Post by The Creator on Apr 13, 2008 13:57:58 GMT -8
In the beginning, the Creator made the Wheel of Time, which spins the Pattern of the Ages using the lives of men and women as its threads. The Wheel has seven spokes, each representing an age, and it is rotated by the True Source from which the One Power, a source of energy, is drawn. The One Power is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar, which work in opposition and in unison to drive the Wheel; those who can use this power are known as channelers. One organization of such channelers is The White Tower, made up of agents called Aes Sedai, a name meaning "Servants of All" in the Old Tongue.
The Creator imprisoned Shai'tan, known as the Dark One, a powerful, evil being, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, in a time called the age of legends the Dark One was given purchase in the world through the machinations of people who opened his prison, and began his efforts to conquer the world, creation, and even the Wheel itself. In response to this, the Wheel spun out the Dragon, a channeler of immense power, to be a champion for the Light. Due to the cyclical nature of the Wheel, there has been no definitive victory for the forces of the Light; the war has been fought innumerable times since the dawn of Creation. The Dragon would defeat Shai'tan and seal him from the Wheel, only to have him break out (or be released) several millennia later, forcing the Dragon to be reborn and repeat the entire process.
Jordan's novels concern themselves with one particular incarnation of the Dragon. About 3000 years have passed since the last war between Shadow and Light. This war ended when the Dragon, then born as Lews Therin Telamon, led a daring raid to Shayol Ghul and sealed the breach in the Dark One's prison with the help of a group of other male channelers known as the Hundred Companions (female channelers, due to recent gender politics and the extreme risk of the strike, refused to assist). Though Lews Therin succeeded, the Dark One managed to spread a taint on saidin itself, bringing madness and a wasting sickness to any who channeled it. The taint quickly overcame nearly every male channeler in the world, including Lews Therin and his companions, with catastrophic results that radically changed the face of the earth. From then onwards, Lews Therin was also called the "Kinslayer", as one of the last results of his madness was to destroy everyone who carried his blood as well as everyone he loved.
For these reasons, the return of the Dragon is a cause for both hope and fear amongst the populace. On the one hand, the Dragon Reborn is the only person capable of defeating Shai'tan, who will inevitably begin to escape his prison. On the other, the Dragon Reborn will still be prey to the madness caused by the taint of evil in saidin, and is a harbinger of the horrifying fact that Shai'tan is once more breaking free. The only man who can save the world is also the man most likely to destroy it. He must not only work to unite the civilized world against the Dark One, but struggle to stay alive—for, while prophecy indicates he will be reborn, it says nothing as to whether he will succeed...
The Creator imprisoned Shai'tan, known as the Dark One, a powerful, evil being, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, in a time called the age of legends the Dark One was given purchase in the world through the machinations of people who opened his prison, and began his efforts to conquer the world, creation, and even the Wheel itself. In response to this, the Wheel spun out the Dragon, a channeler of immense power, to be a champion for the Light. Due to the cyclical nature of the Wheel, there has been no definitive victory for the forces of the Light; the war has been fought innumerable times since the dawn of Creation. The Dragon would defeat Shai'tan and seal him from the Wheel, only to have him break out (or be released) several millennia later, forcing the Dragon to be reborn and repeat the entire process.
Jordan's novels concern themselves with one particular incarnation of the Dragon. About 3000 years have passed since the last war between Shadow and Light. This war ended when the Dragon, then born as Lews Therin Telamon, led a daring raid to Shayol Ghul and sealed the breach in the Dark One's prison with the help of a group of other male channelers known as the Hundred Companions (female channelers, due to recent gender politics and the extreme risk of the strike, refused to assist). Though Lews Therin succeeded, the Dark One managed to spread a taint on saidin itself, bringing madness and a wasting sickness to any who channeled it. The taint quickly overcame nearly every male channeler in the world, including Lews Therin and his companions, with catastrophic results that radically changed the face of the earth. From then onwards, Lews Therin was also called the "Kinslayer", as one of the last results of his madness was to destroy everyone who carried his blood as well as everyone he loved.
For these reasons, the return of the Dragon is a cause for both hope and fear amongst the populace. On the one hand, the Dragon Reborn is the only person capable of defeating Shai'tan, who will inevitably begin to escape his prison. On the other, the Dragon Reborn will still be prey to the madness caused by the taint of evil in saidin, and is a harbinger of the horrifying fact that Shai'tan is once more breaking free. The only man who can save the world is also the man most likely to destroy it. He must not only work to unite the civilized world against the Dark One, but struggle to stay alive—for, while prophecy indicates he will be reborn, it says nothing as to whether he will succeed...