Channeling in AOL

[fborch]

On my umpteenth readthrough, something just struck me as Odd. We are told that the age of Legends was almost completely tranquil. Harmony was everywhere, violence was unheard of and crime itself was a rartity. What surprises me a bit is the nature of channeling, saidin in particular. Saidar makes perfect sense for this age, but Saidin is a bit puzzling. As most know saidin must be dominated in order to be channeled properly. Even with the tain gone, we are told that to grasp saidin is a constant struggle of molten rock, lava, fire and generally all sorts of nastiness. It just seems that a whole bunch of male channelers like we see in the Black Tower will always create conflict so to speak, considering the very nature of saidin. I just cant make it fit properly that this age was all serenity when you had channelers all around undergoing constant struggle and fighting to utilize saidin properly.

[dovien]

A man must master saidin as he must master himself. A period of peace doesn't change that.

[OptimusPrime]

A man must master saidin as he must master himself. A period of peace doesn't change that.

 

Exactly. To me it just means that a male channeler will tend to be more of a determined, reslient chap after channeling a lot, whereas a female channeler would become more patient and possibly empathic.

[Lynchgrinch]

Hmm, you make some good points.

 

I'd always put it down to the Bore not being opened yet in the AoL and thus the DO not being able to corrupt people. But you're suggesting that people be fighting etc because of the NATURE of Saidin itself, im not sure i agree with this why would anything the creator made be inheritly "bad".

 

It kinda makes sence what your saying, but i'm not sure i buy it just yet. if that makes sence ?

[Xader]

...im not sure i agree with this why would anything the creator made be inheritly "bad".

 

 

Saidin is not inherently "bad". It's simply different.

 

Saidin and Saidar are polar opposites. Tranquility vs Chaos. Air & Water vs Fire & Earth. Yin and Yang, and all that.

 

Just as trying to dominate Saidar will drown a woman, submitting to Saidin will overwhelm a man.

 

It's simply the nature of the beast.

[Vermillion]

Hmm, you make some good points.

 

I'd always put it down to the Bore not being opened yet in the AoL and thus the DO not being able to corrupt people. But you're suggesting that people be fighting etc because of the NATURE of Saidin itself, im not sure i agree with this why would anything the creator made be inheritly "bad".

 

It kinda makes sence what your saying, but i'm not sure i buy it just yet. if that makes sence ?

 

Some of the age of legend stuff is also legend as well. I think there was crime and stuff but just to a lesser degree.

[Silver]

There must've been some crime as why else would they have the binder?

[Durinax]

There must've been some crime as why else would they have the binder?

thats why crime was so rare, once a criminal was caught they where bound so that they couldnt become repeat offenders, and people where deterred by this fate

[Xader]

There must've been some crime as why else would they have the binder?

thats why crime was so rare, once a criminal was caught they where bound so that they couldnt become repeat offenders, and people where deterred by this fate

 

^This

[chuckievi]

There must've been some crime as why else would they have the binder?

thats why crime was so rare, once a criminal was caught they where bound so that they couldnt become repeat offenders, and people where deterred by this fate

 

Also I think the DO's touch acted in somewhat the same way as a 13x13 turning, in that it corrupted people towards their darker instincts. The idea of the AoL is that it was a social Utopia where crime largely didn't exist because everyone had access to all the food, shelter, medicine, and material goods that they could want. Which if you look at crime statistics, taking away those motivations will by itself reduce crime significantly.

[Kaznen]

I want to point out that in AoL the channelers thought of channeling the OP as a science. Whenever one of the forsaken or "LTT" talk about channeling they talk in scientific principles. But the modern AS are just, "take a weave of Spirit like this, a thread of fire, and a dash of water and there you go."

[Dagon Thyne]

On my umpteenth readthrough, something just struck me as Odd. We are told that the age of Legends was almost completely tranquil. Harmony was everywhere, violence was unheard of and crime itself was a rartity. What surprises me a bit is the nature of channeling, saidin in particular. Saidar makes perfect sense for this age, but Saidin is a bit puzzling. As most know saidin must be dominated in order to be channeled properly. Even with the tain gone, we are told that to grasp saidin is a constant struggle of molten rock, lava, fire and generally all sorts of nastiness. It just seems that a whole bunch of male channelers like we see in the Black Tower will always create conflict so to speak, considering the very nature of saidin. I just cant make it fit properly that this age was all serenity when you had channelers all around undergoing constant struggle and fighting to utilize saidin properly.

 

 

Nothing can be completely tranquil....nature itself will always have distructive force even if humans choose not that harness that force...

 

The distructive forces of the OP can be used for the benefit of man just as easily as the tranquil forces.....for example...Aes Sedai in the AoL used the OP to mine for minerals....they had to destroy much earth to get down to the minerals and this type of ability is more suited to Saidin than Saidar...

[fborch]

I don't think the AOL was that tranquil. They obviously had wars early in the age, or the word for it wouldn't be known to scholars, and they had the remnants of sword combat. I'm just a bit puzzled over how a bunch of male channelers didn't conflict with others more often. As someone pointed out in another thread, the ability to channel saidin and the congregation of men doing so is almost certain to create alpha males, and conflict from that seems inevitable.

[Durinax]

I think that didnt occure because there was a system of getting ahead already, so if you where an alpha and wanted to be an alpha you had a way to push yourself ahead and get achievements that showed you where more dominant over others.

[dovien]

As someone pointed out in another thread, the ability to channel saidin and the congregation of men doing so is almost certain to create alpha males, and conflict from that seems inevitable.

We can see from the Forsaken that not everyone got along well but I think mostly they would have got on with each other in the spirit of friendly competition.

[Sharaman]

Assuming a saidin channeler would have a fiercely combative personality because of fighting the nature of saidin, is roughly equivalent to assuming that a white-water rafting enthusiast would have a fiercely combative personality. Doesn't compute.

Obviously the AoL had crime - but much less of it than earlier periods, until the 110 years between the Bore being drilled and before the Sealing.