Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

HBFFERREIRA

HBFFERREIRA

BRANDON SANDERSON (17 AUGUST)

FELIX PAX (16 AUGUST)

FELIX PAX

FELIX PAX

FELIX PAX

BRANDON SANDERSON (17 AUGUST)

BRANDON SANDERSON

The interview then continued with the communication between the various characters, and Robert Jordan stated clearly that every person keeping a secret, or withholding information, has a good reason for it, even if it in many cases are very personal. He exemplified this with the relation between Birgitte, Elayne and Egwene, where everyone knew that all knew Birgitte's secret (or at least a large part of it), but due to Elayne giving her word, the situation could not be resolved. Robert Jordan also took this as an example of the very great significance on a person's word and on oaths that the people in TWoT places. A word given is something to be kept, at all costs, however the circumstances changes.

"Information changes, over time, distance and perception. Only way to see the truth is to oneself experience the event, but even then every person perceives it differently". Knowledge and information has an inherent mutability. The example he brought up was Birgitte's living of the history, apart from reading it, and the very different views it brought.

Jordan said "Yes" then maybe a few more words and only then did I remember to actually put the recorder on again. If I remember correctly Avaeus taped those first few words on his digital camera however, so I'll see if I can add those exact words here.

(transcription) ...it would have to be. Err, in the differences between the same Age in different turnings of the Wheel, are that.. as for an analogy: imagine two tapestries hanging on a wall, and you look at them from the back of the room to the front of the store. And to look at them, they look identical to you. But as you get closer, you begin to see differences. And if you get close enough, they don't look anything at all alike. That is the difference between the Ages. Between the Age in one Turning and the Age in another. So it's quite possible that someone other than Rand could be the reborn soul of the Dragon Reborn. [And that's the phrase that ended my jubilation.]

Aan'allein

Robert Jordan

Aan'allein

Robert Jordan

Aan'allein

In Winter's Heart, Min doesn't recognize Birgitte, but they were in Salidar at the same time. What is the story there?

No story at all. In Salidar, Min knew Birgitte as a adventurer, you might say, but not until Caemlyn did she realize that Birgitte was, in fact, BIRGITTE BY GOD SILVERBOW!

This is a collection of quotes that were organized by Raina (presumably an old rasfwrj person) some time in 2001. Most of the original sources for the quotes she collected were found online, so those quotes aren't included here. These are only the leftover quotes, and as a result we have no idea where they came from or when they were asked, unless there are clues in the text. Sometimes it's not entirely clear if consecutive paragraphs are from different reports or the same report. We are, however, always searching for these lost interviews, and when we find them, we'll delete the quotes from this collection. I'll include Raina's introductory comments below, along with a list of the categories, each of which links to a Google Doc containing a link to the original category and an annotated copy of the page's original contents, linking to known sources and highlighting lost sources, which are the ones included here. Raina also drew from these interviews for her collection (and those quotes are not included here):

SOURCES

Letter to Tom McCormick: December 1993
Sense of Wonder interview: October 1994
Compuserve chat: October 19, 1994
AOL chat 1: October 21, 1994
AOL chat 2: October 21, 1994
Sci-fi Channel Interview: April 23, 1995
East of the Sun Con�Karl Johan Nor�n: June 16, 1995
East of the Sun Interview�Helena Lofgren: June 17, 1995
Balticon XXX�Bill Garrett: April 5, 1996
Balticon XXX�Pam Korda: April 6, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Brian Ritchie: June 21, 1996
Compuserve chat: June 26, 1996
AOL chat 1: June 27, 1996
AOL chat 2: June 27, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Hawk: August 4, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Robert Watson: August 23, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Lara Beaton: August 23, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Greebs: August 25, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Erica Sadun: October 9, 1996
ACOS Signing Report�Mike Lawson: October 12, 1996
AOL chat: October 19, 1996
DragonCon Sci-Fi Channel chat: June 28, 1997
Barnes and Noble chat: November 11, 1997
Waldenbooks Interview: October 1998
Barnes and Noble chat: October 19, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Aaron Bergman: October 20, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Pam Basham: October 22, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Drew Gillmore: Octoer 24, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Justin Howell: October 24, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Chris Mullins: October 24, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Rick Moen: October 25, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Kevin Bartlett: October 29, 1998
Sci-fi.com chat: November 1, 1998
Amazon.com interview: November 6, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Matthew Hunter: November 14, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Michael Martin: November 15, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�John Hamby: November 18, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Melinda Yin: November 18, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�John Nowacki: November 20, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�John Hamby: November 21, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�Rachel K. Warren: November 21, 1998
TPOD Signing Report�John Novak: November 21, 1998
Brisbane Signing Report�Joel Gilmore: September 21, 1999
Locus Magazine Interview: March 2000
Orbit interview: October 2000
Barnes and Noble chat: November 11, 2000
WH Signing Report�Ryan R.: November 12, 2000
Sci-fi.com chat: November 14, 2000
CNN chat: December 12, 2000
Author's Table Interview: 2001
Leiden Signing Report�Aan'allein: April 2001
Amsterdam Signing Report�Aan'allein: April 5, 2001
Rotterdam Signing Report�Aan�allein: April 6, 2001
Dromen and Demonen chat: April 6, 2001
Elf Fantasy Fair�Aan'allein: April 7, 2001
Elf Fantasy Fair�Aan'allein: April 8, 2001
Interview with RJ�Kurafire: April 10, 2001
Marcon Report�Sorilea: May 2001

Below are collected various Jordan questions and answers, and reports from interviews. Not all quotes are guaranteed to be here, although I try to be thorough, and in some cases I've deleted answers that repeat material more or less verbatim. They are organized into categories by topic, and some are in more than one category, so you shouldn't find it hard to find a quotation you're looking for. Try 'Miscellaneous' if none of the categories seem to fit. As for such categories as 'Sex and Sexuality' and 'Bela'�you asked the questions, I just sort them.

And please stop asking who killed Asmodean or if Moiraine will be back. 'Read And Find Out' is already far too long!

In several cases, the people who provided the quotes have included comments of their own on the questions or answers. As such, any interpretations of Jordan's words do not necessarily represent my personal opinion. A few comments were written by me, and they are in blue text and signed Like this�Raina. so you should have no trouble working out which is which.

Robert Jordan Himself
How long will the series be, how long will it take, and does he know the end?
What if he dies before finishing it?
How did the series originate?
How does he go about writing the books?
What are his sources and inspirations?
What else has Jordan written?
What else is in the Wheel of Time universe?
What is he planning to write?
Fan reaction to the books
Spin-offs: movies and so forth
The Wheel of Time game
Fantasy as a genre
Jordan and Tolkien
Advice to aspiring writers
Guide Art and Cover Art
WoT versus reality
Themes of the series
What books does Jordan read?
Timing of events in the series

Workings of the Wheel
Women and Men
The One Power, the True Power, and channeling
The Dragon
The Heroes and the Horn
Tel'aran'rhiod and other dreams
The Age of Legends
Is he his characters?
Rand al'Thor
Mat Cauthon
Perrin Aybara
Egwene al'Vere
Nynaeve al'Meara/Mandragoran
Moiraine Damodred
Al'Lan Mandragoran
Min Farshaw
Elayne Trakand
Aviendha
Thom Merrilin
Faile ni Bashere t'Aybara
Berelain Paeron sur Paendrag
Tam and Kari al'Thor
Padan Fain
The Daughter of the Nine Moons
Birgitte and Gaidal Cain
Verin Mathwin
Cadsuane Melaidhrin
Galad Damodred
Sharina Melloy
The Shadow
The Black Ajah
The Forsaken
Shadar Logoth
Slayer
The White Tower
The Black Tower
Warders and the Bond
The Aiel
The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn
The Oath Rod
Language and the Old Tongue
The Ogier
Geography
Theology
Prophecy
Blademasters
Other Lands (Shara, Seanchan, the Land of the Madmen)
Sex and Sexuality
Bela
Trivia
Miscellaneous
Read and Find Out!
Questions for the future
Raina's Hold

Birgitte thinks he's been reborn into the world.

SPENCER POWELL

That's a nice answer.

MARK

No kidding.

SPENCER POWELL

Birgitte thinks he's been reborn?

VIRGINIA

She's mooning over all the ugly boy-children she can get her hands on, thinking "Ohh, maybe this is him!"

ALAN ROMANCZUK

But keep in mind the only way she thinks that is because she hadn't seen him for a while in Tel'aran'rhiod before she was yanked out by Moghedien. So we don't even know if that's true, do we? (I just threw that out for what it's worth.)

VIRGINIA

But she did always say that he was usually born before her, but we don't know how long in real world time, so he could be more than a child, hopefully. Or he could still be lurking in Tel'aran'rhiod.

SPENCER POWELL

But there's no way he could be more than a child. Correct me if I'm wrong, Alan, but the entirety of the books we have isn't more than a couple of years, is it?

JENNIFER LIANG

Yeah, it's been about twenty-four months for the main characters. Alan would know for sure.

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Yes, I'm not saying this is true. Well, of course I know, but I can give you various possibilities: he could be born as a child right now; he could still be lurking in Tel'aran'rhiod; he could have been ripped out the same way Birgitte had been, in which case he would be an adult, right?

SPENCER POWELL

Unless he was dead. Because wouldn't it require someone to bond him after he gets ripped out? Wasn't that kind of the deal with Birgitte?

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Mmhmm.

VIRGINIA

Well, maybe he's stronger than she was…maybe he's…

ALAN ROMANCZUK

There are a lot of possibilities.

JENNIFER LIANG

Unless somebody has a really ugly Warder they're not talking about… [laughter]

MARK

Not all Warders are beautiful. I mean…

VIRGINIA

Go check Myrelle's quarters. I know Myrelle has a real penchant for hiding extra Warders around… [laughter]

JENNIFER LIANG

Yeah, but she likes hers pretty.

SPENCER POWELL

She got Lan.

VIRGINIA

Lan's impressive, but I don't know if anybody would call him pretty any more. [laughter]

There's Birgitte.

VIRGINIA

Yeah, but apart from Birgitte, yeah. I've always had this sort of fantasy in my mind that Nynaeve might be the reincarnation of Eldrene, the last queen of Manetheren, or something like that. And Mat, you know…gosh, he seems like...before he even left the Two Rivers, the Old Blood was coming out really strongly in him; it makes me wonder if he's not the actual rebirth of some extraordinary battle hero from Mathetheren. [silence]

MARIA SIMONS

Um...

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Interesting speculation. [laughter]

VIRGINIA

Which is going to go nowhere!

MARK

We're not putting answers into their mouths! We're supposed to be getting answers from them, not giving them answers to give back to us! [laughter]

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Oh, was that a question?

VIRGINIA

Well, sort of!

ALAN ROMANCZUK

No, you're doing well; keep going. [laughter]

MARK

He's going to do what he always does; he's going to sit back and listen to all the answers until he finds one that he likes, and he says, "You know what? That was it!" [laughter]

VIRGINIA

Well, I guess this is something that we're just gonna have to hopefully read and find out...

MARIA SIMONS

Yeah...

VIRGINIA

…or I hope some of these questions are not going to be Brandon has said that Robert Jordan just said that 'this does not get resolved', you know...

ALAN ROMANCZUK

That would be a shame. [laughter]

VIRGINIA

I'm not sure where that will leave us. Endlessly speculating till the Wheel stops turning…

MARIA SIMONS

There's no beginning or ending to the Wheel of Time.

MARK

Virginia will be reborn again once she passes and she will still be even more into WoT than she was now. [laughter] I can see it.

VIRGINIA

Impossible.

MARK

I can see it.

VIRGINIA

Physically impossible.

MARK

You'll learn your letters so you can read Robert Jordan in the cradle. [laughter]

SPENCER POWELL

I think you'll have a huge advantage, cause all the books will be out by then and you'll just be able to read 'em one after the other.

VIRGINIA

That's right, although I was going to say that I think I have the advantage, I was probably reading Robert Jordan when a couple of you guys were in the cradle.

SPENCER POWELL

Yeah, probably.

ANDREW GELOS

Yeah, probably.

MARK

Well, not in the cradle, but I was itty bitty when the first book came out.

SPENCER POWELL

I think I was still in the cradle.

MARIA SIMONS

Wow. I feel old.

MARK

Yeah, that's cause he…that's cause you're just…

SPENCER POWELL

I am twenty. I'm not even twenty yet, so...

MARIA SIMONS

Oh my gosh!

MARK

You weren't even born when the first book came out, buddy.

JENNIFER LIANG

Oh, wow.

VIRGINIA

There you go.

JENNIFER LIANG

Whoa.

MARIA SIMONS

Oh, wow.

VIRGINIA

Yeah, but they still put up with me, and I think I'm older than Cad-swayne. Is that right? Cad-swayne? Cad-swanee?

MARIA SIMONS

Cad-swayne!

VIRGINIA

Oh, yay! Whew. So far I'm...

SPENCER POWELL

Except that we know that Cadsuane is a couple hundred years old, which, you know, is older than the country.

JENNIFER LIANG

Yeah.

MARIA SIMONS

Yeah.

VIRGINIA

Okay, so I'm not quite older than Cadsuane...

MARK

You come close.

VIRGINIA

Yeah, I feel like it. Anyway, enough of that...

MARK

You're as old as Re-anne. Or is it Re-annie?

MARIA SIMONS

Re-AH-nah.

VIRGINIA

Re-AH-nah, okay.

MARK

Ah.

SPENCER POWELL

That's on that list.

JENNIFER LIANG

Yeah, I've been saying that one wrong the whole time.

VIRGINIA

In general, are ending Es pronounced in the Wheel of Time names, like Reanne?

MARIA SIMONS

It varies. He wasn't really…I mean, sometimes yes, and sometimes…I mean, I was thinking about this, because if Cadsuane's final e was pronounced, she would be Cad-soo-ae-nah, like Macarena, and you could do a whole dance. But… [laughter] There doesn't really seem to be a rule. It's just how he felt that day I think, or how it sounded to him.

VIRGINIA

Some are, and some aren't, you know. It is kind of confusing, but we don't know for sure, if we're even right when we guess that, so you be the arbiter on this one. Unless, as Brandon said in our interview to him, unless Robert Jordan comes down to us in a beam of white light and sets us straight, some of these things may not ever be known for sure, so you have to tell us as best you can. Speaking of names that end in E , two that almost kind of strike me are, um…I started out saying muh-RELL, and then I kind of went to muh-RELL-uh, because of the presumption that the final Es were pronounced, so I don't know for sure which one is right on that; I go back and forth between that.

MARIA SIMONS

That's interesting. I say my-RELL. I'm not absolutely sure that's the way Jim said it.

VIRGINIA

Okay, what about lee-AHN, or is it lee-AHN-uh?

MARIA SIMONS

lee-AHN-uh is correct. That one is Leanne. And Reanne.

VIRGINIA

Yay!

ALAN ROMANCZUK

I believe that Myrelle…it's my-RELL.

VIRGINIA

my-RELL?

ALAN ROMANCZUK

my-RELL.

VIRGINIA

You pronounce the Y?

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Mm-hmm. Like 'my'.

VIRGINIA

Okay, good.

Okay. Well…I guess we'll just go into the pronunciations.

SPENCER POWELL

Well, our next little bit needs a little bit of a lead-in for our listeners who don't have access to our huge list of questions like we do. As part of our interview questions, we have a list of words, and we asked, "How do you pronounce each of these words?" And there are about 43 of them. There are probably some on here that don't need to be on here, and I know that there aren't some on here that should be, but these are the 43 that we came up with.

VIRGINIA

Yeah, Spencer got mad at me because I went and annotated the list, like…I gotta be exact, and he's like "No…"

SPENCER POWELL

I didn't get mad at you! I just took 'em off; I'm like, "Oh yeah, you're right; take that one off." Anyway. And so Maria, Alan…would you please go through the list and tell us how to pronounce these names and places?

Okay, here we go. And I may, you know, be wrong on some. But others, I'm pretty sure of.

VIRGINIA

And feel free to add some in if something occurs to you as you're going.

MARIA SIMONS

O-kay. We have add-uh-LAY-us. (Adeleas) el-FINN. (Aelfinn) eyes-DEYE-shar. (Aesdaishar) (RJ used EYE to rhyme with the word 'eye') ahm-uh-DEE-see-uh. (Amadicia) [glossary: ah-mah-DEE-see-ah] (ah=ahhh sound, uh=schwa) ERR-id doe-MAHN. (Arad Doman) [glossary: AH-rad do-MAHN] arr-uh-FELL. (Arafel) [glossary: AH-rah-fehl] brr-GEE-tuh. (Birgitte) (hard G) [glossary: ber-GEET-teh] Brenn. (Bryne) [glossary: BRIHN, GAH-rehth] KEYE-ree-enn. (Cairhien) [glossary: KEYE-ree-EHN] CHA fah-EEL. (Cha Faile) (mid ch) drag-car. (Draghkar) [glossary: DRAGH-kahr] EEL-finn. (Eelfinn) guh-LAHD. (Galad) [glossary: gah-LAHD] GAH-win. (Gawyn) [glossary: GAH-wihn] GALE-donn. (Ghealdan) [glossary: GHEL-dahn] I'm not sure if it's huh-REEN or huh-REEN-uh. (Harine) din toe-GAHR-uh Two Winds. ILL-ee-in. (Illian) [glossary: IHL-lee-ahn] ill-ee-AY-nuh. (? - AY is long A) CAN-door. (Kandor) (door like the word) lee-AH-nuh. (Leane) [glossary: lee-AHN-eh shah-REEF] mall-KEER. (Malkier) [glossary: mahl-KEER] my-EEN. (Mayene) [glossary: may-EHN] myur-an-DEE. (Murandy) [glossary: MEW-ran-dee] MEER-drahl. (Myrddraal) [glossary: MUHRD-draal] NEIGH-bliss. Sorry. NAY-bliss. [laughter] (Nae'blis) NEFF. (Naeff?) nee-AHM Passes (Niamh Passes) nigh-NEEV. (Nynaeve) [glossary: NIGH-neev al-MEER-ah] Plains of mah-REE-doh. (Plains of Maredo) ree-AH-nuh. (Reanne) seye-DAR. (saidar). [glossary: sah-ih-DAHR] seye-DEEN. (saidin) [glossary: sah-ih-DEEN] sall-DAY-uh. (Saldaea) [glossary: sahl-DAY-ee-ya] see-AEN. (Seaine?) Alan…

ALAN ROMANCZUK

SHE-nar.

MARIA SIMONS

SHE-nar. (Shienar) [glossary: shy-NAHR] Swan. (Siuan) [glossary: SWAHN SAHN-chay] sor-uh-LEE-uh. (Sorilea) [glossary: soh-rih-LEE-ah] terra-BONN. (Tarabon) [glossary: TAH-rah-BON] TAR-win's Gap. (Tarwin's Gap) tell-uh-RON-ree-odd. (Tel'aran'rhiod) [glossary: tel-AYE-rahn-rhee-ODD] Tower of genn-JEYE. (Ghenjei) (hard G) truh-MALL-king. (Tremalking) [glossary: treh-MAL-king] too-AH-thuh-AHN. (Tuatha'an) [glossary: too-AH-thah-AHN]

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Do you want to go over the saidar/saidin thing we talked about?

MARIA SIMONS

In the glossaries of the books, Jim has it sah-ih-DEEN and sah-ih-DAHR, but I swear, I don't think he pronounced it that way; I mean you kind of give a little hint of the i but not much: sah-ee-DEEN, sah-ee-DAHR.

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Yeah, he always seemed to be saying seye-DEEN and seye-DAHR.

SPENCER POWELL

I'm surprised at how many of those I thought I knew, but I didn't.

JENNIFER LIANG

Yeah. That's like, "Waait a second, that's not…but oh, I guess it is."

MARK

How do you pronounce the Traveling people again?

MARIA SIMONS

too-AH-thah-AHN.

VIRGINIA

There's something else with the double A there…

MARIA SIMONS

ah-tha-AHN mee-AIR. (Atha'an Miere)

VIRGINIA

Okay, great. Any others you can think of that are commonly mangled, that would have driven Jim crazy?

MARIA SIMONS

I think I've mentioned tah-EEM before, and egg-ee-AH-nin…

VIRGINIA

dee-MAN-dred? dee-MAHN-dred? DEE-man-dred?

MARIA SIMONS

Ehh...dee-MAHN-dred, I think…but I wouldn't swear dee-MAHN-dred. [glossary: DEE-man-drehd]

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Pretty straightforward.

VIRGINIA

How about all of the Forsaken? A lot of them often get mangled, or a few. GRIN-doll?

MARIA SIMONS

Grindle, is how I say it. [glossary: GREHN-dahl] And it's interesting, just looking at a thing, and I pronounce CADD-in-soar (cadin'sor) wrong. [glossary: KAH-dihn-sohr]

JENNIFER LIANG

Oh really?

MARIA SIMONS

Yeah, because it's supposed to be cah-DIN-soar. [It's not, according to the glossary.]

JENNIFER LIANG

Okay, because I say it the way you say it.

VIRGINIA

Yeah, I think… [inaudible] so that makes sense.

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Oh! ish-AH-may-el, and SAM-may-el. [glossary: ih-SHAH-may-EHL, SAHM-may-EHL] [When RJ said it, the 'may' part was more like the German 'Mai'.]

JENNIFER LIANG

Yes. Those are really common mistakes; I hear that a lot.

VIRGINIA

Ben [?] was right; we had that famous tagline from the original podcast, and we had this thing…I think, "Sammael was pretty buff!" [laughter] We used that a lot, and it sort of went away when he did, I guess.

SPENCER POWELL

Another one that I have lots of problems with—and I can't believe I didn't get it on the list—but is the GOLL-um (gholam), or the…I can't even pronounce it right now.

MARK

GO-lem?

SPENCER POWELL

Yeah, the GO-lem, that's chasing Mat.

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Yeah.

MARIA SIMONS

Gollum.

SPENCER POWELL

Gollum?

VIRGINIA

Oh, it's Gollum! [crosstalk]

MARIA SIMONS

I am not absolutely sure, but that's how I say it, so…

VIRGINIA

What about some of the other Seanchan beasts that made me think of, the grolm, then there were two of the others that…

MARIA SIMONS

ROCK-in (raken), and TOE-rock-in. (to'raken)

VIRGINIA

Yeah, and then there was another one, the um…

MARIA SIMONS

Torm…the book is right in front of me…

VIRGINIA

Oh, maybe it was the name of that…oh, Suroth's pet!

MARK

S'redit?

MARIA SIMONS

Oh yes, that thing. I can't remember… [crosstalk]

VIRGINIA

Mandra…Mandragal?…Almandragal.

ALAN ROMANCZUK

The LOW-par (lopar)?

VIRGINIA

Yeah, the lopar. Almandaragal was his name, or something like that?

MARIA SIMONS

Something like that. I would have to look it up.

ALAN ROMANCZUK

It was a LOW-par (lopar), wasn't it?

VIRGINIA

Yeah, lopar. I think there was another one that I couldn't…maybe I'm just hallucinating. [laughs]

MARIA SIMONS

Let's see…

VIRGINIA

I'm sure there's a zillion others I'll think of after you're off the air here with us…

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Oh, s'RED-dit (s'redit) is another one. Remember the elephant-like creature?

MARIA SIMONS

Corlm, C-O-R-L-M (I like that word). Torm…that's all I can find.

VIRGINIA

What about Tuon's new name as Empress?

MARIA SIMONS

for-too-OH-nah?

VIRGINIA

Fortuona, okay. I'm not sure how else you could pronounce that, but I've been wrong before, so...

MARIA SIMONS

That, I'm assuming is right; I'm pretty sure I heard Jim pronounce it that way, because that was his choice of name.

VIRGINIA

There must be something else; there seems like a million things, and that I didn't add enough to the list.

MARIA SIMONS

OH-geer…

ALAN ROMANCZUK

moe-TIE? (???)

VIRGINIA

Oh! What about—speaking of historical figures—LAH-tra…poe-SAI? Or poe-SAY? deh-KYU-meh? (Latra Posae Decume)

ALAN ROMANCZUK

Oh yeah, LA-tra (LA rhymes with laugh)…

VIRGINIA

I got the Latra, but I'm not sure about the second and third names.

MARIA SIMONS

Boy.

VIRGINIA

It's P-O-S-A-E, and then D-E-C-U-M-E.

MARIA SIMONS

po-SAY-uh deh-COO-may.

VIRGINIA

deh-COO-may, okay. [crosstalk]

MARIA SIMONS

That's totally off the top of my head. I see it (?) and think it, anyway. po-SAY-uh deh-COO-may, yeah.

(Sorry I cannot put out his precise words, but here is the gist)—Jordan started by having balefire do this, but he later debunked this theory by saying someone killed by balefire can be reborn at some point. We currently know of nothing/no method that will completely remove someone from the Pattern.

blindillusion

I thanked him and turned to walk away at this point, so that he could continue with the signing. But he called me back and commented that:

Brandon Sanderson

The wolves in the Wolf Dream. We know that in the Wolf Dream something can be completely removed from the Pattern.

blindillusion

(Again, not his exact words, but this pretty close. Perhaps J.D can back me up here. He was there.)

I also asked him if the Heroes of the Horn are invulnerable when they are called by the Horn.

herid

"Didn't you once lead a band of thieves out of this forest?"

Birgitte grimaced. "I was hoping you hadn't heard that one." (p. 236)

I can't remember what RJ has said about when a spirit is linked to a body in WoT terms.

Terez

RJ said viability.

Brandon Sanderson

I thought that's what he had said. So I'd say there is a chance. (But as you can guess, the notes don't say.)

Most all forces of the light were present to welcome Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal and Jason Denzel to the Sacramento area signing at Barnes and Noble in Citrus Heights, CA. Represented were Aes Sedai, the Red Band, Whitecloaks and the Traveling People among others. Birgitte, Aviendha, Mat and Thom even decided to join in as Memory Keepers on this stop. Mat, the group's "first among equals", had a three hour drive and was first on scene to start answering questions and handing out wrist bands. 50 wrist bands had already been handed out by noon, a sign of things to come—by the end of the night nearly 400 would be given out.

As the majority of the Memory Keepers filtered in around 4 the store was already filling with fans. After setting up "green screen" backdrops for Wheel of Time commemorative photos and lining the path with Wheel of Time themed signs (Bela is a Darkfriend, I Killed Asmodean, etc) we hung a poster on the front of the signing table in memoriam of a family member of one of the Memory Keepers who was also a fan of the series and was killed in August of 2012. Brandon and Harriet both signed the poster and it will be presented to the family member's parents (Memoriam picture at the end of this post).

Next we set up for trivia. Unfortunately the store hadn't received one of the boxes containing the Way of Kings paperbacks, so we ended up winging it a little on the giveaways. This consisted of WOT trivia and quotes, with winners being given the choice between the AMoL messenger bag or the iPhone case, with a few front of the line passes thrown in for harder questions. To pass the time a WOT word search and a WOT crossword were handed out (thanks to the Seattle Memory Keepers for sharing their crossword with us).

Trivia:

At this point there were only two customers in costume, both beautiful Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. One even made her own teardrop Aes Sedai hand bags (Brandon later signed these for her). Both were given prizes for their costumes. The crowd then chose to hold their own best costume contest for the Memory Keepers. By crowd noise they chose Mat, to which Thom said, "Bloody ta'veren." Birgette agreed with the decision though she thought his face too pretty and Aviendha just shook her head at wetlander ways.

Costume contest:

We were lucky enough to have Dragonmount.com founder and webmaster Jason Denzel join us for this stop and he was the first to arrive and check in with us. Even after all the events he's been to, he seemed just as glad to be there as we did. When it was time to greet Brandon and Harriet, Mat, Birgette and Thom headed outside. After 10 minutes or so talking with the 20 or 30 fans waiting outside the store, Brandon arrived. Mat and Birgette escorted him in while Thom stayed behind to play some songs for the crowd and keep a lookout for Harriet.

KJacobs: Yes, thanks for asking about Verin's letters! I was going to ask that directly to Brandon but you saved me some time. :)

I wound up asking two questions directly to Brandon, about Birgitte and Gaidal and about the Rand/Moridin body swap, which a friend requested I ask. I'll write them out as close to verbatim as I recall.

I have a question about who Gaidal and Birgitte might be reborn as. I was wondering if Gaidal could be the son of an Asha'man and if Birgitte might be reborn as an Aiel?

Gaidal definitely could be, and there's a pretty big hint in Towers of Midnight that many folks online have found. As for Birgitte, it's possible.

Mageen

Do you know who Birgitte is reborn as?

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Mageen

I think a case could be made for Melaine, as the Wise Ones talk about her time being near.

Brandon Sanderson

In the WoT, a soul becomes tied to the body at viability.

Mageen

(As noted in the group Q&A per Robert Jordan.)

I think that's pretty much confirmation that Gaidal is Grady's son. I can't decide whether the comment on viability is to direct attention towards Elayne, as she is at that stage of pregnancy, confirmed by that crazy scene. I know in the torchat Brandon said the notes don't say who Melaine's children are, so maybe he's just stating everything he knows. I prefer to think that Elayne's children might be Calian and Shivan and would usher in the end of the current age. I look forward to the encyclopedia, that's for sure!

Just finished the chapter "Older, More Weathered". Funniest chapter so far IMO, what are your most humorous scenes?

woodchuck_vomit

New Spring—Moiraine gets thrown into a pond.

Eye of the World—Min takes Rand aside when he re-enters the inn to tell him about Nynaeve, Thom immediately assumes they're gonna make out, Min says "Go juggle something."

The Great Hunt—Egwene smuggling Rand into the women's quarters to hide from the Amyrlin.

The Dragon Reborn—Moiraine catches some fish.

The Shadow Rising—Elayne gets drunk; Aviendha describes Elayne to Rand in detail.

The Fires of Heaven—The Aes Sedai in Salidar make Siuan and Leane go over every prank they played in the White Tower as novices and Accepted to prove they're really them; "It happened on the other side of the world and the Maidens still knew!"

Lord of Chaos—Aiel humor; Mat before he realizes Egwene really is the Amyrlin.

A Crown of Swords—Mat and Birgitte get drunk, Elayne gets bond-drunk; Min likes it rough.

The Path of Daggers—Aviendha describes some of her night with Rand to Elayne; Elayne and that mysterious red rod ter'angreal; the Maidens collect some toh from Rand.

Winter's Heart—Aviendha, Min, and Birgitte all feeling it in their heads.

Crossroads of Twilight—"She would bond him as her Warder one day, somehow, and she would marry him, and make love to him until he cried for mercy!" Whoa there Egwene.

Knife of Dreams—Tuon allows Mat to kiss her. "Do I remind you of your sister? Or perhaps your mother?"

The Gathering Storm—"Women are like goats..."

Towers of Midnight—"Your royal bloody pain in my back..."

A Memory of Light—Aviendha suggests that the most honorable way to win would be to take the Dark One gai'shain.

A note for those curious, but a spoiler for the ending. Regarding the AMOL one, have you noticed yet that Rand, to an extent, did this very thing?

Mithre

Is it just how he imprisoned the Dark One without killing him? Or did I miss something?

Brandon Sanderson

The usual way to take a person gai'shain is to touch them while they are holding a weapon. Rand seized and held the Dark One in his hand, then chose not to kill him, instead taking him prisoner.