Before Lews Therin could weave Arrows of Fire (Knife of Dreams, Chapter 19, Vows), he screamed "My hands! My hands!" and it was only after Rand raised his hands and put them through an opening that Lews Therin immediately began to weave.
Now that Rand has lost one of his hands, how badly do you think his chanelling will be impeded? Will he be able to perform simple weaves if he originally learnt them with hand gestures? Will it limit what Lews Therin can teach Rand?
I would expect some impedement, at least initially. He can still fling both arms about, and it's hard to know exactly how much of the weaving gesture is hand-related vs. arm-related, so it may not be too bad. Plus, Rand lost his left hand, and presumably he's right-handed, so that may also help him overcome the hand loss more quickly, in terms of channeling.
My guess is, he'll be impeded a little initially, but I think he'll overcome it quickly.
Actually, I think his failing eyesight will be more of an issue for him, in this respect, although RJ has said, in his blog, that blindness can be overcome with enough practice, for channelers.
Lastly, do you believe that Rand will be without the use of his hand for the rest of the series, or do you see Min's viewing of "a bloody hand and white-hot iron" to mean that Elayne will have some part to play?
I think that Rand will be without that hand for as long as his soul remains in that body. I don't think it will be Healed, or somehow replaced, or anything like that.
As for Min's viewings, I think there are two to consider. One is the one you quoted, which was from a viewing of Rand (more on that below). The other is from a viewing of Elayne, in which Min saw a severed hand, not Elayne's. It seems likely that the Elayne viewing is related to Rand's lost hand somehow - it's hard to believe RJ would have THREE severed hand episodes in the books (Rand's, plus Perrin lopping off that Aiel's, plus Elayne's). But, since Elayne wasn't involved at all in Rand losing the hand, and I don't think he'll get a new one, I'm not sure how it could relate to Elayne, now or in the future. I would think that there is more to Min's viewing of Elayne than "your warder/husband will lose a hand someday" - Min's viewings are usually more significantly related to the person she's viewing than that.
Min's viewing of Rand I'm even less sure of. If it was related to Rand losing that hand, shouldn't she have seen a bloody stump where a hand used to be, rather than a bloody hand? And, so far there has been no white hot iron involved in Rand's lost hand, either. Some people think this viewing refers to when Ishamael stabbed Rand with his staff, at the end of TGH. Because, the text reads "Rand screamed as he felt [the staff] pierce his side, burning like a white-hot poker". After that incident, Rand's hand was occasionally bloody from touching the wound, so it kind of fits. That's as good an explanation as I've seen for that viewing, anyway.
Rise and fall, turn the Wheel,
'cause all life is
is really just a circle.
-BHT&tM
'cause all life is
is really just a circle.
-BHT&tM
Lews Therin channeling one-handed
- 02/09/2009 05:11:56 PM
1339 Views
Re: Lews Therin channeling one-handed
- 02/09/2009 06:11:56 PM
1061 Views
My answers
- 02/09/2009 06:31:50 PM
1031 Views
Re: My answers
- 02/09/2009 08:33:32 PM
735 Views
*NM*