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The Man Who Can't Forget is a song in The Wheel of Time. The gleeman Thom Merrilin performs it at the Four Kings Inn in Breen's Spring.

Overview[]

When Rand al'Thor and Mat Cauthon go into the inn looking for their friends, Thom Merrilin performs the song. It's somber and the crowd goes quiet. The innkeeper Dana breaks the ice by asking if everyone wants another round.[1]

Lyrics[]

The colors of his morning
The darkness of his night
Little graves that gave no warning
A sun that brought no light

He saw his whole world breaking
That tortured soul I met
In a prison of his making
The man who can't forget

I can still hear the way that he cried
For the ones he was missing
I can still hear the way that he cried
For the ones he had lost

He saw them in the rivers
He felt them in the rain
In dreams he heard them whisper
The truth that is his pain

He caused the whole world's breaking
That tortured soul I met
In a prison of his making
The man who can't forget

Behind the scenes[]

Showrunner Rafe Judkins said the following about the song's development and meaning:[2]

We had started pulling lyrics from the books and then Dave Hill, the writer handling that block of episodes, actually started working on this idea of ‘What if you told a story about the last Dragon and the Breaking of the World and it’s very, very subtle?'

I don’t think non-book fans will catch much of it, but I think you’ll get this idea that the world was broken. And that the idea of the world having been broken and the emotional toll on previous characters that we will later realize who is who and what is what with that. I think that that could be a scene that when played back when people know the full story of the show will have much further impact.

Actor Alexandre Willaume said the following about the song:[3]

The lyrics are about a man who met the man who broke the world, who can't forget seeing what he has done to everybody, seeing the turmoil, and even though the world carries on and tries to find a new way of living, he can't forget what he did. And I thought that was quite good.

From a Twitter Q&A with Dragonmount on November 14, 2022:[4]

Question
What made you choose the tone and theme of “Man Who Can’t Forget” for Thom’s first song? Also we’d love to know if it will ever be released to buy/stream!
Rafe Judkins
We wanted Thom to have more of an old western vibe to him in the show so that brought a lot to the tone of the song. But Dave Hill actually wrote the lyrics for the Man Who Can’t Forget, about the Dragon himself after he’d broken the world. Rewatch and you’ll see how it hits Rand

Gallery[]

Creating In-World Music for the Wheel of Time, including BTS recording of The Man Who Can't Forget, December 25, 2021

Trivia[]

  • The song is not directly named in the show, but has been referred to as "The Man Who Can't Forget" by showrunner Rafe Judkins.[4] It was also the answer in a quiz posted by the show's official Twitter account.[5]

Navigation[]

Music

Opening theme • Sing of Manetheren • The Man Who Can't Forget • Browse all songs

References[]

  1. The Wheel of Time, season 1 episode 3: A Place of Safety.
  2. Nerdist, The Wheel of Time's Showrunner On The Meaning Of Thom Merrilin's Song by Amy Ratcliffe. November 19, 2021.
  3. Ep 5.3 Creating the Music, Part 1. This video is found on Prime Video in the bonus content for episode 5 Blood Calls Blood.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Posted on Twitter November 14, 2022.
  5. https://twitter.com/TheWheelOfTime/status/1589730961738330114
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