11-09-2021, 02:01 PM
Also, I had another thought. CK, your questions about the wide variety of gender identities does not align with a binary gendered one power system is spot on. I think that is a reflection of the late 80's and early 90's when RJ was creating this magic system. A gender spectrum is not something that was accepted or even readily discussed at that time period. I think a binary (male vs female) one power does not align with the gender spectrum on which one may identify and is a major limitation of the era in which the series was written. I don't know how the show runners could address that mismatch without completely re-writing the entire rules of the One Power, which would undermine the entire concept of one half of the power being tainted (corrupted? lol: another modern word that modern viewers can conceptualize compared to taint). I think tainted Saidin implies a different sort of judgement, like there is something inherently wrong with Saidin. Corrupted implies more of an external force has damaged Saidin, which is less offensive/judgemental.