Hello Fellow WoT nerds!

 

 I have the privilege of owning almost the whole Wheel of Time series (I am missing The Shadow Rising but I have New Spring). But something has happened while reading these treasures that has me in need of aid. I was recently rereading EOTW when something jumped out at me.

It occurred in the prologue, Dragonmount, when the Betrayer of Hope appears. That is it. How was he there? The Betrayer of Hope is Ishamael, but he was trapped when Lews Therin found the Forsaken at Shayol Ghul. Remember, Lews Therin became mad after he patched the bore, the taint was the DO's counterstroke. How could Ishamael have been there if he was imprisoned? I might just be missing something but it seems to me that here is a contradiction, a paradox, if you will. Please discuss and tell me your theories or your certainties. And as always: 

 

Thanks for reading! 

Edited February 10, 201412 yr by Jak 0' the Shadows

Ishamael was never trapped in the bore. It was just assumed by the world that he was, and that was just as well with him. Though i seem to have read somewhere that he was partially trapped, though i dont really know what that means.

This answers your question. He was partially bound.

http://www.steelypips.org/wot-tgs/node/38.html

Ishamael was never trapped in the bore. It was just assumed by the world that he was, and that was just as well with him. Though i seem to have read somewhere that he was partially trapped, though i dont really know what that means.

 

 

Early in the series, it's theorized by some of the characters (Moiraine, perhaps?) that he was only partially trapped, and that he gets "freed" periodically (the characters in question point to a number of events that seem to coincide with his re-appearance as Ba'alzamon... the Trolloc Wars, the crumbling of Hawkwing's empire, etc. I think the events mentioned are separated by roughly 1000 years, you might think something along the lines of: he's trapped close to surface of the Bore, gets spit out for a decade or two every thousand years or so).

Like others told, Ishamael was only partly bound.  The frequency and duration of his releases are uncertain to me.

 

slightly related::  long ago I speculated that he was not entirely free either.

 

By the way, the title of this thread reminds me of that parchment Verin reads to Egwene before talking about Telaranrhiod.  Dragon Reborn.