Caemlyn (book 1 spoilers and Children of the Light discussion)

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I finally came to the chapter by this title in the first volume. Rand and Mat have been drenched and semi-dry for this part of the journey. Darkfriends are seen or suspected in every village and Inn along the way. Meanwhile Perrin and Egween are captives of the Children of Light. Since Perrin killed a couple of the Children he has the prospect of getting the noose when they arrive at their destination.

So, are the Children good bad, or somewhere in between? They hate the genuine evil groups. They at the very least seem a bit heavy-handed.

Others thoughts and input would be much appreciated.
 
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Anyone who has ever played BioWare's Dragon Age games will see the similarity between the Children of the Light and Dragon Age's Chantry Templars. Both of these groups have very strong views and belief systems, particularly regarding those who can channel or use magic. I don't believe the Children are bad, they simply view their way as the ONLY way and refuse to accept any compromise.
 
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I think this says it all...

For Children of the Light, the Whitecloaks were inspired by the Inquisition, the SS, the Teutonic Knights and others. In fact, they were inspired by all those groups who say, "We know the truth. It is the only truth. You will believe it, or we will kill you."
Robert Jordan

Edit: Updated link to the the original blog post.
 
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Eluial Aldaran

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So, are the Children good bad, or somewhere in between? They hate the genuine evil groups. They at the very least seem a bit heavy-handed.

Others thoughts and input would be much appreciated.

Really depends on what your definition of good and evil are. I, personally, find their unwillingness to compromise or see any other worldview but theirs as valid as being rather evil. It doesn't meant they're evil the way [other characters omitted due to spoilers] are evil. They're normal people, they just have some really messed up priorities and beliefs.
 

Leira Galene

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Anyone who has ever played BioWare's Dragon Age games will see the similarity between the Children of the Light and Dragon Age's Chantry Templars.

I agree 100%, especially in DA 2. That was the first thing I thought of when they were introduced. They always think they are serving the Light and are convinced that all channelers are not. Admittedly though, the Templars in DA have a lot more reason to be suspicious of mages. But yeah, they pretty much just think everything they do is right. Not evil, but perhaps a but conceited.
 
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I don't know if I'd go as far as saying the Templars in DA have more reason to be suspicious of mages than the Children of Light have to be of channelers. Look at what channelers can actually do, especially if they use an angreal or sa'angreal to amplify the Power. The Breaking is one of the main reasons behind their hatred of channelers.
 

Aran Cherubim

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I don't know if I'd go as far as saying the Templars in DA have more reason to be suspicious of mages than the Children of Light have to be of channelers. Look at what channelers can actually do, especially if they use an angreal or sa'angreal to amplify the Power. The Breaking is one of the main reasons behind their hatred of channelers.

And the Dreadlords of the Trolloc Wars. And the False Dragons.
 

Leira Galene

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I guess that's true, but the vasy majority of known channelers don't do a lot of damage, as far as the Children know. In DA, it's a distinct possibility that any mage will become an abomination, either by accident or on purpse. In WoT, generally the channelers would have to try to be evil.

I, of course, always play those games as a mage :) Stupid Templars.
 

Aran Cherubim

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I guess that's true, but the vasy majority of known channelers don't do a lot of damage, as far as the Children know. In DA, it's a distinct possibility that any mage will become an abomination, either by accident or on purpse. In WoT, generally the channelers would have to try to be evil.

I, of course, always play those games as a mage :) Stupid Templars.

I think you're looking at this from the wrong viewpoint: your average Amadician or Ghealdanine doesn't have access to wikipedia, or to nationwide statistics, hell they haven't even got access to reliable news. These are not decisions based on rational arguments, but on emotions that appeal to a certain worldview. The Children of the Light are ideological fundamentalists; their decisions are based on emotions and preconceived notions of how the world is.

To put it into perspective: in real life, thousands of witches were killed in Europe during the early modern era. The threat of magic - while commonly considered completely irrational by modern western scientific standards - was significant enough for the people of those times to justify widespread lynchings and murders based on rumours and hearsay. This is an issue of mythic themes, mass hysteria, ideological dogma and personal emotions.
 
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Leira Galene

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Oh no, I completely agree with you. They're not going to be rational and are clearly suffering from a lack of information. If you look at the first few chapters of EotW, the Two Rivers people have a lot of similar ideas about Aes Sedai due to misinformation about things like the Breaking (if I remember correctly, Rand and friends at first think the female Aes Sedai were also part of it).

My point was simply that in my opinion, mages in DA are more dangerous than Aes Sedai as a whole, since they can become abominations, and the closest equivalent in WoT would maybe be being Turned to the shadow, which I'm not sure anyone outside of the White Tower knows about (correct me if I'm wrong...). So objectively, I think the Templars have more reason than the Children to want to contain them. Doesn't mean it's not completely feasible to understand why the Children have so many issues too. Hope that clears things up. :)
 
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I think they just have a VERY skewed reality of the Shadow. If it isn't natural, it must be from the Dark One. It is funny, but when I think of the Whitecloaks, I always think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail... "A WITCH, BURN HER!!!!"
 
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I think they just have a VERY skewed reality of the Shadow. If it isn't natural, it must be from the Dark One. It is funny, but when I think of the Whitecloaks, I always think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail... "A WITCH, BURN HER!!!!"

How do you know she's a witch?
 
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Cuz she weighs the same as a duck, which means she weighs the same as wood. And therefore...A WITCH, BURN HER!!!!!
 
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