One Power

The One Power is a source of magic in The Wheel of Time. People who can wield the One Power are called channelers. The only known organization of free channelers is the Aes Sedai, which is all-female.

Lifetimes ago, both men and women could wield the One Power, but the male half of the power was corrupted by the Dark One. In the present day, any man in the Westlands capable of channeling is stripped of his power by the Red Ajah of the Aes Sedai, a process that can be fatal.

Nature

The One Power emanates from the True Source, the force that turns the Wheel of Time itself. Weaves of the One Power belong to one of five elements: Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Spirit.

Few people can learn to channel. An even smaller number of people are born with the "spark", and will always become channelers whether they want to or not.

Touching the One Power slows the process of physical ageing, and many channelers are able to live for centuries.

Ability

The feeling of channeling is considered the sweetest pleasure there is. However, channelers need to learn not to take too much of the One Power, or else be overwhelmed by it. Trained channelers, such as full Aes Sedai, learn to fully control and direct the One Power.

Saidin and Saidar

The One Power is divided into two halves: saidin, the male half, and saidar, the female half. In the Third Age, saidin is corrupted by the Dark One's touch, driving mad any channeler who touches it.

Saidin is considered to be wild and unwieldy, like a raging torrent. The madness is unavoidable after the Dark One corrupted saidin.

The experience of saidar is instead one of surrendering. Power is found in its gentleness. It can be conceptualized through imagining onesself as a flowerbud.

A female channeler can never teach a male channeler how to use the One Power, as their experiences of channeling will be completely different. Logain tells Rand that a man must struggle against the One Power, instead of surrendering to it like a woman.

Organizations

During the Age of Legends, both male and female channelers were Aes Sedai ("servants of all" in the Old Tongue), and served the world. After the Corruption was placed on the male half of the One Power, leading to the Breaking of the World, the Aes Sedai were reformed in the Third Age as an exclusively female organization, centered in the White Tower of Tar Valon, recruiting women from all over the Westlands.

There are also many rural female channelers who express their abilities, but never have the means to train at the White Tower, or choose not to do so. These are referred to as wilders by the Aes Sedai of the White Tower. These women have many names across the world, and they also typically use different terms to refer to the One Power. In the Two Rivers, there is the position of Wisdom, the leader of the Women's Circle. She is typically a latent female channeler who manifests the One Power as "listening to the wind" and predicting the weather.

In Seanchan, female channelers known as damane are enslaved by the military.

Quotes

The power inside you... all over the world, there are different names for it. But it's one thing. One power. And women who can touch it... we protect the world.

Moiraine Damodred

Changes from the book series

The One Power is an adaptation of the concept of the same name  (book spoilers!) from the book series.

• Gestures: In the book series, Aes Sedai are noted to use gestures for certain weaves (such as fireballs), but not all. However, in the show, this trait has been exaggerated in order to visually convey the usage of the One Power to the audience. It is notable, however, that other channelers who have not been trained by the White Tower (such as Logain), are able to channel effectively without any such gestures. Eamon Valda notes that the usage of hand gestures or other somatic components is a crutch the Aes Sedai rely upon when channeling.
• Taint / Corruption: In the book series, the Dark One has tainted the male half of the One Power, and it's referred to as "the taint". It is instead called the "corruption" in the TV series.

Trivia

• Each actor playing a channeler was allowed to develop their own style of channeling movements with choreographers.

Gallery

Promotional stills

Videos

The Wheel of Time- Magic Explained - IGN First

November 17, 2021