The Wheel of Time Database

18 interviews available

Interviews

Interview Questions from Lord of Chaos book tour

Question	Action(s)
How does the Black Ajah recruit new members? Very carefully. You have to understand that EVERY Ajah recruits carefully and subtly. Generally, after all those years as novice and Accepted, your teachers know your character and personality VERY well, and you are guided to the Ajah where you fit. The Black Ajah watches too. And recruitment is a one-shot offer: they offer, and you can accept or die. There are a lot of ways to die that wouldn't lead to any suspicion; for instance, it's pretty easy to kill yourself experimenting with the One Power. Who would think that such a death wasn't accidental?	View More Details
[I mentioned Katerine Sedai, 17 years Aes Sedai, 12 years Black.] One thing they do, for instance, is watch new Aes Sedai. Sometimes women get past the final tests and then discover that they don't have anywhere near as much power and freedom as they thought they would have.	View More Details
What were the female Aes Sedai doing during the Breaking? Surely they could have got together in circles of six or thirteen or whatever, cut off one man from the Source, and gone onto the next. Several things. Partly, you have to find the men before you can do anything. Partly, by the time they realized what was going on, it was too late. The massive geological upheavals were only a part (and not the most important part) of the Breaking. There was also the cumulative social collapse, breakdown of transportation systems, etc.. Imagine a city like Seattle that suddenly loses ALL contact with the outside world. Also, the women were (after a point) trying to preserve what they could, not fight the men directly. Finally, in order to make someone stop doing something, you have to be able to threaten them. What can you threaten a madman with, that he will listen to you and stop?	View More Details
Speaking of the Breaking, how did Dragonmount survive all that rearrangement of geography? Well, the Breaking had different effects in different areas. Some areas were raised up, others lowered, others moved around... but the effects were relatively mild in some areas; Dragonmount was one of them. Note that Shayol Ghul used to be a subtropical island. The Tar Valon area was moved, but as an entire piece, so the mountain, the island, and the river stayed in the same places relative to each other.	View More Details
What about those Warders in Caemlyn around Logain in The Eye of the World? Didn't Moiraine say that they were all Red sisters? Reds don't have Warders! Moiraine never mentioned the sisters escorting Logain (not all of whom were Red). The ones with Logain weren't in Caemlyn at the time. Moiraine was referring to those that were in Caemlyn. There is something explaining this in Lord of Chaos. Remember that the interleaving of plot threads goes backward as well as forward.	View More Details
Is RJ trying to insinuate that the Red Ajah is made up of lesbians? Jordan said that he doesn't know how this idea caught on. The Red Ajah does have women who hate men, but not all do. He went on to say that it’s a bad logical jump to say that just because a woman hates men means that she is a lesbian.	View More Details
Heights of main characters? Rand 6'6", Perrin 6'2", Mat 5'11.5", Aviendha 5'8"-5'9", Elayne 5'6", Nynaeve 5'4", Egwene 5'2", Moiraine 5'0"-5'2"	View More Details
What about Mazrim Taim? Isn't his withstanding of the madness for 15 years something exceptional? The duration varies from man to man; the circumstances are different, and the men themselves. Nobody really knows how long the process takes (or has to take), since once you start channeling the Aes Sedai usually find you pretty quickly, and gentling stops the progression of the madness and the taint (though it does not cure what's already happened). Channeling is addictive; once you've done it, you can't stop. The Breaking took about a hundred years before all the men finally died, though some of them did shelter in the Stedding for a while. Nobody knows how long the process takes, except that there is variation. It's all in my notes.	View More Details
Is the Tower of Ghenjei based on the dark tower from the story of Childe Roland? No	View More Details
Can the Power really be used to make you different? [This arose as part of a discussion of Illusion ("Mirror of Mists" is an old name for the same thing).] Illusion is illusion. Doesn't fool the sense of touch, so you have to be really subtle (such as Moghedien's disguise) to avoid detection.	View More Details
So Sammael couldn't make himself taller [with illusion]? He could make himself look taller, but he's not interested in looking taller. He wants to be taller. Besides, any sufficiently experienced man would be able to tell that it was illusion.	View More Details
So the Power really isn't capable of genetic reconstruction? (Like, for example, making you taller.) Maybe, in the Age of Legends, someone might have been able to pull it off, if they were really skilled. Might have. (Like Aginor?) Aginor was damn good, but he wasn't that good.	View More Details
Did you deliberately make Rand like Tew/Chew, the god of war who loses his hand? Yes	View More Details
And Mat is like Odin who loses his eye...? Yup...but the Arthur parallels are spread around many characters. Merlin is Thom Merrilin, The Amyrlin Seat, Lan, etc...	View More Details
Could Mat have chosen anything else[besides the dagger]? Yes, but he wouldn't be Mat then, would he? A dagger would attract him more than a chalice or whatever. Its easy to stick it in the belt.	View More Details
Why did Mat's battle happen off screen? That's the way battles really happen. You don't actually see anything happen from the point of view it's all a matter of waiting and trying not to die.	View More Details
Why the swords? As in japan, gunpowder is suppressed so martial arts are developed and are based on the sword and on agricultural implements.	View More Details
"Theoretically...if someone...had sex in Tel'aran'rhiod, could they be pregnant in the real world? Read and find out. I like the dirty questions! You notice it's always the women who ask the dirty questions, never the men.	View More Details