Rand al'Thor

Q: Did Egwene as Amrylin happen to be watching people's dreams while Rand was shielded?  A: I'm not quite sure I understand the question. Again? 
Q: Since Rand was shielded and couldn't form andy Wards on his dreams could Egwene have spied out that he was in trouble while in Tel aran' rhiod? 
A: Ah. Yes, she could have. The problem is, when you've learned that something is impossible, you have a tendency to stop trying it. She just didn't try to spy during the period in question. 

Q: If Rand's mother isn't Aiel, was she formerly Queen of Andor? 
A: Read and find out!

Q: My question has a few parts When Pe left the Two Rives did he tell people who he was going to see? Did Rands Father come/ Does he know about Rand being The DR? 
A: 1. Read and find out. 2. No, Rand's father did not come. 3. Read and find out!

Q: Exactly how tall is Rand? 
A: Six foot five to six foot six.

Q: Your societies seem to all place women in a very influential role. Any particular reason why you created so many matriarchies? Also, do you already have a solution for Rand's love triangle? 
A: 1. 3000 years ago, the world was destroyed by men: specifically men, and for all of that time, every society has been afraid of any man who can channel. The result has to be greater power and influence for women. 2. Yes.

Q: Rand recovered verly quickly from his dual healing.. is this because of the way men heal or because of the warder bond.. or both? 
A: Partly the warder bond and partly the kind of healing that was used on him. It should be obvious that Damer Filnn has discovered the same method of healing that Nynaeve uses and of course, he still is not completely Healed, remember.

Q: What is going to happen with Elayne, Min, Rand and Avhi in their relationship? Will they all get along? 
A: "Read and find out!" he chuckled richly. ;)

Q: I am an avid reader of author Ayn Rand. A hero in her novel The Fountainhead matches _Rand_'s physical description exactly. Coincidence?
A: Coincidence--I'm afraid I haven't read Ayn Rand since college.

Q: Why has Rand not made any attempt to reach or communicate with Tam? Is he trying to remain isolated from his former life? 
A: Remember that Rand believes that the more interest he shows in his family, and in any of the people of the two rivers, the more he makes them a target. If his enemies believe that they hurt Rand by hurting Tam or hurting the two rivers, then they will, so Rand has set himself on a course of pretending to have forgotten his past. Pretending to have grown beyond his rude country beginnings. He thinks he has to make his enemies believe that the two rivers no longer mean anything to him. And the same for Tam.

Q: WOuld Rand technically be a bladesmaster since he killed the Seanchan BM in Great Hunt? Or is there more to being a bladesmaster than that? 
A: There's more to it than that.

Q: Will rand end up with all three girls or just one? =) 
A: Rafo.

Q: is Rand the most powerful channeler alive right now? 
A: RAFO.

Q: how much of Jesus Christ is there in Rand? We have the wounded palms, side wound, crown of swords...How representational of JC is Rand? 
A: Rand has some elements of Jesus Christ, yes. But he is intended more to be a general "messiah figure." An archetype such as Arthur, rather than a manifestation of Jesus Christ in any way.

Q: Out of all the 'evil' characters you've created in the 8, now 9 books of the Wheel of Time series, which charcacter is the most dangerous to Rand?
A: Hmmm. Actually, I think the most dangerous character to Rand is Rand -- but among the others, each of them has their own particular danger toward Rand.

Q: First, thanks for such a wonderful series. Your unsurpassed character development, such an important part of fiction writing, makes this series stand head and shoulders above similar-themed works. My question is about balance. Obviously your world is driven by pattern and balance (male and female, light and dark, etc). Why is it that as many of your major and minor characters find their complement (i.e. significant other), Rand has 3, ehh, girlfriends. Is this simply because he's the "big cheese", or does this obvious imbalance represent the Wheel weaving what is necessary for the final resolution of the story?
A: Read and find out. Sorry about that!

Q: Did you draw on folklore and mythologies for your books? Specifically, Mat as a paralell to Odin, with his spear that has Thought and Memory on it (Odin's raven's) and the distinct possibility that he's gonna lose an eye sometime soon?
A: I've tried to reverse engineer myths and legends as if this was a game of whispers. By the time the whispers travels around the room it changes. The legends of the world today are what the last child said. I'm trying to remember what was on the original paper. Yes, Odin, Yes Ran has Arthur in him. But the stories have changed so the legends are ultimately not at all alike

Q: why do rand, mat and perrin see colors when they think of each other?
A: the acronym is RAFO - read and find out

Q: how come the first character you came up with isnt a 30 yr old rand anymore? when did this change?
A: the 1st char I came up was not a 30 yr old rand, it was that the 1st version of rand was a 30 yr old man. I changed that because i wanted the character of rand to find everything beyond his village to be strange and new.

Reports from signings

 In tDR, when Rand encountered the lady merchant and her soldiers and slaughtered the whole bunch, did he have a good reason for doing so?  Were they all really Darkfriends?  Was that eleventh man really a grey man, or did Rand just count wrong? He said that it's not supposed to be clear to the reader exactly what is going on. What _is_ supposed to be clear is that there was definitely a grey man in the party.  But whether or not Rand knew that before he lopped off their heads, we're _not_ supposed to know.  It's supposed to be unclear whether Rand is just very observant, or whether he's on the brink of madness.

As I promised, here is a short synopsis of what RJ said at the book signing regarding whether or not Rand is King Aemon Reborn.
For Rand to be Aemon reborn, Rand would have to be the same height as Aemon if Lanfear was correct in TSR that Rand is always the same height in each of his lives.
RJ stated that Aemon was 6'1" tall, but when I asked if Lanfear was correct, RJ stated that she was not. Normally this would not say either way if Rand was Aemon.
RJ knew immediately where I was heading (this is one very intelligent man). RJ confirmed that Rand is NOT Aemon. :-(
*sighs*. He stated that it was like an author's perogative to dangle "bait" in front of people and snatch it away. That's cruel and twisted. :-)
This not just torpedoes my theory out of the water, but just nukes it completely.
Thanks to Adrian for letting me use you as a sounding board for my theory.
If anyone wants his exact words, I can post a transcript later.

Here's what I got...
Mahiro: "Mr. Jordan..."
The Creator: "Yeah."
Mahiro: "How tall was the last king of Manetheren?"
The Creator: "The last king of Manetheren...?"
Mahiro: "Uh-huh."
The Creator: "The last king of... Height?"
Mahiro: "Yes."
The Creator: "Ummm...He'd be about 6'1" [six feet one inch]."
Mahiro: "6'1"? Okay. And was Lanfear correct that Rand is always the same height in each of his lives?"
The Creator: "Ahhh, no."
Mahiro: "No... okay. Thank you."
[At this point I turned to leave.]
The Creator: "Rand uhhh, Rand was not the last King of Manetheren."
Mahiro: "Thank you."
The Creator: "I very rarely come out and tell you guys something like that. It's much more intriguing to simply dangle a bit of "bait" in front of you and snatch it away. But, ahh no. That's that's that's definitely a "blue sky" direction."
Aan'allein, there it is nervous statements and all. You should have been there. "you can... hear him. You can... bathe in his presence...words cannot even begin to describe it. You must experience it to know. You must."
Oops, got a little carried away there... ;-)

Rand and Tam al’Thor originally started out as one character.
He is a man in his 30s from Emond’s Field in the present.
(Earlier, when his story ‘starts’) There isn’t much for a kid from a small village out wherever to do that does not involve backbreaking work. At about 15, he runs away to become a soldier (yes, a field that does involve backbreaking labor). After 20 years or so as a soldier, Rand/Tam wants to go home, but when he does, he realizes he’s no longer the boy that left that little village. “And prophecy is on his heels”. Maybe something of the sort will be done in a future series.

Talking about why the Tam/Rand main character becamse just Rand.
A: ...see this world for the first time, so that at the same time as the reader is seeing something for the first time, so are these people from this small town.

Raina's Hold / Thus Spake The Creator - Index