What does stilled mean in The Wheel of Time?
By WiC Staff
In the latest episode of The Wheel of Time, “Daes Dae’mar,” the Aes Sedai sorceress Moraine is once again able to access the One Power. In other words, she can channel again. In other other words, she can use magic again after a season of being cut off from it.
In the world of The Wheel of Time, channelers use magic by tapping into the One Power, the energy used to turn the wheel of time. But they can be cut off from this power. For most of the season, Moiraine thought she had been “stilled.” But it ends up that she was only “shielded.”
What exactly do these terms mean? Let’s get into it.
What does “stilled” mean in The Wheel of Time?
When an Aes Sedai sorceress is “stilled,” it means she is cut off permanently from accessing the One Power. It’s over, she can’t do it anymore. Stilling is generally a punishment visited upon an Aes Sedai who has committed some kind of grave infraction. Other Aes Sedai can perform it. They use the One Power to cut someone else off from it forever.
The Red Ajah, one of the seven branches of Aes Sedai, are dedicated to traveling the world and cutting off men who can channel from the One Power, since the male half of the One Power is tainted and men who can channel will inevitably go mad and hurt or kill those around them. When this is done to a man, it’s called “gentling.” There’s also a gender-neutral term for cutting someone off from the One Power: “severing.”
“Shielding” is different. In this case, someone uses the One Power to block someone from accessing the One Power, but it’s not permanent. Generally, the shield only lasts as long as the person who made it keeps it up, which requires concentration.
Moiraine thought she was stilled but she was merely shielded. That’s because Ishamael, the Forsaken channeler who shielded her, did it using a technique that has been lost to time. He was alive thousands of years ago, so he knows things modern channelers have forgotten. Ishamael shielded Moiraine in such a way that he didn’t have to concentrate to maintain the shield. Rand was able to cut his knot and give Moiraine her magic back.
Next. All the biggest book changes in The Wheel of Time Episode 207. dark
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