Wheel of Time Primer

[Charon]

This year should see the release of Amazon's series The Wheel of Time based on the epic 14 book novel series by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson after his death. I'm sure such esteemed fantasy nerds such as yourselves have of course read this but for those that haven't, I'm putting together this primer because far too many people have never heard of it. Tolkien may have laid the groundwork for modern fantasy with Lord of the Rings but Robert Jordan built the mansion on that foundation (and Brandon Sanderson is now casually building the entire city that mansion stands in). I'd still recommend reading the books because, frankly, it will change your life but it's gonna take a year and then some so here are the basics of what to expect from the show, with no spoilers.

Lets start thousands and thousands of years ago. Time is cyclic and our world is left behind when scientists discover the One Power, a pool of infinite magical energy left behind by the Creator after using it to create reality. The pool consists of two halves, Saidin (used by male channelers) and Saidar (used by female channelers). The two halves are distinctly different and are essentially gender locked though the Aes Sedai (the mages who use the power) can link together to achieve incredible feats. This period becomes known as the Age of Legends as the Aes Sedai use the One Power to create a Utopia. World hunger, eradicated as the Aes Sedai can create abundant food. Injuries are healed in seconds for anything short of death. War is no more as people enter a new enlightened age of peace and scientific discovery.

At some point, two Aes Sedai scientists discover what they believe to be a second source of the Power on the edge of reality and come up with a way of essentially magically drilling a bore to the border of reality to tap it. What they actually drill into is the prison of the Dark One, sealed away outside reality at the moment of creation by the Creator. Things go downhill pretty rapidly from there. 13 of the most powerful Aes Sedai are lured by the Shadow and become known as the Forsaken, fighting for the Dark One. The other Aes Sedai frantically try to fight back but war is a long forgotten memory and it doesn't go well. One male Aes Sedai (Lews Therin Telamon aka The Dragon) comes up with a plan to reseal the prison of the Dark One. At the 11th hour, the female Aes Sedai pull out of the plan because of worries over the risk. The Male Aes Sedai carry it out anyway. They successfully reseal the Dark One's prison locking the Forsaken away with him but not before the Dark One manages to fight back. He taints the male half of the source, Saidin, so that any male channeler tapping into it goes insane. On top of that, the seal is imperfect and will eventually allow the Dark One to break free.
The male Aes sedai go crazy and literally destroy the world with the One Power, tearing continents apart, boiling the oceans and wiping out massive chunks of humanity. The female Aes Sedai eventually manage to kill all but one, Lews Therin, the Dragon who, in a moment of clarity, realises he has killed his wife and children and friends with the One Power. Torn apart by grief he takes in every scrap of Saidin he can and then more until he goes supernova, killing himself and leaving behind a volcanic mountain where he stood and a prophecy that when the seals on the Dark One's prison begin to weaken, he will be reborn to face the Dark One one last time.

Whew. The story hasn't started yet though. Fast forward thousands and thousands of years to where this story has now become myth in the same way we view the stories of the Egyptian Gods. Some truths are known, The northernmost area of the world is called the Blight and has foul armies of trollocs spawned by the Dark One from his prison in Shayol Ghul. But those are a far cry away from the lives of your average peasant. The female Aes Sedai still exist but male channelers are caught and put down as soon as they are found before they can go insane and destroy the world. Millennia of this has essentially begun breeding the One Power out of humanity and there are not only fewer Aes Sedai than ever before but they are far weaker then their counterparts in the Age of Legends. One of these Aes Sedai, Moiraine, believes the Dragon has been reborn already and the last battle approaches. She has spent 18 years or so looking for the boy and has now arrived in the Two Rivers where there are three candidates all born on the correct day. Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara. All three are ta'veren, essentially heroes spun out by the pattern of reality in preparation for the last battle and will eventually become three classic fantasy archetypes, the sorcerer, the rogue and the shifter. But only one of these three is the Dragon, the one who will have to fight the Dark One.

Only here we have a slight problem. The Dragon is now the only male channeler and the two halves of the source are so different that the women cannot teach him how to channel. It's not even possible to see the other gender's weaves and even embracing the source to begin with is a different experience. One misstep could cause him to kill himself and even worse, the second he taps into Saidin he will begin going insane. Somehow, the Dragon will have to learn how to channel, fight the Dark One, not go insane and all while convincing the people of the world to put aside their political squabbles and ongoing wars in order to face the army of millions of trollocs that will be unleashed upon the world any minute now. Oh and the Forsaken are loose already. In fact, some of the characters in the books are the Forsaken in disguise so, pay attention. Indeed, the Dragon's descent into paranoia and insanity are some of the most compelling parts of the series as are the various ways he tries to deal with the Forsaken, besting some with sword, some with magic and some with pure intelligence. But who can you trust when you can't even trust yourself? Are your friends the enemy in disguise or is that just the insanity? Oof.
Also, if he fails and the Dark one wins, he won't just enslave humanity. He will eradicate reality itself. So the stakes could not be any higher.

And that's barely the surface. On top of all that we have Myydraal, Draghkar, Darkhounds, The Black Ajah (Aes Sedai who secretly work for the Shadow), Telaranrhiod (the World of Dreams), an evil living wind called Machin Shin who haunts The Ways, Ogier, the cursed site of Shadar Logoth, angreal that can enhance one's ability to channel, leftover relics from the Age of Legends, the Children of the Light, another reality altogether housing the Aelfinn and Eelfinn, many other classic archetypal heroes and a final last battle where the Dragon must fight The Dark One, a being who has no physical form and isn't bound by reality and lots and lots of other stuff that I won't mention because that's where the spoilers are.

So yeah, coming soon to Amazon. :D Get excited. I am (could you tell?) :P

[Grodech]

Nice synopsis. I read most of the series (years ago). I kinda dropped out towards the end of Jordan's life, as it seemed like he started to extend inane things - like the descriptions of the clothes people were wearing - in order to keep the page count up (the fluff started to overshadow the content). I may take them up again - if I get the time.

Sanderson did what? The last two? Maybe more?

[Charon]

I think he's credited with the last three however, much of the work was already done by Jordan with regards to the plot, key components of the final battle and even pre drafted scenes. As you can imagine the notes he had on the project were extensive and even while he lay abed dying his wife and his assistant would run questions by him and take notes in order that it be finished well.
It's true that there are many who claim it was getting a bit drawn out. The old jokes about braid tugging and shawl adjustments. I felt the same on my first read but I recently finished my second read and enjoyed the whole thing, even Perrin trying to rescue Faile from the Shaido Aiel which is definitely the least favourite of the story threads for me.

It's definitely worth it to press on though as the events leading up to Tarmon Gaidon are pretty spectacular. The rediscovery of how to make a power-forged weapon for example, or Mat's rescue of a certain person which costs him "Half the light of the world" as he was told by the Eelfinn right near the start. Verin Sedai's big reveal. Mat getting his own back on Padan Fain and the climactic fight between Perrin and Slayer as they shift in and out of the Wolf Dream are also amazing moments. Egwene facing Taim, Gawyn and Galad vs Demandred, Aviendha vs Graendal. There's so much closure as all the big names get involved in the final battle. Not all survive. Rand finally faces the Dark One in Shayol Ghul, literally stepping outside the pattern to face him in a fight that takes moments for him, but represents months of fighting elsewhere in the world. It's an ending fit for an epic (unlike Game of Thrones which was a wet fart of an ending). XD

The only downside of the show is how much will have to be dropped. Some are simple changes, like Thom Merrilin having a guitar rather than flute and harp for production reasons, but others include how difficult it is to truly portray things such as Rand's mental decline, where the books can give us so much more insight or even the simple things like inverted weaves or the difference between the usual Warder bond, the female/female bond between Elayne and Birgitte and the two way bond between Androl and Pevara. On the plus side, it could certainly benefit from some condensing in some regards. XD I think as long as they maintain the key components it should be good. But I'm also looking forward to seeing how they show certain things such as weaves of the power, Nynaeve delving Rand and seeing the tainted madness in his brain, the sensation of wrangling Saidin, The Eelfinn dimension, skimming, The Ways, Ogier, Callandor, Telaranrhiod, the Choedan Kal, Balefire etc...

I can't wait! XD

[Charon]

https://twitter.com/WOTonPrime/status/1 ... 7791348745

Short videoclip teaser posted of Mat handling the dagger of Shadar Logoth. :D