Those strange things like black steel wires ...

[bgwotforum]

First i want to say Hi to all! I've been reading the forums for some time, but this is my first post.

Second, i want to apologise if there is another thread about what i'm asking.

Now the question :

 

In book 4, Rand cut some strange things, like black steel wires around Asmodean. But after that, i think they are never mentioned. Why dont he use this to break the other male forsaken from the DO? And why he doesnt even see them anymore? If he does, he would have known there is a forsaken among the Asha'man.

 

 

[Nightstrike]

They were protections from the taint.

[Nightstrike]

A Crown of Swords book tour 9 October 1996, Dunwoody, GA - Erica Sadun reporting

Q: Once and for all end the ageless look thing. Is it obvious that it is tied to the Oath Rod? 

RJ: RAFO

 

Q:  New Dreadlords? Via True Power? What are limits of True Power? When did we see it used before?

RJ:  Access to the True Power is a matter of wanting it and the Dark One letting you. NOT black cords. In Prologue to The Eye of the World, we saw Ishamael use the True Power to Heal insanity. The One Power can not be used to Heal insanity. True Power used at Shayol Ghul will fry you instantly.

 

Q2: ... and Rand severs some black ties. Isn't that ...

RJ: That was cutting off his protection from the Taint and also cut off his ability, it was not like stilling them. It was cutting the ties that, most important to him, protected him from the Taint on saidin, so he could draw saidin all he wanted to and never worry about the Taint. But it was also those ties that represented his ability, or the conduits by which he could draw on the True Power. But it was not his ability to draw, it was not the same thing as stilling or severing, it was more like shielding.

[bgwotforum]

But why Rand or any one else see those things again?

 

[Nightstrike]

Copied from WOTFAQ:

When Rand has battled the male Forsaken, he has sometimes seen black threads, wires, or cords running off from them. This is seen when Rand battles Ishy in [TEOTW: 51, Against the Shadow, 637-640], and Asmodean in [TSR: 58, The Traps of Rhuidean, 671-675]. So what's the deal with these strings?

 

The thick black threads are the Forsaken's connection to the DO. The connection with the DO is what keeps the male Forsaken from falling prey to the madness from the taint on saidin (see Asmodean's statements to Rand in TSR after his black "thread" was severed). Rand's thread in TEOTW was silver and thinner because it was from that pure pool of saidin that was the Eye of the World.

 

We've never seen the threads on a female Forsaken, so it is possible that the threads are themselves the protection from the taint. Perhaps they act as a kind of filter on saidin, or a conduit through which the DO siphons off the taint when the Forsaken draws upon the Source.

 

It's also been suggested that the threads are a connection for channeling the True Power. This isn't very likely. The problems with this idea are:

 

The female Forsaken can use the TP, but nobody ever sees the black cords on them;

The black cords were seen on Asmodean, and of all the Forsaken, Asmodean is the one who we'd least expect to use the very dangerous TP in an instance where the OP would serve just as well (Skimming); and

From [ACOS book signing, Dunwoody, Georgia; 9 October, 1996, report by Erica Sadun], "Access to the TP is a matter of wanting it and the Dark One letting you. NOT black cords."

Another suggestion is that the presence or absence of the threads could be used to identify male Forsaken. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The black cords are only seen/sensed under very special circumstances. Rand has only seen them in two places--T'A'R and the in-between space used for Skimming. Note that Rand has seen male Forsaken without seeing the cords: Aginor and Balthamel at the Eye, Be'lal in the Heart of the Stone, Moridin in Shadar Logoth, and Dashiva/Osan'gar on many occasions. Furthermore, he doesn't ALWAYS see the black threads when he's in T'A'R with a Forsaken--he never saw them on Rahvin. So, the black threads are not a reliable way to identify Forsaken under any circumstances, even those under which the threads have been seen in the past.

 

 

[Nightstrike]

Brandon Sanderson:

The Gathering Storm Book Tour, Vroman's Bookstore, LA 17 November 2009 - Robert Moreau reporting

Q: Can someone besides Rand be taught to see the black cords that are seen on other Forsaken?

A: Robert Jordan is kind of dodgy on the black cords. A lot of people tried to pin him down on those. I think that yes, others could be trained to see the black cords.