I think of two possibilities..
- Edit 2
- Edit 2Before modification by Dragonsworn at 06/09/2009 12:38:15 AM
I think Robert Jordan stated in an interview several years back, that the time Rand & company live in is indeed our world. It is both our past, present and future (because of the turning of the wheel) But he also made clear that the world doesn't look exactly the same as when it came around last time. There are subtle changes on every turning. 
I personally believe that our present takes place somewhere past the middle or at the end of the 1st Age. When it comes to the One Power and the Ogier, there are two possibilites I can think of.
1. Either the 1st Age of this turning of the wheel is not the same as the one we live in. And in this 3rd age there exist people who can use the OP and there exist a species named Ogier, and they did so even in the 1st age.
2. The second possibility is that the 1st age mentioned in the Wheel of Time is indeed our time and the ability to use the One Power came to be through evolution of the human species.
The Ogier in this scenario is a tricky one, I've never come across someplace (interview/book) where Jordan mentioned something of how the Ogier came to be. (I have to go through them all again)
The Ogier might have come to be some time between the first and second age and became a species as large as the human race. Maybe, and this is pure speculation, they evolved from some other species or from humans or through some sort of genetic experiment?
(Actually there is also the possibility that humans were a result of ogier research)
If they were the result of some of the above, that knowledge have been lost to human memory. The shadowspawn most people in WoT know were constructs, but they came to be rather recently.
If the Ogier know that about themselves I don't remember. (Time to read the books again)
Maybe someone knows more?
I don't have the guide available right now so someone might give us more insight and clarification.
Feel free to disapprove!
The ages I wasn't sure about, but I do not think the first age was our age. Because they had magic, and we don't. And ogier and other things. From what we saw through Rand's eyes the descriptions make no sense even if you have never seen vehicles like helicopters etc. It is in the future, but I cannot see how this would be earth in the future without some kind of cataclysm to end wars and mutations to gain powers. This would be such a huge event it must have been an end of an age.
I personally believe that our present takes place somewhere past the middle or at the end of the 1st Age. When it comes to the One Power and the Ogier, there are two possibilites I can think of.
1. Either the 1st Age of this turning of the wheel is not the same as the one we live in. And in this 3rd age there exist people who can use the OP and there exist a species named Ogier, and they did so even in the 1st age.
2. The second possibility is that the 1st age mentioned in the Wheel of Time is indeed our time and the ability to use the One Power came to be through evolution of the human species.
The Ogier in this scenario is a tricky one, I've never come across someplace (interview/book) where Jordan mentioned something of how the Ogier came to be. (I have to go through them all again)The Ogier might have come to be some time between the first and second age and became a species as large as the human race. Maybe, and this is pure speculation, they evolved from some other species or from humans or through some sort of genetic experiment?
(Actually there is also the possibility that humans were a result of ogier research)If they were the result of some of the above, that knowledge have been lost to human memory. The shadowspawn most people in WoT know were constructs, but they came to be rather recently.
If the Ogier know that about themselves I don't remember. (Time to read the books again) Maybe someone knows more?
I don't have the guide available right now so someone might give us more insight and clarification.
Feel free to disapprove!
The ages I wasn't sure about, but I do not think the first age was our age. Because they had magic, and we don't. And ogier and other things. From what we saw through Rand's eyes the descriptions make no sense even if you have never seen vehicles like helicopters etc. It is in the future, but I cannot see how this would be earth in the future without some kind of cataclysm to end wars and mutations to gain powers. This would be such a huge event it must have been an end of an age.