New Article Released: Character Names Parallels - H

By Linda


The article on possible sources for character names starting with H has been published in the Reference Library. The main entries are for Elder Haman, Hattori Sedai and Herid Fel.






In two days time, having spent a few days gathering notes, I will commence the Path of Daggers Read-through.

New Article Released: Character Names Parallels - G

By Linda


The article on possible sources for character names starting with G has been published in the Reference Library. Three important Andoran men feature, and as is usual with Andoran royalty, their names allude to Arthurian characters. Gaul also has interesting parallels, as does Gabrelle, bonded to Logain.

A Crown of Swords Read Through #5: Forced Attentions

By Linda



For a book with quite a few amusing scenes, A Crown of Swords discusses some serious issues, notably sexual harassment and rape.

The forcible transfer of Lan’s bond to Myrelle was regarded by Siuan as rape:

Aes Sedai put bonding a man against his will on a level with rape.

- A Crown of Swords, A Morning of Victory

An unbidden Warder bond is a form of involuntary intimacy even though Moiraine meant well. (It will be interesting to see if Siuan says anything to Moiraine about it.) Myrelle went further and at the least tried to get Lan into her bed as part of his therapy; the bite mark on Lan’s neck and Nisao’s comment that Lan has his attractions suggest Myrelle succeeded, but Myrelle’s blushes could be taken either way. When Myrelle said “that explains” after Egwene told her that Nynaeve and Lan love each other, she might have been referring to his reluctance.

Myrelle had Lan’s interests at heart, but it is clear from her metaphor of Lan being a wolfhound (Lord of Chaos, Weaves of the Power) and her belief that a dying woman could choose her husband’s next wife, that however well she cares for men, she looks on the man as lesser, not capable of making his own choices. One reason is that most of her Warders had newly broken bonds and so were very mentally ill at the time she acquired them. Lan, for instance, just didn’t care what happened to him:

The eyes of a man who knew he was dead and could not make himself care, a man waiting, almost eager, for that long sleep.

- A Crown of Swords, Mashiara

This is why she made decisions about their wellbeing on their behalf. The relationship of Myrelle and Lan explores the grey area of rape and sexual harassment. Myrelle and Moiraine were trying to save Lan, and they made the change to the bond before Lan even met Nynaeve.

Someone who was undoubtedly raped is Morgase, who gave forced consent to Valda to avoid being tortured again by Asunawa:

Another matter entirely to say yes because she feared facing Asunawa's knotted cords and needles again, feared worse that he would have gotten to eventually. However she had screamed under Asunawa's ministrations, Valda was the one who had showed her the true borders of her courage, so far short of where she had believed. Valda's touch, his bed, could be forgotten, with time, but she would never be able to wash the shame of that "yes" from her lips.

- A Crown of Swords, The Irrevocable Words

She felt utterly soiled – as much from her ‘weakness’ in agreeing to escape more physical agony as from the actual act itself. (The chapter title refers to her ‘yes’ as irrevocable as much as it does to her abdication, since the former was the catalyst for the latter.)

According to Whitecloak law, women who have trained in the White Tower are witches and therefore Darkfriends, deserving only of execution. Even the rumour that a high-up Whitecloak consorted with a witch would lose the Whitecloaks a lot of credibility. Yet Valda was keen to have sex with one and not as part of her official torture either, since he obtained her ‘agreement’ first. Such hypocrisy occurred in the witch-hunts of the 17th century. It is an interesting reflection on his character that he said it was the best sex he had ever had (Knife of Dreams, Prologue).

In reverse, Rand thought he had raped Min and she had to persuade him otherwise.

Another who was coerced into sex is Mat Cauthon, a twenty year old farm boy who caught the eye of the forty-something Queen of Altara. Not a little of her interest in him was due to the exoticness or cachet of bedding a ta’veren.

Such an unequal relationship did not interest Mat but Tylin ignored his refusal:

More intently; he had never chased any woman who let him know she did not want to be chased.

- A Crown of Swords, The Festival of Birds

Tylin made a tacit admission that she forced her attentions on Mat with the small red flowers woven on the handle of his breakfast basket:

"Mistress Corly," she said in the icy voice of a queen pronouncing judgment, "explained to Nynaeve and me the significance of those red flowers on the basket... I will not keep any promise to a man who could force his attentions on a woman, on any woman”

- A Crown of Swords, Six Stories

Tacit, yet embarrassingly public for Mat made worse for being misinterpreted by all and sundry.

Mat found Tylin's harassment so upsetting that

Of the two [Moghedien and Tylin], he would rather confront Moghedien. He touched the foxhead hanging in the open neck of his shirt. At least he had some protection against Moghedien. Against Tylin, he had no more than he did against the Daughter of the bloody Nine Moons, whoever she was.

- A Crown of Swords, A Note from the Palace

At least twice he felt like weeping from the humiliation and powerlessness of his position, once even in public. He definitely refused her attentions:

That woman won't take no for an answer; I say no, and she laughs at me. She's starved me, bullied me, chased me down like a stag!

- A Crown of Swords, Six Stories

Rape is sex with forced consent or without consent; whether the wronged party has an orgasm during the act, or eventually develops an acceptance of the situation, or even fondness for the rapist, is immaterial.

So why did Mat stay and not run?

Mat felt a responsibility to keep Nynaeve and Elayne safe since he had promised to do so. He knew what a dangerous situation they were in. If he left the palace, they might think he broke his promises:

He would not put it past Nynaeve and Elayne to claim he had broken some agreement and put an end to their promises.

- A Crown of Swords, The Festival of Birds

The girls’ promises were conditions that enabled Mat to watch over them. In fact, when Elayne mistakenly thought that Mat had forced himself upon Tylin she immediately said all her promises to him were abolished.

Mat was trapped. He needed to stay in the palace to keep Nynaeve and Elayne safe, yet Tylin being Queen and much older than he, and the Ebou Dari law that a woman killing a man was considered justified unless it was proven differently all intimidated him into complying.

Mat was panicking when he made this decision to stay and comply. Not surprisingly, since Tylin pulled a knife on him.

When the situation was made plain to Elayne, she didn’t take the crime and Mat’s feelings seriously. Mat being sexually experienced (though not of this type of situation) she thought he ‘asked for it’ or deserved it. Unfortunately this happens often in the real world too.

The theme of rape and sexual harassment continues in later books – a parallel of the Land and nations being raped by the Shadow – with Toveine searching out sexually inexperienced youths, Red Ajah Head Galina’s favouritism toward Accepted who will probably choose Red and sexual advances to them once they are new Aes Sedai, and Therava’s sado-sexual relationship with Galina (excellently analysed by MJJ in her Pillowfriends article).

A Crown of Swords Read Through #4: Enter Death

By Linda


Ishamael, the man who knows “the paths to greater power” (The Great Hunt, Kinslayer) - True Power – returns in a new body as Moridin. When, exactly, we don’t know. By January 5th 1000 NE, when Moghedien was sent to him, Moridin already possessed two mindtraps - hers and Cyndane’s - and had developed the saa from frequent use of the True Power. These things take time to acquire. (Note also that he might have lied to Moghedien about her being delivered to him in a vacuole to frighten Moghedien and make her more malleable). Which brings us to the question of how long had Moridin been around before we saw him? Was he reincarnated before Aran’gar and Osan’gar were at the beginning of Lord of Chaos? Surely the Dark One would bend his energies to restore Ishamael before those two if at all possible? Why get a pawn to the end of the chessboard and ask for a knight or even two instead of a queen, when a queen offers far more possibilities?

Moridin is named ‘death’ to emphasise that he appears to be the only one of the Forsaken whose philosophy coincides with the aims of the Dark One; the only one of them who hasn’t blinded himself to the Dark One’s aim to kill Time. Soon he will be anointed Naeblis, the Lord of the Grave’s regent on earth. Being a follower out of personal conviction, he hasn’t needed bribes of power or riches, and has shown far less interest in them than any other dark character and most not-so-dark characters, just as Death, who spares no one says:

“For God’s commandment is
That all to me must be obedient…
I heed neither gold, silver nor riches,
Nor pope, Emperor, King, Duke, nor Princes,
For if I were to receive great gifts,
I might gain the world…”

- Everyman

With his anointing and gift of access to the True Power by the Dark One, the dark deity opposing the Creator, Moridin demands obedience from all other Forsaken. And as for gaining the world, Ishamael told Rand that:

The death of time will bring me power such as you could not dream of, worm."

- The Eye of the World, The Stag and Lion

So Ishamael thinks his payoff comes at the end, as though he would attain godhood through being freed of the Wheel and the eternal cycle of reincarnation and become a dark Ubermensch eternally existing free of the Pattern. (Unlike Rand, who might now be an Ubermensch within the Pattern.) Reincarnation and liberation from the reincarnation cycle, moksha, are concepts of eastern philosophy/religion. Buddhists, Jains and Hindus believe that people can liberate themselves from the endless cycle of reincarnation by meditation, virtue and distancing themselves from the material world, but certainly not in the ruthless and violent manner Ishamael prefers or expects. Ishamael’s monstrous ‘liberation’ will come about when the Dark One breaks the Pattern, and at a cost of the destruction of Creation.

This nihilism first appeared in his writings in the Age of Legends. In The Gathering Storm, Moridin’s nihilism increased, as though he was perhaps infected with the same despair that so plagued Rand in that book, the despair Moridin instituted by inflicting great emotional pain and suffering on Rand, and which ironically leaked into Moridin as well through their link, to the extent that Moridin was looking forward to annihilation – nothingness.

The greatest irony of the series would be if Moridin discovers at the last that the Dark One doesn’t intend to end the world the way Moridin expects, freeing him from the cycle of reincarnation he loathes and allowing Moridin to gain god-like freedom from rebirth, or the nothingness that he currently craves:

The others are fools. They look for grand rewards in the eternities, but there will be no eternities.

- The Gathering Storm, A Place to Begin

Having spent most of Time completely locked away, one would think the Dark One would find nothingness a tad boring and crave a little tyranny…instituting a dark world, an evil paradise ruled eternally by his Chosen. Would Moridin feel betrayed by the Dark One he has served so faithfully for thousands of years if he discovered that the Dark One intends a steady state Hell of indefinite duration in which Moridin is to participate? If so, what would he do?

Moridin’s current desire for nothingness upon the Dark One breaking the Wheel is symbolically right: Death can’t exist outside of Time.

Naturally Death is a major figure in real world myth and legend, just as he is important in the Wheel of Time world. In the Middle Ages, the precariousness of life, as the horrors of natural disasters and pandemics such as the Black Death made all too plain, inspired the motif of the Dance of Death, Danse Macabre.

Death was depicted as a skeleton in art and literature playing the tune while:

members of all social classes – from pope and emperor down to beggar, fool and hermit – engaged in a stately dance with skeletons and corpses, the dead escorting the living to the tomb.

- Paul Huson, Mystical Origins of the Tarot

Of all the Forsaken, Moridin/Ishamael has made the most use of corpse-like beings: Grey Men and zomaran. In the Last Days characters have witnessed both the living being dragged alive underground by the dead and the tribulations of the living dead. (Dance of death photo by Toffel.) Moridin has people of all classes, high and low, dancing to his tune and is convinced that all will serve him in one way or another before the end.

Death’s traditional colour is the blackness of extinction. Black Death. Moridin’s colours are red as well as black. In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, Death mingles in disguise with the noble guests who have sheltered from a plague in a nobleman’s mansion and are whiling away the time with a masked ball. When the host, Prince Prospero confronts the unknown stranger, disguised Death, the prince falls down dead.

Is Moridin disguised as one of the other players/dancers in the Wheel of Time series?

No respecter of persons, Death is inevitable and inescapable as this painting entitled The Gaming Table; Whene’er Death plays, He’s sure to win; He’ll take each knowing Gamester in shows.

Moridin is an expert player of complex games, a gamemaster, and has boasted that

On the board, the Fisher stood waiting, but in the greater game, al'Thor moved already to his wishes. And soon, now. ... It was very hard to lose a game when you played both sides of the board.

- The Path of Daggers, Deceptive Appearances

Some characters serve Moridin unknowingly:

In all three places he had eyes, some that did not know they served him.

- The Path of Daggers, Unwittingly)

having been ‘taken in’ by Death’s strategies and manipulations.

Moridin as Death has made his entrance late in the series and has not truly unmasked himself or his plans because Death, along with War, Pestilence and Famine, is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Revelation. The last of the four to appear, Death rides a pale, corpse-coloured horse:

Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth

- Revelation 6:7-8

The role of the Four Horsemen is to wreak havoc upon the world when the first four of the seven Seals are broken at the end of days. In the Wheel of Time world, famine and pestilence and war are rife and Trollocs, wild beasts, are being massed for the Last Battle. Moridin’s advent soon before the Last Days presages the imminent freeing of the Dark One, Hades. It would be symbolically appropriate if Moridin had been transmigrated into his new body about the time, or better still slightly before, the order was given at the beginning of Lord of Chaos to ‘let the Lord of Chaos rule’ and wreak havoc upon the Pattern. Four of the seven Seals were broken by September 999 NE, late in The Fires of Heaven, which may indicate that Moridin was transmigrated about this time, since Death, the fourth Horseman, appears when the fourth Seal is broken. As far as we know, three Seals of the Dark One's prison are still whole.

Death features in the Tarot cards; in fact the Dance of Death morality play is postulated as one of their main inspirations. The high-ranking Tarot trumps Death, the Devil, Judgement and the World [heaven] are

a depiction of those four most important events in a believing Roman Catholic’s spiritual life, known as the Four Last Things – important because nobody can escape death or judgement, and the choice of heaven or hell is one each soul must make.

- Paul Huson, Mystical Origins of the Tarot

In The Gathering Storm, Rand arguably made such a choice.

His relationship with Moridin has become increasingly intimate and more equal than with other Forsaken. While Moridin did not want to fight Rand when they encountered each other and had a Fireside Chat in The Gathering Storm, they will soon face off in a final battle.

By confronting and then trumping Death, the hero learns what part of himself is truly immortal.

- Robert Place, Annotated Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery

As will Rand.

A Crown of Swords Read Through#3: Shadowy Shaido

By Linda

It is no coincidence that the name Shaido sounds like Shadow. They were directly manipulated by two Forsaken: Asmodean and then Sammael (with Graendal aiding him).

Sevanna tossed aside custom and tradition, but the Shaido’s honour went with it. She had thirteen Wise Ones, her own coven, execute a fellow Wise One to provide cause for the clan to attack the Aes Sedai holding Rand and capture him for themselves. It is likely that some of these Wise Ones are Darkfriends, and helped Sevanna persuade the others to do something so dishonourable, indeed criminal, as killing a Wise One, just as Black sisters helped depose Siuan and raise Egwene and Elaida.

Sevanna believes that getting her Wise Ones to take part in battle was the biggest change in custom that she made. And it was a very big change. Dumai’s Wells may be the only time that Wise Ones fought in battle in the entire Third Age – until the Last Days and perhaps the Last Battle. (Although I have a theory that at least some Aiel will adopt the Way of the Leaf before the Last Battle). Apart from rescuing Rand, Perrin’s group of Wise Ones battling Elaida’s embassy could be seen as participating in a police action to punish the Aes Sedai for violating the rules of embassies and kidnapping their chief, Rand, under a parley, just as the Aiel regarded the Aiel War as a punitive action against Laman Damodred. This would have been validated in Aiel minds when Rand assigned the Aes Sedai to the Wise Ones. Rand probably doesn’t realise how important that action was for quelling the Aiel’s mutterings against Wise Ones in battle.

Wise Ones fighting Wise Ones was a different matter, and it may be that neither side did much of that with good reason. We know some on Sevanna’s side were reluctant, even those she corrupted most:

"They are Wise Ones," the other woman said in a flat tone, and Sevanna understood bitterly. Joining the dance of spears was bad enough, but Wise One attacking Wise One was more than even Rhiale would countenance.

- A Crown of Swords, Prologue

Since Wise Ones take no part in battle, and are not touched by blood feud, they have some similarities with gai’shain and hence to the Da’shain in the Age of Legends. However, Wise Ones do punish violently, so they fall quite short of the Way of the Leaf.

But was Aiel fighting Aes Sedai actually an even bigger change still? Interestingly, Therava had no qualms about killing the Shaido Wise One Desaine but was worried about the prophecy warning against failing the Aes Sedai:

As though Desaine's doubts had infected Therava, she began muttering, only half to herself. "What is ill done is going against Aes Sedai. We served them before the Breaking, and failed them; that is why we were sent to the Three-fold Land. If we fail them again, we will be destroyed."

- Lord of Chaos, Prologue

This fear soon wore off as the Shaido easily looted where and as they willed. After the battle of Malden Therava realised what a high price the Shaido paid for their actions in following Sevanna. Some Shaido early on wondered if Sevanna was ill-fated because she was the widow of two chiefs:

And let those who muttered that she carried bad luck choke on it.

- A Crown of Swords, Prologue

They were right. And some might well have choked on it too. The ‘bad luck’ Sevanna brought the clan includes:

• no clan chief,


• septs dispersed,


• social order destroyed,


• warriors of some septs wiped out and most non-combatants made gai’shain, and


• many of the channelling Wise Ones made damane.

Even if the Shaido make it back to the Waste what will they find there? Will the place be as it was? Rhuidean certainly isn’t. What of the Shaido’s own lands? The Shaido are regarded as having dishonoured themselves:

"Are we Shaido, expected to make gai'shain from wetlanders?" Her [Amys’] tone left little doubt as to what she thought of both Shaido and the idea of making wetlanders gai'shain.

- The Gathering Storm, The Ways of Honour

and violated custom to the extent they are barely Aiel. How will this affect their trek through the lands of other clans to their own? No sept except the Jumai has a channelling Wise One until they meet up with Therava’s group.

For all the Aiel pride themselves on how carefully their leaders are chosen, with testing of vetted candidates at Rhuidean after long years of experience for men and apprenticeship for women, Sevanna managed to circumvent the system easily in a very ‘conventional’ manner. At sixteen she married power in the form of a much older man:

Suladric, clan chief of the Shaido, fell to her at sixteen, and when he died, she chose out those most likely to succeed…

As wife of a clan chief she had been wielding power at an age when a Maiden was barely trusted to carry a spear or a Wise One's apprentice to fetch water. And now she had it all, Wise One and clan chief, though it would take some doing yet to have that last title in truth.

- A Crown of Swords, Prologue

She is now in her mid to late twenties; still “well short of her middle years” (The Shadow Rising, A Breaking in the Three-fold Land); a classic example of too much power unearned. Once the Car’a’carn was declared, it was her ambition to marry him and found the first Aiel dynasty.

Women as well as men were manipulated by Sevanna. Even before convincing thirteen Wise Ones to dishonour themselves by killing a fellow Wise One, she was able to get them to declare her a Wise One. It might have seemed to the Wise Ones merely a convenient step at the time, but without that declaration, giving her the roles of clan chief and Wise One, and therefore more power and influence than either role alone has, Sevanna could not have forced such changes and decisions on the clan. Therava’s group later realised their error, and tried to claw back power by no longer referring to Sevanna as a Wise One and treating her as proxy chief only so they could have meetings without her, but it was too little too late.

Sevanna wanted to remain apart and watch the battle at Dumai’s Wells like a clan chief but the other Shaido leaders insisted she participate in the battle herself and risk her life alongside them. She was nearly killed. Once the Shaido were routed, Sevanna worried about herself and her Wise Ones being chained outside Sorilea’s tent. By all accounts in The Gathering Storm, A Place To Begin, Shaido Wise Ones were ‘chained’ outside Seanchan tents – at least that is how it appeared to the Aiel. How ironic that about two hundred Shaido Wise Ones were collared, when Sevanna planned to put a collar on Rand al’Thor (Lord of Chaos, The Feast of Lights).

One can see why careful limits have been set on Aiel raids and fighting:

• No one who is vital to the future of a clan, such as mothers of the young, blacksmiths or Wise Ones, can be captured (made gai’shain);


• warriors usually don’t fight those of the same society,


• there is a firm time limit for captivity, and


• a conventional limit to the number of captives if only for practicality, since too many gai’shain leads to idleness and too great a population density.

This ensures the Aiel didn’t destroy any of the clans or the Aiel as a whole, and inadvertently prevent the fulfilment of the Prophecy of Rhuidean and the advent of the Car’a’carn, as well.

A Crown of Swords Read-through#2: Inns To Watch

By Linda

Several inns are mentioned in A Crown of Swords. and all bar one are located in Ebou Dar.

Setalle Anan took Nynaeve and Elayne on a humiliating reverse inn crawl ensuring that the girls could not hire lodgings anywhere decent in the city. Either the Kin would take them in, in which case she was making sure the girls did not run and hide from them, or if not, the girls would have to leave the city altogether lest they expose the Kin. Her explanation to the innkeepers of why she was leading two very well dressed women through the streets was that they had beggared themselves to buy finery to impress Mat. All the while, the girls were in vain trying to work out how they could avoid owing Mat anything. The one inn mentioned by name on this little jaunt, The Stranded Goose, refers to the situation of the hapless girls.

Mat, that connoisseur of down-market inns, hits the jackpot in Ebou Dar. He feels that The Rose of the Elbar is a particular penance set by Nynaeve and Elayne. It is the only suitable surveillance post for the Kin’s house and he was stuck there three days before his luck turned. Ah well, roses have thorns don’t they?

In Ebou Dar, the seedier the inn, the more grand and flattering its name, just as Ebou Daris offer flowery complements while being prepared to injure or kill even close acquaintances in duels.

The Silver Swan in Caemlyn is perhaps the most interesting of all the inns mentioned in A Crown of Swords because Cadsuane seems to have a surveillance team of up to ten Aes Sedai there since Lord of Chaos, before her entrance in the books. Well, presumably Cadsuane, since the sisters always have Warders, and one was heard mentioning Cadsuane’s name later, in Crossroads of Twilight at a time when most sisters believe Cadsuane is dead. Elayne realises they are sisters who have stood aside while the Tower was divided. The sisters are constantly changing and, while at this stage none of Cadsuane’s group knew how to Travel, they seem to have had no trouble keeping in touch with her (by pigeon probably). Cadsuane also has a surveillance team in Cairhien as well, but it is based at Lady Arilyn’s palace. Apparently none of her faction has an agent with a suitable house to commandeer in Caemlyn. Obviously Cadsuane set these groups up to watch Rand and Rand’s aides when he is not there; but surely the brief of those in Caemlyn has been extended to watching the Black Tower and the political situation in Andor. In Winter’s Heart when things started to become really tense in Caemlyn, there were ten sisters at the inn, the largest number mentioned. Probably not coincidence. It is well to remember that Cadsuane may know more about Elayne’s doings, and maybe the Black Tower’s, than we are aware. She is a keen gatherer of intelligence, and is aware that seeing Rand safely to the Last Battle will probably be her swan song - which is what the inn's name of The Silver Swan refers to.


In complement to this post the A Crown of Swords entry of the Dew Drop Inn: Wheel of Time Accommodation article is published on the blog.

A Crown of Swords Read Through#1: Not The Triumph of Logic

Alviarin and Elaida



by Linda

In the Prologue, there is an amusing scene of Alviarin mentally wrestling with Elaida – the cold and bloodless White versus the vengeful and engorged Red - in a lady-like fashion, of course. Definitely not The Triumph of Logic; that chapter comes later… Alviarin exposes Elaida’s blindness and in return, Elaida uncovers Alviarin’s possession of secret knowledge and fear of exposure:

The lack of curiosity on Alviarin's face made Elaida wonder again how much the woman knew what she was not supposed to…

But Alviarin.... Her eyes were wide as they could open, lips parted as if she had forgotten the words she meant to speak. A paper slid from the sheaf in her hands and almost fell before she could catch it.

- A Crown of Swords, Prologue

So much so that Alviarin wants Elaida dead and suggests it to Mesaana.

Nearly all of what Elaida knows is wrong. Only her Foretellings, arising from her subconscious, are true. On the other hand, what Alviarin knows is right.

Here is an impressively long list of Elaida’s erroneous deductions and beliefs that she expresses in this chapter:

• Nobody cared what happened in Ebou Dar, Elaida least of all; the capital of Altara could fall into the sea, and except for the merchants, not even the rest of Altara would notice.


• Vague rumors linking Morgase to the Whitecloaks were so much nonsense, for she would never have gone to the Children of the Light for help. She was dead, leaving not even a corpse behind.


• "Why under the Light would they [Elayne and Nynaeve] be in Ebou Dar?" Elaida said dismissively.


• Long ago she had Foretold that the Royal House of Andor held the key to winning the Last Battle. Twenty-five years gone and more, as soon as it became clear that Morgase Trakand would gain the throne in the Succession, Elaida had fastened herself to the girl, as she was then. How Elayne was crucial, Elaida did not know [The Foretelling is correct, but her interpretation wrong, apart from the one honest admission at the end!]


• The shepherd was on his way to her. [Rand escaped that day]


• The rebels would be crushed and the Hall cowed, Alviarin forced to her knees and every fractious ruler brought to heel.


• Elayne would be placed on the throne in Caemlyn [not exactly placed, and certainly not by Aes Sedai]


• "Do you believe the tales of thousands flocking to Caemlyn in answer to that obscene amnesty?" Not the least of what al'Thor had done, but hardly cause for worry.


• There could not be more than two or three men at this Black Tower actually able to channel, Elaida was certain. Fifty sisters could overwhelm them easily.


• "He [Taim] is dead, Alviarin, else we would have heard from him long since. And not serving al'Thor. Can you think he went from claiming to be the Dragon Reborn to serving the Dragon Reborn? Can you think he could be in Caemlyn without Davram Bashere at least trying to kill him?"


• Ogier were a triviality. They had no part in the world beyond the cities they had built so long ago.


• Only sisters could be truly, trusted. Red sisters, anyway. Some of them. [The Red Ajah has a higher proportion of Blacks than in other Ajahs (see The Black Ajah article)].


• "Who is going to impose a penance on me, and on what charge?" [She finds out soon enough]


• "Their army," Elaida sneered. Alviarin was such a fool; for all her cool exterior, she was a rabbit. Next she would be spouting the Sanche woman's nonsense about the Forsaken being loose… "Farmers carrying pikes, butchers with bows and tailors on horseback!... Every step of the way, they will lose a man, if not ten. I would not be surprised if our rebels appear with nothing more than their Warders." [All that time in Andor and she grossly underestimates Gareth Bryne. Alviarin wouldn't tell anyone the Forsaken are loose, but she goes to meet one straight after leaving Elaida.]


• "I mean to break them [the rebels], daughter. They will split open like a rotten melon." [What she nearly broke was the White Tower].


• Her secret [her mole, Beonin working to undermine the rebels] will ensure the rebels break.


• Let her chew on the certain surety of Elaida's victory.


• Elaida do Ayriny a'Roihan, youngest daughter of a minor House in the north of Murandy, would go down in history as the greatest and most powerful Amyrlin Seat of all time. The most powerful woman in the history of the world. The woman who saved humankind. [Now a collared animal.]

Elaida’s attempts at logic (in front of a White!) are ludicrous. By not listening to what people say, even refusing to let them mention certain words, she pretty much becomes error personified. You just know she’s doomed.

Mind you, Elaida did get a few things right:

• Some would be stilled, of course—Sheriam [because she was Black Ajah]
• Cemaile's grand plans came to naught, however, as did Cemaile, and for three centuries the clock sat in a dusty storage room, an embarrassment no one dared display. Until Elaida.

Elaida’s prized information box is full of erroneous material. The outside of the box, depicting golden hawks among clouds, is far more informative. As has been noted by a few people, including Dominic, the hawks symbolise the Seanchan and are a warning of their aerial attack - yet another thing that Elaida will refuse to believe. She will depart with them.

How ironic then that Elaida behaves like some Seanchan High Lady, complaining about Alviarin looking her straight in the eyes, and toying with her ivory figurines (or netsukes!, reminding us of the strong Japanese influence in Seanchan culture). They are kept in a box covered in roses (a link with the Daughter of the Nine Moons, who wears the raven and roses) and golden scrolls. Elaida touches the cat first; it is a witch’s familiar and also symbolises clairvoyance, watchfulness and female malice (!) All very apt for this chapter. She moves her hand to a woman with an ape (or perhaps monkey) on her shoulder, which Dominic regards as a symbol of insanity, referring to Elaida’s megalomania and her coerced insane decrees. Another interpretation could be derived from the ape being a symbol of vice, lust, original sin and heresy. We soon see Elaida’s lust for power and grandeur, her judgement swayed by anger and pride. The Red Ajah hunts down male channellers, who are regarded as heretics/unbelievers or bearers of original sin, due to saidin being ‘tainted for men’s pride’. Elaida believes that fifty Aes Sedai will be ample to deal with those at the Black Tower.

The figurine Elaida actually picks up is a fish, symbolising knowledge and wisdom. At the climax of her erroneous statements, pronouncing that she is Tower law and questioning who would impose penance or charges on her, she breaks the fish. She Foretells in this same scene a little while after; a granting of true knowledge which she misinterprets. Elaida looks sourly at her broken fish then thinks of her palace and Rand’s capture and cheers up. Neither of these things comes off, though. Knowledge and wisdom is in ruins.

I found Elaida’s mockery of Alviarin’s abilities as a Sitter hypocritical. When Elaida was in the Hall she made major mistakes during her deposition of Siuan due to her lack of knowledge. For instance she thought that the Tower always bowed to the will of the Hall and ended up splitting the Aes Sedai. Alviarin doesn’t need to be Sitter since she controlled at least five Black Sitters in Elaida’s Hall and four in Siuan’s skilfully enough that no suspicions were ever raised about them (see The Composition and Politics of the Halls 998-1000 NE).

Elaida’s thoughts on how she will punish the rebels:

The leaders might themselves escape that [stilling], most of them, if they submitted properly. The minimum penalty in law was to be birched in the Grand Hall before the assembled sisters, followed by at least a year and a day in public penance. Yet nothing said the penance must be served all at once; a month here, a month there, and they would still be atoning their crimes ten years from now, constant reminders of what came of resisting her. Some would be stilled, of course—Sheriam, a few of the more prominent so-called Sitters—but only sufficient to make the rest fear putting a foot wrong again; not enough to weaken the Tower.

concentrating on revenge and power, contrast markedly with what Egwene actually did when the Tower was reunited.

If knowledge is power as Alviarin says in this chapter, then false knowledge results in false, illusory power. Neither Elaida nor Alviarin holds true power (pun intended!) in Tar Valon as Alviarin freely acknowledges. Elaida is ignorant of this, the most important fact of all.

Which brings us to who is actually pulling the strings here: Mesaana.

Her strategy in the White Tower is to white-ant it; allow it to collapse itself with minimum obvious interference on her part. It’s a safe and not too demanding method. There are games that work this way, such as Pick Up Sticks where you have to remove the stick from the random pile without any of the others moving. Mesaana prides herself on her knowledge of stresses and leverage (Lord of Chaos, Prologue) and applies it to collapsing the White Tower just as she did to building a Tower out of ivory dominoes for amusement. Alviarin and Mesaana meet regularly, but it is not until this chapter that Alviarin deduces – correctly – that Mesaana is in the White Tower.

It is interesting that Alviarin’s question about the Black Tower triggers Mesaana to demonstrate the Travelling weave after a pause. Obviously Mesaana deliberated about her response to the question, so she knew at least something about what was happening there and what the Shadow’s plans for the Black Tower were at that stage.

Measures Mesaana might have considered would have included killing Alviarin – but time would be lost determining and establishing her successor. Alviarin is too valuable to kill without very good reason. If she punished Alviarin harshly, Alviarin would wonder what is going on at the Black Tower that has to be hidden. So Mesaana distracted her with knowledge, and therefore power, and the unspoken promise of more. As it was, Alviarin wasn’t entirely diverted and resolved not to send any Black sisters on the expedition to the Black Tower.

Moreover Alviarin learned something else from their conversation that surprised her greatly: that the Forsaken are not as unified as the Black Ajah are. Selfishness is allowed in the Black Ajah, but kept under tighter control than among the Forsaken, who had no official leadership at this time and openly undercut one another.

To complement this post, the essay on the real-world parallels I think were used to develop Mesaana is now re-published here in the Reference Library. Mesaana is not that powerful or awe-inspiring as some of the other Forsaken and this is reflected in her fewer mythological parallels.

A Vision of Tarmon Gai'don?

By Linda



In September last year Sydney had a fairly severe dust storm in the night. We awoke to a lurid red light which lasted a few hours. The two photos are taken from my house about an hour after sunrise, when the light should have been bright and clear and the sky blue. The pale blobs are the flash hitting the dust in the air.



While it looks rather apocalyptic, bushfires are worse than this - blacker and with vast heat and noise as well. And much more danger.

Still, it gives an idea of what the Blight could look like around Thakan’dar say, or the deep northeastern blight Graendal described, with its rust-coloured light, as Tarmon Gai’don approaches. Not that we have sweltering heat in early spring. Well, not usually!

New Article Released: Character Names Parallels - F

By Linda


The article on possible sources for character names starting with F has been published in the Reference Library. Two important characters are Faile and Fortuona.

Early next week I shall start the read-through of A Crown of Swords.

New Article Released: Character Names Parallels - E

By Linda

The article on possible sources for character names starting with E has been published in the Reference Library.

The Arthurian origins of Egwene's and Elayne's names is well known, but Elyas' name is also that of an Arthurian character.

Elaida's name is linked to an Irish legend - one which explains the coded message that Galina sent to Elaida when she captured Rand - and Eamon Valda's name to rather more recent Irish history.

Wheel Of Time Embroidery Collection #2 - Rand's Coat Sleeve Embroidery 1

By Linda

This post is part of a series on the Costume of The Wheel of Time world. A previous post was on embroidered Tairen Mazes and included a panel from one of Mat’s sleeves.

Now I’ve turned to embroidering samples from Rand’s coats in materials and colours consistent with what would have been available in Jordan’s world.

Moiraine had several coats made for Rand in Shienar including this one:

After a moment, he chose the black coat, to suit his mood. Silver herons stood on the high collar, and silver rapids ran down his sleeves, water battered to froth against jagged rocks.

- The Great Hunt, On the Scent

The heron (shown right, click to enlarge) is in thick silver thread sewn down (couched) onto black silk fabric with fine thread. Such thread consists of thin strips of silver wrapped around a core of silk (these days usually all synthetic). It is not drawn in and out of the fabric because it would damage the fabric and strip the silver from the thread. There would have been one heron on each side of the standing collar.




I sewed two designs for the sleeve panel. In the first (shown left, click to enlarge) the water was two strands of silver couched onto the black silk with fine silver thread. The water contours would continue around the bottom of the sleeve, encircling the cuff. Two strands of thick silver thread outlined the rocks and then one strand of silver thread in seeding stitch gave them texture.

Rand's coats are usually embroidered in metallic rather than in coloured silk threads. Such metalwork embroidery was common on the coats of nobility in Europe and even more so in China. Gold was the usual metal used, and in fact Rand has many more coats embroidered with gold than with silver.




In the second sleeve panel I emphasised the water frothing over the rocks. A detail is shown right; the fall of water is actually longer, but this is the limit of my scanner.

The curling pattern of the churned water is a traditional Chinese goldwork pattern, appropriate since the heron and the waterfall (and the dragon!) are motifs in Oriental embroidery. At the base of the sleeve the water pattern would continue around the cuff. The water was sewn in two strands of fine silver thread couched down with a strand of grey thread.

The rocks were couched with two strands of thick silver twist thread and filled in with two strand of thin silver thread.

New Article Released: Character Names Parallels - D

By Linda


After over two months, I have only one published article left to update for The Gathering Storm, but it's a big job and I have decided to post some new material for a while instead. Today I've returned to the series on possible sources for the character names starting with D, such as Damer Flinn, Davram and Deira Bashere, King Darlin.


(The introduction can be accessed here), and the previous letters:

Character Names A

Character Names B

Character Names C

As well as adding to this series, and the WOT embroidery series, over the coming days, I'll be returning to the read-through, resuming at A Crown of Swords.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Rand Parallels essay

By Linda



The essay in the Reference Library on possible parallels used in developing Rand's character has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm. Main additions were Rand's deeds and insights in the new book, and expansion of the King Arthur, Shiva, Christ and symbolism sections.

JordanCon 2010 - the Wheel of Time fan convention. Irresistible!

by Linda

In a little over three months, JordanCon 2010 will be held at Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta, Georgia from April 23 to 25. Great news is that Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal, and Wilson Grooms will be there, as will two non-Wheel of Time authors: David Wong (John Dies at the End) and Jana G. Oliver (Time Rovers series). There will be discussion on the Wheel of Time of course (copious discussion, I should think), plus a writer’s workshop, forum, games, contests, costuming including weapons, dealer’s hall, Seanchan Ball, and a charity Poker night and silent auction to raise money for amyloidosis.

I’m very much looking forward to it!

The JordanCon team have done a wonderful job organising. If you want to know more, here’s the progress report.

Theory Updated for TGS: Nine Labours of Rand revisited

by Linda


Rand's exploits in The Gathering Storm seem to me to support my theory that Rand is going to perform a series of "impossible things" and so today I created a new, expanded version of The Nine Labours of Rand. (The previous version is still here for comparison.)

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Mainland Military Forces

By Linda

The essay in the Reference Library on the Military Forces of the Westlands has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Aes Sedai Laws and Customs: Society

By Linda

The essay in the Reference Library on Aes Sedai Laws and Customs: Society has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm. Not surprisingly, much of the new information centres around crimes and punishments, but there are other interesting things too, such as the surprisingly early beginning to the custom of bonding Warders.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Aes Sedai Laws and Customs: Administration

By Linda

The essay in the Reference Library on Aes Sedai Laws and Customs: Administration has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm, including the White Tower layout, the Ajahs, and the executive positions of the Aes Sedai. A few inconsistencies with earlier books are detailed below along with a comparison of a ceremony in the two Halls.

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The ritual in Egwene’s raising ceremony in the Tower differed from that described in Salidar, in part because the Hall had already voted to raise her, and in part due to the Seanchan attack the night before, and the impending purging of Darkfriends and reunification with the rebels.

In Salidar, Egwene was draped in the stole by the oldest two Sitters and then the three sponsors kissed the new Amyrlin’s ring before the Sitters did so in order of decreasing Age. In The Gathering Storm only Saerin draped the stole on Egwene, and Egwene’s sponsors were Sitters, and queued in rank with the other Sitters. She wasn’t announced to the Tower either and gave no blessings, but then the night before had been rough. Nor did Egwene announce her Keeper publicly.

While The Gathering Storm is mostly consistent with previous books, I hit a few snags while updating this essay.

The Tower layout was one: the bottom half of the Tower was distinctly described in The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time as reserved for communal functions and the Ajahs as housed in the upper levels in pie-shaped wedges, by which I understood that each storey has all seven Ajahs present – which seems fairer and more in tune with the original spirit of unification when the Tower was designed –and not adjacent whole floors for one Ajah as described in The Gathering Storm. The White are on the 3rd and the Yellow were on the 6th (and therefore also in the bottom half of the Tower, which is supposed to be a communal area) and the Brown on the 21st and 22nd levels in The Gathering Storm. When the Browns on the 21st level are swapped with the novices in the east wing, it is described as half the Browns moving (The Gathering Storm, When Iron Melts) so they are only on the 21st and 22nd floors, and not in one seventh of the Tower vertically.

Also the Tower levels are linked by ramps in previous books far more often than stairs. No ramps were mentioned in The Gathering Storm except within the Hall.

The youngest Sitter opens each formal session by warning the Hall and any onlookers that any intruder will be bound to face the law as shown in The Path of Daggers, The Law and Crossroads of Twilight Surprises; she does not ward the Hall against eavesdropping.

It is the second youngest Sitter who wards the proceedings of closed sessions against eavesdropping thus Sealing the session to the Hall, not the Flame (The Path of Daggers, The Law and Knife of Dreams Call to a Sitting). Sealed to the Flame is reserved in A Crown of Swords, A Morning of Victory and A Crown of Swords, Sealed to the Flame for private written or verbal communications to and from the Amyrlin by and to one or more Aes Sedai. In The Gathering Storm, A Message in Haste, the rebel Hall session to discuss Elaida gaining Travelling which had calls to be Sealed to the Flame did not even have the Amyrlin present, and nor did she know of this meeting until long afterwards.

Another problem is the statement that Elaida disbanded the Blue in order to reach eleven Sitters for the raising of an Amyrlin:

That left eleven Sitters. Not enough to raise an Amyrlin by the old laws of the Tower—but those had been revised with Elaida's disbanding of the Blue. Fewer Sitters meant fewer women needed to raise an Amyrlin, and now only eleven were required.

Elaida was raised with the votes of eleven Sitters; she could hardly have revised this law before she was elected Amyrlin.

The minimum number for the greater consensus of the Hall was stated in the A Crown of Swords glossary as eleven:

The greater consensus requires that every sister who is present must stand, and that a minimum of eleven Sitters be present; the presence of at least one Sitter from each Ajah is also required, except when the matter before the Hall is the removal of an Amyrlin or Keeper, in which case the Ajah from which she was raised will not be informed of the vote until after it is taken.

-A Crown of Swords, Glossary

without any qualification that these were new rules. Elaida disbanded the Blue because (apart from hatred and revenge) she would otherwise not have at least one representative from all Ajahs present necessary for any vote requiring the greater consensus.

The rebels didn’t worry about that. Egwene thought it was more important that the Ajahs all reunite than it was to achieve an official and ‘legal’ greater consensus, and revenge, by disbanding one of the Ajahs.

Thanks to the Tower Hall, Egwene still hasn't been raised Amyrlin with the greater consensus because no Red Sitters took part in the vote. (She was already elected Amyrlin by the Blues). Will this be a loophole in the future?

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Saidar Strength Ranking

By Linda


The essay in the Reference Library on Saidar Strength Ranking has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm, as has Aes Sedai Attitudes to Male Channellers: The Unbeliever.

There were a few new weaker channellers added, but also some reconsideration of the upper levels after new information was given by Sanderson on The Gathering Storm, book tour.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: The Black Ajah

By Linda


The essay in the Reference Library on The Black Ajah has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm, including a compilation of the deeds, status and location of all known Black sisters, discussion of how and why the Blacks join up and their leadership, and some analysis of Black Ajah numbers.

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Thanks to Verin, we know a lot more about the Black Ajah than we did.

Sixteen or seventeen new names were added to the list of Black sisters, some quite a surprise, others not at all surprising, and some previously unknown sisters.

Verin identified 203 Aes Sedai (The Gathering Storm, A Visit From Verin Sedai). She missed three Black sisters among the rebel Aes Sedai according to Egwene (The Gathering Storm, The Tower Stands), and three in the White Tower, plus maybe Evanellein and a couple more (The Gathering Storm, Bathed in Light). She may also have missed a few among the third of Aes Sedai outside these two groups. In total there were probably about 215 to 220 Black sisters, which would be 22-3% of the Aes Sedai, there being fewer than one thousand Aes Sedai.

The breakdown by Ajah of the two hundred or so Black Sisters that Verin identified is: 48 Red, 38 Green, 30 Grey, 28 Brown, 21 Yellow (perhaps slightly less than would be expected), 21 Blue and 17 White. Verin identified 48 Black sisters from the Red Ajah, representing about 24% of the 203 Black sisters she identified, which is about 25% higher than would be expected, considering that Reds represent about 19% of the total Aes Sedai population.

It’s easy to see how influential the Black Ajah is among the Aes Sedai: with over a fifth to a quarter of Aes Sedai membership in any one Ajah, they represent a sizeable voting block, being effectively the largest Ajah, since they are often instructed on how to cast their vote, such as for Ajah leaders. In Elaida's Hall there were at least 5 Black Sitters, enough to kill any vote the Black Ajah didn't want to succeed and to stand a good chance of getting any vote they did want through. The rebel Hall had at least 2 Black Sitters, perhaps more, since 6 Sitters (including Lyrelle, Naorisa Cambral (Delana's replacement) and probably Salita) were at the Black Tower at the time they were all tested.

After all the executions, the Black Ajah population has decreased to less than 160.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Aes Sedai History - New Era

By Linda


The essay in the Reference Library on the Aes Sedai History: New Era has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm ranging from the first Brown Amyrlin (of the New Era, but Egwene left out that qualifier) whom Egwene quoted right up until the most recent events:

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such as the activities (or lack thereof) of both Amyrlins and Halls, the Seanchan raid, the end of the schism, what the Ajah Heads were up to and how Verin's report ended the Black Ajah hunters' impasse.

It looks ahead a little too.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Lanfear Parallels essay

By Linda

The essay in the Reference Library on possible parallels used to develop Lanfear has now been updated with a small amount of information from The Gathering Storm plus quite a bit more information from The Gathering Storm book tour.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Aes Sedai History - AB to FY

By Linda

The essay in the Reference Library on the Aes Sedai History from the Breaking to the Hundred Years War has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Semirhage Parallels essay

By Linda



The essay in the Reference Library on possible parallels used in developing Semirhage has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm.

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The Gathering Storm revealed more of Semirhage's atrocities, and also more information on her parallels with Fenrir the giant wolf of Norse mythology, and with the Nemean Lion which was the target of one of the labours of the Greek Hero Hercules.

New Article Released: Aiel Prophecy

By Linda

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Aiel Prophecy, the third of the three new articles on the lesser known or regarded prophecies.

It details the prophecies of Rhuidean, and the Aiel Dreamwalkers' dreams and what they read in Tel'aran'rhiod.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Mat Parallels essay

By Linda



The essay in the Reference Library on possible parallels used in developing Mat's character has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm.

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Even though Mat and Tuon were apart, there was much in the book touching on their role as King and Queen of the Dead/Underworld, and of Fortune, be it luck or prosperity.

New Article Released: Shadowy Prophecy

By Linda

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Shadowy Prophecy, the second of three articles I'll be writing on the lesser known or regarded prophecies.

The main question is: is there anything in it, or is it all a lie?

At the very least, the dark prophecy and all the other evil portents and happenings foreshadow or symbolise what is to follow. Their very taunting is inadvertently revealing. Even twisted prophecies have to contain some genuine information to make them feasible. So yes, there is something in it.

New Article Released: Off-shore Prophecy

By Linda

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Off-shore Prophecy, the first of three articles I'll be writing on the lesser known or regarded prophecies.

It details the prophecies of both the Sea Folk and the Amayar, and what these led to: genocide for one people and future glory for the other.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: The Horn of Valere

By Linda


The article in the Reference Library on the Horn of Valere has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm, plus a little reworking of my previous ideas. The big questions about the Horn are: Where is it? How will it be given to whoever shall sound it?

Under the spoiler tag below I speculate on where the Horn might be.

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As for the Horn might be: after Verin's ringing endorsement of Laras, I wonder if it's not in the kitchens under Laras's watchful eye. It's not a place an Aes Sedai would hang out so the Horn would be safe there, but it is a place where one can enter or leave with a parcel and no one thinks anything of it. In the real world, such kitchens in the 16th-18th centuries had cupboards and cellars under lock and key to which only the Butler or Head Cook had access and again no one would think anything of it.

It was Egwene whom Verin told Laras was no Darkfriend. She went on to say "When you next see Laras, please thank her on my behalf..." And a short while later again: "As I said, please than Laras for me."

Verin quite subtly but firmly suggested to Egwene to visit Laras on an innocent 'last request'.

She said "when" Egwene next sees Laras even though Verin would have deduced that Egwene was soon to be Amyrlin judging by the political currents in the Tower. She compliments Egwene on how well she has done politically so she was certainly aware of how close Egwene was. Yet Egwene is to visit Laras...

New Article Released: Who Is Not A Darkfriend?

By Linda

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Who Is Not A Darkfriend?

Those characters revealed in The Gathering Storm to be not Darkfriends are included.

The 51 women bonded by Asha'man, 11 of the rebel Sitters, 11 of the Tower Sitters, most of the Tower Ajah Heads, the 10 rebel infiltrators...there's quite a few characters who aren't Darkfriends, never mind those individually identified.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Composition and Politics of the Halls

By Linda

The article in the Reference Library on The Composition and Politics of the Halls 998-1000 NE has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm. The factions of the various Halls have been re-analysed with particular emphasis on the political influence of the Ajah Heads and the Black Ajah.



Under the spoiler tag below I speculate on what the latest composition of the Hall might be.

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The Reunited Tower Hall under Egwene

What will be the composition of the new Hall? Removing Black Sitters, and those seemingly mired at the Black Tower, we are still left with too many Sitters in some Ajahs, and an embarrassing lack in others. Egwene warned that:

accommodations will have to be made, for between us there are far too many Sitters for the Hall, not to mention five too many Ajah heads. Some of you will have to step down…

- The Gathering Storm, To Be Forged Again

On The Gathering Storm book tour, Brandon Sanderson said

which Sitters remain in power after reunification will be dealt with quietly. The most likely default will be who was Sitter/Head before the split.

Blue Ajah

Lelaine is the only Blue Sitter around, currently. She may have been recently made Blue Ajah Head. Two more Sitters need to be raised for the Blue.

Brown Ajah

The Browns have an excess of Sitters. Saerin and Takima will probably stay Sitters. If Janya did not go to the Black Tower, she will probably be chosen; if she isn’t at the White Tower, then Shevan will probably become the third Sitter.

Green Ajah

Faiselle and Rubinde will probably remain Sitters for the Green. One of Rina, Malind and Samalin may be the third, but they are all too young. The Greens may elect a new third Sitter of proper age.

Grey Ajah

Varilin and Yukiri will probably remain Sitters for the Grey. If Naorisa Cambral is the right age, she may be the third Sitter, otherwise it will probably be Andaya Forae, who, although too young, gave the Hall’s invitation to Egwene to be Amyrlin.

Red Ajah

All three Sitters are absent from the Red Ajah. Duhara will be replaced anyway, because she is Black. Javindhra, while not on Verin’s Black list, may also be Black, judging by her behaviour, although this is academic since she is at the Black Tower. (Academic for the Hall, that is.) The Red Ajah was not given a chance to raise new Sitters prior to Egwene’s accession:

"Following Elaida's disappearance, they retreated back to their quarters. The Sitters here, they worried that the Red would choose new Sitters quickly and send them to this proceeding. I believe some . . . curt missives from the Hall of the Tower were enough to cow them."

- The Gathering Storm, To Be Forged Again

Egwene reported that the Reds have in part accepted her peace offering of choosing a Red as her Keeper. They may be slow to raise new Sitters under the guise of a ‘political gesture’ in the hope that those at the Black Tower return, but Egwene is likely to encourage them to raise new ones to have the Hall operating properly. If Pevara returns in time she is a likely Sitter. Lirene, who took the fall for the Reds over Sierin’s death, is a possible contender (provided she isn’t Black and fled).

White Ajah

For the White Ajah, Seaine and Saroiya are likely to remain Sitters. There may well be pressure within the Whites for Ferane to be either Ajah Head or Sitter, but not both. It's not common for the Ajah Head to also be a Sitter and for a good reason. It's considered not playing fair: other high ranking Aes Sedai in the Ajah want a chance to hold a high official position too. If the Ajah Head holds another official role it means that one woman holds two extremely powerful positions, while another woman does without. With too many Sitters, why should the Ajah Head also be a Sitter? The Ajah Heads lost standing due to promoting unsuitable Sitters and the price that Ferane (and Suana, too, for that matter) may pay for this is to resign her chair as Sitter. If Ferane resigns, she may well chose another Sitter of proper age, since Berana and Aledrin are too young.

Yellow Ajah

Doesine and Magla will probably retain their chairs for the Yellow. Suana and Romanda will contend for the remaining chair and for the role of Ajah Head. I think that Romanda will want to be in the Hall to counter Lelaine. Already Romanda has sent a note of protest to Egwene about her plans for the captured damane and Egwene expects Romanda to be a thorn in her side in the Hall for years. Suana will probably remain Ajah Head.


Amyrlin
Egwene al’Vere, of no Ajah

Keeper of the Chronicles
Silviana Brehon, Red Ajah

Blue Ajah
Lelaine Akashi
+ 2 more

Brown Ajah
Saerin Asnobar
Takima
Janya Frende or Shevan

Green Ajah
Faiselle
Rubinde
Malind Nachenin or Rina Hafden or Samalin or new Sitter

Grey Ajah
Varilin
Yukiri
Perhaps Naorisa Cambral if she is the right age, otherwise probably Andaya Forae

Red Ajah
3 to be raised

White Ajah
Saroiya
Seaine Herimon
new Sitter? Or Ferane?

Yellow Ajah
Doesine Alwain
Magla Daronos
Romanda Cassin probably rather than Suana


The Ajah Heads will probably be as they were:

Blue: maybe Lelaine if the previous incumbent was executed. Siuan tells Lelaine she is faithful to her as a Sitter for her Ajah in Knife of Dreams, When Last Sounds; she did not say Ajah Head. Therefore it was unlikely that Lelaine was Head of the Blue at that stage. However, The Gathering Storm Glossary has Lelaine as ‘suspected’ Blue Ajah Head. This might be an attempt to mislead, or the former Blue Ajah Head might have been executed for being Black and Lelaine has just taken her place.
Brown: Jesse Bilal
Green: Adelorna Bastine
Grey: Serancha Colvine
Red: Tsutama Rath
White: Ferane Neheran
Yellow: Suana Dragand

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Prophecies of the Dragon

By Linda

The article in the Reference Library on the Prophecies of the Dragon has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm. In fact, it was largely rewritten.



I have posted two additions below under the spoiler tag; the first is of an updated prophecy from the Karaethon Cycle, and the second is of a new prophecy from the Essanik Cycle.

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Fortune rides like the sun on high
With the fox that makes the ravens fly.
Luck his soul, lightning his eye,
He snatches the moons from out of the sky.
- Crossroads of Twilight, A Cluster of Rosebuds

Noal believes this part of the Prophecies refers to Mat and he is probably right. Perrin and Mat, Rand’s supporting ta’veren, have been included in the Prophecies in obscure metaphors so that they would not be targets of those who would like to manipulate (even with good intentions) or destroy the Pattern.

Tuon took the name of Fortuona (Fortuna of mythology) when she became Empress and she has already ridden with her consort Mat, ‘the fox that makes the ravens fly’. He has a fox-head medallion and a signet ring that shows nine moons and a fox startling two ravens. Mat is extremely lucky and has risen high due to his good fortune and to Tuon marrying him. A fortune-telling damane also named Mat as ‘the fox that makes the ravens fly’ (see Foretellings article). ‘Lightning his eye’ may refer to Mat inventing gunpowder weapons.

The raven is a symbol of the imperial family of Seanchan, and by kidnapping the daughter of the nine moons (‘snatched the moons from out of the sky’ ) and freeing the Windfinder damane, he has certainly stirred the Seanchan into flying after them.

Will Fortune stay high in the sky, or will she come back down again? Fortuna is associated with the Wheel of Fortune, and the cycle of fluctuating fortunes. Lady Luck is changeable. “What was exalted is cast down, what was cast down is raised up…” as the Prophecy says. What happens if the Empress channels?

At the end of time,
when the many become one,
the last storm shall gather its angry winds
to destroy a land already dying.
And at its center, the blind man shall stand
upon his own grave.
There he shall see again,
and weep for what has been wrought.

- from The Prophecies of the Dragon, Essanik Cycle. Malhavish's Official Translation, Imperial Record House of Seandar, Fourth Circle of Elevation


- The Gathering Storm, Epilogue

It is the first actual wording of a prophecy from the Essanik Cycle. “At the end of time” shows we have gone beyond the Last Days and the Last Battle is about to begin and as for “the many become one”: surely we aren’t going to have some unity! In a state of spiritual blindness, Rand went to the top of Dragonmount, the grave of his previous incarnation and while he didn’t literally weep, he certainly agonized over being bound by the Pattern to be born to make sacrifices and painful mistakes, to cause deaths and to fight the Dark One again and again. His pain nearly drove him to destroy the world. The last storm may refer to whatever issues from the Dark One’s sinister cloud layer, or it may be the tempest that surrounded Rand during the latter part of The Gathering Storm. Rand was about to destroy the land already dying but pulled back at the last.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Dead, Captured and Missing Aes Sedai

By Linda

The article in the Reference Library on Dead, Captured and Missing Aes Sedai has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm. Quite a bit of new material was added.


Below is a summary of the numbers of Aes Sedai 'lost' to the Tower since The Eye of the World. The article details each of these women and the circumstances in which they were lost.

Click here to expand the rest of this post

OVERALL SUMMARY

Perhaps 112 or more Aes Sedai have died since The Eye of the World opened:

• 105+ definitely dead


• 7 presumed dead


• plus additional ones that were likely killed when Logain was taken, or during the Tower Coup, or that were executed by Egwene when she cleansed the Tower that were not enumerated in the books.

That’s over 11% of the total population of Aes Sedai (which was under 1000).


About 190 Aes Sedai have been captured or gone missing since The Eye of the World opened:

• 84+ captured that are not presumed dead.


• 106 “missing” that are not presumed dead.

That’s another 19% of the total population of Aes Sedai.


Combine the dead/captured/missing, and the total of well over 302 represents over 30% of the Aes Sedai. With such losses, the Asha'man probably now outnumber the Aes Sedai. Of course, they too need purging of Darkfriends...

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: Foretellings

By Linda

The article in the Reference Library on Foretellings has now been updated with information from The Gathering Storm. No new Foretellings were made in The Gathering Storm, but previously made Foretellings were re-evaluated.

Reference Library Updates after The Gathering Storm: two more articles updated.

By Linda

Two articles were updated with information from The Gathering Storm today:


The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn


Information about the Eelfinn given by Brandon Sanderson.


Fate, Free Will and Divining the Pattern

Three characters each react differently to Min's viewings of their fate in The Gathering Storm.