Order. Chaos. Supposedly opposing forces. And yet, as one reads the book, one acquires the impression that one cannot exist without the other. Often, there is no evil in the use of chaos, nor does order necessarily result to good. This has been proven time and again by Creslin, Dorrin, Justen, Lerris.

Yet, the people who have to power to wield them often engage in battle. For power? For honor? For glory? Or simply because they feel that they must fight. Does order and chaos twist the lives of people? Are they passive, yet live and pulsing entities that merge with their wielders beyond the realm of conscious thought? Or are order and chaos merely tools of people who hunger for power and had been twisted in ambition? Or do they serve the individuals who aim to counteract the ambitions of others?

Candar has been fragmented, a realm of chaos, so that Recluce might continue to thrive as a bastion of order. In this fragmentation, black and white mages have waged war, suffered and died for the ideals they follow. There are a few, in Naclos, the druids, Justen, Lerris, who have understood the need for balance. And have all paid the price. And such a great price it has proven to be.

And for what end? Neither order nor chaos can be vanquished. Because they are. And they must live in a world that requires a balance. They must be wielded by individuals who must understand the balance or die from rigidity of belief. Such appears to be the Basis of the Balance, and in general, of life.