#Isam Mandragoran

[toastandjamie]

Fellas is it gay to have your soul forcibly merged with your homies becoming a unholy conglomerate affront to god?

Anyways Isam and Luc

[asha-mage]

Dain, standing up: "Hi, my name is Dain Bornhold and I have a unhealthy homoerotic attachment to Perrin Aybara."

Aram, Gaul, Byar, and Slayer in unison: "Hi Dain."

[two-ponds-and-a-bowtie]

Lan's cousin and Rand's uncle sharing a body is something I need a whole episode dedicated to in the show methinks cuz what was THAT about

[sparklyeevee]

Okay, so

Simple, three letter, single syllable names are very rare in WoT, except for Andoran commoners

Lan Mandragoran is not an Andoran commoner

Yeah technically it's al'Lan, but the al' part is a title, not really part of his name.

The Malkieri were the last holdouts on using bynames (e.g. Jain Farstrider, Cowin Fairheart), and afaict the only Westlands culture confirmed to do so after the War of the Hundred Years, so clearly the notion of a person's name changing throughout their life was not unknown to them.

Malkier was farther north even than the rest of the Borderlands, and firmly located in the mountains, meaning it was likely cold AF in the winter and probably had a relatively high infant mortality rate.

Lan means "prized" or "beloved" in the Old Tongue

Guys, I think "Lan" is a milk name. Something you call a baby until it's old enough for a real name. Isam has an actual name, so I'd hazard they do it at a year old, but Malkieri culture being what it is, it was probably his mother's right to name him, only el'Leanna was dead, and none of the five men who made it to safety with baby Lan felt like it was their place to do so.

[readerbell]

How old was Isam when his mother fled with him? Perrin describes Slayer wearing a braided leather cord in the dream world. My understanding was that the Hadori was granted upon maturity, by a close male relative or authority and is part of a vow to stand against the Shadow.

Isam (I’m sorry but I feel sorry for the guy after his 1 POV in Towers of Midnight) has no male relatives who could give him the hadori. Lan certainly wouldn’t & upon my understanding they were both babies when Malkier fell. Also, Isam works for the Dark One so it’s not like he’s wearing the Hadori to fight against the Shadow… Is this one of those subversive cultural things among dark friends? Similar to the Turned Aiel who unveil their faces when they kill?

[highladyluck]

OP you are completely valid and while I've always given 0 fucks about Slayer, now that you’ve made me think about it I think I kind of see what RJ was trying to do with it? Like, he was trying to set up this really dramatic thematic foil thing that pulls in as many of Perrin's themes and development as possible, but for whatever reason it just lands kinda flat for me.

I think Slayer’s background is supposed to contrast with what Perrin is doing by raising the banner of Manetheren. Like, Rand's uncle is wayward Andoran royalty, told to go off and seek glory in the Blight instead of helping to do his job with Andor (which could have been helping to mitigate succession issues with Tigraine gone, idk). The Two Rivers feels disconnected from the Andoran throne at best, and abandoned at worst, which is part of the reason they want home rule for Manetheren via Perrin. So Luc Mantear represents the Two Rivers’ abandonment issues.

Then there's Lan's cousin, who is a Malkieri refugee who was orphaned and raised in an enemy stronghold and has thus adopted his enemy's values (including, I guess, hating wolves- maybe he's also jealous of them) rather than the values of his homeland. This is another foil to Perrin the reviver of Manetheren. The Two Rivers is reminded of a past they forgot, and given context for their values, and they choose to remember their history and hold to its values. So Isam Mandragoran represents the Two Rivers’ disconnect from their history and their lack of context for their values.

So Slayer being one arrogant Andoran royal/one traumatized Malkieri refugee merged into one creature by the Dark One echoes Perrin's man/wolf thing that’s instigated by the Pattern, and contrasts with the Manetheren pride and independence movement that Perrin becomes the figurehead of.

Plus Slayer grew up super fucked up and Perrin had an idyllic childhood for the most part, Slayer was never afraid of his own strength and Perrin was, Slayer kills for fun and Perrin really tries not to, they both are skilled fighters and hunters in T'A'R eventually, etc etc. I still don’t really care about Slayer but I do think there are thematic reasons for his background, but it sure as hell is left to the reader as an exercise. :/

Confession: I still don’t get what exactly Slayer is and why Rands uncle/Lans cousin are sharing a body in Tel'aran'rhiod and are the arch nemesis of wolves and want to kill Perrin

[everybodyhatesrand]

“Little is known about this dark creature or his origins” 

Robert Jordan, I am confusion  - ANYWAY, here is that wiki article we referenced! 

[cannoli-reader]

Almost certainly. He probably wears it in mockery of its meaning. And we’re just assuming he has no male kin. Whoever knew to keep him alive might very well have taken captive some nobleman in the conquest of Malkier with a blood-tie to the Mandragorans, just to torment him, Morgoth-to-Hurin-style, with witnessing what they are doing to Isam, and then forcing him to go through the manhood ritual. 

How old was Isam when his mother fled with him? Perrin describes Slayer wearing a braided leather cord in the dream world. My understanding was that the Hadori was granted upon maturity, by a close male relative or authority and is part of a vow to stand against the Shadow.

Isam (I’m sorry but I feel sorry for the guy after his 1 POV in Towers of Midnight) has no male relatives who could give him the hadori. Lan certainly wouldn’t & upon my understanding they were both babies when Malkier fell. Also, Isam works for the Dark One so it’s not like he’s wearing the Hadori to fight against the Shadow… Is this one of those subversive cultural things among dark friends? Similar to the Turned Aiel who unveil their faces when they kill?