Rogue Chanellers

[Taura-Tierno]

Like somebody else said: Norla, Cadsuane's wilder-teacher outside the Tower, would be a "rogue" channeler. My guess is that there are others like that who have gone on in a master-apprenctice kind of way, but they probably keep to themselves, and would be very, very rare. For the simple reason that they fear the Tower. The Aes Sedai are notoriously known for dealing out extremely severe punishments to any woman who abuses her power. And anyone not trained by an organization like the White Tower, the Wise Ones, Windfinders, etc, would have a lot she didn't know. I see it as unlikely that a self-learned wilder would know more than a few tricks, and maybe how to do some basic manipulation of the elements. Any real and useful compulsion, though? I don't see how they'd learn that. The wilder-compulsion usually isn't all that good, even if that's a "trick" she'd learnt. And I don't see how she'd do anything complex, like making wards or stuff like that. Just some minor stuff.

 

Also, about 2 percent of the population can channel. Of those two percent, a small fraction spark. Of those who do spark, 3/4 will die. Of those who survive, most develop blocks and don't know they're channeling. That would leave a ridiculously small amount of people who'd be able to learn freely on their own. Not to mention that, even if you do survive the initial "channeling sickness", odds are that you'll die from an experiment gone horribly wrong, when you try to figure out how to do weaves, since weaves tend to go kaboooom if you don't handle them properly. And then you've got traps like women trying to pull heat from fire, and there are probably other things that just doesn't work, but that someone without a teacher wouldn't know about.

 

Add to that, that the Aes Sedai probably monitor every major player in every nation and city. In order to get anywhere, whether as a successful merchant or as a noble or very successful craftsman (or woman), odds are you would encounter an Aes Sedai at one point or another, and if you can channel and are a woman, the Aes Sedai will know and will probably keep tabs on you. Become anyone of note, and the Aes Sedai will know, basically. Either the Aes Sedai, or the Shadow. And prior to the books, it was in the Shadow's best interest to keep a strong Tower, since that'd give the Black sisters a lot of influence, so having ordinary people abusing the One Power was probably not in their interests either, unless they were Darkfriends.

 

Also, the Kin weren't hidden. The Aes Sedai have known about them all of the time.

 

Of course, all of the above is also applicable for men. The exception here is that the Aes Sedai actually actively go looking for men who can channel, as opposed to going to find women. Which would make it harder for a man to remain hidden, since the Aes Sedai can test a place for resonance with saidin, so they can detect if a man has channeled there. And a man has even more to fear from being found out than a woman. Although a woman who's abused her power severely would probably be stilled, any man would be gentled, no matter how innocent.

 

I wouldn't mind having seen more of some rogue channeler, but they'd be so freakishly rare that I don't feel disappointed not having seen one.

[Darth Krewl]

I wouldn't mind having seen more of some rogue channeler, but they'd be so freakishly rare that I don't feel disappointed not having seen one.

 

And 3 Ta'veren as strong as Rand, Mat and Perrin, all coming from the same exact place, at the same exact time, isn't a freakish rarity? IIRC, that was almost or totally unheard of in the history of the Randland.

 

Also, I'd think it's likely that the first channelers ever would've come from different places altogether and they must have had a way to develop their skills w/o burning themselves out, before the Hall of the Servants was founded. The fact that they were such a minority makes the possibility of them springing from completely different and isolated places even more likely, IMO. This means that at least 1 or 2 isolated rogues could've been born, survived and perhaps found a way to create weaves all their own, being completely self-taught.

 

Very difficult, of course. But this is make-believe, after all, where most characters are usually extremely rare and freakish, possessing unique abilities that, IMO, is what makes them such interesting reads. If anything, all of the adversity that you mentioned in your post (great logic, can't go against it) would've made such a character extremely interesting, at least for my taste. So, I'm sure if Jordan had wanted to include a character w/this profile, he would've found a way to do just that.

 

Also, thanks for the info on Cadsuane's mentor. That's a good example, even though this Norla doesn't even appear onscreen.

[Taura-Tierno]

Week 18 Question: Who were the first channelers, and how did they learn? By trial and error? Are there any Ages where channeling does not exist?

 

Robert Jordan Answers: The first people to discover the ability to channel learned through trial and error, with fairly high casualty rates until they learned enough not to kill themselves accidentally. Their appearance marked the beginning of the previous Age to that of the books, or at least the end of the Age before that one.

 

Yes, as I have set things up, there are Ages when no one has any idea of how to channel or even that the One Power exists. Our own, for one. (The Wheel of Time turns.)

 

So the first channelers died frequently at the beginning. And I do agree that if Jordan had wanted to, he'd definitely have introduced a character like that, in some way. I just meant that I don't feel that there should have been more characters like this, since they would be so rare.

[Mats Spare Hat]

 

Of course, all of the above is also applicable for men. The exception here is that the Aes Sedai actually actively go looking for men who can channel, as opposed to going to find women. Which would make it harder for a man to remain hidden, since the Aes Sedai can test a place for resonance with saidin, so they can detect if a man has channeled there. And a man has even more to fear from being found out than a woman. Although a woman who's abused her power severely would probably be stilled, any man would be gentled, no matter how innocent.

 

 

 

That, and up until a short while ago if you were a male sparker, the taint was going to make you looney toons donezo in short order unless you swore to the DO.

[Darth Krewl]

Week 18 Question: Who were the first channelers, and how did they learn? By trial and error? Are there any Ages where channeling does not exist?

 

Robert Jordan Answers: The first people to discover the ability to channel learned through trial and error, with fairly high casualty rates until they learned enough not to kill themselves accidentally. Their appearance marked the beginning of the previous Age to that of the books, or at least the end of the Age before that one.

 

Yes, as I have set things up, there are Ages when no one has any idea of how to channel or even that the One Power exists. Our own, for one. (The Wheel of Time turns.)

 

So the first channelers died frequently at the beginning. And I do agree that if Jordan had wanted to, he'd definitely have introduced a character like that, in some way. I just meant that I don't feel that there should have been more characters like this, since they would be so rare.

 

There ya go. That's exactly how I pictured the situation for the first channelers. I'm not saying that I would or wouldn't like to see a character like this, though again, I do admit that it could've been interesting, precisely 'cause of how rare he/she would be. Thanks for the quote.