Turning to the Shadow

A person who is able to channel can be forcibly Turned to the Shadow against his or her will. It is a complex weave, requiring thirteen channelers to weave the flows through thirteen Myrddraal. To the Aes Sedai's knowledge, Turning has not been done since the Trolloc Wars (TDR, Ch. 22). However, it was done routinely at the Black Tower under the direction of Mazrim Taim before Tarmon Gai'don (A Memory of Light, Prologue).

A person who is Turned this way does not act as though they are under a state of Compulsion. Instead, their darker elements are elevated and their more positive altruistic elements suppressed. It is unlikely that any such person could find a way back to the Light, partially because with their new personality, they would have no desire to do so (Robert Jordan Question of the Week, Week 15). The more dedicated to the Light a person was before being Turned, the more dedicated to the Shadow they become afterwards. The inverse is also true: If a person is not so strongly dedicated to the Light before being Turned, they will not be as strongly dedicated to the Shadow. (AMoL, Ch. 3.

After Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene are captured in Tear, Liandrin tells them that Be'lal is sending for thirteen Myrddraal (TDR, Ch. 51).