Questions about The Dark One

[Nors]

Hey all!

So I don't know how many answers I'll get that are spoiler free on this subject. I'm in the middle of Book 4, rn, and don't want spoilers going forward. That being said, I have SO many questions about who or what the DO is. He's referred to in the masculine, and also the singular. Does this mean he was a human man at some point? He feels like a nebulous evil. He's not someone or something that can be understood or explored at this point in the series (book 4), and so I'm just confused about his motives. To destroy the world? Sure, but like what then? 

 

I'm curious if the DO ever gets a character study and becomes more than nebulous evil? Does he have a past, a future, an end game for what this all means? The Wheel doesn't have wants or desires, it just is. But the DO is an influencer in the world that is, in many ways, against The Wheel--but the DO also has desires, or so it seems. How can a person be so contradictory to The Wheel in their influence, almost outside the influence of The Wheel and still be a single entity?

 

Am I totally off base here?  If this stuff gets explored in later books, that's all I need to know, and if you can give me your thoughts on this matter without spoiling things that would be awesome too!

[UOweTamASword]

I never know how to answer these types of questions. You don’t want spoilers but are asking questions that haven’t been answered in what you’ve read so far.

 

What answer could you possibly receive that wouldn’t be a spoiler? What if I tell you this stuff isn’t explained in the books going forward, is that a spoiler?

[Sabio]

Alot of what you ask is explained in what's called the Big White Book (BWB), some of what you ask like the DO's motives, desires, etc. is described in the series.

 

The basic information is the DO is neither male or female but is usually referred to as he.  The DO also has no true physical form and was imprisoned by the creator at the time of creation.  

[Nors]

1 hour ago, UOweTamASword said:

I never know how to answer these types of questions. You don’t want spoilers but are asking questions that haven’t been answered in what you’ve read so far.

 

What answer could you possibly receive that wouldn’t be a spoiler? What if I tell you this stuff isn’t explained in the books going forward, is that a spoiler?

That's a great point! 

I guess I am curious if these questions are addressed. If not, theories would be very interesting to me!

Cheers.

[Nors]

1 hour ago, Sabio said:

Alot of what you ask is explained in what's called the Big White Book (BWB), some of what you ask like the DO's motives, desires, etc. is described in the series.

 

The basic information is the DO is neither male or female but is usually referred to as he.  The DO also has no true physical form and was imprisoned by the creator at the time of creation.  

Thanks for this! So is The Wheel and the Dark One like ying-yang (simply put). 

[UOweTamASword]

2 hours ago, Nors said:

Thanks for this! So is The Wheel and the Dark One like ying-yang (simply put). 

No. The Dark One is described in the BWB as potentially the “antithesis” to the Creator, not the Wheel.

 

Since both are non-human entities that exist outside the Wheel, the BWB says that despite our attempts to ascribe human intentions they defy our complete understanding.

 

I will note it only says the Dark One is not male or female “by known standards”. Interpret that as you wish.

[qlorin]

On 12/12/2021 at 9:57 PM, Nors said:

He's referred to in the masculine, and also the singular.

DO is not he or she... It is a genderless being... Many charcters refers it as "he" because most of his forces Trollocs Mydrall etc are in male form...

 

On 12/12/2021 at 9:57 PM, Nors said:

He's not someone or something that can be understood or explored at this point in the series (book 4), and so I'm just confused about his motives. To destroy the world? Sure, but like what then? 

This is not a spoiler... Did you even seen or hear DO yet?... So far What you see was Ishameal pretending as DO... This was revealed at the end of book 3... What you know about DO are always comes from somebody else... If you remember Book 1 people said "Dragon was big bad evil man who helped the DO and try to free him"... In reality this was not the case... But you can certainly try to explore understand and theorize  what DO's plans are...  You will learn much more about this later...

 

On 12/12/2021 at 9:57 PM, Nors said:

I'm curious if the DO ever gets a character study and becomes more than nebulous evil?

40 years old book series ? There are more character studies than books even for Bela (Rand's horse from book 1)...

Edited December 17, 2021 by qlorin

[Nors]

13 hours ago, qlorin said:

Did you even seen or hear DO yet?... So far What you see was Ishameal pretending as DO... This was revealed at the end of book 3... 

Good refresher for me. I finished book 3 about a decade ago, so some of the details are a bit foggy.