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darius_sedai Send a noteboard - 12/07/2010 04:40:45 PM
Lanfear expressed surprise when she confronted Alivia, because she was stronger than Lanfear before she was taken by the 'Finns. I highly doubt there is such a thing as a maximum potential, not in the abstract. Not any more than there is a strongest man in the world. It is a title that can only be claimed until it is toppled by another.


Which told Cyndane immediately that Alivia must have an angreal, because she is familiar with the highest known level of female strength. RJ himself said that there are maximums for strength in the Power. We're meant to extrapolate that Rand and Lanfear are probably these people, though RJ refused to confirm it.

There's also no proof that a nation of procreated channelers have a higher average strength in the Power, and definitely no proof that it allows them to break the bounds of the highest strengths. Channeling is a genetic recessive and hides even in non-channelers, and even then there is a physical component that is essential. It therefore hides in the general population, as is obvious in the huge amounts of Ash'aman who were easily gleaned from the general population over 3000 years later.

I also tend to disagree with you about your assertions as to the social makeup of the land of Madmen. From what we do know (ie the Sea Folk chronicles outlined in the BWB), foreigners were just as likely to encounter a male channeler as female. The implications of this very fact is important, because 3000 years with unfettered tainted men should have wiped humanity off the whole continent.


Why? The mad male channelers destroy the mad female channelers. It's a balance that's been going on for thousands of years. Incidentally, there is no established civilization there. The entire area is constantly being ripped to pieces by active volcanos and storms, and they live in hovels.

The fact that it didn't is at the very least intriguing, since it is counter-intuitive. It implicates some level of social compromise. Perhaps they have formed into tribal societies. Perhaps there is a caste system, and the Sea Folk have only had contact with the lowest caste. Who knows? The important thing is, there are enough people inhabiting the place to deter the Sea Folk more or less completely. The numbers don't add up, even taking into account the apparent lack of societal development.


It implies no such thing. There is no evidence that Demandred or any army of channelers could bring this place under control. There are males who are frequenly insane, and the women seem to be barbaric enough to the point that they might as well be insane. There is no compromise - there's a balance of destruction. We are told directly that the place never recovered from the Breaking. According to your theory, the Breaking of the world implies social compromise because male and female channelers seemed to co-exist for 300 years, when in actual fact they destroyed each other on sight.

The Land of Madmen is no mystery - it's merely unknown to the main plot as of now. It's a huge landmass. They're a barbaric nation without any hint of order. It's likely that the male and female channelers encounter one another occasionally and kill each other, but the same is probably true if two women meet, or two men.

My supposition was that in order for society to continue without being extinguished entirely in a world with tainted saidin, the men would either have to be destroyed, as they are in every other society, or they would have to be controlled, however unsuccessfully. This latter case is what I believe has happened in the Land of Madmen. And the only ones who would be able to do this would be female channelers.


The BWB directly contests this theory.
Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
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It all began.... - 07/07/2010 11:49:39 AM 757 Views
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No, Etzel... - 07/07/2010 01:03:20 PM 604 Views
I disagree... - 07/07/2010 01:18:11 PM 538 Views
And besides... - 07/07/2010 01:49:04 PM 542 Views
Fain and Slayer - 07/07/2010 08:47:48 PM 512 Views
Fain playing a significant role in the LB would too much allude to LotR, IMO. *NM* - 07/07/2010 11:28:29 PM 498 Views
As would Moiraine returning. - 08/07/2010 02:13:25 AM 570 Views
It depends on Fain's role... - 08/07/2010 08:34:27 AM 429 Views
But what does "wildcard" really mean? - 08/07/2010 03:19:16 PM 442 Views
for a long time i thought shara and their tattooed channeles. - 09/07/2010 05:24:16 PM 449 Views
Fain doesn't make sense from a timing stand point - 07/07/2010 04:46:00 PM 490 Views
Indeed... - 08/07/2010 08:42:45 AM 455 Views
agreed - 09/07/2010 05:56:23 PM 423 Views
One reason the Murandy-New SL theory makes sense... - 07/07/2010 07:19:56 PM 448 Views
That's most likely just coincidence. *NM* - 07/07/2010 11:30:00 PM 213 Views
Riiiight... because WoT is chock full of coincidences. - 08/07/2010 02:12:47 AM 427 Views
In any case... - 08/07/2010 08:31:19 AM 476 Views
Re: That's most likely just coincidence. - 08/07/2010 02:13:36 AM 458 Views
They followed Fain all the way to Caemlyn and shot arrows at Rand - 08/07/2010 04:21:14 AM 423 Views
Yeah, I agree, Roedran isn't under Fain's control. *NM* - 08/07/2010 08:38:15 AM 305 Views
Re: It all began.... - 08/07/2010 12:11:02 PM 424 Views
Murandy just doesn't fit Demandred. Also, Sammael could have been wrong. - 07/07/2010 07:57:19 PM 685 Views
Here's another possibility - 08/07/2010 02:21:25 AM 522 Views
Another possibility for Demandred - 08/07/2010 03:20:27 AM 441 Views
What if Demandred's base is... - 08/07/2010 04:52:40 AM 469 Views
my problem with this - 08/07/2010 04:59:35 AM 457 Views
Well, I tend to agree with you - 09/07/2010 12:27:04 AM 413 Views
I doubt that you could that easily control the Madmen. *NM* - 08/07/2010 08:44:42 AM 191 Views
Unlikely... maybe even impossible - 08/07/2010 10:14:24 AM 446 Views
Definitely possible. - 08/07/2010 02:06:57 PM 439 Views
Now here's a man with... vision! - 09/07/2010 12:24:13 AM 416 Views
not really - 10/07/2010 12:25:31 PM 423 Views
That's factually incorrect - 12/07/2010 12:41:48 AM 458 Views
yes, factually incorrect by you - 12/07/2010 08:02:23 AM 478 Views
- 12/07/2010 04:40:45 PM 411 Views
I think Lanfears' estimation is incorrect. - 13/07/2010 04:15:44 PM 449 Views

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