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Your search for the tag 'transmigration' yielded 45 results

  • 1

    Interview: Apr 20th, 2004

    Week 3 Question (Matt Hatch)

    There are many theories that attempt to create a connection of time duration to the transmigration of the dead Forsaken. Are there time and/or power constraints on the Dark One's ability to transmigrate souls?

    Robert Jordan

    There are definitely time constraints on the Dark One's power to transmigrate a soul. The soul doesn't have to be secured immediately—that is, the Dark One doesn't have to be ready to snatch the soul at the instant of death—but the longer that passes after the death, the less chance that the Dark One will be able to secure the soul. Someone who has been killed with balefire in actuality died before the apparent time of his or her death, and thus the window of opportunity for the Dark One to secure that soul for transmigration is gone before the Dark One can know that the soul must be secured unless the amount of balefire used is very small. Remember that the more balefire is used, the further back the target's thread is burned out of the Pattern.

    After the soul is secured, then a suitable body must be acquired and stripped of the (former) owner's memory and soul to make way for the favored one. By the way, what constitutes a suitable body from the Dark One's perspective is not that of the recipient. Certainly Aginor would never have chosen to be reincarnated in his, shall we say, less than imposing body, nor would the womanizing Balthamel have chosen to be reincarnated as a beautiful woman. It was only chance that Moridin ended up in a body that is young, fairly good looking and physically imposing. Those things simply don't matter to the Dark One. But the body has to be basically healthy and sound, and neither too young nor too old. After all, the Dark One wants his servants to be effective, and a body that meets those basic requirements is more desirable than one that doesn't. Since there is no stockpile of such bodies, the only way for someone to die and immediately be reincarnated would be a matter of pure chance. That is, the death occurred when a suitable body was on hand for some other reason.

    There are a few other limits and constraints, but I won't go into them here, since I may want to use them in the books, and I would rather they come as a surprise if I do.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: Apr 20th, 2004

    Week 15 Question

    What does the Dark One view as the worst punishment he can inflict on his minions: Killing them as painfully as possible? Balefire? Mindtrap? Being continually resurrected to suffer at his hand for eternity? Something we haven't seen yet?

    Robert Jordan

    The Dark One doesn't care about his minions sufficiently to invest much time in their punishment except as it serves to correct their behavior or as object lesson to others, nor is there much in the way of gradation. Simple failure and outright betrayal might be punished equally, or one might result in death and the other in becoming an object lesson or in something else. (The mindtrap, by the way, could be called an object lesson only to the one so trapped; remember, none of the Forsaken know who is mindtrapped except Moridin and those who are trapped.) The decision, death or object lesson or something else, normally would be simply a matter of whether or not he believed there was any point to an object lesson and/or whether or not he felt there was really any further use in the individual. Or, for that matter, made for reasons unknowable to a human mind. Remember, the Dark One is NOT human and thinking of him in human terms just doesn't work.

    But he also operates under a constraint that did not exist in the Age of Legends. At that time, about 3% of the population could learn to channel to some extent, though not all chose to—the training program took time, and being able to channel carried with it certain obligations that not everyone wanted to undertake—but that still meant there were, at a minimum, hundreds of thousands of people in the world who could channel, and more likely millions. A large pool of possible recruits. Break a tool or decide it isn't working right and throw it out, because there is an endless supply of similar tools waiting on the shelf. That might be said to have been his attitude. In the here-and-now of the books, that figure is about 1%, and of that 1%, very, very few have any idea that they could learn to channel, much less have any training at all. Here-and-now, the pool of possible recruits is tiny.

    Also, while the Forsaken themselves have realized that these primitives have discovered how to do things with the Power that they themselves cannot, or perhaps can once they learn how but never dreamed of doing until they found that the weaves existed here-and-now, they still think of people in the here-and-now as primitives, and their attitudes filter through to the Dark One, who believes that his people from the age of Legends are in all practical ways better—for which read better trained, more capable, and thus better able to serve him efficiently and effectively—than the people of the present time. And he is right. In a way. They are certainly better trained, with a much wider knowledge, at least in some areas. Some of their skills are absolutely useless in the society they are forced to live in. Aginor was a genius in biology and genetics, but in this world, he had no way to make the tools to make the tools to make the tools.... Well, you get the idea. Pity the poor chip designer dropped into the seventeenth century.

    In any event, the Dark One tries to conserve his resources, using and reusing those he might have killed himself, or ordered killed, in a time where there were thousands to equal them.

    Tags

  • 3

    Interview: Nov 21st, 1998

    John Novak

    [Is balefire the eternal death of the soul?]

    Robert Jordan

    If someone is balefired, the Dark One can't reincarnate them. But they CAN be spun back out into the Wheel as normal. Balefire is NOT the eternal death of the soul. He also made a comment to the effect that even in the absence of balefire, there may be circumstances where the Dark One cannot bring someone back. There was a long line, so I didn't press.

    Footnote

    RJ expanded on these other 'circumstances' in the TOR Questions of the Week (see Q3).

    Tags

  • 4

    Interview: Nov 21st, 1998

    Robert Jordan

    While he likes Chalker's and Varley's works, he does not intend to emulate them.

    John Novak

    "Not at all like Balthamel becoming Aran'gar?" I quipped.

    Robert Jordan

    He retorted to the effect that was one character, not a whole host of characters.

    Tags

  • 5

    Interview: Oct 11th, 2005

    Ted Herman

    Since you said at an earlier signing that the Dark One couldn't have brought back Asmodean if he wanted, was that at the time of Asmodean's death, or after that?

    Robert Jordan

    The Dark One couldn't bring back Asmodean because of the combination of two factors: HOW HE DIED and WHERE HE DIED. Not one or the other, both factors.

    Footnote

    The referred to earlier question was asked at the NYC Barnes & Noble signing on the Crossroads of Twilight tour.

    Tags

  • 6

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Terez (29 August 2011)

    A signing report implies that you said that RJ changed his mind on whether balefire = eternal death of soul. This true?

    TEREZ

    Here is a direct link to that particular report: http://bit.ly/nKpOSS @Blindillusion13 is unable to clarify.

    TEREZ

    I always assumed what you really said (or really meant) was that you had believed it was the eternal death of the soul...

    TEREZ

    ...but then when you joined Team Jordan you learned differently (you said elsewhere that @MariaLSimons had to convince you).

    Brandon Sanderson (29 August 2011)

    You have the right of it, Terez. I always believed that balefire = Eternal Death.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Team Jordan instructed me that this was not the case, and balefire meant the Dark One could not recover the soul.

    Tags

  • 7

    Interview: Jun 26th, 1996

    Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)

    Martin Reznick

    Are there limits to the Dark One's power besides: inability to reincarnate balefired people, and his imprisonment?

    Robert Jordan

    Read and find out! Obviously, there are some limits or he simply would have ripped the prison open and done as he wanted to do. With an absolutely powerful character, there is no story, or at least the story goes "it shall be as I will it to be," he said, and so it was. The end. That's the whole story.

    Tags

  • 8

    Interview: Jun 27th, 1996

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Ealgail

    ADMIT IT!!!!!! DASHIVA IS OSAN'GAR111111

    Robert Jordan

    On the advice of my lawyer, I never admit anything. :) Not even to my wife!

    Tags

  • 9

    Interview: Oct 9th, 1996

    Question

    Tell us about the Blight.

    Robert Jordan

    You can not enter it from Tel'aran'rhiod because it is apart from NORMAL UNIVERSE and can not be touched. The Blight is not part of the normal universe.

    QUESTION

    Ask about the Blight. If it is not reflected in Tel'aran'rhiod, why does the Great Lord of the Dark have so much power over Tel'aran'rhiod, the Wheel and reincarnation?

    ERICA SADUN

    See above.

    Footnote

    The Dark One doesn't have power over Tel'aran'rhiod as far as we know, but it's easy to see how one might have come to this conclusion after reading A Crown of Swords, since Moghedien noted that the properties of Tel'aran'rhiod and the area around Shayol Ghul were so similar that she could only differentiate by 'feel'. He also doesn't have any power over reincarnation beyond being able (with certain limitations) to 'catch' a soul while it is on its way to the afterlife (at which point the soul is out of his reach). RJ explained this further in the TOR Questions of the Week. There's no indication that he has any power at all over the Wheel, either, though he does seem to be able to corrupt the Pattern in a way with his touch.

    Tags

  • 10

    Interview: Oct 12th, 1996

    Robert Jordan

    Someone asked Jordan about the 'gars, and mentioned that he'd seen theories that Lanfear was one of the 'gars. I was expecting a RAFO, but RJ gave the guy a disgusted look, and said that "No, Osan'gar and Aran'gar are Aginor and Balthamel." The guy said (I'm paraphrasing here), "You're confirming this, and not hinting about it?" RJ replied (more paraphrasing), "I'm confirming. After all, it's pretty obvious in the books that it's those two. After all, that's what Aginor thought was so funny; Balthamel, the lecher, was stuck in a female body." Jordan then went on to give the standard disclaimer that a lot of the clues are already in the books, and reasonably intelligent people should be able to figure a lot of this out. His job, he said, was to make sure you're still guessing about some stuff at the end of the story.

    It's fairly safe to say that this was Jordan's version of thwacking the guy with a clue stick...

    Tags

  • 11

    Interview: Oct 12th, 1996

    Robert Jordan

    The Two *gars

    RJ admitted outright that they were Aginor and Balthamel, and that Aginor was the male and Balthamel was the woman. I still feel that Aginor describing himself as "helping" make the Trollocs is not consistent, but hey, I didn't write the books. When I asked him if he was confirming their IDs, RJ said (in a slightly tired tone), "I've never denied it." This was rather surprising to me, to say the least.

    Tags

  • 12

    Interview: Nov 20th, 1998

    John Nowacki

    One of the regular contributors to the group—I don't recall whom—suggested asking whether Moridin came into existence before or after the 'gars.

    Robert Jordan

    That one earned a quick glance and a RAFO.

    Tags

  • 13

    Interview: Aug 27th, 1999

    Robert Jordan

    I'm fairly sure he's done this before, but he said Aginor and Balthamel are Aran'gar and Osan'gar, and he also said that Terry Goodkind actually uses WOT as inspiration, instead of going to a historical source. He sounded serious.

    Finally, he also recommended several authors, but said that the guy who wrote Cryptonomicon was really good.

    Tags

  • 14

    Interview: Aug 30th, 1999

    Question

    Are you going to resurrect any more of the Forsaken because isn't that kind of cheating?

    Robert Jordan

    Read and find out. Cheating? It isn't cheating. Remember that the Dark One is called the Lord of the Grave and the part of this whole thing is that the natural order of things is believed to be cyclic. You are born, you die, you are born again. To most of the people in this world the notion of living on forever is at least queasy making and to some considered to be an abomination. They don't want to. It would be doing something unnatural. After all, the next time you might be somebody better, somebody you like better than who you are now. You might be somebody richer or more famous or more skilled, or whatever. If you live forever under this set of beliefs, if you live forever as who you are, that's who you're stuck with. And you will never manage to top it.

    Question

    Or a different gender?

    Robert Jordan

    Well it's possible, yeah.

    Question

    You've obviously resurrected two of the forsaken as a different gender—

    Robert Jordan

    Have I? They send me FAQs. Frequently asked questions—FAQ. Various people will do a print out and send it to me. And I have read a couple of them, not one for several years. I'll tell you, in those FAQs, the last one I saw three or four years ago about a third of what they worked out was right and about a third of what they worked out was not right but not quite wrong, if they work on it some more... They think they've reached the end but they've not, it's like they stopped halfway. And the other third, I don't know what books they were reading.

    Footnote

    There might have been some confusion here between transmigration and rebirth, because RJ has said elsewhere that gender is a soul trait. The Dark One can put someone into a body of the wrong gender, but a soul will always be reborn as the same gender, and the Dark One cannot change the gender of the soul (hence Balthamel still channeling saidin as Aran'gar).

    Tags

  • 15

    Interview: Sep 21st, 1999

    Robert Jordan

    Oh, and one more thing: The Forsaken are reborn pretty much straight away when they die. "Not right on the heels, but close." That should make things interesting :)

    Joel.

    Footnote

    Apparently Joel was talking about transmigration rather than rebirth (not that the official terminology is so clear), but even that assumption has to be called into question because of the delay with Aginor and Balthamel. Clearly they were just 'waking up' at the beginning of Lord of Chaos, and at that point they had been dead for some time. We do know from the TOR Questions of the Week that the Dark One has to grab the soul at the time of death, or shortly thereafter, but it may be that he can hold onto the soul for a while until a 'suitable body' is found.

    Tags

  • 16

    Interview: Sep 20th, 1999

    Robert Jordan

    I asked about what happens to, and where the souls of the Forsaken go between being killed and resurrected by the Dark One, and RJ was evasive, saying that he wasn't going to go that deeply into the theology of the WoT with us (at the signing, or the whole series?). All he would say is that the transition from death to resurrection is almost instantaneous.

    Footnote

    See the note on Joel Gilmore's account of the same question.

    Tags

  • 17

    Interview: Nov 27th, 2000

    Robert Jordan

    He explained the Far Madding channeling detector (I think that's already been discussed here), and gave a RAFO when asked whether the Dark One reincarnated people in the War of Power.

    Tags

  • 18

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2001

    Question

    Is Sammael dead dead, or 'he will never return' dead?

    Robert Jordan

    Sammael? [pronounce something like Sam-my-el] Sammael is dead. He's dead. He could be reborn. In another life. Without knowing anything of Sammael. He's not going to be reincarnated, he's not going to show up again.

    Tags

  • 19

    Interview: Jan 7th, 2003

    Ted Herman

    Could the Dark One have brought back Asmodean if he wanted?

    Robert Jordan

    No.

    Tags

  • 20

    Interview: Apr, 2003

    Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)

    Mort

    What about the thread of the life in case of the Forsaken? Are they part of the Pattern or they are outside? Is it broken in the case of the Forsaken?

    Robert Jordan

    No. They're part of the Wheel, except for the fellows who've been balefired, who are now gone: no rebirth [resurrection]; they’re out. The Dark One is outside of the Pattern, as the Creator is outside of the Pattern, but everything human is inside of the Pattern. One of the things that the Forsaken hope to gain is immortality. And immortality would put them outside of the Pattern.

    Footnote

    RJ has said elsewhere that balefire is not the eternal death of the soul, and Brandon has confirmed it (and so RJ was merely saying that the balefired Forsaken could not be transmigrated into new bodies).

    Rhynn

    You’ve wrote somewhere that Moridin used the True Power and he stepped out of the Pattern or something like that.

    Robert Jordan

    No, he's made a hole in the Pattern as a way of Traveling which uses the True Power, which is a different thing. If you notice as far back as the Prologue of The Eye of the World, when Ishamael Traveled in to meet Lews Therin, who was mad, the description does not match the Traveling that we see later. It’s because at that point, Ishamael is using the True Power, which produces a different sort of effect for Traveling. It is a different method of Traveling than either men or women use with saidin and saidar.

    Mort

    The descriptions are quite similar when he arrived by Travel with saidin. You also say 'bore a hole through the Pattern', and for the True Power, I think in one instance, 'ripping a hole in the Pattern'. And in one other instance you wrote that he stepped back inside the Pattern.

    Robert Jordan

    It's similar. Similar, but it's not the same thing. It's why it produces that fading in and fading out effect.

    Sequoia

    But if a woman used the True Power she would use it the same way?

    Robert Jordan

    Yes. It's not separate. The True Power is not like saidin or saidar. The reason there are differences for men and women using the One Power is that one is using saidin, for men, and women are using saidar, which are not identical. But using the True Power, which flows from the Dark One, men and women are using exactly the same force, exactly the same source of Power.

    Tags

  • 21

    Interview: Apr, 2003

    Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)

    Question

    I have an exciting question, maybe, we heard of making the Forsaken reborn, so has the original body any reflection to the mind of the Forsaken?

    Robert Jordan

    Well, if a Forsaken dies and is reborn naturally, through the turning of the Wheel, no.

    Question

    If then the Dark One puts him in a new body?

    Robert Jordan

    Oh, if the Dark One puts him in a new body, it is for all intents and purposes the same person, with a new body. It is a shift of an entire person. The concept here, with the exception of the Gray Men: You've seen an Ogier who lost his soul. And in effect there's nobody home anymore. It is a body that lives and breathes, and will move if it is helped along. But it does not, there's nobody home in there. The Gray Men are slightly different. But they also have given up their souls. They've given up their souls in a way. Already, their souls are gone. But it's happened in a way that protects them against this emptiness, as if they're severed from the physical and spiritual side. And the spiritual side is gone, but the physical side remains so there is an intellect in that body, but no soul. And that's why they are Gray Men. Your eyes slip past them, the perfect assassins. You can look right at one and look on, never having realized you saw somebody there. So there's, when a soul ... (break in audio file)

    Robert Jordan

    Sorry, just checking the time...we have to do some things in the morning.

    Footnote

    The ordering of these questions is unknown.

    Tags

  • 22

    Interview: Sep 2nd, 2005

    Matt Hatch

    The Snakes and Foxes seem to have a lot of powers. Do they also have the Power?

    Robert Jordan

    No.

    Matt Hatch

    I have two questions: can they transmigrate souls? Two: can they hold the soul of an individual they have killed?

    Robert Jordan

    No to both.

    Tags

  • 23

    Interview: Sep 3rd, 2005

    Matt Hatch

    You have been killing my theories left and right since I got here.

    Robert Jordan

    I have always thought that the small whimper of a theory as it dies is a beautiful sound.

    (General laughter all around.)

    Matt Hatch

    Ouch. Okay, now that you have killed my black cord theory, are the oaths and covenants Forsaken make with the Dark One necessary for the Dark One to transmigrate a soul?

    Robert Jordan

    They are not necessary, but he is not likely to do it for anyone who hasn't done, who hasn't sworn to him.

    Matt Hatch

    He doesn't have access to all souls to be able to grab any soul?

    Robert Jordan

    No, no, no. Because of the Bore and the fact that the bore is best perceived, the Bore doesn't really exist in Shayol Ghul, the Bore exists everywhere, it's simply in Shayol Ghul where it can be perceived most easily. By the same token he has greater access to people at Shayol Ghul than he does elsewhere, or did, and uh, that's, when you know, Rahvin died, Rahvin is balefired out of time, slain out of time, cannot be reached, gone. Be'lal, (names someone else).

    Matt Hatch

    Well, then is there something unique about the Forsaken other than the fact that they are his favorites that he would transmigrate them, or be able to?

    Robert Jordan

    Well, he would have been a lot less likely to in an earlier time when they were a lot of powerful knowledgeable channelers who were in his service. Essentially half the people in the world who could channel were on his side, during the War of the Shadow. Now he has very few, he's got the Black Ajah, and a few wilders, and some stuff I ain't going in to, but uh he doesn't have a lot, but he can't afford to waste assets.

    Matt Hatch

    Okay.

    Tags

  • 24

    Interview: Oct 27th, 2005

    Chris

    There were a few questions about his series, one that I asked was: if channeling was genetic, did the Forsaken need bodies that were genetically compatible for them to be able to use the Power?

    Robert Jordan

    His answer was that channeling is not just a recessive or dominant gene, rather both genetic and in the soul.

    Tags

  • 25

    Interview: Oct 31st, 2005

    Question

    A man asked if the Dark One can resurrect anyone after death.

    Robert Jordan

    RJ answered that, yes, the Dark One can resurrect any soul, but probably doesn't want to bring back someone who hates him.

    Tags

  • 26

    Interview: Oct 31st, 2005

    Question

    Another man asked if Cyndane is actually Lanfear, even though she denies it?

    Robert Jordan

    And RJ laughed, and said RAFO.

    Tags

  • 27

    Interview: Oct 21st, 1994

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Question

    Your style of writing is so simple, yet so complex that it is a genre all its own. Will Moiraine come back from the dead since Lanfear and Asmodean apparently have?

    Robert Jordan

    Read and find out—in fact, I really suggest you read and find out.

    Tags

  • 28

    Interview: Oct 21st, 1994

    AOL Chat 2 (Verbatim)

    Question

    Is Aran'gar really Lanfear? If she is, how did she come back?

    Robert Jordan

    Read And Find Out.

    Tags

  • 29

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2009

    Paul Grow

    I asked him a direct question: Where is Demandred? On whom or on what did the Dark One order him to use balefire in book 6? I answered my own question: Surely he is with the Borderlander Army waiting to use balefire on Rand directly. Rand would be burned out of the Pattern and the Pattern would unravel because it it couldn't exist without him. The Dark One wins.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said someone killed by balefire could be reborn and woven back into the Pattern later, but the Dark One cannot resurrect that person.

    Tags

  • 30

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Ok...which brings up the following questions about the Wheel and its relationship to souls, Talents, abilities and channeling. Is the Wheel responsible for giving or weaving in Talents and abilities to a particular life, or are they like channeling, attached to the soul?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s an excellent question. I’m going to have to RAFO that...it’s actually more of a MAFO. What you're asking is would someone who is reborn into the Pattern have the same Talents again?

    Matt Hatch

    Right. Or does...the Wheel, we obviously know it is very capable of affecting the Pattern, so the question is does it give and take when it comes to abilities and talents it needs?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, right, I will have to MAFO that.

    Matt Hatch

    Ok, so can the Wheel give an individual life the ability to channel, if the soul does not come to that life with an inborn ability to learn or a spark? Can the Wheel give them that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Again, I will have to MAFO this whole thing. I will have to go and look. I don’t know if someone is necessarily always born with the ability to channel, if they are in every Age...

    Matt Hatch

    ...there is a quote I brought that we asked at DragonCon, Jordan said: “I don't think I have said if you are born with the spark you would have the have the spark again. I have said if you were born with the ability to channel, to learn or with the spark, you will, when your soul is born again, you will have the ability again, whether with the spark or without...” So, in essence he said it’s inherent you have the ability. Whether or not you spark or you can learn it that depends on the life.

    Brandon Sanderson

    My instinct knowing how Jim wrote and knowing the parallels in the notes would be that he would parallel the other Talents along the same lines. A Wolfbrother then would always have the ability to become a Wolfbrother and other things along those lines. I’m going off of instinct so that is an asterisked answer. I can MAFO that and look it up and we can see what we can find, but he did like to parallel a lot of these things...

    Matt Hatch

    ...ok, so at the end of that answer he said this...we were asking a specific question about stilling and burning out...he said, “And neither burning out or stilling affects that except in this lifetime, your current lifetime”. In other words...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...that is consistent...

    Matt Hatch

    ...it doesn’t affect your souls ability, your soul’s connection. So stilling and burning out do not affect the ability to channel, which seems to be integral to the soul as it pertains to a new life. That being said, Aran'gar and Osan'gar, they were transmigrated and we see that they can channel in their new bodies, which makes sense because the ability comes with the soul...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...and because of that if you were male before and reborn (in a female body)...you are channeling the wrong power...

    Matt Hatch

    ...exactly...he was transmigrated into a different body, but still channeling the same power the soul inherits. So considering Jordan's statement about stilling and burning out not affecting the channeling ability of the new life of a soul, is the same for the new life of a soul transmigrated?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m going to say that transmigrated...if you were burned out and transmigrated you would still be burned out, is my guess.

    Matt Hatch

    Is that a MAFO question? Or...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...that is my guess and you can MAFO it if you want to send it to me, but that is a “I’m pretty sure” answer.

    MARIA SIMONS (VIA LUCKERS)

    Yes, you would. Jim said that “neither burning out or stilling affects that except in this lifetime, your current lifetime.” (DragonCon), but transmigration is not really a different lifetime; more than just the soul moves. The new person (I’m at a loss for words here) also has the memories of the previous person, and its personality, and such. So Brandon is correct.

    Jim says of Talents: “A Talent is a special ability with the One Power. While the name is used for other things, a Talent is, in truth, something which is inborn in the person and not something that can be learned.” And there is mention of the Wheel throwing out what it needs on occasion, and there’s the phrase, “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.” The Wheel can give and take as it needs.

    I believe that the potential for a Talent is there, but it doesn't necessarily manifest each time a soul is born. If the Wheel needs the Talent, the Talent is there. But if the Wheel doesn't need it, it lies dormant.

    Tags

  • 31

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    You saw where we were going…

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...yes, I see where you are going...

    Matt Hatch

    ...I had to do the build up to it because it all comes down to that one question for a couple of things.

    Brandon Sanderson

    This one question you are going to ask next?

    Matt Hatch

    I’m not going to ask it...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...oh, the one you asked…

    Matt Hatch

    ...yeah, I guess I asked a piece of it last night...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...when it comes to this certain character that you are talking about, there is a whole thing where Maria and I exchanged a bunch of emails about this. She had managed to pull some things out of the notes that I had not seen, which is interesting, because I was going off of something else. I did not think that Cyndane should be nearly as powerful as she was put in the books as being, so I had been under the belief that the Dark One was pulling shenanigans...

    Matt Hatch

    ...like a little, in essence, let’s say what the Forsaken Lanfear did to Asmodean, you thought maybe the Dark One was doing some similar...shielding...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...or the other way around…here is a little extra power you can draw upon while I am pleased with you, I can take this away...

    Matt Hatch

    ...that is a question...let’s jump to that question, there have been some theories that talk about Lanfear...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...let’s back up and say I was wrong. I was interpreting the notes a certain way. Maria was able to pull something out that I had not seen that made it clear that I had misinterpreted and that that is not the case, Cyndane is not under any shenanigans. What you see is what you get.

    Matt Hatch

    Cyndane and her alter ego have never been under any shenanigans?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m not going to say never been under any shenanigans, but when you see her creating a gateway she is legitimately powerful enough to do it, which I did not believe that she was. Does that make sense? This is all digging into my read of the notes versus and Maria’s read of the notes and Maria was right. She was able to provide information to me that I had not seen which is nice because it was stuff that was very pertinent for what I am working on right now. It would have come out eventually when I would have sent her the scenes I’m working on, but it came out earlier, which is nice. Once I found out what was going on it all made perfect sense.

    Matt Hatch

    So, we will understand then in the next book or so why there is a decrease in power but not a significant decrease?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Matt Hatch

    Ok, so that being said there are some theories out there that in the Age of Legends, at one point, Lanfear might have...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...let’s just say I have not said that Lanfear and Cyndane are the same person...

    Matt Hatch

    ...Oh, absolutely, I’m jumping to this other Forsaken that we are talking about...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...this other completely different person...Uh huh...

    Matt Hatch

    ...so Lanfear, the theory goes, that maybe she was accentuated from a beauty and/or power perspective by going to the Finnland previously...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...ok...

    Matt Hatch

    ...would the Finns have the ability to accentuate someone’s beauty and/or quantity or access to the One Power through their own capabilities and talents?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but it might involve third party ter’angreal, angreal, this sort of thing...

    Matt Hatch

    ...so, they don’t have power to affect the soul’s capability of increasing its total channeling?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Certainly not permanently, as far I understand, that is outside the realm of their ability…

    Matt Hatch

    ...from a beauty perspective can they affect the outer body of some individual?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say that, yes they can, but they may have to be using some type of ter’angreal or...

    Matt Hatch

    ...some item of power?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Some item of power, something like that...of which they have great stores...[what???]

    Matt Hatch

    ...Really...heh, so the obvious question, where did the Finns get great stores of ter’angreal, angreal, and is that part of the Pact they made.?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO...but if you just think about it, we don’t even have to go to the notes for this if you think about it logically, we know of them providing certain items of power to certain individuals that they were able to match very nicely with certain requests very easily. If you run the statistics on that its either a huge coincidence or they have very many to choose from.

    Tags

  • 32

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2009

    Question

    Are there any circumstances of death that could prevent the Dark One from resurrecting someone (other than balefire)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but I'm not going to tell you what.

    This led to a fair amount of discussion about balefire and such. At one point, Brandon said 'all Forsaken other than Sammael who haven't come back were balefired'.

    I immediately jumped on this and asked if that included Asmodean—Brandon said that he wasn't talking about Asmodean (we all didn't even want to go there), but this is further evidence of Brandon slipping hints that Asmodean was balefired.

    This led to a small debate about Osan'gar—I didn't think he was balefired, everyone else at the table thought he was.

    Tags

  • 33

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon also said that the Dark One would have liked very much to transmigrate Sammael but didn't. Apparently, since he died by Mashadar, Sammael was either unable to be transmigrated or it would have been a very bad idea. Basically, Mashadar tainted Sammael's thread somehow.

    Tags

  • 34

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2009

    Question

    Where did Cyndane’s new body come from?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Where have any of the new bodies come from? He then mentioned that it's not confirmed who Cyndane is, though he didn't refute me when we all said that it's pretty certain.

    I asked about her strength in the One Power—Brandon says she's very, very weak. This surprised me since I didn't think she was that weak.

    Footnote

    She's not; Theorylanders hounded Brandon, and he cleared it up here. She's weaker than she was, but still stronger than Graendal.

    Tags

  • 35

    Interview: Jun 10th, 2010

    Luckers

    Was Cyndane's new body originally Cabriana Mecandes?

    Maria Simons

    No. [alternately, I could RAFO this, although it seemed so far-fetched to me that it seems okay to answer it]

    Tags

  • 36

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    Andrew B ()

    In Towers of Midnight's glossary, it is noted that Mesaana is destroyed (as opposed to Asmodean and Aran'gar who are noted to have been killed). If the Aes Sedai were to execute Mesaana, would the Dark One be able to put Mesaana's soul in another body? Or since her mind was destroyed, is Mesaana's soul permanently damaged?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    
Nobody's soul gets permanently damaged in that way in the Wheel of Time. Whether the Dark One can recover her and transmigrate her soul or not is a RAFO.

    Tags

  • 37

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    Terez ()

    Will we get more details on how/if Lanfear died in A Memory of Light?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 38

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2011

    Ted Herman

    What makes a body suitable for a transmigrated Forsaken besides channeling ability?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Dark One looks for certain things that are not available in just any body, and we will see an illustrated example of this in A Memory of Light.

    Tags

  • 39

    Interview: Dec 17th, 2011

    Loialson

    Did Nynaeve inform Egwene that according to Rand, the Dark One can resurrect the soul of a Forsaken killed by any means other than balefire?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I honestly don't know if she's told her yet.

    Tags

  • 40

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    Why is Dashiva never resurrected? He was killed with a ball of fire by Elza, not balefire....

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I know.

    Loialson

    Why is he dead?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Robert Jordan once said that res...transmigrating a soul had not just to do with the way that they were killed but the time and...not necessarily just a weave, but why and how. [Technically, where and how.] I am not going to delve too much into transmigration. Robert Jordan did speak on these sorts of things. And so, the Dark One also might not think that the person was an asset worth bringing back.

    Loialson

    Dashiva kinda sucks.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm not gonna say, but those are all factors in this.

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  • 41

    Interview: Nov 3rd, 2012

    herid

    I asked him if there is a time limit on how long the Dark One can hold the souls he grabs.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said that he is not sure and might have to consult the notes but he thinks that there is a time limit.

    herid

    I think that should put an end to the theories that the Dark One has been holding any souls for hundreds or even thousands of years.

    Tags

  • 42

    Interview: Feb 19th, 2013

    AndrewB

    Once a person pledges themselves to the Shadow (either voluntarily or involuntarily), are they always reborn as agents of the Dark?

    Brandon Sanderson

    BWS first qualified that any answer he will give is as always subject to the caveat that it is subject to a subsequent unearthing of RJ's notes on the subject or an answer that RJ previously gave on the subject. BWS then stated that assuming that a soul was not transmigrated (for example the 'gars [I probably botched the spelling of this word]), then no. That person's soul is a blank slate.

    Tags

  • 43

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2013

    Question

    Regarding burning out, is it Healable?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not in the same way that stilling is Healed. All it says in the notes is what I just said. And that Nynaeve would not be able to Heal Setalle. Being reborn would heal burning out, but transmigration would not. That's why even though Lanfear shifted bodies, she was still reduced.

    Tags

  • 44

    Interview: Apr 20th, 2013

    Terez

    Why wasn't Osan'gar given another chance, since he wasn't killed by balefire?

    Maria Simons

    I think he had just been so....kind of useless. Why bother? You know...you don't get "three times, you're out"; it's "two times, you're out", you know?

    Tags