Why the Wilder Hate?

Lok Enkee

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Now that I've finished the series, there's still one question that plagues my mind.

What exactly is it with the Aes Sedai and their hatred of Wilders?

Even after all the things the Wise Ones, the Windfinders, and others have done, Aes Sedai still seem to look down upon them like they're lesser than them. Really, I don't understand it? From my perspective, Wilders have managed to grasp the One Power, and become rather skilled with it, on their own. Whilst Aes Sedai need to spend years in the White Tower training to reach similar levels.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Aes Sedai's prejudice against Wilders come off more like a case of penis envy. If this was intentional, then it's just plain hilarious. After all, who said Aes Sedai couldn't be petty?

Thoughts?
 

Morrighan Daghdera

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I think the Aes Sedai have a superiority complex to some degree. I mean, some Wilders do have blocks, like Nynaeve, that must be overcome to be effective as a channeler. While others burn themselves out because they don't know their limitations. But you're right about the Wise Ones & Windfinders being able to bring something substantial to the table. I think that's why Egwene worked to allow cross training among the respective groups.
 

Megana Vallentin

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I wonder if it started as scorn for non-Tower channelers (like Wise Ones and Windfinders) and evolved into hating anyone who managed to learn anything about the Power on their own, even those that do end up becoming Aes Sedai. It seems silly to hate those who eventually join your ranks.
 

Lok Enkee

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I think the Aes Sedai have a superiority complex to some degree. I mean, some Wilders do have blocks, like Nynaeve, that must be overcome to be effective as a channeler. While others burn themselves out because they don't know their limitations. But you're right about the Wise Ones & Windfinders being able to bring something substantial to the table. I think that's why Egwene worked to allow cross training among the respective groups.

Egwene's goal had been to tie every channeler to the White Tower, including the Kin who, for the most part, wouldn't rise up past novice by the tower's standards. Even when Egwene was making the deal with the Wise Ones and Windfinders, the rest of the Aes Sedai wanted to control them rather than be their equals. Now that Egwene's gone, it wouldn't surprise me if they tried to now ensure that fact.

Their disdain for Nynaeve just seems ridiculous. For the majority of the series, she was an accepted, yet they still call her a Wilder. Even after all that she had accomplished. It really does seem like that they can't handle the fact that a woman with minimal tower training has surpassed Aes Sedai who trained for decades.
 

Eluial Aldaran

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I'm pretty sure it was meant to be petty. I always took it that Aes Sedai felt that they and their way of doing things were superior to everyone else's, so if someone managed to learn how to do things without the Tower's help, it was threatening to the egos of some of them. It's like, "I spent all this time and effort to get where I am and it was hard work. You just fumbled through it and got to the same place. Not cool!"

Also, I think the term "wilder" actually has two different meanings that are sometimes equivocated on in the books. Some people refer to any female channeler who has not trained in the tower as a wilder. Other times, it's just those like Nynaeve who actually taught themselves how to channel. Because, really, (and I think Egwene points this out once), the Aiel (and the Windfinders) are not really wilders. They're all trained. Just, not by the tower.
 

Lok Enkee

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I remember at points Aes Sedai even referred to the Kin was wilders, despite the fact that they actually did get (albeit little) training from the Tower. It really does seem like Wilder is a term for any channeler not in the White Tower.
 

Eluial Aldaran

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Yeah it definitely gets used that way a lot. But I think there's still a distinction that's made by some.
 

Anarie De'Thain

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I always thought of it as a sort of class difference. The women in the tower were privileged almost akin to royalty, and anything else was beneath them. So the women who learned to channel on their own were looked down upon simply because they didn't have the "privilege" of being in the white tower.
 
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I think it's essentially a case of bigotry and elitism, along with a granite-set mindset that things must always be done the way they were always done - the way they are done by Aes Sedai of course.

By the way, considering that Cadsuane is slotted to being Egwene's successor and her experiences with a toothless wilder in the past - and Sorilea more recently - will lead her to be more supportive of Egwene's ideas.
 
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While there certainly is some condescension that goes along with the "wilder" term, and Eluial makes a fine point of looking at it from a tower Aes Sedai perspective, I think you guys are forgetting some of the basic goals of the White Tower.

Women of the White Tower view themselves as protectors for all women who can channel, and pride themselves in finding all the girls for training. (Now it turns out that women of different cultures are far better at finding potential channellers, but that's how Aes Sedai feel) So, basically every time they see a "wilder" with her weird block, not only is it a potential Aes Sedai who is currently crippled in their eyes, but also a physical reminder of their failure to bring women to the White Tower for training. That training is critical both in maintaining the order's numbers, but also in saving the lives of these women. For every "wilder" who lives somehow on their own, 3 or 4 others die because they cannot adjust to the power without the training.

So, it's not just bigotry, but a sobering reminder of failure... both in the fact that some channellers are now crippled with blocks, but that some channellers are now dead because the Aes Sedai weren't able to find them, and bring them properly to the Tower for training. Each "wilder" they see is like a reminder that 3 or 4 other women are dead now because they didn't do their jobs correctly.
 
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There was a mention of this stuff in the New Spring, I think. Something about every wilder being one Aes Sedai less. Some Aes Sedai are snotty, that's true, but not most of them. I think Tehmpus is really onto something here.
 
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