Ogier

I've come up with a theory about the Ogier. It started out as a possible link between the Longing and the taint on saidin, and has evolved a bit (especially when I looked at Mashardaman's theory "Ogier and the One Power").

First of all, consider the facts we know about the Longing:

1) It started during the Breaking. Before, Ogier were able to leave their stedding at will for any length of time.

2) It affects different Ogier differently - specifically, it appears to affect some Ogier much quicker than others.

3) It goes away as soon as the stedding is entered, but any ill effects caused by it remain. (For example, the Ogier who remained with the Sea Folk for ten years - Dalar - was forced to walk with the aid of a stick on returning to the stedding).

These three points hint at the possibility that Ogier are somehow linked to saidin, and that the Longing is the taint's effect - compare point 2 with how the taint affects male channelers, and point 3 with how the madness/rotting sickness is arrested, but not cured, once the link to saidin is severed.

This would also lead to the interesting possibility that should such a thing as an Ogier Darkfriend exist, they might be immune to the Longing.

Now for some more Ogier facts:

4) Ogier have several talents - the eldest of Stedding Tsofu can sense ta'veren. Loial, of course, can Treesing (and can possibly sense ta'veren also - recall in The Eye of the World how he suddenly announces that Rand, Mat and Perrin are all ta'veren, before Moiraine had worked it out.) Mashardaman's theory mentioned their massive skill in stonework, and there is the Ogier sensitivity to the mood of a place.

5) Ogier are very long-lived compared to the average human - this is perhaps just a species trait, but consider that some of the Kin have reached 400 years old, and Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends often reached that age and much more.

Now, as there is the possibility that Ogier are linked to saidin, might they not also be linked to saidar as well? Ogier certainly predate the Breaking of the World, and so they existed in a time when the two halves of the Power were used together for many things. Furthermore, I'd guess that the entire species may even be a genetic construct (such as the Nym) from the Age of Legends, not only created with the aid of the Power, but also designed to use it in certain ways - just as Aes Sedai could be likened to an angreal (can concentrate the Power and use it for many things), maybe Ogier can be likened to a kind of organic Ter'angreal - built to perform specific tasks with the Power (Treesinging and so on) but also be living, breathing creatures. Perhaps the whole race started as an Age of Legends experiment to determine whether a new life form could be created that could use the Power.

The only thing I'm looking for an explanation for is the stedding themselves. There's evidence that they are shields of some sort (they cannot be entered in Tel'aran'rhiod, just as the shield around Rhuidean prevented access) but not what they shield against (except the One Power). One possibility is that they didn't always exist, but were set up as shields against the Shadow at some point during the Collapse, but I guess that this is one thing we'll never find out about for sure.

wotmania says: Well, first the part of the theory I have a problem with - the Ogier were definitely not created during the Age of Legends. It says pretty clearly in The Guide that the Ogier are a natural species (unlike the Nym or the Trollocs). Beside that point, though, I like some of the parallels between the Longing and taint on saidin. It would be interesting if the Ogier have some kind of link to the Power which we have not truly seen yet... I do not know if we will ever learn more about this, but it is certainly an interesting topic to discuss.