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Your search for the tag 'the pattern' yielded 48 results

  • 1

    Interview: 2010

    Azral Hanan (2 August 2010)

    Why is the Dragon 'one with the Land'? Is it just due to him being ta'veren or is there more to it?

    Brandon Sanderson (2 August 2010)

    More to it. More about being the Dragon than being ta'veren. Who he is.

    AZRAL HANAN

    So it's more than a title or being ta'veren and Hero of the Horn? The Dragon plays its own unique role in the Pattern?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Note that Prophecy says that the Dragon specifically is reborn time after time.

    Azral Hanan

    RJ said the soul is immortal. But Hopper says dying in the Wolf Dream is likely permanent. Is Hopper wrong?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO, for now. Ask again after the last book is out.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Austin Moore (6 January 2011)

    Who was the Lord of Chaos that Demandred and Taim both mention? There has been tons of debate.

    Brandon Sanderson (6 January 2011)

    Really? I thought that one was obvious. What's the debate about?

    Terez

    It's Rand. Look in the BWB re: Feast of Fools.

    Austin Moore

    Why was Demandred and Taim saying, "Let the Lord of Chaos rule" if it was Rand? Sorry just read through series once so far :(

    Terez

    Here's a quote for you:

    The Feast of Fools
    Celebrated in Tammaz (in Arad Doman and the Borderlands) or Saven (everywhere else), the exact day varying according to locality. A day in which all order is deliberately inverted; the high perform lowly tasks (running errands, serving at table, etc.) while the low do no work and give orders to their usual superiors. In many villages and towns the most foolish person is given a title such as the Lord/Lady of Unreason/Misrule/Chaos or the King/Queen of Fools. Not an honor sought, but for that one day everyone has to obey whatever orders, however foolish, are given by the chosen one. (Called the Festival of Unreason in Saldaea; the Festival of Fools in Kandor; Foolday in Baerlon and the Two Rivers.)

    Matt Hatch

    I've always enjoyed this theory about the Lord of Chaos. It's fun.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is a good theory for people to be reading.

    Terez

    YAY. OMG, that theory has been on the rocks for years because of contradicting tour reports.

    Terez

    Also, your tour quotes were vague enough to allow it but most people didn't see it that way.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I didn't say the theory was true, just that you should study it. :) But I would like to see those tour reports.

    Terez

    Yes, yes. :) Also, your vague(ish) wording. And the contradicting RJ reports.

    Footnote

    Adding to Brandon's implications here is Sorilea's comment in reference to the balefiring of Natrin's Barrow, in The Gathering Storm Chapter 27: "We felt the world warping from here, but did not know what had caused it. We assumed it to be the Dark One's work." (Similar to the ripples Perrin and Faile experienced in Knife of Dreams.) This opens up the possibility that people have no idea really what they're talking about when they assume that the warping of reality is due to the Dark One's touch, just as Alviarin had no idea what she was talking about when she assumed that the rotting food was the Dark One's touch (Knife of Dreams, Prologue).

    Tags

  • 3

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Terez (29 August 2011)

    A signing report implies that you said that RJ changed his mind on whether balefire = eternal death of soul. This true?

    TEREZ

    Here is a direct link to that particular report: http://bit.ly/nKpOSS @Blindillusion13 is unable to clarify.

    TEREZ

    I always assumed what you really said (or really meant) was that you had believed it was the eternal death of the soul...

    TEREZ

    ...but then when you joined Team Jordan you learned differently (you said elsewhere that @MariaLSimons had to convince you).

    Brandon Sanderson (29 August 2011)

    You have the right of it, Terez. I always believed that balefire = Eternal Death.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Team Jordan instructed me that this was not the case, and balefire meant the Dark One could not recover the soul.

    Tags

  • 4

    Interview: Aug 30th, 1999

    Question

    Balefire is one of the most confusing things in the book, for me. I find the fine aspects of it, the whole threading together of the things that work in it... Could you be a little more elaborate on that?

    Robert Jordan

    All right. The cosmography we're looking at here, is not the cosmography of here and now. The Wheel of Time is in its way a spinning wheel. The fabric of reality is woven by the threads. Those threads are the lines that are formed by people passing through time. Each person has a thread. The thread has its sole dimension in time, its life is in time. Those are the threads that are used to weave the fabric of reality. When balefire strikes a person, a thread here, it doesn't simply stop the thread there. The thread burns backwards a little bit, like you just took a thread and put a match to it and it burns up a little bit before it goes out. It depends on how hot the flame is how far it's going to burn back and what the material is opposed to. It burns up a little bit, it doesn't just catch fire on the end and go out. So that person that was hit here is burned out of the pattern back to here. What that person did between here and here was no longer done. Other people remember seeing it. They may remember the supposed effects of it but what that person did wasn't done. It didn't happen, it's not real. Now that's a little bit of a shiver on the fabric of reality as it is. The reason that there was an unofficial agreement in the War of the Shadow to not use balefire any more, to stop using it, was simply that several cities were destroyed in that way. Hundreds of thousands of threads were burnt out from the Pattern in one go and the fabric of reality began to unravel. And even the guys going for the Dark One knew that there's not a whole lot of point to winning if winning means there's nothing there to rule, nothing there to win. If you burnt out the stakes, forget it. Have I made it a little clearer I hope?

    Question

    I was really referring to the scene where the wall falls on them and Rand uses balefire and they all come back to life. There's a prophecy about Mat how he was going to die and I'm not sure whether that incident is where he dies or not.

    Robert Jordan

    Well you're not supposed to be, are you! Once, Mat was hanging by his neck and Rand wasn't sure whether he caught a heartbeat or not. You see, the thing is Mat doesn't know. Mat thinks he's got a little ace in the hole but maybe he hasn't. Maybe he doesn't have that ace in the hole that he has a death to give yet, and still live, the way he thinks. Maybe. There's an acronym they use on the net, RAFO. Read and find out.

    Footnote

    RJ confirmed at Balticon XXX that the prophecy was fulfilled in Caemlyn rather than Rhuidean.

    Tags

  • 5

    Interview: Apr 7th, 2001

    Kurafire

    What happens to the soul of someone when he becomes a Gray Man? Is his thread removed from the Pattern, or are threads and souls different things all together?

    Robert Jordan

    Err, they are...oh, uhm, no, it is gone. It is gone. And it ceases to exist in any form that you could of as real.

    Kurafire

    So threads and souls are the same thing?

    Robert Jordan

    Err, not the same thing, but they must coexist. The thread can be removed; you die in this world. You die and the soul remains to come again and begin another thread. The soul disappears from this Gray Man, it's gone. Think of the Dark One as having eaten it. It's a fiction, but a convenient fiction for the moment. The thread of the Gray Man remains until the Gray Man dies, physically.

    Kurafire

    And the rest of the Shadowspawn?

    Robert Jordan

    What? Do they have souls you mean?

    Kurafire

    Yeah, and how do their threads work?

    Robert Jordan

    The threads work in the way, in the same way that the thread of any living thing works. It is part of the Pattern. They are not outside of the Pattern. Neither are the Forsaken. But the Pattern in a thing that is open, that's change. It is not a matter of the lives being forced necessarily. It's wide, you have the Pattern, the Heroes that are bound to the Wheel, they're not always heroes in the way of someone who rides in galloping with a sword, or carries out daring rescues. The people, the Heroes who are bound to the Wheel, are the corrective mechanisms. Human behavior is throwing the Pattern out. It's throwing the balance off. And the Wheel spins out the proper correctives. Put everything back in the balance. So not even the Forsaken are apart from that, they're not outside. The only things that are outside are the Creator and the Dark One. Neither is affected by the Pattern.

    Tags

  • 6

    Interview: Jan 18th, 2003

    Question

    What exactly is the Bore?

    Robert Jordan

    Well, it is at... No, I shouldn't say that. It is a thinness in the Pattern that you can feel the most at Shayol Ghul. (Don't remember what else he said.)

    Tags

  • 7

    Interview: Feb 9th, 2003

    Bill Thompson

    In the wake of book nine, Winter's Heart (2000), Jordan confided that he might prefer that the 10th volume be the capstone of the story. But there will be two more books, at least.

    Robert Jordan

    "I tried, but I've had a problem with that from the beginning. I knew the last scene of the last book in 1984. When I started writing I knew where I was going. But some things had to be pushed forward. The story hasn't expanded; it's just taken me more time. In Crossroads of Twilight, things are reaching that stage where everything really is balanced on the point of a pin, or of a sword, if you prefer. There are a lot of things that could go in many directions. Good or evil can win in any number of different places and different levels."

    Bill Thompson

    If the book marks a departure from its predecessors, it rests with one particular device.

    Robert Jordan

    "One big departure is that each of the major segments of the book begins on exactly the same day, and it's a very significant day in terms of these books. The characters are reacting to the effects of that one significant day, as well as reacting to what is happening around them."

    Bill Thompson

    While Jordan hopes to bring matters to fruition in two more volumes, some of the more devoted fans would be only too happy if he took ten more books to complete the saga. When such ardent calls fall on the ears of the folks at Tor Books, Jordan is moved to cry, "Don't listen to them! Don't listen!"

    Robert Jordan

    "I have spent 18 years of my life on this, and I would like to finish it. I thought I was signing up for a 10K run. I knew it was not a stroll in the park. I knew I was doing something that was going to be longer than usual. But when I first started I thought that 'longer than usual' meant five or six books. I honestly thought I would finish it in five. But I discovered it wasn't a 10K run. It was a marathon, and I want to cross the finish line. Because these books are the way they are, I have to finish it for them to mean anything. After I complete the cycle I can take a breath. I can really go on a vacation."

    Footnote

    RJ is referencing here the header of Crossroads of Twilight: "And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow.—From The Prophecies of the Dragon, translation believed done by Jain Charin, known as Jain Farstrider, shortly before his disappearance"

    Tags

  • 8

    Interview: Apr, 2003

    Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)

    Mort

    What about the thread of the life in case of the Forsaken? Are they part of the Pattern or they are outside? Is it broken in the case of the Forsaken?

    Robert Jordan

    No. They're part of the Wheel, except for the fellows who've been balefired, who are now gone: no rebirth [resurrection]; they’re out. The Dark One is outside of the Pattern, as the Creator is outside of the Pattern, but everything human is inside of the Pattern. One of the things that the Forsaken hope to gain is immortality. And immortality would put them outside of the Pattern.

    Footnote

    RJ has said elsewhere that balefire is not the eternal death of the soul, and Brandon has confirmed it (and so RJ was merely saying that the balefired Forsaken could not be transmigrated into new bodies).

    Rhynn

    You’ve wrote somewhere that Moridin used the True Power and he stepped out of the Pattern or something like that.

    Robert Jordan

    No, he's made a hole in the Pattern as a way of Traveling which uses the True Power, which is a different thing. If you notice as far back as the Prologue of The Eye of the World, when Ishamael Traveled in to meet Lews Therin, who was mad, the description does not match the Traveling that we see later. It’s because at that point, Ishamael is using the True Power, which produces a different sort of effect for Traveling. It is a different method of Traveling than either men or women use with saidin and saidar.

    Mort

    The descriptions are quite similar when he arrived by Travel with saidin. You also say 'bore a hole through the Pattern', and for the True Power, I think in one instance, 'ripping a hole in the Pattern'. And in one other instance you wrote that he stepped back inside the Pattern.

    Robert Jordan

    It's similar. Similar, but it's not the same thing. It's why it produces that fading in and fading out effect.

    Sequoia

    But if a woman used the True Power she would use it the same way?

    Robert Jordan

    Yes. It's not separate. The True Power is not like saidin or saidar. The reason there are differences for men and women using the One Power is that one is using saidin, for men, and women are using saidar, which are not identical. But using the True Power, which flows from the Dark One, men and women are using exactly the same force, exactly the same source of Power.

    Tags

  • 9

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2005

    Question

    At the end of The Great Hunt when Rand and Ishamael were fighting in the air above Falme, they appeared in the sky over many places and my question is whether this is something done by the One Power or something done by the Creator? How did they appear in the sky?

    Robert Jordan

    An effect of the Wheel, really. It wasn't the Creator. The Wheel is more than a simple mechanism. Remember the Wheel can spin out ta'veren, can spin out Heroes as a self-correcting device because the Pattern is drifting from what it is supposed to be. We are not talking about something as simple as a spinning wheel at all, we are talking something more along the lines of the most complex computer you could possibly imagine. There were at that time, two, there were false Dragons that had a chance to create a lot of disruption. By the appearance in the sky at that battle, not just in Falme but in other places, those false Dragons were taken off the board because there was only room now for one, for one Dragon.

    Tags

  • 10

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2005

    Question

    In the Wheel of Time there is focus on events occurring again and again throughout history. Is it just history which is circular, or is it time itself which is in a loop?

    Robert Jordan

    If you think of history being in a loop, then time must be in a loop. The Greeks were the first, as far as we know, to think of time being linear which allows for change. Almost every culture prior to them had believed in circular time, that time was a wheel. If time is a wheel there is no possibility of change. Whatever I change now, whatever injustices I correct, the wheel will inevitably turn, and those injustices with return, the inequities will return, there is no possibility for change, therefore there is no impetus to change. So time and history are both in a loop in this world, a large enough loop that it's, well it's really quite immense.

    Question

    The sun will run out, will never go nova, will never die?

    Robert Jordan

    In this universe, no.

    Tags

  • 11

    Interview: Oct 29th, 2005

    Hermano de lobos

    But one person asked something to the effect of: How valid are the viewings and prophecies, given that the Pattern has been loosened? There was also a comment by the person about how the viewings and prophecies are readings of the Pattern.

    Robert Jordan

    Jordan responded, (not word for word) The viewings and prophecies that occurred before the loosening of the Pattern are very valid. But those that occurred at, or after, the loosening have a higher chance of not coming true.

    Hermano de lobos

    I thought this was pretty big news. I don't have the best memory in the world, so my wording may be a little off. Feel free to correct me if you were there.

    Tags

  • 12

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2005

    Robert Jordan

    The theory that Demandred is using balefire at the direction of the Dark One to loosen the weave of the Pattern is squashed by RJ. (confirmed)

    Footnote

    This person is not clear whether the theory was 'squashed' or 'confirmed', but in any case, we discussed it with Brandon here, and it seems as though RJ confirmed it.

    Tags

  • 13

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2009

    Question

    Was the Domination Band made of cuendillar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The original one is made of cuendillar. The one that was destroyed was a copy, but one would assume that the copies are made of cuendillar, too. The True Power works by destroying the Pattern. Everything that is done with it involves damage to the Pattern. For example, when we see Ishamael Travel, he does so by poking a hole in the Pattern. Cuendillar can be destroyed using the True Power. There is another way to destroy cuendillar, too.

    Footnote

    Brandon said in another interview that the second way cuendillar can be destroyed is by the unraveling Pattern.

    Tags

  • 14

    Interview: Nov 17th, 2009

    Question

    Are the Aiel linked in some way to the Ogier, in that they both have that capability in making things grow, and that they and the Nym all worked together in the scene from the Age of Legends?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, everybody is connected in the Pattern, and certainly the Aiel would have threads connecting them to the Ogier. I can't really say anything too specific about it.

    Tags

  • 15

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2009

    Question

    Some kid, to much laughter, asked if Rand was really going to die.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson said something to the effect of 'What did the Finn say?' He then said that the prophecies must be fulfilled or the Pattern will break.

    Tags

  • 16

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2009

    Question

    I didn't hear the question but someone asked something about Rand and Moridin's souls being intertwined.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson said that many souls' threads are frequently woven together in the Pattern such as Birgitte and Gaidal. He said that Rand and Moridin are also frequently woven together in the Pattern.

    Tags

  • 17

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Can it be said that the Pattern was created by and infused with the One Power?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Tags

  • 18

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Ok, so, what is then the nature of the Dark One’s relationship with the True Power? In other words, is the Power...is he the Power or it is separate like the One Power?

    Brandon Sanderson

    When people bored into his prison they were searching for a new source of power, they found him. Alright? Now, that leaves a strong implication that the True Power is the essence of the Dark One. The True Power when it is used rips apart the Pattern to rebuild it as it desires. The True Power is very destructive to the Pattern. It leaves scars on the Pattern. Robert Jordan said in an interview or maybe it was actually in the books, when you make a gateway with the True Power you are actually ripping a whole in the Pattern and going somewhere else. When you are using the True Power that is what you are doing, it is contrary to the Pattern. That is not a direct answer to your question but I think there are enough implications in there that certain things can be discussed.

    MATT HATCH

    [I realize now, after listening to Brandon’s answer that I was making an assumption about the One Power too, that it is separate from the Creator because of what we have been given in the books and the BWB, but I should have asked if instead the One Power is the essence of the Creator...]

    Tags

  • 19

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Is the True Power used by any other creatures or beings within Parallel or Perpendicular worlds or other dimensions?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ok, see answering that actually gets us begging the question because let’s step back, the question that people should be asking is does the Dark One exist in all of these Parallels...

    Matt Hatch

    ...ok, so yeah this is the question I’ll ask, you make a good point. Are there worlds and dimensions that exist outside of the Pattern?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ok, see that’s the question you should be asking. I mean, you should be asking it, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to answer it. [laughter] But that’s at the core of the question. I’m going to discuss it without giving you the answer. I like to do this because I think it frames the question without giving you too much information that I have that I don’t think is appropriate to share right now. Extrapolations of this question get us to: is there one Dragon for all different Parallels or are they all different Dragons? Traveling through the Portal Stone seems to indicate that there are many different lives Rand could have led. The same thing happens with several of the ter’angreal that people go through. The question then is, are those all separate Universes? Do we have a multi-verse sort of concept? Or are they possibilities and do these worlds all exist or could exist, what is the difference. In some of those Rand failed. So, is Rand the Dragon in all of them or is Rand not the Dragon in some of them? What happens in the ones where Rand failed? Are they real worlds? Are those different worlds where there is a different Dark One who then takes over and destroys that world or maybe not, maybe he makes it has he wishes. Or are those just possibilities, reflections of this world that don’t really exist except when we touch them? Those are all very good questions. Robert Jordan said that Tel'aran'rhiod is a reflection of all different worlds, which implies other worlds continue to exist. The World of the Finns is something different...

    Matt Hatch

    ...he called it a Parallel World...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, the Parallel World, that one and also the one Rand and Lanfear visited are persistent regardless of someone from this world visiting. Yet, many of those seem almost shadowy and reflections of the real world, some of them seem as real just strange when visiting them. What happens in these different world, that sort of thing, those were never questions that Robert Jordan answered...

    Matt Hatch

    ...the answers exist?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The answers exist, but are there many parallel Patterns or is there one Pattern?

    Matt Hatch

    Yeah, that’s...are there many Wheels or just one Wheel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s not a question, I’m afraid, that I can answer because I don’t think it’s within the scope of the books and I don’t think that the characters...that there are people that could know. You will find Browns arguing all of these different things among themselves, and it’s not my place to step in and end the discussion.

    Footnote

    Luckers got Maria to clarify on the Mirror World / Parallel World distinction here.

    Tags

  • 20

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Are there any other sources of Powers either within the Pattern or outside of the Wheel? Are there any sources like…

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...sources much like the One Power and True Power?

    Matt Hatch

    Right.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will have to RAFO that.

    Tags

  • 21

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Ok...which brings up the following questions about the Wheel and its relationship to souls, Talents, abilities and channeling. Is the Wheel responsible for giving or weaving in Talents and abilities to a particular life, or are they like channeling, attached to the soul?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s an excellent question. I’m going to have to RAFO that...it’s actually more of a MAFO. What you're asking is would someone who is reborn into the Pattern have the same Talents again?

    Matt Hatch

    Right. Or does...the Wheel, we obviously know it is very capable of affecting the Pattern, so the question is does it give and take when it comes to abilities and talents it needs?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, right, I will have to MAFO that.

    Matt Hatch

    Ok, so can the Wheel give an individual life the ability to channel, if the soul does not come to that life with an inborn ability to learn or a spark? Can the Wheel give them that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Again, I will have to MAFO this whole thing. I will have to go and look. I don’t know if someone is necessarily always born with the ability to channel, if they are in every Age...

    Matt Hatch

    ...there is a quote I brought that we asked at DragonCon, Jordan said: “I don't think I have said if you are born with the spark you would have the have the spark again. I have said if you were born with the ability to channel, to learn or with the spark, you will, when your soul is born again, you will have the ability again, whether with the spark or without...” So, in essence he said it’s inherent you have the ability. Whether or not you spark or you can learn it that depends on the life.

    Brandon Sanderson

    My instinct knowing how Jim wrote and knowing the parallels in the notes would be that he would parallel the other Talents along the same lines. A Wolfbrother then would always have the ability to become a Wolfbrother and other things along those lines. I’m going off of instinct so that is an asterisked answer. I can MAFO that and look it up and we can see what we can find, but he did like to parallel a lot of these things...

    Matt Hatch

    ...ok, so at the end of that answer he said this...we were asking a specific question about stilling and burning out...he said, “And neither burning out or stilling affects that except in this lifetime, your current lifetime”. In other words...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...that is consistent...

    Matt Hatch

    ...it doesn’t affect your souls ability, your soul’s connection. So stilling and burning out do not affect the ability to channel, which seems to be integral to the soul as it pertains to a new life. That being said, Aran'gar and Osan'gar, they were transmigrated and we see that they can channel in their new bodies, which makes sense because the ability comes with the soul...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...and because of that if you were male before and reborn (in a female body)...you are channeling the wrong power...

    Matt Hatch

    ...exactly...he was transmigrated into a different body, but still channeling the same power the soul inherits. So considering Jordan's statement about stilling and burning out not affecting the channeling ability of the new life of a soul, is the same for the new life of a soul transmigrated?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m going to say that transmigrated...if you were burned out and transmigrated you would still be burned out, is my guess.

    Matt Hatch

    Is that a MAFO question? Or...

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...that is my guess and you can MAFO it if you want to send it to me, but that is a “I’m pretty sure” answer.

    MARIA SIMONS (VIA LUCKERS)

    Yes, you would. Jim said that “neither burning out or stilling affects that except in this lifetime, your current lifetime.” (DragonCon), but transmigration is not really a different lifetime; more than just the soul moves. The new person (I’m at a loss for words here) also has the memories of the previous person, and its personality, and such. So Brandon is correct.

    Jim says of Talents: “A Talent is a special ability with the One Power. While the name is used for other things, a Talent is, in truth, something which is inborn in the person and not something that can be learned.” And there is mention of the Wheel throwing out what it needs on occasion, and there’s the phrase, “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.” The Wheel can give and take as it needs.

    I believe that the potential for a Talent is there, but it doesn't necessarily manifest each time a soul is born. If the Wheel needs the Talent, the Talent is there. But if the Wheel doesn't need it, it lies dormant.

    Tags

  • 22

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

    Matt Hatch

    Jordan talked about Pattern Level Events, or in other words "Effects of the Wheel". This question was asked of him at DragonCon '05. We wanted to know how Rand showed up in the sky above Falme with Ishamael. Theories... [the recording cut off here so Brandon’s answer to my question was lost. I will paraphrase it generally. I asked him if Rand’s access to the infinite lives while on Dragonmount at the end of The Gathering Storm, was the Wheel getting involved directly.]

    Brandon Sanderson

    He replied as follows according to my memory that there was a Pattern Level Event there, but it wasn’t specifically the Wheel giving Rand access to memories [of] his previous lives. Brandon asked for some clarification about how Jordan explained his answer at DragonCon. We were rushed and I could not give him that direct quote, so I was unable to ask more specifically if Rand was seeing the soul’s history of lives lived, or if more generically the Wheel displayed to his mind a series of previous generic lives, like it displayed Rand and Ishamael in the sky above Falme. He did speak briefly about the Wheel not physically “touching” Rand and/or Ishamael, which seemed to be suggestive of his initial response that it didn’t “touch” Rand’s mind to give him access to his own memories. Once again, a more detailed discussion of this subject is worthwhile, especially one recorded.

    Tags

  • 23

    Interview: Apr 22nd, 2009

    Leigh Butler

    After this I was on another panel, "Theories and Rampant Speculation", the subject of which should be fairly self-evident, with Jakob R, Bao Pham, and (of course) Matt Hatch, who actually did not manage this time to steer us Asmodean-ward, not for lack of trying. Most of the hour, as I recall, was taken up discussing the nature of Min's visions, how that whole ta'veren thing works, and whether and how the One Power differs from the Pattern. The latter debate mostly centered around balefire, and whether the fact that it could unravel the Pattern had to do with the people/souls it destroyed, or because it undid the choices they had made. I personally really liked the notion that the Pattern consisted of choices/events, rather than souls/lives, and wish I could remember who had suggested it.

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  • 24

    Interview: May 12th, 2010

    Richard Fife

    That is a very impressive feat. So, it has been twenty years since The Eye of the World. Looking back, has there been anything that surprised you that the fans clued in on, similar to Asmodean's murder? Or perhaps anything they missed that you thought they should have been all over?

    Alan Romanczuk

    One thing that strikes me is people's perception of the Wheel of Time. The Wheel of Time is just a structural device: it has seven spokes which represent the seven Ages. The Wheel turns; people forget about the previous Age and a new Age is entered. It goes around seven times and it starts again from square one. Very similar patterns of events occur in each Age, but they are changed, just as two people can have very similar personalities but still be very different people in many other respects. The same way with the different Ages.

    So the Wheel does not have a specific purpose. It does not have a motivation. It is not a conscious being. The Wheel is just there, operating as an organizing principle of the world. Jim played down the religious aspects of all this. There is a creator, but there is not even a notion that the creator is God. The creator, of course, is God, but it is the creator. And the creator is not given much of a personality in these books. The creator is a stand-back kind of entity, less so than the Dark One, which opposes the creator and everything the creator has created, which is mankind.

    And so, that's all I'm saying: don't read too much into the Wheel of Time. I think the Wheel of Time is also drawn in part from the Buddhist concept of the Wheel of Life. The Wheel of Life is something that we are on. In creation, we are created in who knows what form, evolve through many, many lifetimes, until we no longer have to be on the wheel. We have reached our goal, which in Eastern Thought is being one with God, part of the infinite ocean. In Jim's world, it is not so cut and dried. As far as we know, individuals stay on the Wheel of Time forever.

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  • 25

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2010

    Ted Herman

    Paraphrased since it is a long question (though I did read it right from my iPhone as it was worded): Are the ghost sightings and strange window seen in Tel'aran'rhiod (flame and fang) due to the Mirror Worlds merging?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are both due to the Pattern unraveling.

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  • 26

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2011

    Wetlandernw

    Is there a distinction between the "bubbles of evil" and the "Pattern unraveling" events?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is a distinction, in that they are different manifestations of the same root cause: the bubbles come from the Dark One's prison and slide along the threads of the Pattern until they pop, while the Pattern unraveling is a result of balefire as well as the Dark One's direct influence. The "torn lace" icon is used for both.

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  • 27

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2011

    forkroot

    If cuendillar is brought into Tel'aran'rhiod, can it be destroyed in a nightmare (the same way Perrin destroyed the dreamspike)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you were strong enough in Tel'aran'rhiod, you could probably force it to break, but it would remanifest itself pretty quickly. (He compared it to how Perrin was able to force Hopper back together for a moment, but no more—it snapped back to "reality" pretty fast.) RJ was pretty strong on this point—it's really, really hard to destroy the stuff. Even an opening gateway wouldn't do it—either the edge would push the cuendillar object out of the way, or the object would block the gateway from opening or closing. (You could actually block a gateway open by sticking a piece of cuendillar in it.) RJ was firm: there are only two ways for cuendillar to be destroyed: the Pattern unraveling, and... one other thing. (From the way he said "one other thing" I think we'll be learning about it in A Memory of Light. He enjoyed that question too.)

    Footnote

    Brandon said in another interview that the second way to destroy cuendillar is with the True Power.

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  • 28

    Interview: 2001

    Thus Spake the Creator (Paraphrased)

    Signing Report (Workings of the Wheel)

    Robert Jordan

    Each age is NOT precisely the same with each new turning of the Wheel. I actually asked RJ to explain this before Eye even came out, because he was trying to explain the cosmology to me and I wasn't getting it. The analogy he used (for the differences between an Age in one turning and in another) was to say that it would be like standing in front of what looked to be two copies of the same painting; but as you looked closely, you'd start to find tiny, subtle differences, more and more differences the more closely you looked, until you eventually realized that the paintings were almost completely different.

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  • 29

    Interview: Nov 30th, 2000

    Matt Peck

    I asked that as the Wheel turned, each time an Age rolls around, is the Pattern exactly the same each time, or does it change?

    Robert Jordan

    He seemed to like this question. He likened it to a tapestry. When seen from a distance, each Third Age (to make it easy to track) has exactly the same pattern as the previous Third Age. However, when seen up close, there are differences. Threads are different, different nations exist, geography is different, different personalities rise to prominence. These changes, while minute in the grand scale of the Pattern, affect the Pattern enough so that while two iterations of an Age are almost the same, the first "Third Age" may be wildy different from the hundredth "Third Age".

    MATT PECK

    (My interpretation) Thus while some point out that since the Wheel keeps turning, there can't be anything new under the sun, in fact the "Age Lace", as it's referred to, is going somewhere. It may be that this really will be a "Final Battle", if the Age Lace is at this crux point and the Dark One wins. The Dark One says He'll break the Wheel and finally rule all time or whatever. This may be possible, however, it probably requires very specific victory conditions, as has been mentioned elsewhere. Other conditions may require more turning. But if the Light wins, it probably keeps turning.

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  • 30

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2009

    Question

    (something regarding the bruises remaining on Min's neck, and if this was a typo)

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, that is correct. Rand caused the bruises, so balefiring Semirhage would not make them go away. Balefire only removes paradoxes caused by the direct actions of the one who is balefired. And the bracelets remained after Rand balefired [Semirhage and Elza] because they weren't really part of Semirhage or Elza.

    Claire

    (comment regarding the thread on Dragonmount where some are arguing that by balefiring Graendal's palace, the Compulsion disappeared since there'd never had been a palace in the first place, and others are arguing that it doesn't work that way, objects don't have threads).

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Everything has a thread, not just souls. Even a stone in a wall has a thread in the Pattern.

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  • 31

    Interview: Dec 17th, 2011

    Loialson

    Is the glow in Rand's head that Nynaeve sees upon delving Rand linked to the nature of him being ta'veren, or because of the nature of him being the Dragon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    (laughs) I'm gonna RAFO that one.

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  • 32

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2005

    Saladdodger

    First I want to applaud the OP for a well thought out theory supported by evidence. I have enjoyed the debate on this topic.

    Now the bad news: I attended the Robert Jordan book signing here in Charlotte, NC tonight (11/4/05). While he was signing my books, I asked him if he could credit or discredit the theory that the Dark One charged Demandred with the task of wielding Balefire in an attempt to weaken the Pattern, so that the Dark One may be have a better chance of victory at Tarmon Gai'don.

    Robert Jordan

    He didn't quite understand my point and asked me to explain it again. When I did, alluding to the consequences of Balefire, and quoting the Dark One's asking Demandred about his willingness to use balefire for the Dark One, he quickly shook his head and gave an unequivocal no.

    SALADDODGER

    I'm afraid this theory is disproved by the word of Robert Jordan himself.

    Footnote

    It's clear enough from other reports and also from comments by Brandon that the theory was not precisely disproven. RJ probably meant that Demandred was not the one doing the balefiring, which fits with Brandon's comments.

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  • 33

    Interview: Oct 29th, 2005

    Congo Red Jr.

    Well I asked Mr. Jordan about this theory, in brief, at a booksigning in Santa Cruz. I did this while getting my books autographed.

    Robert Jordan

    He said the Forsaken are using balefire to help unravel the Pattern. That was all he'd say on it, told me the books provide enough evidence for it.

    CONGO RED JR.

    At any rate I'm not sure whether or not this helps anyone's arguments as I haven't read all of them; y'all write too much.

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  • 34

    Interview: Oct 29th, 2005

    sporkster (comment 70)

    So—one Jordan booksigning against the theory, and one for. Sounds like we can't put this theory in the "Debunked" pile yet...

    CONGO RED JR. (COMMENT 71)

    I suppose it's possible that Mr. Jordan may not have fully understood my question and therefore his answer isn't exactly for or against this theory. LOL The question I asked was this: Have the Forsaken, Demandred specifically, used balefire to destabilize the Pattern at all?

    Robert Jordan

    He said that they've used balefire and the consequences were destabilizing the Pattern and that in the books you could see evidence of that.

    CONGO RED JR.

    I should've been more specific in my question to him and my post here; that was first time I've ever commented on a message board, etc. I'm usually just a reader/browser to forums and such. I personally think the other fella's question was more specific therefore the answer probably more accurate as pertaining to the topic at hand. The answer he gave me upon further reflection could mean any number of things. It's hard to say. Guess we'll all find out when A Memory of Light is published.

    Footnote

    Actually, it appears that both answers might have been accurate in their original form, and that the Forsaken have indeed been using balefire, but that Demandred is not one of them. In any case, Brandon's comments on this theory make it almost certain that balefire is the main cause of the disintegration of the Pattern.

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  • 35

    Interview: May 15th, 2003

    Dario Olivero

    In the book just published in Italy [Crossroads of Twilight], the protagonist, a young man named Rand al'Thor, predestined to do something great, is scared and tries to flee, to escape his fate. Is it possible to escape fate?

    Robert Jordan

    All have many opportunities to change their lives. In this sense there is no fixed and immutable destiny. Fate materializes in the moment in which you make a decision: it is in that moment that your life takes a necessary direction.

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  • 36

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    The ghosts are definitely a result of the Dark One's touch on the unraveling Pattern (Brandon's phrasing).

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  • 37

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2009

    gammahunter

    I asked if Graendal were dead and had she killed Asmodean could he pop back up in Caemlyn.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said no. He said that Rand only took Rahvin out of the Pattern for 15 minutes to an hour. So, even if the Choedan Kal were 1000 times stronger than Rand with the fat man it would only be like 9 days at most. More interesting, however, is that he said that we have not seen anyone who could burn someone out of the Pattern that long, however, it was possible for someone to be that strong!—Who or what could this be?

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  • 38

    Interview: Apr 24th, 2010

    blindillusion

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

    Brandon Sanderson

    (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.)

    Footnote

    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.

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  • 39

    Interview: 2012

    Memories of Light (Verbatim)

    Day 39

    They seemed to be cracks into nothingness. They drew the light in, sucked it away. It was as if he was looking at fractures in the nature of reality itself. (p. 214)

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  • 40

    Interview: Jan 9th, 2013

    Marie Curie

    We found out in Knife of Dreams that some of the Forsaken (most especially Moridin) are able to 'read' the Pattern to locate ta'veren, for example. How (or where) do they 'read' the Pattern? Do they use Tel'aran'rhiod? Or the Gap of Infinity?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know. (Brandon looks at Maria)

    Maria Simons

    I don't know. It might be in the notes.

    Footnote

    Lanfear/Cyndane can also do it; the Talent is probably related to Dreaming.

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  • 41

    Interview: 2013

    Twitter 2013 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Mike Scinto (23 January 2013)

    So, is it implied that once the Wheel turns again, this whole Dark One vs The World will go down again as well?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    Everything in the WoT world repeats. Not always exactly the same, though.

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  • 42

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Terez

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

    Brandon Sanderson

    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.

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  • 43

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Question

    When rand lights the pipe at the end, is he directly influencing the Pattern?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RJ didn't tell us. He wrote that scene himself, and he didn't say what it meant. I think that's what it is, but I can't say for sure, because RJ didn't tell me.

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  • 44

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Question

    Can the anti-balefire weave restore threads to the Pattern?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, it repairs threads to the Pattern. The threads may not be exactly the same, but it does repair them.

    Question

    So does that mean Hopper could the next time in this cycle?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can't speak for Hopper, other than, I have hope.

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  • 45

    Interview: 2013

    poesian (March 2013)

    I'll bite:

    We had some discussion about whether or not the scene in AMOL in which Rand thinks Roedran is Demandred was intended as a bit of a dig at all the fan theories assuming that to be true. Or was Rand really just supposed to be convinced of that same theory? (And how did Shara never occur to anyone in the books?)

    Balefire question: If balefire isn't tearing someone's soul out of the pattern, why is it so destructive? Why, in AMOL is it literally tearing the world apart when Darkfriends are using it?

    Thanks! I will try and remember to ask more questions on 15 April!

    Brandon Sanderson

    1. The item you discuss was not intended as a dig against fans. You could read it, potentially, as an acknowledgement of fans—though really, all it comes from is the fact that you have a fan writing these books. I'm aware of many of the theories, and even spent years thinking about them and talking of them. In constructing this scene, it was my impression that if we'd spent all of this time working on these theories, how much more effort would those in world have expended?

    And so, my impression was that this would be genuinely what the character thought. I thought it would be very strange if he HADN'T considered it. Therefore, I put a note of it in the text—to indicate that the characters had been working through these same issues, and come to some of the same conclusions. It wasn't meant to break the fourth wall, though I can see how it stands out to some readers.

    2. I was under the impression that to be killed by balefire meant dying forever. However, Maria and the notes showed me I was wrong about this fact. Balefire does weaken the Pattern, but it can't destroy souls, which are (you might say) the substance of the Pattern. Just like you can take a hammer to a cup and shatter it, but the pieces of glass will still be there. The Pattern can (theoretically) be unraveled, the world end, but the souls still exist.

    It should be note that Moridin believed strongly that the soul CAN be ended by other means, and the implication of wolves (at least) being killed with no rebirth means it can happen.

    So, in final answer to your question, it is so destructive because it leaves the Pattern in a mess, strained, and more easily subjected to the Dark One's will. His goal is to shatter the cup, so to speak, and then rebuilt it into a cup more to his liking.

    poesian

    Oh man, I am so happy (a) that you answered my questions and (b) that you answered them well. Thank you for all you've done with the series, Brandon!

    (I pointed out the Demandred scene because it is fun on all of those levels. I've thought about the "fourth wall" comment and it doesn't make sense; there's no moment where Rand looks at us. Just at Roedran, in a way that actually is entirely sensical.)

    TheBB

    And so, my impression was that this would be genuinely what the character thought.

    This was a bit jarring for me, because most of the reasons for the Demandred=Roedran theory came from hints given by Robert Jordan, that Rand wouldn't have access to.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ah, but Rand would have a whole LOT of information in-world that we don't have. Spy reports, rumors, his knowledge of how the Forsaken like to work. If you remove the places where one of the Forsaken had already set up shop, remove the monarchs that Rand has already met and interacted with, and look for a place that has been suspiciously quiet, you end up with very few options.

    poesian

    One of which just happens to be as we now know Shara.

    NruJaC

    It's funny, it was an RJ quote that pushed people away from that particular theory. It turned out to be an extremely Aes Sedai answer.

    poesian

    I would love to read that quote.

    And of course RJ would give Aes Sedai answers. That makes a lot of sense.

    NruJaC

    I'll try to find it, but he basically said that we'd never see Shara "on-screen".

    poesian

    Oh right! Yeah. That's a very Aes Sedai answer. Heh. 'You'll never see their country, but they'll see ours!'

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  • 46

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    smb89 ()

    So all the Forsaken pretty much ended up helping the Light win by accident. Is that the Pattern's design?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, this question is loaded with some issues. First off, there's the concept of the Pattern. Does it have a will? The Wheel does the weaving. The Pattern more IS...but some quotes in the books do ascribe small motives to it. This doesn't even get into the idea of whether what the characters believe is true or if it is simply their way of understanding.

    Let's put it at this...Moiraine would say that the Wheel has woven what it Willed, and men beating against it only served to more surely enmesh them into their places.

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  • 47

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    ethnicallyambiguous ()

    Knowing what you know about Shai'tan, would it have been possible or at all interesting to have had a part from his POV?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Anything is possible, but I don't think it would be right for the book. Even in 'What if' land. Putting in a recreation of him was even a stretch—anything you read in the books is how mankind's minds choose to visualize him. He doesn't really have a personality. He, like the Pattern, simply IS.

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