Bonds, links and the Dragon Reborn.

As the finale draws nearer, i believe we ought to have an understanding and concensus on issues central to the series. In putting this together, i have reduced quotes to the barest minimum to keep it short and readable.The topic itself is common throughout the series and i believe most of us need only a few reminders. However it is a theory, and up to each TLer to decide what to accept and what not. Whatever your views, have fun. My thanks to Tam for his assist.

There are many types of links among channelers in the series. Some are bonds, others not. They include;

(1) Rings or circles (R) :these are the oldest known as far back as AOL.. (2) Warder bond(WB). (3) Ashaman bond (AshB) (3) Aiel sister bond (asb) (4) The suldam/adam/damane link. (5) The Rand/Moridin link (6) The Mydraal/trolloc link...

These Bonds/links have similar properties and differences .

1.The WB

The bond creates a presence of one person within another. Each (warder or AS) can feel the other's emotions and is also aware of their physical state. However the only same sex bond in the series exhibits much stronger sharing of physical traits and emotions but not thoughts.

winter's heart

CHAPTER Prologue - Snow pg 14

**They mirrored each other in surprising ways since the bonding, emotionally and otherwise. Why, her courses had shifted by more than a week to match the other woman's!**

Both parties are affected by the bond. The warder gains the ability to sense the taint (a trait normally reserved for those who can touch the true source), quick healing and strengths.The AS can compel and can also draw on the warder's strength.

2. Rings.

All persons in a ring have shared sense of presence of each other's emotional and physical states. Abilities in channeling are available in the ring and made stronger by being in the ring. Usually either party can control the ring but some rings restrict control (pls see aCoS glossary). Some rings are also thought to allow compulsion. There are no known lasting physical effects but the link itself is usually temporary(cf. WB). It is not known also if rings affects talents e.g. foretelling.

. winter's heart

CHAPTER 35 - with the choedan kal pg 658

**He was aware of her, he realized suddenly, in much the same way he was aware of min, but all he could think of was saidin, flooding through him uncontrolled.**

3.The adam

Adam mediated links.

TSR

CHAPTER 54.- into the palace. pg 908(paperback)

** "So you discovered that little gem behind you," Moghedien said in a moment of precarious balance. Surprisingly, her voice was almost conversational. "i wonder how you did that. It does not matter. Did you come to take it away? Perhaps destroy it? You cannot destroy it. That is not metal, but a form of cuendillar. Even balefire cannot destroy cuendillar. And if you mean to use it, it does have. . .drawbacks, shall we say? Put the collar on a man who channels, and a woman wearing the bracelet can make him do whatever she wishes, true, but it will not stop him going mad, and there is a flow the other way, too. Eventually he will begin to be able to control you, too, so you end with a struggle every hour. Not very palatable when he is going mad. Of course, you can pass the bracelets around, so no one has too much exposure, but that does mean trusting someone else with him. Men are always so good at violence, they make wonderful weapons. Or two women can each wear one bracelet, if you have someone you trust enough. That slows the seepage considerably, i understand, but it also lessens your control, even if you work in perfect unison. Eventually you will find yourselves in a struggle for control with him, each of you needing him to remove your bracelet as surely as he needs you to remove the collar. **

it creates a presence of the leashed one (L.O.) within the leash holder (L.H.) it also creates effects on both parties. All OP abilities are restricted at one end (LH) who is also able to compel/control the other. However as the male adam allows backflow of the taint (and saidin?), it may be that the female adam does as well. Evidence in support of this includes (a)Eagerness of suldam for the experience of being "complete"- they may well be experiencing the ectasy of saidar. (b) their increasing abilities in the OP (seeing weaves, the ability to channel outright). There is often a fondness between suldam and damane. (cf. the affection between warders and AS.) though it cannot be considered as permanent as the WB.

4.AshB

initially created for domestic use, it creates a presence of both parties within each other and also exhibits compulsion. Like rings though, it exists between parties that can channel and is not a same sex bond (so far).

5. Aiel bond

Known to create a presence of two people within each other. Peculiar in that it is used on non channelers as well.

CONCLUSION: Several different bonds derived from the OP, create a link that places a part of one person inside another and makes new abilities available. These links show a spectrum of properties.

LEWS THERIN

Rand's situation is peculiar in the series for the number of bonds/links that he has. Why so many?

Rand is bonded to Alanna, Ely, Avi and Min (WB). He is somehow linked to Mat, Perrin and Moridin. He also has LTT in his head. He may even be linked to Fain!

The WB is not unusual except that alanna is unable to compel him. However what are the effects of these bonds? will it make rand stronger? by a factor of four? more sensitive to the taint of the DO on shadowspawn? more resistance to madness? or share the taint with them? or able to compel his "warders"?

The link with LTT however is an unknown quantity. But it does show certain traits that may help determine its origins and properties.

(a) "presence" - there are two "persons" in a body. With differing views on politics, women and channeling.

(b) abilities in the OP available to both.

(c) awareness of each other's emotional state. They only seem to be aware of each other's thoughts occasionally.

(d) they have different sensitivity to the DO's taint. LTT with several hundred more years of experience, noticed the grayman first (LoC ch.28)

(e) flow of abilities/memories goes both ways.

This "link" has properties similar to other OP derived links/bonds.

in addition, there has been a gradual increase in the sense of LTT's presence felt by rand. The more he channels, the more he has become aware of LTT since TSR. He did have memories that no one born normally in this age should have had

TEoTW

CHAPTER 9 - Tellings of the wheel

**It was not the valley itself that sapped his strength and filled the empty spaces left with helplessness. From the center of the furious vapors a mountain thrust upward, a mountain taller than any he had ever seen in the Mountains of Mist, a mountain as black as the loss of all hope. That bleak stone spire, a dagger stabbing at the heavens, was the source of his desolation. He had never seen it before, but he knew it. The memory of it flashed away like quicksilver when he tried to touch it, but the memory was there. He knew it was there. **

LTT has become more "solid" especially at times of channeling and seems to be getting stronger within rand. (cf the link with moridin also seem to become stronger with time and with use of the OP. Ditto the links with perrin and matt.)

Finally, the manner of LTT's "death" on DM involved massive use of the OP and a great need. HE TRIED TO DRAW IT ALL. However apart from DM itself, no other effect of the large amount of OP drawn is seen. where did it all go? why DM? obviously, the rest of the OP must have been used for something. And DM, on which rand was born, was definitely created by the power LTT channeled 3000yrs earlier. Also, Gitara did not foretell the dragon's birth until DM, 9 full months after the fetus was concieved!

It seems likely then that the link between rand and LTT is not only OP derived but actually occurred on DM.

TITLE: Eye of the World

CHAPTER: Prologue - Dragonmount

** He drew on the True Source deeply, and still more deeply, like a man dying of thirst. Quickly he had drawn more of the One Power than he could channel unaided; his skin felt as if it were aflame. Straining, he forced himself to draw more, tried to draw it all. "Light, forgive me! Ilyena!" The air turned to fire, the fire to light liquefied. The bolt that struck from the heavens would have seared and blinded any eye that glimpsed it, even for an instant. From the heavens it came, blazed through Lews Therin Telamon, bored into the bowels of the earth. Stone turned to vapor at its touch. The earth thrashed and quivered like a living thing in agony. Only a heartbeat did the shining bar exist, connecting ground and sky, but even after it vanished the earth yet heaved like the sea in a storm. Molten rock fountained five hundred feet into the air, and the groaning ground rose, thrusting the burning spray ever upward, ever higher. From north and south, from east and west, the wind howled in, snapping trees like twigs,

At last the wind died, the earth stilled to trembling mutters. Of Lews Therin Telamon, no sign remained. Where he had stood a mountain now rose miles into the sky, molten lava still gushing from its broken peak. The broad, straight river had been pushed into a curve away from the mountain, and there it split to form a long island in its midst. The shadow of the mountain almost reached the island; it lay dark across the land like the ominous hand of prophecy. For a time the dull, protesting rumbles of the earth were the only sound. On the island, the air shimmered and coalesced. The black-clad man stood staring at the fiery mountain rising out of the plain. His face twisted in rage and contempt. "You cannot escape so easily, Dragon. It is not done between us. It will not be done until the end of time."

Then he was gone, and the mountain and the island stood alone. Waiting.**

Finally, the AS claim 3 taveren occuring at once is unprecedented, and the link between them has grown stronger since the OP blast. Plus the three have been together since childhood. Any accident?

CONCLUSION : The OP blast in DM sent LTT's "essence" 3000yrs into the future, to an age that he could "redeem" himself and also linked him with the baby rand on DM. He is also probably linked to Matt and Perrin as well.