At 20:34 +0800 22/12/99, Saran wrote:
The item in question refers to Moiraine telling Ranma about what happened to
cause the Dark One to arise. As far as I know, read and understood from
Jordan's WoT books [See the part where Rand goes to Rhuidean, and sees
through the eyes of his ancestors], it was not men who caused the Dark One
to break free from his prison. In fact, I remember it as Mierin / Lanfear
who was the mastermind and with the help of another Aes Sedai (Male I think)
broke the seal on the Dark One's prison and thus freeing the DO. So, it was
in fact women who caused the DO to break free. Hah !!! Women (in WoT)
indeed are trouble makers for men (Possibly in real life too ;-p)
The War of Power also did not start until the DO was free to corrupt the
weak minded Aes Sedai to his side.
<sigh> I get that one shoved in my face *all* the time!
I don't have tEotW with me right now, but Moiraine actually says
that to Egwene shortly after they leave the Two Rivers. At one of
the camp sites. A soon as I get back to school, I'll feed you the
direct quote!
And here it is, courtesy of Cliff Dible, who went out of his way
and dug out the reference...
Eye of the World, pg. 181:
Egwene was silent for a time, digging her toe into the forest
floor. "They...they were the ones who...who tried to free the Dark
One and the Forsaken, weren't they? The male Aes Sedai?" She took a
deep breath and picked up speed. "The women were not a part of it.
It was the men who went mad and broke the world."
Then, on page 182, Moraine's reply:
"You want to know that Aes Sedai are good and pure, that it was
those wicked men of the legends who caused the Breaking of the World,
not the women. Well, it was the men, but they were no more wicked
than any men. They were insane, not evil. The Aes Sedai you will
find in Tar Valon are human, no different from any other women except
for the ability that sets us apart. They are brave and cowardly,
strong and weak, kind and cruel, warm-hearted and cold. Becoming an
Aes Sedai will not change who you are."
There you have it! (Those are paperback page numbers, btw...)