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In The Eye of the World there is a passage that has long stirred up theories and controversy among Wheel of Time fans.

A voice reverberates inside Rand's head, speaking in distinctive italicized all caps.

IT IS NOT HERE.
It was not Rand’s thought, making his skull vibrate.
I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL.
“Where?” He did not want to say it, but he could not stop himself. “Where?” The haze surrounding him parted, leaving a dome of clear, clean air ten spans high, walled by billowing smoke and dust. Steps rose before him, each standing alone and unsupported, stretching up into the murk that obscured the sun.
NOT HERE.

Since the Companion has been released, and a corresponding book tour has been run, I was wondering if any further, more concrete information on this subject has been released. Theories abound, but I'd like a Word of God answer.

Please note that in the Wheel of Time community, a Word of God answer could have come from Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Brandon Sanderson, Alan Romanczuk, or Maria Simons. (The latter 3 only if they were referring to notes of Jordan's the read, or things they were told, and Sanderson also for parts he specifically wrote about.)

Do we know the source of THE VOICE?

If "No", then please provide a reasonable showing (by quotes or excerpts) that the information isn't available/released. (It needn't been an essay, but there have been times when Jordan has flat-out said "I'm not going to say, ever", and if nothing new has come up since the Companion book tour...)

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6 Answers 6

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TLDR; According to Sanderson, while we may speculate, it appears that RJ intended for us to go insane. There is no answer.

QUESTION

The Dark One seems to be conscious and aware of the events in the world. Is the Creator also conscious of world events?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Brandon said that's left up to the reader. He then said that many people think the voice in all caps in The Eye of the World is the Creator, which might indicate the Creator was, but stated it really wasn't known even in-world. (paraphrased from interview)

-Wheel of Time Interview Database, "The Voice" #8

It looks like Jordan never released this tidbit of info even to his crew, as in this interview, 1 month after the last books release Sanderson changes from RAFO to essentially "I dont know."

a few days later we get this:

QUESTION

Did the Creator speak in ALL CAPS at least once or twice?

BRANDON SANDERSON

The same voice spoke in all caps in the series.

-Wheel of Time Interview Database, "The Voice" #140

Makes us assume that the any voice in all caps is the Dark One.

QUESTION

So, at the end of The Eye of the World, the all caps voice? Will we ever find out who it was, or what they were looking for?

BRANDON SANDERSON

The all caps voice at the end of Eye of the World makes an appearance in A Memory of Light.

-Wheel of Time Interview Database, "The Voice" #148

This brings us to a voice in all caps in AMOL.

IT IS TIME. LET THE TASK BE UNDERTAKEN.

The voice spoke with the inevitability of an earthquake, the words vibrating through him. More than sound in the air, far more, the words spoke as if from one soul to another. Moiraine gasped, eyes opening wide.

Rand was not surprised. He had heard this voice once before, and he realized that he had been expecting it. Hoping for it, at least. “Thank you,” Rand whispered, then stepped forward into the Dark One’s realm, leaving footprints of blood behind.

So in a mater of 2 weeks, Sanderson states that in-world we never truly know who the voice was, that the same voice that speaks in caps throughout the whole series, and finally that the voice that spoke in the EotW, also appears in AMoL. This leaves us with a completely unclear answer, and unless he or others decides to clarify we will never know.

Finally:

JAMES STARKE Is Nakomi the person that Rand encountered at the mouth of Shayol Ghul? And is she the embodiment of The Creator?

BRANDON SANDERSON

This is one that I'm not answering, I'm afraid. RJ wanted some things about the ending to remain ambiguous.

Did we ever meet the Creator in the series? If so, who?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I'll preface this with a warning. Even though the series is done, and I can speak more freely, some things are intended to be vague by RJ's own intention. This allows dreaming and thinking about the world to continue. For example, I can't answer question 2 for these reasons. For question one, I think RJ himself was vague. (Maybe a Theorylander can speak here.) This isn't one I'm capable of answering, because I don't want to make an answer canon one way or another, as I don't think RJ wanted that.

-Wheel of Time Interview Database, "Creator" # 103 from 2014

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  • Phew! I think I won the quote war in the end :-)
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 2:07
  • @randal'thor i found the good quotes first :p
    – Himarm
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 2:08
  • I promise I found them independently! (see my struggle in Mos) Also, more importantly, I've got a final answer with the relevant quote from aMoL :-]
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 2:09
  • Those links don't work for me.
    – user31178
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 3:14
  • 1
    That TLDR sounds about right.
    – user31178
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 15:26
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TL;DR: it's the Creator.

Word of God

On 11 July 2010, Brandon Sanderson said he knows the answer:

STEFAN: So we know in The Eye of the World, there was somebody who talked in capital letters like how the Dark One did. Obviously you can't tell us who it was, but will we know by the end of A Memory of Light?

BRANDON SANDERSON: I know what that was about. Will it be in the next book? Er...RAFO. Sorry.

STEFAN: Will we know by the end of the series though?

BRANDON SANDERSON: I really can't say yes or no. This is one of the things Harriet has asked me to be very quiet about.

On 12 January 2011, he made a direct statement that he's not going to tell us (i.e. presumably RAFO):

BRANDON SANDERSON: No, I'm not going to tell you what the VOICE at the end of The Eye of the World was. Lots of people like to ask, though.

And then on 8 February 2013 we have a solid "don't know":

Brandon [...] said that many people think the voice in all caps in The Eye of the World is the Creator, which might indicate the Creator was, but stated it really wasn't known even in-world.

And on 13 February 2013, we get some actual information:

QUESTION: So, at the end of The Eye of the World, the all caps voice? Will we ever find out who it was, or what they were looking for?

BRANDON SANDERSON: The all caps voice at the end of Eye of the World makes an appearance in A Memory of Light.

So all you have to do is find an all-caps voice speaking in aMoL!

And here we have it:

IT IS TIME. LET THE TASK BE UNDERTAKEN.

The voice spoke with the inevitability of an earthquake, the words vibrating through him. More than sound in the air, far more, the words spoke as if from one soul to another. Moiraine gasped, eyes opening wide.

Rand was not surprised. He had heard this voice once before, and he realized that he had been expecting it. Hoping for it, at least.

“Thank you,” Rand whispered, then stepped forward into the Dark One’s realm, leaving footprints of blood behind.

Rand "had heard this voice once before" - this, together with Sanderson's quote from 13 February 2013, makes clear that this is the same Voice.

My interpretation

The last thing Rand says before this voice arrives in tEotW is "The Light blind you, Ba'alzamon! This has to end!" This gives us a clue as to what the "it" in "IT IS NOT HERE" refers to: the Light. The Voice is saying the Light cannot reach to the place where Rand now is.

The two main theories for the identity of this Voice are the Creator and the Dark One. But "I WILL TAKE NO PART" definitely doesn't sound like the Dark One. The whole business is about him trying to take part, to break free of his prison and touch the world once more. He wants to take part to the maximum extent he can, whereas this voice is unwilling to take part directly.

What about "ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL"? Well, the "chosen one" is obviously Rand. The prophecied Last Battle is meant to be between the Dragon Reborn and the Dark One. The Dark One doesn't "choose" anybody to fight his fight for him, but the Creator does.

So I think it was the Creator.

A quote that may or may not support this:

The Creator is completely removed from the world; aside from...creating...the Pattern, he does nothing else whatsoever to influence anything.

This fits perfectly with "I WILL TAKE NO PART", although admittedly it doesn't mesh too well with the fact that this Voice is talking to Rand at all.

And finally, the quote from aMoL makes this pretty clear: Rand was "hoping" for the voice, and whispers "Thank you" to it. That's not the Dark One. That's the Creator, giving his blessing to his champion just before the Last Battle.

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  • Chosen One sounds like Nae'blis to me!
    – user31178
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 3:16
  • @CreationEdge Did the idea of Nae'blis even exist at the time of tEotW?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 13:59
  • i think its important to note that Ishmael says the dark one always choses his own champion, and while Ishmael is semi-insane Ishmael/moridian claims that he has been the dark ones champion over and over again. the nae'blis
    – Himarm
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 14:45
  • Additional evidence that it's the creator: Rand has on ongoing conversation with the Dark One during the Last Battle. If the Dark One's voice matched the voice from EotW I'd expect him to have made an observation about it. Furthermore, the Dark One refers to Rand as "adversary," not "chosen one."
    – Michael Carman
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 18:45
  • I think "IT IS NOT HERE" means that it isn't the time/place for the Last Battle. i.e. it's a reply to "This has to end!" rather than "The Light blind you."
    – Michael Carman
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 18:48
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"As Rand entered the cavern, something changed in the air.The Dark One only now sensed his arrival...and was surprised by it"

This occurs AFTER the ALL CAPS voice speaks to Rand.

I submit that this is proof that the voice of Caps is the Creator.

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    You should indicate where your quote comes from. Also, I feel more explanation is needed as to why that sentence proves the voice of Caps is the Creator rather than just stating that it does.
    – Kapler
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 0:04
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There is one other difference that indicates that the Voice is the Creators': The Dark Ones' voice only resonates inside the head of the person he speaks to, whereas both the Shienarans (at the end of tEotW) and Moiraine (aMoL) also hear the Voice.

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    You have a nice theory here but could you edit in any evidence to back this up? For example, any book quotes to prove they also hear the voice and that The Dark Ones' is only heard inside the one person's head. Also do you have any evidence as to if it isn't The Dark Ones than it must be the Creators? i.e. why can't it be something else?
    – TheLethalCarrot ♦
    Commented Oct 24, 2018 at 15:15
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Better answer - Callandor was not there (it was the "it" that wasn't there) and it was necessary to have it to face the Dark One. Voice was the creator, IMO.

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  • 2
    Hi, welcome to SF&F. Do you have some evidence to support this idea, or is it something that "feels right" without any hard backup? Good answers should cite specific facts from the works in question or the creator's comments as a basis for their arguments. Please read How to Answer. (Also, you have 4 "it"s in a row, and that make whatever you're saying hard to follow.)
    – DavidW
    Commented Jun 24, 2019 at 17:40
  • I don't see how this is a better answer. The question was specifically about who THE VOICE belonged to. The question is not about what the voice meant by IT.
    – JMac
    Commented Jun 24, 2019 at 17:46
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Is it possible that Rand himself is the Creator, in the same way that Christians believe that Jesus is God or in the sense of the Hindu avatar? After all at the very end of AMoL Rand comes back to life which is not really explained and lights the pipe just by willing it. This would also entail that the world truly ended and Rand actually created it anew. Perhaps Nakomi was more an "angel".

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    This is not an answer. It does not provide a reasonable/plausabile/provable explanation or answer to the question.
    – Theyna
    Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 2:53
  • its worded funny but this is an answer.
    – Himarm
    Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 12:15

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