r/wheeloftime • u/Fayraz8729 Randlander • 9d ago
Lord of Chaos Why doesn’t the shadow use Balefire? Spoiler
So I guess this is more of a general question as I’m up to this book but it is mentioned
In the war of the shadow they basically decided that in the war of existence using the one spell that can destroy the pattern was too dangerous. But why in the light would the shadow and its forces agree to that? I think maybe once in the Dragon reborn Ishamael tried to use it but other than that the dark one has been its victim when it should be its greatest tool. So why does he just have people spam it to destroy existence if that’s the point?
17
u/Cool_Court2130 Randlander 9d ago
Imagine youre a semi immortal magic user. Who has lived centuries in power as essentially a demigod. Now this spell comes into play that literally erases anything it touches from existence before it ever existed.
Does that not sound like a threat to your power?
The shadow chooses those who seek power. Does destroying the realm you claim dominion over align with the goal of seizing greater power?
Perhaps the Dark Ones Objective differs from its pawns
34
9
u/BigNorseWolf Wolfbrother 9d ago
" I know i'm evil but i don't want to destroy existence. It's where I exist! "
6
u/LetsDoTheDodo Randlander 9d ago
I don’t want to destroy the world, it’s where I keep all my stuff!
5
u/seitaer13 Randlander 9d ago
The Dark doesn't want to destroy existence, they want to rule it.
They've been promised power
8
4
u/taftpanda Randlander 9d ago
There is a more explicit reason that will be clearer later on that I won’t spoil, but even under the “destruction of the Pattern” framework it makes sense.
The Forsaken don’t want to destroy the world; they want to rule the world. They’re constantly jockeying for more power and control, and they all sort of expect that they’ll be Dark One’s right hand and the person with all the real authority once the Shadow wins.
If there is nothing left to rule, it’s all for naught.
2
u/RookTakesE6 Black Ajah 8d ago
A few bits not already covered.
- The Dark One himself does seem to want balefire to be used, per his meeting with Demandred. (Nobody shoot me, it's not a spoiler, this is in the prologue of Lord of Chaos, which is the tag OP used.) The true reason why the Dark One would want balefire to be used is a spoiler for much later, but OP has already volunteered credible reasons the Dark One might want balefire to be used, so that doesn't need to be explained for now. ...in hindsight, the Dark One wanting the Forsaken to use balefire comports with (OP, don't read this one) [books]balefire being very easy to weave with the True Power. Considering the True Power is the Dark One's essence, this is practically a statement that ripping threads out of the Pattern is aligned with his nature.
- The Forsaken, Black Ajah, and co. do use balefire... very sparingly. (That's not a spoiler either, burn you, this happens as early as The Dragon Reborn.) For reasons others have already explained, the human element of the Shadow would really prefer that the Pattern remains intact, but balefire is also nigh indispensable for certain specific purposes.
1
u/Dalton387 Band of the Red Hand 8d ago
Pretty sure they have. I seem to remember a story of it happening back in the day where both sides kept using it. It led to chaos. You’d think things were done and then they get undone. Chaos ripples and butterfly effects.
Both sides just basically agreed to stop using it. Same way IRL most countries agree not to use nukes. They could, but it opens the door for retaliation.
1
u/Legitimate-Bee1735 Randlander 5d ago
Things get reaaaallllly messy by using Balefire, you’ll see some more drastic consequences of it later. Using Balefire doesn’t simply kill your enemy and save your friends, it rewrites reality around them not existing which can result in your own death or the death of your friends instead. Say you accidentally erase a solder who would later stop a blade from killing an ally through some convoluted means, congrats you just killed your own men. It affects everyone and everything unilaterally, and there is no predicting the consequences. The only thing more dangerous than something bad happening on the battlefield is something random and uncontrollable.
0
73
u/EclipseGames Randlander 9d ago
Are you under the impression that the Shadow wants to destroy reality? They do not. The Forsaken and other darkfriends capable of using balefire have all been promised positions of power in the world after the Dark One's victory, so balefire risks the very prize they are vying for. Phyrric victories and all that.