That seems to be a property of the Horn of Valere. It mixes Tel'Aran'Rihod with the real world in some mysterious way.

Even if many of them died in the attempt, it would be worth the effort if it got him an object.

I think he needed the dagger. Mordeth didn't like the idea of Mat's taking that dagger, and Moiraine said it was much more than a simple rock from SL. Not to mention, Fain himself has shown an affinity to it earlier on.

The Fires of Heaven: Prologue

The Tower held things worth a little patience in its strongrooms. The Horn of Valere was there, the fabled Horn made to call dead heroes back from the grave for the Last Battle. Even most of the Aes Sedai were ignorant of that, but he knew how to sniff out things. The dagger was there. He felt its pull where he stood. He could have pointed to it. It was his, a part of him, stolen and mired away here by these Aes Sedai. Having the dagger would make up for so much lost; he was not sure how, but he was sure he would. For Aridhol lost. Too dangerous to return to Aridhol, perccance to be trapped there again. He shivered. So long trapped. Not again.

This, to me, means something else from SL would complete him in the same way. Not a pebble or rock, of course, but anything from that treasure the three boys saw would suffice, I would think. He is afraid to re-enter SL, for fear of being trapped. But why not send in a few minions on the hope to recover an artifact he can use? He can stay well outside, and just wait for them to return.

I just started my re-read of The Fires of Heaven. Fain is meeting with Elaida, and he is thinking about the Dagger in the storeage rooms in the WT. He needs the Knife, or at least a SL tainted object, to complete himself. He thinks that he couldn't risk going back into Aridhol and maybe get trapped there again, so the Knife is the only option... But, didn't he have a group of ex-White Cloaks under him, and even a trapped Fade? Why not send one of them into SL to fetch something? Even if many of them died in the attempt, it would be worth the effort if it got him an object.

Re: Portal Stones

There are two methods of travel with Portal Stones, inter-world and intra-world. The symbols at the top of the stone bring you to other worlds, the symbols at the bottom bring you to other places within the current world. Maybe there are also ways to go to other places in other worlds, but the books don't discuss this. The key is to hold the appropriate symbols in the mind, and channel into the stone in the proper way. No one except the Forsaken seem to know this "proper way". Rand does it through his unconcious memories of LTT.

Coming back from the mirror world was all Rand, as I see it. Lanfear did point out the symbol for the "real" world. He held the image in his mind and channeled unconciously (LTT helped out big here).

Going to Toman Head, he was told by Verin the correct symbol, but he couldn't concentrate on it properly. He tried to mash two symbols together and the symbols kept changing in his mind. Eventually he got where he wanted to go, but I think that at first LTT was either dormant or shunted aside by Rand at that time. As things fell apart, he let LTT take back over and fix his mistake. But, the cost was that at least a part of the travelers went to many different worlds, and it took several months.

Going to Rhuidean, he had much better mental control, plus he used his Ta'veren luck and Mat's luck to pick the right symbol. He also just let the weaving occur naturally, he didn't know how to do it, but he trusted to fate to bring him to where he wanted to go, and this allowed LTT to control the channeling. All he had to do was hold the right image in his mind.

Also, keep in mind that the Pattern has a firm control of events around Rand and company. Rand just could not be on Toman Head too early. So, either he went by foot and took a few months, encountering adventures and delays along the way, or he went by Portal Stone and lost the same time. The Pattern just would not let him get there too early. Too many things needed to happen before he got there, to allow for that fateful dual-battle between the Light and Shadow.

I think the "Syncing", as you call it, could not happen until Rand was in the right state of mind. If LTT had take over before Rand was open and ready for it, then it would be LTT with Rand in his head, not Rand with all the knowledge and experience of LTT. It has been hinted at that if LTT takes over, then the battle is lost and the shadow wins. Rand must accept and absorb LTT, while still retaining his sense of self. Yes, they are the same, but until Rand is ready and willing to accept that he IS LTT, not just LTT reborn, then there will still be division and strife and he cannot be the Light's Champion. If LTT just takes over, Rand will be the voice in the back of the head, and will he be able to take back control? Will he be able to merge successfully with LTT? Maybe, but probably not before the LB.

I would imagine throwing it into a black hole, or even a star, would do the trick.

I believe it was implied that the AM bond to wife thing was actually a way for the wife to know the husband was safe while out recruiting, fighting for the DR, etc. Or at least the scene where the bond was explained to Rand was put that way. Something about an AM stating that his wife was having some ache or another. Rand asked how he knew, and the guy explained about the bond and how it allowed the wives to know the husbands were still alive and well (could be misremembering the whole thing. It has been a while since I read the books). The compulsion aspect of it was kind of an unexpected bonus. I am sure there are some who would use that part on their wives, but (hopefully) many would not. It does come in handy when capturing AS, though.

There are Wise Ones who can Dream but cannot channel.

Yeah, he could've done that, and maybe should have, but at the time he also didn't spare much time for the BT, arguably a much bigger concern. So, he trusted to Loial and whichever AM it was to get the job done. Re-opening the Waygates would require someone on the outside to open them. Doable since there are so many DFs around, but the cost in Trollocs and Fades who get trapped until the dark side figures out that all the waygates are closed would be huge.

Not disagreeing, per se, just saying that Rand didn't have the time to really handle this personally, and keeping Trollocs and Fades from the majority of the world was accomplished. Yes, Caemlyn was attacked through the waygate, but maybe armies were sent to many other cities and they got trapped. Maybe closing the waygates gave Rand enough time to get through his crisis and reach his epiphany in VoG.

Although that might be a good point, once I think about it. Shadowspawn cannot come into stedding. So, whether or not Shadowspawn are made using the TP or some other force, the DO's influence is greatly reduced in a stedding. So, if Rand and company could duplicate the affects around the bore, it might limit the DO's influence in the rest of the world (then again, maybe not, since the DO's prison is everywhere, it just can be felt better in that one place). Also, can a stedding be artificially created? I know that Far Madding simulates the affect, but it didn't seem to affect Fain, and I would assume that means it has no affect on shadowspawn either, only the OP.

So, two big IF's. If Rand could recreate a stedding, and if doing so at Shayul Ghul will block the DO's power around the globe, then this might be a solution. Far-fetched, sure, but this is magic we're talking about here.

RJ has said the DO is not made up of TP. The TP is merely a force that the DO grants to his followers. The DO is greater than the TP.

She was dumped into a skimming gateway. She is still falling through nothingness.

 

Where was that stated?

 

I have no recollection of that whatsoever...

Hmmm... I don't know why I thought that. That is just what I recall. I'll have to pay more attention on the next read through.

She was dumped into a skimming gateway. She is still falling through nothingness.

Are you asking if, say, Soriela were to sneak up on Lanfear and attempt to sever her, would she succeed? I believe yes (assuming Lanfears quick reflexes do not save her. Soriela would need to invert her weaves and maybe even hide her ability to channel). It is like defending yourself from an arrow you do not see. By the time you realize something is wrong, the arrow is alreay embedded in your body. Shielding seems to be effortless on someone not holding the source, so severing should be equally so.

That off course leads to the question however about whatever or not the target of a severing weave can try to resist it like someone can fight a shield.

Mogi and Nyn had a severing battle. Nyn's severing shield was blunted by Mogi's defence and so it resulted in only a shield.

If the girl/woman is right on the brink of her first channel (as Egwene was when Moiraine found her), then shielding her would be the best option, rather than let her potentially die from ignorantly channeling. Same goes for a man.

 

I completely agree, my comment was just that it might not be wise for the man in question to shield said spark gifted newbie channeler and hand her over to the Aes Sedai as they might be less than friendly towards him.

Hopefully male/female relations will improve, now that the taint is gone.

Seems to me that Gentling was entirely unnecessary. If you find the boy before he has developed any skill, form a circle of 13 with maybe an angreal or two in the mix, create a strong shield around the boy, tie it off and walk away, maybe check up every now and then. The inexperienced boy would be unable to channel, and so not get tainted. They would not be able to break the shield because their psychic muscle would be weak from lack of use. They would not get all depressed from being severed, since shielding causes no permenant damage. They would then move on to lead productive lives and also breed (so no culling affect).

 

Yes that should actually work, hell if they wanted to be sure they could just keep said men at the Tower, give them jobs and so on so they could check that the shield was in place every now and again, the channeler such not take much ill effect from a permanent shield if they had never started to channel properly. The problem is finding a male channeler before he have developed the ability. Female channelers can not feel a male channeler and the only way the Aes Sedai have to detect one is to either see what he is doing as in oh s*** that man just tossed a fireball at me, or to use that weave the Reds have to detect male weave residues and by that time the man would have already started channeling enough to weave and then a permanent shield would be a problem, though probably far less of a problem than gentling, though there is always the danger that he would then find a way to break free. The only way to detect a someone with the spark before they start channeling consciously would probably be something like Cads artifacts, so yes it is a good idea but not easy to put into practice.

Make them warders. That'd keep them close and easy to track down if they got away. As for detecting them, yeah, ter'Angreal would need to be involved, and maybe mapping blood lines to help identify potentials. Still, super difficult and work intensive. Aes Sedai have been shown to be fairly lazy when it comes to menial work, so it would take a strong Amerlyn or 6 to force them to do it until it became tradition.

Maybe a few who were farther along would be able to sense Saidin, and so for them it would be a trial, but they'd get used to it. Just seems to be the better method.

 

If someone have started channeling then being permanently shielded would be rather rough to put it mildly but yes that would leave them with the hope that the shield would be removed one day so it would be far kinder than gentling.

Plus, gentling doesn't get rid of the sense of Saidin, just the ability to actually touch it. So, it would be a 1 to 1 comparison. The bonus is, I believe, that severing actually causes damage. The depression is not merely a symptom of not being able to touch the OP, but a result of physical and spiritual trauma.

It has been described that the channeler feels a resistance when they attempt to shield someone who is holding the OP. If they are strong, this resistance may be enough to block the shield by itself, without any action on the part of the shieldee (say, if Soriela tried to shield Nyn). Other than that, I am not sure there is any sensation of the shield. It has been described that not even the shieldee notices the shield until they try to channel.

 

Someone who is shielded do not feel the shield unless they try to channel or if they where channeling when the shield was put in place then they feel like they have been suddenly dropped into ice cold water. Also yes when someone is holding the Power shielding them is much more difficult and such resistance will be felt, but you are saying that if a random male channeler just sat having his dinner and someone tried to shield him and he did not resist then either he nor the one holding the shield would feel anything until he stated resisting?

This is still unclear. When people are shielded without being aware of it, the shielder seems to be fairly confident that the shield is in place. So, if the shielder knows the shieldee CAN channel, there seems to be no doubt. The doubt only comes into play if the shielder does not know if the shieldee can actually channel. In cases of gentling, they would be sure that the weave itself was functioning, and in the right place, so whether or not the male can actually channel is a moot point. The end result is they cannot channel, whether they were able to before or not. So, when in doubt, sever. If you do not want a permenant solution, and are unsure, then you'll either have to take the chance they cannot channel, or maintain the shield until you are ready to release them.

If the girl/woman is right on the brink of her first channel (as Egwene was when Moiraine found her), then shielding her would be the best option, rather than let her potentially die from ignorantly channeling. Same goes for a man.

Seems to me that Gentling was entirely unnecessary. If you find the boy before he has developed any skill, form a circle of 13 with maybe an angreal or two in the mix, create a strong shield around the boy, tie it off and walk away, maybe check up every now and then. The inexperienced boy would be unable to channel, and so not get tainted. They would not be able to break the shield because their psychic muscle would be weak from lack of use. They would not get all depressed from being severed, since shielding causes no permenant damage. They would then move on to lead productive lives and also breed (so no culling affect). Maybe a few who were farther along would be able to sense Saidin, and so for them it would be a trial, but they'd get used to it. Just seems to be the better method. If a man somehow learns to channel and causes mischief, then sure, gentle them, especially if they proclaimed themselves as Dragons, or are especially powerful or showing tendencies of madness.

Or is all they can do to wave around with a sharp Spirit weave and hope they hit something and watch the subject's reaction to see if they where successful or not?

It has been described that the channeler feels a resistance when they attempt to shield someone who is holding the OP. If they are strong, this resistance may be enough to block the shield by itself, without any action on the part of the shieldee (say, if Soriela tried to shield Nyn). Other than that, I am not sure there is any sensation of the shield. It has been described that not even the shieldee notices the shield until they try to channel.

I think that a shield can be placed on a mundane, though without any evidence to back it up. It would be totally useless, of course, but possible. Reds do attempt to sever Elyas, after all. It did nothing, because he can't channel, but the weaves themselves probably passed between Elyas and the source. He just doesn't have the ability to reach out and sieze Saidin, or even sense it. Shielding a learner, or even a sparker, before they learn to channel would be a great way to prevent them from ever channeling, as they wouldn't develope the psychic muscle to break the shield. This may just be a great way to save a sparker before you can teach them, though honestly it might just be easier to gently guide them to their first channeling. But if a man is sure that a woman is a sparker, it might be best to shield her until he can bring her to a female who can teach her, and vice versa.

Once she was told about Shaiel by the Wise Ones, yes, she would have very easily figured it out. Before that, however, Tigraine had just disappeared and no one knew where or how. She just wandered off one day and, for all anyone knew, was killed by bandits or jumped off a cliff. Too thin of a thread to be sure of Rand over the others. After the company went to the Waste, however, Moiraine would have had no doubt on Rand's lineage.

Moiraine was most likely not told about Tigraine, else she would have connected some dots much sooner, I think.

Tigraine went to the Aiel.

Rand looks like Tigraine and an Aiel.

Therefore, Rand was not born in the Two Rivers.

Therefore, she doesn't need Mat or Perrin.

Evidently he looks enough like her, though, for people to comment on it, despite the difference in sexes and the added Aiel blood. Elayne comments that he looks like the pictures of Tigraine she had seen. I don't remember who else said something similar, but I am pretty sure a few people say so independantly.

Maybe Luc knew where Tigraine went. Didn't he head to the blight at the same time that TIgraine went to the waste, at the prompting of Gitara Moroso? *looks it up* I guess he left a year or two before. Still, he would recognize her son, I'd think, if even strangers comment on the similarity.

Galad

I am pretty sure that was a lie from Suian. I'll have to look for the passage, but at one point she thinks to herself that it is good that the AS don't know she can lie, directly after mentioning Logain and the Reds.

Speaking of bonds with Rand, Fain's bond with Rand is getting pushed out more and more. DIdn't he faint when Elayne, Min, and Avi bonded Rand? Does anyone think his bond will play an important role in the next book? I used to think it'd be central, and I suppose it still might be if you consider Fain to be the wildcard necessary to seal the bore without letting the DO touch the OP in any way, but it seems like RJ was trying to push the bond out of the equation.