Rand, new and improved. - Edit 1
Before modification by Datakim at 12/11/2010 03:54:47 AM
I was wondering about the extent of Rand's new powers that he has gained post-epiphany, and what their strenghts are. Here I think about some of them.
1.Keeps the DO at bay and counters his touch upon the world
---------------------------------------------------------------
We saw this first in the prologue. Rand's mere presence now restores sunlight to the area surrounding him, and he has the power to undo the works of the DO and protect the world from further trouble.
- He caused the apples to grow in the prologue.
- He unspoiled the food in Bandar Eban. Rand seemed to imply that it was just coincidence and he did nothing, but I think when we look at the apple incident, and the fact that the food was apparently better than it should be it is clear he was just showing humility.
"Potatoes here", another soldier said from beside a barrel. "Looks as good as any I've had. Better than most, actually. Not dried up, like you'd expect from winter leftovers."
- We know that food rarely if ever spoils suddenly around Rand anymore.
"What?" Cadsuane asked, finally sipping her tea. It tasted good, as it usually did near al'Thor these days.
- This power is apparently so strong, that it actually spreads from Rand to those he has bonded to, such as Elayne.
"Something is happening to him. I can feel it, feel him changing. Cleansing. He drives back the clouds and makes the roses bloom."
3.Darkfriend detector
---------------------------
Rand now has the power to "detect" those who have been touched by the shadow. It would appear that this is not a power where he can actually see darkfriends such as the one Fain has, but rather that his newfound light-powers hurt/repel darkfriends and their reactions reveal their true allegiances.
Rand eventually reached him. "Meet my eyes, Weiramon" Rand said softly.
"My Lord Dragon, surely I am not worthy to-"
"Do it."
Weiramon did so with an odd difficulty. He looked as if he was gritting his teeth, his eyes watering.
"So it is you" Rand said. Min could feel his disappointment. Rand looked to the side, to where Anaiyella stood last in line. The pretty woman had pulled away from Rand, her head turned. "Both of you."
"My Lord-" Weiramon began.
"I want you to deliver a message for me" Rand said. "To the others of your association. Tell them that they cannot hide among my allies any longer."
Weiramon tried to bluster, but Rand took a step closer. Weiramon's eyes opened wide, and Anaiyella cried out, shading her face.
We see that Weiramon has real trouble just looking at Rand, and Anaiyella actually has to shield herself from Rand. It is interesting that when Rand steps closer to Weiramon, it is Anaiyella that cries out. I wonder if Rand has some conscious ability to control this ability, emitting less or more of this "light" at will.
We see similar thing happen later in the borderlands.
No. A figure was huddled in the corner beside the bed, fine clothing wrinkled, doublet stained with blood. Ituralde lowered his sword. Lord Torkumen's eyes were gone. He appeared to have put them out with a writing quill. The bloodied implement lay on the ground beside him.
The window was broken. Bashere glanced out it. "Lady Torkumen is down there."
"She jumped" Torkumen whispered, clawing at his eye sockets, fingers covered with blood. He sounded dazed. "That light. That terrible light." Ituralde glanced at Bashere.
"I cannot watch it" Torkumen muttered. "I cannot! Great Lord, where is your protection? Where are your armies to rend, your swords to strike. That Light eats at my mind, like rats feasting on a corpse. It burns at my thoughts. It killed me. That light killed me."
The effect is obviusly more pronounced this time. These two did not even see Rand, but the light hurt them so bad that one killed herself and the other actually put out his eyes and went mad. Presumably this happened because Rand drew on so much of this light to fortify his one power channeling so that he could defeat the trolloc army.
I wonder what limits this new power has. Would it work on those higher up the DF chain too? If Rand goes to the center of the Black Tower and repeats what he did in Maradon, could he single-handedly cleanse the tower of all darkfriend-Asha'man. What about the forsaken. Would Demanded and Moridin find it equally hard to look at Rand now. It is possible that their deepers bonds to the DO would allow him to protect them from Rand. On the other hand, it is possible that it would work the other way, and Rand would have an even greater effect on the forsaken, than he has on your average darkfriend. For all we know, Rand could burn Demandred to ash just by standing there and glowing. Given how little Demandred has accomplished in the books so far, I would not be surprised if thats how he dies.
4.Draws on light for power
---------------------------------
During the attack on Maradon, Rand singlehandedly defeats an entire army of shadowspawn. As far as we know, Rand has no angreal or sa'angreal in his possession, but he still channeled MUCH more than he should be able to, unaided
The Asha'man Naeff, standing beside Bashere gasped. "I've never seen so many weaves at once," he whispered. "I can't track them all. He's a storm. A storm of Light and streams of Power!"
What is more, it seems that Rand actually glows with light when he does this.
The man himself seemed to be glowing. Was it the reflection of the swaths of fire, or perhaps the lightning blasts? al'Thor seemed brighter than them all, his hand upraised against the Shadowspawn.
Ituralde also seems surprised that all the fortifications are untouched.
Many others stayed in the room, however, staring out at the field that had been cleansed by ice and by fire. It was odd, but Ituralde hadn't been able to spot a single fallen tower atop the hill. It was as if al'Thor's attacks had somehow affected only the Shadowspawn. Could a man really be that precise?
Now it possible that with LTT's skills, Rand really is that precise, but the way this was mentioned leads me to suspect otherwise.
I would speculate that Rand has somehow gained the power to draw on some light-force for power. That is why he glowed during his channeling. It is also why the fortifications were left unharmed, because this "light-channeling" only harmed things touched by darkness, leaving the fortifications untouched. This would also be the reason why the darkfriends I mentioned above killed themselves. Because Rand actively drew on this light for power, it had a far more profound effect than it had on Weiramon, since in that scene Rand was not actually doing anything with the light.
This begs the question, could Rand do the same against the Aes Sedai or Seanchan. They are not darkfriends/shadowspawn afterall, so would this light-channeling work against them, or would Rand be forced to rely only on his own natural strength. His confidence during his WT visit might suggest otherwise, but that could have just been a belief that the pattern/ta'veren would not allow him to be captured.
5.Shielded from madness by light
--------------------------------------
Rand is now protected from the taint of the DO by a power of light.
She stiffened. The darkness was enormous, covering the entirety of his mind. Thousands upon thousands of the tiny black thorns pricked into his brain, but beneath them was a brilliant white lacing of something. A white radiance, like liquid Power. Light given form and life. She gasped. It coated each of the dark tines, driving into his mind alongside them. What did it mean?
It seems that the light or pattern or Creator has now restored Rand to sanity with this shield of light.
I wonder if this has always been there to some extent. Given how nasty the description of the taint is, I cannot help but wonder how Rand was able to maintain even the little sanity he did during TGS. Is it possible that this light has always been there protecting Rand. It could have grown weaker once Rand fell into darkness in TGS, and then grew back to full power when Rand had his epiphany. This could explain the reason for the Dark One wanting Rand to use the True Power, and Moridin wanting Rand to suffer. It is possible that they know how tainted Rand is, and also know of this light-shield, and they are actively trying to weaken/destroy the shield in Rand's mind by trying to force him into acts/mental state that weakens the shield.
It is interesting that Rand no longer suffers from the channeling sickness now. Could this light-shield in his mind also protect Rand against the effects of the link he has with Moridin?
Anyway, it is clear that Rand now has the ability to draw on some power that we have not seen yet. What are your thoughts on this? Could this be the solution? If Rand does this "light-blessed" channeling to close the bore and touch the Dark One, could it prevent the DO from pushing his taint to Saidin as he did before. We know that the DO cannot touch the world around Rand anymore, maybe saidin "blessed by light" would also be untouchable to the DO, and as such untaintable. That combined with women working with him in a circle could be the answer.
1.Keeps the DO at bay and counters his touch upon the world
---------------------------------------------------------------
We saw this first in the prologue. Rand's mere presence now restores sunlight to the area surrounding him, and he has the power to undo the works of the DO and protect the world from further trouble.
- He caused the apples to grow in the prologue.
- He unspoiled the food in Bandar Eban. Rand seemed to imply that it was just coincidence and he did nothing, but I think when we look at the apple incident, and the fact that the food was apparently better than it should be it is clear he was just showing humility.
"Potatoes here", another soldier said from beside a barrel. "Looks as good as any I've had. Better than most, actually. Not dried up, like you'd expect from winter leftovers."
- We know that food rarely if ever spoils suddenly around Rand anymore.
"What?" Cadsuane asked, finally sipping her tea. It tasted good, as it usually did near al'Thor these days.
- This power is apparently so strong, that it actually spreads from Rand to those he has bonded to, such as Elayne.
"Something is happening to him. I can feel it, feel him changing. Cleansing. He drives back the clouds and makes the roses bloom."
3.Darkfriend detector
---------------------------
Rand now has the power to "detect" those who have been touched by the shadow. It would appear that this is not a power where he can actually see darkfriends such as the one Fain has, but rather that his newfound light-powers hurt/repel darkfriends and their reactions reveal their true allegiances.
Rand eventually reached him. "Meet my eyes, Weiramon" Rand said softly.
"My Lord Dragon, surely I am not worthy to-"
"Do it."
Weiramon did so with an odd difficulty. He looked as if he was gritting his teeth, his eyes watering.
"So it is you" Rand said. Min could feel his disappointment. Rand looked to the side, to where Anaiyella stood last in line. The pretty woman had pulled away from Rand, her head turned. "Both of you."
"My Lord-" Weiramon began.
"I want you to deliver a message for me" Rand said. "To the others of your association. Tell them that they cannot hide among my allies any longer."
Weiramon tried to bluster, but Rand took a step closer. Weiramon's eyes opened wide, and Anaiyella cried out, shading her face.
We see that Weiramon has real trouble just looking at Rand, and Anaiyella actually has to shield herself from Rand. It is interesting that when Rand steps closer to Weiramon, it is Anaiyella that cries out. I wonder if Rand has some conscious ability to control this ability, emitting less or more of this "light" at will.
We see similar thing happen later in the borderlands.
No. A figure was huddled in the corner beside the bed, fine clothing wrinkled, doublet stained with blood. Ituralde lowered his sword. Lord Torkumen's eyes were gone. He appeared to have put them out with a writing quill. The bloodied implement lay on the ground beside him.
The window was broken. Bashere glanced out it. "Lady Torkumen is down there."
"She jumped" Torkumen whispered, clawing at his eye sockets, fingers covered with blood. He sounded dazed. "That light. That terrible light." Ituralde glanced at Bashere.
"I cannot watch it" Torkumen muttered. "I cannot! Great Lord, where is your protection? Where are your armies to rend, your swords to strike. That Light eats at my mind, like rats feasting on a corpse. It burns at my thoughts. It killed me. That light killed me."
The effect is obviusly more pronounced this time. These two did not even see Rand, but the light hurt them so bad that one killed herself and the other actually put out his eyes and went mad. Presumably this happened because Rand drew on so much of this light to fortify his one power channeling so that he could defeat the trolloc army.
I wonder what limits this new power has. Would it work on those higher up the DF chain too? If Rand goes to the center of the Black Tower and repeats what he did in Maradon, could he single-handedly cleanse the tower of all darkfriend-Asha'man. What about the forsaken. Would Demanded and Moridin find it equally hard to look at Rand now. It is possible that their deepers bonds to the DO would allow him to protect them from Rand. On the other hand, it is possible that it would work the other way, and Rand would have an even greater effect on the forsaken, than he has on your average darkfriend. For all we know, Rand could burn Demandred to ash just by standing there and glowing. Given how little Demandred has accomplished in the books so far, I would not be surprised if thats how he dies.
4.Draws on light for power
---------------------------------
During the attack on Maradon, Rand singlehandedly defeats an entire army of shadowspawn. As far as we know, Rand has no angreal or sa'angreal in his possession, but he still channeled MUCH more than he should be able to, unaided
The Asha'man Naeff, standing beside Bashere gasped. "I've never seen so many weaves at once," he whispered. "I can't track them all. He's a storm. A storm of Light and streams of Power!"
What is more, it seems that Rand actually glows with light when he does this.
The man himself seemed to be glowing. Was it the reflection of the swaths of fire, or perhaps the lightning blasts? al'Thor seemed brighter than them all, his hand upraised against the Shadowspawn.
Ituralde also seems surprised that all the fortifications are untouched.
Many others stayed in the room, however, staring out at the field that had been cleansed by ice and by fire. It was odd, but Ituralde hadn't been able to spot a single fallen tower atop the hill. It was as if al'Thor's attacks had somehow affected only the Shadowspawn. Could a man really be that precise?
Now it possible that with LTT's skills, Rand really is that precise, but the way this was mentioned leads me to suspect otherwise.
I would speculate that Rand has somehow gained the power to draw on some light-force for power. That is why he glowed during his channeling. It is also why the fortifications were left unharmed, because this "light-channeling" only harmed things touched by darkness, leaving the fortifications untouched. This would also be the reason why the darkfriends I mentioned above killed themselves. Because Rand actively drew on this light for power, it had a far more profound effect than it had on Weiramon, since in that scene Rand was not actually doing anything with the light.
This begs the question, could Rand do the same against the Aes Sedai or Seanchan. They are not darkfriends/shadowspawn afterall, so would this light-channeling work against them, or would Rand be forced to rely only on his own natural strength. His confidence during his WT visit might suggest otherwise, but that could have just been a belief that the pattern/ta'veren would not allow him to be captured.
5.Shielded from madness by light
--------------------------------------
Rand is now protected from the taint of the DO by a power of light.
She stiffened. The darkness was enormous, covering the entirety of his mind. Thousands upon thousands of the tiny black thorns pricked into his brain, but beneath them was a brilliant white lacing of something. A white radiance, like liquid Power. Light given form and life. She gasped. It coated each of the dark tines, driving into his mind alongside them. What did it mean?
It seems that the light or pattern or Creator has now restored Rand to sanity with this shield of light.
I wonder if this has always been there to some extent. Given how nasty the description of the taint is, I cannot help but wonder how Rand was able to maintain even the little sanity he did during TGS. Is it possible that this light has always been there protecting Rand. It could have grown weaker once Rand fell into darkness in TGS, and then grew back to full power when Rand had his epiphany. This could explain the reason for the Dark One wanting Rand to use the True Power, and Moridin wanting Rand to suffer. It is possible that they know how tainted Rand is, and also know of this light-shield, and they are actively trying to weaken/destroy the shield in Rand's mind by trying to force him into acts/mental state that weakens the shield.
It is interesting that Rand no longer suffers from the channeling sickness now. Could this light-shield in his mind also protect Rand against the effects of the link he has with Moridin?
Anyway, it is clear that Rand now has the ability to draw on some power that we have not seen yet. What are your thoughts on this? Could this be the solution? If Rand does this "light-blessed" channeling to close the bore and touch the Dark One, could it prevent the DO from pushing his taint to Saidin as he did before. We know that the DO cannot touch the world around Rand anymore, maybe saidin "blessed by light" would also be untouchable to the DO, and as such untaintable. That combined with women working with him in a circle could be the answer.