True Power

The True Power is a source of mystical power found in the "Wheel of Time" books of Robert Jordan. It is similar to the One Power, but differs in some important respects.

Use

Unlike the One Power, which stems from the True Source, the True Power comes directly from the Dark One. Both men and women wield the same aspect of the True Power, unlike with "saidin" and "saidar". The True Power can be used to do things that are impossible with the One Power, such as step outside of space and time. The True Power also cannot be detected by One Power users, similar to how male channelers cannot see weaves fashioned from saidar or female channelers unable to see weaves of saidin.

While there is little evidence in the series of what it is like to use the True Power, what there is would suggest strongly that it is a destructive force, inimical to the Pattern. For example while weaving a Gateway a channeler with Saidin cleanly cuts through the Pattern to bridge the gap. A channeler with Saidar persuades the Pattern to reform so that the location the gateway is 'from' is the same as the location the gateway is 'to'. In the only example in the books of a Gateway being weaved with the True Power, the Pattern 'screams' as a hole is 'torn' in it. The logical extension of the method of weaving and controlling the Power specific to the other two Powers - Saidin 'attacking' and Saidar 'persuading', respectively - would suggest that any channelling with the True Power would harm the Pattern, with the True Power following a 'Destroyer' path. This idea is particularly attractive when the Dark One, Shai'tan, from whom the True Power stems in the first place, is the 'devil' or 'destroyer' figure in the Wheel of Time series.

ide-effects

Also, the True Power inflicts simultaneous pain and pleasure on the user. An external observer can see black flecks or "saa" pass through the user's eyes. These flecks become more common with use, and are therefore taken as a sign of the addiction progressing. The True Power is far more addictive that the One Power, and once the "saa" appear, death and madness from overuse is believed to follow soon. In the first three books in the series, Ishamael, the most corrupt of the Forsaken, is shown with fire raging through his eyes and mouth in many key scenes although this is intermittent with normal appearance. Ishamael also half believed he was the Dark One. Whether this is due to excessive True Power use or (more likely) Robert Jordan originally foreseeing a much shorter plot length for his series is unknown. However, if the former is the case, it leads to interesting questions in the nature of the True Power itself - users could possibly have their minds and souls literally 'burned away' by this destructive force, with the Dark One's essence filling the gap. This could then have extremely disturbing implications.

Originally, all of the Forsaken could wield the True Power, but few ever did, due to its corrupting nature. Demandred himself clearly states that he only uses it with pressing need and very reluctantly even then. Only Moridin could wield the True Power after he had been reborn and named "Nae'blis".