I completely agree with the idea that if ANY advanced knowledge passed down from the AOL it would have been limited to very small chains of master-apprentice that would have had little fondness for the extreme and intolerant positions of the early White Tower. And even if the current level of secrecy in the AS is a more recent development, I think we are totally ignoring the overarching theme of unintended miscommunication that underpins all of WOT. Practically no one in WOT gives up valuable knowledge just for fun, and even among friends, assumptions, secrets and misunderstandings constantly work to slow the circulation of information.

Now, imagine that you are an AOL trained warrior during the breaking. What is your job? Is it to go off on your own stealing potential channelers from the wandering bands of starving humans, trying to kill insane male channelers? Or is it to PROTECT? Traveling is great when you aren't that worried about abandoning non-channelers, but unless you knew the EXACT location of a male channeler, traveling would always risk exposing the people under your charge to violence (doesn't really matter what kind). Maybe an argument could have been made that for the greater good all the AOL channelers should have stuck together, but that ignores the contingencies of real historical perspective and the social bonds that surely dominated in a world where any future was far less certain than the present.

Finally, I haven't seen anyone ask why the Wheel may have forced Traveling (and these other advanced weaves) out of use and knowledge. By removing traveling, the Wheel indirectly forced communities to coalesce in tighter, more place-specific formations. And while AS knowledge to heal and help was lost, so were the means of horrible destruction. We have no reason to believe that female channelers were not just as likely to murder friends, masters, family than other bandits, or for AS to try to crush and dominate others like in Seanchan. Balefire was also clearly eliminated as a threat by the Pattern, but against all odds, preserved in secrecy for its inevitable need during the Trolloc Wars and the Last Battle.

Even in the few years since Traveling has been rediscovered, the hugely amplified violent geographic reach of primitive armies has thrown the continent into chaos. Chaos was exactly what the Wheel would have been trying to minimize during and after the Breaking.

-LoialT