[ Contents | Administrivia | The Shadow | Non-Dark | Sources | Prophecy | Publishing ]

2.6.1: What is the deal with Callandor? Who will use it?

The "Into the heart" prophecy (see section 4.5) suggested that maybe somebody besides Rand would remove Callandor from the Stone: "Who draws it out shall follow after". In TPOD this did happen, although not in a very dramatic fashion. Narishma went to Tear to retrieve the Sword That Ain't for Rand. Bo-ring. Fortunately for our active imaginations, we got lots of new fodder for Callandor theories.

What's the deal with the "flaw"?

"It is flawed, lacking the buffer that makes other sa'angreal safe to use. And it apparently magnifies the taint, inducing wildness of the mind. So long as a man is using it, anyway. The only safe way for you to use The Sword That Is Not a Sword, the only way to use it without the risk of killing yourself, or trying to do the Light alone knows what insanity, is linked with two women, and one of them guiding the flows."

This not only explains the mess Rand made of things at the end of the Ebou Dar campaign (which was compounded by the Ebou Dar Power Anomaly), but also the megalomania displayed by Rand during and after the attack in the Stone in [TSR: 10, The Stone Stands, 136-138]. What insanity? As John Rowat points out, "He went a little nutso, thought he could raise the dead, and it took him an hour or so to realize that he could just fry all the bad guys at once." Also, it explains a statement by SS in [TDR: 29, A Trap to Spring, 276] in which she refers to a woman wielding Callandor. In particular, she's talking to Ny, and says, "With Callandor in your hands, child, you could level a city at one blow." Previously, that seemed really silly, since Callandor was, as far as we knew, a male-only sa'angreal. However, Cadsuane's statement indicates that Callandor can at least be used by a circle of two women and one man, with a woman controlling the flows (and thus, effectively, wielding the Sword That Ain't). Given that SS has made the Dragon Reborn her life's work, it is reasonable to suppose that she may have discovered and read the same moldy documents as Cadsuane.

Now we must ask, why was the thing flawed in the first place? John Novak gives us some ideas:

"Given that it was made in the shape of a sword and seems to have no other real purpose than as a weapon, I think it is safe to say that it was created either during or after the War of Power. In either of these cases, it was probably the result of one serious-assed QRC (Quick Response Contract). That alone will increase the probability that things aren't exactly up to specifications. Further, if it was made after the war, then by definition it was made after the Taint was created by the Dark One. I would hazard a guess that men are needed to make a male-oriented angreal or sa'angreal, so there's another potential reason for it to be screwed up. Hell, for all we know, that was the last attempt ever made at creating a male (sa')angreal."

Who will use Callandor?

This may well be the fulfillment of Egwene's dream of a dark young man holding something glowing in [ACOS: 10, Unseen Eyes, 203], though the vague wording means we can't be certain.

[ Previous Section | Previous | Section Contents | Next | Next Section ]

[ Contents | Administrivia | The Shadow | Non-Dark | Sources | Prophecy | Publishing ]

Illustrations © 1989-2000 by Tor Books.