2013-04-02, 07:34 PM
Secun Wrote:It cannot be changed if you refuse to attempt change out of hand.
(also shai'tan was resealed in the bore with his own power this time around, elan is now permanently dead, and rand controls the pattern by his will alone. this is a very good start towards a better world imho)
Ishamael is the only one who claimed to be rewoven as one of the Forsaken each time the War of Power came around; the rest of them can be assumed to be ever-changing with each passing (and perhaps not always even the same number). Birgitte would have mentioned otherwise if Moghedien had appeared more than once; they certainly bypass the restriction of being "woven out" when the First Age comes back around.
Death is only permanent through use of balefire; while he overdrew on the True Power, that's not exactly the same...but even if that bright light was in fact a massive eruption of balefire (which I doubt, since at that magnitude it would tear the Pattern to shreds), even Ishamael can be replaced by another equally powerful anti-ta'vern in the next weaving if needed; the final few chapters showed proof that without the Dark One, life is a hollow shell, because no one has any ambitions or feelings other than disgustingly overpowering bliss. Remember, the Bore was made when there was no seal, so the assumption is that each time it is drilled it is "whole".
The moral of the entire series to me was that fate is unbendable, especially after re-reading now that the series is finished; the foretellings and Min's visions showing things that will happen 5-10 books later with uncanny accuracy, Ishamael's insane rambling about the fact that he will always have another chance no matter how many times he fails (which is why his "price" was oblivion, he's tired of it), everything points to the fact that nothing -doesn't- go according to the Pattern's grand schematics.