[Spoilers WH] Having trouble understanding the Asha'man

Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but Rand doesn't really trust any of the Asha'man exceot those who come with him straight after Dumai's Wells. But Rand also doesn't trust most of the people he works with, especially as the series progresses. Rand has limited options when it comes to aid, particularly options as potent as the Asha'man. From his perspective, at least the Asha'man don't try to control him lije the Aes Sedai.

Ramd is a saidin channeller. Saidin also tries to kill tgose who use it, so really how are the Asha'man any different from that?

As far as individual Asha'man's motivations, they are as varied as individual Aes Sedai's. Some do it because Tarmon Gaidon comes, some for power, some because its a better life than they could have otherwise (despite the risks), some few because they know channeling runs in their family so they might as well be trained, and some because they are Darkfriends or men of otherwise dubious character.

RAFO but later booms do explore individual Asha'man motivations a bit more.

Basically RAFO, but:

A lot of the Asha'man come from the Two Rivers. Just as that place is a gold mine for the Aes Sedai, so it is for the Asha'man. Those boys aren't going to trust Taim over one of their own.

Taim and his cronies were also dicks to anyone not of their own. Rand may have been callous and aloof, but Taim's faction were assholes in their own back yard and no doubt drove many of the boys toward Logain.

No one trusts the ashaman, they're a group of men who've been recruited to basically be suicide bombers for team Light (ignoring the fact that Taim is almost certainly a dark friend actually generating men who will fight for the shadow), also they're all going mad, so no one would ever trust them.

But even if only a handful of men survive and join team light it's worth it. They need every channeler they can get.

The thing is, in my opinion, no one trusts any man that can channel. Period. And rand doesn't trust anyone. Period. Even his friends. So the idea that he can't leave Taim in charge because Taim isn't trusted is a tough one to swallow, because no one would be trusted in that role. He was selected because of experience and he's ok taking the helm. Rand couldn't have appointed a nice, nobody-channeled. They wouldn't have been taken seriously. Taim was a gamble, but the best choice if it worked out.

Ok, trying not to spoil further from the books you are in.

After the loss of people dear to him (or maybe anyone, especially woman) and the constant betrayal and struggle for power while people keep manoeuvring to gain power through him, Rand is not trusting a hand full of people and even that get stretched at times. He stops seeing people like people but as tools. And poor tools at that. He just keeps using them untill he starts seeing its strengths and weaknesses (think a good example for this is basheer). Some people he trusted did betray him but some he might have suspected that would but just be to cocky, arrogant or self-confident to see as a treat.

Another part, but this is never spoken of in the books but is common in psychology, is that people who meet the same faith as you do feel like you have something in common. BUT I MUST SAY THIS IS A ASSUMPTION! But i feel a well placed one.

The part about Taim (without taking notes from what jordan wanted and just focus on the in book content) is strange. Maybe he could have turned out to be Rand strongest ally if he trusted him a bit more (as this is something that happend with Lews Therin Telamon and a forsaken, i forgot the bloody name). Think you can be right about the M'Hael thing altho Taim is an effective tool to an end. A tool that saved him from a really Really shitty situation.

And last for the part of Asha'man binding them to Rand, try looking at it from their perspective. You are bound to go crazy, kill the ones you love or leave them. No future but being stilled and die or destroying yourself. You have to live with this posibility each and every day not to even mention what the taint can do to you. For them there is only one hope: "The Dragon Reborn". And to quote the "Karaethon Cycle" for this: Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow, born once more as he was born before, and shall be born again, time without end. The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation.

One thought is that the Ashaman are being trained to obey. Wether or not they each individually trust Rand doesn't really come into it. They're an army. They either obey Rand ot Taim, that's the system Rand has allowed to be set up. You'll see in later books some more answers to your questions

Even Rand doesn't trust the Asha'man, and understandably so. They're a desparate gambit, and Rand has, as of WH at least, completely dropped the ball when it comes to them. He has been lucky in that there are clearly several Asha'man who genuinely want the Light to win so will put up with his lack of involvement. But all their current troubles, and any future ones, will be on his head. And if they succeed, because Logain gave them an alternative to Taim's leadership, that will be down to Egwene having the sense to release him in the hopes he will join the Black Tower.

I thought the same thing, and kind of justified it like this: Rand knows he needs male channellers, so he founds the black tower. At the time, he is also pretty sure he has a dozen other things that only he can take care of, so pretty much says, "fuck it, they're around now. Prophecy will take care of the rest." He is doing his uber - dick "I must become stronger than steel" thing, so he figures it's all going to be on him anyway, and doesn't feel like he has to bother with them really.

Basically, he gets soooo focused on the last battle that he becomes completely blind to everything actually going on. At that point he's just checking the boxes to make sure the battle goes, and doesn't think he has time for more than that. I feel like that's his primary motivation through all of the Sanderson - written books until AMOL.

First, just as a general answer to the questions in your second paragraph: I'd say as a reader, it's a good precedent to trust absolutely no one unless you can identify very solid reasons or behaviours to justify it, even for the characters that you think are supposed to be the good guys.

I wrote this as a reply a few months ago when someone asked why Rand trusted Taim & let the Black Tower exist unchecked even though he pretty much knew Taim wasn't what he showed himself to be. I think it also applies to the Asha'man and perhaps can help offer some explanation:

Rand did consider all of this but he had to make a hard choice, just like having a Forsaken for a teacher previously was a hard and risky, but ultimately necessary choice. He didn't really trust Taim and Lews Therin was constantly telling him to kill the guy, but Taim came to Rand because of the amnesty Rand had declared...he could've killed or turned the guy back, but at that point in time, he needed to set a new precedent regarding male channelers and also gain some power-wielding weapons. For this, even if Taim was a power hungry charlatan or Darkfriend, Rand needed someone with experience (key, just as in Asmodean's case) and time to scout and train men who could channel, so he took that chance. Was it a chance that bred dire problems? For sure. But it's also a chance he had to take for some men to in turn have a chance at living, becoming their own people and possibly serving the Light.

So I guess the short answer is that Rand actually has no bond with or basis of trusting any of them. But nevertheless, he gives them all a chance to basically publicly exist, learn and perhaps even survive to live a long life because

(a) he needs these weapons at his disposal, even if some of them will definitely misfire (look at this as the expected cost of doing business)

(b) he wants to validate the existence of people who are like him in society.

It's something harsh, knowingly risky, necessary and somewhat distantly altruistic, but he is doing it while remaining sufficiently paranoid about it and well aware of what it could entail. The other characters have even less reason to trust the Asha'man, but since Rand pretty much dictates the order of the day, they have to live with it and use it to their advantage or squander the resources.

From the Asha'mans' perspectives, why they chose to take Rand's amnesty or what holds them to him is varied and individualized...why does anyone do anything? Why or on the basis of what do people pick say a certain profession? To find a purpose? Make money? Prestige? Power? Curiosity? Passion? There could be thousands of reasons...and the Asha'man at the end of the day are just like any other group of people, diverse in their motivations, life experiences and priorities. As others have said, you will get to explore more on this topic as the story progresses.

I strongly recommend you keep reading, and ask yourself this question after each book from here on.

The answers are coming but you won't get the full picture until a quarter of the way through book 14.

No one trusts the Asha'man. Rand and Aes Sedai least of all.