4.Shielded from madness by light
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Rand is now protected from the taint of the DO by a power of light.
She stiffened. The darkness was enormous, covering the entirety of his mind. Thousands upon thousands of the tiny black thorns pricked into his brain, but beneath them was a brilliant white lacing of something. A white radiance, like liquid Power. Light given form and life. She gasped. It coated each of the dark tines, driving into his mind alongside them. What did it mean?
It seems that the light or pattern or Creator has now restored Rand to sanity with this shield of light.
I wonder if this has always been there to some extent. Given how nasty the description of the taint is, I cannot help but wonder how Rand was able to maintain even the little sanity he did during TGS. Is it possible that this light has always been there protecting Rand. It could have grown weaker once Rand fell into darkness in TGS, and then grew back to full power when Rand had his epiphany. This could explain the reason for the Dark One wanting Rand to use the True Power, and Moridin wanting Rand to suffer. It is possible that they know how tainted Rand is, and also know of this light-shield, and they are actively trying to weaken/destroy the shield in Rand's mind by trying to force him into acts/mental state that weakens the shield.
It is interesting that Rand no longer suffers from the channeling sickness now. Could this light-shield in his mind also protect Rand against the effects of the link he has with Moridin?
Anyway, it is clear that Rand now has the ability to draw on some power that we have not seen yet. What are your thoughts on this? Could this be the solution? If Rand does this "light-blessed" channeling to close the bore and touch the Dark One, could it prevent the DO from pushing his taint to Saidin as he did before. We know that the DO cannot touch the world around Rand anymore, maybe saidin "blessed by light" would also be untouchable to the DO, and as such untaintable. That combined with women working with him in a circle could be the answer.
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Rand is now protected from the taint of the DO by a power of light.
She stiffened. The darkness was enormous, covering the entirety of his mind. Thousands upon thousands of the tiny black thorns pricked into his brain, but beneath them was a brilliant white lacing of something. A white radiance, like liquid Power. Light given form and life. She gasped. It coated each of the dark tines, driving into his mind alongside them. What did it mean?
It seems that the light or pattern or Creator has now restored Rand to sanity with this shield of light.
I wonder if this has always been there to some extent. Given how nasty the description of the taint is, I cannot help but wonder how Rand was able to maintain even the little sanity he did during TGS. Is it possible that this light has always been there protecting Rand. It could have grown weaker once Rand fell into darkness in TGS, and then grew back to full power when Rand had his epiphany. This could explain the reason for the Dark One wanting Rand to use the True Power, and Moridin wanting Rand to suffer. It is possible that they know how tainted Rand is, and also know of this light-shield, and they are actively trying to weaken/destroy the shield in Rand's mind by trying to force him into acts/mental state that weakens the shield.
It is interesting that Rand no longer suffers from the channeling sickness now. Could this light-shield in his mind also protect Rand against the effects of the link he has with Moridin?
Anyway, it is clear that Rand now has the ability to draw on some power that we have not seen yet. What are your thoughts on this? Could this be the solution? If Rand does this "light-blessed" channeling to close the bore and touch the Dark One, could it prevent the DO from pushing his taint to Saidin as he did before. We know that the DO cannot touch the world around Rand anymore, maybe saidin "blessed by light" would also be untouchable to the DO, and as such untaintable. That combined with women working with him in a circle could be the answer.
These are really good ideas and they make me wonder even more about Callandor. Perhaps the taint-magnification is nothing more than a disruption of the "light-shield" or the normal barriers in place in all channelers that block the DO from easily corrupting the soul. We know that a number of things can make a person more vulnerable to the DO's influence, such as swearing oaths to him, the 13x13 trick, chaos and despair, etc. Some design flaw (or feature?) in Callandor seems to reproduce much of these vulnerabilities and I am afraid that when Rand uses it that his light shield will be destroyed and the incredible creeping darkness will allow the DO to try and seize his mind. My guess is that the darkness Nyn saw was not something Rand had always been struggling with, but an effect of channeling the True Power. Moridin/Ishy channels so much of the True Power that he can literally hear the Dark One's voice in his head and when he was Ba'alzamon channeling the TP let others see through his eyes into the raging fires of the Pit of Doom, ie the Dark One himself. So it seems to me that even more than the unintended effect of the taint, channeling the pure essence of the DO gives him a hold on your mind/soul through which he can see the world and act through the channeler. I believe this is the not-yet-seen consequence of Rand's use of the TP and Callandor may be the force that lays Rand bare to Shai'tan and robs the Dragon of his Light-Power.
Rand, new and improved.
- 12/11/2010 03:53:38 AM
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Re: Rand, new and improved.
- 12/11/2010 04:14:17 AM
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Best nerdy comment ever *NM*
*NM*
Re: Rand, new and improved.
- 14/11/2010 08:30:10 AM
744 Views
But Rand didn't change what they were.
- 14/11/2010 06:31:50 PM
606 Views
Re: Rand, new and improved.
- 13/11/2010 03:51:02 PM
873 Views
Lady Torkumen jumped out a WINDOW, y'know.
- 14/11/2010 12:31:50 AM
653 Views
A thought just occured to me...
- 14/11/2010 04:47:50 AM
593 Views
Um... I believe it's called "the True Source" and is divided into male and female halves. 
- 14/11/2010 03:30:48 PM
717 Views
- 14/11/2010 03:30:48 PM
717 Views
Re: Um... I believe it's called "the True Source" and is divided into male and female halves.
- 15/11/2010 06:27:18 PM
499 Views
- 15/11/2010 06:27:18 PM
499 Views
Re: Um... I believe it's called "the True Source" and is divided into male and female halves.
- 15/11/2010 06:37:14 PM
603 Views
- 15/11/2010 06:37:14 PM
603 Views