Re: In this case, Moiraine's comment doesn't really matter. - Edit 1
Before modification by Moridin_2000 at 05/11/2009 07:40:42 PM
Moiraine's comment was that she was only 'strong enough' to erase a 'few seconds', which ties the amount of power used to the length of time that it erases from the Pattern.
The implication is that the magnification factor on the CK is in the region of thousands.
Assuming a linear relationship between Power used and seconds erased I think the minimum that Rand can erase using half the strength of the CK would be 10*500= 5000 seconds. That is roughly 1.5 hrs. The maximum limit would be well, well above that, but it is only the minimum tha counts here.
It is an assumption to make that it is linear, but I think a valid and sensible one. There are further problems, but I won't go into that unless you figure them out and force me to answer for them.
Aviendha and Mat are irrelevant. They weren't balefired, Rahvin was.
You say it can't be simply predicted, but it does seem a pretty neat way to explain away the proposed discrepnancy with Morgase, no? Also, Rand (with Lews Therin's memories) knows balefire much more intimately than we do and he seems to think it a valid way of testing whether Graendal has been killed or not. i.e. he thinks that the Pattern was suffiently erased to have removed Ramashalan's compulsion.
The implication is that the magnification factor on the CK is in the region of thousands.
Assuming a linear relationship between Power used and seconds erased I think the minimum that Rand can erase using half the strength of the CK would be 10*500= 5000 seconds. That is roughly 1.5 hrs. The maximum limit would be well, well above that, but it is only the minimum tha counts here.
It is an assumption to make that it is linear, but I think a valid and sensible one. There are further problems, but I won't go into that unless you figure them out and force me to answer for them.
It took Rand a few moments to decide to balefire the entire site. How long did Graendal really have with Ramshalan? Even if it was under thirty minutes or an hour, I don't think we have enough info to project the amount of time or the severity of the Compulsion. Keep in mind, that some people, including Aviendha and Mat, still dimly recall their deaths and some people were surprised they survived.
Aviendha and Mat are irrelevant. They weren't balefired, Rahvin was.
Balefire is more complicated than a simple prediction based on theory - mainly because the Pattern is interconnected along various points of it's warp and weft, and it doesn't necessarily travel in a single line of cause-and-effect (ie: some people aren't affected by Person A's erasure, but if Person A's erasure causes other people, say Person Z to feel some effect, they may feel the temporal backlash or the instability - personally, this is why I think so many weird things are happening).
You say it can't be simply predicted, but it does seem a pretty neat way to explain away the proposed discrepnancy with Morgase, no? Also, Rand (with Lews Therin's memories) knows balefire much more intimately than we do and he seems to think it a valid way of testing whether Graendal has been killed or not. i.e. he thinks that the Pattern was suffiently erased to have removed Ramashalan's compulsion.