Is Rand turning blind?

[Builder]

Well the name says it all. I heard that Rand might go blind, so is this true??

[Casco]

I think it was Egwene who dreamed about it. A true dream. Rand sits down with a scarf before his eyes, blind or something. I did check out Mins wievings, but i could only find the beggars staff there, so i think it was Egwene who dreamed about it. Not 100% sure though.

We dont know what that means though, he might get blind, he might miss to see something. Who knows.

[RobertAlexWillis]

There is also the Fisher icon, which is blindfolded, and the recent damage to his eyes done by Semirhage's fireball.  So, it is not by any means certain; he is not blind yet.  But things do seem to be moving in that direction.

[Casco]

Yes, NY fels with the power that something is wrong with Rands eyes after Semirhage´s fireball. Dont remember why she didnt healed it...maby it was that she didn´t know what to heal?

[Builder]

Wow this so reminds me when I watched the Matrix and when Bane (I think he was called Bane) burned half of Neo's face with the cut-off piece of a tube.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Dont remember why she didnt healed it...maby it was that she didn´t know what to heal?

 

Yes, she didn't know enough about what was wrong, and didn't want to mess with it until she did.

[Goramier]

Wow this so reminds me when I watched the Matrix and when Bane (I think he was called Bane) burned half of Neo's face with the cut-off piece of a tube.

 

Oddly enough that is how I seen the last battle playing out. I think Rand will in a way sheeth the sword against the DO like Neo set himself up against Agent Smith. I think Rands death will be a way to defeat the DO for some one else type of thing. Anyways, after I saw the Matrix ending I thought about Rand because it seems that RJ has Rand almost dead and Neo was blinded and such before he faced his destiny.

[Builder]

Those movies/stories are some of the best in my opinion. The hero sacrifices himself for the greater good. That's why I like Jim Raynor so much too.

[mb]

I think it was Egwene who dreamed about it. A true dream. Rand sits down with a scarf before his eyes, blind or something.

That dream was actually Perrin's.

 

[Kaznen]

In a metaphorical sense Rand is blind to what's going on in the world.

 

As for what is wrong with his eyes, I don't it is anything a pair of corrective lenses couldn't fix.

 

I can picture the scene, with Rand in Cairhein at that one lens maker's labs.  The two of them are sitting in a dark room with a strange apparatus in front of Rand's face while he looks at a white spot on the far wall.

 

*click, click*

"Better or worse?" 

[Majsju]

Rands eyes are oversensitive to light, due to a fireball exploding a few decimeters away.

The cloth seen around his eyes would be randlands version of RayBans.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Rands eyes are oversensitive to light, due to a fireball exploding a few decimeters away.

The cloth seen around his eyes would be randlands version of RayBans.

 

That is certainly a possibility.

 

Of course, blindfolds have been symbols of blindness since time immemorial, and trauma-induced degenerative eye conditions do exist, Maj.

 

As I said, it is not certain that he will go blind, but it also is a real possibility.

[Majsju]

 

 

Of course, blindfolds have been symbols of blindness since time immemorial, and trauma-induced degenerative eye conditions do exist, Maj.

 

 

Sure. Bute what we see in the chapter is an exact description of what happens when your eyes are exposed to extremely bright light. Including how everything seems to be ten times brighter. When you are going blind, it is the very opposite; things start to seem darker.

[RobertAlexWillis]

When you are going blind, it is the very opposite; things start to seem darker.

 

Sorry, but that is simply not the case. 

 

Symptoms of trauma induced cataracts include, blurred vision, faded colour vision, sensitivity to bright light and halos.  Untreated cataracts can cause complete blindness.

 

Symptoms of trauma induced corneal abrasion include blurred vision, sensitivity to bright lights, and tearing of the eyes from the lacrimal gland.  Trauma induced corneal abrasion, not properly treated, can lead not only to infection, but to recurrent corneal abrasion, both of which can lead to blindness.

 

Retinal detachment can also be induced by trauma and lead to blindness.  Some of its early symptoms can include flashes of light, a decrease in vision, central vision loss and floaters.

 

Trauma can also lead to uevitis, which can lead to blindness.  Symptoms include blurred vision, sensitivity to light, dark, floating spots along the visual field, and eye pain.

 

In short, Rand's symptoms fit with a number of known trauma-induced degenerative eye conditions.  Blindness is a real possibility.  Rand has essentially all the symptoms of cataracts and uevitis, and retinal detachment is a real possibility as well.  An infection from corneal abrasion is a little less likely, but not impossible, and the other three are more than sufficient to make it a real possibility.

[Kaznen]

But Rand's eyes didn't receive trauma.  They were up close to a bright flash, like from a flash grenade.  The bright sudden flash overloaded the rods and cones in his eyes.  I still think the problem can be fixed with corrective lens, and maybe a darkened pair for when Rand is outdoors.

[RobertAlexWillis]

-sigh-

 

Ever blown up anything, Kaz?  I have (unfortunately) and a fireball that explodes close enough to you to blow your hand completely off is going to do traumatic pressure damage to your eyeballs.  It isn't mentioned specifically, but his ears and nose would probably have been bleeding too.

 

Believe me, there was trauma, or else RJ just threw physics completely out the window.  Something that is just "a bright flash" doesn't incinerate your hand completely to ash.

[Kaznen]

Grendal didn't throw a bomb at Rand, she launched a fireball.  Just because someone's hand blows up doesn't mean it would be cause by an explosive device.  A high calibar bullet fired at close range could blow a hand off.

 

A fireball could evaporate the water molecules in Rand's hand cause it to explode (it's why things blow up in a microwave) and even an M-80 could blow off a hand with minimal concusive force.

[RobertAlexWillis]

First off, Graendal didn't throw anything at Rand.  It was Semirhage.

 

Second, the concussion knocked him off his horse and stunned him into semi-consciousness.  More than enough force there for eye trauma.

 

Third, I may have been a little unclear when I mentioned that his hand was blown off.  It wan't merely "blown off", it was apparently completely vaporized.

 

As to this example:

 

A fireball could evaporate the water molecules in Rand's hand cause it to explode (it's why things blow up in a microwave)and even an M-80 could blow off a hand with minimal concusive force.

 

Stick your face next to an exploding microwave.  My bet is there's enough force there to cause eye trauma.  And an M-80 might sever your hand under certain circumstances, but it wouldn't completely vaporize it.

 

Truthfully, the second point (that the concussion knocked him off his horse and stunned him into semi-consciousness) is more than enough here.  Consider the rest icing.

[Dark Justice]

I agree wit RAW here. A fireball that strong could cause eye trauma, and you could possibly go blind from it. Just staring directly at a flame from a blowtorch can cause eye trauma. (at small scale, but still...)

[Kaznen]

It could've also startled the horse, causing it to rear and throw Rand off.  It didn't how he fell off his horse, only that he did.

 

And yes if a mircowave blew up that could send a concussive blast, but I was saying the mircowave blew up, just what was in it.

[Elwinn Taron]

I am not getting into this discussion, because it could go many ways....Rand's blindness, not the discussion....well, that, too.

 

However, just wanted to correct you and point out that Rand, Logain, everyone, were all dismounted at the time the fireball struck. 

[lgautam]

I have a question here -

I'm probably wrong, but I was under the impression that a channeller needed to see in order to form the weaves. So that means a blind person will effectively not be able to channel.

I read in LoC that Tarna's block was that she was unable to channel unless she'd closed her eyes which means she cannot channel.

So in Rand's case, if he becomes blind, he won't be able to channel.

[Mr Ares]

Stick your face next to an exploding microwave.

I agree with RAW.

So do I. Go on, what's the worst that could happen?

[Matrim DeLaneous]

Rands eyes are oversensitive to light, due to a fireball exploding a few decimeters away.

The cloth seen around his eyes would be randlands version of RayBans.

 

This is what I always thought.  Similar to Matt shades in TEotW after Rand creates the lightning strike to break them out of the locked storeroom. 

[rhadamanthus]

Totally blind?  Maybe eventually.  But definitely his eyes are damaged and too sensitive to light.

 

I think it has to happen for multiple reasons, all of which will lead to how he wins at TG.  The most important one (I'll spare you a long and rambling essay on my theories) is that it will force him to not rely so much on Saidin at the last battle.