Jordan's Creator...

[Xar]

So I was wondering, do you think Jordan's Creator is benign?

He's built the Wheel of Time, which causes people to reincarnate endlessly (in Buddhist religion, this is a bad thing, and the aim of a human being should be to free oneself from the wheel). He takes the Dark One and imprisons him in such a way that he can be freed from within the Wheel. He also gives people the tools to free the Dark One (the One Power).

Then he leaves (as far as we know) no warnings, no signs saying "danger! Dark and evil god imprisoned here! Do not drill!".

The the Dark One is released, and he takes no part in the battle. He doesn't even clean the taint from the male half of the Source, despite knowing the effects it will have on the world and on all the innocent men who will die from it.

Three thousand years later, there comes the Dragon (who, as far as we're led to believe, is chosen by the Wheel, so the Creator only chooses him indirectly) and the Creator tells him he will take no part in the struggle.

Sort of "you freed the evil god, now I don't care whether you're simple mortals, go and either lock him up or die trying".

And does he ever give at least the hint of an explanation?

In TCTC, of course, the Creator cannot possibly intervene - he's powerless to do anything without destroying the world, so it stands to reason that he must keep himself apart. But in WoT, nothing says that the Creator couldn't stretch his hand and lock the Dark One back up. One could think he doesn't do it because it was humans who freed the Dark One so it would be their responsibility to stop him, but by the same token, one could also believe that there'll be countless innocents who never took part in that crime, and will be the most likely to suffer as a result.

So... is the Creator of WoT an indifferent deity, or is he supposed to be benign (and Jordan just can't be bothered to explain why he doesn't act consistently)?.

[I'm Murrin]

But of course the Creator made the pattern, and if we look at it another way we could be led to believe that the Pattern is unchangeable - that the seven-age cycle is endless, and that no matter what happens it always comes back round again. The thinning of the weave around the Bore is written into the Pattern, as is the sealing of the Bore by the Dragon. The reiterations may vary in detail, but it seems right to presume that the same thing happens each time. The Creator may not intervene because he has no reason to - because he has written it into the Pattern that the Dark One will constantly come close to release and then be defeated again - an incredibly hard punishment, I must say, being offered freedom only to be denied it every time.
But this is just supposition, might not be even close to the way it really works.

[Xar]

But of course the Creator made the pattern, and if we look at it another way we could be led to believe that the Pattern is unchangeable - that the seven-age cycle is endless, and that no matter what happens it always comes back round again. The thinning of the weave around the Bore is written into the Pattern, as is the sealing of the Bore by the Dragon. The reiterations may vary in detail, but it seems right to presume that the same thing happens each time. The Creator may not intervene because he has no reason to - because he has written it into the Pattern that the Dark One will constantly come close to release and then be defeated again - an incredibly hard punishment, I must say, being offered freedom only to be denied it every time.
But this is just supposition, might not be even close to the way it really works.

Well, I could buy that if we were not told that the Dark One is likely to be as close as possible to the Creator's strength, if not his equal... not only that, but unless we believe that when the Creator established the Pattern he purposefully created a "spot" in time in which humans would drill the Bore (which would mean that he purposefully set up the conditions to free the Dark One, and therefore would be to blame as much, and more than, the humans who followed the Pattern), then it follows that he didn't anticipate the opening of the Bore, and that he cannot be certain that the Dragon will always close the Bore every time this is opened. By the same token, the Dark One evidently believes he can escape his prison, since that's what he's trying to do. If he believed he had no chance to escape, he would have likely simply tried to destroy the world and make it a hell on earth to spite his captor, rather than trying to free himself from his prison. Therefore, it follows that the Dark One believes he can free himself. Since he's the dark twin of the Creator, it is unlikely he could have been deceived about this - especially since he's had many turnings of the Wheel to consider his situation. Hence:

1) Either the Creator purposefully set up the Pattern in such a way that the Dark One would get a chance to free himself, in which case he is to blame;

or

2) The Creator didn't anticipate the Dark One's possible release and he was therefore careless in giving the people of WoT the means to do so (the One Power) and making the prison close to the Pattern so it could be drilled through. And after all was done, he was arrogant enough to refuse to take responsibility for having given his children the tools they had used to put themselves in danger.

After all, how would you consider a father who accidentally leaves a screwdriver on a table and then, upon seeing his children playing with it, decides that they must deal with the danger themselves?

[Avatar]

Interesting question Xar, and one I've not given much thought to, with the exception of wandering where the Creator is in all this.

Perhaps he's a dead god? Perhaps he's keen on free will? Man drilled, man fixes?

In one sense, perhaps his implicit honesty works on his side. Unlike, for example, Christianity, where, according to doctrine anyway, no matter what, god will be victorious, (so why should we bother?), here it's up to the people to preserve the "light".

I quite like that. It doesn't however, make him benevolent necessarily. But then, benevolence n deities is an open question, isn't it?

Perhaps, once the wheel is made, it is left to itself to churn out the pattern? And it is the actions of people that determine it's final shape? Afterall, each pulled thread pulls the others around it too.

--A