I am very thankful to Brandon Sanderson for bringing closure to what has been a big part of my life for the last 10-15 years. I think it is important for all of us to remember that without him stepping up and finishing the series, we would be stuck at KoD with no resolution other than whatever scraps RJ had already written for the ending. With that being said, this wasn't the conclusion that I had hoped for. Based upon how much I enjoyed ToM, and how much better it was that tGS, I had extremely high hopes for AMoL (especially after hearing that RJ himself had written most of the ending).
*SPOILERS BELOW*
ANGER
-PADAN FAIN
Did Padan Fain seriously show up for 2 f-ing paragraphs in the final f-ing book? It feels like Brandon finished the book and then said, "Oh shit, I forgot about Fain!" This is by far the worst character arc resolution in the entire series. Several books worth of buildup spanning years for "Mat jumps in the fog and stabs him...the end." Seriously? This is how you treat you treat one of the biggest villians in a series that houses more major villians than a professional football team?
-DEMANDRED
He was hiding in Shara the whole time. That was the big reveal?! GTFO! This was supposed to be the biggest revelation right behind "Who killed Asmodean?" and it turns out that he was just hanging out on the other side of the world.
APATHY
-LUC/SLAYER
Brandon did a really nice job of making me hate Slayer's stinking guts. With that being said, his death via Perrin's Thor Smash left me feeling...I don't even know if apathetic is the right word. I think "meh" is the right word. It just didn't feel like it was enough.
-TAIM
I never really hated Taim, so his death was more of a "Oh,ok. Good for the Light." I always felt that this character either needed more screen time to really develop, or he needed to be killed off earlier as we already had enough bad guys to hate.
-EGWENE/GAWYN
I didn't necessarily want Egwene to die, but I wasn't devastated by it happening. It felt like both died because the Light needed to lose someone important in the Last Battle.
DISAPPOINTMENT
-CAMEOS
Thom, Juilin, various Black Ajah/Forsaken, Beslan, etc. Juilin and Beslan would have been better left out. I can't believe that Thom was basically reduced to a minor supporting role (if you can even call it that).
-RAND VS THE DARK ONE
Snooze. I honestly don't know what I expected the final fight to be like, but it wasn't this.
-Most other major characters
Perrin, Mat, Moiraine, Nynaeve, Elayne, Min, and Aviendha all received some sort of closure to their character arcs, but not one of them gave me a feeling of satisfaction for sticking with the series until the end. When you have a story that takes 20+ years and 14 books (15 w/prequel)to tell, you want a little something at the end that feels like it ties everything together or at least makes it all worth it in the end.
SADNESS
-BELA!!!
Did she really need to die?!?!? The series would have ended so much better with Rand/Moridin riding off into the proverbial sunset mounted atop his faithful steed. It would have brought the story full circle. Remember, there are no endings.
-Siuan/Bryne
Both deaths happened off-screen. This is almost enough to move this to my ANGER section as they deserved better. Oh well, I know that we would lose some loved ones during the Last Battle. Better Siuan than Matrim. Better Bryne than Tuon.
HAPPINESS
-DEMANDRED (again)
Lan finally sticks a sword in this D-bag. Brandon got this one right. The figting was just tense enough to feel Jordan-esque, and Demandred had already killed two very skilled swordsmen. This one kept me on the edge of my seat. My only complaint was that I think it would have been better if Lan had died in the attack. I know that it sounds crazy (Lan is one of my absolute favorites), but the whole "Death is lighter than a feather" would have been a great last line.
-IT'S OVER
Even with all of my complaining, I am glad that the story is finished. It isn't exaclty what I had hoped for, but when is anything? It was enough that I know what happened, and I can move on with my life.
Thank you RJ for creating something that was such a big part of my life for so long. Thank you Brandon Sanderson for finishing it.
*SPOILERS BELOW*
ANGER
-PADAN FAIN
Did Padan Fain seriously show up for 2 f-ing paragraphs in the final f-ing book? It feels like Brandon finished the book and then said, "Oh shit, I forgot about Fain!" This is by far the worst character arc resolution in the entire series. Several books worth of buildup spanning years for "Mat jumps in the fog and stabs him...the end." Seriously? This is how you treat you treat one of the biggest villians in a series that houses more major villians than a professional football team?
-DEMANDRED
He was hiding in Shara the whole time. That was the big reveal?! GTFO! This was supposed to be the biggest revelation right behind "Who killed Asmodean?" and it turns out that he was just hanging out on the other side of the world.
APATHY
-LUC/SLAYER
Brandon did a really nice job of making me hate Slayer's stinking guts. With that being said, his death via Perrin's Thor Smash left me feeling...I don't even know if apathetic is the right word. I think "meh" is the right word. It just didn't feel like it was enough.
-TAIM
I never really hated Taim, so his death was more of a "Oh,ok. Good for the Light." I always felt that this character either needed more screen time to really develop, or he needed to be killed off earlier as we already had enough bad guys to hate.
-EGWENE/GAWYN
I didn't necessarily want Egwene to die, but I wasn't devastated by it happening. It felt like both died because the Light needed to lose someone important in the Last Battle.
DISAPPOINTMENT
-CAMEOS
Thom, Juilin, various Black Ajah/Forsaken, Beslan, etc. Juilin and Beslan would have been better left out. I can't believe that Thom was basically reduced to a minor supporting role (if you can even call it that).
-RAND VS THE DARK ONE
Snooze. I honestly don't know what I expected the final fight to be like, but it wasn't this.
-Most other major characters
Perrin, Mat, Moiraine, Nynaeve, Elayne, Min, and Aviendha all received some sort of closure to their character arcs, but not one of them gave me a feeling of satisfaction for sticking with the series until the end. When you have a story that takes 20+ years and 14 books (15 w/prequel)to tell, you want a little something at the end that feels like it ties everything together or at least makes it all worth it in the end.
SADNESS
-BELA!!!
Did she really need to die?!?!? The series would have ended so much better with Rand/Moridin riding off into the proverbial sunset mounted atop his faithful steed. It would have brought the story full circle. Remember, there are no endings.
-Siuan/Bryne
Both deaths happened off-screen. This is almost enough to move this to my ANGER section as they deserved better. Oh well, I know that we would lose some loved ones during the Last Battle. Better Siuan than Matrim. Better Bryne than Tuon.
HAPPINESS
-DEMANDRED (again)
Lan finally sticks a sword in this D-bag. Brandon got this one right. The figting was just tense enough to feel Jordan-esque, and Demandred had already killed two very skilled swordsmen. This one kept me on the edge of my seat. My only complaint was that I think it would have been better if Lan had died in the attack. I know that it sounds crazy (Lan is one of my absolute favorites), but the whole "Death is lighter than a feather" would have been a great last line.
-IT'S OVER
Even with all of my complaining, I am glad that the story is finished. It isn't exaclty what I had hoped for, but when is anything? It was enough that I know what happened, and I can move on with my life.
Thank you RJ for creating something that was such a big part of my life for so long. Thank you Brandon Sanderson for finishing it.
A mixed bag of emotions. *SPOILERS*
12/01/2013 05:15:05 PM
- 1989 Views
Fain was badly handled, but I can forgive everything except killing Bela.
14/01/2013 05:40:18 PM
- 790 Views
Well the LAND of Shara didn't play a role at all
15/01/2013 02:25:29 PM
- 638 Views
VERY fine technicality.
15/01/2013 03:02:08 PM
- 828 Views
Duality of Perrin
17/01/2013 06:36:06 PM
- 682 Views
I have not seen the source of the cited statement, and would need to before accepting it.
18/01/2013 10:16:16 PM
- 708 Views
Re: A mixed bag of emotions. *SPOILERS*
15/01/2013 07:27:56 PM
- 751 Views
Re: A mixed bag of emotions. *SPOILERS*
15/01/2013 08:24:21 PM
- 641 Views
Re: A mixed bag of emotions. *SPOILERS*
15/01/2013 08:29:43 PM
- 778 Views
Re: A mixed bag of emotions. *SPOILERS*
17/01/2013 06:57:37 PM
- 744 Views
Re: A mixed bag of emotions. *SPOILERS*
17/01/2013 11:00:40 PM
- 676 Views