Sanderson doesn't think this is the case - Edit 3
Before modification by darius_sedai at 26/02/2012 01:01:12 AM
And clearly transmigration plays with that as Aran'gar's new body clearly should have no ability to channel saidin at all... Regardless of strength.
INTERVIEW: Dec 5th, 2009
TGS Signing Report - kavorka (Paraphrased)
BRANDON SANDERSON
Ability to channel/souls. I think this has all been reported, but he stated definitively that the ability to channel is tied to soul. He stated definitively that the spark was not tied to the soul but could be affected by a specific body (i.e., just because you had the spark in one life, you could be reborn and just have the ability to learn.) He stated with 85% probability that strength in the Power was not tied to soul, meaning that if you were an uber channeler in one body, you could be weak in the Power in your next body.
Couple of additional 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)
MODERATOR
Here's a longish question from Linda that somehow fell in between the cracks... Part One from Linda: Since the ability to channel seems to be primarily linked to the soul, if a channeler is gentled/stilled, will this affect his/hers soul in a follow life as well, as in, will the ability to channel still be lost? Did THAT come through??
ROBERT JORDAN
No.
MODERATOR
Hmmmmm.. Linda, I TRIED.
ROBERT JORDAN
(that was the answer...the answer is no)
INTERVIEW: Dec 5th, 2009
TGS Signing Report - kavorka (Paraphrased)
BRANDON SANDERSON
Ability to channel/souls. I think this has all been reported, but he stated definitively that the ability to channel is tied to soul. He stated definitively that the spark was not tied to the soul but could be affected by a specific body (i.e., just because you had the spark in one life, you could be reborn and just have the ability to learn.) He stated with 85% probability that strength in the Power was not tied to soul, meaning that if you were an uber channeler in one body, you could be weak in the Power in your next body.
Couple of additional 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)
MODERATOR
Here's a longish question from Linda that somehow fell in between the cracks... Part One from Linda: Since the ability to channel seems to be primarily linked to the soul, if a channeler is gentled/stilled, will this affect his/hers soul in a follow life as well, as in, will the ability to channel still be lost? Did THAT come through??
ROBERT JORDAN
No.
MODERATOR
Hmmmmm.. Linda, I TRIED.
ROBERT JORDAN
(that was the answer...the answer is no)