Theoryland Chronicles

Members :Deornoth : Personality Integration Theory

Introduction

I feel very strongly about this one. I am a card-carrying One-Souler, always have been. I want to start out by saying that this debate has two problems inherent in it. First, this is very likely just an argument over semantics, specifically the definition of "soul". Second, this is probably not going to be resolved (intentionally, anyway) by anything written in the series (although I think I have come close).

Development

Here is what we know as fact: Lews Therin was the Dragon. Rand al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn. Rand sometimes hears voices in his head, which began occurring couple years after he began to channel saidin. Rand sometimes discovers information he, as a simple young shepherd, would never know. We can assume these came from the same source as the voices.

The of the fact that Rand knows stuff he should not, it is clear that this phenomenon is not simply a result of madness.

Since we are dealing with something undefined, and not necessarily physical in nature, there are no set rules that we can follow. Can two souls actually occupy a single body? In RJ's world, only RJ can answer that with conviction. Therefor, we must review the scraps of evidence in black and white, then try to apply common sense to it.

The first evidence that LTT's voice is not a separate soul is a quote discovered by our fellow Chosen Uno: from TGH, Artur Hawkwing declares: "The weave of this moment is set we have come to the Horn, but we must follow the banner, and the Dragon." And our esteemed Tamyrlin pointed out that this defined Rand as "the Dragon", a soul Hawkwing recognized as a fellow Hero of the Horn.

Perhaps the strongest statement to support the One-Soul theory comes from Sammael, thinking of what Ishamael told him about the recurring Dragon character. Our first look into Sammy's mind comes in LoC, when he visits Graendal in her Arad Doman palace. He is contemplating the difference between Rand and Lews Therin, his once-friend and now sworn nemesis (p.133): 'Thoughts he had forced himself to dismiss came oozing back. Al'Thor was not Lews Therin, but al'Thor was Lews Therin's soul reborn, as Lews Therin himself had been the rebirth of that soul. Sammael was neither philosopher nor theologian, yet Ishamael had been both, and he claimed to have devined secrets hidden in that fact.' (emphasis mine).'

This describes the One-Soul theory perfectly, from arguably the greatest philosopher the world has ever seen.

If the voice in Rand's head is not merely a product of his saidin-induced madness, and if there is not another person's soul occupying Rand al'Thor's body, then just what is the source of the voice and his extraneous knowledge. This is where the "Personality Integration Theory" comes in. And, although I had sketchy ideas on this theory, I want to give credit to the author of a published report from Watchmaker Press Book Forum for the complete explanation of this theory:

The Personality Integration Theory, by Maggie Hettinger

Conclusion

To summarize, first it must be understood what is causing the voice. We can find evidence of this in LoC: "Bits and pieces sometimes drifted across whatever thin barrier lay between him and that voice, and became part of Rand's memories, usually without anything to explain them. It happened more often, lately. The fragments were not something he could fight, like the voice." We are seeing the result of the taint working on the barrier between a past and current life of a soul. All male channelers (not protected by the Dark One) eventually hear voices. We know this from Cadsuane's comment Rand in AcoS. It is not a difficult leap to make the connection between saidin and the voices. The fact that Rand's last soul had the life of someone famous made the personality easy to identify. The resulting madness is, at least in part, due to the problem of more than one conflicting personality within one body.

Put simply, when Rand accepts the LTT entity within him subconsciously, he has little conflict. This tends to occur when involved with the more Lews Therin-like activities such as sword fighting (his quick emergence to blademaster or near-blademaster status could well be attributed to Lews Therin helping out, by the way). He tends to be at his worst when the "Rand" in him tries to confront the "Lews Therin" in him. The conflict is the result of extremely different moral upbringing, ultimately helping to drive most male channelers insane. Although I am no expert, Rand's behavior is said to be very similar to people suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. You can see that Rand has, in fact, become nearly suicidal, thinking to himself at one point, "What a fool he had been to want to live past Tarmon Gai'don. He did not deserve to." (ACoS, p522)

And it gets worse as the voice melts away. This is because he (Rand) can no longer fight the LTT entity. A voice, he can ignore, thoughts, he cannot. You may have noticed an abrupt change in Rand's personality between the end of TFoH ("I do not want to be the Dragon Reborn, but I'll do my duty") and the middle of AcoS ("I am the Dragon Reborn!"). When he is acting all "high-and-mighty", but not in conflict, it is because he has accepted LTT subconsciously, such as the episode with the Sea Folk and Darlin and Caroline. When he flies off the handle, then there is a direct conflict, such as the amorous encounter with Min. LTT doesn't have a problem with it, but Rand does (whether we think he should have a problem with it or not.)

The only way Rand can remain sane through all this is to integrate the two personalities. He must accept both sides of himself, despite the moral conflict.