Hello friends! Last week on Reading The Wheel of Time, I said we were moving on to Chapters 17 and 18 of The Path of Daggers, but as it turns out, that section is finished up in Chapter 19, so we’ll be covering all three this week! Will Egwene be able to complete her plan and take control of the Hall as a real Amyrlin? Read on to find out!
Egwene and her column leave the Aes Sedai camp before dawn, traveling slowly though the snowy landscape as dawn breaks. They are escorted by a thousand heavy cavalry, led by Uno Nomesta, while other men ride ahead, looking ready for anything. Egwene takes note of the thoughtful attitudes of her companions, including the Sitters. Everyone, even the accompanying servants, have been fitted out in the finest clothes that could be found in the camp, and the Sitters are all bedecked in fine fabrics and jewels. Egwene notes that Delana has brought Halima along, and Halima is almost as finely dressed as the Sitters. Egwene is glad for the gifts she’d been given when she was raised Amyrlin, which allows her to surpass even the Sitters in finery.
Some of Bryne’s scouts report to him, and he fills Egwene in—the Andorans and Murandians have already arrived, as expected, but Bryne reports that Talmanes is with them, and there are about a hundred of the Band waiting on the far side of the lake. Egwene is privately panicked about the complications Talmanes might pose, while Romanda and Lelaine upbraid Bryne either for not being as good at this as he believed or deliberately including Talmanes in his “scheming.”
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They reach the appointed meeting place, a lake where the ice has frozen enough to hold the weight of a fair number of horses, but not hundreds or thousands. Egwene can see a pavilion that has been erected in the middle of the lake, and the rest of the army on the far side, armor glinting in the sun. She rides out, followed by the Sitters, Siuan, Sheriam, and the servants. Bryne and the banner-man are the only soldiers who accompany them.
They are not greeted in a proper manner; no servants come to hold their horses or to offer warm drinks. The Aes Sedai ignore this, replacing the simple chairs set out for them with elevated benches and an elevated chair for Egwene, draped in cloth the color of each Ajah. When Egwene and the Sitters take their places, they are raised a foot higher than the others.
Before anyone can speak, Sheriam intones formal introductions, naming each of the nobles to Egwene in turn (Bryne managed to get all of their names ahead of time) and then telling them they may now present their supplications to the Amyrlin Seat. Egwene adds to the effect by reminding them of the ancient ties between the White Tower and Andor, and how sisters have always been welcomed in both Andor and Murandy, and asking them why they have sent an army against the Aes Sedai, and are meddling in Aes Sedai affairs.
Arathelle answers that they are there precisely because they don’t want to become involved in Aes Sedai affairs. They fear that even allowing the group to pass through will be seen by the White Tower as giving aid, as taking a side. They have heard reports—rumors only, but rumors coming from every direction—of Aes Sedai and Tower guards being sent into Andor in secret. No one wants to be caught in a battle between Aes Sedai, and Arathelle suggests that the Aes Sedai might secretly be preparing for a confrontation with the Black Tower. Pelivar jumps in to insist that they go another way.
Through all of this, everyone has addressed the Sitters, ignoring Egwene. She keeps her calm, however, and instead of naming Romanda or Lelaine as the person to speak for her, she informs the nobles that Elaida is a usurper, and that they are going to Tar Valon to remove Elaida and try her. But this, like the Black Tower, is Aes Sedai business and not theirs; she also says that they will deal with the Black Tower when the time comes, but that is not their focus now. She tells them that the Aes Sedai will not be crossing into Andor. They will be staying in Murandy for one month, during which time they will pay prices to the Murandian nobles for what supplies the Aes Sedai need, and then they will leave, troubling neither country further.
Egwene needed to make them forget the girl they saw before them, and hear a woman with the reins of power firmly in hand. If they were not in her hands now, they would be! She firmed her voice. “Mark me well. I have made my decision; it is for you to accept it. Or face what surely will come from your failure.”
It is clear to Egwene that Arathelle and the others believe she is only saying words that she was instructed by the Sitters to say, but she is still relieved when they agree. Arathelle states that the Andorans do not doubt the words of the Aes Sedai, but they will remain while the Aes Sedai do. Some of the Murandian nobles look sick at this.
Egwene declares that they should all remain a few moments, now that the formal conversation is over—getting to know each other now will help avoid misunderstandings later. She also mentions, as though off the cuff, that the novice book is now open to any woman, regardless of age. All the nobles head over to the Sitters, bypassing Egwene entirely. Siuan tries to take Egwene to task for the announcement of opening the novice books, but Egwene cuts her off, suggesting that she might tell Bryne that Siuan is in love with him. While Siuan is goggling, Egwene disentangles herself and goes over to talk to Talmanes.
Talmanes asks Egwene where she sent Mat, and Egwene is about to lie, or perhaps give a half-truth, when she happens to glance across the room and see Siuan watching her. Remembering what Siuan said about lying, about expediency and convenience and the Three Oaths, Egwene tells Talmanes the truth—that Mat was last in Ebou Dar, but she expects that he is hurrying north now.
Talmanes did not look at all surprised. “I thought it might be so,” he sighed. “I have… felt… something, for weeks now. Others in the Band have, too. Not urgent, but always there. As if he needed me. As if I should look south, anyway. It can be peculiar, following a ta’veren.”
Because of Egwene’s honesty, Talmanes admits to her that King Roedran wants to hire the Band; he hopes to cement his rule by using the Band’s presence to unite Murandy and drive men to Roedran’s own army. Talmanes is only considering it because they need money, and because of the feel of Mat needing them—he thinks it might be better if they stay south and wait for him.
Egwene urges Talmanes not to trust Roedran, but Talmanes is confident that Mat will find them before Roedran’s army is ready.
Egwene made a vexed sound. It was a remarkable plan, the sort of thing Siuan might devise, and hardly a scheme she thought Roedran Almaric do Arreloa a’Naloy could carry off. The fellow was said to be so dissolute he made Mat look wholesome. But then, it was hardly a scheme she would have believed Roedran could think up. The only certainty was that Talmanes had made up his mind.
She asks Talmanes to give his word that he won’t let himself be drawn into a war, going so far as to threaten to prevent his agreement with Roedran. Talmanes is startled by the threat, and seems to see her for the first time. Then he promises, and asks if she’s sure she isn’t ta’veren as well. Egwene responds that being the Amyrlin is enough for anyone.
Everyone is eager to get back to their own camps before nightfall, so when Egwene gives the word the Aes Sedai pack up quickly, setting as hard a pace as they can through the snow. In part, Egwene is hoping to keep the Sitters from being able to talk and plan amongst themselves, although she notices some manage to form little knots of conversation.
Only Delana never joined one of those brief conversations. She stayed close beside Halima, who at last admitted that she was cold. Face tight, the country woman held her cloak close around her, but she still tried to comfort Delana, whispering to her almost constantly. Delana seemed to need comforting; her brows were drawn down, putting a crease in her forehead that actually made her seem aged.
Sheriam remarks to Egwene how different Egwene is from when she first came to the Tower, and how much has changed. Egwene points out that nothing stays the same forever, and Sheriam looks sick. Still, she follows Egwene’s instructions to announce that the Amyrlin is calling the Hall to sit and for preparations to be made.
Siuan and Egwene retreat to Egwene’s tent where they are fussed over by Chesa and brought some warm soup; Egwene suddenly realizes how cold she is, and how hungry. Siuan asks Egwene not to tell Bryne about her love, because she is worried he will make her life miserable, and the two women argue back and forth about Siuan’s ability to keep her head straight. Egwene wonders if Bryne insisted that Siuan work off the debt, even after learning who she really was, in order to keep her close to him. She even wonders for a moment if Bryne built the army and then laid it at Egwene’s feet because he loves Siuan—then decides that the idea is too ridiculous.
Siuan admits that she doesn’t know why she’s acting this way, then observes how ridiculous it is that they’re sitting and chatting about men at a moment like this. They continue to eat, with Siuan occasionally making darkly humorous remarks until Sheriam arrives to tell Egwene that everything is ready.
Usually the Hall meets more informally, in a normal tent or even standing outside in the snow, but tonight, the pavilion has been set up. According to the usual formalities, a ward is erected to keep the conversation to the Hall alone, sealed away from any listening ears. Then, Egwene calls a question to the Hall, asking who will declare war against Elaida, the usurper.
After a shocked silence, Lelaine brushes Egwene’s question away, trying to turn the Hall’s attention to dealing with Egwene’s actions during the meeting with the Andorans and Murandians. Romanda interrupts to say that first they need to address the issue of Lelaine’s fitness to continue in the Hall. But Egwene is insistent, telling them that the issue of war, once raised, has to be answered, according to Tower Law.
A brown sister, Takima, is consulted on this point. The last time the Tower declared war was against Artur Hawkwing, and Siuan has told Egwene that few sisters know much about how the Law of War works. But Takima has read it, and after an anxious moment, reluctantly admits that Egwene is right.
Egwene gives a speech, carefully constructed and practiced with Siuan, telling the Sitters about how no one takes them seriously as Sitters for the Hall—as the true representatives of the White Tower. She points out that, no matter how many times they explain Elaida’s crimes and their intentions, the nobles of the lands still doubt the truth of their words, believing them to have some other, hidden goal, worried that they are actually representatives of Elaida, executing some elaborate scheme. Dispelling this confusion, Egwene insists, is the only thing left for them to do—and once they declare themselves at war with Elaida, there can be no doubts.
“No one will dare stand in our way, meddling in the affairs of the Tower through uncertainty and ignorance. We have walked to the door and put our hands on the latch. If you are afraid to walk through, then you all but ask the world to believe that you are nothing but Elaida’s puppets.”
She sits, surprised that she feels relatively calm. But she’s worried that Takima, with her knowledge of the Law of War, might say something that gives away Egwene’s plan.
Romanda asks who will stand to vote for war against Elaida. Janya rises first, pointing out that this won’t make things any more difficult and that there is little point in waiting. Others rise, including Delana, although she looks sick. But only ten stand—not enough for a majority, and for a moment Egwene thinks that she has failed.
Suddenly Moira, one of those standing, rounds on Lyrelle and Lelaine, upbraiding them for their lack of resolve. Lelaine tells Moira off for her lack of decorum… but she stands, pulling Lyrelle up with her.
Lelaine seemed surprised that it did not pull up Faiselle and Takima, too.
Far from standing, Takima grunted as if struck. Disbelief bright on her face, she ran her eyes along the women on their feet, obviously counting. And then did it again. Takima, who remembered everything the first time.
This gives the vote a majority, and so it passes. Sheriam asks the rest of the Hall to stand and give the vote a formal, full consensus, but everyone refuses. When Romanda tries to move on to other subjects, Egwene interrupts. She asks Takima to tell the Hall what the Law says about the Amyrlin Seat.
Anxiously, and clearly reluctantly, Takima answers.
“The Law of War states, ‘As one set of hands must guide a sword, so the Amyrlin Seat shall direct and prosecute the war by decree. She shall seek the advice of the Hall of the Tower, but the Hall shall carry out her decrees with all possible speed, and for the sake of unity, they shall…” She faltered, and had to visibly force herself to go on. “…they shall and must approve any decree of the Amyrlin Seat regarding prosecution of the war with the greater consensus.”
Delana has to turn and be sick over the back of the bench. A few of the seated sisters look ready to be as well, and Romanda is clearly furious. In a very disrespectful tone, Lelaine asks Egwene what she, in the “great wisdom of [her] vast experience,” intends to do next, and Egwene speaks to her sharply about the proper respect due the Amyrlin Seat. Lelaine looks shocked. Romanda seems pleased until she, too, is rebuked, with Egwene threatening to set penance, and even to birch both of them.
Finally, Egwene tells them that there will be no more delays in their march to Tar Valon. After their one month of rest, they will Travel from this spot to Tar Valon and begin their siege.
And so at last, we finally get to know Egwene and Siuan’s plan to wrest control away from the Hall and into Egwene’s hands. It’s quite impressive, really, requiring equal parts sneaking, political maneuvering and knowledge, and pure brazen courage. And it’s interesting to remember that it was Siuan’s idea to make Egwene a puppet figurehead in the first place. She hoped to control and direct Egwene by manipulating the Hall, and when Egwene immediately proved to Siuan that she would not be controlled that way, Siuan chose the next best option, working on Ewgene’s behalf and manipulating the Hall for her. This means that Egwene is in charge over Siuan, rather than the way Siuan originally intended it. This actually gives Siuan more than she would have had before, because now she and Egwene can work together, two intelligent, inventive women working to the same purpose, rather than Siuan working more or less alone, pulling many strings in the hope that enough of them will get the Aes Sedai pointed in the direction she wants them to be.
Throughout Egwene’s section of The Path of Daggers, we have been reminded of how important the traditions and laws of the Tower are to the Aes Sedai, to their very sense of who they are, both as individuals and as an institution. We’ve observed the ongoing struggle of the Salidar Aes Sedai to maintain, as close as possible, the impression that nothing has really been changed by their flight from Tar Valon, and to downplay in their own minds the division in the White Tower, even as Egwene slowly pushes them to take steps towards acknowledging and cementing that division.
She has had to cajole, trick, and drag them through every step that might functionally acknowledge that the Aes Sedai have changed, and that more changes, or at least highly unusual actions and choices, are inevitably going to follow. Even Siuan, who is, all things considered, a very adaptable person, and who is helping Egwene orchestrate everything, is shown to be struggling sometimes. The conversation about the Three Oaths was important for a lot of reasons, and I imagine will be a continuing theme for Egwene to ponder over, but it also served as yet another reminder to the reader of exactly how the Aes Sedai think and function.
All those reminders are incredibly useful now, as we learn that Siuan and Egwene’s entire plan hinges on the Salidar Hall both accepting and sticking to Tower Law—a Tower Law most of them have never even read, at that.
After all, literally nothing is stopping them from deciding to ignore the Law of War. Faced with a situation that makes some of them literally sick (Delana aside, since her reasons are somewhat different from the others), it wouldn’t have surprised me at all if they’d found some flimsy pretense to say that the Law didn’t apply in this case. Except for Takima (and Siuan, of course), none of them even know the Law in question, and it becomes obvious as soon as Egwene reveals it that this has been a carefully planned manipulation on her part. And yet even Romanda and Lelaine roll over for it immediately.
And the reason for this is because they believe that the traditions and laws of the Aes Sedai are the Aes Sedai. Of course there has been some evolution over time, but some laws and customs are so old that nobody even knows why they exist anymore, and they are still viewed as foundational to the identity of what makes a sister. Romanda and Lelaine might snipe and backstab and behave like two jealous teenagers, but they are Aes Sedai of long standing. They have had a very long time to absorb these rules about what Aes Sedai are, and clearly they aren’t willing to throw them away even if it means losing the power they’ve both been fighting to gain since the division.
I was very interested to learn that Romanda was also a rival against Tamara for the Amyrlin Seat. It adds a little something to her backstory and her animosity towards Lelaine (a Blue, like Tamara) and Siuan (a Blue and Tamara’s successor.) Thwarted ambition seems to make certain types of sisters into very short-sighted, selfish people—though Romanda and Elaida are not exactly a full statistical sampling.
Now, since the reader is on Siuan and Egwene’s side, the successful manipulation of the Hall via their own convictions and commitment to Tower Law feels like a good thing. But it also made me feel a little uncomfortable, seeing how easy it is for someone to control the sisters. Perhaps easy isn’t quite the right word, given how hard Siuan and Egwene had to plan and scheme and how much they had to risk in order to execute this plan. It’s just that there’s no real difference between their manipulation, done in the service of good and to help prepare the Aes Sedai for Rand and the coming of Tarmon Gai’don, and manipulation done by the Black Ajah to set Aes Sedai on a path to serve their own ends. Or by Elaida, not Black but certainly not a good person, who also exploited Tower Law to usurp Siuan in a way that was technically legal, though not enough so to prevent a schism in the Tower. The only difference between these three examples is the motivation behind the action.
Which speaks, I think, to Siuan’s fear that she will abuse her ability to lie and, in her own words, lose herself. Everything I said last week about her not reading the situation correctly still stands, but I do think her fear is warranted, and important. Siuan isn’t even that ambitious. Her dream for herself was freedom and traveling, not serving as Sitter or as Amyrlin, but she is determined, and she is very aware of how far she is willing to go to achieve her ends—ends that for a little while were her only reason for living, at that. And Egwene is ambitious. She is also focused on important goals, but there is a reason she keeps thinking about the historical Amyrlins and which one she might end up another version of. She wants to achieve her goals, but she also wants the status and the power purely because she wants it. This bit at the end of chapter 19 really encapsulates her journey from Accepted who would rather train with the Wise Ones than with the Aes Sedai to a woman who considers herself a leader of women.
[S]he was Egwene al’Vere, and whatever the secret histories would say of her faults and virtues, the Light only knew, but they would be hers, not copies of some other woman’s.
Nothing is wrong with that, of course, but I do think it’s important to note that ambition does tend to corrupt, and this is especially significant in channelers, be they the Black Ajah members and Elaidas of the world, or men like Mazrim Taim. Siuan wasn’t just warning Egwene about the danger to herself, or to the Aes Sedai in general. She was warning Egwene about her own drive for power, and how she is going to have to be careful to stay on the right side of it.
This is a theme of The Wheel of Time that has been most obviously explored with Rand and Lews Therin and the Forsaken, but is important to many other characters as well. I think it will be very interesting to see how Egwene handles achieving so much authority in such a short span of time, and what challenges present themselves along the way.
I enjoyed the dramatic irony of Egwene noticing Delana and Halima throughout the section. I found myself wondering if Delana wasn’t the one who was beating Sheriam back in chapter 16—Halima/Aran’gar is clearly directing all Delana’s actions, and I suspect Aran’gar is getting frustrated that she hasn’t learned more from Egwene. Killing Egwene’s other servants was probably part of that; Aran’gar wants to eliminate the “competition” as it were for closeness to Egwene. But Aran’gar also has a cover to maintain, and cannot be a rival to someone like Sheriam or Siuan, who would appear to Aran’gar to be Egwene’s real confidants—Sheriam perhaps even more so than Siuan, since they are being very careful about masking Siuan’s true importance and situation. But if Sheriam is Black Ajah, or perhaps even if she isn’t, one can imagine Delana might have some power or authority, perhaps through blackmail, over her. Since Sheriam is Egwene’s Keeper, Delana might expect that she knows more than the rest of the Hall.
But Sheriam doesn’t know much more, and if she isn’t Black Ajah, the Oaths would still hold her, which means her oath to Egwene would also hold. Delana and Aran’gar clearly had no idea what Egwene was planning for the meeting with the Andoran and Murandian nobles, and they certainly had no idea that Egwene was about to execute a plan to take control of the Hall.
Delana does stand to vote to declare war against Elaida, after turning around to peer into the crowd outside the pavilion. It’s possible that she was looking for guidance from Aran’gar—the Hall was shielded so no one could listen in, but I imagine a Forsaken channeling saidin where there are only saidar users would be able to find a way around that. Since the Dark One’s instructions are to sow chaos and to weaken the White Tower, Egwene declaring war might serve those ends very well. But Delana is also clearly distressed over Egwene taking the reins of wartime decisions; they are here to weaken the Aes Sedai, and everyone knows Egwene’s connection to the Dragon Reborn, so this news is probably not in keeping with their directives as Darkfriends.
In addition, Delana might have her own, non-Black Ajah feelings about a war between the Aes Sedai. She is still a sister after all, and Darkfriends’ desires can often be very contradictory in nature. Back in chapter 30 of Lord of Chaos, we had a section from Delana’s point of view in which she remembered her old friendship with Siuan and genuinely seems to want to help her. Halima shows up immediately after Siuan left, which puts paid to Delana’s other ambitions and makes her confront the truth of being a Darkfriend in a way she hadn’t before. Plenty of regular sisters might scheme and plot to bring down their rivals and achieve their own political ambition; being Black Ajah might not have felt that different at first, or made Delana believe she had to turn her back on all her friends. Having someone like Aran’gar show up would have shattered that illusion, however.
I really enjoyed the meeting between Egwene’s forces and Arathelle’s, particularly the symbolism of holding the encounter out on ice that was thick enough to hold a fair number of people, but not enough to fight a battle. The strength of that ice matches the strength of the agreement they reached. It will hold… unless it’s pushed too much.
Roedran’s plan to use the Band much in the same way that Egwene used them was a surprise. I had imagined that Egwene hoped to add the Band’s strength to Bryne’s forces for the siege on Tar Valon, but that doesn’t really seem to have been on her mind. She used them as a goad to prod the Aes Sedai to move in the direction she wanted, then as a red herring (like Faile’s suggestion to Perrin to use the Manetheren banner) to those seeing Egwene’s army on the move. She’d no doubt like to keep them, but she’s not depending on them any longer. And she seems genuinely concerned about their welfare, which surprised me a little, too.
I also appreciated that we saw Egwene’s honesty be rewarded. She tells Talmanes the truth because of what Siuan said about expedient and necessary lies, but as a result she actually gets more than a lie would have gotten. She doesn’t really remark on this within the narration, so I’m not sure how much she caught on to it, but I’m hoping the lesson might stick. Most of the characters in this story seem to believe that there is no place for truth, that truth cannot win you allies and only manipulation cements your place. It’s one of the reasons I love Perrin so much. But it is true that truth and trust can be exactly what’s called for, and I hope we see more of that from the side of the Light. As the Dark continues to spread distrust, to fill people’s minds with false rumors and evil lies, what we really need is a little more truth and justice from the Light.
After all, Egwene believes a lot more of the rumors about Rand than I thought she would, or that she would have in the first few books. A little reminder about speaking truth and trusting your friends feels like just what she needs, especially since she has just gained so much power, and is about to lead her followers into a war.
Join me back here next week for a standalone essay about Aes Sedai, their customs, traditions, and hypocrisies. Until then, I wish you all a lovely week and remind you that sometimes, just sometimes, honesty really is the best policy.
Sylas K Barrett noticed that Egwene does not seem as worried about Mat this week as she did last week when she was dreaming of him, but suspects that the Band will have to do a bit more than wait for Mat to come back north on his own. Either that, or they might be waiting quite a while.
