The tinkers were right!

Bit of a random thought that I haven’t pondered all the way through yet, and may seem obvious to others,

The tinkers eschewed violence while following the way of the leaf. The idea to them was that even violence in self defense corrupted the person utilizing it, injuring their soul.

We the reader know The last battle is coming. We discount this philosophy as nice but unworkable or downright foolish.

It’s the world at stake. Not fighting isn’t a great option, their ideas have clearly been corrupted and taken without balance just as the Aiel society has been…

Except Hurin can discern the act of violence on a person after the fact, the worse the violence the longer lasting and more powerful the remnant. It is so substantial that he can even track it days later.

There is thus clearly something residual that clings to the person. It may not be soul damaging as the Tinkers believe, but it’s not exactly smelling like roses either, and it’s demonstrably there.

The Tinkers were right… in WoT violence stains the soul.