Saidin Is
📁 The Taint of Saidar and Saidin
👤 Pagemaster
📅 1998-07-24
💬 2 replies
I think that saidar is not tainted-only saidin is tainted, because only males made the strike at Shayol Ghul. However, I agree with some things in the posting-during the Age of Legends, Aes Sedai probably married Aes Sedai, with a few exceptions. This is probably true because of the "Slowing", or less rapid ageing of the body caused by channeling. One man or women could bury five or six spouses. The ability to channel is a double recessive gene... therefore, the children of two channelers would automatically channel. (I'm not sure where individual strenth comes from,though. In the Age of Legends, the amount of channelers was probably atleast five times the present amount, both because male channelers could reproduce before they died, and because Aes Sedai had no White Tower looking down on marriage. I don't think that Saidar is tainted. The reason the number of channelers is deacreasing is because of the genetics,and the ethics of channelers marrying (everybody is afraid of Aes Sedai, and besides Rand's case, channelers don't marry). By the way, for the reference of the genetics of channeling, see pg. 30, paragraph 3 of Robert Jordan's Guide to the World of the Wheel of Time.
Replies (2)
Tamyrlin #1
1998-07-24 Thanks for the reference of the genetics stuff, I was starting to think everyone was just pulling that out of the air. Question, if Saidin is tainted how did the Aes Sedai make the Eye of the World(to my understanding this was done after the backlash on Saidin.)?
Pagemaster #2
1998-07-29 Tamyrlin brought up a good point: how did they make the Eye of the World, if saidin was tainted. I think that whe linked, saidar slightly dampens the effect of the taint. Remember, the male channeler is always in control of the link, and can decide when to end it, but only saidin was tainted. Saidin itself isn't actually tainted. When you draw in the Power, the taint isn't part of it. It coats the outside, so that to reach saidin, you must pass through it. That's why when Rand couldn't channel yet, and he tried, and the taint rolled off into him, but not the Power. He only reached the edge of it, there for getting the taint but not the Power. When linked, though, it is probably like the Power blends. Maybe, in this fashion, the taint is dampened, and both females, and males get it. I think that the Eye of the World had no taint because saidin itself had no taint, its just surrounded by it. By the way, is the Horn of Valere a ter'angreal? Its function might be to let the peoples of Tel into the world.