he Ways
by Cha Faile: 2004-07-02 | 2 out of 10 (2 votes)
Unfortunately, i have no evidence on which to base this theory (except one measley quote)but i'm going to write it anyway.
This theory is just based on something I read the other day-
tGH : Page 557 Chapter 39 – Flight from the White Tower
“Once there had been light along the Ways, before the taint on the Power with which they had first been made, the taint of the Dark One on Saidin, had begun to corrupt them. ”
So the only reason the Ways are corrupted is because of the taint right? So perhaps, now that the taint is gone, the Ways will become safe to travel again.
I don't recall anyone travelling the Ways since the taint was cleansed – unless anyone can find an example of someone using them? If there isn't a quote then I don't think that there is any proof to say that they're still tainted.
The only problem I can think of is something that Robert Jordan said about Rand staying mad even though the taint is gone and that he wouldn't become sane again . According to that, the effects of the taint are pretty permanent.
However, if this is true and the ways are taint-free or can be cleansed it would be very advantageous for Rand (and the shadow i suppose).
Hopefully someone can find something to support this theory or they can tear it to shreds....
Cha Faile
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1
Tamyrlin: 2004-09-23
(Frenzy for Tamyrlin)
We know that in male channelers that the effects of the Taint aren't removed once they're gentled. Gentling halts the progression of the degeneration, but does not reverse it. However, gentled men generally don't live long enough to say with certainty that healing doesn't occur. And we now know that Aes Sedai Healing is simplistic. It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that modern channelers can discover how to Heal the effects of the Taint. Or at least mitigate them enough so that the men can survive.
Same with the Ways. They're alive, in some fashion, perhaps they too can be Healed. I'd imagine that it'd take generations of work to do so, but it could happen. Not before the end of the series, though. Besides, with the re-discovery of Traveling the Ways are almost obsolete as far as the plot is concerned. (especially since Loial and Karldin are back from their mission to the Stedding)
2
Callandor: 2004-09-23
**So the only reason the Ways are corrupted is because of the taint right? So perhaps, now that the taint is gone, the Ways will become safe to travel again.**
It certainly is possible :)
**I don't recall anyone travelling the Ways since the taint was cleansed – unless anyone can find an example of someone using them?**
Not that we know of, yet.
**However, gentled men generally don't live long enough to say with certainty that healing doesn't occur.**
It doesn't.
**Q: Does the healing of the taint reverse its previous effects? Or does the victim have to live with whatever he's gotten to that point and be grateful it won't get worse?
A: The second.**
**Q: When/ If Rand manages to remove the taint placed on saidin, are the people infected with it cured? or does their condition remain the way it is?
A: when/if the taint is removed from saidin further ill effects are stopped but what has already occured remains**
3
nick: 2004-09-24
I think that even if the ways can be cleansed there would still be the problem of the Black Wind.After its interreaction with Fain it seems to be more of a separate entity than before and I think it would probably be harder to destroy now even after the taint that may have caused it has disappeared.
4
Dorindha: 2004-09-24
I think the Ways have developed independently of the taint. The taint was the trigger for the degeneration, but the cleansing is not going to have really halted the decline. However, it's probably easier to repair now, but as above, it would take a VERY long time
5
Jiana: 2004-09-29
I think it is possible for the Ways to be cleansed, and the Black Wind destroyed, but I think it more likely that all the gateways will be destroyed so that no one may use them again. Why? Because what can destroy Machin Shin? Channeling at it doesn't work, it only holds it off for a bit. As mentioned in another theory (I can't remember which, maybe the Elders here can help with that?) the Black Wind could be a melange of the souls of all the men over the centuries that have gone mad and died of the taint.
So, since the effects of the taint are only halted, and not reversed, by the cleansing, then the Black Wind and all the decomposition of the Ways are still there. Maybe somewhere down the line, someone could come up with a way to destroy the BW, but I doubt it. And it WOULD have to be destroyed before any repairs could be made to the structures themselves. Perhaps (and I'm just thinking aloud here) if the Ways were sealed... and no more men will die from the taint... BW will have nothing to "feed" on and die of starvation. :)
6
Aiel Finn: 2005-04-27
Just a thought, did Moriaine use Balefire on the wind in tEotW? I remember that it was yellow and sooty, but she may have been trying to BF it out of existance. If the wind is anything like Mashadar, then BF only makes it retreat, it cannot kill it.
7
Callandor: 2005-04-27
**Just a thought, did Moriaine use Balefire on the wind in tEotW?**
By when she says she "learned new things" in TDR, she did not, since she learned those tricks in the last year. From the point in TDR, she most likely learned them roughly in TGH. The Eye of the World is way to early for the statement to be true.
8
Aiel Finn: 2005-04-29
She says she learned new things, but did she learn balefire. It seems that she knew balefire for a while; however, we will probably need to wait for all the prequels to be sure.
9
Callandor: 2005-04-29
**She says she learned new things, but did she learn balefire. It seems that she knew balefire for a while; however, we will probably need to wait for all the prequels to be sure.**
Given the context of the quote, there's no other logical conclusion other than she learned balefire during that period after The Eye of the World.
Otherwise, it makes no sense that she used balefire on Be'lal, but not Aginor or Bathamel, if she knew it then.
10
Aiel Finn: 2005-05-02
She may not have used balefire because of the stigma attached to it. She thought that she could kill him with a different weave. By the time she found that it didn't work, she didn't have the time, energy, or concentration to channel balefire.
11
Traveller: 2006-01-27
I don't think that the Ways will be simply sealed off- they are just too important. They are a remnant from the AoL when it wa safe for men to channel, so I believe that they will return to their former glory at some time or another. I also think that machin Shin can be killed- is it not said somewhere that it is the essence of the taint, or something? We know that men can/could be cleansed and returned to sanity- (Prologue to tEotW shows Ishy healing LTT) so it should be possible to remove Machin Shin from the Ways. I also believe that the removing of Machin Shin from the Ways might be ivolved with the healing of Rand from madness.
Another option I think exists is that the Ogier close all the waygates permanently (not just knock them down/board them up) then the sane and non-tainted Asha'man/Aes Sedai grow new ones, which I believe could be grown to a different world (I believe that the Ways are a random kind of mirrorworld, so another one could be joined to.)
