How does Mat's medallion work?

(Survey Says)

When Elayne tries to use the Power on Mat in LoC: 38, A Sudden Chill, 504, she describes the effect as "The flows just...vanished." It seems that the medallion works by dissolving or destroying Power Flows. At Balticon 30 (April 1996), RJ said that the medallion only works on direct weaving of Power flows (both saidin and saidar) against the wearer; indirect effects of the Power, such as picking up a rock with Air and throwing it, or lightning, are not blocked. Thus, failure of the medallion to protect against the lightning strike at the end of TFOH can be explained.

Survey Says

Mat's medallion protects against:

Both saidar and saidin: 84% (188)
Saidar, only: 16% (35)

This FAQ compiled by Pam Korda (kor2@midway.uchicago.edu) and converted to HTML by Matthew Hunter (mhunter+@andrew.cmu.edu).