Interpretations: The Karaethon Cycle by Meriam Soloreuc

Through the Karethon Cycle and it's various interpretations and translations, a vauge idea of much of what will happen to the Dragon Reborn is presented. However one must look at the prophecies from all angles if one wants to get an idea of the true meaning of what they say.

The Eye of the World; ch.13, Choices:
(Thom in conversation)
One of the Prophecies says that the Stone of Tear will never fall until the People of the Dragon come to the Stone. Another says the Stone will never fall till the Sword that Cannot Be Touched is wielded by the Dragon's hand.

Simple. The Stone of Tear fell when the Aiel--who are the people of the Dragon--came and Rand took Callandor.

The Great Hunt; Introductery Prophecy:
And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered, and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age, and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man. Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth. Neither shall anything stand nor abide...
Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow...and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation.

-from The Karaethon Cycle:
The Prophecies of the Dragon,
as translated by Ellaine Marise'idin Alshinn,
Chief Librarian at the Court of Arafel,
in the Year of Grace 231
of the New Era, the Third Age

The Shadow does lie across the pattern, and the Dark One does touch--though only the slightest bit because the effects of his touch can be altered--the world once more.
The nations are being rent, but not on the phisical level as implied by the prophecy. Instead every nation that has been affected by Rand (Arad Doman, Tarabon, Tear, Cairhien, Andor, even the Borderlands) has been split by those who would follow and those who would oppose him.
The wailing and gnashing of teeth may signify those who fear the Dragon Reborn's coming and those who refuse to believe it respectivly.
The breaking of the world by his coming means the dissension between those who would follow the Lord Dragon and those who would deny him. Ghealdean and the Borderlands are prime examples of this.
All the seemingly terrible happenings are implied to be worth the suffering because they mean that the Dragon shall be reborn to save the world. In fact, a Dragon can not ever appear unless there is a great amount of problems in the world, because a Dragon must be a ta'veren, and ta'veren are only spun out to fix the pattern when it strays from the natural order of things.
The weep for your salvation part means that just because the Dragon will be reborn does not mean he will be succesful.

The Great Hunt; ch.22, Watchers:
(Vandene talking to Moiraine)
Five ride forth, and four return. Above the watchers shall he proclaim himself, bannered cross the sky in fire....

The five which ride forth are Rand, Mat, Perrin, Hurin and Ingtar are the five who ride forth. Ingtar sacrifices himself which drops the number down to the four who return. The watchers are those who saw Rand and Ba'alzamon battle in the clouds above Falme (i.e. those in Falme and the locations of the three False Dragons). He did not proclaim himself in words but instead by actions; people saw hime battle what they thought to be the Dark One in the sky, and who could do that other then the Dragon Reborn?

The Great Hunt; ch.26, Discord:
(Thom Warning Rand)
Twice and twice shall he be marked,
twice to live, and twice to die.
Once the heron, to set his path.
Twice the heron, to name him true.
Once the Dragon, for remembrance lost.
Twice the Dragon, for the price he must pay.

Twice to live, and twice to die means that the Dragon Reborn must be marked to prove that he is the Dragon Reborn, but also that he is not imortal and shall die eventually. Rand would do well to remember that.
Once the Heron to set his path I believe refers to Rand's encounter with Ishamael, where he recivied the first brand. During that encounter Rand vhemently stated that he would never follow the Dark One and that he walks in the Light. It is interesting to note that he was tempted by Ishamael's offer. Perhaps he will turn to the Shadow for a brief period, though I doubt it.
Twice the Heron, to name him true refers to the time when Rand recieved the second brand. It was in the clouds above Falme--battling Ishamael again--and it was because of that that men started to name him Dragon.
Once the Dragon, for rememberance lost is an obvious referance to the bits of his ancestor's lifes that Rand lived when he was in Ruhidean.
Twice the Dragon, for the price he must pay is slightly vague. It is the second Dragon that names Rand the Car'a'carn. Perhaps the price he must pay is the guilt he feels over letting the Maidens who 'carry the honor of the Car'a'carn' to die for him.

(Thom warning Rand)
Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.
Once for mourning, once for birth.
Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.
In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.

Upon first look, this prophecy calls for Rand to die twice, which is silly. After a bit of deep thinking, 'blood' can be interpreted as meaning someone related to him. Rand's living family includes his half-brother, Galad, and his uncle, Luc. It should not be overlooked that the Wise Ones have mentioned proving to Rand that he is of their blood. It is also possible that Rand might father a child by one of the women who love him. Min and Aveindha have both shared his bed, though Aviendha would have shown signs of it by now if she was pregnent. Once for mourning I believe means a death that the world will feel. Galad, pure of heart, mind and body, makes a perfect blood sacrifice, and I think he would be mourned by many. Elayne and Gwayne assurdly. Rand for having lost a family member he just found. Berelain if he is her 'man in white', which I believe him to be. The Whitecloaks, if for no other reason then that it is not unlikely that with Pedron Nail dead, and Amacadia in the hands of the Seanchan, that Galad will be Lord Captin Commander of the Childrin of the Light by the time Tarmon Gai'don arrives. Andor, where he was most likely a respected person and beloved noble. Several Aes Sedai and Accepted who enjoyed watching him practice. Also, Galad is very akin to the Norse God of Light, Baldur, who was pure of heart, mind and body. Baldur was loved by all the world in life, and mourned by all the world in death. It was Baldur's death that led to Ragnorak, the fall of the gods. It is quite possible that Galad's death could cause the beggining of Tarmon Gai'don. If Jorden is using the legends of the Aesir as a losse template and does chosse to make Galad a sacrifce, it is probable that Galad's death will come at the hands of a Myrddral, possibly Shaidar Haran himself. The reason for this is that Baldur's death was deliverd by Hodor, the blind God of darkness. Myrddral have no eyes, can move through the shadows, and have cloaks that seem to attract darkness. Shaidar Haran is most likely because he is the most important fade, and because he is the only lurk bound to Shayol Ghul, where the prophecized spilling of blood is to take place.
Once for birth, is obviously the end of Tarmon Gai'don and the birth of a new Age. The Forth Age. Who will die however is an enigma. It is possibly Rand, though it is doubtful. Birth might suggest more then thing. If Rand does have a child, it is quite possible that the child must be sacrificed.
The men freed from the shadow by the sacrifice in the Pit of Doom, could be all mankind, but it could also mean the male channelers freed from the taint on saidin.

The Dragon Reborn; Introductory Prophecy:
And his paths shall be many, and who shall know his name, for he shall be born among us many times, in many guises, as he has been and ever will be, time without end. His coming shall be like the sharp edge of the plow, turning our lives in furrows from out of the places where we lie in our silence. The breaker of bonds; the forger of chains. The maker of futures; the unshaper of destiny.

-from Commentaries on the Prophecies of the Dragon,
by Jurith Dorine, Right Hand to the
Queen of Almoren, 742 AB, the Third Age

Basic prophetic stuff, saying that the Dragon will be reborn time and time again to face the Shadow. It is accopanied by the ussual warning that when the Dragon is reborn he brings pain and strife with him.

The Dragon Reborn; ch.6, The Hunt Begins:
(Moiraine in conversation)
He has yet to break the nations, or shatter the world. Even scholars who have studied the Prophecies for their entire lives do not know how to interpret them all. What does it mean that he shall 'slay his people people with the sword of peace, and destroy them with the leaf'? What does it mean that he shall bind the Nine Moons to serve him? Yet these are given equal weight with Callandor in the Cycle. There are others. What 'wounds of madness and cutting of hope' has he healed? What chains has he broken, and who put into chains?

Rand is in the process of breaking the nations to his will, and has already shattered the world. Everywhere their is strife and fighting just because people disagree whether or not Rand is the true Dragon Reborn.
Rand has slain some of his people with the sword of peace, and he has destroyed them, or at least their beliefes and way of life, with the leaf. The bleakness takes Aiel every day, some refuse to put off the Gai'shain robes when it is time, all because he reaveled to them that they used to follow the way of the leaf. It is very likely that it will only get worse.
Binding the Nine Moons to serve him obviously means that the Seanchan will eventualy follow Rand, most likely after he fufills some prophecy of their's.
Wounds of madness, could be the taint on saidin, or it could be the destruction caused by an insane person (i.e. Masema, Ishamael, Dashiva, some random Asha'man, himself....). As for a cutting of hope, it is very likely that Rand shall have a great fall soon, and it is possible that the world dispairs at this.
Chains that have been broken can mean many things. It could be the chains that bind one to one's home land. The black 'threads' that connect the Forsaken to the Dark One could be considered chains and Rand has severed several of those. It could be the traditions that bind a people to their customs are like chains, and if so, Rand has certainly broken a fair number of those. It could even refer to the a'dam 'leashes' of the Seanchan. Or could be something as of yet unseen.
Asmodean was put in chains in a way (the prophecy Moiraine is refearing to could be the one that goes '...chains the Shadowsworn to his will.'). It could be said that the Aes Sedai's oath of fealty is a chain of sorts. Agian, it could be something compleatly differnt and as of yet unseen.

The Dragon Reborn; ch.41, Threads in the Pattern:
On the slopes of Dragonmount shall he be born, born of a maiden wedded to no man.

Pretty obvious. Rand was born on the slopes of Dragonmount. His mother was a Maiden of the Spear, and was, by default, married to no man.

The Shadow Rising; Introductory Prophecy:
The Shadow shall rise across the world, and darken every land, even to the smallest corner, and there shall be niether Light, nor saftey. And he who shall be born of the Dawn, born of the Maiden, according to prophecy, he shall strech forth his hands to catch the Shadow, and the world shall scream in the pain of salvation. All Glory to the Creator, and to the Light, and he to who shall be born agian. May the Light save us from him.

-from Commentaries on the Karaethon Cycle
Sereine dar Shamelle Motara
Counsel-Sister to Comaelle,
High Queen of Jaramide
(circa 325 AB, the Third Age)

Basic, ominus, vague prophecy saying that life will get worse before it gets better and agian describeing the circumstances of Rand's birth.

The Shadow Rising; ch.3, Reflection:
His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul, washing away the Shadow, sacrifice for man's salvation.

Another referance to the Dragon Reborn's blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul. If the blood sacrifice is Galad, then it could be that the purity of his blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul could weaken the Shadow during a critical moment, allowing victory.

The Shadow Rising; ch.6, Doorways:
Power of the Shadow made human flesh, wakened to turmoil, strife and ruin. The Reborn One, marked and bleeding, dances the sword in dreams and mist, chains the Shadowsworn to his will, from the city, lost and forsaken, leads the spears to war once more, breaks the spears and makes them see, truth long hidden in the ancient dream.

The power of the Shadow made human flesh, wakened to turmoil, strife and ruin is a referance to the Forsaken, having just awakened from the 'long sleep' to a world ripe for the picking.
The Reborn one is Rand, and he dances the sword in dreams and mist when he goes to Ruhidean to fight Asmodean.
Chaining the Shadowsworn to his will is obviously Asmodean. Breaking and making the spears see the truth was fufilled when Rand informed the Aiel of there Way of the Leaf heritage.

The Shadow Rising; ch.21, Into the Heart:
Into the heart, he thrusts his sword, into the heart, to hold their hearts. Who draws it out shall follow after. What hand can grasp that fearful blade?

Rand drove Callandor into the heart of the stone so that the Tearian lords would remember that he will be back.
Whether, 'who draws it out shall follow after' means that they shall go to Rand, or that the second drawing of the blade follows the first is unclear.
The final bit asks a good question; Rand has woven so many traps around Callandor that any one but himself that tries to remove the blade should be destroyed. Some possible ways around that include Mat (or somone with Mat's fox head medallion) or a Gholam sent to get the blade by one of the forsaken.

The Fires of Heaven; Introductory Prophecy:
With his coming are the dread fires born again. The hills burn, and the land turns sere. The tides of men run out, and the hours dwindle. The wall is pierced, and the veil of parting raised. Storms rumble beyond the horizon, and the fires of heaven purge the earth. There is no salvation without destruction, no hope this side of death.

-fragment from The Prophecies of the Dragon
believed translated by N'Delia Basolaine
First Maid and Swordfast to Raidhen of Hol Cuchone
(circa 400 AB)

Basic, ominus, vague prophecy warning the world of the pain and hardship that is to accomapany the Dragon's rebirth.

Lord of Chaos; Trailer Prophecy:
The unstained tower breaks and bends knee to the forgotten sign. The seas rage, and storm clouds gather unseen. Beyond the horizon, hidden fires swell, and serpents nestle in the bosom. What was exalted is cast down; what was cast down is raised up. Order burns to clear his path.

-The Prophecies of the Dragon
translation by Jeorad Manyard
Govenor of the Province of Andor for
the High King, Aurtur Paendrag Tanreall

The unstained tower is obviously the White Tower, and the forgotten sign is the flame & fang that is on Rand's banner. Several Aes Sedai have sworn fealty to rand on bent knee.
The rageing seas, unseen storm clouds and hidden fires imply danger yet to come.
Serpent's nestleing in the bosom speak of people that can't be trusted (i.e. Taim, Aran'gar, Dashiva) being given that trust and from their posstions causing strife and heartache. The casting down and raising up perhaps refers to the Aes Sedai and the Asha'man.

A Crown of Swords; Introductory Prophecy:
There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow, for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone, in pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon the mountains to kneel, and the seas to give way, and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears, and the soul of fire, love.

-from a much disputed translation of
The Prophecies of the Dragon by the poet
Kyera Termandal, of Shiota, believed to have
been published between FY 700 and FY 800

The first part of this prophecy is quite vauge, but I take it to mean that as long as the Dragon suffers from impending insanity and the taint and his self imposed isolation, that the land and the people will also suffer great hardship due to the Dark One's touch and the Forsaken.
Soul of fire and heart of stone, are representive of the Dragon's temper and his isolation.
The focing the proud to yield is a referance to Rand forcing nobles to his will.
The bit about mountains kneeling and skies bowing speaks of the Dragon's increasing arrogance (i.e. his dealings with the Sea Folk, claiming the crown of Illian.)
The final bit, says that Rand is going about it the wrong way, he can't isolate himself and he must remember that he is still human or all shall fail.

A Crown of Swords; ch.34, Ta'veren:
The north shall he tie to the east, and the west shall be bound to the south.

Rand takes this to mean that he shall unite all the peoples. That is to easy. More likely it means that he shall unite the north and the east (Borderlands, Cairhien, Tear, Illian) against a force from the west and the south (Tarabon, Arad Doman, Amacadia, Altara, Almoth Plain) which are in the Seanchan's control. What side the central nations (Andor, Murandy and Ghealdan) will fall onto in this battle is unclear, though I would suspect at least Andor siding with the Dragon Reborn.

A Crown of Swords; Trailer Prophecy:
Master of the lightnings, rider on the storm,
wearer of a crown of swords, spinner-out of fate.
Who thinks he turns the Wheel of Time,
may learn the truth too late.

-From a fragmentery translation of The
Prophecies of the Dragon, attriubtted to Lord
Mangore Kiramin, Sword-Bard of Aramelle and
Warder to Caraighan Maconar, into what was then
called the vulgar tounge (circa 300 AB).

The first little bit may be simply a fancy way to let the reader know that the prophecy is talking about the Dragon after he takes Illian, or it could be a direct referance to Rand's 'accident' with Callandor in The Path of Daggers; 24, A Time For Iron.
If the first bit is a referance to Rand's mistake, then the second is possibly a referance to the flaw of Callandor, and how Rand might not learn of the flaw until it's too late, as did happen.

The Path of Daggers; 24, A Time For Iron:
Miraj had seen several volumes of The Karaethon Cycle printed in these lands, an they were corupted too - not one mentioned him serving the Crystal Throne! - but the Prophecies held men's minds and hearts still.

Considering that this is Seachan's view of the Prophecies of the Dragon Reborn, it may be corrupted by Seanchan propagnada. However it can not be discounted simply becuase of that. If Rand does serve the Seanchan it seems to me that the two black-iron-braclets-and-collar-a'dam-type-thingy that Elayne and Nynaeve found in Tanchico would play a role. Whether or not Bayle Doman was succesful in depositing it in the sea is unknown. It is however known that the Seanchan now hold Tarabon, where Captian Doman was last seen.

The Balance
by Sorhan al'Danielle

* The idea about an essay over the balance had already been in my mind, but I didn't start to think about it seriously until after I read Aelric's account of his reincarnation and his self-battle with the Dark One. Before reading his account I had always thought of evil and good being two natural opposing forces that must fight, always keeping a balance. However, after reading Aelric's story I decided to think about the balance deeper, and this is what my essay is. It is written in something of a monologue to myself. Please excuse me if it starts to sound like mad rambling, but I had to write it down or I would go crazy thinking about it.

I looked up from the book that I was reading, pondering ever more about the nature of balance. It had become an obsession, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. It was for this reason that I finally decided to write down my ideas, and come to a conclusion. I spoke the words out loud while I wrote them in the hope I would gain their meaning and importance better. My pen started to scribble on the paper as I spoke.

"Is the balance a natural occurrence? Yes, how can anyone looking at the world say that balance isn't a critical part of a healthy ecosystem. When a system is unbalanced, it works to become balanced, it is the Law of Equilibrium. This is a simple description of the balance, but in practice it is much more complex. Specially to the human mind, which wishes for a 50-50 split between two different forces for the balance. However, this wish is not only impossible it is very shallow and weak. If the natural was this superficial, it most likely would have fallen apart from the start. In nature the balance is a complex web of forces many carrying much power yet they all balance each other.

The human need for simplicity is not found in the natural balance, it is for this reason that humans create a simpler balance to put their minds at ease. This simpler balance is the belief of good versus evil. However, this is not a natural balance as in nature there is no such thing as good or evil. In nature there are life and death, order and chaos, day and night. In nature the balance is completely inhuman, there is no mercy or justice, just as there is no evil, the balance is in its purest essence, totally mathematical.

However the human perversion of the balance is in reality an imbalance to start with, our creation (human balance) is a part of the complex natural web. As humans are an imbalance to start with, we create barriers against nature and thus we imbalance the equilibrium of our world, our creation being an imbalance balances humanity in nature.

Is it possible for a human to be perfectly balanced, or totally evil or good? No! The only way a human could be totally balanced, or totally evil or good is if the human was perfect. Granted a human can be mostly good or mostly evil, this is possible because it still follows the Law of Equilibrium.

Can either good or evil completely triumph? The answer to this question is theoretically yes but in reality no. In theory only evil can completely triumph, this is because the human character is usually barbaric and chaotic making it impossible even in theory for good to completely win. If evil were to completely triumph, it would turn on itself like a serpent eating its own tail until nothing remained, leaving the world a tomb as it would have taken everything with it. It is for this reason that the battle against evil must always be taken, for as long as one person fights for good then evil cannot completely win, because indefinitely the balance will make that last person very powerful in one form or another (direct power, intelligence, lucky, etc. . .). Good can never truly win because evil is always lurking in the human conscious. However, let us look beyond this and say the good did completely win. If this did happen, we would no longer know the meaning of good because the definition of good is the opposite of evil. Our created balance would have completely fell apart, as our attempt to explain the natural balance will have failed. However, in reality neither good or bad can totally win, as there will always be humans willing to be martyrs of their faith (evil or good). For this reason, the struggle of good and evil is actually the quest each of us face to define ourselves as human. This however doesn't mean that one of these sides cannot dominate. We know from history that there were times where good was stronger than evil, and vice versa. This is possible because the power of evil/good has grown to shift the equilibrium toward its side of the balance. As this created balance is just a piece, granted a very volatile piece, of a more complex natural balance it will later have the equilibrium shift the other way. For example, during the Age of Legends good was dominating evil, however this period came to an end when an age where evil dominated good started. Because of this constant shifting balance neither good or evil are ever truly equal in power at one time, but in the long run they end up being a perfect balance of the other.

In our need for examples we have chosen two "perfect" entities. The two perfect entities that we have chosen are the Creator representing good and order, and the Dark One representing evil and chaos. I say they are perfect entities for one reason alone, they're totally of one side of our created balance, either one hundred percent evil/good. One may disagree with this statement but I will continue to defend it, because if everything an entity does is evil/good, this entity must know every time what is evil and what is good to make the decision of doing evil/good all the time.

Is it a surprise that the Dark One, the representative of evil has more influence in the world than the creator, the representative of good? No. This balance if nothing else was created to help explain nature, however it has grown to be a spiritual quest of sorts where we must test ourselves. The side of good is weaker in the living world because it symbolizes how much more strength a human needs to surpass his nature for destruction and death. This symbolization also weakens the side of good by making the side of evil an easier path, granted this easier path often ends in a quick and early death at the hands of a more evil opponent."

I go back to read what I've said, and start wondering if anything I have written will make any sense to anyone else who attempts to read it.

"Then again maybe it is better if nobody understands what I've written, and come to their own conclusion about the balance of good and evil. As it is the reader who must live with his/her view of the balance, as I am already comfortable with my new understanding."

I left the words unsaid, but they could surely be felt, that the true understanding of the balance is that there can be no full understanding, we come to understand only a minuscule piece (a different piece is discovered by every person as nobody thinks exactly the same) of the puzzle, which our minds are willing to swallow.

"I truly hope that this wasn't a complete waste of your time for reading this, but even if it is, I am still glad that I have written this and gotten it off my mind."