PONDERINGS and PROPHECIES of the Wheel of Time

Abby's Fabulous
PONDERINGS, PROPHECIES, and THEORIES of
Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series

Back to WoT Ponderings Main Page.

My theories are researched up to WoT Book 10: Crossroads of Twilight.

I've stopped maintaining this part of my website, but it's so huge and extensive, you might find it interesting anyway. Many of these theories are still unresolved as of WoT Book 13. Yes, I still the read the series, of course! I have to find out how it ends.

If you have additional observations or theories, please contact me. I might not respond, but I will read your email and file it away.

WARNING: Major spoilers contained within.

Sudden mystery characters
- ALIVIA:
  - [Vol.9] Min had a viewing in Far Madding that Alivia will "help Rand die," and she therefore does not trust Alivia, although she likes her as a friend.
  - [Vol. 9] Alivia battled Cyndane (Lanfear) one-on-one, protected by Nynaeve's many angreals and ter'angreals, and suffered a burned arm . . . all in order to protect Rand. This scene proves that Alivia is not one of the Forsaken. Graendel and Moghedien also showed up during the battle, and Mesaana is busy in the Tower, and Semirhage does not fit Alivia's appareance or personality at all.
  - Alivia was introduced in Winter's Heart as a former damane who is more powerful than Nynaeve AND more powerful than Lanfear ever was. She is very skilled in destruction. Sound suspicious? I think so. Her rehabilitation from four hundred years of abject slavery among the Seanchan was remarkably swift. Even so, she is friendly, and if she is a bad guy, then she is a skilled actress. I strongly suspect that she is NOT what she appears to be. Her personality, and even her three-syllable name, do not fit the "400 years as a damane" story. So maybe she is a Dreamwalker, and used her skill to temporarily escape slavery from time to time. Or maybe she is a very ancient member of the Kin, or an ancient Aes Sedai, who accidentally rediscovered how to Travel, ended up in Seanchan (the way Aviendha did when she fled from Rand), and got captured by sul'dam. Is she a Darkfriend? No Darkfriend would openly battle the "Chosen," so she seems to be on the side of the Light. However, like Min, I don't trust her. I think she'll turn to the Shadow.
  - Please see my Trinity Theory for more details. (Scroll down the theory to read about Alivia).
- NOAL CHARIN:
  - [Vol.9] Noal, the old man who helped save Mat from a gholam, and who later accompanies Mat and Tuon, claims to have visited faraway lands, such as Shara. Mat finds Noal vaguely familiar. He probably knows him from gleeman's tales, and perhaps a former life or two. Noal has got to be Jain Farstrider, whose surname was Charin.
  - [Vol.10] Noal sticks to Mat like glue. He almost seems obsessed with accompanying Mat everywhere. There is a theory (which I agree with) that Noal is under Compulsion from either Ishamael or Graendal, and has been ordered to spy on Mat.
- SHARINA MELLOY:
  - [Vol.9] Sharina is an immensely powerful old novice under Egwene's Tower of rebels. Nynaeve recognizes this name from her test to become an Accepted; Sharina Melloy was her advisor when she was Queen of Malkier. Does this indicate that Sharina is destined to become an advisor? Or is she a native Malkieri? She is old enough to know the history behind Lan and Isam. As a grandmother, she may even be a blood relation to Lan or Isam. Her enormous power and mystery makes it improbable that she survived so long without meddling in world affairs.
  - [Vol.10] Because of her tolerance for being a novice at her age, and her obvious concern for the Tower in exile, it is unlikely that Sharina is a Darkfriend.
  - However, I still believe there is a possibility that she shares the soul of Mesaana or Graendal. Please see my Trinity Theory for more details. (Scroll down the theory to read about Sharina).
- ANATH:
  - [Vol.9] Tuon's intimidating Truth-Speaker, a tall black woman named Anath, was appointed recently and inexplicably by the Empress of Seanchan herself. Anath has replaced someone who spent years training for the position. Her quick rise to power is suspicious. She has the ability to become a sul'dam, which means, of course, that she can channel. Let's not forget that Semirhage has been described as "tall and dark." Her problems with traveling to Darkfriend socials have coincided with Tuon's schedule. And we know the Forsaken can mask their ability to channel. I think there is a strong possibility that Anath is Semirhage. The Seanchan Empress maintains a very cold relationship with her own children, and apparently doesn't care when they are stripped of rank and tortured by Seekers. She's probably a Darkfriend, so anyone she appoints is suspect.
  - [Vol.10] A pack of fifty Darkhounds was sent south from Shayol Ghul, bypassing Perrin's camp. Hmmm . . . which of the other two ta'veren has recently pissed off a whole bunch of Shadowspawn, Forsaken, and other Darkfriends? Why, Mat, of course. And which Forsaken would desperately want to recapture Tuon from Mat? Why, Anath/ Semirhage, of course. She has placed herself in position as Tuon's Truth-speaker for a reason, even if we don't know what it is. The only problem with this theory is the fact that Darkhounds will presumably kill everyone in Mat's camp, including Tuon, whom you would think Anath/ Semirhage needs alive.
Ponderings concerning Power and objects of Power
- CONCERNING SAIDAR AND SAIDIN:
  - [Vol.8] A strange sickness had been affecting the sul'dam and damane around Ebou Dar. The taint on saidin seemed to be worse in that location as well. According to Robert Jordan, this was caused by overstressing the use of the Bowl of the Winds.
  - [Vol.9] Alanna is unable to compel Rand through the Warder bond, yet Asha'man can apparently use their bond to compel (or Compulse) Aes Sedai like slaves. Perhaps Mazrim Taim taught the Asha'man Compulsion and told them it was bonding. After all, bonding was unknown during the Age of Legends, so if Taim is privy to Forsaken knowledge, he would be much more likely to know Compulsion than how to bond.
  - [Vol.9] Damer Flinn figured out a way to Heal being stilled. This seems similar to what Nynaeve did to Logain. Perhaps only women can heal men back to their original strength, and vice versa.
- THE CLEANSING OF SAIDIN:
  - [Vol.7] The late (and absent-minded) Fel Herid offered Rand a half-answer to the riddle about cleansing saidin which Rand received in the doorway ter'angreal. Okay, I'm curious. What was the answer, exactly?
  - [Vol.10] Saidin has been cleansed, but Rand still has the channeling illness, and he is still hearing Lews Therin. Has his insanity progressed too far to regress? Or does his illness have something to do with his rebirth, and the merging of two or three different people into one body, or the two never-healing wounds in his side?
  - [Vol.10] In the process of cleansing saidin, the female key to the Choedal Kal was melted. However, there are other female keys in existence. Alviarin apparently Traveled to Tremalking and witnessed the giant statue of the female Choedal Kal . . . and she also Traveled to the site of the crater where Shadar Logoth once was . . . and where the destroyed access key may have been carelessly discarded. Perhaps Alviarin has figured out what the Choedal Kal is, and plans to find an access key. Go, Alviarin!
- CONCERNING THE TRUE POWER:
  - [Vol.3] Why is the True Power so named? We know the True Power is a source from the Dark One (perhaps the other half of the One Power), but in what ways, specifically, is it different from the One Power? If drawing the One Power is joy, then perhaps drawing the True Power is sorrow and pain.
  - [Vol.3] Verin read a poem about the masks of the Dark One. It stated that the Dark One is inside the Betrayer of Hope, who in turn hides behind Truth. Well, Moridin is addicted to the True Power like a heroin addict. Perhaps "Truth" is referring to the True Power.
- OATH RODS, MEDALLIONS, AND OTHER TER'ANGREAL:
  - [Vol.1] Lews Therin once summoned "the nine Rods of the dominion." If these were the Oath Rods, then we can account for two of them. Where are the remaining seven Rods? Do they all have the same oath-binding power? Why is there a difference in numerals if they are otherwise identical?
  - [Vol.4, p.909 pb] Moghedien claims that the "sad bracelets" (a ter'angreal shaped like handcuffs that controls men who can channel) were made after she was sealed inside the Bore. What was Moghedien's source of information, who made the bracelets, and why?
  - [Vol.6] According to the Creator (aka Robert Jordan), Mat's silver fox-head medallion protects the wearer against saidin as well as saidar. This is proved by a scene in which Halima (aka Aran'gar, aka Balthamel) attempts to channel at him, and his medallion goes cold. We must assume that things such as lightning (which Rahvin killed him with while he was wearing the medallion) and Gateways are indirect, and thus can harm the wearer. Therefore, the medallion only protects Mat from direct weaves such as Healing and Compulsion.
  - [Vol.7] According to a scene from Semirhage's POV (I will find the exact quote soon), the Oath Rods were known as "binding rods" during the Age of Legends, and were used to "bind" criminals from doing harm. It had the side effect of shortening the lifespan of the criminal, which in the case of channelers, could make them live 200 years as opposed to 900. It also marked the criminal with an ageless looking face.
  - [Vol.8, p.253 hc] One of the Oath Rods is marked "one hundred eleven", and the other is marked "three". Is it III and 3, or is it 10011 and 3? What significance might this have?
  - [Vol.9] Far Madding has a ter'angreal that prevents men from channeling in a wide circle, and women from channeling in a smaller circle within it. It also pinpoints locations around the city where a man or a woman is channeling, and separates them by gender. What else might it do? Legends say that it was created during the Breaking of the World. But how could such a ter'angreal have been made, and by whom, exactly? Was the True Power involved, perhaps?
  - [Vol.9] Nynaeve wears a belt that is a "well;" a ter'angreal that allows her to channel a small amount of saidar even in places like Far Madding. Cadsuane wears a smaller one, shaped like a hummingbird. Nynaeve has a ring which can detect channeling of any sort within a three mile radius, and point out the direction. Cadsuane has a swallow ter'angreal that can do the same. Might there be male ter'angreal which can do these things?
  - [Vol.9] One of Nynaeve's many ter'angreals (which she incidentally lent to Alivia) can break apart inverse (hidden) weaves, thereby protecting the wearer from traps. This could be very handy for someone like Rand.
- TEL'ARAN'RHIOD (THE DREAMWORLD):
  - [Vol.4] The Aiel Wise Ones knew that Moiraine would be at the Stone of Tear before she got there, and that she would come to the Aiel Waste on a particular day. They can obviously tell the future through tel'aran'rhiod . . . but they haven't seemed to have done it much since then.
  - [Vol.4] The Aiel Wise Ones warned Egwene that every time someone enters tel'aran'rhiod in the flesh, she or he loses part of his or her humanity. Rand has already done this multiple times. He does, indeed, seem to be becoming less human.
Aes Sedai agendas
- UNRESOLVED ISSUES CONCERNING MOIRAINE:
  - [Vol.1] Rand promised Moiraine that he owed her "any price" for healing Tam. He hasn't made good on it yet. He also feels especially guilty about the sacrifice she made for him . . . she is numero uno on his mental list of dead females.
  - [Vol.3] Moiraine hinted of a prophecy that Rand will command the Seanchan through the Court of Nine Moons, and she also unknowingly mentioned him cleansing saidin. What more did she know about his future that she never said?
  - [Vol.3] Moiraine is related to the Damodred House, which means that she is related to Elayne, and Rand as a cousin.
  - [Vol.4] Moiraine learned something in the doorway ter'angreal in Tear about her future in Rhuidean. What was it? And what else was in the letter that Amys delivered to Moiraine in Tear?
- RESCUING MOIRAINE:
  - [Vol.5, p.301 pb] Egwene dreams of Thom pulling Moiraine's stone from a fire with his bare hand. Might Thom risk himself to rescue Moiraine from a hot place?
  - [Vol.9] If Moiraine did survive, then she needs to be rescued from the Tower of Ghenjei--which is where Mat once encountered the "snaky folk" (Aelfin), and the "foxy folk" (Eelfin). We know from the ancient WoT child's game of Snakes and Foxes that the only way to win this game is to cheat. Before each game, the players chant:
    "Courage to strengthen, fire to blind, music to dazzle, iron to bind."
    Before accepting guests to the Tower of Ghenjei, the "snaky folk" and "foxy folk" always ask to make sure there is no fire, musical instruments, or iron present, in accordance with some weird ancient treaty. It therefore stands to reason that breaking the rules of this treaty is like cheating (and winning) the game of Snakes and Foxes. Moiraine's rescuers will probably have to bring courage, fire, music, and iron.
  - [Vol.10] Olver is often seen playing Snakes and Foxes, and Thom is now traveling with the boy. I think that Olver will provide the idea of the rescue for Mat (courage to strengthen), Aludra (fire to blind), Thom (music to dazzle), and someone else in Mat's party who uses iron (iron to bind). Web theories suggest that the fourth person is Perrin, but I think Perrin will have enough on his plate without haring off to the Tower of Ghenjei. I suppose the fourth person might be Egeanin (perhaps she will become the Seanchan swordswoman that Egwene dreamt about in Crossroads of Twilight), or Petra (the sideshow strongman who can bend iron), or maybe one of the Aes Sedai. Aren't a'dam collars made of iron? And didn't one of them have a talent with Earth, which means she can make iron into cuendillar? Even Juilin Sandar carries a a sword breaker--an iron weapon--to bind thieves.
- THOM MERRILIN:
  - [Vol.4] Moiraine promised Thom that she would give him the names of the Aes Sedai who gentled his nephew Owyn. This information was probably contained in the letter she gave him after her disappearance. Why hasn't Thom acted on it yet? Perhaps Teslyn, Joline, and Edesina were some of the names Moiraine gave him.
- THE AGENDA OF VERIN MATHWIN:
  - [Vol.4] Verin has a collection of notes from Corianin Nedeal, the last dreamwalker in the Tower. She also gave Egwene the Dreamwalker ter'angreal. And she seems to know an awful lot about future events. Verin may be a secret Dreamwalker.
  - [Vol.4, p.930 pb] Verin spontaneously asks Perrin when he's going to give up his axe for the hammer. At this point in the series, Perrin only has indecision about his axe versus hammer when he's in the wolf dream, and he hasn't confided to anybody. Verin was spying on Perrin's dreams.
  - [Vol.8, p.27 hc] According to her own thoughts, the last time Verin made a serious mistake was 71 years ago. What was going on 71 years ago? Might it have something to do with Setalle Anan?
  - [Vol.8, p.32 hc] Verin considers killing the escaped Red Ajah, Katerine, in order to protect Rand. But wouldn't killing Katerine put Verin outside the three Oaths?
  - [Vol.8] Verin has been using a low-key form of Compulsion to force ALL of Elaida's sisters to swear fealty to Rand, at the risk of being stilled for such a crime. Does Verin know some secret about Rand's future which she is manipulating him towards? Or is she merely a Dragon Reborn fanatic?
  - [Vol.9] Verin had been exiled from her home of Far Madding for some terrible crime in the past. It likely occurred hundreds of years ago, but the local people STILL remember it so well that Verin is afraid to use her real name there, and uses "Edwina" under Cadsuane's approval. Cadsuane is not remembered in Far Madding with fondness either, but at least SHE isn't afraid to use her real name. What did Verin do that got her in so much trouble?
  - [Vol.9] In Far Madding, Verin was secretly ready to poison or drug Cadsuane. This implies that she meant to kill Cadsuane, because in Far Madding she could not weave Compulsion or use the One Power at all. Then Cadsuane confessed her relatively harmless intentions of "making the Dragon Reborn remember laughter and tears;" likely because the ta'veren himself was in town . . . and Verin put her packet of poison away.
  - [Vol.9] Verin ran through rain-soaked streets in order to find Rand . . . simply to tell him that Illian had recently been invaded by Seanchan. She seemed to know how exactly hard he would take the news. Perhaps she has the same goal as Cadsuane and Sorilea, to make the Dragon Reborn remember laughter and tears.
- THE FUTURE OF NYNAEVE AND LAN:
  - During one scene during her test to become Accepted, Nynaeve had a son, prince Maric, and a daughter, princess Elnore, and was married to Lan, the King of Malkier. Does this mean that Malkier will be restored with Nynaeve as its Queen? The Aes Sedai advisor in her vision has turned out to be an actual person named Sharina Melloy.
- ELAIDA'S FUTURE:
  - [Vol.2, p.366 pb] Min wonders how Elaida knew that Moiraine had summoned her to the Tower. ". . . That was a secret known only to her, Moiraine, and Sheriam." So how did Elaida find out? Did Sheriam leak information? Does Elaida have a trick up her sleeve?
  - [Vol.6] Shemerin, demoted from Aes Sedai to Accepted by Elaida, ran away from the Tower. She must be really bitter about her demotion. Where is she now?
  - [Vol.7, p.218 pb] An ancient Tower law states that no Amrylin can place herself in danger "unless the Tower goes to war." Since the war seems inevitable, Elaida may be forced to place herself in danger. She is unlikely to handle it as well as Egwene.
  - [Vol.9] Elaida has made enemies out of all her most loyal supporters. Toveine Gazal dreams of strangling Elaida for sending her to the Black Tower. Galina, Katrina, and the other Aes Sedai who were sent to capture Rand hate Elaida now. Pevara and Seaine suspect that Elaida is Black Ajah. Teslyn and Joline resent Elaida for demoting them from the Hall and sending them the Ebou Dar. I think the writing is on the wall. . . .

This page last updated: November 24, 2004

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Document updated: 05 September 2016 - 17:39:40

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WARNING: Major spoilers contained within.

Sudden mystery characters

Ponderings concerning Power and objects of Power

Aes Sedai agendas