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Your search for the tag 'gawyn' yielded 29 results

  • 1

    Interview: Oct 18th, 1994

    Question

    When Morgase thought "two beautiful children", was she thinking of Gawyn and Elayne or Gawyn and Galad?

    Robert Jordan

    Read the book.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: Oct 19th, 1994

    Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)

    Kevin

    Are Min's visions absolute foretellings or probabilities?

    Robert Jordan

    Her visions are absolute foretellings. The problem is, she doesn't always know what it means. The only changes from that are two visions she's had which indicated the possibility of the future forking, an "either/or." And that's the only time she's ever had anything like that.

    Footnote

    These two visions are: 1) A viewing of Gawyn: [TSR 47: Gawyn kneeling at Egwene's feet with his head bowed, and Gawyn breaking Egwene's neck, first one then the other, as if either could be the future....The things she saw were very rarely as clear in meaning as those two, and she had never before seen that fluttering back and forth, as though not even the viewing could tell which would be the true future. Worse, she had a feeling near to certainty that it was what she had done this day that had turned Gawyn toward those two possibilities.], and 2) A viewing of Rand, about Perrin: [LOC 46: "Twice he's going to have to be there, or you..." She peered into her goblet so he could not see her face. "If he's not, something bad will happen to you." Her voice sounded small and frightened. "Very bad."]

    EWOT: Prophecies

    Tags

  • 3

    Interview: Oct 19th, 1994

    Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)

    Ben & Chris

    There is a big influence (already mentioned) from wide ranging source materials. This is a great deal of fun, tracking down all of the various sources whilst reading. Is there a reason that the Arthur and other Avalon legends are referred to so much. Gawyn, Morgase, et al.?

    Robert Jordan

    They really aren't referred to any more than many other legends and myths, but they're simply more recognizable to most Americans.

    Footnote

    RJ was probably hinting that the Americans are generally the least 'cultured' and the least likely to recognize the foreign legends he drew from, Norse and Slavic mythology (very prominent), etc. The Arthur legends are probably better-known elsewhere (i.e. Britain, France).

    Tags

  • 4

    Interview: 2010

    Brandon Sanderson (21 June 2010 (Facebook))

    A fanmail tonight includes a request for Gawyn to die, and Egwene to hook up with Galad. At least it's not another begging for Rand + Egwene.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Wow. I did not mean to start an epic Gawyn/Galad/Egwene/Rand thread on my Facebook, but I appear to have done so.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Some interesting reading if you're thinking/talking about Gawyn as a character can be found here: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—Wikipedia

    (from the comments)

    One other way to think of it is thus: The Wheel will keep on turning, and the Age that we live in (or like unto it) will someday arrive. Legends from what is happening in these books will have survived, and become the Arthur legends during our day. Or, in other cases, stories of other characters have survived in other mythologies. (Look up the Slavic god Perun sometime.)

    Perrin is not a god, nor is Gawyn the knight of that story I linked. But perhaps someone who lived long ago, in another Age, gave birth to rumors about a young nobleman who made a mistake, and bore the weight of that sin for the rest of his days. And that gave birth to stories, which in turn inspired a poet to write a tale.

    Footnote

    The writer of the fanmail in question posted and elaborated at 13th Depository.

    Tags

  • 5

    Interview: Oct 25th, 1994

    Question

    What about Gawyn?

    Robert Jordan

    Well, all the information he can find indicates that his mother's dead. (First the rumor, then it apparently got confirmed when he reached Cairhien.) Rand probably killed her. His sister is missing, maybe dead. Rand's involved again. He released the woman responsible for finding Rand because he loved Egwene. Egwene is tied up with Rand, who killed his mother and is probably responsible for his sister's disappearance. Why do you think he's under any stress?

    Tony Zbaraschuk

    [Even Rand thinks that Morgase is dead.]

    Tags

  • 6

    Interview: 2010

    sleepinghour (8 November 2010)

    Who is the best swordsman in WoT right now? Lan, Galad, or Gawyn?

    Brandon Sanderson (8 November 2010)

    Lan. Then Galad. Then Gawyn. Gawyn is luckier than he thinks he is.

    Tags

  • 7

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Terez (17 August 2011)

    Regarding my first question on Gawyn (near the top), would you still answer it the same way, knowing...

    TEREZ

    ...the dream predicted Gawyn's death rather than Egwene's? (You didn't let me finish telling you the dream. :p)

    Brandon Sanderson (17 August 2011)

    Hm... I'm going to have to look back at that dream again. Got a page number for me?

    TEREZ

    I have hardbacks (A Crown of Swords 10, pp 201-2), but @e_wot might be more helpful (CTRL-F 'marry') http://bit.ly/nCVVAB

    TEREZ

    I realized the wording wasn't very clear on @e_wot. Here's the full quote:

    In the way of dreams she floated above a long, straight road across a grassy plain, looking down upon a man riding a black stallion. Gawyn. Then she was standing in the road in front of him, and he reined in. Not because he saw her, this time, but the road that had been straight now forked right where she stood, running over tall hills so no one could see what lay beyond. She knew, though. Down one fork was his violent death, down the other, a long life and a death in bed. On one path, he would marry her, on the other, not. She knew what lay ahead, but not which way led to which. Suddenly he did see her, or seemed to, and smiled, and turned his horse along one of the forks... And she was in another dream.

    FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

    Brandon never responded (not that I expected him to), but it would not surprise me if he just didn't remember that dream correctly. And therefore, his original answer about the Egwene dream doesn't necessarily mean that the prophecy is fulfilled because he believed it referred to Egwene's possible death.

    Tags

  • 8

    Interview: Oct 9th, 1996

    Question

    Will Gawyn get a brain transplant?

    Robert Jordan

    [evil look] (laugh)

    Tags

  • 9

    Interview: Oct 9th, 1996

    Question

    Is Thom Elayne and Gawyn's real father?

    Robert Jordan

    No. Absolutely no. No question about it. No. No. No. Thom is exactly who he says he is.

    Footnote

    RJ was apparently very disturbed by this question, possibly because it implied he had ventured into incest territory in The Fires of Heaven when Elayne decided to flirt with Thom.

    Tags

  • 10

    Interview: Dec 19th, 2005

    Robert Jordan

    For someone—Marigan, I think, but my notes are a little wonky right about here—the Crystal Throne is not the High seat of the Tamyrlin, none of the Forsaken were among the Nine Rods of Dominion, and the "Rods" were symbols of office.

    Mil Tesen was really just a peddler who happened to be in the right place to pass on news of Morgase's supposed death to Gawyn. Not everyone is somebody other than who they seem, you know.

    And finally, Da'concion means "the Chosen Ones" in the Old Tongue, which is used with more frequency among the Seanchan than among inhabitants of the eastern side of the Aryth Ocean.

    Tags

  • 11

    Interview: Nov 9th, 2009

    Ted Herman

    Maria Simons

    About Gawyn's duel with Sleete, and the usage of real swords, she said she would have to look into that, since I had believed that normally practice swords are used. She said that perhaps sometimes they have to use real swords to keep their edge, so to speak, but will look into that.

    MARIA SIMONS (VIA LUCKERS)

    With novice swordsmen, the practice sword is very good because they can swing away with abandon and be swung at and at worse get a bruise. But there comes a time when a person must practice with a real sword, and not just shadow fencing. How does a sword feel when it hits another sword? How quickly can you come back from that? Practice with the weapon you are going to use in real combat is necessary. This is especially true if you are with an army in the field; you’re not playing at keeping in shape, you’re trying to make sure that you are at your absolute top form to keep from being killed when you come up against someone else with a pointy blade. These Warders are very, very good; they trust themselves to fight with real swords without damaging each other.

    So, often they practiced with practice swords, but sometimes they practiced with real swords. There is a type of practice with real swords in the books. We see it in New Spring: the Novel, where Bukama “took the other two a little distance away with talk of some game called “sevens.” A strange game it seemed to be, and more than dangerous in the failing daylight. Lan and Ryne sat cross-legged facing one another, their swords sheathed, then without warning drew, each blade flashing toward the other man’s throat, stopping just short of flesh. The older man pointed to Ryne, they sheathed swords, and then did it again. For as long as she watched, that was how it went. Perhaps Ryne had not been so over-confident as he seemed.”

    It’s not the same as when Gawyn faced Sleete and Marlesh, but it is experienced swordsmen practicing with real swords.

    Tags

  • 12

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2009

    Amalisa

    Has Egwene's Dream of having her head on a block and an axe falling come true?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon answered, It has not; she is still in danger of that happening. Then he looked at us and said, "It may, or may not also have something to do with Min's vision of Gawyn either saving or killing Egwene." Big smile on his face for that one.

    Samadai

    Great job Amalisa, you received the correct Question bonus.

    Tags

  • 13

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2010

    Luckers

    Are there any characters you really dislike?

    Maria Simons

    Gawyn. Joline. Sevanna. Therava. Elaida . . . oops, I mean Suffa. Liandrin. Padan Fain. Asunawa. The Forsaken. Again, I will stop here. The list could be large, too, but not as large as the "like" list.

    Tags

  • 14

    Interview: Oct 26th, 2010

    Luckers

    I thought Rand’s arc in The Gathering Storm was brilliant—starting to get better then—bang! Cuendillar Rand, and finally "Veins of Gold". Was it difficult to write? Can you give us some insight into how you stayed in the mind of a madman?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was difficult to write. I’ve said before that I view a lot of these characters as my high school friends, people I grew up with. Facilitating Rand going through these extremely painful and sometimes revelatory moments was not easy emotionally, and yet there’s an excitement and a power to writing emotional scenes where things are coming together. So I would say it’s actually more difficult to write a character like Gawyn, who’s frustrated and struggling with not knowing what he’s doing, than someone like Rand who always has a direction—even if that direction is straight down, as it was in places. He’s always moving. So because of that, Rand was in many ways easier to write than other characters were. Yet at the same time it was painful to write. That doesn’t really answer your question, but maybe it does give some insight, as you asked.

    Tags

  • 15

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2010

    Question

    Are there any characters in particular you find hard to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are several that I've had more trouble with than others, and in that case, I generally work on them quite a long time. Aviendha, when I first started writing her, was probably the most difficult to get the voice right. There are characters that I write that are more difficult to write than others for different reasons. For instance, Gawyn is kind of...frustrated with himself, and when you step into a character's viewpoint, you start to feel and think like them; that's the goal. And so, him being frustrated with himself and his purpose in life makes it hard to write his scenes, because you feel frustrated and things like that, and Harriet has a great story about that.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    One of the things that happens with a writer, which certainly happened with Jim (Jordan's real name, FYI), was he was often asked "what was his favorite character?" and he said, "whoever I'm writing today." Because he understood that villains don't think they're villains. They are doing what the world or the devil or something outside has forced them to do. So they think of themselves as gallant victims, generally, while they're slitting somebody's throat. But I could tell when he'd been writing somebody awful. He'd come in the kitchen door at supper time and he'd slink around the walls! I said, "You've been writing Padan Fain today, haven't you?" "How did you know?!"

    Tags

  • 16

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2010

    Question

    Somebody asked who his least favorite character is to write.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said it was probably Gawyn. He said when you write a character, you try to think like them, and Gawyn is so frustrated with his situation that Brandon would get frustrated writing him. He asked Harriet to tell a funny story about Jim.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    Jim would get into his characters so much that sometimes when he came to dinner I could tell who he had been writing. For example he would come in kinda hunched and slinking around near the walls and I would say "Have you been writing Padan Fain?" (Harriet and Brandon laugh)

    Tags

  • 17

    Interview: Aug 29th, 2011

    Literatopia

    Is there a character whose development in the course of the series was surprising to you?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most surprising, honestly—and this is a minor character—was probably Gawyn. I remember as a kid reading the books and expecting, "Oh, Gawyn, he's obviously going to be this super cool main character." I felt all sorts of things about him, and then they just never materialized. Which is not unexpected if you look at the literary roots that Robert Jordan was using for Gawyn's character, but it was surprising to me as a young kid because you read certain tropes in fiction and you expect them to be used always the same way. You know, the young, handsome, charming prince doesn't usually turn into what Gawyn turned into.

    Tags

  • 18

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2011

    Terez

    Have Egwene's dreams concerning Gawyn all been fulfilled?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Which one are they asking about?

    Terez

    This is my question.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Because it was a Min vision, about holding her life...

    Terez

    No, no...I know the difference. I’m thinking mostly of the fork in the road that Gawyn comes to in Egwene’s dream, and down one road they marry, and down the other they don’t...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay, yes. That has been fulfilled. That fork in the road was the same decision that Min saw. Those were parallel [prophecies]. And that prophecy did get fulfilled...and the meaning of that is...there is no hidden meaning, no 'Surprise, that wasn’t really it!' You saw it: if Gawyn had not returned when he did, Egwene would have died.

    Footnote—Terez

    Brandon didn't let me finish telling him the dream, so I asked him about it again later. The dream actually refers to Gawyn's death rather than Egwene's, and was not fulfilled until A Memory of Light when they married (which set Gawyn down the chosen path).

    Tags

  • 19

    Interview: Jul 11th, 2010

    Dylan Snider

    Does Gawyn have any fans???

    STEFAN

    No.

    SEMIRHAGE666

    Nope.

    STEFAN

    He's a whiner; even his girlfriend think he's a loser.

    RWORD

    I like Gawyn. Very honorable!

    MILK MAN

    I agree with Rword. He has the same shortcomings as others; he's a little thickheaded, but he'll hopefully get over it.

    DYLAN

    I mean, he stops the rescue of Siuan...

    RWORD

    He has the honor of his brother without being a big snot.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't think even Gawyn has been a fan of Gawyn lately. But he's been through a lot, and has more to him than people are giving him credit for having. He still has a part to play.

    Tags

  • 20

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2011

    Question

    Has Min's viewing of Gawyn either kneeling to or killing Egwene (from The Shadow Rising 47) come to pass?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 21

    Interview: Nov, 2009

    Interviewer

    How does it feel when you have to write a scene for a character that you've really come to love where bad things happen to them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, it can be excruciating. There are some excruciating Rand scenes in this book. Though, you know, the harder scenes to write are the ones where characters, not necessarily terrible things are happening to, but where they're depressed or muddled, or you know. In a lot of ways, the Rand scenes were painful to write, Gawyn's scenes were harder to write, because Gawyn is lost. And he doesn't know. . . he's struggling through things, and at least Rand is pointed in a direction. Maybe it's the wrong direction, but he's pointed in a direction and he's doing things. Gawyn doesn't know what he's doing, and that can be really tough.

    Tags

  • 22

    Interview: Dec 2nd, 2010

    Virginia

    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?

    Maria Simons

    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.

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  • 23

    Interview: 2013

    Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Radbeard (23 January 2013)

    Don't you feel some of the character endings were too rushed (Fain, everyone Demandred killed)?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    Finishing everything that RJ left to be finished in the amount of space required results in some dynamic pacing.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't feel rushed is the right term. But I can see how people might feel that way. I could have gone three more books.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was not right to do so. This was what he wanted, and I did my best to fit everything in. I'm pleased with the result.

    Brandon Sanderson

    In regards to your specific questions, the Demandred kills were supposed to be abrupt to convey emotion of sudden loss.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's how things are in war. As for Fain, a piece of me does wish there had been time for more with him.

    Brett

    Do you plan on expanding on the Wheel of Time series more or is it done? Why did you have so many abrupt deaths?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, no more. RJ wouldn't want it. Abrupt deaths happen in war; it is the way this sort of thing plays out, I'm afraid.

    Daniel Egonsson

    Was there anything in A Memory of Light you wished you could have changed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I might have done more with Fain if I'd had the time and the pages.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The biggest challenge for the book was fitting everyone in, and making sure they had relevant things to do.

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  • 24

    Interview: Feb 6th, 2013

    Question

    Regarding Gawyn and Elayne, among many readers they are two of the least liked characters on the Light side. Do you believe that Robert Jordan intended for them to be viewed with such negative reactions?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Elayne, no not really. Gawyn, though, he’s the Fallen Prince archetype. Everything he does comes up short, which leads him to just be trying too hard.

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  • 25

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2013

    Question

    When Gawyn and Galad were defeated so handily by Demandred, I was thinking it was a throwaway of two characters. Then Lan rolls in and it put everything in perspective to show how good he was. Was that the purpose?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That was part of the purpose. It was a war, and someone needed to take out Demandred. Gawyn's arc is tragic, and the end of the arc is what we all know he shouldn't do, by going out by himself.

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  • 26

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    stagfury ()

    I'm also wondering about the several duel with Demandred. Isn't Gawyn a bit too weak in this book? From the previous books, Gawyn was said to be able to easily take down other Warders and even win in a practice against two Warders together. Then with a single Bloodknife ring, the wearer is supposed to have superhuman strength/speed that can't really be matched, and he was using not one but three rings. While Galad has been established throughout the series to be better than Gawyn, I find it strange that Galad was able to hurt Demandred with nothing but a imperfect foxhead medallion copy, while Gawyn with three Bloodknives rings and Warder bond didn't remotely stand a chance against Demandred?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Gawyn is good, but not really, really good. In addition, he has an inflated sense of HOW good he is. He doesn't have the inner control and understanding to be a fully capable swordsman. Beyond that, he mistakes power for ability, and lets himself grow too reckless. Finally, having enhanced abilities, such as the rings grant him, doesn't immediately give you the skill to make full use of those abilities. Gawyn tried, and deserves credit for that, but in the end he had not spent years preparing himself properly to win that particular contest.

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  • 27

    Interview: Apr 20th, 2013

    Terez

    Why was Demandred's face familiar to Gawyn?

    Maria Simons

    It seems like there was a reason, but I can't remember.

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  • 28

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2013

    NutiketAiel

    One fan asked Brandon to compare Kaladin with Galad, Gawyn and Lan.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said that Kaladin shares things with both [Gawyn and Lan]. Lan overcame his troubled past, whereas Kaladin hasn't yet. Brandon hopes that Kaladin does better than Gawyn, who was overcome by his past and let it crush him. In reference to all three, he said "I would hope that Kaladin would appreciate the comparison."

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