Towers of Midnight SPOILER THREAD

[alguien]

I thought the tooth-filed red-veiled dudes might be those Bloodbrother Seanchan assassins without their cloaks?

[alguien]

Finally finished. Still not sure what to think. I both enjoyed more and was annoyed more at this volume compared to The Gathering Storm. Will probably post more thoughts later.

Right now, the thing that is sticking out most in my mind, that I'm really, really curious about is exactly what Ishamael did to Jain Farstrider?

How did he paint him like fool? How was he used? Why did he tell Mat to tell a Malkier that Jain Farstrider died clean? TELL ME!!!

Gah. Its things like this that bug me. I mean, the way Jain was talked about in the earlier books led me to believe he would have a much larger role and the reveal would be more integral to the plot. Instead, like a lot of the latter reveals, it was done almost sort of, "Oh yeah, that." Casually. And his death was kinda meaningless. If Mat had figured out the whole spear thing five minutes earlier, they could have got out fine.

[CryHavoc]

Right now, the thing that is sticking out most in my mind, that I'm really, really curious about is exactly what Ishamael did to Jain Farstrider?

How did he paint him like fool? How was he used? Why did he tell Mat to tell a Malkier that Jain Farstrider died clean? TELL ME!!!

Gah. Its things like this that bug me. I mean, the way Jain was talked about in the earlier books led me to believe he would have a much larger role and the reveal would be more integral to the plot. Instead, like a lot of the latter reveals, it was done almost sort of, "Oh yeah, that." Casually. And his death was kinda meaningless. If Mat had figured out the whole spear thing five minutes earlier, they could have got out fine.

We know Ishamael did something compulsion-y to Jain from the story of him stumbling into an Ogier Stedding half-crazed. Ishamael claims, I think in TEOTW, that he let him go and made him think he was free, but I don't know if we know if that's true, or if Jain escaped and Ishy's trying to save face.

As for Jain in Malkier, he's credited with tracking down the guy who betrayed them (Fairheart?) to the Shadow. I think it's likely that he actually had something to do with the betrayal because of Ishamael. Another possibility is that he blames himself because he didn't get the guy soon enough.

He also acts seriously wonky after joining up with Mat. I think there's a theory floating around that Graendal compulsed him, because there's one time when a Forsaken looks through a gateway into Graendal's place and sees a guy matching his description sitting among her toys.

I also think part of why these reveals seem so...blah is that for the most part we've known for freaking forever, which I think makes it a little more difficult to make the big reveal seem satisfying. Obviously it can be done, but I think it's harder when the whole audience is thinking "OMG we knew that four books ago, Mat; how the hell did you not notice."

[David Selig]

I finished I t in two days, which is insanely fast for me. Really gripping read overall. But just didn't have the same impact as TGS on me. There wasn't anything as good and as important in the grand scheme as Rand's character arc from the previous book. On the plus side, for the first time since forever pretty much every chapter moved the plot in some way and there were no "skippable" parts. Even Perrin was back to relatively enjoyable to read about, finally.

Best scene for me - Nynaeve's test for the shawl and especially her stepping up to the Aes Sedai who were testing her. It really demonstrated what a pathetic organisation of mostly petty selfish idiots the WT is and how ridiculous their traditions are. It's a bit unfortunate than Nynaeve has so few PoVs since Book 9, because she's been awesome since then.

I loved that we finally saw plenty of reunions between the characters, a lot of which were really funny. Mat-Perrin and Mat-Elayne especially.

I just have to chime in about Egwene. First, I don't think she was certain the dream about the crystal globe and the ropes is a warning that Rand must not break the seals. Note that she didn't mention it to nobody, when she explained why Rand's plan has to be stopped. She didn't even tell Wise Ones or Nynaeve and Elayne, who trust her abilities as a Dreamer. My admittedly biased impression was that she was her sexist and arrogant self and thus decided she knows better how to proceed in the last Battle than the Dragon Reborn with the LTT memories...Totally in character for her. Though Rand has some share of the blame too, he certainly could've made more of an effort to explain his reasoning for breaking the seals.

Speaking of Egwene being annoying, my biggest gripe wasn't even about the seals, though in the grand scheme of things it could be a crucial mistake. It was when she met Perrin in TAR during the crazy dream battle. She tied him up and intended to leave him there, knowing full well there are Black Ajah and a Forsaken roaming around. WTF was this? Even by Egwene's standards, it was just a terrible act.

Speaking of WTF moments, there were quite a few of those which made the book somewhat less enjoyable.

1)Verin's letter to Mat - it doesn't make sense that she didn't mention anything to Egwene about the Trolloc invasion. Even if she was fully confident Mat will open the letter (which would be a major misjudgement of his character since he's made it abundantly clear numerous times, including during his last meeting with Verin, that he doesn't want to get involved in Aes Sedai business in any way) at some point, this way would save crucial time since she knows Egwene can enter TAR and is close friend with Elayne.

2)The Trollocs are invading the Borderlands in huge numbers, but apparently neither Rand nor Egwene sent significant help to Kandor and it was overrun by Trollocs as a result.

3)Rand still refuses to deal directly with the Black Tower. This is even more annoying now, since he apparently has the ability to detect Darkfriends. You'd think his first priority would be to go and use this ability to sort out his strongest force. This really seems like of the typical Jordan "plot induced stupidity" to move the plot in the direction he wanted.

4)I know the Aes Sedai aren't the sharpest tools in the box, but the scene where Egwene tricked the Hall to give her authority to deal the Rand was still major WTF for me. None of her opponents remembered that Rand is a king of Illian?

5)Gawyn defeated 3 master assassins which had ter'angreals granting superhuman skills at one? Yeah, right...Next book he will probably kill 10 Fades at once while blindfolded or something...

Anyway, despite all this I still enjoyed it a lot. Plenty of funny moments, some really moving ones too (Aviendha's "flash forwards" especially), we finally got answers to decades old mysteries (I was right about Asmo's killer B) ), and I enjoyed that characters continued the trend from the previous book by sharing important info and talking to each other instead of keeping secrets from their closest friends for no reason.

[Solmyr]

As I was drawing near to the end of the audiobook yesterday evening, I was becomming more and more concerned there wouldn't be enough time for Mat to 'properly' save Moiraine. Then it happened and it was epic. And then the epilogue came and it blew all this away.

The only things of interest to me there were the red-veiled men ('Aiel') and Rand's dream.

Starting with the lesser - we have absolutely no evidence to believe those men were Aiel, besides the ramblings of a nearly-dead caravan-fellow. As I was listening to this part at ~4am and drifting to sleep already, my only connection was to un-Tarna - somehow they seemed brainwashed in the same manner. Let me say tho, I had not reached the 13x13 conclusion then and even now, when everyone seems to believe Tarna was 13x13 I am not certain it's that simple, especially given those men.

Now that I think about it, how has nobody mentioned Fain yet? You forgot him already, just because he was in the Prologue only? Shame. He is in the blight, moving to SG on foot ... killing everything in his way and raising it to serve him. He could've stumbled upon some Aiel and converted them. That discounts the Tarna/red-veiled men connection tho, since Fain couldn't have zombied her.

Another thing we have no evidence to believe is that those red-veiled cannibals can channel. People are just jumping to conclusions: "Oh that caravan guy says they look like Aiel, so they must be Aiel. Aiel in the blight? Only possibility is they are those men who went north. There, we figured it!". On the contrary we have sufficient evidence to believe they cannot channel. Why kill with their weapons/teeth? Why wander the blight alone? Why bother with a nearly-dead caravan driver? Surely in the eve of TLB the Shadow's channelers have more important things to do than cannibalizing corpses.

With that I conclude that we simply do not have enough information for anything, but speculation. And there are probably more possibilities than where D is.

Moving to the dream or as I see it, the grandest thing in the entire book. Again people seem quick at jumping to conclusions: "Obviously a trap, Moridin mentioned 1 page ago that 'this chance has been given to another', Rand is a sucker, etc". I don't wanna go into "how Rand got the dream" topic, as this might have to do with Rand-Moridin's connection and thats a vast ocean of possibilities and speculations (one that even Mat's dice might not get right). What interests me more is Mierin's motives/sincerety.

Maybe I'm as big a sucker as Rand is, but I think Mierin is honest. When Rand initially sees her he doesn't recognize her (new body). Only when he looks deep into her eyes and sees her soul he knows. With his new powers to see through darkfriends' lies and his ability to recognize souls, I don't think he can be fooled by a simple act.

Now as for Mierin's motives - she drilled the bore and was the first(?) of the Forsaken to declare for the Shadow. Yet, from what we've seen of her agenda, we can conclude it is a bit off from the DO's. 10/13 of the Chosen want to become NB. Demandred wants to kill LTT. Ishamael wants to end all things. Lanfear wants LTT to love her and to have THE power. Back in TSR-TFH when she often visited Rand we saw her fascination with the CK - she wanted to find the access keys more than anything, she suggested that she and Rand can use them to overthrow the GL and the Creator. When she learns that Rand is 'cheating' on her, she is mad enough to kill him (literally, one of Moiraine's 3 possible outcomes was that she killed him), which is directly against the DO's plans at that time.

Mierin strikes me as the kind of person who puts her desires above and beyond anything else, even common sense and self-preservation. She is aware what tortures the DO is capable of, but she doesn't shy from speaking of overthrowing him. None of the other Chosen even think about that. We haven't really seen a PoV of hers, but if she dares say such things aloud, what might she be thinking? After ToM I believe the lack of a Lanfear PoV is intentional for other reasons as well.

Now imagine this kind of person back in the corner, with one last chance (Cyndane), humbled and tortured by the Shadow and nearly robbed of free will. Do you really believe her final act will be to act as bait for Rand? Can you even consider Mierin allowing to be used for such a lowly plot? Oh, I am not saying such a plot doesn't exist. Moridin might believe he can use her as bait. But he doesn't really understand her and this is why he doesn't see his leverage over her is not as big as it would be over anyone else in the same situation.

Last argument before I close my case: it has long been speculated by Ishamael that the DO's true goal is not to 'win', but simply do destroy everything. Shatter reality, break the wheel of time, slay the serpent, tear the pattern. And Ishamael is OK with that, his philosophical views are on the same track, he wants the same thing. Nobody else knows this. But if anyone else were to deduce this, it would be Mierin. She obviously knows more about the Shadow and the DO than anyone but Ishamael. She might have the missing piece on how to seal the Bore, but it is as likely that she helps Rand in figuring out how to slay the DO. It would be the perfect redemption. I've always perceived her as having no choice in joining the Shadow. She isn't evil like Demandred and Semirhage, fond of torture and other atrocities. She isn't without alternatives, like some of the weaker forsaken (Asmodean, Mesaana), who also turned to the Shadow for petty reasons. But most of all, she lacks the most important Chosen attribute - selfishness. With regards to LTT she is as selfless as any woman in love can be. In TSR-TFH when Rand barely had a handful of shared memories with LTT, she was willing to risk everything in helping him. And she did - she ended up mindtrapped for 7+ books, because she cares for Rand. None of the other Chosen are capable of such emotions.

The DO made a critical error in his recruitment. Until 11 hours ago I was willing to bet against Mat that Fain will be the DO's undoing. But if Mierin lives until the final battle, I think it might as well be her.

[David Selig]

BTW, I am really starting to think Demandred must be in Shara. Nothing else fit. He's no Taim, he's not involved much in the Black Tower (otherwise he'd not have been so shocked than an old man like Flynn can channel), the Borderlanders army doesn't seem to fit anymore either. And it makes sense for the DO to try to take control of such a big part of the world.

[Poobah]

Now as for Mierin's motives - she drilled the bore and was the first(?) of the Forsaken to declare for the Shadow.

But most of all, she lacks the most important Chosen attribute - selfishness. With regards to LTT she is as selfless as any woman in love can be. In TSR-TFH when Rand barely had a handful of shared memories with LTT, she was willing to risk everything in helping him. And she did - she ended up mindtrapped for 7+ books, because she cares for Rand. None of the other Chosen are capable of such emotions.

I don't necessarily agree or disagree with any other parts of your argument as such, but I wanted to tackle these two. I'm pretty sure Ishamael was the first person to declare publicly for the shadow.

Secondly Lanfear/Mierin's love for LTT is an entirely selfish love. She wants him because of what he is. She wants to be married to the most powerful man in the world. If Demandred hadn't been born a day late and hadn't been a shade weaker in the power and slightly less successful then she'd have been chasing him instead. I'm pretty sure she turned to the shadow because LTT rejected her for Ilyena. She's a total bunny boiler.

Selig: yeah Elayne is the toolyist tool in a whole toolbox full of tools. Rand al'Therin Telamon needs to give her a slap and remind her what Aes Sedai really were before the fall. Since Lews was a top politician in a globalised age he should be able to out-fox Egwene fairly easily.

[Kouran]

I think ToM suffers from a the problem of TGS being complete character arcs. If TGS and ToM were deconstructed and put back together in a chronoligical sense, thus avoiding the Tam in two places at once paradox the whole would make more sense. However, you would end up with a single volume that is too large to print, or two books that neither one have a decent resolution. ZenRand wouldnt happen until midway through the second volume, so we would have AssholeRand for far too much of both books etc.

As to Seanchan I always thought of them as the ottomans, on the surface they seemt o bring law and order, at the low low price of perpetual slavery. Oh and there is no law in Seanchan other than the will of the throne. Then again I cant think of any nation represented in the books that has written laws, maybe Tear after Rand got done with it but I doubt even that.

[David Selig]

Andor has written laws, Morgase mentioned it during Perrin's trial.

[Solmyr]

I'm pretty sure Ishamael was the first person to declare publicly for the shadow.

Secondly Lanfear/Mierin's love for LTT is an entirely selfish love. She wants him because of what he is. She wants to be married to the most powerful man in the world. If Demandred hadn't been born a day late and hadn't been a shade weaker in the power and slightly less successful then she'd have been chasing him instead. I'm pretty sure she turned to the shadow because LTT rejected her for Ilyena. She's a total bunny boiler.

After the Bore was drilled Ishamael spent some time 'thinking' over what the Shadow really is, what its goals are and whether or not to join it. When he announced this to the HoS he was named the betrayer of hope.

On the other hand it is speculated that Mierin joined the Shadow moments after she drilled the Bore. How else would she have survived? The Sharom came crashing down with everyone in it. I don't recall anyone else from the researchers being mentioned as alive.

All in all I think Mierin joined the shadow before Ishamael, but Ishamael proclaimed it first. Regardless, thats not a big argument in favour of the Mierin theory.

As for her selfishness - we know very little about the pre-Lanfear Mierin, most are scraps passed on and twisted by other sources. On the other hand we have plenty of Lanfear action in TSR/TFH. And there Lanfear is not selfish. At least no more than an average person would be in her position. Half the female characters in the book are probably more selfish than the post-Bore-reopening Mierin.

As for Ilyena - I have been pondering on this for quite some time as well. Rand loves neither Elayne nor Aviendha a shred as much as he did Ilyena. He does love Min a great deal more than those two, but I am not sure Min fits the Ilyena profile. Frankly, if I didn't like Min so much, I wouldn't mind Mierin helping Rand win TG and becoming his 'Ilyena'.

[Galactus]

Lanfear finding some way to seal the Bore would make a shocking amount of sense. After all, she *created* the thing...

[Original Ned's Bones]

I thought TOM was awesome (.....great review, I know).

A few quick thoughts:

I thought there was more of Jordan's original work in this than in TGS, and that's not necessarily a good thing. I don't know this as fact, but more of an impression. Some of the earlier Perrin chapters felt like Jordan. His typical narrative is someone walking through camp thinking things over and there was a lot of this early in the book.

I didn't have an issue with the "catching up" factor as much as everyone else seemed to. I thought it was pretty easy to tell what was going on by the visions of where Rand was at that time in the story.

I love the new Rand. He now embodies the Lord of the Morning, mankind's best hope. Perrin's witness of the moment was pretty cool too.

I don't really have an issue anymore about the Forsaken being incompetent. This was a HUGE turnoff for me until TGS. The truth is, it doesn't really matter, since that's not what the DO is all about anyway. Despite being a joke, the forsaken basically did what they had to do, sew enough chaos to keep Rand unbalanced, cause enough pain to get him to snap. He didn't snap, but he came awfully close. The goal wasn't to destroy him, but to make him destroy the pattern, although the Forsaken didn't know this. I can see the arguments either way about how effective Graendal's trap could have been. Oh...and where the f#ck is Demandred?

I had my worries about the Moiraine rescue not getting enough time when I saw how many pages were left, but I thought it was very well done, and had some great scenes.

Yes, Egwene bothered me more than usual, and Elayne was about the same.

Great reunion between Perrin and Mat.

I didn't think Ituralde's story felt removed. Great action and feeling, and did a great job showing that the battle had indeed begun and it was already in dire straights. Also loved seeing the Dreadlords appear.

If it looks like an Aiel and smells like an Aiel, it probably is one. I think the red-veiled men were indeed Aiel. Have we met anyone else who moves gracefully in battle, has short-spears on their back and veils themselves? There is no evidence that they channel, but the gleam in their eyes sounds like they were turned, and we know that for years their men have traveled to the blight, so it seems pretty intuitive to me.

Still don't know Pain's purpose. I guess it makes sense that he could help destroy or distract the DO at the end. Toss him in the bore's focal point, like Rand's wound, and the destruction of the taint, they would eat at each other, give Rand the necessary time to finish him off....etc. It kind of bothers me that Fain/Mordeth is really that powerful.

I like the theory on Lanfear having knowledge crucial to the destruction of the DO, or the bore.

My biggest WTF moment, was Verin's letter. Seriously, why? Why could she have not told Egwene during the big reveal? Huge blunder.

[TerraPrime]

With regards to Egwene, I never doubted that she would attempt to usurp Rand as soon as she got control of the White Tower. Its completely in character for her. Which is part of why I've never liked her. Another part would be her insistance that Nynaeve, Elayne etc kneel, kiss her ring and call her Mother and that Gawyn can only be her "partner" if he swears to obey her every whim. Even at his darkest Rand never attempted to force his friends, or indeed mere friendly aquaintances like Bashere to address him by title, and he certainly isn't trying to reduce Min to his obediant little slave. Egwene is, when you get right down to the core of her, an odious little character.

I beg to differ. What Egwene did was absolutely essential to cement her authority in the White Tower. If she lets Elayne and Nynaeve reign free, she will not get the full respect of the Tower. In her role as the Amyrlin, she must deal with Elayne and Nynaeve not as friends, but as subordinates. You can see that in the interactions between Siuan and Moiraine. In public, Moiraine kneels and kisses Siaun's ring and follows (somewhat) Siaun's orders. In private, they argue and they talk like friends. Of the things that Egwene did, this insistence on Elayne and Nynaeve (particularly Nynaeve since Egwene was apprentice to Nynaeve for a while at Two Rivers) was one of the few right things to do. Same with her insistence that Gawyn submits totally to her will. No Aes Sedai, let alone the Amyrlin, will accept a Gaidin otherwise.

I dearly hope that Rand has a good plan to turn the tables on her at this upcoming meeting. The end prophecy refers to him as the First Among Vermin.

I don't see why it wouldn't work out to his way, given that he's the strongest Ta'veren in ages. Though, Egwene does seem to be able to resist his pull quite handily. Still, that's one of him, and Perrin will support Rand, so that's 2 ta'varens. I'm sure if they need flying pigs, we'll get some.

Could we be about to see the Towers united, with the M'hael and Amyrlin as equals under Rand's authority? Lews Therin held the title of First Among Servants and Rand may consider that title his by right now. If Logain takes the M'hael position after Taim's outing that would certainly qualify as a glory few men have dreamed of. What male in the WOTverse would dare think himself equal to the Amyrlin after all.

There's foreshadow to that in Rand's comment to Cadsuanne ("You may call me Rand Sedai, since I'm the only living Aes Sedai proper"). But if it was united, it probably functions as two separate administrative entities, given Avi's vision in Rhuidean (a comment about the BT is still fighting the Raven Empire, but they have gone underground).

Maybe I'm as big a sucker as Rand is, but I think Mierin is honest. When Rand initially sees her he doesn't recognize her (new body). Only when he looks deep into her eyes and sees her soul he knows. With his new powers to see through darkfriends' lies and his ability to recognize souls, I don't think he can be fooled by a simple act.

I don't recall that Rand can tell lies from truths. Rather, he can sense/see the darkness in them, and know that they're darkfriends. His ability to recognize souls is probably limited to Mierin and a few others, who have had close ties to him through different Ages.

If Mierin/Cyndane/Lanfear was genuine in that plea, I would find it extremely out of character. After all, her soul is in the soulcage hanging on Morridin's neck. If Morridin can keep that close of a tab on Graendel, then how much more so on Cyndane?

With regards to LTT she is as selfless as any woman in love can be. In TSR-TFH when Rand barely had a handful of shared memories with LTT, she was willing to risk everything in helping him. And she did - she ended up mindtrapped for 7+ books, because she cares for Rand. None of the other Chosen are capable of such emotions.

That's a very selective reading of the event. Lanfear helped LTT/Rand because she thought she would be able to turn him to her this time. Not because she wanted to see Rand/LTT succeed. Witness her wrath at the dockside of Tear. She was ready to obliterate Rand/LTT once she discovered that she lost him again. That's not selfless love.

[Renasko]

Does anyone know who the Aiel were that were with Rand when he faced the trolloc army outside the walls of Maradon? Were they channellers or just body-guards?

[Slick Mongoose]

Does anyone know who the Aiel were that were with Rand when he faced the trolloc army outside the walls of Maradon? Were they channellers or just body-guards?

Maidens! They go everywhere with him.

[Renasko]

Rand really should've had the Black Tower built further north, ie. close to the Blight. They would've had a reason then to hold back the invaders!

[Poobah]

There's foreshadow to that in Rand's comment to Cadsuanne ("You may call me Rand Sedai, since I'm the only living Aes Sedai proper"). But if it was united, it probably functions as two separate administrative entities, given Avi's vision in Rhuidean (a comment about the BT is still fighting the Raven Empire, but they have gone underground).

I still read avi's vision as a possible 'bad ending' so anything could happen to contradict (or fix) things shown in it. Though interestingly the BT is shown as a force for good there.

Also I've seen people on other boards (dragonmount) mentioning the shadow possibly bringing forces in from portal stone worlds. That just seems... stupid. If the shadow can bring in forces from other dimensions then so can the light. Eventually the whole world is stuffed full. And if you were going to bring in forces why bring in bloody shadowspawn. Go find some similar alternate dimensions and bring in every copy of Ishmael that you can find. One Ishameal is worth massive amounts of shadowspawn. But then other team would just go and get a possy of Rands. So ultimately what is the bloody point.

[alguien]

Probably my favorite parts of the books was the new Zen Rand. I was irritated by him for the majority of The Gathering Storm, (I must be harder than steel. No. Harder. Harder than STEELY steel!), but this new Rand felt worth it.

Now I'm really curious as to how this summit will play out. Rand seems to know that Egwene and many others will try to change his mind. It seems he's drawing them together to make a compact of nations in repayment for fighting the DO and doesn't even consider he might be wrong about the seals. Both Nynaeve and Perrin support his logic, and Egwene is convinced that its madness. This seems to be setting up an almost parallel situation with Latra Posae and the Fateful Concord. Interesting.

Maybe its just me, but I wasn't really a fan of Aviendha's future visions. Completely sucked the drama out of the impending Last Battle and Rand's fight with the Dark One.

They totally could have made this two books and cut out a lot of the extemporaneous crap. And solved the continuity issues of the Two Tams.

Oh. And I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure if your FRIGGIN' EYE gets ripped out, you're not going to recover as quickly as Mat did. Jesus. Wrap that shit up man. Get a patch and complete the goddam Odin metaphor already. Lowering your hat doesn't really work and actually seems kinds of stupid.

Irritated by some of the anachronisms. (i.e. Pal) Annoyed that Sleete was still there. (HATE that name)

Gawyn can die screaming in fire.

And this little gem:

"What just happened?" -Birgitte

"What happened is that my daughter is brilliant" -Morgase

No. No she really isn't. No one talks like that. Not that Elayne's plan didn't make sense. It did. But it wasn't brilliant enough for Morgase to become some kind of fawning sycophant. Cleansing the taint = brilliant. Offering opponents incentives to become allies is regular good politics.

Lan went from being WOT's equivalent of Roland of Gilead to an older whiny Perrin. Pissed me off. Maybe he's reluctant to take men to the Blight, but Lan is not an idiot. And he respects men who are willing to do their duty. This wavering bullshit was terrible. But his prologue scene was cool, and his ending speech to his men was awesome.

Egwene... actually worked for me. I thought her interactions with Nynaeve and Elayne made sense, as did her opposing Rand.

Overall, the book was an enjoyable reading experience, with the thrilling parts but also plagued by minor annoyances.

[Bill Foote]

On the other hand it is speculated that Mierin joined the Shadow moments after she drilled the Bore. How else would she have survived? The Sharom came crashing down with everyone in it. I don't recall anyone else from the researchers being mentioned as alive.

Same as the others. Check Tor's Question of the week/whatever for Beidomon (spelled something like that--they're archived at 13th repository if Tor no longer has them up. Hmm, easy enough to track down anyway: http://13depository.blogspot.com/2009/03/tor-questions-of-week.html#beidomon )

[Solmyr]

Same as the others. Check Tor's Question of the week/whatever for Beidomon (spelled something like that--they're archived at 13th repository if Tor no longer has them up. Hmm, easy enough to track down anyway: http://13depository.blogspot.com/2009/03/tor-questions-of-week.html#beidomon )

I wasn't aware of this particular part of RJ's answer:

As an aside, for those who think that Lanfear was in some way twisted against her will by being involved in drilling the Bore---I have heard the theory advanced---of all those involved in the project, she was the only major figure to go over to the Shadow. She was ripe for the Shadow's plucking long before the Bore was drilled.

If RJ says so, then it is so. Still, I believe she has changed.