Welcome back to Reading The Wheel of Time. I’ve missed the column, and it’s great to be back at it. It’s a big week too, because we have finally gotten to one of the things I’ve been waiting for since basically the beginning: Nynaeve has figured out how to Heal stilling and gentling.
Other than being able to reverse the madness brought about by the taint and/or remove the taint from saidin all together, healing gentling is the biggest game changer for how the One Power is understood in Rand’s time. Granted, most men who are gentled tend to die before too long, but if even a few of them could be restored that would make a big difference for Rand, especially someone like Logain who is both powerful and experienced in wielding saidin. And of course there is also Siuan and Leane, who are characters I care for very much and with whom we’ve spent a lot of time. We’ve watched how they both tried to find something else to sustain them in the loss of such an intrinsic piece of themselves, the way they tried to pretend they weren’t hurting, the way Siuan sacrificed everything to continue doing the work she and Moiraine began so long ago. It’s a really wonderful moment when Nynaeve is able to give that piece back to them, even though the whole thing hasn’t gone quite to plan.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. First, let’s do the recap.
Nynaeve composes herself for a moment before going into the Little Tower. She notices Uno looking at her as he rides by and decides that Birgitte must have talked after all, and Uno is just waiting for Nynaeve to give the signal to get them horses.
She was almost ready to. Even Elayne could not say they were doing any good. Well, she could, and did, but she should not.
Stepping inside, Nynaeve notes that the Little Tower feels much less like the bustling place it was when she first saw it and much more like the White Tower. She approaches one of the tables where the White sister Brendas is working and politely asks after Siuan and Leane. Brendas tells her that the two are with the Sitters, then begins asking about Nynaeve’s progress breaking her block. Nynaeve is embarrassed because the most recent attempt involved sipping wine to relax.
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The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time
“[…] only somehow Nynaeve had ended up taking more than just a few sips. She did not think she would ever forget being carried back to her room singing—singing!—or remember without going red in the face. Brendas had to know. Everyone had to know. Nynaeve wanted to writhe.
Brendas explains that she is concerned because Nynaeve’s studies are suffering—Elayne is still making new discoveries but Nynaeve isn’t. A number of sisters would like to take over Theodrin’s task, and are wondering if working Nynaeve constantly every day instead of informal sessions might prove more productive. Nynaeve mutters that she will try harder and hurries away from the table, nearly bumping into a newly-arrived Aes Sedai with white hair, who tells her off.
It was actually Nynaeve’s idea to start funneling all the secrets they learned from Moghedien through Elayne, but now she can see that was a mistake, since all the Aes Sedai are focusing on her block and how she doesn’t have any more to offer them. Stalking down the street, she almost attacks the man who touches her shoulder until she sees that it’s Thom Merrilin, with Juilin standing beside him. Thom makes a quip about Nynaeve’s temper and a moment later Elayne appears, throwing herself into Thom’s arms.
After a prolonged and joyful greeting, Elayne asks Thom for their news from Amadicia. Thom tells them that except for the force of Whitecloaks along the Tarabon border keeping the Prophet at bay, Niall seems to be gathering all the Whitecloaks in Amadicia to himself, and Ailron is doing the same with his troops. Juilin mutters something about Tarabon being an ill place, and Nynaeve can tell that they are both hiding something. Elayne hits on what it is, and states that Thom has heard something about her mother.
Thom eventually admits that everyone in Amadicia believes that Morgase is in the Fortress of the Light and means to lead an army of the Children back to Andor. Elayne laughs a little and tells Thom that Morgase would never, though if it meant that her mother was alive Elayne could almost wish it was true. But she knows her mother is dead, and she has done her grieving for her.
When Thom and Juilin leave to make their report, Elayne apologizes to Nynaeve for laughing at her drunken antics the night before. But Nynaeve tells Elayne that she was right to laugh.
“I made a complete fool of myself.” She had. A few sips, Theodrin said; a cup. And she emptied the pitcher. If you were going to fail, better to have some other reason than that you just could not do it. “You should have sent for that bucket and dunked my head until I could recite The Great Hunt of the Horn without a mistake.
They argue back and forth, with Elayne insisting that she was being unfair and Nynaeve insisting she deserved what she got and worse, that she acted terribly. It feels strange and yet somehow refreshing to take the blame, and she almost gets angry at Elayne for continuing to make excuses for her until Elayne threatens to send for the bucket now if Nynaeve doesn’t stop arguing.
Instead, Nynaeve tells Elayne they should leave. Now that Thom and Juilin are back they can go to Ebou Dar and look for the bowl. Elayne tells her that Birgitte told Uno that Nynaeve was thinking of running away, and not to give her a horse unless Birgitte specifically told him to. Nynaeve is beyond indignant, but she has to wonder if Birgitte gave Uno the same instructions about Elayne. She decides to go see what she can do with Logain. He is sarcastically obsequious towards them.
Nynaeve snaps at Logain to sit down and hold his tongue, irritated further by his insolent smile. She weaves all five elements, Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Spirit, together into filaments to probe the space where something seems missing in Logain. She doesn’t intend to touch him, but is drawn in by her work, hushing Elayne’s questions. She is also distracted by other thoughts. She wonders if Egwene was finally at the meeting with the Wise Ones, and what Myrelle was going to tell her. She wonders if Egwene would help convince Elayne that they are not doing any good in Salidar, and wonders how she can get in touch with Egwene.
At the same time, she slides the flows she’s working with inside the emptiness she feels in Logain, which seems so small she could miss it and yet is a vast nothingness once she’s inside. Thinking of the sense of something cut that she felt in Siuan and Leane, she goes looking for the same in Logain and finds an impression that matches that sensation.
If it was bridged with Fire and Spirit, so…
It was the slight widening of Logain’s eyes that told her what she had done. Breath froze in her throat. She backed away from him so fast she stumbled over her skirt.
Nynaeve slams a shield around Logain and tells Elayne to run and fetch Sheriam, because she has just Healed Logain.
Nynaeve can feel something pushing against her shield and pours everything she can into it as Elayne bounds out the door. She’s suddenly aware of Logain’s physical strength and size. He begins to talk to her, assuring her that the shield is unnecessary and that he could hardly do anything nefarious in a village with hundreds of Aes Sedai. He points out that the Aes Sedai are doing what he wants, and that the Red Ajah is basically finished.
“You know, I saw a man once who will cause more trouble than I ever did. Maybe it was the Dragon Reborn; I don’t know. It was when they took me through Caemlyn after I was captured. He was far away, but I saw a… a glow, and I knew he’d shake the world. Caged as I was, I couldn’t help laughing.”
When the door burst open again, it’s not just Sheriam. Aes Sedai crowd into the room until it’s full, with more peering in through the doorway. Nynaeve’s anger collapses under the scrutiny and so does the shield as the Aes Sedai question Nynaeve’s claim and point out that she has been indulged too much. She begs someone to shield him, and they agree to do so until they can be certain of what happened.
Sheriam and Myrelle pull Nynaeve out of the room, dragging her so fast that she’s stumbling as she demands to know where she’s being taken. They discuss various punishments Nynaeve might receive for this, indicating that they believe her one moment and then suggesting that her “brain has swollen from strain.” Nynaeve is frustrated and terrified as she is dragged to the Little Tower and brought before the assembled members of the Yellow Ajah, where Sheriam and Myrelle interrogate her. But when Leane and Siuan are brought in, looking anxious and sullen, Nynaeve realizes that the whole thing is performance, designed to get her angry enough to be able to channel so she can attempt to recreate what she did on Logain with Siuan and Leane. Or rather, judging by everyone’s expressions, so everyone can see her fail at it. Furious, she stalks forward and grabs Siuan roughly.
Saidar filled her, and she channeled as she had with Logain, blending all of the Five Powers. She knew what she was looking for this time, that almost-not-there-at-all sense of something cut. Spirit and Fire to mend the break, and…
For a moment Siuan only stared, expressionless. Then the glow of saidar enveloped her. Gasps filled the room. Slowly Siuan leaned forward and kissed Nynaeve on either cheek. A tear leaked down her face, then another, and abruptly Siuan was weeping, hugging herself and shaking; the gleaming aura around her faded away. Sheriam quickly folded her into comforting arms; Sheriam looked as though she might cry too.
Nynaeve heals Leane next, who doesn’t cry but who does embrace Nynaeve fiercely. She is frustrated when instead of apologizing for doubting her, the Yellows all begin talking amongst each other, criticizing her weave and discussing how it might be better. Myrelle pats her arm and tells her that they will be all praises later, once they have time to process. Then the Yellows begin discussing whether or not they can re-gentle Logain. The argument is that Rand would object if they gentled any man now, even one who was gentled before he declared himself and passed his amnesty. If Rand found out that they had gentled Logain, he might choose Elaida over the Salidar Aes Sedai. Sheriam dismisses Nynaeve.
Outside, Elayne apologizes for not making sure Sheriam was alone before she blurted out the news, and Nynaeve tells her they have to go now. But it’s too late—word of Nynaeve’s extraordinary accomplishment is already spreading. And indeed, a moment later Yellow Sisters begin to swoop down on Nynaeve, each trying to claim the first chance to study her methods, and discussing ways to make Nynaeve angry.
Meanwhile, Siuan struggles against tears as she is embraced by Lelaine and Delana, thinking about how important the line between Aes Sedai and non-Aes Sedai is, and grateful she is able to be equal with her friends again. Seeing Gareth Bryne, she hurries after him. She tells him that she has been Healed and is Aes Sedai again, he says that he heard. She asks if he really expects an Aes Sedai to do her laundry. To emphasize the point, she wraps him in flows of Air and tries to lift him but finds that she can’t.
It was impossible. True, the simple act of picking something up was one of the hardest in channeling, but she had been able to lift nearly three times her own weight.
“Is this supposed to impress me,” Bryne said calmly, “or frighten me? Sheriam and her friends gave their word, the Hall gave its word, and more importantly, you gave yours, Siuan. I wouldn’t let you get away from me if you were the Amyrlin again.”
He tells her to undo whatever she’s done or he’ll smack her for being childish. Siuan does, not for the threat or because she can’t lift him, but because she feels tears welling up and hopes that letting go of the Source will help her control herself. Still, a few escape, and suddenly Gareth is cupping her face, shocked that he might have frightened her. She tells him that she is not frightened, pleased that she can still lie even though her channeling has been restored, and then all but begs him to go. She manages to make it into the next hallway before the tears burst upon her, and she realizes what they are for. Some part of her bond to Alric, the Warder Elaida murdered during her coup, has been restored, and the pain of it is overwhelming her. She’s glad that Gareth can’t see her now, and is startled by the thought that she might be in love with him.
Eventually, Siuan realizes that Leane is there, and the two bond over the experience of losing a Warder. Eventually, Siuan asks Leane if she thinks the Aes Sedai are ready, and Leane asks if Siuan is sure that she want to change their plans so suddenly.
“…I am not as strong as I was, Siuan, and neither are you. Most of the women here can channel more than either of us, now. Light, I think some of the Accepted can, not even counting Elayne or Nynaeve.”
Siuan is still determined. Now that she is Aes Sedai again, and because she was deposed with the barest nod to Tower law, she sees no reason why she shouldn’t be Amyrlin again.
That night, Nynaeve comes banging into the room she shares with Elayne, complaining about all the Yellow Ajah’s demands and how they’re all competing over how to break her block. They only let her go because she was too tired to find saidar anymore, and have set up a rotating schedule for her upcoming days.
Siuan and Leane enter with a tray of food for Nynaeve, having heard about her day with the Yellows. Nynaeve and Elayne are shocked to learn that, while Leane and Siuan have been restored to Aes Sedai status, their sentence under Elaida and time spent as non-Aes Sedai is being considered legal, so in a way, Leane and Siuan are now “new” Aes Sedai. Leane has decided to choose to be Green Ajah, while Siuan is worried that the Blue won’t take her back.
Siuan also tells Nynaeve that while Logain appears to be as strong as he ever was, she and Leane are greatly reduced in strength. Leane points out to Nynaeve, who is still acting suspicious and hostile, the risk they are taking just in coming to see her, and what will happen if it’s ever found out, even years from now, that she and Siuan have been playing a game with everyone. They discuss the need for secrecy around trying a second Healing, and explain to the two Accepted how the power hierarchy works within the ranks of the Aes Sedai. They don’t want anyone to know of their diminished strength if it can possibly be improved in secret. Even if they are eventually restored to their full former strength, the Aes Sedai might still rank them lower than they once were.
“Everything goes into it,” Siuan explained. “Who learned fastest, who spent the least time as novice and Accepted. There are all sorts of shadings. You can’t say precisely how strong anyone is. Two women might seem to be the same strength; maybe they are and maybe not, but the only way to say for certain would be a duel, and the Light be blessed, we’re above that. Unless Nynaeve returns us to our full strength, we run the risk of standing fairly low.”
Leane goes on to explain that while they were stilled, the advice they gave was weighed on merit alone. But now it will be considered based on their standing. Elayne is struck by how the Aes Sedai power structure is even more complicated than Daes Dae’mar, but Nynaeve seems less impressed. She asks what Sheriam and the others learned from the Wise Ones, and Leane insists that Siuan tell them everything.
Siuan reports that Rand has met with Elaida’s embassy but seems to be mostly toying with them, and that Egwene will be at the next meeting. They all discuss the idea of being friends and a team, now, which pleases Elayne more than Nynaeve. When they are gone, however, Nynaeve observes that Siuan was nearly in tears, and that perhaps she really meant all of it. She supposes that she should try to be nicer to Siuan, and falls asleep basically mid sentence. Elayne gets her tucked in and falls asleep worrying about Rand.
The next morning Siuan and Leane return, but Nynaeve isn’t able to do anything more than she has already done.
In her sitting room, Delana is meeting with Siuan. Once old friends as Accepted, Delana had to adjust to not thinking of Siuan as an Aes Sedai and now to seeing her as one again, but as one who is much less strong than she is, when once the balance went the other way. Even stranger, Siuan is visibly upset, which she normally would never show. Together, they concoct a plan to make Sheriam believe that Romanda has tried to take the dream Ter’angreal into the Little Tower’s possession and that Siuan has stopped it. That way they hope to convince Sheriam to let Siuan come along to the meetings with the Wise Ones.
Delana kept her smile inside as she escorted Siuan to the front step and gave her a hug. Yes, it would be very important to the Hall to keep the Wise Ones pacific, though Siuan had no way of knowing that. She watched Siuan hurry down the street before going back in. It seemed she was going to be the one doing the protecting now. She hoped she made as good a job of it as her friend had.
A novice arrives to tell Delana that a woman, Halima Saranov, has arrived who claims to know her. Before Delana can say that she knows no such person, the woman stands in the doorway, making a secret sign of the black Ajah. When the novice has left, Halima Saranov makes herself comfortable, prompting ire from Delana.
My story is that I was traveling companion for a time to one Cabriana Mecandes, a Blue sister. Unfortunately, Cabriana died in a fall from her horse, and her Warder simply refused to leave his blankets or eat after that. He died, too.” Halima smiled as if to ask whether Delana was following. “Cabriana and I talked a great deal before she died, and she told me about Salidar. She also told me a number of things she had learned about the White Tower’s plans for you here. And for the Dragon Reborn.”
Delana decides that it’s simple enough, as long as Halima’s knowledge of Cabriana can back up her story. She thinks to herself that the death of a sister is always regrettable but sometimes can’t be helped. As Halima is increasingly insolent to her she grows more angry, until Halima mentions a name she “uses sometimes.”
It’s Aran’gar.
Delana sat down heavily. That name had been mentioned in her dreams. For the first time in years, Delana Mosalaine was afraid.
Now that was an exciting chapter!
I’m so curious as to when we’ll finally get the next stage in character growth for Nynaeve. It feels like we’ve been building to something for a long time, but she’s still stuck with her block, with her feelings of inadequacy and shame that she masks with anger, and none of that has changed since her arrival in Salidar. In this chapter we see the way she always assumes that the Aes Sedai are thinking the worst of her—it makes sense that she’s anxious to avoid the attention around breaking her block, but every time she ascribes a thought to one of the Aes Sedai, she is certain that they think she’s useless and terrible. And indeed, every time she acknowledges to herself that she’s made a mistake, she berates herself with the same thoughts. It’s a very abusive mindset, really, and it makes me sad because Nynaeve is an incredible person, and a lot of her outward flaws, especially her stubbornness and arrogance, are a direct result of that self-hating mindset. If she could be a little nicer to herself, she might not need to be so defensive and abrasive all the time.
The reverse fight with Elayne was really interesting, and it’s an insightful moment in the narration to note the feeling of catharsis that can come from admitting that you were wrong or that you made a mistake. Nynaeve works so hard to cover any parts of herself that might seem vulnerable and imperfect, and if she can start to acknowledge those parts out loud, she will probably find that the fear has less of a hold on her. That fear is her real block, and the Aes Sedai aren’t really equipped to offer the kind of psychological support Nynaeve actually needs to address it. I rather suspect that her block won’t be broken by Theodrin or any of the Aes Sedai who are trying to help her. I think it will be more like her experience fighting Moghedien in Tel’aran’rhiod, a moment in which she’ll be called to do something she’s terrified to do, perhaps some kind of surrender in order to save someone else, or some moment where she wants to fight but instead lets someone else protect her or take care of her.
Maybe she needs Egwene back. Although the Wise Ones are just as tough, even tougher, than the Aes Sedai in a lot of ways, they actually seem to have a slightly more expansive idea of what strength is, and the importance of mental health. Egwene already has a certain insightfulness to her, I think, and seeing how the Wise Ones manage those in their charge might give her more skill in this area. Anyone who is to be a leader, the way I believe Egwene will end up being, needs to know when to be firm and when to be supportive, and I think that Nynaeve is in particular need of that kind of guidance. If she ever gets Lan back, I think that will help too—he seems well equipped to provide advice in a way that she’ll actually listen to. Maybe. Hopefully. But I think it’s going to be a while yet before those two have their paths cross again.
Speaking of romance, the Siuan/Gareth Bryne thing is going about how I expected. I don’t much care for the relationship, and Jordan’s doing his usual thing having all the male love interests give their ladies at least one good spanking. Because women are children, apparently, and corporeal punishment is a good way to make them respect you. But I did like the tenderness Bryne displayed here, and it’s possible that the relationship might grow on me (sexist tropes aside) if the narrative starts to delve a little deeper into the fact that both he and Siuan are people who are very guarded about their heart, and that they both need to let go a little and find connection and support. And it can’t be denied that Gareth Bryne has all the skills needed to be an excellent Warder, if he ever actually thought he’d like to tie himself down that way.
There are actually a lot of parallels here between Siuan and Nynaeve. The way Siuan expected Bryne to release her from her chores because she is Aes Sedai again, even though those two things are completely unrelated is very much the same as Nynaeve expecting to be released from pot scrubbing duty because she performed a miraculous feat with the One Power. Even though those things also have nothing to do with each other.
The foreshadowing about what happens with Siuan and Leane’s Healing was really good, I thought. It occurs to Nynaeve to think about how men and women are often different; she feels a difference when she works with them compared to when she did with Logain. But she is simply relieved to find that the bridging is the same. It never occurs to her to think that the Healing could work in both cases but have different results, nor does it occur to any of the Yellows. I suppose everyone was too caught up in the moment. I wonder what would have happened if she had been unable to heal Siuan and Leane because of the differences between men and women. Would they have been convinced that she couldn’t have Healed Logain? Given that his talk about not trying to escape was complete hogwash, that could have been disastrous.
It’s great to have Juilin and Thom back. I hope we get to spend more time with them again—they’re great characters. Even though the dramatic irony of knowing that Thom’s rumor about Morgase is true, kind of, and watching Elayne disbelieve it was torture. Jordan, why do you do these things to me?
There are lots of interesting little details about how the One Power works in this section. The Yellow Ajah’s insistence that Healing is only Water, Air, and Spirit shows the narrow mindedness of the Aes Sedai with their insistence on following tradition and established knowledge at the expense of almost anything else, even when it is to their detriment. True, it’s possible that, with the diminishing strength of the average channeler in the Tower, maybe no current Aes Sedai has the ability needed to incorporate Earth and Fire into their Healing weaves. But the modern Aes Sedai also know that they have retained or rediscovered only a fraction of the knowledge that existed during the Age of Legends, and yet never seem to consider that fact when faced with new ways of doing things.
And really, if the five powers make up all of the One Power, and the One Power is the fabric of creation (or maybe people’s lives are? I’m a little fuzzy here) then it makes sense that you would use all five powers in any complicated weaves. Making a fireball is just Fire, sure, but people should be made up of all elements, not just some. For the Aes Sedai, if something hasn’t been done, it can’t be done, but Nynaeve and Elayne and Egwene have managed to avoid spending too much time even getting regular in-the-Tower training, and also have progressed very rapidly in their skills. They aren’t as aware of the rules, nor are they accustomed to following them.
Can you imagine Nynaeve as a full Aes Sedai, trying to navigate the power hierarchy? Because I can’t. Maybe that’s something the new Aes Sedai can eventually get rid of—no one needs a system that devalues good advice just because it came from someone with less raw channeling power.
I almost forgot that, if I was reading in publication order, this would have been the first explanation of how the Aes Sedai power hierarchy works. In New Spring we learn the rules around deferring to those with more power and the need to instantly judge everyone’s standing, but we don’t really know how that is being sensed. I had no idea that it was about more than just raw channeling strength, though Siuan and Leane’s explanation does confirm my suspicion that wilders’ abilities are considered less somehow. Siuan specifically says being a wilder “puts you a little lower than your strength.” It’s a very specific prejudice and one that I do not like to see, though it’s hardly surprising. The Aes Sedai are full of prejudice.
I love Siuan. She’s been through so much, and she’s so strong. I just want people to be nicer to her! I can’t really blame Nynaeve for her suspicion, though. She’s seen Siuan manipulate everyone around her from the day she met Siuan, and is one of the few people privy to the extreme lengths Siuan is going to with the Salidar Aes Sedai. Seeing firsthand the performance that Siuan is putting on to get what she wants, it makes sense that she is suspicious of any overture of kindness or empathy or friendship from Siuan. How can she know that it’s not just as much of a performance as the meekness that Siuan displays towards Sheriam and the others? Elayne is a very open person so being in the loop with some of Siuan and Leane’s plans makes her feel connected to them, and I love that about her. But Nynaeve is defensive and self-protective—she barely trusts Elayne’s motivations, never mind that of someone she knows will do literally anything to achieve her ends. Still, I have a lot of empathy for Siuan’s position, especially considering that she is also older and more experienced that Nynaeve, and yet has to rely on her in so many ways.
You know, it’s kind of interesting that there is a whole Ajah devoted just to Healing. The Aes Sedai consider themselves servants of the people, at least in theory, but pulling political strings and controlling the fate of nations doesn’t really feel anything like being a servant. Justice is a high-minded and sometimes theoretical ideal. Logic purports to stand outside of ordinary people and human emotion. Learning and study can be solitary and more about the past or facts and figures.
But Healing is a one-on-one endeavor, one that requires a lot of time to be spent with different kinds of people. It’s deeply personal for both the Healer and the patient, and even more so when the One Power is involved. Channeling to Heal involves a very intimate connection, as we see when Nynaeve examines Logain and when people like Mat and Rand avoid being Healed, or at least demand consent beforehand. It’s not using the One Power to hurt you or wrap you in bonds, the way the Aes Sedai like to do with Air. It’s using the Power in you, to look inside your body and order it to change.
It’s interesting that we used the word look, because it’s definitely not seeing in the sense of using one’s eyes. In many ways, channeling seems to be a sixth sense, at least in terms of perceiving flows and the True Source itself. Channelers use words like “see” because they have no other words for it.
Speaking of seeing, we have a reference here from Logain to that time he saw Rand in Caemlyn, way back in The Eye of the World. I remember wondering at the time how a man like Logain, who was shielded from using the One Power, could have any sense of who Rand was. He specifically describes seeing a glow around Rand, and knowing that he would “shake the world” and “cause more trouble than [Logain] ever did.” It sounds like Logain has the same ability that Siuan has to see ta’veren, though perhaps not as strongly as Siuan, who described looking at Rand as like looking at the sun.
In any case, Min’s seeing around Logain achieving glory certainly seems to be coming true—not that I ever doubted her. I’m curious about the meaning of the term “glory” in this context. Taim uses the word too, and he seems to mean it mostly in the sense of military prowess and achievement. Technically, the idea of glory could be used by the Forsaken or other Darkfriends as easily as someone who walks in the the Light. It doesn’t necessarily have to have a positive connotation; it could just mean power and prestige.
The desire for glory and power led both Taim and Logain to declare themselves as the Dragon Reborn. And Taim’s entire stated reason for allying himself with Rand is to have some shred of Rand’s glory fall to himself. It’s not exactly a pure motive, and it makes me suspicious of both of them. To be fair to Logain, however, much of what we the readers understand about him is colored by how Nynaeve and Siuan and Min feel about him, since we’ve mostly seen him in their sections of the narration. Logain seems suspicious and scary, dangerous in the way he tries to break out of the Aes Sedai shield. But so does Rand—the only difference is that we have spent time in his head and are on his side. Perhaps in time Logain will prove to be something much more than a former False Dragon. He might even be a less obnoxious ally than Taim. Or perhaps he’ll be the one to betray Rand and become the newest Forsaken, and Taim will turn out to have been the trustworthy one after all.
I mean, one of them has to go Darkfriend, right? Rand’s not that lucky.
And then there’s Delana, and yet another reminder that Darkfriends can be anywhere, and seem like anyone. Of course I assumed there were Black Ajah members among the Salidar Aes Sedai, but it’s interesting to be introduced to someone who is aligned to the Dark One and yet has “fond feelings” towards Siuan and the youth they shared together. Because we’re seeing the scene from Delana’s point of view, we know those feelings are genuine, which feels wild when considered next to the fact that she is Black Ajah. Of course I know full well that bad people can still feel genuine love and other emotions, but we’re not talking ordinary bad. We’re talking aligned with the Dark capital D. It’s interesting.
I almost forgot who Aran’gar was! On my first read through I was thinking that Halima was Semirhage. But I guess those two are working together now, which is an interesting new tidbit. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this goes.
Final thoughts:
- Nynaeve’s weather sense actually seems to be working. I think she is detecting what the Pattern is trying to do with the weather, what it would be doing without the Dark One’s interference. This raises some interesting questions about how her ability works, and the difference between the Pattern’s intentions and the Dark One’s touch. I wonder if his manipulation of the Pattern isn’t limited in the same way as his manipulation of saidin. He couldn’t actually corrupt saidin itself, and the taint is only around it rather than actually inside it. In the same way, it may be that he can affect the weather, but he can’t actually change the fundamental Pattern itself.
- Nynaeve notes that the Little Tower feels more like the White Tower now. Even with the limitations and the desire of the Salidar Aes Sedai to make the Tower whole again, they are starting to establish a true foundation, to become a functional body rather than a temporary camp. Even their language suggests that some part of them is seeing this separation as permanent.
- When Elayne is watching Nynaeve work on Logain, she is astounded by the number of flows Nynaeve can handle at once. I’m curious if this has to do with the fact that Nynaeve technically is stronger in the One Power than Elayne, or if it has more to do with the type of channeling that’s occurring. Nynaeve has no inclination towards making ter’angreal, after all. Maybe that requires plenty of strength but fewer weaves. I wonder how the Aes Sedai hierarchy would break down the difference.
Two more chapters next week, and we’ll spend some time with the Whitecloaks before returning to Egwene in Cairhien. Until then, I wish you all a wonderful week and remember, mistakes are something you learn from, not hate yourself over.
Sylas K Barrett would very much like Nynaeve and Siuan to be friends, and thinks they would get along great as long as they didn’t have to work on anything that was personal to either of them. Truely united, they’d be an unstoppable force for sure.
Good old Nynaeve, Queen of self-deception, denial, and Malkierl it is hilarious and pitiful how she makes things harder for herself. So she got tipsy and had to be carried back to her room singing, what of it? Why can’t she just laugh along with everybody else at her silly little misadventure? It’s not like she deliberately went on a bender, that might be something to be ashamed of. She was drinking under supervision in an effort to break her block. It was medicinal!
Sylas is mistaken in believing the little tower feeling more like the White Tower is a Good Thing. It in fact means the rebel AS are sinking back into old, bad habits and marking time rather than actually working towards an end.
Logain is actually quite a nice man. As we get to know him better we see repeated gentleness and kindness towards frightened women, even AS. He certainly doesn’t want to hurt or frighten the pretty young woman who just healed him and he tries to communicate that to Nynaeve without success.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Siuan actually enjoys those spankings. It’s not that she’s S&M it’s that they’re the closest physical contact she can allow herself with the man she’s totally gone on. Gareth Bryne knows perfectly well that this feisty young woman is enjoying fighting with him, so he enjoys it too between bouts of wondering what the heck is actually happening between them and what if anything he should be doing about it. He is genuinely alarmed when it looks for once like he’s really upset her.
Getting her power back means Arik’s death and the breaking of their bond hits Siuan like a ton of bricks. It’s not that she’d forgotten he was dead but her stilling meant she experienced only the normal sense of loss and grief for a friend and comrade, not the agony of having a part of herself ripped violently away. Now she feels the psychic wound and it’s like it just happened now not months ago. The pain is incredible. It normally takes AS years to recover from losing a warder. Some never recover at all. Collapsing in tears every time you let your guard down is apparently perfectly normal.
the way I believe Egwene will end up being, needs to know when to be firm and when to be supportive
Well, firm, anyway. Egwene wouldn’t know supportive if it smacked her on the ass.
Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure the spanking thing is just Jordan’s own kink coming out rather than an infantilization of women thing.
I don’t know why people let themselves get all bent out of shape by the spankings. It’s not like it doesn’t happen to men too, specifically Rand himself. And Mat suffers worse.
Yeah, it’s pretty clear throughout the series that Jordan has a hinder fetish.
A thought as to why Logain got healed to full strength but Siuan and Leane didn’t. My guess is that it may be akin to how a saidin user and a saidar user linked have a total wattage that is increased geometrically from their total base load limit, while two saidar users linked have a wattage lower than their individual load limits totaled.
@5 – it’s something like that, we find out later on that opposite gender healing of severing returns the healed to full strength while same-gender healing results in a significant reduction in channeling strength.
@2 Logain tries his hardest to get his share of glory and power and fails and suffers because of it, but never stops trying. It’s only when he stops trying to raise himself up and just does his duties and responsibilities and fights the good fight, is when he gets his glory and fame. Silas theory is to the point, as usual.
So in regards to the whole spankings discussion, I have an interesting anecdote. I asked Brandon Sanderson at a book signing what’s the one thing he would have changed in the series given carte blanche – and his response was he’d get rid of all the spankings. So even one of the authors isn’t onboard with this … plot device.
Hello Mod! I’d like to point out a small error. Near the end of Silas’ recap is the sentence: As Halima is increasingly indolent to her she grows more angry, until Halima mentions a name she “uses sometimes.” I believe it should be ‘insolent’ instead of ‘indolent’.
@9 and @11 below – Fixed, thanks!
MODS: In addition to comment #9 above, in the sentence where Sylas comments “I almost forgot that, if I was reading chronologically…” it should be “in publication order” not chronologically.
Stitting Duck @5:
The second part of that is definitely true, but do you have a citation on the geometric increase for saidin/saidar pairings? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before (and would be surprised if it’s true).
@@.-@. How about Far Madding, where every woman gets gifted a strap with which she is to beat her husband?
I love the sleight of hand in this chapter, as Jordan distracts us just as Nynaeve is distracted while poking at Logain’s gentling. Also, “Elayne apologizes for not making sure Sheriam was alone before she blurted out the news” – can you imagine if Sheriam were alone when she got this news? That could have gone badly.
Been reading since the show came out and I found this blog – definitely sucked to catch up over this weekend for my favorite chapter and then have to wait a few days for the reaction – going to be hard going forward / will prob just have to reread twice! Def enjoyed seeing both the many instances of foreshadowing Sylas catches and also the few that are missed. Pretty perceptive as a whole!
Overall takes: Always surprised by how deeply a subsection of commenters have a problem with Egwene -I always enjoyed basically all the characters (if anything Perrin and even Rand bored me for awhile). Almost as tired hearing complaining about her as the Captain Marvel hate.
The gender binary and relationship issues also get a little repetitive in the posts – def a valid discussion / criticism to have tho and the complaints have gotten slightly more succinct. I imagine if the spanking thing doesn’t make you laugh then it also becomes tiring for the reader. I also think there’s clearly an ongoing issue with the fact that just bc a character – or even the fictional society at large – thinks a thing, doesn’t make them factually correct, nor does it mean the author is presenting or advocating some moral truth. A lot of times its the opposite imo.
While ‘Madness’ is certainly a term to be phased out of public health, when it comes to corruption from a dark unknowable being trying to end time, I don’t think it’s actually incorrect – maybe RJ could have leant on ‘corruption’ more?
While the PC angle can get tiring, it’s good being exposed to a new facet sometimes – I wouldn’t have even thought twice about the word ‘lame’, but a lot of the arguments for / against use of it can be applied to gay (or worse) so def worth considering. Maybe a little different if language drift is so far that enough people don’t even know the root meaning, but interested to discuss with family members with disabilities to get their take.
Sorry these takes are more general than about this post – not much to say here except the chapters, and Nyaneve are awesome.
@15 I completely agree with you on the Egwene thing! She’s always been one of my favorite characters, probably only behind Mat and (most of) Perrin. I didn’t know there was such a ferocious dislike of her out there, I thought it was just Nynaeve who brought out that kind of venom. I always felt that Elayne was the biggest ‘I can do everything’ character in the series who wasn’t a certified Ta’veren; and that kind of annoyed me, but I still enjoyed getting her chapters.
I also think it’s sad to focus on things like the taint causing madness, or use of the word lame. These books were started a very long time ago, and language – especially around loaded terms touching on divergence from the norm – has evolved a lot since then. Calling someone who loses the will to live after getting gentled/stilled depressed would certainly fit, but that’s imposing our world’s words on the world inside the book. Rand’s madness is more like a super-natural DID than some paranoid delusions, and some of the other instances of the taint’s madness what would be classified as paranoia, schizophrenia, and/or borderline personality disorders. I don’t need my authors to be perfectly versed in the latest medical definitions to be able to enjoy a book, and I feel really badly for people who are so distracted by outdated terms that they can’t enjoy things. I feel like the line between saying “a madman” and “a man who went mad” is an important distinction, but it can be easy to miss the nuance of the difference – the first one is defining the person by his disability, the other is recognizing a person with a problem. I don’t even know if this difference in terminology was widely used in the 1990s, so I can’t make any assumptions about Jordan’s use of madman being a way to show ignorance and fear of mental illness or just a bit of accidental dehumanizing by the author. I much prefer to give people the benefit of well-meaning, so that the Seanchean can be a well-run slaver empire in world without it meaning that the author is pro-slave, and poor word choices are artifacts of the time, not a reflection of willful ignorance. (Wow, sorry that became almost an essay, thanks for reading it)
Yeah, Siuan and Gareth are my least favourite romance in this series. And that’s saying a lot, considering how many bad romances we get. I mean, how often do we see characters outright stating “I love him/her” just for the reader’s sake?
It feels really forced. And awkward. These are two very old and experienced people, you’d think they could express their feelings for each other in a healthier way. And I didn’t even mention the spanking. But that’s pretty weird too.
No kink shame, though.
I have nothing new to add to this which I haven’t said in other milieu other than Brendas has always been one of my favorite semi-obscure Aes Sedai. She is always around when Meaningful Shit ™ is happening.
Re Spanking and other corporal punishment: Rather than a sexual-related kink, I suspect RJ was imprinted by his time at The Citadel and then military life (including Vietnam). The Citadel was known for physical hazing, as depicted in Pat Conroy’s LORDS OF DISCIPLINE. I can’t say whether RJ bought into physical beating as an effective tool or if he (like Conroy) viewed it with distaste and used it as a critique of whomever was inflicting it, but I’m inclined to think it was simply an integral part of his earlier life rather than a kinky thing.
I would point out that the only person who “puts their hands” on the other in this scene between Siuan and Gareth is not Gareth. Oh he threatens to do so, and Suian thinks he has done so in the past, but in this scene, SHE is the one guilty of battery by the legal definition of same. I love Siuan usually but in this scene, she decides the best first use of her newly returned power is to commit battery against Gareth. I get it that she was under an incredible amount of emotional stress, but still not her finest hour.
@12: IIRC it’s been stated multiple times that the wattage of a saidin user and a saidar user linked is considerably greater than their individual base loads totaled. I’ll grant that the resulting increase has never been specifically described as geometric, though I believe said increase is in that realm.
Jordan was born in 1948 while McLintock was released in 1963, making him 15 at the time. Perhaps he was at enough of an impressionable age for the poster image of said movie to sear itself on his soul.
Sitting Duck @21: The entry in the Companion about linking starts as follows:
And the entry goes on clearly showing it’s referring to all links, both mixed-gender and female-only.
The Companion doesn’t always exactly match the books, but in this case I don’t remember ever reading anything to contradict it, and I’ve always had a particular interest in the mechanics of channeling and have been reading and re-reading the books since shortly after they came out. (I don’t remember exactly when I started, but by Summer 1995 I know I’d already been reading them for quite a while; and the person who introduced them to me was my high school librarian who I only occasionally saw after graduating in 1992, so it’s likely I started before then.) It’s absolutely possible I missed something (every time I’ve re-read the books I’ve noticed something I’d either never seen before or forgotten about), but I’d be surprised if it’s there at all, much less as widespread as you think.
Robert J Uccello Jr @16:
Egwene is by a wide margin the most polarizing character in WoT; the only one who comes close is Cadsuane. Personally, Egwene is my favorite character in all of WoT, but I do understand a lot of the criticism leveled at her, if not the level of vitriol directed at her.
Egwene as a character is great in much the same way that, say, Tony Soprano or Al Swearingen are great characters.
Like those two however, Egwene as a person within the world of the series is an absolute piece of crap. She is narcissistic to the extreme, manipulative as all hell, lies to everyone around her, and is obsessed with acquiring, maintaining, and wielding power over everyone she encounters. She also sexually assaults Nynaeve with a nightmare creature in T’a’R just because she’s afraid Nynaeve might figure out some of her lies. Had she been born a century or two before Tarmon Gaidon it’s highly likely she’d have ended up becoming a Darkfriend because all of her personality traits align with those of the most prominent of the Forsaken and other Darkfriends.
Every complaint people have about Elayne is doubled in Egwene, and Egwene lacks Elayne’s empathy and willingness to admit her mistakes/alter he behavior accordingly. She’s not great at either of the last two, but she’s light years ahead of Egwene in both. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Egwene is nothing more than the trailer park version of Elayne without any of Elayne’s redeeming qualities.
Given everything Nynaeve does for the Light and the Arts Sedai her treatment by some of them is totally inexcusable.I know we aren’t even close to her ” testing” for the Shawl but the sceneofher healing Stilling and gentling this week just reminded me of how atrocious that was. I guess one of the characters involved were Black Ajah (as far as we know) but after all her accomplishments they came close to killing her and decided to let her pass by 1 vote!
23:
Had she been born a century or two before Tarmon Gaidon it’s highly likely she’d have ended up becoming a Darkfriend because all of her personality traits align with those of the most prominent of the Forsaken and other Darkfriends.
That reminds me of a scene in the rewritten EotW for a younger public, in two volumes, a scene where a younger Egwene is sent to fetch water (I think). She thinks along the lines of ‘If I have to fetch water I will become the best water fetcher ever’.
That always made me think of her as sort of a chameleon, fitting the role she is placed in. And I did think back then she would have been the ‘best’ DF ever given the circumstances…
@16
Way back in EotW, Moiraine corrects Egwene by saying that the men who broke the world weren’t evil but sick. I don’t think that Jordan was intending to demean people with mental illnesses. However, certain of Jordan’s characters (like most of the Red Ajah) do take a demeaning approach. I think it adds an unfortunate echo of real world opinions on the issue.
Re: spankings. In the decades that I’ve read WOT, it’s always seemed to me that the spankings/corporal punishment is just an element of this world that needs to be accepted, like the magic system. Good or bad, virtually every single character suffers it or inflicts it. As I type this out, I’m struggling to think of anyone who doesn’t. Maybe some of the nobility? But from Caddy’s POV, we know that she has paddled royalty – repeatedly. Obviously accepting the spanking element doesn’t mean that it’s not fair game for comments, but I don’t think it gets anyone very far to spend too much time obsessing over it (cough cough Leigh Butler cough).
Even though I enjoy a character who is one of those flawed types that is on the side of the ‘good guys’ but still not necessarily a pleasant or even good person, I still find the Egwene hate to be really offputting. Even the example above – wanting to be the best at whatever role she finds herself in is NOT some damnable prediliction only evil people have, for goodness’ sake. People have latched on to this theory and then decide to view every single action under the worst, and most extreme motives/interpretations.
Like, she’s obnoxious/supercilious and has some serious tunnel vision at times, to the point where you might be able to make a point for something like a neurodivergence or even somewhere on the spectrum of what we do consider personality disorders (for example, I’ve read there are probably more sociopaths living among us than we realize in that they are just wired that way but live their lives more or less peaceably) but the vitriol always seems so extreme to me. At the very least, she is the person she needed to be for this particular conflict, I think.
Nyneave on the other hand is my favorite. As I was reading this I was thinking how lucky for her they didn’t just decide to re-gentle Logain and then say, “Nope, nothing to see here, she’s lying/delerious!” (ESPECIALLY if it was a BA who could actually lie outright about it) rather than admit they were wrong about something.
I also kind of empathize with her need to take the blame for mistakes – even if sometimes she’s a bit hard on myself, I can be the same way. I don’t like feeling coddled, and when I mess up or do something that I find against my value system, I’d rather just own it than try to find reasons it’s not ‘really my fault’ or ‘not so bad’. Of course, knowing when to give yourself grace is important too, as well as knowing when something really isn’t your fault or that you were manipulated/coerced/taken advantage of.
Anyway, I love Nyneave and I can’t wait to see more of Sylas’s reactions to her!
@7, Kind of harsh. Logain has the normal amount of self interest but he always cares about doing the right thing as well. It’s repeated and terrible trauma that makes him almost willing to let the world burn if he can get what he wants. But that’s not the real him. Logain has a moral center, he just has to be reminded of it.
And I agree with Lisamarie. Eggy is unlikable and sometimes dead wrong but she does have positive characteristics and she is on the side of the Light. Basically her problem is she’s still a kid,, she dies about the time she’s finally fully grown up.
Logain caused thousands of deaths with his False Dragon claim even though he must have known he hasn’t fulfilled any of the prophesies, I don’t understand why most of the fandom ignores this and consider him a good person.
Egwene has her fair share of flaws, but I strongly disagree with the “She would have been a Forsaken” takes and her extreme vilification by parts of the fandom. She may be a pretty poor friend and a massive hypocrite, but she is always been firmly on the side of the Light.
@29 – one of the things I DID like about the show was giving Logain a little more of a focus from the start.
Honestly, if you are a man who can channel, it’s possible (especially if there is already at least some taint impact) that you might just figure what else could you be? It’s possible he also thought he WOULD eventually fulfill the prophecies, or there was some ambiguity in terms of them (and how much others may have known).
Also chiming in on Egwene (not to derail the discussion, it’s just the last few comment sections have had repeated claims about Egwene): I very strongly disagree with the claims that Egwene would be evil in another age. She is flawed, yes, but not evil!
She is strong-willed, stubborn, and ambitious. I have to agree with @27 Lisamarie; ambition isn’t automatically evil.
Egwene’s ambition is largely directed to self-improvement. If she’s going to be something, she’s going to be the best at it. That’s not an evil or wrong trait.
There are definitely moments when I dislike Egwene or her behavior, but there are such moments for almost literally all of the characters. It’s part of what makes the series so good – the characters are very human.
Egwene is very firmly on the side of Light and good.
I remember reading this part for the first time and being shocked when Nynaeve healed Logain. It was a fantastic moment.
I found the lessened power Siuan and Leane have fascinating (the fact that the healing changes depending on who’s doing it).
Masema isn’t in Tarabon. There’s a force along the Tarabon border to keep refugees from the failed state away, and a force along the Ghealdan border to keep the Prophet at bay.
Where did that come from? There is rather a lot of corporal punishment in the series, but few cases I can think of where a “male love interest” spanks his “lady”. When did Lan ever spank Nynaeve for example? Rand pinched Egwene and Elayne once. I’d call that a prank, not a spanking, and he didn’t escalate when he got it back hundredfold.
Has Sylas still not noticed that it’s women who think men are children in this world?
@3 Again, I believe this is an area where Egwene grows a lot in the course of the series. For example, in reading the previous book, I think we all wished Egwene would be a lot more supportive of Rand when they met and less focused on her own needs and her ideas about how he should handle things. But I don’t recall this sort of immature behavior after she’s called to be Amyrlin Seat. And when she’s a captive in the White Tower, we can see her being notably supportive of the novices there–helping them with their studies, counseling them about their problems, and calming them when they’re frightened about the very weird things happening all around them. It’s sweet and empathetic and apparently quite helpful, as the novices “all but worship her” by the time she needs to organize them to defend the Tower against the Seanchan.
Also noteworthy is her kindness to Verin at the end of their final conversation.
Admittedly, Egwene doesn’t know *how* to support Gawyn when he wants to step in and protect her at various points in the last books. It’s the old communication problem that permeates the books and makes half the plots possible. But by this point many readers just want Gawyn to take a flying leap anyway!
Egwene is also not supportive of Rand’s demand (during his visit to the Tower) that she let him break the seals at the Last Battle. But he doesn’t trouble to explain his reasoning–bops in for five minutes and then whoops, gotta go–and he also has a well-grounded reputation for insane behavior.
Actually, of course, he’s manipulating her (not for the first time), as he needs her to gather the armies of the allied nations at Merrilor–to oppose him, they think, but actually to fight the battle. It’s all a little irritating, but there’ll be plenty of time to discuss it when we get to that point a decade or so from now.
@29, At some point when we’re in Logain’s head he reflects that declaring himself the Dragon Reborn was one of the hardest decisions he ever made. As @30 says it’s possible he hoped it was true or he may just have been trying to make something positive out of his curse. The world of the Wheel is visibly in trouble even before it’s realized thse are the end days. Logain may have thought he could make the world better. I’m far from saying he was right but his later behavior makes it clear that he wasn’t in it just for glory and power. Unlike Tam.
@35 – do you mean Taim? Or do you have something weird aganst Tam al’Thor and his stint in the Aiel War?
@35: I’m guessing you mean Taim, because I don’t recall Tam being much of a glory hound. :P
Tam? Glory and power? Oh, you mean Taim! :-D
I wrote Taim! Damn you spell check!!!
@@@@@ various – it isn’t Egwene’s ambition per se that makes me think she could have turned to the dark side, it’s that she consistently harms others in service of that ambition, the assault on Nynaeve in T’a’R being the most flagrant example. It’s ambition that is largely decoupled from any sort of moral compass.
As far as her being consistently on the side of the Light, every Darkfriend started out like that, and for virtually all of the ones whose heads we get into, it’s that combination of ambition and willingness to sacrifice others in service of it that is their primary motivation for serving the Dark One. I’m not saying Egwene definitely would have changed sides had she lived longer, I’m just saying the possibility exists and she shares prominent personality traits with a lot of Darkfriends. Hell, even her kindness to the novices while she’s in captivity only begins after they start deferring to her and treating her as an authority figure.
In all fairness Eggy has little opportunity to show kindness to the novices until they start turning to her for the comfort and support they are not getting from the Sisters. Egwene is pretty pissed about that. Granted the Sisters are creeped out too but that none of them show concern for the novices is very bad
The Evil Eggy trope just doesn’t add up for me. I started rereading WOT several months ago, so I was aware of this line of thought and was on the lookout for the narcissistic virago some folks were describing. I simply haven’t found her. I see a teenager with lots of faults and lots of virtues too—and one who addresses the faults and nurtures the virtues as the series progresses.
She does some seriously wrong things—as do Rand (really!) and Nynaeve and Mat. Most of us have read enough other literature to be able to handle the idea that protagonists can do awful things and still come out as good guys at the end. Pip does rotten things in Great Expectations, Jo March does rotten things in Little Women, there’s Hester Prynne, King David . . .
If Egwene were seriously Forsaken material—even serious Black Ajah material—then the BA and the Forsaken would have tried to recruit her, wouldn’t they? They never lift a finger. Alviarin does try to talk the captive Egwene into running away with her, but that’s almost certainly for a blind date with 13 Myrddraal.
As for Egwene’s ambition, I think many of us can relate to it. She reminds me of my eager-beaver self in high school, when I wanted an A on every test and a perfect score on my SATs. I’m dead sure I was obnoxious at times, but not a junior Hitler. Neither is Egwene.
And Egwene clearly is not hellbent on becoming Amyrlin Seat. Both Moiraine and Elayne see her in that role, but Egwene never mentions it as a goal. Indeed, she rejects it indignantly when she’s told that’s what she’s in Salidar for, only to learn that turning it down is not an option. In the chapter before she’s called to Salidar she expresses two interests: becoming a good Dreamer and learning to run as fast as a Maiden, which she figures will take another year. How would this prep her to wear the stole?
As for E’s kindness to the novices, if it were hypocritical, someone would have caught on. Nicola certainly would have; she was a serious cynic before. Instead, she’s “the Mother’s” biggest fan. We have to take the text as it’s written, and it gives no indication whatsoever that Egwene’s kindness is anything but what it seems.
Why is doing everything you do as well as possible evil? Eg didn’t choose to become Amyrlin, but when she was forced into the role she tried to do it properly. The only problem with her attempts to do everything perfectly is that she also adopts the bad traits of the groups she joins, like supporting the Oath Rod and thinking AS know better than other people.
Some of you misunderstand me.
My point was that Egwene is an overachiever and getting into a role getting the most out of it, whatever she does.
I never said she was a potentional DF. Just that if she were one she would have done her total best to please the Dark One.