The Gathering Storm Read-Through #53: Chapter 50 - Veins of Gold

By Linda


WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT

This is a wonderful chapter, even without considering that it was finished by another author.

Rand sits at the top of the world, but isn’t feeling on top of the world; he’s about as low as he can go (a critical example of the reversal of order the Dark One has wrought). Dragonmount’s vent is on his left, as is his own side wound. For so much of what Rand does and remembers in this scene, it is indeterminable whether these are his own insights or memories from Lews Therin, although for the philosophy of reincarnation, it is largely the same thing. Rand is blending with Lews Therin before his epiphany. Had he not, he would never have undergone this transformation because he wouldn’t have listened to, or perhaps even been talked to, by Lews Therin.

His nausea when reaching for the Power seems to be due to his creeping corruption, and not from the conflict between his Lews Therin and Rand personalities. After all, he is blending with Lews Therin here and yet feeling sicker than ever. The worst attack was when he tried to commit genocide with the Power.

Rand is also linked even closer to Moridin, to the extent that he is considering the validity of Moridin’s philosophy:

"What if he is right?" Rand bellowed. "What if it's better for this all to end? What if the Light was a lie all along, and this is all just a punishment? We live again and again, growing feeble, dying, trapped forever. We are to be tortured for all time!"

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

A terrible thing for the Light’s champion to say or feel, but then being the Light’s champion is no picnic. Rand muses on what his role is: the sheltering hand or the slaying hand (the one holding the sword)?

What was he? What was the Dragon Reborn? A symbol? A sacrifice? A sword, meant to destroy? A sheltering hand, meant to protect?
A puppet, playing a part over and over again?

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

His inner turmoil is now an existential crisis. From what Graendal says in Towers of Midnight, many of the Forsaken had a severe crisis (moral?) before they turned to the Shadow:

How will Lews Therin react to what he has done? Destroying an entire fortress, a miniature city of its own, with hundreds of occupants? Killing innocents to reach his goal? Will that sit easily within him?"
Moridin hesitated. No, he had not considered that. She smiled inwardly. To him, al'Thor's actions would have made perfect sense. They were the most logical, and therefore most sensible, means of accomplishing a goal.
But al'Thor himself . . . his mind was full of daydreams about honor and virtue. This event would not sit easily within him, and speaking of him as Lews Therin to Moridin would reinforce that. These actions would tear at al'Thor, rip at his soul, lash his heart raw and bleeding. He would have nightmares, wear his guilt on his shoulders like the yoke of a heavily laden cart.
She could vaguely remember what it had been like, taking those first few steps toward the Shadow. Had she ever felt that foolish pain? Yes, unfortunately. Not all of the Chosen had. Semirhage had been corrupt to the bone from the start. But others of them had taken different paths to the Shadow, including Ishamael.
She could see the memories, so distant, in Moridin's eyes. Once, she'd not been sure who this man was, but now she was. The face was different, but the soul was the same. Yes, he knew exactly what al'Thor was feeling.
"You told me to hurt him," Graendal said. "You told me to bring him anguish. This was the best way."

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

His actions, had he carried them out, would have qualified Rand for Forsaken at the least, as Graendal implies with her thoughts that feeling manipulated into doing dark deeds and agonising about them afterwards are the first steps toward joining the Dark One. The pressure and peril of Rand’s role, his anguish at being manipulated to unwilling evil and his trauma at the abuse, as well as the demands heaped on him, have led to this.

Rand’s thoughts show that he was always aiming for hardness rather than strength:

He had thought that if he made himself hard enough, it would take away the pain.

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

He is in pain because the Shadow is wounding the Land and the people and Rand is one with the Land and champion of the people. The Shadow has wounded him personally, too, in order to strike at the Land as well as him.

Rand believes everything began to go wrong after Moiraine’s death, which he caused. But we know Moiraine isn’t dead. Therefore perhaps things are not wrong at all. Rand had hope before Moiraine “died”, and it died when she did. But she isn’t dead, just gone, and his hope likewise isn’t irrecoverable; both return after great suffering.

In Rand’s mind, Moiraine’s death is associated not only with losing hope, but being put in a box. The chapter encapsulates the underlying premise, the basic theme Jordan wanted to explore in this story: what would be like to be a messiah?

"What if you were tapped on the shoulder and told you had to save the world?"

- Robert Jordan in an interview

And one under sentence not just of death, but corruption and madness as well. The pressures have caused changes in Rand:

He understood what would be required of him, and he'd changed in the ways he thought he needed. Those changes were to keep him from being overwhelmed. Die to protect people he didn't know? Chosen to save mankind? Chosen to force the kingdoms of the world to unite behind him, destroying those who refused to listen? Chosen to cause the deaths of thousands who fought in his name, to hold those souls upon his shoulders, a weight that must be borne? What man could do these things and remain sane? The only way he had seen had been to cut off his emotions, to make himself cuendillar.

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

but finally he will be backed into adopting the philosophy that “the more things change, the more they stay the same" (after all, that’s how Jordan’s Pattern of Ages works).

Rand has been chosen by the Pattern or Creator, but in the quote above he makes it seem as though he is little different from those who chose to turn to the Shadow – the Chosen. It’s a matter of how Rand imposes his mission and, in his darker moments, his will, on the people.

To his and the world’s great cost, Rand thinks having feelings is a failure, and that the pain he experiences will bleed him dry. His conscience vanished when he tried to kill Tam. Now Rand is worried that having reached his goal to feel nothing, he is too unfeeling and possibly amoral:

Without that voice, did Rand dare continue? If it was the last remnant of the old Rand—the Rand who had believed that he knew what was right and what was wrong—then what did its silence mean?

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

Bad news is what it means.

Rand immediately puts these valid concerns aside and expresses despair about the cycling of time and being reborn to remake mistakes. He also rages against lapses of time causing loss of knowledge and history. Moridin, too, was angry at the knowledge that had been lost to him through history:

The reasons, like the source of the name, were lost in the mist of time. That troubled him sometimes, enraged him, what knowledge might be lost in the turnings of the Wheel, knowledge he needed, knowledge he had a right to. A right!

- The Path of Daggers, Prologue

but Moridin wants the knowledge for himself; he’s not worried about the effect of ignorance on others’ lives.

Jordan’s opening philosophical paragraph:

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose around the alabaster spire known as the White Tower. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

- The Gathering Storm, Tears From Steel

is rephrased by Rand in a dark way at the book's end:

"We live the same lives!" he yelled at them. "Over and over and over. We make the same mistakes. Kingdoms do the same stupid things. Rulers fail their people time and time again. Men continue to hurt and hate and die and kill!"
Winds buffeted him, whipping at his brown cloak and his fine Tairen trousers. But his words carried, echoing across the broken rocks of Dragonmount…
"What if I think it's all meaningless?" he demanded with the loud voice of a king. "What if I don't want it to keep turning? We live our lives by the blood of others! And those others become forgotten. What good is it if everything we know will fade? Great deeds or great tragedies, neither means anything! They will become legends, then those legends will be forgotten, then it will all start over again!"

The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

The wind, prana or chi, the breath of Life that initiates each book has been whipped into a tempest by Rand’s rage.

The chapter title Veins of Gold refers to love, Tears from Steel, anguish. There is an acceptance in the ‘standard’ version of the philosophy that is not in Rand’s rages. He regards this world as illusion and a vale of tears and rails against the right and proper order that is the Pattern. Like the Amayar, he nearly ended the Time of Illusion, so disillusioned was he with the Pattern and his crushing role to save it. The Cycle of Ages is meaningless to Rand in his current state. History forgotten over time means there is a risk that the same errors are repeatedly made. Is Rand not doing exactly that right now? He doesn’t know all his past lives yet; not the ones with joy and love, only Lews Therin’s traumatic later life. These kinder, more balanced memories transform Rand and he sees the point, the purpose, of the Wheel. He has found insupportable the impartiality of the Pattern, which seemingly is not taking sides (although it has given Rand a big help by making him so strongly ta’veren.)

Rand knows pain of heart as Moridin ordered, although it has backfired on the latter. So while Rand is thinking that Moridin’s philosophy of nihilism might be worthwhile and that Moridin might be right, Moridin is feeling exhausted by Rand’s duty, pain and turmoil and looks forward to the end. Moridin can’t separate his own feelings too easily from Rand’s:

"I feel so tired," Moridin continued, closing his eyes. "Is that you, or is it me?

- The Gathering Storm, A Place To Begin

Not only does Rand think Moridin might be right, he no longer feels the wrongness of the Shadow, so strongly is he influenced by his link to Moridin.

The Creator’s champion declaiming:

What if the Light was a lie all along, and this is all just a punishment? We live again and again, growing feeble, dying, trapped forever. We are to be tortured for all time!"

The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

shows very dark religious feelings indeed. There must be hope and love or life is untenable.

Yet when Rand drinks in saidin, the male elixir of life made by the Creator, he feels glory.

Dragonmount might have had a tremor due to Rand holding so much saidin (and rage). Men are strong in Fire and Earth, after all.

It is true that the Dragon left the world wounded (by both world war and the Dark One’s taint), limping forward as civilisation collapsed, but Rand thinks it was rotting. Not so; only now is it rotting because the Shadow (and the madness from the taint, which makes men rot) has a strong hold on him who is one with the Land.

Graendal complains how hard it is to get good wine with everything rotten, but Moridin provided some. Is this a reverse influence from Rand through their link, or an example of changing places in a way?

Rand is holding more Power than when he cleansed saidin because then he was in a circle with Nynaeve and the overall strength of the circle is not as great as the separate strengths of each channeller in it added together, no matter how large the circle, so a channeller can’t draw as much Power as they normally could (The Path of Daggers, The Breaking Storm).

While Rand is so dark, he is repeatedly described with solar imagery (so we don’t lose hope ourselves in the outcome of his long dark night of the soul, a sign he will come about on the winds of despair):

He felt himself alight with the Power, like a sun to the world below…He was the sun. He was fire. He was life and death.

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

His warmth gives light, his burning rage death.

The role of the Light's champion is rough with so little support from the Creator: only the one contact with the Creator in The Eye of the World, when the Creator told Rand he wouldn’t take a direct part. The Forsaken have far more contact with the Dark One, who is a paranoid out-of-control freak. This is reassuring to them, but also very threatening.

The Last Hour as Rand described it to Tuon in another chapter whose title is the antithesis of this one:

"You believe the Last Battle is close, then?" she asked.
"Close?" al'Thor asked. "It is as close as an assassin, breathing his foul breath upon your neck as he slides his knife across your skin. It is close like the last chime of midnight, after the other eleven have struck. Close? Yes, it is close. Horribly close."

- The Gathering Storm, A Halo of Blackness

almost occurred in this chapter:

The Power hesitated inside him, like the headsman's axe, held quivering above the criminal's neck.

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

The battle within Rand was almost the last battle. It was Lews Therin and Tam who provided the input that made Rand change his view. The Creator believes in individual choice, the Dark One in his personal will. When Rand understands the purpose of the Pattern, and indirectly, choice, he remembers all his lives and also communes with the Land/Creation in the light of the globe in the hand of the access key. The sa’angreal represents Rand holding the world in his hand. And not breaking it after some consideration.

His epiphany occurs when Rand realises that rebirth gives souls the chance to love each other and be with each other again. Rand expresses the desire to fix his mistakes and get it right this time. History repeating is a chance to change outcomes for the better, not just the certainty that people will make the same mistakes repeatedly.

Rand is no longer going to crush the world that is in the palm of his hand, but shelter it (or help the Creator shelter it) and so destroys the sa’angreal and access key that symbolised the potential to destroy Creation.

Having removed the temptation of absolute power, there are signs that he is an even stronger channeller alone in Towers of Midnight than he was with the sa’angreal.

Rand is at one with the world and with Lews Therin and at peace within himself. Clouds open as his gloom lifts and he sees the sun. It shines on him. He has finally relearned laughter, at least, as Cadsuane wishes, although she didn’t have much to do with it. Therefore I don’t think this is the thing that Cadsuane is to teach all the Asha’man that Min saw in her viewing (A Crown of Swords, A Crown of Swords).


For a chapter almost exclusively about Rand, there is a lot of the Forsaken in it.

The Gathering Storm Read-Through #51: Chapter 48 - Reading The Commentary

By Linda


WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT

This chapter confirms that Cadsuane has a scholarly streak. She has probably studied the Karaethon Cycle as much as Verin has, and carefully records as much information as she can on Min’s viewings of Rand. However no character has correlated Min’s viewings of people close to Rand (eg Mat, Perrin and Nynaeve) with what she sees around Rand to see if they chime with any of the prophecies. This interrogation started when Nynaeve came to Cadsuane and agreed to help. Just as Cadsuane uses Nynaeve’s desire for esteem, so she uses Min’s desire for knowledge to keep her at her side and helping her.

So far, the Empress is the only living woman (as Fortune and as the raven) mentioned in the Karaethon Cycle. (The Prophecies of the Dragon also refer to Tigraine, the Maiden; and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple of lionesses (Nynaeve and Elayne) and a falcon and a hawk in there too.) The prophecy

He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one

The Gathering Storm, Reading the Commentary

has been almost ignored by commentators, therefore by Jordan’s Law of Inverse Significance, it is crucial to the war against the Shadow. Cadsuane long ago realised that Callandor was the blade of light referred to – therefore she is one of the few who knew what Callandor was, since only a dozen Aes Sedai even knew it was a sa’angreal according to Siuan (The Dragon Reborn A Trap To Spring). She researched it, probably to find out why it is called the blade of ruin (Towers of Midnight A Storm of Light) and learned of its flaws: that it magnifies the taint and has no buffer against over-drawing the Power. Min and Cadsuane agree that there is more about Callandor than they know. I discuss my ideas on how this prophecy might be fulfilled here in the Prophecies of the Dragon article.

Rand still “sees” – talks to – Nynaeve regularly but cuts himself off from Min more than ever. Min senses that Rand fears becoming the Kinslayer again:

He put up walls when she was near—not to keep her out, but to keep the real him in. As if he was afraid of what the real him would do, or could do, to those he loved...

The Gathering Storm, Reading the Commentary

and we see the outcome of this at the end of the chapter.

Cadsuane likes doing embroidery, and knows only too well how it helps thought (as do I), but Min dislikes embroidering intensely, so she is negative about Cadsuane’s way of keeping her group occupied while they wait anxiously for the outcome of Tam’s meeting with Rand, but leaving her, and their, minds free to think. Adding to the tension is their inability to listen in on the conversation, presumably because Rand wards his rooms against eavesdropping.

Beldeine has the usual Aes Sedai disregard for non-channellers’ or “commoners’” abilities and judgement. Cadsuane shows Beldeine this attitude is wrong and objectionable and she runs off – and has not been seen since…

Mins has a viewing of Nynaeve grieving over a body:

And . . . what was that vision that was suddenly hovering above Nynaeve's head? She was kneeling over someone's corpse in a posture of grief.

- The Gathering Storm, Reading the Commentary

Someone Nynaeve is close to dies. This could be Lan, or someone else close to her. It could be Rand; she could be one of the three mourners around his bier/pyre, or she mourns him on her own.

There is a black knife in Beldeine’s future:

For instance, the black knife that spun around Beldeine's head recently could mean anything.

- The Gathering Storm, Reading the Commentary

This sounds like an assassin’s knife. The knife might be that of a Bloodknife trying to kill her as a marath’damane. Beldeine left Cadsuane’s presence precipitately in this chapter after being rebuked.

Tam sensed the room grow darker when Rand entered it and blames Cadsuane. She manages to remind Tam to control himself. Cadsuane uses the Power against Tam just as Rand did. Nynaeve, who used to use sticks on people, protests. Tam calls Nynaeve by her old title of Wisdom, and Nynaeve returns the compliment by calling Tam wool-head a short while later. Cadsuane Tam calls a bully: he has never liked Aes Sedai, which accounts for his automatic blaming of Cadsuane for Rand’s hatred of her, and for not bringing him to Rand sooner, when Tam chose to stay away from Rand. There are definitely faults on both sides here.

Nynaeve says they warned Tam that Rand was unstable; Tam says Rand is nearly insane. Rand actually is insane as the women know, but had they told Tam that, he would have likely refused to cooperate. When Tam wants to know why Rand is in this state, Cadsuane says it is irrelevant – which it isn’t, but she’s in a hurry trying to solve a pressing problem: Rand’s threat to wipe out the Seanchan. Moreover she doesn’t know the full extent of Rand’s psychological problems, notably the corrupting link with Moridin. If Tam had known how hostile Rand was to Cadsuane, he wouldn’t have told Rand that Cadsuane had advised him. Min makes the excellent point that they have made things worse by assuming they can make Rand do what they want. Corele is finally neither flippant nor complacent as she contemplates Rand committing genocide.

Min feels Rand Travel long after he did so, as though there is a time lag with the Bond, which I found to be a plot devide to delay the information until the end of the chapter.

Cadsuane is portrayed more negatively in this chapter than any scene previously, and also inconsistently: she disciplines Beldeine to be civil and then behaves at least as badly to Tam herself. Previously, she treated non-channellers better than this. The only character who behaves well in this scene is Min.

Cadsuane is right: they can’t save Rand, only he can save himself. That’s often the way with mental illness.

The Gathering Storm Read-Through #50: Chapter 47 - The One He Lost

By Linda


WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT

Rand is actually feeling insane but it takes him a while to work out why. It’s not rage from the Borderlanders trying to manipulate him into Far Madding where he can’t channel which has driven him over the edge, but shame from the way he treated Hurin, who revered him. Long ago, Hurin told Nynaeve that if ever she needed him, he would come, and Nynaeve has worried about Rand repressing his feelings, so in a way, this has happened. A trigger was needed to break a hole in the wall Rand has built around himself and the Pattern has sent Hurin (as an answer to Nynaeve’s concerns) to be the first of these. Tam, whose arrival Nynaeve had a hand in, will be the second.

Rand likens himself to the Stone of Tear: too hard to be natural or human, and just as legendary. Also just as impregnable: very difficult to break into, but doable when you know how. They both are major landmarks of the Age and have copious twists and turns within. The Aiel were impressed with the labyrinthine defences of the Stone, and Rand doesn’t have internal landmarks and so can’t read himself. The Heart of the Stone held Callandor, and is now empty; Rand’s heart is also currently empty as the prophecy “pray that the heart of stone remembers tears” foretold.

He wanders through the Stone while wandering through his own mind. This physical activity is an effort to distract himself from his internal furore. His mind is insane, but his heart isn’t; they are at war with each other over what he is doing to himself and others to cope with his overwhelming role.

Rand has hardened himself in the mistaken belief that it will make him stronger and it hasn’t worked. The inescapability of his fate is crushing him and he refers to this verse of the Shadow’s taunting dark prophecy:

“Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying, one to life eternal.
Which will he choose? Which will he choose?
What hand shelters? What hand slays?

- The Great Hunt, Blood Calls Blood

while looking at his hands, which illustrate the suffering he is undergoing:

Two hands. One to destroy, the other to save. Which had he lost?

- The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

The chapter is even named after this self-questioning as emphasis.

So which of his hands did Rand lose? The sheltering one or the killing one? Hands are symbols of one’s humanity as well as one’s power. The appetite that Rand has in The Gathering Storm for using vast sources of power – the Choedan Kal, the True Power – is accelerating his loss of humanity. In a way losing his hand marked both his loss of humanity and also the necessary sacrifice of power he will make at the end of this book.

As an aside, this hand symbolism is used in more than one way in prophecy. Rand also has Perrin and Mat:

The right hand falters and the left hand strays

- Crossroads of Twilight, Opening Prophecy

Will he lose one of them permanently or temporarily?

Osan’gar and Aran’gar are/were not hands, but daggers. They were even told they were to be tools used by the Dark One, and not permitted to be, or capable of, directing in their own right.

Hurin reminds Rand of his earlier self, although that brings a reminder that his friends already feared him back then. It is almost like meeting himself in an If world, and in its own way almost as dangerous as that paradox would be.

Lews Therin says they are not facing up to the past. In fact they need memories of their past lives because if they don’t learn from the past they will keep making the same mistakes. This is disastrous in a world with cyclic time.

Rand has been seeing Ishamael (or Moridin) in his dreams:

The changes that had come upon him then [after Falme]—realizing that he had to kill, that he could never return to the life he had loved— were things he could not dwell on. He'd headed out toward Tear, almost delirious, separated from his friends, seeing Ishamael in his dreams.
That last one was happening again.

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

Perhaps Moridin is trying to manipulate or trap him in his dreams as he did in the early books, or maybe, due to their link, they each experience some of the other’s dreams. Rand has been separated from his friends and is insane so more than the last thing is happening again.

To use Callandor (“safely”) the man has to link with a woman and let her control the flows. Rand says he has to subject himself to her will. He certainly has to trust her. But he has to do that before they link because she can’t force him to link with her. (A man can’t even be forced into a full circle (Lord of Chaos and A Crown of Swords Glossary). He must open himself to the Source and she reaches out to him. If he doesn’t cooperate, the link can’t happen.

Rand’s own distrust is exacerbated by his link with Moridin. Trust is no part of any of the Forsaken – so much so that they barely think of trust at all.

Callandor is associated with the Dragon Reborn, just as Excalibur is associated with King Arthur, a major parallel of Rand’s (see Rand essay). He felt he could do anything when he first used it in Tear and seems invincible while holding it – after all, it stopped Ishamael’s balefire in Tel’aran’rhiod, which seemed a big deal at the time until Perrin stopped balefire in Tel’aran’rhiod in Towers of Midnight). In Arthurian myth Excalibur’s scabbard protected Arthur from mortal injury and when Morgan le Fay stole the scabbard it left Arthur vulnerable. Callandor doesn’t have a scabbard and is as dangerous to its wielder as it is empowering. Rand feels Cadsuane appropriated Callandor, but hasn’t demanded its return since he prefers the Choedan Kal which is stronger and not flawed in the manufacture. The Choedan Kal’s flaw is that it offers so much power that it very soon corrupts. It magnifies its wielder’s character flaws, while Callandor magnified the taint on saidin.

Rand is worried that Callandor features in the prophecies, whereas the Choedan Kal doesn’t. It might be in disguised form, since he using used it to cleanse saidin, a landmark event, and it has corrupted him. So it has played a large role, even if ultimately it won’t be as large as Callandor’s role. It is ironic that Rand didn’t dare use Callandor and left it in Tear lest it corrupt him. Even as far as Callandor is concerned, it is not entirely the sa’angreal themselves, but the power they offer that is the most corrupting thing about them.

The Choedan Kal represents the freedom to do anything – complete god-like powers, in other words. Callandor forces some constraints on its wielder, especially that of cooperating with someone else.

Lews Therin says brute power won’t control the Dark One - after all; the Dark One is a god himself. Rand can only equal him, not outdo him. To win he needs to do or have something the Dark One doesn’t, or can’t.

Rand tells the Defenders to stop guarding the Heart of the Stone:

"Guard this place no more," he said to the Defenders. "There is nothing here of worth. I'm not sure if there ever was."

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

His own heart is unguarded and still is in Towers of Midnight - look at the effect Lanfear had. He seems to think Callandor is little value to him, yet is angry Cadsuane has it.

Rand rages against any constraints he perceives and any defiance or disobedience, and considers genocide against the Borderlanders and/or Seanchan. If the latter were destroyed, they couldn’t invade the nations while he fights to save everyone at Shayol Ghul. The Creator’s champion committing such an atrocity would be disastrous for the Land and the Pattern. While Rand considers mass killing, Lews Therin reminds him of his efforts to restore the girl killed in battle in the Stone, the battle commemorated in the tapestries around them. Rand tried to use the god-like powers of a sa’angreal until he saw what a travesty it was.

After deciding to kill the Seanchan and sending Maidens off to gather their spear sisters, he returns to his rooms and almost doesn’t recognise his father from behind; Tam being out of context. Rand’s mind is out of all context. Tam doesn’t have great physical strength, but has great moral and spiritual strength.

Just as the inability to update his list of fallen women due to using balefire caused conflict, so the presence of Tam causes even greater conflict over the change in his identity from past to present. Relations are awkward between father and son like they just met.

Rand feels an urge to hug his father, yet doesn’t because he feels guilty over not thinking of Tam much recently. He had given up on being among Two Rivers people. Rand thinks Mat and Nynaeve have changed, as well as Perrin and Egwene. He is angry that Perrin used Two Rivers folk when he has refused to. Tam praises Perrin’s leadership to Rand, which isn’t likely to make him feel any kinder right then. Even more unwisely, Tam says “they've gone and made a king out of” Rand. Rand is already annoyed at perceived manipulation attempts. He won’t or can’t reassure Tam that he thinks of him as his father:

The Dragon Reborn couldn't have a father. A father would be a weakness to be exploited, even more than a woman like Min. Lovers were expected. But the Dragon Reborn had to be a figure of myth, a creature nearly as large as the Pattern itself. He had difficulty getting people to obey as it was. What would it do if it were known that he kept his father nearby? If it were known that the Dragon Reborn relied upon the strength of a shepherd?

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

What a sad scene this is, with Rand so emotionally crippled. He has hamstrung himself worse than Perrin ever did. No wonder his inner voice, long suppressed, is screaming quietly. He is very formal and stilted in his thanks to his father:

"You did well, Tam," Rand found himself saying. "By keeping the truth from me, you likely saved my life. If people had known that I was a foundling, and discovered near Dragonmount no less—well, word would have spread. I might very well have been assassinated as a child."

"You have done a great service, Tam al'Thor," Rand said. "By protecting and raising me, you have ushered in a new Age. The world owes you a debt. I will see that you are cared for the rest of your life."

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

and even refers to his father by his full name. Pompous isn’t in it. He sounds like the worst sort of Seanchan Emperor, a family renowned for its dysfunctionality.

Tam killed a blademaster in front of witnesses. While he regrets it greatly, he judges it was necessary. Rand says:

"The ones that need to be done often seem the ones that we least like to have to do."

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

Does he feel this much regret for killing Forsaken?

Rand tells Tam that he feels the Pattern and prophecies are using him as a puppet until he is killed for sacrifice. Tam disagrees – everyone has a choice. Rand may feel like he doesn’t have a choice but that is because he is a person of integrity. While he is limited in what he can do, he has leeway in choosing why he does stuff. He can only choose why he fulfils his duties. Tam says it is not certain Rand will die, but Rand won’t run from it, so he shouldn’t whine about it. Tam thinks the Pattern won’t demand everything of Rand and give him nothing.

Tam is annoyed that Cadsuane did not bring him to Rand sooner, but it is not Cadsuane’s fault. Tam even admits that he deliberately kept away from Rand so, he didn’t interfere with Rand’s decisions. Rand feels manipulated again and this time his suppressed feelings explode. He makes Tam tell him what Cadsuane told him to say and then flies into a psychotic rage. He can’t suppress it:

Rand wrestled with his rage on one side and saidin on the other. They threatened to crush him between them.
This was why he needed to be strong. Couldn't they see? How could a man laugh when confronted by forces like these?

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

At the height of his rant he accuses Tam of pretending affection and manipulating him for Cadsuane.

He had lost control. But he didn't care. They wanted him to feel. He would feel, then! They wanted him to laugh? He would laugh as they burned!
Screaming at them all, he wove threads of Air and Fire. Lews Therin howled in his head, saidin tried to destroy both of them, and the quiet voice inside Rand's heart vanished.

The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

A hair from re-becoming the Kinslayer, hr realises how corrupt he now is and flees to Ebou Dar.

The symbolism of the red and yellow rug in Rand’s rooms is interesting. Yellow for the Healing he needs (and Nynaeve’s aid) and Red for the blood he sheds and the trauma he experiences at the hands of the Red Amyrlin’s embassy.

The Gathering Storm Read-Through #43: Chapter 40 - The Tower Shakes -

By Linda


WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT

The changing POVs in this chapter rapidly increase action and tension.

Chapter Title

The Tower physically shakes under the Seanchan attack, but also spiritually, since the Aes Sedai are ill-prepared and quite helpless and the organisation is crumbling due to being undermined by the Black Ajah and Elaida’s mismanagement.

The attack illustrates the motif of the lightning struck tower popular in Renaissance thought. In one fifteenth century Tarot card deck, the Tower is a large crumbling stone structure with flames emerging from its side (Robert M Place, The Tower: History, Symbolism and Divination) as shown in the Charles VI Tower tarot card right.

The Tower card

represents the fire that purifies – the process of destruction that is necessary before we can rebuild… In the mystical quest, the Tower represents the burning away of the egotistical urges that stop one from joining with the One.

Robert M Place, The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination

and suggests

the destruction of an out-dated philosophy which is unable to adapt to new conditions…The lesson here is that any structure is only defensible as long as it remains flexible and capable of evolution; life itself is in a state of constant flux and no merely human construction can hope to survive if it cannot adapt.

Alfred Douglas, The Tarot

The card has connotations of sudden catastrophe, destruction and the downfall of pride. This is the effect the attack had on the Tower. It was the final trigger for the Aes Sedai to finally accept their inadequacies.

Over the centuries the card has had various titles: Fire, the Thunderbolt, the Tower (see see Il Meneghello Soprafino Tarocco card left), the House of God (Charles VI Tarot card above right) and the House of the Devil. All seem appropriate here.

Jordan was never content to show just one example of a symbolic element, and so the White Tower is not the only Tower to be suddenly rent: its opposite the Black Tower is also prophesied to be attacked (“rent in fire and blood”, to be precise) although with perhaps quite different results.




Siuan POV

Gareth and Siuan use each others’ names when discussing whether to rescue Egwene while the Tower is being attacked by the Seanchan. Bryne doesn’t want to rescue Egwene because he gave his word to obey her and she has forbidden it. Siuan feels she must rescue her because Egwene was so traumatised by her Seanchan enslavement as we see confirmed almost immediately in Egwene’s POV.


Egwene POV

Egwene’s first reaction is to flee from the Seanchan:

Egwene shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. The cool, seamless metal. The nausea, the degradation, the panic, despair, and—shamefully—guilt at not serving her mistress to the best of her abilities. She remembered the haunted look of an Aes Sedai as she was broken. Most of all, she remembered her own terror.
The terror of realizing that she would be like the others, eventually. Just another slave, happy to serve.

The Gathering Storm, The Tower Shakes

but she pulls herself together. She promises to protect Nicola even though she can barely channel. Nicola is comforted despite knowing Egwene’s ability is so restricted. Other novices, too, are inspired and reassured by her leadership.

Egwene shows that there are ways around not being able to channel much – linking and using angreal. She teaches the novices to link so they won’t be defenceless. It is against custom, but custom is so useless as to be dangerous at this time.

Egwene selects ring leaders on the basis of skill and levelheadedness - ie merit, and not on their strength in the Power.

The sa’angreal was in the same storeroom as the smaller ter’angreal, just lying on shelf. This may be an error. Sa’angreal are not mentioned as being kept with ter’angreal in earlier books.


Siuan POV

Bryne follows Siuan around rather than stay with his officers.

Siuan is ready to pay the price of Egwene’s angerat for disobeying her, although in part this is because she thinks Egwene will ultimately be thankful. She is mistaken: Egwene is more than annoyed, she loses trust in Siuan, something Siuan did not consider.

Gawyn only thinks of Egwene and agrees that he will be square with Siuan if she helps him get Egwene out of Tar Valon. Actually, he is so one-track minded that even someone as obsessive as Siuan remarks on it.

Bryne refuses to help them because he won’t help Siuan break her word (and also because they are unlikely to succeed alone). Siuan tries to justify the rescue by saying that Egwene said they could rescue her if she were going to be executed, and for all they know that is the sort of danger she is in.

"Ignorance is not an excuse," Bryne said sternly, stepping closer to her. "You have made oathbreaking far too convenient, Siuan, and I don't want it to become a habit for you. Aes Sedai or not, former Amyrlin or not, people must have rules and boundaries.

The Gathering Storm, The Tower Shakes

Siuan is trying the usual Aes Sedai tricks with oaths, but Bryne is making her keep to the spirit of her oaths, not just the letter. Yet Bryne can’t bear to let Siuan go into danger without him and so breaks his word to Egwene. He sets two conditions: one is that Siuan will Bond him as her Warder. (Weak as she is she is strong enough to do that. This makes sense since no Aes Sedai is said to be too weak to bond a Warder, not even Daigian.) We find out later that the other condition is that they marry.

Bryne is possibly atypical of men in not revealing a similar physical desire for Siuan and possibly speculating on how he could put his newly acquired stamina to good use…


Adelorna POV

Adelorna’s experiences show how Aes Sedai, who can’t use the One Power as a weapon, don’t fight and haven’t had to defend against invasion, were easily defeated by the Seanchan.

The head of the Battle Ajah actually gets collared and then saved by Egwene. Adelorna feels a fool for being captured, then tries to take charge, despite failing a short while before and knowing little about the Seanchan of damane. Egwene is definitely in charge and is prepared to pay for this later:

"I am in command until this threat passes. You will call me Mother. Give me penance later if you must, but for now my authority must be unquestioned. Is that clear?"

The Gathering Storm, The Tower Shakes

And Adelorna obeys and is proud that Egwene respects her toughness.

No Aes Sedai went to get angreal, even by mundane methods. The fate of Adelorna’s group of Greens shows that many Aes Sedai were not linked to others, but defending piecemeal.

Elaida compromised knowledge of Travelling as Egwene knows:

"I'd have never shown you this, save that I just had a report that Elaida has been spreading knowledge of this weave. Knowledge of Traveling has been compromised. That means the Seanchan are likely to have it by now, assuming they've taken any women Elaida taught."

The Gathering Storm, The Tower Shakes

Egwene is prepared to kill captive Aes Sedai to prevent the Seanchan gaining Travelling. The Seanchan will get it; and actually it is Elaida herself who betrays it.

Adelorna realises Egwene could have left the Tower at any time. Egwene says if she did she would be abandoning Tower, since she knew the Seanchan would attack.

Egwene aims to make the Seanchan lose more damane in their raid than they gain captive Aes Sedai.

Knife of Dreams Read-through #9: The Broken Bargain

By Linda

In Knife of Dreams, To Make An Anchor Weep, we learn of the mass murder/suicide of the Amayar. This was triggered by the female Choedan Kal statue melting after the Cleansing:

"The Amayar were all dead or dying. Men. women"—her voice broke—"children…Everywhere I have been, it was the same. They gave their children a poison that put them into a deep sleep from which they did not waken. It seems there was not enough of that to go around, so many of the adults took slower poisons. Some lived long enough to be found and tell the tale. The Great Hand on Tremalking melted. The hill where it stood reportedly is now a deep hollow. It seems the Amayar had prophecies that spoke of the Hand, and when it was destroyed, they believed this signaled the end of time, what they called the end of Illusion. They believed it was time for them to leave this . . . this illusion"—she laughed the word bitterly— "we call the world."
"Have none been saved?" Zaida asked. "None at all?" Tears glistened on her cheeks, too, but Harine could not fault her on that. Her own cheeks were wet.
"None, Shipmistress."
Zaida stood, and tears or no tears, she held the aura of command, and her voice was steady. "The fastest ships must be sent to every island. Even to those of Aile Somera. A way must be found. When the salt first stilled after the Breaking, the Amayar asked our protection from brigands and raiders, and we owe them protection still. If we can find only a handful who still live, we still owe it."

- Knife of Dreams, To Make An Anchor Weep

Moghedien was amazed that the sa’angreal had survived that long while being used at that level (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal) so it is no great surprise to learn that it disintegrated on completion of the task. According to the Amayar’s prophecies its destruction heralded the end of time, what they called the end of Illusion and they killed themselves to ‘go on’ before everyone else. Like all other people in the Wheel of Time world we have encountered, the Amayar were millenarian, believing in the division of history into periods that are multiples of thousand years, with each period ending in a trauma and with the promise of a return to an Age of happiness, and apocalyptic, believing in the world’s progress to a prophesied cataclysmic appointed end, but they had no messianic beliefs, no prophecy of a world saviour who will avert the Dark One’s victory and the end of time, to give them hope. The Amayar’s beliefs and their consequences are discussed in the Time of Illusions article now republished on the blog.

Soon after the Breaking, the Amayar asked the Sea Folk to protect them from marauders. They had a pacifist philosophy – called the Water Way later in the Third Age – and were probably descended from the Da’shian Aiel. The Mistress of the Ships said the Sea Folk (as a whole) still owe the Amayar that protection (Knife of Dreams, To Make An Anchor Weep). The word ‘owe’ implies some sort of obligation. Since the Sea Folk never do anything without receiving something in exchange, and the intra-Age period was a time of extreme hardship when even the most self-sacrificing altruistic people resorted to selfishness and pragmatism, presumably the original agreement was a very long-running Bargain of some kind. The Sea Folk are the sole marketers and distributors of “Sea Folk porcelain” and fine glassware which is, or rather was, actually made by the Amayar (The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time). They charge considerably higher prices for it than they pay the Amayar:

The Atha'an Miere generally receive credit for their craftsmanship, but the Amayar do not care. They are aware of the mainland, know the prices charged by the Atha'an Miere, and are satisfied with the prices they receive, which is all that matters to them.

- The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time

and would have made a tidy profit from it over the centuries. The Sea Folk also have exclusive use of devices such as spectacles (The Shadow Rising, The Wavedancer) probably crafted by the Amayar. At least in part, such craftsmanship is probably what the Amayar offered the Sea Folk in exchange for protection. Their excellent lenses, the best known anywhere, for instance, would have been immediately useful. Note that the agreement was made just after the Breaking, not during, so trade in non-essential items would be starting to resume.

Logain insisted that the Sea Folk give higher priority to their bargain with Rand and meet their obligations to him first, before those of protecting and saving the Amayar. The Sea Folk were aghast at the consequences of all their fastest ships being committed to Rand’s bargain; of being unable to give medical aid and protect the Amayar, and not fulfilling their bargain. They didn’t immediately consider that they could Travel to the islands rather than sail there, although hopefully that realisation came after not too much hand-wringing. We have yet to see the consequences of the enforced change in the priorities of their obligations, including how lower ranked Sea Folk feel about it.

Crossroads of Twilight Read-through #7: Keeping Up With the Black Ajah

By Linda

I thought it might be instructive to see what some of the more active members of the Black Ajah were doing in Crossroads of Twilight, especially in hindsight now that we know far more members of the Black Ajah after The Gathering Storm than we did.


With Rand

Elza

Elza tried to prevent Erian and Sarene from informing Rand that someone was using their Warders to track them down and would meet up with them soon. She also tried to limit Cadsuane’s access to Rand, but she wanted to stay in Rand’s favour more and that wasn’t the way to do so (Crossroads of Twilight, Ornaments).

Elza revealed to the reader that she is Black Ajah and that she knows of a Black Sister, Fera, who is a captive in Cairhien. She commanded her Darkfriend Warder Fearil to kill anyone who threatens Rand and was deciding who else he has to kill (Crossroads of Twilight, A Strengthening Storm).


Verin

Verin took Harine and her small retinue to Tear, picked up information on what is going on there and reported to Cadsuane. Then she got sucked into a conversation with Nesune on snakes (Crossroads of Twilight, Ornaments).


With the Rebels

Sheriam

Sheriam became upset when Egwene talked with anyone privately because she had to pass on what goes on to Aran’gar and the more she knew the better Aran'gar would be pleased. She found Delana’s raising of the subject of negotiations with the Tower Hall frightening; Aran’gar wouldn’t want the negotiations to succeed. Sheriam didn’t realise Delana’s aim was to prevent them succeeding by getting Egwene to interfere. (It didn’t work.)

Sheriam was against Moria’s suggestion of making an agreement with the Black Tower and wept when the Hall voted yes.

It was Sheriam who presented the rebel Mistress of Novices Tiana’s report on runaway novices to Egwene. Sheriam was amused that Nicola’s group covered for her and that it was not certain when Nicola ran away. She tried to erode Egwene’s credibility by suggesting she show favouritism to the Emond’s Field novices. Neither reaction is appropriate for a former Mistress of the Novices.

Delana

Delana was acting more positively than Sheriam. She bestowed her support in such a way as to cause more division, offense or fear:

One day she could be the very image of a Gray negotiator seeking consensus, and the next so strident in her arguments that every Sitter within hearing got her back up. She had been known to set the cat among the pigeons in other ways, too. No fewer than three times now, she had demanded the Hall make a formal declaration that Elaida was Black Ajah, which inevitably led to an awkward silence until someone called for the sitting to be adjourned. Few were willing to discuss the Black Ajah openly.
Delana would discuss anything, from how they were to find proper clothes for nine hundred and eighty seven novices to whether Elaida had secret supporters among the sisters, another topic that gave most sisters a case of the prickles.

- Crossroads of Twilight, The Subject of Negotiations

What seemed like incompetent behaviour for a Grey was designed to have the effect it did. She deliberately annoyed Egwene by telling her that people are gossiping over who will be her Warder and raising the subject of Egwene Bonding Bryne and telling her he wouldn’t be a good idea. It’s all perfect stuff for annoying a young woman.

Delana tried to prevent negotiations between the rebel and Tower Sitters by getting Egwene to interfere. She told her that the rank and file Aes Sedai and the rebel Ajah Heads will support Egwene if she forbids talks and offered Egwene her support in the Hall, hers and enough others to stop the negotiations. Her aim was to sow dissension between the rebel Ajah Heads and Sitters and between Ajahs, and to tie the rebels up in conflict so they don’t negotiate with the Tower. This is why Delana was appalled when Egwene agreed with Beonin that negotiations should start.

Delana arrived late to the Sitting of Hall on negotiations with the Black Tower, probably because Aran’gar was giving her orders. She reluctantly voted in favour of negotiations so her vote reflects Aran’gar’s command, not her own wishes.


Moria

Anaiya’s assessment of Moria was prescient:

A hard woman, harder than Lelaine in some ways. Tougher, anyway. She won’t scruple at things that might make Lelaine balk. I’m very much afraid she will press for an assault on the city as soon as possible. If the Forsaken are moving so openly, on such a scale, then better a wounded Tower that’s whole than a Tower divided.

- Crossroads of Twilight, Surprises

Moria said she wants Elaida executed. This was calculated to stymie negotiations with the Tower or put rebel Sitters off suggesting them.

Moria, along with Escaralde and Malin, called a Sitting to hear about the expedition to Shadar Logoth. She deliberately allowed the belief that their circles were inadequate without the inclusion of men to become known to the rank and file Aes Sedai:

“I do fear it be too late for that,” Moria said loudly. She had to speak loudly, to be heard over the murmur of sisters talking excitedly behind the benches, a hum like a huge beehive. “What has been said has been said, and heard by too many sisters for anyone to try shutting the words away now.” Her bosom rose as she pulled in a deep breath, and she raised her voice a notch louder. “I do put before the Hall the proposal that we do enter into an agreement with the Black Tower, that we may bring men into our circles at need.”

- Crossroads of Twilight, Surprises

Such a controversial resolution would sow more division among the rebels and between the rebels and the White Tower. There is also considerable danger to the Aes Sedai going to the Black Tower while Darkfriend Taim is in charge there.

The way these three Sitters worked together is suggestive. Escaralde and Malin may not have been present in the Hall in The Gathering Storm when the rebel Sitters used the Oath Rod to prove they were not Darkfriends.


In the White Tower

Alviarin

Alviarin kept Meidani away from Elaida at the beginning of Crossroads of Twilight – perhaps she had news from Sheriam as to which sisters were sent as ferrets (Crossroads of Twilight, Prologue).

Mesaana sent Alviarin out of the Tower for almost a month. In that time Alviarin met with Darkfriends that were commanded by other Forsaken. She visited Shadar Logoth for her own knowledge (Crossroads of Twilight, A Mark). Her last stop was to see what condition the female sa’angreal on Tremalking was in after the Cleansing. Had it been usable, there was no chance Alviarin would seize it for herself. She can’t channel strongly enough to use it safely:

I [Verin] can think of few women strong enough to survive the flows through the sa’angreal in Tremalking. The Amyrlin, of course, Moiraine and Elaida. Perhaps one or two others. And three still in training.

- The Great Hunt, On the Scent

While she was away, Elaida freed herself from Alviarin’s clutches despite being bound to obey Alviarin’s will. Elaida called a Sitting of selected Sitters and got Alviarin deposed from the Keeper’s position. When Elaida threatened Alviarin with execution for treason, Alviarin panicked and summoned Mesaana with a ter’angreal emergency signal.

Shaidar Haran also responded to it as well as Mesaana. Alviarin witnessed the start of Mesaana’s punishment and was marked by Shaidar Haran as a creature of the Shadow as Jordan explained:

“You are marked as mine,” the Great Lord rasped. “Mesaana will not harm you, now. Unless I give her permission.”

- Crossroads of Twilight, A Mark

The mark that Alviarin received from Shaidar Haran was not the same as that given to the Forsaken, though it shares one function: Shadowspawn will recognize her as belonging to the Dark One. They will not obey her as they will the Forsaken, however, but she doesn't have to worry about one trying to kill her, either. She is not any sort of lesser Chosen. You might think of it more like the tattoo some people get put inside the ear of their dog, an identification so others will know who the dog belongs to as soon as they see it.

- TOR Question of the Week

Alviarin noticed Talene behaving suspiciously and will try to find out why she looked at Doesine and Yukiri and didn’t speak up to Elaida. She has been commanded by Shaidar Haran to find the threat to the Black Ajah and thinks Talene will be her starting point.


Katerine

Katerine arrived at the hamlet of Dorlan and refused to explain to the other returned Aes Sedai what happened to her after Dumai’s Wells (Crossroads of Twilight, Prologue). Once she heard of the boatman Narenwhin used to go downriver to Dorlan, Katerine went off to be rowed to Tar Valon and condescended to take Tarna with her. Katerine took an interesting the Younglings while in Dorlan.

At the end of Crossroads of Twilight, she was part of the group that captured Egwene and Leane as they changed the harbour chain to cuendillar.


Talene

Talene was bound to obey the Black Ajah hunters but otherwise moved about the Tower.


Atuan Larisett

Atuan was under surveillance while the Black Ajah hunters awaited an opportunity to interrogate her.


In Caemlyn

Careane

Careane suggested they be prepared to flee Caemlyn if the huge usage of Power moves closer and that they take the Kin with them (Crossroads of Twilight, Talk of Debts). She was encouraging Elayne to leave Caemlyn. Careane had been ordered to kill some of the Kin (at Marillin’s suggestion) and might have preferred to get out of it since it was a risky task likely to end in exposure.


Marillin

Marillin went out on errands often. She was apparently as much under Shiaine’s orders as Falion (Crossroads of Twilight, Gathering Darkness).


Falion

Falion was worked extremely hard as a maid:

Her maid’s dress was simple truth; she did the work of four or five women by herself, maids and scullions and spit-girl, sleeping when she could and truckling whenever Shiaine frowned.

- Crossroads of Twilight, Gathering Darkness

Hanlon pretended to be forcing himself on Falion as part of her punishment, but whenever they weren’t being worked or watched they exchanged information in her room. Falion asked Hanlon about:

the Aes Sedai in the palace or those she called the Kin, or about the Sea Folk. Silly questions. Who was friendly with whom, and who unfriendly. Who exchanged private words and who avoided one another. What he had heard them say.

- Crossroads of Twilight, Gathering Darkness

Falion was trying to determine the ranking of the female channellers and the political currents. She was also interested in who Careane was talking with because they might be Darkfriends.

Falion could channel again now but she was still being punished by Shiaine. In fact, Shiaine increased her punishment by making her sleep with Murellin because Falion suggested her punishments should cease. Falion asked Hanlon for a sleeping draught to put into Murellin’s drink.


With the Shaido

Galina

Galina threatened to tell Sevanna who Faile’s husband was unless she stole the Oath Rod from Therava’s tent (Crossroads of Twilight, Traps). She betrayed Faile’s hidden knife to Sevanna so Faile and co couldn’t escape before they got the rod for Galina. Therava used Galina very harshly, humiliating her constantly. Galina slept in Therava’s tent.


The Secret of the Black Ajah

Sisters have come close to revealing the existence of the Black Ajah, but as of Crossroads of Twilight no one had ever made official charges, or had them raised against them:

Since the founding of the Tower, no sister had ever been charged with being Black Ajah. Oh, there had been suspicions by individual sisters, and from time to time Aes Sedai had died to make sure those suspicions never went further, but never had it come to official charges. If Elaida was willing to speak openly of the headsman’s block, she must be close to bringing charges. Very close. Black sisters had been made to disappear, too, when suspicions grew too great. The Black Ajah remained hidden whatever the cost.

- Crossroads of Twilight, A Mark

The fiction that there is no Black Ajah ends in Knife of Dreams so Crossroads of Twilight is the last book in which the Black Ajah is truly secret.

Winter's Heart Read-through Post #8: Cleansing the Taint

By Linda

When Rand asked the Aelfinn how to cleanse saidin he received a riddle for an answer; a riddle that, according to Herid Fel, stated "sound principles, in both high philosophy and natural philosophy" (The Path of Daggers, Message From the M’Hael). Rand solved it and used saidin’s opposing power, saidar, as a filter and the taint and its opposing power in Shadar Logoth to annihilate each other (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal).

Jordan explains how this was done:

Emma: Can you give some more details on how the taint was cleansed? I was sort of confused reading the book.
RJ: You don't think it's obvious? Err, let's see. You have… You're using both repulsion and attraction of opposites here. Repulsion of things that are opposite and repulsion of things that are the same. The taint upon [saidin] as versus the conduit, which is made of saidar through which the saidin passes. The saidin and saidar, as men and women, are in many ways opposite. It repels one another. It is safe to make this conduit of saidar between saidin and Shadar Logoth, because there can be no mixing. As the eh.. as [saidin] passes through, as the taint passes through, the saidar actually repels it, pushes it away from [saidin]..., alright? Now, you have a taint on... the eh Source, the male half of the Source, you have the taint on Shadar Logoth. They're not the same, yet they are. The taint on Shadar Logoth did not come from the Dark One. The taint was created by humans, who believed that they must do whatever was necessary, anything that was necessary to defeat the Shadow. And because they would accept no limits to what they would do, to what could be done, to what needed to be done, they created their own destruction. Their evil is, or was, as great as that of the Dark One, but diametrically opposite. It is an evil created for the best of intentions, created for good intentions. So it is the opposite. So, this attraction created the conduit begins to pull the taint from [saidin] to siphon it off. Remember, it's always been described it's not at mixed all through [saidin], it is like a thin skin of rancidness, think of a thin skin of rancid oil floating on a pond, and if you get through it, you've got clean water, but you can't get through it without putting your hand in that oil. You're getting it on your hand... To attract one another because they are opposites, but because even being opposite, they have gone far enough around the circle, they act to destroy one another. You see, it's not opposites along a straight line. We're actually talking opposites along a circle. Continuing the motif of the Wheel of Time, if you will. So you've got two things that are both opposites and the same. That will both attract one another and negate one another.
Do you understand better now?
Emma: Yes, thank you.

- Netherlands tour April 2001, Leiden

I think you’ll find this covered elsewhere, but here goes. The evil of Shadar Logoth and the evil of the Shadow might be considered positive and negative poles. They attract, as do the positive and negative poles of two magnets, but if they make contact, the result is more like making contact between the positive and negative poles of your car battery. Big sparks. Really big sparks.

- RJ on his blog

Rather like matter and antimatter annihilating each other.

Rand chose a hill a few miles north of Shadar Logoth so he could easily pool the taint there and yet be far enough away to escape the effects of any explosion or implosion.

While Rand concentrated on the actual taint removal, Cadsuane organised the defences. Most of the Warders were sent out into the forest to scout. Three rings of channellers plus an augmented Alivia were stationed in different directions around the hill.

Alivia went to the north where she fought Cyndane.

Demandred gated into Shadar Logoth south of the hill. Not a good idea. He moved a short distance (since he Travelled without learning the area), so he was still south of the hill, and encountered the ring of Sarene, Flinn (leading) and Corele.

I presume the other two rings (Verin (leading), Kumira and Shalon, and Daigian (leading), Eben, Nesune and Beldeine) went west and east. We don’t know which went where.

The innermost defence was Cadsuane herself with her paralis-net and a ring of Narishma with Callandor, Merise and Elza (leading) on the hill-top. Cadsuane wove a large inverted shield over the hill.

Apparently Erian mucked up and was relegated to guarding the onlookers on the hill. Jordan forgot to mention her:

Q: Was Erian Boroleos meant to disappear during the battle at Shadar Logoth or was that a mistake?
RJ: Erian Boroleos was not meant to disappear. In my notes, she is placed guarding those with Cadsuane who cannot channel and not too pleased about it (there are reasons why she was chosen out for this, which I won't go into here), and there is even a note (under CHECKS AND CORRECTIONS, a category I use to make sure that I haven't blinked at the wrong time) to make sure of mentioning her in passing. It didn't happen, for which, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I was so certain that I had done it, that I didn't find out I hadn't until the paperback came out, but a correction will be made.

- Wotmania/Dragonmount interview 2002

It was a humiliating posting for a Green, but with two Warders recently killed she might have been considered too emotionally unstable for a ring.

The circles were in the main supposed to be led by Cadsuane’s trusted Aes Sedai (Merise, Daigian, Verin). Damer Flinn led his ring because he is respected and trusted – as he should be – and moreover had both army as well as Asha’man combat experience. Or maybe Corele wanted him to lead.

Merise was supposed to lead her circle but she found the taint revolting and surrendered the lead to Elza when she asked. Elza was prepared to kill Forsaken and get into trouble with the Dark One (though she hoped not too much) to ensure that Rand reaches the Last Battle.

Each Forsaken aimed directly for the beacon from wherever they were when they felt the channelling begin. Therefore where they landed relative to the hill indicates the direction from whence they came.

Cyndane killed a bearded Darkfriend – probably a Borderlander – and Travelled south. Saldaea is where she most likely was when she felt the channelling start. It's north of Shadar Logoth and beards are popular there. Cyndane recognised that Alivia is not an Aes Sedai, but at 100 paces was not close enough to sense whether Alivia could channel.

Her comments:

Just as it reached the woman, almost close enough to singe her garments, the web of Fire unraveled. The woman did not do anything; the net simply came apart! Cyndane had never heard of a ter'angreal that would break a web, but it must be that.
Then the woman struck back at her, and she suffered her second shock. She was stronger than Cyndane had been before the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn held her! That was impossible; no woman could be stronger. She must have an angreal, too.

- Winter’s Heart, With the Chodean Kal

are ambiguous. They could be taken to mean that Alivia has an angreal as well as the weave-breaking ter’angreal (true) or that Alivia has an angreal just as Cyndane did before the Finns got hold of her. (This angreal is not the ivory bracelet that Moiraine clawed away from Cyndane when they went through the ter’angreal doorway.) The latter interpretation supports this conversation between Matt Hatch and Brandon Sanderson:

Matt: …so Lanfear, the theory goes, that maybe she was accentuated from a beauty and/or Power perspective by going to the 'Finnland previously.
Brandon: Okay.
Matt: Would the 'Finns have the ability to accentuate someone’s beauty and/or quantity or access to the One Power through their own capabilities and talents?
Brandon: Yes, but it might involve third party ter’angreal, angreal, this sort of thing.
Matt: So, they don’t have power to affect the soul’s capability of increasing its total channelling?
Brandon: Certainly not permanently; as far I understand, that is outside the realm of their ability.
Matt: From a beauty perspective can they affect the outer body of some individual?
Brandon: I would say that, yes they can, but they may have to be using some type of ter’angreal or…
Matt: …some item of Power?
Brandon: Some item of Power, something like that…of which they have great stores…

- The Gathering Storm, book tour

If Lanfear did receive such an item, it gave her an increase modest enough to be believeable as a natural strength for a woman. Perhaps it was a very weak angreal. She no longer has her item/s (and they were very likely the stars and moons jewellery and the woven silver belt that she always wore); the ‘Finns took them back because a) she violated the agreement and went through the doorway again and b) she had joined the Shadow.

Cyndane is not shielded and doesn’t have any item of the Power:

Cyndane is not under any shenanigans. What you see is what you get.

- The Gathering Storm, book tour

Alivia was able to channel more saidar than Cyndane and was very good at battling with the Power, but Cyndane knew far more about channelling, including how to reverse weaves, which is why Alivia ended up with a badly injured arm as Jordan explained:

When Alivia faced Cyndane, Alivia was by far the stronger because of her angreal, and had various tools [ter'angreal] to work with besides which she had only just been given, but Cyndane was much, much more knowledgeable about channelling. Alivia, after all, knew relatively little except how to be a weapon. That was very useful in the situation, but in this case, knowledge versus strength made it an even match.

- RJ on his blog

Demandred encountered the ring of Flinn, Sarene and Corele near Shadar Logoth. He correctly deduced that someone on the hill had a ter’angreal that could detect saidin being channelled and was using it to locate him and attack him. At this stage he cannot have spent much time around Aes Sedai or Asha’man since he did not recognise Flinn as an Asha’man, when he is one of the most noted, or know there were old Asha’man, and he did not recognise Aes Sedai as such. (This also puts paid to the theory that he disguises himself as Taim.)

Graendal was most likely to the west of the hill since she probably came from Arad Doman. She hid her ability to channel and reversed her weaves when she attacked the ring of Verin (leading), Kumira and Shalon. With her weak angreal, Graendal was stronger than the ring and Kumira was killed. Shalon expected to lead the circle since she was strongest and had worked out that the Aes Sedai ranking is by strength in saidar.

Aran’gar fought the ring of Eben, Daigian (leading), Beldeine and Nesune. Daigian might have been the most trusted Aes Sedai of the ring, but she was the weakest and least experienced in combat. Eben made the crucial discovery that Aran’gar can channel saidin and bravely attacked her physically even though it would be his death. He held onto life long enough that Daigian could drive Aran’gar away. Without him Aran’gar would not have been exposed among the rebels.

Osan’gar worked out more than most. He was an amusing mixture of fearfulness and megalomania. Interestingly Osan’gar expected Callandor to survive his balefire; therefore he thought it was made of cuendillar. Elza incinerated him and half the hill he was on with Callandor and her circle.

Moghedien did nothing but watch at a distance. Her hill was not in the south since she could see Shadar Logoth beyond the hill that Rand and co were on. She was probably further north than where Cyndane landed.

Mesaana did not attend and was punished by Shaidar Haran.

Jordan said Semirhage was there – but he also said that he didn’t show Graendal at the cleansing:

Week 15 Question:At the risk of being RAFO'd: Mesaana was punished for ignoring her orders to go to stop Rand from cleansing Saidin. Was Semirhage also punished for ignoring orders, or did she have special exemption? (If you're going to RAFO us, consider giving us some other little tidbit instead?)

Robert Jordan Answers: Semirhage was present at Shadar Logoth, though not seen. You didn't see Graendal, either, though admittedly Moghedien thought of her, thinking it would be good if she or Cyndane died. If I always tried to show everyone who was present at a battle or the like, the books would be a LOT longer than they are now. And those battles would get rather boring, a list of names. Go down the checklist and make sure everyone gets mentioned. Boring. Anyway, Mesaana was the only one who tried to sit it out. By the way, Moridin also was not present, for reasons that will become self-evident as you read on.

By the by, Rand and his companions very likely would have been killed or captured if the Forsaken were not who they are, if they had been willing to form links and coordinate their attacks. But they suffer from a combination of arrogance toward the "ignorant peasants" of the current Age and distrust of one another. Forming a link is all very well, but who leads? Which of them would be willing to give up control over their own ability and put it completely under the control of another of them? Who are you willing to let get behind your back in a fight? Moghedien? Semirhage? I didn't think so.

- TOR Question of the Week

Even Mesaana attending the Cleansing and/or Moghedien participating would have increased the chances of one of the Forsaken getting through to attack Rand.

Moridin was not there because he gets nauseous when Rand seizes saidin just as Rand gets nauseous when Moridin channels due to their link (Knife of Dreams, Within the Stone). He would not have been feeling too well with Rand channelling so much saidin for such a length of time and may have used the True Power to duck outside the Pattern for a while, as he did after watching Sammael disperse the Shaido in A Crown of Swords, Patterns Within Patterns.

Moridin ordered all the Forsaken to attend the Cleansing and even intimidated Cyndane and Moghedien through their mindtraps, but he surely knew they would never cooperate with each other. I guess he didn’t want the Dark One to think that he let saidin be cleansed without doing anything. Or he was passing along the Dark One’s orders even though he knew the others wouldn’t carry them out in the best possible way. Maybe he thought that one or more of the Forsaken would be thinned out and that this would make the rest more malleable.

Outcome

Rand performed two tasks on this day that were considered impossible. He removed the taint from saidin and he destroyed the evil of Shadar Logoth (apart from the contained wound in his side and Fain and the dagger).

Rand and Nynaeve were unconscious for some time. Rand’s unchanged wound shows that what damage already done by the taint stays. Eben and Kumira were killed and Sarene, Alivia and Beldeine were badly injured. The Warders all survived but Lan’s horse was limping, so they did encounter danger. Osan’gar was killed, but we do not know if any Forsaken was injured.

The female access key crumbled and the female Choedan Kal sa’angreal melted – where it was is now a hollow hill (Knife of Dreams, To Make An Anchor Weep). The female Choedan Kal and its access key disintegrated either from sieving the entire taint, or because they broke under the strain of being used by a male channeller inexperienced in channelling saidar.

Callandor is now safer to use. It still has no buffer to prevent over-drawing of the Power but at least it no longer magnifies the taint (The Path of Daggers, The Bargain). The male a’dam is less risky to use than it was because the taint no longer seeps through to the women wearing the bracelets. There is still the slowly increasing struggle for dominance between the women enslavers and the collared man though, according to Moghedien (The Shadow Rising, Into the Palace).

The tomb of Shadar Logoth is open to give the world hope. Shadar Logoth may be one of those collections of rubble that must be cleared before Rand can build which Fel referred to in his message (Lord of Chaos, Thorns).

The Time of Illusions (ordinary existence) ended for the Amayar and they committed mass suicide and murder. The illusions of the Third Age that the Forsaken were still Sealed away and that there were places of safety also ended.

The Path of Daggers Read-through #4: Appraising the Treasure

By Linda

The Elayne and Nynaeve subthread starts with Aviendha worrying about the lost child Olver. Much to her surprise, her love for Rand is inspiring her to develop maternal feelings. Some things haven’t changed however, such as her attitude to the ‘Oathbreakers’. Even though only one Cairhienin – Laman – broke faith with the Aiel and was executed for his offence, all Cairhienin are condemned. Indefinitely.

Aviendha also stresses about her difficulty with Travelling. It is due to Aviendha having already used a different weave for Travelling when she fled from Rand in Cairhien, but one she can’t remember. Cadsuane explains the problems:

The first way you learned the weave for a particular thing imprinted itself on you; learning a second was all but impossible, and even when you could learn, the second learned weave almost never worked nearly as well… As for handwaving… Few [Aiel] had channeled where she could see, but she had noticed that they created some weaves without the gestures that sisters used. The hand movements were not truly part of the weave, but in a way they were, because they had been part of learning the weave. Perhaps, once, there had been Aes Sedai who could, say, hurl a ball of fire without some sort of throwing motion, but if so, they were long dead, and their teachings with them. Today, some things just could not be done without the appropriate gestures. There were sisters who claimed they could tell who had taught another sister by which motions she used for which weaves.

- The Path of Daggers, New Alliances

Aviendha Travelled instinctively, but in her panic never took note of how she did it. She has had to learn Elayne’s way, but it is a poor second. Aviendha does remember the gesture she used for her original weave, but that wouldn’t help from what Cadsuane said, since whatever gesture Elayne used when she demonstrated it to Aviendha is ‘part’ of the weave. So Aviendha is performing neither weave exactly in the way she learned them. It will be interesting to see if Aviendha’s difficulties with Travelling are important for Towers of Midnight.

This subplot has some interesting symbolism in these early POVs:

The thin Sea Folk porcelain that Aviendha eyes was actually made by Amayar and reflects the brittleness and fragility of that people’s philosophy, the Water Way, and ultimately their mass murder and suicide (more on this in the Knife of Dreams, read-through). The gilded and lit lamps lining their way out of the Palace symbolise royalty, vigilance, truth and life, and refers to their quest to restore the seasons and establish Elayne on the Lion Throne.

Nynaeve’s attire of blue with yellow slashes hearkens back to Lan’s former Aes Sedai, Moiraine, as well as Nynaeve’s own Ajah and Healing Talent. She is trying to be everything to Lan. As he told her in Tear, Lan’s favourite colours on women are blue, green and white. The last is an odd choice, since white is the mourning colour. However, the colours are those of Moiraine’s Ajah and her Ajah’s allies. Elayne is also wearing her Ajah colour of green embroidered with gold to reflect her royal status. The girls have dressed formally for this very important occasion. Green is also the colour of fertility and Elayne will be pregnant soon.

Aviendha is modestly dressed in grey, reflecting her current lower station compared to the other two and also her growing role as mediator between Aiel and Westlanders. Aviendha’s comment that no Wise One ever told anyone to stand up to Wise Ones looks forward to her own problems with self-assertion which delayed her graduation as a Wise One.


Elayne was able to efficiently sort through the items they found in Ebou Dar by holding the Power and sensing whether an item resonated to saidar. (Hopefully items that are made to be used by saidin only also resonate to saidar.) The many items they obtained are detailed in the Ebou Dar cache article now reposted here on the Thirteenth Depository.

Three angreal were found in their share of the cache and their shapes are instructive, when one considers who uses them.

The turtle angreal was used by Talaan and later given to Aviendha. Turtles symbolise longevity. Being creatures of two domains, sea and shore, they are also often regarded as keepers of the doorways to other worlds, such as Faerie. Both Talaan and Aviendha chafed at the delays to their graduation and turtles are regarded as slow. The two girls have also, if not gone missing, at least taken longer to re-appear than they should. Elayne also considered using the turtle at a time when her path to the throne was delayed and the Borderlanders seemed a complication.

The figurine of a woman in a meditative pose clothed only in her luxuriant hair angreal is Elayne’s favourite despite being the weakest of the three. Elayne gave this angreal to Aviendha to use even though she wanted to use it herself. Unbound hair is often a sexual invitation, especially coupled with nudity as on this figurine. At this stage Elayne was rather jealous that Aviendha and Rand had made love - often telling herself to stay calm - and looked forward to doing the same with him herself.

The maze-engraved rings and bracelet with chains, padlock and key is the strongest of the three angreal. It adapts itself to fit whatever hand it is on and has been used by Nynaeve and Alivia. Rings are a symbol of commitment and, along with the chains and bracelet, a strong bond of service or duty and an eternal connection with someone.

The lock with its special key could be regarded as a symbol of marital fidelity. A lock and key also stands for both liberation and imprisonment. Another possibility is that the key could symbolise the unlocking of knowledge or weaves that are essential to protect. In a way the strenth of the angreal provides the ability to protect or save. Since the lock and its key are removable, it would be interesting to see if removing them affects the function of the angreal, for example by making it weaker or stronger.

On one level the angreal refers to Nynaeve’s marriage to Lan, especially considering Nyaneve wears Lan’s ring on a chain. Just before she was given the angreal to use she confessed that she had been silly about forgetting her duty while fussing over Lan.

Perhaps more importantly still, the angreal symbolism refers to both Nynaeve’s and Alivia’s fierce protection of Rand and also his trust of them in return. One will ‘help him die’ and the other is determined to help him live. Alivia feels a great obligation because Rand liberated her from the a’dam and she appreciates Rand encouraging her to learn all she can.

The angreal is engraved with a maze pattern. Mazes were thought to confuse evil spirits, and it is therefore apt that the angreal has been frequently worn and used in conjunction with the protective jewellery ter’angreal from the cache. The fact that mazes have many paths and dead ends implies that whatever weaves or aid Nynaeve and Alivia bring Rand will not come easily.

The Bowl of Winds is a hallows object, a life-giving cauldron of plenty in fact. The cauldron of the Dagda, an Irish god was called Undry and the Blow was used to bring much-needed rain and snow to the world.

The Bargain that Elayne and Nynaeve made with the Sea Folk was worthwhile. Without Caire’s rare and very advanced technical knowledge and skill they could not have restored the Seasons. The Windfinders’ knowledge was not valued by Egwene and the rebel Aes Sedai since they never saw the expertise necessary to use the Bowl.

Caire channelled into the Bowl with a star motif. The star symbolises hope, expectation and advent. For the alchemist it was a symbol of the imagination and of the material substances the alchemist hoped to transform. The mental powers of thirteen channellers were used by Caire to transform the weather pattern of the world. She began with a four-pointed star representing the four directions of the compass, or the four corners of the world, and then increased the number of points. The nine-pointed star triggered the Bowl to draw saidar itself and then saidin. Nine is a powerful number symbolising order within order, and the triple synthesis of mind, body and spirit, or heaven, earth and underworld.

Sammael also obtained a share of the Ebou Dar cache. After Sammael’s death, Rand and the Asha’man stripped Sammael’s rooms bare of whatever Graendal left (The Path of Daggers, New Alliances). She complained that she didn’t have much time before they arrived. This implies that Graendal got her hands upon more than just a weak angreal, but we don’t know what.

It’s remarkable how often Mat is present when treasure hoards are accessed onstage for the first time – Shadar Logoth, the Great Holding in Tear, Rhuidean and finally the Ebou Dar cache. He really is the God of Wealth. Perhaps he will be shown over the Eelfinn’s treasure stores too.

Angreal and Sa'angreal

By Linda

Angreal (anh-gree-AHL) and sa’angreal (SAH-ahn-GREE-ahl) allow a channeller to safely channel more of the One Power than they otherwise would be able to. Sa’angreal are like angreal, only more powerful and rare (A Crown of Swords Glossary). Both probably add a fixed increment to the channeller’s strength rather than multiply the amount of power a channeller can use:

Matt – Question: The Choedan Kal, does it amplify your power? Is it limited, for example, if I have a certain amount of power does it give me 10x what I have, or is it a certain amount of power I can access?

Brandon: One of the things I’ve been doing when I answer questions is that I’ve been saying that this is my understanding and putting an asterisk at the bottom that is a—I am speaking from my understanding and not from specific knowledge from the notes, meaning yes I am probably right but these are the questions I could be wrong on…this one my understanding is that it is a reservoir of power. It is not necessarily a magnification. A very weak person with a very powerful sa’angreal is very powerful. I’m pretty sure on that one, but I will add the asterisk just in case. If you send me an email, I can go back and look to make sure. But I’m reasonably sure on that one, the reasons being things that are talked about in the notes mixed with the way an’greal and sa’angreal worked previously in the books mixed with two specific things that he talked about in the notes when people using an’greal and sa’angreal after they become very weak or after they are weak.

The increase in the amount of the Power that a channeller obtains using a sa'angreal compared to that of an angreal is comparable to the increase in the amount of the Power obtained using an angreal compared to what they can handle unaided. According to Robert Jordan’s Aes Sedai notes, angreal are safe for any channeller to use. However, various sa’angreal are too strong for some channellers. If a channeller is not strong enough for the sa’angreal, they may be forced into drawing more of the power than they can handle, resulting in full or partial burnout, or even death. With the notable exception of Callandor and Vora’s sa’angreal, angreal and sa’angreal have buffers to protect the channeller from the extra Power (The Path of Daggers, The Breaking Storm). The access keys perform this function for the dangerous Choedan Kal (Robert Jordan’s Aes Sedai notes).

Most angreal are small enough for a channeller to easily carry or wear. They vary in potency, and shape or size is no guide (The Shadow Rising, Into the Heart). The sa’angreal so far seen in the series have been larger than the angreal; the most powerful, very large indeed.

Angreal and sa’angreal are attuned to either saidin or saidar and thus useless to those who channel the opposite half of the Source. It is possible that there are angreal usable by both men and women but none have been confirmed (A Crown of Swords Glossary)—the legendary Ring of Tamyrlin has been mentioned as possibly one of these (see Ter'angreal article).


Making an Angreal or Sa’angreal

Angreal are made from Seeds, objects in which the channeller’s power can be instilled, to the short-term detriment of the channeller’s strength:

“Here," Rand said. "The gift I mentioned." He pushed the pouch toward her.

She looked at him, curious. She untied the strings, and took from it a small statue of a woman. She stood upright, with a shawl about her shoulders, though she did not look like an Aes Sedai. She had a mature face, aged and wise, with a wise look about her and a smile on her face.

"An angreal?" Elayne asked.
"No, a Seed."
"A . . . seed?"
"You have the Talent of creating ter'angreal," Rand said. "Creating angreal requires a different process. It begins with one of these, an object created to draw your Power and instill it into something else. It takes time, and will weaken you for several months, so you should not attempt it while we are at war."

- A Memory of Light, To Die Well

It is not known if a Seed is a type of ter’angreal, as Cadsuane thought (A Memory of Light, To Feel Wasted) or something else. Either way, the object is apparently slowly converted to an angreal. Nor is it known how Seeds are created. I hope that Elayne studies the Seed and works this out before she uses it.

There is apparently no difference in the method of making angreal and sa’angreal (A Memory of Light booksigning).


Using an Angreal or Sa’angreal

To use an angreal or sa’angreal, the channeller opens themselves to the Source through the angreal (The Path of Daggers, The Breaking Storm). They don’t need to touch the angreal to use it, but they need to have it on their person and know exactly where it is in relation to themselves. Angreal do not appear to glow when used, but sa’angreal do; even non-channellers can see the glow. For example, Barmellin saw the sphere of the male Choedan Kal glowing during the Cleansing (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal).

Sul’dam and damane know of angreal:

Luckers: Do the Seanchan know of angreal? Can a damane use one?

Brandon Sanderson: They know of angreal. That’s in the notes. And yes, as far as I know a damane should be able to use one. I mean damane are essentially in links, and women in links can still use angreal, but this is a good question, because, it’s odd then that we haven’t seen them use them.

Luckers: Maybe they were thought too valuable to risk in an invasion—though that’s odd, because that would be sort of where they are needed most.

Brandon Sanderson: Yeah, I’m not sure... that is strange. But they definitely know of angreal.

- Interview April 2012

But none have used any that we know of. They probably can’t use one since sul’dam can’t channel and so can’t reach out for saidar through the angreal and damane can’t lead in a link. (Even if they could, it would set the sul’dam/damane pair using one way above the others, leading to problems of trust, and so it has probably not even been tried.)


Identifying Angreal and Sa’angreal

Angreal and sa’angreal feel warm when touched by a channeller who uses the same half of the Source they are attuned to, or resonate if the same half of the Source is used nearby.


Destroying Angreal and Sa’angreal

According to Robert Jordan’s Aes Sedai notes, the destruction of angreal or sa’angreal is difficult and dangerous, due to the risk of wild surges of the Power. In the Age of Legends, the destruction of an angreal or sa’angreal was usually undertaken by a circle, though in some cases the circle was small. For the destruction of one of the Choedan Kal, the Age of Legends Aes Sedai would have used a full and perfect circle of 72 (37 women and 35 men) of the strongest available Aes Sedai, each equipped with a sa’angreal, and even then it would be a dangerous operation. Contrast this with Rand simply using the Choedan Kal’s own power to destroy it in The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold. It’s hard to say if this information makes his action more heroic or more reckless.


Angreal For Women:

Flowers Brooch Angreal

For nearly fifty years, Verin had an angreal of translucent stone carved into a lily with too many petals close by, but never wore it (or any other jewellery) until Winter’s Heart, Wonderful News. It is not a very powerful angreal (The Path of Daggers, Deceptive Appearances) and its current location is unknown.

Golden Bracelet and Rings Angreal:

one [angreal] was an odd piece of jewellery, a gold bracelet attached by four flat chains to finger rings, every bit of it engraved in an intricate maze like pattern. That was the stronger [angreal]…Strangely, the bracelet had a tiny lock, complete with a miniscule tubular key dangling from a fine chain that was obviously made to be removed. Along with the key.

- The Path of Daggers, A Quiet Place

This is the strongest of the three angreal that Elayne found in the Ebou Dar cache (see The Cache from Ebou Dar article) and it appears to fit whatever hand it is put on (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal). It is currently in Nynaeve’s possession.

Golden Shrike Ornament Angreal

Cadsuane wears this angreal dangling from a golden chain in her hair (Winter’s Heart, With The Choedan Kal). She earned it and several ter’angreal ornaments from an old channeller named Norla in the Black Hills over 250 years ago when she was newly raised (see Cadsuane's Ornaments article and Jewellery Ter'angreal article).

Ivory Bracelet Angreal

This angreal is of aged ivory and is a bracelet worked as a person bending backwards with their wrists bound to their ankles. It is a very strong angreal, almost a sa’angreal according to the Eelfinn (Towers of Midnight, The Light of the World). Using it, a woman too weak to be Accepted would be very strong, stronger than Romanda or Lelaine (Towers of Midnight, A Rabbit for Supper).

Moiraine brought it out of Rhuidean on Kadere’s wagons and the day before her encounter with Lanfear left it lying at the foot of the redstone doorframe (The Fires of Heaven, Choices). Lanfear climbed on the wagon to get it during her battle with Rand (confirmed by Jordan on his blog). Moiraine clawed it away from Lanfear as they both fell through the doorway. Cyndane does not have this angreal; Moiraine apparently obtained it from the Eelfinn as one of her requests under the bargain, since the descriptions match and it is unlikely the Eelfinn had two exactly the same. However, Sanderson thinks they are two different angreal (Interview April 2012). It is still in Moiraine’s possession.

Ivory Knife Angreal

Mesaana gave Graendal a small ivory angreal carved in the shape of a knife in exchange for information (Towers of Midnight, Epilogue).

Small Gold Ring Angreal

A small plain golden ring was found by Graendal among Sammael’s belongings (The Path of Daggers, New Alliances). It is a fairly weak angreal. This ring may have been in the stasis box Sammael found (and mentioned in Lord of Chaos, To Understand A Message), but more likely it came from the Ebou Dar cache. According to Graendal, the person that filled the stasis box followed the Dark One (Lord of Chaos, To Understand A Message). If this Darkfriend had the angreal, they would be far more likely to keep such a useful item on their person than store it away. Plus, Nynaeve’s and Elayne’s portion of the Ebou Dar cache contained both angreal and jewellery (see The Cache from Ebou Dar article). The angreal was destroyed in the balefiring of Graendal’s palace (Towers of Midnight, Epilogue).

Stone Figurine Angreal

This angreal is a hand-sized weathered stone figurine of a woman clothed to her ankles in her hair. Egwene saw it in the collection in the Panarch’s museum in Tel’aran’rhiod (The Shadow Rising, What Lies Hidden). Since Nynaeve did not take it, and none of Egwene, Moghedien or the Black Ajah thinks of it, it is probably still there if it survived Jeaine Caide’s balefire.

Stone Flower Angreal

A small stone flower angreal from the Tower’s store was used in the Last Battle (A Memory of Light, Not A Mistake To Ignore).

Turtle Brooch Angreal

Elayne found a small amber brooch in the shape of a turtle in the Ebou Dar cache ( The Path of Daggers, Unweaving). It is not a strong angreal – with it Elayne can handle twice as much of the Power as Nynaeve - and is currently with Aviendha (A Memory of Light, Drifting).

Woman Clothed in Her Hair Figurine Angreal

A seated woman in age-darkened ivory, her legs folded in front of her, her exposed knees bare, but with her hair so long and luxuriant she could not have been more muffled in the heaviest cloak. It was not even as strong as the turtle…One hand rested on a knee, palm up and fingers arranged so the thumb touched the tips of the middle two fingers, while the other hand was lifted, the first two fingers raised and the others folded. The whole figure carried an air of supreme dignity, yet the delicately worked face showed amusement and delight.

- The Path of Daggers, A Quiet Place

The woman appears to be in a yoga posture and is making the sign of peace. With this fairly weak angreal, Aviendha can hold almost twice as much of the Power (The Path of Daggers, The Breaking Storm).. It is the weakest of three angreal that Elayne found in the Ebou Dar cache (see The Cache from Ebou Dar article) and was last known in Elayne’s possession, although she did not use it in the Last Battle.

Woman in Robes Figurine Angreal

This angreal was taken by Moiraine with Siuan’s permission into the Two Rivers, and it is a hand-sized aged-ivory figurine of a long-haired woman in flowing robes (The Eye of the World, A Place of Safety). While Moiraine was under pressure from the Hall to return the angreal (The Great Hunt, The Shadow in Shienar), she did not, and used it to Heal in The Dragon Reborn in the Mountains of Mist. Moiraine could have used this angreal if she wanted to battle Lanfear in Cairhien. Its whereabouts are unknown.


Angreal For Men:

Man with Sword Figurine Angreal

Rand found this angreal in the Great Holding of Tear. It is a figurine of a round-faced, fat, bald-headed man sitting cross-legged with a sword across his knees worked in shiny dark green stone that fits easily into Rand’s hand (The Shadow Rising, Into the Heart). In Lord of Chaos, The Mirror of Mists, Rand was not confident that he could shield seven Aes Sedai already embracing saidar even using this angreal. It was taken from Rand when he was captured by Elaida’s embassy and lost at Dumai’s Wells. Taim had his loyal Asha’man search for it, but they did not find it (A Crown of Swords, The Butcher’s Yard). Rand did, however, when he went back to visit the battle site at Dumai’s Wells (A Memory of Light, Just Another Sell-sword). Rand sent this angreal to the Asha’man and Logain has it (A Memory of Light, The Last Battle).

Possible Male Angreal

Bayle Domon had a small, age-dark ivory carving of a man holding a sword amongst his collection of ancient artefacts on his ship. The man who sold it to him claimed if you held it long enough you started to feel warm (The Great Hunt, Leavetakings). Perhaps this man had the potential to channel, since angreal give out a feeling of warmth to those who can channel. It is not known if Domon still has it, since he and his ships were twice seized by the Seanchan and the second time he was sold as da’covale.


Sa'angreal:

White Fluted Wand Sa’angreal

Vora’s sa’angreal, a white, fluted wand the length of a woman’s forearm, is one of the few sa’angreal the White Tower has, and perhaps the most powerful. With that wand, a strong Aes Sedai might be able to crumple the walls of Tar Valon (The Dragon Reborn, Healing) and a ring of ten Aes Sedai were able to Heal Mat Cauthon of the Shadar Logoth dagger. Nynaeve’s comment that she could not handle half that much of the Power as was used in the Healing is correct. ;)

Like Callandor, it has no buffer against over-drawing the Power (A Memory of Light, The Last Battle). Jordan had this in his notes ( A Memory of Light booksigning).

It was stored on the top shelf in the storeroom for smaller objects of the Power in The Gathering Storm, The Tower Shakes, but after being used to destroy Taim and the Sharan channellers, and Heal the effects of balefire on the Land, it was locked in a column of crystal in the hills which collapsed in the earthquakes:

At the very center of the explosion, Leane found a column of crystal as wide as an ancient leatherleaf tree, rising some fifty feet in the air. Frozen at its center was a fluted rod, Vora's sa'angreal. There was no sign of the Amyrlin herself, but Leane knew.

- A Memory of Light, The Last Battle

Sanderson named the sa‘angreal ( A Memory of Light booksigning). Vora is both a place name and an Indian surname. There is also the undying Vorapede from Magic the Gathering with powers of vigilance and trample and the LEGO Bionicle Vorahk, which has a staff that can drain the energy of its foes…

Callandor

Callandor, the only sa’angreal in the form of a weapon, was made during the War of the Power (Robert Jordan at a booksigning). It is a crystal sword that can cut as well as the finest steel (The Shadow Rising, Whirlpools in the Pattern) and may be made of cuendillar, since it parted a flow of balefire:

The shaft of light struck the blade of Callandor – and parted on its edge, forking to stream past on either side…where they struck, stone ceased to exist…A snarl of rage came from the shadows, and the blazing shaft of pure white heat vanished.

- The Dragon Reborn, What is Written in Prophecy

This was more than a glancing blow. Furthermore, Osan’gar expected Callandor to survive his balefire attack on the hill near Shadar Logoth (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal). Only if Osan’gar destroyed all of those on the hill at the one time with balefire could he expect to stop Rand using the Choedan Kal and safely obtain Callandor. Therefore Osan’gar, at least, believed Callandor is made of cuendillar.

For three thousand years Callandor, aptly named The Sword That Cannot Be Touched, was protected behind a warding of saidin and saidar for the Dragon Reborn set in the Stone of Tear. Few Aes Sedai even knew what Callandor was. Rand channelled the sword back into the Stone when he left Tear for the Waste and set traps about it. When Narishma tried to free Callandor according to Rand’s instructions, he found more traps than Rand had informed him (The Path of Daggers, Answering the Summons). Perhaps a Forsaken had added to the traps to try and kill Rand and gain Callandor.

Callandor is a very powerful sa’angreal; only two more powerful (one the male Choedan Kal, the other Sakarnen) were made that a man can use (The Shadow Rising, Decisions). With Callandor, Rand could level a city’s walls at a blow (The Shadow Rising, Whirlpools in the Pattern) or annihilate a city with balefire (The Fires of Heaven, Gateways). Using it made Rand feel overwhelmed with the Power, becoming so unstable that he felt he could do anything and die doing it and that nothing could threaten his life (The Shadow Rising, The Stone Stands). He destroyed his own troops along with those of the Seanchan in The Path of Daggers. Cadsuane knew why: unfortunately, Callandor is flawed because it lacks the buffer against over-drawing the Power that makes other sa’angreal safe to use and also magnifies the taint, inducing wildness of the mind. The flaw is a manufacturing flaw (due to the effect of the war on manufacturing standards) and was discovered when they used Callandor during the War of the Power (Robert Jordan at a booksigning).

The only safe way for a man to use Callandor, without the risk of him doing something insane or killing himself drawing too much of the Power, is to link with two women, and have one of them lead the circle (The Path of Daggers, The Bargain). The taint, of course, has been cleansed, but there is still the problem of burnout due to the absence of a buffer. Unknown to Rand, Cadsuane gave Callandor to some retired Aes Sedai to study to see what secrets it still holds (The Gathering Storm, A Box Opens) and work out how these prophecies might be fulfilled. It was retrieved by the time Rand was tested by the Borderlanders and if the Aes Sedai discovered anything it hasn’t been mentioned.

Callandor features prominently in the Prophecies:

Taking the Sword That Cannot Be Touched was one of the first major prophecies that he had fulfilled. But was his taking of Callandor a meaningless sign, or was it a step? Everyone knew the prophecy, but few asked the question that should have been inevitable. Why? Why did Rand have to take up the sword? Was it to be used in the Last Battle?
The sword was inferior as a sa'angreal, and he doubted that it was intended to be used simply as a sword.
Why did the prophecies not speak of the Choedan Kal? He had used those to cleanse the taint.

- The Gathering Storm, The One He Lost

It was also called a 'fearful blade' or 'the blade of ruin' in the prophecies and Min thought it has other flaws that might make Rand weak, opening him to attack if he used it (Towers of Midnight, A Storm of Light) and that Callandor may be used against Rand (Towers of Midnight, A Testing). Callandor was prophesied to “bind him by twain”, which Rand interpreted as:

"I need to be in a circle with two women to control it."

- Towers of Midnight, A Storm of Light

Min could not see why that should happen:

He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one…

So ... Rand was to use Callandor as part of a circle, then? The three becoming one? But for what reason and with whom? If he was to fight the Dark One, then it didn't make sense for him to be in a circle with someone else in control, did it?

- The Gathering Storm, Reading the Commentary

Her ominous viewing of:

A glowing sword, Callandor, being gripped in a black hand. She gasped.

"What did you see?" Rand asked softly.
"Callandor, held in a fist. The hand looks to be made of onyx."

- Towers of Midnight, A Testing

was of Moridin’s hand.

Callandor was made as a trap for a male Forsaken:

He reached up to Callandor, strapped on his back, touching it. The sword's final secret lay bare to him now. It was a trap, and a clever one, for this weapon was a sa'angreal not for just the One Power, but for the True Power as well.

He had thrown away the access key, but on his back he carried something so very tempting. The True Power, the Dark One's essence, was the sweetest thing he had ever touched. With Callandor, he could draw it forth in strength such as no man had ever before felt. Because Callandor lacked the safety measures of most other angreal and sa'angreal, there was no telling how much of the Powers it could draw.

- A Memory of Light, A Silence Like Screaming

Question: Was the flaw in Callandor deliberate?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, Callandor was deliberately designed as a trap.

- A Memory of Light book signing

Despite Rand’s fears, the flaws in Callandor were not aimed at him, but at Moridin.

The sword's glow turned a violent crimson. Rand could feel the power emanating from Moridin as he drew in the True Power.

This was the most dangerous part of the plan. Min had figured it out. Callandor had such flaws, such incredible flaws. Created so that a man using it needed women to control him, created so that if Rand used it, others could take control of him . . .

Why was Rand to need a weapon with such flaws? Why did the prophecies mention it so? A sa'angreal for the True Power. Why would he ever need such a thing?

The answer was so simple.
"Now!" Rand yelled.

Nynaeve and Moiraine channeled together, exploiting the flaw in Callandor as Moridin tried to bring it to bear against Rand. Wind whipped in the tunnel. The ground quivered, and Moridin yelled, eyes going wide.

They took control of him. Callandor was flawed. Any man using it could be forced to link with women, to be placed in their control. A trap . . . and one he used on Moridin.

- A Memory of Light, Watching the Flow Writhe

This only works if the man leads the circle. If he is linked with women and one of them leads the circle, he cannot be taken over (A Memory of Light, At The Edge of Time). Callandor has similarities with the male a’dam, which once placed on a man allows one or two women wearing the bracelets to control him in an involuntary ring (see Male A'dam).

Callandor glowed red, rather than white when the True Power was drawn through it by a man. A woman could not draw the True Power through it, Sanderson believes (A Memory of Light booksigning).

There is also the question of how its ability to draw on the True Power was instilled:

Question: Getting back to Callandor, we know that you have to channel the appropriate power though a seed—saidin or saidar. So I was wondering how Callandor got True Power capability. Is it because of the flaw, or did someone channel the True Power through the seed at the time it was created?

Brandon Sanderson: That's an excellent question to which I do not have the answer. It's not one I had considered.

Question: Somebody had said when I posted in the Facebook re-readers group that there is a theory that the capability might be due to the Taint, but I wasn't sure that was the case.

Brandon Sanderson: I believe it was made intentionally to do what it did for a specific use. Not what it ended up being used for. I don't think it was used for that. I think it was built—you're going to have to clear it with Maria—I think it was built to be a trap for one of the male Forsaken.

- A Memory of Light; booksigning

This is a different angle to Jordan’s comment that Callandor was a result of inadequate quality control during manufacture. It may be that the plan to use it as a trap was devised after its flaws were discovered, rather than Callandor being created specifically for the plan.

Callandor was presumably left behind by Rand and Moridin, since there is no mention of it after the Dark One was sealed.

Sakarnen

Sakarnen is a golden sceptre with a cup atop it. It is very probably the second of the male sa’angreal stronger than Callandor that Lanfear said was made:

“Not with that, certainly,” she added, grimacing at Callandor. “There are only two more powerful that a man can use.

- The Shadow Rising, Decisions

Taim thought that using Sakarnen drained Demandred:

Demandred sat, cross-legged, at their center. His eyes closed, he breathed in and out slowly. That sa'angreal he used . . . it took something out of him, something more than just the normal strength required for channeling.

- A Memory of Light, The Last Battle

Yet he was able to use it all day, and direct the armies and fight three duels without visible fatigue. Demandred may have been keeping himself fresh by meditating as swordsmen and other practitioners of martial arts do. Taim scorned these techniques and so would not understand the power of meditation.

Demandred lent Sakarnen to Taim to fight Egwene. He prevented Taim from attacking him with it by telling Taim he had bonded the sa’angreal to himself, with dire consequences if Taim turned on him with it:

"Do not channel through that toward me. I have bonded Sakarnen to me. If you try to use it against me, it will burn you from the Pattern."
Did Demandred lie? Could a sa'angreal be attuned to a specific person? He did not know. He considered, then lowered Sakarnen, bitter despite the power surging through him.
"I am not a fool, M'Hael," Demandred said dryly. "I will not hand you the noose in which to hang me. Go and do as you are told. You are my servant in this thing, the hand that holds my axe to chop down the tree. Destroy the Amyrlin; use balefire.

- A Memory of Light, The Last Battle

This may or may not be true.

Like Vora’s sa’angreal, Sakarnen may have been named by Sanderson. If it was, it is probably a nod to his favourite game. Sakarnen is close to the first part of the name of a Magic the Gathering creature with surprisingly apt parallels to Demandred:

Sarkhan Vol is a planeswalker who can wield both red and green magic. His specialty is draconic shamanism: spells that summon dragons and evoke the rage and passion of dragonkind.

Red is symbolic of blood and green of the Land, so the red magic would be equivalent to the True Power and the green to the health-giving One Power. Demandred channelled both powers during A Memory of Light, and walked Tel’aran’rhiod, another plane of existence. Demandred once defended the Land, but then turned to the Shadow and fought against it, even using balefire upon it at the Dark One’s command. At the Last Battle he claimed to be owned by the Land as “He Who Is Owned Only By the Land” (A Memory of Light The Wyld), and was focussed on summoning Rand to a duel where he intended to kill him. Ironically Demandred did not intend to use Sakarnen to fight the Dragon Reborn and his summonses were completely ineffective.

“After many years of searching the planes, he found Jund, a world tyrannized by dragons, and knew he had found his prize. It is here that Sarkhan seeks an exemplar of dragonhood, the ultimate expression of predatory perfection worthy of his worship.”

While Demandred wanted to kill Rand rather than worship him, his wariness of the Dragon and repeated statements of Lews Therin’s and presumably Rand’s skills show that Demandred has a healthy regard of the Dragon in spite of his hatred.

Sarkhan Vol is very strong. He has loyalty counters as well as hit points and can only be killed if you attack him with lots of creatures. The player can increase his loyalty counters by having him use his weaker move, whereas using his strong move decreases his loyalty counters. If he has enough loyalty counters then his strong move weakens him but doesn’t kill him. Effectively his strength comes from his loyalty counters.

Demandred also had very strong loyalty from his Sharan followers (and to a lesser degree from some Darkfriends) and their loyalty greatly increased his military strength. However, when he used his huge strength to commit atrocities to demoralise the Light, such as killing his prisoners of war, he also gave his own followers pause. There is also the question of how Demandred remained so strong using this sa’angreal extensively and physically fighting three duels. He may have drawn on other channellers for their strength while using the sa’angreal.

The name may be of conscious or sub-conscious origin, although considering the close correspondences, it may well be conscious.

Sakarnen is a real-world surname, and the similar Sakarmen is a personal name.

Choedan Kal Sa’angreal

The strongest sa’angreal were the Choedan Kal, two huge statues, one attuned to saidar and one to saidin. The female sa’angreal was a stone statue of a woman, the male, a bearded man, both dignified, robed and holding a crystal sphere aloft in one hand. The spheres alone were over twenty paces across (The Great Hunt, Saidin). The male statue was in Cairhien, the female was on Tremalking.

Ter’angreal access keys like miniature versions of the sa’angreal were made to use the Choedan Kal (see Access Keys Ter’angreal article) because the statues are too large to be portable. With these keys the sa’angreal could be used from anywhere in the world. The access keys are also necessary to use the Choedan Kal, otherwise the channeller would be burned out instantly by the huge flow of the One Power (Strike on Shayol Ghul). Unknown to everyone but the Forsaken, the Choedan Kal went beyond the limits of sa’angreal and are flawed and dangerous. Trying to use the Choedan Kal without the access keys would result in the channeller being sucked in deeper and deeper and, unless they are able to pull out, as Rand did, their mind would be destroyed, or their channelling ability burned out, or they would be killed (Robert Jordan’s Aes Sedai notes). When Rand first saw the male sa’angreal, the void formed involuntarily and saidin sang to him. He had to use his utmost mental strength to force the void and saidin away—hence Lanfear’s alarm was not just that Rand had access to far more power than she. After this, he had no more reactions to touching the True Source (see Onset of Rand's Channelling article). Perhaps he learned control.

Even then, only very strong channellers could use the Choedan Kal, as Cyndane indicated in Winter’s Heart, Wonderful News. Verin thought the channeller had to be as strong as Moiraine or stronger (The Great Hunt, On the Scent), but she may be mistaken since she knew nothing of access keys and also underestimated Logain’s strength (although the latter may have been deliberately misleading). The Choedan Kal exemplify the “all power corrupts” trope, although all the sa’angreal show it to a degree.

The Choedan Kal were built towards the end of the War of Power as part of the Light’s desperate bid to end the War. The plan was to use them to defeat the Shadow’s forces completely and erect a barrier around Shayol Ghul until a safe way of dealing with the Bore could be determined (The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time). The forces of the Shadow may well have tried to gain the Choedan Kal and also the access keys. In The Fires of Heaven, Gateways, Rand thinks that the male access key was finished after the bore was resealed – knowledge apparently from Lews Therin. However this contradicts detailed history in The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time and the Strike on Shayol Ghul.

The great sa’angreal were never tested in the Age of Legends (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal), but inspired great fear on both sides, since they were thought to be so powerful that either one might enable a single person to channel enough of the One Power to destroy the world, while both together certainly would do so. Some doubted that so much of the One Power could possibly be handled safely under any circumstances (The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time). Lanfear believed that using the Choedan Kal, two very strong channellers, such as herself and Rand, would be able to challenge the Dark One or the Creator (The Shadow Rising, Decisions) and Rand that he could stand against 200 damane while using the male Choedan Kal (The Gathering Storm, A Halo of Blackness).

Rand linked with Nynaeve to use the Choedan Kal to cleanse saidin, believing it was worth the risk of Breaking the World to prevent the Asha’man and himself going mad from the taint (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal). Nynaeve acted as a conduit for far more of saidar than the entire White Tower could have handled using every angreal and sa'angreal the Tower possessed for hours without rest, let alone food or drink. She found it totally exhausting. Rand had far, far more saidin flowing through him during that time (Crossroads of Twilight, Surprises) but his greater strength in the Power and his Warder bond enabled him to do this. Moghedien was surprised that the Choedan Kal survived continuous use for so long at that level (Winter’s Heart, With the Choedan Kal) and in fact the female sa’angreal did melt (Knife of Dreams, To Make An Anchor Weep). The male access key survived intact, and was put away by Cadsuane, but the female one melted and broke.

While the Choedan Kal were being used, their spheres shone like the sun, visible to passers-by. The melting of the female Choedan Kal at the end of the Cleansing was taken by the Amayar as their prophesied sign that the Time of Illusions is at an end (see Time of Illusions essay):

”The Great Hand on Tremalking melted. The hill where it stood reportedly is now a deep hollow.”

- Knife of Dreams, To Make An Anchor Weep

There appears to be very little left of the female sa’angreal. Since it had been used so hard for so long, it may have partially vaporised, or it may have exploded as well as melted and thus ejected some of its fragments into the atmosphere. A hollow hill isn't one that has been turned into a quarry to dig the statue out, which would be the alternative.

The melting of the sa’angreal explains why the ter'angreal access key melted and backs up Moghedien's comment that she was surprised the Choedan Kal had lasted as long as they had at the levels they were used at. Speculation: The Choedan Kal were designed at the very limit of the physical capabilities of sa'angreal.

Why was it the female Choedan Kal that melted? Maybe chance. Maybe it melted because Rand wasn't experienced at using saidar and his attempts to force the weaves stressed the sa’angreal. He used saidar in a stressful way: as the container through which he pushed saidin to filter and decant the taint.

Despite being used for such an important task, the Choedan Kal apparently don’t feature in the Prophecies of the Dragon.

Why did the prophecies not speak of the Choedan Kal? He had used those to cleanse the taint.
The access key gave Rand power well beyond what Callandor could provide, and that power came with no strings.
The statuette was freedom, but Callandor was just another box. Yet talk of the Choedan Kal and their keys was absent from the prophecies.

- Knife of Dreams, The One He Lost

Rand used the male Choedan Kal in an increasingly violent and insane manner in The Gathering Storm. Its apparent freedom of access to almost unlimited power brought its own dangers: “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Rand finally realised this, and convinced that the sa’angreal was too great a temptation and could be destroyed without endangering the prophecies, did so:

Power within him reached a crescendo, and he turned it upon itself, drove it through the access key.
The ter'angreal was connected to a much greater force, a massive sa'angreal to the south, built to stop the Dark One. Too powerful, some had said. Too powerful ever to use. Too frightening.
Rand used its own power upon it, crushing the distant globe, shattering it as if in the grip of a giant's hands.
The Choedan Kal exploded.

- The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold

Chodan and Chodankar are surnames.


Name

The name sa’angreal is a reference to the San Greal, or Holy Gail, a reference to the cup that Christ used at the Last Supper and in which some of his blood and water were caught during the crucifixion and thus a Hallows object. The Fisher King, or Grail King, was the Grail’s Guardian on earth. He was wounded by a Dolorous Stroke, and correspondingly his lands were also wounded and wasted. Rand is the Fisher, as Moridin said, and he was wounded by the Dolorous Stroke of the Dark One’s taint on saidin, and also by his physical wounds that refused to Heal. Since he and the Land are one, the Land too is wounded and blighted. Logain hunted Sakarnen as the Arthurian Knights of the Round Table did the Holy Grail, but did not achieve it; instead he achieved redemption by helping others.

Apart from Sakarnen, for which we have no information, the sa’angreal were Hallows objects too, being items of inestimable power that were inaccessible or guarded and warded against the unworthy.

Demandred’s sceptre Sakarnen, with its surmounting cup, is an obvious grail parallel. It was enclosed in a cavern of crystals with M’Hael and lost when the hills collapsed on it. Vora’s sa’angreal was likewise enclosed with the Amyrlin Egwene in crystal in the hills (A Memory of Light, The Last Battle and A Field of Glass). Both are references to Merlin the wizard being trapped in a crystal cave. Sakarnen is now hidden, as unreachable as the Holy Grail. The cup part was separate and could have been used in a past Age, or a future one, as…a Grail.

Callandor, last seen in Moridin’s hand, was apparently lost in the Pit of Doom, although Moridin (so similar in name to Myrrdin, the Welsh for Merlin) was brought out by Rand.

Another sa’angreal, the male Choedan Kal which Rand eventually destroyed, was buried for centuries, and the female Choedan Kal disintegrated after the cleansing of saidin which undid the Dolorous Stroke of the Dark One, and left a hole in the hill where it had lain partially buried.

_________________________________________

Written by Linda, July, 2005 and updated March 2013