History TheWheelOfTime / TropesGToL

* GrandFinale: The final trilogy of books, ''The Gathering Storm'', ''Towers of Midnight'', and ''A Memory of Light'', which lead directly up to and include the Last Battle. In fact, this was all supposed to be one book when Robert Jordan was writing it, even if it required [[{{Doorstopper}} a new kind of library cart]], but he DiedDuringProduction, Creator/BrandonSanderson decided that the [[FourLinesAllWaiting sheer amount of plot threads]] that he needed to tie up meant he would need a trilogy, which includes a great increase in intensity over previous volumes.

* GrandFinale: The final trilogy of books, ''The Gathering Storm'', ''Towers of Midnight'', and ''A Memory of Light'', which lead directly up to and include the Last Battle. In fact, this was all supposed to be one book when Robert Jordan was writing it, even if it required [[{{Doorstopper}} a new kind of library cart]], but upon his AuthorExistenceFailure, Creator/BrandonSanderson decided that the [[FourLinesAllWaiting sheer amount of plot threads]] that he needed to tie up meant he would need a trilogy, which includes a great increase in intensity over previous volumes.

** Perhaps most disturbing of all, the Seanchan hold that all women with the "spark" or innate ability to channel must be leashed and controlled for the safety of all concerned. However, the women who hold the leashes, the ''sul'dam'', are women without the innate "spark" but who could be taught to channel (though this is not widely known). When this is pointed out to Tuon, she refuses to accept that she is [[NotSoDifferent the same as]] the Aes Sedai, because she ''chooses'' not to channel despite having the ability, but girls collared in Seanchan are taken before the ability manifests, so they are never given the choice of whether to channel, and since they are born with the "spark" they would eventually have done so whether or not they wished to.

* {{God}}: Entirely off-page. ''Anti-God'', Dualism-style, is the BigBad. It's implied in some ways that the Creator's powers are greater, since he was able to imprison the Dark One, but for whatever reason he's apparently unable to directly affect the world in ways the Dark One can.

*** More specifically, it would imply that the Creator is made of both halves of the power and the True Power, as that is what is used to perfectly seal the Bore. So basically the Creator is both good and evil.

** Imperial servants in general extoll forthrightness and honesty, keeping oaths etc., but the upper echelons of society are a DeadlyDecadentCourt, where most of the Blood periodically swear their allegiance to the throne while plotting to kill or defame each other.

* LowestCosmicDenominator: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualistic_cosmology Religious concepts with complicated real-world histories]] are brought down to the bare essentials necessary for an epic fantasy.

* GoodHurtsEvil: Rand, after [[spoiler:coming to terms with his existence in The Gathering Storm, has the power to passively negate the rotting and corrupting influence of the Dark One and no Darkfriends can meet his eyes without visible difficulty. When he actually uses the Power and goes all-out, he sent a couple insane at the Light that he emanates]].

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Androl is a mediocre channeler whose only talent is in making [[PortalDoor gateways.]] [[spoiler: With which, during the Last Battle, he parries balefire, reflects Fire weaves, drops dozens of people to their deaths, and ''[[LavaAddsAwesome swamps an entire Trolloc army in lava.]]'']]

* [[InsaneTrollLogic Insane Trolloc Logic]]: There's a fair share of this wandering around the westlands, partially due to GossipEvolution. For instance, the appearance of the Dragon Reborn is a signal that TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is nigh. Therefore, there are people who genuinely believe that if you kill The Dragon Reborn, the world will not end! What could be simpler!

** Minor example, as it's only Rand that the Waygates only worked for once. Perrin uses the Waygates in book 4, only encountering the Wind at the end of the journey. After book 5, Rand discovers Travelling, so it's not like he needs to use the gates anyway.

* LastStand: When Manetheren was invaded by trollocs, their army spent itself to the last man in defense against an invading force that stretched to the horizon, and are implied to have traded themselves at a rate of at LEAST one human to ten trollocs. This is after they had marched for days on end with no rest to reach Manetheren in time. And when the army was finally slaughtered, the queen of Manetheren killed herself to burn every single magic-wielder in the enemy army to ash.

* HideYourLesbians: Possibly. Quite a few minor female characters are "pillow friends," and one pair even gets blackmailed for it. However, it's debatable whether or not this actually fits the trope simply because the term "pillow friends" is this world's name for lesbians, and the word "lesbian" doesn't occur.

* LowestCosmicDenominator: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualistic_cosmology Religious concepts with complicated real-world histories]] are brought down to the bare essentials necessary for an epic fantasy.

* LivingLegend: Many, if not most, of the characters. Most apt would be Birgitte Silverbow, a Hero of the Horn, who is now wandering around the real world again.
** The Ta'veren PowerTrio - Rand, Mat, and Perrin - have literal, justified in-universe PlotArmor, so they can tell fate to go fudge itself. Their {{DistaffCounterpart}}s - Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha - are particularly strong channelers, who have discovered long-lost or completely new weaves. Min has a completely unique prophetic ability. Most of the above, and several other characters as well, have become politically important leaders over the course of the story, except for some who started out that way. Basically, the only people who ''don't'' qualify are the people Jordan doesn't see fit to mention.

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Lanfear. While she onced loved Lews Therin, after he rejected her it became obsession.

* GenreSavvy: Justified in-universe; see other mentions of ''ta'veren'' on this page. More than once, Aes Sedai who want to find certain characters who happen to be ''ta'veren'' do it by listening for rumors of really weird stuff going on, the kind of coincidences that happen around them all the time because they are Main Characters. In ''The Gathering Storm'', the reverse happens: an Aes Sedai experiences a succession of extremely unlikely events, and realizes it means destiny must be pushing her towards a ''ta'veren''.

** The Ta'veren PowerTrio - Rand, Mat, and Perrin - have literal, justified in-universe PlotArmor, so they can tell fate to go fudge itself. The distaff PowerTrio - Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha - are particularly strong channelers, who have discovered long-lost or completely new weaves. Min has a completely unique prophetic ability. Most of the above, and several other characters as well, have become politically important leaders over the course of the story, except for some who started out that way. Basically, the only people who ''don't'' qualify are the people Jordan doesn't see fit to mention.

* LoopholeAbuse: Aes Sedai take this trope and not only run with it but they manage to take the family farm, get elected as Mayor and take over the Women's Circle. The main reason that people don't trust Aes Sedai is that they'll make a promise or statement they have no intention of keeping and just find ways around it, they are very good at this. [[spoiler:This bites the Black Ajah in the ass when Verin exploits a very obvious loophole in their secrecy clause by poisoning herself to pass on the identites of all the Black Ajah she's been able to uncover.]]

** It's hard to believe ''any''one could be quite as dumb, complacent and arrogant as he seems, especially in a court like he comes from, but on the other hand he's been around for at least half the series and still has yet to reveal any hidden depths, so...

* LostTechnology: Rare remnants of the Age of Legends that draw on the One Power. ''Angreal'' increase the amount of power that can be safely channeled by a person. ''Sa'angreal'' are far rarer and more powerful versions of ''angreal''. ''Ter'angreal'', however, were each designed to do a particular thing and hence vary hugely in their function; some don't even require channeling to activate. The original purposes of most are largely unknown, and attempts to discover their purposes are ''extremely'' dangerous. Known ''ter'angreal'' include [[RestrainingBolt the Oath Rod]], items allowing access to the [[DreamLand World of Dreams]], a nigh-impossible-to-control ''[[DangerousForbiddenTechnique balefire]]'' rod, various portals to [[AnotherDimension other dimensions]], AntiMagic and magic detection items, portable wards against evil, [[WeaponOfMassDestruction the Choedan Kal's buffered access keys]]... (''Ter'angreal'' figure prominently in the game.)

* LoveMakesYouEvil

* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming -The Black Wind.

* LadyKillerInLove: Mat [[spoiler:to Tuon]], [[{{Tsundere}} not that he'll admit it]].

* KnifeNut: Mat carries enough knives to impress the ''Aiel''. Faile carries so many knives that Perrin worries about stabbing himself by accident if he hugs her. Min packs more knives then might be necessary too.
** And of course, we can't forget Thom, who was not only performing fancy knife tricks, but using them to kill enemies with contemptuous ease, right from the first book.
* KnightInSourArmor: Gawyn, Perrin, Talmanes, for that matter almost every noble/general who isn't a Darkfriend or [[JerkAss meglomaniac]].

* LadyKillerInLove: Mat, [[{{Tsundere}} not that he'll admit it]] although it seems his feelings have been manipulated by the universe in order to achieve his destiny, considering the woman is a veritable enemy with few redeeming qualities.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: Many powerful, female channelers. Standouts include [[TheAce Egwene]], [[BlueBlood Moiraine]], and [[WorldsStrongestMan Lanfear]].
* LaserGuidedKarma: See FateWorseThanDeath, many of the entries also apply here. Graendal spent the series mind-controlling people ? [[spoiler:She ends up locked in eternal compulsion to Aviendha. Which was Graendal's own.]] Mesaana, the evil scholar so proud of her intelligence, [[spoiler:gets turned into an EmptyShell, her mind utterly broken]]. Elaida, Lliandrin and Galina, all overproud, powerful and authoritarian women, all end up locked in some form of slavery. The very Aes Sedai who created the a'dam, Deain, was collared at some point after she presented the idea to Luthair; apparently "her screams shook the Towers of Midnight."
* LastStand: When Manetheren was invaded by trollocs, their army spent itself to the last man in defense against an invading force that stretched to the horizon, and are implied to have traded themselves at a rate of at LEAST one human to ten trollocs. This is after they had marched for days on end with no rest to reach Manetheren in time. And when the army was finally slaughtered, the queen of Manetheren killed herself to burn every single magic-wielder in the enemy army to ash.

** According to [[http://13depository.blogspot.com/2009/07/shadow-rising-read-through-17.html this essay]] as well as others at a [[http://13depository.blogspot.com/ fan produced]] [[AllThereInTheManual Manual]] indicates that this trope is played straight as a result of RuleOfSymbolism turned UpToEleven.

* [[KillItWithFire Kill It With Balefire]]

** Some channelers have innate Talents which allow sometimes-subconscious use of the One Power in ways which would be difficult or impossible for those without the Talent. Examples include Healing, predicting the weather, Foretelling, finding ores, and comprehension/reconstruction of LostTechnology.

%%* IKnowYourTrueName: Moridin uses his "mindtraps" to gain absolute dominance over [[spoiler:Moghedien and Cyndane]], turning them into his personal slaves as long as he holds the objects tied to their souls.

** InherentGift: There are a variety of extremely rare abilities that people can be born with, such as naturally accessing the World of Dreams, talking to wolves, ways of seeing the future, and sensing ''ta'veren''-- but despite what some characters believe, these have no connection with the One Power. Many others ''do'' however: innate Talents that allow sometimes-subconscious use of the One Power in specific areas that others might find extremely difficult or outright impossible: Healing, predicting the weather, Foretelling, finding ores, comprehension/reconstruction of LostTechnology, etc. And there is a difference between people who can ''learn'' to channel and people who have TheGift, and will begin to do it whether they are trained or not.

* IKnowYourTrueName: Moridin uses his "mindtraps" to gain absolute dominance over [[spoiler:Moghedien and Cyndane]], turning them into his personal slaves as long as he holds the objects tied to their souls.

** Mordeith. He is reason why Aridhol became Shadar Logoth because he convinced the residents there that they must become as evil as the Dark One in order to defeat the Dark One's forces.

** The Ways, which was corrupted by the ''saidin'' taint and became a lightless abyss haunted by a soul-devouring wind. [[FridgeBrilliance It is theorized in some parts, however, that this is less a product of ''saidin'' and more to do with Shadar Logoth. The Ways are living things, Shadar Logoth and Mashadar corrupt living things, and there is/was a Waygate in Shadar Logoth.]]
** The Void, the dark nothingness outside the Pattern that is used for Skimming. Infinite for all practical purposes---if you fall off the tiny platform you're on, you will either die of starvation, dehydration or fear.
* HypocriticalHumor: Here and there, and Nynaeve takes the cake, especially in book 5. Example:

** Also Mat complaining about Olver's behaviour with women.

** Imperial servants in general extoll forthrightness and honesty, keeping oaths etc. but the upper echelons of society are in a DeadlyDecadentCourt, where most of the Blood periodically swear their allegiance to the throne while plotting to kill or defame each other.

** Perhaps most disturbing of all, the Seanchan hold that all women who can channel must be leashed and controlled for the safety of all concerned, yet the women in charge of them, the sul'dam, can themselves learn to channel, though this is not widely known. When this is pointed out to Tuon, she refuses to accept that she is [[NotSoDifferent the same as]] the Aes Sedai, because she chooses not to channel despite having the ability, yet girls collared in Seanchan are taken before the ability manifests, so they are never given the choice of whether to channel, and all are born with the "spark", meaning they would eventually have done so whether or not they wished to.

** It is argued that Rand withholds his Asha'man forces for good reason: lack of trust; possibility of them going insane mid-combat ([[spoiler:though this is less of a concern after ''saidin'' is cleansed]]); keeping them in reserve for the Last Battle; the worry that combat between ''damane'' and Asha'man could easily result in the effect of a small nuclear bomb; and [[spoiler:his own almost uncontrollable urge to kill all of the Seanchan himself.]].

* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum: Rand never takes full advantage of his Asha'man forces, each man a walking weapon of mass destruction. He could ''[[JustShootHim easily]]'' wipe out the Seanchan before they ever knew what hit them--with surprise attacks if nothing else, as male channeling cannot be directly detected by females and techniques that ''don't'' cause huge explosions are always an option. The parody says it best:
-->'''Bashere:''' There are reports of a huge Seanchan army with hundreds of damane advancing towards Illian. You command over a million soldiers, and hundreds of Asha'man.\\

** It is argued that Rand withholds his Asha'man forces for good reason - lack of trust, possibility of them going off the rails mid-combat ([[spoiler:after the Cleansing, though, perhaps not so much.]]), keeping them in reserve for the Final Fight, not wanting to lessen the amount of people available to fight the Shadow, a battle between ''damane'' and Asha'man could easily result in the effect of a small nuclear bomb and [[spoiler:his own almost uncontrollable urge to kill them all himself.]].

* HolyBurnsEvil: Perrin's hammer ''Mahalleinir'' burns shadowspawn at touch.
* HolyHandGrenade: [[spoiler: Egwene's DyingMomentOfAwesome might be the closest approximation, the ''opposite'' of Balefire, repairing its damage to the fabric of reality... and turning a huge chunk of the enemy forces into crystal statues.]]
** The Horn of Valere fits even better. A magical relic of unknown origins which summons dead heroes back from the grave to fight. [[spoiler: First blown by Mat in book 2 to help defeat the Seanchan invaders. In the GrandFinale it is blown by HeartwarmingOrphan Olver in order to save himself from the Shadowspawn who have him trapped.]]

** For an even worse, intentional example, we have what [[ArchEnemy Ishamael]] did to [[PaterFamilicide Lews Therin Telamon]] after the event that gave him the name "Kinslayer". Using the [[TheDarkSide True Power]], he Healed Lews Therin of his [[DrivenToMadness taint]], which is described as excruciatingly painful even ''before'' he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes what happened]].

* HauteCuisineIsWeird: Mat Cauthon acquires two menservants used to working for high-ranking nobility, who serve him perplexingly fancy food in their efforts to outdo each other. Mat's confusion at being served an artistic arrangement of smoked tongues and quail eggs is compounded by the fact that the servants somehow acquired the ingredients in the middle of a cross-country voyage.

* HeadTiltinglyKinky: "The Nine Horse Hitch" is the name of an inn; Siuan is too embarrassed to explain the meaning of the name; and nothing else is revealed about it.
** It seems obvious; the Inn is named for a...''ahem''...[[BiggusDickus well-endowed man]]. As in, a regular "hitch" can only hook up two or three horses.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Androl is a mediocre channeler whose only talent is in making [[PortalDoor gateways.]] [[spoiler: With which, during the Last Battle, he parries [[RetGone balefire,]] reflects Fire weaves, drops dozens of people to their deaths, and ''[[LavaAddsAwesome swamps an entire Trolloc army in lava.]]'']]
* HenpeckedHusband: Just about every married man, to some degree. Ebou Dari wives wear knives to slice up or murder their husbands when they misbehave (while women in Far Madding "only" keep a leather strap handy), and Saldaean couples tend to resolve their differences through shouting matches. The latter's a subversion, since it's supposed to prove that the husband ''isn't'' henpecked, and is also taking his wife seriously.
** Perrin was this before [[spoiler:Faile's kidnapping]], and while he now stands up for himself the way she has been wanting all along, he occasionally slides back.

** Not just on the side of the Light; it's hinted in the last book (and confirmed by WordOfGod) that [[spoiler:Demandred]] was essentially the hero of his own parallel version of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' in [[spoiler:Shara]].
* HeroicSacrifice: In the second book, [[spoiler:[[TheMole Ingtar]] doing his [[HeelFaceTurn last stand]] vs the Seanchan army, to let the others escape.]] The sacrifice [[spoiler:of Verin]] in the twelfth book is much quieter but no less heroic.
** Arguably the most significant sacrifice is [[spoiler: Moiraine.]] Books 12 and 13 [[spoiler: however reveal that she's NotQuiteDead, though her 'sacrifice' did take out Lanfear for quite a while]].
** Book thirteen has another, fittingly enough connected to undoing the previous one: [[spoiler:Noal Charin]]. It, along with many other things in his life, result in it being so heroic [[spoiler:he [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence is made a Hero of the Horn]]]],
** Book 14 features [[spoiler:many of these. Gawyn and Egwene die of these, while Lan and Galad do not.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Mordeith. Rand, too: as his sanity started slipping, he became increasingly determined to harden himself in order to [[KickTheDog do what must be done]]; characters around him in turn become increasingly terrified of what he is becoming and what might happen if he fought the Dark One in such a state.
** Subverted with Rand [[spoiler: at the end of book 12 when he learns to laugh again]].

* HijackingCthulhu: You have the ''a'dam'', a slave collar that lets certain (mostly normal) women control Chanellers. This means someone below a novice can control the strongest possible chaneller if they have them captured. The male equivalent, the Domination Band, is even more appropriate, since it was made to control insane male channelers and briefly held [[spoiler: Rand himself]].

** In a hilariously [[MagnificentBastard magnificent]] move, Mat recruits the people of Hinderstap (cursed to go into a murderous frenzy every night, only to be revived in the morning) in the Last Battle, thus using the Dark One's evil against him.

** And in the biggest of biggies, [[spoiler: Rand uses the trap within Callandor to draw a vast amount of the True Power, the Dark One's own essence, and uses it to rebuild the seal around his prison]].
** Even before the last book. In ''Towers of Midnight'', Rand points out that his particular manifestation of madness (which stems from the Dark One's taint on ''saidin'') causes him to hear the voice of his previous incarnation in his head. But along with the ranting and raving comes knowledge of complex techniques and other information that help Rand succeed where he might otherwise be destroyed. As he points out, the taint itself is contributing to the Dark One's defeat.
** The Seanchan leash and enslave any woman who displays a natural ability to channel. Not just any woman can be a ''sul'dam'' and hold the leash, only some possess the necessary aptitude. The Seanchan are not initially aware that [[spoiler: the ''sul'dam'' are women who are capable of learning to channel, but haven't manifested this power yet. They find out when one of them is bound with the very leash she was using on a captured Aes Sedai.]]

* GrandFinale: The final trilogy of books, ''The Gathering Storm'', ''Towers of Midnight'', and ''A Memory of Light'', which lead directly up to and include the Last Battle. In fact, this was all supposed to be one book when Robert Jordan was writing it, with the name of the latter of the three titles (even if it required [[{{Doorstopper}} a new kind of library cart]]), but upon his AuthorExistenceFailure, Creator/BrandonSanderson decided that the [[FourLinesAllWaiting sheer amount of plot threads]] that he needed to tie up meant he would need a trilogy, which includes a great increase in intensity over previous volumes.

* GreenLanternRing: The One Power has enough potential uses to quallify it for this, considering that it helps drive time and existence itself. It does, however, have its limits, as does [[TheDarkSide the True Power]].

* HappilyMarried: Perrin and Faile & [[spoiler:Lan and Nynaeve]] are a bizarre variant of TheMasochismTango. In-universe, the couples are insistent that they're this trope. To be fair, there are instances of [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther undisputed affection]], especially from book 12 and onward.

* HarmfulHealing: Traditional forms of [[HealingHands Healing]] in the Third Age take strength from the recipient to Heal faster, resulting in exhaustion. For an even worse, intentional example, we have what [[ArchEnemy Ishamael]] did to [[PaterFamilicide Lews Therin Telamon]] after the event that gave him the name "Kinslayer". Using the [[TheDarkSide True Power]], he Healed him of his [[DrivenToMadness taint]], which is described as excruciatingly painful even ''before'' he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes]] [[HeelRealization what]] [[AccidentalMurder happened]].

* {{Gotterdammerung}}: First the Age of Legends ended when [[AndManGrewProud Man Grew Proud]]. Then the Covenant of the Ten Nations, the closest thing to a realistic historical Golden Age, was swept away by the Trolloc Wars. Then Artur Hawkwing's empire was undermined by his insanity and collapsed upon his death. Since, nations have dwindled in size, majesty, and vision, and by the time of the series, most monarchs cannot truthfully claim true control beyond a few hundred miles of their capital, and much of the continent is barren and uninhabited. The events of the books promise to herald the return of original glory- or a breaking worse than that seen before, with history ground to dust in the wake of chaos and war.

* AGlitchInTheMatrix -- Happens a lot in the World of Dreams, but they are only rarely serious enough for visitors to notice. There is a good chance that the average reader will miss glitches.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: The test for becoming an Aiel chief involves passing through a ter'angreal that causes them to relive key moments in the culture's history. Aiel [[HonorBeforeReason place such emphasis on honor]] that the shameful truth of their origins -- they betrayed the oath they lived by -- hits ''hard''. Rand enters at the same time as a real Aiel, and by the end the other man is clawing out his own eyes. (Rand has a rather unfair advantage here, since he wasn't raised as an Aiel.) [[spoiler:Rand later reveals the truth to ''everyone'', and hordes begin to defect from the old warrior lifestyle every day, either vanishing altogether, joining a rogue tribe, or returning to the pacifism which their culture started with.]]

* GoodIsNotNice: Cadsuane, the Aes Sedai in general, the Aiel, and Logain. Rand is also a prime example and [[LampshadeHanging says so himself]]. [[spoiler: The latter ultimately subverts this later.]]