Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

I'd like to start by saying I had a great time at J-Con, even if I only spent a few hours there. But I was with my family, and for the first time ever, a group of people who enjoy the Wheel of Time as much as I do. Needless to say, the MOA-ness was beyond measure:

I'll begin the recap by saying the hotel where the event was held was, well, wonderful. My wife enjoyed it immensely, especially as she didn't participate in the events and spent much of her time people gazing and looking at the flowers/waterfalls/'ponds' etc. Oh, and yet again I reconfirm my stance that whoever came up with the base design for parking garages needs to be dragged out of hell so I can ask 'Why?' before soundly punching him in the face.

And on to the event: I got there with about 30 minutes to spare in BWS's signing, which turned out to be fine as there were not many people in line. I brought two books, The Gathering Storm and The Hero of Ages. They got signed, of course, which was awesome (Finally, I have a signed book). And while I was standing in line I met Scissorrunner and J.Dauro. (I didn't get to spend much time speaking with them as when I wasn't in a discussion, I was with my family. Eh, them's the ropes, I suppose. It was great meeting you though.)

While my books were being signed I did take the opportunity to ask a question (and I only asked one as time was running down on the signing and there were people behind me):

Is there any way for someone to be removed completely from the Pattern?

(Sorry I cannot put out his precise words, but here is the gist)—Jordan started by having balefire do this, but he later debunked this theory by saying someone killed by balefire can be reborn at some point. We currently know of nothing/no method that will completely remove someone from the Pattern.

blindillusion

I thanked him and turned to walk away at this point, so that he could continue with the signing. But he called me back and commented that:

Brandon Sanderson

The wolves in the Wolf Dream. We know that in the Wolf Dream something can be completely removed from the Pattern.

blindillusion

(Again, not his exact words, but this pretty close. Perhaps J.D can back me up here. He was there.)

Birgitte also said that death for the dead heroes in Tel'aran'rhiod is permanent, but Brandon was writing Towers of Midnight at the time and he probably had Hopper on the brain.

the pattern

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souls

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wolves

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wolf dream

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heroes of the horn

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tel'aran'rhiod

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hopper

Sorry it's not exactly great, but I kept looking out the doorway to see if my family was looking for me. Now, as for why that question? Well, as some of you may know, my pet theory is that in order for this to be the true Last Battle with the Dark One, Moridin has to be completely removed from the Pattern. So, I thought of about the only way I could ask about that without giving away my real purpose, hence the way I put the question. And I thought the first part of his answer very interesting. Nothing/no method of removing someone completely from the Pattern—currently. =) But when he called me back and answered about the Wolf Dream (Tel'aran'rhiod), well, I felt I'd asked a pretty good question that'll give some fuel for the fire of those looking for Tel'aran'rhiod to play a big role in Tarmon Gai'don.

Sure, it doesn't help or hurt my theory, but I thought if I'd actually thrown Moridin's name out there it would have been RAFO'd—though I would of gotten a nice red RAFO card.

After that, the next even I attended was the end of "It's the End of the World as We Know It", a discussion on The Gathering Storm. Really only heard two bits of information:

Even if she had been Amyrlin during a time when the possible End Time was not on its way, Elaida would not have been good in the position. Also, simply the fact that the Forsaken played a role in putting her there should say tons about her potential for the job.

elaida

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amyrlins

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mesaana

Padan Fain's power has morphed through time, going one way and then another (Shadar Logoth to the Dark One and back), which is why Moiraine was able to sense him at the end of The Eye of the World, but no Aes Sedai were able to sense him during his time in Tar Valon. He gained much of his power battling the Fade throughout The Great Hunt. Padan Fain is also now a powerhouse in the series.

blindillusion

Sure, this is information we all know, and it's not canon as it's not in the books, but it was cool hearing people in the know say it.

fain

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moiraine

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aes sedai

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myrddraal

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the great hunt

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errors

The only other discussion I attended was "Moiraine, nuff said". Much of the discussion, that I got to hear at least, dealt with how cool Moiraine is and how she treats others with respect, which is why they treat her that way.

But there is one element of the discussion I'd like to kick up here on TOR, though perhaps in the Open Thread. One of the attendees put forth the comment that Moiraine is a "Damsel in Distress" and that this makes Moiraine less cool/cheapens her character.

I actually raised my hand to make the comment of how can she be a damsel in distress as she's stuck in the Tower with no way out, which as some pointed out, does make her such =). But my comment was more of a, "How does that take away from her coolness?" Yes, she's waiting to be rescued, but still.

Right after that, though, I had to go because my son was getting upset. Also, I met R.Fife while waiting for that discussion to start. And I recorded this discussion on my phone, so if anyone would really like me to try to hear it and write a real re-cap—I'll try to find the time.

Other than that, I attended BWS's reading. It started with a Q&A with Harriet. And, as J.D has already stated, BWS then read from The Way of Kings.

Oh, yeah, Pictures are there.