Wheel of Time Reread - New Spring

For simplicity, I decided to track the character appearance separately

Chapter 11
Overall, interesting, but it doesn’t really advance the plot
Miscellaneous
*In addition to the seven who come to collect them, there are the three sitters from each Ajah and two others
*They Pass through the testing ter’angreal for the ceremony
*The feeling of tightness from swearing the oaths does not fade for a full year
*Neither Rafela not Leane have the Ageless look
*The three Blue sitters are Lelaine, Anlee and Eadyth(?) Two (Lelaine and one other) are sitters twenty years later, and one is killed in the fighting when the Tower splits
*Rafela is interested in maintaining or even bringing back ancient customs
Character Development
Siuan
She tricks/manipulates Moiraine into Moiraine being raised first.
Moiraiane
*She had decided Blue a year before,
*She notices when Rafela yields to Leane and thinks it strange

Chapter 12
I liked this chapter, we got a lot of information on the inner workings of the Tower and Aes Sedai
Character Development
Siuan
Shows how good she is at puzzles and patterns
She is also unable to stop herself showing off
Moiraine
She is able to puzzle out that Cetalia heads the Blue Ajah Eyes and Ears just from learning she had Siuan look at old reports
Miscellaneous
*Before Moiraine and Siuan, there were around 44/45 Blue Ajah Aes Sedai in Tar Valon
*Moiraine notices Cabriana and Kairen take their lead from Anaiya. It is subtle but obvious to someone trained in the Sun Palace
Mystery Resolved
;Why did Elaida defer to Meilyn
We see why she deferred and mostly understand how it could be possible that Siuan and Moiraine hadn’t noticed it before. We do learn that from the moment that girls enter the tower, they are taught it is extremely rude to speak of someone’s strength in the Tower and discouraged from thinking of their strength in terms of anyone else’s. They must have forgot to tell Egwene and Nynaeve this.

 

But also, isn't this hierarchy a little weird too? Why would you listen to someone who is stronger in the Power, but hasn't been an Aes Sedai for like a year yet?

also, it's interesting that the women from the Kin haven't noticed strange behaviours like those while being in the Tower.

 

I think they are probably discouraged from thinking about strength so that they don't notice the heirarchy and to a lesser extent so that they won't be thinking of their eventual standing while being taught

 

About the Aes Sedai and the Oaths... I have been thinking...

Moiraine thinks of a lie - "Red is White", "Up is Down", something of the sort,

but Siuan couldn't tell the lie - that she hasn't "hopped so much when an Aes Sedai says even in her Novice days".

But then what would be the extend of writing a lie? Surelly you will be able to write something wrong on a piece of paper?

 

The thing where Siuan could t say it was odd. We see plenty of examples of Aes Sedai saying things that are not literally true. Hyperbole and exaggeration seem fine - I think there something like “you’ll curse the first kiss your mother stole from your father”, though I’d have to see if I could find it.

 

Chapter 13
Very little happens. Robert Jordan’s obsession with dresses to the fore
Miscellaneous
*Tarabon prorduces fine porcelain
*Aes Sedai receive a stipend of 1000 crowns per year. They can get more if needed, but this is more than many people would earn in their lives

Chapter 14
Character Development
Siuan
*As soon as she is raised, she goes back to her previous habbits with language
*Siuan gets on well with Lelaine, but not Anaiya
Moiraine
*Lelaine makes her nervous, but she likes Anaiya because of her warmth
Miscellaneous
*Blues are not allowed to wear red clothes
*Blues and Reds oppose each other in the Hall
*Greens and Blues have been aligned for centuries
*Browns support the Whites against the Blues, but the Blues against the Yellows
*The Blues have their own secret weaves
*Moiraine had learned to channel before entering the Tower and had discovered her own weave she didn’t tell anyone about
*We see the first time Siuan attempts to say something that is not true and is prevented by the Oaths
Was she intentionally lying here? This seems odd to me

 

I know right? I was listening to that exact part while I was out and about, I gasped and opened my eyes wide when I heard that

 

I was listening to that today too! The dressmaker bit made me chuckle earlier, and we had our first "folding of her arms beneath her breasts" of the reread

I forgot how horrible Sierin was, also.

 

Thinking of bringing Sheriam in is worth including in the chapter notes- I think they generally don't believe in the Black Ajah at all, not that they think it might be real, but trust her as a friend.
Probably the same as Tamra - She calls in half a dozen (maybe more) people to search, it seems none are BA, which, unless there is something about how the Black Ajah is spread is a little unlikely (though not excessively so)

 

It's clear that she's very careful about whom she chooses though, too, from what I remember. There could be more to why she trusts them than we realize.

 

They are mostly older Aes Sedai,who she has known many years
Aisha and Meilyn were both born in 698, Valera in 748, Kerene in 793 and Cadsuane (assuming she was one) in 705

 

Chapter 15
Very little happens. We see that Malkieri are known for being extremely prideful and temperamental,but we could probably have lost the whole chapter without missing out on much
Character Development
Lan
Lan does not trust Aes Sedai and cannot understand why someone would agree to be a Warder