how do you resist Balefire?

[ROB_88]

i know that balefire destroys everything but hear me out.

 

at the end of TDR in the first battle of the Stone of Tear we see Ishmael shoot his Balefire on Rand.

Rand then lifts up the glowing Callandor and the Balefire has no effect, I'm not sure but i think it reflects it into a wall.

 

was it the material in Callandor or did Rand do something with the Power?

and also, i don't remember but did than happen in Tel'Aran'Rhiod or the real world?

[Tyrell]

Cuendillar doesn't appear to be effected in any way by Balefire. I'm not sure whether or not a large sheet - larger than the stream of Balefire, for instance a cuendillar plate against a thin strand of Balefire - would block the Balefire, of if the Balefire would simply pass through the cuendillar without any effect to either the stream or the cuendillar.

[lt;(^-^)gt;]

Cuendillar doesn't appear to be effected in any way by Balefire.

But is Callandor made of heartstone?  All descriptions imply that it is not.  Also, do we have anything definite from RJ about cuendillar vs balefire?  Their descriptions obviously contradict, but those descriptions were given by characters in the books who could be wrong.  Either balefire doesn't actually destroy everything, or cuendillar is not actually indestructible.

 

I would guess that the OP being channeled through Callandor deflected the beam, like a magnet deflects a magnetic field.  The balefire never actually touched the material of the sword.

 

Either that or it wasn't balefire.  I'm sure Ishy knows multiple ways to direct a deadly glowing beam at someone.  Of course it seems unlikely that RJ would include a weave THAT similar to balefire.

[Ndshacker]

Use a gateway

[FootstepsofDeath]

It's highly likely that Rand used the sword and that it could probably block balefire regardless of the strength of the user. Think about it. Balefire cuts through everything in its path with no exceptions except heartstone. Either the sword is made if cuendillar or sa'angreal that are that powerful cannot be touched and have an immunity to it just like cuendillar.

 

A better question is that if Rand had the Choedan Kal in his pocket and was balefired, would the Choedan Kal fall to the ground instead of disappearing with him?

[purplemonster]

i think it more likely that calandor protected rand with overpowering the shot of balefire

 

the idea of balefire passing through heartstone never occured to me, i always thought that now that the weave to make it was relearned it could be used to make armor but this now makes me wonder how effective this armor would be

[Cybertrolloc]

Balefire was shot around at the end of tSR in Tanchico. Cuendillar stuff was unaffected, not enough info there to see if they absorb it or let it pass. Cadsuane and maybe someone else claim The Sword that Ain't is made from a type of cuendillar.

 

The Ishy/Rand tDR fight: not certain that Ishy shot balefire at Rand (I'd need to check that) and it was in world of dreams to boot.

[Reiver]

i think it more likely that calandor protected rand with overpowering the shot of balefire

 

the idea of balefire passing through heartstone never occured to me, i always thought that now that the weave to make it was relearned it could be used to make armor but this now makes me wonder how effective this armor would be

If the only thing it couldn't protect against was balefire then i'd say it would be pretty damn effective. It would certainly remove a lot of the conventional advantage that the OP gives the dread lords and the Trollocs and Mydraal would be screwed.

 

 

[Mr Ares]

Cadsuane and maybe someone else claim The Sword that Ain't is made from a type of cuendillar.

Really? I don't remember that.

[Kaznen]

From what I read Rand didn't reflect the BF like Jedi with a lightsaber, but instead sliced the stream in half.  The BF forked past him like a river that was divided and hit the walls behind him.

[mb]

During the Cleansing (Winter's Heart Chapter 35), Osangar wove balefire and Elza killed him using Callandor; I take that the balefire was destroyed.

Maybe Rand killed Ishamael before the balefire could hit.

 

[purplemonster]

Hell i wouldn't mind chain mail made of heartstone

[Mr Ares]

Maybe Rand killed Ishamael before the balefire could hit.

The fight carried on for some time after Ishy used balefire.

[Cybertrolloc]

Cadsuane and maybe someone else claim The Sword that Ain't is made from a type of cuendillar.

Really? I don't remember that.

Couldn't find with a quick WoTmania book text search at least so far as Cads is concerned. Shelved for now, maybe try again after holiday.

 

I'd guess it's something along the lines of one of Moiraine, Lanfear or Cads claiming something weird about Callandor, and it's said to Rand. All I can remember for now, and might not be useful to this thread.

[Tyrell]

When Rand thinks about it in WH after leaving Far Madding he refers to it as Crystal.

[Indiangangster]

it has been stated in one of the books that balefire has no effect on terr'angeal, angeal, and san'angeal

 

that is why rand was able to protect himself with call'andor

(and also why balefire has no effect on heartstone, its a terr'angeal)

[Gentled Ben]

I don't recall the books ever stating that Balefire does not affect angreal, sa'angreal, or ter'angreal; where is it stated? I am certain that heartstone is not a ter'angreal--it is simply made with the power. Being made with the power, and being an item that manipulates the power, while not mutually exclusive, are not the same thing.

[argonath]

How about THIS question.

 

Would Mat's medallion stop Balefire?  Simply dissolve the weave as it approaches him.

[ROB_88]

How about THIS question.

 

Would Mat's medallion stop Balefire?  Simply dissolve the weave as it approaches him.

 

yes, since it's a weave directed right at the target. however it would not stop any effect it would make if it hits anyone right next to him

[ErikTheBald]

IIRC, the stream of BF hits Callandor and splits in two, passing very close to either side of Rand, singing the sleeve of his coat.

 

We saw something similar when Nynaeve was dueling Moggy in Tanchico.  A cuendillar figurine falls through a stream of BF to bounce across the floor.

[Thor]

if that is true, then it could not have been balefire that ishamael shot.  balefire doesn't singe anything.  unless you are going to come here and claim that the balefire's nature changed after being split.

[mb]

if that is true, then it could not have been balefire that ishamael shot.  balefire doesn't singe anything.  unless you are going to come here and claim that the balefire's nature changed after being split.

 

It seems that Ishamael channeled with the True Power.  True Power balefire might be different from One Power balefire.

 

[Gentled Ben]

if that is true, then it could not have been balefire that ishamael shot.  balefire doesn't singe anything.  unless you are going to come here and claim that the balefire's nature changed after being split.

Where is it stated that it does not singe anything?

[Thor]

It doesn't, but it is stated that anything balefire touches, simply cease to exist.

 

Singing is not ceasing to exist.

[Gentled Ben]

In Glowing Embers, in TFoH, the paragraph where Asmodean dies, he is first reflecting upon the morning's events and concludes that he must have died, then returned to life as the result of Balefire. It says:

There was a long gash down the wall in front of him. He knew what made that sharp edge, that surface as slick as ice, smoother than any hand could have polished in a hundred years.

If the wall had ceased to exist, there would be no gash, no surface as smooth as ice. Since the wall can be left with a gash along the edges where the Balefire touched, then clothing could be singed in the same manner. Besides, it's pretty clear that what Rand faces with Callandor in TDR is Balefire. It says that it is a blazing shaft like the one that Moiraine had made, it describes it as "frozen fire" and "liquid light," and right after he feels it singe his coat and smells the wool beginning to burn, it strikes some of the redstone columns of the Heart of the Stone, and where it strikes them, the stone "ceased to exist." The balefire then continues on through those columns into other columns further behind. Either there is another weave that looks and acts exactly like Balefire, except that it will singe wool, or Balefire singes wool as well as causing things to cease to exist. The latter is the simpler explanation.