Welcome back to another edition of "WoT If?". As promised last week, we're going to take a closer look at who the ALL CAPS voice is at the end of The Eye of the World and what exactly its message means.

Spoiler warning! This will include content from many books in the series, including Towers of Midnight, and speculation about A Memory of Light. Please read at your own risk.

Let's start with a look at the quote we'll be examining. Here's just a quick reminder of what's been going on up to this point. Rand and Aginor both tried to draw the Power of the Eye. Aginor, I'd assume, was consumed by the Eye, or perhaps drew too much of the One Power. Either way, Rand took the Power, and Traveled to Tarwin's Gap where Lord Agelmar's men were fighting the assembled Trollocs, Fades, and Draghkar. Rand lashed out at the Shadowspawn with the Power from the Eye. Then:

The Eye of the World

Chapter 51, "Against the Shadow"

 

The wind died. The screams died. The earth was still. Dust and smoke swirled back down the pass to surround him.

 

“The Light blind you, Ba'alzamon! This has to end!”

 

IT IS NOT HERE.

 

It was not Rand's thought, making his skull vibrate.

 

I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL.

 

“Where?” He did not want to say it, but he could not stop himself. “Where?”

 

The haze surrounding him parted, leaving a dome of clear, clean air ten spans high, walled by billowing smoke and dust. Steps rose before him, each standing alone and unsupported, stretching up into the murk that obscured the sun.

 

NOT HERE.

 

Through the mist, as from the far end of the earth, came a cry. “The Light wills it!” The ground rumbled with the thunder of hooves as the forces of humankind launched their last charge.

What the words mean depends on who is speaking. So, let's start with the obvious choice: the Creator.

Many assume it's the Creator because of the similarity to the ALL CAPS way the Dark One talks to the Forsaken. If one Deity speaks that way, it's safe to assume the other half does as well. After all, the Wheel of Time world is based on balance. So, what else makes us think it's the Creator?

First, Rand is filled with Light and Power, which we associate with the Creator, because he is Light. Also, we know that the Dragon Reborn is the Light's Champion (Lord of Chaos, Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow"), so we know the Creator is on his side.

But, we have a quote from Robert Jordan talking about the contact between Rand and the Creator:

Robert Jordan: Rand has no direct connection with the Creator. The Creator is completely removed from the world; aside from...creating...the Pattern, he does nothing else whatsoever to influence anything.

From the sounds of this, the ALL CAPS voice can't possibly be the Creator. But in another interview, the subject comes up again with a kind of different answer:

Paul Ward: Possible question: Is the Dark One pure True Power? Why does the Creator ignore Randland except to talk to Rand at the end of The Eye of the World?

 

Robert Jordan: No, the Dark One is not pure True Power. Who says the Creator takes little interest in the activities of mankind? And I will neither confirm nor deny that the Creator spoke to Rand.

Is this second statement contradictory? Well, even if the Creator can't influence Randland, it doesn't necessarily mean he's not interested.

Let's assume for a moment that it is the Creator. What the heck does it all mean? The first thing the voice says is, "It is not here." Before that line, Rand says, "This has to end!"; "this" meaning the war between himself and Ba'alzamon, between the Light and the Shadow. So the "it" refers to the same thing, by the laws of English grammar. The voice is telling him the fight won't take place here. That's logical because the next thing that happens is Rand climbing a set of stairs (similar to his Skimming experience chasing Asmodean in The Shadow Rising, Chapter 58, "The Traps of Rhuidean"), which take him to Ba'alzamon.

Next, "I will take no part." This coincides with what Robert Jordan said about the Creator taking no active role. "Only the chosen one can do what must be done, if he wills." The chosen one is Rand; what must be done is fighting the Shadow (maybe even Tarmon Gai'don). The "if he wills" is interesting because that seems to be a major theme within the series. There are times when Rand wants to leave or do something different, but feels like the pattern forces him. Tam points out to him that he still has a choice:

The Gathering Storm

Chapter 47, "The One He Lost"

 

"I'm going to die at the end of this," Rand said. "And I have no choice."

 

Tam stood up straight, frowning. In an instant, Rand felt that he was twelve years old again. "I won't have talk like that," Tam said. "Even if you're the Dragon Reborn, I won't listen to it. You always have a choice. Maybe you can't pick where you are forced to go, but you still have a choice."

The voice of the Creator, too, seems to imply Rand has a choice.

Who else could the voice be? Well, since the only other place we see ALL CAPS is from the Dark One, is it possible that it's the Dark One?

I know, I know. Why would the Dark One talk to Rand at all? Also, it might not even be possible because Rand's not close enough to the Bore. However, Robert Jordan said Rand and the Creator had no connection, so it might be possible.

If it was the Dark One, what does it mean? Rand's declaration of "This has to end!" can be answered by the Dark One in much the same way. "It is not here," means the battle between the Dark One's Champion and Rand cannot happen here and now. "I will take no part" might be true for the Dark One as well. The Bore into his prison is quite small, to my understanding. Even if the seals all break, he can't just leap out—or else he would have done so during the War of the Shadow. He could only influence small events, and that's mostly because of his ability to communicate with the Forsaken one-on-one. When the seals fail, he still might not be able to take part, leaving his Nae'blis, Moridin, to battle as his Champion. Again, in a world based on balance, it seems likely that it will come down to a fight between the two Champions.

And what of "Only the chosen one…"? It never says which chosen one. It could just as easily be talking about Ishamael—who claimed to be the Champion in past Ages.

There are a few points against this theory. First, Rand's not filled with ecstasy as the voice talks to him. In every scene we see of the Forsaken talking to the Dark One, they are overcome with the pleasure of his voice. That's completely missing from this description. Also, motivation. Why would the Dark One want to talk to Rand at all?

Besides the obvious two, who else could the voice possibly be? Well, what about Lews Therin, or some other past life of Rand's? The Soul of the Dragon, if you will. This one might seem a bit of a stretch, but it could work.

Let's focus on the phrase, "Only the chosen one…". If this was a stream of consciousness—from the Power of the Eye—between Rand and his past/future lives, the chosen one could refer to Rand himself. Why was it Rand, not Lews Therin, or any previous incarnation, who was spun out to fight the Last Battle? Why was it so important for it to be Rand in this situation? We get pretty strong implications that every detail of Rand's life helped shape him into who and what he needs to be to win. It had to be Rand, not Lews Therin. Here's why:

Towers of Midnight

Chapter 51, "A Testing"

 

"But you're him [Lews Therin], too. You talk like you were the one who tried to seal the Bore. Like you knew the Forsaken personally."

 

Rand rode in silence for a time. "I suppose I am him. But Min, what you're missing is this: I may be him now, but he was always me as well. I was always him. I'm not going to change just because I remember—I was the same. I'm me. And I always have been me."

 

"Lews Therin was mad."

 

"At the end," Rand said. "And yes, he made mistakes. I made mistakes. I grew arrogant, desperate. But there's a difference this time. A great one."

 

"What difference?"

 

He smiled. "This time, I was raised better."

 

Min found herself smiling as well.

 

"You know me, Min. Well, I promise you, I feel more like myself now than I have in months. I feel more like myself than I ever did as Lews Therin, if that makes any kind of sense. It's because of Tam, because of the people around me. You, Perrin, Nynaeve, Mat, Aviendha, Elayne, Moiraine. He tried very hard to break me. I think if I'd been the same as I was so long ago, he would have succeeded."

So, out of all the previous/future lives of the Dragon, Rand is the Chosen One. He had to be this version of the Dragon in order to win the Last Battle. It's a combination of Rand and the people around him that will be able to defeat the Dark One during Tarmon Gai'don.

The phrase "I will take no part" makes sense too. Because it can't be Lews Therin, or the next Dragon, it can only be Rand himself. However, if it was the Dragon's Soul talking, why is it in ALL CAPS? When Lews Therin begins to appear in Rand's mind, he doesn't talk in ALL CAPS. Perhaps it's just the Power of the Eye broadcasting the Dragon's Soul's message loud and clear?

Okay, there's one other option I thought of in terms of the voice. I'm sure there's more, and I hope they'll get posted in the comments section. My last idea is that the voice could be a recorded message from the Aes Sedai who made the Eye.

We see only a little bit of detail about the making of the Eye in The Shadow Rising, when Rand goes through the Glass Columns in Rhuidean.

The Shadow Rising

Chapter 26, "The Dedicated"

 

Half a dozen Aes Sedai stood around the long table, arguing, apparently not noticing when the building trembled. They were all women.

 

He shivered, wondering if men would ever stand in a meeting such as this again. When he saw what was on the table, the shiver became a shudder. A crystal sword—perhaps an object of the Power, perhaps only an ornament; he had no way of telling—held down the Dragon banner of Lews Therin Kinslayer, spread out like a tablecloth and spilling onto the floor. His heart clenched. What was that doing here? Why had it not been destroyed, and memory of the cursed man as well?

 

“What good is your Foretelling,” Oselle was almost shouting, “if you cannot tell us when?” Her long black hair swayed as she shook with anger. “The world rests on this! The future! The Wheel itself!”

 

Dark eyed Deindre faced her with a more usual calm. “I am not the Creator. I can only tell you what I Foretell.”

 

“Peace, sisters.” Solinda was the calmest of them all, her old-fashioned streith gown only a pale blue mist. The sun-red hair falling to her waist was nearly the color of his own. His greatfather had served her as a young man, but she looked younger than he; she was Aes Sedai. “The time for contention among ourselves is past. Jaric and Haindar will both be here by tomorrow.”

 

“Which means we cannot afford mistakes, Solinda.”

 

“We must know...”

 

“Is there any chance of... ?”

 

…

 

“Can we trust Kodam and his fellows, Solinda?”

 

“We must, Oselle. They are young and inexperienced, but barely touched by the taint, and... And we have no choice.”

From this, we see that the Aes Sedai—all women—have Callandor and the Dragon's Banner. Because they have those items, I'm assuming they have the Horn of Valere, as well. Which means they are the ones planning on making the Eye. The later quote shows that they are including men in the circle to clean the bit of saidin inside the Eye.

With these Aes Sedai gathering, giving up their life force to cleanse the Eye, is it possible they left behind a message? I think so. The "I will take no part" phrase is very accurate; the voice is there to give a message, a hint, not do anything active with the Power. They would also know "it is not here" because the Eye was given to the Green Man, which is close to the Bore, but not right next to it. "Only the chosen one…" makes sense too. They knew, by Foretelling, that Rand would be born and would need those items.

The only counter I can argue is that the voice refers to itself as "I" not "we." Perhaps the group of Aes Sedai picked one member to leave the message, though.

Hopefully, the question of who the ALL CAPS voice is will be answered in A Memory of Light. I think there's still a few random tidbits to theorize about in regards to the conclusion of The Eye of the World. So, next week, we'll have a third—and final—installment focusing on the Eye.