After a long stagnation of new theories and tie-ins, a remarkably obscure reference by Fwacho led me and a friend of mine on a wild chase that caused us to stumble upon a wealth of brand new information.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after being given the advice to “Think like Robert Jordan”, I rushed off to the greatest place on the internet: Wikipedia. It was there I sat, eyes wide, mouth gaping at the information contained, as if reading the darkest secrets of the Necronomicon.
In the beginning, this was the first entry I found.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan
I chuckled a bit, thinking Lun had made an interesting reference to a favorite author, seeing as Mr. Jordan apparently received his diploma from a military college called “The Citadel”.
I delved further, however, looking into a page dedicated to one of his most famous works: A twelve book long series titled “The Wheel of Time”. I began to read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
Leaping Lands of Lun, the parallels are INSTANTANEOUS. I will no go overboard in detail, as I believe you’ll be able to draw the same conclusions as I have from reading the wiki, but I will highlight a few key points.
It seems “The Creator” made the world known as “The Wheel of Time” which spins in a, yes, you guessed it, cyclical nature. Very easily one can parallel this Creator to the Purpose, and this cyclical repetition of the world can be juxtaposed to the pattern in which The Way flows.
But wait, it gets better.
“The Creator imprisoned Shai'tan, known as the Dark One, a powerful, evil being, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel.” Hello, Lord Below. Funny seeing you here.
“Robert Jordan's novels concern themselves with one incarnation of the Dragon in particular. About 3500 years have passed since the last war between Shai'tan and the Light, which the Dragon (known as Lews Therin Telamon in that life) ended by patching the hole in the Dark One's prison with the help of a group of other male channelers known as the Hundred Companions. Unfortunately, the Dark One managed to taint saidin, the male half of the One Power, with a counterstroke which brought madness and a wasting sickness to any man who channeled it. The taint quickly overcame Lews Therin and his companions and eventually drove every male channeler to insanity, with catastrophic results that changed the face of the world.”
Yes, I know it’s the whole paragraph, but it’s necessary. The Dragon seems to very easily be Rhue. The Dark One, before being sealed once more, manages to “taint saidin”. Shadow Swords, anyone? The original heroes are driven mad. Oh, how similar the effects sound to the wielders of shadow swords.
I’m sure I’ve piqued your interest by now, so I’ll leave much of the rest up to you. I implore you to be certain you check out a few more links, though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aes_Sedai
Suprisingly similar to a certain organization, hm?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Legends
Janwen was the peek of knowledge and civilization. Then it fell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27angreal
Do read up on the Items of Power. Also, scroll down a bit further and you’ll notice “The Way of the Leaf”. Silly Paradans. A lot of other stuff on this page is good, too. Especially the section on Organizations.
The list could go on, and I will doubtlessly update it when I feel the need and inclination.
But GODS, why haven’t we noticed this before? Why isn’t it constantly referred to? With so many similarities, these books could give us the ANSWERS we’ve been seeking so very long. Just in the couple hours I’ve spent browsing this information, my head is already filled with brand new realizations. But that’s for another time.
I encourage all and anyone to go out and read these books immediately. I know that’s what I’m off to do.
Momento mori.