..and see my post above about the pose. You have to remember that Rand is now a one handed swordsman in a hand-and-a-half sword fighting world. The grip and position make complete sense to me in that light.
Oh, I know it's a japanese defensive form, see it countless times in movies and martial art books, and yes, it thus fits with the mix of japanese and asian inspired forms Jordan used. It's just that Callandor isn't really a sword, just shaped like one, and the DO is fairly unlikely to be holding a sword too. This defensive position was used by samurai in fights against another swordman.
Whelan used artistic license. In part it's for graphic reasons: that form lets him position Callandor below the book title, and it's just a better composition this way.
The other reason is this is easily decodable as a defensive position, which fits thematically. It helps create the impression Rand there is circumspect and knows what he's doing, while having him with a bent leg in front is dynamic and help show his determination.
The "artistic license" bit is that Whelan had Rand hold Callandor as if he intended to use it as a real sword against another swordman. It's not a terribly comfortable position to hold for long a san'angreal while walking (he doesn't even appear to have a scabbard for it, incidentally).
As for Egwene, I don't fully disagree. I think it's more likely to be Moiraine depicted that way, but I also noticed the absence of the blue stone on Moiraine's forehead and the fact she has a white dress. It's more something Egwene might wear, Moiraine usually sticks to shades of blue. Not sure we can trust that very far on a book cover, though.
I think it's more likely to be Moraine, but I won't dismiss the possibility this is Egwene and Brandon/Harriet wished not to make it too obvious because, unlike Nynaeve whom Rand asked to go to SG with him in TOM, it would be a spoiler to reveal Egwene and Rand will resolve enough of their issues for Egwene to follow him to SG and for Rand to trust her to come and link with him.
If I stick to my "pattern analysis" method though, I had noted down (it seemed) Nynaeve and Moiraine would at some point meaningfully work together during the finale, so I'm not surprised to see Moiraine there. Spotting the patterns RJ created through the series has never been very reliable for predictions/theories, though. It's relatively easy to spot repeating patterns when you have all the scenes to compare their common elements (and RJ was very crafty, for e.g. he can have an allusion to Egwene's struggle to be the Amyrlin of a reunited tower disguised as Egwene spotting the ruins of a Tower in the distance and being unable to find saidar the same day to light a flame/fire...), but it's much harder to spot the patterns when you're missing scenes, and even harder to find an interpretation. A pattern is there for Nyaneve/Moiraine among others easier to connect with the LB, but it could just as well be tied to both of them joining forces to go help Lan (or solving their little rivalry over him), or a dozen other interpretations - it won't come clear before reading AMOL.
This message last edited by DomA on 03/05/2012 at 07:40:02 PM
The cover for A Memory of Light is revealed.
03/05/2012 03:52:14 PM
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Re: The cover for A Memory of Light is revealed.
03/05/2012 04:08:09 PM
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I think I like Callandor from TDR better..
03/05/2012 04:26:42 PM
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I really like it
03/05/2012 05:54:51 PM
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The sword grip is not akward or wrong
03/05/2012 06:20:54 PM
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well, for one, I didn't say it was "wrong" so don't jump down my throat.
04/05/2012 10:03:06 PM
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If you think that was jumping down your throat... seriously... *NM*
07/05/2012 01:51:45 PM
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when I initially read it, it came off that way. I apologize if I misinterpreted you. *NM*
09/05/2012 04:58:13 PM
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Its the sword thats not a sword (its a night light!)
04/05/2012 04:47:27 PM
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oh no fair enough! like i said, I just think it looks a little awkward.
04/05/2012 10:04:21 PM
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Well...
03/05/2012 06:09:51 PM
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I think it is EG and Nyn
03/05/2012 06:24:13 PM
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Pretty sure it's Mo and Nyn
03/05/2012 06:40:49 PM
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Yeah...
03/05/2012 07:55:32 PM
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Egwene is a distinct possibility...
03/05/2012 11:37:48 PM
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She is
04/05/2012 12:15:21 AM
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I don't know...
04/05/2012 12:25:53 AM
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Re: I don't know...
04/05/2012 02:47:02 AM
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"You expect me to wise up?" "No, Egwene, I expect you to DIE!"
11/05/2012 01:36:09 AM
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What books have you been reading?
11/05/2012 01:57:31 AM
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Egwene made many things "clear;" I dug up all the ToM quotes for a post near this time last year
11/05/2012 01:12:05 PM
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The other quotes you requested, as promised.
13/05/2012 03:29:41 AM
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You misinterpreting quotes is hardly worth requoting...
13/05/2012 11:36:21 AM
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Agreed
13/05/2012 03:39:12 PM
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Exactly...
13/05/2012 05:53:17 PM
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Never said she was evil, just wrong. Horribly and tragically wrong.
14/05/2012 02:34:27 AM
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Principle protagonists can still experience epic falls.
14/05/2012 02:21:42 AM
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For the most part, very little interpretation was required.
14/05/2012 01:58:26 AM
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Re: For the most part, very little interpretation was required.
14/05/2012 03:51:31 AM
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Re: I think it is EG and Nyn
03/05/2012 07:38:36 PM
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I could be wrong, but I believe Rand used Calandor as a sword in the Stone.
03/05/2012 08:06:45 PM
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I vote for Nynaeve and Moiraine too
03/05/2012 09:05:58 PM
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Re: I vote for Nynaeve and Moiraine too
03/05/2012 11:28:42 PM
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Idea
04/05/2012 10:11:05 AM
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Re: Idea
04/05/2012 12:09:17 PM
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This would explain the hidden hand
04/05/2012 08:54:00 PM
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Re: I vote for Nynaeve and Moiraine too
04/05/2012 02:49:51 PM
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Re: I vote for Nynaeve and Moiraine too
04/05/2012 07:42:12 PM
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Re: I vote for Nynaeve and Moiraine too
07/05/2012 08:02:26 PM
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I actually found the champion/politician split between parallels very convincing.
11/05/2012 01:35:34 PM
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Re: I actually found the champion/politician split between parallels very convincing.
11/05/2012 04:06:50 PM
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Egwenes problem is her knack for seeing the error of her ways without ever LEARNING it.
13/05/2012 04:57:27 AM
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The Seanchan assassin...
13/05/2012 11:47:53 AM
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You do realize she drew her own (false but firm) conclusions based on a dearth of data. Again.
14/05/2012 02:08:26 AM
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Re: You do realize she drew her own (false but firm) conclusions based on a dearth of data. Again.
14/05/2012 04:08:11 AM
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Re: You do realize she drew her own (false but firm) conclusions based on a dearth of data. Again.
21/05/2012 01:59:15 AM
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looks a little 'naughty pirate novel' but is pretty fricken awesome!
*NM*
03/05/2012 06:50:42 PM
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Re: The cover for A Memory of Light is revealed.
03/05/2012 07:25:37 PM
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I does not look like Nynaeve and Moiraine
03/05/2012 11:39:01 PM
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Nynaeve has cut her braid and has her hair shoulder length in TOM....
03/05/2012 11:44:50 PM
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Re: Nynaeve has cut her braid and has her hair shoulder length in TOM....
03/05/2012 11:51:02 PM
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nynaeve with no braid?.... are we sure its not egwene? or did no one tell him the hairstyles? *NM*
08/05/2012 06:48:49 PM
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Nyn cut her braid off. *NM*
08/05/2012 06:55:02 PM
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I thought it was burned off during her test for Aes Sedaihood. *NM*
08/05/2012 07:25:51 PM
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Right, my mistake. Then she cut her hair to make it straight again. *NM*
08/05/2012 08:54:33 PM
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Regarding the identities of the women on the back:
09/05/2012 08:52:47 PM
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What the hell is on the ground close to the bottom edge of the picture?
*NM*
10/05/2012 05:55:07 AM
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It's Michael Whelan's signature. I looked it up and found it in a different book cover *NM*
11/05/2012 07:05:22 AM
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That looks pretty cool, better than most of the other WoT covers
26/06/2012 07:37:29 AM
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