If the Shadow gave a damn about the Tinkers, they would have been exterminated long ago, not now at the last minute. Nothing has yet happened to make the Shadow see the Tinkers suddenly as a potential threat.
That most Tinkers are for the first time gathered at one place. This could be a good opportunity for the Shadow to destroy a group, whose belief is likely an anathema to the DO's agenda.
The idea that this Trolloc army was a lost part of the army that attacked Rand in KoD doesn't really work with the timeline.
The problem is that this is not accurate.
They are not in one place. Several (most? we don't even know) bands have sought safety in Seanchan lands, not all of them in Ebou Dar specifically. There is a large group in Ebou Dar, but it's not the only group.
Earlier on, we also have heard that a great many bands of Tinkers had sought safety in the Waste (Many Aiel touched by the bleakness were going to them). It's a distinct possibility that those Tinkers are still in the Waste, if they have not been convinced by the "bleak" Aiel who joined them to return to Rhuidean. With Aviendha going there and in the columns, the possibility that Tinkers bands will be nearby or close enough that she could find them is a distinct one. Not certain, but a possibility. These three books are the "last book" and Jordan had to bring things together. Rand has not seen the possibility of Seed Singing, even though he is aware of who the Tinkers are. Aviendha is about to make the same journey, so perhaps it will come from her. The best and fastest way to teach the Tinkers abou their past and what they call "the Song" is actually part of is to send the Madhi into the Glass Columns. The Aiel have there the means to show the Tuatha'an what they have been looking for, while only the Tuatha'an can teach the Aiel the Way of the Leaf.
That would have to be a decision made by Wise Ones. Aviendha is about to become one, is not as burdened by traditions and taboos as the older ones and she is right there in Rhuidean and she is acutely aware of the food problem, touched by the misery of the refugees in a way she herself doesn't fully understand. ("They are not Aiel, why is it I still care for them?"

Secondly, that's also wrong that this is the first time the Tinkers gather like this. They have held similar gatherings of the bands each year around Sunday for millenia (the first time we heard of Tinkers gathering in the south, it was actually dismissed by a character as just that "oh, it's just their annual Sunday gatherings"

They are even DF among them. If Moridin passed the order for these DF to kill all the others, they would not have lifted a finger against the slaughter.
No reason to believe the Shadow has now sent Trollocs to infiltrate enemy lines and go slaugther bands of Tinkers right under the walls of Seanchan-held cities. It's a very far fetched and implausible notion.
This message last edited by DomA on 24/01/2010 at 08:28:05 PM
Any thoughts on the tinkers?
23/01/2010 05:29:53 PM
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Major part to play
23/01/2010 05:50:28 PM
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Tinkers don't really represent Order, since they are nonviolent.
23/01/2010 06:50:53 PM
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I like this ^
23/01/2010 10:59:31 PM
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Because no one's better at growing food that a nomadic group of wagoneers
24/01/2010 09:43:34 AM
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Well they do grow their own food, don't they? How could they afford to just buy it? *NM*
24/01/2010 11:04:12 AM
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Nah....
24/01/2010 05:18:01 PM
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They steal it (
). But the song will make the land green again, according to the AoL scenes. *NM*
24/01/2010 03:43:09 PM
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I also believe that they will play a part yet..
24/01/2010 10:38:47 AM
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Brilliant! the scene is a bit mysterious otherwise
24/01/2010 03:46:37 PM
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Re: Brilliant! the scene is a bit mysterious otherwise
24/01/2010 05:52:36 PM
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They might be the Trollocs Fain left behind in The Great Hunt!
24/01/2010 06:20:47 PM
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I'm almost certain there's more to it than a "random" band of Trollocs
24/01/2010 07:03:56 PM
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Re: I'm almost certain there's more to it than a "random" band of Trollocs
24/01/2010 07:35:22 PM
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Re: I'm almost certain there's more to it than a "random" band of Trollocs
25/01/2010 06:50:31 AM
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Re: They might be the Trollocs Fain left behind in The Great Hunt!
24/01/2010 08:12:51 PM
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The reason is...
24/01/2010 07:10:01 PM
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Yes, they suck. Most boring and useless characters in the entire series. *NM*
24/01/2010 08:58:01 PM
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