While fantasy fiction by its very nature can seem 'fantastic', it can often be strongly rooted in real-world science, much like science fiction. In fact, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series pays more attention to science than your usual fantasy series. Instead of simply having his characters wield 'magic' with spells, reagents, wands, etc., the One Power seems more physical, more tangible. It has a sixth-sense, psychic quality that makes it more a question of willpower than knowledge. Other aspects of WOT, like Traveling and Skimming, can be explained using elementary physics. This is no coincidence; Jordan has a degree in physics from the Citadel, so this was obviously a strong influence.

This segmented essay is intended to explain WOT phenomena with our real-world science and theories. Jordan spent a great deal of time working all this out, and what I want to do is figure out what he had in mind, and how he got there. The sections on 'The Worlds That Might Be' and 'Tel'aran'rhiod' lean significantly towards science fiction, while 'Traveling' and 'Skimming' are a bit more down-to-earth. I don't think these explanations and theories will solve any outstanding plot threads that are endlessly discussed, but perhaps you will have a stronger appreciation of the attention to detail Jordan brings to the material.

Travelling

We all know the first three dimensions, and most know the fourth as well, but let me go through them one by one.

The first dimension is a straight line, a length between two points:


The second dimension is a flat plane, a length and a width involving three points:


The third dimension is static reality, a length, width, and height involving four points:


With one eye, we can perceive two dimensions; with two eyes, we can perceive three dimensions. However, you need a consciousness to perceive the fourth dimension: time.

The fifth dimension is a little more difficult to understand, so let me ask you a question: what is the shortest distance between two points? Is it that straight line?


You'd think that, wouldn't you? But really, using the fifth dimension (a tesseract), it's this:


A tesseract brings the two points together, and now you've probably recognized the similarity between that and Traveling. What channelers do is create a tesseract by either boring a hole in the Pattern, or by making both points the same within the Pattern. If we assume that the Pattern is another way of expressing the space-time continuum, then Traveling follows conventionally-held theories of the fifth dimension.
To use another example, for Trek-heads out there: remember when the omnipotent Q hurled the Enterprise millions of light-years to the Borg's world? He did that in a matter of seconds. That was a tesseract. In Deep Space Nine, they've got that handy wormhole right next to their space station. That wormhole is a tesseract. It has been theorized that black holes may be tesseracts, but the gravity is so intense that nothing would survive the trip.

Skimming

No.

It uses the spherical nature of the earth as its ally, plotting a curved-line course north through Canada, grazing Greenland, angling southward halfway across the Atlantic, so that when it reaches Paris, the plane has cut off a few hundred miles from its trip.

Skimming is like that. Another example would be (using Star Trek again as an example) Warp Speed; when the Enterprise hits Warp 8, the effect is similar to a tesseract, except that instead of bringing the two points together, the Enterprise curves time/space to bring their destination closer.

A channeler doesn't have to know their starting point very well to Skim, and even the destination can be somewhat hazy, as long as they have a general idea (see Egwene's Skimming jaunt to Ebou Dar with Lan for reference). Skimming curves the Pattern from within, making the destination closer than if the person had traveled using conventional means. Since the channeler is curving the Pattern instead of boring a hole or bringing two points together, accuracy isn't as much of an issue.

While these conclusions are highly theoretical in nature, there is an example in nature of something curving the time/space continuum: intense gravitational fields. Gravity is the only force we know of that is strong enough to affect time/space. Makes you wonder exactly how powerful the One Power really is.

The Worlds That Might Be

"The Lines that join the Worlds That Might Be, laid by those who knew the Numbers of Chaos." Verin shuddered; she seemed to be talking to herself. "I've never heard it, but there is no reason we would not be born in those worlds, yet the lives we lived would be different lives. Of course. Different lives for the different ways things might have happened."

For fans of science fiction (and many writers), alternate realities offer terrific opportunities to explore themes of human nature and results of varied philosophies. The idea behind alternate realities is simple: for every decision that anyone ever made, a new reality is created, based on the multiple outcomes of that decision. So, for example, there could be a alternate reality that exists in which Hitler won World War II (there are several SF books that explore that possibility). In WOT, the Worlds That Might Be give us glimpses of alternate realities that might have happened, but were unlikely.

There is a theory about alternate realities versus our own perceived reality that Herid Fel would appreciate:

What if our 'true' reality was simply the amalgamation of all likely outcomes of every decision ever made? In other words, Hitler's decision to invade Czechoslovakia was not just a result of his personality, the situation, and the advice at hand... but also because that decision was arrived at in the vast majority of alternate realities, so in our 'true' reality, that's what happened.

Say you meet someone for the first time, and several minutes after the introduction, you suddenly feel a 'rightness' about what's going on, like something was falling into place. It's a momentary feeling, gone in an instant, but for that instant, you feel as if everything was all right with the world.

What if that feeling stemmed from the fact that in a vast majority of alternate realities, you met that same person every time? Perhaps not in the same situation, or with the same surroundings, but in those realities, you end up meeting that person.

Of course, this feeling isn't generated by your conscious mind, which rarely deals with the consequences of emotion, but by your subconscious, your intuition.

I would even go so far as to suggest that it is the subconscious that is on some level aware of all those alternate realities, and the intuitive leaps and gut decisions we have are filtered-down conclusions from the mountains of raw data.

When Rand, Hurin, and Loial were traveling in that World That Might Be (TGH), it felt slightly washed out, and staring at the horizon produced mild nausea. Once they visit a monument that was markedly different from the monument in their own world, it was conjectured that the reality they were in was an unlikely 'if', a result of improbable decisions and unfortunate luck. The reason this world feels washed out and strange to them is that it diverges so much from their own reality, and their intuition does not recognize it.

In WOT, Jordan has created a reality in which the Pattern is woven by the Wheel of Time, with seven spokes on that wheel representing the seven Ages. I believe it is either Verin or Moiraine who states her belief that when the Bore was created, it was created in all worlds, all realities, and when the Dark One touches the world again, it will be in all worlds, all realities, but his touch will be felt first in this world. Why this world? Because of all realities, this is the most likely, the most possible, the most real. Rand, Hurin, and Loial felt odd in that World That Might Be because it was too far removed from the 'real' world. When the 'Great Hunters' flip through the endless Worlds That Might Be, they saw only the realities that involved them, and they all ended (at least for Rand) in the same way: a disembodied voice saying, 'I have won again, Lews Therin'. This indicates two things:
- The current reality, the 'real' world for Rand, is the only one in which he can defeat the Dark One.
- The Dark One is very aware of the above fact, since in his use of the word 'again', he indicates a familiarity with the other alternate realities. This coincides with the theory that the Dark One not only exists on all worlds at the same time, but is aware of all worlds at the same time.

In essence, the Dark One bypasses the human subconscious and accesses that alternate reality information directly. One would suspect the Creator does as well. It is very possible that for Rand to win, he will have to trust his instincts completely (and for Rand, his instincts are represented by Lews Therin's voice) to match the Dark One on His terms.

Many times in WOT, we see moments when various characters feel drawn towards others without explanation. The Great Hunt, at the end, has Rand feeling pulled by Egwene's string, and then after the battle, Egwene, Elayne, and Min all feel compelled to seek Rand out (Min finding him first, probably because she is the most honest with herself about her feelings). Part of that is ta'veren work, but it is not inconceivable that in many other Worlds That Might Be, they all had to find each other, and this subconscious anxiety drives them on.

The final aspect of this discussion involves the alternate realities and whether the people existing therein are as 'real' as those in the 'real' world. In the Worlds That Might Be, were those lives that Rand lived as 'real' as the one he lives right now?

I would say yes.

If those people are self-aware and at the same time unaware of the other alternate realities, then for them, their World is the real one. This means that Rand's battle takes on added significance, since if he fails in his world, he fails in all worlds. Remember Herid Fel's sudden anxiety when Rand asks why he might want to break the seals? Not only was he scared of the possibility of the Dark One breaking free right that second, but he might also have thought that if you break the seals in one World, they're broken in all Worlds. So, basically, Rand's responsibility is to all the Worlds That Might Be, not just his own.

Hope you like that mountain, kid.

Tel'aran'rhiod

In WOT, there is Dreaming, the allegory-filled montage-fest that seems to predict the future as it provides insight into the present. At the moment, the only non-Wise One to manifest this ability is Egwene (although what Min does is certainly related to Dreaming). As we have seen, what she Dreams has meaning, even if she can't see how at the time.

Beyond mere Dreaming, though, lies Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams, which seems to exist separately from Dreams and the dream state. As the Wise One Bair will tell you, one does not need to have the channeling ability to enter Tel'aran'rhiod, and while a few people enter it accidentally for a few moments, most who can Dreamwalk on a regular basis have the ability inborn.

But what is Tel'aran'rhiod, and how does it relate to what we know of our world?

There are a few assumptions that we can make about the World of Dreams, based on WOT dialogue, expository detail, and situational reactions:
- It exists separate from their 'real' world, as well as The Worlds That Might Be, although anyone from any world can access it.
- Whatever happens to a Dreamwalker in Tel'aran'rhiod physically happens to their body while sleeping, so if you die there, you're dead when you awake.
- Dreamwalkers enter the World of Dreams without their bodies. They have control over their physical appearance and their location within Tel'aran'rhiod, but cannot significantly alter the mirrored surroundings. That means that moving a table in Tel'aran'rhiod has no effect on that table in the 'real' world, and often the table will move back to its original position when you're not looking.
- One Power channelers can enter the World of Dreams in the flesh (using a gateway similar to Traveling), but the Aiel Wise Ones believe this is evil, that the person loses something of their human self each time they do this.
- The Heroes of the Horn, while in limbo waiting for their souls to be reborn (spun back into the Pattern, says Birgitte), occupy Tel'aran'rhiod, but not all together, and not noticed by Dreamwalkers unless a particular Hero decides to make contact. (Again, Birgitte mentions precepts governing such activity)
- A channeler can wield the One Power in the World of Dreams, but if the Dreamwalker has great knowledge of Tel'aran'rhiod, the use of the One Power is not usually necessary, since various things can be done by manipulating Tel'aran'rhiod with their mind.

In the previous section about the Worlds That Might Be, I mentioned a theory that our subconscious mind might actually be aware of all the Worlds at once, and filters all the resulting raw data down into intuitive impulses for the conscious mind to use. Well, let me go one step further with the World of Dreams to say that Tel'aran'rhiod is actually the creation of our combined subconscious minds. It's a place where the conscious mind can move freely within the subconscious collective, gathering data from other subconscious minds without having to go through the tiresome filtering process.

When the Salidar Aes Sedai visit the Amyrlin's chambers in Tar Valon, and they shuffle through the papers on Elaida's desk, the papers seem insubstantial, often fading away without warning, only lasting a few seconds.

What are thoughts?

Insubstantial, often fading away without warning when another thought comes along, only lasting a few seconds.

Those papers aren't actually papers, but Elaida's thoughts, written on 'paper' because that's what the Aes Sedai (and anyone else looking) would expect them to be. Since the World of Dreams is a creation of everyone's subconscious minds, Elaida's mind makes its own contributions that others can sift through.

The more concrete the thought, the more substantial the reality in the World of Dreams. That's why physical objects in Tel'aran'rhiod stay where they are - the subconscious that created the image of that location remembers where everything is, and because memory is stronger than thought, those physical objects (the table, chair, bed, the cup and saucer, etc.) are as 'real' as they would be in the waking world.

Remember when Egwene visited Tanchico in Tel'aran'rhiod at the beginning of The Shadow Rising? After playing hide-and-go seek with Amys, Egwene remarks to herself how odd it feels in Tanchico, a vague, slimy feeling. When Amys tracks the girl down, Egwene asks the Wise One if she feels the same thing. Amys agrees, and then identifies the feeling as a sense of evil.

That feeling was created by the Black Ajah (obviously), but not by anything they were doing consciously; it was their subconscious presence in Tanchico that, added to the mix, fouled the subconscious collective and created the slimy sensation in Tel'aran'rhiod.

This all seems far-fetched, and it should be, because it is far-fetched. When you're talking about consciousness and subconsciousness, alternate realities and Worlds That Might Be, it's difficult to maintain any sort of credibility, since we don't know all that much about that stuff. In our world, we don't really have an equivalent to The World of Dreams, although that's probably because we are too far removed from our instincts, our intuition, to ever realize such a World exists. We just don't have any Dreamwalkers. Tel'aran'rhiod. Maybe that's what Heaven is.

Wait - before you start slinging arrows at me for that last statement, let me explain:

In earlier times, when magic was more than just making the Statue of Liberty disappear, when walking on water and parting the Red Sea was just another day in the Middle East, it's likely that people in general used their intuition more than logic, allowing their feelings to make decisions. What if there was someone who was a Dreamwalker, and he or she stumbled into The World of Dreams? Misinterpreting what they saw, over the centuries, the tales changed it from the World of Dreams to Heaven. One of Jordan's constant themes is how history and time can change any story, change the names of heroes, even making complete mistakes. Remember Thom Merrilin's words? "Perhaps I will turn out to be the Hero from this Age, when the tales are told in the next Age."

And what could be a more evocative name for Heaven than 'The World of Dreams'?