Theoryland Chronicles

Members :Dragon Thief : Two Souls, One Body, Only Half a Brain

Introduction :

A theoretical doctrine on the dual nature of Rand al'Thor and Lews Therin Telamon, who are the Dragon Reborn.

Development

There is at the least one odd characteristic about Rand al'Thor, one unique trait that makes him different than every other man we have heard of in the Wheel of Time. How do I know this, you might ask? It's quite simple-Rand al'Thor, a shepherd from the backwoods area of the Two Rivers, can and is going to do what has been impossible for every other man in History has, so far as we know. What is this? He's going to re-imprison the Dark One, so that his presence can no longer reach the world in a direct manner.

I can already here some of the "non-believers," those who believe so strongly that there is one soul so that they are already searching for mistakes. They are screaming right now "Lews Therin sealed the Dark One up! And all other Dragon Reborns did so too!" But this is an incorrect statement. Lews Therin *imperfectly* sealed the Dark One up, whereas Rand is foretold by the 4th Age quotes at the bookends to do it perfectly. And, as we do not know of any previous Dragon Reborns, if they existed-thus the part of my quote that reads, "so far as we know." I have now established that Rand is unique, in the fact that only he-the Creator's Chosen One-can do what must be done. In fact, this is said when the booming voice, presumably the Creator, says to Rand, "I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL" (EotW, Against the Shadow, p758, paperback). Only the Chosen One-only Rand, and not one other person in existence.

Now we come to the crux of the problem. Just what is it exactly that makes Rand unique? It's not his ability to channel. It's not even his strength in the Power, even if he is the strongest channeler alive-a linked circle of thirteen weak girls could defeat him if that was his advantage. It's not Rand's ta'veren-ness, either. Rand is the likely the strongest ta'veren of all Time, but the same principle can apply here as to channeling. Mat and Perrin together are likely ta'veren enough that together than effect chance as much as Rand can. Also, Min's repeated visions of the fireflies about Rand and the fact that he cannot win Tarmon Gai'don without Mat and Perrin means that even he is not ta'veren enough to do that alone.

Others have said it's The Karaethon Cycle, the Prophecies of the Dragon that makes him special. But I have to ask this, though it really is another debate. Do the Prophecies truly make the Dragon Reborn, or are they simply a way of letting others know that the Dragon is truly Reborn? Do words on a piece of paper make the slightest bit of difference to the Pattern? The Pattern recognized Rand as the Dragon Reborn when Rand admitted it to himself-that's when the false dragons stopped appearing. But Rand had not yet finished the Prophecies-if the Prophecies were what made the Dragon Reborn what he was, Rand would not be the Dragon Reborn until every last Prophecy was completed. So this cannot be it, because Rand would not be the Dragon Reborn until the Dark One was already sealed away.

Others have used this quote, as a tangent off the Karaethon Cycle argument. "How do you know? It may well be that, as many people believe, all are born and reborn as the Wheel turns, but nothing like this has ever happened that I have read. A specific man reborn according to prophecy. Who knows what he is?" (Graendal, tFoH p27. hardcover). There are two problems with this quote, however. One is "…that I have read." I don't believe that Graendal has read everything, and knows everything, about how the eternal battle between the Creator's Chosen One and the Dark One. The second is this …"…as many people believe…" These people aren't even sure that the Wheel of Time spins people out as the Ages past, but you wish me to believe that they know how many souls a body can have?

The next argument people have with this theory is their idea that a body cannot hold two souls, that it is impossible. I have to ask you, though, is it really? It is also impossible to Heal stilling, isn't it? And isn't it impossible that freeing the Dark One in one world releases him in all, while holding him in any world keeps him there as well? And, for a last example, isn't whatever happens when to channelers balefire each other at the EXACT same time impossible as well? Impossible isn't a word that can be used while theorizing about fantasy settings, and many people do not understand that.

Some people also criticize me-once they start to accept the possibility of two souls existing in one body-that there are already such people out there. This is not true. There are some "almost cases," which never quite two souls at once. Mat was possessed by the evil of Shadar Logoth, but not a soul of any individual. Mashadar is a conglomeration of different souls, I would say, but it is cannot be classified as a person. And Mashadar may not even be made of souls; but that is another argument. The same can be said, in the same doubt, about the Black Wind, Machin Shin. Others use, or try to use, the Heroes of the Horn as examples. However, they do not have multiple souls, but one soul reborn over and over again. How do I know this, you might ask? Birgitte has memory of her past lives, and classifies those memories as her own. Both of these would not be true if it was more than one soul-she would feel similar to Rand, with another's memories intruding on her, but she considers those memories as her own.

Now, we get on to the actual core of the two-soul debate. Rand has memories that he should not have as a shepherd from the Two Rivers. No matter your stance, I feel that I can safely say we all agree that these are Lews Therin's memories, however you feel Rand has them in his head. This knowledge is from the Age of Legends, and is not from Rand's own life in any way, shape, or form. I have read several theories on different ways this has happened, many with valid points. The majority says that LTT is just a mechanism for Rand to handle memories from his past life, but I don't agree with this. As if you hadn't guessed that already…

Part of the problem with this idea is that these people are applying real-world techniques to a fantasy setting. While not a completely incorrect way to go about theories, it is perhaps not the most efficient way to do it. This is similar to people arguing that two souls can't exist simultaneously in one body, in that their logic is …well, illogical. Rand does not have some psychological disorder, such as DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), Schizophrenia, or something like that. He has memories from a REAL life that existed thousands of years before-those diseases all deal with made up lives and memories that the diseased creates in his mind.

Now people claim that Rand truly is Lews Therin reborn, and the taint is just dissolving the "barrier" between lives. There is some proof that a soul does retain all memories, since Birgitte knows who she is while in Tel'aran'rhiod. But she does not know if the real world, as no one else does. So there are two options-there is a barrier than can be broken down and Tel'aran'rhiod simply removes this barrier, or that the soul can only hold the previous lives' memories while in Tel'aran'rhiod. These possibilities are muddled by Cadsuane asking about Rand hearing voices. We don't know how any other male channeler has gone crazy firsthand-we don't know if they hear voices of their past lives, or other, made up voices. So this option cannot be refuted completely, which only leaves me the option of completing this theory and hoping to sway you with a better explanation.

Rand is in a very dangerous position right now, with way the taint on saidin increases Rand's chance of going insane the more he channels. Two souls inside of Rand could possible act as a filter for this-Rand, having two souls inside of him, only gets half the amount of the taint that others would, since Lews Therin's soul gets the other half. This, I will admit, is very "iffy," but it does make sense in a way. This could also apply to Rand's final battle with the Dark One. Depending on how this battle is fought-spiritually, physically, some other way perhaps-having two souls could possibly help. Rand cannot channel inside of Shayol Ghul; the Forsaken have told how this means instant death. The Dark One's mere speech-if anything of the Dark One can be described as "mere"-can drive a man to the floor. It is possible-though I'll admit I'm not exactly sure how yet-that having two souls inside one's body would half these events as well, giving Rand twice as much a chance as anyone else.

Lews Therin, the best in many ways of the Age of Legends, could not reseal the Dark One up perfectly, so how is Rand to do this? Rand is less than Lews Therin-but with Lews Therin inside of him, partially guiding him, Rand has access to information of two Ages, and he has access to the experience of a previous battle with the Dark One. Rand al'Thor, and Lews Therin Telamon, together, and only together, make up the hero known to the world as the Dragon Reborn. And may the Light protect us all from them.

Conclusion

This, of course, leads to my prediction. Rand fights the DO, somehow wins, and Lews Therin's soul dies or is removed from Rand's body in the process. Rand is left weak because of this, and either actually dies. Nynaeve Heals Rand (this would allow for the Nynaeve Heals someone three days dead quote-can't find the page numbers), boxes his ears for trying to be more than a shepherd and the curtain drops.