One of the major reasons that The Wheel of Time is so captivating as epic fantasy is because of its masterful rendition of a classic theme--the battle for world domination by the forces of evil. The struggle between the Light and the Dark One plays out between the Forsaken and the forces of the Dragon. In the series, time is cyclical, and therefore the ages—various compartmental increments of time-- and the battle for supremacy recycle continuously. In each age the ultimate stakes are wagered in the titanic struggle between light and dark. The victor gains the ability to shape the world according to its metaphysical ideologies. For example, if the Light wins the battle for supremacy in that age, the world is generally remade in the image of goodness. Overall then, society functions relatively smoothly and people can lead good, purposeful lives. However, if evil wins, the world is re-cast in the image deemed by the Dark One. At the center point of this recasting is the desire for the Dark One to shatter the Wheel of Time which would ultimately eliminate the cyclic nature of time and forever throw the world under the reign of the Shadow.
      Why, then, does there seem to be such an imbalance in the outcome between good and evil? Only the forces of evil, the “Shadow” as Jordan names it, wishes to destroy the cyclic nature of time. Why this metaphysical difference? Why would the side of good, the Light, not want to break the Wheel of Time after a victory? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if the side of good won, once and for all? In other words, the Light must continually use the same reincarnated entities in order to ensure the persistence of the epic struggle. These reincarnated entities are represented most readily as the characters Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybarra, but more so by the protagonist Rand al’Thor. Rand is the Dragon; a man whose entire existence is tied to battle with the Shadow. The heroes of previous ages therefore must be brought back from the grave to defend the Light. So, the question becomes, why would the Light wish to go through this never-ending process of victory, hero rebirth, struggle, and victory? At first blush it seems more logical for the Light to wish for victory and then break the Wheel of Time, as the Shadow desires, in order to create a utopia that exists in a linear time. This is the definition of progress.
      The answer to this metaphysical question lies in the symbolism of the novel. More specifically, it lies in the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai which is a modified version of the symbol representing the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang. The Aes Sedai were men and women who could tap into the very energy that drives the universe, the One Power, and channel that energy to do their bidding. In the current age, however, the male half of the One Power is tainted with evil—a final counterstroke by the Dark One before his last defeat in the previous age. Thus, the One Power is a dichotomy, male and female, as is the yinyang. The Chinese symbol is similar in that the ancient Aes Sedai symbol is comprised of two tear-drop shaped sinuous halves which form a complete circle. However, a notable point of difference in the yinyang symbol is small circles of contrasting color within each tear drop. In the yinyang philosophy, these small circles of contrasting color symbolize the idea that pureness does not exist. There is a little good—somewhere—in evil, and vice versa. Absolutes are not so absolute, if one looks hard enough.
      However, the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai does not include the symbolism just mentioned. What does this then represent for the Wheel of Time? The ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai thus represents the bigger picture—a macroscopic perspective on the two possible world ideologies, i.e. the metaphysical ideals of both good and evil. The ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai is only truly representative of world ideology as long as the Light is the victor in the ongoing struggle between good and evil. The two sinuous halves represent that evil is never distant, yet it is not all-encompassing either. The world is balanced, and that balanced is maintained through the concurrent spinning out of core threads of the Pattern. The Pattern is the metaphorical, metaphysical notion that Jordan uses in order to explain the tapestry of interacting lives. These core threads of the Pattern are the lives of heroes and heroines who battle the Shadow age after age—heroes such as Lews Therin Telamon, Birgitte Silverbow, and Gaidal Cain, for example. These men and women fight not to create world domination for the Light, but to withhold the forces of the Shadow, to restrain evil. This is an important distinction and the central metaphysical philosophy of Jordan’s series. Domination is the domain of evil, balance is the domain of good. As in the Chinese philosophy, the yinyang symbol is “a process of harmonization ensuring a constant, dynamic balance of all things.”¹
      Utopian societies do not exist, and all attempts to create utopias fail utterly—one person’s utopia is another’s nightmare. (Read Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s A Brave New World for examples of this notion.) Utopia is thus, then, a single interpretation of perfection used to dominate society. As stated earlier, domination is the realm of evil. Therefore, being that a utopia is based on personal interpretation it’s anachronous with society by definition. Societies are communal, not personal. Here the major distinction between the objectives of both the Light and that of the Shadow becomes apparent.
      Incidentally, the Shadow’s quest for world domination is a self-cannibalistic one. Pure evil, evil that is not tempered with order of any kind, feeds upon itself. Jordan gives us evidence of what the world under the yoke of the Shadow would look like. In chapter 13 of The Great Hunt, Rand unknowingly transports himself and friends to another world via a Portal Stone. The world they enter is a representation of what might have been. A what if. The world they entered was a world in which the Shadow defeated the king of legend, Artur Hawkwing, a world in which the Shadow won (GH, ch. 16). The world was devoid of life, even devoid of the evil abominations known as Trollocs which are the foot soldiers of the Shadow. Loial, Rand’s companion, explains: “Perhaps, after they killed the people, they killed one another. Trollocs live to kill. That is all they do; that is all they are” (220). This is an example of evil domination; of the institution of a singular ideology proscribed by a singular being. In this case, it is the world recast in the image of the Dark One. This is also an example of an outcome that the Light fights to prevent. The Dark One’s ideology is destructive, to say the least, and counter to the conditions for life to thrive.
      The forces of Light, then, fight for the ability to maintain balance, fight for the existence of multiple ideologies and the freedom for people to follow those ideologies as they please—as long as the ideology is not destructive or detrimental to a separate ideology. In effect, the purpose of the Light is to promote one’s opportunity to choose how one wants to live. This is to be preserved at all costs. The fight against the Shadow is the fight against oppressive tyranny, against singular ideology; it is the worthiest and most virtuous battle for any age and for any world. In a condescending attempt to get Rand to turn to the Shadow, Ishamael, one of the Forsaken, reiterates the Shadow’s objective and refers to the Light’s required reincarnation of heroes:

Main Page