Kassina Tendar
Aes Sedai
Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: Dragon Reborn 23-29
Chapter 16:
-Egwene swoons over Galad and finds out that Gawyn likes her. Knowing what's going to happen, it'll be interesting to see if we see more hints of Egwene and Gawyn before they're suddenly open about it.-Nynaeve is so mistrustful! "I am not sure we can trust the Amyrlin much further than the Black Ajah. She means to use us for her own ends."Yes, the second part of that sentence is true, but that doesn't mean she's as bad as the Black Ajah! :facepalm
Chapter 17:
Nynaeve and Egwene think they can go heal Mat on their own. :facepalm :rolleyes Just because you have a lot of raw power doesn't mean you have the skill to heal a papercut let alone Mat's connection with the Shadar Logoth dagger. They do realize how foolish they were later when they watch Mat's healing, but I was still rolling my eyes when they were about to go off and try healing Mat themselves.-It's weird seeing Elaida and Sheriam face off with Sheriam 'saving' the girls from Elaida. Between the two, Elaidai seems much more likely to be Black Ajah, but no matter how much you end up hating her later, she never turns out to be Black Ajah.-"If the Black Ajah doesn't catch us, Sheriam will. [...] If Sheriam isn't Black Ajah herself.
Chapter 18:
-Egwene just flat-out saying "I was thinking about the Black Ajah" in front of Sheriam... even if you think you can trust Sheriam, you really need to learn to be more discreet.-Egwene on seeing Mat's Healing: "What chance would we hae had? We'd probably have killed ourselves, too. Light!" Yes, thank you. :facepalm-Egwene feels like she should be able to understand the Old Tongue that Mat was shouting while he was being Healed. Why?
Chapter 19:
-"Discovering what Rand could do had been like finding out his best friend tortured small animals and killed babies. Once you finally made yourself believe it, it was hard to call him a friend any longer."
I usually like Mat, but I don't like how he deals with Rand's growing ability to channel. :\ It's not at all similar to finding out your friend tortures animals! Rand didn't choose to be able to channel. This is not something he's doing intentionally. He may be the reincarnation of someone who went mad and killed a lot of people, but Rand's a victim here more than anything.
Chapter 20:
-Mat thinks Selene reminds him of someone: "a woman dressed as one nobly born, a Darkfriend with a deadly dagger in her slender hand."
Who is it he's remembering? Is it Selene?
Chapter 21:
-Egwene briefly speculates about what if Verin is Black Ajah, then immediately dismisses the idea. "She refused to believe this plump scholar could be a Darkfriend."
Chapter 22:
-Egwene mentions to Sheriam about turning channelers to the Shadow during her Accepted test. It's amazing how often people are talking to Sheriam about darkfriends and the Black Ajah. It's also interesting that Sheriam then actually does explain to Egwene about how channelers can be turned. She also tells Egwene that there are no more Dreadlords today. But there sure are a ton of Black Ajah.And then of course Egwene can't help saying aloud "Thirteen. The same number who left the Tower. Liandrin, and twelve more." :rolleyes She really needs to learn to keep quiet about these things.
-Egwene is Amyrlin in her Accepted test. There's also a big purge of Aes Sedai in her 'future' part of the test. Elaida is also her biggest enemy even in the test. Interesting considering how they end up leading opposing Towers as Amyrlins. Although, in her vision, Elaida is actually Black Ajah.
All that really makes me wonder about the nature of the arches. Are they actually visions of other worlds? If so, are alternate Egwenes and Nynaeves and other novices constantly disappearing from those worlds during Accepted tests? I always figured, like Sheriam, that the things they see aren't real, but it is interesting to think about. I mean, there are things that happen in the worlds (like channelers being turned or balefire) that Egwene didn't know about before entering the arches, so it can't all have come from Egwene's brain. It also isn't presented as if the Aes Sedai channeling into the arches are consciously creating the worlds either like in the test for Aes Sedai. So where do the worlds come from if they're not real and not solely from either Egwene or the Aes Sedai channeling? They do seem to be rather realistic depictions of the people in the test. Egwene really does become Amyrlin and, just like in her vision, she manages to do it without saying the three oaths.
-Wow, Elaida's so blunt and just... rude to Egwene after her test. Flat-out saying that she doesn't like her because she's a wilder.
-After Egwene finishes her test and Alanna is describing the Green Ajah to her, it just struck me how stereotypical all the Ajahs are portrayed sometimes. The first thing Alanna says is that a Green sister must love men, just like a Red sister must hate men. Just like a Blue sister only likes men who share her causes and White sisters are all logic and no passion. It reminds me of some of the discussion earlier about Taren Ferry people living up to their stereotypes. The Ajahs are all very stereotypical and the Aes Sedai in them tend to live up to the stereotypes.
-Why does Alanna want to watch Egwene?
Exactly! :facepalm Under any other circumstances, Novices would certainly be punished for not obeying an Aes Sedai. It just so happens that Liandrin was Black Ajah... but that's hardly their fault. I was hoping Siuan would say something to that effect when Leane left... but no such luck. :\
- I don't understand how Suian can fault them for "being winkled out" of the Tower. Is she looking back -- hindsight being 20/20? This is so frustrating to me. They're taught to ask how high when an Aes Sedai says jump, and obey all commands immediately, and yet they're punished for obeying commands from an Aes Sedai!! It's...it's...hypocritical, a bit, to tell Novices to question Aes Sedai when they'll be punished for it in any circumstance that doesn't involve known Black Ajah! :tug :mad
Chapter 16:
-Egwene swoons over Galad and finds out that Gawyn likes her. Knowing what's going to happen, it'll be interesting to see if we see more hints of Egwene and Gawyn before they're suddenly open about it.-Nynaeve is so mistrustful! "I am not sure we can trust the Amyrlin much further than the Black Ajah. She means to use us for her own ends."Yes, the second part of that sentence is true, but that doesn't mean she's as bad as the Black Ajah! :facepalm
Chapter 17:
Nynaeve and Egwene think they can go heal Mat on their own. :facepalm :rolleyes Just because you have a lot of raw power doesn't mean you have the skill to heal a papercut let alone Mat's connection with the Shadar Logoth dagger. They do realize how foolish they were later when they watch Mat's healing, but I was still rolling my eyes when they were about to go off and try healing Mat themselves.-It's weird seeing Elaida and Sheriam face off with Sheriam 'saving' the girls from Elaida. Between the two, Elaidai seems much more likely to be Black Ajah, but no matter how much you end up hating her later, she never turns out to be Black Ajah.-"If the Black Ajah doesn't catch us, Sheriam will. [...] If Sheriam isn't Black Ajah herself.
Chapter 18:
-Egwene just flat-out saying "I was thinking about the Black Ajah" in front of Sheriam... even if you think you can trust Sheriam, you really need to learn to be more discreet.-Egwene on seeing Mat's Healing: "What chance would we hae had? We'd probably have killed ourselves, too. Light!" Yes, thank you. :facepalm-Egwene feels like she should be able to understand the Old Tongue that Mat was shouting while he was being Healed. Why?
Chapter 19:
-"Discovering what Rand could do had been like finding out his best friend tortured small animals and killed babies. Once you finally made yourself believe it, it was hard to call him a friend any longer."
I usually like Mat, but I don't like how he deals with Rand's growing ability to channel. :\ It's not at all similar to finding out your friend tortures animals! Rand didn't choose to be able to channel. This is not something he's doing intentionally. He may be the reincarnation of someone who went mad and killed a lot of people, but Rand's a victim here more than anything.
Chapter 20:
-Mat thinks Selene reminds him of someone: "a woman dressed as one nobly born, a Darkfriend with a deadly dagger in her slender hand."
Who is it he's remembering? Is it Selene?
Chapter 21:
-Egwene briefly speculates about what if Verin is Black Ajah, then immediately dismisses the idea. "She refused to believe this plump scholar could be a Darkfriend."
Chapter 22:
-Egwene mentions to Sheriam about turning channelers to the Shadow during her Accepted test. It's amazing how often people are talking to Sheriam about darkfriends and the Black Ajah. It's also interesting that Sheriam then actually does explain to Egwene about how channelers can be turned. She also tells Egwene that there are no more Dreadlords today. But there sure are a ton of Black Ajah.And then of course Egwene can't help saying aloud "Thirteen. The same number who left the Tower. Liandrin, and twelve more." :rolleyes She really needs to learn to keep quiet about these things.
-Egwene is Amyrlin in her Accepted test. There's also a big purge of Aes Sedai in her 'future' part of the test. Elaida is also her biggest enemy even in the test. Interesting considering how they end up leading opposing Towers as Amyrlins. Although, in her vision, Elaida is actually Black Ajah.
All that really makes me wonder about the nature of the arches. Are they actually visions of other worlds? If so, are alternate Egwenes and Nynaeves and other novices constantly disappearing from those worlds during Accepted tests? I always figured, like Sheriam, that the things they see aren't real, but it is interesting to think about. I mean, there are things that happen in the worlds (like channelers being turned or balefire) that Egwene didn't know about before entering the arches, so it can't all have come from Egwene's brain. It also isn't presented as if the Aes Sedai channeling into the arches are consciously creating the worlds either like in the test for Aes Sedai. So where do the worlds come from if they're not real and not solely from either Egwene or the Aes Sedai channeling? They do seem to be rather realistic depictions of the people in the test. Egwene really does become Amyrlin and, just like in her vision, she manages to do it without saying the three oaths.
-Wow, Elaida's so blunt and just... rude to Egwene after her test. Flat-out saying that she doesn't like her because she's a wilder.
-After Egwene finishes her test and Alanna is describing the Green Ajah to her, it just struck me how stereotypical all the Ajahs are portrayed sometimes. The first thing Alanna says is that a Green sister must love men, just like a Red sister must hate men. Just like a Blue sister only likes men who share her causes and White sisters are all logic and no passion. It reminds me of some of the discussion earlier about Taren Ferry people living up to their stereotypes. The Ajahs are all very stereotypical and the Aes Sedai in them tend to live up to the stereotypes.
-Why does Alanna want to watch Egwene?