The flashing colours and the three ta'veren

[UncleButcher1980]

I did a quick search and found plenty of posts regarding this but no specific thread. I was wondering what everyone thinks about the colours and images that Rand, Mat and Perrin see when they think of each other? What do they mean? Why and how did they start and what relevance will the have in the future? Why does it not happen in Tel'aran'rhiod?

 

I don't have any theories of my own but when reading The Gathering Storm and Min mentions the line - "He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one", I immediately thought of the three ta'veren and the colours they see. Not sure what everyone else thinks, I have no evidence for it but that's where my thoughts immediately went.

[Xader]

Unless dispelled by means of not thinking about said ta'veren, the swirling colors will resolve into an image of what the person is doing at the time. It is just an effect of the link between the boys.

[Wedge]

The colors i think is a metaphor for the link between them. Without one, all three will fail. If mat, perrin, and rand don't all do their part, the DO will win.

 

as far as

"He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one"

 

the general consensus for that is that Rand, and 2 aes sedai(Likely Nynaeve +1, perhaps egwene or cadsuane) will use Callendor during the last battle. We have read that when linked, the people in the circle feel something similar to the warder bond. That is the 'Becoming one'. there are other thoughts regarding Rand and body switching which could factor into that as well.

[UncleButcher1980]

Yes, I agree the three shall become one is almost certainly Rand and two Aes Sedai as you say, but it would be a nice twist if it was something else. I like the metaphor idea. But I wonder, obviously I can see many benefits of them being able to see what the other is up to, that's clearly going to be useful, but is there something more to it? Or maybe it's just a perk of being ta'veren. That it never happens in Tel'aran'rhiod is curious as well.

[Wedge]

off the top of my head, here are some crackpot 3 become 1 theories:

 

1 - Saidin, Saider, and the true power become one after the DO is defeated. Allowing men and women to use the same power

2 - Rand, Moridin, and Fain combine and cancel each other out. Fains evil destroying the DO evil, with rand as the conduit.(this is actually close to my theories on how rand wins the last battle, but that's another post)

3 - the 3 major world powers(Shara, Randland, and Seanchan) combine their effort sin the last battle

4 - Rand's 3 loves agree to a threesome if rand survives ;)

 

so ya, crackpot theories. I have a lot of them.

[UncleButcher1980]

Ha ha, great. Crackpot theories are my favourite. Dare I ask what you think the blade of light refers to in theory 4?

[Wedge]

Ha ha, great. Crackpot theories are my favourite. Dare I ask what you think the blade of light refers to in theory 4?

 

Rand's "Oath" rod

[Evoke]

This has always been my theory.

 

The three were split up early on in the narrative of the story. When the three were together, they accomplished great things. They found the Eye of the World, defeated the Seanchan and took the Stone of Tear. Because of their link, these evens were made possible. After this, they've all ended up on their own quests. With those completed, it is time for the heroes to rejoin, to become one (with the stool of ta'verenness), on a single mission.

 

The reason they do not see each other in the World of Dreams is most likely because the swirly color effect is linked to Tel'aran'rhiod and is only active when awake.