What exactly was it about then?

[Taylor]

At the end of the final chapter right before the epilogue Rand understands something I am still befuddled on. In a moment of realization he "understood, finally, that the dark one was not the enemy. It never had been". Does this simply mean that the dark one cannot be the enemy because his existence is inevitable and necessary, or something deeper I am not getting to. Discuss.

[Bryan]

No, I think you've hit the nail directly on the head here. Shai'tan represents the darkness in mankind, and the point of the statement that you quoted here is that there can be no good without evil, no light without darkness, ect.
Although I enjoyed(most of) the series, I wouldn't say there was much about it that was particularly "deep".

[Peter]

I concur. But I don't read fantasy for anything except escapist enjoyment, so I don't want 'deep'.

[Kirkus]

The insights where very shallow at the end. It was abit like the matrix. Rand bends to spoon that is impossible to bend. He got awesome superpowers at the end, being able to manipulate reality like one could in the dreamworld.

[David]

The Last Battle. The scion of good faces the heart of evil. Hot Channing-Tatum-as-Buddhist-Jesus-with-a-Sword against a blank, black wall that talks with its CAPS LOCK ON. What did we realy expect them to accomplish other than a long, repetitive, slightly disjointed and simple contemplation of "What is evil?", "What is free will?" and the dumb resolution that humans can be good and have free will and live a happy, trolloc-free existence if we just lock the devil up in an unbreakable cage and forget he exists?

[Peter]

Lowest common denominator, maybe. Which is fine by me. Deep philosophical treatises belong in philosophy books and literary fiction (where the critics views are far more important than mundane things like readability and saleability) not epic fantasy. At least this one didn't pretend that evil can be destroyed, like, eg, LOTR.

[Gary]

Ying and Yang

[Helen]

I think I remember there being a scene where Rand sees what the future would be like if he killed the Dark One. Where there was nothing to strive for, nothing to struggle against. Although you are right, none of this is very deep or philosophical, I really liked how this vision helped Rand decide not to kill the Dark One. I agree, I do not look to epic fantasy for anything very deep, just escapism. Do you think that LOTR said that there was no more evil in the world? I thought it just meant that that particular manifestation of it was gone?

[Denis]

**MASSIVE SPOILERS**







LOTR was influenced by a western view of the battle between good and evil, or specifically a western catholic's view of good and evil. Ask a catholic what happens in the end and he'll tell you that good destroys evil. Evil is something to be extinguished, denied, eraticated from the world.

WOT has some western and eastern influences, the ancient symbol of the aes sedai itself being directly inspired by Yin/Yang. The conclusion of the final battle basically has the direct intervention of the Dragon and the Dark One being removed from the world.

Rand realised that the Dark One was not an entity, but a natural force that is one part of the whole. The concept that the people in the WOT had held of the dark one wasn't that dissimilar from our western concept of the Devil, and this turned out to be inaccurate in the WOT. This misconception proved to be dangerous, as Rand perceived Shai'Tan as a foe to be vanquished and nearly brought upon the world a different kind of hell on earth. Purging all evil from existence would have been an act of great evil itself. The enemy in this case was an upset in the balance of these two forces. This is hinted at throughout the book before Rand's realization at the end. This was my take.

[Helen]

In my opinion this is a good description. Thank you for saying it so clearly.

[Christian]

Denis wrote: "**MASSIVE SPOILERS**
Right on Denis, every time Rand appears in a dead or dying place like the blight, (where the balance is skewed towards evil) life springs up around him, we saw this a few books back when the rotten apples in the orchards turned healthy just in time for harvest, just as Rand walked by it on his way to Dragon mount... It is deeper than most epic fantasy, and it's ok. I am all for escapism, but to me the fictitious world still has to make sense, and the philosophical depth of it is a welcome bonus as far as I am concerned. That takes away nothing of the escape, doesn't make you think too hard where you have to read it twice. it's is complex enough to keep it all together in a logical way. At the very end, it says it is not the end, just one end, as the wheel turns and the fourth age begins, it will also end just to be renewed. This time the struggle of evil versus good, ended as it was supposed to be: Balanced. During Lews Therin time, it ended eskewed slightly towards evil, leaving behind the taint on siding and the folly of Lews Therin survived in the rebirth. I liked it, what I didn't get was why did he have to switch bodies with Morridin of all people. I understand the fact that it gave him a shot at a new life, rid of the Dragon reborn, but he could have just altered his appearance and that of Morridin... I would have liked to have read that to the keen eye of Thom Merrilin perhaps was the only one who noticed that Rands body as it burned in the funeral pyre was slowing reverting back to that of Morridin... Something like that. But then again, that is perhaps what the clue with the lighting of the pipe was... Rand looked like Morridin now, but could revert back to his own body even healthier than before, without side wound, without a missing hand... Again, I liked the depth, it's is full of sympolic clues throughout the entire series. No complaints from me.






LOTR was influenced by a western view of the battle between good and evil, or specifically a western catholic's view of good and evil. Ask a catholic what happens in the..."

[Irene]

I think the last 3 books are about the author's release of his life. it is about the pain of leaving this life and the hope of a far better place.

[John]

What about the traveling people? Did they ever find the song? I loved this book but it left me the same way the dark tower series did, sitting on the toilet staring into the mental distance saying,
" Do... what now?"

[Victor]

The traveling people didn't find their song.

[Kirkus]

The Song was only possible to sing together with Ents. Since the "last" Ent died in book 1-2? we knew that their search was futile. The traveling people had so distorted memories that they didnt even know they where searching for Ents, just the song.

[Bryan]

I took that this was a large cycle that would happen again and again. Rand locked the dark one away and then later (many generations later) they would open its Cage and release it thus starting the whole series again. This isn't the beginning but it is a beginning.

[Michael S.]

I'm just so glad to see that I'm not the only one confused by that statement by Rand that the dark one isn't the real enemy and never was. I'm still not sure exactly what to make of that. It's easy to say that re realized that evil is neccesary in order for its opposite (good) to exist, but it sure seemed like there was something more literal to it when he said that.

And I disagree about The Wheel of Time not being "deep." I found a quite a lot of "food for thought" throughout the series. It's filled with lessons for real life. (making difficult but neccasary choices, the difficulties of leadership, sacrifices for the greater good, the importance of family and friends just to name a few of the main and most recent ones) I also really enjoyed the metaphors of Light and Dark. Maybe I have a different concept of "deep."

[Akivac]

I understood that to mean that the Dark One himself really had little power until there were those who swore themselves to him. Also, that the Dark One was a necessary evil (sorry) for the world to exist as it did.

[J.T.]

Perhaps the real enemy is within. I saw the Dark One as a manifestation of evil that could only touch the physical world through those who had given themselves over to its power. It grew stronger and spread to a greater degree with every individual who succumbed to the lust for immortality, power, greed, or dominion. The entire series is representative of a struggle to maintain individual integrity and overcome inner weaknesses.