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What are the black threads on the Forsaken?

Contributed by: Robyn Goldstein, P. Korda

When Rand battles the male Forsaken, he sees black threads, wires, or cords running off from them. This is seen when Rand battles Ishy in TEotW: 51, 759-62, Against the Shadow, 637-40, and Asmodean in TSR: 58, 965-972, The Traps of Rhuidean, 671-675. So what's the deal with these strings?

The thick black threads are the Forsaken's connection to the DO. The connection with the DO is what keeps the male Forsaken from falling prey to the madness taint of saidin (see Asmodean's statements to Rand in TSR after his black "thread" was severed). Rand's thread in TEotW was silver and thinner because it was from that pure pool of saidin that was the Eye of the World.

We've never seen the threads on a female Forsaken, so it is possible that the threads are themselves the protection from the taint. Perhaps they act as a kind of filter on saidin, or a conduit through which the DO siphons off the taint when the Forsaken draws upon the Source.