The Chosen are obviously more Powerful, but they are also predictable in the way sane people are.
The SN are at once insane male Channlers and a source of fear from his earliest childhood ... A powerful combination ... I doubt they are even particularly skilled Channelers (no more than most Dedicated at the BT). Ishamael would have been stunningly foolish to train them beyond being weapons. I imagine they are the prototype for the Asha'man training in the BT.
The SN are at once insane male Channlers and a source of fear from his earliest childhood ... A powerful combination ... I doubt they are even particularly skilled Channelers (no more than most Dedicated at the BT). Ishamael would have been stunningly foolish to train them beyond being weapons. I imagine they are the prototype for the Asha'man training in the BT.
I wonder if being turned in some way isolates you from the effect of the taint? There seem to be a great many of these SN and why would Ishamael have trained a bunch of insane channelers or kept them around in one place?
But anything is possible ... Too little information to be certain of anything
I didn't get the impression they've been trained. I think they function as a twisted Aiel society: they train each other, and given the rules in place, it seems to me they must be trained during raids in the Blight, far from the town itself (where it appears they're forbidden to channel or there's a mechanism in place to prevent them touching saidin. We know apparently not all of them have been turned either, it sounds like some were raised there.
My intuition is that they're forbidden or prevented from touching saidin and aren't insane from the Taint. Rather it's the True Power they use, and the DO is not letting them use it in the Town itself... but Moridin of course is allowed.
As for being insane I'm not so sure. The taint is very debilitating... few would last very long if they used saidin without protection, which they may not have/use because they simply don't use saidin...
As for their behaviour and totally wild side, I'm not sure it's insanity so much having been turned... and being Aiel in the first place. RJ gave the impression such people become utterly and completely evil, as if they had been immersed completely in the essence of the DO by the 13x13 ritual. Aiel without ji'e'toh to humanize and civilize them would be pretty frigthening....
I also find it pretty interesting that at the end of TOM Fain seemed to be nearing that town... a town where a lot of people, like him, have been forced by the Shadow to do things against their will...
That feels like a stretch to me since not even the FS, aside for those in high favor, are given access. Also Moridin destroyed at least a dozen of them without much effort in very short order ... seems to me that was him using the TP and they had no defense against it. If they had been trained in TP he would have had more difficulty, or they may have recognized that he was Talented earlier and not attacked in the first place.
I would guess they have rudimentary training in the OP ... Enough to not die from attempting to learn along with some of the basics to be good weapons. And given how long this has obviously been going on there must be many of these men who have gone insane, Isam is in his 50s and they were clearly around in his childhood. Perhaps the 13x13 conversion has an effect on the insanity, either slowing it or morphing its affect to be more akin to sociopathic behavior. Or perhaps they just destroy each other when the insanity or the Taint Rot gets to a certain level.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of these guys!! Their existence also makes me wonder if there is a organized Dark Friend group of WO ... WO better to notify the Town of when a young man has been sent to "Kill Sightblinder" ... That would be interesting!
Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
This message last edited by darius_sedai on 30/09/2012 at 09:54:49 PM
Discussion of AMOL chapter 1 (spoilers for all the released material so far)
- 26/09/2012 05:45:27 PM
2367 Views
Great Summary
- 26/09/2012 06:03:18 PM
930 Views
I don't see how he could be more free
- 26/09/2012 06:59:50 PM
997 Views
The BT issue is a source of confusion for me
- 26/09/2012 11:11:30 PM
1000 Views
Re: Discussion of AMOL chapter 1 (spoilers for all the released material so far)
- 27/09/2012 03:35:36 AM
899 Views
Do you think the Samma N'sei will matter much?
- 28/09/2012 11:24:06 PM
1692 Views
I think Isam is afraid of them 'cause they are insane and he grew up dodging them
- 29/09/2012 05:56:51 AM
794 Views
Are they definitely insane?
- 29/09/2012 10:43:22 PM
820 Views
They seemed pretty much nuts from the scenes we've seen them in
- 30/09/2012 12:43:42 AM
920 Views
Re: They seemed pretty much nuts from the scenes we've seen them in
- 30/09/2012 09:25:29 PM
817 Views
Not sure about the TP bit
- 30/09/2012 09:52:46 PM
855 Views
Re: Not sure about the TP bit
- 01/10/2012 01:41:56 PM
755 Views
Channeling in the Town
- 01/10/2012 04:20:00 PM
1689 Views
Some points
- 01/10/2012 09:04:49 PM
845 Views
Re: Some points
- 01/10/2012 09:06:54 PM
861 Views
Re: Some points
- 01/10/2012 09:26:20 PM
820 Views
Re: Some points
- 01/10/2012 09:56:52 PM
815 Views
I think Deepe's point was more that they didn't deserve the name Asha'man
- 02/10/2012 12:54:42 AM
748 Views
Re: I think Deepe's point was more that they didn't deserve the name Asha'man
- 02/10/2012 02:42:45 AM
832 Views
Re: I think Deepe's point was more that they didn't deserve the name Asha'man
- 02/10/2012 08:47:00 AM
954 Views
Hmmm ... Agree with a lot, but still don't think TP is an option
- 02/10/2012 12:16:59 AM
790 Views
Re: Hmmm ... Agree with a lot, but still don't think TP is an option
- 04/10/2012 03:51:29 AM
870 Views
Like I said, I'm on the fence between Bair and Sorilea ... Neither would surprise me
- 04/10/2012 04:24:00 AM
676 Views
I think a lot of people are underestimating the role of the Samma N'sei.
- 02/10/2012 07:09:01 AM
1512 Views