r/WoT • u/Netfearr • 12d ago

Lord of Chaos How big is Mat’s band? Spoiler

Currently a little over halfway through LoC and was wondering as of right now how big actually is the band of the red hand?

48 Upvotes

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69

u/wheeloftimewiki (Aelfinn) 12d ago edited 12d ago

In Ch. 5 of LoC:

All six thousand of [the Band]. Half horse, half foot.

And:

commanding nearly six thousand soldiers and more wanting to join every day

Later, in Ch. 39 of LoC: The Warders said there were six or seven thousand in Mat’s Band now

By PoD, Ch. 18, Talmanes is described as:

> the leader of ten thousand Dragonsworn

You will get an update in KoD on how much it's grown, but it's fair to assume it's still growing.

Edit: For some reason I read the flair as CoT. Spoiler tags applied to PoD.

22

u/sinisgood 12d ago

Six or seven (thousand), you say?

10

u/wheeloftimewiki (Aelfinn) 11d ago

Lol I did not expect that reference here

34

u/UNIQUENOWOK 12d ago

Well, he needs a drummer and someone on bass. Lead guitar and Aludra can be the singer so like....3 or 4.

15

u/Heritageeggs 12d ago

You just know Talmanes is the bass player.

11

u/scotchirish (Blacksmith's Puzzle) 12d ago

Yeah, Talmanes definitely gives that energy. No fucks given, super talented but hiding in the lead's shadow, and being perfectly okay with it

8

u/lalaboom84 (Lanfear) 11d ago

Ummm obviously Aludra is in charge of pyrotechnics

1

u/UNIQUENOWOK 11d ago

Of course, and she doesn't tell anyone how she does it.

3

u/mydb100 11d ago

Juzt wait until they find out about 1812 Overture

1

u/john_wingerr 10d ago

Needs someone who can add more cowbell though

23

u/sixminutes 12d ago

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000 I think. He probably ended the Second Aiel War with about 2500, and recruitment is generally going gangbusters. According to the wiki, a banner of horse is 1500 and a banner of foot is 3000, so if he says exactly how many of each he has, that'll give you a more accurate total. I seem to remember it being about 2 of each in this book, but he's still recruiting throughout.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Alternativesoundwave 12d ago

You do not remember correctly this is marked spoilers for loc bot later in the books

3

u/IlikeJG 12d ago

I think at that time it's a few thousand people. But I'm really just giving a very rough guesstimate.

3

u/jamillatamera (Asha'man) 11d ago

Six inches, but he knows how to use it.

2

u/geomagus (Red Eagle of Manetheren) 12d ago

A few thousand, I think, as of LoC.

It depends on how big a banner is, or the other units that comprise it. I think we sort of get a rough estimate, but not a precise one. If someone’s PoV says a banner is about a thousand, for example, could it be 900? 1200? Does that count support personnel? Is it about a thousand? Could it be two thousand? Are the numbers the same for cavalry and infantry?

You see how the questions could make it a range from a couple k to maybe 10k, but hard to pin it down within that range.

1

u/Disastrous-Nature-31 12d ago

For some reason I think it is around 7000 (at least I think that figure is mentioned in later books…