Historical Wheel of Time events

This article is about the fictional world history of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time fantasy fiction series.
Creation
The world was created by the Creator, driven by the Wheel of Time, with existence unfolding in the turning of seven ages. As the introduction of each book states: "The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth comes again."
The Wheel of Time is driven by two halves of the One Power, the male half called saidin and the female half saidar. Some humans can manipulate the One Power, an ability which seems to be transferred genetically as well as mystically (see , a male soul in a female body channeling saidin).
At the moment of creation, the Creator bound the Dark One in a prison away from the world. The nature of the Dark One is not explored - perhaps an antithesis to the benevolent nature of the Creator.
It has been over 3000 years since the end of the Age of Legends, and records remaining are fragmentary, but it is known that there were huge cities, such as Paaran Disen, , Comelle, Mar Ruois, Adanza and , which was where the research center of Collam Daan was situated.
Nowadays, the Age of Legends is viewed as having been a utopian society: without even memory of war or crime, perfectly ethical, attuned to nature, and devoted to culture and learning. Aes Sedai were frequently devoted to academic endeavours, one of which inadvertently resulted in a hole---“The Bore”---being drilled into the Dark One’s prison by a group of male and female Aes Sedai looking for a new source of Power that both sexes could use equally. One member of this team was a female Aes Sedai, Mierin Eronaile, who later became one of the Forsaken when she took the name Lanfear. It is likely that the suspected new source of Power was in fact the True Power that the Dark One employs to his agents.
The Collapse
The effects were not immediate, but over the next hundred years after the Bore had been drilled the Dark One's influence was gradually felt over society, as his presence tainted every aspect of people's lives.
Where there had previously been a peaceful utopian society, relatively free of major crimes, degenerate practices began to spread, violent sports became popular and society began to decline rapidly. This period is said to have lasted 80-100 years, before the first people began to declare for the Dark One publicly and the first assaults were made, originally with human armies, but then increasingly with constructs.
Eventually his followers tried to break him completely free, and the world plunged into the War of the Shadow, sometimes called the War of Power.
The name of this period of time indicates that there is no first-hand information about the age. Since no records from before the Breaking have yet been found, all knowledge of the age is based on documents written during the first few centuries after the Breaking. Numerous oral traditions have been passed down, but their accuracy is suspect and must therefore be considered "legends." Though the Aiel have the most authentic source of information about the age; a ter'angreal in Rhuidean that allows Aiel hoping to be clan chiefs and Wise Ones to peer into the lives of their ancestors, including those living during the Age of Legends; they do not like to speak of it.
Although The Wheel of Time is quite true to the fantasy genre, on occasion, Jordan slips touches of science fiction into his work; all of these significant departures from pure fantasy fall within this time period.
The War of Power
The War of Power occurred when those taken by the Dark One's influence rose in open war to destroy the existing order through conquest. At this time, the concept of war was unfamiliar to humanity, so the forces of the Dark achieved quick gains before a war of attrition began.
Events in The Shadow Rising show that the War lasted about three generations, probably 50-75 years of fighting before the Breaking began. However, Robert Jordan has stated in the book Robert Jordan's World of the Wheel of Time that the war lasted only about 10 years or so.
Aes Sedai, both due to their ability to wield the One Power and as important academic and civic figures, frequently became the leaders of the forces of the Light. However, many Aes Sedai - including some of the most powerful - went over to the forces of the Dark, becoming the Dark One's 'Chosen' - called the 'Forsaken' by the forces of the Light - as leaders and generals on the opposite side of the battle. One of the Forsaken, called Aginor, was primarily responsible for engineering the Shadowspawn armies: Trollocs, Myrdraal and Draghkar, as well as constructs like the Gholam.
At first the forces of the Dark advanced against an unprepared populace, taking vast swathes of territory and a number of cities. When the forces of the Light fought back, they pushed the Dark Ones forces back heavily, retaking a number of cities and considerable territory. But it was during this they discovered the terrible atrocities the armies of Trollocs and Darkfriends had committed, both when conquering areas and under the administration of the Dark One's followers. Cities retaken were little more than blackened wastelands, where people refusing to swear for the Dark One were burnt alive at the corners. Retaking a city was a massive loss of morale as well as a drain on resources to rebuild it.
Again the Dark One took the offensive and gradually began to push the forces of the Light back. As more and more of his generals defected to the other side, Lews Therin Telamon became convinced that the forces of Light would lose. It was said that 'It was as if with every step forward by the Shadow, disorder and chaos grew, and feeding on that, the Shadow gained strength, so that its next stride was longer, and the next after would be longer still'.
Eventually, the forces of the Light began to succumb, particularly given the willingness of the enemy to use manufactured beasts and constructs such as the Trollocs as soldiers, and to murder much of the population of conquered territories. For several years, they had barely been able to hold their own ground against the attacks, and it had been many more since they had been on the offensive. The forces of Light could no longer sustain a war, and they were moving rapidly towards defeat.
It became clear that the Light must undertake some sort of war-ending mission, bringing the Shadow to its knees in one fell swoop, but the Hall of Servants was deadlocked on how to do so. Two possible plans were espoused. The first concerned the use of two great ', one female and one male, to construct a second prison around the Bore itself, allowing the Dark One the run of Shayol Ghul but little else. These sa'angreal were, in theory, so powerful that either one could draw enough of the Power to destroy the entire world; since no living human could stand that much Power, "access key" ter'angreal would be required to shield the wielder from harm. The other, proposed by Lews Therin himself, was to take a circle of the most powerful Aes Sedai to Shayol Ghul and re-seal the Dark One's prison.
This plan was considered highly dangerous—Lews Therin admitted that there was little chance any of them would return, even if they succeeded; and furthermore the attempt to re-seal the prison might simply rip it open instead. Consequently, a woman named Latra Posae Decume started a pact with the other female Aes Sedai that none would assist Lews Therin. This "Fateful Concord," as it was later called, essentially sunk his existing plans, which relied on male-female cooperation.
Work on the sa'angreal surged ahead, but as the access keys were completed, armies commanded by Sammael overran the place where they were held. Plans were made to retrieve the keys, but never succeeded, and they were not seen again for three thousand years. In the meanwhile, other offensives by the Shadow pushed the Light to the wall, as massive armies struck commanded by the Forsaken, and other armies caused heavy fighting everywhere. Barely able to contain them with the forces he had, it became clear to Lews Therin that if they could not end the war within a half-year or so, they would lose the war, and the Dark One would win.
With any women powerful enough signed up to the Fateful Concord, and even women too weak signing up as well, Lews Therin took matters into his own hands. By this point, he had enough power and loyalty to secretly gather a guard of ten thousand soldiers and The Hundred Companions (though in actuality they numbered 113) in secret, and set off to strike at Shayol Ghul.
Details are sketchy, since every man of the ten thousand died, and the few male Aes Sedai that survived went mad instantly, but about forty of the Hundred were thought to have been killed, but the re-sealing was accomplished perfectly, despite the hindrance of having no female Aes Sedai on hand; by chance, thirteen of the remaining Forsaken were at Shayol Ghul on unrelated business, and were sealed in as well during the Strike.
Despite this apparent defeat, it was the Dark One's counter stroke that truly decided the day: he placed a taint upon saidin, plunging Lews Therin and his Sixty-Eight Companions into instant madness, immediately going on the rampage across the world, spreading chaos and destruction outwards from Shayol Ghul.
Efforts were made by the remaining Aes Sedai to restore society and bring the world back to some semblance of peace. But there were still many remaining bands of Trollocs and Darkfriend armies, and the true extent of the counter stroke was becoming clear, as other male Aes Sedai soon began to gradually succumb to the same fate, and society truly fell apart. These male channelers wandered the world, re-scuplting as they saw fit. This event was called the Breaking of the World, where humankind barely survived the destruction wrought by the insane male Aes Sedai.
The Breaking of the World
In what is also known as the Time of Madness, male Aes Sedai changed the world. In their insanity they used the One Power to cause great earthquakes, destroying mountains and raising new ones. They lifted dry land where seas had been and made the ocean rush in where dry land had been. Cities were wiped out and civilization completely failed to exist during this time, only re-establishing itself in primitive form after the last of the male Aes Sedai were dead. Depending on whether you chose the founding of Cairhien or the first Aiel chiefs entering Rhuidean as the end of the Breaking, it lasted between 7 and 12 generations, or about 150-300 years.
Some Male Aes Sedai hid away in Stedding—homes of the Ogier, where the One Power can not be touched and channeling is impossible. Eventually, they left the Stedding, and went mad as well. Whether this prolonged the Breaking or spread it out so it was survivable is hotly debated, but eventually all Male Aes Sedai had died.
Much of the world was completely changed, and most of the world's population died in the upheaval. This destruction is remembered in stories, legends, and history as the Breaking of the World.
It is revealed that the Aes Sedai of the time undertook a series of great works, seemingly to set up 'tools' for Rand and others to use three thousand years later, after a Female Aes Sedai had a Foretelling (discussion of the Foretelling is seen by Rand in Rhuidean). For example, the construction of the Stone of Tear; there was not really a need to build such a huge fortress except insofar as it relates to the eventual fulfillment of the Karaethon Cycle. There are several others, linked together: the Eye of the World was created by male and female channelers, foreseeing the world's greatest need and thus creating a reservoir of saidin to deal with it. The Horn of Valere, Lews Therin Telamon's banner, and a seal on Shayol Ghul were closed in a chest and placed there. Someshta, or the Green Man, was sent there to guard it for Rand's eventual arrival, as we can assume from The Shadow Rising, and finally, the Sa’angreal sword Callandor was placed in the Stone of Tear and heavily warded so that only The Dragon Reborn would be able to retract it. Apparently the Aes Sedai had the ability to foresee the Dragon's Rebirth, or else they would not have undertaken such complicated and dangerous works (the creation of the Eye of the World killed all those involved).
The Trolloc Wars
A thousand years after the Breaking, society had finally stabilized somewhat. The Ten Nations were prosperous, and humanity was once again advancing both in industry, science, and in philosophical and mental pursuits. The Trolloc Wars shattered this time of peace and prosperity.
The Trolloc Wars refers to a series of sustained wars between humanity and Shadowspawn (hence 'The Trolloc Wars') campaigning out of the Blight with a ferocity otherwise unseen since the War of Power. Ishamael (leader of the Forsaken) was free for 40 years during this period, and it is presumed he led the Dreadlords, channelers (primarily female, but with a fair number of males) devoted to the Dark One who led the Trolloc and Darkfriend armies. These armies's attacks on the Ten Nations damaged them severely. No nation was untouched during this time, and so it marks a cultural and historical landmark. Many nations were destroyed, and those that were spared ultimate destruction still fell to political and social upheaval. In particular, the Trolloc Wars marked the end of the Compact of Ten Nations, which had defined the political landscape from soon after the Breaking.
Artur Hawkwing and the War of the Hundred Years
Artur Paendrag Tanreall was king of the minor nation of Shandalle when the False Dragon, Guaire Amalasan, rose and began conquering the lands of the west. Artur Paendrag was among those who led forces against him. Quickly proving himself a master tactician and general, he was instrumental in defeating Amalasan. The speed at which he could move his forces earned Artur the name Hawkwing.
In returning to his homeland, Hawkwing inflicted a perceived slight to the Amyrlin Seat, the infamous Bonwhin, which resulted in the concerted invasion of Shandalle by several neighbours. Moving quickly to blunt the attacks, Hawkwing soon found himself conquering his neighbours. A war of consolidation followed as he gained power, eventually conquering all the lands spanning from the Dragonwall to the Aryth ocean. Hawkwing failed only to take Tar Valon itself, despite besieging it for 20 years.
It is presumed that the most powerful of the Forsaken, Ishamael, was free for 40 years at this point, and that he may have influenced Hawkwing into his insane hatred of Aes Sedai. He also claims to have induced Hawkwing into sending ships into Seanchan and Shara. The ships under Hawkwing's son, Luthair, took over the constantly fluctuating Seanchan and established an empire there. The fate of the second fleet is unknown, although some stories indicate it was destroyed by the Sharan Empire. Ishamael also altered the Seanchan's Karaethon Cycle, changing it from He shall bind the nine moons to serve him to He shall bow to the Crystal Throne. (The Crystal Throne is the throne of the Seanchan Empire, and is an immense ter'angreal which makes all nearby in awe of the one sitting on it.) Ishamael's efforts also helped ensure that after Hawkwing's death, no one leader would have the strength to hold/reunite the lands Hawkwing had conquered.
Unfortunately, on Hawkwing's death, his empire disintegrated under the weight of the rival bids for supreme power. The empire was torn apart in a series of wars now collectively referred to as the War of the Hundred Years, and the modern nations of the land were formed in the ashes of these conflicts. The War of the Hundred Years forms a cultural and historical landmark because it provides a point of reference for Hawkwing's effects on the world and, like the Trolloc Wars, because it forms a decisive breakpoint in history for social and cultural development: so many nations changed and social development was set back significantly, to the point where an entirely new calendar was designed by one of the Atha'an Miere, starting over with 1 NE (New Era). While there may be inaccuracies, 1 NE is believed to be the same as FY 1135 of the previous system.
The Aiel War
The Aiel War occurred when King Laman of Cairhien cut down Avendoraldera, a gift from the Aiel. Four clans crossed the Dragonwall to punish him for this slight. They defeated any army sent against them, following Laman wherever he went. They took and burned Cairhien, and fought the Armies of Andor and Tear trying to punish Laman. The other nations united to fight back the Aiel Invaders, not realizing the Aiel were only there to punish Laman.
Again the Aiel defeated every army sent against them, due to their superior fighting abilities and tactics. They drove the united armies back to Tar Valon, where the Battle of the Shining Walls, or more simply called Blood Snow, took place. For 3 days the two armies clashed, when on the fourth the Aiel suddenly withdrew. The united armies pursued them thinking they had won, meaning to drive them back into the Waste. In reality, the war ended when Laman was killed, at the Battle of the Shining Walls. The Aiel then returned to the Waste, not to return again until the coming of the Car'a'carn.
At the end of the battle Rand al'Thor was born.

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