The Wheel of Time is, at its core, a story of good versus evil. That is an incredible over-simplification of the plotline, but it is a place to start.
While there is this overwhelming theme of good versus evil, there is also an incredible lopsidedness to the representation of each in this massive 14-volume series.
The Wheel of Time is based on the thought that time is an ever-moving, ever-turning thing, and that all events repeat themselves in some manner, over and over, from one age to the next. In every book, it states at the beginning of the first chapter that an Age is a past Age long forgotten, and also a future Age.
The Dark One represents evil. He has henchmen, 13 powerful disciples from the past Age. They call themselves the Chosen, but mankind refers to them as the Forsaken. As you might imagine, they do not have traits that are considered good. They are ambitious, jealous, petty, duplicitous, and covet power. They never show empathy or sympathy.
They have battled each other for centuries, but were locked away for millennia and just recently released back into the world to prepare for the return of the Dark One.
The world is also filled with darkfriends, people who have mostly willingly decided their lives would be better fulfilled by secretly working for the dark. If The Forsaken has been free for only a short time, then who approached all of these folks and recruited them to do the bidding of the Dark One? That is a question that is not addressed in the books, though, as the Last Battle approached, some people were physically turned to the dark, especially those who could channel or wield the One Power.
In The Wheel of Time, the Creator left his human creations to themselves
On the other hand, the Creator is barely mentioned. There are no churches or preachers. No one is going around the world convincing people to do good things. It is almost as if everyone is born and is expected to walk in the Light, and that is that. The Dark One and the Forsaken are just names used to scare children into behaving.
There is one entity supposedly dedicated to the Light, A paramilitary organization called the Children of the Light, or derivatively, the Whitecloaks. The Children of the Light have no land officially and are bound by few laws. They have access to most kingdoms, and their sole purpose is to root out darkfriends by any means possible.
No indication as to when the Children of the Light came into existence, but over time, the fanatical Whitecloaks became corrupt. By the time of this story, their ranks were filled with greedy, ambitious, power-hungry men, many of whom were darkfriends themselves.
The Creator is mentioned only a handful of times, but in The Gathering Storm, Rand feels frustrated by the lack of support from the Creator: “He [Rand] was angry. Angry at the world. Angry at the Pattern. Angry at the Creator for leaving humans to fight against the Dark One with no direction.”
This short passage is about the longest reference to the Creator and his role in the day-to-day lives of humans in the whole series. Both the Creator and the Dark One exist outside the pattern, but essentially, the Creator did his work and moved on. The Dark One continued to insert his influence into the Pattern.
People were born into the Light and to live their lives in the Light, but all are targets for the Dark One’s agents. The Dark One takes an active interest in people’s lives as a means to an end.
Also in The Gathering Storm, Rand meets with Moridin (Ishmamael, reincarnated by the Dark One). Rand points out that the Dark One has always failed in his attempts to break the Wheel of Time and would continue to do so. Moridin's reply is interesting:
“But do you think that matters? Consider it. The Wheel turns over and over, time and time again. Over and over the Ages turn, and men fight the Great Lord. But someday, he will win, and when he does, the Wheel will stop. That is why his victory is assured. I think it will be this Age, but if not, then another. When you are victorious, it only leads to another battle. When he is victorious, all things will end. Can you not see there is no hope for you?”
In this, Moridin is correct. With each victory by the forces of the Light, of good, the Dark One is merely set aside for a time. In this case, the Dark One was sealed away for 3,000 years, but the Dark One is influencing the world again, and his minions are wreaking havoc among those who walk in the Light.
Indeed, those who walk in the Light have always been victorious. The Creator has never had to interfere. Good has always been stronger than evil.
Good overcomes evil again in The Wheel of Time
In the end, Rand, as the Dragon Reborn, defeats the Dark One, as he has in every previous Age. The forces of good overwhelmed the armies of evil, as they’ve always done. And one day, far into the future, Rand al’Thor will be reborn in another form and lead the forces of the Light against the Dark One, and the Light will always defeat the Dark One, and the Wheel will continue to turn as it always has.
It is an interesting concept that most people don’t have to be coerced to follow the Light. For most, their natural inclination is to do good. They do not need constant reminders from preachers or to attend church. When the Dark One gathers enough strength to influence the world once again, there will be those who will sway to his side, but they will never win, because good is a more potent force than evil.
The concept that man is inherently good is probably naive. It is almost a Utopian idea. Man is too influenced by avarice, ambition, lust for power, and all of the other “deadly” sins. Man has to fight to remain good. But…history has proven that man will rise and defeat evil when that evil goes too far or gets out of hand.
In the end, good does overcome evil. Whether or not that is a strength of character humans have is a discussion for theological experts, but author Robert Jordan certainly thinks that is the case in The Wheel of Time.
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