What is Tarmon Gai'don? (And a look at the nature of Time.)
by Janur of the Silvertribe

Something that's been on my mind for some time now is Tarmon Gai'don; the Last Battle. What is this "Last Battle"? A battle between the Dragon and the Dark one, yes, but can it really be the last battle? In order to follow my thoughts one must best have a basic understanding of this world and its Time.

Everything, from the biggest of mountains to the least of animals, is controlled by the great Wheel of Time. This "wheel" is time itself and is pictured with seven spokes. Each spoke represents an age; thus there are seven ages. Each age is different and as the Wheel turns it goes through the First age, the Second age and so on to the Seventh age. Now here's the tricky part, when the Wheel has spun past the Seventh age it beggins with the First age again, it spins a little different but basicly the events are the same as before. This is why it can not actually be the "Last" Battle; a fight between the Dragon and the Dark One must surely be considered one of the basic events of the age and thus the age will always return with a new battle.

As the Wheel spins through an age it weaves a pattern, a Pattern of an Age. The pattern consists of everything in that age. Every person, every rock, every event, everything has a thread in the pattern. The pattern is the very substance of which the universe is made. Each age makes a seperate patter. All these patterns are part of an even bigger pattern; the Great Pattern or the Lace of Ages.

Our age, the Fourth age, is nearing its end which will be marked with Tarmon Gai'don. So what is Tarmon Gai'don? Is it wrongly named the Last Battle? Does it merely mean the last battle in this age? Or, is this the very last age which with Tarmon Gai'don will mark the end of the Great Pattern? If so, then what will happen when no more Patterns are needed and Time itself is useless...