Here's the thing. Is the male half tainted? Oh yeah. What I think is, it's because The Dark Dude is hiding in it. You see, I believe that if there really was a hole in his prison, why would he still be in it for Lewis Therin to seal him up? Think about it if someone carved a hole in your jail cell, would you run your campaign from inside it, or get the hell out, and go from there? I think he lured LTT and his happy helpers there and made them do that, sacrificing his foot soldiers, which is all he would see the forsaken as. Then, at the last second, he said "Oh yeah? well then I'm gonna wreck your magic stuff!" and LTT fell for it, everyone thought he was safely tucked away. The women are not affected, because he could only choose yin, or yang but not both. And the Forsaken have straws THROUGH him to drink from, which Rand suspects. I don't think they were psychosomatically driven mad like the other guy suggested... LTT would never frag his wife cause someone else convinced him he was whacked. He really was. The Nasty Lad is like the shell of evil Lord Foul was making over The Land by sa! crificing everyone his ravers could get their hands on (in The Second Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant.) Only he was over saidin. It was all chorreographed by you-know-who, because he knew he was free to kill Lewis in any old way he pleased. So, he picked the juiciest way he could think of "Hmmm, let's see... First I'll have him kill everyone else, starting with his sweet babboo." ...whom i think is really Elaine in this life... "Then completly trash, oh, just the entire planet." I mean, if anyone has the inside track on the Prophecies, it would be The Nameless One, don't you think? He knows that it's not LTT who's fated to kick his ass. Not the Dragon. The Dragon Reborn. So he wants everything as f***** up as possible when Tarmon Assante starts. That, and whatever else you say about the guy, from 'lovely singing voice' to 'what a malacha,' you have to admit The Evil Guy certainly has a highly developed sense of humor... So how does it go from there? maybe Rand lures Him back From Whence He Came, and turns the tables on him... LTT gets his final death, Rand sails off with Elaine (the Lion Sword,) Aviendha (I forget) and Min (the Lady who Sees Beyond.) Betcha five bucks.