Calandor Question (spoilers)

[Faroresdragn]

So I'm reading the last few pages of TGS, and I can't get over how rand keeps saying that Calandor can't be used properly without him being at the will of a woman or something like that. Saying that the sword is "just another box". But where the hell did that come from? I remember Cadsuane telling him that the sword was flawed, because it didn't put any barrier between the user and the taint on siadin, whereas the choedan Karl would shield rand from touching the taint when he used it. I don't EVER remember anyone saying ANYTHING in relation to Calandor and a woman. Not to mention rand uses Calandor several times with no women involved, and the only flaw seemed to be involving the taint, which is gone now.

 

So how does the sword have a flaw now that siadin is cleansed, and who told rand about this random, woman-based flaw? And is it possible to answer those questions without spoiling anything in TOM or AMOL?

[Maedelin]

Callandor is flawed because much like Vora's Sa'angreal (The one that Egwene uses in The Last Battle, and the White Tower Raid) it does not have the buffer that keeps the user safe from taking too much of the power within them, or keeps them from being forced into linking/circles.

 

Cadsuane said in the ninth book, or perhaps the eighth that Cadsuane tells Rand of the flaws of Callandor, including that it induced 'wildness' and increased the taint in saidin while the taint existed on it.

[dexterryu]

I almost started typing the answer until I remembered about your spoiler request. All I can say is that your question will be answered by the books. The characters haven't figured it out just yet either. Calandor is unique and the flaw isn't necessarily a flaw.

[Faroresdragn]

I almost started typing the answer until I remembered about your spoiler request. All I can say is that your question will be answered by the books. The characters haven't figured it out just yet either. Calandor is unique and the flaw isn't necessarily a flaw.

Well I figured it was unique, and I feel like I can postulate what it means, but that's not my question.

 

At this point in TGS Rand says multiple times while conversing with himself/Lewis therin that he knows Calandor requires him to be in a circle with two women and be subject to their will. My question is, how did rand get this information, because I swear it's the first I've ever heard about it.

 

I distinctly remember cadsuane telling rand that the reason Calandor failed him against the seanchan was that it was flawed with regard to the taint, and that it exposed him to the taint in the same increased factor that it exposed him to siadin, which is why he couldn't control it. did cadsuane really mention that thing about being in a circle with two women? Or did he hear about that from someone else like one of the forsaken?

[JamesBrown]

Cadsuane told Rand about Callandor's characteristics in The Path of Daggers, Chapter 27.

[jack of shadows]

the information in cadsuane's possession regarding callandor was incomplete,

so what she told rand was partly incorrect,cadsuane simply drew the wrong conclusions,

the only one who completely figured callandor out was min.

[wotfan4472]

The taint flaw was revealed in book 8 after he almost destroyed everything. The woman element was revealed in 9.

[dexterryu]

The taint flaw was revealed in book 8 after he almost destroyed everything. The woman element was revealed in 9.

 

Also in 8 was a lot of the residue from the gateway explosion. It's been a while since I read that book but if I recall both Saidar and Saidin in that area of the world was a little unpredictable. It was more than just Rand having the problems and also the two having an effect on the Power made Calandor's flaw less obvious.

[jack of shadows]

@faroresdragn,

Forget about callandor,did you finish veins of gold?

[Faroresdragn]

The taint flaw was revealed in book 8 after he almost destroyed everything. The woman element was revealed in 9.

 

 

AHHHH. That explains it completely. My issue was i KNEW she didnt mention the women element in 8 when she talked about the taint. I must have just missed the second separate time she talked about calendor. thanks. 

 

@faroresdragn,

Forget about callandor,did you finish veins of gold?

You mean the last chapter of TGS? yeah, what about it?

[jack of shadows]

In my opinion,veins of gold is rand's most significant triumph,the rand who went to dragonmount,and the rand who returned from that mountain are remarkably different.

 

Back to callandor,when rand said that callandor is just another box,he was right

Callandor was a trap,but rand wasn't referring to the taint,nor was he referring to callandor's lack of safety buffer,rand was referring to something completely different.

During rand's disastrous conversation with tam at the stone,min was reading a book called commentary on the dragon by sajius and one line drew her attention"he shall hold a blade of light in his hands,and the three shall be one".

Do you want to figure callandor out before Min?this is the place to start.