Unwinding of the Pattern

[RAND AL THOR]

This is an interesting idea about the nature of the Pattern.

 

In KOD, corridors switch and rooms in a palace shift to different places. This is attributed to the pattern unravelling due to the DO's touch.

 

Now, how does nature (or in this case the Pattern) see this? To the Wheel, when we build a castle, we move a bunch of raw materials from one place and assemble it in an orderly manner in another place as we desire. Why should the Pattern recognize a castle as anything other than a bundle of raw materials shifted from their original place?

 

This led me to think that corridors and roads shifting doesn't seem to make much sense. Maybe, if a corridor suddenly abruptly ended with a chasm beneath it- or half a room suddenly disappeared- would that make more sense? I don't understand how the Pattern (which I presume is neutral and has no will of its own) manages to distinguish such buildings built by man.

 

If the Pattern was actually unraveling I would have expected to see, for example, gaping ditches in the middle of a field, or abnormalities in landscape such as half a mountain suddenly sticking up somewhere. I also think that earthquakes would have done very nicely here. I would have loved it if there were earthquakes because the unraveling of the Pattern linked to quakes in the earth sounds really nice.

 

What do people think?

[kleribituc]

I think that the corridors moving and such was more unsettling to the characters as it caused them to doubt their own sanity by subtly changing their perception of a solid fact in their life. I think that more overt ways of "unwinding" would have been less effective as a plot device.

[CUBAREY]

You must also remember that the events were caused by the DO's influence.  Its not that the pattern is simply unraveling (as it seemed to be threatening to do in the Age of Legends because of balefire) it is structure is being affected by the DO whose purpose is not to unravel reality but to change it to his liking.

[Lord Nik]

You must also remember that the events were caused by the DO's influence.  Its not that the pattern is simply unraveling (as it seemed to be threatening to do in the Age of Legends because of balefire) it is structure is being affected by the DO whose purpose is not to unravel reality but to change it to his liking.

 

i wouldnt be a darkfriend for that very reason! the dark one is making the word to his liking.. and he likes playing puzzles with the corridors! if the DO won the last battle how crappy would that be!

-

"hey im evil and we won the last battle, go being evil!. Hey wait i need to use the bathroom, wait, where is it! NOOOOOO!!!!"

exactley... being evil sucks

[CUBAREY]

Have you never heard of adult niapers!

[Paviel]

I'm pretty sure that this is why the majority of Darkfriends are fools and the rest are insane. Sure, they couldn't have known that the Dark One winning would screw physics up so much, but it's always foolish at best and insane at worst to sign a contract without reading the fine print, and the fine print of a bargain with the Dark One is impossible to read...

 

/end excessive metaphor

[Luckers]

My guess is that its a blurring between parallel worlds resulting from the fuzziness of the pattern as a result of the Dark Ones onslaught. As the worlds grow weaker and the barriers between them grow dim, they imprint on each other--flow into each other. Similarily this accounts for towns manifesting, or the dead walking--interactions with worlds were time moves slower.

[Feral]

I don't think it's nature that's unraveling, it's reality. Which is kinda different...

[benr]

If Luckers is right, then logically this sort of occurence will escalate in AMoL, making the Light's job much more difficult.  Any ideas on what forms that might take?

[Serenla]

I think that it's kind of like how Rand explained Traveling to Egwene.  If the pattern is woven and you can move the threads and go in between , then as the Dark One's prison weakens he can move the threads and cause damage.  Compare this to a woven fabric with a picture.  As you pull threads that have been woven and cut, things that were will be seen again.  These threads are probably pulled back to their original postion when the pulling stops.  (Villages appearing and disappearing) Threads that are still being woven have enough slack to stay where they get pulled to (palace corridors).  The threads are the lives being woven and the Pattern is the picure that's made from the weaving or reality. 

IMO the Dark One wants to completely unravel the Pattern and make a new Wheel to imprison the Creator.  This would mean that as he gets closer to being free, people and places would disappear all together.  The distance and direction to and from cities would change.  We have already seen that weaves are no longer as effective and I believe that they will stop being what the weaver intended.  All the Laws of nature or physics will stop working. 

[Lord Nik]

if channeling does become impossible to use.. that means...

MAT HAS THE BEST POWER UNQUESTIONED MUHAHAHA. ahem refering to the better power thread

[Tel Janin Aellinsar]

My guess is that its a blurring between parallel worlds resulting from the fuzziness of the pattern as a result of the Dark Ones onslaught. As the worlds grow weaker and the barriers between them grow dim, they imprint on each other--flow into each other. Similarily this accounts for towns manifesting, or the dead walking--interactions with worlds were time moves slower.

 

So let me make sure I have this one clear.  The Dark One's "assault," for lack of a more precise term, on the Pattern is not in and of itself attacking the Pattern, but rather the "lines of what if that stretch from world to world?" (To quote the lines describing the concept behind the porta stones from TGH)

 

The only reason I ask is because the Dark One himself has said he cannot step outside of time, so it would seem to be beyond his power alone to create the vast number of temporal paradoxes that would be neccessary to cause such destruction accross the pattern.  In fact, the only thing we know that can affect the weave of the pattern in the past is balefire. 

 

Balefire, whcih the shadow stopped using in the War of Power fearing that it would unravel the pattern.  And then at the beginning of LoC, the Dark Ones asks Demandred if he would unleash the balefire in his service.  Balefire creates temporal paradoxes.  Everyone saw Mat, Avienda, and Asmodean dead in the battle of Caemlyn, but then they survived (a temporal paradox).  Now multiply the instability of an event like that a hundred-fold and then imagine what would happen if balefire were used prolifically over a long period of time and over a wide area.  This is different from using massive balefire bursts to incenerate an entire city in one devastating attack, which might well cause reality to dissolve completely if it happened enough.

 

But balefire used as I first described in small powerful busts creating many seperate localized paradoxes over a period of several months could "loosen" the fabric of the pattern rather than destroy it.  This would in essence create enough gaps in the pattern to allow the Dark One to slip out of his prison, but not completely destroy the world.  And as Serenla noted, a weakened pattern could be remolded by the Dark One, presumebly if he were free.

 

So there it is, my theory of what the Dark One has had Demandred (and later Moridin) doing and what he is trying to do, and how this has created the effects we observe in KOD.

[Lord Nik]

Well in Tel Janin Aellinsar.. hit some good points there i think im going to have to agree with you :D

[42Bonzo88]

    Just a thought, going along with Luckers, not just parallel worlds but different periods of time. How often in the books have we seen statues, cities, monuments, etc. that no one knows about. How do we know that there wasn't a city built where Tar Valon is now that was gone to rubble long before Dragonmount. Could the White Tower be changing to that period of time? Where a palace might have been instead of the Tower?

 

[Lord Nik]

hmm thats a possibility. Because we dont know how far these "reoccuring" villages (dead things ect)go back. For all we know people from all the ages could be appearing. So maybe you could see a dead grandparent.. to someone maybe even from the age of legends or earlier!

[Luckers]

So let me make sure I have this one clear.  The Dark One's "assault," for lack of a more precise term, on the Pattern is not in and of itself attacking the Pattern, but rather the "lines of what if that stretch from world to world?" (To quote the lines describing the concept behind the porta stones from TGH)

 

Actually i would say that it is an attack on the pattern, just that the resulting thinness of the pattern allows for parralel worlds to bleach into the one we read about. The lines of 'if', laid by those that knew the numbers of chaos, speak of the connections established by the portal stones, and since we havn't seen them used since book four we have no idea if they are effected.

 

The only reason I ask is because the Dark One himself has said he cannot step outside of time, so it would seem to be beyond his power alone to create the vast number of temporal paradoxes that would be neccessary to cause such destruction accross the pattern.  In fact, the only thing we know that can affect the weave of the pattern in the past is balefire. 

 

His influence worlds that have different temporal progressions is not stepping outside of time--that speaks to moving back through time to control a soul destroyed by balefire. His attack on the pattern makes it fuzzy--much like say an old tapestry is fuzzy, loose thread blurring the colours. Much the same is happening here.

 

And he is paradox in himself. He exists, and influences all those worlds. He cannot step backwards in time to rescue a soul destroyed by balefire (ie destroyed before he knew to save it) but he still touches all those worlds.

 

But balefire used as I first described in small powerful busts creating many seperate localized paradoxes over a period of several months could "loosen" the fabric of the pattern rather than destroy it.  This would in essence create enough gaps in the pattern to allow the Dark One to slip out of his prison, but not completely destroy the world.  And as Serenla noted, a weakened pattern could be remolded by the Dark One, presumebly if he were free.

 

Except the effect of balefire cannot be predicted or molded by the Dark One. Yes it might loosen reality, but that dissolution is unpredictable. It might even end up acting against him--indeed, since he has not way of molding what results, the results would snap suddenly into the unknown, and thus could prove dangerous to him.

 

 

[RAND AL THOR]

People have suggested that the changing of corridors etc is the DO's direct work. If so, I find that the DO is pretty stupid. If he is directly doing this, then surely he can mess about the threads of much more important things????

 

That only suggests that this is occuring as some sort of side effect. The DO is not intentionally trying to make such things occur-I think.

[Lord Nik]

I have to agree with the side affect. Because im sure the DO has much more evil plans then making people wander the halls till they wet there pants

[Serenla]

I agree that's it's a side effect but I think that as far as the DO is concerned it's a happy one.  He is trying to increase chaos and every little bit helps.  I think the chaos is helping weaken the pattern.

[42Bonzo88]

    The deal with the DO being smart, or stupid in just causing hallways to blur, etc. is actually a very scary thing. I have seen alot of horror films and spooky movies. I have also read many books and short stories of the same nature and some of the scariest, have started out with something just being odd. For instance, a door being tilted in a strait hallway. Your logical mind either can't accept it or won't or will try to fix it. Already, even though it is a small thing, it has started to get its hooks in you. Then when other things more scary occur, you are already set up to make it worse.

[RAND AL THOR]

Quite true. But most people in Randland are not as unnerved as they ought to be.

[Lord Nik]

that could be quite trippy. Going to bed then you walk in on your "parents" room at a inconvientient time... im scared already

[MatrixM]

I thought the Dark One was just trying to affect reality to create chaos. What would merging worlds/time do for him? I think it would just count against him, as the light would get more poeple.

[42Bonzo88]

    Not necessarily, it also depends on how the person reacts to seeing. The novices and accepted are in good hands because Egwene is helping them.

 

    What happens if someone sees something and tells a group that hasn't seen anything? They might dismiss the person for drinking too much or going mad.

    The person may tell a darkfriend (unkowingly) and he/she gives advice that it's Rand going mad and you should try to kill him.

 

    Either way, it still creates the chaos and uncertainness (sorry, couldn't find a word, so made one up) which benefits the dark ones plan.

[MatrixM]

Then bringing ghosts does just that. No need to meld time periods where awesome generals might have lived. And i think you meant uncertainty/confusion.