Worst: True Power Sa'Angreal. I can't help but feel that could have been done better in a lot of ways. It was nearly Deus Ex Machina.
Well, the fact it was flawed was hinted at since almost day 1, but what I found more Deus-ex-machinaeque was that the Grea- uh, Dark One, couldn't turn off the access to the TP flowing through Moridin/Rand. Might as well change his name to The Dork One, or something equally useless.
It's not so much that callandor had that ability, though TP mechanics seem a bit weird and it would have been nice to have gotten some sort of brief blurb about why/how Callandor had this function. More it is that Rand's final attack confirmed that he really has fought the DO countless times and repaired the bore. Had he killed the DO and had him replaced with Fain or one of the other variants we've all kicked around then it would make sense that the DO didn't see it coming. This method not only required the DO to know how the bore was resealed but requires his own power. Now granted that the turnings aren't supposed to be identical but Rand would still need each repair variation to involve his using all 3 powers. Meaning the DO would have to be worried about Rand getting TP access in some fashion and have previous variations of this occurring to do some educated guessing of how it occurs.
Very good points here. I would love to hear an explanation from Harriet et al. about this. I would think that the Dark One would be aware of how the bore was made/patched/resealed and know what was needed for each... and that should help him take precautions.
It wouldn't have to go down exactly like that, in theory Rand could have accepted Lanfear's aid way back or maybe post-tFoH shown up with Nyneave, Callandor, and a leashed Moghedien or a Forsaken who got compelled as apparently happened to Graendal at the end there. It might not even need a TP angreal for the job, just access to it, but Callandor might be a totally different object next time around, like an axe, or staff, or ornamental statue. For it to make sense the DO has to have some reason why he lets the TP be used by anyone at all. We can speculate the low access to it is either from his understandable concerns about giving it to a lot of people rather than an elite semi-trustworthy core or a limited supply, or both, but it wasn't really established why anyone would need access to it. Without a reason why he has to hand that double-edged sword out it doesn't really make sense for him to do it at all, or why he wouldn't issue some kind of warning, even if it were BS, designed to minimize the risk of something akin to what happened.
As is, it is sort of like a werewolf handing out silver bullets to his human followers even though everyone they'll be fighting would go down from a normal one.
As is, it is sort of like a werewolf handing out silver bullets to his human followers even though everyone they'll be fighting would go down from a normal one.
Well, I imagine the TP is useful around channelers. It would be an emergency source in the case that one gets shielded, for example. I don't think the DO would like his Chosen getting captured/tortured for information, but really might not give a damn since he had ways (like Shadar Haran and Darkfriends) of breaking them out. Also, it would not be detected by normal channelers (not even the tingle/chill the males get when they sense saidar, for example). The TP does have side effects (like the saa) so it seems like one would not want to use it all the time, but it is apparently extremely addictive (which WOULD make one want to use it all the time), so... idk what the DO was thinking there if he wanted to limit its use.
I can't help but think the majority was unimpressed with AMOL
- 15/02/2013 08:16:04 PM
2320 Views
My initial impressions....
- 16/02/2013 05:44:34 AM
1125 Views
Mat's talisman was retconned
- 17/02/2013 03:32:34 PM
1198 Views
Re: Mat's talisman was retconned
- 17/02/2013 04:28:51 PM
1469 Views
I'm surprised at how many people didn't realize that Mat was no longer tied to the horn.
- 18/02/2013 02:42:29 PM
942 Views
I loved it. There's been plenty of discussion on TL and Dragonmount *NM*
- 16/02/2013 06:44:54 AM
486 Views
I was happy with it, not overjoyed but it did the job
- 16/02/2013 02:22:50 PM
1127 Views
Re: I was happy with it, not overjoyed but it did the job
- 16/02/2013 04:01:15 PM
981 Views
Re: I was happy with it, not overjoyed but it did the job
- 16/02/2013 05:53:27 PM
1054 Views
i'm going out on a bit of a limb here on #3 i think.....
- 18/02/2013 04:06:14 PM
1041 Views
From what I've seen, it's seen as "good enough" as the last book of the series...
- 21/02/2013 10:59:50 PM
873 Views
Re: I can't help but think the majority was unimpressed with AMOL
- 14/03/2013 03:52:40 AM
1155 Views