Wheel of Time: Legendary Items

Three objects that will rock the foundation of creation.

So, at time of writing, it’s Christmas time and I’m feeling a little bit burnt out. I have the Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special to do and Wakanda Forever if there’s time, but I for sure need one more post to do to get to lucky number seven. To do that, I decided to talk about the Wheel of Time some more. Why? Because it’s one of my favorite book series, I liked the show, and I want to hype both. To do this, I figured I could talk about a few legendary objects in the Wheel of Time mythos. I’ll warn you there will be a few spoilers for these objects, but I’ll try to keep things vague. The three items I settled on talking about here are as follows, The Horn of Valere, Callandor, and the Choedan Kal. Even set up, let’s get to it.

 

Horn to shake the pillars of creation.

The Horn of Valere is one of the most legendary items in the Wheel of Time. And much like a lot of legendary items, it’s appearance is rather humble. It looks like a simple curled gold horn. No jewels, no ornate designs. The only adornment on the Horn is a line in the Old Tongue etched in silver. “Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin.” Translated, it reads “The Grave is no bar to my call.” The origins of the horn are shrouded in mystery. It was ancient during the Age of Legends, 3000 years prior to the Third Age where the Wheel of Time take places. It’s power allows the Hornsounder to call back the heroes bound to the Horn to fight. The Heroes, as they’re known, will gather when the Horn sounds. They’re ghosts of legendary heroes, those who are tied to the horn and will reincarnate periodically to begin new stories and legends. The Dragon Reborn is implied to be one of these heroes, but due to the fact they need to be alive to fight the lasts battle, it seems like there’s no example of the Dragon Reborn being called back by the Horn.

 

What an odd looking horn.

The Horn of Valere was lost during the Breaking of the World, where male Aes Sedai were driven mad by the Dark One’s corruption on their source of power, Saidin. Well… lost is not the right word so much as hidden. While the world was in chaos following the Dragon Lews Therin’s death and the sealing of the Dark One, a group of Aes Sedai took the Horn of Valere and a copy of the Dragon’s personal banner and sealed it within the Eye of the World. The Aes Sedai sacrificed themselves to create a pool of pure Saidin at the Eye to hide and protect the Horn through the ages.

 

In the Wheel of Time show continuity, the Horn wasn’t protected by the Eye of the World. The Eye is repurposed into one of the Seals holding the Forsaken and Dark One in their prison. The Horn is instead hidden beneath the throne in the Shienaran fortress of Fal Dara.

 

Onto Callandor. For a refresher, in the Wheel of Time universe, the magic users (Channelers) have access to two specialized devices that can enhance their powers. The more common of the two are the Angreal. A Channeler who uses an Angreal will have their power greatly enhanced, turning a moderately strong Channeler into a strong one. Sorry if I’m being too vague here, it’s about the level vagueness that Robert Jordan used when he described power levels in universe. The second type is called a Sa’Angreal. These are exceedingly rare, and they enhance a channeler’s powers by an even greater degree. And one of the strongest Sa’Angreal for a man is Callandor. Its name, roughly translated, means The Sword that is not a Sword. Jordan really loved that kind of poetic language.

 

The Sword of the Dragon.

Callandor resembles a slightly curved sword made of crystal. It was made during the War of Power, the battle between the forces of Light and Shadow at the end of the Age of Legends. It was the personal weapon of the Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon. After his death and the start of the Breaking of the World, the surviving Aes Sedai used their powers to make a grand fortress. This fortress became known as the Stone. The Stone is a virtually impregnable structure, a fortress carved from living stone, a miniature Mountain. The Aes Sedai placed Callandor at the heart of the Stone of Tear and wove wards to protect it and punish anyone that tried to touch or move it, save its rightful owner, the next incarnation of the Dragon. The crystal sword floated in the Heart of the Stone for millennia, waiting for the Dragon Reborn. The Prophecies of the Dragon state that the Stone will never fall until the People of the Dragon come to it, and that it shall stand until the Dragon Reborn takes Callandor. Because of these two lines from the Prophecies, the High Lords (the ruling class) of Tear think of themselves as the defenders of the world and will do whatever they can to ensure the Dragon Reborn never claims Callandor.

 

The final item we’ll talk about today are the Choedan Kal. The Choedan Kal are a pair of enormous Sa’Angreal statues that resemble a giant man and woman in flowing robes. Both statues hold above their heads a giant crystal sphere. The Spheres glow when the Kal are activated. The Choedan Kal are thought to be the single most powerful Sa’Angreal ever made. Their power was so great, and the statues so large, that one couldn’t channel directly through them. A Channeler wishing to access their power would instead have to use the Access Keys, smaller replica statues of either figure, ter’angreal. Ter’angreal are devices that don’t amplify the powers of the user but use the One Power for different effects. In this particular case, the Access Keys allow one to tap into the Kal from anywhere on the planet.

 

One of the the
Statues.

The Choedan Kal were made during the War of Power as a last ditch effort to try to stop the Dark One and his Forsaken. The plan, pitched by Latra Posae Decume who was a contemporary of Lews Therin, was to use the power of the Kal to seal off the very mountain of Shayol Ghul and keep the Shadow at bay until a more permanent solution could be thought up. This plan was almost immediately ruined when the forces of the Shadow ended up capturing the city where the Kal were built and getting access to the Access Keys. This major loss was in fact what motivated Lews Therin Telamon to lead his Hundred Companions on a strike against the Dark One and to try to seal the bore with seven seals. So, in a way, they’re kind of the reason why the whole world ended up the way it did.

 

During the Breaking of the World, the Choedan Kal were lost. As men driven insane by the Dark One’s corruption reshaped the very face of the planet, the Kal were separated and spread across the world. The statue of the Man was unearthed near the city of Cairhien around the time that Rand al’Thor and his friends were trekking north to Tar Valon. The statue of the Woman was left buried on the island of Tremalking in the Aryth Ocean. The statue is almost completely buried except for it’s glowing crystal sphere. While the statues were completed during the final days of the Age of Legends, they were never tested, and their power remains largely hypothetical.

 

Alright, there you have it. Three of the Legendary Items of the Wheel of Time. Each of these objects are very important to the story and have world shattering events tied to them. Each one will be of use to the Dragon Reborn as he beings his march to the Last Battle and his confrontation with the Dark One. Their power is immense, the risk of using them is immense, but where you’re fighting the literal personification of evil, one needs to bring out the big guns. So far, only the Horn of Valere has appeared in Amazon’s adaptation of the Wheel of Time. They seemed to stick with the design as described by Robert Jordan, a golden horn with silver script written on it. I can’t wait to see how Callandor and the Choedan Kal will look when it’s their turn to be brought out. It’ll hopefully be amazing. And hopefully Callandor will make its appearance soon. Depends on when they get around to releasing season 2. Release season 2, Amazon, I’m begging you. Have a good night, everyone.  

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