# w_theory

created: 2005-02-23 03:58:16
subject: Sa'angreal Reloaded
body:
<p>This theory suggests the possibility that sa'angreal are not OP multipliers (like angreal), but rather enable their users to draw an enormous but fixed amount of the OP.<br /><br />The books are replete with references to the comparative strengths of channelers using angreal.  One such instance is from Elayne's POV <i>&quot;Stripping away the cloth revealed a small amber brooch in the shape of a turtle... Not a strong angreal, but far better than nothing. With it, she could handle twice as much of the Power as Nynaeve, and Nynaeve herself would do better still.&quot; (POD, Unweaving, p72)</i> here she is comparing the amount of the OP she could draw through an angreal to the amount Nynaeve could draw.  Because of Nynaeve's greater strength, she could draw more from the angreal than Elayne could.  Accordingly, we seem to have generally concluded that angreal effectively multiply the amount of OP one can safely channel.<br /><br />However, the recent theory on sa'angreal got me thinking about the fight Rand and Asmodean have with the Choedan Kal in Rhuidean.  <br /><br />Asmodean is known to be the weakest of the Forsaken.  Rand is arguably the strongest channeler ever -- but at any rate he is stronger than Asmodean.  Even if Rand had not yet gained his full strength, this is not a problem for the theory unless Rand and Asmodean were, at that moment, exactly equal in strength.<br /><br />They were both drawing saidin through the Choedan Kal (actually, through an access key) at the same time and they were exactly evenly matched in strength.  How could this be?<br /><br />1.  When an object of power is shared, the flow of the OP is divided evenly no matter what.  <br /><br />I suppose this is possible.  But whose strength determines the amount of OP drawn, the stronger or the weaker?  An average of the two?  If so, then would the OP be split equally between channelers using a normal angreal?  I'm not sure that we know.<br /><br />2.  Something about the access key split the power equally.  <br /><br />Theoretically possible but fairly untestable.<br /><br />3.  There is a big difference between angreal and sa'angreal.<br /><br />Admittedly speculating, what might that difference be?  I argue that is possible to imagine, given what we know, that whereas angreal are multipliers of power, sa'angreal merely draw a fixed amount of power, albeit an incredibly huge amount.  <br /><br />I don't believe anything in the books contradicts this possibility.  It would also explain why Rand and Asmodean were equally matched when drawing saidin through the Choedan Kal, despite Rand's greater strength.  It would also explain why angreal and sa'angreal are differently named and why they seem to behave differently than each other.<br /><br />Again, I'm not convinced of this possibility.  I want to see what you make of it.<br /><br />TFK<br /><br />PS Thanks to AgingComputer and a dragonburned fool for their help with the above POV from Elayne.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-02-26 19:33:16
subject: The Shadow at Noon
body:
<p>The White Tower.  It stands, pristine and unblemished, as a pillar of strength against the chaos that engulfs the world.  As the noonday sun exiles daytime shadows to the furthest recesses, so too does this fortress of Aes Sedai banish the Shadow.  Or so the world has always believed.  Yet now, on the eve of battle, the eve of the Last Battle, the shadow creeps across the world at noon, darkness lurks in human hearts, and the Black Shadow infests the White Tower.<br /><br />What form does the Shadow cast against the brilliance of the White Tower?  The shape of Black Ajah sisters can clearly be seen within the greater darkness, and the figure of their Mistress haunts this pattern as well.  The flash of embroidered silk skirts.  A shadowy finger tapping silver lips.  A nondescript middle-aged face.  Who is this mysterious woman and what is her purpose?  After ten books, Mesaana remains largely an enigma.  One key to piercing the veil of secrecy that surrounds the identity of this erstwhile teacher is determining her whereabouts.  Or, perhaps more appropriately, determining where she is <i>not</i>.<br /><br /><b>That fool girl cannot be trusted...</b><br /><br />First of all, it is important to realize that Mesaana certainly does spend <i>some</i> time in the White Tower.  The real debate needs to focus on <i>how much</i> time she spends there.  Does she maintain a continual presence in the Tower, or is her presence there more limited, thus allowing her the opportunity to be in other places as well?  In <i>Threads Woven of Shadow</i>, Graendal reveals a little about Mesaana's early role in WoT. &quot;(Mesaana) was sure Be'lal would kill or capture (Rand) in Tear; she was very proud of that trap.&quot;  As Light in the Night pointed out in The Longest Theory, this seems to indicate Mesaana played a major role in the plot to draw Rand to Tear in TDR.  Exactly what was that role and what does it reveal about Mesaana's whereabouts at the time?  Luckily, there may be just enough information to infer some answers.<br /><br />&quot;Rand had no idea who he was, this fellow in red silk coat with black stripes down its puffy sleeves and black breeches tucked into elaborately silver-worked boots.  He did not know the man, but he had seen him in his dreams.&quot; -- <b>TDR</b>, <i>What is Written in Prophecy</i><br /><br />This might show that Be'lal, most likely the principal agent in this plot, planted the dreams of <i>Callandor</i> that originally drove Rand from his camp in the Mountains of Mist.  This leaves for Mesaana, perhaps, the supporting role of enticing Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene to Tear as bait for the Netweaver's web.  The first step in their journey south from Tar Valon occurs in <i>Questions</i>.  Else Grinwell claims to carry a message from the Amyrlin about some belongings that Liandrin and her cohorts have left behind.  Suspicion is immediately cast upon Else as Nynaeve's exclaims, &quot;That fool girl cannot be trusted not to blab her mouth to anyone who'll listen!&quot;  That suspicion proves well founded a little later in <i>A Trap to Spring</i> when Siuan informs the trio, &quot;Else Grinwell was put on a trading vessel and sent back to her mother ten days ago.&quot;  Obviously someone is masquerading as Else in an attempt to lure the women to Tear, and Mesaana is the most likely candidate.<br /><br />The fake belongings planted in a storeroom below the library, however, are not quite enough to send the three Accepted haring off to Tear.  In the chapter <i>Tel'aran'rhiod</i>, Silvie reveals the information that clinches their decision to Egwene, and the crone's reaction to Egwene's appearance in the Heart of the Stone is noteworthy. &quot;Well, you've found your way at last, child.&quot;  Specifically, Silvie's lack of surprise is important.  It seems that the old woman has been expecting Egwene.  This could be a tangible connection to Else, because  her appearance in Nynaeve's room came on the heels of Egwene's stated decision to enter the World of Dreams on that particular night.  If Mesaana was masquerading as Else, she may very well have overheard that decision.  This could be the first concrete indication of Mesaana's presence in the Tower.  While this may seem to signal that Mesaana has indeed established her lair in the White Tower as early as TDR, that conclusion is problematic due to a complete lack of additional evidence until LoC.<br /><br /><b>Each was stronger than any of these half-trained children...</b><br /><br />LoC provides most of the clues that imply Mesaana must be spending the majority of her time in the White Tower.  Even Graendal's key statement linking Mesaana to Else and Silvie comes in LoC; before that moment, the obviously fake Else could potentially be any of the Forsaken.  Examining <i>all</i> the clues about Mesaana in LoC, however, reveals some interesting contradictions as well as the precarious foundation underlying the stated beliefs of some characters.  The bevy of clues, and misdirections, piles up almost immediately during the prologue of this sixth book.<br /><br />&quot;Each (Chosen) was stronger than any of these half-trained children who called themselves Aes Sedai today, but enough half-trained children linked together could crush them all.  Except, of course, they no longer knew how and no longer had the means in any case.  Men were needed to take a link beyond thirteen, more than one to go beyond twenty-seven.  In truth, those girls - the oldest seemed girls to her; she had lived over three hundred years, quite aside from her time sealed in the Bore, and had only been considered just into her middle years - those girls were no real danger, but that did not lessen the desire of anyone here for <i>angreal</i>, or better yet the more powerful <i>sa'angreal</i>.&quot; -- <b>LoC</b>, <i>The First Message</i><br /><br />At first glance, it seems entirely reasonable that one of the Forsaken would place themselves at the center of Aes Sedai power.  What better place for a Shadow captain than wreaking havoc amongst the Dark One's most powerful adversaries?  Despite Mesaana's bravado in the above passage, however, there is a glaring weakness in that rationale; any Forsaken planted  in the White Tower would be in the one place their discovery and destruction are most likely.  The White Tower is not Tear, Illian, or Caemlyn; cities where the Forsaken wield their powers with temerity.  As early as TDR the problems any Forsaken would face trying to operate in the White Tower are already apparent.<br /><br />&quot;(Selene's) hand was empty, and she stood halfway across the room, but (Mat) leaned back, away from her hand, as if she were right on top of him with a dagger.  He did not know why, really, except that there was a threat in her eyes, and he was sure it was real.  His skin began to tingle, and his headache returned.<br />Suddenly the tingle and pain vanished together, and Selene's head whipped around as if listening to something beyond the walls.  A tiny frown appeared on her face, and she lowered her hand.  'We will talk again, Mat.  I have much to say to you.  Remember your choices.  Remember that there are many hands that would kill you.  I alone guarantee you life, and all you seek, if you do as I say.'  She slipped out of the door as silently and gracefully as she had entered.&quot; -- <b>TDR</b>, <i>Visitations</i><br /><br />Selene's dilemma trying to manipulate Mat is illustrative.  If Mesaana truly did operate in the White Tower on a daily basis, she would probably be a nervous wreck.  The slightest miscalculation, the slightest lapse in concentration could result in discovery.  Her powers would be largely curtailed by the caution she would need to employ, and her actions would have to be entirely circumspect.  Mesaana even acknowledges the danger inherent in such a situation as she discusses the location of <i>angreal</i> with the other Forsaken in <i>The First Message</i>.  &quot;No doubt there are some in Cairhien and Rhuidean, but even if you do not walk right into al'Thor, both are full of women who can channel.&quot;  If the danger of a few dozen channeling Wise Ones in a foreign territory are enough to prevent Mesaana from searching the Power objects in Cairhien, then it seems entirely reasonable that hundreds of fully-trained Aes Sedai in their home base would engender even greater trepidation.  Mesaana may be able to best even three or four linked sisters, but a large enough circle could completely overwhelm her.  The need to eliminate even a single sister stumbling across Mesaana only increases that risk exponentially.  <br /><br />Adding into that equation unknowable factors makes the risk seem truly prohibitive.  What sisters may have taught themselves methods for penetrating Illusion?  Or learnt how to mask the channeling ability, or a way to pierce it?  Or even taught themselves skills that were unknown in the Age of Legends like the Warder bond or the ability to unravel weaves?  For a woman that has shown herself to be as cautious as Mesaana, exposure to such dangers on a daily basis, week after week and month after month, seems entirely illogical.<br /><br /><b>Any of them would risk much for one of those prizes...</b><br /><br />Another detail emerges during <i>The First Message</i> that leads many readers to conclude Mesaana must be residing in the White Tower.  While lecturing the other Forsaken on the Power objects around the world, Mesaana reveals a surprisingly specific knowledge about the precautions the White Tower has undertaken to safeguard their store of <i>angreal</i>, <i>sa'angreal</i> and <i>ter'angreal</i>.  &quot;The White Tower now has guards <i>and</i> wards on their strongrooms, inside and out, plus they count <i>everything</i> four times each day.&quot;  Such detailed knowledge is hardly surprising, however, since Alviarin is her primary agent in the Tower.  Alviarin has demonstrated that she is entirely cognizant of all the Tower procedures that safeguard the Aes Sedai's cache of Power objects.<br /><br />&quot;A ward was set on that lock.  That young fool's task tonight was to monitor it.  Had she done as she was supposed to, you would find a dozen Warders and as many Aes Sedai outside this door now.&quot; -- <b>TFoH</b>, <i>Memories</i><br /><br />With an agent of Alviarin's stature in the Tower hierarchy, not to mention her evident knowledge of Tower policy, Mesaana should be able to obtain one of those prizes with relative ease.   Mesaana's cautious nature, however, prevents such a gambit.  &quot;Any of (the Chosen) would risk much for one of those prizes.  But not everything.  Not with no real need.&quot;  It is hard to believe Mesaana's need for an <i>angreal</i> could be any greater with her primary base inside the White Tower.  She is, after all, residing deep in enemy territory and surrounded by hundreds of potentially dangerous foes.<br /><br /><b>When I think where you two have placed yourselves...</b><br /><br />Of all the statements and thoughts providing clues about Mesaana in <i>The First Message</i>, Demandred's rhetorical questions clearly indicate Mesaana is most certainly not in the White Tower.<br /><br />&quot;Still Demandred kept silent, stood studying them.  No, not Graendal.  Semirhage and (Mesaana).  And when he did speak, it was to they two.  'When I think where you two have placed yourselves, I wonder.  How much has the Great Lord known, for how long?  How much of what has happened has been at his design all along?' &quot; -- <b>LoC</b>, <i>The First Message</i><br /><br />Demandred is not referring to Mesaana's role in the current chaos engulfing the Aes Sedai with his question, because that answer is entirely obvious.  Ishamael established the Black Ajah two millennia ago for the penultimate purpose of dividing the Dark One's strongest enemy, and none of the Shadow's agents are surprised by the Black Ajah.  Shiaine, Carridin, and all the Forsaken know about the renegade Aes Sedai, and their essential goal is patently self-evident.  Demandred dominates the other Forsaken in this scene, and it is unlikely that he was ever entirely ignorant of Alviarin and her cabal within the Tower or the Dark One's desire to strike at the heart of his enemy.  The exact same enemy the Shadowspawn and Dreadlords fought during the Trolloc Wars, and fundamentally the same enemy Demandred himself fought in the War of Power and during the Collapse.  To suggest that Demandred doesn't understand, in general terms at the least, the Dark One's strategy against the Aes Sedai, or his desire for one of the Forsaken to direct the Black Ajah's effort, simply seems ludicrous.<br /><br /><b>She herself would never have learned had Mesaana not made a rare slip...</b><br /><br />After the prologue, the array of hints regarding Mesaana continues to accumulate in LoC.  During their attempts at manipulating one another in <i>Threads Woven of Shadow</i>, Sammael and Graendal discuss something they have learned about this new Age.  That in turn leads to another, potentially fallacious, statement about Mesaana's locale.  &quot;Do they bind themselves like criminals?&quot; Sammael asks about the channelers of Shara.  After Sammael's departure, Graendal's private reflection about that question reveals her own source of information and her conclusion.<br /><br />&quot;It would be interesting to discover how (Sammael) had found out about the binding.  (Graendal) herself would not have learned had Mesaana not made a rare slip while venting her anger on an absent Semirhage; her fury had been strong enough that she did not realize how much she had revealed.  How long had Mesaana been tucked away in the Tower?&quot;  <b>LoC</b>, <i>Threads Woven of Shadow</i><br /><br />These statements about criminal binding may be fully comprehensible to readers fully steeped in WoT lore.  Quickly examining a short passage from the BWB (Big White Book a.k.a. <u>The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time</u>) will illuminate the issue for readers confused by these references.<br /><br />&quot;When the perpetrators of violent acts were caught, they were not sent to prison.  Rather, they were constrained, in some manner not fully understood, against repeat offenses.  The binding made it impossible for the criminal ever to repeat his crime.&quot; -- <b>BWB</b>, <i>Age of Legends</i><br /><br />Clearly in the Age of Legends the Aes Sedai's Oath Rod was used to punish violent criminals.  This would not only prevent repeat offenses, but also identifies such criminals as they acquired the ageless look that is now so indicative of Aes Sedai.  In the current Age, however, the fact Aes Sedai swear Three Oaths on the Oath Rod and acquire the ageless look is hardly privileged information.  As the basis for determining Mesaana's permanent location, as Graendal apparently uses Mesaana's revelation, such common knowledge is sorely lacking.  More concrete evidence that Mesaana occupies the White Tower surfaces during Nynaeve and Elayne's search within TAR for something to tie the Salidar Aes Sedai to Rand, but even that evidence is not entirely conclusive.<br /><br /><b>Truncated screams and shouts echoed through the streets...</b><br /><br />One of the clearest indicators that a Forsaken has seized control of a city is something recently dubbed the Forsaken Effect at wotmania.  As the name implies, this refers to the noticeable effects many Forsaken have on the citizens around them.  The Forsaken Effect is evident in Illian in TDR, and Moiraine notices it immediately upon entering the city.  She tells Lan in <i>Easing the Badger</i>, &quot;Something is wrong in this city.&quot;  Following Moiraine's comment, some detailed descriptions of Illianer citizens reveal the symptoms the Blue sister has sensed.  As Perrin notes, &quot;Not everyone looked so, but it seemed that at least one face in five wore anger and hatred.  And he did not think they were even aware of it.&quot;  The Forsaken effect extends well beyond the mundane world, too.  After reaching the titled inn, Nieda, its proprietor, describes her dreams to Moiraine.<br /><br /> &quot;Dreams of Lord Brend in strange places, and walking bridges hanging in air.  All fogged, these dreams do be, but near every night they do come.  Did you ever hear of such?  Foolishness, Fortune prick me!  Bili does say he does dream the same dreams.  I do think he does hear my dreams and copy them.  Bili do be none too bright, sometimes, I do think.&quot; -- <b>TDR</b>, <i>Easing the Badger</i><br /><br />Nieda's disbelief notwithstanding, it's clear that Lord Brend, Sammael's alter-ego, is effecting the dreams of the Illianers.  Other cities are also touched by this particular symptom of the Forsaken Effect in TDR.  In Caemlyn during <i>To Race the Shadow</i>, Basel Gill tells Mat, &quot;I keep having bad dreams since Gaebril came, and I'm not the only one.&quot;  Also, after Moiraine investigates Tear in <i>A Flow of Spirit</i>, she tells Perrin about the Tairens. &quot;They all speak of nightmares - Be'lal apparently does not care to shield his dreams....&quot;  Then, in TSR, Amys follows Egwene to Tanchico in TAR during <i>What Lies Hidden</i>, and tells her, &quot;There is a darkness here, an evil.  Worse than men can make.  Or women.&quot;  Clearly the Forsaken have a dramatic effect on the dreams and the World of Dreams in the cities they inhabit, and the Forsaken Effect would also explain a very strange scene that Nynaeve and Elayne encounter in LoC.<br /><br />&quot;Heaps of garbage, old clothes and broken furniture stood piled on street corners, and rats scurried about by the score, sometimes pausing to chitter fearless challenges at them.  People dreaming themselves to the brink of <i>Tel'aran'rhiod</i> flickered in and out of existence.  A man fell shrieking from one of the bridges and vanished before he hit the cobblestones.  A howling woman in a torn dress ran a dozen paces toward them before she too winked out.  Truncated screams and shouts echoed through the streets, and sometimes coarse laughter with a maniacal edge.&quot;  -- <b>LoC</b>, <i>Under the Dust</i><br /><br />Other than Mesaana's actual meetings with Alviarin, this is probably the clearest manifestation of the Forsaken's presence in Tar Valon.  Mesaana's effect on the sleeping people of the city even extends into the White Tower itself.  Nynaeve sees one of the Tower's initiates in the grips of a Forsaken induced nightmare.  &quot;A plump novice-clad girl popped into existence not three paces away, her big eyes going wider when she saw them.  'Please,' she whimpered.  'Please?' And was gone.&quot; <br /><br />If this is concrete evidence of Mesaana's presence within the White Tower during <i>Under the Dust</i>, however, it suggests just as clearly she spends much of her time elsewhere.  Nynaeve, Elayne, Egwene, Siuan and Leane all make several trips to Tar Valon and the White Tower within the World of Dreams, but this is the only instance denoting such blatant symptoms of the Forsaken Effect.  Prior to that scene in LoC, <i>What Can Be Learned in Dreams</i> is Nynaeve's first trip to the White Tower within TAR, and she does see &quot;flashes of frightened girls all in novice white.&quot;  These glimpses, however, are much different in character from the visions that she and Elayne witnessed in <i>Under the Dust</i>, because there is no mention of shouts, screams or maniacal laughter.  In <i>Dreams of Galad</i>, Egwene also travels within TAR to the novice quarters of the Tower: &quot;For an instant more (Egwene) stayed there, scanning the railed galleries of the novices' quarters, layer on layer they rose, and fell as many levels to the Novices' Court below.&quot;  Once again, no screams or maniacal laughter, and even the occasional novice nightmare or dream touching the Unseen World is absent.  Egwene then reveals she has made several trips to the White Tower, and Nynaeve reveals much the same in <i>A Silver Arrow</i>, but still without the slightest indication of the Forsaken Effect.  <br /><br />Not only is any evidence of Mesaana's Forsaken Effect in TAR absent before <i>Under the Dust</i>.  It is also seriously doubtful the type of nightmares Elayne and Nynaeve witnessed continued after LoC.  &quot;The few dream <i>ter'angreal</i> in their possession had lines of sisters panting to use them, mostly to visit the White Tower....&quot; (<b>CoT</b>, <i>A Chat With Siuan</i>)  Apparently the White Tower is a fairly busy place in TAR, but there is never any indication in CoT that the numerous sisters visiting the Unseen World encountered any problems.  In <i>A Chat With Siuan</i>, Leane is specifically mentioned using the dream <i>ter'angreal</i>, probably to check on her agents in Tar Valon itself.  Yet, there is still no mention of any problems in TAR, even though the Forsaken Effect was markedly more pronounced within the city.  It seems beyond belief that none of these Aes Sedai, presumably all with the same type of sensitivity that Moiraine shows in TDR, could be continuously exposed to an evil &quot;worse than men can make&quot; without taking notice.<br /><br /><b>The logic was clear, and stunning....</b><br /><br />After LoC, the flood of clues regarding Mesaana slows to a trickle, although the hints seem more blatant and conclusive.  In the prologue of ACoS, <i>Lightnings</i>, Alviarin shows, perhaps, the clearest convictions that her Great Mistress must have planted herself firmly and permanently within the heart of Aes Sedai power.  The White sister's logical mind leads her to this entirely logical conclusion.  &quot;The logic was clear and stunning.  Mesaana hid herself because she might be recognized.  She must reside in the Tower.&quot;  Yet time and again the White Ajah's logic has failed them.  Falion's misconceptions about the Kin in the ironically titled <i>Triumph of Logic</i> and Velina's ridiculously erroneous conclusions regarding the Seanchan and their <i>a'dam</i> in <i>An Unwelcome Return</i> are two examples.  Alviarin's assertions about Mesaana is another.<br /><br />Alviarin's belief that Mesaana resides in the Tower is based, at least in part, on the nature of her previous interactions with the Forsaken.  As the Head of the Black Ajah prepares to report to Mesaana, she contemplates the exacting detail her mistress demands.<br /><br />&quot;In the beginning she had left out unimportant bits, and Mesaana knew every time, demanded <i>every</i> word, every gesture and facial expression.  Plainly she eavesdropped on those meetings.  Alviarin tried to work out the logic and failed.&quot; -- <b>ACoS</b>, <i>Lightnings</i><br /><br />In this case, the logic eluding Alviarin should be quite clear to an outside perspective.  In the beginning, Mesaana, professional educator that she is, teaches her student to fulfill certain behavioral expectations.  Once that pattern of behavior has been set, the Evil Maestra can reduce her level of supervision without fear that her pupil will omit any potentially important details.  This interpretation is born out only a few paragraphs later as Alviarin and Mesaana discuss her latest report.<br /><br />&quot; 'So our Elaida has had a Foretelling,' Mesaana chimed, and Alviarin realized with a start that she had reached the end of her recital.  Her knees hurt, but she knew better than to rise without permission.  A finger of shadow tapped silver lips thoughtfully.  Had she seen any sister make that gesture?  'Strange that she should be so clear and so erratic at the same time.  It was always a rare Talent, and most who had it spoke so only poets could understand.  Usually until it was to late to matter, at least.  Everything always became clear then.'  Alviarin kept silent.  None of the Chosen conversed; they commanded or demanded.  'Interesting predictions.  The rebels breaking - like a rotten melon - was that part of it?' 'I am not certain Great Mistress,' she said slowly - had it been? - but Mesaana only shrugged. 'Either it is or it is not, and either way can be used.' &quot; -- <b>ACoS</b>, <i>Lightnings</i><br /><br />Regardless of Mesaana's previous habits, her uncertainty about the details of Elaida's foretelling is a clear indication she did not personally observe this meeting between the Amyrlin and her Keeper.  Nor is Alviarin the only character that uses faulty reasoning to determine Mesaana's location and actions.<br /><br /><b>I didn't arrange his kidnapping....</b><br /><br />After visiting with Sevanna, Sammael joins the long list of characters that strongly imply Mesaana has established her base of power among the Aes Sedai.  <br /><br />&quot; 'I didn't arrange (Rand's) kidnapping.'  Sammael gave (Graendal) what he probably thought was a wry look; his scar made it more of a snarl.  'Mesaana had a hand in it, though.  Maybe Demandred and Semirhage as well, despite how it ended, but Mesaana certainly.' &quot;  -- <b>ACoS</b>, <i>Patterns Within Patterns</i> <br /><br />Sammael has generally leapt to all the wrong conclusions throughout the series.  He is demonstrably wrong once again, because neither Mesaana nor Alviarin were behind Rand's kidnapping.  The primary author of the plot that ultimately led to the chaos at Dumai's Wells was Elaida a'Roihan, the Amyrlin Seat.  In the prologue of TFOH, <i>The First Sparks Fall</i>, Elaida forces the assembled sisters to accept that the Dragon has been Reborn and begins developing a  plan to deal with him.  In the prologue of the following book, Galina also indicates that Elaida is fully in control of the plot to kidnap Rand.  &quot;The Amyrlin Seat will not be pleased to have her plans disrupted,&quot; she tells Katerine.  Elaida herself further demonstrates the extent of her control over the kidnapping when Alviarin reveals its disastrous result.<br /><br />&quot; 'I said, &quot;Please wake up, Mother,&quot; ' Alviarin replied coolly.  'Covarla Baldene has returned from Cairhien.'<br />Elaida shook her head, trying to clear away the tag end of the dream.  'So soon?  I did not expect them for another week at least.  Covarla, you say?  Where is Galina?'  Foolish questions; Alviarin would not know what she meant.&quot; -- <b>ACoS</b>, <i>Sealed to the Flame</i><br /><br />Even though Alviarin's covert activities undoubtedly informed her of the meaning behind Elaida's questions, Elaida's belief that Alviarin doesn't know the details of the kidnapping plot clearly shows the Amyrlin was its progenitor.  This impression is strengthened shortly hereafter as Elaida contemplates the meaning of Covarla's arrival: &quot;If Galina was dead, Katerine should have taken charge ahead of Coiren; Elaida had made it clear that once al'Thor was taken, the Red Ajah was in charge.&quot;  It seems that Elaida had strictly planned out every phase of the Embassy's operation, and that is completely consistent with Elaida's nature.  What role, if any, did Mesaana then play in this attempted abduction?<br /><br />It is very tempting to assume that Mesaana played quite a large role in Rand's capture, or at least had very big plans to take advantage of his arrival in the White Tower.  After all, in <i>The First Message</i>, she assures the other Forsaken, &quot;If all goes well, in two months, three at most, (Rand) will be where I can safely reach him, and helpless.&quot;  And even a little later in <i>Threads Woven of Shadow</i>, Graendal reports to Sammael, &quot;(Mesaana) thinks Lews Therin soon will be in our hands, but then she has said the same every time.&quot;  Most readers assume this is cast-iron evidence that Mesaana patiently lays waiting within the White Tower for Rand's arrival.  There is only one problem with this scenario; it makes absolutely no sense.<br /><br />&quot;<i>Young al'Thor knelt quietly beside the Amyrlin Seat; he would not speak unless given leave, which he would not receive today.  Today he was merely another symbol of her power, and the twelve most favored Sitters glowed with the link that she herself controlled to keep him safe.</i>&quot; -- <b>ACoS</b>, <i>Sealed to the Flame</i><br /><br />That was an excerpt of Elaida's dream at the beginning of <i>Sealed to the Flame</i>.  Now, understandably, much of Elaida's dream in that chapter is no more than a flight of fancy, but the Amyrlin will certainly try to fulfill certain aspects of that dream.  Given Elaida's personality, it certainly seems likely she would try to control the link shielding Rand as much as possible.  It also seems just as likely the sisters involved in the link, whether or not Elaida manages to control it all or most of the time, will be hand picked by Elaida.  Had the kidnapping plan worked as originally intended, there can be little doubt Elaida would have gained enough prestige and political sway to achieve many of her desires.  Nowhere in any of this would Mesaana have the opportunity to safely reach Rand.  Even one of the legendary Forsaken can't wrest control of a shield away from thirteen linked sisters.  Even if Alviarin could station a handful of Black Ajah sisters in the link, the resulting struggle between Darkfriends and Aes Sedai would almost certainly give Rand the opportunity to escape.  Once again, it is doubtful a risk-adverse Mesaana would want any part of such a dicey situation.<br /><br />What could Mesaana's remarks allude to if not Rand's arrival in the Tower?  The answer seems entirely obvious.  Rand is held for several days in the Lady Arilyn's palace in Cairhien, surrounded by a limited number of Aes Sedai.  Of those Aes Sedai, two of the strongest, Galina and Katerine are Black Ajah, as well as a third, Elza, of seemingly middle strength.  An attack by stealth at this time, using the hidden Black Ajah sisters to bolster Mesaana's own strength, would have had a far greater chance of success than waiting for Rand to arrive at the Aes Sedai's stronghold and Elaida's unyielding grasp.<br /><br /><b>For now, I have a tiny task for you...</b><br /><br />Although some contradictory proof still needs to be examined, one final piece of evidence seems to provide air-tight verification that Mesaana closely observes the Aes Sedai within the White Tower on a daily basis.  Some clever writing by RJ, however, obfuscates the issue, and a corollary can be drawn from the following chapter that Alviarin is not actually Mesaana's sole contact within the White Tower.<br /><br />&quot;For now, I have a tiny task for you (Alviarin).  In spite of all the walls that have gone up between the Ajahs, the heads of the Ajahs seem to encounter one another with surprising frequency.  By chance, they make it seem.  All but the Red, at least; a pity Galina got herself killed, or she could tell you what they are about.  Very probably it is trivial, but you will learn why they bare teeth at one another in public, then whisper in private.&quot; -- <b>TPoD</b>, <i>An Unwelcome Return</i><br /><br />Mesaana must surely spend a considerable amount of time inside the Tower to notice a detail like the Ajah heads meeting one another.  Unless, of course, she has a contact besides Alviarin in the White Tower.  A contact noticing this very phenomenon and reporting it to her.  A contact, perhaps, like the renegade Sitter for the Green Ajah, Talene.<br /><br />&quot; 'Yukiri noticed you two sneaking about together, and we want to know why.'  (Talene's) surprisingly deep voice held heat despite the ice that seemed to coat her face.  'Did the heads of your Ajahs set you a secret task?  In public, the Ajahs' heads snarl at one another worse than anyone else, but they've been sneaking off into corners to talk, it seems.  Whatever they're scheming, the Hall has a right to know.' &quot; -- <b>TPoD</b>, <i>The Extra Bit</i><br /><br />A member of the Black Ajah, Talene is far more vehement about discovering whatever she can about the Ajahs' heads clandestine meetings than Yukiri, Doesine or Saerin.  One could conclude with seeming logic that Talene received orders from Alviarin to investigate this matter during some unstated interval between the consecutive chapters <i>An Unwelcome Return</i> and the aptly titled (in more ways than one) <i>The Extra Bit</i>.  But did she?  There is a very pointed indication at the end of <i>An Unwelcome Return</i> about the difficulty Alviarin faces in passing word of this task to her subordinates within the Black Ajah.  &quot;That meant querying the Black sisters among the Sitters, which meant going through all the layers between them and her.  That would take time...&quot;  How much time would have to pass between <i>An Unwelcome Return</i> and <i>The Extra Bit</i> for Alviarin to contact Talene?  Whether it's hours or days doesn't really matter, because an important omission from <i>The Extra Bit</i> and <i>Snow</i> reveals that Seaine's two POVs happen virtually simultaneously with <i>An Unwelcome Return</i>.<br /><br />&quot;There had been several unfortunate incidents recently, and no sister would forget being bundled unceremoniously from the hallways around another Ajah's quarters, much less what had sometimes gone with it.  Rumor said a Sitter - a Sitter! - had had more than her dignity ruffled by the Reds, though not who.  A great pity the Hall could not obstruct Elaida's mad decree, but first one Ajah, then another, had leaped on the new prerogatives, few Sitters were willing to think of giving them up now they were in place, and the result was a Tower divided very nearly into armed camps.&quot; -- <b>TPoD</b>, <i>The Extra Bit</i><br /><br />Seaine is very concerned about Elaida's decree giving an Ajah authority over any sister in their quarter.  <i>Snow</i>, in WH but immediately following <i>The Extra Bit</i> chronologically, reinforces this impression.  In <i>Snow</i>, Seaine thinks, &quot;The Tower was a seething swamp these days, every Ajah at every other Ajah's throat....&quot;  The other Sitters seem equally worried.  In the same prologue, Saerin declares, &quot;Elaida's proven herself a fool...and more than once I've regretted standing for her....&quot;  All this apparent anxiety about decrees splintering the Ajahs proves Alviarin didn't have enough time to communicate with Talene between <i>An Unwelcome Return</i> and <i>The Extra Bit</i>, because nobody mentions Elaida's latest decree; the decree acknowledging Rand as the Dragon Reborn and offering him the Tower's protection.  <br /><br />One must imagine the Amyrlin Seat's public declaration that the Dragon is Reborn would flash through the Tower like wildfire.  Alviarin even tells Mesaana in <i>An Unwelcome Return</i>, &quot;Copies went to Northharbor and Southharbor even before I had Elaida sign.&quot;  Concern about any of Elaida's previous decrees should simply evaporate before such a monumental announcement.  Yet, Seaine never thinks to herself, nor do any of the other Sitters ever mention, this truly titanic decree.  In CoT, <i>Glimmers of the Pattern</i> starkly contrasts this omission from the previous two books.  Yukiri, in only the second paragraph of her POV, thinks, &quot;Or had Elaida's witless offer of 'protection' frightened (Rand) into hiding?&quot;<br /><br />The conclusions seem inescapable.  The Sitters never mentioned the decree acknowledging Rand as the Dragon, because the events in <i>An Unwelcome Return</i> and those in <i>The Extra Bit</i> and <i>Snow</i> happened concurrently and the Sitters hadn't yet learned about the decree.  Alviarin didn't have enough time to pass Mesaana's orders along to Talene, so Talene must have had those orders from Mesaana herself.  In all likelihood, Talene noticed the meetings between the Ajahs' heads and reported it to Mesaana; even the wording Talene and Mesaana each use is too similar for coincidence.  As proof-positive of Mesaana's extended presence within the Tower, her knowledge of these meetings is simply inadequate, and a final clue reveals how <i>little</i> time Mesaana spends in the Tower.<br /><br /><b>She knows I am Black Ajah...</b><br /><br />The final clue about Mesaana in the Tower is located, appropriately enough, in the final chapter currently written about this Foraken.  After Elaida strips Alviarin of her Keeper's stole, Alviarin races back to her apartments and urgently summons Mesaana with dire tidings.<br /><br />&quot;Elaida knows, Great Mistress....She knows I am Black Ajah, Great Mistress.  If she has uncovered me, then she has had someone digging deep.  Dozens of us may be at risk, perhaps all of us.&quot; -- <b>CoT</b>, <i>A Mark</i><br /><br />Even though the reasoning behind Alviarin's belief is faulty, the head of the Black Ajah is conceptually correct.  Elaida does have a crew of hunters digging deep for Black Ajah agents, although Elaida herself doesn't realize Seaine's interpretation of her command.  Mesaana's reaction to this terror-stricken claim, however, indicates her total ignorance of Seaine's search.  &quot;That is ridiculous.  Elaida cannot decide from one day to the next whether she even believes the Black Ajah exists.&quot;  Mesaana is oblivious to Seaine's self-imposed task, as well as her collusion with five other Sitters and ten more rebel sisters.  The Forsaken's nescience is entirely inconsistent with the figure of a woman spending all her time patiently observing the habits of Aes Sedai within the Tower.  Even Alviarin, after a month long absence from the Tower, immediately notices Talene's strange behavior in <i>A Mark</i>.  &quot;As senior, Talene should have answered Elaida - Greens stuck to their hierarchies in everything - but the tall, golden-haired woman glanced at Yukiri for some reason, then just as oddly, at Doesine, and put her eyes on the carpet and stood plucking at her green silk skirts.&quot;<br /><br />Finally, Shaidar Haran highlights Mesaana's surprising ignorance about the danger facing the Black Ajah.  Clearly the Hand of the Dark doesn't spend his time stalking the halls of the White Tower as Mesaana allegedly does, yet he seems better informed about events in the Tower.  After marking Alviarin, Shaidar Haran charges her with a new task.  &quot;You will find who threatens my creatures here and deliver them to me.&quot;  The only explanation for Shaidar Haran's knowledge and Mesaana's benightedness is that Mesaana is generally absent from the White Tower by the time of <i>A Mark</i>.<br /><br /><b>Mesaana would not have bothered to keep Elaida under control...</b><br /><br />As the image of a grand pupeteer manipulating events within the White Tower, in some ways Mesaana is sorely lacking.  Alviarin is clearly Mesaana's primary tool within the Tower, but she repeatedly sends the White Keeper abroad for extended periods.  Despite Alviarin's long absences, Mesaana then neglects her primary goal in the Tower and allows Elaida to regain the authority of her position.  As Alviarin thinks upon her return to the White Tower in <i>A Mark</i>, &quot;Mesaana would not have bothered to keep Elaida under control, though the Chosen would surely lay the fault at Alviarin's feet if anything had gone amiss.&quot;  Many characters may insinuate Mesaana's permanent station in the White Tower, but by CoT this seems to be an artifice cloaking her true location.  The Shadow at noon now threatens the White Tower, but the ever cautious Mesaana directs it safely from the periphery.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-02 06:50:35
subject: Mordrellen&#8217;s death
body:
<p>Dyelin tells Rand in LoC, ch.16, that Mordrellen Mantear, the Queen of Andor before Morgase and mother of Luc and Tigraine (and thus Rand&#8217;s grandmother), died after her children were sent away by her Aes Sedai counselor Gitara Moroso:<br /><br />&#8220;She stayed the Queen's counselor until Mordrellen died. From heartbreak over Tigraine on top of Luc, so it was said.&#8221;<br /><br />While it is supposed that Mordrellen died of grief almost thirty years ago (this is also stated in the Guide, but not everything in it is reliable), I believe she was rather killed, namely by the Black Ajah.<br /><br />In ACoS, ch.40, Galina remembers:<br /><br />&#8220;She had been Aes Sedai fewer than, ninety years, her long black hair untouched as yet by gray, but for nearly twenty of those she had been head of the Red Ajah&#8212;called the Highest by other Red sisters, in private; considered by other Reds equal to the Amyrlin Seat&#8212;and for all but five of the years she had worn the shawl, she had been of the Black Ajah, in truth. Not to the exclusion of her duties as a Red, but superior to them. Her place on the Supreme Council of the Black Ajah was next to that of Alviarin herself, and she was one of only three who knew the name of the woman who led their hooded meetings. She could speak any name in those meetings&#8212;a king's&#8212;and know that name belonged to the dead. It had happened, with a king and with a queen.&#8221;<br /><br />We learn that the Black Ajah was responsible for the deaths of a king and a queen in the time of Galina&#8217;s Black Ajah membership, and it seems to have happened some time ago, not recently. <br /><br />In my opinion it&#8217;s not RJ&#8217;s style to give such an information, if it is absolutely unrelated with other things we know, so that no one could figure who at least one of these rulers were.<br /><br />That means it&#8217;s of course possible that the queen who was killed was someone who was never mentioned before or after in the books, e.g. some unknown queen of Altara, but it makes certainly more sense that it was someone important who <i> was </i> already mentioned to have died. Mordrellen&#8217;s death fits with this conclusion (though I'm still not sure who the king was).<br /><br />Furthermore, I believe it&#8217;s doubtful that a ruler like Mordrellen would really die of heartbreak. After all, as the queen of Andor you have to be quite strong. It&#8217;s not the case that her children died, but simply left Andor.  Therefore I think it&#8217;s normally not such a tragedy which would lead to a death of grief.<br /><br />Considering the age of her children when she died, it&#8217;s also quite unlikely that Mordrellen was very old at the time of her death. Therefore her manner of death is suspicious.<br /><br />On the other hand, Liandrin considers in TSR, ch.38, that there are Black Aes Sedai who can kill with the One Power, so that it can look like a natural death:<br /><br />&#8220;She wished she had Chesmal's skill at killing with the Power, or even Rianna's lesser talent. Strange that the ability to kill with the Power, to stop a heart or boil blood in the veins, should be so closely linked to Healing.&#8221;<br /><br />Besides that, the Shadow has of course also other resources like Gray Men to kill a queen.  <br /><br />Moreover, the Black Ajah had a good motive. <br /><br />Because Tigraine has disappeared, Mordrellen&#8217;s death led to the Succession, a power struggle named the &#8220;Third Andoran War for Succession&#8221;, as the Guide tells. It&#8217;s also said that Morgase &#8220;became ruler of Andor only after a long and bitter struggle.&#8221;<br /><br />The Black Ajah could figure that Mordrellen&#8217;s death would certainly create such a war and thus some chaos, and that House Mantear would probably lose the Throne. It&#8217;s also obvious that an unstable Andor is quite important for the Shadow. Moridin takes even personal care of the plots regarding Andor.<br /><br />For this reasons I believe that actually the Black Ajah was responsible for Mordrellen&#8217;s death.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-06 01:36:56
subject: Lanfear and the Wheel
body:
<p>This theory is generally philosophical.<br /><br />Lanfear. Many people discount her as merely one of the Forsaken like Demandred or Semirhage but I believe that she may be more unique from a certain aspect.<br /><br /><b><u>Champions of the Wheel </u></b><br /><br />We know that Rand al&#8217;Thor (Lews Therin) is the Creator&#8217;s Champion &#8230; that single soul who was created to defeat the Dark One. We know that Lews Therin was as strong in the Power as was possible , thanks to Lanfear&#8217;s comment during the Forsaken meeting in TFOH prologue. We also know that the Dragon is also a ta&#8217;veren of exceptional strength. Rand and Lews Therin were both tall and good looking so over all , the Dragon cast is supposed to be a neat package of perfection.<br /><br />The same can be said of Ishamael who by all purposes is the Dark Champion. Also as strong as the Dragon in the Power , he was meant to be the one to destroy the Creator&#8217;s champion.<br /><br /><b><u>Lanfear </u></b><br /><br />I believe that Lanfear is one of these &#8216;perfect&#8217; beings for a similar yet dissimilar reason. What do we know about Lanfear?<br /><br />Firstly , Cyndane confirms for us in Winter&#8217;s Heart during the cleansing of saidin that Lanfear&#8217;s strength in the Power could not be surpassed by another woman unaided. Despite being weaker than Lews Therin in strength , her level of strength in saidar already makes her his female equivalent in the One Power.<br /><br />Secondly , her beauty is almost unique too &#8230;<br /><br />Guide &#8211; &#8220;The most powerful of the female Forsaken &#8230;. Lanfear was probably one the most beautiful women of her Age of any other.&#8221;<br /><br />Rand always says how his mouth goes dry around her despite the fact that she is one of the Forsaken. He used to think of kissing Selene before he knew who she was and even pictured her naked. When she showed her true form , he said she was even more beautiful which he didn&#8217;t believe was possible.<br /><br />Overall , she is meant to portray the perfect package in a woman. An enormously powerful , beautiful and intelligent woman.<br /><br />Another characteristic which Lanfear takes to a near fanatical level is her ambition for power and domination &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Gateways) &#8211; &#8220;You were always ambitious , Mierin.&#8221; His voice grated in his ears. &#8220;Why do you think I turned away from you? It wasn&#8217;t Ilyena , whatever you like to think. You were out of my heart long before I ever met her. Ambition is all there is to you. Power is all you ever wanted. You disgust me!&#8221;<br /><br /><b><u>Mierin&#8217;s relevance to the Wheel</u></b><br /><br />In short , Mierin and Lews Therin are destined to be together. They are soul mates. When the Creator made the Dragon soul , he would have wanted a companion for him. Thus he made Mierin &#8230; or the Dragon&#8217;s companion soul. However , there was one difference &#8230; this soul was not just a companion for the Dragon but also the trigger for a new Age which could be activated when the Pattern felt that a new Age was prudent.<br /><br />Lanfear was of a similar Age to Lews Therin and they even studied to be Aes Sedai together. Later they started going out and had a relationship. Up to this point , their history is very similar to that of Gaidal Cain and Birgitte Silverbow. She was strong in saidar and exquisite , he was strong in saidin and handsome. It was like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together and almost akin to the Aes Sedai symbol joining.<br /><br /><b><u>Mierin&#8217;s purpose</u></b><br /><br /><b><i>Union</i></b><br /><br />Mierin&#8217;s main purpose is to seek out Lews Therin whenever she is born. She is totally obsessed with the man and will do almost anything to unite with him. Despite her near rabid nature , there is some evidence that her love for him is genuine &#8230;<br /><br />TDR (Visitations) &#8211; &#8220;I follow no one. There is one man I could stand beside , but I do not follow.&#8221;<br /><br />TFOH (Gateways) &#8211; &#8220;Lews Therin? I love you , Lews Therin. I have always loved you , and I always will. You know that. You must!&#8221;<br /><br />The Pattern drives her to find and unite with Lews Therin. In classical terms , it expects these two perfect beings to create suitable progeny which will sustain the human genetic potency until they are reborn again.<br /><br /><b><i>To end an Age</i></b><br /><br />Mierin is absolutely unique to the Wheel of Time in that she is the definitive trigger for the end of the Age when the Pattern wishes it. When the Pattern decides to end the Age , Mierin frees the Dark One into the world to destroy it and create a new Age. The Dragon then seals the Dark One up before he can claim dominion over the decimated world.<br /><br /><b><u>How the cycle of Mierin and Lews Therin works</u></b><br /><br />Lews Therin doesn&#8217;t fight the Dark One in every one of his lifetimes. In fact , the Dark One is only released when people have forgotten his previous release and this may entail a period of thousands or even tens of thousands of years.<br /><br />Ishamael said that they had fought countless times over the Ages. This is when Lews Therin needs to be the warrior and fight a Final Battle to reseal the Dark One away.<br /><br />Between these years his life is most likely normal , as it was before the Dark One was released. His strength in saidin and in being ta&#8217;veren allows him to become the greatest man of his Age in most of his lifetimes just like Birgitte lands up being an expert archer in her lifetimes.<br /><br />I believe that Mierin and Lews Therin are linked as closely as Gaidal and Birgitte. The nature of Birgitte&#8217;s relationship with Gaidal is explained &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (Need) &#8230; &#8220;We have almost always been linked &#8230; He is usually born well before me &#8230; But we nearly always end lovers or wed. A simple story , but I think we have spun it out in a thousand variations.&#8221;<br /><br />Birgitte explains that they usually become lovers or marry but the fact that she excludes certainty implies that on occasion they have a short relationship or perhaps don&#8217;t meet at all. We know some details about Lews Therin and Mierin&#8217;s relationship &#8230;<br /><br />Guide &#8211; &#8220;Lews Therin and Mierin were involved with one another for a short time , and that Lews Therin broke off the relationship some years before the drilling of the Bore&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />We know that Lews Therin was tied to the horn thanks to Hawking&#8217;s words &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (The Grave is no bar to my Call) &#8211; &#8220;Only a few are bound to the Wheel , spun out again and again to work the will of the Wheel in the Pattern of the Ages. You could tell him , Lews Therin &#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />It is my belief that Mierin is also bound to the Wheel. She is not designed to be a hero but her credentials suggest that she has the potential to become one. She is bound to the Wheel because she must fulfill the will of the Pattern.<br /><br />What is the will of the Pattern?<br /><br />Mierin becomes Lews Therin&#8217;s lover or wife on most occasions when they are born again. However , when the Pattern&#8217;s will entails the formation of a new Age , Mierin is &#8216;activated&#8217; in a different way.<br /><br />She meets up with Lews Therin as in all their previous lives. However , the Pattern decides to use her to lead in a new Age in the surest way possible &#8230; she uses her strength to release the Dark One. The Dark One in some way destroys the world and the Dragon imprisons him again. The new Age begins.<br /><br />While there is no proof that saidin has been tainted before , there is a possibility it is tainted in every Age until the next Dragon cleans it again. The Pattern foresees the Dark One&#8217;s retaliation against the Dragon &#8230; a taint on saidin , and it compensates to prevent the Dragon from killing his soulmate , Mierin. It does this by making Lews Therin break up with Mierin several years before the Bore is drilled. The mechanism of the break is irrelevant but we know that Lews Therin became repulsed by her lust for power. In other Ages it may be different. The importance is not centered on how they lose contact , but the fact that they lose contact.<br /><br />Mierin&#8217;s wild desires to be with Lews Therin are only fueled by this break because in essence , her only real purpose in most Ages is to unite with him. We see some characteristics of her behaviour &#8230;<br /><br />Guide &#8211; &#8220;Mierin was never willing to accept the break and continued a determined pursuit of him &#8230; She attempted to disrupt the wedding ceremony and over the following year made several blatant public approaches to Lews Therin , blaming Ilyena for her &#8216;loss&#8217; of him. Shortly after this she embraced the Shadow.&#8221;<br /><br />The Pattern drives Mierin away because it knows that saidin will be tainted and that Lews Therin&#8217;s reactions will be the same as every other Age when the taint settled on the Power &#8230;<br /><br />Guide &#8211; &#8220;Lews Therin &#8230; killed every living person who carried any of his blood , as well as everyone he loved.&#8221;<br /><br />Mierin is thus protected from the Dragon&#8217;s madness while he continues destroying the world and forming a new Age. Ishamael , not satisfied with the Dragon&#8217;s demented death appears and uses his new powers to Heal the Dragon&#8217;s madness&#8230;<br /><br />EoTW (Dragonmount) &#8230; &#8220;I was never very skilled at Healing but I follow a different power now &#8230; But even one of them could only give you a few lucid minutes, if you did not destroy her first. What I can do will serve as well , for my purposes&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Several people believe that Ishamael&#8217;s Healing with the True Power was temporary but I believe it was permanent. Firstly , the One Power can barely touch the taint as Ishamael describes with reference to his obviously superior True Power and later he offers Lews Therin the chance to serve the Dark Lord which implies an element of permanence. I doubt the Dark One would want Lews Therin in his maddened state.<br /><br />It is at this point that Lews Therin should kill Ishamael and rid the world of the Dark Champion. In fact , Lews Therin is on the verge of destroying Ishamael twice in this scene before the awful truth is revealed. <br /><br />With the Dragon&#8217;s sanity restored he meets up with Mierin again and rebuilds the world as its leader alongside her. Ilyena in this case was the woman he met as part of the Pattern&#8217;s diversion and it appears her death was too much for him to take &#8230; and he killed himself. I believe she may be no more than a sacrifice to shield Mierin from the Lews Therin&#8217;s madness.<br /><br /><b><u>The Age of Legends disaster</u></b><br /><br />Unfortunately two &#8216;disasters&#8217; struck for the Pattern during the last Age.<br /><br />Firstly , Mierin turned to the Shadow which I believe she rarely did in previous Ages. Due to her allegiance to the Shadow , I have no doubt the Pattern would not preserve her sacred function to Lews Therin , and it would see to it that she died during the War of Power.<br /><br />Secondly and most importantly , the Forsaken were sealed along with the Dark One. This was a disaster for the Pattern because it prevented the aberrant &#8216;Shadow&#8217; Mierin from being killed in the events following the strike on Shayol Ghul when all the other Forsaken outside Shayol Ghul died (according to RJ&#8217;s question of the Week). This would have allowed her soul to be reborn in time for Rand al&#8217;Thor and to create a union with him.<br /><br />It is possible that the Pattern did partially intervene to allow Ishamael to be partially freed from the Bore so that he could fulfill his part in Healing Lews Therin. This would ensure that although the Pattern had no access to Mierin while she was sealed away , it would allow the Dragon to rebuild the wrecked world , even if alone.<br /><br /><b><u>When Lanfear was freed &#8230; </u></b><br /><br />Eventually the seals weakened and Lanfear was freed. Her lust for Lews Therin had still not waned and she sought him out immediately&#8230;<br /><br />TDR (Daughter of the Night) &#8211; &#8220;He was mine before that straw-haired chit Ilyena saw him! He will be mine again!&#8221;<br /><br />The Pattern knew the imminent danger of a union with the Shadow. Despite Rand&#8217;s hatred for the Forsaken he often described his attraction to Selene and Lanfear and even so , it would not be beyond Lanfear to use Compulsion or Illusion to snare him. <br /><br />The Pattern had to compensate for this eventuality. Unfortunately , Lanfear being the perfect being she is could not be matched in beauty or strength by another woman. It would be like creating a soul to match Lews Therin &#8230; a near impossibility.<br /><br />It therefore had to counter this fact by matching the Dragon with three women &#8211; Min , Aviendha and Elayne. In essence these three women combined matched the beauty and strength of Lanfear , and it effectively prevented the disastrous union of a Forsaken to the Dragon Reborn. Min&#8217;s visions showed the Pattern&#8217;s plans for Rand to be united with three women. A clear vision of his destiny and the planning of the Pattern.<br /><br />Lanfear&#8217;s alliance with the Shadow caused a further problem &#8211; she was partially beyond the influence of the Pattern. Allying with the Shadow allows you a degree of choice because of the Dark One&#8217;s influence on the Age Lace. Verin , Suian and Moiraine once had a conversation discussing this very point &#8230; could Rand&#8217;s ta&#8217;veren ability protect him now that the Shadow was lying over the Pattern?<br /><br />At the Docks , Rand told her his will and indeed the will of the Pattern &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Choices) &#8211; &#8220;Your name is Lanfear. And I&#8217;ll die before I love one of the Forsaken.&#8221;<br /><br />The union would not be allowed and Lanfear out of scorn decided to kill Lews Therin using the choices granted to her by her connection to the Dark One. Even while Rand was dying we saw his in-born destiny regarding Mierin speaking to him &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Choices) &#8211; &#8220;He could end it. Only , he could not. He was going to die , perhaps the world would die , but he could not make himself kill another woman.&#8221;<br /><br />His statement applied to all women , but this one above all. In all his previous meetings with her he considered killing her but always shied away from the idea. Later we see Lews Therin&#8217;s own views on Mierin once again confirming their destiny &#8230;<br /><br />LOC (To Shadar Logoth) &#8211; &#8220;Lanfear deserved to die , too , but I&#8217;m glad I was not the one to kill her.&#8221;<br /><br />Due to the fact the Rand could not kill Lanfear because of his intertwined destiny with her and because he cannot harm almost any woman , the Pattern prepared Moiraine to save his life. Later , Moiraine allowed us a glimpse into possible futures at the Docks &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Fading words) &#8211; &#8220;Down one , Lanfear killed you. Down the other , she carried you away , and when next we saw you , you called yourself Lews Therin Telamon and were her devoted lover.&#8221;<br /><br />I believe the first future was the outcome if the Shadow&#8217;s will prevailed and the latter the intended future of Mierin and Lews Therin which the Pattern discarded due to her alliance with the Dark One. The chosen path by the Pattern was the death of the evil Mierin which preserved the Dragon and removed the perversion of the &#8216;Mierin&#8217; soul.<br /><br /><b><u>Cyndane</u></b><br /><br />When Lanfear died , the Dark One could not reincarnate her like he did with Balthamel and Aginor. She was a perfect being and in essence could only be spawned directly by the Pattern or the Creator&#8217;s will. Therefore her new form showed a loss of beauty and a loss of strength in the Power. Even her attitude at the cleansing of saidin reflected a change in destiny as she only wished to kill Lews Therin and not unite with him (like all her previous thoughts).<br /><br /><b>Ishamael</b><br /><br />Ishamael is the Dark Champion and probably the only truly dark soul floating around in the Pattern. He is as strong as Lews Therin and is destined to oppose and match him. When he died , the Dark One had no problem resurrecting him to his former glory , and even gave him a better body that he previously had &#8230; he is taller (as tall as Lews Therin) and as strong as always.<br /><br />I believe that Ishamael&#8217;s lives between Final Battles are unfulfilling for him and that he constantly seeks out the meaning of life. It is no coincidence that he was a great philosopher in the Age of Legends (just one of his lives). He is never totally content until the Dark One is freed , at which time he feels fulfilled in his function as the leader of the Shadow.<br /><br /><b><u>Short Summary</u></b><br /><br />1. Lews Therin , Ishamael and Mierin are all tied to the Pattern.<br /><br />2. Lews Therin and Ishamael lead normal lives until the Dark One is freed and at which time they become Champions to oppose one another.<br /><br />3. Mierin and Lews Therin are soul mates and destined to be together (as they are in most Ages).<br /><br />4. Mierin is the absolute trigger which leads to the end of an Age.<br /><br />5. When Mierin acts as the trigger , the Pattern puts another woman with Lews Therin to shield Mierin from the consequences of the Taint. The woman alongside Lews Therin dies during his wrath.<br /><br />6. Ishamael Heals the Dragon and allows him to mend the broken world alongside Mierin.<br /><br />7. When Mierin turned to the Shadow , the union became void with the Pattern.<br /><br />8. When Lanfear awoke , the Pattern compensated by making three women to match her perfection and to prevent a union with the Shadow.<br /><br />9. Elayne , Aviendha and Min are the combination of Lanfear and not Ilyena.<br /><br />10. Lanfear&#8217;s connection with the Dark One allowed her to choose to kill her companion , Lews Therin. Precisely opposite to her real purpose.<br /><br />11. The Dark One couldn&#8217;t resurrect Lanfear perfectly because she was being of perfection created by the Creator like Lews Therin. Cyndane was therefore weaker and less attractive than Lanfear. Her attitude to Lews Therin changed too.<br /><br />12. Ishamael is the Dark Champion and could be reborn as Moridin with the same greatness as before.<br /><br />13. If Rand died , the Dark One would not be able to resurrect him to Moridin&#8217;s strength. He would be more like a male Cyndane. This is why the Dark One would prefer to turn him alive rather than dead.<br /><br />All comments welcome.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-08 19:55:47
subject: Pumps of Power
body:
<p>Pumps of Power<br /><br />Part I:<br />The Cosmic Stream of One Power<br /><br />Both male and female channelers link to the same Power. Yes, I said &quot;the same Power&quot;, despite of the fundamental difference between Saidin and Saidar. Because the One Power is called &quot;One&quot; for a purpose, and it drives the Wheel of Time as One Power. Saidin and Saidar are the two halves of it. Halves. So, men and women sense and control halves of the same Power. They are very different in quality, but later about that. <br /><br />Power comes into them and goes out (it is called &quot;channeling&quot; after all). Many times in the books the experience of female and male channellers is described; how the Power flows through them. It flows into a channeler from the Source and out of them into the weaves that cause the channeling effects.<br /><br />The One Power flows through the active channelers, passive channelers, angreals etc, through everything. It also flows without any channelers. &quot;Static flows&quot; that could be used without channelers existed in the Age of Legends. Now the static flows don't exist more, but the ter'angreals that non-channelers can use are still working, and all ter'angreals are One Power-utilizing devices, so some flow of the One Power that is independent of any channelers also still exists. The One Power is the force that drives the Wheel, and it is a constant stream. Channeling would therefore be only a partial modulation of this stream.<br /><br />And it flows in a direction. It is called &quot;One&quot; Power after all, so it is only one stream. Saidar and Saidin are only the &quot;halves&quot; of the One Power, and they are many times described as opposite poles. There is a flow of ONE thing between the poles: that is the Power, and everything happens between the poles. The Power is a huge circuit, and channelers, circles etc., are connected to it in the middle of the flow.<br /><br />The two halves of the Power are described as working together and against each other. This is exactly the closest way to describe opposite poles; to describe something that works because of the relation between opposites. For example electricity flows from one pole to the other, so both opposite poles struggle against each other and work together.<br /><br />I think, that the direction is, more exactly, from Saidin to Saidar. One of the reasons is that if the Great Stream of One Power is like a river with a beginning and an end, so it's to be expected that in the beginning the river would be swift-flowing, impetuous and turbulent (like Saidin) and at the end it will flow slow (like Saidar). So one and the same thing (a river) can have two entirely different appearances... However, I will discuss the main reason for suggesting this direction later.<br /><br /><br />Part II:<br />Touching the Source: the Pumping metaphor<br /><br />If the One Power is a constant stream, channeling would be plugging into the stream and modulating it a little. Moiraine, explaining the reason why the One Power cannot be exhausted by channeling, used the metaphor of the One Power being a river, and the channeler as a waterwheel mill in it. But channeling is not only transforming energy - it forms the Power into weaves, i.e. it redirects, changes, manipulates the flow of the Power. But the waterwheel metaphor means that the Power is felt by Aes Sedai to go to nowhere after channeling, but return to the general stream (Moiraine apparently bases her metaphor on the whole traditional knowledge of the Tower about this topic). <br /><br />To use another metaphor, if the Power was a bundle of wires, a channeler pulls one wire, bends it into a knot, but all the time both ends of the wire remain in the bundle, and only some part of it in the middle of the wire is used by the channeler in their weave. The Power is not a static wire, but a flow, the channeler takes a part of the flow aside, deflects it into a composite path with many curves, but the One Power wants to continue to flow in its direction, so after all the curves it will inevitably return into the main stream.<br /><br />In order to deflect a part of a stream, one must drain it out. One can for example use a straw to drain water from a river. As the fluid has to flow further into the weave and after that into the main stream again, a better metaphor would be not drinking through a straw, but using a pump to deflect part of the stream into a side-branching pipe network.<br /><br />So channeling ability is like pumping ability. How does a channeler perpare to touch the Source? She (or he) clears her/his mind from anything, causing the state of &quot;oneness&quot;, also sometimes called &quot;the Void&quot;. How does a pump work? It causes pressure by driving out something else, and that pressure makes the liquid flow in the required direction (sometimes it causes the pressure by driving away what is in the pump and so causing vacuum). A channeler gets tired when holding the Power, even if she/he doesn't channel. And the greater amount of the Power she/he is channeling, the more she/he gets tired. I.e. maintaining in touch with the Power is constant work. But what makes the channeler able to maintain channeling? Only by maintaining a state of serenity by keeping all the emotions aside. I.e. holding the Power is maintained by keeping pumping it.<br /><br />The strength of the channeling ability is therefore the maximal pumping capacity. A channeler can drain less or more Power. If s/he is channeling less, s/he's tired less, if s/he is channeling more, s/he's tired more. When a channeler is learning to channel, s/he begins with a low threshold of strength, and in the process of training s/he gets stronger. Especially significant is that in male training, strength is gained suddenly in great portions and may be dependent on occasions where the channelers had to channel under extreme conditions (that IMO made them to channel more). So the inner pump is developing. But everyone has limits of this development; above them and more power would burn the motor of the pump. The danger of channeling when one is very tired (the danger of being burned out) also makes me of an analogy with motors: the channeler's motor can, so to speak, be overheated by work, which would reduce its capacity, and make it easier to burn out.<br /><br />When two women make a circle, only one can control the flow, the strength of the circle is more then that of one woman, but less then the sum of the strengths of both women. That makes me think about two locomotives pulling one train: only one of them controls the direction of the movement, the power is greater then that of one locomotive, but less that the sum of the powers of the both. The same is true for almost all chains of motors, including chains of pumps. <br /><br />Part III:<br />Male and Female One Power-Pumping<br /><br />The polar origin of the flow can also explain the difference between saidin and saidar. Poles are what make the whole stream flow; poles drive it, so poles would be used to make the modulations of the One Power known as &quot;channeling&quot;. Men drain Power from one pole, women - from the other.<br /><br />The different manner of work of the both poles is seen in the appearances of Saidin and Saidar. Saidin is like an upper course river, where the water is swift and turbulent, and where the One Power is rushing into the world (imagine the One Power moving the Wheel of Time like a water stream moving a watermill: to move the wheel the water must be swift and to rush into the wheel). Saidar is like the lower course of a river, where it is close to its outflow, and where it has already passed the Wheel and lost its impetus. <br /><br />A pump can draw in a liquid, or a pump can push it forward. Women embrace the Source and men seize it. It looks like the difference between drawing in and pushing. Men seize the One Power and so rush into the Power stream. That is also like what the Saidin pole does to the stream. Women embrace the One Power, like the Saidar Pole embraces the stream after it has passed the Wheel.<br /><br />The Female channeler connection is structured:<br />  (not sensed) -&gt; woman -&gt; Saidar<br /><br />The  Male channeler connection is structured:<br />  Saidin -&gt; man -&gt; (not sensed)<br /><br />'Not sensed' means here 'not to be manipulated', so I don't contradict the principle that men and women cannot touch their opposite halves of the One Power. Men and women just use different directions of the current, so they are as foreign to each other as possible.<br /><br />Part IV:<br />Female and Mixed Circles<br /><br />In a female-only circle, only the leader has a direct connection to the source. The others pump the power after the leader as if the leader pulls a rope and the others pull the leader:<br /><br />(not sensed) -&gt; other women -&gt; leader -&gt; Saidar<br /><br />In a mixed circle the situation is like this:<br /><br />Saidin -&gt; man -&gt; (-&gt; other women) woman -&gt; Saidar<br /><br />So an all female circle has only one direct Source connection, while a mixed circle has two direct connections &#8211; to the two halves of the Source.<br /><br />Women are channeling as if dragging something while going backward, men channel as if pushing something (also going backward). Between the part of the One Power mainstream that men use to touch the Source and the part that women use, there is the Wheel. Men use the One Power before it passes the Wheel, women use it after it has passed the Wheel. So Women have information that, so to speak, is &quot;floating&quot; downstream from the Wheel, while men haven't. So we have seen women with the Foretelling and not men, yet. So women can build circles, while men cannot.<br /><br />If a woman and a man link, they use both the halves of the One Power and so are more similar to the way the main stream of One Power works on the Wheel. That is  the reason that more can be done by a mixed circle, than by channelers of only one sex. <br />The taint on Saidin is said to be on the &quot;surface&quot; of the pool of Saidin, and it is only between the Source and the channelers, but under the film of Taint the Saidin is clear. So the Taint doesn't spoil the mainstream and doesn't affect it, it is only a clad on the stream making it impossible for the Saidin stream to be accessed from outside without sucking in the Taint too.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-15 20:45:35
subject: World Diffraction and it's usage
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<p>This theory is an attempt to explain how the Wheel can detect turning points in lives and history, and how It can know when and how to intervene to fix the proper flow of the Pattern.<br /><br />It is presupposed here that the Wheel is a mechanism with a relatively low degree of intelligence, actually a blind mechanism regulated not by any privileged controlling system, but by simple balance. It is not the only possible way to understand how the Wheel controls the Pattern, but I prefer it because of its simplicity. And it's the only model of understanding of the Wheel that allows any consideration about the exact mechanism of detecting turning-points at all. <br /><br />The picture of the countless mirror worlds, some of them stronger, some weaker, makes me think about a certain optical phenomenon: diffraction, and especially a single diffracted ray reflected on a screen - an ordered array of dots, the central ones bright (the statistically more possible deflections of the ray), the outer ones dim (the statistically less possible ones). Now if the world can be reflected (as it is in Tel'aran'rhiod), then it perhaps it can also be diffracted, and a multiplicity of world images would occur, every one of them slightly different from the unbroken ray (due to the divergence) - exactly what we see in the mirror worlds.<br /><br />Subatomic particles manifest both corpuscular and wave properties and there is IIRC a physical theory that this is also theoretically true about every physical object, so if the proper conditions happen a human body for instance could behave like wave, could be more wave than body in that moment. What if a whole world could have a wave nature and behave like an wave (reflect, diffract, interfere etc). It's not unlikely for Jordan the nuclear physicist to imagine the WoT world in terms of waves. And this Wave Mechanics of the Wheel also fits other aspects of WoT metaphysics like the turning of the Wheel (oscillation cycle), utilizations of the One Power (the way channeling is described is so similar to working with electromagnetic-waves-based devices: a channeler has to attune to the Source, so that the One Power must flow through the channeler like a current; the effects one can do with the One Power are effects of making it flow in specific way; the effect of One Power on their target object is more similar to its treatment by electromagnetic waves then to anything else; the saidar/saidin dualism of the One Power, that is said to be needed for the Wheel itself to work is similar to the dual nature of the electromagnetic waves), etc... <br /><br />Only one wave is to be generated by the Wheel - that's the original world. All the mirror worlds are only diffractions from this first ray. That's because the events in the Rand's world have effect on the mirror worlds but not vice versa. However both the original world and the parallel ones are the same type of &quot;electromagnetic phenomena&quot;, i.e. the same type of reality.<br /><br />After outlining that model, let begin with the main part of the theory.<br /><br />A part of Lanfear's explanations about the mirror worlds, as retold by Loial - from Great Hunt, chapter 16: &quot;The Pattern has infinite variation, she says, and every variation that can be, will be.&quot;<br /><br />The following is not an 100% obvious interpretation of this quote, but IMHO it's the most likely one: everything that could happen to everyone and everything in the world, happens in the Pattern, i.e. there is a mirror world for every possibility for every person or thing. But the greatest part of this variation has a very small degree of significance - so most frequently there is a disregardably small change in the world, for example affecting only a few minutes of the everyday life of a particular peasant. Such changes fade very quickly and the mirror world is practically indistinguishable from quadrillions of similar world diffractions. I'm suggesting that such worlds merge with each other and have a very little time of standalone existence. Only a few variations have large range consequences, and even fewer would maintain a noticeably different world after some time has passed. These worlds don't fit in the mainstream and remain standalone.<br /><br />When a convergence occurs between similar worlds, the result is a more bright and solid mirror world. The more probable a world is, the more different variations end up in the same image (after some time) and so it is more solid. The less possible worlds are simply worlds that are combinations of fewer variations. <br /><br />A note here - I don't say in any way, that the original world is just the most probable world - this connection between probability and solidity is true only for mirror worlds, i.e. for secondary reflected worlds, while the original world is the only wave generated by the Wheel, all other parallel worlds together with their diffractions and reflections are just derivative.<br /><br />Actually the existence of stable mirror worlds manifests a possibility for the world to be changed (it must be visibly different at least in some place and time), as a mirror world is generated by a difference in a single event. So the consequences of that event shown in the stable parallel world can be easily traced to the crucial event in the beginning of the stable world. So we have a mechanism to detect turning points in history - where there is a stable different mirror world, there is a turning point. The Wheel can detect these and can eventually intervene at this point and so it has a strong control over the history. <br /><br />This function of detecting the turning points fits also with one of the few details we know about the original use of portal stones: Verin said that great things could be done with if-worlds via Portal Stones by those who know &quot;the numbers of chaos&quot;. That looks too much like a hint to the mathematical theory of chaos, and the main application of the theory of chaos is to calculate turning points in processes.<br /><br />Sometimes stable mirror worlds just exist - they are nothing but alternatives and, for a single mirror world not affecting the original world, the Wheel ignores them. But sometimes in a stable world a significant imbalance occurs, i.e. the result is damage or disaster for the Pattern itself. Such worlds can come to an end, where the Pattern mechanism is damaged or broken and that result is so different from the normal move of the Wheel, that a tension occurs between the parallel worlds and the Wheel has to do something with this tension. To cope with the tension in the mirror worlds, the Wheel has to change the structure of the actual mirror-worlds constellation, and to do this it have to change the way the original world is reflected in mirror worlds. And to do this it have to make some changes in the original world, by placing in it a strong and very reliable extraordinary factor, that would exclude some of the undesirable possibilities. <br /><br />Particular lives and events are not important for the Wheel, only the changes of the whole world are significant and detectable. The singular events only change the probabilities for the future and that is what the Wheel detects. For worlds to be changed, a great amount of events is needed. What the world changing events do is to cause a great amount of other dependent events. So if an odd accident occurs, that must change the history, tons of other dependent events would occur, and that gives the Wheel time to detect the drastic change of the probabilities and to intervene. <br /><br />One way of such intervention is to place a Hero of the Horn in the world. It's said in the books, that to become a Hero, &quot;more than bravery&quot; is needed. &quot;Bravery&quot; could be defined as the ability of doing what must be done, when the circumstances are very unfavourable for that, while lack of courage could be described as giving up on the &quot;what must be done&quot; and doing instead of it what the unfavourable circumstances require. Now, what could &quot;more than bravery&quot; mean? My interpretation is, that it's the ability to do just what is important for the Wheel, whatever else happens in the world. The will of normal people is very influenced by circumstances, while Heroes are reliable. Heroes enlarge the probabilities for the right result. A Hero could fail in some of his/her missions, or could die too early, but what he/she attempts to do would be the same and these attempts at least will have their influence on the world. The details in the different incarnations of a Hero could be very different, but the Wheel isn't interested in details. And that would be the same in every incarnation of the Hero (like a realization of a prophecy could have tons and tons of unexpected details in it, but the core said in the prophecy remains true, and the Wheel could even not know how exactly a prophecy will be realized). Maybe the auras that Min views would be the same for every incarnation of a Hero. Maybe the Wheel choses a proper Hero in a way similar to the way it gives prophecies - a point in the future is chosen, where a lot of different probable worlds have the same favorable result (with only the insignificant details different), and that fits in the static destiny of the Hero.<br /><br />Another way of intervention is the ta'veren. A ta'veren occurs when the tension between the favorable and unfavorable outcomes becomes so radical, the bad tendencies become so strong and invariant (like Rand's experience in the Portal Stone, where each of his different lives ends with Baalzamon's victory), that the Wheel decides to change that situation drastically simply by temporarily changing the rules of diffraction in mirror worlds, i.e. changing the laws of probability. When the bad outcome becomes more possible then the good outcome, the Wheel simply suppresses the probabilities leading to the bad one, and only less possible (and because of them odd) variants remain. The web of destiny occurs only in the location and for the period of time it's needed to cope with the tension in the mirror worlds. <br /><br />The most drastic intervention of the Wheel is the end of an Age. It seems as if every Age has to end with a disaster. A possible explanation of that is, that after a time the mirror worlds are flooded and a large amount of current processes in the world must be terminated, and most of others so radically changed, that the greatest part of the past loses its influence on the future. The Wheel moves on to a new Age, a new piece of the Pattern.<br /><br />So the Wheel can have very strict and reliable control on the world history even if there are no intelligent mechanisms in it to provide this. All that control could be maintained by a very simple mechanism. The Wheel runs all the possibilities, some of them become corrupted, and the Wheel tries to abort reflection of such possibilities by making them impossible in the original world. And it knows what must be done just by having it from the calculus of the good possibilities. That's all. Or, pardon me, not all, because there are also another worlds together with the if-worlds making the &quot;warp and woof&quot; of the Lace of Ages, so there is to be supposed another element in that wonderful mechanism of detection and control. But this is another question. The if-world system seems to be important enough.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-18 20:01:35
subject: The Pervasive Quality of the Taint
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<p>*The One Power, the driving force for the Wheel of Time, immerses the entirety of the Pattern. Every thread and sinew of that tapestry is bathed in the energies from the driving conflict and harmony of Saidin and Saidar.<br /><br />*How is it then, that the Taint on Saidin is so exclusive. At first glance it effects only men. After further study, we can also see it's effects on The Ways, and the decay found therein.<br /><br />*But if ALL CREATION is bathed in the One Power, why is it that only some instances reflect the damaging quality of the Taint?<br /><br />*The answer is in attenuation. The Ways were made by the tainted flows of Saidin, male channelers actively handle and thus absorb the Taint from Saidin, just as the Taint is leeching into the Ways from its active dependance on Saidin for life. The Ways decay because their very lifeblood, the air upon which it subsists, is polluted.<br /><br />*Yet is this the full extent of the effects of the Taint? Or are there more examples? Is there any other example which is in contact with Saidin?<br /><br />*Well, the ways do not actively channel Saidin, yet they have a portion of it, they depend upon it as a factor of life, and the intrinsic nature of their creation.<br /><br />*This theory shifts now, to the Ogier.<br /><br />*The Ogier are incapable of channleing either Saidin, or Saidar. They do not have an affinity for the localized halves of the One Power. However, they do have powers and abilities which show some kind of attachement to an outside energy source. Treesinging, draws on some kind of power, a power akin to life, the power upon which life is formed. The One Power? The encyclopedia, states that this ability is &quot;unrelated to the One Power&quot;, yet this casual description of their ability does not explain where it DOES come from. My supposition is that it is a latent, and indirect use of the One Power, a drawing on the life energy that Ogier possess due to their subtle connection to the Wheel, and thus, to the One Power. No living thing within the realm of the Wheel can be OUTSIDE the One Power, since the entirety of the Wheel is driven by the One Power, the Guide simply states what it does to eliminate the concept of Ogier channeling.<br /><br />*Since Ogier cannot &quot;channel&quot; though, how are they connected to this power? Not in a partitioned manner, as in humans, but in a more general sense. Ogier draw on the One Power, not either half, but upon the conflicting and complementing halves TOGETHER in a passive manner. <br /><br />*So, the Ogier are thus attenuated to BOTH halves of the One Power simultaneously. Or more accurately, they are simply in tune with the One Power.<br /><br />*Does this then mean that they are in a passive contact with Tainted Saidin? Is there evidence of this?<br /><br />*Yes. The Ogier are bound to their Stedding, yet this was not always so. Why are they now tied to their Stedding? To answer this, we have to examine, what is special about their Stedding?<br /><br />*The Stedding, in some way which is not fully understood, seem to be shielded from the One Power. Due to the dependance of all life, and the weaving of the very pattern upon the One Power however, this cannot be completely true, rather the Stedding must block a simple &quot;frequency&quot; of the One Power, the active, human attenuated, portion. The range upon which passive normal life and Ogier life is dependant however must be present, else all within a Stedding would die.<br /><br />*So, the Stedding shield against the range of the One Power which humans access, Saidin and Saidar. The Stedding do not shield against the energy supply that both together create.<br /><br />*That is the only difference from within a Stedding and without. So, the Longing, which plagues Ogier when too long outside a Stedding, which first developed after the breaking, after the TAINTING OF SAIDIN, must be linked to the Ogier being Shielded from the active human linked portions of the One Power. Namely, Saidin.<br /><br />*When outside a Stedding, the Ogier are exposed to the full spectrum of the One Power, Shadow Tainted Sadin included. And it is the gradual, passive absorption of that Taint, the slow wearing of that Taint, upon the Ogier, that causes the Longing. Which drives them to the shielded, Taint free, Stedding. If they do not retreat to their havens, then they will be worn down, and destroyed gradually like the Ways, eaten away and pitted with the caustic burn of the Dark One's touch upon their soul, and the soul of any creature that is too long exposed to the Taint of the dark one.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-20 02:53:43
subject: Asmodean and Identity Theft: I Know Who the Killer Is
body:
<p>(No longer fraught with errors; many thanks to Simon!)<br /><br /><b>What we Know</b><br /><br />We know of Asmodean from Lanfear that &quot;...he was always one to leap to another plan if the first proved difficult&quot; (tSR, ch. 57, &#8220;A Breaking in the Three-fold Land&#8221; ). Roughly translated, Asmodean was lazy and lacked patience; in our Age he would have been a couch potato whose existence centered on reality tv- I mean, real-life drama- and eating Cheet-Os.<br /><br />We also know that Asmodean was, in the final months of his life, posing as a gleeman and calling himself Jasin Natael. <br /><br />We further know that Asmodean's real name was Joar Addam Nessosin, and that &quot;Joar Addam Nessosin&quot; is not just another way of saying &quot;Jasin Natael,&quot; just as we know that &quot;bagel&quot; is not another way of saying &quot;The sky is falling, run- I mean, burrow- for you life!&quot; In other words, Asmodean was in disguise.<br /><br />Lastly, we know that the Aiel Waste has good border security. This from Rhuarc, who says that &quot;there are always guides&quot; (tSR, ch. 36, &#8220;Misdirections&#8221; ). From the context, it seems that by guides, he means Aiel stationed along the Dragonwall to intercept peddlers and/or gleemen seeking to enter the Waste and lead them safely across (and, in all probability, skewer like shish-kebobs anyone and everyone else who tries to enter).<br /><br /><b>What we can Safely Suppose</b><br /><br />Good Aiel border security means that to enter the Waste, you have to have your papers in order; no passport means no entrance, and probably painful stab-wounds to boot. Now, having been imprisoned for three thousand years, Lanfear's and Asmodean's passports were long-since expired when they re-appeared. Although they did ultimately manage to slip past the border patrols as part of Hadnan Kadere's wagon-train (with the intent of meeting Rand), they would have had to guard against the possibility of being caught. They would have needed to secure new papers before entering the Waste.<br /><br />Now, for Lanfear, matters would have been simple. She could walk up to a tourist in any major city and say, &quot;Hi, I'm Mierin. You probably know me as Lanfear.&quot; Tourist promptly faints (or dies of a heart attack), Lanfear steals her passport and wallet (complete with teamster's license, DOismyMastercard, and Andoran Express); problem solved. She has a new identity and papers to match.<br /><br />For Asmodean, life would have been more difficult. Perhaps the least memorable of the Forsaken, he became that thirteenth who historians always had to think for a second to name: ...Graendal, Sammael, Semirhage, of course, and Demandred, and, uh... oh, yes. Asmodean. Of course. If he approached a random tourist in a similar manner, the tourist would likely scratch his head in bewilderment before either turning and walking away or punching Asmodean in the face (depending on the type of person he was).<br /><br /><b>Where you have to Suspend Disbelief... and Logic</b><br /><br />Now, here is the supposition that makes this theory a theory: After the &quot;introduction-induced faint&quot; tactic failed a few times, Asmodean surely grew angry. He went to Caemlyn, and, one night in a dark alleyway, mugged some poor guy whose name just happened to be Jasin Natael. He then went on to the Waste with Lanfear, via Andor's and Cairhien's finest &quot;Music-stores.&quot; The real Natael, meanwhile, suddenly found himself in a bad way, financially speaking. Somebody was buying sheet music by the ton in his name, and harps to play it on besides. All of his gold was gone, stolen along with his identity, and his credit was being ruined. Natael, stranded in Caemlyn, soon had to file bankruptcy.<br /><br />We know that the Andoran monarchy does something, at least, to help the unfortunate (There is, for example, the Queen's Bounty); Natael found it easy to get a job in the palace with his tragic story. He could not forget, though, how fine life had been as a Kandori merchant, and saved every copper against the day of his return home. Progress was painfully slow, though, and, unfortunately, Natael eventually gave up, losing himself in the bottle. He spent all of the money that he had saved on drink, and ultimately began to steal it from the palace pantries. His health declined, and he did not eat. The other servants frequently found him passed out next to large kegs of any and every different sort of drink to be found. Once, thoroughly intoxicated, he fell from a hidden cranny in the gilded ceiling of the Grand Hall as Morgase received an outland lord, and babbled extensively about how he was the rightful Panarch of Tarabon before striking the queen&#8217;s guest on the head with an empty bottle. The queen was really more amused than angry, though, and Natael kept his job. He was even given a formal title: that of the Drunkard Reborn. It was whispered that he, the Reborn one, drunk and wobbling, would dance the jig in dreams and mist, and bind the sobersworn to his wine.<br /><br />One day, sleeping off a hangover in the passage that ran between the palace&#8217;s main corridor and one of the many pantries, Natael was awakened by the sound of a door opening. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he climbed to his feet, and found himself face to a face with a strangely familiar man, a man he may have known once...<br /><br />&quot;Wubba fwuh?&quot; he mumbled. &quot;Whobba hweh haroo?&quot; Remembrance came. That was the man who stole his wallet and ruined his life! That- what was his name?- Oz-mo-dee-anne character, the thug. Natael, a big man, lunged forward even as recognition glimmered in the other man's eyes. &quot;You?&quot; he cried. &quot;No!&quot; Empowered by terrible fury, Natael seized and snapped his neck, spinning around with the freshly dead Forsaken several times in a sick sort of dance before his momentum was spent. Natael immediately turned his hazed mind to the problem of hiding the corpse. The wine cask! he thought, and began stuffing Asmodean into the barrel that he had so recently drunk of. When the job was finished, Natael drifted back off into sleep with a pleased murmur: &quot;Me? Yesh!&quot; So died Asmodean.<br /><br /><b>In Conclusion:</b><br /><br /> Jasin Natael, the Drunkard Reborn, killed Asmodean, because Asmodean stole his identity.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-29 03:15:57
subject: Elan Morin Tedronai's Philosophy
body:
<p>This theory is a speculation about the philosophical ideas, theoretical style and role of  Elan Morin Tedronai, before he turned to the Shadow and became Ishamael compared to after. There is very little information in the books about it: a short remark in The World of Robert Jordan&#8217;s The Wheel of Time, and some indirect references about the true conceptions of Elan Morin and how they might show in the contemporary style and intellectual mannerisms of Ishamael and in the opinion of  the Third Age about Ishamael and about philosophy.<br /><br />Now the quote from The World of Robert Jordan&#8217;s The Wheel of Time:<br />&quot;As Elan Morin Tedronai, he was one of the foremost philosophers of his time, possibly the foremost. His books (among them Analysis of Perceived Meaning, Reality and the Absence of Meaning, and the Disassembly of Reason), while too esoteric for wide popularity, were extremely influential in many areas beyond philosophy, especially in the arts. No copies survive, and perhaps the world is better off for it, considering the circumstances. Some particles that have survived of his writings from after he went over to the Shadow &#8211; probably letters &#8211; indicate that it was his belief that the war between the Shadow and the soul of Lews Therin Telamon had gone on since the creation using human surrogates. According to him, Lews Therin had succumbed to the Dark One during other turnings of the Wheel and become the Great Lord&#8217;s champion. During the war, he fought as hard to turn Lews Therin to the side of the Shadow as he did to defeat him.&quot;<br /><br />First, it is to be mentioned that no copies from his pre-turn writings survived, while some post-turning did. That indicates that Ishamael was not very interested in propagating his pre-turning ideas to the wide world. During the Breaking, and before that, during the War of Shadow, there was good reason for people to burn all his books - he was hated and people would fear being accused of having sympathy for the Shadow because of having his book. But if Ishamael wanted his books to remain he would do it. After all, a few of his post-turning letters remained, so it was quite possible. Also in the series, Ishamael never mentions his pre-turning philosophy. He never speaks of &quot;meaning&quot;, &quot;reason&quot;, &quot;reality&quot; etc, (compare to Asmodean with his nostalgic speeches about his music, and about the art of music in general), or of  being a philosopher, or even anything about &quot;Philosophy&quot; or &quot;Logic&quot;. Ishamael doesn't do anything that would be expected from an authoritative philosopher and founder of an influential school as he was as Elan Morin. He could have Darkfriends taught in the fundamentals of the &#8216;true&#8217; philosophy, at least those who have academic skills (such as Alviarin for example, whom Ishamael raised to the head of the black Ajah). But no, uncommon for a self-confident author, Ishamael manifests total indifference about the intellectual heritage of Elan Morin Tedronai. This is an indication that Ishamael doesn't think that Elan Morin Tedronai's writings have something important or useful in them. When he turned to the Shadow, he most likely declared his pre-turning philosophy obsolete. Maybe he even considered Elan Morin Tedronai's writings were wrong. Turning to the Shadow, perhaps he changed also his philosophy.<br /><br />After his conversion he expressed his idea about the eternal fight between the Dark One and the Creator using human surrogates, and that idea couldn't be possible before the Bore, when people knew nothing about the Dark One. Unlike the topics about reason and meaning, Ishamael likes to speak and argue about this fight of champions, and to hint about his competence on this question, i.e. to act like a philosopher having this thesis among his basic theoretical statements. That also indicates a change in his philosophy.<br /><br />The meaning of his new name, &quot;Betrayer of Hope&quot;, means that he was associated with &quot;hope&quot; before, for to betray it. Maybe the circumstances of how Ishamael got his name can fully explain the name itself - he publicly declared his conversion to Shadow at a conference devoted to solutions for the problems after the Bore (maybe this conference was associated with hope to heal the problems), and his action caused serious riots. One of the prominent defenders of the Good (as Aes Sedai were considered in those times) changing side to the Evil was really a great shock. But the problem would be not so great if he was known to be suspicious in his beliefs before, if there was anything ambiguous in him before this incident. Semirhage also was a prominent Aes Sedai when she declared herself publicly for the Dark One in the first days, but she did not shock as much as Ishamael did, because she was already somewhat scandalous. I bet, nobody thought of Ishamael doing anything wrong before that act (here a comparison to the 'Destroyer of Hope', Sammael, who was one of the foremost generals for the Light before to turn to a general for the Shadow in a very decisive battle). If Ishamael&#8217;s pre-turning theories were used by the para-darkfriendish circles of these times, it wouldn't be such a shock. And if his early theories were used by them in the beginning they would be widespread, and would not be lost. Ishamael was one of the known participants at that conference; what was known about Elan Morin until his public declaration made the people to think he would effectively fight against the Shadow's early influence.<br /><br />Also maybe his pre-Shadow philosophy was specifically associated with &quot;Hope&quot;. It could be some spiritual and historiosophical kind of &quot;Hope&quot; because of the kind of influence it had; it could be even named &quot;philosophy of Hope&quot;. If it was associated with &quot;Hope&quot; for the Age of Legends society, the name &quot;Betrayer&quot; of &quot;Hope&quot; would fit especially well to the circumstances.<br /><br />So, most likely when turning to Shadow, Ishamael repudiated his previous philosophy and the basic statements of Elan Morin's philosophy were lost. But even when a philosopher changes his basic statements, he most often retains the techniques of thought  he uses for arguing and explaining his statements, and also his standards for what is a well-shaped theory. Most of these traits are neutral to Light and Shadow, and remain the same after the most radical changes. If Elan Morin Tedronai was a WhiteAjah-like logician before, he wouldn't act in the way he is acting now (Semirhage or Mesaana could be this kind of logician, but not Ishamael). <br /><br />The only philosophy Ishamael discusses in the books is the struggle between Light and Shadow during the endless turning of the Wheel on the widest scale possible. As a particular branch of philosophy, this will be historiosophy, metaphysics in the deepest sense of the world's history from the world's beginning to world's end. Interestingly, real-world historiosophical philosophies, if they are successful and influential, are most often somewhat esoteric for the common population, and influence the arts more than other aspects of the culture. Such theories about the deep sense of the history are also often the base for philosophies stressing the concept of Hope. Hence it is probable that Elan Morin Tedronai was historiosophical also in his early writings.<br /><br />The titles of his lost books are about reason and meaning, not about the world's turning and hope. Ishamael no longer shows any visible interest in &quot;reason&quot; or &quot;meaning&quot;. However there is still an area of Ishamael's current interest that can be connected with topics like &quot;perceived meaning&quot;. It's his competence about information, its change and its manipulation. &quot;Father of Lies&quot; is known as a description of the Dark One, but Ishamael as Baalzamon definitely contributed a lot to this reputation. All the manipulation of information done by the Shadow during the Third Age was supervised by him. I would also say that he is responsible for the high reputation of the Shadow 3000 years after the defeat of the Shadow, and the reason that there were always plenty of volunteers to become Darkfriends. Other Forsaken also think of Ishamael as one known to lie every time he could gain the slightest advantage. (The source is Moghedien's monologue in Tanchico.) Also Ishamael always seems to be very interested in how people perceive the reality, and at least part of his major efforts was concentrated on that. He made a lot about shaping public opinion about some topics especially in the time of Hawkwing and after that. There is a pattern in the way the people think about the White Tower and about geopolitical issues, etc in regions the Shadow could influence. Ishamael's hand is visible in the in shaping of the Seanchan mentality (and he speaks about the Seanchan as his success; he is piling it on of course, but there was some basis). <br /><br />Usually philosophical treatises about &quot;perceived meaning&quot; address the issue of how meaning reflects things. If the meaning reflects the phenomena precisely and correctly, there is no need to concentrate on the process of perceiving. But the theme of &quot;perceived meaning&quot; becomes very important if in the process of the perceiving there are some changes, and especially if the process of perceiving is selective according to person's predetermined beliefs and manner of thinking. One notices only what one's mind is ready to notice, and after noticing it, one translates it into one's clich&#233;s - that's the main concern of every philosophical theory focussing on &quot;perceived meaning&quot;. The most developed philosophies about perceived meaning are Kantian and Neo-Kantian transcendental philosophy, where the central statement is that reality itself has no own meaning, it's rough unorganized stuff, and must be filtered through a person&#8217;s predetermined &quot;a priori&quot; logical premises to achieve any usable meaning (compare it with the title of the second of Elan Morin Tedronai's books: &quot;Reality and the absence of meaning&quot; ) . Kantian philosophy looked for pre-experience presuppositions necessary for every reason and every knowledge, and common for every possible thinking mind, but of course other philosophers after Kant stressed cultural differences, social factors (e.g. Marx ) , subconscious psychological processes (e.g. Freud), historical development of beliefs etc. (sometimes even some mythical biological differences determining who will perceive what - as e.g. the Nazis did) as the real models that determine how people perceive the world. In the last case the character of the cultural, psychological and historical processes will determine the beliefs, kind of thinking and conclusions of the particular culture, community or individual, and thus it will determine their fates. And the fact is that the real-world philosophies that concentrate on culture-, history-, socially- or psychologically relative factors of perceived meaning, most often include also considerations and predictions about the fate of some social groups or cultural institutions. Most real-world philosophies that deal with such &quot;perceived meaning&quot; issues are too esoteric for wide popularity, and, if they have influence outside philosophy, it's most often in the arts (even if these kind of philosophies most often pretend to be mainly important for sciences). This fits into the description of Elan Morin Tedronai's philosophical influence.<br /><br />The second book of Elan Morin Tedronai was entitled &quot;Reality and Absence of Meaning&quot;. Such a title most likely means that Elan Morin Tedronai's statement was that reality itself hasn't meaning for mankind, it is only a rough material, and it is only the human mind  that can give significance to anything, that can organize the rough data and create meaningful image of the world. Maybe it included the belief that humans can produce more than one interpretations of the reality, incompatible with each other, but both true, i.e. that both are completely supported by all the facts and completely explaining everything. So it becomes matter of choice what path of theorizing will be taken and it will result in a different destiny.<br /><br />The third book of Elan Morin has the title &quot;the Disassembly of Reason&quot;. What could this title &quot;Disassembly&quot; mean? The concept of &quot;deconstruction&quot; of the deconstructivists can give the best possible clue. If the &quot;perceived meaning&quot; is not direct reflection of reality (that is marked by &quot;absence of meaning&quot; ) , but depends on underlying historical, cultural, psychological etc. factors, and also decisive historical choices, so the current standards for Reason will require the analysis of the unconscious premises in them. Because these premises were unconsciously involved when the standards of Reason were assembled or constructed, the process of analysis will be a &quot;deconstruction&quot; or &quot;disassembly&quot;. Something like an attempt of psychoanalysis of the Reason itself.<br /><br />Such theories are intended to be considered by large social project and considerations, but usually they are not really used for that, because even if these theories are very detailed, they usually do not have practical usage, but focus on analysis and developing integral conceptions. These theories can excite human imagination, however, and so influence arts.<br /><br />As far as can be deduced from the titles of his books, this is most likely what Elan Morin&#8217;s philosophy was before his turn to the Shadow.<br /><br />If meaning is always dependent on problematic premises, then a philosopher could not rely on simple conclusions, because even the most obvious fact could become another meaning by other circumstances. Such a philosopher would prefer many things to maintain a conclusion, than one thing to prove it. Exhaustiveness of the possible factors will be more important than the precision of the particular premises. And a contradiction would be the indication not of a mistake, but rather of a tension in the dynamics of the different factors that gives the opportunity to twist the situation in the philosopher&#8217;s favour if he/she properly shifts the balance). Every statement would be examined for every possible aspect and conjectures, and every possible statement would be taken into account to have the full picture. It would be impossible to have a precise view on every particular detail, because such philosopher would focus on deeper trends. The ideas would be logical, and can find surprising regularities on a large scope, but could fail on simple details. This logic could understand the unusual thinking of another culture, but fail to see some obvious consequence. In the German and French philosophy there are many examples of such a theoretical style.<br /><br />If a mind who usually thinks in that manner begins to plan something practical, how will his philosophical habits affect his plans? First, the plans would be complicated, because such a mind requires a rich context to reach any conclusion. Simple plans will be too malleable for him. He would try if possible to turn every aspect having relation to the situation, so that the context as a whole becomes advantageous to him. Complicated plans can have many points of failure if there is a sequence of preparations to be done. But our philosopher will seek to find situations and events that will have effect whatever their outcome will be. For that kind of a philosopher, what is most important is the conjecture or combination of the details, not particular details. Finding points of instability, creating tensions, and using that for to place seeds of what is needed in all possible details would be the ideal plan for such kind of mind.<br /><br />We see this in Ishamael/Moridin. He always uses very complicated and large-scaled plans, and he acts somewhat contradictory in their implementation. So against Rand Ishamael tempts him one moment, and the next he threatens him, and then tempts him again. He wants Rand alive, but his Darkfriends try to kill Rand, and Baalzamon himself sometimes tries it (I believe it's seriously). He works in parallel at many many points, and every time he seems to try both ways. He often said to Rand and to others that by every outcome he will win. Later as Moridin, he plays both sides of the sha'rah board, and that is his view about what happens in the world. I.e. Ishamael's efforts are not about the outcome of each particular step of his plans, but in the sum of all attempts, and in the nuances that his multiple attempts bring in the world are his best result. He is controlling not the line of the events, but the pattern of the situation. However, he is not so strong in precise implementation. And in a direct fight, i.e. when there is single point of failure, the inexperienced Rand three times defeated the mighty Baalzamon. As Moridin, he stops facing Rand and begins to manipulate Rand's environment in a very complex and convoluted way, and is attempting to put Rand into his machine of meanings, to change the environmental conditions of his situation.<br /><br />He is compensating the lack of insight in particular events with his insight in the nuances of larger processes. He has the reputation of being &quot;more than half-insane&quot; according to those around him (i.e. he is not very adequate about some usual situations), but he is maybe the best living expert on the turnings of the Wheel and the fight between Light and Shadow. These larger processes are where he can find nuances and strive for something definite. This is somewhat similar to the way the Wheel acts. The Wheel has some hard to understand goals, that it can accomplish if not in one way then in another, and the form of the implementation is not known before the implementation itself. The Wheel is very ... wasteful in what it does - e.g. when it wants a Dragon to be reborn, it spins many false dragons in; and achieving some prophesied thing with one person it sometimes drastically changes the fate of whole nations and even continents... When it wants to change something, it changes the environment, and many things related or unrelated to it... All that leads me to the suggestion that Ishamael intentionally tries to act in the manner the Wheel is acting. And, if my thoughts about his style of thinking as Elan Morin Tedronai are not wrong, the Wheel's manner of action would be the ideal manner of action for such mind.<br /><br />Maybe this was how Elan Morin Tedronai turned to the Shadow: he attempted to understand the Wheel's mechanism and decided that he understood the global Wheel processes a degree deeper than the common human point of view; then he tried to use his capabilities to understand the newly opened Bore (and the Dark One) and he understood it too well, and was caught in its context, so that it became his own. Too deep an insight into another&#8217;s context of meanings can make this context your own.<br /><br />Ishamael is not the type of leader who wants to control every detail of his actions. He was never a general even when the Shadow was in open war against the whole other world. There are no indications of him being a province governor. Rather he uses capable subordinates as military leaders, administrators etc. He punishes his subordinates very severely for failures and disobedience, but even his ordinary Darkfriends have too much self-initiative. My impression is that Ishamael tolerates and even encourages it. He prefers many different actions in the direction he wants, rather than few, but precise, actions. His power and his control are based on the extent of the activity, and also on creating dynamic balance. He prefers to have a force to make a pressure and another force to balance the first force, and third force to intervene between the first two forces... etc. Interestingly, those Forsaken who are straightforward, who make their perimeter of defence and fight for their positions, who can be localized, die first or suffer the greatest damages. The best surviving until now are Graendal, whose style is to manipulate the context (but to a lesser extent than Ishamael's plans) and to a degree Demandred, who is also IMHO jiggling with incompatible forces. These two are closer to Ishamael's style.<br /><br />IMO it's Ishamael who insisted on the elimination of Herid Fel. Fel did not do much for Rand, he gave very dim answers, when he was there to give them. But what Fel did was give an alternative or competitive global interpretation of the fight between the Light and Shadow, and about the turnings of the Wheel. Fel always stressed the metaphysical aspect of the problem. E.g. about the Aelfinns' answer about the Cleansing, Fel saw in that &quot;correspondence between principles of higher philosophy and the philosophy of nature&quot; (sp). Most general or meta-things and a rival style of global interpretation. And if I'm right, the style of global interpretation is the most important thing for Ishamael. <br /><br />Moridin's reaction against Fain is also significant. Fain is &quot;very annoying&quot; and Moridin finds him important enough to mention, but he uses phrases that make Fain look insignificant. Fain is a wildcard out of Moridin's control, but that's not fatal, Moridin can use chaos-machines out of his control for his purposes. The problem with Fain is that the Mordeth-ingredient has his own style of Evil. Fain is seeding another metaphysical, global principle of Evil, in rivalry with the Shadow's principle of evil. So he is dangerous for Moridin, but Moridin cannot confess that because it would mean acknowledging that his interpretation is not the only one.<br /><br />Another implication is that the Shadow's efforts in preparation for Tarmon Gaidon are focused on assuring that the Dragon and his main allies will have the required style of actions. The fight is about the spiritual conditions of the future meeting one on one of Rand and the Dark One. So, for example, Cadsuane/Sorilea avowed goal to teach Rand to laugh and cry again is something of primary significance. Alivia's presence with her child-like innocence combined with full experience in acting in dangerous situations can be a chance for Rand to survive the spiritual fight against Moridin. (In his two first victories against Baalzamon Rand relied on his most basic and simple attachments.) It's critical for Rand to see the global picture himself and not in the style Moridin wants.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-03-29 19:56:40
subject: What the Dark Jedi can teach Rand
body:
<p>Emotion is an entity which the author describes to us in detail in the series , and most of all when characters are channeling , and especially when they are locked in duels with other channelers. It is during these moments of dire consequence that the channeler often expresses a flood of emotions. However , we tend to ignore these emotions as mere symbolisms of the situation.<br /><br />There is some good evidence that Jordan deliberately selects certain emotions for certain situations in channeling which are incongruent with the natural emotions a person would feel at the time.<br /><br />The basis of the theory is centered on the way in which the good and evil Force users harness the source of their power , the Force. Try not to think about Jedi as good and Dark Jedi as evil , but rather as two different types of Force users who obtain their strength in different ways. This will prevent the incorrect but inevitable association between the Dark Jedi and the Forsaken and vice-versa. I&#8217;m merely trying to show patterns in using the Force. <br /><br /><b><u>The Jedi</u></b><br /><br />The Jedi code &#8230;<br /><br /><i> There is no emotion , there is peace.<br />There is no ignorance , there is knowledge.<br />There is no passion . there is serenity.<br />There is no chaos , there is harmony.<br />There is no death , there is the Force.</i><br /><br />The Jedi push away all emotions when they use the Force and allow the Force to flow through them. This is the source of their strength. Emotional neutrality is an absolute requirement in being a Jedi and this is essentially what takes such a large portion of their training. Many people think that they are filled with love and compassion. This is an incorrect assumption. They push all emotions away.<br /><br />By now , you have probably found some similarities between the Jedi and the Wheel of Time series. The emotional neutrality is common in all channelers while they are embracing saidar or seizing saidin. Rand assumes the Void , and women assume the &#8220;flower method&#8221;. It doesn&#8217;t matter how experienced you are as a channeler , you use these methods respectively. Later on you don&#8217;t even notice that you are using them.<br /><br />If we look at Verin training Nynaeve and Egwene &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (Woven in the Pattern) &#8230; &#8220;Now. You must empty yourself. Empty your thoughts. There is only one thing in your mind. The bud of a flower.&#8221;<br /><br />Master Yoda would have relished in these words. In fact , he uses some of these sentences to very letter , except for the flower bud sentence (which would be very strange). Before you can hold the Power you must allow emotion to leave your body so that the Power can enter you. This can be a great challenge to wildly emotional people like Nynaeve.<br /><br />Later we see Selene (Lanfear) comment on the Void which Rand uses &#8230;<br /><br />TGH (In the Mirror of Darkness) &#8230; &#8220;That is what it is called &#8230; in some places. The Oneness. To learn the full use of it , it is best to wrap it around you continuously , to dwell in it at all times &#8230; Wear this void of yours all the time Rand al&#8217;Thor , and you&#8217;ll learn uses for it you never suspected.&#8221;<br /><br />As one of the Forsaken she seems very well acquainted with the Oneness and one can assume that she also uses it. Rand believes that Rahvin won&#8217;t feel his burns because of the Void he is using , and Demandred doesn&#8217;t feel his knees burning when kneeling in the fiery Pit of Doom. She also implies that the endpoint of using the Void is not just the Void , but enhancements in other areas (which are going to be discussed).<br /><br /><b><u>The Dark Jedi</u></b><br /><br /><i> There is no peace , there is anger.<br />There is no fear , there is power.<br />There is no death , there is immortality.<br />There is no weakness , there is the Dark Side.<br />I am the Heart of Darkness.<br />I know no fear.<br />But rather I instill it in my enemies.<br />I am the destroyer of worlds.<br />I know the power of the Dark Side.<br />I am the fire of hate.<br />All the universe bows before me.<br />I pledge myself to the Darkness.<br />For I have found true life , <br />In the death of the Light.</i><br /><br />This is the code of the Dark Jedi. If we eliminate all the &#8220;I am the king of the universe&#8221; drivel we see that concepts such as anger , hatred and arrogance are very important to them when using the Force.<br /><br />There is a continuing debate about whether the Dark Side really is stronger. The Jedi believe that it isn&#8217;t stronger , only easier and more decadent. The Dark Jedi believe that it is much stronger. Both sides are obviously biased towards themselves but one must look at the obvious facts regarding their skirmishes.<br /><br />If we look at the Star Wars story we can see that their creator , Lucas , has made the Dark Jedi a match for any Jedi except the very top Jedi Masters. We have seen the Sith apprentices , Maul and Dooku taking on two Jedi Knights in both their respective movies and winning (except for Maul who fell to a sneaky little move after he defeated Kenobi). Later Dooku manages to hold his own against the greatest of the Jedi Masters , Yoda. We haven&#8217;t even seen the Sith Master , Palpatine , in combat but in the upcoming movie he defeats four Jedi Masters and is more than a match for Yoda. Later the strongest Jedi falls to the Dark Side. If he was the strongest then why would he fall to another side? In hope of an even greater Power?<br /><br />No one is denying that being on the Dark Side eventually destroys you , but in my opinion the Dark Jedi have a combative advantage to the Jedi. Combat in itself is incongruent to Jedi beliefs and essential to Dark Jedi ones. The essential difference is that Dark Jedi can amplify their strength in the Force by fueling their hate and their anger. The Jedi cannot due this because one cannot amplify neutrality. <br /><br />Rand doesn&#8217;t like the idea of introducing anger to the Void &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (The Traps of Rhuidean) &#8230; &#8220;Rand made himself ignore the distant anger outside the Void. It was only in cold calm that he could touch saidin ; acknowledging anger would shatter the Void.&#8221;<br /><br />Of course , I think he is mistaken. I believe the Forsaken do it all the time.<br /><br /><b><u>Strength in emotion</u></b><br /><br />I believe that the Forsaken float in the Void all the time. It is essential when using the Power (unless you want to be a very inefficient channeler). They channel as they usually do but when they stand against a great enemy in combat , they introduce anger or hatred into the Void and allow it to fuel their abilities in the One Power.<br /><br />There are many examples of the Forsaken using this ability. You can clearly see how they introduce anger and hatred to make them stronger &#8230;<br /><br />Aginor believed he would easily crush the host at the Eye of the World , but when Balthamel died , he sequestered all his strength because he felt he had underestimated his enemy &#8230;<br /><br />EoTW (Meetings at the Eye) &#8230; &#8220;Even Aginor seemed stunned. Then his head lifted , cavernous eyes burning with hate. &#8220;Enough! It is past time to end this!&#8221;&#8221;<br /><br />Ishamael was trying to kill Rand in the Stone but facing a man with Callandor is near impossible. Therefore he fueled himself with fury to maximize his strength &#8230;<br /><br />TDR (What is written in Prophecy) &#8230; &#8220;A snarl of rage came from the shadows , and the blazing shaft of pure white heat vanished.&#8221;<br /><br />You can clearly see how Moghedien changes externally when Nynaeve attacks her. The Forsaken assumes arrogance , pride and later anger to help her match Nynaeve &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (Into the Palace) &#8230; &#8220;Before thought she struck out , weaving a hammer-hard flow of Air to smash that face. In an instant the glow saidar surrounded the other woman , her features changed &#8211; somehow more regal now , prouder , Moghedien&#8217;s face remembered&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Later she faces Nynaeve in TAR. Nynaeve puts an a&#8217;dam on her and she fuels her rage to match this enormous threat and try and bend TAR around her and help her out of her predicament.<br /><br />TFOH (To Caemlyn) &#8230; &#8220;Moghedien&#8217;s hand leaped to the collar , shock rounding her eyes. Rage and horror. Rage more than horror at first. Moghedien had to know what the leash-and-collar was , yet she tried to channel anyway; at the same time Nynaeve felt a slight shifting in herself , in the a&#8217;dam , as the other woman tried to bend Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod to herself.&#8221;<br /><br />Lanfear decided to teach Asmodean a lesson when he called her Mierin. Rand had called her Mierin several times but she never even berated him for it. When Asmodean calls her Mierin she becomes murderous. The reason is that she knew she was facing a man from the Age of Legends , a man trained as well as her and as strong as her. She needed to be sure she could win so she optimalised her power by fueling her emotions&#8230;<br /><br />TSR (The Traps of Rhuidean) &#8230; &#8220;Rage twisted her face to ugliness , and the man lifted into the air , spread-eagled ; his clothes pressed to him and the flesh of his face distorted , spread out like butter under a rock.&#8221;<br /><br />Rand intervenes before she can kill Asmodean and she turns on him. However , she doesn&#8217;t want to kill Rand and her anger disappears instantly. How can her emotions be so fluid? Before you berate her as an insane female , consider how often this happens with the Forsaken&#8230;<br /><br />TSR (The Traps of Rhuidean) &#8230; &#8220;For a moment rage engorged her face as deeply as it had for Asmodean. For a moment Rand stood on the brink of death. Then fury vanished with startling abruptness&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />When he finally decides to reject her later in the series , you can see her composure break and her visibly reinforce it before she decides to launch her final attack on him &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Choices) &#8230; &#8220;Something that might have been anguish crossed her face , then it was a marble mask once more.&#8221;<br /><br />Later she decides to finally kill Rand and her rage and anger towards him makes her the ultimate enemy for him to counter. Despite his superior strength , he finds it difficult to match her&#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Choices) &#8230; &#8220;Which will hurt you most , Lews Therin? I want you to hurt. I want you to know pain such as no man has ever known!&#8221; &#8230; &#8220;He could not believe she was so strong.&#8221;<br /><br />Graendal is great at performing this feat. When Lanfear insults her , she summons all her anger to possibly counter a stronger enemy&#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Prologue) &#8230; &#8220;Graendal&#8217;s face contorted , and Rahvin prepared to shield himself at whatever the two women might hurl at one another.&#8221;<br /><br />Later Cyndane and Moghedien attack her and she makes herself enraged to try and match two foes who are stronger than her combined&#8230;<br /><br />TPoD (New Alliances) &#8230; &#8220;Attack her , would they! A net of Compulsion tightened on each of them before they could twitch. She had spun the nets strong , for anger&#8217;s sake, nearly strong enough to do harm&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Dashiva also had to make the most of his emotions when facing Rand , a stronger channeler &#8230;<br /><br />TPoD (A Cup of Sleep) &#8230; &#8220;And Dashiva saw Rand , at the head of the stairs. The only warning he had was the sudden snarl that contorted Dashiva&#8217;s face. Dashiva channeled &#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Demandred shows his emotional side when he is repelled by Flinn and his little circle at the Cleansing of saidin &#8230;<br /><br />WH (With the Choedan Kal) &#8230; &#8220;He tried to launch his own attack and crush them &#8230;Snarling , he began to retreat amid the crackle of burning trees and the thunder of explosions&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Cyndane shows us the same when she faces a stronger (aided) Alivia &#8230;<br /><br />WH (With the Choedan Kal) &#8230; &#8220;She would see Lews Therin die! The taller woman jerked as her cut flows snapped back into her , but even as she shifted her feet with the blow , she channeled again. Snarling , Cyndane fought back , and the earth heaved beneath her feet. She would see him die! She would!&#8221;<br /><br />The strange thing about the Forsaken is that they don&#8217;t feel fear when confronted by a superior enemy. They deliberately embrace rage and hatred to try and make themselves stronger combatants. No doubt it works , or a psychiatrist like Graendal would never endorse it. Her streith gown barely ever changes colour because of her incredible emotional control , but when channeling against an enemy she clearly shows her anger and hatred.<br /><br />We also know (thanks to RJ) that some of the Forsaken were always near the top ranks of the Forsaken Aes Sedai in the War of Power. They were Ishamael , Demandred , Lanfear , Semirhage , Graendal and Sammael. There is very little coincidence in this list.<br /><br />Ishamael was humbled by Lews Therin in the Hall of the Servants and was defeated before the gates of Paaren Disen. Demandred and Sammael had immense hatred for the Dragon. Lanfear had enormous passions regarding Lews Therin. Semirhage had hatred for all Aes Sedai. Graendal was a master of the mind. These are therefore the Forsaken who can draw upon vast wells of emotion.<br /><br />The other Forsaken have no lakes of emotion to use. Mesaana may have hated the lecturers at the Collam Daan but that would surely be insubstantial for combat purposes. The other Forsaken just don&#8217;t have the internal reserves to make them as lethal as the super-forsaken. Asmodean and Moghedien were always fearful even before their demise and I&#8217;m pretty sure it contributed in a major way to their low standings , especially in Moghedien&#8217;s case.<br /><br /><b><u>The Good guys</u></b><br /><br />We have only seen Rand embrace true anger once : when Rahvin killed Mat , Aviendha and Asmodean &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (To Caemlyn) &#8230; &#8220;RAAAAVHIIIIN!&#8221; &#8220;It startled him a little , that sound coming from his throat. He seemed to be sitting deep in the back of his own head , the Void around him vaster , emptier than it had ever been before. Saidin raged through him. He did not care if it scoured him away.&#8221;<br /><br />You can see how impressive his own words are. The Void is bigger than it has ever been and he implies how his command of saidin has become even greater. The passage clearly shows the advantage of introducing anger to the Void. An advantage he never learned from this experience.<br /><br />We also see Nynaeve wield anger to her advantage &#8230;<br /><br />TSR (Into the Palace) &#8230; &#8220;Anger welled up in Nynaeve. Sweat streamed down her face and her legs shook as if they might give her way , but anger gave her strength. Furious , she managed to push her weapon of Spirit a hair close to severing Moghedien from the Source&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Her fury allows her to push the shield even closer to Moghedien. There is a definite advantage in channeling with emotion.<br /><br />You can even detect a change in the actual channeling , I believe. Cyndane describes it nicely at the Cleansing of saidin &#8230;<br /><br />WH (With the Choedan Kal) &#8230; &#8220;she could feel saidar being spun at more than one place , spun with fury &#8230;&#8221;<br /><br /><b><u>Fear</u></b><br /><br />A nice little counterbalance shows what fear and doubt do to your control &#8230;<br /><br />EoTW (Against the Shadow) &#8230; The Light warmed the Void. Doubt cried out and was stilled , till only the seed remained. He struggled , not knowing whether he wanted to bury the seed or make it grow. The Void steadied , smaller than before , and he floated on calm.<br /><br />We know that the look of the eyeless is fear , and I&#8217;m pretty sure that this was one of the motivations behind their creation &#8230; to strike terror into Aes Sedai when they encountered them thus making them weaker. However , we see that their look has very little effect on most of the strong characters who we know.<br /><br />Later in the series the Dark One decided to take the Forsaken into hand. He created Shadar Haran , a super-fade. Channelers like Semirhage and Graendal don&#8217;t feel the terror inspired by Fades , but Shadar Haran makes them fearful , including most of the other Chosen. It may have been one of the Dark One&#8217;s motivations to create such a large and fear-provoking Myrrdraal &#8230; to weaken the intrinsic abilities of the Forsaken. They would no doubt try and destroy a Fade who challenged them , but fear alone might make them think twice because it immediately holds back their abilities (despite the fact that he can cut them off from the Source).<br /><br /><b><u>The Ajahs</u></b><br /><br />We know that the Green ajah is the Battle ajah , those Aes Sedai who excel in using the Power in battles. We have often been told that Alanna and Myrelle have tempers which are renowned <i>even</i> among Greens.<br /><br />This is a very curious statement because it shows that anger and rage are common denominators in the Green ajah who specialize in using the Power in combat. Coincidence? I don&#8217;t think so.<br /><br />On the other side of the scale we have the White ajah who show a level of dispassion which would make any Jedi Master proud. At the same time , we know how feeble they generally are in combat. Cadsuane describes how unsteady Sarene is after the Cleansing of saidin because Whites aren&#8217;t used to near-death experiences , and we know that there was only one White Sister (Ayuku) out of the fifty sent to neutralize the Black Tower. The only reason that she was included was due to the insistence by the White ajah that someone represent them. Is it a coincidence that the dispassionate White ajah are weak in combat compared to the other ajahs? Surely not again.<br /><br /><b><u>Laughter and Tears</u></b><br /><br />Cadsuane and Sorilea have vowed to teach Rand and the ash&#8217;aman laughter and tears. Why is this so important? Rand has made himself into an emotional stone and therefore , in my opinion , a weaker channeler. I believe that he is no match for Moridin in his present state. Moridin is a man who is very familiar with emotions like hatred and anger and I believe he will defeat Rand unless Rand learns laughter and tears. Only then will he be able to draw on his emotions to make him stronger.<br /><br />It is my belief that Cadsuane cannot teach Rand these emotions in any way other than her death. I believe it has been hinted at already when Rahvin killed Mat&#8217;s friends. He felt intense emotion and became much stronger. Can you imagine how formidable he would have been to the Shadow if Mat and Aviendha were still dead?<br /><br />For this reason I think there is a strong possibility that Semirhage or one of the other Forsaken will kill Cadsuane. This will inspire a rage in Rand , and also the surrounding ash&#8217;aman like Flinn and Narishma which will make them &#8216;emotional&#8217; channelers. Rand will feel grief which will pile up upon his grief for Moiraine. He will feel that he is the reason why all these women and his advisors have died in his name. He will learn laughter and tears again as he focuses his anger and hatred on destroying the Shadow.<br /><br /><b><u>Conclusion</u></b><br /><br />Emotion is a pivotal part of being a strong channeler. It has been seen many times in the series. Rand must learn it , or he will surely suffer defeat at Tarmon Gai&#8217;don.<br /><br /><b><u>Summary</u></b><br /><br />1. The Dark Jedi appear to be stronger in the combat arena than Jedi and this is because they can fuel their anger and hatred whereas Jedi cannot fuel their neutrality.<br /><br />2.  Emotional neutrality is essential when using the Power.<br /><br />3. Once the Power is being channeled you can enhance your abilities and skills by drawing on emotions like hatred and anger. Fear diminishes your abilities.<br /><br />4. Rand hasn&#8217;t discovered this yet , and is even moving towards a permanently emotionless state which is weakening him.<br /><br />5. Cadsuane will teach him these skills in emotion again , and most probably by dying.<br /><br />6. The Green ajah&#8217;s combative strength is due to their notorious tempers , and the White ajah&#8217;s combat disadvantage is due to their notorious dispassionate ways.<br /><br />Any comments are welcome.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-04 03:54:08
subject: Narishma and Rand, and the last battle
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<p>As everyone knows, and has mulled over, Narishma drew Callandor from the Heart of the Stone of Tear and as prohpecies say &quot;will follow after&quot; Rand.  Now heres my theory:<br /><br />I believe that Cadsuane will fail in trying to teach Rand how to Laugh and Cry again, and that Rand will only become harder to reach and more distant since he's likely to have to kill more women, and other things he hate himself for.  But just because Cadsuane fails, I dont tink Rand will, I believe  that Rand will indeed win Tarmon Gai'don and defeat the Dark One.  But as stated in the books it will only be a fleeting victory, because if Rand can't laugh or cry, he'll in essence be the DO champion, and the world won't be a great place (to say the least.)<br /><br />Now here comes Narishma's part in the whole thing.  As stated by Gaeran in his theory, <b>(Narishma Avatar)</b> Narishma has similarities to an Indian god named Lord Narasimha who saved the world after it was conquered by a seemingly invincible demon god named Hiranyakapisu. The god was invincible, but Lord Narasimha found a weakness and destroyed Hiranyakapisu.  The people then named Lord Narasimha an Avatar and a savior.<br /><br />I believe Rand will become Hiranyakapisu after the Last Battle.  At Tarmon Gai'don, it's likely Rand will have the worlds forces behind him, and an army of chanellers.  And when he defeats the DO he more or less will have conquered the world.  But with Cadsuane's failure, Rand will be a cruel and heartless dictator.  The people of the world will suffer and cry out for someone to save them.  Mat and Perrin will lack the power, and other's will be too afraid.  But Narishma will rise and save them.  Much like how Rand was the peoples savior, Narishma &quot;will follow after&quot; and with the aid of Callandor strike down Rand.  I believe that is what Narishma's role in the story, and prohecy, will be.<br /><br />Thats my theory, comment away.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-09 09:12:55
subject: Of Death and Rebirth
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<p>Many people believe that Rand will die and then be ressurected. This is my take on this theory, with a few other parts and short theories as well.<br /><br />I believe that in the last battle, Mat will sound the Horn Of Valere.  I have always wondered how the Horn works, how it lets the Heroes rise from the grave, and I now believe that I have come to a reasonable answer.  I believe that the Horn causes a rift, or tear, in Tel'aran'rhiod.  This tear would be much like how Egwene or Rand are able to travel physically through to Tel'aran'rhiod, but it would also let the Heroes trapped inside Tel'aran'rhiod get out. It doesn't give them a physical form, but it lets them interact with the world around them (fight).<br /><br />Now here to my Rand dieing theory.  I believe that Rand will die, but he will do so before the fighting, and the DO, is finished.  The forces of men will do their best and are able to hold their own but cannot win without Rand.  Meanwhile, Rand's spirit will be whisked away to Tel'aran'rhiod and there he will meet none other than LTT (who would still be there, since his spirit isn't necessarily called back by the Horn). I believe Rand and LTT will somehow become one in Tel'aran'rhiod, combining their strengths and knowledge.  Rand will then leave Tel'aran'rhiod through the rift created by the Horn, start fighting again, and with his knew found strength and knowledge, defeat the DO.<br /><br />I think that this theory also helps explain the debate between the Dragon and the Horn.  Many say that LTT would be called back by the Horn in a different age, and others say that the Dragon must always USE the Horn.  I now submit that the Horn is linked to the Dragon in that it is the key to his rebirth.<br /><br />Comment away.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-17 03:24:13
subject: Blademasters Channel Too!
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<p>All channelers, before they seize the source, enter that calm state of mind- the void for men, and the flower bud for women. It is essential to be calm to grasp the source.  Now look at blademasters. Not all of them can reach that state of oblivion. Some can, however, for example Lan and Tam. They push all emotion into the flame and the void like Rand, and other male channelers.<br /><br />We know Rand can channel - he would have channeled sooner or later because he has the spark, like Elayne, Nynaeve, Aviendha, etc.<br /><br />Others, like Sharina Melloy, Nicola Treehill, Damer Flinn, do not. <br /><br />Damer Flinn and Sharina Melloy reached a comfortable old age without even suspecting they could channel, because they did not have the spark, BUT THEY COULD BE TAUGHT how to channel.  Sharina for one took to channeling quickly because she knew how to use the calming method already.<br /><br />So... Can any person who can summon up that void just like all the channelers, be taught to channel?<br /><br />If that is true, then Lan, Tam and others can channel. <br /><br />We know  'there is no way in hell Thom can channel'  from RJ himself, and in Thom's POV's there is no mention of the Flame and the Void thing - though admittedly, I think he only has one or two POV's in the whole series.  <br /><br />However, in one of them his girlfriend dies, and he fights for his life against the thugs that killed her, without summoning the void, or acting calm once. In fact, he draws on anger and hatred to strengthen him.<br /><br />So:<br />Rand= uses flame and void= can channel naturally<br />Lan= uses flame and void= may channel if taught<br />Thom= doesn't use flame and void= cannot channel<br /><br />I know we don't know enough about Thom to assume he doesn't use the void, but I personally don&#8217;t think he does.<br /><br />So, hopefully when the two Towers join together, and they test everyone, there will be plenty more people out there and waiting to channel, particularly people like Lan. Otherwise, his wife will stay young and fresh for another six hundred years or so, and he will most likely die within the next fifty or so. <br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-17 03:27:22
subject: Mat giving up Half the Light of the World.
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<p><br />I had an idea the other day, whilst reading Winters Heart. I realised that the moon is half the light of the earth, yes? <br /><br />We learnt it in physics in high school - according to philosophers, the sun is half the light of the world (as it lights the world up during the day) and the moon is the other half (it lights up the world at night).<br /><br />We don't know how many moons Randland has - true, they only see one, but if you lived on Saturn, or another planet with multiple moons, you would also only see one, though there is a different moon in the sky each night.<br /><br />But I&#8217;m digressing again.  <br /><br />The point is, regardless of how many moons it has, the Empress of the Seanchan is the Nine Moons (Tuon, her heir, is the Daughter Of the Nine Moons, so it stands to reason that her mother is the Nine Moons)<br /><br />So...it was prophesised that Mat will give up half the light of the world - as said earlier, either the moon or the sun.  As the Empress is called the Nine Moons she is metaphorically half the Light of the World.<br /><br />Mat will have to sacrifice, or give up, the Empress, which will put Tuon on the Crystal Throne. Mat, either as her husband, or her battle commander, or both, will lead the Ever Victorious Army into Tarmon Gai&#8217;don for Rand.<br /><br />Also, Rand will find it hard to believe that Suroth&#8217;s fake Daughter of The Nine Moons is the real one, when he knows another is being crowned Empress on the other side of the world.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-20 05:02:26
subject: Mat, Elayne and the lion throne
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<p>Robert Jordan has taken the time to repeat certain bits of information in almost every book in the series.  Some of these points can be combined to predict what will happen in the next book.<br /><br />For example: We have been told repeatedly that only Andorans can participate in their civil war. Most recently in the scene between Bashere and Bael at the start of CoT. <br /><br />Also, Elayne has been told repeatedly that the Two Rivers is not really part of Andor any more, Mat, Rand, Egwene, Nynaeve, and her own mother have all said as much. Despite this Elayne has repeatedly insisted that Mat is one of her subjects. She isn't like that with Rand, Egwene, or Nynaeve.<br /><br />Mat promissed to see Elayne to Caemlyn, and we are told that Mat always keeps his promisses.<br /><br />Mat has made a habbit of rescuing the girls, especially when they do not want to be rescued. <br /><br />Putting these points togeather I come up with this: Mat doesn't need to be an Andoran to support Elayne's claim, but Elayne can not refuse his help without admitting that he isn't one of her subjects. Mat probably will not notice this, but I am sure it will irritate Elayne. And because Elayne thinks she has everything under control, this will be another example of Mat rescueing her when she thinks she doesn't need it. Sounds like something RJ would do.<br /><br />That leaves the question of how Mat saves Elayne. At the end of CoT Mat is in central Altara, moving slowly and with few resources. <br /><br />We know that the band of the Red Hand is moving towards him because they sense that he will need them. We also know that the Band has been acting as mercinaries, and that Elayne has been hireing mercinaries so she can not complain if mat uses them in the civil war.<br /><br />We have been told repeatedly that the Band can move quickly, we have also been told repeatedly about the caravans traveling to Caemlyn from all over, thanks to the Kin and the Wind Finders. Between the two Mat should have no problem reaching Caemlyn in time to make a differance. <br /><br />Other things we know.<br /><br />Tuon's mission is to find the Dragon reborn.<br />The band of the red hand is flying the dragon banner.<br />Ta'veren like Mat draw what they need to them.<br />If Furyk Karede and the death watch guards find him, Mat is going to need an army.<br />Mat knows both Lady Shiaine and Daved Hanlon as Darkfriends.<br /><br />My prediction for Book #11.<br /><br />The Band find Mat just in time to save him from the Deathwatch Guards. Tuon sees the Dragon banner and insistes that Mat take her to see Rand. On there way to Caemlyn they meet one of the Wind Finders who recognises Mat and gets them to Caemlyn in a hurry. Once there Mat and the Band tip the balance of power in Elayne's favor. And we get to watch the fire works when Elayne and Tuon meet.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-20 05:18:07
subject: The focal seals were made with both saidar and saidin
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<p>This has struck me a few times and I think it merits some discussion.  Forgive me, I do not have my books handy but want to get this out before I forget to mention it for another 6 months...  <br /><br />I am not suggesting that female aes sedai participated in the sealing of the bore - it is clearly stated that only the males took part.  But the cuendillar &#8220;seals&#8221; which were in fact only focal points for the actual seals on the prison could have been made by both sexes ahead of time or through means of a dual-channel terangreal.<br /><br />My evidence is thus: The color of cuendillar/heartstone is not often referred to except in conjunction with (a) the seals, (b) the male adam and (c) the cuendillar made by the salidar aes sedai.<br /><br />The seals are widely believed to be in the form of a ying-yang (some argument seems to exist as to whether the &#8220;eyes&#8221; are present) and are equal parts black and white.  Yet entirely made of cuendillar.<br /><br />The only pure black colored cuendillar we encounter in Randland is the collar and bracelets, which Nynaeve is told are a form of cuendillar.  The male adam was presumably created to control mad male channelers and therefore made as strong as possible.  We know that a female channeler in Senchan came up with the first adam for women; it is logical that the male adam might have been made by a man (possibly one who had not yet gone mad).  Conclusion:  cuendillar made with saidin is black in color.<br /><br />The cuendillar made by the Salidar aes sedai is uniformly white in color.  Much discussion has be had on this, including the theories (with which I agree) that Egwene changed the harbor chain in Tar Valon to cuendillar - evidence the flash to white.  Conclusion:  cuendillar made with Saidar is white in color.<br /><br />Notice that these color distinctions agree with those RJ has already made between men and women channelers - &#8220;White Tower&#8221; and &#8220;Black Tower&#8221;.  The black portion of the ancient aes sedai symbol, the &#8220;dragon&#8217;s fang&#8221; is that part which symbolized the male aes sedai.<br /><br />Based on the above, I conclude that to make a bi-color (black AND white) piece of cuendillar would require weaves of both saidin and saidar - therefore both male and female channelers.  Alternatively, it could have been done with what I will call a &#8220;dual channel&#8221; terangreal - one such as the bowl of the winds which uses both halves of the source even though activated with only one (in the case of the bowl, saidar).<br /><br />Thoughts?<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-25 12:37:18
subject: What Narg has been up to.
body:
<p>Narg <i>THE</i> greatest Trolloc ever, has been missing since book one, most people believe that he died. But that is only what he wants you to think, for after all <b>Narg <i>is</i> Smart.</b> So smart he was merely <i>playing</i> dead when Rand stabbed and left him. After Rand left Narg slinked off and hid in the forest befriending the animals there, and healing until about Book Four. <br /><br />While hiding from Tam, Abell, the Aes Sedai, and their warders, Narg is surprised when other trollocs invade the Two Rivers. Fearing that he too would be killed he sought help in the Children of Light. &quot;For no one can walk so long in the Shadow that they cannot return to the Light&quot; as is often told by the Children. A Child whom wishes to remain anonymous finds and takes pity on Narg and he decides to hides him and slowly they become friends. Soon the Child convinces Narg to give up his ties to the Shadow, Narg agrees.When Perrin comes into the Children's camp to free the Emond's Fielders there, Narg, the Child, and few of the Child's more trusted friends escape into the woods. <br /><br />Slowly they move north leaving the Two Rivers. While in Baerlon Narg gathers information from a Darkfriend that Lord Brend is really Rahvin, Narg quickly convinces his friends, now calling themselves <b>The Knights of Narg</b>, consisting of the ex-Children, Narg, and a few others they have gained, to head towards Caemlyn where Narg hopes that he can warn the Queen Morgase. The Knights of Narg arrive to late but while raiding a pantry for supplies they stumble into Asmodean! Narg recognizes him instantly and without thought kills him. The only words Asmodean has a chance to say are &quot;You? No!&quot; for he recognized Narg,(You?) and was also tricked into believing he was dead,(No!) he too did not believe that <b>Narg <i>is</i> Smart.</b><br /><br />Narg quickly cut up and took the meat though he did not share with The Knights of Narg after explaining where he got it, the clothes Asmodean was wearing made a rather nice bag and they were able to sell the harp for a good deal of silver. Narg then proceeded to move towards Ghealdan where they hoped to join the Prophet and his men, however after waging battle after battle with the Shaido Aiel, were they diverted and became lost. Fortunately they came across a group of people fleeing the town of Malden. They then move towards it but become trapped when by the Seanchan whom allow them to join. Narg prepares to lead the Seanchan troops along side of Perrin in order to save Faile. Hence a passage from the cover of Knife of Dreams. <i>&quot; Unbeknownst to Rand, Perrin has made his own truce with the Seanchan. It is a deal made with the Dark One, in his eyes, but he will do whatever is needed to rescue his wife, Faile, and destroy the Shaido who captured her.&quot;</i> &quot;Knife of Dreams will hopefully demonstrate the Triumphant return of Narg. <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/narg.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-28 05:00:42
subject: The origins of ji'e'toh
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<p>As I have been rereading the series an idea began to form about why and how the Aiel hold so fast to ji'e'toh, and why it has become the way of living that literally holds the Aiel culture together (excluding the Shaido, who are bending or breaking the rules quite a bit)<br /><br />I believe that the origins of ji'e'toh lie in the shame that the Aiel feel over their failing of the Aes Sedai, (abandoning the Way of the Leaf). It is possible that although they left the life of pascifism behind, in thier guilt they embraced to an extreme aspects of Aes Sedai rules.<br /><br />We know that there exists in the Aes Sedai rules and traditions penalties that an Aes Sedai can incur by breaking rules or norms that exist in the tower. Many times the Aes Sedai can impose these penances on themselves to lessen the shame. Another form of punishment we have seen is &quot;being spanked&quot; publicly to atone for their wrongdoing. These bear a striking resemblence to aspects of ji'e'toh.<br /><br />We do not know much about how Aes Sedai punishment worked before the breaking (except the oath rod may have been used in dealing out punishment to lawbreakers), but I belive it is possible that ji'e'toh may have started off by the early Aiel trying to model those punishments in the workings of their society, and as the years passed, they took on a life of their own, which became the system we know as ji'e'toh.<br /><br />Again, this is just a thought that has been rolling around in my head, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas on the subject.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-04-28 17:35:16
subject: Workings of the a'dam
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<p>I have something of an obsession with the Seanchan, and their convention of collaring their channelers. Mostly I'm interested in the psychology of it (how oddly childlike the <i>damane</i> are, etc) but I was pondering recently the <i>a'dam</i> itself.<br /><br />Everyone knows how they work: you have a collar half and a bracelet half leading to an unequal link. The collar is ingenious, managing to prevent the wearer from opening it, moving the bracelet, or channeling. What I was wondering was how exactly does it work? <br /><br />It is a really very clever <i>ter'angreal</i>. I cannot off the top of my head think of another one that manages to 'read' the wearers intent (eg to open the collar). This alone leads me to think that RJ may not have thought this one through all that well, but if you think I'm wrong please do tell me.<br /><br />The <i>ter'angreal</i> becomes active when it is clasped around the neck of a woman who can channel, or has the ability to learn. But does it only work when fitted around the channelers neck? If some strange person decided to close it around a channelers upper thigh, for example, would it perform the same function? That leads on to a second question, does the collar somehow 'know' where it is, on the body? If skin contact is all that is needed then surely even picking a closed collar up would be enough to make you subject to it (though I know you could of course just drop it)? <br /><br />I do not believe this to be the case. I refuse to believe that in the centuries of Seanchan collaring, no <i>sul'dam</i> has picked up a closed collar and tried to walk with it. In fact, don't the <i>sul'dam</i> in WH walk around &quot;with a spare leash coiled on their shoulders&quot;? (I apologise if the book is wrong, my WoT's are in storage) Surely it must have touched skin at some point? So the only logical inference is that the collar only works when clasped around the neck. <br /><br />My theory, which I know I have been a long time getting to, is that the designer of the collar was very well informed about brain function - like Semirhage (and with a similar sense of ethics). I think she designed the collar so that from its position around the throat, close to the brain, it was able to pick up certain brainwaves and respond accordingly. That explains the consequences of trying to open the collar.<br /><br />There are problems with this theory, I know - a shoulder isn't far from a neck, and if a <i>sul'dam</i> was close to a collar, examining it, wouldn't it effect her? Also it seems plausible that the ter'angreal only works on the person who is touching the <i>inside</i> of the collar.<br /><br />Please, pick holes in my theory, I know it isn't perfect.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-03 05:36:34
subject: The Soul and Memories, Mat's Memories
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<p>Mat&#8217;s holes in his memories came from the taint that destroyed Aridhol, this is a widely accepted fact, but how?  This is what I propose to discuss.<br /><br />I believe that the soul is directly linked to a person&#8217;s memories, that rather than being stored in the mind, they are stored in the soul. Or at least in the philosophical and WoT context.  Now when Mat carried with him the dagger from Shadar Logoth, we saw that it corrupted him, warping his personality to the point that he was becoming akin to the suspicion that had destroyed an entire city.  He was changing.  Now when Mat carried the dagger I think that like the Mashadar, in that it was slowly destroying his soul.  The dagger was an avatar for a more dilute, but no less potent for the Mashadar&#8217;s soul destroying effect.<br /><br />This couples with the fact that when a person removes anything from the city of Shadar Logoth they are unleashing the taint of the Shadar Logoth.  If Mat had not been Healed the dagger would have destroyed his soul and even while it was being destroyed, the dagger was replacing Mat&#8217;s lack of soul with something else, the evil of Aridhol to sustain him.  Then when he was completely subverted he would spread the evil to others more effectively.  Thus when he was Healed in Tar Valon the &#8216;evil&#8217; in place of his soul was destroyed, leaving holes in his soul, which in turn left holes in his memories.<br /><br />There are a couple of examples of this in the books, where a person had their soul destroyed and the effect it had upon them.  Firstly the Ogier that had it&#8217;s soul destroyed by the Machin Shin, which can be seen as the Shadow&#8217;s taint equivalent to the Mashadar, a miasma of evil:<br /><br />(The Great Hunt, Among the Elders)<br />&#8220;No mind. No soul. Nothing remains of Trayal, but his body.&#8221;<br /><br />(Eye of the World, Decision and Apparitions)<br />&#8220;Raving about the Machin Shin, the black wind.  Aes Sedai could Heal some, but even with Aes Sedai help, they were never the same.  And they never remembered anything of what had happened.&#8221;<br /><br />This is the ultimate extreme for when a person loses their soul, however it must be noted that the Machin Shin also destroys the mind as, well which could be contributed to the Ogier&#8217;s &#8216;blankness&#8217;.  Nevertheless the result of having his soul destroyed correlates with Liah the Far Dareis Mai (who is a much less extreme) that was left behind at Shadar Logoth.  After surviving in the city for about a month, she comes encounters Rand Al&#8217;Thor, and barely recognises him.  Now I realise that Liah&#8217;s lack of recognition could be attributed to the intense trauma of having to survive in a horror city, but when she does eventually recognise him, she runs away.  I don&#8217;t think this to be the workings of a sane woman. <br /><br />Unlike the dagger, or a tainted item of the city, I think that when the Mashadar destroys the soul, it does not replace it with anything, it just consumes it.  Now while it&#8217;s unlikely that the Mashadar had caught her and then she somehow escaped it, I think that just being in the city for too long can taint a person and destroy your soul slightly, putting holes in her soul and contributing to Liah&#8217;s irrationality and her memory lack.<br /><br />Now proof. Well Mat carries the dagger for what, a week, perhaps? Two?  So his soul has had small parts destroyed and replaced with this &#8216;evil&#8217; which is reflected in his personality. Then when he is Healed by Moiraine in Caemlyn, he is momentarily better and says that he cannot remember what had happened.  He has small holes in his soul and so his memories.<br /><br />(Eye of the World, Remembrance of Dreams)<br />&#8220;It&#8230;..ah&#8230;.it seems I&#8217;ve been acting&#8230;ah&#8230;sort of oddly. I don&#8217;t remember much of it really.&#8221;<br /><br />Now of course like any sort of disease (and I&#8217;m gonna compare this with cancer for now) if even a small bit remains it will grow back.  And as we can see that only the most powerful of Healing helped Mat it is obvious that Moiraine&#8217;s healing could not destroy it all.<br /><br />Next, I think that the soul regenerates itself, so long as the damage isn&#8217;t too extensive, similar to the body healing itself, for example a deep cut will heal, however the skin that grows back isn&#8217;t the same, it&#8217;s tougher and different and it&#8217;s the same with the soul.  The holes that have been left in Mat&#8217;s soul are replaced by Mat&#8217;s &#8216;previous life&#8217; (like Lews Therin life is one of Rand&#8217;s previous lives) souls. In effect the same soul, but different, much as it is the same skin that grows back, but different, and as such tougher and more resistant to the mashadar&#8217;s soul-destroying effect.  This is why, until Mat goes to the Eelfinn (which will be covered later) his only &#8216;new/old&#8217; memories are that of Manetheran, his birthplace and where his blood runs back.  He is no doubt a direct descendant of Aemon, or at least the general that orders the &#8216;Heart Guard&#8217; and it is from this that soul pulls up more &#8216;soul&#8217;.  At the Eye of the World, he shouts the Manetheran battle cry and after his Healing he remembers a battle at Manetheran, so his memories, for now, are only of Mantheran.  From this he knows the Old Tongue, which if we had had Birgitte around in the earlier books could have told us that his accent is only of Manetheran.<br /><br />So the Eelfinn.  When Mat asks for his &#8216;holes&#8217; to be filled, he didn&#8217;t really specify which holes, although he does say &#8216;the holes in my memories, in my life&#8217;.  Here I think the Eelfinn fill the holes in Mat&#8217;s soul, which in turn replace his memories, with the souls of generals that have entered the ter&#8217;angreal before.  You see whereas the Aelfinn rummage through experience and emotions.<br /><br />(The Shadow Rising, Into The Doorway)<br />&#8220;sensations, emotions, experiences. They rummage through them&#8221;<br /><br />I think that the Eelfinn, sample souls, rummage through them the way that the Aelfinn do.  So when the Mat asks for his holes to be filled they are able to fill the holes with the snippets of soul that they have taken from these past generals that have previously entered the ter&#8217;angreal.  We can see that not all of his memories are useful, he has at one point a memory of dancing<br /><br />The extent of the damage on Mat&#8217;s soul was so extensive that they used pretty much all of this soulness to refill it.  Going back to my scar tissue reference.  Mat comments that he can no longer define before past memories and his own, unless he concentrates hard.  This reflects in the fact that it is hard to define between scar tissue and real skin (unless it&#8217;s something major anyway) and it also reflects the fact that his soul is now so closely integrated with other pieces of soul.<br /><br />This also ties in with what the Aelfinn say<br />&#8216;and live once more a part of what was&#8217;<br />he is living parts of others soul that once were.<br /><br />Finishing with Padan Fain.  Why has he been affected differently?   Well there is some similarity.  When we first see him again after his trip into Shadar Logoth it is at Fal Dara. Now here is the tricky part.  I think that when the Mashadar went to consume Fain&#8217;s soul, it actually devastated the Shadow&#8217;s hold on his soul ( which was a part of his soul, from his &#8216;remaking&#8217; ) before consuming his soul.  This was how he gained mastery over himself and freedom from the Shadow.  However like the Mashadar this taint also has a cancerous effect, in the way that even if a small bit remains it will grow back.  So when the Mashadar started making holes in Fain&#8217;s soul the remaining bits of Shadow was seeping into these holes as well as Mashadar evil, finishing in this fusion of evil and evil.  I believe it finished in them fusing together (similar to the fact the Mat cannot distinguish between his bits of soul/memories) and becoming a new evil.  The Mashadar evilness reflects to the times that Padan Fain can sometimes seem regal and domineering, shown many times, here&#8217;s one example<br /><br />(Eye of the World, Fal Dara)<br />&#8220;he faced Agelmar as if the men flanking him were his own bodyguard and the lord of Fal Dara his equal rather than his captor&#8221;<br /><br />The shadow evil reflected in his new talents, which I think is actually a variation of the TP, as it needs touch.  This Shadowness also gives him power over Myrddraal.<br /><br />(Lord of Chaos, Letters)<br />&#8220;Almost casually he brushed his hand across the boy&#8217;s face.  The boy&#8217;s eyes bulged; he began trembling so hard his teeth began to rattle.  Fain did not really understand the trick he could work.  A bit of something from the dark one perhaps, a bit from aridhol&#8221;<br /><br />&#8220;so long as he could touch what he was working with&#8221;<br /><br />A power similar to the TP, but also mixed with the fact that the Mashadar needed touch to soul destroy. And of course a bit of Padan Fain remaining.<br /><br />Conclusion<br /><br />The soul holds memories.  As the dagger destroys Mat&#8217;s soul it replaces it with evil.  When Mat is Healed the evil is destroyed leaving holes where this evil used to be.  The soul can regenerate itself by taking bits of soul that has memories of a previous life.  When Mat visits the Eelfinn, they fill the holes in his soul with samples of souls that have been in the ter&#8217;angreal before.<br /><br />Thank you for reading this far down as I can appreciate it&#8217;s lengthiness and I would ask that when you vote, to only be taking into consideration the part of the soul, memories and Mat.  The section about Padan Fain is still under construction and put in help to myself think through it and to give further examples. Please keep any criticisms to the board.<br /><br />Thank you again <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-03 05:41:06
subject: Bela will teach Rand laughter and tears
body:
<p>Lightly answered the Colonel's son:  &quot;I hold by the blood of my clan:<br />Take up the mare for my father's gift -- by God, she has carried a man!&quot;<br />The red mare ran to the Colonel's son, and nuzzled against his breast;<br />&quot;We be two strong men,&quot; said Kamal then, &quot;but she loveth the younger best.<br /><br />-Rudyard Kipling, &quot;The Ballad of East and West&quot;<br /><br /><br />This is how I envision a confrontation between Rand and Egwene.  A big, nuetral-site, outdoor meeting where neither Rand nor Egwene can unbend enough to even get off their horses until either the Dragon Reborn shows proper respect to the Amyrlin Seat or she stops acting like a little tin god because some old women with poor judgement chose her to be a puppet.  In the midst of two people who have perhaps risen too far too fast glaring down their noses at one another and speaking coolly and disdainfully of each other's position, Siuan akwardly rides up to give Egwene some advise or info, and it finally happens - she falls off her horse.  Now freed of her annoyingly bad rider, Bela is free to make up her mind, and trots over to nuzzle Rand, who, let us not forget, is the son of her true owner.  Rand has taken great pains to push all familiarity with the Two Rivers aside, trying to protect it from the consequences of being something the Dragon Reborn cares about.  But the unconditional affection of a creature who was the dominant female presence in the home where he grew up is his undoing, he breaks his stony, icy walls, and the milk of human kindness flows from his eyes (which are blue like the spring morning sky and not like frozen winter icicles or something).  Rand laughs at what a pair of d!cks he and Egwene are being, blows off all the arrogance and unnerves Egwene, who finds herself agreeing to follow or at least not interfere with the guy who is NECESSARY for the salvation of the world, people start relaxing around Rand, and actually telling him things, until he is nearly as knowledgeable as a wotmaniac, and he handily defeats the Dark One with insight and humanity, rather than falling to the Dark Side of paranoia and suspicion.  Also his girlfriends are creeped out by what an over-emotional wuss he is now (they fell for a cold, arrogant psychotic, remember), and all leave him, so that tangeled mess of a relationship is disposed of too.  A happy ending thanks to his relearnign laughter and tears from the female he has known the longest or best.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-05 05:37:26
subject: Padan Fain, Mordeth and the Mashadar
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<p>Now this is going to be one beasty theory so bear with me. This will, in effect, be three theories (with the aid of a previous theory I wrote) in one, tied in a common purpose. First I shall discuss Padan Fain, how he became as he is and his link to the dagger.<br /><br /><b>Padan Fain</b><br /><br />A darkfriend used by the Shadow as a hound to find the Dragon Reborn, before he could ascend to power. Yet, how was Fain &#8216;remade&#8217; and what sort of hold did the Shadow have upon him and his soul? Fain thinks often about his trip to Shayol Ghul, where he was distilled:<br /><br />TGH, Glimmers in the Pattern<br /><i>Distilling what he knew of them, distilling him, and feeding the essence back to that he could feel them</i><br /><br />Now I don&#8217;t know about you lot, but I didn&#8217;t know what distilling mean so&#8230;<br /><br />1. To increase the concentration, separate or purify (of a thing)<br />2. To separate or extract the essential elements<br /><br />So everything that Fain knew of these people was removed from him and so to make the concentration greater, &lt;something&gt; was removed from him so that the withdrawn essence could be re-inserted and as such have a greater effect. I believe this &lt;something&gt; to be a part of Fain&#8217;s soul and as more and more of the three ta&#8217;averen&#8217;s essence was being poured back into him, Fain soul was becoming more diminished.<br /><br />Now any dealing with a person&#8217;s soul, must involve a creature or being of great power. We have the Machin Shin a near unstoppable pervasion of the Ways, a manifestation of the taint. There is also the Mashadar (which I will cover later) a manifestation of suspicion and hate to an extreme point, with perhaps something else thrown in. As well as other things.<br /><br />I suspect that Fain&#8217;s remaking was done at the hands (if he has any) of the Dark One. <br /><br />tFoH, Memories<br /><i>&#8220;I have taken the path down to the belly of Shayol Ghul, to the shore of a lake of fire and molten rock&#8230;that holds the Great Lord of the Dark&#8221;</i><br /><br />I believe that when the Dark One was reforging his soul that some of his taint fed off onto it. I don&#8217;t believe it possible for a thing of such pervasion not to be able to taint something that it touches. When the Dark One touched the world, in both the AoL and now, there were massive repercussions (destruction of Sharom and the weather) and I think there was a similar side effect on Fain&#8217;s soul. This is what caused the pain that Fain whimpers to think about:<br /><br />TFoH, Prologue: The First Sparks Fall<br /><i>He had been broken and remade, because of Al&#8217;Thor</i><br /><br />In conclusion to Fain remaking:<br />Fain&#8217;s soul was slowly lessened to hold the essence of the ta&#8217;averen<br />As it was being remade it was becoming twisted and warped by the Dark One&#8217;s touch, this shows in Moiraine&#8217;s feeling of uncleanness after being near him/examining him<br /><br />EoTW, More Tales of the Wheel<br /><i>&#8220;I feel soiled from touching him, and I do not mean for the filth on his skin. Soiled in here&#8221; She touched her breast. &#8220;The degradation of his soul makes me doubt he has one&#8230;&#8221;</i><br /><br /><b>Mordeth and the Mashadar</b><br /><br />Right I&#8217;m going to go over the two things that are now very closely integrated with Padan Fain and then I&#8217;m going to link it all up at the end (because I&#8217;m just clever like that).<br /><br />Now the majority of this part of the theory will be pulled from the EotW; the boys encounter with Mordeth, Shadar Logoth and Moiraine&#8217;s telling of what happened. Now I propose that Mordeth and Mashadar are two completely separate entities. Mordeth having unwitting unleashed the Mashadar upon the Aridhol, being more the origin of the power, whereas the Mashadar &lt;is&gt; this power. Do you understand that? To put into context (beware because I&#8217;m going to throw the dagger in quite randomly here)<br /><br />Mordeth broke the dormant power of the Mashadar from the dagger, much the same way that a person (Mordeth) can create a spring (the dagger) for water or a stream (Mashadar) to well up from. <br /><br />I&#8217;m going to leave the dagger for a second though.<br /><br />So Mordeth had come to Aridhol late in the Trolloc wars when the people were growing into despair. With the dagger he had found somewhere (as I said I won&#8217;t go into the dagger too greatly yet), it gave him pervasive powers that allows him manipulate people and debase them with this evil. However the dagger was as much Mordeth&#8217;s master as it was master of him (imagine it as the Ring in LoTR, with it&#8217;s similar effects, also if Fain is to be RJ&#8217;s Gollum, then it seems appropriate). At it&#8217;s ultimate use Mordeth found a way to unleash the dagger&#8217;s true potential, the Mashadar, a manifestation of the this suspicion and pervasive evil that the dagger contains. As the city was already rife with suspicion, from Mordeth&#8217;s influence, the Mashadar grew powerful enough to expand and &#8216;rule&#8217; the city. In the end the Mashadar grew way out of Mordeth&#8217;s control. So my proof for this Crazy story, well it&#8217;s based upon a story told by Moiraine and previous theories that I&#8217;ve read.<br /><br />EoTW, Shadow&#8217;s Waiting<br /><i>Mordeth alone was not consumed by Mashadar, but he was ensnared</i><br /><br />Also this does not seem like the actions of a person that is he happy with his lot in his. He seems as fearful of what he has become as he is proud of the power he has<br /><br />EoTW, Shadow&#8217;s Waiting<br /><i>Something moved in the deepest part of the shadow left by the torches, and they all jumped. It was Mordeth clutching his knees into his chest and huddled as deep into the furthest corner as he could get</i><br /><br />Okay so, while he may no longer have control over the Mashadar his possession over the dagger gave him some safety that prevented the Mashadar from turning on him, however he was caught by it, forever locked in the city he had, perhaps, once sought to rule. The following passage has been lifted from In Depth With Fain&#8217;s Dagger ~ Matrimony Cauthon<br /><br /><i>When Mat, Rand, and Perrin were all in the treasure room with Mordeth, he said that the boys could take some treasure in return for helping him pack his saddlebags. But there was one thing Mordeth did not want the boys to take. Specifically, the quote was, &quot;Panting shook his head as if he could not decide. 'Take what you want. Except... Except...&quot; (pg. 284)<br /><br />Mordeth did not reveal what one object the boys could not take, because Rand suddenly noticed that Mordeth didn't have a shadow and Rand said his thoughts aloud. Mordeth then assumed the attacking position, and surely would have killed the 3 ta'veren, but something happened.<br /><br />Mat picked up the dagger. Knowing Mat's ta'veren luck, I believe that Mat picked up exactly the one object that Mordeth did not want them to take. After Mat picked up the dagger, Mordeth suddenly retreated.</i><br /><br />Now here&#8217;s where I&#8217;m going to link this to my previous theory:<br /><br />If Mat had not been Healed the dagger would have destroyed his soul and even while it was being destroyed, the dagger was replacing Mat&#8217;s lack of soul with something else, the evil of Aridhol to sustain him (The Soul and Memories, Mat&#8217;s Memories-by Foxhead)<br /><br />I think that unlike Mat&#8217;s soul, Mordeth&#8217;s soul had been completely subverted by the dagger, because of the length of time that it was in his possession. All of Mordeth&#8217;s soul was gone, replaced with an evil, the Mashadar recognised it&#8217;s evil as perhaps itself. If we put this terms of smell, the Mashadar did not consume Mordeth, because it&#8217;s soul (or lack it) smell like itself. However Mordeth was linked to the dagger, which was linked to the Mashadar which was linked to Aridhol. I believe that the Mashadar stayed at Aridhol, because the suspicion of the people lived on carrying a resonance, which it continued to feed off. We know from Nyneave that items can still carry a resonance of a feel and I believe that the Mashadar stayed at Aridhol for this reason:<br /><br />TSR, Need<br /><i>She reached out to touch it- Pain. Sorrow. Suffering- and jerked it back</i><br /><br />This may not be the reason it stayed, but for completions sake I&#8217;ll use this rather than nothing and it&#8217;s not really necessary. Anyway Mordeth was anchored to the Mashadar, which was in turned anchored (somehow) to Aridhol. In this way Mordeth was snared. He has become a creature tormented by an evil that infests him, however there is a way to escape:<br /><br />EoTW, Shadow&#8217;s Waiting<br /><i>If he ever convinces someone to accompany him to the walls, to the boundary of Mashadar&#8217;s power he will be able to consume the soul of that person</i><br /><br />And here we have Mr. Fain<br /><br /><b>Linkage</b><br /><br />Right, so Fain is in Shadar Logoth, and probably escaped from the Trollocs and is making his own way through the city. He stumbles across Mordeth who, again the, &lt;somehow&gt; lures him to the city limits, perhaps to show and esacpe or exit. There Mordeth attempts to consume his soul. <br /><br />I just want to add that this consumption is different to the effect the dagger has, which slowly erodes the soul, while at the same time replacing it with evil. This I believe to be a merger of two souls, where after time the evil soul completely destroys the other one, but until then merely &#8216;rides&#8217; along, much like a parasite soul. So the Mordeth soul transfers itself onto Fain&#8217;s soul, where something Strange and Crazy happens.<br /><br />Here is what I think happened:<br />1. When the Mordeth&#8217;s soul transferred onto Fain&#8217;s it fought with the taint on Fain&#8217;s soul, destroying the hold that the Dark One had on him. However I think that it couldn&#8217;t completely destroy the taint and &#8216;nastiness&#8217; that the Dark One had left upon it<br />2. The two evils then fused together<br />3. While the two evils conflicted Fain managed to keep the majority of himself. So Mordeth and the Dark One held 20% each, with Fain having 60%<br /><br />TGH, What Was Meant To BE<br /><i> &#8220;More than that. Worse than that. Padan Fain was the Dark One's creature to the depths of his soul, but I believe that in Shadar Logoth he fell afoul of Mordeth, who was as vile in fighting the Shadow as ever the Shadow itself was. Mordeth tried to consume Fain's soul, to have a human body again, but found a soul that had been touched directly by the Dark One, and what resulted . . . . What resulted was neither Padan Fain nor Mordeth, but something far more evil, a blend of the two. Fain - let us call him that - is more dangerous than you can believe. You might not have survived such a meeting, and if you had, you might have been worse than<br />turned to the Shadow.&quot;</i><br /><br />We can see each facet of Fain&#8217;s soul throughout the books<br /><br />Mordeth:<br />A manipulator and degrader of people<br /><br />TSH, Assurance<br /><i>Flies buzzed about his own tents, and sullen suspicious eyes flinched from his. The white cloaks were soiled here. But the swords were sharp, and obedience instant and unquestioning</i><br /><br />WH, Blue Carp Street<br /><i>Toram Riatin&#8217;s face was haggard</i><br /><br />He was previously described as<br />AcoS, Into the Woods<br /><i>Toram Riatin was even better-looking up close than at a distance</i><br /><br />LoC, Letters<br /><i>Mordeth. Had he used that name? Sometimes he could not recall what name he used</i><br /><br />So we see Fain debasing the people around him (there are many more examples, but I didn&#8217;t want to bombard you and I could be bothered <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" />) and he even uses the name Mordeth when he isn&#8217;t aware of it. (Sometimes)<br /><br />Fain:<br />A butt-licking Lugarder<br /><br />TSR, Assurances<br /><i>The Lugard accent was now gone</i><br /><br />And again there are more examples, and again I can&#8217;t be bothered pulling them up<br /><br />The Shadow Taint:<br />Not so much a personality, but an effect. It has power, like the Myrddraal, to be infused by the Shadow is to have power. Now I believe that because of this taint and because of the way it is fused with the Mashadar taint, I think that Fain can use a variation of the True Power, much like the Myddraal seem to, but to a greater effect:<br /><br /><i>&#8220;Almost casually he brushed his hand across the boy&#8217;s face. The boy&#8217;s eyes bulged; he began trembling so hard his teeth began to rattle. Fain did not really understand the trick he could work. A bit of something from the dark one perhaps, a bit from Aridhol&#8221;</i><br /><br /><i>&#8220;so long as he could touch what he was working with&#8221;</i><br /><br />A power similar to the TP, but also mixed with the fact that the Mashadar needed touch to be able to comsume a soul. <br /><br />And that is that. But finally<br /><br /><b>The Dagger</b><br /><br />I think that the dagger is either just a very tainted item of Shadar Logoth or (to coincide better with my theory) it is a ter&#8217;angreal. Again this ter&#8217;agreal could be one of two things (or perhaps more)<br /><br />1. The Mashadar was a project that went out, a project of no other than Aginor. When Aginor realised that this was something that just won&#8217;t work he set about trying to contain it. He trapped the miasma in a ter&#8217;angreal, which maybe he wanted in the shape of an evil looking dagger, because it held theme for him (who knows?). However it couldn&#8217;t be properly contained and the dagger became contaminant. The ter&#8217;angreal had a trigger to release the Mashadar in case he ever needed to use it. This would coincide nicely with a comment Aginor make at the Eye of the World.<br /><br />EoTW, Meetings at the Eye<br /><i>&#8220;He guided us.&#8221; The hand that pointed to Mat was old and shrivelled</i><br /><br /><i>&#8220;An old thing, an old friend, an old enemy&#8221;</i><br /><br />Perhaps the Mashadar had a purpose that we don&#8217;t know of or it may just be a project that got out of hand. <br /><br />OR<br /><br />2. The dagger is a ter&#8217;angreal similar to that of the twisted doorway ter&#8217;angreal, as a doorway to another, or at least a conduit to another&#8217;s world&#8217;s evil. Birgitte says that the Eelfinn and Aelfinn are a different in the way that they are so unhuman. As a conduit of to an evil, it has &#8216;powers&#8217; with it&#8217;s ultimate evil being the Mashadar. Perhaps the things (as in the finns, but obviously not them) from which this evil originates had pervasive qualities, perhaps they once tried to invade randland and the dagger was made as a talisman against it. Anyway when Mordeth&#8217;s soul was fully consumed, perhaps he became a lot like the origins of the evil, we see him change form here:<br /><br />EoTW, Shadow&#8217;s Waiting<br /><i>Like a balloon Mordeth swelled, distorted, head presseed against the ceiling butting the walls, filling the end of the room</i><br /><br />So, yeah, perhaps he had a power to revert to the true form of the evil that occupied his soul.<br /><br />Again I appreciate that this was a lengthy theory and again I would like to ask if you to vote only on the Fain/Mordeth/Mashadar main body of the theory. The Dagger is something still under construction, if you do have problems with the Dagger (along with the rest of the theory) then just mention it on the board. So thank you and I look forward to your replies.<br /><br />The following theories have been used as &#8216;stepping&#8217; stones to this final theory and if you are interested in learning more about the subjects covered or if you just want to use them as references, well here they are:<br /><br />The Soul and Memories, Mat&#8217;s Memories ~ Foxhead<br />In Depth With Fain&#8217;s Dagger ~ Matrimony Cauthon<br />Fain&#8217;s Dagger ~ Ragnorak<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-09 03:43:31
subject: Lord of Choas reigns in Seanchan
body:
<p>One possible interpretation of the closing Prophecy in LoC supports the idea that the Seanchan prophecies are corrupted, and Rand doesn't need to kneel to the Crystal Throne.  It can be read to suggest the Seanchan Empire must be destroyed for him to &quot;bind the daughter of the nine moons&quot; <br /><br />&quot;The unstained tower breaks and bends knee to the forgotten sign.<br /> The seas rage, and stormclouds gather unseen. <br />Beyond the horizon, hidden fires swell, and serpents nestle in the bosom. <br />What was exalted is cast down; what was cast down is raised up. <br />Order burns to clear his path.&quot;<br /><br />Everything after &quot;Beyond the horizon&quot; may apply to the Seanchan. I don't have a strong connection for hidden fires, although as a stretch it could be the sul'dam, whose channeling powers have been hidden and are becoming known. The serpents are frequently tied to Suroth and Anath, and perhaps this could even apply to Ishy as a false advisor, especially if he altered the prophecy.<br /><br />&quot;What was exalted is cast down&quot;--the Empire, Empress, Crystal throne will fall as a result of the sul'dam becoming known as channelers, Suroth and Semirage being exposed, and/or general chaos due to the Dragon Reborn. <br /><br />&quot;What was cast down is raised up&quot;--the da'mane, originally Aes Sedai who were enslaved, now being free could be again raised as Aes Sedai.<br /><br />&quot;Order burns to clear his path&quot;--The Imperial family seems unlikely to accept Rand without him kneeling to the Crystal Throne according to their prophecy.  The Empire may be destroyed and the family badly weakened or unthroned due to chaos and destruction of Seanchan society.  That gives Rand the upper hand (clears his path) to conquer or somehow ally with (and thus bind) the Imperial family and/or the Seanchan, without kneeling to the Crystal Throne. <br /><br />To pick apart my own theory:<br />This is some really vague prophecy. The theory depends on the assumption that &quot;beyond the horizon&quot; does apply to the Seanchan, and thus all rhe rest applies to them too. Beyond the horizon might mean Tremalking (the fires seem like they could be related to the Choedan Cal). Even if it does refer to Seanchan the rest of the passage could be just a general reference to the chaos caused by Rand.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-09 05:51:36
subject: The Tower of Ghenjei
body:
<p>I have been putting together this theory for some time now, to a time when they were separate pieces. At that point I decided to save myself a heck of a lot of time and merge them all together, so, yes, this is a simplified version of several theories regarding Moiraine&#8217;s rescue at the Tower of Ghenjei. If you don&#8217;t want to read it all, you can always cut down to the bottom, where there&#8217;s a brief summary, and where I avoided fantasy-like details as much as I could. But here are the things that this theory includes.<blockquote>1. Where is she now?<br />2. Who will rescue her?<br />3. How will they enter the Tower?<br />4. How will they rescue her?<br />5. What will happen afterwards? </blockquote>I will say this though: I believe Moiraine is alive. I believe Mat and Thom alone will rescue her. I believe they will use Portal Stones. And I believe Mat will not lose an eye dealing with the snakes and foxes. So, this theory isn&#8217;t going to dissect every Moiraine theory and then come out with the most logical (mine). Chances are that most of it will be why my theory works and why all the others don&#8217;t. Yes, that&#8217;s biased; I don&#8217;t care. I tried, I did, but I can&#8217;t make something that doesn&#8217;t make sense to me make sense to you. All I can tell you is why it doesn&#8217;t make sense to me, and why it shouldn&#8217;t make sense to you, either. So; let &#8216;er rrrip!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>WHERE IS SHE NOW?</u></b><br /><br />Several theories state different whereabouts of Moiraine, and they are:<blockquote>1. Trapped in the Tower<br />2. Disguised as somebody else<br />3. Unknown and working in the shadows<br />4. Held captive elsewhere than the Tower</blockquote>Well, I have tried to put together an accumulation of quotes that prove that, not only is she alive (which is quite possible) but where she is exactly at the moment &#8211; trapped in the Tower. <blockquote>She was stronger than Cyndane had been before the Aelfinn <u>and</u> the Eelfinn <u>held</u> her! &#8211; Winter&#8217;s Heart, With the Choedan Kal</blockquote>Yes, I know that that piece of evidence tailors mostly to Lanfear being alive, but consider the entire phrase, and closely look at the &#8220;and&#8221; in the phrase (underlined). We both know that the doorframe she went through led to the Eelfinn only, the &#8220;foxes,&#8221; while the one in Tear led to the Aelfinn, the &#8220;snakes.&#8221; Consider what Birgitte said.<blockquote>Once entered, the Tower of Ghenjei <u>is hard enough to leave</u> in the world of men. Here it is all but impossible. ( &#8230; ) It is a doorway, archer, to the realms of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn. &#8211; The Shadow Rising, To the Tower of Ghenjei</blockquote>Because the doorway Lanfear went into led only to the Eelfinn, she was not held within that same &#8220;dimension&#8221; that the doorframe led to, but one where both Aelfinn and Eelfinn reside (which explains why she was held by both as oppose to just the foxes, as it should have been). That is the Tower of Ghenjei, where Birgitte also says is near impossible to get out of &#8211; why Moiraine can&#8217;t possibly have escaped, but why Lanfear (Cyndane) could have, via the World of Dreams or with Moridin&#8217;s help. The next word &#8211; &#8220;held&#8221; &#8211; proves that the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn are, in fact, capable of &#8220;holding&#8221; people in their dimension. <blockquote>It was all in flames now, the redstone doorway as well, melting as if it were wax, but for a Warder that might not matter. &#8211; The Fires of Heaven, Fading Words. </blockquote>The doorway being melted along with Lanfear being of the Shadow, and attached to Moiraine, the doorway ter&#8217;angreal was destroyed. Moiraine can not leave through that means, so then the only other way to leave would be the Tower of Ghenjei.<blockquote> &#8220;One of you would have been bad enough, but two ta&#8217;veren at once&#8212;you might have torn the connection entirely and been trapped there.&#8221; &#8211; The Shadow Rising, Into the Doorway</blockquote>That is clear as glass as to what happened with Moiraine and Lanfear &#8211; the connection was torn, and she was trapped there.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u> WHO WILL RESCUE HER?</u></b><br /><br />There are far too many theories on the party that will lead the attempt on Moiraine&#8217;s rescue, and they range from one person (Mat) to twenty (everybody but Mat.) But before I get into all the possible suspects, first let&#8217;s see what needs to be done in order to determine who, exactly, will rescue Moiraine. <blockquote>1. &#8220;The sword kept them back; they wouldn&#8217;t even look at it. Shied away. Hid their eyes. Did you get your answers?&#8221; &#8211; The Shadow Rising, Into the Doorway</blockquote><blockquote>2. &#8220;Good. You have brought no lamps, no torches, as the agreement was, and is, and ever will be. You have no iron? No instruments of music?&#8221; &#8211; The Shadow Rising, Into the Doorway</blockquote><blockquote>3. Mat wondered what it thought the knife was; it certainly did not seem concerned over it. Well, the blade was good steel, not iron. &#8211; The Shadow Rising, Into the Doorway. </blockquote>I bring the first two quotes in to prove that the required elements to defeat the snakes and foxes &#8211; courage, fire, iron, music &#8211; are not hypothetical and not referring to people (Perrin, Thom, Mat, and Rand.) They are literal. This narrows the search for Moiraine&#8217;s rescuers considerably, as many of the suspects have been included merely because they were a perfect personification of fire, iron, music, or courage. The third quote, as well as the first two sentences of the second quote, prove that the snakes and foxes can see (and perhaps even sense) the presence of iron, music, courage, fire, and they may simply ask because they wish to make sure. Also, one more thing I want to mention: Moiraine, Rand, Mat (and theory goes one or two other people) were in at the same time, yet neither saw each other. Mat also commented several times that the dimensions were like mazes, with an illogical layout. So unless somebody gets left behind, or gets lost, the rescue party is going to have to be very small, no bigger than three people. <br /><br />And when you think of that, consider what really needs to be done to rescue Moiraine, and that involves a small two step process that will match any theory about Moiraine&#8217;s rescue given:<blockquote>1. Actually rescuing Moiraine<br />2. Dealing with the snakes and foxes for the other member(s) to rescue Moiraine</blockquote>Next, I want to bring in a certain criteria that Moiraine&#8217;s rescuers have to have. These include:<blockquote>1. A motive and a reason<br />2. Something to contribute to Moiraine&#8217;s rescue (everyone has courage, so I won&#8217;t include it.)<br />3. Fire, iron, (courage,) and music in a way that can&#8217;t be detected or seen<br />4. Their storyline will benefit from Moiraine&#8217;s rescue or the demise of the snakes and foxes<br />5. On equal footing with the snakes and foxes, and are not at a disadvantage</blockquote>First there is Mat, who has a personal vendetta against the snakes and foxes, and would have no qualms about settling his score with them while someone else freed Moiraine. He is also the only to have gone through both doorways, and has dealt with both the snakes and the foxes, so his experience runs to both of them. Furthermore, each time he went through the doorway, he succeeded in breaking the rules: the first time when he forced a fourth question from them (with three various answers) and the second time was, obviously, when he cheated the foxes of a price. We know that in order to win, you have to cheat, and Mat is infamous for his sly ways. By entering the doorway, he is on a more than equal footing with them both, but has a clear and undisputed advantage: not only has he visited them both before, and carries memories of those who had &#8211; and who knows what sort of havoc those would reap &#8211; but he is a ta&#8217;veren, and he wears a ter&#8217;angreal that absorbs the Power. We know that ta&#8217;veren affect their plane of existence, as was seen when Rand and Mat were in there together, and we also know through Egwene&#8217;s testing that it&#8217;s dangerous for two ter&#8217;angreal to be in the same room as each other &#8211; well, what destruction would occur if Mat walked in wearing his ter&#8217;angreal? Especially when it absorbs the Power? (Of course, I believe that Mat is going to blow up the entire Tower but that&#8217;s something else.) Not only that, but he can speak the Old Tongue more fluently than anyone else alive, with a wide range of dialects. Also, there is much that can happen in the Tower that will further Mat&#8217;s plot along &#8211; and those range from him giving up half the light of the world, to losing his battle memories, to regaining the holes in his memory, and maybe even to discovering the use of a bell maker (which is why it would make sense for him to blow up the Tower.) But the really neat thing about Mat going in is: what could be cooler than the fox outfoxing the foxes?<br /><br />Then there is Thom. In the Dragon Reborn, when he met up with Mat at the inn, he mentioned that he had two chances at love, more than most men could claim, and he threw them both away. In a drunken depression, he said that he would never get another chance at love. That, to me, just screams of the opposite &#8211; and that third chance would be Moiraine. Not only that, but he would be the perfect instrument for music. Yes, I know that I said before that it would have to be in a way that could not be seen or detected, but I will get into that later. Putting Thom and Moiraine together fulfills several possible plot devices &#8211; Thom could be the downfall of Elaida for his nephew&#8217;s illegal death by the Reds (of which her name most definitely appears on top), which ties in with Min&#8217;s viewing of the White Tower being strong in Thom. And, bringing them together at the White Tower is enough time for Moiraine to teach the Aes Sedai some true class and dignity. And Thom, like Mat, was once known as a fox &#8211; the Grey Fox, to be exact. <br /><br />Another common suspect, second after Mat and Thom, is Perrin. The reason everybody thinks that Perrin will rescue Moiraine is because he was told of the Tower in the Wolf Dream, and he has seen it. He is either going to go in or he will tell Mat all he needs to get in. However, I will point out that Brigitte never actually mentioned the link between the game and the reality &#8211; and Perrin, who had never been inside either Doorframe, would never be able to figure out the link. As for seeing the Tower, he was speeding through the Two Rivers, passing everything in a blur and chasing Slayer, so he wouldn&#8217;t have been too perceptive on the exact location of the Tower. Going in through the Wolf Dream was said to be impossible, and harder to get out, so it would have to be in reality. He has no real reason for wanting to save Moiraine. His only contributions would be his knowledge (which Mat doesn&#8217;t need) and his &#8220;iron&#8221; &#8211; which would be useless, as there is no way he could smuggle in an axe without the snakes and foxes throwing him out or skinning him first. His storyline, or the storyline of those around, would not benefit in the slightest if Moiraine were alive. He has no experience or knowledge of the snakes and foxes, and he can&#8217;t speak the Old Tongue &#8211; he would be at a considerable disadvantage. <br /><br />The final wide-spread suspect is Rand, who, being the Dragon Reborn, may have some memories of the Tower and some knowledge. However, he has no motive, as Min never even told him that he needed Moiraine. His only strength is the Power, and that is currently unreliable and dangerous to him. And although he may be gifted with translations and knowledge of them by the past Dragon, he is completely mad and unreliable, and is likely to abandon Rand when he needs him the most. He would have a greater disadvantage than Perrin, as his only aid and strength would be from someone who is, above all else, a madman. Plus, Rand most likely cannot find time to save Moiraine for the next two books, but she will have to come soon in order to settle down, get used to the changes, catch up on everything, and show her worth.<br /><br />There are other suspects, of course, but those aren&#8217;t nearly as widely accepted as the above four &#8211; Mat, Thom, Perrin, and Rand. The others include Olver, and I feel obliged to point out that he is ten years old, and even if he is Cain reborn, it was a full rebirth and so he has no memory of his past lives, and isn&#8217;t likely to get them especially now that Birgitte is losing hers. As for Birgitte, her only excuse for going in is that she knows about the Tower, but Mat knows far more than she does, and has the means to learn whatever she knows. Lan &#8211; who, I should add, is mentally unstable at the moment &#8211; is believed to go in because he was bonded to Moiraine. That is, if he regains his sanity and is willing to leave Nynaeve&#8217;s side for long enough. Then there&#8217;s Nynaeve herself &#8211; or possibly Egwene, because she was running down a long corridor with shadows chasing her in one of her dreams &#8211; that will go in, because they can channel and detect her. But that&#8217;s not likely to happen with Egwene captured and Nynaeve helping both Rand and Elayne, and may possibly succeed as leader of the Kinfolk.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>HOW WILL THEY ENTER THE TOWER?</u></b><br /><br />Mat has all that he needs to find out about the Tower.<br /><br />Consider Noal. Whether you believe he is Jain or not is irrelevant, because regardless of his identity, he is still an old man who knows a lot about places and traveling, and we know from his outburst of the Prophecy that he doesn&#8217;t remember all that he&#8217;s learned. What&#8217;s to say that he won&#8217;t have another outburst about the Tower? What better use could he have than to set the wheels grinding in Mat&#8217;s head that there may actually be a way for him to get his revenge? So Mat now knows that the Tower is an entrance into the realm of the Finns. <br /><br />Next, there is Thom and Domon. Both are currently traveling with Mat, and both were also around when they were fleeing Whitebridge and Domon pointed out the Tower to Mat. Undoubtedly Mat remembers nothing of that encounter, as he said that he remembered the voyage as through a hazy sickness. Both could supply the memory to Mat, and Domon would be the best source for the location of the Tower, and can take them upriver again. Mat now knows where it is, and has a way to get there. <br /><br />Then there&#8217;s Thom&#8217;s letter. Mat said that Thom has been reading the letter a lot more often of late, which is why I think that Moiraine mentioned something &#8211; a slight clue &#8211; that Thom has recently just figured out. That alone will supply the knowledge that Moiraine could be alive. At this point, I think he is only teetering on a dangerous cliff of hope that she might be alive, and he&#8217;s scavenging the letter for another clue about how to find her or bring her back. He knows how she died, and a way to the Finns is a way to Moiraine. So while Mat goes for revenge, Thom will follow for Moiraine. <br /><br />And finally, there&#8217;s Mat&#8217;s foster son and the games Snakes &#8216;n&#8217; Foxes. And voila: Mat has a plan. <br /><br />Realizing that, you can see how irrelevant Perrin&#8217;s knowledge as well as Birgitte&#8217;s is, and that they most probably served as nothing more than to give the readers that knowledge. Mat, pretty much, has everything. Except one thing: admittance into the Tower, though there are several theories running about how he will enter.<blockquote>1. Portal Stones<br />2. The board game<br />3. Traveling (with a capital)<br />4. Traveling (without a capital)<br />5. The World of Dreams</blockquote>Keep in mind that the means to enter should:<blockquote>1. Be fast, and not require much time<br />2. Should advance the plot further<br />3. Should advance the characters geographically and plot-wise</blockquote>Now, let&#8217;s dissect each and every one. <br /><br />Portal Stones: this, to me, seems like the most likely way. Understanding that the Portal Stones can lead to the other dimension shouldn&#8217;t be too hard, and perhaps Mat&#8217;s memories (the ones the foxes didn&#8217;t give him) can supplant an answer, or one of the Aes Sedai, or Noal, will let him start thinking of it. Either way, to set the notion into Mat&#8217;s head shouldn&#8217;t be too hard. There are several references to the other dimension bearing the same symbols that were described on the Portal Stones. Plus, Mat hates Portal Stones more than anything, and that seems to be a path Jordan likes setting for his characters. Another thing I want to mention is Mat&#8217;s last reaction to the Portal Stone. Not only will the Stone move his gang along geographically, but it may also serve to help him remember some important memories that were lost to him, or to help piece together the memory he had after he healed. <br /><br />The board game: There is speculation that the board game acts as either a key or a Portal Stone within the Tower of Ghenjei. As soon as you win, you are transported there, or as soon as you win, you can walk up the Tower and a door will open for you. Although this theory does make sense, because it gives winning the game more purpose than simply discovering how to defeat the Finns &#8211; when you don&#8217;t have to win to know how &#8211; I think it highly unlikely because it seems too&#8230;accidental, for lack of a better word. In order to free Moiraine, planning has to be involved. For Mat to randomly sit down at the game, decide to roll the dice himself for the heck of it (and he will win the day he does, by the way) and be transported there&#8230; There&#8217;s no planning. And I can&#8217;t see them deciding what to do and then sitting down and playing the game knowing they will be transported there. It&#8217;s likely, but not very. <br /><br />Traveling (with a capital): Traveling will bring them right in front of the Tower, and perhaps they will use the Board as a Key, or use some other means to get within the Tower. Again, this seems unlikely, as it takes too much time &#8211; the Aes Sedai with him needs to learn how to Travel, after all. And plus they also need to actually get into the Tower. <br /><br />Traveling (without a capital): I think this is highly improbable. It takes too much time, with too little to happen in between, since the way from where they are now to the Tower is clear of any action for Mat to do, and it would be traveling the whole book. And then there&#8217;s still the matter of actually stepping into the Tower.<br /><br />The World of Dreams: this is the least likely, but it does exist. However, Birgitte herself said that it was all but impossible to leave in the World of Dreams, and far easier in the world of men, though hard in itself. Also, since neither Mat nor Thom are Dreamers, or possess a ter&#8217;angreal to enter, I doubt that they will use this means, and it seems the least likely.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u> HOW WILL THEY RESCUE HER? </u></b><br /><br />What we know so far:<blockquote>1. Mat and Thom alone will rescue Moiraine<br />2. Mat will take on the snakes and foxes, leaving it free for Thom to grab Moiraine<br />3. Mat will use courage, fire, and iron to defeat the snakes and foxes<br />4. Thom will be the one to use music<br />5. They will enter using the Portal Stones</blockquote>Mat and Thom, we know, are both courageous, so both are strengthened against the Finns. My belief is that Thom will walk in first, playing his harp. The Finns will be too &#8220;dazzled&#8221; by his music to throw him out, as they would if they saw him bearing iron or fire. Once they are distracted, Mat can easily &#8220;blind&#8221; them with fire. And once they are blinded, this will leave them helpless and vulnerable for Mat to &#8220;bind&#8221; them, thus allowing Thom to escape to find Moiraine. And, most probably, he will play his harp to tell her that he is there, luring her to him, as I doubt he will go searching through every door he passes. Mat, being a ta&#8217;veren as well as wearing a ter&#8217;angreal will create a time limit for them to leave. And while Thom is off finding Moiraine, Mat could be dealing with the snakes and foxes, demanding the answers lost to him from the snakes, and demanding justice from the foxes. Yes, this sounds all sit-wait-sing-y but it won&#8217;t be. When actually put to paper, with the background drop of the entire Tower about to explode, the dimension about to shatter, Thom&#8217;s music singing through the walls, you&#8217;d be surprised how fast-paced and dramatic it could be.<br /><br />Consider the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, for Thom&#8217;s role in the rescue. In the Greek myth, Eurydice and Orpheus were madly in love. And so it was devastating for Orpheus when he discovered that Eurydice had stumbled upon a poisonous snake and had been bitten. Unable to accept that she was dead, he vowed to return her from the Underworld. Orpheus set out to bring back the love of his life. When he approached the Gates of the Underworld, he encountered Hades&#8217; guard, a three-headed dog. Orpheus played his harp, being the greatest musician in the world, and the dogs, enchanted by his music, fell asleep, allowing Orpheus to enter the Underworld. There he played his music until at last Hades approached him. When Orpheus asked for Eurydice back, Hades at first refused, but when Orpheus began to play, Hades was so enchanted that he struck a bargain with Orpheus: Eurydice&#8217;s soul would follow behind him out of the Underworld, but should he turn around and glimpse her for one moment, she would return to the Underworld. Orpheus gladly agreed. On the way out, Orpheus could stand it no longer, longing more than anything to see his beautiful Eurydice. He turned, and she was gone once more to the Underworld. I believe that Thom will play a role very similar to Orpheus, though with slight changes. <br /><br />Then, voila, Moiraine is rescued and with Thom, and Mat has his revenge. And, on a side note, I also believe that Mat will stay behind. Whereas Thom and Moiraine will leave through the Tower, Mat will be the only one to exit using a Portal Stone (which may possibly land him right in the middle of the Deathwatch Guards.) That leaves Thom and Moiraine close to &#8211; but not at &#8211; the Tower, and separates Mat from them, which gives him the time he needs to finish off his ties with the Seanchan, as Moiraine would most likely have forced him to go with her to the Tower, and it saves Mat from having to travel all the way from the Tower to wherever he was when he used the Portal Stone. However, that&#8217;s a detail that isn&#8217;t necessary, but nice (and more than a little possible.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTERWARDS? </u></b><br /><br />The thing with Moiraine&#8217;s rescue, and with Mat and Thom saving her, is that it will do much to further the plot along. Some people say that Moiraine and Thom fell in love at one point in the series, and that her survival will be Thom&#8217;s third chance at love that he thought he would never have. That they will be together is nearly a fact, if Moiraine is alive. Moiraine, being the only Aes Sedai with any sort of class and dignity throughout the series, I believe is the one that will teach the Aes Sedai humanity and humility, along with Cadsuane. Theories abound as to what will happen to Mat after the rescue of Moiraine &#8211; he will lose an eye, he will lose the other men&#8217;s memories, he will discover that he is an unknowing spy for the Dark One&#8230; and the heavens know what else. From there, Thom and Moiraine can make their getaway to the White Tower, where Min&#8217;s first viewing of Thom can be fulfilled, in which the White Tower was one of the strongest images she saw, and there Moiraine can be of use to her sisters and the Dragon Reborn. Mat will stay behind and wrap up his matters with the Seanchan Empire and the Daughter of the Nine Moons, before possibly making an appearance in the White Tower later on.<br /><br />Like everybody else, I was hell-bent on the thought that Mat would lose his eye in the dealings with the Finns, thus fulfilling the common prophecy that&#8217;s been said numerous times throughout the series. But now that I&#8217;ve given it some serious thought, I have to disagree with that statement. Although I am hovering between the eye-loss being hypothetical or literal, I am firm in the belief that either way, it will not happen in the Tower. Think about it. The only reason for him to give up his eye (implying sacrifice and decision) would be if he was making a bargain. But if he enters with fire, iron, courage, and music, then the Finns will already be his to control, and so there would be no need for him to make an exchange. Furthermore, the point of Mat going into the Tower is to settle his score between both snakes and foxes. If he comes out losing an eye in the process, then that will only worsen the score &#8211; the point is to end it, not dredge it out permanently. I also do not believe that he will lose the memories of other men that he obtained in his previous visit; that is what makes him a useful factor for the Last Battle, and he needs them. But I do think that he will regain his lost memories, and since I believe that he is an ignorant spy for the Dark One, I also believe that he will discover their link. In my mind&#8217;s eye, I truly have the whole thing played out, how Mat confronts the snakes and foxes, demanding answers and his own memories. In my mind, Thom and Moiraine come in the midst of their confrontation, and leave without Mat, who insists on staying to settle things once and for all. I believe that the doorway deactivates, and he becomes trapped while the dimension is crumbling, and he escapes near the same way that he did before.   <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><u>SUMMARY</u></b><br /><br />Moiraine is trapped in the Tower, while Lanfear escaped. Mat and Thom will be the two who rescue her, Mat for revenge and Thom for a third chance at true love. Noal will be the one who reveals the purpose of the Tower, setting the wheels in motion. Thom, who recently found hope that Moiraine may be alive, decides to follow Mat to the Tower. They use the Portal Stones to get there which brings them to the other dimension. There Thom finds Moiraine, while Mat confronts the snakes and foxes at last. Thom and Moiraine leave the Tower via the Tower, while Mat is left behind to leave by a transportation method. They are separated, and Thom and Moiraine travel to the White Tower, where they bring Elaida and her followers down with Thom&#8217;s nephew&#8217;s death. Mat is transported closer to where he is needed, to the Band and the Seanchan, to tie up his dangling threads there.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-10 06:29:39
subject: Verin's &quot;plan&quot; for Rand &amp; Aes Sedai
body:
<p>One of Verin's goals seems to be getting Rand Aes Sedai help.  According to Merana, she engineered the confrontation with Rand that led to them swearing fealty to him.  She &quot;took to her enforced apprenticeship like a duck to water,&quot; and immediately began Compelling women to swear fealty to Rand.  It is uncertain of course whether or not that was her plan before swearing fealty to Rand, but I find it likely.  It is also interesting to note that she was unhappy with the situation when the Salidar group joined with Perrin.  It cold have been her dissatisfaction with Bera &amp; Kiruna taking over, but she had to have known what would have happened from her long experience with interpersonal politics among the sisters.  She was the one who began undermining Merana's authority.  I suspect she was either mad about Rand's kidnapping, or about Kiruna and Bera taking too many sisters.  In either case, it is an example of Aes Sedai thwarting the Dragon Reborn.  <br /><br />Later in WH, she is a hair away from killing Cadsuane, before she reveals that she is only interested in staying close to Rand to teach him laughter and tears.  She even baited Cadsuane with the question &quot;Shouln't we stop him?&quot;  As soon as Cadsuane stated she had no intention of interfering with his free will, Verin let her live.  She also expressed disapproval with the idea of Rand beign brought to the Tower, evincing horror at the idea of a ta'veren as powerful as he in there.  Obviously, she has some opinions centering on his ta'veren nature and its role in what he has to do.  <br /><br />Most Aes Sedai try to treat him as an ordinary man who channel and who rules the most territory this side of the Aryth Ocean, and only deal with the implication of his being ta'veren when they manifest.  This generally means Aes Sedai try to make him do stupid things or not try dangerous things, ignoring the fact that, as Loial says, ta'veren have fewer free choices than most people, and much of what they do is forced by the Pattern.  So, Aes Sedai, in encouraging one course of action or attempting to block another, with the Dragon Reborn, are also interfering in his destiny and mission.  Verin seems to grasp this, and is trying to get Aes Sedai either out of his way, or in a position to not meddle.  Once she learns that Cadsuane only seeks Rand's personal improvement, and has no particular course of action charted for him, she even recommends her to Rand as an advisor.  She also babbled to give Rand a break to compose himself during his interview with Siuan and Moiraine in Fal Dara, and was putting the fear of him in the Counsels of Far Madding, lest they try something.  It didn't work, as it turns out, but it shows where Verin's intentions are.  Aside from some encouragement that he accept who and what he is, back in tGH, she never really appears to be manipulating Rand.  Instead most of her efforts seem to be focussed on Aes Sedai in close proximity to him.  Her anger over the Kriuna &amp; Bera situation might well be because she knew they'd go on with him in exactly the way they tried at Dumai's Wells, up until he sent them to the Aiel camp with Sorilea.<br /><br />To sum up, I think Verin has been trying to run interference with Rand so that he can do his work with Aes Sedai assisting in a subordinate capacity, instead of trying to control his destiny or manipulate him.  Her thoughts about Siuan and Moiraine in LoC also suggest there is a bit of concern for Aes Sedai involved in this process (since Aes Sedai who run up against both the Dragon Reborn and the Pattern seem to have about the same odds of success and survival as a squirrel does in thwarting the motion of a tractor trailer), in addition to trying to protect Rand and his destiny.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-11 05:19:24
subject: The Cow Reborn, and the Last Battle!
body:
<p>The al'Thor's had a cow.<br /><br />From the Eye of the World, page 63, when Rand is doing chores on the farm:<br /><br />&quot;The cow had been milked that morning before first light, giving a quarter of her usual yield; she seemed to be drying up as the winter hung on&quot;<br /><br /><br />The cow later disappeared during the trolloc attack on the farm. I think The Cow can Travel! How else could it have gotten away from the farm during the trolloc attack?<br /><br />Moiraine and Lan knew the Dragon Reborn was located in The Two Rivers. They also knew he was Mat, Perrin and Rand&#8217;s age. I think the cow is the Dragon Reborn!<br /><br />She was located in the Two Rivers. I also think she is Rand&#8217;s age. Wow, that&#8217;s old for a cow, you might say, but she was producing less milk than usual. That could imply that she is old. Maybe Tam brought the cow from Dragonmount? He and Kari were planning to start a new life in the Two Rivers, and a cow would be a nice start. <br /><br />But if the cow is the DR, how can she channel Saidin? Well, Halima CAN channel Saidin, too... It's a part of his/her soul. <br /><br />I think the cow will step forward during TG and proclaim herself the Dragon Reborn. Rand will disproclaim himself, and let the cow do her thing. The cow will manage to imprison the DO, but also die in the process. <br /><br />The shadowspawn will of course flee to the north heading for SG, but SG will be gone because of the DO who can no longer touch the world. The shadowspawn, stupid as they are, will just keep on running northwards and freeze to death in the wheel of time's own North Pole.<br /><br />The army of the light (as I will call it) is starved after many days of battle, but Rand will use the one power to roast the cow, and everyone will get something to eat. The cow saves the day one last time.<br /><br />So, there's my first theory, but I'm a 100% sure on this one... Hope you agree too <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-11 05:41:51
subject: The Shadow's Plots in TPoD and WH
body:
<p>This theory is an attempt to explain the Shadow's plots related to Rand and his intention to cleanse saidin.  Much of it is centered around the attack on Rand in Cairhien &#8211; specifically, who ordered it, what the order actually was, whether it was meant to succeed, how Moridin, Demandred, Osan'gar, and Taim were involved, and whether each of them followed orders, deliberately disobeyed orders, or acted on his own initiative throughout.<br /><br />It covers the Shadow's motivations and actions from the moment Rand inadvertently revealed his intention to cleanse saidin (in TPoD) to the moment he successfully completed the task (in WH) &#8211; a span of about 48 days. Note: All dates listed are from Steven Cooper's chronology.<br /><br />Note:  This theory was motivated (in part) by a section in the WOTFAQ entitled &quot;The Kill Rand Order and the TPoD Attack&quot;.  Some of the information and conclusions in that FAQ do not match so well with events in the books (TPoD and WH) as I understand them, so I felt a more accurate analysis was needed.<br /><br /><b>Assumptions:</b><br /><br />a. Taim is a Dark Friend.  The evidence is overwhelming, but not within the scope of this theory.  Suffice it to say, if you don't believe this, you probably won't buy into this theory. <br /><br />b. Moridin, Demandred, and Taim are separate and distinct individuals.  RJ has stated outright that Demandred is not Taim, but has said nothing about Moridin (Moridin=Taim is a theory supported by a number of folks here).  The arguments against Moridin=Taim are not within the scope of this theory.  But, one point worth mentioning, that ties into this theory, is the fact that Kisman received separate (but similar) &quot;Rand orders&quot; from Taim, Demandred, and Moridin in the span of about 10 days after the attack in Cairhien.  That in itself should be enough evidence to convince all but the most ardent believers that Moridin (and Demandred, for that matter, if you doubt RJ's word) is not Taim.<br /><br /><b>Chronology of events, and various conclusions:</b><br /><br /><b>A. Prior to the attack on Rand in Cairhien in TPoD:</b><br /><br />1. Rand inadvertently reveals his intention to cleanse saidin.  Osan'gar (Dashiva) overhears, as does Torval (a DF Asha'man).  (TPoD, ch.14 &quot;Messages from the M'Hael&quot; ).  Jan'20.<br /><br />2. Soon thereafter, Osan'gar tells Moridin (offscreen) of Rand's intention to cleanse saidin.<br /><br />Note: Yes, Taim had already heard Rand mention his intention to cleanse saidin 2 books earlier.  But, it is doubtful he gave it much credence.  And, even if he did, it is quite possible that he wants saidin cleansed, even if he has taint protection (see RJ's answer to the Tor QotW about why Aginor was so interested in the Eye of the World, for why).  Torval certainly wanted saidin cleansed, judging from his reaction to Rand's comment (he says: <i>&quot;That would be wondrous&quot;</i>).  Consequently, it is unlikely Taim ever reported Rand's comment to any of the Forsaken.  Osan'gar, on the other hand, had no choice but to report it, since Torval also overheard Rand's comment.  Even if Osan'gar secretly desired an untainted saidin, he could not risk Moridin finding out about Rand's intention from Torval rather than from him (Osan'gar, in his role as the Shadow's spy in the Black Tower, likely knew all of the DFs in the BT, so would be aware that Moridin could find out from Torval).  Moridin would wonder why Osan'gar failed to report it.  Which would bring to doubt Osan'gar's loyalty.  Which would almost certainly result in his immediate death.<br /><br />3. Soon thereafter, Moridin calls a meeting of all Chosen (one we are not privy to), at which he informs them of Rand's intention to cleanse saidin, and the Great Lord's command to prevent it.<br /><br />Evidence: In the &quot;Forsaken Coffee Hour&quot; meeting in WH, ch.13 &quot;Wonderful News&quot;, those present (Demandred, Osan'gar, Aran'gar, Graendal, and Moghedien, and later, Moridin and Cyndane) and, presumably, those not present (Mesaana and Semirhage) already knew of Rand's intention to cleanse saidin prior to arriving at the meeting.  In that scene, Osan'gar says: <i>&quot;we will stop him [Rand] trying [to cleanse saidin] because the Great Lord commands it&quot;</i>.  He says this before Moridin and Cyndane arrive, and Cyndane announces that Rand intends to use the Choedan Kal to cleanse saidin.  This comment clearly indicates that those present were aware of Rand's intention, and the Great Lord's command to prevent it, prior to the meeting.  Which, of course, indicates that that information had been revealed and discussed in a prior meeting.<br /><br />Note:  Although Moghedien is not explicitly mentioned in the Coffee Hour meeting, it is clear she attended (perhaps hidden and unbeknownst to all, except Moridin), from her 2nd PoV at the cleansing.  She thinks that the black dome of taint Rand created using the Choedan Kal might <i>&quot;shatter the world, as Aran'gar had said it might.&quot;</i>  &quot;Shatter the world&quot; is a direct quote from Aran'gar at the Coffee Hour scene (Aran'gar says: <i>&quot;He [Rand] could shatter the world just trying to use the Choedan Kal!&quot;</i>).  Clearly, Moggy was at the meeting and overheard Aran'gar.<br /><br />4. A discussion ensues as to what should be done, including whether Rand should be killed, given the Great Lord's command.  Moridin says something like: &quot;Prevent the cleansing, but do not kill Rand.&quot;<br /><br />Evidence:  In the Coffee Hour scene, after Cyndane reveals that Rand intends to use the Choedan Kal for the cleansing, Demandred says: <i>&quot;So it seems he [Rand] must be killed after all.&quot;</i>  Demandred's use of the words &quot;after all&quot; implies that there had been some previous discussion about killing Rand to prevent the cleansing attempt, but the final outcome of that discussion was that Rand was not to be killed. <br /><br />5. Demandred and Osan'gar then devise a plan (probably sanctioned by Moridin) to have DF Asha'man (under Taim's control) capture Rand.  Demandred and Osan'gar understand there is a chance Rand could be killed in the attempt, but since the DF Asha'man would be blamed if that happened, they were probably not too concerned about possible repercussions.  In fact, it is clear from Demandred's comment in the Coffee Hour meeting - he thinks: <i>&quot;He had hoped to have al'Thor dead &#8211; or failing that &#8211; captive &#8211; before this suspicion [the Great Lord's suspicion of male Forsaken loyalty, if saidin were cleansed] reared it is head&quot;</i> &#8211; that he HOPED Rand would be killed in the attempt.  As did Osan'gar, of course, since he tried to kill Rand himself during the attack.<br /><br />Note:  At this point, the Forsaken are doubtful that anything Rand could try would be successful (Osan'gar says as much before Cyndane reveals Rand's plan to use the Choedan Kal), so the urgency of the matter is not ultra-high, just high.  Which is why the &quot;Do not kill Rand&quot; prohibition was still in effect after this initial meeting, and why DF Asha'man were tasked with the responsibility for capturing Rand rather than, say, one or more of the Forsaken themselves.  Taim could not be given the task himself, of course, since it could blow his cover.  His position as head of the Black Tower could not be risked.  Whereas a few DF Asha'man could be risked.<br /><br />Evidence:  At the beginning of the Coffee Hour scene, Demandred says: <i>&quot;Al'Thor has been seen in five cities, including that cursed place in the Waste, and a dozen towns since those blind fools &#8211; those idiots! &#8211; failed in Cairhien.&quot;</i>  Osan'gar then replies: <i>&quot;A matter of chance.  Simple probabilities.  Next time, he will be killed or taken.  Chance cannot protect him forever.&quot;</i>  Demandred's use of the word &quot;failed&quot; and Osan'gar's use of the words &quot;next time&quot; clearly imply that the two not only knew of the attack in Cairhien beforehand, but also that they had a hand in arranging it.  Demandred's thoughts of hoping to have Rand dead or captive mentioned above also are indicative of his involvement in planning the attack.  The dialogue cited also indicates that the Forsaken meeting (as discussed in #3 above), at which Rand's intention to cleanse saidin was made known, occurred prior to the attack on Rand in Cairhien.<br /><br />Note:  So, if Rand was not supposed to be killed, only captured, during the attack, why did Osan'gar say &quot;killed or taken&quot; rather than simply &quot;taken&quot;?  Because, Moridin was not in the room yet, and therefore Osan'gar was less careful with what he said than he might otherwise have been, and let his true desire just sort of slip out.  Osan'gar may have assumed the others in the room with him at the time wouldn't mind if Rand were killed in the attack so long as they were not held responsible, so had little fear of using the word &quot;killed&quot; even though killing Rand was still prohibited at this point.  But he fears Moridin (in his 1st PoV at the cleansing he thinks: <i>&quot;Moridin terrified him&quot;</i>), so it is unlikely he'd have used the world &quot;killed&quot; if Moridin had been present.  In fact, later in the scene, Osan'gar was worried about what else Moridin might have overheard him say (in addition to hearing him say that he'd never considered how to remove the GL's taint on saidin).  Which is a good indication he did not want Moridin to know he had been involved in any talk about killing Rand (the only other potentially dangerous thing he said prior to Moridin's arrival).  Note that Osan'gar was very careful not to reveal that HE tried to kill Rand during the attack.  He certainly did not want THAT information known by anyone, including Demandred.<br /><br />Note:  It is unclear if the other Forsaken knew of the plan to capture Rand prior to the actual attack in Cairhien.  However, at the Coffee Hour meeting, Aran'gar says: <i>&quot;You were responsible for watching him, Osan'gar.  You and Demandred.&quot;</i>  From these comments, it appears she was chastising them for allowing Rand to disappear, not for their failure to ensure the success of a plan to capture him (had the latter been the case, she'd have said something like &quot;you were responsible for capturing him&quot; rather than &quot;watching him&quot; ).  Therefore, it is unlikely that she, and the others, were aware of the plan beforehand.<br /> <br />6. Demandred gives the order to Taim (offscreen)  - &quot;have your DF Asha'man capture Rand.  Alive.&quot;<br /><br />Note:  It is unlikely Taim and the DF Asha'man were ever aware that Dashiva was a reincarnated Chosen, or even that he was a DF (we know the Asha'man didn't know that Dashiva was a Chosen, from Kisman's PoV in WH, ch.22 &quot;Out of Thin Air&quot;, when he thinks that Demandred and Moridin were the only Chosen he had met).  So it is highly doubtful Taim received orders from Osan'gar.  Rather, Taim likely received (and continues to receive) orders from Demandred, so that Dashiva's identity could be preserved, and he could keep an eye on Taim as well as Rand unbeknownst to either of them.  On the other hand, it seems quite likely that Dashiva knew of all of the DFs in the Black Tower, in addition to Taim, before he was killed, to help him keep an eye on all things related to the Shadow's interests, including the activities of its lesser minions.<br /><br />So, the hierarchy in the Shadow at this time, related to Black Tower activities, was likely:<br />a. Moridin &#8211; gave orders to Demandred and Osan'gar<br />b. Demandred &#8211; gave orders to Taim (a practice started at the beginning of LoC, in all likelihood, before Moridin appeared on the scene)<br />c. Osan'gar &#8211; gave orders to no one, just observed and reported to Moridin<br />d. Taim &#8211; gave orders to DF Asha'man<br /><br />7. Taim sees an opportunity, here.  He despises Rand and would like nothing more than to see him dead (as long as he wasn't punished for it).  So, instead of ordering the 4 DF Asha'man (Gedwyn, Torval, Rochaid, and Kisman) to capture Rand, he orders them to kill him.  The Asha'man are never aware that the order they were given was different from the order given Taim.  <br /><br />Evidence:  In WH, ch.22 &quot;Out of Thin Air&quot;, Kisman thinks: <i>&quot;Kill him, the M'Hael ordered before sending them to Cairhien, but he had been as displeased that they were found out as that they had failed.  Far Madding was to be their last chance.&quot;</i>  So, it is clear Taim ordered them to kill (not capture) Rand, twice in fact.  The question is, did Taim want them to succeed?  The answer, it seems, is yes (although Kisman is not so sure).  Because, after the failed first attempt, Taim ordered them to kill Rand again, in Far Madding.  If Taim had had any other motive for the original order other than Rand's actual death, he would not have had any reason to order a 2nd attempt.  Kisman's uncertainty about whether they were suppose to succeed was likely due to the fact that he received 3 separate orders from agents of the Shadow to kill Rand (more on this below), and concluded that there may have been more going on with these orders than meets the eye (there was, but it had nothing to do with whether or not they were supposed to succeed &#8211; rather, it had to do with the various motivations of the people giving the orders, and their presumed need for secrecy).<br /><br />Note:  Taim was displeased they'd been found out because they could finger him for the order to kill (rather than capture) Rand.  He gave them another chance, but he'd likely have killed them regardless of the outcome in Far Madding had they not been killed there.  He could not let it be known to his superiors that he changed the order.  Kisman's thought: <i>&quot;Far Madding was to be their last chance&quot;</i> supports this conclusion.  In fact, it is quite likely Taim would have killed the 4 after the first attack in Cairhien, had they been successful, for the same reason.<br /><br />8.  The 4 DF Asha'man attack Rand in Cairhien, but fail to kill him.  Osan'gar takes the opportunity to kill Rand during the attempt, but also fails.  (TPoD, ch.29 &quot;A Cup of Sleep&quot; ).  Feb'9 - 20 days after Rand revealed his intention to cleanse saidin.<br /><br />Note:  It is almost certain that Osan'gar was only supposed to be in Cairhien to monitor what occurred (if he was supposed to be there at all), and NOT to take part in the attack.  Because, he was Moridin's key spy on Rand &#8211; a position Moridin was unlikely to risk in the event the attack failed.  Plus, if Moridin really wanted one of the Forsaken to take part in the attack, he wouldn't have used the one arguably least capable in battle tactics.<br /><br />Note:  Had Osan'gar killed Rand, he'd very likely have then killed the two Asha'man with him at the time (Gedwyn and Rochaid), so they, not he, would be blamed for Rand's death.  Basically, those 4 Asha'man were dead the minute they were given the order to kill Rand, one way or another.<br /><br />Note:  It is unclear whether Osan'gar ever knew that Taim changed Demandred's order.  During the attack, he knew Gedwyn and Rochaid were trying to kill Rand (the 3 were discussing it when Rand discovered them).  So, they either told him that Taim ordered them to kill Rand (unlikely &#8211; in all the hubbub after blowing up Rand's rooms, there wasn't time for them to sit around and chat about who told what to whom), or they said nothing and Osan'gar just assumed they were acting on their own initiative (much more likely, IMO).  Either way, the fact that they were trying to kill Rand suited him just fine, since that's what he wanted to do, too.<br /><br />9. Taim reports to Rand that Gedwyn, Torval, Rochaid, and Kisman have deserted.  Rand tells Taim that Dashiva also participated in the attack (to which Taim shows surprise and anger).  (TPoD, ch.29 &quot;A Cup of Sleep&quot; ).  Feb'9 &#8211; the same day as the attack on Rand.<br /><br />Note:  Obviously, Taim reported the desertions to deflect suspicion from himself.  Plus, Taim knew, by this time, that Rand had identified some of his attackers (Taim not only reported that the 4 had deserted, but that they had participated in the attack, as if Rand were already aware of it), so reporting information Rand already knew was of no concern to him.  It is interesting that Taim did not yet know that Dashiva had participated in the attack - it indicates that Taim had not yet met with the 4 Asha'man when he reported to Rand (if he had, they'd have certainly told him of Dashiva's participation).  This is probably why Taim told Rand about all 4, even though Rand only saw 2 of them.  At the time, Taim wasn't certain which attackers Rand had identified.<br /><br /><b>B. After the attack on Rand in Cairhien in TPoD, up to the Forsaken Coffee Hour meeting in WH:</b><br /><br />10. Demandred (and likely also Osan'gar) search, unsuccessfully, for Rand (who goes into hiding, laying false trails, after the attack).<br /><br />Evidence:  At the beginning of the Coffee Hour scene, Demandred says:  <i>&quot;Where is he? Al'Thor has been seen in five cities, including that cursed place in the Waste, and a dozen towns since those blind fools &#8211; those idiots! &#8211; failed in Cairhien.&quot;</i>  Later, he says:  <i>&quot;So it seems he must be killed after all.  Before he can destroy the world, and us.  Which makes finding him all the more urgent.&quot;</i>  Clearly, they've been looking for Rand since the failed attack.<br /><br />11. Taim again orders the 4 Asha'man to kill Rand.<br /><br />Evidence:  See #7.<br /><br />12. Demandred orders the 4 Asha'man to kill Rand.<br /><br />Evidence:  In WH, ch.22 &quot;Out of Thin Air&quot;, Kisman thinks: <i>&quot;Kill him, Demandred had commanded later [after Taim's order to kill Rand], but he had added that it would be better they died than let themselves be discovered again.  By anyone, even the M'Hael, as if he did not know of Taim's order.&quot;</i>  From the &quot;discovered again&quot; comment, it is clear Demandred's order occurs after the failed 1st attempt.<br /><br />Note:  Kisman's thoughts on Demandred's order are also strong evidence that Demandred's original order to Taim was to capture Rand, not kill him.  Because, if Demandred's original order to Taim had been to kill Rand, there would be no reason for him to order the Asha'man himself at this point &#8211; he could just order Taim to order a 2nd attempt.  Nor would he be concerned about keeping his order to the Asha'man secret from Taim.  Kisman concludes from this that Demandred did not know of Taim's original order.  A more accurate conclusion is that Demandred did not know that Taim had altered the original order.<br /><br />Note:  It is unclear whether Demandred's order to kill Rand occurred before or after the Forsaken Coffee Hour meeting.  Given Demandred's concern about the 4 being discovered again, even by Taim (i.e. he's concerned that the Asha'man or Taim might finger him for giving a &quot;kill Rand&quot; order), he probably gave the order before the Coffee Hour meeting.  Otherwise, it is doubtful Demandred would have been quite so concerned about keeping his order secret, since Moridin lifted the &quot;do not kill Rand&quot; order it in the Coffee Hour meeting (more on this below).<br /><br />13. The Forsaken Coffee Hour meeting is held.  Cyndane reveals Rand's plan to use the Choedan Kal to cleanse saidin.  Moridin lifts the prohibition on killing Rand, and orders them all to capture or kill Rand when he makes the attempt.  (WH, ch.13 &quot;Wonderful News&quot; ).  Feb'17 - 8 days after the attack on Rand.<br /><br />Note: At this point, the urgency of the matter goes from high to ultra-high.  Why?  Not because Rand intended to cleanse saidin &#8211; they already knew that.  Rather, because the Forsaken don't want Rand to destroy the world (and them with it) with the Choedan Kal.  THAT is why Moridin finally lifted the prohibition on killing Rand.<br /><br />Evidence:  After Cyndane reveals Rand's intention to use the Choedan Kal, Demandred says: <i>&quot;So it seems he [Rand] must be killed after all.  Before he can destroy the world, and us&quot;</i>.  To which Moridin replies: <i>&quot;Killed?  If it comes to that, yes.&quot;</i>  Moridin's reply effectively lifts the ban on killing Rand, for the first time since the Dark One ordered <i>&quot;Let the Lord of Chaos rule&quot;</i> in the prologue of LoC.  However, Moridin goes on to say: <i>&quot;When he touches the Choedan Kal &#8230; you will go there and take him.  Or kill him, if necessary.&quot;</i>  These latter comments indicate that Moridin would still prefer they capture Rand than kill him.  Consequently, some of the Forsaken (like Osan'gar, for example, who fears Moridin) may not have felt entirely comfortably killing Rand (or having him killed) without making any effort to capture him first, especially prior to the actual cleansing attempt.<br /><br /><b>C. After the Forsaken Coffee Hour scene in WH, up to the Cleansing in WH:</b><br /><br />14. Moridin orders the 4 Asha'man to do whatever it takes to bring Rand's possessions to him, including killing Rand, if necessary.<br /><br />Evidence:  In WH, ch.22 &quot;Out of Thin Air&quot;, Kisman recalls: <i>&quot;later still [after Demandred's order to kill Rand] Moridin orders &quot;Kill him [Rand] if you must, but above all, bring everything in his possession to me.  That will redeem your previous transgressions.&quot;</i>  The fact that he sanctions Rand's murder indicates that Moridin's order occurred after the Coffee Hour meeting, when he lifted the prohibition on killing Rand.  The fact that he wants Rand's possessions is also a good indication that Moridin's order occurred after the Coffee Hour meeting, since, presumably, at least some of the possessions Moridin wants are the Choedan Kal access keys.<br /><br />Note:  Why did Moridin order the 4 Asha'man to kill Rand, rather than 1) order Demandred to order the deed, or 2) order Taim to order the deed?  Because, Moridin wanted Rand's possessions, and he was much more likely to secure them by ordering the Asha'man directly rather than ordering the deed through one or two additional layers of hierarchy.  Had he done the latter, either Demandred or Taim might have decided to keep Rand's possessions (especially the Choedan Kal access keys) for his own use rather than turn them over to Moridin.<br /><br />Note:  Moridin may also have been hoping to find Rand with the seals in his possession.  Bashere's tents outside Caemlyn and Dobraine's rooms in Cairhien were both sacked by searchers, ordered by Moridin presumably, looking for the seals.  These searches, it should be noted, occurred prior to the cleansing (on Mar'3 and Mar'4 respectively), although we are not privy to them until afterwards.  So, Moridin's order to the Asha'man could easily tie in with these searches.  FYI &#8230; Light in the Night and Weird Harold wrote an excellent theory about the search for the seals &#8211; see &quot;Letters and Seals&quot;.<br /><br />15. Rochaid and Kisman attack Rand in Far Madding.  Rand kills Rochaid, and Fain kills Kisman.  (WH, ch.22 &quot;Out of Thin Air&quot; ).  Feb'22 - 5 days after Forsaken Coffee Hour, 13 days after the attack on Rand.<br /><br />16. Slayer attempts but fails to kill Rand (and Min) at an inn in Far Madding, on behest of an unknown patron (the patron disguises himself with the Power).  Slayer believes the patron to be a male Chosen.  (WH, ch.20 &quot;Out of Thin Air&quot; ).  Feb'22 (same day that Rochaid and Kisman are killed).<br /><br />Note:  Slayer's mysterious patron is most probably Osan'gar.  He wants Rand dead as badly as Demandred does, but is not in a position to order Taim or the DF Asha'man to kill him (unlike Demandred and Moridin), so instead enlists Slayer.  Osan'gar likely felt the need to disguise himself because 1) Slayer may not have known who he was, and would therefore have been disinclined to obey an unfamiliar face, regardless of who he claimed to be, and 2) he feared Moridin may learn of it.  As mentioned above, even though Moridin lifted the ban on killing Rand in the Coffee Hour scene, it is doubtful Osan'gar felt entirely free to kill Rand himself (or have him killed) without running the risk of repercussions, especially prior to the cleansing attempt.  FYI &#8230; Etzel wrote an excellent theory about this - see &quot;Who is Slayer's Patron&quot;.<br /><br />17. Rand finds Gedwyn and Torval dead in Far Madding, killed by Fain.  (WH, ch.33 &quot;Blue Carp Street&quot; ).  Mar'7 - 14 days after Rochaid and Kisman are killed, 27 days after the attack on Rand.<br /><br />18. Rand cleanses saidin in Shadar Logoth.  All of the Forsaken except Mesaana and Moridin show up to try to prevent it, but fail. Osan'gar is killed.  Moghedien may also have been killed.  (WH, ch.33 &quot;With the Choedan Kal&quot; ).  Mar'8 - 1 day after Rand finds Gedwyn and Torval dead, 28 days after the attack on Rand.<br /><br /><b>Final comments:</b><br /><br />I tried to make the Shadow's dialogue and actions in TPoD and WH fit with different scenarios other than the one outlined above.  Specifically:<br /><br />- with Taim not being a Dark Friend<br />- with Taim receiving the order to kill Rand from a superior prior to ordering the Asha'man <br />- with Taim not receiving any orders from a superior prior to ordering the Asha'man<br />- with the goal of Taim's order to the Asha'man being something other than Rand's death<br /><br />However, in each case there were too many discrepancies and/or inconsistencies to make the case plausible.  This final analysis was the only one I could make fit the dialogue and action in the books.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-11 08:06:57
subject: A different perspecitve
body:
<p>	This is my first theory, one I had in my mind the first time I read through the series, and one that has done nothing but snowball inside my head through my rereadings.   I understand that what follows is not necessarily going to change many of your opinions on this matter, but I ask you to simply open your mind to the possibility.  I know it&#8217;s really long, but keep in mind that this is in order to provide as much proof as I can find within the pages, and do a thorough job of covering all of the angles of this problem, especially considering that my opinion is one that I have not seen or heard anywhere before.  <br />	Aviendha is Asmodean&#8217;s murderer.  No, seriously, keep reading.<br />	Aviendha is immediately dismissed from most people&#8217;s lists of possible suspects in these and many other theory posts, but I honestly can&#8217;t see the reason why.  What we know about the killer is that they need to be in Caemlyn (Aviendha is in the courtyard), they need to be able to kill quickly (Aviendha can channel, and is pretty handy with her belt knife as well), and they have to be recognizable to Asmodean (They&#8217;ve traveled together since The Shadow Rising).  <br />	Since not everyone will be checking my facts while reading this, I&#8217;ll try to point out which parts are simple assumptions and which parts require a bigger stretch of the imagination.  Now for the details:<br /><br />How did Asmodean die? (The Means):<br /><br />	Aviendha is, at the time of Asmodean&#8217;s murder, the one and only female channeler we can be absolutely sure is in Caemlyn (Unless of course Graendal is there for some undetermined reason, and at that point, we&#8217;d be able to deduce the killer already).  Supposing that she channels Asmodean to death, she would need to be a suitable distance away from Rand at the time, and in fact she is.  Rand is on the second story of the palace looking down into the courtyard right before the murder, and then Asmodean moves (presumably) even farther away when he goes searching for wine.  This kind of distance should be enough for Rand to be unable to feel saidar.  Asmodean does in fact, feel a shiver (the sign of saidar being channeled nearby) right before he dies, although it is more probable that this is due to what he&#8217;s thinking about.<br /><br />TfoH pg 960 &#8220;Idly&#8212;but with a shiver too&#8212;he wondered whether being reborn in this fashion made him a new man.&#8221;<br /> <br />	It has been theorized that Balefire is what killed Asmodean due to the similarity between his death and Be&#8217;lal&#8217;s death in The Dragon Reborn.  Be&#8217;lal&#8217;s death is described as:<br /><br />TDR pg 557 - &#8220;There was an instant of surprise on the Forsaken's face, and he had time to scream `No!' Then a bar of white fire hotter than the sun shot from the Aes Sedai's hands, a glaring rod that banished all shadows. Before it, Be'lal became a shape of shimmering motes, specks dancing in the light for less than a heartbeat, flecks consumed before his cry faded.&#8221;<br /><br />While Asmodean&#8217;s reads:<br /><br />TfoH pg 961 -  &#8220; &#8216;You? No!&#8217; The word still hung in the air when death took him&#8221;<br /><br />	These two passages do have some similarities, but the major proof against the Balefire theory is that the Dark One specifically states that Rahvin was killed by Balefire, and cannot be resurrected, while Asmodean will not be resurrected because he is a traitor:<br /><br />LoC &#8211; 15 &#8220;ASMODEAN, TWISTED BY HIS WEAKNESS.  RAHVIN, DEAD IN HIS PRIDE.  HE SERVED WELL, YET EVEN I CANNOT SAVE HIM FROM BALEFIRE.&#8221;  <br /><br />	Note the word &#8216;HE&#8217; as opposed to &#8216;THEY.&#8217;  If you wish to hold to the theory that Asmodean was Balefired however, that is just fine with me.  Check out the theory posted by jahqueel (http://www.wotmania.com/theorypostdbtheory.asp?ID=1120&amp;Category=RandLadies), which is widely agreed upon, that Aviendha does indeed know Balefire.<br />	This theory however, will focus on a different side of the coin, which is to presume that Asmodean was killed by non channeling means.  Aviendha is an Aiel, a people who are born and raised with weapons in their hands, and she has shown proficiency in fighting before.  She has near deadly accuracy throwing her belt knife in Ebou Dar:<br /><br />CoS pg. 326 &#8220;Her arm went back, and they fell sprawling to the deck as the knife whirled over their heads to sink with a solid thunk into the thick wooden post at the front of the boat.&#8221;<br /><br />	This is not to mention her numerous encounters with Trollocs and other enemies throughout the books.  Aviendha definitely possesses the skills necessary to kill Asmodean with a regular weapon, not to mention, her weapon is always on hand:<br /><br />CoS pg 476 [Nynaeve Speaking] &#8220; &#8216;I like the girl well enough, for all she&#8217;s forever fondling that knife of hers&#8217; &#8221;<br /><br />	Asmodean may not have been able to defend himself quite that well either.  Rand notices that when he is getting ready to go off to fight in Caemlyn, that he doesn&#8217;t seem particularly comfortable with the sword he has:<br /><br />TFoH pg 676 Hardcover &quot;And Asmodean, sword held awkwardly and trying to look every way at once in case any Trolloc decided to turn back. Rand could sense saidin in him, though weakly; he did not think much of Asmodean's fighting had been with that blade&quot; <br /><br />Earlier on, it is established that Asmodean can do little more with the power than channel a cup across the room:<br /><br />TfoH pg. 100-101 [Rand PoV] &#8216;Manhandling him[Asmodean] was like picking a fight with a boy of ten.  He could not see the shield that constricted the other man&#8217;s access to saidin&#8212;it was female work&#8212;but he knew it was there.  Moving a goblet was about the extent of the man&#8217;s ability now.&#8221;<br /><br />And while Lanfear&#8217;s shield is supposed to decay over time, Rand notices little difference in Asmodean&#8217;s strength since he was first shielded:<br /><br />TFoH 622 (hardcover) &quot;...[Rand] wished he could see the shield Lanfear had woven. She had said it would dissipate with time, but Asmodean did not seem able to channel any more strongly now than he had the first day he was in Rand's hands. Perhaps she had lied, to give Asmodean false hope, to make Rand believe the man would grow strong enough to teach him more than he ever would&quot;<br /><br />What this adds up to is the following: 1) Asmodean cannot defend himself well from physical attack, 2) Even if he can channel a way to block one attack, it would be impossible for him to defend himself from multiple different attacks or forms of attack.  I think Asmodean is as defenseless as a child at this point, regardless of how he was able to &#8220;fight&#8221; in the battle against Rahvin&#8217;s Trollocs in Caemlyn.  <br />	Whether you believe that Asmodean was channeled to death or not, the main point here is that Aviendha can do both, and therefore, cannot be eliminated as a suspect on these grounds.  	<br /><br />The Motive (Aviendha knows Natael is a Darkfriend)<br /><br />	Now what can I possibly have come with as a plausible motive for Aviendha to have killed the Dragon Reborn&#8217;s bard?  I think she knew the identity of Jasin Natael, or at least had very strong suspicions that he would be a danger to Rand in the future, and is most likely able to channel.  <br />	We know that Aviendha promised Elayne to protect Rand before she left for Tanchico.  Aviendha would undoubtedly see any Darkfriend who is too close to Rand to be a serious threat to him.  <br />For some reason, Asmodean has a tendency to say a bit too much when near Aviendha.  The reoccurrance of this phenomenon was the original thing which led me to conclude that Aviendha was the killer.  Before the battle in Caemlyn, Asmodean tries to convince Rand to let him go with to prove his loyalty:<br /> <br />TFoH &#8211; 878 &#8220;Once more, Saidin poured into him, just for a moment.  Rand felt a sensation of strain, yet it was still a feeble flow.  &#8216;You know my choices.  I am clinging to that tuft of grass on the cliff&#8217;s lip, praying for it to hold one more heartbeat.  If you fail, I am worse than dead.  I must see you live and win.&#8217; Suddenly eyeing Aviendha, he seemed to realize he might have said too much.&#8221;<br /><br />	Jasin Natael has been caught in some interesting places with Rand as well.  The first was after their battle in Rhuidean, when he and Rand return through the gateway into Alcair Dal:<br /><br />TSR &#8211; 978 &#8220;They gaped as Rand stepped out of the doorway, stared more when Natael followed in his tattered shiny red coat and white lace.  Mat jumped to his feet with a grin and Aviendha half-raised a hand toward him.&#8221;<br /><br />Another was when Aviendha and Rand returned from their night in Seanchan, and Natael was waiting in their room.  Aviendha assumes that Rand was the one who hid the gateway, but why would Natael be waiting in his room?<br />  	Aviendha would have had reason to suspect Natael was up to no good as soon as Kadere&#8217;s merchant train first met with Rand.  On the way back, Rand has a vision, similar to the Foretelling, in which he seems possessed by Lews Therin:<br /><br />TSR &#8211; 594 &#8220;Leaning a little toward Mat, he [Rand] whispered loudly, as though pretending.  &#8216;We ride with evil now Mat.  Watch yourself.&#8217;&#8230;Aviendha trotting alongside&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />	When Lanfear attacks Rand on the docks, she steps right out of Kadere&#8217;s wagon, presumably leading her to believe that Kadere is in league with Lanfear and would therefore be a Darkfriend.  That should have told her everything she needed to know about that traveling party of merchants, who just so happened to join up with the Dragon Reborn in the middle of the Aiel Waste.  Hey wait a minute, Jasin Natael was with them then!?!?  For Aviendha, this should be the clinching bit of information that would point her at naming Jasin Natael a Darkfriend.<br />	If she doesn&#8217;t know from this that Natael is a Darkfriend, perhaps she sees him as a danger to Rand because she knows he can channel.  She is fighting with him in Caemlyn after Rand Balefired Rahvin, and he makes a number of suspicious comments showing knowledge of Channeling, most specifically after the battle for Cairhien, when Rand wakes up after collapsing:<br /><br />TfoH pg 723 [Asmodean speaking] &#8220;I did what I could for you, of couse&#8212;my life and fortune are tied to yours&#8212;but my Talents lie elsewhere than Healing, you understand&#8230;I understand that a man can kill or gentle himself doing what you did.  Strength in the power is useless if the body is exhausted.  Saidin can easily kill, if the body is exhausted.  Or so I have heard.&#8221;<br /><br />	This quote as well as a few others which are more circumspect, should point to the fact that Natael has a great deal of knowledge about the power and it&#8217;s uses.  Aviendha should know that Natael can channel.  <br />It is quite possible as well that Aviendha was told to kill Natael.  She has been through the rings at Rhuidean, which may have showed her disaster if Natael is close to Rand for too long, similar to the passage where Moiraine speaks of certain disaster if she sleeps with Rand.  <br />	Another, more likely, opportunity for Aviendha to have gleaned the identity of Asmodean was through Moiraine.  Before she died at the docks in Caemlyn, she gave Rand the ominous letter, which many feel points to her return in later books.  She included one more bit of information at the end as well:<br /><br />TfoH pg 901 &#8220;Lastly, be wary too of Master Jasin Natael.  I cannot approve wholly, but I understand.  Perhaps it is the only way.  Yet be careful of him.  He is the same man now that he always was.  Remember that always.&#8221;<br /><br />Moiraine knows that Rand has captured one of the Forsaken.  This must trouble her, despite her words to the contrary.  But she says something else that is often overlooked:<br /><br />TfoH pg 900 &#8220;There were three branches from the docks, but if you are reading this, I am gone, and so is Lanfear&#8230;The other two paths were much worse.  Down one, Lanfear killed you.  Down the other, she carried you away, and when next we saw you, you called yourself Lews Therin Telamon and were her devoted lover&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />	Moiraine was not the kind of person to sit back and allow these other two paths to have any chance at occurring.  I believe that she would have made additional letters out to Egwene and/or Aviendha, telling them the same thing in case the worst did occur.  Egwene was hurt during the fight, and had to stay behind in Cairhien, but Aviendha escaped mostly unharmed.  It is likely that Moiraine knew this before heading off to the docks, and Aviendha could very well have simply been told Asmodean&#8217;s identity by Moiraine in an additional letter, and decided to do something about Rand cavorting with the Forsaken on her own.   <br /><br />One last intriguing detail:<br /><br />Hopefully, by this point, I&#8217;ve managed to convince some of you that Aviendha is at least a plausible suspect in Asmodean&#8217;s murder, having motive, means, and opportunity to kill him easily.  There is also one more bit of evidence that I have found possibly pointing directly to Aviendha as the killer.  Here it is:<br /><br />TfoH pg 961 &#8220;The word still hung in the air when death took him.&#8221;<br /><br />	Surely, this could also point to Moridin (as Moridin means death in the old tongue) as the killer, but I think that&#8217;s ridiculous as he has not yet appeared to this point.   Compare this to a passage in the Lord of Chaos, in which Rand is hearing Lews Therin talking to him again:<br /><br />LoC &#8211; 399 &#8220;Death, Lews Therin whispered.<br />	Rand forgot everything else.  Death?  What do you mean?<br />	Death comes.<br />	What kind of death? Rand demanded.  What are you talking about?&#8230;<br />	Something touched his arm, and he nearly seized at the source again before he realized it was Aviendha&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />	Many characters during the series have had passages where Jordan describes the situation as &#8220;Character X was Death&#8221; or something, but always right before a battle or something.  In this situation, Death came, and her name was Aviendha.  There is no violence which occurs anywhere near this chapter, especially concerning Aviendha.  Suspicious indeed&#8230;<br />Yes, this does require a stretch of the imagination.  It&#8217;s more of an interesting detail than proof, and you&#8217;ll not see it mentioned again in this article.  I just thought it may be a peculiar little hint.<br /><br />Asmodean&#8217;s Death Scene (So what really happened?)<br /><br />Putting this all together, I hoped to create a situation in which Aviendha could be considered the killer.  <br />	First of all, I believe that Asmodean was lost in thought and not really paying too much attention to what was going on around him.  This explains his surprise at being suddenly woken from his little trance, and why he had so little time to react.  The reason that his word is &#8220;You?&#8221; is indicative of the fact that Aviendha snuck up on him and scared the crap out of him, kind of like when you&#8217;re in a daze and someone pokes you.  You all know the feeling.  Aviendha is one of the last people who he expects to find there, as he left her in the courtyard only a few minutes past.  <br />	The killing was done through physical means.  I think that this must be the case because he would have not been able to see that attack before it hit him, or if he did see it, he would not have had the time to say the words before he died.  If he was stabbed (lets say by a belt knife), then he would have had a second or two to speak.  If he gets toasted by lightning or some such, his last words would have been to scream in pain.  If he was killed using the power, there was an outside chance that he would have recognized how to defend himself, or Rand could have felt the chill of saidar.  <br />	I think that Asmodean did not expect to die.  That is the meaning of the word &#8220;No!&#8221; It&#8217;s kind of a &#8220;Not now, not this way&#8221; kind of thought instead of a &#8220;No please don&#8217;t hurt me&#8221; kind of thing.<br />I&#8217;ve recreated the death scene in slow motion, in which my Asmodean gets to have a bit more time to react.  This is what RJ says happened:<br /><br />TfoH pg. 961 &#8220;He pulled open a small door, intending to find his way to the pantry.  There should be some decent wine.  One step and he stopped, the blood draining from his face.  &#8220;You? No!&#8221; The word still hung in the air when death took him.&#8221;<br /><br />Here is how I interpreted it:<br /><br />&#8220;He pulled open a small door, intending to find his way to the pantry.  There should be some decent wine.  As he opened the door, he almost stumbled over Aviendha, standing in the doorway.  She must have come around the other way and hidden behind the door.  The blood drained from his face when he felt her knife plunge into his heart.  &#8220;You?&#8221; She should have been in the courtyard.  This is not the way he was supposed to die.  One of the most feared men in history, killed by a mere girl.  &#8220;No!&#8221; was all he was able to get out before he hit the tiled floor and death took him.&#8221;<br /><br />I think that this situation is entirely plausible.  Despite what we know from lots of today&#8217;s movies, a good stab or two should kill him pretty quickly.  <br /><br />Additional Details:<br /><br />Why even bother&#8230;Graendal/Moiraine/Lanfear is obviously the killer.<br /><br />	Graendal is the obvious killer to one who looks at this problem backwards.    The only plausible theories based on Graendal are those that don&#8217;t look at &#8220;Graendal killed Asmodean&#8221;, but instead focus on &#8220;Graendal didn&#8217;t not kill Asmodean.&#8221;  There is very little evidence linking her to the crime, and there are also very few assumptions we have to make in order to see her as the killer.  <br />	There is a perfectly good reason for this:  Graendal has only been seen in one or two scenes at this point, and hasn&#8217;t had a point of view as of yet.  We know very little of what she is planning, what her motives would be for going to Caemlyn.  All we know about Graendal at this point is what the other Forsaken want to tell us about her.  <br />	The major point for Graendal is that Graendal is the first Forsaken to argue that Asmodean is dead.  The first case of this is during her meeting with Sammael in Illian, where she says:<br /><br />LoC 133 &#8220; &#8216;You know as much as I do,&#8217; Graendal said blithely, pausing for a sip from her goblet.  &#8216;Myself, I think Lews Therin killed them [Asmodean, Lanfear, and Moghedien].&#8221;<br />LOC 134 [Graendal speaking] &quot;So many of us have died confronting him. [...] And Lanfear and Asmodean, whatever you believe. Possibly Moghedien.&quot; <br />LOC 348 &quot;Asmodean and Lanfear are dead, and I [Graendal] am sure Moghedien must be, too.&quot; She was surprised to hear her own voice, hoarse and unsteady. <br />	She certainly seems convinced, however, and that is easy to understand.  The Dark One told her that Asmodean has died:<br /><br />LoC 138 &#8220;Only she [Graendal] herself knew that she had made her own journey to Shayol Ghul and down to the lake of fire.  Only she knew that the Great Lord had all but promised to make her Nae&#8217;blis, a promise sure to be fulfilled with al&#8217;Thor out of the way.&#8221;<br /><br />	When Demandred made the same trip, the Dark One was forthcoming about the knowledge that Asmodean and Rahvin had both been killed.  It can be assumed that Graendal would have been told the same information.  I also believe that the Dark One did not get his information from Graendal either.  He&#8217;s the lord of the Grave, and has reincarnated many of the Forsaken throughout the book, therefore, he must have knowledge of who has died.  He would know of Rahvin&#8217;s death because when he died, the Dark One&#8217;s black cords to him would have been severed.  <br />	If Graendal was in Caemlyn at the time of the murder, it can be reasonably assumed that she was using the Mask of Mirrors, regardless of whether she believed that anyone would recognize her there.  We see her and Sammael both using the Mask of Mirrors in later meetings with the Shaido Aiel.  If Asmodean came upon her in disguise, she would have had to drop that disguise and kill him in the time it takes to take one step, since of course, Asmodean recognized his killer.  Maybe that&#8217;s hard to do, maybe not, we&#8217;ll never know. <br />	Also, Graendal did not only have no reason to be in Caemlyn at the time of the murder, but also had other plans to hold her elsewhere for that day:<br /><br />LoC 15 [Demandred Speaking] &#8220;And Graendal says Moghedien failed to meet her as they agreed.  Also yesterday, Great Lord.&#8221;<br /><br />	So, not only was Graendal supposed to be running her own affairs, but she had also tried to meet with Moghedien (presumably in Tel&#8217;Aran&#8217;Rhiod or in Arad Domon) and met with Demandred as well.  Why would she have met with either in enemy territory (Caemlyn would have been Rahvin&#8217;s territory at that point)?  Would there have been suitable time for her to have her two meetings, run her own territory and have time to travel to Caemlyn to do a little reconnaissance as well?  I doubt it.  It is also possible that had she been the one to kill Asmodean, Aviendha could have felt her channeling.  <br />	Assuming that it was Lanfear or Moiraine would have to require quite a large bit of supposition: Both are somewhere in between being held in Finnland or dead at the time of the murder.  Robert Jordan himself has basically eliminated them as suspects from a quote asked of him on the TOR website:<br />&#8220;Are the Eelfinn limited in their power to grant wishes? To what degree can they affect the outside world?<br /><br />Oh, yes, there definitely are limits to the powers of the Eelfin. For one thing, they cannot affect the outside world at all. If you said that you wanted to be King of the World, you might well find that what you received was not what you expected. For example, they might put you out of their world into a world with no other sentient life, where you would be king by default. Then again, you might find yourself with the necessary skills to make yourself King of the World, if you were able. Actually achieving it would be up to you. But then, many of their &quot;gifts&quot; are skewed in this way. You must be very careful is you're asking if you want to receive what you are hoping for. And yet, remember that Mat actually did receive very much what he asked for. Just not in the way that he wanted.&#8221;<br />	Killing someone would most certainly be affecting the outside world in my opinion, so the idea that Lanfear or Moiraine using their wishes to jump out of Finnland to kill is therefore pretty much disproved.  <br />	The arguments for Lanfear, Moiraine and Graendal as killers have just as many, if not more holes than my own theory.  <br /><br />Assuming it was Aviendha, how could she have possibly been in two places at once?<br /><br />	Aviendha was indeed in the courtyard right before Asmodean was murdered.  Rand sees her, Asmodean sees her.  Talking to Mat.  Why in the hell would she be talking to Mat?  These two characters do not like each other, as can be seen when they are forced to travel together to Salidar in the Lord of Chaos.  The passage here is really too long to quote, but reading it will give you the feeling that they really don&#8217;t care too much about each other, and necessity is the only thing that would keep them near each other for any period of time.  I theorize that Aviendha was sitting in the courtyard in order to keep her eyes on Asmodean.  At this point, she knows that he is at least a Darkfriend, probably a man who can channel, and possibly even a Forsaken.  She would take the first opportunity given to kill this man.  <br />	So, Asmodean leaves while ruminating about his impending death. If he thinks at about the same rate that we are able to read his thoughts, we can get a grip of how far he was able to travel away from the courtyard, and how much time Aviendha had to get in position to strike.  <br />	I read his passage, and it took me about 82 seconds to read from &#8220;He enjoyed playing&#8230;&#8221; up until &#8220;There should be some good wine.&#8221;  Ladies and Gentlemen, it&#8217;s time for some math.  People walk at about the rate of 4 miles per hour, and 82 seconds is equivalent to 41/1800 hours.  Therefore, Asmodean walked about 41/450 miles while he was thinking about his circumstances.  In clearer terms, that means he went a minimum of 481 feet (146.6 Meters) from where he started in the courtyard.  This is plenty of time, and should have provided Aviendha enough space for her to stalk him through the halls of the palace.  <br />	If this is not a good answer for you, remember that shiver Asmodean felt earlier?  Could that have been Aviendha&#8217;s gateway from the courtyard opening up so that she could be in exactly the right place at the right time?  Possibly.  We know from Rand earlier in TfoH that you don&#8217;t even need to know very much about a location in order to jump short distances with Gateways, as Rand was able to open one to jump from the outer garden of Caemlyn to the throne room while only being in Caemlyn for a few minutes.  He tells us for a fact in AcoS, when he opens a gateway from Illian&#8217;s courtyard to the top of a tower:<br /><br />ACOS pg 835 &#8220;You did not need to know a place at all to Travel if you only intended to go a short distance.&#8221;<br /> <br />	Aviendha again has two possible ways to have made it to the scene of the crime quite quickly, and therefore could have &#8220;been in two places at once&#8221; quite easily.  <br /><br />Does the Palace in Caemlyn provide enough opportunities for this kind of premeditated ambush?<br /><br />TEotW &#8211; 508 &#8220;The path Tallanvor took turned so many times that Rand lost his sense of direction.&#8221;<br /><br />TDR &#8211; 538 &#8220; Tallanvor led him down so many corridors and across so many courtyards that he [Mat] was beginning to wonder if he could find his way out again without help&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />The Royal Palace at Caemlyn is a humongous place.  There is plenty of reason to suspect that an ambush would be quite possible in an empty palace with confusing passageways.   <br /><br />I reread that chapter, and Rand notices that there are Maidens of the Spear &#8220;guarding&#8221; Aviendha to make sure she doesn&#8217;t go off hunting Trollocs.  How does she avoid them?<br /> <br />	By the way, this comes from the following passage:<br /><br />TfoH 955 &#8211; &#8220;Aviendha was trailing her hand in the fountain&#8217;s redstone basin, still intrigued by the idea of so much water with no purpose but to be looked at and to keep ornamental fish alive.  She had been more than indignant at first, when he told her she could not go chasing Trollocs through the streets.  In fact, he was not so sure she would be down there now if not for a quiet escort of Maidens that Sulin did not think he had noticed.  Neither was he supposed to have heard that she was Far Daris Mai no longer and not yet a Wise One.&#8221;<br /><br />	OK, I agreed to tell you when you&#8217;d need to stretch your imaginations.  Well, here goes.  	This is the only problem that I&#8217;ve been trying to figure out.  I imagine it to have worked out like this.<br />	Rand al&#8217;Thor is the only son of a maiden to know that he is one, and he is the only son of a maiden to have come back.  One PoV from Sulin tells us that above all else&#8230; <br /><br />LoC &#8211; 305-306 &#8220;Nothing must happen to the only son of a Maiden ever to come back.&#8221;<br /><br />	Aviendha still hasn&#8217;t finished transitioning from Maiden of the Spear to Wise One, and she can relate to how the others feel about him.  We know that she knows about Asmodean, and could have possibly told some of the Maidens about his identity as well, or they could simply have figured out he was a Darkfriend themselves.  They could be there as backup, they could be helping by keeping their eyes on him or covering other possible paths that Asmodean could be walking.  This is likely the best explanation, the other is a bit weak.  <br />	If the Maidens are not part of some conspiracy to kill Asmodean, perhaps Rand sees it wrong.  They may just be there relaxing in between guarding Rand.  They could be there to protect Mat, and it would seem that the only guards that would need to watch for Aviendha would be those guarding the gates.  <br />	It&#8217;s a weakness of my argument, I know.  One of only a very select few though.<br /><br />So everything works out according to your circumstances, but how did Aviendha dispose of the body?<br /><br />	This is not as big of a problem as people seem to think.  There are so many ways for anyone to have removed the body, but it seems to come up in almost every discussion of this topic.  <br />	First, yes, it&#8217;s still possible that Asmodean was Balefired.  Therefore, no body, no blood, no problems.  <br />	Second, what&#8217;s stopping Aviendha from channeling Asmodean&#8217;s body into cinders and throwing it out with the trash or blowing the ashes into the wind?  Nobody should be able to sense her channeling from this far away, and she certainly has enough strength to do it given that she&#8217;s on par for strength with Egwene and Elayne.  She could also have opened a gateway to the middle of nowhere (perhaps to the Aiel Waste) and simply dropped his body behind a rock.  We know that it&#8217;s possible to channel the water out of your clothes; I&#8217;m sure that you could channel a puddle of blood from off the floor.  No body, no blood, no problem.  <br />	Third, Aviendha could have very easily gotten away with simply carting Asmodean out the front door of the palace and through the streets of Caemlyn without causing much commotion.  There are no servants in the palace, we know this from Rand&#8217;s PoV earlier in the same chapter, when the maidens are trying to make him eat soup:<br /><br />TfoH pg 957 &#8220; &#8216;I suppose none of the servants have come back,&#8217; Rand sighed.  &#8216;One of the cooks, maybe? A helper?&#8217;  Enaila shook her head scornfully.&#8221;<br /><br />	At this point, its right after a battle, the servants in the palace are gone, bodies should be strewn about outside everywhere.  What&#8217;s the big deal if one body is being brought out from inside the palace?  Not something of importance that Rand would have needed to know about.  If the Maidens in the courtyard are part of the scheme, they could certainly be of assistance in dragging the body out the front gates.  No identification of the body, lots of blood, but still no problem.  <br />	Body removal is simply not an issue in this case people.  You&#8217;ve all been watching too many late-night Cop Dramas.   <br /><br />So, if Aviendha&#8217;s the killer, why doesn&#8217;t she mention it in any of her PoVs?<br /><br />	Well, this has to do with Aviendha&#8217;s Aiel culture and upbringing.  <br />	Aviendha has a way of resorting to violent actions where others would content themselves to an argument or a command.  She has tried to teach lessons to Isendre, Colavaere, and numerous other people who she feels have tried to get too close to Rand.  Asmodean would definitely be getting too close for her comfort.  <br />	Rand notices these violent tendencies, and makes an important observation when he tries to tell Aviendha to not beat people for visiting him in Cairhien:<br /><br />TFoH &#8211; 876  &#8220; &#8216;That one [Colavaere] sits lightly this morning, but her bruises can be hidden, and with a days rest she will be able to leave her chambers&#8230;I told her if she caused you any bother again&#8212;Any bother&#8212;I would come talk to her once more.  A much longer talk&#8230;Her example will teach others.&#8217; &#8221;[Aviendha Speaking]<br /><br />&#8220;Aviendha might not be worried about repercussions against herself&#8212;in fact, he would be surprised if she had even considered the possibility&#8230;&#8221; [Rand PoV]<br /><br />	She almost killed a pair of sailors in Ebou Dar for trying to look up her dress (see quote above), and her first suggestion to solving Egwene&#8217;s problems with Nicola and Areina is to kill them: <br /><br />ACoS pg 318 &#8220; &#8216;Rid herself [Egwene] of them [Nicola and Areina].,&#8217; Aviendha said, drawing a thumb across her neck&#8230;Elayne appeared shocked.  She was remarkably softhearted at times.&#8221;<br /><br />	Killing them is the first and only solution she gives towards that problem.  In tPoD, Aviendha is often connected with violent acts in the first few chapters:<br /><br />TpoD pg 47 &#8220; &#8216;Can one like that [Teslyn] be trusted?&#8217; Aviendha muttered.  &#8216;Maybe we should be sure she cannot interfere.&#8217; She examined her fist; Teslyn Baradon would see that.  The woman deserved to be caught by Shadowsouled, by Moghedien or another.  Fools deserved whatever their foolishness brought.&#8221;<br /><br />TpoD pg 94 &#8220;Aviendha nodded approvingly.  Of course, she would have done the same had Elayne plunged a knife into Merilille&#8217;s heart.  Aviendha stood by her friends no matter what.&#8221;<br /><br />	Additionally in TpoD, Aviendha is talking to Elayne about her message not being sent thru the gateway to tell Elayne of the Gholam.  <br /><br />TpoD pg 86-87 &#8220;Actually, she [Elayne] supposed Aviendha would not have had much trouble drubbing Kurin, or tying her up, or any of the rest.&#8221;<br /><br />Aviendha is by her nature a very violent person.  This much is obvious based on her own PoVs as well as the opinions of others.  Violence and killing is the natural solution for someone who has grown up and lived around death and hardship for her entire life.<br />	Aviendha also tells us more of Aiel culture that would help explain her lax attitude towards killing and death (especially of Darkfriends):<br /><br />AcoS pg 465 &#8220; &#8216;It is Jaichim Carridin who interests me,&#8217; Aviendha said, closing the book and setting it beside her&#8230; &#8216;Among us, Shadowrunners are killed as soon as found, and not clan, sept, society, or first-sister will raise a hand in protest. If Jaichim Carridin is a Shadowrunner, why does Tylin Mitsobar not kill him?  Why do we not?&#8221;<br /><br />If she suspected that Asmodean was a Darkfriend, killing him would simply be proper procedure, not worth mentioning. <br />	During the two scenes in which we get PoV&#8217;s from Aviendha she has her head elsewhere.  In the first (Matters of Toh, LoC pg 314-315), Aviendha is worried about Rand shaming her in front of her friends, a fate worse than death in Aiel culture.  In the second (The Bowl of the Winds, aCoS, pg 315-336), she is more worried by her fear of water, and wouldn&#8217;t spend time much time gloating over her kill anyways.  In the third, again she is feeling shamed by her inability to create a good gateway, and then worried because of spotting the Gholam.  Other things came up and as it seems above, death is not something out of the ordinary for Aviendha.  <br />	For a major player in the story, Aviendha doesn&#8217;t have much time in the limelight, and during her time, she is in situations where she isn&#8217;t given the opportunity to discuss past events much.  She wouldn&#8217;t be the kind of person to really worry about killing a wetlander anyways.   <br /><br />How do RJ&#8217;s clues fit into this theory?<br /><br />Let me preface this by saying that these clues, given to us by RJ himself, should not be considered a proof for or against any of the characters, as RJ has never really told us anything we didn&#8217;t know before in these clues. Nonetheless, here goes:<br />RJ has given us two major clues to the identity of the killer.  The first is that it should be &#8220;intuitively obvious to the most casual reader.&#8221;  How is Aviendha an intuitively obvious solution given that most people eliminate her from their list of possible suspects immediately?<br />Aviendha is known to be in Caemlyn at the time of the murder.  No other suspect is known to be there.  Aviendha has the means to kill both based on a physical attack or by using the One Power.  No other suspect could have used either method of attack.  In later books, Aviendha is shown to care very little for killing and death, especially in regards to Darkfriends.  Aviendha could be said to be &#8220;intuitively obvious&#8221; if you know what to consider as possible evidence.<br />The other clue we are given is that we should definitely be able to identify the killer by the end of TPoD.  This implies that perhaps there is a major clue to the identity of the killer hidden in this book.  Most Lanfear theorist believe this adds to their case because this is the book in which Cyndane makes her appearance and identity known to us.  Additionally, Graendal tells us of how she took an angreal from Sammael&#8217;s stash.  This is interesting evidence, however, in keeping with my theory, I feel that it can be viewed differently.  <br />One of the most immediately noticeable things to me about tPoD was that it opens with one of only three Aviendha PoVs in the whole series thus far, and then the next chapter is primarily about her.  Many characters make observations on her violent personality, and she even thinks of killing more than one of the good guys in these few chapters (see quotes above).  She gives us more insight into her violent tendencies later in the book, talking to Elayne after Adeleas and Vandene begin questioning Ispan:<br /><br />TpoD pg 121-22 &#8220; &#8216;I did not mean that I could not,&#8217; she [Aviendha] said aloud, &#8216;only that I do not know how.  Likely I would have killed her trying.&#8217;&#8221;<br /><br />	Other characters also begin to give more dark descriptions to the Aiel as a people here as well.  One example that I have selected here is Perrin&#8217;s observation:<br /><br />TpoD pg 228 &#8220;Any serious trouble with the Aiel usually meant someone dead, and not the Aiel.&#8221;<br /><br />It would be too forward of RJ to give us this hint knowing that a major post-mortem clue was hidden in it&#8217;s pages.  It&#8217;s not a hint that he hides, instead, he openly tells us more information that could connect Aviendha with this violent act.   <br /><br />Conclusion<br /><br />	I told you when I began that I didn&#8217;t think that I would really change any of your minds about this particular problem.  My goal was simply to provide a different take on the matter, from a point of view that nobody has ever really examined due to their initial assumptions that the murder must have been by an evil character, or because of an accidental encounter in the halls of the Royal Palace.  <br />	As an Aiel, trained in both the use of the power, and of hand-to-hand combat, Aviendha has the means to kill Asmodean.  She is also one of very few characters who we can say for sure was in Caemlyn at the time of the murder.  She has been given ample evidence of his identity, if Moiraine or the ter&#8217;angreal in Rhuidean hasn&#8217;t told her outright.  Aviendha has all of the requirements of the killer, yet everyone seems to ignore her as a possibility.  <br />	As Jordan says, one of the principle themes of the Wheel of Time series is that you never know everything.  As readers, we&#8217;re not omniscient, and certainly, many mysteries have escaped us thus far.  We see through the eyes of characters, who often dismiss news as rumor, when in fact it is truth.  The Aes Sedai&#8217;s entire reputation is based on them being able to ferret out secret meanings behind what you thought you heard them say.  I believe that Jordan keeps Asmodean&#8217;s killer a mystery in order to drive home his point home even farther.<br />We&#8217;ll probably never know who killed Asmodean, but let&#8217;s all learn from the words of the wise Lan Mandragoran:<br /><br />&#8220;You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies in going on anyways.&#8221;<br /><br />	I hope this has opened your eyes to a new possibility, and I hope that you enjoyed reading.    <br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-12 08:14:26
subject: The Only Logical Answer
body:
<p>Robert Jordan claimed that the solution to the Asmodean murder mystery was &quot;intuitively obvious&quot; to anyone who read through the first five books.  That statement is thoroughly disproven by the fact that the debate is still going strong, more than a decade later.<br /><br />Since it is obviously not obvious, although it was intended it to be so, there is only one conclusion that truly makes sense: Robert Jordan failed as a writer.</p><p><b>Vercingetorix says:</b> Yes!<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-20 11:53:09
subject: Yellows , dexterity and Healing
body:
<p>Aes Sedai of the Yellow ajah are notorious for their arrogance. Most people attribute this to their belief that their possession of a major Talent makes them better than your average channelers.<br /><br />However , I believe they are superior in their ability to weave the One Power compared to other ajahs. Obviously there are sisters like Moiraine who possess the ability to Heal , but as a whole I think there is some evidence that the Yellow sisters possess greater dexterity in weaving the Power than other Aes Sedai.<br /><br /><b><u> Evidence #1 </u></b><br /><br />CoT (Glimmers of the Pattern) &#8211; &#8220;Most sisters could not regulate the weave to any degree at all ; most did not even try to learn &#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />This comment was made by Samitsu , who according to Cadsuane has the strongest Talent for Healing in living memory. The Yellows can regulate the Healing weave and this is what allows them to Heal anything from a bruise to a mortal injury.<br /><br />It may seem like poor evidence because everybody knows that this is the one weave which Yellows undoubtedly gain mastery over because of their Talent. However , another explanation might be prudent &#8211; but this will be discussed later.<br /><br /><b><u>Evidence #2</u></b><br /><br />CoT (Secrets) &#8211; &#8220;nearly half the sisters forced into this are Yellow&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />Once Egwene discovered how to make cuendillar , she made everyone who was capable and everyone who was strong in Earth sit down daily and make something out of cuendillar. The Yellow sisters immediately started complaining because out of the Aes Sedai , nearly half of those drawn into the &#8216;slave labour&#8217; were of the Yellow ajah.<br /><br />This clearly shows that the Yellows possess a disproportionate amount of skill required to make cuendillar compared to the other ajahs. Being one of the smaller ajahs , there should be far more Greens or Grays who can make cuendillar than Yellows. This once again shows that Yellow Aes Sedai possess greater dexterity than other Aes Sedai.<br /><br /><b><u> Evidence #3 </u></b><br /><br />WH (Snow) &#8211; &#8220;Doesine &#8230; Only she among them knew how to operate the Chair&#8230;&#8221;<br /><br />When the Sitters decide to put Talene (of the Black ajah) to the question , the Yellow Sitter is the only one who knows how to operate the Chair of Remorse. Surely this ter&#8217;angreal is not a secret to any sister in the Tower. None of the others make an attempt to learn while she makes the ter&#8217;angreal work. It is more likely that it requires an element of dexterity and skill to make it work.<br /><br /><b><u>Some implications</u></b><br /><br />So there is some evidence that Yellow sisters possess greater dexterity and skill when weaving the Power. Nynaeve , a newly raised Yellow , often raises this sort of comment &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Ripped Away) &#8230; Elayne recognized the flows being woven for Healing , but recognition was as far she could go&#8230; It looked as complicated as embroidering one dress with either hand , and two more with your feet.<br /><br />We also see the same comment elicited by Damer Flinn , the ash&#8217;aman with the notorious Healing Talent &#8230;<br /><br />TPOD (Fog of War , Storm of Battle) &#8230; It was not the complex weaves that Flinn used. Few could manage that , and none as well as Flinn so far.<br /><br />The link between complexity of weaving and Healing is raised on occasion. Most people believe that the Talent is what allows you to make the complex weaves , but I have a different theory. I believe that great dexterity in weaving allows you to make the complex weaves which gives you the Talent.<br /><br />In other words , from the above evidence I believe there is no such thing as a Healing Talent. Rather I believe that channelers who possess great dexterity in weaving the Power can regulate all weaves better than other channelers. Due to the fact that they can regulate the Healing weave too , they can Heal , and thus have the Healing Talent.<br /><br />According to the Guide , while men possessed strength in the Power , women possessed dexterity in the Power. This was a general rule. If my theory holds true then I believe a male Healer is less common than a female one. More women have dexterity , therefore the possibility that they can regulate the weave is greater than the possibility that a man can do it.<br /><br />Most people dispute superior Yellow weaving by citing the fact that Yellows sit in the Tower and practice the same weave all day. Therefore superiority in Healing would be obvious. Unfortunately this is not true. Aes Sedai choose the Yellow ajah long before they have the chance to practice this weave properly. Somewhere along the line an Aes Sedai tells them that they have the knack for Healing , and they decide to choose Yellow. This despite the fact that several other Yellow strengths have been shown to run concurrently e.g. cuendillar production and ter&#8217;angreal operation.<br /><br />This leads to a very interesting possibility &#8230; can you improve your dexterity? It is debatable whether practicing your weaving leads to greater dexterity over a long period , or whether it merely makes you more practiced in familiar weaves. If it improves your overall dexterity then I believe you can improve your Healing ability with time. Samitsu says that most sisters don&#8217;t even try to regulate the weave. Suppose they did? If they practiced for many years , would they improve their ability to Heal? This is another point of contention but there is no proof either way.<br /><br /><b><u>Predictions</u></b><br /><br />1. The Yellows have the greatest dexterity and skill in general with regards to the One Power.<br /><br />2. If you identify a channeler with great dexterity , there is good chance they have the Healing Talent.<br /><br />3. Considering Semirhage is the only Forsaken with a true Healing Talent (so far as we are aware) , it is likely that she has the greatest dexterity with regards to weaving compared to the other Forsaken.<br /><br />4. There are going to be fewer ash&#8217;aman who can Heal properly than sisters in the White Tower.<br /><br />5. If dexterity means anything in battle , the Yellows may be the best choice as attackers or defenders. It is difficult to say whether battle requires dexterity , or merely strength and aggression.<br /><br />6. There are probably more Yellows who can make ter&#8217;angreal like Elayne than the other ajahs. They may be better at Travelling , shielding and other subtleties e.g. Illusion.<br /><br /><b><u>Conclusions</u></b><br /><br />I. Healing is not a Talent as such &#8211; it is merely a byproduct of dexterity in weaving which allows regulation of the Healing weave.<br /><br />II. Due to the fact that dexterity is the key , and not Talent , it can be applied to all types of weaving e.g. making cuendillar , using ter&#8217;angreal. <br /><br />III. The Yellow ajah has the &#8216;Talent&#8217; and thus the dexterity in weaving. They are more skilled channelers than the rest of the Tower in general.<br /><br />IV. Dexterity is more common in women. There are therefore fewer male channelers who can Heal.<br /><br /><b><u>Pitfalls</u></b><br /><br />a. Healing is a real Talent which allows versatility in that one weave alone. The other points of evidence are coincidence.<br /><br />b. Dexterity may increase with strength in the Power. If this is true then males have equal dexterity to females due to their greater strength. There will therefore be an equal amount of male channelers who can Heal. This is controversial though.<br /><br />Comments welcome.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-20 12:02:39
subject: The Murder of Sahra Covenry
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<p><b> I. Introduction: Who killed Sahra? </b><br /><br />One of the many murder mysteries in the Wheel of Time is the murder of the novice Sahra Covenry in TSR, ch.17 (and apparently of Moira Elward since Siuan receives a report in TSR, ch.47, that both disappeared).<br /><br />After Sahra brought Min to Siuan in TSR, ch.1, Siuan sends Sahra to Mistress Elward&#8217;s farm to make sure that she doesn&#8217;t talk about this incident. Nevertheless Sahra is later found by a woman, interrogated about Min and killed.<br /><br />The question is, who most likely killed Sahra.<br /><br /><b> II. The Suspects </b><br /><br />Often named as possible suspects are the Forsaken, especially Mesaana, or the BA, especially Galina and Alviarin.<br /><br /><b> 1. Evidence against a Forsaken </b><br /><br />One suspect could be a Forsaken, most likely Mesaana who hides in the White Tower. At least three thoughts speak against this idea in my view.<br /><br />First of all, the killer is apparently disguised as an Aes Sedai: &#8220;The Aes Sedai moved closer, not caring that her skirts dragged through the dirt of the vegetable patch. Despite the summer warmth of the morning, she wore a cloak, the hood pulled up to shadow her face.&#8221;<br /><br />A Forsaken had no real reason for such a disguise if the intention is anyway to kill the people at the farm. <br /><br />Secondly, Sahra&#8217;s killer uses the One Power to torture Sahra during the quite long interrogation: &#8220;Pain racked her, digging her toes into the dirt, arching her back; the spasm lasted only moments, but it seemed eternal [&#8230;] She began to weep in earnest, sure that was not enough to satisfy this woman. She was right. She did not stop screaming for a long time&#8221;<br /><br />A Forsaken could simply use Compulsion to get the informations quickly, like e.g. Moghedien does with Nynaeve and Elayne in TSR, ch.46.<br /><br />Thirdly and most importantly, the last sentence of the scene strongly indicates that the killer wasn't a Forsaken but an Aes Sedai: &#8220;She [Sahra] did not stop screaming for a long time, and when the Aes Sedai left there was not a sound around the farmhouse except for the chickens, not even breathing.&#8221;<br /><br />The scene of Sahra&#8217;s murder is written from her PoV.  But since Sahra is dead when the killer leaves, the description &#8220;Aes Sedai&#8221; for the leaving person must come from the omniscient narrator Rober Jordan, which shows that the killer was indeed an Aes Sedai.<br /><br /><b> 2. Evidence for a well known Black Aes Sedai </b><br /><br />The use of the One Power for torture and murder makes clear that the killer was a Black Aes Sedai.<br /><br />Knowing RJ&#8217;s other riddles in the series, I don&#8217;t believe the killer was just a nameless Black Aes Sedai.  It was rather someone who is known quite good by the readers.  Therefore it must be possible to figure who exactly killed Sahra by connecting the little clues RJ gave us.<br /><br />Considering this, especially suspicous are the BA Galina and Alviarin since they have several PoV.<br /><br /><b> a) Galina </b><br /><br />For Galina speaks that she considers in LoC, ch.53, that she knew Min for some time and figures that she might be important.<br /><br />On the other hand, Galina is the Head of the largest Ajah, the Red Ajah.<br /><br />I think it would provoke some attention and suspicon if such a powerful woman suddenly leaves the White Tower on her own for some time, even if only the Reds know that she is their Head.  Therefore I doubt that Galina would risk to travel to the farm.<br /><br />In conclusion, there isn't very much that speaks for Galina being the killer; maybe her publicity speaks even against her.<br /><br /><b> b) Alviarin  </b><br /><br />Therefore I think it&#8217;s more likely that Alviarin, a &#8220;normal&#8221; White Sister, did this important job.<br /><br />Furthermore, it&#8217;s said that Sahra&#8217;s killer speaks &#8220;coldly&#8221;.  This description is regularly used for one of the logical White Ajah and thus could be one of the little clues from RJ which point to Alviarin.<br /><br />Another hint might be that the killer doesn&#8217;t care if her skirt becomes dirty:  &#8220;The Aes Sedai moved closer, not caring that her skirts dragged through the dirt of the vegetable patch.&#8221;<br /><br />In CoT, ch.21, Alviarin returns from her errand for Mesaana. <br /><br />It&#8217;s said: &#8220;Still, she grumbled under her breath as she channeled the reddish mud from her shoes and the hem of her skirts and cloak. It seemed unlikely that anyone would recognize it as coming from Tremalking, the largest of the Sea Folk islands, but someone might wonder where she had been to get muddy.&#8221;<br /><br />Obviously Alviarin didn&#8217;t care that her skirt became dirty when she was at Tremalking, like Sahra&#8217;s killer didn&#8217;t care before she killed her.<br /><br />That Alviarin is used by Mesaana for certain deeds makes it likely that she was also ordered by Mesaana to interrogate Sahra.<br /><br />Especially the way the killer interrogates Sahra reminds of a scene between Alviarin and Mesaana.<br /><br />The murderer orders Sahra: &#8220;Tell me everything that you heard or saw, girl, from the moment you took the woman in charge. Everything. [...] Every person this Elmindreda spoke to, every word she said, every nuance and expression.&#8221;<br /><br />Mesaana questions Alviarin in a similar way in ACoS, prologue: &quot;Tell me what happened, child.&quot; And Alviarin considers &#8220;Mesaana knew every tune, demanded every word, every gesture and facial expression. Plainly she eavesdropped on those meetings.&#8221;<br /><br />If Alviarin was sent to interrogate Sahra by Mesaana, it makes sense that she would ask the novice everything as exactly as she expects she has to answer Mesaana later.<br /><br />That Mesaana apparently like to eavesdrop would explain how she could know of Min&#8217;s importance and why she wanted that Sahra is questioned.<br /><br />Otherwise, also Elaida, who planned Siuan&#8217;s deposition with Alviarin, saw that Sahra brought Min to Siuan in TSR, ch.1, and could have told Alviarin about it.<br /><br />That is especially likely because we learn already in TGH, ch.24, that Elaida knows of Min&#8217;s connection to Moiraine. <br /><br />Later in TSR, ch.47, Gawyn tells Min that her arrest thad been ordered and Min wonders: &#8220;Elaida wanted her arrested? That had to mean that she knew &quot;Elmindreda&quot; was Min. How long had the woman known? How long had Min been walking around thinking herself hidden while Elaida watched and smirked at her for a fool? It was a shivery thought.&#8221;<br /><br />If Elaida knew this for so long, one can assume that her &quot;buddy&quot; Alviarin knew as well and would be interested in asking Sahra what she learned about this Elmindreda; exactly as the killer does: <br />&#8220;Just before you left the Tower, you took a woman to the Amyrlin Seat. A woman calling herself Elmindreda. [&#8230;] Tell me everything that you heard or saw, girl, from the moment you took the woman in charge. Everything.&#8221;<br /><br /><b> III. Conclusion: Most likely Alviarin </b><br /><br />All this shows that Alviarin had a good reason to question Sahra and several clues point to her as the most likely killer.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-23 05:31:01
subject: Here's a nice little theory...
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<p>So, dragons don't exist, that much is pretty well documented. It's a mythical creature... but let's have a look at the Old Tongue.<br /><br />From the Old Tongue dictionary:<br /><br /><i>der</i> = (adj.) master /or/ experienced <br /><br />eg. <i>der'morat'torm</i> or <i>der'sul'dam</i><br /><br />and...<br /><br /><i>raken</i>- flying creature capable of taking two riders.<br /><br />I'd dispute the translation of '<i>der</i>' and replace it with an ajective along the lines of 'great'.<br /><br />Putting the two together a <i>der'raken</i> would be a 'great lizard'. From the Guide, we know that a to'raken can carry 1000 pounds in weight for a distance of 200 miles per day. This indicates something very large, so a <i>der'raken</i> would have to be even larger than that still.<br /><br />So, Jordan says that dragons don't exist... well neither do <i>der'raken</i>. It's simply a construct word that describes something nobody has ever seen. Similar to <i>dinosaur</i>, in actual fact, which means 'monstrous lizard' in Greek. Do they breath fire? No. Are they necessarily flyers? No. Does this fit in with the explanation of dinosaurs being in WoT? Absolutely! <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /> Does this tally with there being no such creature as a Dragon as we might have described it? Yes, I'm sure it does. <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/smile.gif" border="0" /><br /><br />Thus <i>der'raken</i> is simply a word used to discribe any such giant lizard - flying or otherwise - just as teradactyl are only a type of dinosaur. Furthermore, this might also explain the lack of consistency with Dragons in our own mythology. Some can fly, some cannot, and some don't even have legs. Applying this definition to all Dragons makes complete sense.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-24 06:23:47
subject: Demandred Unmasked: The Jordandred Theory
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<p>Who is Demandred? This is one of the great Questions of the Ages, or at least of the Third Age. Now, with KoD's release date drawing ever-closer, I figure I'd better write up my idea before it's too late and his true identity is flat-out revealed:<br /><br /><b>What We Know: Demandred</b><br /><br />Sammael thinks in LoC, &quot;Threads Woven of Shadow,&quot; that &quot;events to the South had Demandred's mark all over them,&quot; and that &quot;Demandred had always liked using proxies.&quot; He is also quite sure that he does not want &quot;him or his <i>friends</i> interfering with {Sammael's} plans.&quot; Assumedly friends means proxies.<br /><br />We know Demandred likes to use proxies, again through Sammael, from that same paragraph in &quot;Threads Woven of Shadow:&quot; &quot;Demandred had always liked using proxies.&quot;<br /><br />We learn from Graendal in the meeting of the Forsaken in WH, &quot;Wonderful News,&quot; that Demandred is &quot;hoping to blunder into {al'Thor}... hoping someone will find him&quot; (Someone meaning one of his proxies).<br /><br />It's a pretty sure thing that Demandred really likes the DO. From LoC, &quot;The First Message:&quot; &quot;THEN LISTEN AND SERVE {said the DO}... Tears of joy rolled down { Demandred's } face.&quot;<br /><br />Lastly, we know from a comment at a book signing that Demandred's alter ego has not yet been seen.<br /><br /><b>What We can Safely Suppose</b><br /><br />&lt;pirate talk&gt;We can suppose nothin'. These be dangerous waters, matey. Yarr.&lt;/pirate talk&gt;<br /><br /><b>Where you have to Suspend Disbelief... and Logic</b><br /><br />Robert Jordan is Demandred. Don't hit &quot;back&quot; just yet; take a deep breath, and read on, for there's some substance to this.<br /><br /><b>The Evidence:</b><br /><br />Demandred is somewhere in the South. Robert Jordan lives in Charleston, South Carolina, in the southern United States. No one can argue that that's not the South.<br /><br />Events have Demandred's mark all over them. Indeed. RJ, being the author, has left his marks all over the World of WoT; indeed, without them, there would <i>be</i> no WoT.<br /><br />Sammael didn't want Demandred or his friends interfering with his plans. We know that RJ uses foreshadowing all the time; the books are dripping with it (What? Only because I left them out in the rain?). This could indeed be foreshadowing: Jordan will indeed leave Sammael's thread alone, for he'll be killed off, and that will be that. Sammael, of course, got what he wished for, due to one of Jordandred's many proxies.<br /><br />Demandred likes to use proxies. Jordan is the author; everyone is his proxy. He's even admitted that he makes up the story, and the characters have no will, no life of their own (as opposed to, say, the characters of Ray Bradbury, who says that they tell him their story, and that he just puts it to paper). Sounds like Demandred's typical mode of operating to me.<br /><br />Demandred is hoping his proxies will be the ones to deal with Rand, perhaps out of a desire to keep safe himself. So is Jordan; it's his characters who are after Rand, not the man himself (i.e., he's not stalking somebody in WoT). With regards to the second bit, a desire to avoid close contact, he has admitted in two separate QotWs that if he had to go to the world of his own creation, he'd bring a rifle and as much ammo as he could carry, and if he ever saw one of his own characters in our world he'd try to slip away; sounds like(forceful) avoidance, the best way to keep safe from someone who has good reason to hurt you.<br /><br />Demandred really likes the DO. Jordan really likes his wife; he's dedicated eight WoT books to her. Now, it is generally acknowledged that Jordan is the Creator, and that the DO is the counterbalance to the Creator. Harriet, being RJ's wife, is his counterbalance in an identical sense (think stereotypical &quot;old married couple&quot; here) and, as an editor, has as much control over what goes on as the character she surely then plays, the DO.<br /><br />We haven't seen Demandred's alter ego yet. So we haven't. RJ is a pseudonym, and not Demandred's alter ego's real name. As James Oliver Rigney, Junior has yet to appear on a WoT cover as the author, and as we all know the man as RJ, we haven't yet seen the alter ego.<br /><br />Even the trivial details match; Demandred was a soldier, and RJ served in Vietnam. The list goes on and on, my friends... Jordan. Demandred. Demandred. Jordan. Jordandred. It all makes sense...<br /><br /><b>In Conclusion:</b> <br /><br />Demandred's alter ego is Robert Jordan. And on a semi-related note, Harriet is the DO.<br /><br />If you've just skipped to this point to see what the main idea of the theory was, shame on you! Now go back and do it right. Otherwise, all comments welcome; thanks for reading.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-26 08:52:58
subject: Lanfear then and now
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<p>Most people will agree that Lanfear is Cyndane now. However the reduction in power has not been explained very well.<br /><br />There are some very odd things about the scenerio which I wanted to point out. <br /><br />1 If Lanfear died in the Finn world we have not been given a POV where there is reflection of both the death state or the new flesh. Our other reborn Forsaken have spoken of the dreamlike state and nightmares as well as gratitude for new flesh (well some are grateful)<br /><br />2 When reborn there was no reduction in the power in fact in Halima's case its still the male half that she controls. We understand that its the soul of the channeler that has the most to do ability.<br /><br />3 Her own reference is to the fact that she was held by the Finn. No mention of death is made.<br /><br />4 There is some indication that Asmo would not be reborn not because he had been BF'd but because of betrayal. If Asmo was a traitor and deserved final death would not Lanfear who put him there be just as unworthy of rebirth?<br /><br />So this to me means that Lanfear was not reborn at all. She more than likely escaped from the Finns. Speculating on how she escaped Im thinking she did it via TAR or something like the Portal Stones. She seems to be well versed in moving between worlds as she follows or takes Rand through the Portal Stones. She claims to know TAR like none else either and we know TAR to be accessible from most anywhere. <br /><br />I believe that the reduction in power is a direct result of how she escaped the Finn. We are told that entering TAR in the flesh can be dangerous and something of oneself is lost there. Could it be that Lanfear lost part of her soul in escaping the Finn through TAR and as such is weaker in the power now ?<br /><br />Just my thoughts I welcome your comments<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-05-27 21:53:54
subject: How saidin and saidar complement one another
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<p>It is well known that many of the great feats in the Age of Legends required the use of both saidin and saidar ...<br /><br />Guide (The Wheel and the Power) &#8230; <i>&#8220;men and women used the complimentary and conflicting halves of the Power to perform feats that neither could accomplish separately&#8230;&#8221;</i><br /><br />It is a common assumption that saidin and saidar each have unique characteristics but that this unique element also provides limits. When the two halves of the Power are combined then these limits are stretched , allowing greater feats to be performed.<br /><br />I believe this to be an incorrect assumption. It is important to remember that both are part of the One Power &#8211; so while they are very different they are also the same. Some differences are also present in the way in which the two are woven e.g. men can absorb fire into them , whereas women must smother fires.<br /><br />Asmodean gives us a lesson regarding the Power &#8230;<br /><br />TFOH (Pale Shadows) &#8230; <i>&#8220;They are equal , true , and it is also true that what a man can do with one , a woman can also. In kind , at least.&#8221;</i><br /><br />Therefore when a man wants to light a lamp he uses a Fire weave. When a woman wants to do the same she also uses a Fire weave. They are certainly woven in a different way , but they are also essentially the same. The inevitable question is what advantage could be gained by mixing the two halves to perform these greater deeds. Does mixing saidin Fire and saidar Fire provide any advantage at all? I believe the answer is no. In fact , I believe that there is no actual advantage in combining the Powers from a Power dynamics perspective.<br /><br /><b><u>The Combination</u></b><br /><br />The reason why saidin and saidar were combined was because they were equal and opposite. Considering they are both the One Power , they could work together to perform a task. However , being opposite as well ,  prevented them from mixing. This is the crux of the theory.<br /><br />Due to the fact that saidin and saidar repel one another and cannot mix , the one half can be used to mould and form weaves of the complementary half. In even more simple terms , if saidar is required as the desired key to performing a feat , then saidin is used to contain the saidar and create the appropriate complexities and structure required to make the weave work. You cannot contain saidar with saidar &#8211; the two mix and cannot be kept apart. You need an opposite &#8230; and saidin is that opposite. This is why the two can perform great feats. If saidar is the river , then saidin is used to form the river bank and create millions of small tributaries by giving the saidar direction. If you used water for the river bank , the river would be pretty useless as it would run everywhere and lead to chaos.<br /><br />If we look at Rand at the cleansing of saidin &#8230;<br /><br />(WH &#8211; With the Choedan Kal) <i>&#8220;The conduit had to be of untainted saidar &#8230; Saidin and saidar , like and unlike could not mix. The flow of saidin squeezed in on itself , away from the surrounding saidar , and the saidar pushed from all sides &#8230;&#8221;</i><br /><br />Rand even explains how the two are similar. The two cannot mix and that is the important part. Notice how saidin was repelled by the saidar conduit. A saidin conduit would have mixed with the saidin flowing to Shadar Logoth.<br /><br />More proof can be seen in other chapters. If we look at how the callbox works &#8230;<br /><br />ACoS (Patterns within Patterns) -<i>&#8220;And there are places where the flows &#8230; twist &#8230; around something that is not there.&#8221; Her forehead furrowed. &#8220;It must be drawing the male part , as well.&#8221;</i><br /><br />Someryn channeled into the callbox (using saidar). In order for the callbox to create the necessary complexities required for it to work , it drew saidin too. The saidin twisted the saidar as seen above and allowed it to perform a function which solitary saidar would have failed in doing.<br /><br />Another example is the Bowl of the Winds &#8230;<br /><br />TPoD (The Breaking Storm) - <i>Suddenly , she realized something else. That ever-changing lacework of saidar had bent itself around something else , something unseen that made the column solid. She swallowed hard. The Bowl was drawing saidin as well as saidar.&#8221;</i><br /><br />Once again a large circle was used to power the ter&#8217;angreal using saidar. The Bowl needed saidin to create the required weave structure. You can see once again how the saidar is contained and bent by the saidin.<br /><br /><b><u>Summary</u></b><br /><br />1. The One Power has two halves which are equal. Combining them has nothing to do with added an advantage due to their properties , but rather because they repel one another.<br /><br />2. The fact that they repel one another allows the one half to contain the other half without mixing. The ter&#8217;angreal can therefore create complexities which are impossible when using one half alone.<br /><br /><b><u>Implications</u></b><br /><br />a. If a ter&#8217;angreal uses both saidin and saidar then it can probably be used with either saidin or saidar as the activator. It will draw the other half to contain the activating Power.<br /><br />b. Therefore if Rand used the Bowl of the Winds , then a saidin pillar would form. Saidar would be drawn by the Bowl and he would see the same convolutions which Elayne saw.<br /><br />c. The Cleansing was impossible without saidar (obvious as it may seem).<br /><br />d. The giant Ash&#8217;aman-Aes Sedai circles of 72 won&#8217;t have a special advantage regarding Power dynamics. Their strength lies in the fact that they have the combined strength of 72 channelers which implies incredible strength , and also because those who face them will only be able to see one of the two halves (depending on whether it is a male or female)<br /><br />e. Saidin and saidar were probably used in the AOL for the following reasons &#8230;<br /> <br />I.	when using a ter&#8217;angreal which could make the super-intricate network of Power runnels which fulfilled a great task <br />II.	when a male Aes Sedai linked with a female (or vice-versa) for the sole purpose of using her saidar as a containment system to drive his saidin weave into greater complexities. This would obviously require very great dexterity from the leader of the circle in most cases. This was the case at the cleansing of saidin &#8211; although the weave in this case was relatively simple.<br />III.	When they needed a great quantity of the One Power &#8211; in which case the circle&#8217;s only role was to provide strength. This is the case in the Little Tower &#8211; Black Tower alliance (or future alliance rather)<br /><br />Comments welcome.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-04 04:09:44
subject: Padan Fain and the Machin Shin
body:
<p>In this theory I hope to explain the reaction between the Machin Shin and Padan Fain when the two met in the Ways. This is something often touched upon, I think, but never properly and wholly explained.<br /><br />To start I would highly recommend that you first read &#8216;Padan Fain, Mordeth and the Mashadar&#8217; ~ Foxhead, where the Dark One&#8217;s touch upon the Fain&#8217;s soul is explained in detail. For a person to understand or be able to go along with the following theory requires this explanation to be somewhat accepted. If you have not read this theory or you&#8217;re too lazy to bother <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/rolleyes.gif" border="0" /> I&#8217;ll break it down for you:<br /><br /><b>So everything that Fain knew of these people was removed from him and so to make the concentration greater, &lt;something&gt; was removed from him so that the withdrawn essence could be re-inserted and as such have a greater effect. I believe this &lt;something&gt; to be a part of Fain&#8217;s soul and as more and more of the three ta&#8217;averen&#8217;s essence was being poured back into him, Fain soul was becoming more diminished<br /> <br />I believe that when the Dark One was reforging his soul that some of his taint fed off onto it. I don&#8217;t believe it possible for a thing of such pervasion not to be able to taint something that it touches. When the Dark One touched the world, in both the AoL and now, there were massive repercussions (destruction of Sharom and the weather) and I think there was a similar side effect on Fain&#8217;s soul<br /><br />In conclusion to Fain remaking:<br />Fain&#8217;s soul was slowly lessened to hold the essence of the ta&#8217;averen<br />As it was being remade it was becoming twisted and warped by the Dark One&#8217;s touch, this shows in Moiraine&#8217;s feeling of uncleanness after being near him/examining him </b><br /><br />Sorted? I&#8217;ll resume&#8230;<br /><br />The Machin Shin, a creature of the Ways that consumes the souls of the unfortunate travellers of it&#8217;s domain. The Machin Shin appears to howl with the voices of people, most probably the people of who&#8217;s souls it has consumed:<br /><br />EoTW, Tellings of the Wheel<br /><i>&#8221;The Black Wind caught him- and he claimed to understand the voices. Some greeted him as like to them; other feared him. No sooner than the wind enveloped Fain than it fled&#8221;</i><br /><br />Now the voices that greeted him no doubt recognised the Dark One&#8217;s touch upon his soul, as it&#8217;s generally agreed that the Black Wind is a result of the taint on <i>saidin</i>. The voices that feared him probably recognised the mark of Mordeth upon and we have seen countless times throughout the series of Fain being an anathema to the Dark One, the Shadow and the True Power. So the Mordeth part of Fain repulsed the Black Wind as it was untouchable by it, in the same way that the overlapping wounds on Rand repel each other , even as they fight each other. <br /><br />However the part of Fain&#8217;s soul touched by the Dark One is VERY much accessible by the Black Wind, created perhaps by the taint on <i>saidin</i> and even though it shows all the characteristics of being of an opposite to Fain&#8217;s Power, it has no loyalty (that we have seen) to Shadow and is as accepting Trolloc flesh as it is of any other:<br /><br />TSR, Within the Ways<br /><i>the Trollocs beat at the blackness boiling around them, till only one hairy hand remained</i><br /><br />As we can see the Machin Shin has no qualms of consuming any souls touched by the Shadow and Fain, partly, is no exception. When the Machin Shin consumes a soul, I believe it absorbs it&#8217;s qualities, a result of this is the voices it seems to carry around it&#8217;s &#8216;person&#8217;. Thus when it briefly came into contact with Fain&#8217;s (Dark One touched part) soul, it absorbed Fain&#8217;s ability to track the <i>ta&#8217;veren</i>, not only Rand, which we can see most prominently, but also Perrin and Mat. This is why and how the Machin Shin is able to track Rand.<br /><br />Following this thought, it is HIGHLY plausible that Fain has the Machin Shin to thank, at least in part perhaps, from his freedom from the Shadow. I think that the Black Wind not only absorbed Fain&#8217;s ability to sense the <i>ta&#8217;veren</i>, but also his need to find them. After Fain&#8217;s merger with Mordeth he still shows his need to follow the three boys, surely if the merger destroyed the Shadow&#8217;s hold on him, this would not be necessary:<br /><br />EoTW, More Tales of the Wheel:<br /><i>&#8220;Fain believed he was free at last. He intended to run until Ba&#8217;alzamon never found him again, to the end of the earth if necessary. Imagine his horror when he discovered that the compulsion to hunt did not lessen. Instead it grew stronger&#8221;</i><br /><br />So, unless it was only as Mordeth&#8217;s hold on Fain&#8217;s soul grew stronger, then the hold of Shadow lessened (which is highly probable) then I think we can contribute quite a bit to the Black Wind&#8217;s help to Fain escaping the Dark One. Indeed after his encounter with Machin Shin Fain appears to be more at rest in his hunt for the boys, whether it was because he was in close proximity to them or whether it was because the Machin Shin had in fact taken removed the part of Fain&#8217;s soul that hunted the boys is open to speculation:<br /><br />EoTW, More Tales of the Wheel<br /><i>&#8220;Here in the cells below, he would sometimes look up without realising what he was doing. He was looking in the direction of this room&#8221;</i><br /><br />It seems that Fain was left though with the ability to sense the three <i>ta&#8217;veren</i>, as Moiraine said, &#8216;No sooner than the wind enveloped Fain than it fled&#8217;, so the consumption of Fain&#8217;s soul was very brief, but luckily for Fain took the part of Fain&#8217;s soul that he would most rather not have, whether it was luck or perhaps the Wind&#8217;s attraction to something as similar as itself, a pure form of the True Power or taint or whatever is unknown.<br /><br />Now, we know that of the three, Fain hates Rand the most and as I said the Machin Shin seems to absorb qualities or aspects of people, it has taken this along with the sense and the need to find the three:<br /><br />TGH, A Message From The Dark<br /><i>And worst of all, a whispering thread through all the rest </i> <b>Al&#8217;Thor. Al&#8217;Thor. Al&#8217;Thor.</b><br /><br />Fain always refers to Rand as Al&#8217;Thor and this is just another example of how Fain has been absorbed by the Black Wind:<br /><br />LoC, Letters<br /><i>It was all</i> <b>Al&#8217;Thor&#8217;s </b><i>fault</i><br /><br />TGH, Glimmers of the Pattern<br /><i>&#8220;Come to me</i> <b>Al&#8217;Thor&#8221;</b><br /><br />TSR. Assurances<br /><i>He would have known if it was</i> <b>Al&#8217;Thor</b><br /><br />TfoH, Memories<br /><i>His longing for</i> <b>Al&#8217;Thor&#8217;s</b> <i>death</i><br /><br />Surely this would be sufficient evidence to show that the portion of Fain&#8217;s soul that was controlling Fain was consumed by the Machin Shin, but the need is quite clearly there, as well as Fain&#8217;s hate for him:<br /><br />TGH, Message from the Dark<br /><i>Only it was flowing into the night and the Machin Shin was calling his name</i><br /><br />The need that Fain was showed, pushes the Black Wind to do what it should not be able to do or perhaps the extra strength gained from Fain&#8217;s Dark-One-touched-soul gave it ability to leave the Ways, in some way. Then it is there again at Stedding Tsofu, it had sensed him and the need drove it to be there when the waygate was opened. Now the reason I said it also sensed the other two is that it corresponded with Fain&#8217;s talents before the two met, he was/is able to sense Mat and Perrin. Whether it only consumed the need (which may not have been honed to the three boys, but was just &lt;there&gt;<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" /> and Rand&#8217;s &#8216;scent&#8217; before fleeing Rand or whether it did catch Mat&#8217;s and Perrin&#8217;s &#8216;scent&#8217;, again is unknown. However when Perrin did use the Ways the Machin Shin found him, eventually, perhaps because it was torn between finding Rand (which going off Fain would be more hated) which was the greater &#8216;evil&#8217; in the Machin Shin&#8217;s eyes and finding Perrin, which while was in the Ways wasn&#8217;t his most hated prey.<br /><br />So, in conclusion:<br /><br />1. The Machin Shin made the initial, if not total, severing of Fain&#8217;s tie to the boys<br />2. This caused it to take on some of Fain&#8217;s qualities<br /><br />How this might have some affect for the future&#8230;I have absolutely no idea, but I just wanted to clear THAT up <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-04 09:48:51
subject: Weakening of the Seals
body:
<p>In this theory I hope to explain why the seals of the Dark One&#8217;s prison slowly deteriorate despite the fact that cuendillar is indestructible. Just to say that this theory will not be relying to heavily on quotes, instead using logic (however skewed, it may be) and well known facts, that need little proof. Enjoy&#8230;<br /><br /><b> The Taint </b><br /><br />The taint was placed on <i>saidin</i> the moment the seals were positioned to shut the Dark One out of the world once more. At the instant the seals were in place, <i>saidin</i> became briefly accessible to the Dark One and he touched it. We know from experience that when the Dark One touches things bad things happen. In my theory of &#8216;Padan Fain, Mordeth and the Mashadar&#8217; that creature of the Dark One&#8217;s perverse nature cannot touch something without somehow degrading it or spoiling, or in this case tainting it. To cap it, I think that being touched by the Dark One is being open to the True Power, I think the taint on <i>saidin</i> was made from pure True Power. The effects of the taint on male channellers correlate in some ways to channelling the True Power itself.<br /><br />Men used to go mad when channelling the <i>saidin</i>, this much we know and it has been theorised that this was, because the taint destroyed the barriers between lives, when you hear the voices in your head, (such as Lews Therin for Rand) you are in fact hearing the voice of your soul in another life. Now I believe that when a person channels the True Power, they are in fact using a diluted, filtered version. Perhaps, because the Dark One has allowed it and so makes precautions for his followers, afterall it wouldn't be too clever to reward his most loyal and favoured disciple by make him mad, however a little sting on it is certainly reminisce of the Dark One. In contrast the taint on <i>saidin</i> was the True Power in it&#8217;s purest form. <br /><br />It is largely accepted between ourselves and the other Forsaken that Ishamael was mad, there is no reason for him to have been mad, the only differences between himself and the other Forsaken was that he channelled and that he wasn&#8217;t properly sealed in the Bore. Reject that the his escape of the Bore is not the reason for his madness, afterall why should it be, then his madness must blamed on the True Power. We know he constantly used the True Power, however the difference between his madness and the channellers that went mad was that his took several thousand years to develop, whereas the taint can overcome a man in mere months, if he is unlucky. This I think corresponds with the True Power channelled by the Forsaken is diluted compared to the taint.<br /><br /><b> Weakening the Seals </b><br /><br />I think that the weakening of the seals can be attributed to the Dark One touching them. One of the more popular theories is that the Dark One drew the One Power from the seals, which in turn weakened them. I also think that the seals have been weakening as soon as the seals were placed to imprison the Dark One. However, similarly with the taint on <i>saidin</i> I think that when the Dark One touched the seals he was in fact pouring the True Power into them. We know that the True Power has many corruptive and destroying powers:<br /><br />If we are to believe previous theories, it destroys the barriers between lives<br /><br />If you believe my first theory on Fain, then the Dark One&#8217;s touch (True Power) corrupts/degreades souls<br /><br />It destroyed Ishamael&#8217;s eyes and in most likelihood his mind<br /><br />As such it isn&#8217;t too hard to see how the True Power could somehow corrode the One Power in cuendillar. We know from Rand&#8217;s never-healing-wound that the True Power seems to resist the One Power and it was only through some unknown Healing by Nyneave that the True Power wound didn&#8217;t finish Rand off. As the True Power stems from the Dark One it would have feel of evil about it, this is only natural, and so as the Dark One is actively touching and weakening the seals, the True Power is at that time in the seals. This would exlpain the feeling of evil when she touched it:<br /><br />&#8220;It (the Seal) was whole when we put it in the purse&#8221; said Nynaeve in TFOH, To Teach and To Learn. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t look at it,&#8221; Elayne said breathlessly, &#8220;or touch it more than we had to. It felt filthy, evil.&#8221; It no longer did.&#8221; TFOH, To Teach and To Learn.<br /><br />So when the seal was near to breaking it would be filled with the maximum amount of the True Power and the Dark One would be touching more, then when the seal broke the Dark One stopped touching the seal and pouring True Power into it and so the evil feeling left.<br /><br />The question of course is why would have it taken so long for the seals to weaken. Well consider this quote:<br /><br />BWB<br />&#8216;It was as if with every step forward by the Shadow, disorder and chaos grew, so that it&#8217;s next after would be longer still&#8217;<br /><br />I think this applies similarly with the seals. At first the Dark One could only manage to put a little amount of True Power into the seal, but as more and more was put in, the easier it became to put more into the seal. In this way the seal weakened at an exponential rate. This explains how the seals suddenly have become so fragile, at first it took a long time for the Dark One to get even the smallest amount of <i>saidin</i> into the seal, but then as time went by, until it&#8217;s now (999NE/1000NE) the seal are weakening at a disastrous rate.<br /><br />In conclusion:<br /><br />The taint on <i>saidin</i> was made by pure True Power from the Dark One&#8217;s touch on <i>saidin</i> on the instant that it became accessible by him. This is supported by the fact that only <i>saidin</i> was used at the &#8216;Strike at Shayol Ghul&#8217;, even if the seals were made by both men and women. <br /><br />The seals weakened, because the Dark One was touching the seals and as such was pouring the True Power into them. It isn&#8217;t because of the taint on <i>saidin</i> as the seals were made by both men and women.<br /><br />This shows that Rand cannot just make more seals to imprison the Dark One as he could just as easily repeat what he did with the previous seals. In effect he needs to find a new way to imprison the Dark One, probably without the aid of the Creator who we have we seen does not interfere. We know that this needs to happen for the continuity of the Wheel of Time, events must repeat themselves in some loose way and so the Dark One needs to be properly re-imprisoned.  <br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-14 05:25:54
subject: Slayer's Patron
body:
<p>Slayer is one of the most mysterious characters in Randland.  This theory will attempt to figure out who Slayer is working for in Winter&#8217;s Heart (ch. 22, Out of Thin Air).  Many clues have been given to us by this scene.  All quotes from this theory are found on pp. 448 - 449 unless cited otherwise.<br /> <br />First, we get Slayer&#8217;s own thoughts on what&#8217;s happening in this scene:<br /><br />1. &#8220;No, this man had done something with the Power, so Luc&#8217;s eyes slid away from him like water sliding down glass.&#8221;<br /><br />2. &#8220;A man, he was sure of that much, but Luc could not look at him.&#8221;<br /><br />3. &#8220;The man had to be one of the Chosen.&#8221;<br /><br />4.  &#8220;His services were always begged, except by the Great Lord himself, and more recently by the Chosen, but none of the Chosen Luc had met had ever taken such precautions as this.&#8221;<br /><br />5. &#8220;&#8230;but the man was already making a gateway, a hole that opened into a snowy forest glade.&#8221;<br /><br />6. &#8220;He had rather looked forward to killing his nephew and the wench.  He became Isam.&#8221;<br /><br />Rand is indeed the target of this operation, as Slayer was thinking as Luc when he spoke of killing his nephew.  That must be an attack on Rand and Min, not Lan and Nynaeve, as Isam is Lan&#8217;s cousin while Luc is Rand&#8217;s Uncle.  From this, we also know that Slayer assumes he is dealing with a Male Forsaken, and indeed someone who can channel, as per the gateway.  We have not seen any non-channelers enter Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod in the flesh yet, and I think it can be safely assumed that this person is there in the flesh.  It can be assumed that he has met with this person before, and therefore would have clues that would point to this person being male and having channeled in his presence before.  <br /><br />Our list of suspects must include all living male Forsaken: Moridin, Demandred, Osan&#8217;gar.  Aran&#8217;gar may be included because she does channel saidin.  Additionally, Mazrim Taim and the renegade Asha&#8217;man can be added to the list. Some of these characters can be eliminated by Slayer&#8217;s own thoughts, namely, the Asha&#8217;man and Taim.  <br /><br />&#8220;Few save the Chosen knew how to reach him, and none of the men among those few could channel, or would have dared trying to command him.&#8221;<br /><br />Slayer assumes that this person is a Chosen, simply by process of elimination.  He knows the people who know how to reach him, and none among them are channeling males unless they&#8217;re Chosen.  Unless Taim has been made a chosen in this age (of which there doesn&#8217;t seem to be any proof), he should not be allowed to make use of Slayer&#8217;s services, or even know how to come in contact with him.  Additionally, we have never seen Taim mention or hear anything about Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod in the series, so perhaps he doesn&#8217;t know of it. Additionally, this character must know where Rand and Min are staying.  Slayer jumps directly from Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod to their room, and doesn&#8217;t spend any time looking around.  This means that Slayer&#8217;s Master likely must have been told where Rand was staying, since all remaining suspects would not likely have ventured out to Far Madding themselves.  It is also possible that Slayer found Rand on his own, but I think that it is unlikely that this would happen.  Remember that Slayer&#8217;s services are begged by Forsaken, he obviously has a choice whether or not to take on the assignment.  Slayer&#8217;s Master would likely have known this, and taken every precaution to make sure that Slayer would accept the job, and I think this includes doing some spying on their own.  Since Aran&#8217;gar is currently preoccupied with Egwene and the Rebel Aes Sedai, she can be eliminated.  <br /><br />Earlier in the chapter, we get a PoV from Raefar Kisman, one of the Renegade Asha&#8217;man, and also a Darkfriend.  He remembers his orders to kill Rand coming from three separate sources: Taim, Moridin, and Demandred.  Taim and Demandred want Rand killed, however Moridin has different instructions.<br /><br />WH, pg. 442 &#8220;And later still, Moridin had said, &#8216;Kill him if you must, but above all, bring everything in his possession to me.  That will redeem your previous transgressions.&#8217;&#8221;<br /><br />It would seem as though Moridin could be safely eliminated because he didn&#8217;t necessarily want Rand dead, however he cannot be eliminated on these grounds.  I think that Kisman&#8217;s previous transgression was not killing Rand in the explosion at Cairhien.  Therefore, he wanted Rand dead, but wants to make sure that he gets the Choeden Kal away from Rand even more.  Moridin must be considered a primary suspect.  <br /><br />However, the major point that proves that Moridin cannot be the killer is that Slayer&#8217;s patron has been trying to keep his involvement with the assassin secret.  He has adapted his disguise and additionally asks Slayer not to tell anyone of their meeting.  Moridin is the Nae&#8217;blis, and answers only to the Dark One, there is no reason for him to keep secret his identity. If Demandred and Osan&#8217;gar had ordered Slayer to kill Rand, they would be directly opposing the orders of Moridin.  <br /><br />One of the biggest pieces of evidence we have not yet looked at is the gateway.  It opens onto a &#8220;snowy forest glade,&#8221; which gives us some sort of suggestion of place.  Moridin seems to be basing himself from Shayol Ghul, where it is very cold and possibly snowy, however, no mention of Forests has ever been associated with the Blight and Shayol Ghul.  We have no idea where Demandred is, however most credible theories put him in Seanchan, with the Whitecloaks, and/or with the Prophet.  The Prophet is chasing after the Aiel with Perrin, and they are tramping through a snowy forest at the time.  Seanchan was visited by Rand and Aviendha, and Aviendha&#8217;s gateway opened onto a snowy forested area.  We know that the Whitecloaks were marching North of Amador the last time we saw them, and directly north of Amador is the Mountains of Mist, bordered by a forest.  We don&#8217;t know where Osan&#8217;gar is at the time, as Kisman points out that Dashiva has disappeared, however the most likely places where he would be are at the Black Tower or on his way to Far Madding.  Putting this information together, I believe that it is possible to eliminate Moridin as the patron.  <br /> <br />This leaves only two suspects left: Demandred and Osan&#8217;gar.	<br /><br />One more point needs to be discussed before I go any farther, and that is how Slayer hunts.  We really have very little knowledge of how this man uses Tel&#8217;Aran&#8217;Rhiod.  It is possible that he uses the need based searching method used by Egwene and company, or he could be forced to find his prey in the waking world before making his move through Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod.  I think that Slayer is forced to use the second method, for one simple reason.  Slayer did not successfully kill Rand.  Indeed, if Slayer used need based searching to find Rand through Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod, then wouldn&#8217;t he have been able to find him?  He instead ends up killing a balding man and a grey-haired woman.  This points to him knowing the location of Rand, instead he knows where Rand was supposed to be. Sure, sometimes things move around in Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod, but people in general, and especially Rand are all mobile things, moving about all the time.  They would be very difficult in the least to find.  Additionally, thus far, need searching has only been used to find things that are existing in Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod as well as in the waking world.  Rand would not have been in Tel&#8217;aran&#8217;rhiod, so how can you search for something that isn&#8217;t there?  Slayer has a contract to kill Rand, however is this necessarily a need?  I think it is more of a want than a need, since there doesn&#8217;t seem to be any specific danger or repercussion to him not being able to complete his end of the bargain.  If this is true, then Slayer cannot need search for someone unless his own life is in danger, making his want into a need.  Slayer must then know the place where his ambush is to take place, as we know that he goes directly into Rand&#8217;s old room in Far Madding.    <br /><br />I believe there is evidence that Osan&#8217;gar (Dashiva) has not yet arrived in Far Madding, and therefore would not know where Rand was staying, specifically where his room was.  Kisman reveals their plans:<br /><br />WH pg 447 &#8220;They were supposed to wait until everyone had arrived, slipping into the city one by one to avoid notice.&#8221;<br /><br />WH pg 447 &#8220; &#8216;Kill him,&#8217; the M&#8217;Hael had ordered before sending them into Cairhien, but he was as displeased that they had been found out as that they had failed.  Far Madding was to be their last chance; he had made that much plain as polished brass.  Dashiva had simply vanished.  Kisman did not know whether he had run or the M&#8217;Hael had killed him, and he did not care.&#8221;<br /><br />If Dashiva hasn&#8217;t arrived in the city yet, there would be no way for him to know the exact room that Rand was staying in.  Kisman mentions that he has only met two of the chosen, Demandred and Moridin.  Not Osan&#8217;gar.  Since Osan&#8217;gar has no way of learning the direct whereabouts of Rand&#8217;s room, I think that he is on the brink of elimination as a suspect.  It is possible that he was able to find out this information on his own searching however.  Slayer could have reported this information back to him after a scouting trip, so we need another piece of information.  <br /><br />For this, I&#8217;ll look at Osan&#8217;gar&#8217;s own thoughts at the cleansing:<br /><br />WH pg 646 &#8220;Worse, if al&#8217;Thor succeeded, the Great Lord might decide to kill both of them [Moridin and Rand] and Osan&#8217;gar as well.  He did not care whether they died, but he did very much about himself.&#8221;<br /> <br />Osan&#8217;gar says that he doesn&#8217;t necessarily care about Rand dying, and the actions of the patron would clearly suggest that the patron wants Rand dead.  Therefore, I believe that Osan&#8217;gar can be eliminated from our list of suspects, leaving Demandred as the only plausible suspect remaining.    Demandred doesn&#8217;t necessarily seem to be the intuitively correct suspect however.  Demandred is hoping at the end of Winter&#8217;s Heart that he can be the one to kill Rand, and indeed seems intent on proving that he can defeat Rand himself.  Why then, would he use Slayer as a proxy killer?  Demandred likes to use proxies to keep himself out of trouble.  It&#8217;s his favorite strategy for conquering nations, which is part of the reason why we still don&#8217;t have any clue where he is hiding.  We know this from many quotes by the Forsaken.  However, using Slayer to kill Rand would prove that Demandred outsmarted Rand, and I think that this would satisfy his need to prove himself better.   During the Cleansing, while Demandred was looking for Rand and is attacked he notes that it isn&#8217;t his position as a general to fight:<br /><br />WH pg 644-645 &#8220;He [Demandred] was a general, a great general, but generals did not have to fight alongside the men they commanded!&#8221;<br /><br />This kind of thought would make it seem as though Demandred is not the patron either, as he seems to want a direct hand in killing Rand, and therefore wouldn&#8217;t use Slayer to do the deed.  Or does this quote say something different?  The BWB says that Demandred was an acclaimed general during the Age of Legends, and says:<br /><br />BWB pg 58 - 59 &#8220;At last he had found an area where he could, if not surpass, at least match Lews Therin.  There is reason to believe that Barid Bel [Demandred] thought himself intellectually far superior to Lews Therin, believing him to be an overcautious fool militarily, while he himself was a gambler, willing to play the odds.  As a result, he was furious when Lews Therin was appointed over him to command the forces opposing the shadow.&#8221;<br /><br />&#8220;Several times he served as the governor over conquered territory, but these periods were short.  Each time he quickly returned to the field, not for any love of war, but because he wanted to be personally responsible Lews Therin&#8217;s defeat and destruction.&#8221;<br /><br />Demandred is trying to out-general Rand, and that involves the ordering of troops and the use of battle tactics.  Slayer is nothing more than another of Demandred&#8217;s soldiers in a battle against Rand.  I think that when Demandred is thinking about how much he wants to kill Rand, he isn&#8217;t saying that it MUST be by his hand, but that he must be responsible for that death.  Using Slayer would make him responsible for Rand&#8217;s death while still allowing him to stay true to his character and take the general&#8217;s path to victory.  <br /><br />In conclusion, Demandred must be the patron of Slayer in Winter&#8217;s Heart.  He is the only candidate that fits for all of the evidence, and the only one who both wants Rand dead, and has a way to know exactly where Rand is staying.  The common problems with this theory are answered by the fact that by having Slayer kill Rand, Demandred is still directly responsible for his death, in the same way that killing him with his own hand would have done. <br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-16 06:06:20
subject: Color and Ta'veren
body:
<p>In my theory &quot;Soul, Identity, and Ta'veren&quot;, I postulated the following in reference to Rand's success in the Last Battle:<br /><br /><font size="-1"><b>&quot;Being friends, having grown up together, Mat and Perrin are two of the few people that Rand has any desire to trust. He will need to trust them, to listen to them. He needs to know of Perrin's experience with wolves. He needs to learn to hold onto his identity even while hearing voices in his head. He needs to know of Mat's memories from dead men. He needs to learn how to keep his own memories separate from any others in his head.<br /><br />He needs to learn how to hold onto his identity, and Mat and Perrin need to help him.&quot;</b></font><br /><br />In response, the following comments were posted on the blackboard:<br /><br /><font size="-1"><b>A very thoughtful theory, as usual<br />Submitted by jofraz     on 5/12/2004 6:34:01 PM<br />You have laid out all the evidence, except for the swirling colors, now forming pictures in Mat`s and Perrin`s vision.<br /><br />Can't say I agree...<br />Submitted by kcf     on 5/18/2004 10:53:18 AM<br />Good theory, but the biggest problem as I see it is that for it to work, the characters would actually have to talk and communicate with each other. From what we have seen over and over again (indeed it is one of RJ's main themes throughout) is that there is no communication going on.<br /><br />Interesting, but no<br />Submitted by Borderland Peasant     on 5/18/2004 4:54:26 PM<br />I agree with kcf. The three never talk to anyone of what's going on inside their heads, on the contrary, they all try very hard to keep it a secret. An interesting idea, but I don't think so.<br /><br />...<br />Submitted by fox     on 4/29/2005 8:18:38 AM<br />perhaps the non-communciation problem will be solved with the swirls. We don't know what they are yet, but perhaps part of thier function is forcing the boys to spill their secrets ie perhaps the swirls will develop far enough that they will be inside each others heads </b></font><br /><br />After going back to the blackboard and rereading these comments, I am prepared to propose what fox suggested above: that the swirling colors are the means by which Mat and Perrin's experiences with identity will be communicated to and be a help for Rand. kcf and Borderland Peasant have shown us the need for an unexpected form of communication, so I will focus on showing that the swirling colors are indeed capable of being a successful medium of communication.<br /><br />There are two main points to be made, but before I do I would like to extend my gratitude towards trippendeavour for providing the following quotes:<br /><br />A Crown of Swords<br />*page numbers are for the hardcover<br /><br />CH 7, Rand, (140): Something flashed in his mind. Not images, just flickers of color and motion. For some reason they made him think of Mat, and Perrin.<br /><br />CH 7, Rand, (144): Faile and Perrin and Mat. Flashes of color, quick motion just out of sight.<br /><br />CH 18, Rand, (327): Colors swirled so strongly in his head that his tongue froze.<br /><br />CH 41, Rand, (63<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/cool.gif" border="0" />: Tossing, Rand dreamed, wild dreams where he argued with Perrin and begged Mat to find Elayne, where colors flashed just beyond sight.<br /><br />Winter's Heart<br />*page numbers are for the hardcover*<br /><br />CH 1 , Perrin, (90): As always of late when he thought of Rand, colors swirled in his head, and as always, he ignored them.<br /><br />CH 6 , Perrin, (166): &quot;The others are men who wouldn't accept Rand as the car'a'carn.&quot; Those cursed colors flashed in his head.<br /><br />CH 11 , Rand, (254): And Mat was not here? Had never been here, apparently. Colors whirled in his head, almost an image he could make out. In a heartbeat it vanished, but he staggered.<br /><br />CH 11 , Rand, (256): Light, where was Mat? Color flashed in his head - for an instant he thought it was Mat's face - and he stumbled.<br /><br />CH 11 , Rand, (274): &quot;I suppose Mat is with Egwene's Army?&quot; Putting a hand to his head, he staggered.<br /><br />CH 12 , Rand, (283): &quot;I suppose Mat can stay there awhile.&quot; For some reason he blinked and touched his forehead.<br /><br />CH 15, Mat, (337): Rand and Perrin probably were lolling in front of a fire in some palace, swilling wine and telling jokes. He grimaced and rubbed at his forehead as a faint rush of colors seemed to swirl inside his head.<br /><br />CH 16, Mat, (34<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/cool.gif" border="0" />: &quot;Rand will deal with them, if the rumors are anything to go by.&quot; Again, those whirling colors spun through his head, almost obliterating the sound of the dice for an instant.<br /><br />CH 16, Mat, (34<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/cool.gif" border="0" />: &quot; 'Wait on Rand.' The colors came once more and vanished. He just had to stop thinking about...About certain people. Again they swirled.<br /><br />CH 18, Mat, (37<img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/cool.gif" border="0" />: Mat tried his best not to think of him, or Perrin, but avoiding those odd swirls of color in his head was difficult when the Dragon Reborn was on everyone's lips.<br /><br />CH 28, Mat, (536): Apparently Rand had not ordered the merchants there to stop trading with Seanchan-held ports, or else the merchants were going behind his back. Colors flashed through Mat's skull, and he shook his head to clear it.<br /><br />CH 29, Mat, (564): Light, if the Black Ajah had gotten that onto Rand's neck, or the Seancha had...Those colors whirled through his head again, and he made himself stop thinking about Rand.<br /><br />CH 29, Mat, (564): He could avoid it as long as he did not think about...The colors swirled again, and he ground his teeth on his pipestem.<br /><br />CH 29, Mat, (565): &quot;I suppose somebody has thought to tell...him?&quot; Colors flashed.<br /><br />Crossroads of Twilight<br />*page numbers are for the paperback*<br /><br />CH 3, Mat, (172): Whenever he thought of Rand or Perrin, colors swirled in his head. A part of being ta'veren, he supposed. This time, he had not thought of either of his friends, but the colors had suddenly been there, a fan of a thousand rainbows. This time, they had almost formed an image, a vague impression that might have been a man and a woman seated on the ground facing one another.<br /><br />CH 6, Perrin, (231): Masema knew Rand had fought the Seanchan! That rainbow burst into his head, and was swept away.<br /><br />CH 7, Perrin, (276): The colors erupted inside Perrin's head, an explosion of hues so strong that sight and hearing vanished. All sight except for the colors themselves, at least. They were a vast tide, as if all the times he had pushed them out of his head had built a dam that they now smashed aside in a silent flood, swirling in soundless whirlpools that tried to suck him under. An image coalesced in the middle of it, Rand and Nynaeve sitting on the ground facing one another, as clear as if they were right in front of him. He had no time for Rand, not now. Not now! Clawing at the colors like a drowning man clawing for the surface, he - forced - them - out!<br /><br />CH 7, Perrin, (277): &quot;It's Rand,&quot; Perrin muttered thickly. He shuddered as the colors tried to return, but he hammered them down.<br /><br /><br /><br />First, it is important to note that the colors are providing more than just a picture of what is happening in the lives of the other ta'veren. It is providing a real connection between their lives. In ACoS chapter 7, we see Rand saying that the colors made him think of Mat and Perrin. He wasn't seeing any images of them, yet he thought of them nonetheless. I don't believe that simply seeing a particular color or group of colors would make him say &quot;Hey, that reminds me of Mat!&quot; Rather, the colors and later images are simply manefestations of connections being made by the Pattern between all three ta'veren.<br /><br />The second point is perhaps simply a deeper explanation of the first. Their lives are becoming intertwined at the thought level.<br /><br />We see this in WH chapter 16 in Mat's comment about the colors and the dice he hears in his head. He sees colors and hears the dice, but the reason the vision of the colors can drown out the sound of the dice is that both are coming from the same source: the weaving of the Pattern.<br /><br />In CoT chapter 7 the colors provide Perrin with a real sense of drowning, requiring him to force them out not with his hands or with his axe, but with his mind. In the same chapter we also see him &quot;hammer[ing] them down&quot;, again forcing them out of his mind.<br /><br />The Pattern is not mearly providing a sensory experience for each of them, but rather weaving their individual threads closer and closer together, thus bringing their minds closer and closer together. It is through this close proximity of their threads that the three ta'veren will learn of their experiences and difficulties with indentity. It is the Pattern's way of providing communication that would not happen otherwise, the Pattern's provision for Rand in preparation for the Last Battle. The Creator will take no part, but the programming he left running will, and does.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-18 04:41:30
subject: The Rock Paper Scissors wheel
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<p>This theory has been kicking around in my head for some time so I figured I'd put it down and see what people think of it. It is fairly involved but bear with me. The crux of it is this we know the wheel to be an ever repeating cycle and we also know that in this world no history survives more than an age or 2. So my basic thought here is that there are a series of forces that act kind of like the Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) game and help to pattern along.<br /><br />Confused? Well lets see if I can put it in a nut shell.<br /><br />Lets start with the comment by RJ that said that channeling was discovered at the end of the age prior (Lets call this the 1st Age using current Rand land refering to itself as being 3rd age) to the Age of Legends (AOL or 2nd Age). At the end of the AOL they discover the Dark Ones prison (DO) and bore into it.<br /><br />Knowing that the wheel is cyclical we can infer that channeling will be an unknown when the First age roles around again and that the DO will be forgotten by that time. <br /><br />Now removing all channeling from known existance such that it is completely forgotten is going to take some doing. Many seem to think that the sealing of the DO prison in this age will some how wipe out channeling. I seriously doubt that primarily due to the nature of channelers with the Spark. I rather think that they are going to have to want to give up channeling. Yet they still have to deal with the sparky people. (Like that term <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/wink.gif" border="0" /> )<br /><br />There is only one way I know of that could remove channeling in the fashion necessary. That is the stedding. Now we know that in AOL male AS fled to Stedding to hold off the taint but they were unsuccessfull as the memory of channeling drew them back. <br /><br />We also know that during the AOL Ogier were far more numerous and stedding most likely more readily availabe. Now here is the good part what there were a way to extend the stedding to the entire planet. My thought is that the Song the Tinkers seek is in some way connected to this thought. Some power in some way connected connected to the Aiel, Ogier and Song is capable of producing a stedding effect beyond the current stedding. <br /><br />However this must be maintained and you know what happens when something is required to be maintained over a long period of time ... it eventually breaks down.<br /><br />So to sum up my RPS effect stedding  begins to fade giving rise to channeling which lead to a new era of growth and prosparity. (Yeah channeling is da bomb) However some are just not satisfied and thus discover the DO. Which ultimately leads to fear of channelers as some turn to the DO. DO gets sealed away again but the world now fears channelers  will bore once again and seeks to control them. (Adam comes to mind) But sparky channelers are still a problem so they seek a way to lock them in stedding.(only real safe way to deal with the spark) so the Song(for lack of a better description) is discovered again. Peace and tranquility is achieved at some price which in the far distant future no one remembers some event (evil of men) causes a break down in the stedding effect giving rise to channeling again which becomes the boon ushering in peace again for a time.<br /><br />And round and round it goes.<br /><br />Well I told you it was kind of involved. What do you think.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-18 21:37:18
subject: Tam al'Thor: what did he know about Rand?
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<p>Thesis:<br /><br />Tam al'Thor likely knew Rand would be at the center of world's woes.  Moreover, Kari al'Thor probably knew as well.  Lastly, Kari has likely betrayed Tam and Rand, and her death was probably the result of her betrayal.<br /><br />Reasoning:<br /><br />Tam:<br /><br />* Tam has given up a lucrative occupation as the second in command of the Illianer Companions and returned to the Two Rivers, likely without much money (his house is described as big but not unusually big for the Two Rivers, and seems the result of his hard work, not his savings).  This hints at rapid flight.  He might have simply been tired of war, but it's hard to imagine retiring in poverty and obscurity: chances are, a high-placed commander would be given a state pension or even a minor nobility title.  In the books, you don't see other senior officers tilling the land. (E.g. Gareth Bryne, although he was born noble.)<br /><br />* In the 'Eye of the World', Moiraine, and Nynaeve, too, are surprised how easily Tam agreed that Rand had to leave.  This despite being too weak to ask any questions!  Moreover, Tam had much trust for the Aes Sedai's truthfulness, if not motivation.  He had likely dealt with the Aes Sedai before.<br /><br />* The fact that Tam's biography had remained hidden from most of the Two Rivers folk hints that he wished to hide his outside world identity.<br /><br />Kari:<br /><br />In WoT FAQ (see http://www.arkane-systems.net/faqs/WOTFAQ/1_dark/1.6_beasties/1.6.3_ghosts.html) there's a good indication that Kari might have been a darkfriend, at least briefly (and the books are full of references that no one ever was too deep in the shadow to come back to the light.) <br /><br />What do we know of Kari?  <br /><br />* That she died of a fever while Rand was young<br /><br />* That she was likely in Ba'alzamon's power as a dead soul, and hence an ex-Darkfriend (see the FAQ link) and that she did love Rand<br /><br />* That Tam has refused to re-marry after her, despite the multitude of good candidates (and the pressure from 'goodwives' for him to do so)  This is explained from the goodwives' POV: that Tam kept grieving (I believe for 15 years by the time Rand left the Two Rivers)  This is subjective, but Tam looks to be well-adjusted and not immersed in grief when the series begins.  However, he is known to keep his secrets and to act on his fears: after all, he left or fled Illian and hid his 'outside world' identity in the Two Rivers.<br /><br />The full theory:<br /><br />This lack of information cannot be a mere coincidence: RJ puts too much meaning into his details, especially, into our first impressions.  One conjecture which would connect the dots is this:<br /><br />* Tam learned of Rand's fate, likely through rumors of Gitara's foretelling (recall how in New Spring relatively detailed rumors were floating around.)  He may have even come across Suian, Moiraine or another Searcher (e.g. Cadsuane) and received explicit instructions - this would explain how Moiraine showed up in the Two Rivers just in time (when Rand might begin channeling around age 18 -19) (recall how Moiraine tells Lan in Eye of The World that she thought they had stolen some time on the Shadow, but the Shadow had found out)<br /><br />* Unfortunately for Tam, he was not the only one.  His wife, Kari, was recruited by the Darkfriends and made to set up a plot, possibly without a clear understanding of it (I don't believe she married to him AFTER becoming a DF - more likely, she was promised immunity to her adopted son and went over to the Shadow)<br /><br />* Just in time, Kari had her epiphany in the Light and informed Tam of the danger; the couple fled, and Tam forgave Kari for her betrayal.  Alternatively, Kari did not tell Tam then and there, but Tam survived some trap and fled, dragging the child and Kari along.<br /><br />* Once in the Two Rivers, with his wife dead and with the knowledge of her transformations, Tam steps carefully, hiding his identity and deciding against another marriage: he doesn't know who might be a darkfriend; safer to raise Rand alone.<br /><br />* His fears were justified: the shadow has found out and struck, also when Rand would be ready to manifest as a channeler!  Ba'alzamon may well have tortured Rand's whereabouts from Kari's soul (see the FAQ link above.)<br /><br />One side benefit of this explanation: it seems to be the kind of material that RJ would have saved for his planned Novella about Tam.  By the way, we haven't yet seen anyone come back to the Light from the Shadow, despite many hints that it was possible.  Kari sounds just like the candidate.<br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-22 06:24:49
subject: Fain's Final Role- Part 1
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<p><b>Introduction</b><br /><br />This I promise, I think, will be my last theory on Fain...at least till I get my Knife of Dreams material <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /><br /><br />Anyway, in this theory I hope to explain what Padan Fain has been built up for. I&#8217;m going to split this up into two theories, because it&#8217;s kind of extensive and deals with a fair few issues. This section will be dealing with Padan Fain&#8217;s soul and how Mordeth is slowly becoming the majority on his soul, outlining how this makes him suitable for his final role at Tarmon Gaidin and how it represents Mordeth finally manifesting in Fain&#8217;s character. I also apologise in advance for my poor use of language, there is only so many ways you can say power/trick/talent and the same with gaining/more/much more/increased...man it sucks. Oh, but enjoy...<br /><br /><b>Fain&#8217;s Soul</b><br /><br />Okay, so I have many times gone over the condition of Fain&#8217;s soul. So all I&#8217;m going to do is plot the condition of his soul, rather than give the why and how of it. Otherwise I&#8217;m just be getting repetitive. By the way it&#8217;s just important to note that I&#8217;m not making exact percentiles here, they&#8217;re just rough estimates to show majority on Fain&#8217;s soul.<br /><br />1. Fain, the normal darkfriend: Padan Fain=100%<br /><br />2. Fain, touched by the Dark One: Padan Fain=80% + Shadow=20%<br /><br />3. Fain, touched by the Dark One and invaded by Mordeth: Fain=70% + Shadow=20% + Mordeth=10%<br /><br />4. Fain, touched by the Dark One and invaded by Mordeth and partially enveloped by the Machin Shin: Fain=70% + Shadow=10% + Mordeth=20%<br /><br />5. Fain, touched by the Dark One and invaded by Mordeth and partially enveloped by the Machin Shin and reunited with the Dagger: Fain=70% + Shadow=10% + Mordeth=20%<br /><br />Right, as you can see I propose that the Shadow&#8217;s hold over Fain hasn&#8217;t lessened since his encounter with Machin Shin. My only way to support this, is that apart from the need and the Dark One&#8217;s control of Fain being destroyed, by the Machin Shin, Fain hasn&#8217;t felt any other dissipating of Shadow talents, namely being able to sense Rand. He has the same sense of Rand in Lord of Chaos (his last PoV) than he did in The Great Hunt (first PoV). Also Rand&#8217;s wound doesn&#8217;t seem to have gotten any better, the evils are the same, in fact it is only the Cleansing that has shown the two evils fighting and conclusively destroying each other.<br /><br />When Fain is with the Dagger, I think it accelerates Mordeth&#8217;s hold over Fain, than it would if he was without the Dagger. However I still think that Mordeth gains control over Fain&#8217;s soul, without the Dagger, just not as quickly.<br /><br /><u>Stages</u><br /><br />This mid-way through Point 4 and Mordeth is probably making up around 22% of Fain&#8217;s soul. In Fal Dara, Mordeth was beginning to emerge in Fain&#8217;s character, a change of accent here and unusual action there:<br /><br />TEoTW, Fal Dara<br /><i>&#8216;He [Fain] faced Agelmar as the men flanking him were his body guards and Lord of Fal Dara was his equal, rather than his captor. His tone became sleek and oily.&#8217;</i><br /><br />So within a month, if not a fortnight, of Mordeth attempting to merge with Fain, he is beginning to surface in Fain, if only through oddities in Fain character. It&#8217;s an unconscious thing, much like Rand stealing Lews Therin&#8217;s thumbing of his earlobe, Lews Therin doesn&#8217;t have a great hold of him, but he is influencing some of his habits.<br /><br />First week of having the Dagger, after just escaping from Fal Dara.<br /><br />The Great Hunt, Glimmer in the Pattern:<br /><i>'He still thought of himself as Padan Fain - Padan Fain was the core of him &#8211; but he had been changed and he knew it'</i><br /><br />This is the beginning of Point 5 of the Soul Scale. Padan Fain has a very real hold of himself, he is the majority character of himself. Fain however describes becoming stronger and always makes references to the Dagger being a part of him.<br /><br />The Great Hunt, Glimmers in the Pattern:<br /><i>&#8216;It [Dagger] felt like a part of him&#8217;</i><br /><br /><i>&#8216;But bit by bit those mornings of weakness grew shorter until&#8230;&#8217;</i> <br /><br />This is an amazing acceleration. Fain did not show a change as quick in the dungeons bereft of his Dagger. However after a fortnight of being in the dungeon, Fain had changed from a guy with changing accents, to a guy with another name. The change wrought over Fain here is much slower.<br /><br />The Great Hunt, Friends and Enemies:<br /><i>&#8216;Mordeth knows more than all of you&#8217;</i><br /><br />By the time Fain reached Falme, He was had gained much power, killing the Myrddraal and keeping the Trollocs well in line. However he was still very much his own master and showed no aspects of Mordeth in his dealings with the High Lord Turak.<br /><br />The Great Hunt, The Wheel Weaves:<br /><i>&#8216;Forcing an ingratiating smile onto his face, Fain made himself bow deeply&#8217;<br /><br />&#8216;Fain tried to make his voice convincing&#8217;</i><br /><br />In this chapter Fain shows no change in accent and his actions here don&#8217;t reflect how acts when the persuasive Mordeth appears in Fain. This justifies the Fain majority percentage so far. <br /><br />End of The Great Hunt<br />Fain=65% <br />Shadow=10%<br />Mordeth=25%<br /><br />In The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising and The Fires of Heaven, Fain is without his Dagger and it reflects on the slow development of his soul. In the beginning of The Dragon Reborn, Fain has become a confidant of Pedron Niall and goes by the name of &#8216;Ordeith&#8217;, it is unknown whether this is just an assumed name, which is most probable as in the Old Tongue it means Wormwood, or perhaps a name tied to Mordeth. It isn&#8217;t apparent if Fain is showing Mordeth aspects or not, his actions are very Fain.<br /><br />The Dragon Reborn, Prologue:<br /><i>&#8216;Suddenly Niall noticed the drawing crumpled and torn in Ordeith&#8217;s hands&#8217;</i> (Rand&#8217;s picture)<br /><br /><i>&#8216;I hate Darkfriends&#8217;</i> (in relation to Rand)<br /><br />I don&#8217;t think that Mordeth has the hate for Rand that Fain has, so I&#8217;m gonna call this a Fain moment. The next event with Fain in it, is in the Two Rivers, where Fain continues to use the name of Ordeith, most likely for consistency, and is showing inconsistency in his character.<br /><br />The Shadow Rising, Assurances:<br /><i>&#8216;The Lugard accent was heavy today&#8217;<br /><br />Implying that his accent changes&#8230;<br /><br />&#8216;The Lugarder accent was gone, replaced by a grander, more commanding tone&#8217;<br /><br />&#8216;The man who called himself Ordeith, even thought of himself as Ordeith&#8217;</i><br /><br />It has been about 3 months between the beginning of The Dragon Reborn and midway through The Shadow Rising and Fain has certainly gained in power, even without the Dagger, this shows that the Dagger doesn&#8217;t accentuate Fain&#8217;s talents, but hastens his gaining of talents. Fain would have developed all the talents he shows by the end of Winter&#8217;s Heart, without the Dagger, but with the Dagger he has gained them sooner.<br /><br />The Shadow Rising, Assurances:<br /><i>&#8216; &#8220;I know how to hurt your sort [Myrddraal]. I can make you scream through endless dying&#8221; &#8217;</i><br /><br />Fain has, without his Dagger, managed to capture and successfully torture a Myrddraal. This must mean that he has gained new talents, certainly a way to immobilise and then torture, which we see later in Lord of Chaos. Fain is starting to think of Mordeth&#8217;s memories as his own, something that happened to Rand, before Lews Therin&#8217;s voice popped into his head:<br /><br />The Shadow Rising, Goldeneyes:<br /><i>&#8216;How the Red Eagle had harried him, so long ago&#8217;</i><br /><br />End of The Shadow Rising<br />Fain=64%<br />Shadow=10%<br />Mordeth=26%<br /><br />We don&#8217;t see much of Fain during The Fires of Heaven, his main actions include getting his Dagger and playing advisor to Elaida for a while. As such we can only pick up again on Fain during Lord of Chaos, however there is enough material in his audience with Elaida to make some assumptions. Mordeth&#8217;s memories are starting to surface in Fain and he has trouble identifying himself.<br /><br />The Fires of Heaven, Prologue:<br /><i>&#8216;Too dangerous to return to Aridhol, perchance to be trapped there again. He shivered. So long trapped, but not again&#8217;<br /><br />&#8216;Padan Fain. Mordeth. Ordeith. Sometimes he was uncertain which name was really his, who he really was.&#8217;<br /><br />&#8216;Night was when Padan Fain felt most confortable&#8217;<br /><br />&#8216;These things cannot stand the light of day&#8217;</i>-Moiraine, EotW, Shadow&#8217;s Waiting<br /><br />There is definitely as sense that Fain has become less, as Mordeth becomes more.<br /><br />End of The Fires of Heaven<br />Padan Fain=62%<br />Shadow=10%<br />Mordeth=28%<br /><br />There is only one scene with Fain in LoC, but it is certainly very revealing and certainly shows a quick acceleration in Mordeth&#8217;s control over Fain&#8217;s soul with the Dagger in his possession. He is certainly becoming less focused no himself and is seemingly, frequently forgetting who he is.<br /><br />LoC, Letters:<br /><i>&#8216;Mordeth. Had he used that name? Sometimes he could not really recall what name he had, what name was his&#8217;<br /><br />&#8216;His voice was different, grander, the Lugard accent gone, but he did not notice; he never did.&#8217;</i><br /><br />The other most notable thing about Fain now, is the very apparent, very tangible talents he&#8217;s gained, not just memories or changes in habits, but powers, beyond that of the Dagger. However I will be covering Fain&#8217;s talents and how they correspond with the times he has the Dagger, later.<br /><br />We see Fain again about a month later in Tomas Riatin&#8217;s camp. Going under the name Jeraal Mordeth, or maybe Mordeth Jeraal, it isn&#8217;t made clear, we don&#8217;t get a PoV from him, but we can piece some things together. The name &#8216;Mordeth&#8217; at least is reminisce of what we&#8217;ve seen of Fain so far, and it has now been a long time that we have seen him not call himself by that name. It&#8217;s possible that &#8216;Jeraal&#8217; is another part of Mordeth&#8217;s name, ie. &#8216;Jeraal Mordeth&#8217; , this would again show Mordeth gaining control of Fain, however it is very possible that it&#8217;s just an extra named added on by Fain to add extra credibility to his name. Around the company of a Lord, he could not expect himself to be called &#8216;Master Mordeth&#8217;.<br /><br />End of A Crown of Swords:<br />Fain=54%<br />Shadow=10%<br />Mordeth=36%<br /><br /><b>Mordeth&#8217;s Grip Tightens</b><br /><br />Now here is the most exciting part for me. We don&#8217;t see Fain again till Far Madding where he again appears as mad as ever. However I think that it is here that we first see Mordeth taking control of Fain, actually physically controlling his body and his actions. Mordeth is very close to taking complete control of Fain, much in the same way that Lews Therin has been snatching at <i>saidin</i>. We must remember though that, whereas Rand has one soul with two aspects, Fain is has in effect two souls. This leads to differences as Rand has much more control over his body, because his soul isn&#8217;t changing. Fain&#8217;s is. <br /><br />WH, Blue Carp Street: <br /><i>&quot; 'I told you he's mine!' the bony man screamed, dancing away from Rand's cut.&#8217;</i> <br /><br />We know he's talking ABOUT Rand, but who is he talking to? He just attacked Rand, there's no-one else in the room, apart from Riatin who's hiding quietly way off in the shadows, so who is he talking to? <br /><br />Mordeth momentarily controlled Fain's actions, in the same way that Lews Therin is constantly trying to snatch at <i>saidin</i>. Fain says that Rand is his, because he wants to be in control when he kills Rand, not Mordeth. As I have illustrated, we have seen an identity crisis for Fain throughout the series. <br /><br />WH, Blue Carp Street: <br /><i>&#8216; &quot;I want him to know who's killing him&quot; Fain whined petulantly. He was glaring straight at Rand, but he seemed to be talking to himself.&#8217; </i><br /><br />I'm thinking here Mordeth suggested something to Fain to kill him easily, without risking being impaled by Rand's sword. Fain, however wants to kill him with his hands, not with something as impersonal as the AP (Aridhol Power). Fain raises his hand does the whole illusion trick to distract Rand, after all he's not an idiot, he's a survivor, to get an easy stab rather than risking death. Give the end of Blue Carp Street a read and have a look, this is certainly a very good explanation. After all Rand was remembering having an orchard before Lews Therin manifested himself as voice.<br /><br />End of Winter&#8217;s Heart<br />Fain=49%<br />Shadow=10%<br />Mordeth=41%<br /><br />Of course there is the possibility that Fain is mad, he knows he is, we know he is, Robert Jordan says he is, but you for the sake of this theory and the fact that it took me about four hours to write, let&#8217;s not assume this too much. Thank you. <br /><br />As I said, I think that apart from his Machin Shin encounter the Shadow portion of his soul hasn&#8217;t lessened and it most certainly hasn&#8217;t increased, given to the nature of it, it doesn&#8217;t spread. The Mordeth evil is much different though, this is very much like a parasitic disease. We know that Mordeth was initially supposed to be able to totally consume Fain's soul, so it shows the capacity to lessens Fain&#8217;s soul, reflected in Fain&#8217;s percentage decreasing, while Mordeth increases. I have also previously theorised that the soul can regenerate itself, but only very slowly, the presence of Mordeth nullifies this though, as it just fills the empty spaces in the soul itself.<br /><br />Lastly you may be question why Mordeth doesn&#8217;t also niggle away at the Shadow aspect. Well firstly, after Fain&#8217;s encounter with Mordeth he still feels compelled to hunt down the boys, showing that it wasn't Mordeth who rid Fain of the need, but the Machin Shin (Padan Fain and the Machin Shin ~ Foxhead). I think this, because of the inherent difference between Mordeth and the Mashadar. Mordeth was trapped by the Mashadar in Shadar Logoth. Mordeth was a physical entity, perhaps wielding anti-Shadow powers with the choice of whether to wield those powers. Whereas the Mashadar was the manifestation of the anti-Shadow powers and suspicion, mindless, but with the imbedded ability to be the Shadow&#8217;s polar opposite. <br /><br /><b>Conclusion</b><br /><br />1. The Dagger wasn&#8217;t really that great for Fain, it was in fact the ulterior desire of Mordeth, who wanted the Dagger to accelerate his possession of Fain<br /><br />2. The Shadow hold on Fain hasn&#8217;t lessened since the encounter with the Machin Shin, however it&#8217;s so insignificant that it no longer drives Fain to find the boys, but does leave him with the ability to sense them<br /><br />3. Mordeth has already momentarily controlled Fain&#8217;s actions and is now sharing a head with Fain so that Fain is gone forever, but this probably won't happen till the Last Battle<br /><br />4. Mordeth is very close to taking majority control of Fain&#8217;s body<br /><br />Part 2 will be on Fain&#8217;s Tricks and the Aridhol Power, which will be out in a week, hopefully, if you care. So, yeah I lied about it being the last theory, but it is all one BIG theory <img src="http://www.msu.edu/~mackertm/wotmania/images/biggrin.gif" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-23 06:13:41
subject: Destined to Survive
body:
<p>There is a very old story, from ancient Egypt, called the Legend of Osiris and Isis. Two other figures, Set and Horus, also play major parts in it.<br /><br />The Wheel of Time seems to encompass this story, as it seems to encompass many other myths simultaneously, taking a little from each, and mixing them all together. Conceptually, the Wheel of Time series is a tale from one Age, just as this legend is one from another Age, far in the past or the future.<br /><br />First, a list of legendary Egyptian gods, and their theoretical parallels in TWoT:<br /><br />(Please note that attributes from more than one figure may be combined into a single character)<br /><br />Osiris : Rand al'Thor, Lews Therin, the Dragon<br />Isis :   Elayne, Min, Aviendha, Nynaeve?<br />Set : Mat?, the Shadow?<br />Horus : the reincarnated Rand<br /><br />In the legend, Osiris brought civilization, arts and sciences, to the primitive Egyptians. Rand has fostered the development of technology not based on the One Power, and is attempting to unite the divided nations against the Shadow.<br /><br />After completing his task, Osiris visited other lands and left Isis to rule in his place until he returned. Rand has left Camelyn to Elayne, and other lands to others he trusts, and his location is currently unknown to most people.<br /><br />Here, the legend seems to diverge from TWoT. But with two books remaining, it may become clearer later. Set, being jealous of Osiris, who was his brother, conspired against him. He wanted Isis for his wife. I think the role of Isis is here played by Min. I have wondered what Rand would do if Min were taken captive, by the Shadow, or any group who wanted to control Rand.<br /><br />The legend has Osiris tricked into being drowned in a sarcophagus, but released by Isis and her sister Nephthys. Maybe this has some connection with Rand's kidnapping by the Tower, and being put in a chest. Finally, Set murdered and dismembered Osiris. For Rand, the dismemberment may be limited to only one body part, his hand perhaps. Myths have a tendency to change the numbers of things to something symbolically meaningful. Osiris was cut into thirteen pieces.<br /><br />Now, Isis and her sister Nephthys gathered the pieces of Osirus. This seems to identify with Rand's body being cared for by Elayne, Min, and Aviendha, and we see one vision of them all on a boat, as I believe happens in the legend, also.<br /><br />Anubis and Thoth came and mummified Osiris' body, and Isis imperfectly and temporarily brought Osiris back to life with magic, and conceived a child with him. This was more difficult than it sounds, since she never found one vital part; Isis had to make that herself.<br /><br />It is important to remember that this is a myth, that over the course of time has passed from person to person, changing until the original events bear little or no resemblance to it. But here's a big mystery: how will Rand have a child with Aviendha, one of the aspects of Isis, after he's dead, as I suspect he will? I think this part of the legend is relevant to that.<br /><br />It was been suggested that Nynaeve will play the role of Isis in resurrecting Rand. But maybe it isn't literally a resurrection, creating life from death.<br /><br />The magic that allowed Osiris to leave the land of the dead wore off, and he returned there, where he was lord. Isis gave birth to his son, Horus. This legend in turn gave birth to the idea that Horus was the resurrected form of Osiris, the man reborn.<br /><br />Rebirth is not a novel concept in the TWoT, and we have seen it happen in various ways. People are just born, Forsaken's souls are caught by the Dark One and put in new bodies, heroes are spun out of the World of Dreams when their time comes, and one hero in particular was ripped away from there and came into life fully formed (reminiscent of another myth). What exactly is the nature of Isis' magic in TWoT? Does it have something to do with tel'aran'rhiod?<br /><br />The Aelfinn told Rand &quot;to live, you must die.&quot; Rand, the man born in the Third Age, has been fatally wounded twice, his death simply deferred until later, and his constant pain is only held in check by his constant determination. If he is destined to survive, it seems likely that it will be through some means other than physical survival, but how is the mystery.<br /><br />But the story is not over. Horus, when he was ready, went to fight Set. In the battle, Horus lost an eye, and Set a testicle. There's always a price for being a hero. The gods stopped the battle, and Horus was determined to be the champion, and became king.<br /><br />Now, who is Set in this instance (remember that he could be more than one person)? Is he the Shadow, or Mat, because of the lost eye? Set was either reconciled with Horus, or banished from the kingdom, different versions tell it differently. Banishment could be related to the Dark One's reimprisonment. Reconcilement could mean that Rand and Mat were at war, because of Mat's relationship with the Seanchan, but came to terms.<br /><br />At the very least, I think there are enough similarities to strongly suspect that this legend is connected with the events told in TWoT. After the series is finished, it should be interesting to see how this all fits together.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


created: 2005-06-25 12:00:41
subject: Fain's Final Role-Part 2
body:
<p><b>Introduction</b><br /><br />Needless to say this follows on from Part 1 and while it isn&#8217;t necessary for you to have read it to understand this, the theory material correspond from that of the first one. I&#8217;m continuing to lay the ground work, to support Fain&#8217;s final role at the Last Battle.<br /><br />In this section I hope to explain Fain&#8217;s talents; Aridhol Power.<br /><br /><b>Fain&#8217;s Tricks</b><br /><br />Firstly, my definition of talent, would be something Fain has a conscious control over, so not his ability to sense ta&#8217;veren nor his ability to corrupt those in an area around him.<br /><br />I&#8217;m going to list all of Fain&#8217;s talents, gained in chronological order, explain them and show how they relate to the condition of Fain&#8217;s soul. The first one we know of Fain&#8217;s able to sense the three ta&#8217;veren, but that&#8217;s from the Dark One, so I&#8217;ll skip it. Starting with how Fain is able to capture his Myrddraal. Fain is not a big guy, he&#8217;s scrawny and not very strong, so how is he able to hold down a fade long enough to kill them, quite elaborately too, and chain them up?<br /><br />TSR, Assurances:<br /><i> &#8216;Good steel chain quivered as he checked it, but he had calculated how much he needed and then doubled it. As well he had. One loop less and those stout steal links would have broken&#8217;</i><br /><br />That is <b>strong</b> and they&#8217;re not the kind of things that you sneak up on or knock out with a club, something immobilised it for Fain to be able to chain it up. We can also see from Fain&#8217;s first Myrddraal killing that, unless Fain is super strong and we just don&#8217;t know about it, something must be incapacitating it.<br /><br />TGH, Glimmer of the Wheel:<br /><i> &#8216;He remembered the feel of the hammer in his hand, driving the spikes in, and he smiled&#8217; </i><br /><br />TGH, The Hunt Begins:<br /><i> &#8216;There was a man spread-eagled across the door with thick spikes through wrists and shoulder. More spikes had been driven into his eyes to hold up his head. Dark dried blood made fans down his cheeks. Scuff marks on the wood behind his boots showed that he had been alive while it was done&#8217; </i><br /><br />This shows that Fain was able to hold down the fade while &#8216;spiking&#8217; him. It&#8217;s unlikely that the Myrddraal was held down by Trollocs, firstly because there is nothing to indicate this and secondly, because Fain didn&#8217;t have Trollocs with him at Two Rivers and because I don&#8217;t think he could&#8217;ve smuggled an &#8216;X&#8217; amount Trollocs into the middle of a White Cloak camp. Fain does not mention Trollocs in his entourage when leaving the Two Rivers.<br /><br />TSR, Goldeneyes:<br /><i> &#8216; His hounds. Thirty or so Whitecloaks remaining no longer wore their cloaks, of course.&#8217; </i><br /><br />Now this talent must have first have manifested itself in Fain a month after his encounter with Mordeth and Fain makes reference to using a talent of some sort, similar to what he uses on the Darkfriend&#8217;s boy in Caemlyn.<br /><br />LoC, Letters:<br /><i> &#8216; It had been after there[Aridhol] after he stopped being just Padan Fain, that the ability began to manifest, slowly&#8217; </i><br /><br />He obviously didn&#8217;t have any &#8216;abilities&#8217; in Fal Dara dungeons, as he would have used them to escape, but must have had them by the village in which he killed the fade.<br /><br />TGH, The Flame of Tar Valon:<br /><i> &#8216; A month since you said you were going &#8217; </i><br /><br />This is Lan speaking to Rand, indicating that he had already been in Fal Dara for a month and so Fain as well. Importantly Fain without his Dagger. Then Fain has the Dagger for no more than a couple of days, when he kills the fade.<br /><br />The next talent we hear of from Fain is his ability to implant suspicion and into people, a directed and focused suspicion though. It isn&#8217;t just that he&#8217;s changing their personality randomly, he&#8217;s able to choose where that distrust is being directed. <br /><br />TSR, Assurances:<br /><i> &#8216;Unlikely Niall would have ever supported any more than Elaida would have, but it was best to not take too much for granted with Rand bloody Al&#8217;Thor. Well he had brushed them both with what he carried from Aridhol; they might possibly trust their own mothers, but never Al'Thor now&#8217; </i><br /><br />This certainly isn&#8217;t just an effect of being around Fain, as we have seen with others he had kept company with (The Whitecloaks for example), but a purposeful technique to make people suspicious. Neither Niall or Elaida become the sullen looking, wary, nasty character we&#8217;ve seen from Fain&#8217;s influence before:<br /><br />TGH, Friends and Enemies<br /><i> &#8216;They seem worse than they used to. All the guards do. Meaner and more sullen&#8217;</i><br /><br />TSR, Assurances:<br /><i> &#8216;Flies buzzed around his own tents and sullen, suspicious eyes flinched away from his. The Whitecloaks were soiled here&#8217; </i><br /><br />TSR, Goldeneyes:<br /><i> &#8216;Bornhald would never have recognised those sullen and suspicious faces,  dirty and unwashed.&#8217; </i><br /><br />This certainly seems to be effect that Fain has little control over, his whole being exudes evil, manipulation and suspicion, rubbing off onto others. So how was he able to making something so specific as creating a distrust towards one particular person? Certainly Fain works upon the already present distrust of Rand, but is purposely able to accentuate that with the hate that killed Aridhol. That puts it in the &#8216;talent&#8217; category.<br /><br />Next is Fain&#8217;s ability to &#8216;hurt&#8217;. Fain uses it on the Darkfriend&#8217;s small child in Caemlyn and is presumably the same technique he uses to torture the Myrddraal. There is a possibility that Fain uses this talent to immobilise his victims, rather than having to separate talents, but I&#8217;ll go over that later.<br /><br />LoC, Letters:<br /><i> &#8216;Almost casually he brushed his hand across the boy&#8217;s face. The boys eyes bulged; he trembled so hard his teeth rattled&#8217; </i><br /><br />While Fain hasn&#8217;t done this purposely, he has been using it as such on his captive Myrddraal, and isn&#8217;t overly surprised at what he&#8217;s done, commenting that it&#8217;s happened before (the manifesting slowly quote above)<br /><br />LoC, Letters:<br /><i> 'jerked it's eyeless face away when it saw him watching. It knew remembered his.....tricks very well&#8217;</i><br /><br />Now unless Fain is able to increase the potency of his little &#8216;trick&#8217;, then that Myrddraal would&#8217;ve just laughed in his face. So it&#8217;s safe to assume that Fain does have some control over what it can do. It also seems he can be quite specific with it too, choosing where or how it hurts the fade.<br /><br />TSR, Assurances:<br /><i> &#8216;I know how to hurt your sort. I can make you scream through endless dying&#8217; </i><br /><br />As I said earlier, Fain doesn&#8217;t have his Dagger here, so he has to resort to another method. His reference to the Myrddraal knowing his tricks, means that he uses this rather than a blade or the infamous &#8216;hot iron and tongs&#8217; used by the Questioners. Also knowing the reaction between the evil of Aridhol and the evil of the Shadow and the possibility that Myrddraal have some connection to the True Power, it could be that the same reaction between Fain just brushing the Myrddraal with the evil of Aridhol that hurts it so much.<br /><br />Lastly is Fain&#8217;s suspect use of illusion in Far Madding. As I already stated in Part 1, I believe that Mordeth is now a voice in Fain&#8217;s head (not like in his earlier PoVs when he was of one mind) and can converse with him, most importantly telling how he can use the powers that Mordeth once wielded.<br /><br />WH, Blue Carp Street:<br /><i> &#8216;With a smile he raised his free hand.<br />Torval and Gedwyn came up the stairs with their cloaks over their arms &#8220;I say we aren&#8217;t going near him until I know where the others are,&#8221; Gedwyn growled. &#8220;The M&#8217;Hael will kill us if&#8230;&#8221; Without thought Rand twisted his wrists in Cutting the Wind and immediately followed with Unfolding The Fan. The illusion of dead men, come back to life, disappeared&#8217;  </i><br /><br />The narrative describes Gedwyn and Torval as illusions, however I think it means only so far as that they are both non-physical identities. I don&#8217;t think it means illusion though as in the Mask of Mirrors and I don&#8217;t think that Fain has that great a variety of whom (it IS whom, btw) he is able to &#8216;conjure&#8217;.  I think Fain can only summon the ghosts of those he&#8217;s killed and more specifically cannot make them do as he wish, as of yet, but can only make them replay things they had during life. Surely otherwise, he would have had them attacking him?<br /><br />Without doubt though, he is certainly the reason the illusion appears. He raises his hand; the illusion appears. Rand cuts him, Fain loses his concentration and the illusion disappears. <br /><br />Fain&#8217;s tricks, the ones we of, are quite diverse, even in the early stages of his talents. I think that Fain&#8217;s talents are a Power in it&#8217;s own right. Similar to the True Power and the One Power, Aridhol Power (AP) has similar results, but the mechanisms are different, the same for the True Power and the One Power.<br /><br />When a male channeller makes a gateway he folds the pattern and bores a hole through it so that they meet. With female channellers, they make the destination and departure similar so that they in fact become one place and they walk through. With Moridin, he &#8216;rips a hole in the pattern&#8217; (PoD, pg.78.)<br /><br />Although, from what we&#8217;ve seen, Fain cannot Travel, the mechanisms of Aridhol Power are again different to both True Power and the One Power. Where the One Power uses weaves of the Pattern, perhaps, and where the True Power just destroys the Pattern (whatever) Fain seems to just create his &#8216;tricks&#8217;.<br /><br />LoC, Letters:<br /><i> &#8216;the boy should survive, if a trifle worse for wear, once the thing had ground to a conclusion. Fain had not put his whole heart into</i> <b>making it</b>&#8217;<br /><br />This method Fain uses of &#8216;creating&#8217; his trick runs through the whole series. He creates suspicion inside a person. He creates an &#8216;immobiliser&#8217;, for want of a better word, inside the Myrddraal to incapacitate them. He creates &#8216;pain&#8217; inside these Myrddraal. He creates illusions. What is he working with though? What does he put inside these people that has these effects? Pure Aridhol evil , to be manipulated into a semblance of channelling. Imagine it, if you will, as channelling Aridhol Power.<br /><br /><i>Well he had brushed them both with what</i> <b>he carried from Aridhol</b><br /><br />Fain takes the evil, the Aridhol Power, which is naturally within himself, of an infinite amount and transfers it into other people, where he can manipulate it inside them. This requires his touch as the Mashadar needed to come into contact with its victim in order to consume their soul.<br /><br />LoC, Letters:<br /><i> &#8216;So long as he could touch what he was working with&#8217; </i><br /><br />With the illusion, Fain wasn&#8217;t actually transferring the Aridhol Power into a person, he in effect put it into the air, or perhaps the Pattern itself by causing the ghosts of Torval and Gedwyn to return. Regardless, the waving of his hand is reminisce or him brushing hand across the boys face.<br /><br />Imagine the Aridhol Power Source as a huge mountain of clay. Fain takes a handful of this clay and inserts it into his target and when in place he can manipulate it into a desired affect immobilise, hurt. Or he takes a handful of clay, shapes it and then places it into the target, same difference really. <br /><br />Just a sidenote on Fain being able to recognise Darkfriends. I think that, unlike the other talents he&#8217;s shown, is an actual amalgamation of Fain being able to sense Rand and the new evil inside of him. I think that they&#8217;ve mixed that. As well as Rand, Fain can sense, or see, &#8216;evil&#8217; people, those who the Dark One has even a small grip over. <br /><br />I believe that Fain&#8217;s power stems purely from Mordeth, rather than from both the Shadow and Mordeth. I think that Mordeth was the original wielder of Aridhol Power. There isn&#8217;t a lot of material on Mordeth, but the little there is implies that Mordeth had skills. Where would these skills have come from? He was pre-Shadar Logoth, therefore there wouldn&#8217;t have been any evil for him to use as Power. <br /><br />EoTW, Shadow Waiting:<br /><i> &#8216;Mordeth whispered poison in Balwen&#8217;s ear, and Aridhol began to change&#8217; </i><br /><br /><i> &#8216;And Balwen sat on his throne, a withered shell with the light of madness in his eyes, laughing while Mordeth smiled at his side&#8217; </i><br /><br />This sounds a lot like what Fain used when &#8216;brushed&#8217; Elaida and Niall. Plus, how likely is it that Mordeth could make someone mad and a &#8216;withered shell&#8217; without some sort of external force or Power. We know that Ishamael was pulling Artur Hawkwing&#8217;s strings, by the end of his reign and was probably using the True Power or the One Power to this end. The obvious parallel to this is Wormtongue, from the Lord of the Rings, who also used witchery to twist Theodan. So you see, Mordeth must also have had his own Power.<br /><br />EoTW, The Shadow Waiting:<br /><i> &#8216;How he fled alone to the Borderland with Mordeth&#8217;s unnattural assassins on his heels&#8217;</i><br /><br />What quantifies someone as unnatural? Twisted perhaps by Mordeth use of Aridhol Power? The best parallel to this is probably Toram Riatin for Fain now, well before he got cut down by Lan. Unquestioning loyalty, what seemed like inexhaustible stamina.<br /><br />WH, Blue Carp Street:<br /><i> &#8216;Toram Riatin&#8217;s face was haggard, but he moved with the grace of the blademaster he was&#8217; </i><br /><br />A haggard face, but was still able to fight well? Sustained by some external force, twisted into Fain&#8217;s kind of unnatural assassin? There are many points where Fain has twisted those around him, but this seems the most developed and more focused for a purpose. I wasn&#8217;t going to include Mordeth&#8217;s shape changing feat, as it&#8217;s suspect to whether it&#8217;s because he&#8217;s a ghost/malignant spirit or not.<br /><br />It also explains the manifestation of the Mashadar. A fog can&#8217;t just come out of nowhere, because people are suspicious. That&#8217;s crazy. I mean the Machin Shin came from the taint, a physical power. However Mordeth could have harnessed that suspicion to make a weapon to kill anything. After all the &#8216;Victory of the Light is all!&#8217; The weapon backfired and it was only his use of the Aridhol Power that kept him partially safe from the Mashadar, but he was in fact trapped by it. Of course it begs the question of WHERE he got this power from, but still it could of course be something similar to Min&#8217;s viewings, Hurin&#8217;s sniffing and Wolfbrothers; an unexplained phenomena power.<br /><br /><b>Conclusion</b><br /><br />1. Fain&#8217;s talents stem from Mordeth and as Mordeth becomes a more prominent aspect on Fain&#8217;s soul, his talents increase<br />2. Aridhol Power shows the beginning of a Power to perhaps rival that of  the One Power or the True Power<br />3. It&#8217;s &#8216;channelled&#8217; by creating globs of Aridhol evil (or whatever it was when Mordeth used it) shaping it to a desired effect and then placing it somewhere<br />4. Mordeth was the original wielder of the Aridhol Power<br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>


