Anomalies In Sword Of Truth

[jrs]

There are some things in the Sword of Truth series which seem to me to be inconsistences. Most noticeably so far (after reading WFR, ST, and BF), in WFR the red dragon ridden by Darken Rahl is:

1. first, a small boy named Carl who is brain-washed into helping Darken Rahl and then murdered; and then

2. a female red dragon named Scarlet who is serving Darken Rahl because he is threatening her egg.

[Thaconos]

Actually, the dragon was always Scarlet. Near the end of WFR, Richard askes Scalet if she had ever flown Darken into Westland before the boundry went down, and she replied that she had, once to Micheal's house, and once to George's place.

Darken needed Carl to get to the underworld, he did not use him to fly overland

[Michelangelo]

Good job Thaconos.

*spoilers*

The boy was not ridden by Darken Rahl but was killed and then he latched onto the boys soul as it went to the underworld.

Any other inconsistencies that you've found. I'm a walking Sword of Truth Almanac; a Goodkind scholar so to speak and would be more then glad to answer any questions.

Edited August 16, 2005 by Michelangelo

[redfarmer]

Any other inconsistencies that you've found.  I'm a walking Sword of Truth Almanac; a Goodkind scholar so to speak and would be more then glad to answer any questions.

*Chainfire Spoiler*

One inconsitenscy which has bothered me is the fact that, at the end of Naked Empire, Zedd was at the Keep with Rikka, Chase, Rachel, and Friedrich. Zedd had asked Chase and Friedrich to stay and help him defend the Keep in case Jagang ever sent a Pillar of Creation to it again. However, in Chainfire, Friedrich is gone and is not even mentioned. What happened to the gilder?!?!?!

I've heard it suggested, though, that Goodkind may clear this up in Phantom.

[HaloNoble6]

Yeah, I noticed that too. Poof, he was gone.

[Prometheus98876]

Yeah, damn good point. By the time I had read Chainfire I had forgotten all about Friedich. But now you mention it, I do recall he was supposed to be there. I guess this might suggest that even an author of Terrys caliber can make the odd 'big' error like this. And I would class omitting such a character reasonably big... lets see, maybe there is an explanation forecoming in Phantom.

[Ehre]

in Chainfire, Friedrich is gone and is not even mentioned. What happened to the gilder?!?!?!

I have enough confidence in Terry Goodkind to think that this was not a mistake, and its answer will be revealed in Phantom. I don't have any examples off the top of my head, but I remember thinking it odd that I hadn't heard about a certain character for a while, and then later he/she is brought about again.

I can't guarantee anything, though. We will have to wait and see.

[Maarten]

One thing I found odd is that from the journals Richard finds of about 3000 years before, you get the very strong impression that their way of life is exactly the same. There's no progress worth speaking of in regard to either technology or magic (as that is mostly in decline).

[DragonMaci]

*Chainfire Spoiler*

One inconsitenscy which has bothered me is the fact that, at the end of Naked Empire, Zedd was at the Keep with Rikka, Chase, Rachel, and Friedrich. Zedd had asked Chase and Friedrich to stay and help him defend the Keep in case Jagang ever sent a Pillar of Creation to it again. However, in Chainfire, Friedrich is gone and is not even mentioned. What happened to the gilder?!?!?!

I've heard it suggested, though, that Goodkind may clear this up in Phantom.

I also noticed he was gone. I wondered why. Chase's disappearance at least was explained at the end of Naked Empire. But what about Friedrich? That was never explained. I would of thought he'd want to see Richard again and vice versa. He was also named a Keep Warden by Zedd, which would require him to be there. So why didn't he run into Richard at any stage. I can only figure that Goodkind had no intrest in reusing him at the time. i doubt he forgot him, as he seem s good at remembering and even bringing back minor characters. For example:

**SPOILER**

In Temple of the Winds Richard and Nadine both at one stage mention Tommy Lancaster, a person from Westland. He then appears in Faith of the Fallen.

The annomily that intrests me most, though, is the excerpt from Chapter one of Phantom that is at the official SOT site.

**SPOILER**

The innkeeper bought up four cups of tea to the Sisters of the Dark that kidnapped Kahlan. When Ulicia berated him for bringing an extra cup and said there was only three people the innkeeper pointed at each Sister, counting to three, then pointed to Kahlan, counting four.

Now here's what gets me: how did he remember her?

One thing I found odd is that from the journals Richard finds of about 3000 years before, you get the very strong impression that their way of life is exactly the same. There's no progress worth speaking of in regard to either technology or magic (as that is mostly in decline).

What I find odd is that the books are still in such a good condition. As for the technology, most of our technological advancements happened over the last few hundred years. The invention of the steam engine is a large part of what got our rapid accleration started. Of course, now computers are the modern fueler.

[Lathanar]

One thing I found odd is that from the journals Richard finds of about 3000 years before, you get the very strong impression that their way of life is exactly the same. There's no progress worth speaking of in regard to either technology or magic (as that is mostly in decline).

The magic is still strong enough that something to take it's place (technology) has not been needed yet. I think he's shown there was quite a bit of advancement in magic as the loss of Subtractive had to be accounted for so new ways to use Additive were found to compensate. For the books being in good shape, magic, a little bit of Additive to remove the effects of aging every hundred years or so would do.

[bi-la-kaifa]

I'm in Temple of the Winds right now, and so far there is only one thing that is really bugging me.

Semi-Spoiler.

In WFR, Richard has a tracer cloud linked to him from Darken Rahl. And in TotW, Nathan has one placed on him by Zedd. Zedd says the link makes him weary, and wishes to unlink it, but in order to replace it, he needs physical contact.

My question is, how did Darken Rahl get the tracer cloud placed on Richard without touching him?

[Thaconos]

I'm in Temple of the Winds right now, and so far there is only one thing that is really bugging me.

Semi-Spoiler.

In WFR, Richard has a tracer cloud linked to him from Darken Rahl. And in TotW, Nathan has one placed on him by Zedd. Zedd says the link makes him weary, and wishes to unlink it, but in order to replace it, he needs physical contact.

My question is, how did Darken Rahl get the tracer cloud placed on Richard without touching him?

Darken Rahl didn't put the tracer cloud on Richard, he put it on the tooth that George gave him. The tooth was from a beast that Darken Rahl had conjured and then sent to watch over the Book of Counted Shadows. Once Darken found out that the book was stolen, and that a tooth was missing from the creature, he traced his magic, which lead him to George. When he found out that George didn't have either item, that they were given to his son, he placed the tracer cloud on the tooth to keep an eye on where Richard was.

[Richard_rahl]

Now here's what gets me: how did he remember her?

well you see, this is a rather big spoiler btw, so i wouldnt read it unless youve read the book.. the guy remembers her because the magic from the chimes has corrupted the chainfire. you see a few other instances of it in the book...

[Amandawoodberry]

Now here's what gets me: how did he remember her?

well you see, this is a rather big spoiler btw, so i wouldnt read it unless youve read the book.. the guy remembers her because the magic from the chimes has corrupted the chainfire. you see a few other instances of it in the book...

Personaly I disagree, I think it is because of the pillars of creation, the people that arnt affected by magic, since Kahlan had a spell casted to effect him if he was unable to be affected by magic so he would see and remember her. Some of the pillars where not killed by the Rhal's they were snuck away or missed somehow. I think he most likely was one of them. Just my oppinion though.

[Prometheus98876]

Now here's what gets me: how did he remember her?

well you see, this is a rather big spoiler btw, so i wouldnt read it unless youve read the book.. the guy remembers her because the magic from the chimes has corrupted the chainfire. you see a few other instances of it in the book...

What other instances are you talking about? Have I mised something and you mean Phantom?

In Chainfire, noone expect Richard remembers kahlan, and that is explained. People see her for fleeting moments, but that is not the same as them remembering her.

Edited March 22, 2007 by Prometheus98876

[creeva]

Here is the question that has always been a sticking point for me through all the books:

According to SoT canon only the first Male is ever born with the power of Wizards - even if we go to to the fact that they only allow the first male to live - how do we explain Nathan.

Nathan of course was pulled from his home by the sisters of the light - but we would have to assume he was the eldest male Rahl child at the time. Since he would have been taken as a child over 1000 years earlier - how can Panis or Darken or Richard even exist in the Rahl bloodline. He would not have been able to have children and by the time the Palace of the Prophets would have aged him enough to have children with one of the local woman paid off to serve him - theoretically the Rahl bloodline would have died out or the Sisters of light would have taken the boy in discovering the fact very quickly as it owuld have been highly unlikely a woman with a new born would have escaped into the midlands from the old world.

In theory we could assume that Nathan's father had a second child - but would the magic that went in the Rahl bloodline have allowed this to happen since a first born magic wielding son had been born?

[Prometheus98876]

Where does it say that only the first male is ever born with the Gift? I challenge you to find where it says that. And where does it say only the firstborn males are allowed to live? Are you thinking that only Rahls used to execute other siblings?

Remember: A) the first born did usually have the gift, and would be favored by the family, and the others would be killed in family fueds and they only really wanted one gifted heir, they tended to kill any other children born in case they were born without a spark of the Gift.

In Nathans case, I would assume that he did have male sibling, that continued on the line.

Edited September 16, 2007 by Prometheus98876

[Guruite]

Okay, Well I have a question that fits with this thread (even though it has been dead for a while). Why didn't Darken Rahl sense Richard when Richard went back to his log cabin? Gifted people can sense others around them, why didn't Darken Rahl sense Richard if he was waiting for him?

[Greebo]

Do we know how old Nathan was when he came to the Palace? Nathan may have had his own heir before going to the Old World?

[Prometheus98876]

Okay, Well I have a question that fits with this thread (even though it has been dead for a while). Why didn't Darken Rahl sense Richard when Richard went back to his log cabin? Gifted people can sense others around them, why didn't Darken Rahl sense Richard if he was waiting for him?

It is hard for me to be too sure right now, as my "SoT Lore" is a little rusty. However I would imagine that there could be a few things that might help explain this:

a) He probably wasnt really expecting to find anyone with the gift, so might not really have paid much attention even if he noticed that his senses were trying to tell him about the presence of a gifted person. Perhaps unless one focuses on trying to find a gifted they cannot sense the prsesence of the gift around them usually. And I cannot remember any particular reason Darken Rahl would have been focusing on this at the time.

b ) Richards gift works very differently to the gift of other wizards, as has been well demonstrated. Perhaps at this early stage, before he began to get in touch with it all (which he would have started to do later in Book One according to things Zedd and such say about the nature of his gift and the Sword of Truth he carries), it would have been very hard for Darken Rahl to detect.

But really, I think the main reason is that even if Rahl had of thought he sensed the presence of a gifted person around (which Im not sure he would have done without trying, and given it was the Westlands, where there are meant to no magic, he might have assumed there not likely be any gifted either), he would have dismissed it.

Edited May 5, 2009 by Prometheus98876

[brogs05]

One thing that always bothered me about the Stone of Tears, and that I didn't realize for several books was that when the sisters of the light first showed up in the Mud people's village and tried to get Richard to come with them that the first two failed and were killed by on of the surviving sisters. We know both of these sisters were sisters of the dark, why did the keeper not show up and claim them as he did for every other sister of the dark that dies in the series? Goodkind makes kind of a big heal about it too when they die. Just wondering what everyone else thinks about that...

[brogs05]

Do we know how old Nathan was when he came to the Palace? Nathan may have had his own heir before going to the Old World?

Nathan was taken as a young child, less than 10 years old.

I often thought about the 1 gifted heir per Rahl, and it really makes little sense, the line would die out with just some bad luck eventually. And with the Rahl like being the MOST important line in the gifted world (immunity to dream walkers), it makes less sense that they can only have 1 gifted heir, though I do think that Goodkind states that Panis Rahl was not gifted...

[Prometheus98876]

I often thought about the 1 gifted heir per Rahl, and it really makes little sense, the line would die out with just some bad luck eventually. And with the Rahl like being the MOST important line in the gifted world (immunity to dream walkers), it makes less sense that they can only have 1 gifted heir, though I do think that Goodkind states that Panis Rahl was not gifted...

Where does it state that Panis Rahl is not gifted? I do not recall it implying this, yet alone explicity stating it to be so.

I gather the deal with the 1 gifted per generation thing is something like the following: They needed to make sure that there was at least one gifted around , but presumably they could find no [reliable/safe] way to ensure that there would always be more than one, so they had to make do with trying to ensure just the one gifted at any one time ( that alone sounds like quite a feat .. ).

As for why the Keeper did not come to claim the souls of the Sisters of the Dark in Stone of Tears: I assume the Keeper chose not to do so on those occassions as he beleived it would interfere with his/the Sisters of the Darks plans. I am pretty sure Richard would have been even more difficult for them to deal with if he had seen something like that when they had have died...and the Keeper might have not considered that too useful.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Prometheus98876

[Ryte]

ive read the whole series, there are alot of points that are a strech in terms of plot and world mechanics,

the thing that bugged me the most though is regarding richard' birth

his mother is supposedly raped by darken rahl, but the chronology according to both "dept of bones" and the series itself is crooked

darken rahl was said to be a boy when the bounries went up, he is said to be a child when he is burned by zed's wizard fire when it is sent twards his father when the boundries come to be.

also according to "debt of bones" richards mother is just a girl when she is rescued from her captivity right before the first boundry goes up

with both of them being children before the seperation of the lands, how exactly did that rape occur?

can anyone help me fill up this gap?

[Placebo]

ive read the whole series, there are alot of points that are a strech in terms of plot and world mechanics,

the thing that bugged me the most though is regarding richard' birth

his mother is supposedly raped by darken rahl, but the chronology according to both "dept of bones" and the series itself is crooked

darken rahl was said to be a boy when the bounries went up, he is said to be a child when he is burned by zed's wizard fire when it is sent twards his father when the boundries come to be.

also according to "debt of bones" richards mother is just a girl when she is rescued from her captivity right before the first boundry goes up

with both of them being children before the seperation of the lands, how exactly did that rape occur?

can anyone help me fill up this gap?

Because I haven't read the series for a couple of years, I'll copy and paste this answer from a guy on another forum:

"WFR takes place about 35 to 40 years after DoB. Zedd's daughter was only about 4 yr's old at the time. Darken didn't rape her until she was in her late teens (best guess). It was another 20 years until we meet Richard at the start of WFR.

If you recall the scene with Carl (the little boy Darken used) - that was not Darken's first attempt at such a thing. He had been using the Underworld to cross the boundary for a long time. That was what the writing on his father's crypt was for. It was a set of instructions on how to safely enter/return from the underworld.

Essentially, Darken used the underworld to get "across" the boundary. During one of his trips he raped Zedd's daughter - but he didn't know who she was at the time - and then the rest is history."