Can Thom channel?
Here are the reasons why some people think Thom can channel: • The mysterious blue flash in Whitebridge/random burns after the Fade fight. • The White Ajah hypothesis that channeling has a genetic link, and that Thom has at least one relative who can channel (Owyn). • His comment that he “could have done something” for Owyn. • [TFoH: 9, A Signal, 145] Nynaeve says Thom “cannot channel any more than she”. This is taken to be “ironic foreshadowing.” Objections: • The blue flash is an artifact of TEOTW, we also see it when Lan battles a Fade. It is probably just something that Jordan dropped after the first book. As for the fires, it seems likely that there was some sort of riot after the fight, which is why people didn’t want to talk about it. • The genetic basis for channeling is not a simple matter at all, in the whole series, we’ve only heard of one channeler who is closely related to another-Elayne (if she’s Taringail’s kid, she’s related to Moiraine, if she’s Thom’s, she is related
