Preface

So, this is a pet theory I’ve had ever since aMoL, and, since time is rapidly running out for this website, I wanted to go ahead and get it out there for digestion. It’s not well researched, I’m not incredibly verbose, and I don’t spend much time fact-checking myself. So, if I screw up some facts, or get some misremembered dialogue from EotW or tGH wrong, or whatever else, sorry in advance. I’m doing my best! But urgency + juggling coursework + laziness does not a great combo make, so I hope you’ll all be forgiving. So, without further ado, I present my theory on Shaisam.

Part 1 – What was the point of Fain?

If we look back at the books, we find that RJ put in many hints about Fain. He was meant to be a third faction, threatening the Shadow and the Light equally.

Fain first turns against the Shadow, in his own words, during the events of EotW. He grew to hate the myrdraal who were using him as a hunting hound to pursue Rand & co. During the chase, he ended up convincing a myrdraal to take a detachment of trollocs and search Shadar Logoth, and then ended up (somehow) meeting with Mordeth. Eventually, as we know, Fain stole the Horn of Valere and the SL dagger.

However, despite not being able to touch the dagger at the time, he was able to communicate with the Black Wind, something that neither any creature of the Shadow nor Light-sider was ever capable of accomplishing. This is, to me, one of the most telling moments in the series, both for what Fain became, and for what the Black Wind is.

So, we know what Fain is; an amalgamation of Shadow and a power created specifically to fight the Shadow. And we have a hint of what the Black Wind may be. So that leads us to ask the next question.

Part 2 – What was Mashadar?

We know that, during the Trolloc Wars, a mysterious man named Mordeth came to the gates of Aridhol. We know that within a short period of time, this man became the primary advisor, and, indeed, the real power behind the throne of Aridhol. We know that shortly after Mordeth took control, suspicion and cruelty overtook Aridhol. ‘The victory of the Light is all’ is what I misremember as their battle-cry. Mordeth sought to use the tactics of the Shadow, against the Shadow.

We know that, one day, when some people came to the gates of Aridhol, they found the entire city empty, the gates torn down from within, but with no hints as to where the inhabitants went.

We also know that, of all the souls that lived in Aridhol, only one remained coherent; Mordeth.

All of these hints lead me to one conclusion; Mordeth sought to use the tactics of the Shadow, and the core of those tactics are using the Dark One’s power. Mordeth attempted to create a god, equal in power, if only a different kind. The Dark One thrives on self-interest and destruction. Mordeth attempted to create a god through suspicion and decay.

How did he do this? I dunno, some sort of dark ritual. I suspect Mordeth had been touched by the Shadow at some point, perhaps similarly to Fain, and had grown to hate the DO. We know he met with the Eelfinn, and we know he used the knowledge he gained from them to figure out a system of dark magic completely separate from the One Power/True Power.

It’s apparent he used this knowledge, and the extreme hatred and suspicion of the people he had corrupted, to commit this act. I believe he also attempted to use his soul as the driving force of Mashadar, which is why he alone was able to manifest within Shadar Logoth. The other souls were amalgamated into what became Mashadar, but as Moiraine said, it is mindless, so whatever binding he attempted obviously failed.

But if all this is true, then the next question is, why? What did Mordeth mean to accomplish, and why did the Pattern allow these things to happen?

Part 3 – The Balance of the Pattern

Obviously, we know one reason that Shadar Logoth and Mashadar had to exist; for Rand to cleanse saidin. This was clearly an incredibly important reason, but was it really the only reason?

I know how (most) of us feel about the BSand books, but the way he (poorly) wrote in Fain/Shaisam lead me to believe that RJ had written out a short summary of Fain’s role, and BSand just failed miserably at incorporating it.

Shaisam showed up to late to the Last Party with the intention of devouring Rand’s soul, and then perhaps destroying the Dark One. But does this really make sense? I know time got really weird here (another thing I think BSand screwed up horribly, but that’s for another day), but if my mental timeline works out, then Shaisam showed up after Rand had beaten his despair and was on his way back into the Pattern to trick Moridin and reseal the Dark One. If this is accurate (Mat was on the battlefield, so this was at least after Lan killed Demandred by a significant interval), then Shaisam would have been far too late to attack the DO, and indeed, probably too late to devour Rand’s soul, since at this point he’d basically already become… whatever he is at the very end.

So, if I’m correct that BSand screwed up this part of the timeline, I posit this alternate theory. Shaisam wasn’t intended to devour the Dark One, Shaisam was the Pattern’s backup plan to restore Balance, had Rand decided to kill the Dark One instead of re-Sealing him, or, even further back, had Rand been corrupted by the Dark One.

Had Rand fallen, instead of being un-blinded on Dragonmount, then Shaisam would have had double the reason to go to the Bore, enter, and kill the Dark One. This, I consider the less likely scenario. We know that Shadar Logoth touched beings tend to kill Shadowspawn, but I find it unlikely that Shaisam would have been able to hold against a fully empowered Dark One, though Shaisam would absolutely have been able to devour Rand’s soul in this scenario, and perhaps that would have empowered him to fight evenly against the Dark One.

The more likely scenario is that Shaisam was meant to restore Balance, had Rand broken it. We know that Rand could have killed Shai’tan, but decided not to, because the Pattern must have Balance. Had he killed Shai’tan, Shaisam would have been able to sweep in, devour Rand, and sweep outside of the Pattern to grow.

Why do I think this would have occurred? Well, the Black Wind. It is incredibly similar to Shaisam, and is, I believe, very close to what Mordeth originally intended for Mashadar. A parasite feasting on the souls of those who fell into it, able to move wherever it wished, though obviously limited to being within the Ways. How exactly the Black Wind formed I do not know, perhaps Shadowspawn or some poor fool stumbled through the Waygate in Shadar Logoth during the Hundred Years’ War at night and some of Mashadar entered after the fool? Like I said, I don’t know, but it’s incredibly obvious that the Ways’ corruption is due to Mashadar’s influence.

And since the Ways are a form of a mini-universe, created using the study of Portal Stones, I suspect that Shaisam would have much the same influence on the Pattern. The Dark One would have destroyed It, but Shaisam would be forced to feed upon it. Not a great outcome for those beings within the Pattern, but arguably a better outcome than being annihilated.

Conclusion

So yeah, this is pretty much it. Like I said, it’s something I’ve been tossing around in my head for years, but I’ve never put it down before this, and I’ve typed this up in the last 90 minutes and am about to cold-post it, so if things don’t seem to make sense or aren’t really clear, please let me know what issues you’re having and I’ll look at it and swish it around my mind over the next few days and get back to you. Regardless, this’ll be the largest post on this WoT board for the past several months, so I sincerely hope that, like it or not, it stirs up a leeeettle bit of interest and gets some arguments going.

I’ve lurked way more than posted, both on this MB and back on WoTmania, but I’ve loved this community for many years for being funny, furious, and annoying, and I wanted to contribute something before it vanished.

So yeah! Thanks for the ride, all. It certainly hasn’t been exciting these past few years, but it has been barrels of fun the whole time.

Bonus!
Woooo! A couple mini-theories!
1. Grey men aren’t Darkfriends who sacrificed their souls, they are former Borderlanders who’ve had their souls devoured by Draghkar and then carried back into the Blight.
2. I think RJ intended the timeline of the LB to be different. I suspect he intended for most of the battle on the Fields of Merrilor to be during the Eclipse, in stead of just a bare few minutes. I also suspect the Eclipse would have ended as Lan killed Demandred, and Mat set his gamble in motion.
I also suspect that the Eclipse would have caused or started at the breaking of the Light-side formation at the mouth of Thakan’dar, and would have ended during Thom’s PoV on the slopes of Shayol Ghul.