AMOL Cover art revealed

[jana]

Originally Posted by fionwe1987

She doesn't "have white on". She has a white undershirt below a blue gown. Exactly how is that the same as a white gown with a blue cloak?

I didn't say it was the same. You said Moiraine detested white. I'm pointing out another artist's rendition of her where she's wearing quite a bit of white. One that Harriet approved.

[alleluia_cone]

If it were Egwene, would she not more logically be wearing green?

[Isabel]

The Cover looks good, although I wish they would have given Nynaeve a braid and a little bit darker hair

[fionwe1987]

The Amyrlin's gown is white and silver, not green.

I'm not saying this is definitely not Moiriane. There's a good chance for it. My point is that it isn't set in stone.

One reason to think this is Egwene is that she and Nynaeve were intially one character. RJ split them into two later. Together, they mirror/complement Rand completely. Given that, it makes a great deal of thematic sense for these two women to be with Rand at Shayol Ghul.

There are three women who fit the criteria of "Aes Sedai" and "been with Rand from the beginning", and there are certainly enough ambiguities in the way the woman on the left is dressed and in her size that we cannot make a complete determination of whether she is Moiraine or Egwene.

[fionwe1987]

Incidentally, is it just me or does Nynaeve seem to have a golden circlet on her head? Has she become Queen of Malkier?

Also, the presence of the ki'sain does seem to indicate that Lan is not dead up to that point.

[alleluia_cone]

So the fact that she is wearing blue does nothing to persuade you that it is Moiraine? I find it highly probative as these things go.

[Aulis Vaara]

Originally Posted by fionwe1987

One reason to think this is Egwene is that she and Nynaeve were intially one character. RJ split them into two later.

Yeah, but the artist didn't draw this way back when. He drew it now. Whatever iterations the character design have gone through are irrelevant in that light. This guy has no knowledge of that, and Harriet would not approve a cover that grabbed back to an outdated concept.

Furthermore, given that there are only three options due to the quote

two women who have been with Rand since the beginning

and neither of the women is wearing a seven striped stole, it's quite safe to assume these are Nynaeve and Moiraine.

[fionwe1987]

Originally Posted by alleluia_cone

So the fact that she is wearing blue does nothing to persuade you that it is Moiraine? I find it highly probative as these things go.

Like I said. I'm not ruling out Moiriane. But is wearing a blue cloak the same as wearing blue? Because the woman in the cover is certainly wearing a white gown.

Originally Posted by Aulis Vaara

Yeah, but the artist didn't draw this way back when. He drew it now. Whatever iterations the character design have gone through are irrelevant in that light. This guy has no knowledge of that, and Harriet would not approve a cover that grabbed back to an outdated concept.

You misunderstand me. How RJ originally thought of these characters doesn't affect Whelan's painting. But it very well could affect the two women he decided were to be with Rand at SG. This is one of the earliest scenes he conceived of, after all.

Furthermore, given that there are only three options due to the quote and neither of the women is wearing a seven striped stole, it's quite safe to assume these are Nynaeve and Moiraine.

Egwene has happily doffed her stole on several occasions. The absence of the kesiera is far more telling, in my opinion.

[jana]

Originally Posted by fionwe1987

The Amyrlin's gown is white and silver, not green.

...what? What "Amyrlin's gown" ?

[Lupusdeusest]

You can see chain of the keseira in the bigger version, if not the actual crystal itself.
Yes, we as HCFFs know thanks to a brief mention in (NS?) that she hated paler, less modest colours, using them solely for Mortification of the Spirit. We should not expect Whelan to have that knowledge. It is far more common to hear of Mo wearing blue, in keeping with her Ajah (as do most sisters). In this case, perhaps the paler colours were also an artistic choice to assist in contrasting her against the rocks. Proper demure Cairhienin midnight blue would not be a wise choice in this setting.

[Lupusdeusest]

Originally Posted by fionwe1987

The Amyrlin's gown is white and silver, not green.

Each Amyrlin we have seen on screen has preferred the colours of the Ajah from which she was raised, although Eg does try to spread the love (taking the all and none to its logical extreme).

(That last bit sounds like she wears naught but body paint everywhere.)

[McCaber]

I don't know, I think I might actually like the Sweet sketch better than this. It feels like a more fitting end to me.

Granted, I liked the idea of not having any cover art the most, but simply white letters on a black background.

[Boli]

Originally Posted by jana

OMG. I read the topic from the bottom and saw the Tom Cruise mention, went and looked at the cover again, and decided to find the original post and scream at you because I'm never going to be able to get over it now.

Looks nothing like Tom Cruise... its Sean Bean from his Sharpe days :P

[Landro]

Originally Posted by Boli

Looks nothing like Tom Cruise... its Sean Bean from his Sharpe days :P

I would be pretty bad if he looked like Sean Bean from his Game of Thrones days :P

[Aulis Vaara]

Originally Posted by fionwe1987

Egwene has happily doffed her stole on several occasions. The absence of the kesiera is far more telling, in my opinion.

Just. Believe what you want. If you want to ignore common sense, that's your business.

Originally Posted by Lupusdeusest

You can see chain of the keseira in the bigger version, if not the actual crystal itself.

There's a bigger version? Do you have a link?

[GonzoTheGreat]

Originally Posted by The Angry Druid

I can't believe there is a debate about who the 2 women are. There are only 3 possible choices: Nyneave, Egwene, and Moiraine. Those are the only 3 who have been with him since the beginning.

There's also Thom Merrilin, who (so far) has been posing as a man. He is, in truth, Rina Sedai, and Elyas is her Warder.

[Lupusdeusest]

Originally Posted by Aulis Vaara

There's a bigger version? Do you have a link?

It was posted earlier - it's the same rez, but you can see the chain in her hair still. (I have set it as my desktop wallpaper and can make it out at that rez, and I am on an old Macbook.)

[sleepinghour]

I don't think we should count on Tor's art department to remember minor details like Moiraine's dislike of white clothes. If you look at the other ebook covers, there are usually one or two errors on almost every cover: Moiraine has blue eyes on the TFoH cover, Nynaeve has reddish hair on the ACoS one, Rand's hair should have been dyed black during the Cleansing (unless he washed it before leaving Far Madding).

So it's not surprising that Whelan got a few details wrong, especially since he's never even read WoT. I do think someone should have picked up on Nynaeve missing her braid and having ash blonde hair; that's a pretty obvious mistake to anyone even remotely familiar with the series.

[Bryan Blaire]

It doesn't honestly matter all the nit-picky details in the artwork, there's been much worse done to books and not just in this series. I got a chance to talk briefly to Darryl Sweet Jr and he was a good guy and I expressed my lament that even if I didn't agree with the covers all the time, I almost wish they'd have used his Dad's unfinished painting as the cover (something that didn't sound like it ever would have been considered, since at JordanCon they kept saying how it was just a first draft painting without review, etc). Sadly we lost both the icons of this series, IMO. However, I think that Sanderson has stepped up amazingly well considering how harsh TL is on authorship, and in this case, Whelan did also. This cover is fantastic and not completely divergent.

I don't think anyone can say "This is proof of X". We don't actually know the order of events that get us to this scene. Twice dawns the day, once for mourning, once for birth and all that could have already happened for all we know... Maybe that eclipse is finishing, not starting. Rand could have already had the dead happen to him.

[SauceyBlueConfetti]

Originally Posted by Bryan Blaire

Maybe that eclipse is finishing, not starting. Rand could have already had the dead happen to him.

Heh, I am sure someone will pull out scientific blah blah blah to say noooo, the space of the sliver equates to blah blah blah and the shadows in the cavern are 76.23% to the left so it is STARTING!

But I do like the idea that Rand already "had the dead happen to him". heh. I see a catchphrase!!!

My two cents, just cause I can:

1. I like the artwork in general
2. Similar enough to Sweet to not be jarring, but different enough to us geeks to make a difference in our day!
3. SPECULATION CAN NOW BEGIN AGAIN! Or has, already, I am late to the party.
4. I hate the person who made the Tom Cruise reference. I will now go back to see who it was and mark them down in my little notebook to hound until the end of eternity.