Re: Mat's talisman was retconned - Edit 2
Before modification by DomA at 17/02/2013 04:35:21 PM
In tFoH Rand even says something along the lines of "Mat lying dead. His medallion hadn't saved him from a man channeling."
He did. after all, ask to be free of Aes Sedai. None of which were male in the third age.
He did. after all, ask to be free of Aes Sedai. None of which were male in the third age.
He asked to be rid of the One Power, which includes saidin, and AS.
The medallion has not been retconned.
In TFOH RJ put a big clue to the limitations of Mat's medallion (it stops only direct weaves of saidin and saidar) but disguised it by having Mat reach the wrong conclusion. Channelers use the OP to create the conditions for lightnings. The lightnings this produces aren't weaves. The weave-breakers are useless to stop them.
RJ didn't want us (by TFOH) and Mat to know the medallion also stopped saidin. What happened with Rahvin made him believe the opposite. RJ was building up Mat's paranoia that Rand would end up killing him, it would have interfered with that if Mat knew as fact he was protected around Rand. Mat never discovered his medallion also works for saidin, but in Salidar we did.
That came out explicitely after Mat left Ebou Dar (Vandene and Adeleas puzzled it out), after which RJ was also willing to explain in Q&A why the medallion had not stopped the lightnings for those who had not puzzled it out on their own by then (previously, he RAFOed questions about the medallion vs. saidin and the Rahvin episode).
There's no retcon in this, just RJ being sly with his foreshadowing and clues.