Nature of balefire

[Kiriath Til Asdod]

Didn't see this anywhere else so here I go. How does balefire interact with other weaves? The reason i ask is because while rereading ToM I noticed that the balefire seemed to hit Graendel's gateway.

"A blinding light rose behind her. She struggled to dismiss the gateway, and caught one glimpse of the horrified Aran'gar before everything behind was consumed beautiful pure whiteness.

The gateway vanished, leaving Graendal in darkness."

 

Shouldn't balefire have erased her gateway, making it so that she never traveled in the first place and hence would have been balefired herself?

[Terez]

Many (including Brandon) have posited that balefire only has a temporal effect on living things.

[Byzantine279]

Also, the Balefire never touched the gateway, if it had it would have come through and she would have been killed anyway.

[capeta]

It would have destroyed her gateway if it had touched it. when Rand and Moridin crossed streams the weaves were destroyed. She just barely got away. Though, it may be possible that her gateway weave wasn't touching the floor so it might not have been a problem. But, she was clearly afraid that it might have happened.

 

-cap

[capeta]

One thing that I wonder about is the massive splash of the balefire. Rand used a huge ammount of balefire and it destroyed the tower and everything in it. It was as if the the entire tower became balefire and then vaporized everything touching it.

If we look at what Moghedian(sp?) did when she tried to kill Nynaeve in Ebou Dar, the boat was cut in half and displaced due to rowers being burnt back in time. Also there was a temperal affect on the boat (nonliving) it was already a minute or so into sinking. Nynaeve was already in a room mostly full of water with the door jammed shut.

 

Also, thinking about the panarch's palace when the balefire wand was destroying the pedestals but the things that were on them had to drop into the beam before they were vaporized.

 

So the question is, did the tower vaporize because of the amount of power used? Would a less power full blast only punched a hole in it? Or did Rand's intent cause him to alter the weave so that it consumed the tower?

 

-Cap

[Canis Rufus]

I'm going with the intent was to consume the tower. He wanted to insure there was no escapes. (Epic fail but still that was the plan.)

[mcbernier]

On a side note: maybe Rand should just balefire the Bore. Just balefire that sucker into it no longer exists. If he could, I would even suggest he balefire the Dark One.

 

Can balefire be used against itself? Can you balefire balefire? Ha!

[Terez]

On a side note: maybe Rand should just balefire the Bore. Just balefire that sucker into it no longer exists. If he could, I would even suggest he balefire the Dark One.

 

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

 

Q: Why doesn't somebody just balefire the Dark One?

RJ: The quantity necessary would destroy the world.

 

Can balefire be used against itself? Can you balefire balefire? Ha!

 

Letter to Paul Ward from RJ - March 2000

 

Paul Ward: (Possible questions: Does balefire affect itself? Can you balefire balefire? If you balefire another person, but then you get balefired, what happens to the person you balefire?)

RJ: The balefire weave exists wholly or partly outside time, which removes it from its own effect.

[mcbernier]

On a side note: maybe Rand should just balefire the Bore. Just balefire that sucker into it no longer exists. If he could, I would even suggest he balefire the Dark One.

 

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

 

Q: Why doesn't somebody just balefire the Dark One?

RJ: The quantity necessary would destroy the world.

 

Can balefire be used against itself? Can you balefire balefire? Ha!

 

Letter to Paul Ward from RJ - March 2000

 

Paul Ward: (Possible questions: Does balefire affect itself? Can you balefire balefire? If you balefire another person, but then you get balefired, what happens to the person you balefire?)

RJ: The balefire weave exists wholly or partly outside time, which removes it from its own effect.

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

But what about balefiring the Bore? Is that possible? I'm sure someone has already thought of that too.

[Terez]

The Bore exists everywhere at once, so it's impossible to balefire. Besides, it's a hole. You can't balefire a hole.

[mcbernier]

The Bore exists everywhere at once, so it's impossible to balefire. Besides, it's a hole. You can't balefire a hole.

 

That is most likely right. But some of this depends upon the nature of the Bore. Is the Bore just a hole? If so, how can a hole be everywhere at once? Holes are typically localized, spacial--so we could only compare the Bore with a hole by way of analogy. It's not really a hole, it's a "hole." Granted, it sure seems as though the Bore is a hole--it's a Bore for crying out loud! And they drilled it! But I don't see how it can be just a hole, if it is everywhere. I was thinking that, because it may not really be a hole, there might be a way to balefire it. Anyway, I don't really know what I'm talking about. i suppose if he hit Lanfear with enough balefire, the Bore might disappear, since she was one of the people primarily responsible for it--would that work?

[yoniy0]

Also, thinking about the panarch's palace when the balefire wand was destroying the pedestals but the things that were on them had to drop into the beam before they were vaporized.

 

So the question is, did the tower vaporize because of the amount of power used?

I figured his 'rod' of balefire was just THAT thick (get your minds out of the gutter, everyone). I guess you could say that he was only able to make is so because of the amount of Power he put into the weave...