Callandor

[thisguy]

I don't remember which thread I was reading where someone said that the flaw in Callandor caused Rand to kill part of his army when fighting the Seanchen in Book 8. But, it wasn't the flaw, it was that saidin and saidar were acting strangely in the areas surrounding where Elayne, Nynaeve and Co used the Bowl of Winds to fix the weather.

 

One of the damane did the same thing - killed Seanchen soldiers because saidar acted strangely in the area.

[Alanna]

It's been a long time since I read that part (I'm on FoH in my reread), but my understanding was either that it was or may have been a combination of both of those things? Maybe someone else can clarify.

 

EDIT: The WOTFAQ says that Callandor was to blame, and that the whole problem was compounded by the weirdness of the OP in that area *shrug*

[thisguy]

It's been a long time since I read that part (I'm on FoH in my reread), but my understanding was either that it was or may have been a combination of both of those things? Maybe someone else can clarify.

 

EDIT: The WOTFAQ says that Callandor was to blame, and that the whole problem was compounded by the weirdness of the OP in that area *shrug*

It may have been compounded by Callandor, IMO. But, all the ashaman and all the damane in the region complain about how the Power seems weird, and one damane does EXACTLY what Rand did - obviously, she wasn't using any sort of angreal when she made her mistake. Demandred (I believe it's him) talks to Rand about how his weaves aren't working right. How the feel like he can't control them properly and then just snap into place.

 

Thanks for answering. ;)

[Suttree]

It's been a long time since I read that part (I'm on FoH in my reread), but my understanding was either that it was or may have been a combination of both of those things? Maybe someone else can clarify.

 

EDIT: The WOTFAQ says that Callandor was to blame, and that the whole problem was compounded by the weirdness of the OP in that area *shrug*

It may have been compounded by Callandor, IMO. But, all the ashaman and all the damane in the region complain about how the Power seems weird, and one damane does EXACTLY what Rand did - obviously, she wasn't using any sort of angreal when she made her mistake. Demandred (I believe it's him) talks to Rand about how his weaves aren't working right. How the feel like he can't control them properly and then just snap into place.

 

Thanks for answering. ;)

 

We know per RJ that the power was going wonky in the area and in Rand's growing conceit he ignored the advice of his Ashaman and Bashere in that it was time to wrap things up.

 

TPoD

"There’s something askew with saidinhere, something amiss," Dashiva said, sounding not at all vague. In fact, he sounded... precise. And testy. A teacher lecturing a particularly dense pupil. He even stabbed a finger at Rand. "I don’t know what it is. Nothing can twist saidin, and if it could be twisted, we’d have felt it back in the mountains. Well, there wassomething there, yesterday, but so small... I feel it clearly here, though. Saidinis... eager. I know; I know. Saidinis not alive. But it... pulses, here. It is difficult to control."

Rand forced his hand to loosen its grip on the Dragon Scepter. He had always been sure Dashiva was nearly as mad as Lews Therin himself. Usually the man maintained a better hold on himself, though, however precariously. "I’ve been channeling longer than you, Dashiva. You’re just feeling the taint more." He could not soften his tone. Light, he could not go mad yet, and neither could they! "Get to your place. We’ll be moving soon." The scouts had to return soon. Even in this flatter country, even limited to no further than they could see, ten miles would not take long to cover, Traveling.

Dashiva made no move to obey. Instead, he opened his mouth angrily, then snapped it shut. Shaking visibly, he drew a deep breath. "I am well aware how long you have channeled," he said in an icy, almost contemptuous voice, "but surely even you can feel it. Feel, man! I don’t like ‘strange’ applied to saidin, and I don’t want to die or... or be burned out because you’re blind! Look at my ward! Look at it!"

Rand stared. Dashiva pushing himself forward was peculiar enough, but Dashiva in a temper? And then he did look at the ward. Really look. The flows should have been as steady as the threads in tight-woven canvas. They vibrated.

 

We then see his increased ego playing out...

 

TPoD

"Nobody stands nose-to-nose with the Dragon Reborn," Rand growled. "The Forsaken could tell him that, whoever he is. Right, Flinn? Dashiva?" Flinn nodded uncertainly. Dashiva flinched.

*Just a gem of a sentence with Dashiva's reaction. This is the type of subtle writing I miss the most now that RJ is gone.

 

Once he decided to use Callandor the wildness of the mind it causes and amplification of the taint made him continue lashing out long after he should have stopped which is why Bashere had to knock him out. The WoTFaq is correct in that the root of the problem is Callandor.

 

What's the deal with the "flaw"?

In [TPOD: 27, The Bargain, 539-540], Cadsuane tells Rand about a flaw in Callandor, which she claims to have discovered in some moldy documents in the Tower Library:

 

 

 

"It is flawed, lacking the buffer that makes other sa'angreal safe to use.

And it apparently magnifies the taint, inducing wildness of the mind. So long as a man is using it, anyway

. The only safe way for you to use The Sword That Is Not a Sword, the only way to use it without the risk of killing yourself, or trying to do the Light alone knows what insanity, is linked with two women, and one of them guiding the flows."

This not only explains the mess Rand made of things at the end of the Ebou Dar campaign (which was compounded by the Ebou Dar Power Anomaly), but also the megalomania displayed by Rand during and after the attack in the Stone in [TSR: 10, The Stone Stands, 136-138]. What insanity? As John Rowat points out, "He went a little nutso, thought he could raise the dead, and it took him an hour or so to realize that he could just fry all the bad guys at once."

[thisguy]

It's been a long time since I read that part (I'm on FoH in my reread), but my understanding was either that it was or may have been a combination of both of those things? Maybe someone else can clarify.

 

EDIT: The WOTFAQ says that Callandor was to blame, and that the whole problem was compounded by the weirdness of the OP in that area *shrug*

It may have been compounded by Callandor, IMO. But, all the ashaman and all the damane in the region complain about how the Power seems weird, and one damane does EXACTLY what Rand did - obviously, she wasn't using any sort of angreal when she made her mistake. Demandred (I believe it's him) talks to Rand about how his weaves aren't working right. How the feel like he can't control them properly and then just snap into place.

 

Thanks for answering. ;)

 

We know per RJ that the power was going wonky in the area and in Rand's growing conceit he ignored the advice of his Ashaman and Bashere in that it was time to wrap things up. Once he decided to use Callandor the wildness of the mind it causes and amplification of the taint made him continue lashing out long after he should have stopped which is why Bashere had to knock him out. The WoTFaq is correct in that the root of the problem is Callandor.

 

What's the deal with the "flaw"?

In [TPOD: 27, The Bargain, 539-540], Cadsuane tells Rand about a flaw in Callandor, which she claims to have discovered in some moldy documents in the Tower Library:

 

"It is flawed, lacking the buffer that makes other sa'angreal safe to use.

And it apparently magnifies the taint, inducing wildness of the mind. So long as a man is using it, anyway

. The only safe way for you to use The Sword That Is Not a Sword, the only way to use it without the risk of killing yourself, or trying to do the Light alone knows what insanity, is linked with two women, and one of them guiding the flows."

This not only explains the mess Rand made of things at the end of the Ebou Dar campaign (which was compounded by the Ebou Dar Power Anomaly), but also the megalomania displayed by Rand during and after the attack in the Stone in [TSR: 10, The Stone Stands, 136-138]. What insanity? As John Rowat points out, "He went a little nutso, thought he could raise the dead, and it took him an hour or so to realize that he could just fry all the bad guys at once."

 

I'd say the root of the problem is that Rand didn't listen to reason and that the OP was wonky there. Callandor just seemed to exacerbate the problem. However, if Rand lost a 1/3 of his men (around 1600) to kill almost 50,000 seanchan, it wouldn't be so bad aside from the fact that he killed most of the men he lost.

[Suttree]

I'd say the root of the problem is that Rand didn't listen to reason and that the OP was wonky there. Callandor just seemed to exacerbate the problem. However, if Rand lost a 1/3 of his men (around 1600) to kill almost 50,000 seanchan, it wouldn't be so bad aside from the fact that he killed most of the men he lost.

 

Him not listening and his ego ties directly into the descent of his character into Dark Rand. He belived that only he knew best and was going it alone instead of listening to those around him. Again once he used callandor he continued lashing out far after he should have stopped, not even feeling Bashere hit him the first time and conitnued until he was knocked down. That is due to the wildness of the mind caused by callandor. It was absolutely the flaw that caused him to kill so many.

[thisguy]

I'd say the root of the problem is that Rand didn't listen to reason and that the OP was wonky there. Callandor just seemed to exacerbate the problem. However, if Rand lost a 1/3 of his men (around 1600) to kill almost 50,000 seanchan, it wouldn't be so bad aside from the fact that he killed most of the men he lost.

 

Him not listening and his ego ties directly into the descent of his character into Dark Rand. He belived that only he knew best and was going it alone instead of listening to those around him. Again once he used callandor he continued lashing out far after he should have stopped, not even feeling Bashere hit him the first time and conitnued until he was knocked down. That is due to the wildness of the mind caused by callandor. It was absolutely the flaw that caused him to kill so many.

That's what I meant by exacerbate the problem. Like I said, a damane did the exact same thing to the seanchan when launching an attack on their enemies. It's mentioned a few chapters before Rand unleashes. Seems like foreshadowing of what he was going to do. Callandor just made that worse.

dark rand seems to start right at the very end of book 7 when people cry out that he's the King of the World and he says, "yeah, that sounds right," or something along those lines. At the very, very end of the book.