Looking for a quick explanation on the Eye of the World.

[mwayneknight]

I know this has been discussed and is explained some where, but seem to not be able to find it.

 

Can someone give me an exact detail on what the eye of the world is. I know that it was pure saidin I think holding those items that it held. But the way they talk about it being legend and stuff, seems like it was more then just that and I missed it. So if someone could help on that it would be great. Thanks. Also if you have the time explain those cords that was running from both Rand and Ishameal at the end of the first book also..

[thisguy]

I know this has been discussed and is explained some where, but seem to not be able to find it.

 

Can someone give me an exact detail on what the eye of the world is. I know that it was pure saidin I think holding those items that it held. But the way they talk about it being legend and stuff, seems like it was more then just that and I missed it. So if someone could help on that it would be great. Thanks. Also if you have the time explain those cords that was running from both Rand and Ishameal at the end of the first book also..

the cords are the true power from the DO which the male chosen have been connected to so that they do not succumb to the taint and go insane when using saidin.

The eye of the world was a reservoir of clean saidin created at the end of the age of legends for some future purpose - that being Rand (LTT reborn) and his using it for the battle with Ish at the end of EotW, I assume.

[thisguy]

Oh - the cords from Rand were his connection to the eye of the world. that was the pure saidin running through him.

[mwayneknight]

Thanks, much appreciated

[TristanWebb]

It had to have been for Rand at the end of EotW, without the horn/dragon banner huge swathes of the Prophecies wouldn't of come true. Why Rand needed a pure source of Saidin is a mystery though, he had already channeled then so the taint was there, channelling more or less doesn't seem to affect the insanity rate. He went to Crazy Ishamael Land and channeled in The Great Hunt, so that doesn't seem to be a major problem either.

[Pinzarn]

the cords are the true power from the DO which the male chosen have been connected to so that they do not succumb to the taint and go insane when using saidin.

 

But why haven't we ever seen the same cords to the other male chosen?

[Suttree]

I know this has been discussed and is explained some where, but seem to not be able to find it.

 

Can someone give me an exact detail on what the eye of the world is. I know that it was pure saidin I think holding those items that it held. But the way they talk about it being legend and stuff, seems like it was more then just that and I missed it. So if someone could help on that it would be great. Thanks. Also if you have the time explain those cords that was running from both Rand and Ishameal at the end of the first book also..

the cords are the true power from the DO which the male chosen have been connected to so that they do not succumb to the taint and go insane when using saidin.

 

There have been some conflicting reports on the black chords...

 

Interview: Oct 9th, 1996

ACOS Signing Report - Erica Sadun (Paraphrased)

Question

 

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

Robert Jordan

 

Access to the True Power is a matter of wanting it and the Dark One letting you. NOT black cords. In the Prologue to The Eye of the World we saw True Power used to heal insanity. The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity. True Power used at Shayol Ghul will fry you instantly.

[thisguy]

When Rand beats Asmodean in book 4 and cuts the cords, Asmo basically explains what they were and how he can no go insane.

[TristanWebb]

That would be an interesting conversation. You get released from the seal and the DO goes oh by the way, I tainted the male half and you will go insane if you use it, here, have a direct link to me so you will be fine.

[thisguy]

That would be an interesting conversation. You get released from the seal and the DO goes oh by the way, I tainted the male half and you will go insane if you use it, here, have a direct link to me so you will be fine.

I very much would like to see how the DO communicates with anyone. I think no matter what it will probably be disappointing as it's just going to come down to scary dude talking to character but I'd still like to read it.

[OptimusPrime]

Ths is something Ive pondered about recently as well. I think the Eye played a much bigger part than the general consensus acknowledges. I mean think about it, its a pool of clean saidin. Wha the hell is the big deal? Moiraine said it was enough to reseal the Bore or blow it wide open, but her word is hardly canon, she doesnt know everything, and even then, that is only a judgement on what COULD be done, not what it actually IS.

 

The Dark One wanted to blind a pool of clean saidin? Explain please?

 

Obviously theres more to it. The Shadow quite clearly saw it as some sort of great threat. Sure, it hid some significant talismans for the Light, for Rand in particular, but that doesnt explain why the Dark One would say "blind" it.

 

My view is that it unlocked Rands past lives. I know most people will instinctively have shut down and be ready to launch into the whole Taint debate, but I think this fits the themes of the series. The Dark One said he would blind the Eye, and that he did. Rand has had the Eye ever since book 1, the ability to see through the eyes of a thousand lifetimes, and it likely covers his ability to recognise a person by thread as well (the earliest citing I can give is in TGH when he sees the Heroes). The Eye was blind for a very early stage, because Rands mentality has had war waged on it from the second this began, and he interpretted those new memories as evidence of the Taint, therefor building a wall against them and fighting them in every way he can. The memories were his now, yet he refused to acknowledge it, and so the Eye remained blind. Only when he contemplated hisi real purpose did the Eye open again, and that precisely explains the transformation in VoG.

 

If the Eye had worked without interference then Rand would have had that transformation at a VERY early stage. In fact, if you read the bit just after the fight with Aginor, Rand confronts Ba'alzamon and he is so calm and ZEN-like, it reminds me a lot of what he was like when he went to see Egwene at the Tower in ToG.

 

So yea, thats my view.

[mwayneknight]

That was a great explanation and actually makes some good sense. I like that one above all others i have heard. Awesome

[mwayneknight]

Ths is something Ive pondered about recently as well. I think the Eye played a much bigger part than the general consensus acknowledges. I mean think about it, its a pool of clean saidin. Wha the hell is the big deal? Moiraine said it was enough to reseal the Bore or blow it wide open, but her word is hardly canon, she doesnt know everything, and even then, that is only a judgement on what COULD be done, not what it actually IS.

 

The Dark One wanted to blind a pool of clean saidin? Explain please?

 

Obviously theres more to it. The Shadow quite clearly saw it as some sort of great threat. Sure, it hid some significant talismans for the Light, for Rand in particular, but that doesnt explain why the Dark One would say "blind" it.

 

My view is that it unlocked Rands past lives. I know most people will instinctively have shut down and be ready to launch into the whole Taint debate, but I think this fits the themes of the series. The Dark One said he would blind the Eye, and that he did. Rand has had the Eye ever since book 1, the ability to see through the eyes of a thousand lifetimes, and it likely covers his ability to recognise a person by thread as well (the earliest citing I can give is in TGH when he sees the Heroes). The Eye was blind for a very early stage, because Rands mentality has had war waged on it from the second this began, and he interpretted those new memories as evidence of the Taint, therefor building a wall against them and fighting them in every way he can. The memories were his now, yet he refused to acknowledge it, and so the Eye remained blind. Only when he contemplated hisi real purpose did the Eye open again, and that precisely explains the transformation in VoG.

 

If the Eye had worked without interference then Rand would have had that transformation at a VERY early stage. In fact, if you read the bit just after the fight with Aginor, Rand confronts Ba'alzamon and he is so calm and ZEN-like, it reminds me a lot of what he was like when he went to see Egwene at the Tower in ToG.

 

So yea, thats my view.

 

That was a great explanation and actually makes some good sense. I like that one above all others i have heard. Awesome

[Shig]

Interesting theory...but how/why would a collected lot of pure saidin (collected almost like a well ter'angreal...without the actual well) be able to 'unlock' the memories of Lews Therin? My impression was that it was just pure saidin, and moiraine was taking the fellars there to see which one of them could channel it, or did i miss something?

 

The purpose behind making a small collection of pure saidin is also an intriguing concept, especially if im remembering correctly, that the men and women who made it all died in the process. Perhaps it was nothing more than an experiment/test run at seeing whether or not the taint could be removed, as by the stage at which the male channelers were going mad, the women were sort of scrambling to try and get the world through the breaking.

 

Finally, in rand's ancestors vision, did we see a bunch of female Aes Sedai planning on creating the eye of the world? It just clicked that they had the green man hanging out with them, and were discussing a group of male channelers they were going to have to trust for some purpose, as they were barely affected by the taint(paraphrasing but that's the gist of it). They may even have had the dragon banner(been a few months since ive read that exact book). If all of that is true, it means that during the breaking, and possibly during the age of legend the Horn of Valere was in the hand of the Aes Sedai...so how weren't they beating down on the shadow? Or maybe the horn had a different purpose during peace times(teaching tool to speak with influential individual's of the past or some such).

[Wool-headed lummox]

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

[thisguy]

Interesting theory...but how/why would a collected lot of pure saidin (collected almost like a well ter'angreal...without the actual well) be able to 'unlock' the memories of Lews Therin? My impression was that it was just pure saidin, and moiraine was taking the fellars there to see which one of them could channel it, or did i miss something?

 

The purpose behind making a small collection of pure saidin is also an intriguing concept, especially if im remembering correctly, that the men and women who made it all died in the process. Perhaps it was nothing more than an experiment/test run at seeing whether or not the taint could be removed, as by the stage at which the male channelers were going mad, the women were sort of scrambling to try and get the world through the breaking.

 

Finally, in rand's ancestors vision, did we see a bunch of female Aes Sedai planning on creating the eye of the world? It just clicked that they had the green man hanging out with them, and were discussing a group of male channelers they were going to have to trust for some purpose, as they were barely affected by the taint(paraphrasing but that's the gist of it). They may even have had the dragon banner(been a few months since ive read that exact book). If all of that is true, it means that during the breaking, and possibly during the age of legend the Horn of Valere was in the hand of the Aes Sedai...so how weren't they beating down on the shadow? Or maybe the horn had a different purpose during peace times(teaching tool to speak with influential individual's of the past or some such).

Yeah, you're remembering that right. Well, they did beat the shadow. The horn's bad ass but not the be all end all.

The eye of the world helped Rand destroy Aginor and defeat Ish. That's no small potatoes. He never would have been able to channel that much power at the time. He also saved the soldiers at Tarwin Gap with it and that was his first appearance to the outside world as the Dragon. I think winning a large battle, destroying a forsaken and defeating another one are pretty big deals.

[Suttree]

Interesting theory...but how/why would a collected lot of pure saidin (collected almost like a well ter'angreal...without the actual well) be able to 'unlock' the memories of Lews Therin? My impression was that it was just pure saidin, and moiraine was taking the fellars there to see which one of them could channel it, or did i miss something?

 

The purpose behind making a small collection of pure saidin is also an intriguing concept, especially if im remembering correctly, that the men and women who made it all died in the process. Perhaps it was nothing more than an experiment/test run at seeing whether or not the taint could be removed, as by the stage at which the male channelers were going mad, the women were sort of scrambling to try and get the world through the breaking.

 

Finally, in rand's ancestors vision, did we see a bunch of female Aes Sedai planning on creating the eye of the world? It just clicked that they had the green man hanging out with them, and were discussing a group of male channelers they were going to have to trust for some purpose, as they were barely affected by the taint(paraphrasing but that's the gist of it). They may even have had the dragon banner(been a few months since ive read that exact book). If all of that is true, it means that during the breaking, and possibly during the age of legend the Horn of Valere was in the hand of the Aes Sedai...so how weren't they beating down on the shadow? Or maybe the horn had a different purpose during peace times(teaching tool to speak with influential individual's of the past or some such).

Yeah, you're remembering that right. Well, they did beat the shadow. The horn's bad ass but not the be all end all.

The eye of the world helped Rand destroy Aginor and defeat Ish. That's no small potatoes. He never would have been able to channel that much power at the time. He also saved the soldiers at Tarwin Gap with it and that was his first appearance to the outside world as the Dragon. I think winning a large battle, destroying a forsaken and defeating another one are pretty big deals.

 

For the record Rand didn't destroy Aginor. He burned himself up drawing too much power.

 

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

 

Nope she removed the taint. There is a pretty significant difference there.

 

Although we do see Ishy briefly heal insanity with the TP.

[thisguy]

Interesting theory...but how/why would a collected lot of pure saidin (collected almost like a well ter'angreal...without the actual well) be able to 'unlock' the memories of Lews Therin? My impression was that it was just pure saidin, and moiraine was taking the fellars there to see which one of them could channel it, or did i miss something?

 

The purpose behind making a small collection of pure saidin is also an intriguing concept, especially if im remembering correctly, that the men and women who made it all died in the process. Perhaps it was nothing more than an experiment/test run at seeing whether or not the taint could be removed, as by the stage at which the male channelers were going mad, the women were sort of scrambling to try and get the world through the breaking.

 

Finally, in rand's ancestors vision, did we see a bunch of female Aes Sedai planning on creating the eye of the world? It just clicked that they had the green man hanging out with them, and were discussing a group of male channelers they were going to have to trust for some purpose, as they were barely affected by the taint(paraphrasing but that's the gist of it). They may even have had the dragon banner(been a few months since ive read that exact book). If all of that is true, it means that during the breaking, and possibly during the age of legend the Horn of Valere was in the hand of the Aes Sedai...so how weren't they beating down on the shadow? Or maybe the horn had a different purpose during peace times(teaching tool to speak with influential individual's of the past or some such).

Yeah, you're remembering that right. Well, they did beat the shadow. The horn's bad ass but not the be all end all.

The eye of the world helped Rand destroy Aginor and defeat Ish. That's no small potatoes. He never would have been able to channel that much power at the time. He also saved the soldiers at Tarwin Gap with it and that was his first appearance to the outside world as the Dragon. I think winning a large battle, destroying a forsaken and defeating another one are pretty big deals.

 

For the record Rand didn't destroy Aginor. He burned himself up drawing too much power.

 

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

 

Nope she removed the taint. There is a pretty significant difference there.

 

Although we do see Ishy briefly heal insanity with the TP.

I said helped Rand destroy Aginor. I remember he drew too much of the power. He wouldn't have done that if Rand was on his own. Whatever.

[roocifer]

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

 

"Nope she removed the taint. There is a pretty significant difference there.

Although we do see Ishy briefly heal insanity with the TP."

 

I'm pretty sure that's what male Insanity was.

Male channellers went insane the more they used Saidin. After Nynaeve removed the black thorny thing that looked similar to compulsion, the Asha'man she healed went back to normal. She tried it on Rand but his was too complex and had already been fixed (VoG). So it seems that what people thought was "insanity" was actually some sort of compulsion from the DO that grew on the mind from prolonged use of Saidin. And it can be removed/healed.

Why would the "insanity" of LTT that was healed by Ishy be any different?

Logically, if LTT went "insane" from using the OP, then it would be the same thing Nynaeve healed in the Asha'man

[Suttree]

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

 

"Nope she removed the taint. There is a pretty significant difference there.

Although we do see Ishy briefly heal insanity with the TP."

 

I'm pretty sure that's what male Insanity was.

Male channellers went insane the more they used Saidin. After Nynaeve removed the black thorny thing that looked similar to compulsion, the Asha'man she healed went back to normal. She tried it on Rand but his was too complex and had already been fixed (VoG). So it seems that what people thought was "insanity" was actually some sort of compulsion from the DO that grew on the mind from prolonged use of Saidin. And it can be removed/healed.

Why would the "insanity" of LTT that was healed by Ishy be any different?

Logically, if LTT went "insane" from using the OP, then it would be the same thing Nynaeve healed in the Asha'man

 

There is a difference and no they don't go back to normal. The damage Done up until that point stays. Unless you believe the black thorns she removed are insanity and not the taint they are different.

 

As for Ishy we know the TP has different properties and Ishy though he could only give LTT clarity for a short time.

 

@thisguy

 

You said the eye "helped" Rand destroy Aginor not the other way around. The way It read just thought I would clarify. No biggie.

[Wool-headed lummox]

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

Nope she removed the taint. There is a pretty significant difference there.

No there isn't, that's just two ways of saying the same thing. The Dark One's taint sets in on a channeler's mind and causes insanity. Ishamael used the True Power to heal Lews Therin's insanity. Nyaneve used the One Power to heal that Fade-seeing Ashaman's insanity, contradicting Jordan's quote.

 

Removing the taint from one's mind is the same as healing insanity, that's what the healing amounts to. That's what the term "healing" stands for in this case, removing the cause of the insanity. The taint.

 

We're only talking about taint-induced insanity in this case, not natural kinds.

 

Although we do see Ishy briefly heal insanity with the TP.

What makes you think the healing was brief? Lews Therin killed himself soon afterwards, but for all we know, he would have remained sane for the rest of his life if he hadn't.

 

There is a difference and no they don't go back to normal

The Ashaman called Naef that Nynaeve healed instantly went back to normal, realizing his visions of Fades lurking in the corners were completely irrational and impossible, wondering how he could have believed them.

[Suttree]

The One Power cannot be used to heal insanity

Except that it can, and Nynaeve did.

Nope she removed the taint. There is a pretty significant difference there.

No there isn't, that's just two ways of saying the same thing. The Dark One's taint sets in on a channeler's mind and causes insanity. Ishamael used the True Power to heal Lews Therin's insanity. Nyaneve used the One Power to heal that Fade-seeing Ashaman's insanity, contradicting Jordan's quote.

 

Removing the taint from one's mind is the same as healing insanity, that's what the healing amounts to. That's what the term "healing" stands for in this case, removing the cause of the insanity. The taint.

 

We're only talking about taint-induced insanity in this case, not natural kinds.

 

Although we do see Ishy briefly heal insanity with the TP.

What makes you think the healing was brief? Lews Therin killed himself soon afterwards, but for all we know, he would have remained sane for the rest of his life if he hadn't.

 

Ishy tells us it is...

 

EotW

Tossing back his black cloak, Elan Morin flexed his hands. "A pity for you," he mused, "that one of your Sisters is not here. I was never very skilled at Healing, and I follow a different power now. But even one of them could only give you a few lucid minutes, if you did not destroy her first. What I can do will serve as well, for my purposes." His sudden smile was cruel. "But I fear Shai'tan's healing is different from the sort you know. Be healed, Lews Therin!" He extended his hands, and the light dimmed as if a shadow had been laid across the sun.

 

 

Again Nynaeve didn't even use a healing weave to remove the thorns so I always saw it as different. Thanks for the clarification on you guys only talking about the taint not normal insanity as well. Didn't get that the first time.

 

Edit: Also I was mixing something up. Was thinking of the cleansing and the damage already done staying. Not what Nyn did. No coffee yet!!!

[Agitel]

The healing itself may have been brief only because the taint was still on saidin and it would have just driven LTT mad again.

[mwayneknight]

Interesting theory...but how/why would a collected lot of pure saidin (collected almost like a well ter'angreal...without the actual well) be able to 'unlock' the memories of Lews Therin? My impression was that it was just pure saidin, and moiraine was taking the fellars there to see which one of them could channel it, or did i miss something?

 

The purpose behind making a small collection of pure saidin is also an intriguing concept, especially if im remembering correctly, that the men and women who made it all died in the process. Perhaps it was nothing more than an experiment/test run at seeing whether or not the taint could be removed, as by the stage at which the male channelers were going mad, the women were sort of scrambling to try and get the world through the breaking.

 

Finally, in rand's ancestors vision, did we see a bunch of female Aes Sedai planning on creating the eye of the world? It just clicked that they had the green man hanging out with them, and were discussing a group of male channelers they were going to have to trust for some purpose, as they were barely affected by the taint(paraphrasing but that's the gist of it). They may even have had the dragon banner(been a few months since ive read that exact book). If all of that is true, it means that during the breaking, and possibly during the age of legend the Horn of Valere was in the hand of the Aes Sedai...so how weren't they beating down on the shadow? Or maybe the horn had a different purpose during peace times(teaching tool to speak with influential individual's of the past or some such).

Yeah, you're remembering that right. Well, they did beat the shadow. The horn's bad ass but not the be all end all.

The eye of the world helped Rand destroy Aginor and defeat Ish. That's no small potatoes. He never would have been able to channel that much power at the time. He also saved the soldiers at Tarwin Gap with it and that was his first appearance to the outside world as the Dragon. I think winning a large battle, destroying a forsaken and defeating another one are pretty big deals.

 

I get that, but what does it mean then when Ishy says he is gonna blind the eye? Does that mean he wanted to use it himself? Thats where most of my confusion comes from.

[thisguy]

Interesting theory...but how/why would a collected lot of pure saidin (collected almost like a well ter'angreal...without the actual well) be able to 'unlock' the memories of Lews Therin? My impression was that it was just pure saidin, and moiraine was taking the fellars there to see which one of them could channel it, or did i miss something?

 

The purpose behind making a small collection of pure saidin is also an intriguing concept, especially if im remembering correctly, that the men and women who made it all died in the process. Perhaps it was nothing more than an experiment/test run at seeing whether or not the taint could be removed, as by the stage at which the male channelers were going mad, the women were sort of scrambling to try and get the world through the breaking.

 

Finally, in rand's ancestors vision, did we see a bunch of female Aes Sedai planning on creating the eye of the world? It just clicked that they had the green man hanging out with them, and were discussing a group of male channelers they were going to have to trust for some purpose, as they were barely affected by the taint(paraphrasing but that's the gist of it). They may even have had the dragon banner(been a few months since ive read that exact book). If all of that is true, it means that during the breaking, and possibly during the age of legend the Horn of Valere was in the hand of the Aes Sedai...so how weren't they beating down on the shadow? Or maybe the horn had a different purpose during peace times(teaching tool to speak with influential individual's of the past or some such).

Yeah, you're remembering that right. Well, they did beat the shadow. The horn's bad ass but not the be all end all.

The eye of the world helped Rand destroy Aginor and defeat Ish. That's no small potatoes. He never would have been able to channel that much power at the time. He also saved the soldiers at Tarwin Gap with it and that was his first appearance to the outside world as the Dragon. I think winning a large battle, destroying a forsaken and defeating another one are pretty big deals.

 

I get that, but what does it mean then when Ishy says he is gonna blind the eye? Does that mean he wanted to use it himself? Thats where most of my confusion comes from.

 

It's a good point. I'm guessing blinding the eye of the world would be using the saidin up. I'm really not sure, tbh.