Rand's hand

[BrainFireBob]

One of the most important points of the series is that it is indeed the same soul. Different personalities- different *people*- same *soul*

[Luckers]

Silver and Bob are quite correct. They are one soul; when that soul is born into the world it develops a facet personality based around memories of that individual life. What you are seeing is two facet personalities (Rand and LTT) manifesting at the same time, yet ultimately they are the same soul (as in singular).

 

When an individual dies that facet personality is drawn back into the overall nature of the soul itself, as is shown by the Heroes in TAR. What is occuring with Rand is that due to the destabalizing influence of the Taint, the barrier between the current personality and the previous one got rubbed thin, and thus LTT is manifesting himself.

 

[Darth_Andrea]

Actually what is happening to Rand is simulare yet different from things I have heard about in real life. I have read creadiable accounts of children having memories of their past lives. Knowing names people addresses being able to describe events in those past lives as if they had experianced them. Walking up to a total stranger and knowing the person's name and using the name they had in a past life to speak to the person and knowing things that only the dead person would know. While this isn't exactly like what is happeneing to Rand the personalitys of these past lives aren't trying to take control the memories of them are there and vivid. Most children who show this retention of past life memory lose them as they age some don't and have diffucility dealing with the memories and feelings for old friends family wifes and children they remember but aren't a part of anymore.

 

Rands situation is different as LTT is a concious and self aware or seems so. It's possiable that this is a manifistation linked to both the OP and the taint. Mat had some rememberances before the healing that left all those holes in his memory but they didn't try and take control they weren't concious. I honestly think that LTT isn't actually concious.

 

I think that the soul of the Dragon is 1 soul and that it has in it all the memories of each past life. And I think that the LTT we have heard in Rands mind is a kind of psycosis one created by Rands mind. Knowing who and what he is, knowing he would go mad from the taint and having Lanfear and others call him LTT on a regular basis I think Rands mind dug up all the memories of LTT and built a second personality around them. It's much like Multiple Personality Disorder but with a twist. I think that Rands mind is pouring all the ill effects of the taint into the LTT personality preserving the Rand personality as much as it can. LTT's ability to take over or attempt to take over Rands body is also something that manifests in those who suffer MPD and it takes years if ever to intergrate those different personality's back into the main whole. And as LTT is a seperate seemingly concious personality with the memories of channeling it has the ability to pull at the flows of the OP that Rand takes in. Over all yes I can say Rand mentaly unstable but not enought to prevent him from being functional and rational yet.

 

Darth_Andrea

[Lord_Naryb]

I have a question related to Rand's Hand. The Fisher King piece that Moridin has, is it missing a hand? Just curious because it is wounded in the side and is blindfolded (that much I remember), but I don't remember if it is missing a hand.