Madness

Madness
Logain's hallucination speaks to him
Type	Terminology
Afflicted	Men who can channel
Related terms	Channel, One Power, Sever
See also	Breaking of the World

The madness affects men who can channel. After the Dark One corrupted the One Power, whenever a man touches the One Power to channel he also touches the corruption, which causes him to eventually go mad. The madness manifests as hallucinated people who speak to the channeler, and it can eventually result in the afflicted channeler murdering those he cares for.

The term madness primarily refers to the affliction caused by the corruption, but it can also refer to the corruption itself.

Overview

Thousands of years before the beginning of the series, men could channel without incident. When Lews Therin Telamon fought the Dark One, the Dark One corrupted the One Power. After that, when men touch the One Power to channel, they also touch the corruption, causing them to eventually go mad. Thereafter, only women could safely channel.

This madness caused the Breaking of the World, also referred to as the Time of Madness, a catastrophic event thousands of years earlier where afflicted male channelers wreaked destruction on the world and caused a global societal collapse.

To keep the world safe and prevent another Breaking, the all-female Aes Sedai find men who can channel and stop them. To do this, they permanently cut the men off from the One Power and their ability to channel, a practice called gentling. Being gentled is depicted as a traumatic and painful experience, and afterward the man loses the will to live. The Aes Sedai see this practice as a necessity, and the Red Ajah are specifically devoted to this task.

Affect

Mood and behavior

According to Thom Merrilin, after his nephew Owyn started to channel, Owyn had a change in mood and behavior. He "went sour" and started jumping at shadows, and animals were weary around him. Logain has not exhibited these symptoms.

As the madness progresses, the male channeler will eventually kill those around him, including those he cares about. When Lews Therin Telamon went mad, he murdered his wife, their children, and his friends. At the Eye of the World, Rand asks Moiraine if it's true that men who can channel "eventually ... go so mad they kill everyone they've ever loved," and she confirms it's true.

Hallucinations

Logain's hallucination Elusha at his side

The madness manifests as hallucinated people, which only the afflicted male channeler can see and hear. The hallucinations have been shown to encourage the channeler to channel more, and even to kill. Logain says he can hear them when he channels, and he refers to them as his past lives.

In one instance, a young man hallucinated an older man who told him to use the the One Power to save them. After being cornered by Liandrin Guirale, the young man asked her to not hurt his companion. When Liandrin pointed out that there was no one else there, the young man looked around and saw he was alone. Liandrin commented that this was an affect of the madness, saying, "The madness already has him."

When Logain Ablar channeled, he had two hallucinations at his side. One was masculine and one was feminine, and the feminine one is named Elusha Salid. They were not fully formed as the young man's hallucination, and instead they looked like the corruption on the One Power. They urged Logain to kill the King of Ghealdan, saying that the King would betray Logain just as his family did, but Logain did not take their advice.

Channeling

The madness, or the corruption that causes it, can be felt when channeling. After knowingly channeling for the first time, Rand tells Moiraine that he felt the madness.

Onscreen, the corruption which causes the madness is shown as black strands around the One Power as a man channels. This is possibly only visible to the audience.

Quotes

Thom

I knew another lad the same way. Owyn, my nephew. Boy spent half his life getting into trouble, the other half getting out of it, and a good part of mine helping him at both. Then, one day, he went sour. Snapping at family and friends. Jumping at shadows. Animals had their hair up whenever he passed. Nobody could figure out what happened until he threw a rock without using his hands. Mat's got all the signs, lad.

Rand

Mat would tell me. He's not an idiot.

Thom

Neither was Owyn. I'm a gleeman. Don't you think I've told him the stories since he was a little boy? How at the end of the last Age, the Dark One corrupted the One Power... so men couldn't use it without going mad? And still he lied to me.

— Thom and Rand discuss Mat's symptoms, season 1 episode 4 The Dragon Reborn

Moiraine

Why should I believe you're the Dragon Reborn?

Logain

I can hear them when I channel. All of them. Whispers of a thousand Dragons that preceded me, a thousand lives I've led. And they're teaching me how to do better this time. Isn't that why the Wheel turns our spirits out again and again? To learn.

Moiraine

The Wheel doesn't want anything. It can't. Any more than a river or the rain can want something. It's people who want.

Logain

What do you want?

Moiraine

I want you to know that the voices in your head... those are the whispers of madness.

— Moiraine stalling Logain, season 1 episode 4 The Dragon Reborn

Moiraine

Every time you touch the Source, it'll take you closer and closer to the madness.

— Moiraine to Rand, season 1 episode 8 The Eye of the World

Rand

I felt it. The madness. It's true, isn't it? What they say about men who can channel. That eventually they go so mad they kill everyone they've ever loved.

Moiraine

It is.

— Season 1 episode 8 The Eye of the World

Aes Sedai instructor

Three thousand years ago, Lews Therin and the forces of Light struck the Dark One and sealed him away. Before he was imprisoned, the Dark One delivered one last defiant strike. The Dark One poisoned the source of power for male Aes Sedai. With this, Lews Therin lost his mind. He murdered his beloved wife. He slew his children she bore him. His friends. His court. Everyone. ... But it wasn't Lews Therin alone who suffered. The poison spread. No male Aes Sedai was spared. And so began the Breaking. The Time of Madness.

— The origin of the madness, The Wheel of Time Origins season 1 episode 1 The Breaking of the World

Aes Sedai instructor

When men touch Saidin, it is wild and unwieldy, a raging torrent resisting. And after the Dark One corrupted Saidin, the madness is unavoidable. Tainted upstream, the two cannot be separated.

— The Wheel of Time Origins season 1 episode 4 Saidin, Saidar, Stone

Gallery

The madness-causing corruption (black) entwined with the One Power (white) as Logain channels

Trivia

• When Rand and Logain channel, the black strands of the corruption are visible; but the corruption is not there when The Man channels.
• The song The Man Who Can't Forget, performed by Thom Merrilin in episode 103 A Place of Safety, is about Lews Therin Telamon who went mad and killed those he loved.