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Your search for the tag 'perrin' yielded 137 results

  • 1

    Interview: Jul, 2002

    Question

    Does ta’veren-ness ebb and flow as needed? If Rand, Mat, and Perrin were all ta’veren growing up, it seems that the Two Rivers would have had a lot of odd events occurring, but no mention is made of it.

    Robert Jordan

    You might say that ta’veren-ness ebbs and flows. For one thing, remember that even for someone like Rand, the effects are really occasional, not continuous. Even when he is causing dozens of coincidences in a particular place, many more events pass off quite normally. For another thing, no one is born ta’veren. Rand, Mat, and Perrin only became ta’veren just before Moiraine appeared. You become ta’veren according to the needs of the Wheel. Like the Heroes linked to the Wheel, who are spun out as needed to try to keep the weaving of the Pattern straight, a man or woman becomes ta’veren because the Wheel has “decided” to use them as an influence on the Pattern. And, no, the Wheel isn’t sentient. Think more of a fuzzy logic device that uses feedback to correct what it is doing in order to do it in the most efficient way.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: Jul 19th, 2005

    Week 7 Question

    Since the first few books, Rand's and Perrin's dreams have been protected. Rand can weave a ward around his dreams. Perrin being a wolfbrother has protected his dreams. How have Mat's dreams been protected since the first half of the series?

    Robert Jordan

    A side effect of his foxhead medallion, though he doesn't know it. This was not part of the intended purpose of making the medallion; it's a true side effect.

    Tags

  • 3

    Interview: Jul 19th, 2005

    Week 11 Question

    In the books, Perrin calls on the wolves in times of need (rescuing Rand, searching for Faile, etc.). Do the wolves view his use of the gift as selfish due to his general theme of "help ME," "do ME a favor?" Does Perrin risk alienating himself from the wolves as a result of such actions?

    Robert Jordan

    No, he doesn't. Among wolves, requests for aid are common, though aid isn't always given. Witness how the wolves withdraw from Perrin when they don't want to talk about a subject. Of course, there are wolves for whom the whole notion of talking to men is anathema, but most know that according to their lore, it will be a human who can talk to wolves who will warn them that it is time for them to take part in the Last Hunt, their name for the Last Battle. They don't know whether that will be Perrin or Elyas or someone else yet to be revealed to them, but most of them value this return, as they see it, to a time when men and wolves cooperated in the hunt. This despite the fact that the reappearance of such people tells them that the Last Hunt is coming.

    Tags

  • 4

    Interview: Nov, 1993

    Trinity College Q&A (Paraphrased)

    Robert Jordan

    He talked for a while about 'reverse engineering' various mythos, removing the culture-specific elements and combining the stories, giving the example of the Wolfbrother idea, which was derived partly from the Native American Coyote trickster/savior figure, of whom both Mat and Perrin reflect aspects.

    Tags

  • 5

    Interview: Dec, 1993

    Question

    What is the name of the next book, and will Perrin be in it a bit more than in The Fires of Heaven?

    Robert Jordan

    Lord of Chaos is the title of number six at present. A working title, but I like it. As for Perrin, he will definitely be back sooner or later.

    Tags

  • 6

    Interview: Oct 17th, 1994

    Erica Sadun

    No spoilers.

    Robert Jordan

    Heights:

    Rand—6'6"
    Perrin—6'2"
    Mat—5'11.5"
    Aviendha—5'8-5'9
    Elayne—5'6"
    Nynaeve—5'4"
    Egwene—5'2"
    Moiraine—5'0-5'2

    Tags

  • 7

    Interview: Oct 19th, 1994

    Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)

    Gordon B

    My question has a few parts: When Perrin left the Two Rivers did he tell people who he was going to see? Did Rand's father come? Does he know about Rand being the Dragon Reborn?

    Robert Jordan

    1. Read and find out. 2. No, Rand's father did not come. 3. Read and find out!

    Tags

  • 8

    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

  • 9

    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

  • 10

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Terez

    For a complete catalog of Brandon's tweets, visit the Twitter Portal at Brandon's website.

    Brandon Sanderson (3 January 2011)

    Happy New Year, all. It is official—I have begun working on A Memory of Light, fourteenth and final book of The Wheel of Time.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I have updated the progress bars on my website with this year's tasks. I'll try to be better about keeping them current.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    The first step is to re-read the entire Wheel of Time. Towers of Midnight had some small continuity errors—mostly me forgetting who knows what.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    We fixed them for the paperback, but it is a sign that I'm starting to forget details. That means I need to re-read Mr. Jordan's work.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I fully expect this re-read to take until April. I need to divide my time among reading, outlining, and studying the notes.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    By the way, I did get a Nook for my birthday. So I'm in the process of getting e-copies of the WoT uploaded.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Since people are asking, the continuity errors were things like Grady telling Perrin about the Cleansing as if for the first time, but...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    ...there's a line in Knife of Dreams where Perrin notes that they'd mentioned it to him. We don't see the conversation, but it's there in narrative.

    AJ ZAETHA

    Need a devout reader of the Wheel of Time to watch over what you are writing so they can be like: "He died in book five." "oh."

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    The thing is, I had eight of those for Towers of Midnight. They all missed these too. It was the time crunch that did it to us, I think.

    BENJAMIN PEACOCK

    No biggie, but did you fix for ebook by chance?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, it should be all fixed for the ebook.

    MICHELLE ANDERS

    Also the fact that Min's viewings aren't always around Aes Sedai when they are supposed to be.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'm working on the assumption (as she's said before) that she doesn't always pay attention to them, as there's so many of them.

    CHRIS NUCCITELLI (7 JANUARY)

    Is there a list somewhere of the continuity changes made for the Towers of Midnight paperback?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Not yet. Many things fans pointed out weren't actually errors, but the Theoryland thread caught most of the things we changed.

    Tags

  • 11

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (6 January 2011)

    First non-Rand viewpoint is Perrin, at about the 38% mark. RJ's juggling of viewpoints is something I didn't see until I was older.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Many a new fantasy writer, fresh off a WoT book, plans and plots a huge epic with twenty viewpoints. That can be overwhelming to start.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Both WoT and GRRM ease into it more than you realize. In most cases, it's better to build to complexity.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'd forgotten that Perrin nearly decides to drop his axe in the water as he swims. But he keeps it, almost against logic.

    VARGA TAMÁS

    Are there actually clues in WoT that you did not find so far? That's cool.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I always find new things when I reread.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Good suggestion: @Terez27 says if you have a WoT question, and want to see if it's been asked before, you can direct it to her first.

    AARON J

    Skipped your tweets when you warned against spoilers; are you on a #wotrr binge at the moment? Can I read without worry?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    For the next four months, I'll be doing the reread. Spoilers will be present, but hopefully vague enough to not ruin things.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    But I'll be posting about the reread almost every day.

    Tags

  • 12

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (7 January 2011)

    I love that in our second Perrin viewpoint ever, he's already grumbling about being made a leader—right after expertly taking charge.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Hm. Never noticed that before. First time Perrin sees Elyas's eyes: "Some memory tickled the back of Perrin's mind." Thoughts?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Perrin later dismisses this premonition as simply "Oh, I was thinking of wolf eyes." But I wonder. Was he a Wolfbrother in past lives?

    TEREZ

    RJ said that Wolfbrotherness is a soul trait. http://bit.ly/eVwO6u So, possible, though it wouldn't be a recent life.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well, that depends. I know a lot of fans believe that in most cases, lives are once per Age, with the soul going somewhere between.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I can't remember if RJ ever said anything on this.

    TEREZ

    Yeah, but Birgitte lived several lives in this Age. I always assumed it was because she can't channel (shorter lifespan).

    Tags

  • 13

    Interview: 2010

    HBFFerreira (15 August 2010)

    Masema: was he being manipulated by a Forsaken from the start? His dealings with Suroth, and him not wanting to go to Rand?

    Brandon Sanderson (16 August 2010)

    Masema was not manipulated from the start, but once he was noticed as a potentially useful tool.

    HBFFERREIRA

    Both his dealings with Suroth and his mistrust of Perrin in The Path of Daggers were Forsaken-induced, right?

    BRANDON SANDERSON (17 AUGUST)

    Influenced at the least. Depends on how you view induced.

    Footnote

    This question was explored further here.

    Tags

  • 14

    Interview: 2010

    Matthías Páli (8 November 2010)

    Who is your favorite character, and why?

    Brandon Sanderson (8 November 2010)

    Perrin, because I feel like him most of the time.

    Tags

  • 15

    Interview: 2010

    Adam Stillwaggon (8 November 2010)

    Who was bringing the Trollocs through the Portal Stone to attack Perrin and the Whitecloaks?

    Brandon Sanderson (8 November 2010)

    RAFO. :)

    Tags

  • 16

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (10 January 2011)

    Pop quiz: What is the first thing that makes Perrin hate his axe? (It's something I've always found very interesting about him.)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It's not Whitecloaks, though that's a good guess. Perrin thinks if the ravens attack, he'll kill Egwene & save her from a worse death.

    LORI ELENA MELE

    Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Elyas goading him about it didn't help either, as I recall.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, Elyas all but taunted the truth out of him.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Regarding how Elyas goads Perrin in that scene: I'm sure he knew exactly what Perrin was thinking, and wanted to make him confront it.

    TEREZ

    Well, yeah. Perrin didn't say anything about what he was thinking. Elyas said it all, exactly what he was thinking.

    TEREZ

    Both his true motivations—choosing her death—and the motivations he feared (which were stupid, of course).

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    No. Elyas claims that he thinks Perrin hates Egwene. Which is dead wrong, and Elyas knew it.

    TEREZ

    Right, that's what I was saying. Both his true motivations and the stupid ones. Elyas mocks him for the latter.

    TEREZ

    And then spells out what he really wanted: 'One clean blow of your axe, or the way the animals we saw today died?'

    TEREZ

    It's not that Perrin was thinking he hated her. He was hating himself for wanting to help her, which was dumb.

    TEREZ

    Which of course led to a philosophical conversation similar to Second Amendment debates. Which was ongoing, of course.

    TEREZ

    Did the axe make Perrin more likely to kill? Than before? Than with the hammer? What about the sword, and the spear?

    TEREZ

    I see it as Elyas very blatantly pointing out the flaw in Perrin's logic. He didn't hate her—that was exactly the flaw.

    TEREZ

    Didn't hate her, but he hated the axe, and that was a good thing. Never stopped. (Another good cover @torbooks)

    Tags

  • 17

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (18 January 2011)

    Foreshadowing some probably missed in The Great Hunt chapter seven. Prophecy of the Shadow found in the prison: "Which hand shelters? Which hand slays?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    (For further reading on that foreshadowing I mentioned, look for a chapter titled "The One He Lost" in The Gathering Storm.)

    Terez

    Ah yeah, I remember reading it now. Seemed to me to be more of a poetic connection than a real one, though.

    Terez

    I phrased that badly, but I don't know if I would have put it in the 'foreshadowing' category. Maybe 'retroshadowing'.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The connection there is poetic. The foreshadowing isn't of that moment, but more the concept.

    Footnote—Terez

    I think I pretty much figured it out before he responded—it makes a good deal of sense in reference to his Lews Therin dilemma and the dilemma of his harem. I tweeted about all that but Brandon responded to my first tweet, so I spared you.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there is other foreshadowing in the books that I'm not telling you about because it references A Memory of Light.

    Terez

    I will hopefully catch some of those, though I'm bound to catch a few red herrings as well. :)

    Brandon Sanderson

    I just passed a big one in The Great Hunt.

    Terez

    haha, and you know I will be scouring the pages of your vicinity looking for it. :D

    Terez

    My first guess: Mat is immune to Fain's dagger. (chapter seven) Second guess: foreshadowing of Cyndane's importance in A Memory of Light.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nope and nope. It's a very innocent line, and I won't tell you more than that. You'll spot it once you read A Memory of Light.

    Terez

    Third: Slayer's role in A Memory of Light. Fourth: Perrin puts on a crown and speaks in High Chant. (the crown at least seems likely)

    Footnote—Terez

    Brandon was responding to my first two guesses, not the third and fourth (as you can see by clicking on the link for his 'nope and nope' tweet, which should show the specific tweet he responded to). He almost certainly saw guesses three and four, but he didn't comment on them.

    Matt Hatch

    Readers, let's go HCFF on an "innocent" comment by @BrandonSandrson re: an A Memory of Light foreshadowing in The Great Hunt, discuss! http://bit.ly/gMZvLI

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've seen someone post on the innocent comment before, FYI. In fact, it was recent.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And Terez has sniffed at it before, I know.

    Terez

    Do you mean sniff as in turn my nose up at it? Or as in I got in the ballpark? Important distinction.

    Terez

    Also, I do not sniff.

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Sniff" as in I've seen you poke at the line before, and ponder if it has meaning.

    Footnote—Terez

    I don't think that Brandon follows me around on Theoryland, and knowing that I haven't really 'sniffed' at much in these chapters, I think it's most likely he is referring to my fourth guess: the line about Perrin wearing a crown and speaking in High Chant. The update to the glossary entry on Saldaea in Towers of Midnight seems to be another hint in that direction, and of course, Min had a viewing of a Broken Crown for Perrin in way back in The Eye of the World. In order for this to be fulfilled in A Memory of Light, both Tenobia and Bashere will have to abdicate or die (as it was also confirmed in Towers of Midnight that Faile is second in the line of succession).

    Tags

  • 18

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (11 March 2011)

    The scene of Perrin at the forge in Tear is one of my outright favorites. People often ask if killing characters is tough...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    ...Yes it is. But writing the Towers of Midnight scene with Perrin and the hammer he got here in Tear was more emotional for me than most deaths.

    BRANDON SANDERSON (12 MARCH)

    I have finished The Dragon Reborn (finally) on my re-read. Next up, my favorite of the books. The Shadow Rising.

    Tags

  • 19

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (28 March 2011)

    Perrin's growth as a character here between his last section and the start of Chapter 40 is very well done. Subtle, but powerful.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I like how in this case, RJ skipped some time, then jumped back and showed us the contrast. A cool way of showing growth starkly.

    Tags

  • 20

    Interview: Apr 5th, 1996

    Robert Jordan

    Berelain is Perrin's hawk (seen in Min's vision). I really don't know how anybody could have failed to make this connection, and Jordan was similarly incredulous when someone asked him. "What is the symbol of the Mayene?" he intoned heavily. "And who wears that symbol on crown, above her brow? Who is descended from Artur Hawkwing? And who is chasing Perrin like a bird of prey?" Those words aren't Jordan's verbatim, but they're close.

    Tags

  • 21

    Interview: 2012

    Brandon Sanderson (3 August 2011)

    I'm currently writing "Through Lines" on A Memory of Light, meaning I'm taking one character or group and going beginning to end.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'll end up writing the ending a number of times through different eyes, each separated by a short book's number of pages. Odd experience.

    CHRISTOPHER SKINNER

    How do you do that without diminishing the impact of the "big finish" (I mean there's denouement anyway, but the climax)?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Careful planning, followed by a lot of reads-through of the entire book to smooth and enhance.

    NEIL MCKINNON

    Did you do that with Rand/Egwene in The Gathering Storm and Mat/Perrin Towers of Midnight?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, I did.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    At about 20 scenes and 50k words, the first "Through Line" of A Memory of Light is done. I can't tell you who it is, but I'm very pleased.

    ERIC PETERS

    Why wouldn't you be able to tell us who it is? Is it a real secret who all of the characters in the book are at this point?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Some people don't want any kind of spoiler. Knowing there are 50k words of someone means they don't die at the start.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    If you look back through my Twitter feed, you can figure out who it is. [It was Perrin.] I might do a blog post on it too, with a spoiler warning.

    SHARON VERNON

    Do you find it easier to write "through lines" and then tie it all up together later?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    For a very big, complex book, it's basically the only way I can do it. Otherwise, I lose character voices.

    FRANK KWIATOWSKI

    Is this your style, or how RJ wanted it? Just curious.

    BRANDON SANDERSON (4 AUGUST)

    What specifically are you asking about? The writing of "Through Lines?"

    FRANK KWIATOWSKI

    You mentioned writing the same ending multiple times. I'm taking it as the same ending being reviewed from different POVs?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Different pieces of what, together, will be the ending sequences of the book.

    CONNOR EVERINGHAM

    I'm guessing that with one through line at 50k words, A Memory of Light will be a massive book?Will chunks be taken out during editing?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I always edit down, rather than up. I overwrite intentionally on first drafts. But the book will be big.

    PHIL

    I might just be ignorant here, but what's a "Through Line"?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Where you write one character's parts, all the way through the book.

    Tags

  • 22

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Greg Noe (5 August 2011)

    Reading Towers of Midnight, not getting the Perrin/Faile chapters. Especially the pointless Perrin/Berelain rumors. Payoff, @BrandSanderson?

    Brandon Sanderson (5 August 2011)

    If you go back to the earlier books, those were a BIG deal in the Perrin plotlines, and are a thread that was never tied up.

    Tags

  • 23

    Interview: Apr 5th, 1996

    Question

    Some dude asked if Perrin's hawk had appeared yet.

    Robert Jordan

    The answer: "I thought that was fairly obvious. What is the symbol of Mayene? What is the CROWN of Mayene?" i.e. Berelain, for all of you who actually doubted that. RJ also said Berelain is attracted to Perrin partly because he's the first man she wanted and couldn't get which is interesting, partly because he's buff, and partly because she thinks it'd be kinky to make it with a blacksmith. (On the anvil???)

    Tags

  • 24

    Interview: Jun 26th, 1996

    Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)

    Ryssgarde

    You approach the issues of sex, love and the like with all of your characters while maintaining an almost virginal perspective and yet there is a GREAT deal of nudity throughout the novels. No problem with this but when are Rand and Mat and Perrin going to stop thinking the other has the upper hand?

    Robert Jordan

    I'm not sure that they ever will. Who knows? It seems to me to be a very human thing in dealing with the opposite sex at least to think that somebody else knows more about it than you do. You might swagger and put on a surface belief of "well, I have that nailed!" but I think for most people, there's a little voice in the back saying, "God, he really does know how to handle women, doesn't he?" or "God, she really does know all about men!"

    Tags

  • 25

    Interview: 2012

    Brandon Sanderson (28 October 2011)

    I find myself thinking "It's been forever since I wrote Perrin. I'll be glad to get back to him." Then I realize his sequence is done.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Note that this isn't because Perrin isn't in the book much. (He is.) It's because I wrote his chapters first.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It is odd, knowing that some characters have had their stories told, that no more will be written about them. You'll feel this next year.

    Tags

  • 26

    Interview: Oct 9th, 1996

    Question

    How dangerous and how ambitious is Faile?

    Robert Jordan

    Exceedingly dangerous, not particularly ambitious. Perrin is due his due as lord of the Two Rivers. She has been raised as a noble with noblesse oblige. Perrin has been pushed into lording and she doesn't like him ducking out of what she sees as his obligations. She doesn't understand why he doesn't understand this in his blood like she does in hers.

    Tags

  • 27

    Interview: Nov 11th, 1997

    Kjell from Sweden

    In The Shadow Rising, Perrin was chasing Slayer in Tel'aran'rhiod. Slayer vanished at the Tower of Ghenjei. Did he enter it or did he just step out of the Dreamworld?

    Robert Jordan

    Read and find out.

    Footnote

    RJ told Erica Sadun in 1996 that Finnland can't be entered in Tel'aran'rhiod.

    Tags

  • 28

    Interview: Nov 11th, 1998

    Jimbo3

    Did you create Rand, Matt, and Perrin one at a time or all together?

    Robert Jordan

    One at a time...in fact, when I first started thinking of what would turn into The Wheel of Time, Rand and his foster father were one character. Not a 50-ish man and his teenage foster son. But a man in his 30's who had run away from a quiet country village seeking adventure, had become a soldier, and now after 20 years of that, world weary and tired. Who has come home to his pastoral village seeking peace and quiet, only to find that the world and prophecy are hard on his heels. You can see that that's a much different character that what I ended up with when I started writing. I may actually use him someday.

    Tags

  • 29

    Interview: Apr 4th, 2001

    Aan'allein

    When the line was almost done I went back in line again, getting Jordan to dedicate the books to me (instead of just having his autograph in them.) The interview-man was not happy with it, but at least I managed to get through... the people behind me who also were going for a second round weren't so lucky. (Of course, then the interview-man asked Jordan to sign a huge stack of Winter's Heart books for the bookstore, probably so they can sell them for a lot of money...)

    Robert Jordan

    While there I asked another quick question, "Are Mat and Perrin Heroes of the Horn reborn?", which got RAFO'd, as I feared. Sorry Witte, I tried.

    Tags

  • 30

    Interview: Apr 5th, 2001

    Aan'allein

    The first thing I heard when I came in was a question about how he researched things.

    Robert Jordan

    He talked about Perrin making that barrelstave in The Dragon Reborn, said that he'd done a lot of research into 18th- and 19th-century blacksmithing (and couldn't find anything from before). Then he wrote the first version and sent it to a blacksmith, who gave a lot of useful critique.

    Tags

  • 31

    Interview: Apr 6th, 2001

    Aan'allein

    Does Perrin still have Moiraine's coin?

    Robert Jordan

    Read And Find Out.

    Tags

  • 32

    Interview: Apr 6th, 2001

    Pytr

    Why do Rand, Mat and Perrin see colors when they think of each other?

    Robert Jordan

    The acronym is RAFO—read and find out.

    Tags

  • 33

    Interview: 2002

    Mat, Perrin, and Rand

    Robert Jordan

    For the three young men, Mat Cauthon is a happy-go-lucky fellow who wants nothing more than to dance with the girls and have a drink, and maybe gamble a little bit. And his major philosophy in life seems to be: have fun and kiss the girls, and if she doesn't want to kiss me, well there's another one down the street who will. Perrin Aybara wants to be a blacksmith. That is what he works at. And that's all he wants, to make things. Rand al'Thor is a shepherd's son, or thinks he is. And that is really all he has ever thought he wanted to do, was take over his father's farm one day.

    Tags

  • 34

    Interview: Jan 6th, 2004

    NYC, NY

    Has Perrin left his axe for good?

    Robert Jordan

    Read and find out.

    Tags

  • 35

    Interview: Apr, 2003

    Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)

    Question

    Are the Forsaken defined by being allowed to tap the True True Power?

    Robert Jordan

    No, not necessarily. They are, but it takes more than that, and they may be denied it. You see there were many more than thirteen Chosen at the time of the Breaking of the World. At the time of the sealing, there were more, and they died. The reason these thirteen lived was that they were trapped and, except for Balthamel and Aginor, sealed away in large extent from the effects of time, as if they were put in suspended animation. The others who were not there at this conference died.

    Question

    May I ask you what makes a Forsaken Forsaken, or Chosen?

    Robert Jordan

    Well, many people had sworn their souls to the Dark One. To be one of the Chosen, is to be someone who is recognized by the Dark One as having enough potential to be brought to Shayol Ghul to swear this oath personally, as close to being in the presence of the Dark One as is possible, with the prison partially sealed up.

    Question

    Is it just a coincidence that all those thirteen who survived can channel?

    Robert Jordan

    Oh, no that’s no coincidence, because if you weren’t able to channel, you weren’t going to get into this game at all.

    Question

    Ah. [mumble] cannot channel?

    Robert Jordan

    Yes, but somebody has to be cannon fodder.

    Question

    Yeah...poor Mat and poor Perrin.

    Robert Jordan

    Hmm, well, if they wanted to be Forsaken, yes.

    Question

    Yeah...I hope they’re not gonna be Forsaken.

    Robert Jordan

    Read and find out.

    Tags

  • 36

    Interview: Sep 3rd, 2005

    Frenzy

    How can Slayer know that Rand is his nephew?

    Robert Jordan

    The Shadow knows a lot about Rand. They know a lot about Perrin and Mat, too. Once they began to identify possibilities, they went hyper trying to get information because anything might be part of the key to controlling him.

    Tags

  • 37

    Interview: Sep 2nd, 2005

    Question

    I have a question regarding the Wolfbrothers such as Perrin and Elyas and Thom's nephew.

    Robert Jordan

    Thom's nephew began to channel.

    Question

    Oh. Anyway with all the Wolfbrothers coming out now, will there be a resurgence of even more Wolfbrothers?

    Robert Jordan

    Could be.

    Tags

  • 38

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2005

    Question

    How did your background in physics influence how you structured the world of the Wheel of Time?

    Robert Jordan

    Largely it was to make things realistic, as realistic as I can. Background in physics and engineering; I also tried to structure channeling as if it were a science or technology. No eye of newt, hair of dog. There are real limits, there are rules, there are technological structures to channeling which I think are fairly obvious to anyone who looks at it. That was the major influence.

    Plus making sure that I see that everything is real. Well if I bring about a blacksmith, well I don't know anything about blacksmithing, but I was able to get some nineteenth century books on blacksmithing, and once I had written the scenes I sent them to a woman I met that was a blacksmith and farrier, and she said you need to do this and you need to do that, but otherwise it is okay.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    This woman was at the time the only woman blacksmith on the high council of American smithing. She made a lot of the stuff at Billy Graham's in North Carolina, but she wrote wonderful comments back and said, if you want Perrin to ever have children, you must have a leather apron, which was among her other good bits.

    Tags

  • 39

    Interview: Oct 24th, 2005

    Question

    The next person who asked, wanted to know more about the swirling colors the three ta'veren see.

    Robert Jordan

    RJ corrected his pronunciation, apologized for cutting the guy off, and then said "RAFO".

    Tags

  • 40

    Interview: Oct 24th, 2005

    Robert Jordan

    Naturally there was one RAFO when asked about the swirling colors the ta'veren experience when thinking about each other which pleased everyone to some extent because it's such a trademark of the man himself.

    Tags

  • 41

    Interview: Oct 22nd, 2005

    Robert Jordan

    One man asked whether or not Perrin's dealings with the Wolf Dream would be further explained, which RJ immediately RAFO'd.

    Tags

  • 42

    Interview: Oct 22nd, 2005

    Robert Jordan

    Another RAFO was the question of what the colors in Rand's, Perrin's, and Mat's heads when they think of each other mean.

    Tags

  • 43

    Interview: Oct 24th, 2005

    Question

    Another question was regarding the swirling colors in Mat's, Perrin's and Rand's heads.

    Robert Jordan

    That got a big RAFO response. Not even any hesitation. However, this was the only RAFO answer given during the QA period. I guess that we Lexingtonians just do not ask tough questions.

    Tags

  • 44

    Interview: Jul 14th, 2006

    Robert Jordan

    For lilltempest, Perrin's agreement was only that he would not attempt to reestablish Manetheren. His later statements regarding Ghealdan being under his protection make it pretty clear that he doesn't mean to roll over for anybody.

    Tags

  • 45

    Interview: Oct 21st, 1994

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Question

    Why was Perrin not in The Fires of Heaven?

    Robert Jordan

    He had a lot of things to do back home, and they were all pretty boring.

    Tags

  • 46

    Interview: Oct 21st, 1994

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Question

    From what sources did you develop the concept of Wolfbrothers and the "powers" Perrin has developed in the series?

    Robert Jordan

    Any number of myths from Europe, North American Indians, and the Australian aborigines.

    Tags

  • 47

    Interview: Oct 21st, 1994

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Question

    Having just finished The Fires of Heaven I must say that I am greatly distressed by the absence of The Wolf ... Perrin. So what's happened to him?

    Robert Jordan

    He will turn up again eventually. Read on.

    Tags

  • 48

    Interview: Oct 21st, 1994

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Question

    Why is Perrin's horse in Lord of Chaos called Stayer and not Stepper?

    Robert Jordan

    Because it's a different horse.

    Tags

  • 49

    Interview: Nov 5th, 2009

    Shannon Berndston

    A question was asked about Robert Jordan’s notes—particularly how they were left.

    Brandon Sanderson

    We were told that Harriet has said that Jordan has left more in notes than in the series itself! Brandon then related a story about how he needed to know who was traveling with Perrin. He asked RJ’s assistants to look to see if there was a file with that info. A few days later he received an email titled “traveling with Perrin.” Unfortunately it listed every single person from the Two Rivers and their occupation who was traveling with Perrin. Some hadn’t even appeared in the books!

    Tags

  • 50

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    He talked about Jordan's use of time in the series, explaining that Perrin's storyline is maybe a whole month off the other storylines.

    Tags

  • 51

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2009

    Question

    I am not 100% positive, but I think the person asked if Tam's conversation to Perrin was a plot by RJ and if we would see this come into play later in the series. I think the questioner must have been referring to Tam's comment on whether Perrin truly meant to renounce his claim to Manetheren.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson gave a RAFO to the question. More interestingly he said that this might be something that may not be seen in the rest of the series. I want to see the video feed, but it appears that Perrin's whole kindom building plot-line may not come to a conclusion by the end of the series. I thought I also heard Sanderson mention something about outrigger novels.

    Tags

  • 52

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Ok. Is Mordeth’s power, this evil power, comparable to the One Power and True Power? Is it a power that can be woven?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it’s more something along the lines of Perrin’s wolf power, something more natural; you couldn’t weave Mordeth.

    Matt Hatch

    Ok, so it’s more of a natural...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...it’s more of a natural, though it is unnatural. It’s an unnatural natural thing...

    Matt Hatch

    ...because Jordan was really particular about...he tried to have a logic-based system as it pertained to the One Power. Is this power more supernatural in sense than it is based on physics?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Let’s say more instinctual, alright?

    Tags

  • 53

    Interview: Nov 15th, 2009

    Question

    Were the references to Galad, both from Rand's technicolor scrying of Perrin and Tam's mention, intentionally left in place as teasers, or an accidental artifact of the book division?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Intentional.

    Tags

  • 54

    Interview: May 12th, 2010

    Richard Fife

    Do you have a particularly favorite scene in the books?

    Alan Romanczuk

    My favorite scene is in the fourteenth book. About two-thirds of the way through, there is this fantastic scene . . . .

    Richard Fife

    I'm afraid I haven't read that one yet.

    Alan Romanczuk

    Well, the Last Battle will knock you dead. It will be great.

    Richard Fife

    They do say it will break the world.

    Alan Romanczuk

    Or the bank, whichever comes first.

    Richard Fife

    So, in the published books?

    Alan Romanczuk

    The published books? Ah. I don't have a specifically favorite scene, but in the recent books that Jim had written, the one that comes to mind for me is when Perrin was at his wit's end trying to find his wife and get information on Faile, and he goes to interrogate the captured Shaido they have staked out on the ground. Against all expectations, he chops off the man's limb, and makes it very clear to him that he is not going to kill him, but makes sure he is crippled for the rest of his life and will have to depend on others for his well being.

    What is striking about that is not only the surprise in what happened to Perrin's personality, but the fact that we see the depths of this man who had been operating at an almost emotionless state, or at least with a single, fixed purpose, which was saving his wife. We see him, the peace-loving blacksmith who, just through fate, is thrown into a position of leadership, suddenly do something that is completely out of character, or that we think is out of character, when in fact it is springing from his depths, something that needs to be done. So, in that scene, we see an inkling of Perrin becoming the person that he needs to be to take part in the Last Battle.

    Tags

  • 55

    Interview: Nov 2nd, 2010

    Matt Hatch

    Can someone without the Talent for Dreamwalking or Dreaming, but with access to Tel'aran'rhiod through a ter'angreal be taught to find dreams?

    Brandon Sanderson

    As far as I know, no. That's an 80%.

    The question they should be asking is could Perrin (be taught to find dreams)?

    Matt Hatch

    Can he?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't think so.

    Matt Hatch

    Well, what he can do is similar to Dreaming and Dreamwalking.

    Brandon Sanderson

    But the wolves don't know about them.

    Matt Hatch

    Well...

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm not sure, but that's what I would be asking (paraphrased).

    Tags

  • 56

    Interview: Nov 7th, 2010

    Question

    Much has been made of Egwene’s thought to tie up Perrin in the midst of a battle that could have brought about his death if he had not been able to stop her. Such apparent negligence is shocking considering her knowledge of how quickly things can happen in Tel'aran'rhiod. Can you explain Egwene’s thought process? Did she intend to leave Perrin there while she finished the battle?

    Brandon Sanderson

    (not verbatim) Egwene thought she was doing the right thing. She was acting as the Amyrlin and trying to make sure that he would be safe and out of the way of danger. She was not going to tie him up and leave him, she would have brought him somewhere safe away from the danger of the fight and left him there until it was over.

    ZAELA SEDAI

    Who is stronger in Tel'aran'rhiod?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    (not verbatim) They are both very strong, but in different ways. Perrin is very strong instinctively. Like the wolves, he makes decisions based on instinct while in Tel'aran'rhiod. Egwene plans out her moves rather than going by feeling as Perrin does. If the two were matched against each other the outcome would entirely be based on what type of encounter it was.

    Tags

  • 57

    Interview: Nov 7th, 2010

    Question

    When the wolves were on Dragonmount, who were they there to “lend strength to”—Rand or Perrin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They were there for Rand. They were doing what they thought would help Rand. Keep in mind that they are wolves and are not thinking as men would when it comes to the idea of helping others.

    Tags

  • 58

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2010

    Question

    What exactly does Mah'alleinir mean?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It means 'He who Soars'.

    Tags

  • 59

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2010

    Question

    Why do Mat, Perrin and Rand always stop the swirling colors when they have visions of each other?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Their personalities. A piece of them still feel that they are still those small village boys and don't want to be involved. It's the nature of the beast.

    Maria Simons

    And sometimes they see things they really don't want to see!

    Tags

  • 60

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Robert

    Also, when Perrin sees Hopper after Hopper's death in the Wolf Dream, Hopper also appears to be a dark shadow of his former self, something sinister. Is this related to the change that is coming over the people at the Black Tower?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're speaking of when Perrin tries to "resurrect" Hopper, so to speak. That is not related to what's happening at the Black Tower. That's something else entirely. And that's not even really Hopper. That is a projection of Perrin trying to bring Hopper back.

    Tags

  • 61

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    tamyrlink ()

    The second time Perrin needed to be there for Rand, did that occur on Dragonmount in Tel'aran'rhiod?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    RAFO.

    Footnote

    Brandon confirmed that this scene from Towers of Midnight was not the fulfillment of Min's viewing concerning Perrin and Rand (from Lord of Chaos Chapter 46).

    Tags

  • 62

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    tonka ()

    About the swirling colors/ta'veren experience: 

Would Perrin be able to see what Mat is doing in the Tower of Ghenjei? If I was Perrin I'd be following every move Mat makes.
 And hypothetically if Rand thinks about Mat at some moment during and after his journey in the Finn World Rand should be able to see Mat and Moraine or if before they rescue her Mat and company in the Finn World. Is that right? I find this connection between the ta'veren so fascinating.

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    How about this. Swirling colors don't work in Tel'aran'rhiod. Granted that within the Tower of Ghenjei is somewhat different from Tel'aran'rhiod, but there are some similarities.


    Tags

  • 63

    Interview: Jul 16th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    He confirmed the mythology connection to Perrin being wounded in the leg in the fight with Slayer in Towers of Midnight that was suggested by Hael Me in this thread.

    Tags

  • 64

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2011

    Terez

    Was Moridin in his own dream when Rand visited him in The Gathering Storm? If so, did he pull the boys into his own dreams in The Eye of the World, or did he invade and control theirs?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I believe Moridin was...okay, in The Gathering Storm, he was in his own dream. He at least believes he was in his own dream, and he is usually right on things like that. And in The Eye of the World, he...I believe it was their dreams that he was controlling. But...

    Terez

    That's difficult to do.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's very difficult to do....so I could be wrong on that. It's easier to pull someone into your own dreams, but it's easier to influence multiple dreams from the outside. So...does that make sense?

    Terez

    Yes.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, since he's doing it to all three of them, that makes me believe he was actually controlling their dreams. I'm pretty sure on that one, Terez. [Cut discussion of the pronunciation of Terez.] I could be wrong...but my understanding of the mechanics is that since they're all dreaming the same thing, that it's external, much as a lot of the Forsaken have been not warding their dreams through the early parts of the books, and causing people to dream lots of weird things, and share dreams. Ishamael was doing that intentionally...doing something similar. Does that make sense?

    Terez

    Right, and it also has to do with his ability to find ta'veren.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Footnote—Terez

    In my reread I noticed in A Crown of Swords Chapter 10, "Unseen Eyes", that Egwene says it's possible for a Dreamer to pull someone out of their dreams into a dream of her own making in Tel'aran'rhiod; this is something the Wise Ones won't do, but Ishamael wouldn't have a problem with it; I had forgotten that detail for some reason, and the Moridin dream confused the issue. It can be assumed that Lanfear did the same thing; Moghedien has shown no sign of having the ability (or perhaps the desire) to reach others' dreams, but she can trap Dreamwalkers in their own dreams in Tel'aran'rhiod. Aran'gar can do it weakly, and then only if she is sleeping right next to the person. Brandon has a point about the fact that all three of them dreamed the same dream apparently at once, but in once instance, after Perrin found the wolves, it seemed to Rand and Mat that they fell asleep, had the dream, and immediately woke up, when Moiraine says they were asleep for four hours.

    Tags

  • 65

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2011

    Terez

    When Perrin and Egwene saw Rand in Tel'aran'rhiod in The Dragon Reborn, had he been pulled there by someone?

    Brandon Sanderson

    (pause) I'm a little bit out on a limb on this one, but I don't believe he was. We have seen places where Rand manifests in Tel'aran'rhiod when he's in the real world, and this is something that happens with Rand that we haven't seen with other people...

    Terez

    Are you talking about like when...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, there's the Perrin sequence, for one...

    Terez

    Right, and when Ishamael visits him in The Great Hunt...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmmhmm.

    Terez

    Right. Cool.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, I believe Rand has got something a little unique going on there...

    Terez

    Oh, okay. That's interesting.

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...but, I'm a little on a limb on that one.

    Tags

  • 66

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2010

    Julien

    Julien asked if the incident where Perrin comes back from Tel'aran'rhiod with blood of someone else on his face was a mistake or something else (usually you get blood from your own wounds but not others when exiting Tel'aran'rhiod).

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said remembering thinking it was odd at the time when he read it but asked for an email and find out for that question.

    JULIEN

    [Julien] also asked if Rand had quit smoking since we hadn't seen him smoking tabac recently.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Brandon says that if he can't get two rivers tabac he would rather not smoke anything and Rand has been a busy guy lately. He compared it to being used to really good French wine and then having only bad American wine available, in which case Rand would rather not consume. Rather funny.

    Tags

  • 67

    Interview: 2012

    Memories of Light (Verbatim)

    Day 3

    "Being married is not so bad, Perrin. Why didn't you tell me it was not so bad? I think I am rather fond of it." (p. 196)

    Tags

  • 68

    Interview: Jul 11th, 2010

    Dylan

    Do we see Rand much in the new book? Or will he be like Perrin, Mat or Elayne in The Gathering Storm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Will we see Rand in the next book? YES. The book will not be a 100% flash-back like Book 10. There will be a little bit of catch-up for Perrin, but Egwene and Rand both have large parts too.

    BECKSTER45

    Is Mat in Towers of Midnight?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes. Lots of Mat. Promise.

    RLRHORROCKS

    What happened to Elayne? It seemed she fell off the earth in the last book.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It was tough to decide that Elayne would not appear in The Gathering Storm. I knew we didn't have room for everyone. Thing is, Elayne was way ahead of everyone else in her plotline. (Meaning what she needed to get done.) And so, with great regret, I moved her to Towers of Midnight. She will appear, as will her wonderful Warder.

    BECKSTER45

    Will we see Galad in Towers of Midnight?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    so far, I'm on record as saying this: Almost everyone who did not appear in The Gathering Storm appears in Towers of Midnight. No promises on anyone other than Main Characters, like Mat/Elayne. But expect to see a lot of people return who didn't appear in The Gathering Storm. Also, Galad happens to be one of my personal favorite characters.

    FRANKLINE

    Do we get anything about Shocklances?

    MYX

    I'm pretty late to this party, so if I don't get an answer to my question..no worries...But any chance of Egwene ever putting Cadsuane in her place?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Re: Shocklances (sp? I should really know that one) and Egwene/Cadsuane. Double RAFO. Pow!

    Tags

  • 69

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2011

    forkroot

    If cuendillar is brought into Tel'aran'rhiod, can it be destroyed in a nightmare (the same way Perrin destroyed the dreamspike)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you were strong enough in Tel'aran'rhiod, you could probably force it to break, but it would remanifest itself pretty quickly. (He compared it to how Perrin was able to force Hopper back together for a moment, but no more—it snapped back to "reality" pretty fast.) RJ was pretty strong on this point—it's really, really hard to destroy the stuff. Even an opening gateway wouldn't do it—either the edge would push the cuendillar object out of the way, or the object would block the gateway from opening or closing. (You could actually block a gateway open by sticking a piece of cuendillar in it.) RJ was firm: there are only two ways for cuendillar to be destroyed: the Pattern unraveling, and... one other thing. (From the way he said "one other thing" I think we'll be learning about it in A Memory of Light. He enjoyed that question too.)

    Footnote

    Brandon said in another interview that the second way to destroy cuendillar is with the True Power.

    Tags

  • 70

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2011

    forkroot

    Min has said that Perrin would need to be there for Rand twice to save him from something very bad. Assuming Dumai's Wells was the first time (which BWS confirmed), was Perrin's presence in Tel'aran'rhiod at Dragonmount during Rand's time there the second time? Or, in another phrasing, has the second time happened yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, that was not it. We have not yet seen the second time, but we will. (In other words, it's coming in A Memory of Light.)

    Tags

  • 71

    Interview: 2001

    Thus Spake the Creator (Paraphrased)

    Signing Report (Mat Cauthon)

    The person said something along the lines of: "My wife thinks Perrin is the sexiest man alive."

    Robert Jordan

    RJ responded by saying that he, himself, found Perrin kind of boring, and he didn't understand why people liked him so much. But what really surprised him was that the most popular guy was Mat, the guy he had thought would be the most hated.

    RJ then went into a minute-long tirade about how nice guys never get girls. He said that, while the girl might think she wants the good guy, she will always end up driving off with the guy in the Harley. Yes, he said Harley.

    Tags

  • 72

    Interview: Nov, 2009

    Interviewer at Vroman's

    Who's your favorite character?

    Fan

    Perrin. He's very very very self sacrificing to a fault. And I love the crap out of him for that one. So I'd have to say Perrin, for sure.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin is, of all the main characters, the furthest back in his arc, if that makes sense. Like, through the most recent books, he was growing and he was getting there, he was almost there. And then, he let himself be diverted from achieving these things that he needed to achieve. And I won't say whether he achieves them or not. Sometimes the arc is. . . at the end of the arc, they make the wrong decisions.

    Tags

  • 73

    Interview: Dec 5th, 2000

    Br00se

    The next question was about the heights and weights of the three amigos. I had seen the heights reported before, but not the weights. This might actually be new info.

    Robert Jordan

    Rand is 6' 5" to 6' 6" and 235 lbs.
    Perrin is 6' 1½" and 235-245 lbs.
    Mat is 6' and 180 lbs.

    Tags

  • 74

    Interview: Apr, 2012

    Brandon Sanderson

    PRK (7 APRIL 2012)

    In The Gathering Storm, Egwene was mostly RJ, Rand mostly Brandon. In Towers of Midnight, Mat mostly RJ, Perrin mostly Brandon.

    Tags

  • 75

    Interview: Apr, 2012

    Luckers

    Was the Shiny Dragon... was she manipulating Masema before Perrin met him?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Umm, when did Perrin meet Masema? Was it in the scene where Alliandre is kneeling and giving her jewelery to him?

    LUCKERS

    No, that was...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Nynaeve, yeah. Right.

    LUCKERS

    Perrin met him at the same time Faile was getting kidnapped.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Right. Then in that case, yes, the Shiny Dragon was manipulating him before.

    Footnote

    Technically Perrin met Masema in Fal Dara, and spent a fair amount of time with him on the way to Falme, and afterward.

    Tags

  • 76

    Interview: Apr, 2012

    Luckers

    Are the ripples in Knife of Dreams balescreams?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *grins* RAFO. And say that’s a RAFO with a grin.

    Footnote

    This most likely had something to do either with balefire or the True Power.

    Tags

  • 77

    Interview: Apr, 2012

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon spoke of how sometimes the characters he liked did get more air time, and that this was a side effect of having a fan write the books. He spoke of his love of Perrin, and how he wanted Towers of Midnight to be a 'big, awesome, Perrin book', and that that is what he hoped he delivered.

    Tags

  • 78

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sulin appearing with Rand's group was NOT an error. Perrin is approximately a month behind everyone else in the timeline and will play major catchup in Towers of Midnight.

    Footnote

    Brandon clarified later; this was an error.

    Tags

  • 79

    Interview: Apr 18th, 2012

    Luckers

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hey went to the signing in Sydney tonight. Nothing really new, except that both times he spoke of the climax of the series (that Jordan had written) he spoke of it as one chapter (he spoke much the same in Melbourne too, but I didn't really note it then).

    The second thing is that someone asked whether he had freaked Harriet out with how well he channeled Jordan, and he replied that he had freaked Harriet out, though not so much for that as for some of his crazy ideas. He said he thought Jordan would have been innovating and creating as the process of writing unfolded, and that he did much the same, throwing thoughts at Harriet, some of which made it into the book. An example of one which didn't end up in the books, and which apparently Harriet 'freaked' out about was that he suggested Perrin might take up the Way of the Leaf.

    Tags

  • 80

    Interview: Apr 18th, 2012

    dicetosser

    Is speaking to Wolves hereditary?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RJ's notes say it is a soul-bound ability which basically means every time Perrin Noam and Elyas are born they will have the ability to speak to wolves.

    Tags

  • 81

    Interview: Aug 8th, 2009

    WorldCon 2009 - Dom (Paraphrased)

    Dom

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon drew a graph of A Memory of Light's structure and explained in some details how he ended up re structuring it as three books. Not much that isn't already known in there, book 12 will have two main story lines (we know it's Rand and Egwene, but as I said Brandon didn't say so explicitly at the Q&A) and teasers for three more (Mat—and seemingly Perrin and Elayne). By 'teasers', Brandon precised he means 3 or 4 chapters per story line, the rest of the chapters being divided between the two main story lines (by recent books, this could means Egwene/Rand have about 10-12 chapters each, or a few more). Some developments happen in the teasers but it's not huge stuff, more like set ups chapters for what happens in book 13.

    Book 13 will have the opposite, with 3-4 chapters each for Egwene and Rand, "toward the end". Brandon kept those for book 13 to avoid spoiling in The Gathering Storm the climax of book 13, which will mark the reunion of all the main story lines at some location, and launch Tarmon Gai'don. So in book 13 we will have the residual Rand/Egwene chapters that specifically build up to the reunion.

    Brandon explained the decision to split the books this way came about between Harriet and him, in part to avoid the "Crossroads of Twilight trap". Apparently, RJ went that way in Winter's Heart/Crossroads of Twilight mostly because he had been affected by all the grief he got for keeping Mat out of The Path of Daggers. He decided to try to put all the main characters in the next books, even if it meant all the story lines would advance more slowly if they were all told in parallel like this. He very much regretted this after Crossroads of Twilight, for which he got even more grief than for The Path of Daggers, and decided to return to his more organic/uneven approach for Knife of Dreams and A Memory of Light. The original plan for The Gathering Storm was to develop all the story lines in parallel again, but Brandon and Harriet had qualms about this and Brandon came up with an alternative to focus on two story lines in one and three in the other.

    There is one of the 'POV clusters' Brandon had written that it mostly unused for The Gathering Storm and will go in book 13.

    Brandon of course wouldn't tell who is the character not in The Gathering Storm at all, though he gave a few clues. Piecing all his bits of answers together, the character isn't Aviendha, Cadsuane or Nynaeve, nor Mat (the only character he confirmed is in the two first books, but we already knew this). He basically destroyed the speculation it could be Perrin by hesitating on the words 'major character' and then adding the bit that the vast majority of fans would actually place this character at the very bottom of the list of characters to be considered 'major'. The way he put Elayne over and over among the five really major ones during the Q&A suggests it's not her either after all. He also said while explaining his graph that there were chunks (his "teasers" for three story lines in The Gathering Storm and the core of the story for two—and his 'five' clusters he explicitly said were Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Mat and Elayne.

    So perhaps we've read too much in his 'major POV character' comment (Jason's review may also allude to this, when he commented that one major character is missing but it's pretty much up to each reader to decide who is major and not in WOT). At some point, he said a major POV character in A Memory of Light will be missing in The Gathering Storm, which is not exactly the same as saying a major POV character from the earlier books isn't in The Gathering Storm—which is the way his previous comment was interpreted by many.

    Dom

    Lan isn't a major POV character in the earlier books, but now he's on his own he may very well become one in A Memory of Light.

    In any case, I'm more and more thinking it's Lan (or possibly Moiraine), not Elayne or Perrin which I doubt many would place 'at the very bottom' of the list of characters to be considered major. Most people would place Elayne not near the bottom at all but among the top 7 or 8 most important characters. Above Moiraine and Lan, Thom, Loial and probably even Min and Aviendha.

    Footnote

    The POV character missing in The Gathering Storm was Elayne, and they didn't quite make it to the reunion of all plotlines at the end of Towers of Midnight as they had originally planned.

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  • 82

    Interview: Nov 9th, 2009

    Question

    Is there a Perrin wolf dream/vision that is fulfilled in the time from when Rand almost kills Tam to his epiphany at the top of Dragonmount?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you mean Perrin’s dream with the bandage over his eyes, and dressed like a beggar than yes, that dream was fulfilled by Rand’s actions from Tear to Ebou Dar to Dragonmount.

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  • 83

    Interview: Apr 26th, 2010

    Linda

    Will Perrin undergo major new character development in Towers of Midnight as did, say, Fortuona and Rand in The Gathering Storm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said he wouldn't answer specifically; I said I only wanted a general indication and he said that at the end of his scene in The Gathering Storm Perrin was about ready for character development. So I took that as a yes.

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  • 84

    Interview: Apr, 2012

    JordanCon 2012 - Terez (Paraphrased)

    Question

    Is there any relationship between Perrin's dream visions and Min's viewings? Does she see into Tel'aran'rhiod?

    Maria Simons

    I don't know. I might be able to find out.

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  • 85

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Loialson

    Mat's dice in his head. Are they real? Do they come from Sindhol? Are they from his ta'veren nature, or is it just a plot device? (laughter)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Everything that I've read in the notes indicates that they are from his ta'veren nature, and that they are a manifestation of being ta'veren [?] related to his [?]

    Loialson

    One of Perrin's manifestations, visions in the Wolf Dream...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Partially. Perrin's manifestation is also...he draws to him things that he needs; what he needs comes to Perrin. That's actually his primary manifestation of being ta'veren.

    Loialson

    So what's the difference between what Perrin does and what Egwene does?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh boy. Can I get into this? They are similar, but not the same. What Egwene does is partially a Talent of the Power, and it's related to the Power. And Perrin is not.

    Loialson

    Is it [?] him being a Wolfbrother?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Loialson

    [?] if he chose to.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is related to him being a Wolfbrother.

    Loialson

    Why can the wolves not see it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I honestly don't remember the answer to that.

    Loialson

    That's okay...

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  • 86

    Interview: Sep 2nd, 2012

    Question

    I was wondering if it's possible for scholarship in future generations if we at some point could get a copy that's annotated so that we can tell which passages came directly from Robert Jordan—like color-coded or something—because as you've been intermingling them I think it would be interesting to be able to go back and say, "This is what he originally wrote."

    Brandon Sanderson

    It will be very hard to do simply because, you know, you would have a lot of sentences that would four colors in them (laughter), because, here are three words from Brandon; here are a couple of words from Robert Jordan; the rest are from Harriet, that she has edited, and then here's the insertion by Maria as she's doing the copy-edit, that something needed to be [put] in. It would be very difficult to get right.

    The other thing is, Harriet has several times expressed a reluctance to let people see the notes because she doesn't want people focusing when reading the books on what was me and what is Jim. I do still kinda tend to work on her and see if I can get her to let us do something with the notes. I'm not too expectant—if it doesn't happen I'm gonna be fine—but I tend to ask on behalf of the fans, people like yourself, and if I can do that I can then bring them out and I will talk a little bit more about that.

    One thing that I've said to people a number of times, that in each of the three books there is a prologue [scene] that Robert Jordan wrote almost completely, or completely, for the prologue of the book, then since we split it in three, I took one scene from each completely that is Robert Jordan's—and there are a few fragments in each prologue as well that were also his—but there's one complete scene in the prologue. In the first book, it was the farmer sitting on the doorsteps watching the storm; that was one of the scenes he dictated, and we actually at JordanConI got to listen to that dictation. In the second book it was the Borderlander tower with the soldier and his son; that was one of the more complete scenes we had from Robert Jordan which had some minimal revision and editing during the process but was basically a complete scene that he gave us. And there's one like that in the third book as well.

    In The Gathering Storm, I've said before that, as the notes went, Rand was a little more me; there were fewer notes on Rand. There were more notes on Egwene. We're both involved in all the viewpoints, but Rand from that is a little more me, and Egwene's a little more Robert Jordan, and then in Towers of Midnight, Perrin's a little bit more me, and Mat is a little more Robert Jordan. And maybe we'll be able to release more than that, but so far that's about all I've said. There are certain scenes that he did write, by the way—I'll give you everything; this is what I've told people; I haven't told people much—but there's a certain scene in The Gathering Storm where Egwene has an unexpected meeting with an old friend in the Tower. That one was done by Robert Jordan. And in Towers of Midnight, there is...most of the Mat stuff including the ending where a certain engagement happens was Robert Jordan.

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  • 87

    Interview: Nov 3rd, 2012

    herid

    I also asked him if the character of Verin had any mythological parallels.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said that he doesn't know and would have to see if there is anything in the notes. He also said that most of that stuff was done by RJ but he did add some of his own. He specifically mentioned that Perrin getting wounded in the leg in Towers of Midnight was his own addition. He didn't elaborate but there are a number of deities (particularly blacksmiths of some sort) like Vulcan and Perun who were wounded in the leg.

    Footnote

    Verin is derived from Verin or Verrine, the demon of impatience.

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  • 88

    Interview: 2012

    Memories of Light (Verbatim)

    Day 16

    "Do not cut off your foot for fear that a snake will bite it, Perrin Aybara. Do not make a terrible mistake because you fear something that seems worse. This is all I will say on the topic." (p. 269)

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  • 89

    Interview: May 2nd, 2012

    Mark Grayson ()

    I'll try to sum up a few other things I remember:

    Brandon Sanderson

    We talked about if he laughed when fans were guessing who wrote what and getting it way wrong. He said the story he could tell about that was someone looking at the chapter titles to tGS and saying they could tell that Brandon wrote those when of course Harriet has named all the chapters since the start.

    He was disappointed that DKS couldn't finished the last cover even though he really thinks Whelan is the best fantasy artist around. He likened it to the same as it being too bad that he had to finish the series instead of RJ.

    He talked some more about how he felt Mat was the hardest character to get write because he's pretty complicated. His thoughts don't always match up with his actions and it was hard to strike the right tone.

    He knows that his action sequences don't sound like RJ's. He said he just doesn't have the real world experience that RJ did as a combat soldier so he just writes them as the best action scenes that he can.

    He said Perrin was his favorite character so one of his goals was to redeem the character a bit and make him awesome again.

    I asked about his Alcatraz books and he said there will be one more but it's not high on the priority list and will be several years. He also said the Scholastic distribution wasn't great and he's working on buying back the rights and bringing the series to TOR for wider distribution and ebook release.

    Mark Grayson

    Stuff like that. Nothing that hasn't been covered before.

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  • 90

    Interview: 2012

    Memories of Light (Verbatim)

    Day 22

    "Why are you helping me?" Perrin demanded.

    "I'm fond of you, Perrin." (p. 295)

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  • 91

    Interview: 2012

    Memories of Light (Verbatim)

    Day 28

    "But this . . . this isn't about blacksmithing, Perrin . . ."

    "Of course it is," Perrin said. How could Rand not see that? (p. 174)

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  • 92

    Interview: 2012

    Memories of Light (Verbatim)

    Day 40

    "We'll remember those who fell, and we'll tell our children how we stood when the clouds turned black and the world started to die. We'll tell them we stood shoulder to shoulder, and there was just no space for the Shadow to squeeze through." (p. 278)

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  • 93

    Interview: Jan 7th, 2013

    kcf

    Spoiler follow-up: What specific scenes in your writing proved to be the most memorable? What are a few of your favorites from the final three books in the series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin forging his hammer is probably my favorite that I worked on extensively. My favorite that Jim worked on extensively would be Verin's last scene. Rand atop Dragonmount at the end of The Gathering Storm is a pretty big one for me. In the last book, my favorite would have to be Lan's charge right at the end, which is a scene that I worked out years ago, that I pointed a lot of things toward, and specifically in this book built a lot of things around. For a fun scene, getting Mat on the back of a raken was a pure joy for me to be able to do.

    What other scenes really stand out to me? Robert Jordan's last scene, which I've mentioned before, is a great one because it's become the focus, for me, for the entire sequence that I have written. From the beginning, that was the ending that I was working toward. So I was very excited to be able to actually get there.

    That's just a few scenes; there are a lot of them in this book and the series.

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  • 94

    Interview: Jan 11th, 2013

    tiffranosaurusrex

    Why didn't Rand immediately find Mat and put him in charge of the armies?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Rand knew where Mat was (the visions.) Therefore, he knew that Mat was with the Seanchan—so in going to find them, and bring them into the battle, he was doing just that. (To an extent.) Also, he understands that with Mat—unlike Perrin—swooping in and ordering him about is a good way to get Mat going the opposite direction. However, Mat also finds his way to where he needs to be. So, Rand decided to let the Pattern work on Mat, and instead focused on preparing Perrin .

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  • 95

    Interview: Jan 11th, 2013

    tiffranosaurusrex

    If you had to think into the future of Randland, what do you picture the remaining heroes doing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, in RJ's notes, Perrin was to be involved in the Outriggers (which would be the story of Mat and Tuon in Seanchan.) So Perrin would make his way there, eventually. (I don't know how that would have worked with Perrin's new obligations.) From here, I stray away from canon (meaning what RJ wanted) and into my own imaginings. I imagine that Rand went to see the world, becoming like Jain Farstrider. Min joined him, and they saw the world. Aviendha and Elayne spent decades, maybe centuries, leading their own people before retiring to join the other two.

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  • 96

    Interview: Jan 9th, 2013

    Geek's Guide to the Galaxy

    Brandon Sanderson on writing Robert Jordan's characters:

    Brandon Sanderson

    "I'm going to bring my own interpretation as a longtime fan of the characters, and in most cases they're spot-on with what most people think—there haven't been many complaints about my Perrin, for instance. In some cases there are complaints and they're right. My early Mat was off, and I acknowledged this, I looked at what the people were saying. In other cases, such as Lan, they're wrong. [Laughs] What can I say? I'm a fan too, and we will have these arguments about whether this character would do this or that character would do that, and you'll find that in any community. On the other hand I do get complaints and the complaints are legit. I'm not Robert Jordan, and I can't do some of the things he could simply because I don't have his life experience and in many ways I'm not as good a writer as he was. . . And if that really bothers you, then hopefully we can get the original notes released . . . so that those for whom my interpretation was not good, or my failings ruined the experience for them, they can at least look at what Robert Jordan had and imagine their own story."

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  • 97

    Interview: Jan 9th, 2013

    Question

    How did you keep track of all the characters?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are, what? What are we up to, like 2800 named characters in the Wheel of Time? [laughter] It's more than two thousand; it was more than two thousand when I started, and it was like 2400 or something like that when I started, and I've added a few. So, how can we keep track of all of these characters? That actually is when people ask me, what the hardest part about this was, I often say that that was the hardest part. It's not just keeping track of them, because actually keeping track of them is somewhat easy; there's lots of fan resources, which I use. The Encyclopaedia-WoT is my favorite, though tarvalon.net runs a very nice Wiki which goes more in-depth and things. And keeping track—that's the easy part. The harder part is, Robert Jordan gave them all voices, right? Everybody talked in their own way, and was their own person, and when, you know, Perrin is traveling with like three random Wise Ones, they're all individual personalities, and so before I could write a scene, I had to go back and remind myself, how each of these three people...what their attitudes were, and how they spoke, that sort of thing. It was very difficult.

    I don't know if you—I mean, I tell this story; I don't know if you guys have heard this before—but the level of detail Robert Jordan went into in the worldbuilding...there was one point where I was working on Towers of Midnight, and I sent an email to Maria saying, "I can't keep track of who is with Perrin. Do you have just a list somewhere?" And I was really just meaning the Wise Ones, right? And, you know, named characters. Maria comes back and says, "Well I just dug this out of the notes; I hadn't seen it before. Maybe this will help. It's a file called 'With Perrin'". I went, "Oh, good." And I opened it up...no, that's not what it is; it is the names of all the Two Rivers folk who haven't been named in the books yet. [laughter] ...who are traveling with Perrin, and often a little bit about each of them, and a list of several dozen names of people who haven't been named yet. That's the level of detail we're talking about with this, and it was a challenge; it was a challenge on all of us.

    Fortunately, we did have Maria and Alan, who we should mention—Alan Romanczuk, who is also one of the assistants and very good at this sort of thing, and I would focus my writing, particularly in first draft, on just getting the emotional content of a scene down, right? Get the narrative flow down, make sure it's working, and I would try to get all the voices of the characters right, but I wouldn't worry as much about continuity. I would then send it to Maria, and she would send back this thing with all of these notes saying, "Oh Brandon. Oh Brandon, you can't do this." "Oh Brandon, you killed her." "Oh Brandon..." You know, stuff like that. You see her shaking her head over each of these things. And then we would try and fix all of the problems caused by that, and that's kind of how it went.

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  • 98

    Interview: Jan 7th, 2013

    Harriet McDougal

    (to Melissa) Cool t-shirt! [laughter]

    Melissa Snedeker

    Hi; my name's Melissa Snedeker; I'm from Colorado Springs. I have been reading the series for about ten years now. Love it. My question is to Brandon. There is a notable difference between you and Robert Jordan's writing. I was wondering what the biggest influence that you had on the books [was], and what were your main thoughts that you added on top of Robert Jordan's?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I usually shy away from saying too much about this because we prefer that when you read the books you not spend a lot of time trying to figure out what was me and what was Robert Jordan. It's safe to say that, at any given point in the book, you will find my influence and his influence.

    That said, I've said before the epilogue of this book—and significant chunks of the last little part as well, but specifically the epilogue—was written by him before he passed away, so you do know that. Things I've said before—and I'm probably not going to say much more than this, at least until the books have been out for a while—in Gathering Storm, if it was Egwene, Egwene's plotline was more Robert Jordan, and Rand's plotline was a little more me—we both were involved in both, but there is that—and if it was in Towers of Midnight, Mat's plotline was more Robert Jordan, and Perrin's plotline was more me.

    But it's really hard to get down into specifics, because I don't want you focusing on that, and beyond that, I've even started to forget. [laughter] Because I've been working on this... No really! You guys laugh about that, but I've been working on it so long, I will do things, and it's things that came out of the notes, and then I'll go back and look and I have forgotten that those things came from the notes, because at this point in the creative process, you're building a book, and you're looking for the inspirations from the stories or from the notes, and they're kind of sometimes the same to me, whether it's the notes or the stories. And so, anyway, I'm sorry to give you kind of a roundabout non-answer to your question, but maybe in another year or so I can say a little bit more. But really, we would rather it just remain....we don't want it to be at the forefront of people's minds when they're reading.

    Melissa Snedeker

    Yeah. Alright, thank you so much.

    Footnote

    More info on who wrote what in the epilogue.

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  • 99

    Interview: 2013

    Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    sleepinghour (23 January 2013)

    Who was the Broken Wolf?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    Perrin's spirit guide. Note that the "he" in the next sentence does not refer to the same creature.

    Darrell Wyatt

    Did the Shadow Prophecy at the end of Towers of Midnight come to pass? If so can you explain as I did not recognize it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Everything in it happened, but not exactly as many would have interpreted.

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  • 100

    Interview: 2013

    Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Kamarile Sedai (23 January 2013)

    Are Mat and Perrin still ta'veren after the Last Battle?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    That is an excellent question...that I'm not allowed to answer. (Sorry.) I feel bad. I'm giving you lots of RAFOs.

    Andy Nogar

    Is Rand still ta'veren? If not, how did he warp reality and light his pipe at the end?

    Brandon Sanderson

    These are questions that I'm not answering, I'm afraid. RJ wanted some things about the ending to remain ambiguous.

    Mike W

    How can you still be RAFO'ing stuff? What is left to read?

    Brandon Sanderson

    To RJ, RAFO sometimes meant "Read, think about it, and decide." It didn't always mean "I'll give an answer."

    Peter Binkowski

    Is 'RAFO' basically to mean we're never going to find some things out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There's a "Talk it over, see if you can figure it out" aspect to it as well.

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  • 101

    Interview: 2013

    Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Jason Wesbrooks (23 January 2013)

    Loved A Memory of Light—Did RJ specifically prohibit a three ta'veren reunion? One of my only minor disappointments.

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    No, he didn't, but I just couldn't fit it in logistically.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mat/Perrin Rand/Perrin and Rand/Mat from these two books was my nod toward that.

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  • 102

    Interview: 2013

    Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Anthony Radisich (23 January 2013)

    What's so evil about going to the wolf dream in the flesh? Seems like a gun on the mantle that never got fired??

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    In this case, "Evil" depends on ones perspective. I don't think it's evil, personally.

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  • 103

    Interview: Feb 1st, 2013

    Question

    When you read the books, did you have an affinity for a character and as you wrote did you change?

    Brandon Sanderson

    When I read it was mostly Perrin. I'll admit I had a fondness for Mat later on, but it never became my supportive Perrin, even when he was down in the dumps. I didn't stop being a Perrin fan because he moped a little. He was my favorite all along. When it came time to write the books, Perrin remained my favorite. He was among my favorite viewpoints to write as well. I was very excited by the prospect of being able to do a lot of Perrin in Towers of Midnight, and having a lot of freedom with his sequences was a real pleasure. When I finished the rough draft of A Memory of Light, there was a lot of, like 20% more Perrin than Rand, so that didn't turn out right. It's really Rand's series, it needs more Rand, so when I sent it to Team Jordan, they said there was a lot of Perrin, so we upped the Rand count. There was a Perrin sequence that didn't really feel right for the book that was about 20,000 words, so we cut that out and added a Rand sequence that was about the same length which I had already been working on, and that helped restore the balance. When I started A Memory of Light I was fresh off Towers of Midnight and in a Perrin mindset, so I was like PERRIN IS AWESOME, did his stuff, then moved on to the other characters' arcs in succession.

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  • 104

    Interview: Feb 7th, 2013

    Robert Moreau

    Terez wanted me to ask if Perrin's soul and Hopper's are bound.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson replied that she is on the right track and handed me a RAFO card.

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  • 105

    Interview: Feb 7th, 2013

    Hunter

    Here's a tidbit from yesterday's signing:

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Brandon revealed the gist of the two lines written for the outrigger novels. He says they will be released eventually, but the gists are: The first is about Mat waking up in a gutter somewhere, likely in Seanchan. The second is about Perrin heading out and thinking about how he may be forced to kill a friend.

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  • 106

    Interview: Feb 15th, 2013

    Hypobasis

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Hi everyone,

    I was at the Toronto A Memory of Light signing last night, and one of the things Brandon mentioned was that Robert had plans for TWO more WOT trilogies!

    He then killed all our hope by saying that there will not be any more WOT books as per Robert's request. The WOT is done.

    He also mentioned that the sequels only had one sentence each for a description. He didn't say what they were out loud as it could spoil A Memory of Light for people.

    I asked him what they were as I was getting my books signed and this is what he said:

    The first is "Perrin is going to Shara to kill an old friend."

    Footnote—Terez

    I got Trae Cooper to ask Brandon about this in Atlanta, because I was pretty sure it was supposed to be Seanchan rather than Shara. Trae reported that it was indeed supposed to be Seanchan.

    Hypobasis

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    And the second is:

    "Matt lying in a gutter wearing a tattered cloak."

    I'm thinking the Perrin one could be him going to kill Rand or Gaul. Could also be Longtooth. It could also be "old friend" in a sarcastic way and could be some form of Slayer returned.

    The Mat one could be him having issues with the rebels back in Seanchan? That one's very vague.

    Unfortunately we'll never know as even Sanderson knows nothing beyond these two sentences, but still exciting!

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  • 107

    Interview: Feb 16th, 2013

    Catfish N. Cod

    Ta'veren Telepathy in Technicolor (TM): what was the point?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not totally sure; RJ's notes just said "This keeps happening up to the very end." Narratively, to keep attention focused on the Superboys, and to connect timelines.

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  • 108

    Interview: Feb 7th, 2013

    Question

    Who was his favorite character to write and who does he see himself the most in?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin was his favorite. Even though Perrin went through "a slump" in the series in order to build tension, Brandon always stayed "Team Perrin." Perrin was the most natural. Mat was tough and thus a cooler character to write. Brandon enjoyed writing Mat, especially in A Memory of Light. Mat challenged his skills more than anyone else. The saddest part for him with finishing the series is that he can't write Mat anymore.

    Harriet added that there will not be any more WoT books (other than the encyclopedia). She said that Robert Jordan hated the idea of someone taking his material, although he did want the series finished. He stated he would run over his hard drive before allowing others to "sharecrop." Harriet stated that the two sentences about the outriggers that Robert Jordan left behind will be released in April or May. She said that with the encyclopedia there is "the work of at least a year."

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  • 109

    Interview: Feb 6th, 2013

    Freelancer

    Also about Lanfear. When she pops up next to Perrin several times in Tel'aran'rhiod at the Black Tower, she would speak to him briefly, then glance at the sky and vanish. Was that part of her act, trying to convince Perrin that she was no longer serving the Shadow, or was she genuinely afraid of being caught by "him"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Here's the thing about Lanfear. Just about everything she does has an element, a veneer of truth to it, and that greatly exaggerated, but no more than that. And as you said, she's playing a different game than everyone else, and I mean everyone else. They're all playing chess, and she's playing backgammon. You cannot take her actions at face value.

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  • 110

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Terez

    You said that the balescreams in Knife of Dreams were because Demandred was balefiring whole cities...

    Brandon Sanderson

    I did not say that.

    Terez

    You did not say that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No!

    Terez

    That was reported! (on a private Facebook group)

    Brandon Sanderson

    That was reported; that's not what I said.

    Terez

    What did you say then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I told them...they said, "What caused these?" And I said, "Ah, that's very interesting. By the way, Demandred was balefiring whole cities.

    Terez

    But you didn't say that's what caused them. Okay.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Terez

    Good answer, because that gets rid of my next question. Okay.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmhmm. They asked about balefire and things like that, and it was...

    Terez

    ...and they connected it...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...and I thought they might, but I specifically said, "BY THE WAY..." This is not....

    Terez

    (laughs) ...Well, we're recording now.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So there you go.

    Terez

    Okay, good.

    Tags

  • 111

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Terez

    The next one is something that somebody asked for me—on my behalf—before, but did Perrin bind his soul to the hammer? Or...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Did Perrin bind his soul to the hammer? That's an interesting question. Why are they asking this?

    Terez

    Because I asked before, was it Hopper? It's because of what Slayer said about his ability to step in and out....

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, was based on having two souls in one body...

    Terez

    Yeah, and he said, "It's just like you," right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmmhmm.

    Terez

    You know, so it has to be something.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, it's a good question. (with an air of finality) That's a very good question.

    Terez

    (sighs loudly) (people around laugh)

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say...how about this: I would say the relationship between Perrin and Hopper is...part of the reason that...Hopper may not...have suffered as dire a fate...(crosstalk)

    Terez

    That's what I was hoping for...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...as wolves would normally suffer when killed where Hopper was killed. How about that?

    Terez

    Yeah, that's what I was hoping for, but your answer to the last one kind of drew me on the path of the hammer, which was somebody else's idea, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmmhmm.

    Terez

    But yeah. Good!

    Brandon Sanderson

    So there you go.

    Terez

    That makes me happy.

    Footnote

    See A Memory of Light, Chapter 45, "Tendrils of Mist".

    Tags

  • 112

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Terez

    The name...how do you pronounce it? Is it no-tay, or no-tie?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, it's...you pronounce the K.

    Terez

    Oh, you pronounce the K!

    Brandon Sanderson

    ....according to Alan, who is the Old Tongue expert, who corrected me on it even though I named him.

    Terez

    So say it!

    Brandon Sanderson

    k'no-tie. But Alan can correct me, because Alan is the expert.

    Terez

    Does it have any mythological basis that you know of?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it does not that I know of, because that one, as most of the names—not all of them, but most of them that I named, because I named him—came from me writing something in English, and saying, "Alan, give me the Old Tongue."

    Terez

    Okay.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And so, there are times where he'll find something, and I'll be like, "Oh, that sounds like this! Let's use it. Oh, this sounds like this; let's use it." Most of the time, it's...he comes up with the direct translation.

    Terez

    Like, Shaisam, actually...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Terez

    Yeah, I mean that's easy to figure out for us, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. And there are some where I say, "Let's find something that feels like this..." and then, you know, of course, Perrin's hammer, right?

    Terez

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's one where you're like, you know, let's find an Old Tongue translation that works for what the mythological symbolism is.

    Terez

    And that works well. It's hard to pronounce though.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, it is a little hard to pronounce though.

    Terez

    Can you pronounce it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    MAH-HAHL-in-ear? Eh...ask Alan.

    Terez

    (laughs) Okay.

    Tags

  • 113

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Terez

    Was it actually Egwene talking to Rand, after...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, I've left this one intentionally ambiguous.

    Terez

    I figured that's what you did.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That, and whether Lan actually died or not, are both ones that I'm not going to answer.

    Terez

    Yeah, and whether Perrin actually died or not, because he's in the dark prophecy too.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but do remember that the dark prophecy people are misinterpreting that one a little bit, by intention.

    Terez

    Yeah... [Amusingly, Brandon is talking about the dark prophecy in Towers of Midnight, and I'm talking about the one in The Great Hunt.]

    Brandon Sanderson

    You know, they're supposed to misinterpret it, but one of the lines doesn't refer to Perrin; it refers to Hopper, and then the next line...

    Terez

    Well, not her new lover!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah...

    Terez

    That's not Hopper, is it? (laughter behind)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh, no...

    Terez

    She's not into...okay. Good. (laughs)

    Tags

  • 114

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2013

    Question

    When Perrin asked the wolves to relay a message, was that the greatest game of Telephone ever played?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It probably was the case! They would call it something different, because they didn't have telephones.

    Tags

  • 115

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2013

    Question

    Was Perrin's hammer forged with Hopper's soul, or was he considered dead at the time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There was nothing in the notes to say I could put Hopper's soul in the hammer, but there was also nothing to say I couldn't, so I believe it was there, since otherwise it would be gone forever. [Much cheering from the Memory Keepers]

    Tags

  • 116

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2013

    Question

    Perrin felt his ta'veren-ness melting away. If Mat lost it too, does he lose his luck?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't believe that he does. Being a ta'veren has a distinct effect on him, but I think there is an innate luckiness to Mat, partially drawn from the fact that the Heroes [of the Horn] call him Gambler. And so in other lives where he would not have been ta'veren he was still a gambler and still lucky. However, I do think being a ta'veren meant that the luck was greatly magnified, and I think it grew stronger and stronger through the series. That's my read on it from the notes, and I'm pretty sure on that one. I have to give the caveat that there could be something out there that contradicts me.

    Tags

  • 117

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Question

    What happens next? Somebody please tell me.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well I can tell you a few things actually. The sequel trilogy that he was writing, he left us two sentences. One is, Mat is dicing in a gutter somewhere. And the other is Perrin is on a boat traveling to Seanchan thinking about how he's got to go kill a friend.

    Tags

  • 118

    Interview: Apr, 2013

    Question

    Just to clear it up, cause I really dislike arguing with people: just to have it out there, in big BOLD letters: Brandon did confirm in his January 2013 Twitter chat that Hopper was "the Broken Wolf, whom Death has known", yes? ("The Broken Wolf was Perrin’s spirit guide.") Because this one aggravates me almost as much as Olver/Gaidal Cain and Taimandred, especially when people insist it was Rodel Ituralde.

    Maria Simons

    Yes, Hopper was "the Broken Wolf, whom Death has known."

    Tags

  • 119

    Interview: Apr 20th, 2013

    Terez

    So how is it that Egwene was able to override the a'dam in the dream world when Moghedien couldn't? Was she just not as good as she thought she was?

    Maria Simons

    Yeah, pretty much. She thought she knew everything, but you know, when Perrin went in and was, "It's just a weave..." it kind of changed the parameters.

    Tags

  • 120

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    With the Wheel of Time, who’s your favorite character to read about, and then your favorite one to write about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My favorite one to read- during the early parts of the series it was Perrin and during the later parts of the series it was Mat. And my favorite one to write was probably Perrin because- historically, like when I was a young guy reading the books, he was my favorite, he was the one I identified with.

    Tags

  • 121

    Interview: May 24th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    He stated straight out that Lanfear had additional plans in motion that can be figured out based on A Memory of Light that none of the fandom has found yet (or at least not posted). He was asked for specifics and gave a RAFO, then specified he meant that in terms of re-reading A Memory of Light.

    He confirmed that Lanfear's compulsion of Perrin was only in A Memory of Light and that she didn't like using it and so had not done so in their previous meeting back in the early books.

    Tags

  • 122

    Interview: May 24th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Lastly, and IMO, most important. While he stated he was paraphrasing from memory, he revealed the "two sentences" that Jordan had left for the outriggers. The first was a scene of Mat in a wool cap laying in a gutter having gambled away everything. The second was a scene with Perrin on a ship thinking that he was going to have to go kill a friend.

    Tags

  • 123

    Interview: 2013

    iwasazombie (March 2013)

    Hey Brandon! I'm the redheaded dude who was helping at the last two Midnight Release parties, and I am actually at BYU right now. I have two questions:

    I know you've said you can't answer these directly, so, rather than give the "official" answer, I was wondering if you could give us your "fan theory" on the answer, as if you weren't the writer.

    What do you think about Mat, Rand, and Perrin keeping certain "abilities"? I know you've said that they may or may not still be ta'veren, and Perrin thinks they aren't, but can Perrin still talk to wolves? Is Mat still lucky? Does Mat still have his memories?

    In your opinion, who do you think Nakomi was? Do you like the "Nakomi is the avatar of the Creator theory"? Do you think of her as the third member of the Christian godhead?

    Finally, Harriet was quoted as saying that she thinks Rand's special ability at the end was a "new magic"? Do you agree? Or do you think it is something else?

    Thanks for being awesome!

    Brandon Sanderson

    1. Perrin can still talk to wolves. That is certain. Also, Mat keeps his memories. These two are official, not theories on my part. What I can't give official on is the ta'veren-ness of the guys. I don't think RJ ever even says in the notes. Me? I think they aren't.

    2. I'm too close to this one. I can't say, unfortunately. I can answer as a fan for things I don't know because it's not in the notes, or for things I could theorize about before I came onto the project. For things I learned about while working, I don't have a "fan" perspective, only a writer perspective. Sorry.

    3. Harriet is more likely to be right than I am, but I don't believe it is a new magic. I think it is a result of Rand touching the Pattern directly.

    iwasazombie

    Awesome! So, I'm still unsure about Mat's luck. Would you say that's part of his "ta'veren-ness?"

    Thanks for the great answers. I'm more at peace now with some of the previous answers you've given.

    Brandon Sanderson

    My gut tells me Mat still has his luck, but not to the extent he once had. But I have no foundation for this in the notes.

    Tags

  • 124

    Interview: 2013

    RazGriz3 (May 2013)

    Was anyone else a little disappointed with the way to Ogier showed up for the Last Battle? Kinda just like "Oh yeah, we are here too." Then that was it. The scenes in which we see Ogier fighting are awesome, but I felt their introduction to the Last Battle was a little lacking. Anyone else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The way they show up is actually the result of a sequence being cut. Originally, Perrin led an expedition into the Ways to try and close the Waygate in Caemlyn from behind. During this, the Ogier arrived, full of song, to drive off the Black Wind. Unfortunately, this sequence had logistical problems with the rest of the book, and had to be deleted entirely. The biggest casualty of this cut was the Ogier introduction, which didn't work nearly as well in the new sequence as it once had.

    kaybeesee

    Thanks so much for adding your insight.

    Ever thought about publishing a deleted scenes book? If movies can do it, why not books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Afraid it isn't my call. You'd have to convince Harriet. That said, we are releasing some deleted scenes in the Unfettered Anthology to help with a friend's medical bills. (They aren't the Perrin ones, though.)

    Andre_Gigante

    Thank you for being a redditor as well as an awesome author.

    Pilkunussija

    Did the same thing happen with Mashadar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, no deleted scenes here. I did Mashadar the way I did because of the small amount of information in the notes about it or Fain, and I felt that going with what little I did have was better than exploring widely without knowing where RJ wanted to go. In some other cases, I did extrapolate when we didn't have much from RJ, but here it felt better to go with the "less is more" idea.

    There was a big danger in these books in me taking over too much and driving the books far from RJ's original vision. I had to pick and choose carefully which parts I extrapolated, and I did it based more on my own instincts and talents than anything else. For example, I felt very comfortable with Perrin as a character—he'd always been my favorite, and I felt like I knew him very well and could write him strongly. So, in Towers of Midnight where we had very little direction on what to do with Perrin, I felt that the right move was to expand his part and develop a sequence on my own.

    However, for Mat in the Tower of Ghenjei, RJ had been planning this sequence for years and years. He wrote or outlined a good portion of it before he died. It was a small sequence, however, only a couple of chapters worth. I realized fans would be expecting more from this sequence, but my instincts said that it would be wrong to develop it into something much larger. That would not only go against RJ's wishes, but would risk messing things up royally. RJ had laid careful foreshadowing and groundwork for the scenes, and had a specific vision for this sequence. Perhaps if he'd lived, he would have expanded it in additional directions, but it would have been the wrong place for me to add.

    Fain through my three books feels very similar to me. It wasn't as strict here as it was with the Mat/Ghenjei sequence—I COULD have expanded, and perhaps I would have, given more time. However, at the same time, there is an argument to be had that RJ wanted Fain to have a lesser-than-expected place in the Last Battle, and expanding him would undermine this.

    devoidz

    I wish the Ways had been touched on. They were very interesting, as well as the portal stones. Was there any more info, or back story, on the Black Wind that hasn't been shared? Thanks for responding to us, by the way. I loved the last three books, you did an awesome job on them. I am getting ready to start going through some of your own stories.

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is some, but not as much as I think fans hope. In regards to something else mentioned on this thread—I believe that RJ was planning to do the Ogier/Seanchan Ogier relationship exploration in the Outriggers.

    1anthony90

    What logistical problems were there?

    simps984

    IIRC in some of Brandon's other posts on Reddit, he indicated that the deleted scenes were casualties of keeping the book reasonable in length. Additionally, Harriet or the publisher preferred that the storyline in A Memory of Light should be directly approaching the Last Battle, and this sequence got a little too far away from that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    There were a number. The biggest one was that the sequence wasn't needed. As you can judge from the final book, the Waygate didn't NEED to be closed. The structure of the battle worked just fine without it, as the plan was always to draw the Shadow's armies upward and through the woods. By the time the big fights here played out, it didn't matter terribly much if the Trollocs were being resupplied from behind.

    Beyond that, the weight of this heavy Perrin sequence in the early middle of the book was distracting, keeping attention away from Rand and from the push toward the rest of the Last Battle. (this is what simps984 mentioned in his reply, which is correct.) The sequence was awesome on its own, but distracting in conjunction with the rest of the novel.

    I would still have liked to have found a way to make it work, but I feel that way about every scene I end up deleting from the book. The truth is that aside from the Ogier arrival, nothing big was lost by cutting this ten thousand words—and a whole lot was gained.

    Tags

  • 125

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Giovanni13 ()

    Hey Brandon once upon a time you posted Final Fantasy X song "To Zarkanad" on your Facebook page and said it was perfect for the scene you were writing in A Memory of Light, so tell me if you remember which scene was that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was the last few scenes I was working on, Perrin after the Last Battle and a few of the Loial sequences in the epilogue, which were parts I had a hand in writing as opposed to putting in what RJ had written.

    Tags

  • 126

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    EverAccelerating ()

    What was your favorite scene in any of your published books that you had to eventually cut from the book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin traveling the Ways in A Memory of Light.

    iwasazombie

    What?! Can you tell us about that scene? This is the first I've heard of it. That sounds awesome.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin gathered a team and traveled the Ways in order to try to close the Waygate in Camelyn from behind. It was determined that this section, among having other issues, was not needed for the final book and was distracting from the momentum toward the Last Battle.

    Tags

  • 127

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    Oh, my question was does Perrin lose a body part in the book, since Mat has lost one, Rand has lost one, does Perrin lose one next?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin’s body part was the knee, where he got shot through the leg with the arrow. Because the mythological symbolism is with Mat- it’s the Odin mythology, and Odin lost an eye. Perrin is actually the blacksmith mythology, which if you’ve read in Hephaestus and Perun and of the various blacksmiths, they usually have a bad leg. I wasn’t going to chop off his leg. I had that wound, and he kind of feels a phantom wound, if you’ll read in the last book there are several times where his leg aches even though he was healed. That’s the symbolism there.

    QUESTION

    So, did you just decide to [inaudible] or was that..?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    No, Robert Jordan had done that, that was him.

    QUESTION

    I wasn’t sure if I was just coming up with a fantasy or not.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Though I knew he had to be wounded in the leg, I didn’t know how or how badly so I kind of came up with how it happened.

    Tags

  • 128

    Interview: Mar 17th, 2012

    Zas

    This one is from Terez, about WoT. It says "Does Moridin have anything to do with the Knife of Dreams?"

    Peter

    She thinks that his name "Tedronai" translates into Knife of Dreams in WoT.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    (slightly surprised) Oh. If that is the case Terez,which it very well may be, I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s mostly because I don’t do anything with the Old Tongue- I let Alan handle it, because he’s so good at it, I pretty much just refer to him. The only thing I tried to name on my own was Perrin’s hammer. And even that, he had to fix a few little things to make it work right.

    So I won’t kill that theory, but I can’t confirm it either.

    Tags

  • 129

    Interview: Oct 22nd, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin

    Perrin is my favorite character in the series, and has been since I was a youth. Like many readers, I was frustrated by his choices through the later books, though the writer in me really appreciated Robert Jordan's skillful guidance of the character. The problems Perrin confronted (sometimes poorly) highlighted his uncomfortable relationship with the wolves, his unwillingness to cut himself a break, and his ability to devote himself so utterly to one task that everything else vanished. (As a note, I feel this is one of the major things that made me empathize with Perrin for all those years. Of the main characters, he is the only artist. However, he's an artist like me—a focused project builder. A craftsman.)

    Though I wanted to be careful not to overdo the concept, one of my goals in these last few books was to bring back ideas and conflicts from the first books—creating parallels and emphasizing the cyclical nature of the Wheel of Time. Again, this was dangerous. I didn't want these books to become a series of in-jokes, homages, and repetitions.

    However, there are places where it was not only appropriate, but vital that we return to these themes. I felt one of those involved the Whitecloaks and Perrin, specifically the two Children of the Light he had killed during his clash with them in the very first book. This was a tricky sequence to plot. I wanted Perrin to manifest leadership in a way different from Rand or Egwene. Robert Jordan instructed that Perrin become a king, and I loved this plot arc for him—but in beginning it with the Whitecloaks, I threatened to leave Perrin weak and passive as a character. Of all the sequences in the books, I struggled with this one the most—mostly because of my own aspirations, goals, and dreams for what Perrin could become.

    His plot is my favorite of the four for those reasons.

    I had other goals for Perrin in this book. His experiences in the Wolf Dream needed to return, I felt, and push toward a final climax in the Last Hunt. This meant returning to a confrontation with Slayer, a mirrored character to Perrin with a dual nature. I wanted to highlight Perrin's instinctive use of his powers, as a contrast to the thoughtful, learned use of power represented by Egwene. People have asked if I think Perrin is better at Tel'aran'rhiod than Egwene. I don't think he is, the balefire-bending scene notwithstanding. They represent two sides of a coin, instinct and learning. In some cases Perrin will be more capable, and in others Egwene will shine.

    The forging of Perrin's hammer, the death of Hopper, and the wounding of Perrin in the leg (which is mythologically significant) were in my narrative plan for him from the get-go. However, weaving them all together involved a lot of head/wall-bashing. I wanted a significance to Perrin's interactions with the Way of the Leaf as well, and to build a rapport between him and Galad—in my reads of the characters, I felt they would make for unlikely friends.

    Of all the major plot sequences in the books, Perrin's was the one where I had the most freedom—but also the most danger of straying too far from Robert Jordan's vision for who the character should be. His instructions for Perrin focused almost entirely on the person Perrin would be after the Last Battle, with little or no direction on how to bring him there. Perrin was fully in my hands, and I wanted to take extra care to guide my favorite character toward the ending.

    I will note, by the way, that Verin's interaction with Egwene in The Gathering Storm was my biggest surprise from the notes. My second biggest was the Thom/Moiraine engagement. Robert Jordan wrote that scene, and I was surprised to read it. (As I said, though I loved and had read the books, there are plenty of fans who were bigger fans than myself—and to them, this was no surprise.) I didn't pick up the subtle hints of a relationship between the two of them until my reread following my getting the notes.

    Tags

  • 130

    Interview: Oct 30th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perrin

    When I launched into this book, I'd just finished Towers of Midnight and was in a very "Perrin is awesome" mood. I wanted to keep writing Perrin, so I did his sequence for the book first. It worked, to an extent. I love the Perrin parts of this book. However, by the end—and after finishing the other viewpoints—we found that the book had way too much Perrin in it. Cutting the sequence where Perrin travels through the Ways to try to close the Caemlyn Waygate from behind was one method of balancing this out. The sequence was also cut because Harriet felt I'd gone too far in the direction of returning to previous themes in the series, bringing back something better left alone so we could focus on the Last Battle. (In addition, Maria thought my descriptions of the Ways just didn't fit the story.)

    This was a 17,000-word sequence (and it ended with the Ogier rescuing Perrin and his company from the Black Wind, driving it off with their song). I love the sequence, but unlike the sequence with Bao (the deleted scenes named "River of Souls" and included in the Unfettered anthology) it is not canon. It couldn't happen for a multitude of reasons, and got trimmed.

    Otherwise, Perrin ended up as I wanted him. A lot of people were surprised that I knocked him out of the fighting for a big chunk of the Last Battle, but I felt it appropriate. The fighting armies were Mat's show, and Perrin's focus for the fighting was to join Rand and protect him in the Wolf Dream. There was so much else going on, I decided to bench him for a chunk of the warfare—and I'm pleased with the result. It brought real impact to the Slayer fight, where Perrin was left wounded.

    Tags

  • 131

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2013

    NutiketAiel

    One fan asked for something about the "two sentences" that Robert Jordan left about the planned outrigger novels.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said that the sentences would be released at some point, but did say that one of them was about “what Perrin's doing."

    Tags

  • 132

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    In your opinion who is stronger in the the world of dreams? Perrin or Egwene?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'd say that at this point, it's less a matter of who is stronger, and more a matter of what they're doing. Perrin could probably win a fight, but his raw knowledge and understanding is less—he works on instinct.

    Tags

  • 133

    Interview: Jan 6th, 2015

    Question

    At the end of A Memory of Light, it mentions that Rand is no longer ta'veren. Does that apply to Mat and Perrin as well? And if it does, how does it apply to Mat's luck?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Everything I'm saying right now is not 100% canon, because I'm only working off of my guesstimates based on his notes. I believe that Mat's luck is a soul attribute that is independent of him being a ta'veren, but enhanced by his ta'veren nature. Part of the proof of this is the Heroes of the Horn knowing him as Gambler, which means in other Ages when he's been born and not been ta'veren, he's still had luck and attraction to things like that. Plus things in the notes, I'm basing on that. So it does not necessarily mean they aren't ta'veren right now, but even if they weren't, I think Mat would still have his luck.

    Question

    So you don't know whether they're ta'veren or not?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not know. My suspicion is that if he would have written the outriggers, Mat still would have been, and maybe Perrin, because Perrin was going to be in the outriggers, we know this. But I don't know for sure. But I think it would have been fun, if in some parallel dimension if I were to have written them, which I'm never going to, I would have not made Mat ta'veren, or Perrin, I would have made Tuon ta'veren, and forced Mat to deal with someone else who was ta'veren, which I think would have been interesting.

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  • 134

    Interview: Jan 17th, 2015

    Question

    What has been your most favorite character arc to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um… Normally it’s very hard to answer questions like this because it’s like all my characters are my favorites, but in this case I can say writing Perrin’s arc in the Wheel of Time was very satisfying and fulfilling since I’ve been a fan for so many years and being able to do the things there, yeah. That was very satisfying, how about that?

    Tags

  • 135

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Question

    What is the favorite character you have written?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What is the favorite character that I have written? I would say Perrin, from The Wheel of Time. Because I can’t pick my own characters, because they don’t feel like I’m-- They are my favorite while I’m writing them, whoever they are. But Perrin was my favorite Wheel of Time character and when I got to finish the Wheel of Time he was the character that Robert Jordan left the least amount of notes on. In fact there was one sentence, for three books-worth, about him. And so I got to take him and really Perrin was the one I had the most influence on through the course of those three books and it was very special to me him being my favorite character and being able to do that.

    Tags

  • 136

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Question

    So what about the things you left out when you finished-- What was the one thing you wish you could have gotten in there most?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most that I wish I could have gotten into the Wheel of Time? My favorite sequence that got cut, writing-wise, was the sequence where Perrin travels in the Ways and defeats Machin Shin with the Ogier. It’s a beautiful sequence, it came out really well. The problem is reading the book you don’t miss it because it was a big deviation. So I’m not sure if I wish that one would have made it into the book. I tried to get Rand engaged, and that one I think-- I think as a whole a lot of people are confused when they come to me and wish that they could have known a little bit more about that relationship and I tried to have the three-- I tried to write a scene where the three women weave a bridal wreath together to give to him and Harriet did not like that scene because she thought it might contradict Rand later wondering if any of them would follow him, which is a scene that Robert Jordan wrote. I didn’t think it contradicted but since we had that scene from Robert Jordan and since Harriet-- she’s the boss, I was happy to cut it according to her wishes. I miss that one.

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