Re: A few details to consider - two points really - Edit 1
Before modification by FanEditor10 at 03/06/2010 08:31:31 AM
Overall, I would agree that, whether or not RJ wrote this into the culture, I would imagine that testing there is a traumatizing effect on children. Not just girls--boys are tested too, except that male channelers are killed, IIRC. And men tend to exhibit the spark later than women, so their terror could potentially last a lot longer.
So, there are a couple of things to consider, although there are a lot of details we can't be sure of. First, channeling is a rare talent. So, most girls will not be collared. It's a genetic lottery, and given that channelers never marry or have children, the genetic tendencies are rare.
However, on the flip side, having a sul'dam in the family is a great honor, and is far more common (although it too is rare--just less rare than being a channeler). These are folks born with the ability to learn, but not channel innately, which I would imagine is on the genetic 'channeling spectrum'. Now, we don't know how often sul'dam marry. Very often? Do they tend to have many children? Are their lives subtly lengthened because of their quasi-channeling?
Are there no farmers in Seanchan? Does no one understand breeding? The fact that Egwene figures out that sul'dam can be collared, and yet NO Seanchan person in the culture itself has figured this out is frankly amazing. It defies belief, but RJ seems to suggest it is so. These folks really are brainwashed by their society into not thinking certain things. It's actually incredible that they've managed to maintain an empire for so long and conquer so much of Randland so successfully, given that they have been trained from birth by their culture to be so blinkered about what is staring them in the face. Tuon, who despite being rather xenophobic and superstitious, is actually pretty sharp, and yet even she hardly blinks an eye when finding out her culture is built on such extraordinary misdirection.
Perhaps the super-secret-society of Seanchan High Elders knows this, and would have informed Tuon when she became empress, had she not already known.
Anyway, back to your question. In sum, seeing as Aes Sedai rarely marry or have children, and have been 'culling' male channelers as well, and seeing as this has led to a decrease in the number of channelers, it stands to reason that channeling ability is rare in Seanchan as well. Only about 1 in 1000 is collared, and the chances go down from there after age 20, even if they don't let up until 25. The marriage issue is a good one--I wouldn't put it past Seanchan culture to kill the babies of women who later find out they can channel, or else turn them into da'covale for life.
So, there are a couple of things to consider, although there are a lot of details we can't be sure of. First, channeling is a rare talent. So, most girls will not be collared. It's a genetic lottery, and given that channelers never marry or have children, the genetic tendencies are rare.
However, on the flip side, having a sul'dam in the family is a great honor, and is far more common (although it too is rare--just less rare than being a channeler). These are folks born with the ability to learn, but not channel innately, which I would imagine is on the genetic 'channeling spectrum'. Now, we don't know how often sul'dam marry. Very often? Do they tend to have many children? Are their lives subtly lengthened because of their quasi-channeling?
Are there no farmers in Seanchan? Does no one understand breeding? The fact that Egwene figures out that sul'dam can be collared, and yet NO Seanchan person in the culture itself has figured this out is frankly amazing. It defies belief, but RJ seems to suggest it is so. These folks really are brainwashed by their society into not thinking certain things. It's actually incredible that they've managed to maintain an empire for so long and conquer so much of Randland so successfully, given that they have been trained from birth by their culture to be so blinkered about what is staring them in the face. Tuon, who despite being rather xenophobic and superstitious, is actually pretty sharp, and yet even she hardly blinks an eye when finding out her culture is built on such extraordinary misdirection.
Perhaps the super-secret-society of Seanchan High Elders knows this, and would have informed Tuon when she became empress, had she not already known.
Anyway, back to your question. In sum, seeing as Aes Sedai rarely marry or have children, and have been 'culling' male channelers as well, and seeing as this has led to a decrease in the number of channelers, it stands to reason that channeling ability is rare in Seanchan as well. Only about 1 in 1000 is collared, and the chances go down from there after age 20, even if they don't let up until 25. The marriage issue is a good one--I wouldn't put it past Seanchan culture to kill the babies of women who later find out they can channel, or else turn them into da'covale for life.
1) I think the reason nobody before Egwene realizes the Sul'dam can channel is because until well after the age of twenty five they haven't "learned" enough of the one power by proxy to fail the test at the other end of the leash, and at 25 the testing stops. One sul'dam said at some point in the series that "sul'dam who have held the adam for a long time begin to be able to see what the damane do with the power." Suggesting that, because it is such an indirect form of learning, it takes much longer to get to a point where you may actually be able to gain Saidar by yourself. And of course, since nobody would think to collar a respected sul'dam after she passed her 25th year testing, nobody would ever know. If the High Seanchan Elders knew this secret, I would be very surprised, but it would be the perfect cover up.
2) I don't think any babies are killed because no matter how the Seanchan feel about Women they know or are related to being collared, the might of the Seanchan dynasty has been built on the backs of Damane the way the Egyptian empire was built on the backs of Hebrew slaves. I have not read anything that says this, but I would assume that killing the babes of women who have been collared would be frowned upon if not penalized by law. However the Seanchan feel about Damane as human beings, they surely don't want potential damane destroyed! I think the ability IS rare in Seanchan because of a lack of channelers reproducing, but on that side of the ocean it is because only perverts go to bed with Damane whereas in Randland, Aes Sedai rarely choose to complicate their lives with babes.
SIDENOTE: I do think, technically, that the Seanchan damane outnumber the Aes Sedai NOT ONLY because the Seanchan find every girl and not just the ones who seek them out to learn, but also because the Seanchan damane, unbound by Oaths, live twice as long. When your channelers live longer, you're likely to have more alive and serving you at any given time.