I just finished the series, and I can’t help thinking about a certain lucky SPARTAN-II. Maybe The Wheel spun Matt out later as John? (Yeah, stupid, but that’s where my brain went when I dove back into Halo lore a few days ago.)

Does anyone know of any good fanart sites for more secondary (or tertiary) characters of WOT? I see plenty of fantastic depictions of the central characters, but I have a hard time finding the same for lesser known characters. I'm especially interested in if anyone knows of good fanart for Aludra and Rodel Ituralde. Thank you.

Hello I don’t know if this counts as a spoiler but what is the organization of the darkfriends? What type of structure did they have under the Forsaken?

A few weeks ago all the WoT social media accounts advertised a silent auction including a handful of WoT item from the show, including a script and an authentic Ring!

I simply couldn’t resist!

The bidding was aggressive but it went to a great cause, a hospice center in the Scottish Highlands.

Lo and behold, upon communicating afterwards regarding shipping they offered to let me pick my Ajah!!!

I am over the moon. Cloud 9.

Been reading WoT since the late 90’s used to be an active member of WoTmania.com before it was shut down shortly after RJ’s death of amyloidosis in 2007. His rapid decline and letters from the inpatient facility sealed my fate to pursue a career in oncology. And now I treat the very disease that RJ died of, a rare hematologic malignancy. Thus my username.

Just thought I’d share my news with you all. I’ll post again when the ring arrives!

How much did Verin know about the shadows plans for the Two Rivers?

Who was she sent there by?

Her and Alanna are there on a recruiting mission obviously, but what was her Black reason for being there?

How did she square fighting off the Shadowspawn, and setting up Perrin as lord of the Two Rivers, and a powerful ally / Bannerman to the champion of the light with her Black Ajah buddies?

So .. I am on my third reread of the series and have just started LoC prologue where Nynaeve is studying Siyan and Leane to try to heal stilling.

In your first read of the series, did you ever think that Nynaeve would succeed in doing this?

I never really thought she would. However much she tried I always thought it was a lost cause. When Logain is healed subsequently, I still remeber my excitement and shock.

Did you people ever feel the same or did you see it coming?

Hey everyone, back with another post where I analyze, predict, opine, summarize, laugh, cry and sigh over this amazing book series. Just a reminder, these reviews are first-time reader friendly and I don't want any spoilers past this chapter. For those that are re-readers, feel free to ask me questions, propose some theories and most importantly

It has been a little while since the last one but I'm so happy to get back into it! Life got a bit busy again, and I thought that chapter 30 was a nice place to stop as it's the last Perrin chapter for a while before we get into the Rand marathon! Anyway, I'm really excited to get back into the mind of Rand.

Here's the last 3 posts in case you missed them:

Post #8: https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/1i6dnno/thom_has_a_gandalf_moment_first_thoughts_the_eye/

Post #9: https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/1i9dtbs/baalzamon_is_back_first_thoughts_the_eye_of_the/

Post #10: https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/1icngi0/escaping_the_black_swarm_first_thoughts_the_eye/

Chapter 31: Play for Your Supper

Summary: Rand and Mat continue to head east, working at farms in exchange for a roof over their head and some food. After being rejected by multiple friends, they find the Grimwell farm and stay there for a couple of days. One night, Rand pulls out his flute and Mat juggles, and they realize they can do the tricks quite well. After that, they start to play in inns.

Thoughts:

- We catch up with Rand and Mat, who are running from a dust-tail, whatever that is. I'm thinking it's maybe the dust trail left behind from wagons and horses, but I don't think it will be important anyhow.

- Mat has totally moved away from his bow towards the dagger. He's totally fixated on the weapon. It seems like the dagger's hold on him has become worse and worse every time we read a chapter about him and Rand.

- The dagger is causing friction between the boys. Rand wants to sell the item for much needed money, but Mat is too attached to the dagger and doesn't want to part ways. It's really starting to get concerning when Mat is ditching the common sense option of selling the object.

- The two boys are really on edge. Every man coming up behind them raises their hope of seeing Thom and knowing he's alive, and every rider on horseback could potentially be a Fade, causing them to scramble and hide.

- They eventually go through a village that looks a lot like Emond's Field. Rand immediately thinks of his hometown and gets a little homesick. He keeps thinking of Tam, and how he doesn't really have a place to call home, or a person he can call father.

- The weather has been very rough on the duo since they've left Whitebridge, and this has probably caused them to start covering less ground. I think this is the working of Ba'alzamon, trying to stop the boys. I also wonder if the Trollocs or Myrddraal are impacted by the weather?

- Mat is thinking the farmers they meet are up to something. I know this is partly due to the dagger's influence, but a part of me does agree with him. It won't cost anything to be cautious towards strangers, and it makes a lot of sense when Darkfriends could be anywhere. The farmer in reply says that the boys remind her of their grandsons, but when most farmers are cautious towards the strangers at best, this feels like the the boys have dodged a bullet here. Maybe I'm on edge like the boys! Time to get into the breathing exercises...

- We come to Master and Mistress Grimwell. You can tell straight away they are a much more trusting couple. We also get a mention of Else, their oldest daughter. I already know there will be a moment when Rand thinks Perrin can handle the situation better...

- It's weird how literally every woman Rand comes across around his own age seems to like him. He must be a very attractive guy. Rand, please give me tips!

- The boys continue doing their gleeman tricks. They claim to do them as extra payment from the farmers, but really I think they want to honour and remember Thom.

- Mistress Grimwell caught onto Else's attraction towards Rand. I find it funny that she immediately gets Else to sleep in her bed, to stop Else from sneaking out and doing things. A classic protective mother move. I also find it interesting to think about how Rand would react if he saw Else in the shed with him. I feel like it would be very awkward lol.

- We finally get to see a little more of Mat's normal joking behavior shine through as he teases Rand about Else all the way to the next town. I definitely miss this Mat.

- The boys finally found an efficient way to travel and make money. They perform in inns at night, get a bed and some food and then spend most daylight hours travelling. They even start to make a name for themselves in the region. Thom would be proud.

- A lot of this chapter is Rand reminiscing on past events, and I think this continues in the next chapter. It's all a little confusing though.

- As I'm reading, I'm always thinking that every chapter and even every scene has a purpose. Looking through the events here, I can't really see the purpose in a lot of these. They all feel a little random for some reason.

- I'm guessing the jumbled timeline is Jordan's way of telling us that Rand is confused, feverish, paranoid and stressed. Every event seems to blur together in his mind. I get the reasoning on why Jordan did it, but in practice it's just too confusing for most casual readers.

Chapter 32: Four Kings in Shadow

Summary: Rand and Mat get to Four Kings; the last major town before Caemlyn. They look around for an inn to perform at, but every inn bar one already has an entertainer. Rand and Mat reluctantly decide to play at a pretty rough joint called the Dancing Cartmen. This shithole is owned by a greedy innkeeper by the name of Hake. While the duo perform, Rand realizes that a merchant has followed them from Whitebridge. The chapter climaxes as the merchant Gode corners them in a storeroom. The boys get "lucky" as a lightning bolt hits the inn and the boys flee into the storm.

Thoughts:

- Let's first talk about the town where this chapter is set in: Four Kings. The Four Kings is the classic stop-over point for travellers coming from all directions. My first thought on this was Campbell Town, a small town in the middle of no-where in my country which is roughly the halfway point between two larger cities. I remember all those family trips we would do when I was younger where we would stop in this town and stretch the legs. Maybe even buy a bite of food or two...

- This usually means that these stop-over towns are a lot busier than they should be, with everyone riding or walking or driving through. This feels like a perfect place for a Fade to stop and blend into the crowd. The boys better be on alert.

- There is a large cultural shift in Four Kings compared to the other large towns we've been in so far. Women tend to be heckled by others to the point where they have to be cover their faces with scarves, and the town also seems to be in poverty as the children play in ruts instead of greens.

- The houses also seemed to be in decline as people either don't care to maintenance their homes or more likely don't have the money to.

- We get a classic horror trope at the start of the chapter where Rand says "this place doesn't feel right" and Mat replying "nah, we'll stay a while". Oh no...

- With all the people travelling through, the boys struggle to get a music gig. They end up going to the roughest place in town, the Dancing Cartmen. Nothing says 'good gig' like a place that sounds like a tavern and a brawl at the same time!

- We get another scene of women getting mistreated when the innkeeper of the Dancing Cartmen backhands one of the maids across the face. It was basically just for speaking...

- Rand and Mat are getting good at their gleeman tricks! Soon the Dancing Cartmen is full of men and women applauding them and giving them song suggestions. I just imagine Thom's face if he saw them right now...

- Hake wants to rob the boys. They really are scum in Four Kings. Even with all the money the boys brought in, Hake still has the morals to want to steal their stuff. Honestly, it's these sort of people I hate more than Ba'alzamon. War against the Dark One? Nah, let's have a fight against Hake and his cronies and go back home.

- It's not too long before a merchant appears in the inn and he seems very interested in the boys. What I find interesting is that both Rand and Mat both claim to know him or he reminds them of someone. I really can't think of who it could be, but I definitely know that it's danger.

- I do think Mat is really unhelpful in these social situations as he is always glaring at people and therefore drawing unwanted attention with his constant bad mood. I wonder if it was only Rand, how different would it be and would they get into this much trouble?

- The mystery man is from Whitebridge! Is that how the boys know him? Even so, they didn't talk to anyone extensively except for the innkeeper...

- The even more concerning news is that he searched every single inn before coming to this one. The maids also say that the man just walks out into the rain. No running, no covering his head, nothing. Who isn't affected by the man? Some shadow man?

- Gode has chosen the setting perfectly. It's really crowded so no-one is paying too much attention to him, and even when he starts to smile creepily at them like a gay pedophile, everyone else is too drunk to notice. The boys however take the hint and try to escape the inn.

- Jordan is really impressive in how he implies to us through the writing that it's one elaborate trap. First the weather keeping them inside, then the crowd causing that claustrophobic feeling, then the barred window blocking their escape and finally Gode himself. This slow build-up really gives us as readers a feeling of certain doom towards out main characters.

- The boys quickly check the carriage Gode arrived in and they figure out that it was a jet-black carriage. Now, I thought that rung a bell and so I looked back in the Whitebridge chapter to see if I could find it. Sure enough, we get a paragraph in chapter 26 about the black carriages and their passengers. It looks like even every single detail can be used in the future! I'm going to have to look out for more of these hidden secrets! I also think that Rand thinking to check on the carriage shows us how much he has grown and how much more cautious and intelligent he is. Definitely reminding me of Lan.

- When he corners the boys in the storeroom out the back, Gode admits that he was sent by the Dark One. It definitely explains why he wasn't affected by the rain and wind outside. He's a damn Darkfriend. In hi little speech, Gode also mentions the Dreadlords, and how Rand and Mat could become them. What are Dreadlords?

- OK WTF RAND SUMMONS FREAKIN LIGHTNING!? While it's not confirmed, it's one hundred percent implied. Not only does the lightning help the boys escape, but it also kills a number of Gode's men outside. However, Gode is no-where to be found...

- Rand first thinks that luck is on his side, but even he is starting to doubt that this is only luck. I think Rand is finally starting to put the pieces together and realize what is going on.

- Both Rand and Mat seem like they have limited time left now. They can't afford to muck about much longer. Rand now has properly channeled magic, so it can't be long for him before he starts going insane, and Mat seems to be less and less like himself the longer he is in possession of that dagger. Once that dagger has done its thing, what will become of Mat? Will he become some avatar of Mordeth?

- A cool little tidbit that I found was that Rand counts to fifty before looking into the corridor, just like Lan did back in the inn at Baerlon. I guess Lan's teaching did leave a mark on the boys.

- I am finding the fact that the boys haven't run into any Fades from behind them to be very interesting. The boys haven't exactly been the most diligent travelers with all their stops at the farms. This leads me to believe that maybe Thom did kill the Fade in Whitebridge.

Predictions

I think that Mat and Rand will escape successfully and continue their travel towards Caemlyn. However, I am aware that we somehow have to get back to the start of chapter 31 in terms of the timeline. I guess they will encounter some more Darkfriends in their travels, but other than that I'm not too sure! I'm honestly a little stumped! I do wonder if this encounter with Gode will stop them from staying in taverns and going back to sleeping in the bush. If I was them, that would scare me enough to stop. However, you never know with these stubborn idiots lol!

Doing a reread and just started book 3. In the prologue, Pedron Niall thinks about False Dragons on Almoth Plain, in Saldaea, and in Tear. I know who he’s referring to on Almoth Plain and in Saldaea but who is the False Dragon in Tear? Thanks for your help!

I want to keep going, but Path of Daggers has been so hard for me to get into. I care about the girlies, but I'm finding it difficult to stay interested. I've put down the book and tried again 6 months later several times. I'm 20% through. Is this a common thing? I absolutely blazed through the first 7 books.

Please someone tell me it gets better, or at least tell me it's worth it.

I have read all the books. I’m watching the show with my friend. S2 when Nynaeve gets her accepted’s bedroom we noticed a golden chamber pot under her bed. My friend asked me why the aes sedai don’t have magical plumbing??

I searched a bit first and could only find jokes about it in regards to the books almost never mentioning characters needing the bathroom.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/o7npqx/are_there_any_bathrooms_in_the_wheel_of_time/?rdt=33163

Genuinely interested in discussing this— if there is not plumbing in at least the white tower, what do they do? It’s been a few years since I finished the series, am I forgetting something very obvious?

Thank youuuu!

EDIT - To be clear, I’m interested in why our uppity magic ladies would not have come up with a more eloquent system than chamber pots for shit disposal. NOT why we haven’t read about everyone going to the bathroom. Technology can be explored without adding gross bathroom scenes (as the show did by placing a gold chamber pot under the bed lol)

I'm finally at the last book of this amazing series. It has been a few months since I was told about this and decided to give it a try and man am I amazed by it. It's both sad and thrilling to finally be on the last book and I'm excited to see how this ends.

Nearing the end of "the shadow rising" audiobook by rosamund pike and there is no more from her yet. I'm concerned that I won't enjoy the other audiobooks by others quite nearly as much. Can anyone tell me if they are ok?

Throwback to the Eye of the World, when the party was being pursued by the Worms, someone mentions how they would be safe once they reach the mountains, as the worms are afraid of what lives in the high passes. Some answers suggest the Green Man, (Unlikely as Rand wonders what would be so scary that the Jumara fears it), or Slayer (Also unlikely as despite Slayer possessing powers to enter TAR in the flesh, he can't really do much as even arrows are not effective against Jumara). I wonder why they weren't at Thankandar during the last battle.

Also, other question, can denizens of the blight leave it? Trollocs and Mydraal can, but they're meant to be the army of the DO. Could creatures in the blight come out, imagine a Jumara vs any borderlander nation, they would crush it. They're probably other creatures close to the power of a Jumara that can be controlled.

I find it interesting that most women Mat finds attractive before Tuon are described as plump. Is it canonical that Mat likes thick/chubby women? I know in medieval times having some meat on the bone was seen as a good quality, so it might just be that.

We always remember his descriptions of women... but damn he was better at describing a dilf.

After 16months reading non-stop, finallly made it to end of the series today, and wow, how phenomenal is that! I stayed away from the fandom all this time to avoid any type of spoilers, so this is my first interaction.

One thing I was not expecting was to how emotional I got when Bella (my favorite shaggy mare) passed... Funny how attached I got to her, after she had so many riders, and was glad that she was always given some level of importance. Wondering if more people also felt that loss, or if I was just out of my mind in the middle of the Last Battle

https://preview.redd.it/6iz1hc6bwjge1.jpg?width=583&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=360d7ec470ff87c97cfe47810e23c01b847e1248

Edit: Dad just told me grandpa is from two rivers and used to have a little farm, grandpa was a sheperd.
This is actually so funny

When exactly were the Chosen were freed from the Bore? Were all of them released at once? Ishamael, I think was free before even Rand was born. What were they doing in meantime?

This post by /u/will_the_dad got me thinking:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wheeloftime/s/rrbQE6KQws

Has anyone here played Starfield all the way through - as in, multiple times (“turnings”)?

I’m not going to spoil anything in the game (or the books, obv), but if you have experienced both, I’d challenge you to disagree that the game has a magic system that could be modded to fit relatively well, and it is so perfectly designed for multiple turnings of the Wheel that you could almost think it was inspired by WoT. It has a built in system for potential parallel/mirror worlds and strange creatures, etc - and it also supports alternate realities.

Has anyone tried/done this? I suddenly find myself wanting someone to make a WoT Starfield mod.

IMO it could potentially be better than the original game, at least for fantasy fans.

Thoughts?

edit: Downgraded “solid” magic system to mod-able magic system because it’s true.

im about 65% through the shadow rising and i picked up on something:

in TGH, the blood calls blood poem says:

Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.

Isam waited in the high passes. The hunt is now begun. The Shadow’s hounds now course, and kill. One did live, and one did die, but both are. The Time of Change has come. Blood feeds blood. Blood calls blood. Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

Luc is obviously Lord Luc thats in the Two Rivers right now and Isam is Isam Mandragoran, Lan's relative. Back in EoTW we learn that Isam was ran down by trollocs when he was young so he's technically dead but this is why the poem says "one did die".

Luc and Isam are "Slayer". The person Nynaeve said looked like Lan and the person Perrin said looked vaguely familiar in Tel'aran'rhoid was Isam. I have no idea who Luc can be but we just know he's a Darkfriend.

This is quite obvious but I just thought to point it out cause burn me, i have no one to talk to about this

I have an idea for a potential eight Ajah: The Purple Ajah!

In my idea, the Purple Aes Sedai are masters of the mystical. Often skilled in the weaving of Spirit, wanderers of Tel’aran’rhiod and experts in dreams and visions, they are able to sense and interpret the signs both of the world around them and the hidden realm of dreams. They are deeply connected to their own emotions, and are guided primarily by intuition rather than direct factual observation. In addition to this they are passionate about the unanswered mysteries of the world and may spend a long time simply thinking about topics many others may find confusing or useless, a trait they share with the Brown Ajah. Due to their deep-rooted connection with the world and themselves, their mood may suddenly shift if something changes. Due to this, as well as their honed intuition, they might often be correct about something without entirely knowing why.

They thrive in nature, sensing truth in the Wind, the Earth, the patterns of the stars, taking great interest in wandering the World of Dreams, and occasionally entering a deep trance-like state of meditation.

The Sisters of the White Ajah often view them as whimsical, daydreaming and over-emotional, to which the Purple sisters begrudgingly critizise them in return by claiming their logical thinking and reliance on strict, complicated calculations of being ”blind to the true nature of things”.

The Brown and the Purple get along well, known to be sharing thoughts and knowledge over tea.

The Blue believes their knowledge of Tel’aran’rhiod is useful, but that many of their metaphysical and emotional ponderings and meditations are too far-fetched and unfounded in reality to be particularly interesting for their cause.

The Green admire their emotional passion, but wonder how anyone can waste so much time on strange philosophy and other things without practical use.

The Reds don’t like anyone but other Reds, really.

The Yellow Ajah might be interested in the potential of improving Delving by the Purple’s unique use of Spirit. Otherwise they want the Purple to stay away from interfering with their work and suggesting treatments based on ”nothing but gut feeling”.

The Greys… I have no idea. Anyone?

Thoughts?😄 No idea if anyone else has thought of this, or if this exists in WoT in some expanded lore, but I always thought it would be neat if Purple became an Ajah. I associate the colour purple with spirituality and mysticism, so it fits.

(To the mods: I hope I chose the right flair this time!)

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the series and I've been loving it. I'm half-way into The Dragon Reborn but there have been some issues. I read the book while simultaneously listening to the audiobook in the background since it helps me focus and stops me from spacing out and having to reread often.

I noticed that in TEoTW the inconsistencies were not anything major, like place names getting mixed up. Meanwhile in TGH there was barely any or if there were I didn't spot them.

However in TDR there have been a few, and some that seem like important information that differ between text and audio. I'm currently on Chapter 25 and the two big ones are:

But Mat and Perrin were ta’veren, too, and she had also dreamed of them. Odd dreams, even more difficult to understand than the dreams of Rand. Perrin with a falcon on his shoulder, and Perrin with a hawk.

In the audio, it says that Mat has a falcon and Perrin has the hawk. I'm guessing that the book's version is correct because Min said something about seeing both on Perrin's shoulders earlier in the book.

Elayne wiggled her left hand to display her Great Serpent ring, gave Nynaeve a meaningful look, and went right on. “No two were born in the same city, and no more than two in any one country. Amico Nagoyin was the youngest, some fifteen years older than Egwene and I.

In the audio, it says that Amico Nagoyin is only 4 years older than Egwene and Elayne.

For reference I'm reading the version of the book with the new art. So for TDR it's the picture of Rand sitting on the Dragon banner. I'm assuming this is the version with the most up to date and accurate information while the audiobooks are using the older editions, at least for the older books, and therefore I should defer to the book when there's inconsistencies. Is that correct?

I'm currently on book two and I realize that are 14 of them. My question could seem kind of dumb but there's really souch stories to that amount of books? I'm on peek climax right now there's no way that the climax could go on that long.

I have read long series before, like the Sharpe's series of Bernard Cornwell, but they are shorter books and the stories are like a huge circle of themselves, every book with the same structure, there's no way that Rand and gang could be trying to defeat the big ass satan that long

I'm having my own Mandela effect. I'm on my second reading of the WoT series, currently on book 4 and I just realized Mat's last name is Cauthon not Cauthorn. Am I the only one? It's weird my brain read it as Cauthorn for so long.

I just finished part six and I probably should have thought about it sooner, but... How do the Shanchans control Aes Sedai who are bound by oaths? In theory, such Aes Sedai cannot fight humans (only creatures of the Dark), so does that cancel it out? Or does it just not count that it is Aes Sedai who use this power?

I just realized how much the Hand of the Light's insignia, a shepherd's crook, resembles a question mark. I know the answer to this question is usually "yes", but do you think RJ did that on purpose?

While reading the series (currently in Crown of Swords) I have only a few gripes with Jordans writing style, but one that I continually must contend with is this specific avenue of world building.

As an example, chapter 14 of Crown of Swords, "...with ragged Taraboner wearing transparent veils across their thick mustaches, weavers in vests with vertical stripes, printers in horizontal stripes and dyers with bands stained to the elbow. The unrelieved black of Amadician countrymen, buttoned to the neck though the wearers seemed to sweat to death, stood alongside Murandian village dresses with long colorful aprons so narrow they must be only for show, and even a handful of copper skinned Domani, the men in short coats of they wore one, the women in wool or linen so thin it clung like silk..."

Ad infinitum. You all know this is hardly the only passage to fill half a page or more. Every time I stumble upon one of these dress descriptions, I find my mind glazing over and quickly skipping ahead, confident I will miss almost nothing story relevant. And if I did, I would call it bad writing as that would mean he intentionally hides it in writing that could only be called verbose if you were speaking of it in the best intentions in order to punish readers who cannot follow crammed descriptions of clothing that tear them out of the narrative. Every time it happens I never see what he's describing, my mind instead thinking of Robert Jordan staring down at a photo or painting and trying to translate it onto the page.

I admit that I may be too critical, and ultimately this is a criticism that doesn't ruin the story, but I don't understand how the editors didn't try to persuade him to skip describing the buttons on a coat. Am I alone in this?