Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

TOR Questions of the Week Part III (Verbatim)

In The Great Hunt, who wrote the Dark Prophecy on the dungeon wall in Fal Dara? And why, after Ingtar released Padan Fain from the dungeon, did Fain decide to go to Toman Head? We know he was rebelling against Ishamael's orders (he was supposed to follow the Myrddraal to Shayol Ghul) but why did Fain go to Cairhien and then to Toman Head?

A Myrddraal wrote the Dark Prophecy on orders, as a threat. I might want to use some of the reasons, so the rest on that is RAFO.

Fain (now amalgamated with Mordeth) was seeking his own power base, something he would try again with Pedron Niall and Toram Riatin. He wanted enough power to be able to kill Rand, Mat and Perrin, though most especially Rand, and to protect himself against agents of the Shadow. Because of Darkfriend reports, the Myrddraal who wrote the prophecy already knew who the strangers on Toman Head were, or claimed to be: Artur Hawkwing's armies returned to reclaim the lands stolen from Hawkwing's heirs. He knew that they collared women who could channel, which appealed to Fain/Mordeth, since one disliked Aes Sedai at best and the other purely hated them. The Myrddraal didn't simply give this up to Fain, you understand. Fain is one of the few people who could successfully torture information out of one of the Eyeless. As for why he went to Cairhien first, he knew the location of the Waygate there (along with several others and how to read the guidings in the Ways, this last from Mordeth) and preferred to use the Ways rather than make the longer cross-country journey from Fal Dara to Toman Head.

dark prophecy, fain, ishamael, mordeth, niall, prophecies, toram riatin, waygates, the ways,

Wotmania Interview (Verbatim)

Did Ingtar free Padan Fain in The Great Hunt? Or was it someone else?

It was Ingtar. Didn't expect a straight answer, did you?

fain, the great hunt,

Thus Spake the Creator (Paraphrased)

(Didn't catch the question exactly, but it regarded Fain's escape and the dead prisoners.)

Fain killed the prisoners, not his rescuer. And it wasn't Lanfear.

RJ later confirmed that it was Ingtar who rescued Fain from the dungeon in Fal Dara.

fain, lanfear,