I'm pretty sure there is an RJ quote saying the soul defines the ability but the body - Edit 1
Before modification by darius_sedai at 26/02/2012 12:54:52 AM
Determines strength ... I'll go look for it ... But clearly transmigration plays with that as Aran'gar's new body clearly should have no ability to channel saidin at all... Regardless of strength.
Couple of quotes:
INTERVIEW: Apr, 2003
Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)
QUESTION
I have an exiting question, maybe, we heard of making the Forsaken reborn, so has the original body any reflection to the mind of the Forsaken?
ROBERT JORDAN
Well, if a Forsaken dies and is reborn naturally, through the turning of the Wheel, no.
QUESTION
If then the Dark One puts him in a new body?
ROBERT JORDAN
Oh, if the Dark One puts him in a new body, it is for all intents and purposes the same person, with a new body. It is a shift of an entire person. The concept here, with the exception of the Gray Men: You've seen an Ogier who lost his soul. And in effect there's nobody home anymore. It is a body that lives and breathes, and will move if it is helped along. But it does not, there's nobody home in there. The Gray Men are slightly different. But they also have given up their souls. They've given up their souls in a way. Already, their souls are gone. But it's happened in a way that protects them against this emptiness, as if they're severed from the physical and spiritual side. And the spiritual side is gone, but the physical side remains so there is an intellect in that body, but no soul. And that's why they are Gray Men. Your eyes slip past them, the perfect assassins. You can look right at one and look on, never having realized you saw somebody there. So there's, when a soul ... (break in audio file)
Couple of quotes:
INTERVIEW: Apr, 2003
Budapest Q&A (Verbatim)
QUESTION
I have an exiting question, maybe, we heard of making the Forsaken reborn, so has the original body any reflection to the mind of the Forsaken?
ROBERT JORDAN
Well, if a Forsaken dies and is reborn naturally, through the turning of the Wheel, no.
QUESTION
If then the Dark One puts him in a new body?
ROBERT JORDAN
Oh, if the Dark One puts him in a new body, it is for all intents and purposes the same person, with a new body. It is a shift of an entire person. The concept here, with the exception of the Gray Men: You've seen an Ogier who lost his soul. And in effect there's nobody home anymore. It is a body that lives and breathes, and will move if it is helped along. But it does not, there's nobody home in there. The Gray Men are slightly different. But they also have given up their souls. They've given up their souls in a way. Already, their souls are gone. But it's happened in a way that protects them against this emptiness, as if they're severed from the physical and spiritual side. And the spiritual side is gone, but the physical side remains so there is an intellect in that body, but no soul. And that's why they are Gray Men. Your eyes slip past them, the perfect assassins. You can look right at one and look on, never having realized you saw somebody there. So there's, when a soul ... (break in audio file)