Ta'veren serve the wheel, not the other way around

I have been reading theories regarding Ta’veren (and Dark Ta'veren) and I notice that there is a big misconception about them. Everyone seems to feel that Ta’veren are free to do whatever they want, that the pattern will just whip up around them and alter itself for the Ta’veren; anything to help them accomplish their goals. I believe that many of us are harboring misconceptions about the power that Ta’veren have, both over the world around them and their own lives.

In The Great Hunt Loial has this to say about being Ta’veren:

”For a time, the wheel will bend the pattern around you three, whatever you do. And whatever you do is more likely to be chosen by the wheel than by you. Ta'veren pull history along behind them and shape the pattern just by being, but the wheel weaves Ta'veren on a tighter line than other men. Wherever you go, whatever you do, until the wheel chooses otherwise you will-"

He was then cut off by Mat, but I think he was about to say that ‘until the wheel chooses otherwise you will have very little choice in what you do.’

I guess you could call it Robert Jordan’s version of fate, but most of the paths followed by a Ta’veren through life are not determined by the Ta’veren himself. Instead, I believe that they are entirely determined by the wheel.

When you think of our three Ta’veren at work, you generally think of the obvious scenes like negotiations with the Sea Folk, or when Rand is able make impossible political situations work (for instance, having Aes Sedai kneel to him to swear fealty).

However, I think that there are just as many scenes where the Ta’veren seem to be forced into some situation by the wheel itself. Scenes such as when Rand tries to leave Fal Dara because the he doesn’t want to meet the Amyrlin Seat, or all of the things that happen to keep Mat in Ebou Dar until Tuon arrives. Even Perrin goes through this multiple times; all of the different things that occurred which led to Perrin meeting Elyas and learning of his ‘wolf senses’ are good examples of what happens to a person’s life when he/she is a Ta’veren. The wheel and the pattern force them on a set course in order to make sure that it’s goals are accomplished. I think that in some ways this ties in to Min’s viewings; she says that if she knows what a viewing means, it WILL come true. This suggests to me that the pattern itself already knows what is going to happen, and nothing can change that once it is set on course.

I think that the wheel is pushing them and guiding them in a very strict line in order to achieve its goals, and every other consideration is secondary. What the wheel wants, it will get. I used to think that the wheel released Ta’veren so that they could correct errors in the pattern by letting the pattern reweave itself around them correctly. I now think that if there is a problem in the pattern, the wheel releases a Ta’veren, and weaves the pattern around them so that they have no choice but to go and fix what ever the wheel needs fixed in the pattern. These two points of view may not seem all that different, but in the first version, aTa’veren would have some power to determine his own actions, and this could jeopardize the entire nature of the universe.

Think of it this way. The wheel needs to move to the next age, but in the next age the Wheel will likely want some things about the world to be different. It seems to be leading the Aiel out the wastes, for instance, and perhaps the geographic make-up of the waste will change so that it is habitable again. It seems safe to assume that Saidin will stay clean, so there will be male Aes Sedai again. The ways may be cleansed (or destroyed), wolf-siblings may become common again, the Seanchan may rejoin the rest of the folks in Randland, and so on, and so on. So the Wheel releases Ta’veren in order to accomplish these tasks, and it reweaves the pattern around them so that everything that happens is moving them to these tasks or preparing them to accomplish them.

Thus, if Mat does wind up betraying Rand (as some theorize), then this action must lead to some sort of consequence that will be helpful to Rand in the long run. The pattern would not let Mat do it unless it needed this to happen in order to help one or the both of them achieve the Wheel’s goals.

I think the number of things that the individual MUST do, or MUST accomplish determines the strength of the Ta’veren. In the case of Rand, he is the strongest Ta’veren ever because of the enormous number of tasks that the Wheel has set aside for the Dragon Reborn to accomplish.

Some of us have made mention that some of the other characters show ta’veren like abilities. There is even the thee passage where Egwene is told that she could almost be a Ta’veren. I think this is because the wheel, in order to control the Ta’veren uses those that are very close to, or who have an influence over the Ta’veren. In fact it would use them much more than someone whom was a stranger. I we will all agree that Egwene and the mini tower are going to end up helping Rand. If the wheel did not make sure that Egewene did it, then Rand may fail. Using people in this manner leads to the 2cd point.

It was said that Hawkwing was considered to be such a strong Ta’veren that you could feel the pattern changing around you when he was near. I know everyone is going to ask how I can explain how Ishamael managed to have so much influence over Hawkwing. I can give you 2 possible answers:

1. Hawkwing had already accomplished his task(s) for the pattern and was effectively no long Ta’veren at the end. I don’t think this is correct.

2. It is possible (and this is what I actually think happened) that the pattern used Ishmael to achieve it’s own end. If Ishmael was close to Halkwing then it is entirely possible that the pattern used Ishmael to cause the Hawkwing family to leave Randland and establish Seanchan. If the Seanchan were to ally with Rand (and most of us think they will), they would be a great help to him. If Ishmael hadn’t sent them across the ocean, they would be soft and weak like the rest of the continent. They are going to help Rand, and it is all because of Ishmael.

In fact if you think about it, Ishmael started this whole thing by driving the Ta’veren to the Eye of the World. Moiraine wanted to go to Tar Valon, but then decided to take them to the Eye of the World because of the messages that Ishmael allowed the maiden of the spear and Jain Farstrider to escape with. That is what made Moiraine decide to take the three Ta’veren there. However, if this decision would have gotten the Dragon Reborn killed, would the wheel have allowed it? No. It wanted them there and it used Ishmael to drive them there.

Here is a perfect example of Ta’veren working. In chapter 31 of The Great Hunt. Rand keeps getting invitations from various noble houses. He does not want them. He keeps getting invitations from higher and higher ranking houses. Rand burns all the invitations until he gets the invitation from Lord Barthanes; for some reason, he keeps this one. Much later the party needs a way into the Barthanes residence, and to everyone’s surprise they discover that Rand is carrying a party invitation in his pocket. Verin says, ”the wheel of time weaves us all into the pattern as it wills, but sometimes it provides what we need before we know we need it.”

And in TDR, at the beginning of Chap 4, Perrin is having a conversation with Ishmael about giving up his axe and just going back to being a blacksmith. Ishmael tells Perrin that he is a blacksmith and he wasn’t made for the axe.
Perrin replies, “I am Ta’veren” and Ishmael’s smile becomes a grimace.

I close this theory with what is perhaps my favorite quote about this matter. It comes from TDR, chapter 2:
“All of us, all our lives effect the lives of others, Min. As the wheel of time weaves us into the pattern, the life-threads of each of us pulls and tugs at the life threads around us. Ta’veren are the same only much, much more so. They tug at the whole pattern - for a time at least – forcing it to shape around them. The closer you are to them, the more you are affected personally. It is said that if you were in the same room as Arthur Hawkwing, you could feel the pattern rearranging itself. I don’t know how true that was but I’ve read that it was. But it doesn’t only work one way. Ta’veren themselves are woven to a tighter line than the rest of us, with fewer choices.”

Perrin grimaces and thinks “bloody few of the ones that matter.”

Lauriana Sedai says: Sounds good to me. Let's see what the 'masses' have to say about this...