he black and white cords
by Traveller: 2005-07-24 | 2.5 out of 10 (8 votes)
"Suddenly he felt something, saw it, though he knew it was not there to see. A glowing rope ran off from Aginor, behind him, white like sunlight seen through the purest cloud, heavier than a blacksmith's arm, lighter than air, connecting the Forsaken to something distant beyond knowing, something within the touch of Rand's hand. The rope pulsed, and with every throb Aginor grew stronger...
It sang. It called Rand's soul. One bright finger-strand lifted away, drifted, touched him, and he gasped. Light filled him, and heat that should have burned yet only warmed as if it took the chill of the grave away from his bones. The strand thickened. I have to get away.
‘No!' Aginor shouted. ‘You shall not have it! It is mine!'”
This narrative from the Eye of the World makes it clear that the white cord attached to Aginor is a link to the Eye of the World. Through the cord, Aginor is harnessing saidin; this is obvious from the way he covets it and doesn't want Rand to have it, and also from the way rand describes it as Light which is how he always describes saidin. Rand runs from Aginor and finds himself on steps in utter darkness. He sees the white cord stretching out behind him, connecting him to the pure pool of saidin behind. He then meets Ba'alzamon in the room from his dreams:
“Ba'alzamon had a cord, too, he saw. A black cord, thicker by far than his own, so wide that it should have dwarfed the human body, yet dwarfed by Ba'alzamon, instead. Each pulse along that black vein ate life.”
This cord is Ishamael's link to the True Source. We know that other Forsaken point out how much Ishamael always relied on the True Source, and we can see this through the width of this black cord. From this we can tell that Rand should have been killed easily, as Ba'alzamon holds so much power, but he cuts the cord, severing Ishamael's link to Power. This meant that Ishamael would not take saidin for fear of the taint, so he was beaten.
Later we see that this did not kill Ba'alzamon, but it gives Rand the upper hand. Rand is not afraid to take saidin even though it is tainted, but the male Forsaken won't, so if Rand cuts their link, he can easily defeat them.
I think that from this we can also see that Rand had no problem using saidin through this cord- there was no struggling not to drown, or to grab hold of saidin- it just came to him. I wonder whether this will be useful in the future: using a pool so that male channelers can easily use saidin. On the other hand it could mean that it is the taint that makes saidin hard to control because the pool is pure, but I don't really think so.
Anyway, I just thought that this would be interesting to scribble about!
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1
Tamyrlin: 2005-09-02
(Frenzy for Tamyrlin)
Fear of channeling tained saidin? I wouldn't say that, since Asmodean seemed to manage, albeit reluctantly. Then again, Asmodean wasn't in a split-second life or death situation like Ba'alzamon was.
Jordan said in an interview that Aginor wanted the Eye because he could channel it wihout the Dark One knowing what he did with it.
I don't have my EotW with me, so i can't confirm that Rand had no problems channelig the Saidin from the Eye. If that is the case, then yes it DOES lend itself to some interesting questions.
2
brother of Battles: 2005-09-02
I don't think it mentioned Rand having to strugle with the pool from the EotW. But it might not have been mentioned since Rand didn't have any idea what he was doing. He only started struggling with the power when he was aware of what he was doing. Just like when they were leaving the Two Rivers and he healed Bela. And when he called the lightning to get away from that Gode guy. It wasn't mentioned there either and he had to be channeling the Tainted saidin then, but like I said, he didn't have to struggle with it and it just came to him.
3
Wetlander: 2005-09-02
But doesn't the DO protect against the taint as we saw with Asmodean? So why would Ishamael be afraid to channel? Asmodean talks about how he has to go mad now, without his link to the DO, but I can't remember where the quote is, so here's a different one. Rand says, "I cut him off from the Dark One, Lanfear. I cut him off!" P. 972 TSR I'm not sure if anything has come to light in the last few books, because I'm still reading them, but this was my impression. And Asmodean also has black wires around him, which is what Rand cuts.
4
Garayur: 2005-09-02
*I think that from this we can also see that Rand had no problem using saidin through this cord- there was no struggling not to drown, or to grab hold of saidin- it just came to him. I wonder whether this will be useful in the future: using a pool so that male channelers can easily use saidin. On the other hand it could mean that it is the taint that makes saidin hard to control because the pool is pure, but I don't really think so.*
There is no description of a struggle because this is before Rand learned to Channel conciosly. The battle for control is never mentioned until Rand at least starts to learn how to reach for saidin.
Saidin is hard to control because that is it's nature. Cleasning the taint did not make it eisier to control.
*Fire flooded into him, hotter than the sun, and cold to make the worst blizzard seem spring, all swirling rage that dwarfed the strom outside, threatening to scour him away for a moments inattention. Siezing saidin was a war for survival.* CoT
This is after the cleansing.
also making a pool of saidin is beyond impracticle.
*They worked through the taint of the Dark
One on Saidin to make it, and make it pure, knowing that doing so would kill them all. Male Aes Sedai and female together. The Green Man spoke true. The greatest wonders of the Age of Legends were done in that way, Saidin and Saidar together. All the women in Tar Valon, all the Aes Sedai in all the courts and cities, even with those in the lands beyond the Waste, even counting those who may still live beyond the Aryth Ocean, could not fill a spoon with the Power, lacking men to work with them."* tEotW
we don't know if it was cleansing the taint that killed them or the process of creating the pool of saidin but either way theree is no point when the males have dirrect and taint-free acess.
P.S. Ishmael was grabbing the True power not the True source, true source is saidin and saidar.
5
mako0424: 2005-09-04
Well ya, i always took the cord of white to be the link to the Eye.
And that saidin always is hard to use somewhat but not because its tainted, just because of its nature, ie, having to seize it and what not.
But more importantly, don't you also see a black cord connecting Asmodeon, and Rand severs it and we find out that this is the protection cord to the Dark One, not the True Source. i kind of took this to mean the same thing with Ba'alzamon, i imagine he was still connected, but not the True Source, and i also thought the True Source was stronger than Saidin, hence the reason so much more dangerous, addictive, and what not.
I took it to mean that Rand managed to cut Ba'alzamon off because he is strong, but also prolly because ba'alzamon wasn't expecting it at all.
6
Dreamwolf: 2005-09-08
Event: Rand cuts Asmodean's black cords.
Results: Asmodean becomes vulnerable to the taint, and he can no longer channel the true power.
Rand took away the two gifts the DO gave him, but there is a mark the DO gives as well, which is something like what Alviarin was given. RJ tells us that what Shaidar Haran gave her is similar, but not as strong. It's kind of like Alviarin is a minor forsaken. I think for all intents and purposes, Asmodean was still technically a forsaken, just without the gifts the DO gave him.
Another feature the black cords offer is that the DO knows what you do with both powers. Why else would Aginor want to channel the power from the eye. The DO can tell what you do with the black cord, but not with the white.
So, Rand cuts Ba'alzamon's black cord.
"Ba'alzamon screamed as the sword fell, screamed till the stone walls trembled, and the endless howl redoubled as the blade of Light severed the cord. The
cut ends rebounded apart as if they had been under tension. The end stretching into the nothingness outside began to shrivel as it sprang away; the other
whipped back into Ba'alzamon, hurling him against the fireplace. There was silent laughter in the soundless shrieks of the tortured faces. The walls shivered
and cracked; the floor heaved, and chunks of stone crashed to the floor from the ceiling.," (The Eye of the World, Chapter 51).
It might be best to think of the cord as a giant rubberband rather than a rope. Ba'alzamon's end snaps into him and he flies across the room. Something similar happens to Asmodean. Under those conditions, I'm not surprised they can't fight back.
"Fire filled the chamber, a solid flame. He could see Ba'alzamon withering like a leaf, hear him howling, feel the shrieks grating on his bones. The flame
became pure, white light, brighter than the sun. Then the last flicker of the thread was gone, and he was falling through endless black and Ba'alzamon's
fading howl," (TEotW, Chapter 51).
Rand does something similar to Rahvin, but he shields himself before he can die. Rahvin, like Ba'alzamon, becomes a burnt husk. So, Ba'alzamon does the same thing Rahvin does (make a shield), makes a gateway to Shayol Ghul, and still a forsaken, gets his gifts back from the DO. But, as a punishment, he has to heal from his burns on his own.
Here is a question I have, though. The description of Rand using the power from the Eye is very different than later descriptions of him channeling Saidin. Ba'alzamon uses the black cord to draw the true power, why can't Rand use the white to also draw the true power? Perhaps this is what the Aes Sedai from the AOL were actually trying to do. Make a well of the true power.
7
Traveller: 2005-09-09
Thankyou, Dreamwolf, you have helped make things clearer from when I muddled a bit (guys, just forget the bit about the taint making saidin all hard to control- it was rubbish) and in answer to your last bit, I don't really think that the pool was of the True Power, because:
1. As far as we know, the AS didn't have acces to it,
2. Asmodean at some point in Book 5 (near the beginning, I have just read it again) mentions how hard to control he has always found it when talsking to Rand, and in my mind, it would make sense for (if TP wa different) to mention it now, because he has been using it recently so Rand would not know he was channeling when he was pretending to be Jasin Natael.
i know this is not really proper evidence, but the TP seems too evil a thing, coming from the DO, for it to be made of.
8
Yaga Shura: 2005-09-13
" The description of Rand using the power from the Eye is very different than later descriptions of him channeling Saidin. Ba'alzamon uses the black cord to draw the true power, why can't Rand use the white to also draw the true power? Perhaps this is what the Aes Sedai from the AOL were actually trying to do. Make a well of the true power."
No. Definitely not.
The TP only comes from the Dark One, by his express permission. He wouldn't give permission to use the TP to a bunch of random light-loving Aes Sedai.
9
silverwolf: 2005-09-30
I think this needs to be clarified based, on some of the posts.
The True Power comes from the DO. It cannot be sensed except by the channeler (and the DO, of course). It is similar to the One Power, but is more addictive and causes the saa. The Bore was drilled to access the TP, although Beidomon (spelled wrong) and Mierin (aka: Lanfear) did not apparently know that this power was the DO.
The One Power...well, I think we all know what that is (if you don't, read the series before trying to post here :) ).
The True Souce is the source of the One Power--that is, of saidin and saidar. It is believed to be infinite and, according to Moiraine in TEOTW, drives the Wheel of Time. The True Source is neither intrinsically good nor evil, but it can be used by channelers to do both.
Bottom line: True Source does not equal True Power. Please use the terms correctly.
10
Darren: 2005-10-01
"Here is a question I have, though. The description of Rand using the power from the Eye is very different than later descriptions of him channeling Saidin. Ba'alzamon uses the black cord to draw the true power, why can't Rand use the white to also draw the true power?"
Because the Eye is composed only of saidin, silly...
11
Traveller: 2005-10-04
I agree with Silverwolf and Darren above- what i am suggesting is that pools of pure saidin can be made using Aes Sedai of both genders. It seems rather pointless now that saidin has been cleaned, but I don't think it is as simple as that. There has to be som twist in the cleansing of saidin, so I still think that a pure pool of saidin would be useful.
12
Callandor: 2005-10-05
**There has to be som twist in the cleansing of saidin, so I still think that a pure pool of saidin would be useful.**
Why does there have to be a twist in the Cleansing? By all intensive purposes, and those extrapolated, the Cleansing went flawlessly, except that some people died.
The only true "effect" of the Cleansing that you could say would be if people took the Cleansing as a symbol for something that it isn't (like say Logain no doesn't believe in following Rand or some such because of it).
13
Anubis: 2005-10-05
What if it was a pool of saidar? Or saidin and saidar made in such a way that it was like two channelers linking?
That would seem ideal for resealing the DO, the DO could only taint that limited pool of saidin/saidar and that would explain why the description differed.
14
Traveller: 2005-11-06
Hah! Well I was right about one thing, atleast- there was a twist to the cleansing- the Amayar. Shame that doesn't help my theory at all.
