Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

AZRAL HANAN

BRANDON SANDERSON

Azral Hanan

RJ said the soul is immortal. But Hopper says dying in the Wolf Dream is likely permanent. Is Hopper wrong?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, for now. Ask again after the last book is out.

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)

JUSTIN LEE

BRANDON SANDERSON

JUSTIN LEE

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRIAN CAYEN

BRANDON SANDERSON

Regarding the Dragon and the Dragon Reborn (and Graendal's thoughts about Ishamael's musings):

"Is this soul born in any other Age, or only at the advent and (theoretically, of course) the closing of the Third Age, as the Dragon/the Dragon Reborn?"

Pam Basham

Regarding That Whole Thing About the Horn—Hawkwing vs. Moiraine

Question: Hawkwing says they follow the banner and the Dragon. Moiraine says the Heroes will follow whoever winds the Horn. Was Moiraine wrong?

Pam Basham

Robert Jordan

Pam Basham

Robert Jordan

Pam Basham

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

Robert Jordan

Kurafire

Robert Jordan

Kurafire

Robert Jordan

Kurafire

Robert Jordan

RAFO, but I will tell you something about the Horn. People always ask why the inscription on the Horn is in the Old Tongue, if it's so old. It was added in the Age of Legends.

Terez

It should also be noted that, when a panel moderator asked the audience if we wanted to see the Heroes of the Horn come back before the end, Maria raised her hand high.

On Falme, Rand and the Seanchan.

Question: In Falme we saw Rand fighting Ishamael and the Heroes of the Horn and the Seanchan were mirroring the progress of the battle. Does this mean that there is something inherently evil about the Seanchan Empire?

Answer: Nobody in WoT is inherently evil, except for Shadowspawn. At the time, the Seanchan were being led by a Darkfriend.

I almost didn't include this, it's so nitpicky, but you said you liked that. Feel free to ignore. Is this then to imply that the reason the Seanchan were paralleled with Ishamael in the fights was because Suroth was leading them? I always assumed that it was Rand's personal enmity that caused the correlation—he saw both Ishamael and the Seanchan as the bad guys, and therefore, under the effect of the Wheel's push for the Dragon event, combined with the influence of Rand's ta'maral'ailen and the 'loose reality' resulting from the sounding of the Horn, the two got linked in the weaving of the moment? Was it then more involved with the links between Suroth and Ishamael?

Depends on your definition of rogue.

Ted Herman

Brandon Sanderson

I do not know of any. We can MAFO it, but I'm pretty sure that there are none doing that. They don't all get along, mind you. But I don't believe any of them are Darkfriends.

Maria Simons

There are no rogue Heroes of the Horn.

As I understand, if you are 'spun out' you do not respond to the call of the Horn. So no Cain showing up if it is sounded again, as he's been spun out.

Astrogat

As you understand it? Isn't your understanding more or less canon at this point?

ilikedirigibles

No, it's not his world or book series. He can misunderstand something just as well as the next guy.

Not saying he did here, but just 'cuz he's finishing the series doesn't mean, for example, he can retcon or change anything or do "whatever he wants or thinks".

Astrogat

No of course not. But if there are two ways to understand something (that RJ has written) wouldn't it be up to Sanderson to decide which of those he believes to be right?

So if he thinks that when he's spun out he wont respond to the Horn, no one can ever prove him wrong (there are nothing in the books to contradict this), so wouldn't his understanding be the "right" one?

Brandon Sanderson

Here's the thing. There are three million+ words of notes, and RJ changed his mind about a lot of things as he wrote, explored, and made decisions. (He talked about this being his process. He saw the Wheel of Time as an organic thing.) So any time I speak on an issue like this, there's the chance that Maria (his assistant) will come to me and say "Actually, Brandon, he changed his mind on that. Look here for the revision." Half the time, it's something he mentioned in passing to her, Harriet, or Alan and isn't even written down.

So...on things I think I know, but haven't confirmed with Team Jordan yet, I usually add some wiggle room. My knowledge is far from absolute. Fortunately, everything in the books I write gets fact-checked a half dozen times. (Even then, some of my mistakes slip through.)

1. How many of the Heroes of the Horn are currently "in the flesh"?

2. How did the Eye of the World's location move about?

Oh, wow. You're going to make me dig into the notes, aren't you?

Why don't I MAFO those? Send me an email and I'll dig through to get your answers, or will have Maria do it.

Maria Simons

1. Oh, the passage of time. If I had answered these back when I should have, I would have RAFOed. But now that A Memory of Light is out, at least I will say that there are fewer than there were. I don’t have hard numbers on all the heroes.

2. I don’t know.

Female Dragon..NO when a female hero is needed she is one of the ones bound to the Wheel. Jordan did mention a name but I didn't hear it. But he did say the Dragon is never female.

Let's try and clear some of this up... I can't remember the exact question, but from what I read in this thread, it doesn't matter (I haven't read the Female Dragon thread). RJ said that, no, it is not possible to have a female Dragon. If the wheel needs a female Dragon, then it would weave in *insert female Dragon name here*. Probably because of the blank faces he was getting he then added, you can find her in the scene where Mat blows the Horn...

He also said that a soul ready to be reborn cannot change gender, therefor the Dragon is ALWAYS male.

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]

(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 just remembered one question I asked RJ. And I thought I didn't include it. I asked if Calian and Shivan are born at the end of every Age.

Isabel

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

herid

Tags

My name is Drew McCaffrey; I'm from Fort Collins, Colorado. I've been an absolutely huge fan of the series for eleven years now, and I just recently graduated as a creative writing major, and I'm a writer because of the Wheel of Time. [applause, cheers]

My question is in regards to a debate that I've had with my cousin and a couple of my friends for a while now. Is it possible for a channeler to be tied to the Horn of Valere?

(Brandon passes mic to Maria, laughter) Um, I think I'm gonna have to say, that's a really good question. [laughter] I honestly can't say why not.

Drew McCaffrey

(to his friends) HA! [laughter, applause]

Maria Simons

But! But I would really love to do some research before giving an absolute definitive answer [laughter] and I can't do that right now.

Drew McCaffrey

Would Lews Therin's soul be tied to the Horn?

Brandon Sanderson

Lews Therin! He was.

Maria Simons

Well yeah. [laughter]

Brandon Sanderson

He was recognized.

Maria Simons

That's right. Absolutely.

Brandon Sanderson

He was recognized, but was he tied to the Horn? Do we have confirmation of that happening? [laughter] Or they just know him? See, he's trying to trick us into saying things.

Harriet McDougal

Maria's saying she'll have to look it up and post it.

Drew McCaffrey

Ooh. Agreed. Well, thank you very much, all of you, for being here tonight and...yeah. [laughter, applause]

Let's see if I can answer this one... They're not going to be, I don't think there's a law against... But only the greatest heroes are bound to the Horn. They are not the greatest heroes. So, why are you asking this?

Rebecca Lovatt

I’m pretty much asking about Verin, and the likelihood of her being bound.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, I don't know that there would be anything forbidding Verin from being bound to the Horn.

Rebecca Lovatt

Is there any mention of that in A Memory of Light?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a RAFO.

Rebecca Lovatt

Alright, thank you though...

Some would like a definitive answer: Are channelers ever bound to the Horn? (Rand? Egwene?)

"They certainly could be." Brandon and Harriet agreed that, although the notes never specified any channelers who were so bound, there was nothing in the notes to indicate it couldn’t/didn't happen either, and they both believe it’s entirely possible.

Wetlander

(A follow-on question might be asked about whether Egwene might be a Hero, but they didn't give me the impression that they were hedging—which they probably would have, if that were in the notes.)

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!

Quick note before I pass out, just wanted to let you guys know that I only ended up having time for a single question; I asked "if there are any humans who have found a way, or been given a way, to inhabit Tel'aran'rhiod beyond a normal lifetime, without being a Hero of the Horn" for Freelancer and Wet @145/146 :P (I figured my Callandor questions could be asked later...).

The answer was (Paraphrased): I don't know. It's possible, but I don't know if anyone has done so.

This is an interesting one for a multitude of reasons. I actually worked under the assumption that whoever blew the Horn would control the Heroes, going so far as to write several sequences in the last book referencing that to heighten tension that if the Horn were indeed captured things would go VERY poorly for the Light.

I was quite surprised, then, when Harriet wrote back to me on the manuscript quite energetically crossing out these lines and explaining that the Heroes could not ever follow the Shadow. I called and asked for confirmation and clarification, pointing out that it seemed otherwise from the text and from fandom interpretation. She explained that this was one of Jim's ruses, that the characters in book were wrong and repeating bad information, and that Jim had been very clear with her that it was not the case. I can only guess that these reports in fandom were cases where people asked Jim a question he could Aes Sedai his way out of, and something got muddled in the communication or the reporting somehow.

(Feel free to follow up with Harriet and Maria on this one, if you want more. Honestly, I was surprised, and it was something we had quite a dialogue on as I worked on the final book. I fought longer than I probably should for the "Shadow can use the Horn" theory.)

Maria Simons

I really can't add anything here. I thought I was led to believe (as opposed to coming up with it myself) that the Heroes really wouldn't follow the Horn if it were blown by Team Dark, but I cannot swear to that. I was unaware of the rift answer. Of course, it's possible that the Heroes themselves don't know the correct answer; they're Heroes, after all, and unless there's some Hero orientation meeting where they are filled in on all the details, they may just assume that they're always going to be Heroes, as in champions of goodness and Light.

Mat asked Hawkwing to go talk to Tuon, but it's never actually said whether he did or not.

He did.

Yes. Brandon said that he disagreed with RJ's views that a hero once bound could not be unbound. Brandon thought that since the WoT is infinite, eventually everyone would be bound.

Footnote—Terez

I had talked to Brandon about this before, noting that it was possible for heroes of the horn to die a permanent death, if killed after death while in Tel'aran'rhiod, same as the wolves. (See The Fires of Heaven Chapter 14, "Meetings".) I figured he had forgotten, so I emailed him after Res posted his report. This is his response to me:

Brandon Sanderson

I had completely forgotten that. So there IS an unbinding method. You just can't live through it.

For what it is worth, I am reasonably certain there is nothing in the notes about Noal being an old hero. [...] But maybe someone can find something in the notes at the [College of Charleston] library to be certain.

Oh yeah, so you’d make sure.

Matt Hatch

We know there are spirit-like entities tied to the call of a musical instrument. And we also know the mechanism Robert Jordan created—a super AI-like system, if you will, to guide the outcome of the many variations of all worlds. Finally, we know this super AI can upgrade the status of spirit-like entities as it needs. Therefore, has the super AI tied any female spirit-like entities of individuals who died during the fifty years prior to the final military engagement of the final book to the call of this said musical instrument? [Much clapping.]

Jen Halbman

Arbitrary decision . . . you win!

Leigh Butler

Matt, you have to send that to me . . . [?]

Brandon Sanderson

So, as a subset of paragraph 3, subsection B on the R. A. F. O. Rules of Engagement, this is definitely a Class A Read and Find Out.

Jason Denzel

Does he get a card?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I’ve got a . . . he’s got so many cards. Yeah, I cannot answer that.

[Question about what Matt asked]

Brandon Sanderson

As I interpreted it, he asked if any women have been tied to the Horn of Valere in the last fifty years. Any women who were not previously tied to it. And so, I can speak of only one person that has been tied to the Horn of Valere in the last fifty years. Male, yes.

Question

Who is that?

Brandon Sanderson

That was Jain Farstrider.

Question

You’re not allowed to talk about it?

Brandon Sanderson

I can’t talk about it. You can interpret that as . . . Now I did preface this all by saying, “Here are the things that I won’t talk about.” So, you can kind of assume that if I can’t talk about it it’s because I don’t know, or I’m holding it back because it might be in the encyclopedia, or things like this.