Help a noobie please!

[Greebo-Is-The-Best]

Hey all.

I'm busy reading WoT again and I still dont understand some stuff.

How did Rand cleanse the source? I didnt really get that bit.. I know he used saidar like a magnet or something :O

When Mat blows the horn of valere will some of his "past life" he has stuck in his head appear?

In Mat's memories he always fought Artur Hawking, So the people in his head is not connected with eachother?

Is Mazrim Taim a darkfriend or a ambitious bastard?

Osan'gar and Aran'gar? Aginor and Balthamel reborn?

Cyndane? Lanfear? no?yes?

Did Tam Al'Thor ever meet up again with Rand? OR hear about him being th e Dragon? I mean they were near Caemlyn, some of them must've heard about "Rand Al'Thor The Dragon Reborn, may the light blablabla"

Who is Moridin and how does he channel like he does. And what is this saa?

Who is that Shaidar myrdraal dude..

Thanks for the help

[Greebo-Is-The-Best]

Oh and who the hell is Mordeth,Padan Fain? What is he? And how is he connected to Shaidar Logoth, what is the connection between the taint and shaidar logoth?

What is that huge dome that appeared when Rand cleansed the source?

What good will it do cleansing the source, except for not going mad.

[Quokka]

Wow that's quite a list there Greebo . I'll leave most of them to people who know WOT better then me but just to add my 2 cents to a few of them.

I don't think Mat's memories will reappear as such. The deal he made was he wanted the holes in his memories filled in, which the 'Snakes and Foxes' granted, Mat just never said he specifically wanted his memories to fill the holes.

As to why they did it, probably along the lines of the world needing a super-general for the last battle to have any chance of winning. As Mat is also the one who'll blow the Horn of Valere as well (as being Taveren) it makes sense to be him.

Does Mat always fight Hawking in his memories? I don't remember that link. Some of his memories aren't even about fighting, he remembers flashes of dancing and conversations etc as well. I had the impression all of his memories were about how to be that general, in any circumstances not just battle.

I'll leave most of the who's who for others except I think it's safe to say Cyndane is Lanfear.

I think Padan fain started out as just your everyday dark friend, working his way up the ranks and probably very handy being a travelling peddler (as the dark one was also searching for the dragon reborn). Wasn't his first connection to Shaidar Logoth the dagger same as Mat? I think Mordeth (who brought about Shaidar Logoth's downfall) wanted to take over his soul completely but found it already too corrupted by the dark one which is probably all that saved Fain from disappearing all together. So Fain is Mordeth but there are now two seperate evils he draws on. Neither able to push out the other and neither in direct opposition or partnership with each other.

Not going mad is a pretty big bonus but I'd guess it's more about the set up for after the final battle, it needs to be clean then for men to be able to go on channeling and maybe Jordan just had too much planned for the last book to want to squeeze it in then. Also there's the prophecy about giving up half the light of the world to save the world? Will Saidar be gone or maybe both lessened? ... or something else or together .

I think Taim's been set up all along to be one of the forsaken in hiding and so I'll be disappointed if that turns out to be the case. There's probably been enough hints to put it all together by now but I haven't. Personally I hope he turns out to be that ambitious ....

I don't think Tam has seen Rand again yet but I'm sure he knows Rand is the Dragon Reborn, Perrin didn't tell him outright when he first returned to the Two Rivers (I think) though Tam likely put it all together anyway and didn't Taim or one of his followers turn up at the Two Rivers afterwards when recruiting?

Hope you don't mind the less then clear cut answers, I'll be interested to see what other readers throw in.

[Reading_fanatic]

Originally Posted by Greebo-Is-The-Best

Hey all.
How did Rand cleanse the source? I didnt really get that bit.. I know he used saidar like a magnet or something

Ok in a nutshell. He fed Saidin through a filter of Saidar much like skimming the top off cream and then channelled the Taint into the Heart of Shadar Logoth. The fact that the evil of Shadar Logoth was in direct opposition to the Taint means that they both destroyed each other.

When Mat blows the horn of valere will some of his "past life" he has stuck in his head appear?

Possibly. They seem to appear only when he needs them or randomly at unknown times and for unknown reasons

In Mat's memories he always fought Artur Hawking, So the people in his head is not connected with eachother?

As far as his memories go he fought with and against Hawking, and even have people who never met Hawking, The connection they all have is that they are all soldiers and brilliant tactitions/leaders of their times.

Is Mazrim Taim a darkfriend or a ambitious bastard?

Some say darkfriend but I think he is just a bastard but truthfully no-one knows for sure.

Osan'gar and Aran'gar? Aginor and Balthamel reborn?

Correct

Cyndane? Lanfear? no?yes?

Yes

Did Tam Al'Thor ever meet up again with Rand?

Not that I recall, No

OR hear about him being th e Dragon? I mean they were near Caemlyn, some of them must've heard about "Rand Al'Thor The Dragon Reborn, may the light blablabla"

Yes I think he learnt that eventually but decided to stick with Perrin instead.
Who is Moridin and how does he channel like he does. And what is this saa?

Who is that Shaidar myrdraal dude..

The right hand agent of the dark one (His body out of the bore as it was) but it seems he may not have a full hold on Shadar Haran so who knows

Originally Posted by Greebo-Is-The-Best

Oh and who the hell is Mordeth,Padan Fain? What is he? And how is he connected to Shaidar Logoth, what is the connection between the taint and shaidar logoth?

Padan Fain=Peddler+darkfriend
When he merged with the Guy in Shadar Logoth he became a mix of the two so he is neither an Evil of Shadar Logoth or a Darkfriend but a new type of evil bend solely on killing Rand/Mat/Perrin

What is that huge dome that appeared when Rand cleansed the source?

I always thought it had to do with the amount of energy being channelled but it could have just been a shield too keep out intruders.

What good will it do cleansing the source, except for not going mad.

Considering the power they were weilding not going mad was the ultimately better then most consequences.

This is from what I remember but I hope it still helps and I had a website that went into alot more detail so I'll post the link when I find it.