Richard said a bunch of interesting stuff, but I don't think that it
really approached the trick the God Learners used. The Secret was a
technique, not a viewpoint. RQ sight was the ability to see relationships
and points that could be manipulated. The Secret was a way to minipulate
the Universe (or major elements of it) to produce impossible effects. This
imposed stress on the Universe. Eventually the cumlative manipulation of
the Universe resulted in it unexpectedly transforming into a state where
the technique no longer worked*. Then the Gift Bringers showed up and
everyone who knew the secret died.
As Sandy said, "The God Learners didn't fail to stop the Gift Bringers
because the Gift Bringers were so incredibly tough, they failed to stop
them because their own magic was no longer viable. The laws of the cosmos
are now different than in their day."
At least it's the way I see it.
Kevin
*Sort of like the way that a supersaturated solution can nearly
instantiously crystalize when additional input is added. Or any other
such effect.