It’s a slightly sedate week this time, as we catch up with what Egwene has been up to as the Salidar Aes Sedai and Bryne’s army makes its way toward Tar Valon. Sedate by Wheel of Time standards, anyway—there’s still some fraught stuff going on for our young Amyrlin.
Egwene sits in a tent on a rickety folding chair, talking with Sheriam about pausing in their march to gather supplies. Sheriam suggests several days, but Egwene doesn’t need near-by Siuan’s headshake to know that it’s a bad idea. The other Aes Sedai are always looking for an excuse to halt their progress towards the White Tower (and the confrontation that awaits them there). If they pause for too long, Egwene knows she will never be able get them moving again. She tells Sheriam firmly that one day will be enough.
As Chesa sits nearby darning Egwene’s stockings as the three Aes Sedai look over reports about the state of both the Aes Sedai procession as well as Bryne’s army. Sheriam is always telling Egwene that such work is too trifling for the Amyrlin to be bothered with. Siuan, however, has advised on the importance of an Amyrlin regularly checking in on the day-to-day minutiae so that she isn’t surprised by sudden developments or large problems.
A feel for how the wind was blowing, Siuan called it. Making sure these reports reached her had required weeks, and Egwene was sure that once she let them pass to Sheriam’s control, she would never again learn anything until it was long dealt with. If then.
Egwene reflects that the stories of heroes never mentioned how much money it takes to keep an army. Still, she resists Sheriam’s suggestion that they reduce the soldier’s pay, aware that they command little loyalty with Bryne’s men.
Remembering that she should be wearing the a’dam bracelet more often, she tries to slip it onto her wrist without being noticed. Sheriam remarks upon it, and the fact that it resembles the one Nynaeve and Elayne share. Egwene answers that it was a gift from them, and mentally upbraids herself for her carelessness—if too much attention was paid to the bracelet, someone might notice that it matches the necklace that “Marigan” wears.
Wanting to distract Sheriam, Egwene brings up a piece of information Siuan gathered for her earlier in the day—that a few days after Siuan and Leane arrived, ten sisters left Salidar, two from each Ajah except the Blue. Sheriam tries to demure or evade, but Egwene presses her, demanding the straight truth. Finally, Sheriam explains that she and her group sent ten sisters to return to the Tower, pretending to accept Elaida’s offer of reconciliation while secretly spreading the news of the Red Ajah’s involvement with Logain to the Tar Valon Aes Sedai. She admits that not even the Salidar Hall knows about it.
Egwene reflects to herself that it isn’t a bad scheme, and might even work if they could afford to wait that long, then asks why Sheriam kept this plan from the Hall—Siuan deduces that Sheriam is worried about the Black Ajah. This puts Sheriam further on edge, but before Egwene can press the advantage, she feels a sudden stab of pain. It is an echo of the one Moghedien is feeling—the sensation of man who could channeltouching the a’dam. Egwene feels a flash of hope in Moghedien, and then their connection is gone.
Egwene staggers to her feet saying that she needs air, instructing Siuan to grill Sheriam about the ten sisters. She restrains herself from running, and when she gets to Moghedien’s tent she finds it empty. Egwene ponders what would have happened to her if she had found Moghedien, freed from the collar and able to exact whatever vengeance she wanted. She also wonders what male channeler could possible have come to free her, and decides it must have been one of the male Forsaken. Chesa arrives to scold Egwene for being out in the night air and starts escorting her back to her tent.
Egwene sends Chesa to fetch Siuan and Leane. When Siuan arrives, she immediately demands to know why Egwene ran off right as she had Sheriam in her power. When Leane arrives, she reminds Egwene what will happen if anyone sees her and Siuan together. Egwene is a little surprised by their un-Aes Sedai reaction to learning of Moghedien’s escape, as both women start cursing and bemoaning the fact that they didn’t turn her in right away, or at least set a watch on her. Siuan even resists Egwene’s orders to ask around for anyone who saw a man going into Moghedien’s tent, and Egwene has to speak to her quite sharply.
She tells Siuan that she wants all the information she can get, even if all it does is make the mysterious male channeler seem less like a shadow in the dark. Siuan apologies, calling her mother and sounding sincere.
Egwene fingered her stole, letting the moment set itself as she looked at Siuan without blinking. That was something Siuan herself had taught her, but after a bit she shifted uneasily on the cot. When you knew you were in the wrong, silence pricked, and the pricks drove home that you were wrong. Silence was a very useful tool in a number of situations.
Siuan suggests assigning Faolain and Theodrin to ask around instead, since they will attract less attention. Meanwhile, Egwene can feel a headache coming on—she’s been having lots of them lately. Leane leaves, but Siuan stays, telling Egwene that she would have deserved a penance, if Egwene had wanted to give her one. Egwene says she will remember that for next time, then asks about Lord Bryne. She has offered more than once to pay off Siuan’s debt to him, but Siuan holds fast, reminding Egwene that she agreed to work off the debt, not have someone else intercede on her behalf.
Feeling restless, Egwene goes for a walk. Those she passes greet her respectfully and some ask for her blessing—Egwene is comforted by the idea that at least some of them really do see her as a true Amyrlin, rather than the child most of the Aes Sedai see her to be.
She stops to watch some Aes Sedai and warders return to the camp by gateway. Skimming is one of the tricks that Egwene pried out of Moghedien, and now sisters use it to return to Salidar to retrieve messages sent there by the eyes-and-ears. She thinks of one such message, one that arrived the same day they left Salidar but that Sheriam has only recently shown Egwene, and probably only because Egwene kept talking about Rand. In it, Merana reported being well received by Rand in Caemlyn, and that they’d found Verin and Alanna in Caemlyn as well, bringing a group of Two Rivers girls to become novices. Egwene finds the report ridiculous, and Merana’s confidence misplaced—she’s also puzzled by a report that Alanna has formed “a connection” with Rand. But Egwene is the most concerned about the fact that no more messages have come, despite Sheriam’s assurances that silence proves all is well.
The Wise Ones won’t say much about Rand, but Egwene knows that he’s in Cairhien, and everyone suspects that the embassy must have followed him there. The fact that Rand doesn’t appear to be doing much of anything alarms Egwene.
Incredible as it seemed, the Wise Ones said Coiren and her embassy had left the city on their way back to Tar Valon. Or maybe not so incredible. It all made a sort of sense, given Rand, given the way Aes Sedai did things. Even so, to Egwene, it all felt… wrong.
Muttering out loud to herself that she has to go to him, Egwene is joined by Leane, who reminds her that she can’t go to Rand right now, and that now that Merana has been given the task of approaching him. She worries over the letter Rand supposedly has from Alviarin, and whether he could be foolish enough to believe it.
“He thinks he’s clever, Leane—maybe he is—but he doesn’t believe he needs anyone.” Rand would go on thinking he could handle anything by himself right up until one of those anythings crushed him. “I know him inside and out, Leane. Being around the Wise Ones seems to have infected him, or maybe he infected them.”
Egwene insists that an Aes Sedai’s shawl doesn’t impress Rand, and that sooner or later they will come to blows, and the Aes Sedai will underestimate Rand’s strength. She is convinced that she is the only one who can control him.
Unfortunately for Egwene, the only Tower Law that specifically limits the power of the Amyrlin is the one that forbids her not to be endangered except in the greatest necessity, and requires her to have the permission of the Hall before putting herself in dangerous positions. Egwene doesn’t know what inspired the law, but it has been in place for over two thousand years, making it sacrosanct in the eyes of the Aes Sedai. She has not been able to gain the permission to go to Rand, and Leane reminds her—as if reading Egwene’s mind—that if she goes in secret the Hall will find out, and Egwene would probably be put under guard in all but name once they do.
They part ways, with Leane murmuring something about a man in Bryne’s camp and a Green needing a Warder, but no sooner has she gone, than Egwene runs into Nicola and Areina. Nicola begins telling Egwene about how the Aes Sedai are holding her back, and pointing out that Egwene was never held back. Egwene knows that Nicola, like most of the older novices that have been recently recruited, is ferociously hungry to learn, and that she has been progressing so rapidly that her teachers have had to slow her down. She also has the ability to see ta’veren as well as the Talent of Foretelling, though it comes out unintelligible and Nicola doesn’t remember afterwards what she said. All in all, she is someone to watch.
The begrudging agreement to test women older than seventeen or eighteen probably could be laid at Nicola’s feet.
Egwene sees Areina, the Hunter for the Horn, as a posturing fool, but she does have sympathy for Nicola, remembering her own desire to learn everything immediately. Reminding Nicola of the safety reasons around the pacing of her training does no good—Nicola responds by asking for “the chance Egwene had.”
“What I did—because I had no choice, because I didn’t know better—is called forcing, Nicola, and it is dangerous.” She had not heard that term until Siuan apologized for doing it to her; that was one time Siuan truly had seemed repentant. “You know if you try to channel more of saidar than you’re ready to handle, you risk burning yourself out before you ever come close to your full strength. Best you learn to be patient. The sisters won’t let you be anything else until you are ready, anyway.”
At that, Areina brings up the fact that she and Nicola arrived in Salidar on the same riverboat as Nynaeve and Elayne. Through a series of veiled comments, they reveal that they know Elayne and Nynaeve were passing themselves off as full sisters when they weren’t, and suggests that Egwene might have been doing so as well.
Egwene is furious, lecturing them about showing Nynaeve Sedai and Elayne Sedai the respect due to full sisters, and on how serious a thing it would be for a novice and a non Aes Sedai to bring charges against a sister, charges based mostly on a single conversation they heard between Thom and Juilin, two men who aren’t even here to corroborate it. Both Nicola and Areina appear suitably chastened by her explanation of what would happen to them. She considers turning them over to Tiana, the Mistress of Novices, and is quite certain that charges of attempting to blackmail an Aes Sedai would mean that Nicola would never become an Aes Sedai herself.
However, Egwene also knows that even a whisper of this will ruin her chances of the Hall ever taking her seriously as Amyrlin. So she carefully controls herself, letting the other women see her anger but not her fear, and sends them away with a promise to forget the conversation and an open-ended threat about what will happen to them if Egwene hears anything more about it.
I don’t usually pay a lot of attention to the titles and icons of the chapters, but I was particularly interested in this week’s titles: “Figurehead” and “A Pair of Silverpike.” Both titles are specifically indicative of how Egwene is thinking during the chapter. The first one is obvious enough—she’s incredibly focused right now (and will continue to be in Chapters 8 and 9) on the fact that the Aes Sedai, especially the Hall, don’t see her as an actual leader, but merely as a puppet to be controlled and a symbol they chose specifically in an attempt to control others.
Of course, Siuan once thought to do the same—in fact, installing Egwene as Amyrlin was an idea that she put into the heads of the Sitters. Siuan hoped to manipulate the Hall through manipulating Egwene—but it really only took one confrontation with Egwene for her to realize that wasn’t going to work. Instead, she pivoted to the idea of teaching Egwene to be the greatest Amyrlin ever, and manipulating Sheriam and the Hall for Egwene. You can still see her influence on Egwene though, and not just in what Egwene has learned about understanding and guiding the Aes Sedai. It’s also there in Egwene’s thought patterns, right down to the title of Chapter 9. It isn’t Siuan labeling Nicola and Areina as a pair of silverpike—it’s Egwene. Siuan’s vocabulary is already in her head.
I had sort of forgotten all about those two and how they came to be in Salidar. There was, of course, that confrontation they had with Nynaeve and Elayne before they left for Ebou Dar, which mostly stands out in my memory because of Areina’s anger over not being able to stay with Brigitte. She definitely seemed a little obsessed with Brigitte, and Egwene notes that same emotion here, although she doesn’t know what it means. I wonder if some of the friendship between Areina and Nicola is based on a shared frustration about their status—Areina is a hunter for the horn who clearly admires and aspires to be like Birgitte, while Nicola wants more freedom and ability to advance as an Aes Sedai. It’s poignant that she refers to Egwene’s experiences as being given a chance—it’s as though she sees the Aes Sedai restrictions on learning as a restriction or denial of her abilities, rather than a very necessary safety precaution. Of course, we know that the One Power is seductive, and that even seasoned channelers experience the desire to hold it for too long or to draw too much of it. The fact that Nicola is a bit older than is traditional for novices probably isn’t as much to blame for her discontent as is her strength in the power, and the fact that she seems to have a very ambitious nature.
Which isn’t really that different from Elayne, Egwene, or Nynaeve. The blackmail ploy wasn’t exactly a very smart idea, but the ambition behind it is pretty recognizable—Egwene herself is even relating to Nicola’s frustration until the blackmailing starts. And of course it’s bad that Nicola would try to blackmail an Aes Sedai, especially the Amyrlin, but Nynaeve certainly didn’t respect Siuan when she was at the Tower, and plenty of the more gifted channelers have been similarly entitled when it comes to wanting to learn more, and faster.
Hopefully Egwene’s handling of the situation will keep Nicola and Areina from trying to bring up the “impersonating an Aes Sedai” thing again—and good thing Egwene has a lot of practice keeping her composure, and outright lying, under pressure. But I don’t doubt that these two will make more trouble at some point, for Egwene, and possibly for Elayne and Nynaeve too.
Being reminded about the Aes Sedai restrictions on speed of learning made me think of Rand’s warning to Taim about any recruit who seems to be learning to channel too quickly. The whole point of Black Tower training is to push the students as hard as possible, to make them learn as quickly as they can, even at the risk of burning themselves out or killing themselves or others. The Aes Sedai are more cautious, of course, as they are accustomed to having time to train their novices and Accepted. But if the point of the Black Tower training is to learn as fast as possible, that will certainly make it harder to spot any anomalies among the trainees. Rand also observes that men seem to learn faster than women, and I have to wonder if that’s actually true, or if its just the result of the different training styles.
But Nyenave, Egwene and Elayne have all progressed in their abilities more than the Black Tower recruits have, and as Rand has (minus the somewhat dubious benefit of Lews Therin, that is). So much of what they have learned to do has been discovered under extreme circumstances and outside of the guidance of the Tower. A lot of it has been provided to them from Moghedien, as well, and in Egwene’s case, was forced on her when she was a damane.
I wasn’t sure I quite understood the passage in which Egwene explained forcing. While she was forced, in the regular sense of the word, to channel in new ways while she was captive, that’s clearly not what she is talking about here. For one, nobody in Salidar knows she was captured by the Seanchan. For another, there is the way she describes what forcing is. She says she “had no choice” and “didn’t know better” and also the narrative acknowledges that Siuan “forced” Egwene in some way. So my best guess is that the term forcing, in this content, refers to a channel pushing themselves to the limit of their ability to learn, thus risking pushing too far. Perhaps it comes from the idea of forcing your abilities along, rather than allowing them to develop at a natural pace.
Egwene (along with Nynaeve and Elayne) pushed her channeling ability because she was out in the world confronting Darkfriends and other dangers. And that was ostensibly Siuan’s fault, since she set the three to hunt the Black Ajah. I seem to remember Siuan acknowledging at the time that it was wrong to send Accepted off on such a mission but she had no choice, but there was no specific mention of channeling, only of their general safety. Still, it would make sense to me if Siuan has talked to Egwene about it since.
I do wonder if using the a’dam would technically count as forcing, in the sense of channeling. If the suldam is an experienced one, it’s possible that she might be able to tell how far a damane can be pushed safely. After all, that is how all Seanchan channelers born with the spark must learn, since they are all collared the moment they show the ability to channel, and the approximate future strength of a female channeler can be sensed before she reaches her full potential. Egwene was compelled against her will to push her limits as a channeler, but it may be that she was entirely safe from accidentally burning herself out or dying because Renna was able to accurately tell what was safe for Egwene to attempt. If so, it would not fall under the category of forcing.
I can’t help but laugh seeing how right, and yet how wrong, Egwene is about Rand. Her instinct that something has gone wrong with Merana’s embassy is spot on, and she’s smart enough to know that Rand will neither be pliable nor overly courteous to the Aes Sedai, and that any fear he has of them will be a hindrance, not an asset. But her assessment that Rand is arrogant, that he might believe Alviarin’s overtures of friendship and subservience, are all based on surface analysis of Rand’s actions. She has almost little insight into his internal state, almost as little faith in his competence, as any other Aes Sedai, and while she might desire to protect him from the likes of Elaida (or Alanna) she still seems like she believes that she can control him, that it is right for her to want to control him. It makes me worry about their next encounter, and how they will both react to everything that has changed.
I’m curious about Egwene’s assessment that the Aes Sedai are slow to embrace change, but that they do it wholeheartedly. This does seem to be true to a certain extent—there is certainly a practicality in the way the Aes Sedai face adversity and pain. As the narrative puts it; “The past was past; what was now, was, and must be accepted. Anything else only brought greater pain.” You can especially see this practicality in functional aspects of life, such as the Salidar Aes Sedai adapting to the Little Tower and the new Salidar Hall. It’s also a philosophy they love to shove onto other people, mostly when they’re telling them they have no choice but to do what the Tower dictates.
But Siuan and Leane both began this journey into accepting change in a horrifically traumatic way—by being stilled. Siuan actually had an easier time accepting that change in her life than Leane did—she merely pivoted, resolutely and without pause, to seeking a way to achieve her same goals using the means that were now available to her. Leane floundered more, then eventually discovering that she enjoyed reconnecting with aspects of her culture. Nynaeve’s healing, even though it left them both weaker than they were, removes what is by far the worst part of their new circumstances. Not being able to channel as they once could is no doubt frustrating, as is being lowered in the hierarchy. But even that can’t begin to compare with the pain being cut off from the True Source.
Leane seems to be treating her current life as though it was another option she could always have pursued—as though she’s been transported back to her early days as a sister and been given the opportunity to walk a different path. And I find myself wondering what she was like as a novice and an Accepted. We see a little of her in New Spring but we don’t learn much about her hopes and dreams, what it felt like to leave home and go to the White Tower. She does mention that she always wanted to learn more of her mother’s skill as a Domani tradeswoman, and perhaps she felt that loss when she began studying to be an Aes Sedai. Given that she was quite strong in the One Power, and therefore always destined to be a sister of great authority, she probably felt a lot pressure to adopt the Aes Sedai the strict, unruffled, and aloof appearance required of a sister, even more than an average strength Aes Sedai might experience. But now she is a low-ranking Aes Sedai, and she has opportunities she didn’t have the first time around. Despite being subordinate to many of the other Aes Sedai, she actually has a certain level of freedom she never had before.
What I’m driving at her is that the change Leane is embracing seems to be natural to her. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always easy, of course, but I am sure it helps. Siuan doesn’t have the ability to do the same, because Siuan has been responsible for the fate of the Dragon Reborn, and the fate of the World, since before she was raised to the shawl. If things were different, if Dragon hadn’t been reborn yet, Siuan’s acceptance of change might look very different. We know from New Spring that she dreamed of traveling the world, and that she hates administrative work and much of the other aspects of the Amyrlin’s job. If she and Moiraine hadn’t been fated to hear Gitara’s Foretelling, hadn’t been the only two sisters to survive the Black Ajah’s murder of Tamra and her searchers, Siuan might also be exploring a new life that is one she always wanted.
I don’t think pretty dress isn’t a small sign of change in Siuan, as Egwene takes it to be. I think it is a huge sign, but Siuan can’t afford to chase it as she would like. She has accepted that she can’t be the Amyrlin, she has accepted that she can’t control Egwene. And she has done so with an impressive rapidity and strength that I don’t think many Aes Sedai could match. But she can’t afford to follow her heart anymore than she could when she was Amyrlin. Anymore than she could when she was a newly-raised sister and she and Moiraine made their pact. Her commitment to helping save the world cannot waver, and the changes she might otherwise embrace must be held at bay, lest they endanger the very fate of the world.
We’ll be continuing on with two more chapters next week, which are going to be much more dramatic than these two were. Until then, I hope you are all having a very good week. Me? I’m going to go eat some leftover stuffing and maybe have a nap. Cheers!
Sylas K Barrett is missing the longer days of summer, but reading about the heat of the Dark One’s touch really makes him appreciate the cold weather. Especially with a cozy blanket near to hand.
