Active Users:1125 Time:22/11/2024 03:13:52 PM
One Way or the Other Their WoT Origin Must Be the Stories We Know (Slight Spoiler Alert.) The Name With No Man Send a noteboard - 08/12/2009 03:18:30 PM
RJ's use of the diverse character parallels isn't meant to make this story evoke those older tales, rather, it is using the circular time of the Wheel as an explanation for their origins.

They're all the same stories, only changed by the passing of time and turned into myth and legend, or the same core from a different turning of the Wheel.

Unless we take Jordan's conceit of a past/future tale literally. Perhaps that's plausible in a "million monkeys" version of branching timelines, but I don't think that's what you're suggesting. If you simply mean Jordan's saying the stories have no true origin because "there are neither beginnings nor endings" a strong argument could be made. I'm not convinced, however, how much Jordan actually means to support cyclic time in the real world and how much that's just a conceit framing the other things he wishes to say. The concept of breaking the Wheel is prominent throughout the series, and in TGS we finally see Rand explicitly say something similar in type if not goal to what Ishy has: He not only wishes to defeat the DO, but, if possible, to destroy him. One can't help but wonder if, without the Creator's antithesis, that would break the Wheel as effectively as anything Ishy or the DO could do.

It's certainly a rich area for discussion, and I think arguments can be made both ways that Jordan is endorsing the concept of cyclic time. It's very fortunate there are no deep themes in the mere story or we would run the dire risk of a serious discussion.
Reply to message
The Wheel of Time's Great Themes, Edited to Include Those I See. - 06/12/2009 05:58:08 AM 876 Views
So, What Are They? - 06/12/2009 09:36:56 AM 611 Views
Putting names into a blender isn't the same as weaving together great themes. - 06/12/2009 03:17:05 PM 539 Views
No, Indeed It Is Not. - 06/12/2009 04:37:23 PM 433 Views
Oh my God...trying to use agape in context of this series is overkill to the nth degree. - 07/12/2009 04:12:56 AM 452 Views
It may not provide intrinsic value to you. But for me, yes. - 07/12/2009 06:06:40 AM 483 Views
Jordan May Not Always Execute It Well, But I Believe It's There (Now We Face Details in TGS.) - 07/12/2009 04:28:05 PM 641 Views
Read what Larry's Short History of Fantasy says about Jordan. - 07/12/2009 05:56:03 PM 526 Views
Oh some book says it, so it must be true! - 08/12/2009 05:57:14 AM 406 Views
I Have to Agree With Fionwe's View the Characters Are Deeper. - 08/12/2009 04:19:07 PM 505 Views
I'm done with this thread. - 08/12/2009 06:21:41 PM 432 Views
Goodbye then! *NM* - 08/12/2009 06:45:25 PM 157 Views
Fair Enough. - 08/12/2009 07:02:04 PM 786 Views
Louis La'mour said about himself he wasn't an author so much as a storyteller... - 06/12/2009 03:41:09 PM 476 Views
It's a Popular, If Perhaps Suspicious, Claim. - 06/12/2009 04:55:25 PM 505 Views
Ha. Funny, I feel the same way, and come to the opposite conclusion. - 08/12/2009 08:42:41 AM 439 Views
Amen to that. Lord of the Rings rules! - 08/12/2009 09:03:33 AM 399 Views
I've never been able to finish the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Too boring, with fairy tale characters - 09/12/2009 12:28:26 PM 399 Views
That Is a Great Shame. - 09/12/2009 01:27:44 PM 394 Views
I enjoyed the Silmarrilion though...the part about the Valar and their comparative strengths... - 09/12/2009 01:39:47 PM 384 Views
Tulkas Was All Brute Force. - 09/12/2009 02:48:46 PM 543 Views
That's.. too bad, I guess? - 09/12/2009 08:40:49 PM 387 Views
Arya Stark, yes... - 10/12/2009 08:48:32 AM 398 Views
Re: Arya Stark, yes... - 10/12/2009 04:56:07 PM 427 Views
Seems to me you've inverted it. - 08/12/2009 08:48:07 AM 388 Views
One Way or the Other Their WoT Origin Must Be the Stories We Know (Slight Spoiler Alert.) - 08/12/2009 03:18:30 PM 481 Views
I have no idea what you are trying to say, sorry. - 08/12/2009 08:12:35 PM 403 Views
I'll Try to Rephrase Then (Including the Spoiler. ) - 09/12/2009 12:49:55 PM 402 Views
I don't really see any "great" themes per se, just an enjoyable story, like the pulp serials. - 07/12/2009 03:32:43 PM 429 Views
*Agrees 100%* - 07/12/2009 06:04:31 PM 386 Views
I Think He Set Out to Write Epic Fantasy, Yes. - 08/12/2009 04:25:36 PM 371 Views
Re: I Think He Set Out to Write Epic Fantasy, Yes. - 08/12/2009 07:26:30 PM 392 Views
True, and That Can Be Very Hard to Separate. - 09/12/2009 01:14:57 PM 473 Views

Reply to Message