Theoryland Chronicles

Members :Dragon Thief : A Flaw in Callandor But Cadsuane is Wrong

Introduction :

On pg 540, PoD, hardcover: " 'It [Callandor] is flawed,' she replied curtly, 'lacking the buffer that makes other sa'angreal safe to use. And it apparently magnifies the taint, inducing wildness of the mind. So long as a man is using it, anyway. The only safe way for you to use The Sword That Is Not a Sword, the only way to use it without risk of killing yourself, of trying to do the Light alone knows what insanity, is linked with two women, and one of them guiding the flows."

I believe that Cadsuane is wrong about Callandor being flawed, and that she also is able to get around the First Oath of not lying.

Development

First, I shall prove, beyond the Shadow's doubt, that Callandor is not flawed. In the BWB, or the Guide, on page 44 it says: "Callandor is believed to have been constructed during the War of Power. (skip some) ...its makers placed the sword within the Stone of Tear and specially shielded it sometime during the Breaking…" These two quotes would place the creation of Callandor before the Breaking, and thus before the taint existed.

I ask one simple question now. If it was made before the Breaking, and before the taint, why would there be a buffer that helped block the taint? The taint was unknown when Callandor was created, and there would be no reason to make such a buffer. But this in itself does not show that Callandor is not flawed; by the way Cadsuane phrased what she said, it could be inferred that she implied that the taint magnification was only a side effect of the missing buffer, and that the buffer was not created to reduce the taint.

If this case is true, I have another question. What is this unnamed - and heretofore unknown - buffer? Cadsuane is the only person, of all the Aes Sedai, who knows about it. Siuan and Leanne, who had access to the Tower chronicles, didn't know of it. Moraine, who devoted her life to the Dragon Reborn, didn't know of it. Verin, who knows things no one else does, didn't know of it. The Karaethon Cycle, the Prophecies of the Dragon, don't mention it - although they specifically mentioned the Dragon Reborn being the only one who could free it from its shield. Would the makers of Callandor, knowing that its fate was entwined with that of the Dragon Reborn, leave it untold that it was flawed? And surely they, who created it, would know whether or not it was flawed, if anyone would.

Having said all of this, does it not strike you as very odd that Cadsuane - the same woman whom we know wants to control Rand - is the only person who knows of this mysterious flaw? And it's just coincidence that a woman has to control the flows; I'm sure Cadsuane doesn't intend for the controlling woman to be herself, being that she's so disinterested in having control of events. (can you hear my sarcasm?)

So, Cadsuane is wrong; where does that leave the options? Cadsuane can either believe that she is right, be Black Ajah, never swore on the Oath Rod, or removed her oaths on it as Seaine and Pevara did. Since Cadsuane seems to intend Rand to win - if in her own way - I don't believe she is Black Ajah. She is determined to teach Rand to be strong instead of hard, and I don't see a Darkfriend intentionally helping Rand.

Did Cadsuane truly believe that Callandor was flawed? I don't believe this either. It seems that it has much to put her in control if she could direct Rand's power with Callandor, and I'm sure she intended to be the leading woman of that linked group. Also, note this quote on pg 539, PoD: " 'Oh. Very few even in the Tower knew what Callandor is before you drew it, but there are surprising things hidden in musty corners of the Tower Library. I went rummaging some years ago, when I first had the suspicion you might be suckling at your mother's breast. Just before I decided to go back into retirement.' " Notice that it does not say she found the information in the Tower - it only implies it. And if Cadsuane, suspected Rand was born, do you truly believe she would wait as long as she did to attach a string to him? Would she not instead search him out as Moiraine had done, and tried to grow up near him, so that he would trust her? And if she did know of him, why did she wait so long to show up to him, instead of appearing before his mistrust of Aes Sedai grew so large? This seems to be another untruth from Cadsuane.

So that leaves us with either not swearing, or removing the oaths. I can't really differentiate between these two, but I do have some evidence for it. Cadsuane is older than almost any other Aes Sedai. It is believed that the Oath Rod limits how long Aes Sedai live, but this is another argument. If this is true, wouldn't being free of those Oaths give a reason as to why Cadsuane is older?

Conclusion

Cadsuane was not only wrong about Callandor being flawed, but she knowingly lied about it in order to possibly further her control over Rand, by being the woman who directed Callandor's weaves. To do this, Cadsuane has either avoided ever swearing on the Oath Rod, or has managed to figure out how to remove her Oaths with it.