The Ways

[Great Lord of the Dark]

In my opinion the Ways are one of the most confusing things in the Wheel of Time. One of my theorys is that the Wheel grinds down on everything over time. (which could be the situation with the seals along with all the other crap) So since the Ways were made with tainted Saidin maybe, just like the men go crazy over time, the wheel grinds away and only the taint remains. So that could also be the sittuation with the seals but whatever.

 

This is a crappy theory so tell me all of yours! ;D ;D

[Davian93]

I believe RJ mentioned that the Ways were tainted exactly because of the fact that Tainted saidin was used in their construction.

[TurboZ]

We see that things grown or constructed with the Power last through the ages, so the taint on the Ways would have to be from saidin.

[RobertAlexWillis]

The taint on the Ways derives directly from the taint that was on saidin, and the Black Wind was compared to RJ to a bacteria culture that fed off of that taint.

[elmis]

Fire hurt it, if not killed it, in TGH. It'll probably take a lot of power, but I think that they'll manage to finish it off, if they want.

 

[Luckers]

We've noted a continued sequence of changes in Machin Shin since its encounter with Fain--not killing someone, obeying commands, waiting for someone at a waygate, attempting to escape a gate--and furthermore possibly succeeding between the bulging and the lack of Machin Shin in KoD.

 

Ultimately i think it still has its part to play.

[elmis]

You're probably right, I just hope it's not how Fain finally meets his demise.

[Kura]

That'd just be funny.

 

Mordeth, a man who caused the souls of an entire city to combine into something that eats souls, who becomes fused to another beings soul, who later learns to control another force (if only partially) that swallows souls, to have his fused soul eaten.

 

 

[trakand_01]

Now that the taint has been removed from saidin, does that just affect all FUTURE channelling, or do things already created from saidin (eg, say, the Ways) also become cleansed? If so, surely Machin Shin would just ... die off. If it is similar to a bacteria as RAW said, once the food has gone, it must die?

[Luckers]

No the effects of the taint remain, and furthermore the initial comment in regaurds to Machin Shin being like bacteria was first spoken by RJ as an answer specifically denying the idea that machin shin would disapear now the Taint is gone.

[RobertAlexWillis]

No the effects of the taint remain, and furthermore the initial comment in regaurds to Machin Shin being like bacteria was first spoken by RJ as an answer specifically denying the idea that machin shin would disapear now the Taint is gone.

 

Well ... I think he was saying it wouldn't dissapear instantly, but unless it found a new source of "nourishment", then eventually it could dissapear.

 

My personal opinion is that the Ways will continue to degrade until they collapse completely, so that the dimension where they were "grown" is empty again by the time the Wheel turns around.  Machin Shin will die from "starvation".

[trakand_01]

That would be my thought too. Thanks for clearing it up  :)

[professorskar]

I really doubt Machin Shin would be what kills Fain, since they've previously been introduced.

 

From The Eye of the World, Chapter 47, More Tales of the Wheel (page 717):

 

"    'Then Fain was the one you sensed following us,' Egwene said.  Lan nodded.  'How did he escape the ... the Black Wind?' Her voice shook; she stopped to swallow.  "It was right behind us at the Waygate.'

    'He escaped, and he did not,' Moiraine said.  'The Black Wind caught him--and he claimed to understand the voices.  Some greeted him as like to them; others feared him.  No sooner did the Wind envelop Fain than it fled.'"

[professorskar]

I just recently reread Eye of the World, so it was fresh in my mind.

[Kura]

Warning; The following theory has been given the status 'crack-pot'. Read at your own risk.

 

Well, with that out of the way, could Fain be used to purify the ways? Sort of a reversed cleansing? The whole opposite taint thing got me thinking about it...

 

And yeah, I'd love to elaborate, but RL is dragging me down. This post may be elaborated on later.

[professorskar]

I suppose it could be possible...since we know the taint and the evil of Shadar Logoth cancel each other out, and that the Ways are surely tainted because they were made with tainted saidin, and obviously that Fain contains the evil of Shadar Logoth through Mordeth and the dagger.

 

Here's a question I'm sure has already been answered...will the Ways slowly start to heal just because saidin was cleansed?

[krelianzg]

I should think it would be possible. At the very least, Fain could probably get Machin Shin under control, seeing how it started flipping out once he entered the Ways for the first time. I don't remember Moiraines quote exactly, but something about it recognizing something like it and at the same time opposite it.

 

Of course, there's absolutely no reason Fain would consider doing something like that, but I don't see why it's not theoretically possible at least.

[BrainFireBob]

My personal "what if" about the Ways regarded the Elders ceasing to grow them (which they had done by the War of the Hundred Years).

 

Since they're a parasite feeding of the construction of the Ways, one wonders if they were "cultured" by the growth of the Ways becoming stagnant- like pondscum.

[avacraft]

Okay, here is my theory:

  Each time a waygate is grown, the ways feed off of Saidin to grow to that waygate.  Since Saidin was tainted before they were created, the taint seeped into the ways.  Now here is where my theory is mostly guess:

  If more waygates are added now that the taint is gone, then the new saidin fed into the ways could help them stop deteriorating from stagnation and maybe cleanse some of the taint already in the ways.