Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

This was the last ever WoT book tour stop, and a lot of people came out. There were about 250 people there altogether. April and Chip were there as Cadsuane and Warder, along with some other JordanCon folk I don't know so well. Jeff and Kiley Daniel of Ta'veren Tees were also there, and Randy Word (a nice guy who goes to JordanCon) was there with his wife Ashley and his brother, Brandon. Brandon is also a nice guy and he friended me on Facebook after the signing, but then I started an argument with him about gun control (I couldn't help it!) and he unfriended me. (I'm sure this surprises no one.)

I brought my friend Dick for company since it was roughly a five-hour drive one way. I think I have mentioned him before; he and I have been friends for more than ten years, though I used to be closer to his brother whom I lived and worked with in Baton Rouge for about six months (along with Hoda, who actually made it to Elder at Theoryland but is probably remembered by few).

Dick and I didn't see each other for several years, and then I happened to go to his house one day (this was after RJ died) and I noticed A Crown of Swords on his coffee table. He was reading it for the first time, and he had no idea any of his friends had read it, so I told him and Hoda and I had read it and that I had more than read it (insert long explanation of Theoryland here). So between that and the fact that he told me he played Tetris Attack (the only video game I love), he and I started hanging out regularly. He finished the series in time to read Towers of Midnight when it came out. Then he started reading Brandon's books, and has decided to name his as-yet-unborn son Kaladin, which resulted in a funny moment (paraphrased):

(Brandon is signing Dick's book which is addressed to Kaladin.)

(Says something appreciative.)

Terez

I told Peter about that, and he said "That's like the tenth Kaladin I've heard of." (Okay, so I exaggerated; I think he actually said fifth.)

Brandon Sanderson

*sighs* That sounds like the kind of thing Peter would say...

Terez

(to Dick) Yeah, Peter is not as unfailingly courteous as Brandon...

Brandon Sanderson

*hilarious smirk*

Terez

...which is why I like him.

peter

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kaladin

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fandom

There were no personalizations the first time through because they wanted to get Harriet out of there. I did manage to ask her a question, though (paraphrased):

Question

What did RJ like to read (fiction or non-fiction) on the Civil War?

He read non-fiction, no fiction.

Terez

Not even Gone With the Wind?

Harriet McDougal

No.

Terez

So nothing in particular?

Harriet McDougal

No, I can't remember anything in particular.

Terez

I know he liked Jane Austen from that general period...

Harriet McDougal

(big smile) Yes, he did.

Terez

The line was long, and she had someone else, so I had to leave it there. I didn't realize until later that Jane Austen died well before the Civil War began; I wasn't sure exactly when she lived.

rj on reading

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rj on history

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harriet

The second time through I made sure I was last in line. There was one guy who tried to be last until I convinced him I had more questions than he did. He was asking stuff on behalf of his friend David who was ill and couldn't be there. He video-recorded it and asked Brandon to address David personally because it would 'make his world'.

Question

Robert Jordan...did he lay out all the war tactics for you, because he is a war historian, or was...

Actually, David, no he didn't; he didn't have an opportunity to do that. He indicated that it was supposed to be a big, long battle for the last book—basically all battle—but he didn't give us much of the tactics. There are a few things that he put in there, that he told us to do. But what we did is, we went to several experts that Harriet knows, and asked them for suggestions, and then we relied on Alan Romanczuk, who is part of Team Jordan, and we had him outline the battle tactics, which I then used to tell the story.

Question

Okay, good. Thank you. And another question:

When you got his notes, were they digitized or was it a big stack of papers?

Brandon Sanderson

It was both. I got them in digital form—the bulk of it was in digital form—but they had printed off about 200 pages of them for me, which were ones that were relevant specifically to the last book, which turned into three.

Question

Okay, and the final question is:

Are there any—and I'm sure you get this question a lot—are there any plans for any aspect of the Wheel of Time universe to keep going, maybe in another story?

Brandon Sanderson

No, we are not doing any more books. Robert Jordan specifically didn't want more books being written, so we feel it's best to both respect his wishes and stop while we're ahead. That doesn't preclude video games from being made, and so we perhaps may see films or video games or sort of things like that that will tell some of these other stories, but as for fiction, it is done. So, thank you for the questions, David, and thank you for reading.

Fan

A movie would be irritating, because it would just ruin it. They could never capture it.

rj's notes

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prequels

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outriggers

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team jordan

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alan

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harriet

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a memory of light

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wot game

Then Kiley had a question. She's very soft-spoken so I'm not sure I got it all down right.

Kiley Daniel

So how much, either consciously or unconsciously, do the diary entries from the Lord Ruler reflect the Rand-type characters?

That's the pitch to myself for Mistborn, years ago: "What if Rand failed, and decided to take over the world instead?" basically. It's more than that, though; it's, you know" "What if Frodo kept the ring? What if the hero from the monomyth failed, and instead became the tyrant?" And so, I consciously evoked that.

Kiley Daniel

So did you ever see in that through the end, so that Rand didn't go....like, this is really similar, ever?

Brandon Sanderson

Not specifically, but you know, I was basing the idea off of that, yeah.

Kiley Daniel

It was like, "This could be Rand's diary," you know.

rand

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first mistborn trilogy

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brandon's influences

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mistborn influences

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lord ruler

At this point, Brandon started signing my books. I recorded the conversation while he was doing it, so from here on out it's transcribed. I always ask for something unique, but this time around bossman insisted the HCFFs should ask for a unique personalization—probably because Brandalization kind of decreases the value of signed books!—so Brandon took it as a matter of course. I asked for Zombie's infamous love pentagram.

(start transcript)

....you have to draw a pentagram....and then, you know, you can start with Moiraine on one tip, and then just follow it around, right?

Uh-huh. Okay, yeah, that is...I do remember that. Okay. So.... (draws two lines) Can I even draw a pentagram?

Terez

Now, they go up to the middle...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, now they go up like this...

Terez

...right...

Brandon Sanderson

...like that, and then across.

Terez

(laughs) Yes. It's perfect.

Brandon Sanderson

And then Thom...

Terez

No, nonononono! Because, like, Moiraine connects to Thom here...

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, it goes like that! I see what it is...

Terez

Right, right. Yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

I see.

Terez

And then Thom connects to...

Brandon Sanderson

...to Morgase.

Terez

Right.

Jennifer Liang

Is this like the hook-up quadrilateral?

Terez

It's a love pentagram. (laughs)

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, and then Morgase is not going to be Tallanvor....

Terez

Gareth...

Brandon Sanderson

Morgase is going to be Gareth Bryne, and then Bryne is going to be Siuan....

Terez

And then...

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, Siuan and Moiraine, pillow-friends! Right, yeah....

Terez

...and then Siuan comes back to Moiraine! Yeah!

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yeah, okay.

Terez

It works perfectly.

Jennifer Liang

Yeah, the Wheel of Time is basically one big hook-up chain. (laughter)

Terez

Well, I thought this was special, cause it's like...it's not a love triangle; it's a love pentagram.

Jennifer Liang

Yep.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, okay. Again, sorry for my handwriting.

Terez

And then you have to draw a heart.

Brandon Sanderson

(draws heart and sparklies)

Terez

(laughs) That's great. Now for the questions!

Brandon Sanderson

Alright, now for the questions.

Terez

Alright.

moiraine

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thom

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siuan

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bryne

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morgase

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fandom

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lol

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

I did not say that.

Terez

You did not say that.

Brandon Sanderson

No!

Terez

That was reported! (on a private Facebook group)

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

What did you say then?

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

...and they connected it...

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

So there you go.

Terez

Okay, good.

balefire

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knife of dreams

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perrin

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faile

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demandred

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shara

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the pattern

Now, are Graendal's actions in Shara mentioned at all in "River of Souls"?

I don't think we talk about them.

Terez

I was just curious as to how that interacted... (crosstalk)

Brandon Sanderson

I mean, I considered...Yeah, it certainly helped with what he was doing.

Terez

Right, right.

Brandon Sanderson

But I mean...yeah. It's...

Terez

Because she totally didn't know he was there, so....

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. It certainly helped, and if I had been able to go back, and do—which I wouldn't have done—but if, you can imagine, there's a very cool interaction there, where he's there, and she's doing stuff, and he's taking advantage of it, but she's not seeing him and things like that. Like, the whole Demandred In Shara thing is awesome, because there's like twelve books worth of coolness of him being the hero...

Terez

Because all this stuff is in the notes, right?

Brandon Sanderson

What's that? Oh, some of it is, not all of it.

Terez

Oh, well yeah, because I know you said you had to kind of....you know, extrapolate a little bit...

Brandon Sanderson

I had to extrapolate a lot of the Sharan culture and things, which is where "River of Souls" came from. At the end of the day, because I was extrapolating these things, that's what made them distracting from the main plotline, if that makes sense.

Terez

Mmm, yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

And so, a lot of what I was doing was like, it you know...all of Demandred's flunkies. Jim didn't name those; they're not in the notes...but I put them in because, you know, we have to evoke this entire two years of awesomeness....

Terez

Yeah, it can't just come out of nowhere, and be nothing.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, so there's that. But yeah, it was too much me, also.

Terez

Yeah...gotcha.

unfettered

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river of souls

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graendal

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demandred

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shara

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rj's notes

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brandon on writing wot

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a memory of light

Okay, so, Grady has multiple children.... (pauses for confirmation)

(gets this gleefully smug look on his face that knocks about a quarter century off his age)

Terez

What is that look for? I mean, come on. You've been, like, dancing around the bush...(crosstalk)

Brandon Sanderson

I've dodged this one so well, Terez! (crosstalk)

Terez

...on this one for like two years, I'm not gonna let you dodge any more! Just tell me if he has multiple children.

Brandon Sanderson

(stubbornly reluctant) Grady. Has. Multiple. Children.

Terez

Thank you. (Someone is laughing, I don't know who.)

gaidal cain

Was Luc a Darkfriend when he went to the Blight?

I'm going to have to MAFO this one, because this is one that I can never remember, and I've had to ask Maria like three times—the whole Luc thing—because I had it spelled out for me several times, but since Jim did a lot of the Luc scenes, I didn't need to remember it, if that makes sense. So go ahead and ask Maria. She's...there's a lot of stuff on that in there—and hopefully that'll end up in the encyclopedia—but there's a lot of cool stuff on Luc and Isam in the notes. It's one of the areas that isn't as sparse. But I can't remember. I want to say no, that neither of them were, but I can't remember when it happened, you know...

Terez

Well, I mean...Isam was a baby, you know?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, uh-huh. Yeah, and so....

Terez

So...I mean obviously he wasn't a Darkfriend when he went to the Blight...

Brandon Sanderson

Right, but he grew up on the streets....

Terez

Right, he grew up under that influence, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, it's like he was...always...or was he? And when did they...when they...I want to say that Luc wasn't, but you'll have to ask Maria.

Terez

Okay.

slayer

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darkfriends

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encyclopedia

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mafo

Was the Shadow able to track down or intercept any of Verin's letters after she died?

Um...(laughs)...

Terez

You can answer that vaguely if you want.

Brandon Sanderson

....(laughs, coughs)...I'm (ahem) really good at answering things vaguely, but I can say that at least one of them did not find its mark.

Terez

Okay. That's good.

verin

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unsolved mysteries

Have we seen Nakomi in any other guise? Is she somebody we would know?

No, we haven't. Good question.

Terez

That's a good answer.

Brandon Sanderson

I can kill the Nakomi-Verin theory.

Terez

Yeah, well you already did that.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, okay.

Terez

Yeah. I pay attention, you know.

Brandon Sanderson

Mmmhmm.

Terez

(laughs)

nakomi

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verin

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unsolved mysteries

Fain says that the thinning of reality around Shayol Ghul would make it easier for him to anchor himself there, and Dom wants to know if the proximity of the Tower of Ghenjei had anything to do with the fate of Aridhol.

I honestly don't know. That would make logical sense...

Terez

Yeah, it would...

Brandon Sanderson

But...we could look in the notes. That's one I suspect is not in there.

Terez

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

But you can say there's a good chance that's the sort of thing that would make sense...

Terez

Yeah, okay.

Brandon Sanderson

Good question.

fain

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ghenjei

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shadar logoth

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mashadar

Um...did you notice...(in a louder voice)...has everybody standing around me read the book?

Okay, spoiler! Just warning you.

Terez

Spoilers! Okay, did you notice any good foreshadowings for Egwene's death aside from Guinevere and the Year of the Four Amyrlins?

Brandon Sanderson

Um...(laughs, looks at Jenn)....those are very good. I mean, it's mostly, you know, the Guinevere myth and things like that, but there's...(to Jenn)...there's others, aren't there?

Terez

The Year of the Four Amyrlins is the only, like, really nice one that I've latched on to, you know? Because it's like, she's talking about, "It's almost like now..." and it's like, "Everybody came to grief in the end...." And it's like...yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

Mmmhmm.

Terez

(laughs)

a memory of light

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foreshadowing

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egwene

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siuan

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wot influences

Um, was there any connection between Mat's luck and the dagger?

Um, not that I know of. Good question, but we can MAFO that one, but you can give the, "not that I know of". I'm still kind of...you know, the Mat's luck being beyond him being ta'veren, is one that's very interesting to me, because everything that I know says that his luck does extend beyond his ta'verenness, but...

Terez

Well, it's like his whole plotline seems kinda designed as like this revenge story for Manetheren against Aridhol, you know?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, uh-huh. Yep.

Terez

And, you know, he starts speaking the Old Tongue right before they go into Shadar Logoth; that's the first time he speaks it...

Brandon Sanderson

Uh-huh. Yep.

Terez

...you know, and then as soon as he wakes up from the Healing, he's got memories, he's got this luck, you know?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Mmmhmm.

Terez

So...yeah.

mafo

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mat

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mat's luck

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ruby dagger

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manetheren

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shadar logoth

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mordeth

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ta'veren

Was Alanna captured in Tear?

No. She managed to get away from Tear.

Terez

Okay. Good answer. (crosstalk)

Brandon Sanderson

Good question.

Terez

What happened to her Warder, Ihvon?

Brandon Sanderson

Her Warder Ihvon um, met...

Terez

...(laughs)

Brandon Sanderson

It is not happy.

Terez

Unpleasant fate, okay.

alanna

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warder bond

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a memory of light

About—if you can estimate—how many Aiel were in the Town?

Oh, boy. I think there is an estimate in the notes.

Terez

There is?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, so ask Maria, and if I say it, I will get it wrong because Jim has an estimate of how many Sightblinders were going to be in the Last Battle.

Terez

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

And that would include, you know, ones born there and ones captured, and...yeah.

red-veiled aiel

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rj's notes

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encyclopedia

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mafo

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

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

Mmmhmm.

Terez

You know, so it has to be something.

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

(sighs loudly) (people around laugh)

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

That's what I was hoping for...

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

Mmmhmm.

Terez

But yeah. Good!

Brandon Sanderson

So there you go.

Terez

That makes me happy.

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

perrin

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hopper

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a memory of light

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tel'aran'rhiod

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slayer

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souls

Were the Aes Sedai at the Silver Swan still there when Caemlyn was attacked?

I.....don't....know.

Terez

Don't know. Okay.

aes sedai

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caemlyn

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unsolved mysteries

Why didn't the bond protect Bryne's dreams?

Why didn't the bond protect Bryne's dreams!

Terez

The Warder Bond...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes! Um....(pauses to think)

Terez

Is it an active thing?

Brandon Sanderson

What's that?

Terez

Is it an active thing, like...she has to....Moiraine kind of phrased it like it wasn't...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. No, no no.

Terez

...like, because of the bond, he's protected.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. (long pause) Why don't I MAFO this one so I don't say it wrong, because I had to go to Maria on this one.

Terez

Right. Yeah, okay.

Brandon Sanderson

...if that makes sense. And so, I will tell you wrong. I will MAFO it, because it's one I had to talk to her about. So we'll go back to the source of me being...or me working these things out in the first place.

Terez

Okay.

a memory of light

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mafo

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bryne

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warder bond

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dreams

How many more do we have? I just got curious.

Terez

Just a few; just a few.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay.

Person behind Terez

Just a few! Like, 15 or 20...

Do you know about how many Aes Sedai are left after the Last Battle?

Um, Harriet said "many".

Terez

Many? (laughs) Yeah...

Brandon Sanderson

(laughs, coughs) Boy they lost a lot.

tarmon gai'don

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aes sedai

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fourth age

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a memory of light

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

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

Terez

Oh, you pronounce the K!

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

So say it!

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

Does it have any mythological basis that you know of?

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

Like, Shaisam, actually...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

Yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, it is a little hard to pronounce though.

Terez

Can you pronounce it?

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

(laughs) Okay.

mat

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perrin

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fain

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pronunciation

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old tongue

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alan

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wot influences

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towers of midnight

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a memory of light

Alright, is Cadsuane's lesson to the Asha'man yet to come?

To the Asha'man? It is the same lesson that Rand learned, but they....they started to learn it.....

Terez

Yeah...

Brandon Sanderson

I would say that they have not completely learned it yet. Not until they have spent years...um...growing...

Terez

Well the distinction in Min's viewing is that none of them would like learning it from Cadsuane.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Mmmhmm.

Terez

Yeah, so that's where everybody gets a little bit confused.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Terez

But yeah, I got you.

min's viewings

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prophecies

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cadsuane

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asha'man

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rand

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a memory of light

Was the "innocent" foreshadowing in early The Great Hunt—that you mentioned on Twitter when you were doing your reread—do you remember that?

Yeah, I do remember it, and people have asked me this, and I can't remember what it was! (crosstalk)

Terez

And you don't remember what it was. And then there's the one in The Dragon Reborn Chapter 27.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Oh, I can probably remember that one.

Terez

Can I email you about those two?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, you can email me about that one, because I can find that one. Because I know which one that one was, but I can't remember the other one. I feel so bad! It's like...

Terez

Well, was it Leane and Perrin, with the crown and the High Chant?

Brandon Sanderson

Mayyy-beee.....

Terez

Like, she said something about, "Next the blacksmith is gonna be wearing a crown and speaking in High Chant..."

Brandon Sanderson

Ohhhhh, yeah! I bet it's that one, because...yeah.....

Terez

It's kind of an innocent foreshadowing....

Brandon Sanderson

...No, you're right.

Terez

I think you kind of avoided my question, and then you later kind of...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I think it's that one, because it's Perrin becoming king.

Terez

Right. Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

Which finally happened in this book.

wotrr

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foreshadowing

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the great hunt

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the dragon reborn

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a memory of light

Can you tell us one scene that RJ worked on outside of the prologue and epilogue?

Yes. He wrote Moiraine's dialogue at the, um....

Terez

...at the Merrilor meeting?

Brandon Sanderson

At the Merrilor meeting.

Terez

Okay.

a memory of light

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moiraine

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who wrote what?

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

Oh, I've left this one intentionally ambiguous.

Terez

I figured that's what you did.

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

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

Terez

Well, not her new lover!

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yeah...

Terez

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

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, no...

Terez

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

a memory of light

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dark prophecy

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prophecies

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the great hunt

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towers of midnight

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lanfear

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perrin

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hopper

Was Min's "three ships sailing" inspired by the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María?

I don't believe so. Wow, but I don't know, so I can't say on that one...

Terez

Oh, it wasn't yours?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, no....ah...

Terez

It was in the last book: three ships sailing, insect in the darkness, red lights....

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. It's not the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María....

Terez

Yeah, well I thought it might have been inspired by that...

Brandon Sanderson

We'll have to dig into the notes on that one.

Terez

Allllll-right.

min's viewings

,

prophecies

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a memory of light

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wot influences

And I think that is it!

Okay. I hope I didn't say anything too wrong.

Terez

I think you did a good job of avoiding that.

Brandon Sanderson

As always Terez, you are awesome...

Terez

You are awesome...

Brandon Sanderson

...and we really do appreciate you.

Terez

I appreciate you too.

And then I said my goodbyes, and then we drove home in the rain. Godawful rain. But it was worth it. :)