Question about the Warder bond

[SeenZ]

OK so I just finished my second re-read of WOT, and started thinking about this... when Moiraine fell through the arch with Lanfear, why did her warder bond break? She didn't die, after all. And it broke immediately cos Lan said so. But she went in, asked them questions, got an angreal and was then trapped. She's been to the world of the Eelfinns before without anything happening to the bond. My problem is, the bond should not have broken. She could have released the bond, but then Lan wouldn't have gone into crazy-mode.

 

And after this, why DIDN'T Rand's bond break when he became Moridin?

 

A small imperfection in my perfect series... someone plz explain? :(

[Aniere]

One can only guess Moiraine broke the bond on purpose. She knew what was about to happen and if Lan ran in after her, he would be killed, so she must have found a way to break it off. I don't recall any time another Aes Sedai broke their bond in the books, only that they said it was painful? Perhaps severing the bond makes it feel like the other person has died, I imagine Moiraine was under the same emotional strain.

I think Rand's bond was to his soul, not his body, thus the bond went with him. *nods*

[BFG]

When Moiraine's bond was severed it coincided with the destruction of the gate and the 'closure' of the passageway between the dimensions. The other 'gate' (in the Stone) was still 'open', but it's possible it was closed to her as she'd already been through once. So it was possibly the being trapped in different dimensions that caused the severing.

[jack of shadows]

@seenZ,

bfg is right,after moiraine shoved lanfear through the twisted doorframe it caught on

fire and melted,therefore severing the connection between dimensions effectively  ending 

the bond between lan and moiraine.

regarding rand,to the best of my knowledge,the bond connects two(or more) people's souls

not their bodies,so when rand completed the body-swap with moridin the bond with his three

lovers remained intact(rand's soul didn't die during the body-swap).

incidentally,rand didn't become moridin,rand is still rand,he is just in a different body now.

[Suttree]

Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

Terez

Why did Moiraine's bond with Lan break when the doorway burned? Did she intentionally release it?

Brandon Sanderson

She did not intentionally release it. RJ has something about this in the notes, but I don't have the quote handy. It basically has to do with the severing of the link between worlds.

[mb]

Some older threads speculated about Moiraine's bond.

the link between worlds theory I supported.

[Aniere]

It dawned on me the other day that Egwene released her bond with Leilwin as well, so, that is the only explanation. *nods*

[SeenZ]

Thanks folks, I guess it was because of the destruction of the gateway then.

[mb]

"doorway" or "door" seems more accurate than "gateway".  gateway would be if a channeler wove Traveling or Skimming.

[Sabio]

We know Moriane  didn't release the bond, because if she had Lan wouldn't of felt the grief of losing his Aes sedai.  The Fact lan felt the way he did shows the link was severed as if his Aes Sedai died only reason he din't ride off an die was because Moriane made sure his bond would pass to another at her  death so that lessened the effect of her death.  Look at Rand when Moridin killed the Aes Sedai who was bonded to him, she was able to release it in time and Rand felt no ill effect of being released. 

 

Since Rand never actually died, the bonds remained tied to his soul.  All rand did was somehow force out Moridins soul and into his body while moving his soul into Moridin's body. 

[jack of shadows]

@sabio,

it remains debatable whether rand did force the body-swap or it was 

a consenting arrangement between the two of them.

we (yourself included) already had a discussion about the body-swap in rand's arc.

[Sabio]

Not to highjack the topic but can't see Mordin willingly agreeing to that.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Not to highjack the topic but can't see Mordin willingly agreeing to that.

 

I doubt he agreed from the start, but once the DO was sealed and Rand had won, I can see Moridin giving up and agreeing. After all, he wants total oblivion. He didn't exactly get it, but I doubt he would want to stay alive. 

 

Anyway, back on topic: 

 

Yeah, the bond was severed because the connection between worlds was lost. 

 

Rand's bonds didn't break I would say because he was always 'alive' and the bond is between the soul. Death separates the bond from the soul, but switching bodies is cool. We see that when switching bodies (the Forsaken) all of their memories and talents remain, just in a new 'meatbag'. 

 

It seems that crossing over 'realms' severs bonds. Death could be considered passing from one realm to another. Of course, when there is a connection to the other world, the bond is not affected (Ie; the Doorways) When the connection is severed, so is the bond. 

 

Rand only moved bodies, but stayed in the realm of the living. 

[Orderofolde]

@seenZ,

bfg is right,after moiraine shoved lanfear through the twisted doorframe it caught on

fire and melted,therefore severing the connection between dimensions effectively  ending 

the bond between lan and moiraine.

regarding rand,to the best of my knowledge,the bond connects two(or more) people's souls

not their bodies,so when rand completed the body-swap with moridin the bond with his three

lovers remained intact(rand's soul didn't die during the body-swap).

incidentally,rand didn't become moridin,rand is still rand,he is just in a different body now.

This is very true, only...we've forgotten about the Tower of Ghenjei.  It still exists and is the last and only connection that we know to the realm of the Finns.  My take on it would have the bond so strained that it could not route itself that great distance through the tower and severed as if Moiraine had died, or the easier connection would be the bond's passing on.  We know that she did not release his bond as he was torn between the warder rage and the amendment she made to the bond to pass it to Myrelle.