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1.4.5: Shaidar Haran, Superfade

[Bryon Wasserman, J. R. Feehan, Pam Korda, Fred Van Keuls]

What do we know about Shaidar Haran?

1. The DO holds him in high regard (see the prologue of LOC).
2. He has a considerable amount of power in his own right. The DO's favor can be capricious and the Forsaken sometimes do not obey him absolutely (for example, Graendal believes she can get Sammael to kill Rand even though it is forbidden). Since SH taunts and insults the Forsaken he probably can take care of himself.
3. He has the ability to keep men and women, or maybe just those sworn to the Shadow, from channelling. This is from: 1) the prologue of LOC where Aran'gar and Osan'gar cannot channel. Both channel saidin. 2) [ACOS: 25, Mindtrap, 416], where Moggy is blocked off from the OP while she is SH's prisoner. 3) [TPOD: 12, New Alliances, 266], where he appears to Graendal, and cuts her off from the OP. While the first two examples take place at Shayol Ghul, and thus could conceivably be attributed to the DO, the Graendal scene occurs far from SG, and thus proves that the ability is SH's.
4. In addition to the shielding power, and the usual Fade powers, SH seems to have other unusual abilities. He burned a spear to ash while watching the Shaido at the end of ACOS. He also seems to have created the "black globe of light" when bringing Graendal to heel in [TPOD: 12, New Alliances, 266]. These abilities may indicate that SH can use the TP (the only alternative to the OP that we've seen thus far).
5. The DO trusts him to give directions to the Forsaken and manage things.
6. He has sufficient knowledge of the world to organize Halima's scheme in Salidar.
7. He has not been visibly active until recently, yet he seems to act as the DO's majordomo, keeping the Forsaken in line, etc.
8. Unlike the Forsaken, he is apparently absolutely secure in his position, whatever that is.
9. He is fundamentally different from other Fades. Apart from size, he has abilities other Myrddraal do not (see #3), and has a sense of pleasure, however twisted: "Far more cruel than Trollocs... Myrddraal were cold and dispassionate in it. SH often showed amusement, though." [ACOS: 25, Mindtrap, 416] He can tell the difference between saidin and saidar [ACOS: 40, Spears, 636].
10. He wants to have more freedom of movement than he currently has: [ACOS: 40, Spears, 637] "A faint weakness washed along its limbs. Too long away from Shayol Ghul. That tie had to be severed somehow." It is not clear whether the constraint is due to the DO's control, or whether it is a side-effect of the DO's imprisonment. In any case, that POV bit shows that SH has some independent thought, apart from the will of the DO.
11. SH describes his position: "When I speak, you may consider that you hear the voice of the Great Lord of the Dark.... I am his hand in this world, Graendal. When you stand before me, you stand before him." [TPOD: 12, New Alliances, 267]

One possibility that has been brought up is that SH is Ishamael re-incarnated. This would fit with criteria 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9 and possibly 3 (True Power, perhaps?). Ishamael's old Trolloc nickname was Ba'alzamon, "Heart of the Dark"; while Shaidar Haran means "Hand of the Dark/Shadow." Pretty similar, although it could very easily be a coincidence. However, Shaidar Haran has neither done nor said anything to indicate that he has had a previous existence, and isn't just a new model of Fade. All of SH's attributes can be explained by assuming that he was specially created by the DO to have those attributes. Finally, from the information we get about Moridin in ACOS, TPOD, and WH (See section 1.2.3), Moridin is indubitably Ishamael. To head off the obvious loony idea at the pass, recall that we've seen SH's thoughts in [ACOS: 40, Spears, 636-637], and Moridin's in [TPOD: Prologue, Deceptive Appearances, 42-44] and [TPOD: 2, Unweaving, 81-84], and they are clearly not the same person. (For one thing, Moridin has eyes, unlike SH.)

Yet Another SH theory is that SH is a physical/corporeal manifestation of the DO. This is supported by the fact that the DO refers to SH as "MY HAND." [ACOS: 25, Mindtrap, 414]. This theory would satisfy the above criteria, although it raises some questions about how the DO can be in two places at once, i.e. in the Pit of Doom and in Shaidar Haran. Also, SH seems to have an independent will, as evidenced by his desire to free himself of his bond to SG: [ACOS 40, Spears, 637] "A faint weakness washed along its limbs. Too long away from Shayol Ghul. That tie had to be severed somehow." If SH is simply a manifestation of the DO, then why would it desire to be free to move around as it wished? It would instead be wishing to be free of its prison, in no uncertain terms.

Of course, SH could very well be just what he seems: the DO's spokesmyrddraal.

One big unanswered question is that of the relationship between SH and Moridin. Between the two of them, who is the boss? They seem to be working in cooperation. For example, SH breaks Moggy down prior to her delivery to Moridin, and he appears to Graendal to send her to meet Moridin. We haven't seen the two of them (Moridin and SH) interact, and in the sections from their points of view, they don't happen to think about each other.

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