* * * SPOILERS for Issola (at least) below * * > IIRC, only Godslayer, Iceflame, Blackwand and Pathfinder are the only > Great Weapons that have ever been named in the series. But aren't there > supposed to be 17 of them? If so, I'm not sure the sample size is big > enough. > > (BTW - any ideas why there's nothing about the other Great Weapons? I > kinda got the impression that having a Great Weapon made you > automatically a big player whose views it was a good idea for the Empire > to take into consideration, so I'd kinda expect some of the more > political novels to at least mention some. Perhaps some have been > lost? Or they're really picky about who wields them, and are perfectly > happy to kill off everyone who tries to wield them until the right > person comes along?) I can't remember which book it was, but Sethra mentioned someone named Zungaron had a great weapon, but didn't realize it. As to where the others are, Blackwand was "out of play" for a long period (waiting on a prophecy)... Godslayer was "out of play" for a long period (reduced to Spellbreaker)... Pathfinder was "out of play" for an indeterminate amount of time (depending on if Baritt knew what he had or not). Iceflame appears to have been "in play" for an extremely long time, although I'm not sure if it's mentioned anywhere how long she's had it. It might be the case that all 17 are rarely in play at the same time. I mean, imagine if there were 17 weilders in the world at the same time... Especially if they didn't get along, or had different aims and goals. Is it coincidence that all of the known wielders get along? Perhaps the Great Weapons have shared motives and CHOOSE wielders that suit their purposes? So Pathfinder ignored Fornia and Sethra the Younger (who both had it for a while) but chose Aliera. Baritt... hrm. I wish I knew whether or not he actually wielded it. If he did, then his dislike of Morrolan would take this theory down a couple of notches. Anyway, Blackwand chose Morrolan. Godslayer chose Vlad (ignoring Loraan, who had Spellbreaker for some period of time). ? Bryan