Hey Wheelies & Darkfriends! It has been a fun ride and I want to thank all the Wheelies on KZfaq for making it the most wonderful experience with a fandom I have ever encountered. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds one last time.

The thing about Perrin and the Dream battles is that it IS part of the last battle. The battle was happening on every level. If Perrin and Gaul had failed, Rand would have been killed from that direction. Like was said in a very early book... Rand does not comprehend what the last battle really is, and how it will be fought. Perrin realized this and fought in the Dream to save Rand, It wasn't disconnected. That is also why the dream wolves came to fight as well. Battle was on every front. Not just the typical fronts. Awesome.

First review that got me in the feels. How can anyone want less of my boy Androl? Also, I mean, Androl and Pevara are the best romance in the books. 😍

Reunions/meetings I wished I witnessed 1) Rand, Mat and Perrin 2) Rand and Galad 3) Tam and Elayne and Aviendha 4) Mat and Abel/Bode and the Two rivers folks 5) Egwene and the Two Rivers 6) Alanna and Rand's girls

My best friend passed away last October, back when this book came out he was reading it for the first time. He screamed with excitement when Nynaeve healed Talmanas and I heard it from the other room. I asked what he was reading and that scene is where my journey began with this series. I miss you joe.

The portion with Talmanes was one of the best parts of the series

Androl and Pevara were amazing to me. I loved them, but I get what you mean

Final wheel of time review? You aren’t going to review the show? 🤔🤔

I really loved Elayne's willingness to actual torch caemlyn. Logain asking Androl for a Miracle on Elayne's behalf was one of the best lines in the entire book. Tam deserves a worlds greatest dad brandy cup. I think they had to go big in the tel'aran'rhiod as it was such a large part of the story.

Pevara was introduced way back when Elaida got that one aes Sedai to investigate alviarin but hunted down the black ajah instead, she was the only aes Sedai character I was interested in so the black tower storyline was fun for me, though I dislike that it was held off until the final book

That opening gave me chills.

The two scenes in the first part of the book that were my favourite was when Lan decided to do one last final charge then all other Borderland nations came to join him at the last moment. It gave me shivers. The other one was when Rand met with Tuon and gave all his titles and explained why she should follow him, a badass moment. I know in the book Unfettered the is a chapter/s about Demandred in Shara. Would like to have known more about this nation though, sounds interesting. They had their own prophecies of the Dragon. It would of also have been nice for the Tuatha'an to have heard Rand sing the song to make the plants grow, that is the song they have been looking for. I want to know if they would of known what they were listening to or not.

Hello Mike: When Sanderson viewed Jordan's notes, he found no narrative written down for Perrin. But ONLY the instruction that he was to end up being a *King* at the end of the series( *King of Saldaea* due to Faile being their Queen)- *the Wolf King.* So everything Perrin that you are reading in the last three books is coming straight from Sanderson's head. The very first clue to Perrin being a King, is in Min's first Vision of him _waaay_ back in _The Eye Of The World_ while in Baerlon. Also, I pretty much agree with you regarding Perrin's story being somewhat disappointing. Bilbo Baggins also slept through the final big battle of The Hobbit, too. So maybe that's where Sanderson got that idea from. LOL

Just finished the final book so I can finally watch this! For my two cents on MoL, I have to say I loved the arrival of the Sharans. There have been the odd mentions of the strange lands beyond the Aiel Waste throughout the whole series, and Noal mentioned going there and would often be half way through telling Olver a story about Shara when Mat walks into the room. In hindsight I think it was really masterfully planting the seeds so that you are vaguely aware of there being another continent in the world but its never focused on enough at any one time for you to stop and think "I wonder if that will ever come into the story more?". And thanks to the Seachan, demonstrating the possibility of unknown powerful nations in mysterious and far off lands, it means that when the Sharans arrive with a gigantic army full of channelers it makes perfect sense and feels like it has been foreshadowed perfectly.

Perrin and Gaul are my favorite bro team

I purposely avoided googling anything while I was reading so as soon as I was done I went on a 2 hour spree of looking things up

I didn’t care too I much about Perrin story either. His story in the end was Crucial crucial crucial but the journey to that point was dry. I did like androl and pervara but you have a point.

Taim was definitely intended as Demandred. Confirmed in discovered RJ notes. Too bad, it made much more sense considering LoC and especially the epilogue

I liked Egwayne but her apposing rand breaking the seals just does not sit well with me it seems like she is just being childish. "You have to let go rand" so good. When the sharan's showed up i was like who TF are they.

I felt the exact same way about the Sharans on my first read. I'm realizing now how much we soak up with a second read. idk if it's because you already know how it ends, so you have the brainspace to catch all the breadcrumbs Jordan lays through the whole series or what. but yeah, that storyline didn't really click for me on the first read. Sanderson did publish a whole Bao the Wyldd chapter in one of the Unfettered collections. Interesting side story of Demandred playing out the Prophesies of the Dark and fulfilling his own "Chosen One" prophesy.

It was fun watching your reactions to reading this series. You’re a genuine dude and really well read. You’re recommendations are influencing what I choose to read. After I get through the mistborn trilogies and Stormlight, I’ll be trying Dresden and the John Gwynn books. I hope you do a re-read of the WoT series at some point. It would be a blast to watch you pickup on all the foreshadowing and making connections about things that didn’t make sense the first time through.

I loved the Pevara / Andrul line,. Became my two favorites. So I disagree with you. That's fine. I like that both characters turned biases on its head. Pevara was a Red but I found I really liked her. Andrul was weak, but had a gift with the one power that broke the model. He shouldn't have been able to do what he did. Then the development of the double bonding mind reading. Outstanding.

Hahaha, the Last Battle chapter was NOT a chapter, it was a mini-book! I started the chapter and thought I'd finish it before sleeping (one more chapter mentality), but boy was I wrong! Took me half of the next day as well. Still so so good!! The best thing about the final book was the character development. Yes, all the usual problematic characters still had some issues but EVERYONE understood their roles and contributed. Like Egwene or not, Flame of Tar Valon weave was awesome; like Elayne or not, she led the battle well and was a good leader; like Gawyn or not, he was heroic (stupid but still heroic); like Aviendha or not, she battled at some tough fronts taking on the Forsaken; like Androl or not, his lava trick was no less than a miracle, like Perrin or not, his battle in the Dream World was equally important; like Lan or not - wait, WHO doesn't like Lan???

Gotta say, I was never into the whole Telaranrhiod/Wolf Dream stuff up until the last 25% or so of this book. Everything up until then I've always found intriguing but also kinda snoozy, and I agree that I never cared much about Slayer. HOWEVER, Perrin's final confrontation, chasing Slayer down while jumping in and out of the Wolf Dream in the flesh at will, was awesome. And, I admit, I even enjoyed the part with him finding and saving that little broken and dying Falcon, as much as I've generally disliked Faile up to that point. Definitely agree with what others posted, that Perrin "sleeping" through the LB wasn't REALLY him missing the LB, because the Last Hunt/Wolf Dream stuff WAS part of the LB, just a "secret" 5th battlefield that the commanders/forces of light never considered - (though ofc he does miss the Fields of Merrilor stuff which kind of ticked me off too when he first gets defeated and has to REALLY sleep, so I completely understand your point). I'm glad I was finally able to (re)finish this series after so long, and with plenty of time before the Show. Great review as always! It's been amazing watching your reviews and I look forward to checking out some of your book recommendations and further reviews as well. You've easily earned the spot as my favorite booktuber, and I'm excited to watch Part 2 and the rest of your videos as well. Cheers and take care Mike!

A lot of people criticize the author's decision to have people command troops after they made mistakes. You should remember that Jordan's leadership experiences included being exposed to war and the military. He was a Vietnam veteran (gunner on a helicopter who later was commissioned as a nuclear engineer in the navy) and so likely saw the growth and development of leaders in war and peace. People do change and that change can be for the worse or better in these types of positions. I am thankful his experience probably made him a better author. I think most of the best fantasy authors are those that had varied and immersive life experiences.

Just finished this book and to help me through my post book depression I'm watching your reviews.

7:00 m'hael is raised to the chosen. he is officially one of the forsaken at that point.

River of Souls in the "Unfettered" anthologies, book 1, explains where Demandred was and how he got the Sharans to follow him. Sorry I wasn't on for the live stream. Great review as always.

Just finished the book. FUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKK that was good! What a journey reading this series has been!

Finally made it to the end...of the Beginning. Bittersweet moment

Finishing WoT and School around the same time, well done Sir.

i think androl should have been introduced a few books earlier. pevara was introduced earlier, but i think her relationship with androl should have started a few books ago as well. i love their relationship tho :) i loved demandred and the sharans in this because it was like a reverse gandalf at helms deep :D the moment they showed up and reked shop, i was like "oh shit, things just went up a notch" :D

as usual, Sanderson sticks the landing.

I've read the first 6 books about 5 times each, and the last 8 books once each. I am looking forward to my re-read of the whole series once i do all the Stephen King novels.

I can finally venture into the comments of a WOT video…feels good.

That intro made me literally cry. Big baby tears.

Was gutted when Suain died. And actually gawn, which I hadn’t expected. Perhaps it was how he went.

I just binge-watched your series.... got my WoT all refreshed and I have to say, your intro's give me goose bumps .. Great watch/listen. It's great fun to see the new reader get through the story and see you react to each new development. (Also love the Dresden Files ones, where I get to see you do the exact same. ) Keep it up!

Chills, man. Just chills as you did your intro for this video! ❤️

I've loved watching you experience this for the first time! Congrats!

An uneven book. Merrilor is Jordan's Gettysburg or Waterloo. Jordan wrote most of it and it shows. Gawyne's reaction to Mat's accusation that Bryne is a darkfriend is pure gold. It's a perfect, in character moment.

I'm sad that you finishing this series means that these awesome reviews are coming to an end. But I'm happy I discovered your channel because of them and I'm looking forward to the next series that you delve into. Thanks Mike

Shara is mentioned alot in the series, its where silk in that world comes from :) , Just one of the places Demandred could have been, myself i had pegged tiamdred as too predictable early on, it clearly what Jordan wanted you to think, I was torn between that guy who Rand thought it was at the meeting and Seachan for him myself. I liked Brandons characters, they were kinda fun in a book with so much action and dark stuff going on. As for Perrin im sure Brandon had trouble figureing out what to do with him, and i guess that his part is all Brandon but I am unsure, if he is at the battle how does he not get in the way of mats arc etc. He is the Lone wolf :) Typical Brandon action in those scenes tho, very cinematic. Good stuff so far see you in part 2 :)

I’ve loved your WOT reviews, Mike. I started the series in December, finished the series yesterday, and have been reading more or less along with you by coincidence . I fully understand needing a recovery period. Anyways, you earned a life long subscriber in me, great stuff!

I have never waited so long or looked forward so much to watch a youtube video thank you Mike.

That intro gave me chills. I've really enjoyed your reviews throughout the series.

I finished this series last year and I still come back to your videos on it to try to re-live and re-capture how I felt going through it and how I felt when it was finished. The beginning quotes on this give me chills, man.

Watched all your reviews. Loved seeing a first-time reader and how you felt about certain elements. Thanky ou for all your hard work.

I've been binging these reviews and OMG, that was the best intro to all of your vids. The intensity of it. Holy crap!

Great video Mike - so excited that you’re done and now you can read my Weekly Wheel News! Also wanted to say I agree about the Sharans. As a society they’re mentioned in passing many many times but we never get a real glimpse into their society except for the little bits in Noal’s stories. I also felt it was out of nowhere and could have used a lot more backstory. It’s odd in the Audios that they have a Russian accent (which would be fine) but Demandred switches between Russian and American accents quite a bit). The unknown aspect adds some good drama in that “our side” doesn’t know how to handle them, but yes, I definitely felt they were out of nowhere.

Thank you Mike

That intro though....

Just finished the series last night with that one more chapter mentality (it was long past midnight when I finished which was sooo worth it). And wow I had goosebumps throughout the second half of the book from all the standout moments with Lan to Suian to Gawyn to Egwene and Birgitte - thanks for such amazing reviews Mike these have been fun to watch alongside my first read through!!!!

It is time to read the River of Souls canonical short story explaining Demandred & Sharans. But as Brandon mentions, the entry of Demandred was a refreshing surprise so the River of Souls was deleted.

The demandred in Shara reveal was hinted back in I think Lord of Chaos in a conversation between two of the Forsaken. I don’t know if many people noticed it but it’s there.

I have read this series several times and I still get Bashere and Byrne mixed up. There is a really good video on the Sharans by Greene or Nae'Blis, or someone. It will fill you in alot about them, and what Demandred was up to.

I agree with Perrin. He was a favorite and was pushed under the rug unnecessarily.

Didn't catch the Sharan's on my first read through. On the 2nd read now and they have been mentioned in 4 out of 5 books so far. They were set up, just easy to miss

Your opening quote is one of my favorite lines front the book.

Congrats on the new camera Mike, videos are looking crisp!

I just finished the series today. Wow. What a ride

Loved the intro

I remember getting to the end and I wanted more of Padan Fain. I thought he was as dynamic and interesting as Demandred. Shadar Haran never revealed himself. With that being said i have no complaints about any character. This series was perfect and inspiring and filled with so many omg moments. Lan on his final quest was tear worthy.

I made the mistake of saying “I’ll go to bed after 1 more chapter” when I started “the last battle”.

Just finished... wow!

After learning about people believing Jordan changed Taim from Demandred to, well, Taim. I did believe it for a bit. BUT then I thought about how it was mentioned from the start that the last battle will have new dread lords, and maybe even forsaken. There was many more than 13 forsaken in the Age of Legends, they are just leaders/favourites that the dark one picks out. They aren't inherently special, we should be getting more forsaken. And I think Taim fit that perfectly well, hell he could have even been a deliberate red herring for Demandred, written doing actions a forsaken might do if he was trying to be near Rand. Not a Forsaken then, but aspiring. Androl honestly ended up being one of my favourite characters. Loved who he was. I suspect one of Moraines requests from the Finn was to fully understand the prophecies and/or the boys. She knows too much about the prophecies, and seems to know exactly how vast Mats memories are. Think you mixed up Lanfears and Graendals punishments, Lanfear was a little less beautiful than before, but the finn draining her strength in the power was seen as punishment enough. Graendal was the one who was rendered into an... *ugly hag. I absolutely loved Demandred being convinced Mat was Rand, was a beautiful one-sided relationship of war. The Sharan content was cut, there is chapters fully written, they were chucked in some book with a tonne of other authors bits and pieces I think. They might have more information in those WoT encyclopedias too, the Sharans were thought out, just not written out. Excited too see the next video, will leave comments from that video there :P

I love Tuon because she's jus about the only person who could make Mat settle down. Easy banter, an IQ that can keep up with him, etc. I hate her because she's evil. Really evil. Sul'dam. The Sharans weren't a real surprise if you reading them as they were written. They don't get a lot of text-time, but they get enough mentions that everyone was like"what's going on in Shara"? Cairhen's prosperity was built on the Sharan trade, which was only possible because the Aiel let them do it, then king Laman cut the tree down, which pissed them off and started the Aiel war, now the Aiel sell any Cairhanien they encounter in the waste into slavery.

I finish the book today. I love the last book.. but it's open to continue and that the part I 💕..

I totally get the need to have a recovery period after this. And I respect that you took the time to get back to a place where you could do this well.

Concerning Androl: If Elayne had died in book 7 and all the chapters she gets in the books since then would have been Androl chapters I would have been quite happy (However I agree that more Logain would have been nice).

I liked Adrol/Pevara but your assessment is fair. I HATED Slayer from his first appearance. I was glad Talmanes got healed because he has some great zingers. The Sharans were Jordan's Haradrim/Easterlings and the Field of Merrilor was Pelennor Fields. Yes it was rewarding to see the characters "grow up". Everyone had their moment and ended up where they should have.

In my opinion for what it's worth, I loved Brandon Sanderson's writing of the last three books. Hands down, the last three were my favorite in the series. The characters were absolutely perfectly written!

I think when Brandon open some of the notes that Jordan left to the public, some of them revealed that, at some early point, Taim was in fact Demandred for Jordan but he changed his mind during the process of writing the books. I also recommend that you read "River of Souls" It was kind of a chapter that was cut from Memory of Light that gives more context on Demandred and the Sharans

Androl and Pevara are amazing, one of the better parts of the book which is strange since they are basically new characters. I didn’t find I was missing out time with the others. I skipped most of the Perrin stuff, sorry didn’t care. Like you that was the part I hated of the last book and it returns here with huge focus. Bad move.

I always heard it as Grain-dahl

I get your missing the Sharens. There land is on the farside of the 3 fold land. The original wealth of Carhien came from the trade through the waste there, then Laymen's folly caused the Aiel war.

hahahaha. everyone in this book was perfectly written. so there. lmao - perfect Mike :-)

When Rand made Elayne Trakand the high general was screaming in the background. Me: Elayne? The crazy lady who got hundreds of men killed to capture 2 dark friends!!! Me: We are all dead!!!!

Oh man, I have a zoom class at 11. I guess I know what I'm doing after class.

I disagree with a lot of your opinions but I'm happy you made it through.

I thought the Sharans led by Bao the Wyld (Demandred) was an awesome unexpected surprise, that's when I thought "oh shit they are all fucked now" and started getting very worried for the heroes

Pretty sure Perrin was all Sanderson. I don't know for sure, but I read somewhere that all he really had to go on for Perrin's arc was, "Perrin ends up as king." Personally, I didn't feel that Perrin got entirely sidelined--just that his battle happened on a different front, and that is where his powers could really shine. After blipping in and out of the Wolf Dream--which is a better form of Travelling than Travelling, it seems--and using all of the powers he has in TAR, it wouldn't have added much to have him swinging a hammer against some trollocs, like he was already doing back in book 1.

Say what you will about the rest of the series, this book brings it.

Love the shirt Led Zeppelin is awesome

I liked Androhl and Pevara, but I feel like they, or rather Androhl was introduced too late in the series. They were pretty cool though.

I like to think this would, mostly, be the last book from Jordan; iiiiit might have been book 18 or 20 though. Welcome to the "having read" crowd, brother.

I felt the same as you about Androl and Pevara. The 14th book is not the time to introduce new characters at the expense of those we've been following for years. I highly recommend reading the River of Souls short story in the Unfettered collection. It explains the culmination of Demandred's quest for ascendancy in Shara, building his army for the Last Battle. It was originally written for A Memory of Light, but they (Sanderson and Harriet) decided it was too much of a sidetrack. It was nice to get that viewpoint though, since I've always wondered about Shara.

I'm assuming you know by now but Jordan initially did intend for Taim and Demandred to be the same person. (There are competing theories on Taim always being Demandred or Demandred killing Taim and impersonating him.) It is actually in his notes. However, he changed it and the theory is that he changed it when readers figured it out pretty early on.

I always thought Slayer/Luc dynamic was cool, two souls in one body and how he is actually Lans brother (I think, I know they are closely related). Lots of neat threads in these books with bloodlines and how they all tie into prophecy

Brandon Sanderson didn’t create Androl. Androl is in the epilogue of book 9 but he was meant to be a throw away character. I loved that we got the whole Androl and Pevara thing. It shows a future of what one of the red ajah’s roles could be. I also thought Androl was a total bad ass. I loved that even though he was weak in the power, he was still so powerful.

For what possible reason would the warriors of light have to doubt Mat's ability to conduct war?

A lot of the info about Shara was given through the circus. So it's not surprising you missed it

InstaLikefor Zep!

I just finished the series Today...truly if you haven't read this story in your life, You truly haven't lived. I hope the show does it justice. I wish we could have got Rand, Perrin, and Mat one last time together.

Same here with Tuon. Actually, I don't like her. She's as tough as she makes out to be, but she still comes across as spoiled and up her own ass to me. Idk, maybe it's because I'm like Matt and dislike most nobility! And unlike Matt, I'm not in love with Tuon. Yeah, she annoyed me. But objectively, rating her as a fantasy character, she was great and really well done. It is super believable. In fact, every character is intensely realistic. I forget sometimes sometimes they are fictional! Oh and p.s.- I just finished the series this morning and am super excited. I'm revelling in the story's conclusion!!!!!

Sanderson didn't create Androl, he had been seen once or twice before aMoL but you could say Sanderson created his character since we knew absolutely nothing about him prior to this.

But I do and will always wonder which wife will go to him first.. my bet min will go to him the next day.. I willing to bet matt in dice on that second his queen and last Elaine then avienda

tam is the coolest father..

cyndane (lanfear) while not as super pretty as before, there is nothing i can remember from the books that say she isnt still beautiful. the dark one can bring the forsaken back in any body of people they have captured, so there must be good looking ones among them, as there are hideous ones among the captives that one of the other forsaken we love got resurected with

4 hours... is long time