Some terrible, cataclysmic event has taken place inside a palace. All inhabitants are dead, burned, or swallowed up by stone. A lone man, Lews Therin Telamon, wanders the corridors, oblivious to the scattered bodies, looking for his wife, Ilyena. Suddenly, another man materializes, calling him “Lord of the Morning” (x) and “Dragon” (xiv) and demanding he remember his actions. The newcomer calls himself Elan Morin Tedronai, Betrayer of Hope, servant of Shai’tan, the Great Lord of the Dark. Using magic, the newcomer heals Lews Therin, bringing back his self-awareness. Lews Therin suddenly realizes all those dear to him, including his wife and children, are dead. He wants to destroy Morin, but the newcomer reveals that it is Lews Therin who killed everyone, not the Dark One. Lews Therin cannot bear the guilt and pain and transports himself to an isolated flatland where he draws on his power until he is obliterated. The event is of such magnitude that it starts a cataclysmic chain reaction that completely alters the world’s geography. Lews Therin’s place of death transforms from a flatland into a mountain, Dragonmount.

Two texts, written in the Fourth Age, follow the Prologue. They speak of the Dragon as both the one who brings cataclysmic events and evil and the one who can fight the Dark and protect people.