which somewhat contradicts your section # 4
From tFoH, chapter 54:
Four paces was as large as Rand could make it. There were limits for one man by himself, Asmodean claimed; it seemed there were always limits. The amount of saidin you drew did not matter. The One Power had little to do with gateways, really; only the making. Beyond, was something else. A dream of a dream, Asmodean called it. (emphasis mine)
I'm not saying this necessarily disputes your claim, it's just the original quote we have from the books concerning the making of gateways. The only thing that really doesn't seem to make sense is that Aviendha has to use so much of her strength to open a gateway, while Rand's pov states that the amount of Power you draw doesn't matter.
One theory explaining her difficulty is that she is having to relearn a weave she used before she knew what she was doing. (I find that hard to believe since she only used it that one time, and she did it without thinking out of pure panic.)
Others think that she gets embarrassed thinking about what happened the first time she Travelled, and that is the source of her problem. (That may have held true the first few times she used it again, but I'd think she would outgrow that fairly quickly.)
And still others put forth the theory that she time-travels when she makes her gateways. (One of my older ones, btw)
Other than her, I think most of the quotes in the books would support your idea. Even when the women link to form a gateway, they are probably just increasing the potential Power, and not using the full strength of the link to make it.
From tFoH, chapter 54:
Four paces was as large as Rand could make it. There were limits for one man by himself, Asmodean claimed; it seemed there were always limits. The amount of saidin you drew did not matter. The One Power had little to do with gateways, really; only the making. Beyond, was something else. A dream of a dream, Asmodean called it. (emphasis mine)
I'm not saying this necessarily disputes your claim, it's just the original quote we have from the books concerning the making of gateways. The only thing that really doesn't seem to make sense is that Aviendha has to use so much of her strength to open a gateway, while Rand's pov states that the amount of Power you draw doesn't matter.
One theory explaining her difficulty is that she is having to relearn a weave she used before she knew what she was doing. (I find that hard to believe since she only used it that one time, and she did it without thinking out of pure panic.)
Others think that she gets embarrassed thinking about what happened the first time she Travelled, and that is the source of her problem. (That may have held true the first few times she used it again, but I'd think she would outgrow that fairly quickly.)
And still others put forth the theory that she time-travels when she makes her gateways. (One of my older ones, btw)
Other than her, I think most of the quotes in the books would support your idea. Even when the women link to form a gateway, they are probably just increasing the potential Power, and not using the full strength of the link to make it.
What Asmodean's quote means is that the size of Rand's gateway is linked to his maximum potential. Whether he draws more of saidin as he grows stronger - or even through an angreal or sa'angreal - that won't change the maximum size of his gateway. It will remain at 4 paces by 4.
The only time that the amount of saidin affects gateway size, is on the lower end. In other words, if the amount of saidin drops too low to support a gateway weave you apparently either cannot weave a gateway, or the size of the gateway decreases. Hence Neald's comment from tGS that he is so tired he can hardly make a gateway large enough to fit his arm through or something to that effect.
As for Aviendha, she is not unique in this problem. Flinn indicates in tGS that he is not as adept at making gateways as one of the other Ashaman - Sandomere or someone, I believe. Nevertheless, Flinn still makes the biggest gateway of all the Ashaman with Rand in PoD. So this probably means that while Flinn's gateway size is tied to his potential - which is quite high - he probably needs more of the Power to make the weave than someone with a greater gateway Talent would need.
This is all consistent with my theory.
Gateway size and One Power strength - a theoretical model...
15/12/2009 08:42:26 AM
- 790 Views
There's this....
15/12/2009 09:58:26 AM
- 441 Views
Yes
15/12/2009 10:21:54 AM
- 344 Views
Rand's later quotes confirm, but also refute this. Also, Egwene throws a wrench in things.....
15/12/2009 04:02:33 PM
- 442 Views
Nice points, I wonder...
15/12/2009 12:16:22 PM
- 352 Views
Angreal or sa'angreal do not increase your gateway size...
15/12/2009 12:21:10 PM
- 360 Views
I can't remember Asmo's comment.
15/12/2009 12:23:46 PM
- 448 Views
Light in the Night quotes it above...
15/12/2009 12:27:42 PM
- 296 Views
Unfortunately
15/12/2009 12:37:21 PM
- 326 Views
I'm pretty sure that Rand makes the maximum possible gateway for one person...
15/12/2009 12:41:48 PM
- 314 Views
Re: I'm pretty sure that Rand makes the maximum possible gateway for one person...
15/12/2009 01:44:46 PM
- 408 Views
Well they might
15/12/2009 01:42:24 PM
- 338 Views
How big was Cadsuane's gateway?
15/12/2009 01:43:20 PM
- 429 Views
Re: How big was Cadsuane's gateway?
15/12/2009 02:00:58 PM
- 334 Views
So 8 or 9 feet, I'd say...Edited to add another possibility.
15/12/2009 02:05:48 PM
- 308 Views
Re: So 8 or 9 feet, I'd say...
15/12/2009 02:09:06 PM
- 370 Views
I came up with another possibility after first replying to this issue...
15/12/2009 02:11:41 PM
- 347 Views
Re: I came up with another possibility after first replying to this issue...
15/12/2009 02:16:23 PM
- 327 Views
and in the TGS Siuan uses Vora's sa'angreal
15/12/2009 04:56:34 PM
- 349 Views
I agree w/ you. Siuan and Vora's sa'angreal refutes one of the points in the original post *NM*
15/12/2009 05:08:23 PM
- 172 Views
Another theory
15/12/2009 05:26:45 PM
- 338 Views
Excellent points
15/12/2009 06:08:09 PM
- 320 Views
Yes, pretty much
15/12/2009 01:41:34 PM
- 326 Views