Ok, I am rereading the series and I had a thought about the darkening of the Ways, the Black Wind, Shadar Logoth and Fain.

It seems strange to me that the taint on Saidin is what cause the darkening of the Ways, since we haven't seen anything about the other things done with Saidin being tainted. It seems like only the channeler has to deal with the taint.

At the time of the Trolloc Wars, Mordeth caused the corruption and eventual distruction of Aridhol, and the city became known as Shadar Logoth. Every inch of that city is tainted and everything in it as well. We all know this.

We also know that there was a Waygate inside the city.

My theory is that the Ways were corrupted by Mashadar, via the Waygate in the city, not the taint, or at least not the taint by itself.

Think about it. Fain melded with Mordeth. When he was later caught by the Wind, it let him go. It recognized him, at least part of him. Why would it recognize him, Fain? It wouldn't. It couldn't. But Mashadar could and would recognize Mordeth. And Mordeth was the one person that Mashadar could not harm.

The Ways and the Gates are alive, so they certainly could be, over time, corrupted by the evil of the city. They are so large and extensive that its perfectly reasonable to assume that it would take a thousand years for anyone to notice and for the corruption to take over the whole of the Ways.

So, yeah, its almost 2am, so be kind as you tear this to pieces. Have fun.