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Towers of Midnight Prologue: September 21st
2010-08-28: According to recent news on Tor.com, the prologue to Towers of Midnight will be available September 21st, less than four weeks away. We will be seeing Lan, Perrin, Galad and the Blight. I have put a link to the download on Amazon.com, although I'm assuming there are other locations for the download.
Tor.com Article
Kindle Edition - Distinctions: Prologue to TofM
Towers of Midnight is Done!
2010-08-17: As tweeted by Brandon Sanderson a short while ago, "And the file is off to Tor. Final version crept up to 328,000 words (with the new scenes) and is 57 chapters + a prologue and epilogue." The book is set for a November 2nd release. Be on the look out for news of the prologue and the upcoming tour! Can't wait!
Sneak Peek of The Way of Kings
2010-06-10: As Brandon Sanderson is finishing the Wheel of Time series, we thought you might want to give The Way of Kings, his new epic coming in August, a first look. Tor.com has unveiled the prelude, prologue and first three chapters, which you can find at the link below. Makes us wonder if The Way of Kings will deserve its own land of Theories...
Towers of Midnight Cover Revealed
2010-05-25: Here it is folks - the final cover. Where does it rank for you? Love it? Hate it? Meh?
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Studies: An Indepth Timeline of Mat's Life
Note: Opinions and interpretations are derived from Morguen,
from the Wheel of Talk e-mail discussion group, and from
the various Theory pages . Version 1.0 was originally presented on the Wheel of Talk e-mail discussion group.
Version 2.1 Contains:
- 1.0--Comments from the Keeper
- 1.1--Before the Eye of the World
- 1.2--The Eye of the World
- 1.3--Footnote to the Eye of the World
- 1.4--The Great Hunt
- 1.5--The Dragon Reborn
- 1.6--The Shadow Rising
- 1.7--Footnote to the Shadow Rising
1.0--Comments from the Keeper
"How is the spear connected to anything Mat asked for? They
used it to hang him, and I think it was his ta'veren there
that made them use it for that purpose." - The Keeper
<
1.1--Before the Eye of The World
--Mat meets Rand and Perrin (the joining of three Ta'veren)
--Mat develops certain skills (wilderness survival, escape
techniques, sort of "trickster-type" skills, and what little he
could about war and combat. He also learned to use the bow and the quarterstaff.
1.2--The Eye of the World
--Mat sees the fade three days before Rand does.
Chapter 1
--Mat meets an Aes Sedai (Moiraine) and her Warder (Lan).
Chapter 2
--Moiraine gives him a coin to track him.
Chapter 4
--Mat meets Thom.
Chapter 5-7
--The Villiage is attacked by Trollocs.
Chapter 10-
--Mat and Co. leaves Emond's Field with Moiriane and his friends
--Between Taren Ferry and Baerlon, Mat is taught more
bow skills by Lan, and some juggling by Thom. He also
pisses off his first Aes Sedai with his complacency,(approx. Chapter 13).
Chapter 15-
--Min sees the group vision, involving Mat
("When you're all in a group? Sparks swirling around you,
Thousands of them, and a big shadow, darker than
midnight. It's so strong, I almost wonder why everybody
can't see it. The sparks are trying to fill the shadow, and
the shadow is trying to eat the sparks."). She also sees
some specifics ("--a red eagle, an eye on a balance
scale, a dagger with a ruby, a horn, and a laughing face.)
--Mat shouts "Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al
Ellisande!" in the Old Tongue when he charges down the
hill at some shadowspawn. He's also the only one unhorsed.
Chapter 19
--Mat takes a tainted dagger from Shadar Logoth which fills him with corruption. It also has a few side
effects: He is appearently much stronger than before
(Such as in tEotW, chapter 41: in Caemlyn, when
Moiraine attempted to heal him he tried to slash her, Lan
caught his wrist, and had some trouble holding it). Mat also
seems faster; in chapter 33 of tEotW, and chapter 14 of
aCoS, in the stables of the inn, he dodges a dagger. In
his encounter with the Gholam in chapter 38 of aCoS, and
his fight with Gawyn and Galad in chapter 24 of tDR, he
shows speed and skill. And I seem to remember that
somewhere he grabbed a thrown dagger right out
of the air (the act was accompanied by a thought along
the line of "Thom had said Mat had the fastest hands
he had ever seen"). Mat also became extremely
suspiscious, and (perhaps as a side effect of his
accelerated metabolism and greater strength) lost a lot
of weight very rapidly. Both of these side effects seem
to have lessened with the healing, but are not completely
gone. It took Mat days to replenish his store of nutrients
and rebuild his muscle-mass a little, and he still seems to
enjoy eating most of the time--well, drinking, at least
(Rand, on the other hand, eats less than ever). And Mat
is by no stretch of the imagination trusting; he is
not so suspicious as has was, but still....Mat also lost a
lot of memories. I think that perhaps they could be
memories that were corrupted by the taint, corrupted
in such a way that the situation that was remembered
was accompanied by a seriously distorted, perverted
emotional content: they became memories that would
cause a person to react to normal stimulus in such a
way that an average member of society would call
those reactions "evil." So the Aes Sedai trimmed
these corrupt memories, renormalized his metabolism
to an extent, and broke the bond of corrupted spirit (or
something) that connected him to the dagger. Or the
memory loss might be a result of the taint destroying
the memories directly. As a side note, Mat had a
full-fledged battle-memory at the beginning of chapter
19 in tDR. Mat's luck also came into sharp focus after
getting the dagger. Can anyone think of any other
influences the dagger or the healing had on Mat?
Chapter 20
--Mat meets Bayle Domom, still with the Spray
Chapter 24
--In chapter 24, Mat and Rand see a tall metal tower.
(the Tower of Ghenjei). It's 200 feet tall, and 40 feet
thick; Mat comments that "A thing like that must have
been made to protect something valuable." He
thinks there's some treasure in there (and there is:
His medallion, most of his memories, and his spear).
Chapter 26
--Mat first hears that the Hunt for the Horn
has been called. His reation is not described.
Chapter 32
--Mat and Rand have a run-in with Howal Gode; Rand
Channels a lightning bolt, which blows Mat back and
temporarily blinds him (Mat seems to have bad luck with lightning!)
Chapter 33-35
--Mat and Rand travel to
Caemlyn. In 33, They have their run-in with Shiaine.
--In 35, They arrive in Caemlyn. Mat
becomes more and more withdrawn, and more
suspiscious. He doesn't follow Rand on his
escapades with Fain, Logain, Elyan and Morgase. Nor is he interested in Loial.
Chapter 41
--Moiraine arrives and slows the
Shadar Logoth dagger's taint in Mat. He finally
meets Loial, who calls to attention the Ta'veren nature of Mat, Rand and Perrin.
Chapter 44
--Mat travels the Ways to Fal Dara, Shienar
of tEotW, and also encounters the Machin Shin.
Chapter 48
--Mat enters the Blight.
Chapter 49
--Mat meets the Green Man, and sees the Eyeof the World.
Chapter 50
--In chapter 50, Mat sees Aginor and Balthamel, who said that they have followed everyone thanks to Mat and his dagger and the evil that 'leaked' from it, and flees
Chapter 51-52
--He, along with Lan, Perrin and
Loial, enter the spent Eye by means of a hidden staircase
and retrieve the Horn of Valere, the Dragon banner, and
one of the Focuses for the Seals.
1.3--Footnote to the Eye of the World
--Around Perrin, Min sees a Wolf, a broken crown, and
trees flowering all around him. Around Mat, she sees
a red eagle, an eye on a balance scale, a dagger with a
ruby, a horn, and laughing face. Around Rand she sees
a sword that isn't a sword, a golden crown of laural leaves,
a beggers staff, Rand pouring water on sand, a bloody
hand and a white-hot iron, three women standing over a
funeral bier with you on it, black rock wet with blood(Rand cuts her off).
--Nicola's fortelling speaks of similar things. Anyhow, I
think that hand applies to rand, not Mat, though I don't
know if it's metaphorical. Egwene also has a dream
involving a severed hand and a red hot iron, and I think
it was about Rand then too.
1.4--The Great Hunt
Chapter 6-
--In Chapter 6, Mat loses his dagger. The Horn of Valere is stolen too.
--Mat goes to Cairhien from Fal Dara with Perrin, Uno
and Intgar (and Verin), and arrives in chapter 30.
Before then, he had argued with Rand.
Chapter 32-
--Once there, Mat is forced to play a servent at the
Palace of lord Barthanes Damodred.
Chapter 35-
--After, he goes to Stedding Tsofu in chapter 35.
Chapter 37-
--Mat travels through the Portal stone outside of Cairhien
when Rand screws up, and lives through all of his
possible lives (or at least a lot of them) in chapter 37.
Interestingly, he mentions that he would never betray
Rand. Intgar and Perrin both mention things that are
superficially dissimilar--Intgar says, "I walk in the Light!
I will find the Horn of Valere and pull down Shayol
Ghul's power. I will!" Perrin says, "We don't have
many choices really, do we Rand? Whatever
happens, whatever we do, some things are almost
always the same." Now, of course we know that Intgar
is a darkfriend, and is ashamed of it. I think that the
Portal Stone saved his soul....but the point is, in all or
most of his lives, the central subject or problem was
his affiliation with the Dark. It lead him to comment,
forced him to comment because of the strength of
his shame. Perrin, we can assume, was speaking of
his Wolfbrotherhood--he clawed his golden eyes,
and it was his major problem at his time. That makes
two of those who passed through the portal stone who
commented on central parts of their lives. Perrin's
comment also implies that these central problems are
very difficult to avoid--"some things are almost always
the same." And Mat comments on betrayal. To further
the thought, Mat's going to marry a major player in the
Imperial Court of one of Rand's major enemies......
Chapter 45-
--Mat goes to Falme with Rand, Perrin, Hurin and Intgar.
--Mat also retrieves his dagger and the
group regained the Horn. Mat also kills his first man
(with the dagger), which is also the last (with the
dagger). Mat is taken aback.
Chapter 47
--Mat blows the Horn of Valere.
1.5--The Dragon Reborn
Chapter 1-18
--Mat is taken to the White tower by Verin, and is Healed of
the Shadar Logoth dagger by the Amyrlin, Leane, Sheriam,
Alanna, Verin, Serafelle, Anaiya, and a White Ajah described
as "cool-eyed." I'm not sure is that describes Alviarin, or
maybe Carlinya (the White in Sheriam's little group), and a
few others, in Chapter 18 of tDR.
Chapter 20-
--Lanfear approaches Mat in chapter 20 of the Dragon
Reborn. Everyone should re-read this chapter, it's very
interesting, when one looks behind the obvious. For
example: Lanfear says "There is no need to convince you
to seek glory." But in tSR, Melindhra approaches Mat, and
after he hid among the commoners even though he killed
Couladin, she would continually badger him about seeking
glory. And she's a darkfriend. Lanfear was the closest
forsaken to Mel just prior to her getting together with Mat. It
would also be like her to place the blame on Sammael,
and it would be likely that the ruse would be believed since
he had already sent Trollocs and Darkhounds (at least,
Rand thought so, which was what mattered at the time).
Also, due to the Tamyrlin's excellent Theory regarding
Lanfear and the Seanchan, and Mat's connection to the
Seanchan, I think that there will be some interaction
between the two in the future. In this chapter, she offers
him glory--why would she do that, or speak to him at all?
She could have just watched his dreams if she wanted to
see him like she said. Well, just read the chapter,
remembering the Tamyrlin's theory and the speculation I
stated above and below about Mat and the Seanchan.
Draw your own conclusions. Oh, and why did his skin tingled when she channeled?
--The Sniffer club (Ny, Eg, El--great name for 'em,
Sioned) gives Mat one of the Amyrlin's letters and a letter
for him to deliver to Morgase in Caemlyn.
Chapter 30-47
--Mat is set upon by Darkfriends, and maybe a grayman in. I didn't read the whole section
again. He also finds Thom.
--Mat (and Thom) travel south, first to Caemlyn (where he
sees Rahvin), Chapters 30-32, and 40, when Mat and
Thom rescue Aludra and she gives him fireworks. Also
Chapters 44-47. In Caemlyn, he delivers the letter, and
hears Rahvin assign Comar to kill Elayne.
Chapter 49-52
--Then he's off to Tear. He arrives in 49. There he finds
the assassin after Elayne, and kills him, and the healer
that the BA took Ny/El/Eg from. This also happens in Chapter 49, and Chapter 52.
Chapter 54
--Mat meets Juilin and Rhuarc. Mat also
accidently discovers explosives from fireworks.
Howard has mentioned a Dream or Viewing which
might imply that Mat will invent cannons, or bombs.
Mat rescues Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne with Juilin's help.
1.6--The Shadow Rising
Chapter 2
--Mat attracts a bubble of evil. It consists of
Being attracked by three two-dimensional figures from
some playing cards. The figures were the Ruler of Flames,
representing the Amyrlin Seat, the Ruler of Cups,
representing a Tairen High Lord, and the Ruler of Rods,
representing the Queen of Andor. I think that there is a
possibility that these might be symbolic.
Chapter 15-24
--Mat enters the Snake'finn's doorway in
the stone. He is given rather more answers then three.
The first wasn't exactly an answer to his question. He
asked if he sould go back to the Two Rivers. They said
he should go to Rhuidean. (This shows that the 'finns
have interpretive license in fullfilling their part of the
bargain, just like Mat and his Iron/Steel knife
interpretaion.) The second question was "Why should I
go to Ruidean?" He was answered "If you do not go to
Rhuidean you will die." When Mat asked "Why will I die?" he
was given the answer "because you will have sidestepped
the thread of fate, left your fate to drift on the winds oftime,
and you will be killed by those who do not want that fate
fulfilled." (not exact quotes). After these answers, he was
given the more famous answers of "To marry tDotNM!" "To
die and live again, and live once more a part of what was"
"To give up half the light of the world to save the world!"
--Mat travels with Rand and Moiraine and others by way of
the Portal Stone outside of Tear. Rand operates it correctly this time.
--Mat goes to Rhuidean, where he enters the Fox'finns'
doorway. He first asks about the Daughter of the Nine
Moons. He then asks for the holes in his memories to be
filled, a way to be free of the Aes Sedai, and a way back
to Rhuidean. He is given military memories, which might
be his own from past lives, plus the contemporaries of his
past lives, or something else. He is given a Medallion
which absorbs any flows of the power thrown directly at
him. And he is hanged on the branches of Avendesora,
outside the Doorway, with an ashandarei (which sounds
like "Guardian's Spear," from Asha'man and Far Dareis
Mai-the "Asha" and "Darei." I am only guessing, but it
the ashandarei is a spear, and the most similar part of
the Maidens' of the Spear is Darei so I'm assuming it means
spear. And ashan sounds a lot like asha. Besides, in the
Guide it is mentioned that the Seanchan Deathwatch Guards
use tasseled spears; it also says there is an elite group of
Deathwatch guards. These would be more likely to be
allowed to use power-wrought spears--so, if those guards
get special spears, would they be called Guardian Spears?
Also, the ashandarei is marked with ravens, just like the
Deathwatch Guards and the Seekers for the Truth.) Mat's
hanging is conveniently close to the time Rand emerges
from the crystal columns, which causes me to suspect that
Mat's death was not the actual intention. I think that the
hanging was an intentional fulfillment of one of the
Snake'finns' answers. Mat died-his heart stopped(to die)-
Rand resuscitates Mat (and live again)--and Mat lives with
old memories (and live once more a part of what once was).
I don't think the 'finns work together, but in this case.......
I stated before that Mat's memories and his Medallion
will be helpful in Seanchan context. Also, the ashandarei bears the script:
"Thus our treaty is written; thus is agreement made.
Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades.
What was asked is given. The price is paid."
This would imply that the ashandarei is not of Seanchan
origin. Birgitte also recognizes it.....but I suppose even if
the Seanchan don't manufacture them, they could still use them.
I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Mat can also speak and
understand the Old Tongue at will now, though he usually tries to resist it.
Chapter 26
--Mat and Rand attract another bubble of Evil. This one involves dust-devils, forming as he and
Rand are leaving Rhuidean. Mat gets pretty slashed up,
and isn't feeling too well from being hanged. He actually
wants to ask Moiraine for healing.
Chapter 34
--As Mat and Rand return, Couladin attacks
(using the ashandarei as an excuse). Mat knocks aside
one of three thrown spears, and Rand the other two.
When a second flight of a dozen are thrown, Mat and
Rand jump aside, but the spears land in a perfect circle
around where they had been standing-they would have
been safe had they held still. I believe that this was
Mat's luck, feeding off of the double-ta'veren effect--
after all, there's not much chance involved when an Aiel
throws a spear at you. I think this is part of why Rand
needs his complement of Ta'veren--they enhance
each other's abilities. I'm not sure how Perrin would be
affected of affect the other two.Mat is also healed by the wise ones.
Chapter 36
--Mat accidently discovers that the Aiel
are extremely touchy about the Tinkers. Kadere and
Keille show up. Mat notices Moiraine using her trick of
eavesdropping, even though he doesn't know what it is.
Mat buys his hat from the darkfriends and Forsaken for
a gold mark. Mat's hat is cool. RJ should have them
made the way WoT swords are being made; he should
also have ashandarei made. Mat also wants to follow
the paddlers out of the Waste.
Chapter 37
--Mat is the first to recognize that the
slaughter at Imre Stand is Trolloc work, and voices
his opinion despite Aviendha's contempt. (She was
really being a b#$%* then). Well, Mat also has his
first glimmering of the idea of the Legion of the Dragon.
Mat also mentions approximate numbers for the men
and memories--100 memory fragments from 100 men--
for a total of 10,000 memory fragments.*
Mat also says the Keeper's (Mark's) handle-line here:
"Sa souvraya niende misain ye," "I am lost in my own mind."
Asmodean recognises the ashandarei, and drills Mat
for information about Rhuidean. After a while, Lanfear breaks things up.
Asmodean sings a song, about Midean's Ford. Mat
remembers dying at the end of it, tricked by the
enemy king Aedomon, who had a glossy black
beard. He then remembers Aedomon, gray-
bearded, being stabbed from behind by a beardless
boy with a spear. I think this might be the memory
that has been mistaken as "two sides of the same
battle." If I'm right, there's the possibility that Mat
was reborn and was still very young-like the boy he
watched kill Aedomon. Ehhhh, anyway.....Trollocs
attack, and Mat's memories allow him to wield his
ashandarei well. Mat received his Ashandarei from
the Fox'finns. Asmodean recognises it. Mat's
memories recognize it. Birgitte recognizes it. It's
Power-wrought. The Seanchan might use them.
The shadow might have used them. The 'finns
might or might not have made it. It's symbology is
Shadow or Seanchan derived, but it's script seems like it would be 'finnish.
In the fight, Mat kills some Trollocs and a fade. His
medallion pulses with cold--why? The wise ones
might have been channeling, but why at him? It
might have been Lanfear or Asmodean, but I doubt
that they would be channeling--they would have
blown their cover. I have no clue about that.
Lastly, a darkfriend driver is pinned to one of the
wagons, and three of them are on fire. This leads
me to believe that the Trollocs were not brought be
Lanf/Asmo; if they had, the Trollocs and especially
the fades would have known who was in those
wagons. They would have stayed as far away as
possible. My guess is, they started after them,
killing the one driver and setting three wagons,
before they noticed someone giving a Darkfriend
sign and left. If they had known, not even a stray
Trolloc, frenzied with battle, would have thrown a
spear anywhere near one forsaken, let alone two.
It might have been a ruse, to prevent suspiscion,
but a trolloc isn't a very trustworthy creature to set
that task to. A fade would have been better,
smarter, and if there was a fade doing this, why
didn't it just kill the driver himself? It might have
been that the drivers set the wagons afire
themselves, to look like they were attacked, but
why would they then sacrifice one of their own?
Since the trolloc who killed the driver would
have to be controlled by a fade to attack a
member of the forsakens' group, and only one
of that group, it would seem a little over-
complex to have that occur, and the drivers
set the wagons afire. So despite my confusing
ramble above, the only things I can think of would be, it happenend by accident,
or the wagons were intentional and the driver
was an accident--but if the driver was an
accident, and the fires not, then why would the
Trolloc throw a spear in the direction of
forsaken he knew were present? Unless a
fade ordered him too? And why would it do
that, unless it was part of the ruse? Why
divide the responsibilities? Bah, I'm
confusing myself. I think they didn't send the
trollocs, and the driver/fires were an accident.Period.
Chapter 48
--(and 37) Lanfear interacts with Mat in
a limited way, though it is more than any others
besides Rand and Asmodean (and Isendre).
Chapter 49
--In Chapter 49, Mat reacts two Moiraine's comment
("Where do you mean to 'lead the spears to war once
more'?") Mat seems to overreact, choking (for the
second time) on his pipestem. The first time he choked,
the comment applied directly to him. ("As well dress
Mat for an Aiel.") The second time, though, his name
did not come up. He wasn't even being spoken to.
And the comment wasn't specific enough to evoke one
of his memories, as far as I know. Or maybe it was.
Anyway, I think that line might be significant to him in some way.
Chapter 50
--At the very end, Mat encounters a Maiden
who compliments him. That sounds like Mel, thoughthere is no proof.
Chapter 57-58
--Mat accompanies Rand to Al'cair dal in 57, and is still
there in 58 when Rand returns.
1.7--Footnote to the Shadow Rising
*Memories are extremely complex, consisting of images
and information radiating outward in an interconnected
web, each fragment or image setting the context for the
next. For example: Say a child went to the zoo and saw
a big elephant. She would remember: a big elephant.
But how? In one part of her neural net, she would
remember the shape of the elephant. In another part,
she would remember the size. In others, she would
remember millions of different objects of varying sizes,
each compared and rated to form a frame of reference.
In another part she would store the information that an
elephant's skin is gray. In another, she would store the
information that elephants like to eat peanuts. In
another, she would store the information that the
elephant was at the zoo. In another, she would
remember that the zoo has lots of animals. In another,
she would remember that at the zoo her parents got
into a fight. In another.......you get the point. (This is
similar to an example I saw on TV, but slightly edited).
My point is that in addition to Mat's new memories,
billions of additional bits and facts would have to beadded.
This seems like a pretty steep order for the 'finns to
fulfill. We don't know what the limit of their capabilities
are, but considering the immensity of the wish, and
that we don't have proof that the memories aren't from
ancestors, I would assume that they are, and that the
'finns merely filled the holes in Mat's mortal memory
with sections of his soul's memory, which consisted
of all of his mortal memories compiled. (LikeBirgitte)
Valheru suggested a theory similar to this in regard
to LTT's voice in the back of Rand's head. (By the
way, back of the head is an interesting point to refer
as the source or location of the voice. It seems to
imply the brainstem, or maybe the more primitive
part of the cortex, which is where the instincts and
ancestral memories/implicit memories are thought
to exist (I would consider this, in the context of the
system RJ has developed conerning souls, to be
the root, or at least the mortal access, to the soul's
memory. The normal, explicit memories (long- and
short-term memory, or what in this context I would
refer to as mortal memory) is believed to be stored
in the hippocampus, which is more central in the
brain. (Birgitte basically had her hippocampus
filled by memories from her brainstem. As the
hippocampus has a rather unreliable retrieval
system, and limited stroage, some of the older memories are fading.)
TO BE CONTINUED IN VERSION 2.2 OF THE M-FILES...