Ok, this is something I have been thinking about for a while and I haven't seen anywhere on these forums. I haven't browsed all of them so maybe this has been addressed somewhere else. My theory is that the Seanchan should in no way stand a chance against the Randland channelers once The Last Battle is over and everyone has time to regroup and The Peace of the Dragon has passed. Simply put it comes down to a numbers game. If we assume that Seanchan and Randland have male and female channelers in roughly the same proportions and similar population levels then this should be the math as I see it for the female channelers.
Each continent begins with 1000 channelers.
The Seanchan gain 250 channelers due to their holdings in Randland. This also means Randland loses 250 channelers.
New Totals:
Seanchan: 1250
Randland: 750
Now we know that the Seanchan are not utilizing all of the channelers that they have at their disposal due to collaring women with the adam. I remember reading (correct me if I am wrong) that they actually were capturing the women who would touch the source on their own regardless, the ones with the spark born in them. They are not capturing the ones who can learn, they go on to become the sul'dam. I also remember Moiraine saying that about 1 in 4 women who can channel are born with the spark. So that brings the number of channelers that the Seanchan can bring to bear in a conflict down considerably to roughly a quarter of what they should be able to field based on total number of channelers under their dominion.
New Totals:
Seanchan:313
Randland:750
Now we see the Randland channelers take a significant numbers advantage since all of their channelers are free and can work together. The Seanchan basically have 624 channelers sitting on their duffs doing nothing and unable to participate in the fight. (1250 total - 313 damane = 937 sul'dam, 937 sul'dam - 313 damane to link with = 624 sul'dam without someone to link with) At the same time, all of the free channelers from Randland can work together and form circles thereby increasing their power. If each woman partners up with another woman they still outnumber the Seanchan by 62 channeling groups. Also assume that power roughly equals out over all of these people. So now the Randland channelers are all paired up and their power is somewhat amplified by the circles. We need to remember that all of these 375 circles that they have formed are now more powerful than the individual damane because remember they aren't drawing any power from the sul'dam that we know of. This hasn't even added in the power of the male channelers who can jump into the fray on the Randland side and can't, or would be collared and therefore have their numbers diminished on the Seanchan side. I know Aviendha's viewings from the pillars show the war being a bit of a piecemeal affair with nations falling one by one, but once the white tower and black tower join in I just can't see the numbers favoring the Seanchan because of the way they utilize their channelers. Any thoughts? Oh and thanks for reading my first post
Each continent begins with 1000 channelers.
The Seanchan gain 250 channelers due to their holdings in Randland. This also means Randland loses 250 channelers.
New Totals:
Seanchan: 1250
Randland: 750
Now we know that the Seanchan are not utilizing all of the channelers that they have at their disposal due to collaring women with the adam. I remember reading (correct me if I am wrong) that they actually were capturing the women who would touch the source on their own regardless, the ones with the spark born in them. They are not capturing the ones who can learn, they go on to become the sul'dam. I also remember Moiraine saying that about 1 in 4 women who can channel are born with the spark. So that brings the number of channelers that the Seanchan can bring to bear in a conflict down considerably to roughly a quarter of what they should be able to field based on total number of channelers under their dominion.
New Totals:
Seanchan:313
Randland:750
Now we see the Randland channelers take a significant numbers advantage since all of their channelers are free and can work together. The Seanchan basically have 624 channelers sitting on their duffs doing nothing and unable to participate in the fight. (1250 total - 313 damane = 937 sul'dam, 937 sul'dam - 313 damane to link with = 624 sul'dam without someone to link with) At the same time, all of the free channelers from Randland can work together and form circles thereby increasing their power. If each woman partners up with another woman they still outnumber the Seanchan by 62 channeling groups. Also assume that power roughly equals out over all of these people. So now the Randland channelers are all paired up and their power is somewhat amplified by the circles. We need to remember that all of these 375 circles that they have formed are now more powerful than the individual damane because remember they aren't drawing any power from the sul'dam that we know of. This hasn't even added in the power of the male channelers who can jump into the fray on the Randland side and can't, or would be collared and therefore have their numbers diminished on the Seanchan side. I know Aviendha's viewings from the pillars show the war being a bit of a piecemeal affair with nations falling one by one, but once the white tower and black tower join in I just can't see the numbers favoring the Seanchan because of the way they utilize their channelers. Any thoughts? Oh and thanks for reading my first post