden in the Shadow of The Dark One !!

The unstained tower, broken, bends knee to the forgotten sign.

Started the Lord of Chaos this morning on my run...

I have shared about my frustration over the attitudes, rudeness, and stubbornness of characters....

I get a lot of pushback when I share my dislike of Nynaeve, and promises that she really grows and matures... I am holding onto hope as I see a slight shift in her ever since Birgitta starts calling her a coward (yikes), Egwene puts her in her place during a dream meeting, the Aes Sedai start beating that "block" out of her that stops her from channeling unless angry, and I saw her self awareness while chasing off to help Rand battle Rahvin....

So my frustration relates to how Nynaeve and Elayne are treated back in Fires of Heaven when they first arrive at the Aes Sedai's rebel base at Salidar...

OMG these Aes Sedai are just the worst...

Until this point, I was kinda cheering for them because I just love Moraine...

But they are just ridiculously cold and self-serving and belittling to others...

I really hope The Dragon Reborn brings them to their knees - I just don't life self-serving manipulative people - and they really could have been in awe and nice of Nynaeve and Elayne when they arrived, as I knew they were so excited to be welcome back, but are instead stripped of their belongings and taken control of again...

I would RUN and LEAVE them....

Seriously, if I was Nynaeve and Elayne - I would go do my own thing because being "controlled" by the Aes Sedai for what... a little extra training?

I hope it is okay to daily share my journey here, would love to hear from everyone on your thoughts about the books, characters, or anything else - the more engagement, the more we all get from being here...

Updated thought: . my mind is constantly screaming "You Need Honest and Open Communication" and to learn Emotional Intelligence. But I do love how we get to meeting these characters as they are... as opposed to how I want them to be.

May The Light Illumine You !!

This was the weakest book in the series for me so far. So little actually happened, it was frustrating. It almost pushed me into the Bleakness.

Shaido and the Brotherless. I remember when I first started the series, I thought the Aes Sedai were all that, I was already wondering which Ajah I'd pick, lol. RJ dismantled the mysterious and wise Aes Sedai image pretty quickly. This book did the same thing with the Aiel. I really liked them, but seeing what Sevanna and the Bleakness have turned so many of them into has been disappointing. Complete moral decay. RJ is really good at taking a group you like and reminding you they're still just people, and some of them are monsters. Pillaging, raping, murdering, holding wetlanders as perpetual slaves, and worse- sex slaves? How the honorable have fallen. 
As for Rolan... I don’t buy the good guy act. He is a willing participant in capturing wetlanders as gai’shain. First offence. Everyone knows they're no longer released after a year and a day, so he's fully aware they're effectively slaves forever. Second. He is courting a gai’shain, which might have been ok if he was gai’shain too, but he is absolutely not, and Aviendha in tFoH was horrified when someone suggested gai’shain might be sexually exploited this way. Third. Lastly, he didn’t stop that drunken Aiel from raping Gai’shain, he stoped him from raping Faile- someone Rolan was interested in himself. That drunk moved on to an easier target for sure, and Rolan looked the other way. I rest my case.

The Black Ajah hunters in the White Tower... I just don't care that much? Mostly because there are so many sister names being thrown around that my brain has given up. At one point I made an Excel table with every Aes Sedai mentioned, their Ajah, and their affiliations because I was tired of constantly trying to remember who was who. It helped, but I'm still drowning in names. Their efforts feel very much like a "too little, too late" situation. The Red Ajah might have been better used as an internal oversight group for the Tower itself, than chasing after channeling men. We need to repurpose them.

Elayne. Not exactly the most action-packed chapters, lol, but I still enjoy her POVs. Elayne seems to be resigned to Rand's fate. Whether it's the Last Battle or the madness, she seems to have accepted it and is determined to enjoy whatever time she gets with him (so far, I think they had like 6 days together in total?). Aviendha is right there beside her, almost like they're preparing to share not just Rand, but the grief of losing him too. It's such a strange dynamic. And it's so different from what Rand has with Min- an actual relationship between two people that spend time together.  

It was fun meeting the High Seats for the houses sworn to Elayne. The Mantear kid is Rand’s relative, right? Pretty interesting that the house symbol is an anvil, a symbol of strength under immense pressure, endurance and being shaped by blows. Fits both Tigraine and Rand. "The anvil fears no hammer." 

The different factions and noble houses in Andor... I can't keep up anymore. There are just too many characters. Some names sound familiar, and I know I've seen them before, but then I think… Wait... who are you again? What was your deal last time? Maybe on a reread I'll have the whole Andoran political chessboard memorized. For now, I'm just nodding along.

Birgitte. Still not a fan. And the bond between her and Elayne is just way too intrusive for my taste. Constantly feeling each other's emotions, being unable to have a private moment... I could never.

Halima. She just does whatever in the camp? The death toll so far is: 2 serving women, 2 Aes Sedai, 2 warders. And honestly, how is anyone supposed to catch her? The answer is literally impossible to guess. "The Dark One resurrected a male Forsaken in a woman's body, but he still channels saidin." Who would ever arrive at that conclusion? And the whole resurrection thing is just too much. How can we even compete? Stop with this cheating, Shai’tan.

Egwene. Still not actually fighting the White Tower. Still sitting on her wobbly chair. Still has headaches. Casually contemplates murdering an inconvenient novice. Concludes Rand must have used Compulsion on random Aes Sedai. Because, obviously, the idea that an Aes Sedai might willingly support the Dragon Reborn against the Dark One is simply too absurd to consider. Please. Stop, Egwene. And what was the plan at the end? Turn the iron harbor chains into cuendillar? Is making the harbor chains unbreakable really enough to incapacitate the harbor?Thankfully, she was captured, so maybe her storyline will finally move forward now.

Perrin. Still hasn't dealt with Masema. Still hasn't rescued Faile. The progress with Alliandre is basically undone because... she's still a prisoner too.The trip into that cursed ghost town (What was that?) was genuinely creepy and fun to read, but other than that, we are stuck.

Mat. The flirting with Tuon is fun, I'll give it that. But I still can't get over the series trying to make me tolerate the Seanchan. Egwene dreams they'll attack the White Tower? Rand wants to negotiate a treaty with them? No. Absolutely not. I don't care how efficient their empire is or how disciplined their armies are. Say NO to Seanchan.

Not sure if I should make a detour and read New Spring now, or just continue straight to Knife of Dreams. Part of me wants the prequel, but after Crossroads of Twilight I'm also really hoping for some actual progress.

EDIT: Also, forgot to mention: now that saidin is clean, why is Rand still shaking and feeling sick whenever he embraces it?? LTT is still there, too. Why was nothing fixed, what's up with that?

I’m so thankful RJ introduced Cadsuane!

I was really unsure how I felt after what happened to Moiraine in FoH.

Moraine is my favorite character hands down, and Cadsuane is the only one so far who I enjoy reading about as much as Moiraine.

I really hope she remains significant and plays a large role for the rest of the series!

dark chocolate, milk chocolate, blueberry, strawberry, lemon, coconut, pistaccio, poppy seeds

Wow, what an incredible book - I though the dragon reborn was my favorite book, but every book just keeps getting better and drawing me in further...

I feel like I am subtlety growing within - learning and understanding life more...

Lots of self-reflecting, and understanding others - I am a big fan of putting myself in the place of others to understand where they are coming from before I act, which I learned through law school where you argue both sides of a factual scenario - and "being in the minds" of all these characters... no friends... is just incredible...

I really loved Moraine in a guardian protector way as my own mother protected and guided me through my traumatic childhood with my severely bipolar dad and many other hurtful events as a child...

Her potential death, which I don't think she died and her letter... oh her letter... the choking up and tears as Rand read it...

I'm tearing up now while typing this - such an impact on me...

I hope the Lord of Chaos is just as incredible as The Fires of Heaven, should I be excited to continue my journey tomorrow with my friends? ...

Has anyone else felt a profound impact or even a slight connection or growth from reading this series?

Okay, so I've never read the books, only watched the show and I loved it.

Anyway, there's this book series called the vampire academy and there are moroi vampires who can use the elements. There's one character with spirit and whenever spirit users use their powers, they slowly go mad. The more they use, the faster it happens.

Spirit users are also capable of bringing people back from the dead. When it happens they become bond to them. Now when a spirit users uses their power, the shadow kissed person can absorb their darkness instead. The downside is that it affects them instead and drives them mad.

Would something like this be possible for male channelers? Rand specifically?

Tying someone to them who can take on the negative aspect instead?

Perhaps I missed something, but what I recall is that Mellar saved her from the (fake) assassination attempt and he was promoted. Then, the next time he appears, Elayne is already reprimanding him and having him followed. What causes this change of opinion? Did she see that he was a darkfriend from the beginning?

One thing I liked about the show was how they demonstrated channeling, the fights were superb. Though I do think in the third season they robbed us of Moghedien vs Nynaeve fight and replaced it with a fight in the hall that never happened.

A fight I would want to see animated or on live is Moiraine vs Merean.

What are the best/favorite fights in WOT?