"The lions sing and the hills take flight.
The moon by day, and the sun by night.
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool.
Let the Lord of Chaos rule.”—chant from a children's game
heard in Great Aravalon,
the Fourth Age
Each of the books in this series begins on a foundation of repetition. One of the repetitive elements is that preceding the narrative is every entry is a quote from an ancient text. It should go without saying—but won’t—that these ancient texts exist only within the historical precedent of the invented fantasy world. In fact, every allusion or reference to ancient history or ancient literature is invented and exists only within that historical precedent. This is the nature and character of the fantasy novel, especially those involving series set in such invented realms. Obviously, in this case, the quote is allusion that situates the meaning of the title. Which, one certainly hopes, will be further elaborated upon within the narrative.
“Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made.
Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades.
What was asked is given; the price is paid.
He had gotten the worst of that deal.”
The agreeing to treaties, signing of treaties, imposition of treaties and mere existence of treaties play a big role in this particular novel. Of such significance are treaties—and the way in which they eventually reveal who is the winner and loser of the deal—that they even become the subject of ancient poetry. To clarify: “Old Tongue” is the original language spoken in is termed the Age of Legends. A dead language, only a select fraction of those alive can translate it. So that tells you something right there. This is yet another example of the deeply immersive quality of the fantasy genre which has been known—on more than a few occasions—to produce entire spin-off texts treating the ancient mythology of the invented universe as a historical record to be seriously studied. In addition, the web is filled with amateur fandom sites exploring this mythology with the same seriousness and devotion.
On a day of fire and blood, a tattered banner waved above Dumai's wells, bearing the ancient symbol of Aes Sedai.
On a day of fire and blood and the one power, as prophecy had suggested, the unstained tower, broken, bent knee to the forgotten sign.
The first nine Aes Sedai swore fealty to the Dragon Reborn, and the world was changed forever.
The repetitious framework of the series also extends to its closing lines, although in truth these are the absolute final closing lines. This is how the final chapter comes to a close and it is followed by a short Epilogue and then another quote from another ancient text. But these are the lines that stick with the plan which includes concluding on a note of ambiguity engendered by the necessity that the story does not come to an end. Until that final entry in the series is reached, the reader will come to the final lines of the final chapter caught in a state of stasis: an end that is not really an ending, but merely a bridge. Not exactly a cliffhanger in the traditional sense, but a foreshadowing, perhaps, of that which is to come next.
This is a presentation of the biggest problem facing the writer of a continuing series promising to lead to a climactic moment that resolves everything at the very end. One must give the readers something to chew on while they wait without giving away too much since, with exceptions so rare they are extremely notable, the author has likely not even started writing the next volume at the time concluding words are written. The dilemma is how to promise something enticing without really promising anything concrete.
