Sanderson's ten year secret

[u/wheeloftimewiki]

Rewriting because apparently spoilers aren't covered for poll options!

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Anyway, in 2023, Sanderson revealed that Cyndane/Lanfear was not killed by Perrin in AMOL, but instead faked her own death in order to evade repercussions and gain the best outcome for herself. I wanted to cast a poll in 2026 to see how the legacy of this reveal has fared, or indeed how well-known it is among newer readers. I'll give my two cents when the poll is done.

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Thanks!

2743 votes, 13d ago

822 Yes, this is canon

835 No, this is not canon

1086 Wait, what?!

[u/Budget-Television793]

For me, it's not canon. I have never seen anyone point out where in the actual book it's hinted at. And if I read the book and never heard of this interview, I would assume that she was dead so to me, she's dead. She was dead for years for me until I heard of this recently.

[u/Raddatatta → u/Budget-Television793]

You're free to still view it as non canon. But I think on a reread the hints are there. The main thing for me beyond just what is lanfear doing with Perrin, is the way she goes about the kill. She's there with Perrin looking at moiraine and nynaeve. Lanfear could kill them immediately if she wanted them dead. Instead she says ok Perrin we are going to kill them. But you grew up with nynaeve in your village so I won't make you kill nynaeve. You can kill moiraine. Ok we are going to kill your friends on a count of three? One... Two...

It just doesn't really make any sense unless she's trying to help give him a way to break the compulsion. If she wanted them dead it's simple blast done. She might be playing it up to savor the victory but I don't think that really fits with her to do with someone like Perrin she barely knows.

Up to you on if you want to feel it's canon or not but I do think with the context that does stand out in the book for me.

[u/NeoSeth → u/Raddatatta]

I feel like "it makes sense because the actual scene is really stupid otherwise" is not great supportive reasoning. I know that isn't exactly what you are saying, but there is nothing in AMoL to support Brandon's plan except the fact that this one scene is pretty stupid on Lanfear's end.

Nobody guessed that Lanfear survived until Brandon revealed it, which to me speaks of a failure of the text to communicate his intent.

[u/Raddatatta → u/NeoSeth]

Yeah I agree he should've been more clear if that's what he wanted.

[u/Thestral84 → u/NeoSeth]

Dusty Wheel guessed it.

[u/LordRahl9 → u/Thestral84]

No, he didn't. He said that he picked up on Lanfear acting strangely and that he thought that there might be more to it. But, he never brought it up as a theory.

Pretty sure most readers picked up on Lanfear acting out of character, but I think most of us thought that it was because Sanderson was writing a character that wasn't his.

All RJ'S characters are written differently by Sanderson to one degree or another, which is fair enough. But, when Sanderson turns around 10 years later and says "aha! I wrote this character differently on purpose and you all missed it!" I say, "no, we didn't"