There is a reason that some of those weaves were lost. It was discussed a lot on wotmania and here.
Traveling: The most logic reason was that for so many years during the Breaking, the landscape changed so much and so often that it eventually became very risky and dangerous to travel. Same applies for Skimming. If you think you know a place and open a Gateway, you might end up in the ocean or on a volcano instead of the place you thought it would be. Why was the weave forgotten? Eventually, most Aes Sedai, the more stronger and knowledgeable died, and with lack of a central organization resulted in fragmentation of the information. People were more and more isolated and didn't share the information.
Cuendillar: I guess the need for it became unimportant and eventually it just became less and less utilized so people forgot it existed. The perpetual decrease of strong Channelers and maybe a loss of Talent in Earth resulted in Cuendillar being lost.
Balefire: Was forgotten by most but still known. I mean, Moirane figured it out and used it on 2-3 occasions. If Moirane who is a good Channeler but not the greatest could figure it out, maybe from a book or from someone, it must not be that difficult for top people like Egwene, Nynaeve or others.
Angreal: Maybe they need some special tools, Ter'Angreal that needs to be utilized to create them. This is one of the lost Talents I understand more why it was lost.
There was also a reason for RJ to have those lost. Imagine plot wise what it would of been if everybody had access to Travel and all those weaves. In a series where lack of communication is one of the main aspect, it would of changed the feeling of the series too much. It would also depreciate the main protagonists accomplishments.
Traveling: The most logic reason was that for so many years during the Breaking, the landscape changed so much and so often that it eventually became very risky and dangerous to travel. Same applies for Skimming. If you think you know a place and open a Gateway, you might end up in the ocean or on a volcano instead of the place you thought it would be. Why was the weave forgotten? Eventually, most Aes Sedai, the more stronger and knowledgeable died, and with lack of a central organization resulted in fragmentation of the information. People were more and more isolated and didn't share the information.
Cuendillar: I guess the need for it became unimportant and eventually it just became less and less utilized so people forgot it existed. The perpetual decrease of strong Channelers and maybe a loss of Talent in Earth resulted in Cuendillar being lost.
Balefire: Was forgotten by most but still known. I mean, Moirane figured it out and used it on 2-3 occasions. If Moirane who is a good Channeler but not the greatest could figure it out, maybe from a book or from someone, it must not be that difficult for top people like Egwene, Nynaeve or others.
Angreal: Maybe they need some special tools, Ter'Angreal that needs to be utilized to create them. This is one of the lost Talents I understand more why it was lost.
There was also a reason for RJ to have those lost. Imagine plot wise what it would of been if everybody had access to Travel and all those weaves. In a series where lack of communication is one of the main aspect, it would of changed the feeling of the series too much. It would also depreciate the main protagonists accomplishments.
How were all these amazing weaves 'lost' ?
20/08/2010 04:33:43 AM
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You're right. It is merely a plot requirement, made ludicrous by the ease of mastering these weaves
20/08/2010 10:08:10 AM
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Re: You're right. It is merely a plot requirement, made ludicrous by the ease of mastering
20/08/2010 03:40:16 PM
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These are good points. To some extent, it may be because our main characters are "gifted" channelers
20/08/2010 08:57:49 PM
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The bigger problem is minor characters copying the weaves so quickly...
20/08/2010 09:14:25 PM
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Lost Weaves
20/08/2010 01:43:25 PM
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Re: Lost Weaves *NM*
20/08/2010 01:45:30 PM
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Not logical
20/08/2010 01:50:32 PM
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Re: Not logical
20/08/2010 03:22:04 PM
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All I'm saying, is that Travelling would STILL be a very usefull survival tool during the Breaking..
20/08/2010 03:44:59 PM
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If you go back and read the descriptions of the breaking, and think about the 3000 year cycle
20/08/2010 04:37:02 PM
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I don't think that creating cuendillar and 'angreals was common knowledge.
20/08/2010 05:06:20 PM
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You & Ryan make good points, esp on balefire/compulsion. In a shorter series, it'd make more sense
20/08/2010 08:52:59 PM
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Maybe Aes Sedai treated weaves like Intellectual Property
20/08/2010 09:49:12 PM
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Trademark? Patent? Or Copyright? =P *NM*
20/08/2010 10:19:36 PM
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If they are secretive and protective, it's not a huge stretch that knowledge would be taken into the
21/08/2010 10:27:15 AM
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Idea?
21/08/2010 12:47:52 AM
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But they weren't too weak
21/08/2010 02:48:43 AM
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That's because most of the major people in WoT are powerful channelers.
21/08/2010 04:13:04 AM
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How can you "write a weave down"?
21/08/2010 04:54:28 PM
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How did Moiraine learn balefire then? *NM*
21/08/2010 05:04:27 PM
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figured it out on her own, don't forget that Nyn used it too against the Fades in TDR. *NM*
21/08/2010 05:12:15 PM
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That's a stretch - Moiraine never demonstrated any creative talent with the OP...
21/08/2010 06:15:01 PM
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OK, I'll buy Vandene teaching it, but not learning it from a written description *NM*
21/08/2010 06:35:46 PM
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I disagree - Moiraine's wilder tricks show that she is quite creative with the OP
24/08/2010 03:31:06 PM
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Re: I disagree - Moiraine's wilder tricks show that she is quite creative with the OP
24/08/2010 05:32:11 PM
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We know of her trick with stones and light from 'New Spring' IIRC
25/08/2010 02:40:26 PM
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Passing on useful survival skills trumped esoteric lore during the War of Power and the Breaking
25/08/2010 03:18:47 PM
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