NOTE: The Second Age may have marked the rise of those who could channel the One Power. In one of the Questions of the Week at the Tor web site, Jordan indicates this, although he also suggests that the ability to channel may have began at the end of the First Age.

Transportation in the Age of Legends was accomplished via sho-wings (flying craft), jo-cars (four-wheeled surface transports), jo-car floaters (gravitational hovercraft transport) jumpers (anti-gravity transport), and hoverflies (anti-gravity transport). Methods of travel that employed the One Power included Travelling, Skimming and the use of Portal Stones. [TWORJTWOT-35/36]

Major cities in the Age of Legends included: Paaran Disen (central seat of world government and location of the Hall of Servants), M'Jinn, Comelle (third largest in the world), Adnaza, Mar Ruois, V'saine (location of Collam Daan university and the great Sharom sphere), Jalanda, Emar Dal, Paral, Halidar, Kemali, Tsomo Nasalle, Devaille and Tzora. [TWORJTWOT-34]

Circa (300 years before the War of the Shadow): "The March of Death," the final movement of The Grand Passions Cycle, is composed. [TFOH-H-74]

Birth date of Lews Therin Telamon. [TWORJTWOT-57]

Birth date of Barid Bel Medar, one day after Lews Therin Telamon. [TWORJTWOT-57]

Birth date of Joar Addam Nessosin in the port city of Shorelle. [TWORJTWOT-59 / TFOH-H-272]

(More than 200 years before the drilling of the Bore): Birth date of Lillen Moiral. [TSR-H-630]

Lews Therin Telamon is First Among Servants of the Aes Sedai, sitting on the High Seat, wearing the Tamyrlin ring, and summoning the Nine Rods of Dominion. [TWORJTWOT-31-32]

Although refused a research position at Collam Daan, Saine Tarasind is allowed to teach at the facility as a basic instructor. [TWORJTWOT-67 / LOC-H-58]

Lews Therin and Mierin Eronaile have a relationship that is later terminated by Lews Therin because of Mierin's ambition. [TWORJTWOT-63]

Aes Sedai researchers at Collam Daan, including Mierin Eronaile and Beidomon, discover a region of the Pattern containing what appears to be an undivided source of the One Power separate from the True Source. Initial research suggests that this energy could be used by either gender without many of the known limitations of the Power. [TWORJTWOT-40-41]

An attempt is made to access the new energy source by boring a hole in the Pattern. The resulting explosion destroys the Sharom of Collam Daan. What the Collam Daan researchers had found was actually the prison of Shai'tan—The Dark One. The hole that results from their efforts is known as the Bore, and although it does not allow the Dark One to escape, it does allow him to influence the world. [TWORJTWOT-41/42 / TSR-H-306]

Jorlen Corbesan, one of the Aes Sedai researchers at the Sharom, is killed. [TGS-H-102]

Shayol Ghul, once a tranquil island, is transformed into a desolate wasteland by the touch of the Dark One. It is at this location that the Bore itself is detectable due to its effect on the Pattern. [TWORJTWOT-45 / LOC-H-13]

The Collapse (100-110 years)

Chaos reigns as the Dark One's influence begins to spread across a world previously at peace with itself. No one is aware of the nature of this growing evil or its direct relation to the Bore. [TWORJTWOT-42]

The Horn of Valere is lost in the chaos of the Collapse. It is recovered at a later date. [QOTW]

The Hall of Servants discovers that sadistic activities of Restorer Nemene Damendar Boann, considered one of the most talented healers of her time. She is given a choice between being bound against her own desires, or being severed from the True Source and losing her status as Aes Sedai. Nemene flees from the justice of the Hall, and later becomes one of the first to swear oaths to the Dark One at Shayol Ghul. She is later known as the Forsaken Semirhage. [TWORJTWOT-66 / LOC-H-139]

(Ten years after the drilling of the Bore): Kamarile Maradim Nindar alters her life-style from one of simplicity to hedonism. [TWORJTWOT-64]

Elan Morin Tedronai, a world-respected philosopher attending a conference to discuss the spreading chaos, informs the world of the nature of the Dark One and his intent to join this evil force. Later, as a member of the Forsaken, Elan Morin would be known as Ishamael, the Betrayer of Hope. [TWORJTWOT-51]

Many people known as Friends of the Dark (Darkfriends) begin to ally themselves with the Dark One in the hope of gaining favor and power. Aes Sedai that join the Shadow are known as the Forsaken. [TWORJTWOT-42]

NOTE: In one of the Questions of the Week at the Tor web site, Robert Jordan contradicts the information presented in The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time in regards to Dreadlords. The guidebook clearly indicates that Aes Sedai who turned to the Shadow in the Age of Legends were known as either Dreadlords or Forsaken/Chosen, depending on their level of power. In the QOTW, however, Jordan states that all of the Aes Sedai who turned to the Shadow during the Second Age were known as Forsaken/Chosen, and that Dreadlords only refers to Shadowsworn channelers during the Trolloc Wars. Apparently the guide has information that is intentional incorrect in order to reflect the confusion that WOT historians would face in trying to recreate past events with incomplete records.

Kamarile Maradim Nindar, later known as the Forsaken Graendel, joins the forces of the Shadow sometime in the first twenty-five years of the Collapse. She keeps her allegiances secret for many decades. [TWORJTWOT-64]

Ishar Morrad Chuain, later known as the Forsaken Aginor, devotes himself to the Dark One sometime during the first thirty years of the Collapse. As one of the world's leading biologists he uses his skills to create shadowspawn such as the Trollocs. Also created by Aginor are creatures such as Draghkar, Gholam and the jumara. [TWORJTWOT-53]

Eval Ramman, later known as the Forsaken Balthamel, pledges his allegiance to the Dark One during the middle years of the Collapse. [TWORJTWOT-54]

Brutal sports such as sha'je are developed, and crimes such as murder, torture and rape become common spectator sports in some areas. [TWORJTWOT-42]

(Fifty years before the War of the Shadow): Lews Therin marries Ilyena Moerelle Dalisar in a ceremony that a jealous Mierin attempts to disrupt. [TWORJTWOT-63]

Mierin Eronaile, later known as the Forsaken Lanfear, joins the Shadow shortly after Lews Therin's marriage. [TWORJTWOT-63]

Ared Mosinel, later known as the Forsaken Rahvin, joins the Shadow sometime during the Collapse. [TWORJTWOT-56]

Duram Laddel Cham, an advocate later known as the Forsaken Be'lal, joins the Shadow sometime during the Collapse. Duram had fought alongside Lews Therin before changing his allegiances, and along with Lews Therin would revive the ancient art of swordfighting. A blademaster, he was also known as the Envious and the Netweaver. [TWORJTWOT-56 / TDR-H-511]

Joar Addam Nessosin, a famous musical composer later known as the Forsaken Asmodean, joins the Shadow at an undetermined time. He would later claim this decision to be based on the appeal of immortality and of endless musical opportunities. [TWORJTWOT-59 / TFOH-H-77]

Saine Tarasind, an instructor later known as the Forsaken Mesaana, joins the Shadow at an undetermined time. [TWORJTWOT-59]

Lillen Moiral, an investment advisor later known as the Forsaken Moghedien, joins the Shadow long before the War of the Shadow but does not reveal her allegiance. [TWORJTWOT-59]

War of the Shadow (years 1-3)

Kamarile Maradim Nindar publicly declares her allegiance to the Dark One. By the end of the day Devaille is attacked by an army that includes Trollocs. This attack is believed to be the beginning of the War of the Shadow, also known as the War of Power. [TWORJTWOT-64]

Friends of the Dark begin the War of the Shadow (War of Power) as a means of freeing the Dark One from his prison. The formerly forgotten art of war is quickly rediscovered. [TWORJTWOT-43]

Trollocs appear for the first time in large numbers during the first few days of the war. [TWORJTWOT-53]

Balefire, previously a forbidden use of the Power, is rediscovered and used for a year until both sides realize its devastating effects and stop employing it. During this time entire cities are destroyed and erased from existence and memory, and theories and speculation suggest that such widespread disruption of the Pattern could have destroyed the world. [TWORJTWOT-43 / TFOH-H-119 / LOC-H-16]

Callandor, a sa'angreal sword, is constructed. [TWORJTWOT-44]

Barid Bel Medar, a general in the armies of the Light and one of the most honored men of the world, turns to the Shadow in the third year of the war. He is later known as the Forsaken Demandred. [TWORJTWOT-57]

Lillen Moiral declares her allegiance to the Dark One. [TWORJTWOT-69]

War of the Shadow (years 4-8)

Tel Janin Aellinsar, a general in Lews Therin's armies, joins the forces of the Shadow in the fourth year of the war. He would later be known as the Forsaken Sammael, the Destroyer of Hope, after his defection at the Gates of Hevan, where he led forces of the Shadow into the Rorn M'doi and the heart of Satelle. This betrayal marked a significant setback for the followers of the Light. Sammael is later wounded in a fight with Lews Therin, but refuses to have a large scar on his faced Healed in order to remind him of his failure. [TWORJTWOT-55 / TDR-H-511 / TFOH-H-27-506]

Forces led by Lews Therin Telamon manage to regain much of the territory lost to the Shadow in the first three years of the war. [TWORJTWOT-44]

Six creatures known as Gholam, three male and three female, are created by Aginor in order to assassinate Aes Sedai. Although the One Power had no effect on them, Gholam were capable of detecting those that could wield it. The Gholam's body had no bones, and their immense strength made them virtually indestructible. [ACOS-H-606]

War of the Shadow (year 9)

Little progress in the War of the Shadow is made on either side. [TWORJTWOT-44]

War of the Shadow (year 10 and beyond)

The forces of the Shadow advance at a rapid pace. [TWORJTWOT-44]

Lews Therin Telamon, known as the Dragon, defeats, but does not kill, Elan Morin (Ishamael) at the gates of Paaran Disen. [TWORJTWOT-44]

Lews Therin develops a controversial plan to seal the Bore at Shayol Ghul using seven cuendillar seals. This action would require the cooperation of seven powerful female Aes Sedai and six powerful male Aes Sedai to place the seals accurately. [TWORJTWOT-45]

Latra Posae Decume, an Aes Sedai of great influence, supports a plan to construct two sa'angreal in order to erect a shield around the Bore. Her plan is adopted mainly because of "the Fateful Accord," in which Latra Posae convinces the most powerful female Aes Sedai to reject Lews Therin's plan. [TWORJTWOT-45]

Construction begins on the Choedan Kal, two huge sa'angreal statues, one of a man and one of a woman, for use against the Shadow. The plan to use the sa'angreal fails when the ter'angreal access keys needed to control the statues are lost following an attack by Sammael on the secret location where the ter'angreal were created. Sammael had been unaware of the existence of these ter'angreal, and they were successfully hidden following the attack. Later, after the Breaking of the World, the female statue would end up buried on the island of Tremalking, and the male statue buried near the future site of the city of Cairhien. [TEOTW-H-300 / TWORJTWOT-24-46 / TFOH-H-122 / WH-H-317]

Armies commanded by Demandred and Be'lal threaten the Choedan Kal sa'angreal statues, and the forces of Light are barely able to stop their advance. By this time no territory occupied by the Shadow had been regained in two years. [TWORJTWOT-46]

Riots break out in many cities by panicked citizens expecting the eventual victory of the Shadow. The Hall of Servants in Paaran Disen is destroyed by those once loyal to Lews Therin. Among these is Be'lal. [TWORJTWOT-46 / TDR-H-510]

Numerous factions demand that a peace be negotiated with the Forsaken. [TWORJTWOT-46]

Dawn: Days after the destruction of the Hall of Servants, Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions (113 powerful male Aes Sedai), accompanied by ten thousand warmen, launch an attack on Shayol Ghul. The strike to seal the Bore is successful, and also manages to entrap the thirteen Forsaken who had been at Shayol Ghul at the time—Ishamael, Demandred, Mesaana (over 300 years old at the time), Lanfear, Graendal (almost 400 years old at the time), Aginor, Balthamel, Moghedien, Sammael, Rahvin, Semirhage, Be'lal and Asmodean. Forty-five of the Companions are killed along with numerous casualties to Lews Therin's forces. Ishamael is only partially trapped by the seven cuendillar seals, and would later go on to influence the world at various times. Although the Bore is sealed, a "backblast" of unknown origin taints saidin and instantly drives Lews Therin and the surviving Companions insane. [TWORJTWOT-47 / LOC-H-57]

Coumin, a Da'shain Aiel, participates in a seed singing ceremony. After the ceremony he hears the news of the morning's attack on Shayol Ghul. The results of the strike are unclear, and local townsfolk begin to celebrate the defeat of the Dark One. Coumin's father's greatfather, Charn, is murdered by townspeople blaming the Aiel for having once served those who became the Forsaken. [TSR-H-304]

Although some historians set the end of the War of the Shadow and the beginning of the Breaking of the World as ocurring on the same day as the strike at Shayol Ghul, others extend the War for another decade, since the forces of the Light and the Shadow continued to fight. The exact date for the Breaking of the World is impossible to define. The seeds of destruction were certainly planted on the day that Lews Therin and his Companions sealed the Bore, but the world was not immediately destroyed by their resulting rampages.

Lews Therin Telamon earns the name "Kinslayer" after killing all of his relatives, including his wife Ilyena. Taunted by Ishamael, the very man who had suggested the dark deed to him, Lews Therin is granted a moment of clarity and sanity—just enough time for him to realize what he had done to his family. Consumed by grief, Lews Therin Travels to a location near the River Erinin and channels enough of the One Power to kill himself, change the path of the river, and create a mountain which would later become known as Dragonmount. The island created by the altered path of the River Erinin is the future location of Tar Valon. [TEOTW-H-xii-171 / TWORJTWOT-83]

Time of Madness (10 years)

For the next ten years the sixty-eight survivors from the attack on Shayol Gul use the One Power as a tool of violence and destruction in ways the world has never seen or imagined. Although the taint on saidin was easily detectable at this time, it was many years before the Aes Sedai realized exactly what it was, and the effect that it was having on all male Aes Sedai. Although the taint affected them more gradually, the male Aes Sedai follow in the footsteps of Lews Therin and the surviving Companions. [TWORJTWOT-83]

The War of the Shadow continues, but the forces of evil begin to fight amongst themselves as much as against the forces of the Light, among whose leaders includes Latra Posae, also known as Shadar Nor, the "Cutter of the Shadow." [TWORJTWOT-83]

The male Choedan Kal statue is hidden—buried near the future city of Cairhien—in order to prevent its use by male Aes Sedai. [TFOH-H-122]

Many Aes Sedai seek shelter in Ogier stedding, but all eventually leave in time. [TWORJTWOT-85]

A ter'angreal capable of allowing a woman, or two women, to control a man capable of channeling the One Power is constructed. Designed as a collar and two bracelets, all made of cuendillar, the ter'angreal eventually finds its way into the collection of the Panarch of Tarabon in the Third Age. [TSR-H-630]

The Breaking of the World

As the number of male Aes Sedai succumbing to the taint increases, their combined abuse of the One Power results in massive geological upheaval and devastation over a period of centuries. Most remnants of the advanced civilizations known in the Age of Legends are destroyed. The great cities are obliterated from the world as the insane male Aes Sedai destroy mountain ranges, continents and oceans. [TWORJTWOT-84]

In the early days of the Breaking one-hundred Aes Sedai, both male and female, create a pool of untainted saidin called the Eye of the World. The effort required to ensure the pureness of the pool kills all of the Aes Sedai involved. Set to guard the pool is the Green Man, a Nym. [TEOTW-H-625 / TWORJTWOT-248]

The War of the Shadow ends as civilization declines due to the spreading madness of insane male Aes Sedai. [TWORJTWOT-83]

The Stone of Tear is created with the One Power. [LOC-H-713]

Callandor is hidden in the Stone of Tear in a chamber known as the Heart of the Stone. Prophecies later indicate that the sword can only be removed by the Dragon Reborn. [TWORJTWOT-44]

The Aes Sedai give the Da'shain Aiel, followers of the Way of the Leaf who had rejected all forms of violence, the task of taking angreal and ter'angreal out of harm's way so that the objects could not be found and used by male Aes Sedai. This action was also taken in order to assure the survival of the Da'shain, who would not fight under any circumstance and had sworn their service to the Aes Sedai by the Covenant. The task of safeguarding the angreal is sometimes referred to as the Second Covenant. [TWORJTWOT-180]

A group of male Aes Sedai construct the Ways with the One Power so that Ogier can travel between their steddings safely. This is done in gratitude to the Ogier, who allowed male Aes Sedai to live within the steddings so as to shield them from the effects of the taint on saidin. Before the last of the male Aes Sedai left the steddings they gave the Ogier ter'angreal called Talismans of Growing, which would allow them to grow new Waygates as more lost stedding were found. The Ways were constructed in part on knowledge gained by the study of alternate worlds accessed through ancient Portal Stones. [TEOTW-H-543 / TGH-TP-217 / TWORJTWOT-197]

Latra Posae dies sometime during the Breaking. [TWORJTWOT-83]

The seven seals that hold the Bore closed are scattered throughout the world in order to prevent any male Aes Sedai from obtaining them. One of the seals is placed within the Eye of the World. [TEOTW-H-647 / TWORJTWOT-85]

The Aes Sedai lose all sense of organization and structure. [TWORJTWOT-89]

A group of Da'shain Aiel break off in order to search for the Old Song and reaffirm their belief in the Way of the Leaf. They are later known as the Tuatha'an, the Lost Ones. [TWORJTWOT-181 / TSR-H-296]

The Ogier enter the Long Exile as they search for the altered locations of their stedding. [TWORJTWOT-85]

Some of the Da'shain Aiel abandon the Way of the Leaf in order to defend themselves and their families against attackers. These Aiel continue to follow the main group, later referred to as the Jenn Aiel, and provide it with protection. [TWORJTWOT-181 / TSR-H-291]

Followers of the Dark One are believed to have used methods to bring people into Tel'aran'rhiod against their will or knowledge. [TSR-H-592]

The Breaking ends after the death of the last male Aes Sedai. Various sources indicate that the length of the Breaking ranged from 239 to 344 years.

This page last updated on
2/8/2005 at 07:13 PM