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A Memory of Light
WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD
REALLY, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED
I just finished reading it the other day. I loved every minute of it. The last half I read in one sitting, couldn't put it down. So many beloved and reviled characters dying in spectacular ways, so many plot threads that will never have a satisfactory ending. Don't think I can approach actually completing my musings on it in one post, so I won't try. I loved both Rand's plot arc and Mat's in this book, though I find it hard to believe that the Shadow failed to anticipate Mat's genius on the battlefield like they anticipated the great captains (which was an awesome sub-plot in its own right). Perrin's...he was always my favorite of the big three, but I feel like his climax lacked oomph. Suddenly he has all these powers and can effortlessly do all these things...meh.
Demandred lived up to the hype and the wait. Sad for Gawyn and Egwene. Thom's last chapter was right on the money. From an author's perspective, Lan should have died, from a reader's perspective I'm glad he didn't. Identical emotions regarding Talmanes near-death, his arc would have been justifiably ended with the close of the prologue. Disliked the ignominious deaths of Siuan, Gareth Bryne, and the elder Basheres. Cheered out loud at Moghedian's end, damn near wept for Rhuarc. Moridin ended with a bit too much of a whimper for such a major and powerful antagonist. Elaida is unresolved, as are innumerable "what happens after" questions like the fate of the Aiel. ETA: Padan Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar's appearance at the end caused me to actually shout out "OH SHIT" at 4AM, but the resolution of that was a huge cop out.
Exhausting book.
REALLY, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED
I just finished reading it the other day. I loved every minute of it. The last half I read in one sitting, couldn't put it down. So many beloved and reviled characters dying in spectacular ways, so many plot threads that will never have a satisfactory ending. Don't think I can approach actually completing my musings on it in one post, so I won't try. I loved both Rand's plot arc and Mat's in this book, though I find it hard to believe that the Shadow failed to anticipate Mat's genius on the battlefield like they anticipated the great captains (which was an awesome sub-plot in its own right). Perrin's...he was always my favorite of the big three, but I feel like his climax lacked oomph. Suddenly he has all these powers and can effortlessly do all these things...meh.
Demandred lived up to the hype and the wait. Sad for Gawyn and Egwene. Thom's last chapter was right on the money. From an author's perspective, Lan should have died, from a reader's perspective I'm glad he didn't. Identical emotions regarding Talmanes near-death, his arc would have been justifiably ended with the close of the prologue. Disliked the ignominious deaths of Siuan, Gareth Bryne, and the elder Basheres. Cheered out loud at Moghedian's end, damn near wept for Rhuarc. Moridin ended with a bit too much of a whimper for such a major and powerful antagonist. Elaida is unresolved, as are innumerable "what happens after" questions like the fate of the Aiel. ETA: Padan Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar's appearance at the end caused me to actually shout out "OH SHIT" at 4AM, but the resolution of that was a huge cop out.
Exhausting book.
1
Comments
Maybe I should've titled it "the books thread" ;_;
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Achaea: Erasariel (duh!)
I didn't know about the book or the series, haha.
League of Legends: IA ROCKS (NA)
Guild Wars 2: erasariel.1532 - Devona's Rest (NA)
Final Fantasy XIV: Novi Selea - Cactuar (NA)
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/ErasarielOfAchaea/
Achaea: Erasariel (duh!)
Demandred disappointed, but not in the way you'd think. He shows up turning out to be one of the coolest, most solid villains out of all the Forsaken, except that RJ's quest to keep at least one villain underwraps the whole time caused him to miss out on the chance to develop him onscreen. An active Demandred arc through the series would've been more riveting than the whole Faile's wintercamp arc.
You know how way back, at Shadar Logoth, when Rand was killing Sammael? He met Moridin who was using the TP like a mofo and they both tried to balefire the big mist thingy.
The key to balefire is that it's reality altering and when the two streams crossed (no innuendo here at all, folks!), Rand and Moridin formed a kind of bond. Think of it as they were attempting to burn out mass threads of the pattern, their own two threads sort of fused. This is evidenced by how they sometimes dream themselves into each other's space and feel the physical effects of each other's injuries. (Which does beg the question if Moridin got random boners whenever Rand was getting laid)
Now, fast forward to the Last Battle. We all know that Rand was already dying, at least physically. Man was bleeding to death before he even started. Moridin, alive as he looks, is really just Ishamael stuck in some new body courtesy of the Dark One's power.
Moridin tries to use Callandor against Rand, but it was "Just As Planned" because the flaw wasn't for Rand, it was for Moridin. When he tried to channel the TP, they forcibly linked to him.
This is then the second point. There is one point in which Channeling is described as 'a weakness', and that is when we witness the effects of being 13x13'd. The mechanics are never really clear save that the more Light-sided you are the more Dark-sided you become, but most descriptions more or less sum up to it is like 'taking a man's soul and replacing it with some kind of darkness'.
We also know that the ability to channel is very much linked to the person's soul, at the very least in the case of forced transmigration. Which is how Aran'gar was channeling saidin in a woman's body.
Being linked in a circle similarly opens you to the emotions and physical sensations of the other person. It creates a (usually temporary) bond between them.
With all this in mind, when the DO was finally sealed away for realz, all the things that he touched were undone, the Blight was blooming again etc. It stands to reason that Ishamael's soul detached from his body. It was never his to begin with.
This was the moment of opportunity. Rand and Moridin were linked so securely neither could have pulled away if they wanted. their threads were 'fused', they were now in a conduit through which Rand could pull a 13x13 of his own. So he did and switched bodies with Moridin.
Which, incidentally, was an incredibly fitting end for *graendal.
I almost spoiled myself on this. I just started reading The Wheel of Time as a recommendation from a friend of mine. I vaguely remembered after entering the topic and scrolling down that this was the last book.