The early morning Wheel of Time discussions at DragonCon on Saturday were designed to shore up the facts about the series and to remind everyone where the world is at before A Memory of Light comes out and, almost literally, ends it all.
Those discussions, largely moderated by Richard Fife, produced some fun theories for WoT fans to chew on. None of them are strictly new, but with Brandon Sanderson wandering the Atlanta streets and core Wheel of Time fans/scholars all concentrated in the same room, these theories tend towards the irresistible.
Here are seven of those theories and questions.
1.) The Blight is a layer of Tel’aran’rhiod, or is fully in TAR.
It has been stated in the books that the Blight has no reflection within Tel’aran’rhiod (TAR), but it also demonstrates many of the same properties that TAR does, most notably the aspect of how the realm can respond to the power of need. While searching for the Eye of the World in the book of the same name, the party only stumbles upon it when their need for is is most dire.
Another aspect of TAR is that it is a reflection of all possibilities and that it encompasses all of reality. The Dark One shares that, as well, and it was theorized that TAR is where Mierin and Bedamon detected the Dark One, and where they drilled the Bore. This may be the key that Rand is missing in his quest to reseal the Dark One.
This Theoryland thread goes into further detail.
2.) What were the Forsaken going to do with the Eye of the World?
In the first book it was vitally important that Moiraine, Rand, and co. get to the Eye of the World before any representatives of the Dark One. But why? As far as we could see, the Eye of the World was just a pool of untainted saidin. Sure, a seal and the Horn of Valere were hiding in it, but no one knew that until the Eye was drained.
There was a secondary effect in play in that being in proximity to the Eye healed you. Rand channels a massive amount of the One Power there, for the first time, and doesn’t burn out. Aginor and Balthamel are able to live while they are around it, despite being impossibly old.
But it still begs the question: What is the purpose of it? Is this something the newly-returned Moiraine knows and must impart to Rand before he acts?
3.) Is there a second Eye of the World?
And does Rand need to find it in order to make a proper end of things?
4.) Does the Shadow possess a tool that can grow waygates?
Trollocs are heading for Caemlyn. They’ve popped up in Tear and near Ebou Dar. They can’t be Traveled, so they’re getting around somehow, despite the Ways being sealed. Are they forcing through the gates somehow? We know there is more than one ter’angreal that grows waygates. Does the Shadow have one? And might they have their own network of Shadow waygates by now? Will A Memory of Light reveal them not just in Caemlyn, but everywhere?
5.) Could Age of Legends artifacts be pulled from other timelines?
If the Seanchan could head through a Portal Stone, pull grolm from another reality, and successfully breed in ours, what else might be accessible? Could the Shadow travel to the same cache of Age of Legends weapons in multiple realities? Or could they pull other Shadowspawn from them? We don’t know where Blight worms come from….
6.) If Rand becomes “three days dead,” where will he go during that time?
Foreshadowed in The Eye of the World and heavily prophesied in the series itself is the notion that Rand will die and return. Rand embodies many of the aspects of the story of Jesus Christ. Scripture indicates that Jesus was dead for three days and three nights, and further extrapolation from that suggests that Jesus went to Hell and worked to save the damned during that time.
If Rand’s journey echoes this, where will he go? Who will he redeem? Aside from the Forsaken, whose redemption would be key in the fight against the Dark One?
7.) The Dark One is time itself.
This theory was proposed by Richard Fife during the discussions and he goes into detail about it on Theoryland. The gist is that the Dark One is actually the Great Serpent itself, the Great Serpent being a representation of time.
The symbol of the serpent and the wheel suggests an almost parasitic relationship between the two. The serpent, tied to the wheel, moves the wheel (or vice versa) and thus creates time by moving the ages forward. The wheel creates the Pattern, upon which our reality is based.
If the Dark One is the serpent, which is a pretty handy way of visualizing the ultimate evil, then it really has been imprisoned since the dawn of time, because imprisonment is the very nature of the Dark One. If the Dark One succeeds, if the wheel is broken, time stops and the Dark One is free.
This is perhaps why Ishamael is the Dark One’s most favored Chosen, as only he shares the Dark One’s desire to end all of existence. It’s also possible that Ishamael is the only person to ever understand the true nature of the Dark One. Hence when Rand says something like “I will destroy the Dark One!” it probably sounds like the silliest thing to Ishamael.
If this theory is true, it also explains the Dark One’s touch upon the world. Throughout the Wheel of Time, the Dark One has brought endless winter, endless summer, and the slow degradation of the land. Crops do not grow, trees do not flourish, everything rots, even metal.
And what is time if not the progress of entropy?
Where before the Dark One sought to force a halt to the passage of the land, now he speeds up time—or rather, speeds up his very touch—forcing entropy to happen faster than can be dealt with. Even using the Dark One’s power, as Ishamael is fond of, speeds up the degradation of one’s mind and body. The taint, the Dark One’s touch on saidin, produced similar results.
These are certain to be the smallest drop of Wheel of Time theorizing that happens at DragonCon this weekend. We can’t wait for more! Especially after tomorrow’s Memory of Light preview.
Chris Lough is the production manager of Tor.com and theorizes that he is hungry and late for a Muppet panel.
I have heard the first theory before, and I really like it. I have NOT heard 7, and that is one hell of a theory. It fits with the themes very well.
Wow, 7 is a real doozy. If that’s true and Rand wins, would everything just stop?
My favorite theories tend to revolve around Taim and Demandred. I know they’re not the same, but it’s still interesting to wonder about them. My money is on Demandred being in Shara. And Taim’s just a jerk.
On 6, Scripture does not indicate that Jesus was dead for three days and three nights. It indicates he was dead for two nights (or one night and part of another) and one day (and parts of one or two more days).
However for the harrowing of hell, all those who have become darkfriends. What is the status of Verin and Ingtar?
@2
If thats true and Rand wins, then I imagine it’ll just be that the Bore is sealed over into its original state so that the Wheel of Time can return to its original Age before the Bore was sealed….until the Dark One is forgotten and then rediscovered, with someone releasing him once again.
I think Taim is a Dreadlord brought back in similar fashion that the Forsaken were, into new bodies. If you remember, Bashere doubted that Taim really was Taim when he wandered into Caemlyn’s palace to accept Rand’s amnesty. I think that the rest of the Asha’man and the Aes Sedai who no longer seem to be themselves are also Dreadlords who have taken over the bodies of the former.
@JDowds
I don’t think the Wheel will stop if Rand wins. It seems to me Rand has already figured out what he needs to do is unmake the Bore, not destroy the Dark One. I think the period between the drilling of the Bore and Tar’mon Gaidon is analogous to the downstroke of a piston engine. The Dark One’s increased influence in that period is necessary to the proper movement of the Wheel, but the valves must be closed once that period has passed.
Serpent -> Dragon? That is, kill the snake, then replace it?
After the last book comes out… I will miss the theories.
Also, was it ever confirmed or mentioned in the books that the Seanchan really pulled a grolm through a portal stone? I thought they just naturally occured on the Seanchen continent.
@3. Thanks for the correction, Emma.
@7. It wasn’t stated in the books but Robert Jordan stated in interviews that this was the case. (I believe it was a Question of the Week from 2005 that was referenced in this regard.) So… “Word of God” on that one.
I have always viewed the Dark One as the personification of entropy.
This means he cannot be defeated, only thwarted.
The tension drives creation.
@theory 7
… I always thought the serpent was the one power… or the representation of it… am I right in thinking this? Can someone help me out here?
If then thoery 7 is true (i.e the serpent is the dark one) how is he also the One Power (since he clearly hates it?) and also how would he taint half of himself? Why would he even need to? And how does the Bore even help him touch the world more if he’s time/entropy? I’m just confused.
I’m not sure if this has been debunked but my crazy theory was that the serpent represent the creator and the dark one is actually a fox like creature… and the whole universe is actually the snakes and foxes duking it out :-P……. or perhaps there are many creators (snakes) and many darkones (foxes) fighting over many universes :P
I love theory 7–and now looking at the main WoT symbol, the serpent and the wheel, it fits so well (at least in my own head). And if we’re taking the symbol more literally, is the serpent intertwining the wheel between the spokes of the second and third age?
This may be out there somewhere, but I haven’t seen it. Back around book 6, Rand was talking to a scholar in Cairhien who said something to the likes of “if the Dark One was freed in one world, he was freed in all… as long as he was still imprisoned in one world, he would be imprisoned in all”. I think when the seals are broken, he will be basically free in this world… but Perrin and Egwene’s TAR ability will be able to trap him there and keep him under lock and key.
7. Is actually a pretty awesome theory, I really like it.
6. I have had my own loony theory about this for a while now. Ever since the prophecy about Logain stepping over Rand’s body, and Rand’s body crumbling like leaves (which I think appeared in aCoS):
Rand’s physical body will actually die. Rand’s soul will live on in Logain’s body. The mechanisms for this to happen are already in place within the story. The drakghar to drain Logain’s soul, and whatever method the DO uses to put the Forsaken in new bodies.
I am willing to admit that this theory is pretty loony, though.
Re: Theory 5….I think I remember that blight Worms are immature versions of one of Aginor’s creations….one Forsaken mused something like “they’ll never transform now”. Wish I could remember more. Anyway I love these theories, especially 1 and 7. WoT theories are like brain candy.
@@@@@ theory 1:
I don’t see that many connections between the blight and TAR. When you exclude the Eye, I don’t remember it responding to need at all. The flora is all decaying, which doesn’t correspont with TAR either. And why would TAR expand it’s borders towards the Borderlands as the Blight does?
In response to theory 2
I’d say that we don’t know if the Darkfriend side didn’t know about what was hidden there: they have prophecies of their own… (which they could misinterpret …)
Obviously I’m a sceptic, but always interested to read.
#6 is silly, really hope it doesnt go that route.
#7 is interseting… but i dont think thematicly appropriate. i aggree that you can never kill the dark one, and even the best seal will be bored once again, but i think it would be far more interesting if the darkone was the absentee creator.
There was a secondary effect in play in that being in proximity to the Eye healed you. Rand channels a massive amount of the One Power there, for the first time, and doesn’t burn out.
Aginor does burn out because he channels too much Power from the Eye.
Also, was it ever confirmed or mentioned in the books that the Seanchan really pulled a grolm through a portal stone?
That’s from the BBoBA.
I think I remember that blight Worms are immature versions of one of Aginor’s creations….one Forsaken mused something like “they’ll never transform now”. Wish I could remember more.
They are called jumara.
Where does Rand go when he’s dead? To Tel’aran’rhiod, of course. I think Mat et al. will try to resurrect him with the Horn, but the tomb will be empty…
@chris didn’t get a chance to say it at the con, but I really like the entropy/time-nature to the dark one’s touch you pointed out. It really makes me believe theory 7 all the more. And as an FYI, Brandon let me test his “Maria-face” at Libertycon and i pitched this idea at him. I’m no judge of these things, but he seemed to be fighting off a smile more than a frown or confused “where did you get that?” look.
travyl @15 (re: theory 1) and birgit @17 (origin of the grolm) are ahead of me.
Theory 5 is a distinct possibility.
Mr. Fife – I’ll confess I haven’t ready the theoryland details, so I don’t know where all you’ve gone with this. However… it triggered a possibility in my mind, after a certain discussion with my husband.
In that discussion, he promised me that if the series ends with the Dark One destroyed and time becoming linear, he would read the whole thing. If the DO is indeed the Great Serpent (very Biblical, that) and his presence is what keeps time cyclical, perhaps his destruction will result in the end of the cycle but not of the world or of time. I’ll have to muse on this for a while – probably over the dishes – to see if it holds up, but it gives me the single ray of hope that my husband will ever read my favorite fantasy series. :)
Wet @21
Be prepared to spend some time digesting the Theoryland thread if you head over there. I skimmed through it rapidly and will have to go back when I have more time. I may end up eating my comment to the effect that “we” have a pretty good idea that time will not go linear in WOT (TOM chapt. 16 re-read @186). Maybe there’s hope for your hubby reading the series without pulling something shady on him. XD
Edit: Hope doing the dishes helped clear your thoughts. XD again.
Ways @22 – Another confession… with the exception of the interview database, which can be as bad a time-sucker as TV Tropes but has loads of good info, I tend to avoid theoryland most of the time. It makes my head hurt, usually… :)
Except for Luckers’ excellent write-up on Cadsuane a couple years ago – that was magnificent.
Me too.
Wow…Theory #1 is indeed covered in great detail, and Dom’s responses to it are really quite complex, deeply philosophical, and powerful. I know how Wetlander feels about the hurting head now! Not sure if the Blight is part of TAR, but I am definitely behind the idea TAR itself will somehow be key to Tarmon Gai’don (after all, with the Tower of Ghenjei having a reflection there and TAR being tied to all worlds, it makes sense the Finn would be able to know something of it to tell Moiraine). And the DO’s prison being in TAR, or reached through it via the Bore, makes sense too.
I fully expect the Eye’s significance will be explained, even if it doesn’t enter the story directly again; so many things from the early books, especially the first, are coming back now.
#4 is a frightening possibility, and #7 is extremely convincing, with many ramifications and consequences. As for #6, aside from Ingtar and Verin (maybe Masema?) I’d suggest any ‘redemption’ done during the time of Rand’s death could be connected to Cyndane, Moridin, and the “memory of light”. With Rand’s link and what it will likely do to Moridin when Rand dies, he seems more and more like the proper candidate, particularly with his knowledge of the Wheel and the Dark One.
@@.-@ Jared McClure: That is a very interesting interpretation of the Dark Prophecy about taking eyes, skin, and lips. I admit it’s something I first thought of when reading those scenes at the Black Tower. So many have jumped on the bandwagon of it being the 13 + 13 trick, but what if it isn’t? Then again, Sanderson said that trick was a Chekhov’s Gun and I don’t see any other way it could appear in the series at this juncture. And Jordan said the trick just brought out your worst side and darkest traits, not that it allowed another soul to be put in your body. I have my own theory about Taim though, and it isn’t that he’s Moridin or Demandred…
Does anyone have an answer to my earlier question? I.e that in regards to theory 7. My problem with it is the One Power is often described as ‘the power that turns the wheel of time’… i.e the one power is the snake (Thus it’s ring being the Aes Sedi symbol I assume.) If the snake is the One Power how can it also be the Dark One? He doesn’t seem that big a fan of it. Not to mention where the True Power comes from. Short of all the people in the series being fooled does anyone else have a solution to this problem?
@26 Bill: Where does it ever actually say “The Serpent is The One Power?” The Great Serpent is an odd bit of WoT Cosmology, because while it is refered to as a symbol older than the wheel for Time, it is never really placed anywhere in the “mechanics” of the wheel. The One Power turns the Wheel which weaves the Age Lace. I looked up all the Great Serpent references I could find using IdealSeek, and aside from the Aes Sedai ring, discussion of the Serpent itself is dropped after book one. It is mentioned several times there, but never as being anologous to the True Source.
I still think Rand will die, go to TAR, and someone will yank him out Birgitte style. I think that’s why Birgitte exists in the series to begin with…kind of like Rand’s John the Baptist. She comes before, so that when it happens to Rand it’s not some huge crazy plot device we all freak out about.
I like the ramifications of Theory #7…it makes a lot of sense and matches up with the themes of the series. There is always order & chaos, good and evil, etc. BALANCE.
@21 – i love the idea that maybe rand actually wins this thing and ends the cycle. Then time/the future gets to just go on about its business without having to keep doing this same junk over and over.
This would answer the questions of “Why this Dragon?” also… why are we reading about Rand rather than Lews Therin or any other past Dragon… Why this one??? Well maybe because this is the one with the final win! The one that breaks the cycle and truely saves the world instead of just getting it a reprieve…
Number 5 says we don’t know where Blight Worms come from. Not true. I’m re-reading the series before AMoL, and it says in Lord of Chaos, when Graendal is talking with Sammael, he mentions Aginor inventing them under a different name, then states that the people now, in the Third Age call them Worms. He also indicates they are supposed to change forms when fully grown, but that they can’t any longer.
Theory 7 just blew my mind. It just rings true. And if it is true, just think how a hint towards it has been hiding in plain sight since the beginning of the series in pictoral form. *facepalm*
@31 Wouldn’t it, just? Seriously *facepalm* on that one. It would be just like RJ.
27. R.Fife– I guess I’ve always assumed that connection for some reason. Possibly incorrectly too. I think you’re right, it never explicitly says that the one power is the serprent… But when I heard that the one power turns the wheel then I just assumed that it was included in the diagram somewhere and so I Identified it as the serpent because i assumed it turned the wheel. Of course I always wondered how the Wheel actually turned with it in there (mechanically it makes no sense) but it is just a symbol after all.
But what of all the talk of the Dark One killing the the Great Serpent? Is it just ment to be misleading? And the Eye of the World is ment to be the sepent’s eye right? Why would the Dark One want to blind himself?
If theory 7 is true though two things come to mind. Number 1 is that White Cloak’s assumption that all Aes Sedi are evil get’s a whole lot more weight with them wearing the symbol of the Dark One around their finger… at least from their perspective. Number 2 is that the symbol for the Forsaken chapters, a twisting snake makes a whole lot more sense.
Wait! Another thing. If the DO is the Great Serpent he’s threaded through at Two points… two ages…. maybe the second and third age, maybe the two ages where he is know and can influence the Wheel.
The possibilities are blowing my mind.
At 34, Bill: I wouldn’t put too much weight to the artistic rendering of the Great Serpent and the Wheel. Because if you think about the movement of the two, in the current depiction – only the Serpent can move freely.
The Wheel is locked in place because of the spokes.
But it’s just such a cool image…
From the top of my head, Camelyn is burning at the end of ToM. Does it say that it is from trollocs? My personal theory was that it was that forsaken’s (can’t remember which) army from Shara arriving through gateways. You know, the ones with the pointy teeth and such that appear in a prologue or epilogue of one of the last books.
Regarding the whole eye of the world scenario. The bore and the DO’s cave are weak patches in reality that are linked to the DO so it would make sense that there was a weak patch in reality to an equally balanced, untainted power. It fits in with the idea of balance and would hint at it’s need for Rand at th end.
I ruddy love theory time!!!! Can’t wait now.
Bill: I really don’t mean to sound condescending: but have you read my rambling theory as presented on theoryland? Chris linked it above.
The answer to why all the talk of hurting/killing the Dark One comes from the Dark One /wanting/ to die. The DO has been stuck playing the role of Time since the beginning of time. It is a sucky job. He is alone, outside the pattern, enslaved, and more or less is the embodiement of evil besides. The Dark One just wants to end it all. He wants to end time, which means end his own life. Why else would Ishy/Moridin be such a wonderful proxy for him? Both are nihlistic and suicidal, not just in this age, but in all ages.
Also note Ishy is the only forsaken who ever spoke of the DO wanting to kill time or of the DO wanting to kill the Great Serpent. The others simply say he will remake the world in his image. It has also been implied that all of the Forsaken have been lied to quite thoroughly as to what the end result of a DO victory would be.
Also, to the Aes Sedai ring: no one knows that the GS is the DO, so while it is funny and ironic that the Aes Sedai use him as their symbol, it really stops there. The Children hate Aes Sedai for plenty of reasons without needing to say “Ha! Ha! You were wearing the DO as your symbol all along and you didn’t know it! Ha!”
Also, to the “don’t give the symbol weight” argument. I saw this over on reddit too, so lemme address it here. Yes, the wheel-and-serpent never show up in the body of the text proper. But it is an often used chapter icon, on the maps, and on every book. Also, for as much guidance and nitpicking as Robert Jordan did over the New Spring graphic novel with the Dabel Brothers, I doubt he would have left such a major thing as the icon of his magnus opus to the whims of an random artist. RJ was already a very well established writer when he began WoT (a stand alone, a trilogy, and 6 conan books), and Tor trusted him enough to sign him for 6 novels off the get go after him only /pitching/ the WoT idea to them (as a trilogy, ha!). If he didn’t very specifically tell the artist what the serpent and wheel looked like, I’ll be very surprised.
@@@@@R.Fife
Sorry it took so long for me to reply mate, a few things stopped me from answering earlier. I also have to apologies for the raw, unedited nature of my previous comments. I had only just read your theory and was still mulling it over in my mind, that’s why everything came out in a rather unintelligible blurb!
Just a note on my previous comment about the White cloaks/ Aes Sedi. It was purely to observe the irony, nothing more.
Secondly I totally agree with you about the symbolism of Robert Jordan in his books. He always seems intentional and I struggle to accept the argument that ‘we can’t put too much stock in the symbols’ when we are reading a beautifully crafted 14 book series that has been foreshadowing from the beginning events that would happen through the middle and at the end of the series. Even the names of people and objects give clues to their sources of inspiration Callandor/Caliburn and Perrin/Perun being among of the most obvious examples. For someone to then downplay the importance of the symbols is laughable.
The chapter symbol for the forsaken I was referring to in my other comments could be found here: http://images.wikia.com/wot/images/6/6a/Snake-icon.svg . To me it has always shown that the Forsaken are crafty like snakes but IF your theory about the DO being the Great Serpent is true then all I am saying is that this symbol can also POSSIBLY be a direct reference to the DO working. But since these chapters are mostly about Forsaken anyway it’s sort of a moot point. For all intents and purposes the Forsaken are (usually) caring out the DO’s plan so it really makes little difference. Again a rather minor point.
Now to the actual theory. I’m still not sure where I stand on it. What is clear about the Dark One is that he loves to destroy and corrupt stuff. The Blight, the bubbles of evil, the taint on Saidin and the effects on a person of using the True Power. In naming the Creator of the Wheel the Creator, I think you could almost label the Dark One the Destroyer, though Lord of Chaos fits well. In the conversation Moridin had with Rand in TGS he mentioned that Nae’blis would rule a little time before the end. I think it is clear that the DO wants to destroy creation. Though the why and the how are the relevant questions here.
I spoke to a few of my friends who read the series and asked them what they thought the Great Serpent represented. Many like me, thought it was the One Power but many didn’t know or hadn’t considered so I think it’s safe to say that I was wrong to be so confident that the GS was the One Power, since it obviously wasn’t so obvious!
What is (or seems to be) clear from the EotW is that the GS is thought to represent time, as you previously quoted from chapter 25 from Elyas:
“Something they learned in the Blight. But none of it makes sense. Slay the Great Serpent? Kill time itself? And blind the Eye of the World? As well say he’s going to starve a rock.”
And Chapter 42 from Loial:
“He said the Dark One intended to blind the Eye of the World, and slay the Great Serpent, kill time itself . . . What I have wanted to ask is, can the Dark One do such a thing? Kill time itself? And the Eye of the World? Can he blind the eye of the Great Serpent? What does it mean?”
What is not so clear and what I propose is that the GS is the One Power. I do this for two reasons:
A) The actual Eye of the World, presumably the eye of the Great Serpent, was a pool of untainted Saidin.
B) The True Source, from which comes the One Power is referred to as the thing that turns the Wheel of Time (I just checked the glossary in the EotW to confirm this… ‘True Source’).
So it seems, presuming the characters are not mistaken, that the Great Serpent and time are both one. IF the Serpent is actually turning the Wheel then it is safe to assume that time and the True Source are also one. This leads to the (rather messy) theory that the Great Serpent is both time and the True Source. This seems a little backward at first, time destroys things. But while we know time has the power to destroy, does it not also create as it spines the Wheel in turn weaving new Age Lace? If the GS/Time/One Power help create the Age Lace to keep The Dark One trapped it gives him a great motivation for killing the GS and freeing himself
While I’m not convinced of this either it seems more likely than saying the GS is the DO because we know how much the DO hates it when the True Source is touched/channelled near him. If he was the Serpent turning the Wheel why would he hate people tapping into his essence near him? Why would he taint himself? And where then does the True Power come from? The One power is often described as pure filling experience whereas the True Power seems to be cold and empty though rapturous. They don’t seem like the same thing.
By way of a counter argument I guess the Dark One could be Time the Great Serpent and the One Power all rolled into one. Perhaps it just hurts when people channel him near the bore. Also it could be argued that the True Power is a more intense version of the One power coming from the same source but this seems unlikely. Finally and perhaps most interesting is that all that is said of the GS in the glossary is that it eats its own tail which seems like it could be hiding something. If the GS represented the True Source/One Power why not just state it so?
Apart from all this there is one other possibility I can see. The DO is the GS but Time and the One Power are not represented in the diagram at all. The DO is trapped inside the wheel and he can only have influence it the two ages which he crosses (as per the symbol). Being neither Time nor the True Source, instead he just spins around not even part of the Wheel mechanism, it is merely his prison. Poor thing he must get motion sickness. He is trapped forever wants to escape so he can destroy everything. He was, as the catechism says, bound and trapped within the wheel at the moment of creation so that he would not destroy it all. This of course means that the Eye of the World is not the eye of the Great Serpent but rather just a name, and it is just a lie that the DO wants to kill the GS, he just wants to be free.
For my own part I really don’t know the answer and I feel like I’m fence sitting across three fences. While it would be kinda cool if the DO turned out to be the GS I think that the DO cannot be Time because Time and the One Power seem to be what drives the Wheel of Time. That said maybe only the One Power drives the Wheel and it’s the Wheel that creates Time? I’m still thinking this through obviously… though I have always seen in my mind’s eye the dark one reaching up from underneath the Pattern through the Bore, with the Wheel spinning it to the side but that’s just me.
Just a quick disclaimer, I totally understand that everything that has been said in the books could be leading us up the garden path (IT’S ALL LIES!). If it’s one thing the series shows us it’s that when people think they know something it’s usually wrong. I am more than happy to be wrong here.
Thanks so much for getting my brain to tick over R.Fife! Regardless of the outcome and whether this question is answered in the end it has been great thinking about it!
I’ve always wondered how Rand got the dragon nickname in the first place? How did whoever made the dragon banner know what a dragon looked like? This is just my theory, but I think that we’re going to have to see a physical dragon by the end of this series…
Now that would be cool. Though perhaps a bit Deus Ex Machina? Or perhaaps not. The idea of dragons has certainly been in the series.
Crazy theory! The Dark One is a dragon shapped being! The reason Rand has been called dragon is because he/Lewis Therrin/other incarnations are the ones to always fight the DO so they become so closely assosiated with the being that it becomes their name. I doubt that will be the case but it would be very King Arthur and knights of the round to have the final baddy a huge dragon. And we know how much WoT took inspiration from those legends.
Alternitavly Rand could be an animagus and transform into a Dragon. Or perhaps he finds and captures a wild Charizard with a pokeball so it can fight the Last Battle with him :P