can the Dark One "create"?

[Caelan Arendor]

Can the Shadow Create?

In the stories we tell—and the histories we half remember—the Shadow is often described as a force of destruction, not creation. Yet the world is filled with things born of the Shadow’s touch: Trollocs, Myrddraal, Draghkar, Grey Men… beings that did not exist before the Age of Legends shattered itself.

So it raises a troubling question:
Is the Shadow truly incapable of creation, or does it simply create through corruption?

Trollocs were made by blending humans with animals, a twisting of what already was. Myrddraal are born from the “failures” of that process. Even the Blight spreads by warping what it touches—never building from nothing, always reshaping what the Light once formed.

Perhaps that is the key distinction:
Creation brings something new into the Pattern. Corruption reshapes what the Pattern already provides.

If so, the Shadow can mimic creation, echo it, mock it—but not originate it. Everything it makes is ultimately reliant on something the Wheel spun first.

Still… the result is no less real, and no less dangerous.

[Elgee]

It's the end results that matter, right? Maybe the Dark One creates emotions, whereas the Creator creates matter. 

[Caelan Arendor]

Hi Elgee! I tend to compare the Dark One with the devil in christian mythology.

The devil is generally understood not as a creator in the same sense as the "creator of the universe" (not claiming actually, that there exists one in the first place. But this is another topic to be discussed elsewhere). Rather, he is a being who distorts, corrupts, or deceives what already exists. So while God creates something truly new, the devil’s “work” is more about manipulation, imitation, or perversion of creation rather than original creation itself. But again, many thanks for your reply (its the second one I received sind being a "rookie" in this forum!

All the very best and 73 from Caelan

[Elgee]

Hi Caelan 🙂

 

I agree with your concept - my thought was more that the Dark One can't actually create anything physical, like the Creator can. Instead, he has to manipulate others into doing what he wants - hence my supposition that he creates emotions.