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Your search for the tag 'creator' yielded 33 results
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1
Interview: Oct 11th, 2005
KOD Signing Report - Yhooders (Paraphrased)yhooders
So I asked, "Is that the Creator speaking at the end of The Eye of the World?"Robert Jordan
To which RJ answered - "Read and Find Out." I said, "Oh that's a RAFO?" Harriet was laughing.Tags
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2
Interview: Oct 19th, 1994
Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)nick stuchbery
Is Rand's world an atheistic world, based on only human "powers"?—there seems to be a "devil" but nothing on the flip side.Robert Jordan
What would you say the Creator is? The Light?Tags
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3
Interview: Jun 26th, 1996
Compuserve Chat (Verbatim)Martin Reznick
How was the Dark One created, i.e. is he a fallen angel, an inherent part of the universe, etc.?Robert Jordan
I envision the Dark One as being the dark counterpart, the dark balance if you will, to the Creator...carrying on the theme, the ying yang, light dark, necessity of balance theme that has run through the books. It's somewhat Manichean I know, but I think it works.Tags
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4
Interview: Oct 12th, 1996
ACOS Signing Report - Michael Martin (Paraphrased)Question
The Creator's "Inability" To Act On His Creation
Having encountered a similar "theology" in Donaldson's Covenant series, I have been quite curious why the Creator can't act on His own world. It didn't seem to make sense, except as a plot device.
Robert Jordan
RJ answered this question. His thesis was this: A perfect Creator should create a perfect creation. To act, miraculously or no, on this world, would be tantamount to acknowledging imperfection in Himself. So, when humanity screwed things up, they've been left on their own to "patch" things up. :-)MICHAEL MARTIN
This sheds a LOT of light on some things in Randland. First, there will not be any final expiation of evil (i.e. Book of Revelation in Christianity). What we have is an infinite cycle ("Wheel") of the struggle of light and darkness. The best to be hoped for is an eternal balance, rather than some final, complete victory (for good). This bothers me on several fronts, not the least that evil can win and good can't.
Also note that this really helps explain Fel's ramblings in Lord of Chaos. The sealing, Bore and all that will just cycle endlessly.
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5
Interview: Nov 11th, 1997
Barnes and Noble Chat (Verbatim)Brandon from Mission Viejo
Mr. Jordan, It's fairly common knowledge that the Dark One was bound by the Creator outside of the Pattern at the moment of creation. Would it then be safe to assume, after concepts brought to light in the new release, that the world before the opening of the prison never knew true evil? If so, then was each age before the opening of the Age of Legends different facets of some utopia? As well, without major conflict between good and evil, what caused ages to pass? Thanks.Robert Jordan
Given that time is cyclic, you must assume that there is a time when the prison that holds the Dark One is whole and unbroken. There is a time when a hole is drilled into that prison and it is thus open to that degree. And there is a time when the opening has been patched in a make-shift manner. But following this line the cyclic nature of time means that we have at some time in the future inevitably a whole and unbroken prison again. Unless of course, the Dark One breaks free in which case all bets are off, kick over the table and run for the window.Tags
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6
Interview: Oct 19th, 1998
Barnes and Noble Chat (Verbatim)Phoenix from Chico, CA
Mr. Jordan: First, congratulations on your new book. I'm absolutely dying to read it, and I'm sure it will be as awesome as the rest. My question regards The Eye of the World: Near the end of the book Rand hears a voice that vibrates his skull with its intensity. Was that the Creator talking to him? I believe the voice even said, "I will take no part..."Robert Jordan
Read and find out. Ain't I a stinker?Tags
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7
Interview: Aug 27th, 1999
Melbourne Film Festival - Raf Kaplan (Paraphrased)Question
Someone asked him about the Creator.Robert Jordan
He gave the distinct impression that he wouldn't even contemplate having the Creator step in, nor is there any real Creator worship, because there is no need, the effects of the Creator are all around the citizens of Randland. I believe he's said that much previously. He quoted Terry Pratchett (from Mort, I think) regarding the way belief works.Tags
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8
Interview: Mar, 2000
Letter to Paul Ward (Verbatim)Paul Ward
Possible question: Is the Dark One pure True Power? Why does the Creator ignore Randland except to talk to Rand at the end of The Eye of the World?Robert Jordan
No, the Dark One is not pure True Power. Who says the Creator takes little interest in the activities of mankind? And I will neither confirm nor deny that the Creator spoke to Rand.Paul Ward
Neither confirm nor deny? What's up with that?Tags
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9
Interview: Nov 11th, 2000
Barnes and Noble Chat (Verbatim)Doug Carlson from Urbana, IL
What would happen if the Dark One was victorious? And why can the Dark One act on the world but it seems the Creator cannot?Robert Jordan
Read and find out. It's a good question, and an important theme—but read and find out.Tags
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10
Interview: Nov 14th, 2000
SciFi.com Chat (Verbatim)Star
What religions have influenced your creation of the Creator and the Dark One?Robert Jordan
Christianity. Islam. Judaism. And bits of heretical writing within those faiths. I hasten to add I'm not endorsing anything. I'm just a writer. I tell stories.Tags
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11
Interview: Apr 7th, 2001
Elf Fantasy Fair - Aan'allein (Verbatim)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
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12
Interview: Jan 18th, 2003
COT Signing Report - Tallis (Paraphrased)Robert Jordan
Rand has no direct connection with the Creator. The Creator is completely removed from the world; aside from...creating...the Pattern, he does nothing else whatsoever to influence anything.Tallis
(I'm uncertain how this fits with the ending of The Eye of the World.)Tags
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13
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
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14
Interview: Apr, 2003
Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)Rhynn
Are there any religions in the world of the Wheel of Time?Robert Jordan
No. No religions, no churches: that will change in the next set of books, not in this, but where religion becomes in some ways preeminent, but...Mort
[interrupts] Oh, is that a spoiler?? No, no!Robert Jordan
No, that's not for the Wheel of Time at all, and may change somewhat, as these things do. But the reason is this: I've always believed that our religious rituals our attendance at temples, or churches, or whatever is, in part, a reaffirmation of our faith, and a reaffirmation of our belief, a strengthening of our belief in something that we cannot see. And we do these things in order to strengthen our belief in what we cannot see. God, Allah, whatever...but, in this world, it is a world that...as if we had...prophets walking around...performing miracles. The One Power can be channeled. Occasionally men show up channeling the One Power; the Aes Sedai have been there for 3000 years.Question
But the Creator does not interfere!Robert Jordan
The Creator does not interfere, but there is clear evidence of the theological doctrine.Question
Of the unseen.Robert Jordan
Of the unseen. As far as it is believed, of the existence of the Creator: Here is the One Power. Here is evidence of everything we believe. There is therefore no need for anyone to undergo rituals to reaffirm or strengthen their belief because it is manifest every day. If we really had prophets walking among us, performing miracles and healing people and raising the dead—and this was a matter of every day that somebody might walk down the street and say 'In the name of...' and lay their hand on you. 'In the name of God be healed,' and your wounds are healed. Or, 'In the name of God rise up and walk,' and your dead brother, just died of cholera or whatever rises up and walks—I believe that organized religion would vanish within a generation, or at least become a fringe within a generation, because there would no longer be a need for most people to reaffirm their belief in God, or to strengthen their belief in God, or Allah, or whatever else their religious belief is. It would be manifest in every day life.Wood Sun
And how about the Whitecloaks? I mean they look like some sort of religious sect.Robert Jordan
Which?Question
(two girls in unison) The Whitecloaks!Robert Jordan
The Whitecloaks? Well, they're meant to look as a religious sect. They began as, an ascetic organization dedicated to preaching against Darkfriends, trying to convince people by example that they should not become Darkfriends. And during the War of the Hundred Years they became a military organization. They are patterned on the Teutonic Knights, a touch of the German SS, and...Wood Sun
[interrupts] And the Spanish Inquisition?Robert Jordan
A touch of the Spanish Inquisition. (laughter) They are in short anyone who believes that they know the Truth—the Truth with a capital T. They know the Truth so well, and its so clear to them that if you don't believe that truth, then it becomes obvious that you are evil.Tags
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15
Interview: Apr 27th, 2004
Wotmania Interview (Verbatim)Wotmania
Did the Creator talk to Rand at the end of The Eye of The World?Robert Jordan
RAFO.Tags
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16
Interview: Sep 3rd, 2005
DragonCon Report - Isabel (Verbatim)Question
Ishamael mentions in prior turnings of the Wheel that the soul of Lews Therin was raised up as the Shadow's champion, and if that is the case, who was the champion of the Creator?Robert Jordan
You believe Ishamael??? Sorry, man, but c'mon!Footnote
RJ effectively answered this question twice in 2003: 1) for tarvalon.net, and 2) for Tim Kington on the Crossroads of Twilight book tour. The first version of the question (which clearly refers to Rand, as Ishamael was talking about Rand, and RJ said Ishamael did not lie) seems to contradict this one, but it doesn't, really. RJ does not say here explicitly that Ishamael lied, so it seems that he was avoiding the question of who would be the Champion of the Light if Rand turned. He could hardly say RAFO without leading the reader to believe that Rand would be somehow turned to the Shadow before the end.Tags
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17
Interview: Sep 4th, 2005
DragonCon Report - Matt Hatch (Paraphrased)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
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18
Interview: Nov 21st, 2009
Matt Hatch
I’m going to ask you a lot of questions about the Dark One and the Creator...
Brandon Sanderson
You are going to get a lot of RAFOs on this, because Robert Jordan often stayed away from, and in the notes I get the sense, the direction to stay away from questions that couldn’t be answered from someone in the world. Does that make sense? When he would like to answer the question, somebody knew that, even if they were dead, somebody in world knew the answer. When you would ask him questions nobody knows the answers to except the Dark One or the Creator themselves, he did not answer very often and that is why you don’t know very much.
MATT HATCH
Ok, that is absolutely fair, so you probably will RAFO, I would say, 90% of these...
MATT HATCH
Did the Creator or does the Creator use the One Power to create?
BRANDON SANDERSON
RAFO.
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19
Interview: Nov 21st, 2009
Matt Hatch
I know you’ll RAFO this one but I’ll ask it anyway. Does the Creator, for a lack of a better word, weave the One Power?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Matt Hatch
Ok. I’ll jump off the Creator for the moment...
Brandon Sanderson
How about this, I do know...Robert Jordan...there are answers to these things that you are wanting to know...
Matt Hatch
Do you believe they ever will be discussed, like Encyclopedia type of things or do you believe..
Brandon Sanderson
...he did not want to leave explicit answers about a lot of these things. There will be hints. So, they are a double RAFO because they are the sort of things Robert Jordan did not like to answer and they could spoil things [...] Double RAFO.
Matt Hatch
[Hah—I got a DRAFO]
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20
Interview: Nov 21st, 2009
Matt Hatch
Ok. This is a fun one that I don’t think I’ve heard before, can the Creator use the True Power?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
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21
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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22
Interview: 2001
Thus Spake the Creator (Paraphrased)Signing Report (Theology)
This one was asking about the lack of churches in Randland. They apparently have religious beliefs and such, so why aren't they there?Robert Jordan
Churches and other places of worship are for people to connect with and reaffirm the presence of God (or whatever). The people of Randland see signs of their Creator every day through the One Power. If common people today could walk around performing miracles at will, we wouldn't have as much of a need for that confirmation either.Tags
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23
Interview: Jun 17th, 1995
East of the Sun Interview - Helena Lofgren (Paraphrased)Robert Jordan
On the question on the "alignment" of the characters, he said that there are no completely good character in the books, as he thought such a character would be completely boring (right—Galad is boring!—my comment), and would probably be killed rather quickly, like other fully good persons in the world. He took Jesus as example of this. Instead, every person struggles with the good and bad sides of his/her personality.
Another point he pressed was that "no one's going to rescue you", there are not going to happen any miracles. The Creator shaped the world and set the rules, but does not interfere. Humankind messed things up, and have to fix it too, as well as finding the truth themselves.
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24
Interview: Apr, 1997
SFX Magazine Interview (Paraphrased)Robert Jordan
Thirdly, in defeating the Dark One, the good guys can expect absolutely no help off the Creator, and no miracles will occur.Footnote
This summary by I. Blandford appears to be of this interview, but this bit about the Creator appears to be an embellishment on the part of Mr. Blandford. Worth noting, however, is that Blandford said the interview was from "a few months back", but he posted about it in the same month that the documented issue was published, so the documented interview might be an abbreviation of an earlier, longer interview. Any help finding this issue would be appreciated.Tags
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25
Interview: Jan 7th, 2013
AMOL Midnight Release Q&A (Verbatim)Paul Williams
(split from another question) ...And a question chosen vicariously for another friend: has the Creator been very intimately and directly connected to the story, or is he kind of like the absent god, where he set things in motion and left?
Harriet McDougal
(split from another question) ...And then, the question of the role of the Creator, by which you mean God, not the writer?
Paul Williams
Yes, exactly. [laughter]
Harriet McDougal
As you know, he said he didn't believe writers who said, "I just work to a certain point and then the characters take it over." He said, "I don't believe that for a minute." [laughter] Actually, what he said was, "I am Old Testament god, and my fist is in the middle of my characters' lives." But the way he envisions the Light in these books is that they have a very immediate sense of the Creator, which is—they don't need churches, because he's right there for them. Not that they don't believe; they believe so deeply that they live their lives in a sense of God, the Creator.
Paul Williams
And the question is also, has the Creator been intimately connected to Rand's journey? Did the Creator purposefully set Rand up to be the Dragon Reborn?
Harriet McDougal
I think only in the sense that the Creator is perceived by the characters as being pretty intimately involved in all their lives.
Paul Williams
Thank you. Tai'shar!
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26
Interview: Feb 8th, 2013
AMOL Signing Report - DJ Stipe (Paraphrased)Question
The Dark One seems to be conscious and aware of the events in the world. Is the Creator also conscious of world events?
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon said that's left up to the reader. He then said that many people think the voice in all caps in The Eye of the World is the Creator, which might indicate the Creator was, but stated it really wasn't known even in-world.
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27
Interview: Feb 20th, 2013
AMOL Signing Report - JaimieKrycho (Paraphrased)Question
Did the Creator ever manifest in the books? And I don't mean the VOICES IN CAPS.
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO!
Question
Did the Creator speak in ALL CAPS at least once or twice?
Brandon Sanderson
The same voice spoke in all caps in the series.
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28
Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013
AMOL Signing Report - J. Dauro (Verbatim)Question
Have you heard the rumors about Bela being the Creator?
Brandon Sanderson
I have indeed, and I find them very amusing.
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29
Interview: Feb 13th, 2013
Question
So, at the end of The Eye of the World, the all caps voice? Will we ever find out who it was, or what they were looking for?
Brandon Sanderson
The all caps voice at the end of Eye of the World makes an appearance in A Memory of Light.
Question
What about what wasn't there?
Brandon Sanderson
What's that?
Question
What about what wasn't there?
Brandon Sanderson
What do you mean, what wasn't there?
Harriet McDougal
[laughter]
Brandon Sanderson
Maybe it'll be in the encyclopedia. I can still RAFO things, Harriet is working on an encyclopedia of The Wheel of Time, which is coming out maybe in two years or so.
Harriet McDougal
Yeah.
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30
Interview: 2013
iwasazombie (March 2013)
Hey Brandon! I'm the redheaded dude who was helping at the last two Midnight Release parties, and I am actually at BYU right now. I have two questions:
I know you've said you can't answer these directly, so, rather than give the "official" answer, I was wondering if you could give us your "fan theory" on the answer, as if you weren't the writer.
What do you think about Mat, Rand, and Perrin keeping certain "abilities"? I know you've said that they may or may not still be ta'veren, and Perrin thinks they aren't, but can Perrin still talk to wolves? Is Mat still lucky? Does Mat still have his memories?
In your opinion, who do you think Nakomi was? Do you like the "Nakomi is the avatar of the Creator theory"? Do you think of her as the third member of the Christian godhead?
Finally, Harriet was quoted as saying that she thinks Rand's special ability at the end was a "new magic"? Do you agree? Or do you think it is something else?
Thanks for being awesome!
Brandon Sanderson
1. Perrin can still talk to wolves. That is certain. Also, Mat keeps his memories. These two are official, not theories on my part. What I can't give official on is the ta'veren-ness of the guys. I don't think RJ ever even says in the notes. Me? I think they aren't.
2. I'm too close to this one. I can't say, unfortunately. I can answer as a fan for things I don't know because it's not in the notes, or for things I could theorize about before I came onto the project. For things I learned about while working, I don't have a "fan" perspective, only a writer perspective. Sorry.
3. Harriet is more likely to be right than I am, but I don't believe it is a new magic. I think it is a result of Rand touching the Pattern directly.
iwasazombie
Awesome! So, I'm still unsure about Mat's luck. Would you say that's part of his "ta'veren-ness?"
Thanks for the great answers. I'm more at peace now with some of the previous answers you've given.
Brandon Sanderson
My gut tells me Mat still has his luck, but not to the extent he once had. But I have no foundation for this in the notes.
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31
Interview: Apr 15th, 2013
Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)ShakaUVM ()
Could you explain what the deal is with the Great Serpent? I was half-expecting it to appear in the middle of the big showdown at the end of A Memory of Light. Is it just a different metaphor for the Wheel?
Did we ever meet the Creator in the series? If so, who?
Brandon Sanderson
I'll preface this with a warning. Even though the series is done, and I can speak more freely, some things are intended to be vague by RJ's own intention. This allows dreaming and thinking about the world to continue. For example, I can't answer question 2 for these reasons. For question one, I think RJ himself was vague. (Maybe a Theorylander can speak here.) This isn't one I'm capable of answering, because I don't want to make an answer canon one way or another, as I don't think RJ wanted that.
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32
Interview: Aug 13th, 2014
Ask the Author: Brandon Sanderson (Verbatim)Question
In the Wheel of Time books, did the Creator have a power, similar to the True Power that the Dark One had?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm afraid I don't have the answer for this, not for certain. I think that readers of the text could argue both ways. For example, a certain event in the epilogue of AMOL could be interpreted this way—though everyone in Team Jordan seems to have a different opinion on what is going on, and RJ didn't leave an explanation.
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