#my rand trauma section is longer cause there's 14 books plus i'm more well versed in wot lore than star wars lore

[twicetolivetwicetodie]

Rand al'Thor and Anakin Skywalker Parallels

Okay, I said I was gonna do this so let's go. Warning: this is full series spoilers for Wheel of Time so if you do watch the show and don't want Rand's arc spoiled, look away!

First thing's first, they're both the Chosen Ones of their perspective stories. Anakin being called the Chosen One, Rand with the titles the Dragon Reborn, He Who Comes With the Dawn, Car'a'carn, and Coramoor (all Chosen One in all those cultures)

Prophecies foretell that Anakin will bring balance to the Force (though afaik they're pretty vague on how he's supposed to accomplish this). The prophecies regarding Rand are complicated and unending and too much for this one post but the gist of it is that he will both save and destroy the world.

Anakin was born of Shmi Skywalker but has no father (the Force made him possible). Rand was born to Tigraine Mantear former Daughter-Heir to Andor and Janduin, clan chief of the Taardad Aiel. Tigraine was a Maiden of the Spear sworn to take no husband so that's where the Maiden birth fits in here.

Trauma is an ongoing theme here as neither of them can seem to catch a break. Anakin was enslaved as a child, loses his mother, is tortured a numerous amount of times (I've lost count the amount of times he's electrocuted in Clone Wars), and loses many soldiers under his command as well as the enormous pressure of being the Chosen One. He is constantly being told to suppress his emotions as anger will only lead to the Dark Side however he is never given the space or even any idea how to process his trauma. He loses Ahsoka due to her being kicked out of the Jedi Order due to the Jedi's own mistakes. Even after she is exonerated and very rightly leaves the Order, he's expected to keep his emotions under control and pretend everything is fine with this entire situation. Sidious groomed him for the Dark Side from a young age and ultimately ended up weaponizing his trauma.

Rand had a relatively normal childhood until Winternight when everything went to hell. Trollocs attack his village and he finds out he's adopted leading to the first of many identity crises. He's forced to leave the only home he's ever known and leave his adopted father behind who means everything to him. He and his friends are pursued across the world by Shadowspawn and Darkfriends who mean to turn him over to the Dark One, he's repeatedly tortured in his dreams every night by Ba'alzamon, and by the end of EoTW he discovers he can channel, which in this world means he's doomed to go insane the more he uses this magic.

He finds out he's the Dragon Reborn and the pressure of that adds onto his ongoing trauma of being pursued by Forsaken, being used and abused over and over and over again by people who are supposed to help and protect him, having the voice of his previous life in his head, losing people under his command and he blames himself for every last one. Everyone around him gaslights him into believing his trauma isn't real and that his very real PTSD symptoms are a result of him using the corrupted side of the magic system.

Rand suppresses his emotions as a coping mechanism and outwardly presents a mask that he feels nothing. These emotions he is not allowing himself to feel otherwise he would not be able to function he is funneling over to the voice of his previous life as Lews Therin. We as the reader experience his true emotions via Lews Therin. And I can't end this without mentioning when a group of Aes Sedai kidnap him and force him in a box to take him to the Tower, only to take him out to beat him with the Power, an extended torture that takes place for two weeks.

Both have lost a hand. Anakin lost a hand when Count Dooku cut if off with his lightsaber in Attack of the Clones. Rand lost a hand when Semirhage burned it off by channeling a fireball at him in Knife of Dreams.

Both of their falls I think are incredibly similar. Anakin kneels to Sidious begging him that he'll do anything just help him save Padme. In the Gathering Storm, Rand kneels to Semirhage and begs her that he'll do anything, just stop hurting Min. These end differently as Anakin ends up swearing to Sidious and becoming Darth Vader. Semirhage refuses to stop hurting Min, so Rand breaks the one line he won't cross and kills her with Balefire, but not without briefly channeling the True Power to escape his bonds; a Power only those sworn to the Shadow can wield.

After his fall, Anakin kills the younglings. For Rand an equivalent would be Natrin's Barrow, where he balefires an entire city out of existence just to get at the Forsaken Graendal.

As far as their return to the light goes, both is accomplished by a family member. Anakin is brought back by his son Luke. In Rand's case, it's his father Tam.

The Jedi and the Aes Sedai both have significant roles in both their arcs which includes losing trust in them after a certain point. They're both orders of magic users that did good in the world at one point in time but at some point lost their way or became corrupted.

The Jedi become majorly involved in the Clone Wars despite their vow of being peace keepers. They're aware of the origin of their clone army by the end of season 6, yet they decide to do nothing. Ahsoka being kicked out of the Jedi Order is Anakin's last straw. She's invited back in, and yet the Jedi refuse to change despite recognizing that they did Ahsoka wrong.

The Aes Sedai get involved in things that further their own ends or "Control the world with puppet strings" as some put it rather than their purpose of being "Servants of All". They deny the existence of the Black Ajah and pretend they haven't infiltrated their ranks. A faction of Aes Sedai kidnapped and tortured Rand for two weeks and the rest of the Aes Sedai refused to hold them accountable.

Both Anakin and Rand are Chosen Ones who cracked under the pressure and experienced persistent trauma.

I'm gonna end with a quote by Rand that seems pertinent to both of them.

"My life isn't my own. I'm a puppet for the Pattern and the prophecies, made to dance for the world before having my strings cut." -Rand al'Thor, The Gathering Storm