Min's Fireflies

[nashdude]

Rand (LoC) - Countless thousands of sparkling lights, like stars or fireflies, rushed into a great blackness, trying to fill it up, rushed in and were swallowed. There seemed to be more lights than she had ever seen before, but the darkness swallowed them at a greater rate, too.

 

Rand and Perrin (LoC) - "When you two were together, I saw those fireflies and the darkness stronger than ever...But with the two of you in the same room, the fireflies were holding their own instead of being eaten faster than they can swarm, the way they do when you're alone. And there's something else I saw when you two were together. Twice he's going to have to be there, or you... If he's not, something bad will happen to you. Very bad. It will happen if he is not there, but nothing I saw said it won't because he is. It will be very bad, Rand."

 

Now, I'm sure that this has been done to death in the years since LoC, but I was curious about something.

 

In the first viewing, with Rand by himself, RJ reveals TWO things to us concerning the fireflies. First, of course, is that they are losing ground against the darkness. No matter how many fireflies swarm in, the darkness swallows them up. Secondly, and less conspicuous, is that this viewing is not the first time Min's seen Rand's fireflies. Note her POV... "There seemed to be more lights than she had ever seen before". This would suggest to me that she had seen the fireflies in a previous viewing, but that as Rand grew into his role as the Dragon Reborn, his fireflies grew---still losing against the darkness, but going down more slowly. It could also be his growing command of the OP, but I tend to believe it has more to do with his being ta'veren, as the next observation explains.

 

In the second viewing, with Rand and Perrin together, Min suggests that Perrin's proximity to Rand strengthens those fireflies. As Perrin cannot channel, I can only assume this is the ta'veren effect, and the fireflies are some sort of reflection of that.

 

Final observation. While the first viewing suggests that Min has seen the fireflies before, she never mentioned the fireflies during that first meeting in Baerlon. This suggests that at that point, ta'veren or no, the Two Rivers Trio were not yet producing fireflies, or else she would not have been surprised to see Rand's fireflies react to Perrin's proximity.

 

So here's my question. Since falling into their roles as Saviors of the World, has Min viewed all three ta'veren at the same time? If not, wouldn't it stand to reason that if Rand's fireflies alone fall to the darkness, and Rand and Perrin together hold their own against the darkness, all three ta'veren would strengthen the fireflies to the point that they could beat back the darkness?

[RobertAlexWillis]

Min first saw the "fireflies" around the entire group in Baerlon.

 

To quote:

 

Sparks swirling around you, thousands of them, and a big shadow, darker than midnight. The sparks are trying to fill the shadow, and the shadow is trying to swallow the sparks. You are all tied together in something dangerous.

 

TEoTW ch 15

 

She saw them again in TEoTW ch 16 when Nynaeve arrived:

 

The sparks, Rand. She met Mistress Alys coming in, and there were sparks, with just the two of them. Yesterday I couldn't see sparks without at least three or four of you together, but today it's all sharper, and more furious. You're all in more danger today than yesterday. Since she came.

 

And yes, the sparks are stronger when more of those people are with Rand, almost certainly strongest when the three ta'veren are together.  This does indeed indicate that Rand needs Perrin and Mat to win, and probably that he needs all of the people in that first group to win.  Moiraine, Lan, Thom, Nynaeve, and Egwene have all played, and probably will still play, vital roles in Rand's victory.

[Dhaos]

I've always had a hunch that those fireflies are the lives of Randlanders, which would fit in exactly with what RAW is saying- if Rand makes his stand by himself, humanity will flicker out.

 

I do think that we will see exactly what you describe, when the ta'veren are finally reunited: the fireflies slowly beating back the darkness.