Magic Systems and the Dark One's Domain

[Turin Turambar]

So there are actually multiple magic systems apparent in WoT. I'm going to list them, and if anyone want to add, I guess that's what the comments are for. 

          A. Saidin - the male half of the source.

          B. Saidar - the female half of the source. I think they're two distinct things. I can't really explain why, but they're like the good yin-yang sort of thing.

         C. Tel-aran-rhiod - world of dreams. This is also the wolf realm. It's possible that Randland is just a really strong dream shard or whatever they are called in the world of dreams. I think this is possible because in the novels they mention a few times alternate dimensions, and other people fighting the last battle. Also I suspect that the Aelfin and their pair may exist in an alternate realm here.

        D. The Pattern - this sort of drives time and people. It's a really important thing.

        E. The Creator and the Dark One. - Ok, this is going to get tricky. My theory is that it was actually a pantheon, with multiple dieties. Perhaps the dark one killed off his peers, or they still exist and just aren't interacting with the world. As for the creator, maybe he's just a good diety, perhaps it's an Eru-Valar situation, perhaps the creator is equivalent to Zeus or Chronos to use Greek mythology examples.

         F. I'm sure I missed stuff.

Tell me if I missed anything, and what do you think of my theory of the Dark One.

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Turin Turambar

[Wyndlerunner]

You missed out on the True Power, which is essentially the Dark One's form of the One Power, with no separation between male and female.

As for your theory, I tend to fall more in the camp that the Dark One exists to balance the Creator, given the heavy Yin-Yang imagery in the series. So essentially if one exists the other will. This was the big point of Rand's confrontation with the Dark One in AMoL- the fact that the reality where he killed the Dark One was just as bad as the one where D.O. won. Evil will always exist to balance good. The Soul of Lews Therin and the soul of Elan Morin Tedronai (Ishamael/Moridin) have fought time without end, according to Ishamael's philosophical theory.

[Turin Turambar]

When Rand was talking to the Dark One in the end, he said (and this is going to be an awful misquote) "You aren't the lord of death - you never were. Death is not your domain. Yours is lies. You can't grant oblivion." It sounds like he's not omnipotent, and that makes me think of a pantheon. You're right though, I forgot the One Power. It's strange, though, that the creator has both Saidin and Saidar, which are in effect the same system but for male and female, but the Dark One has but one, gender irrelevant system. 

[Wyndlerunner]

21 hours ago, Turin Turambar said:

When Rand was talking to the Dark One in the end, he said (and this is going to be an awful misquote) "You aren't the lord of death - you never were. Death is not your domain. Yours is lies. You can't grant oblivion." It sounds like he's not omnipotent, and that makes me think of a pantheon. You're right though, I forgot the One Power. It's strange, though, that the creator has both Saidin and Saidar, which are in effect the same system but for male and female, but the Dark One has but one, gender irrelevant system. 

I don't think the point of the Dark One as a character was to be a 'God' as it were in the way of Morgoth or Sauron, but rather as a force personified. A darkness created by the presence of Light. Dark One is unable to change, unlike a god, who would be capable of change. Added on to that, I just don't see a pantheon kind of vibe within the story's symbolism. (Heavy emphasis on halves- Saidin and Saidar, Sul'dam and Damane, Aes Sedai and their Warders, Even the two halves of the White tower. Dichotomy)

 

[Turin Turambar]

Fair. So whose domain is death? That tends to be a "dark" power.

[Wyndlerunner]

14 hours ago, Turin Turambar said:

Fair. So whose domain is death? That tends to be a "dark" power.

I attribute death to the Creator, after all, Life and Death are inseperable.

[Turin Turambar]

So if life and death are "good," wouldn't bad be stasis?