Passing on useful survival skills trumped esoteric lore during the War of Power and the Breaking
RugbyPlayingAshaman Send a noteboard - 25/08/2010 03:18:47 PM
A weave that might be useful in one context might not be useful in another. Variations of Healing without a Talent for Healing, for example, makes the weave worthless to another channeler.
I think we could also look at the ritualistic practices surrounding the Test for the Shawl. It seems that most of the initiates learn the more useful weaves during their Accepted period of learning. Yet many of the weaves they have to learn to pass the Test are said to be "useless" or of a limited value. It is possible that some of these worthless weaves, in another context and given the right situation, are useful. Perhaps one of the weaves they are taught was the sonar-creating one used by the Wise Ones - but since no pregnant woman is nearby to test it on, it doesn't do anything. Also likely, is that those weaves might be variations or weakened versions of older weaves - when Sorilea showed Cadsuane the Travelling weave, for example, it was so flimsy and weak that it collapsed before it could create an effect. It could be the case that a similarly weak channeler, trying to pass this weave on to a younger person or student, could only roughly duplicate the matrix needed, in which case the younger student has a weave that doesn't seem to work, and which they don't have the technique to use. The chances of that weave being passed on become very low compared to a fireball or basic healing matrix of flows.
I think we could also look at the ritualistic practices surrounding the Test for the Shawl. It seems that most of the initiates learn the more useful weaves during their Accepted period of learning. Yet many of the weaves they have to learn to pass the Test are said to be "useless" or of a limited value. It is possible that some of these worthless weaves, in another context and given the right situation, are useful. Perhaps one of the weaves they are taught was the sonar-creating one used by the Wise Ones - but since no pregnant woman is nearby to test it on, it doesn't do anything. Also likely, is that those weaves might be variations or weakened versions of older weaves - when Sorilea showed Cadsuane the Travelling weave, for example, it was so flimsy and weak that it collapsed before it could create an effect. It could be the case that a similarly weak channeler, trying to pass this weave on to a younger person or student, could only roughly duplicate the matrix needed, in which case the younger student has a weave that doesn't seem to work, and which they don't have the technique to use. The chances of that weave being passed on become very low compared to a fireball or basic healing matrix of flows.
"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."
How were all these amazing weaves 'lost' ?
20/08/2010 04:33:43 AM
- 1625 Views
You're right. It is merely a plot requirement, made ludicrous by the ease of mastering these weaves
20/08/2010 10:08:10 AM
- 1001 Views
Re: You're right. It is merely a plot requirement, made ludicrous by the ease of mastering
20/08/2010 03:40:16 PM
- 746 Views
These are good points. To some extent, it may be because our main characters are "gifted" channelers
20/08/2010 08:57:49 PM
- 759 Views
The bigger problem is minor characters copying the weaves so quickly...
20/08/2010 09:14:25 PM
- 816 Views
Lost Weaves
20/08/2010 01:43:25 PM
- 966 Views
Not logical
20/08/2010 01:50:32 PM
- 963 Views
Re: Not logical
20/08/2010 03:22:04 PM
- 795 Views
All I'm saying, is that Travelling would STILL be a very usefull survival tool during the Breaking..
20/08/2010 03:44:59 PM
- 920 Views
If you go back and read the descriptions of the breaking, and think about the 3000 year cycle
20/08/2010 04:37:02 PM
- 838 Views
I don't think that creating cuendillar and 'angreals was common knowledge.
20/08/2010 05:06:20 PM
- 785 Views
You & Ryan make good points, esp on balefire/compulsion. In a shorter series, it'd make more sense
20/08/2010 08:52:59 PM
- 799 Views
Maybe Aes Sedai treated weaves like Intellectual Property
20/08/2010 09:49:12 PM
- 718 Views
Trademark? Patent? Or Copyright? =P *NM*
20/08/2010 10:19:36 PM
- 327 Views
If they are secretive and protective, it's not a huge stretch that knowledge would be taken into the
21/08/2010 10:27:15 AM
- 831 Views
Idea?
21/08/2010 12:47:52 AM
- 648 Views
But they weren't too weak
21/08/2010 02:48:43 AM
- 724 Views
That's because most of the major people in WoT are powerful channelers.
21/08/2010 04:13:04 AM
- 722 Views
How can you "write a weave down"?
21/08/2010 04:54:28 PM
- 769 Views
How did Moiraine learn balefire then? *NM*
21/08/2010 05:04:27 PM
- 1009 Views
figured it out on her own, don't forget that Nyn used it too against the Fades in TDR. *NM*
21/08/2010 05:12:15 PM
- 361 Views
That's a stretch - Moiraine never demonstrated any creative talent with the OP...
21/08/2010 06:15:01 PM
- 710 Views
OK, I'll buy Vandene teaching it, but not learning it from a written description *NM*
21/08/2010 06:35:46 PM
- 365 Views
I disagree - Moiraine's wilder tricks show that she is quite creative with the OP
24/08/2010 03:31:06 PM
- 732 Views
Re: I disagree - Moiraine's wilder tricks show that she is quite creative with the OP
24/08/2010 05:32:11 PM
- 1060 Views
We know of her trick with stones and light from 'New Spring' IIRC
25/08/2010 02:40:26 PM
- 864 Views
Passing on useful survival skills trumped esoteric lore during the War of Power and the Breaking
25/08/2010 03:18:47 PM
- 885 Views