I've always hated this concept and I'd be perfectly happy if it goes unused.

What does it even mean to "turn someone to the shadow against thier will"? What exactly does that do to a person? How is it different (or more useful) than just pummeling them with Compulsion?

I'm hoping it was just something RJ threw out in the early books to sound scary but later rethought when he'd put more work into the internal logic of the series.


BUT... taking the tack that it was mentioned for a reason and that it is going to be used or shown to have been used in the series...

I honestly can't see the Shadow going to the bother to turn run-of-the-mill Channelers. They don't seem to have had any trouble recruiting AS to the BA and I doubt filling Taim's traitor Asha'man ranks was any harder. If it was something they could do casually in order to simply increase their ranks, they could have been kidnapping random AS all through the series to be spirited off, turned, and then slipped back into circulation. In a few years the entire Tower could have been turned and wouldn't that be more useful than simply breaking it as they attempted to do?

So if forced turning is in play, I suspect it's a bigger deal to pull off than it sounds. It will be reserved for characters with key political importance or in useful positions. Rand would top that list of potentials, followed by people like Taim, Logain, Sorilea (who is the closest thing to a ruler that the Aiel have), the Borderland monarchs, Seanchan nobility (especially Fortuona) or anyone close to Rand who could then betray him at a key moment.


EDIT: One last point. Wouldn't it be massively disappointing if it turned out that all the DO needed to do to achieve victory was have Rand kidnapped and then turned with this cheap channeling-through-Myrdraal trick? If it was a real possibility, couldn't that have been done pretty much any time in the series?