[RgAscendant]

That was EXACTLY the kind of response I wanted, cheers.

Oh jesus, I never thought about that, I thought that the Age of Legends was the beginning of every cycle, and that all knowledge and artefacts from the previous cycle was lost when it ended. That's really made me think more about the cycles. Does this mean, in a way, that Lews Therin was also the Dragon Reborn? Or were there no previous records of the Dragon for them to compare to? I thought I must be, I was just confused at people saying that the Dark One was imprisoned at Shayol Ghul. Does this mean he was banished from reality, but a taint was left at this place? It's just that Lanfear tells Rand that standing inside Shayol Ghul is an amazing experience, as you can actually feel the Dark One in your presence. Kick ass, is there any more to do with Perrin being able to speak with wolves and Mat being able to speak the Old Tongue?

Cheers for your response, it made me think a lot.

[Krunch]

Nope they're more loose than that, each one starts where the last leaves off. The next cycle is likely to begin with rudimentary firearms and steam power which will likely shape that one into a very different world than the current, more science and less magic. The previous cycle had far superior magical capabilities, and yet they never figured out how to do some of the things that are commonplace in the current time, like forming the Warder bond. No records in the story go back far enough to tell for sure. But the Lews Therin does seem to hint that he has had contact with a previous self. It's just the "thinnest" (again using their words) area of the pattern itself. Someone remarks at one point that the bore in the prison is "everywhere at once" but it is easiest to detect at Shayol Ghul. Thus the prison is just outside the pattern (another dimension whatever), not at a specific physical location. I could probably back up my point of view better if I had read the series less than 3 years ago. You'll have to find out for yourself.

[Drew]

Krunch, I edited in spoiler tags - use them.

[Krunch]

Originally Posted by Drew

Krunch, I edited in spoiler tags - use them.

Sorry I didn't know there was such a thing. Thanks for the fix.

[RgAscendant]

Originally Posted by Krunch

That's really interesting, I just thought all cycles were exactly the same with very minor differences. Does this mean that the Aes Sedai will eventually die out, as they won't be needed as much? Or will there still be need for them to train girls who can channel so they won't kill themselves? And was the Age of Madness the end of the last cycle, or the beginning of the current one?

And sorry about the spoiler tags (or lack of), Drew.

[Krunch]

Originally Posted by RgAscendant

They'll still be around. The One Power is integral to the universe in the story. Since it will never go away I doubt they would either. The organization will change, but there will always be channelers. But we'll never know. We'll be lucky if the series even gets concluded at this point. I'd say the Age of Madness was the end of the last cycle. There were years (I'm not sure how long it was, but it was multiple years) where the whole world was in chaos starting shortly after the bore was sealed. When enough of the men were killed, killed themselves, or killed each other, the dust began to settle and people started trying to rebuild. That would be the beginning in my opinion. People stood up to see a very different world than they remembered. The rampage of the men physically changed the landscape all over the world and whole areas were lost and people separated from their old homes couldn't find their way back. Some people are of the opinion that the entire history of the world repeats after thousands upon thousands of years, which may be a more exact repetition instead of the loose history repeating itself that we see in the last few ages. Most of this kind of information is only left in small tidbits and hints in the text so it's hard to say for sure.

[RgAscendant]

Damnit, I hope he does manage to finish up the series, there's so much I want to know! You've been great in this thread, thanks a bunch!