Dark One
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
The Dark One is the oldest and most powerful force of evil in all worlds, and although one might assume that he is the source of all evil, it is suggested that he intensifies the evil feelings of humans, as well as giving new motives for malignant and lowly acts. He was imprisoned by the Creator at the beginning of time, and has sought ever since to break free of his prison and smash the Wheel of Time and remake the world according to his image and purpose.
[edit] True name
His true name is Shai'tan, but speaking that name is believed by most people to bring misfortune on the speaker, so there are many alternative names for him:
- Ba'alzamon (was believed to be a trolloc name for the Dark One, meaning "Heart of the Dark", but it was discovered that it was merely a name for Ishamael, first among the Forsaken.)
- Father of Lies
- Sightblinder
- Lord of the Grave
- Shepherd of the Night
- Heartsbane
- Soulsbane
- Heartfang
- Old Grim
- Grassburner
- Leafblighter
- Father of Storms
In addition, his own followers consider it blasphemy to speak his name directly, so they most commonly refer to him by more flattering epithets:
- Great Lord of the Dark
- Lord of the Grave
(It is believed that to speak the true name of the dark one is to bring his attention onto you, we see the effects of this from the first three books of the wheel, in which twice Rand speaks his name and Mat once also, they felt an overwhelming bout of dizzyness and slight misfortune.
[edit] Nature
Verin Sedai says the Dark One is the "embodiment of paradox and chaos, destroyer of reason and logic, breaker of balance, the unmaker of order". It is he who caused the taint on saidin at the end of the War of Power, and he has promised power and immortality to all who follow him.
Known as 'the lord of the grave,' the Dark One has the power to avert death for those he chooses, though this ability is somewhat limited. Upon the death of the target, the Dark One has a rather short amount of time in which to act (this does not mean, however, that he has to bring back a soul collected in such a fashion right away). Death by balefire however is a permanent death. This is because balefire unravels part of the pattern, destroying the victim backwards in time (which the Dark One cannot step outside of). The extent of this is determined by the power of the balefire, which depends upon the channeler.
