This week in Reading The Wheel of Time, Egwene’s headache plagues her for totally normal, non-Forsaken reasons, Siuan questions her plans, and the question of just what that giant surge of the One Power was is answered, a little bit—but enough to drive the Hall to a decision Egwene hadn’t anticipated or planned for, so that’s exciting. It’s chapter 18 and 19 of Crossroads of Twilight.
Chapter 18 opens with Egwene returning to the Amyrlin’s study, passing much more easily through the crowd now that her seven-striped stole is visible. Reading the tent, she is surprised to find not just Siuan there, but also Halima. Halima wants to talk and let Egwene confide in her, but Egwene tells the woman that she has work to do right now. As Halima leaves, Egwene feels one of her headaches begin.
Siuan isn’t that surprised to hear about Delana’s list of names. She reluctantly agrees that Egwene can’t really stop the talks form happening. She brings up the puzzle over the young ages of most of the current Sitters, adding to the names in Salidar some she saw on a list while visiting Elaida’s study in Tel’aran’rhiod.
Egwene tells Siuan to keep working on that puzzle, then starts on the usual routine of going through reports—Leane’s, those passed on from the Ajahs, and Siuan’s, from the eyes-and-ears network she ran when she was Amyrlin. Leane actually has eyes-and-ears inside Tar Valon, but she has little new to report. Egwene is alarmed to read of rumors that Gareth Bryne has found a secret way into the city and might appear at any moment, but Siuan is confident these rumors only exist because Bryne is well-known for doing the unexpected and appearing where no one thought he could be. Egwene notes how much more open fondness and pride is in Siuan’s voice when she talks about Bryne. It makes her think about Gawyn.
Reports from the Greens center around the fact that the Borderlander armies are near New Braem, and not guarding the Blight, but though they state over and over that something must be done, no one has any suggestions as to what. No one also mentions what Siuan has independently discovered—that there are somewhere between fifty and hundred sisters with them, perhaps more. Regardless of the number of sisters there, regardless even of the fact that there is a war between the Aes Sedai, the custom against interference still stands.
Siuan tells Egwene that sooner or later the Hall will find out what is going on in Caemlyn, and while they might accept keeping the Seanchan prisoners a secret, they will also learn about the bargain made with the Sea Folk, and about Egwene’s plans for the Kin. Egwene reiterates her plan to go slowly, letting the sisters figure out how old some of the Kin are, letting them discover how the Oath Rod cuts their lifespans in half.
She also reminds Siuan of what the former Amyrlin has always advised: Skill and a deft hand are necessary to get anything done in the Hall, but luck is a requirement too.
The reports from the Grays mostly concern the Seanchan and the fact that the High Lord Darlin Sisnera is besieged in the Stone by nobles who refuse to accept Rand. Merana Ambrey was recently recognized coming out of the headquarters of the besiegers. This brings up the subject of the Aes Sedai who seem to be following Rand’s orders. Egwene knows that many Aes Sedai are wondering if Rand is using Compulsion on those sisters. She doesn’t want to think of Rand as being capable of such a thing. Siuan suggests that this will at least kill the belief that Rand is under Elaida’s thumb, which should bolster the courage of Egwene’s followers. Cadsuane worries Siuan more—she suspects the woman of being a Darkfriend.
Noticing the signs of Egwene’s headache, Siuan makes her a cup of herb tea that Chesa found for her, which tastes terrible even when mixed with honey. Anaiya, Morvrin, and Myrelle arrive to tell Egwene that the sisters sent to investigate the explosion of Power have returned with their report, and the Sitters are being called to the Hall to hear it.
By law Egwene has to wait for Sheriam to announce her before going into the Hall, but when Siuan is sent to fetch her and Sheriam doesn’t come, Egwene decides to meet her outside the Hall instead of waiting in her study.
Egwene controls her impatience as best as she can until Sheriam, eventually, comes running up, with muddied skirts and breathless apologies; she apparently only just heard that the Hall was meeting. She announces Egwene with the formal words, and Egwene goes in, noting some oddities in the setting choices and also that the Hall has not closed the meeting, and that there are other sisters present.
Lelaine immediately brings up that Egwene has licensed negotiations with the Tower. Egwene is surprised and confused by the reactions she sees from those who were named by Delana as considering negotiations.
It was very strange. Surely by now Beonin had informed all of them what Egwene had said, yet except for Varilin, they seemed upset. They could not possibly have thought they might really negotiate an end. Every woman sitting in this Hall risked stilling and execution just by being there. If there ever had been any path back except to remove Elaida, it had washed away months ago, when this Hall was chosen. There was no going back from that.
Lelaine seems pleased with the reaction her words have elicited, but Moria bounds to her feet to say that, while that matter does need discussion, the Hall has been called together to hear Akarrin’s report, and that must come first. Delana darts into the Hall and takes her place just before Akarrin and her party are led in. She seems uncertain and out of breath.
Akarrin reports finding a hole, approximately three miles across and one and a half miles deep, though they can’t be certain because the bottom is covered in water and ice. They were able to determine that the hole is exactly where Shadar Logoth once stood, and that much more saidin was used than saidar. The weave used, however, was strange and entirely unknown to them.
The group is dismissed, and Romanda asks if this changes anything. Moria insists that it does, as the amount of the One Power used to destroy Shadar Logoth is so much greater that, even if all the strongest sisters were in the same circle, they could not begin to reach the same amount of Power. Lelaine asks what other option there is, and Moria agrees that this is the right question. She asks Escaralde, a Brown, what she thinks, and Escaralde explains that it is known from history that circles can be made larger than thirteen if men are included in them. The Hall erupts, but Moria raises her voice to be heard, stating that they must ally with the Black Tower.
Sheriam, who has no place entering discussions in the Hall, shrieks that the suggestion is madness and begins to weep. Then all the Sitters erupt, panicked and actively screaming at each other, with Magla going so far as to accuse Moria of being a Darkfriend and the two looking like they might actually come to physical blows. Egwene stands and embraces saidar, weaving to amplify her voice. Her calm words of “A proposal has been laid before the Hall” boom out, startlingly loud in the enclosed space, and stunning everyone into silence. She asks Moria to argue her position.
Moria suggests that not only do the Forsaken have a weapon they can’t match, but that there are too many Asha’man now to still them all. An agreement with the Black Tower would be a first step towards exerting some kind of control over the Asha’man.
*“We must make it clear that a sister will always meld the flows—I do not suggest letting a man control a linked circle!—but with men in the circles, we can expand them. With the blessings of the Light, perhaps we can expand the circles far enough to counter this weapon of the Forsaken. We do kill two hares with one stone. But these hares do be lions, and if we do no cast that stone, one of them will surely kill us. It is as simple as that.”
Arguments from her opposition—all ignoring the new Forsaken weapon and focused on the madness and danger presented by male channelers—takes longer, but eventually Egwene asks who will stand for the agreement. Janya stands first, and then others follow, until nine sisters are standing. Finally, shockingly, Romanda joins them, staring at Lelaine while saying quietly that sometimes you have to do what you don’t want to do. Lelaine stands, and her fellow blue, Lyrelle, stands as well.
That is enough to pass the motion. Traditionally the other sisters would then stand, as a form of unity, sometimes immediately and sometimes after a long discussion. When no one stands, and Takima actively insists that she will not stand, no matter what, Egwene decides to make her own break with protocol. She asks if anyone feels that she must leave her Seat over this issue.
Gasps filled the pavilion, but she was holding her breath. This could shatter them, but better to have it out in the open now, if that was what was to come of it. Saroiya looked at her wildly, but no one moved.
Thinking that she will really have to scramble to deal with this, Egwene declares that they will go forward with making a plan to approach the Black Tower, and begins by asking if anyone has any suggestions about who to send.
I definitely did not expect someone to suggest an alliance with the Black Tower! Though I did love how Jordan seeded the information that Moria was capable of making such a decision, when Anaiya was gossip-advising Egwene as they waited for Sheriam to arrive. She told Egwene that Moria stands firm against Elaida, because Moria blames Elaida for every sister who died after Siuan was deposed.
“Moria wants Elaida birched for every single death before she goes to the headsman. A hard woman, harder than Lelaine in some ways. Tougher, anyway. She won’t scruple at things that might make Lelaine balk. I’m very much afraid she will press for an assault on the city as soon as possible. If the Forsaken are moving so openly, on such a scale, then better a wounded Tower that’s whole than a Tower divided. At least, I fear that’s how Moria may see things.”
Anaiya was almost right, as it turns out. She couldn’t have anticipated Moria’s much more drastic suggestion, but she foresaw the reasoning behind it perfectly.
Moria said that the word alliance was too strong, but I have a feeling that the only way an agreement will be reached is if the Black Tower feels like they are getting something of equal or greater value to what the Aes Sedai are getting. After all, they have been taught to think of themselves as living weapons, and have been trained from the beginning explicitly as soldiers preparing for the last battle. I think they might not feel the same need that the Aes Sedai do to strengthen their fighting prowess.
That’s not to say that they don’t need the Aes Sedai just as much as the Aes Sedai need them. If there’s one thing we know about channeling, it’s that all the greatest accomplishments take men and women working together. Rand’s cleansing of saidin was certainly a great accomplishment, and one that couldn’t have been achieved using saidin alone, even saidin wielded with such power as the Dragon Reborn possesses, and at such volumes as the Choedan Kal gave him. Moria is right that the Aes Sedai need the Asha’man—yes, they need to be able to make larger and more powerful circles, but the combination of saidin and saidar working in tandem is about more than just an exponential increase in power. It is about the way the two halves work together to create more than the whole could apart. And when the Last Battle comes, I suspect the forces of the Light will need every ounce of strength, but also every creative idea, newly rediscovered weave, and the Power of combined weaves, of Aes Sedai and Asha’man. If they can find a way to work together, truly work together, they might also have an advantage over the Forsaken, who will always be reluctant to link, given the distrust each has for every other one.
Perhaps not having both genders working together is why Lews Therin failed to win a complete victory when he attempted to seal the Bore. Not only was saidin contaminated in the process, but since Herid Fel explained that the Bore must be repaired as if it had never been, because of the cyclical nature of time, we know that Rand must be able to/must have already completely restored that part of Creation. Perhaps the reason Lews Therin was only able to patch over the hole is because he had no channelers of saidar to help him. Just as Rand was able to cleanse saidin only with the aid of a female channeler, so may it be necessary to have one (or more) to aid him when it’s his turn to face the Dark One and to attempt to fix the Bore.
The Asha’man certainly need the Aes Sedai just as much as the latter need them, but whether or not they will see it that way is another question. However, before that conversation can be tackled, the Aes Sedai have to put together their embassy and approach the Black Tower. Whether or not it’s Rand they approach, or whether it’s Mazrin Taim and his followers, will make a big difference in how all that plays out.
If it’s Taim, I worry that all the Aes Sedai sent to talk will get bonded by Asha’man, if not worse, before they even have a chance to present their proposal. Taim will certainly have no interest in working with Aes Sedai, and since both he and a fair number of Asha’man are clearly Darkfriends, getting caught by them would surely bode very badly for any sister. Logain’s concern for Gabrelle and Toveine is probably due to suspicions about Taim; he may even have bonded one or both of them expressly to protect them from Taim and his men. It’s an imperfect solution, given the non-consensual nature of the arrangement, but possibly the only one he could think of.
Hopefully the Salidar Aes Sedai won’t get around to approaching the Black Tower until after Rand has figured out what’s going on there and reclaimed it for himself and the good guys. This doesn’t seem improbable—the Aes Sedai have a lot of other things to worry about, and it probably won’t be easy to put that plan together in the midst of the siege and preparing for negotiations with the White Tower Hall, not to mention the intense resistance coming from more than half of the Sitters, which will surely interfere with the planning. But if they manage to approach Rand eventually, there are a lot of interesting things that might happen.
I could see Rand keeping the fact that he is responsible for the destruction of Shadar Logoth a secret in order to maintain his bargaining power, though it’s equally possible that some sister might deduce that he had something to do with it once the cleansing of saidin has become common knowledge. On the other hand, that revelation might also work to Rand’s advantage: If the Aes Sedai could be convinced that saidin is truly clean, they should be a good deal less reticent to make this alliance. Of course there will be plenty of other sources of friction between the two groups, even aside from the Asha’man probably having some lingering resentment over the whole gentling thing, but if men who channel are no longer associated with the Dark One and his taint, and aren’t doomed to go mad, that really transforms who they are and how they might be perceived, both as individuals and as an organization, by the world. Which would open up a lot of possibilities, I think.
I’ve remarked on this before, but the reaction to Moria’s proposal reminded me that it’s easy to forget as a reader what it means to experience the Dark One’s taint, how terrifying the concept of being around it, or even adjacent to it, actually is. Most of the time the narrative focus is on the fact that male channelers eventually go mad in what is usually a very destructive and violent way. Rand considers the taint often, but his fear is also focused on the terror of madness and being a danger to others. The taint itself, when he considers it, is more a thing of revulsion and suffering, rather than straight terror. But the taint is the touch of the Dark One himself, the Evil that wants to destroy all creation, and which can corrupt and even gain possession of one’s soul. Forming a circle with men who can channel tainted saidin means more than just hanging around with them—it means experiencing some of saidin itself. The Aes Sedai may suspect and fear that they will also be able to sense the taint, or even be touched by it. Indeed, we know the former is in fact, true, from what we saw of the linked circles who protected Rand and Nynaeve during the cleansing.
Sheriam’s fear was for something very different, of course. I suspect that both she and Delana had specific instructions about how they are supposed to be leading Egwene, and leading the Hall, and I don’t think this is what Halima/Aran’gar (Halima’gar, if you will) had in mind. Halima may have been giving the other two instructions when the meeting of the Hall was called, given how they both showed up disheveled and running. Or perhaps Halima’gar was taking out her frustrations on the two—she clearly gave Egwene that headache out of a fit of pique, even if it was also an attempt to make Egwene want her to stay.
Halima’gar may also have her own instructions from Moridin, and the Forsaken are surely feeling rattled after the events outside Shadar Logoth. Egwene notices that the Aes Sedai who were named as whispering about opening talks seems surprised and upset, rather than pleased or relieved, upon hearing that Egwene had authorized exactly that. This may be because of the parameters Egwene placed around how Beonin is supposed to conduct her efforts; perhaps they fear that demanding Elaida’s resignation and exile will inflame the problem further, as well it might. It’s even possible that a few of them are considering that reunification under Elaida might be desirable, at least if negotiations resulted in (much) less terrible conditions for doing so. Egwene thinks there is no way anyone could believe that, but I think it’s possible. The thought that the Forsaken might be moving, that Tarmon Gai’don could be about to begin—or has begun, as Myrelle claims Malind believes—is definitely enough to make a lot of compromises suddenly seem more desirable, given the risk of the Tower not being united and prepared for the Last Battle.
On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that Delana’s “noxious seed,” as Egwene thinks to herself of it, was entirely made up. Aware of the Shadow’s failure to stop the cleansing of saidin, Halima’gar may be trying to turn the situation to some advantage she can use to control Egwene. Delana also advised Egwene not to trust her council, after all, and Halima’gar was probably waiting in the Amyrlin’s study in hopes of seeing how that seed may have taken root, offering herself as a confidante when Egwene has just been reminded that she might have no one else she can trust. I initially took her comment about not wanting anything from Egwene “unlike some” to be a jab at Siuan, specifically, but it may well have been in reference to the idea that Egwene can’t trust the Hall or her council, or the Ajah heads, or anyone. This is why Halima’gar was so angry when Egwene dismissed her: It wasn’t just personal, but also because her plan was being thwarted. I imagine Halima’gar is feeling frustrated at how difficult to control Egwene is turning out to be.
Egwene is very focused on not being controlled, even if her guard isn’t up against Halima, specifically. She is also very focused on being the one who is doing the controlling, leading the Aes Sedai behind her down the only path Egwene believes can ensure the survival of the White Tower and the proper preparedness for Tarmon Gai’don. Meanwhile the Aes Sedai are doing their best to thwart her at every turn, even though they don’t know where she’s leading them, or even that they are being led.
It’s kind of a wonder that the Aes Sedai are such a power in the world, given how very disjointed they are. It’s frankly a wonder they can get anything done at all! At least now we can see how the Black Ajah was able to flourish in the White Tower. The custom of not interfering in another sister’s business gives so much freedom for sneaking around, and the fact that sisters are expected to be working on their own things make it unlikely that a Black sister heading out of the Tower to some Darkfriend meeting would encounter any questions; the worst she could expect would be encountering another sister who outranks her and getting snapped up to aid in that sister’s purpose. Even then, since the Black Ajah members can lie, she could always say she’s been sent on an errand by someone who outranks the sister questioning her. It’s just wild to see that the Aes Sedai’s inability to work as a group started long before Rand showed up to throw the world and all the established rules into chaos. I’m going to be touching on that more next week in an essay on Egwene as Amyrlin, so I’ll leave it for now.
The fact that the idea of working with the Black Tower has been brought up, even though the Aes Sedai don’t yet know that saidin has been cleansed, is very interesting, and a good reminder, I think, of how much the prophecies of the Dragon are on everyone’s minds. Despite the fears of Rand’s Power, despite the stigma of saidin and the knowledge that he is destined to Break the World again, everyone also knows that his presence is the only way the Light can win Tarmon Gai’don. And the Black Tower is so closely associated with him that I do think a small bit of that acknowledgment of need might rub off onto the Asha’man, too.
However, I wonder if Rand’s ta’veren power isn’t also serving him, here. We know he can affect people at great distances. We’ve seen the people who abandoned their homes and went wandering, aimlessly. Whether they were compelled by his power or driven by knowledge of the Prophecies and what the coming of the Dragon Reborn means doesn’t really matter. I think the two things are one and the same when it comes to Rand’s effect on the world. Whether the sisters who stood for Moria’s plan were influenced by some kind of ephemeral tug of the Pattern, or they were merely swayed by argument, Rand’s actions engendered this outcome that I doubt he ever considered, but desperately needs.
Speaking of compelling people, the idea that the Aes Sedai might suspect Rand of using Compulsion on the sisters sworn to him is something else that never occurred to me. When the subject first came up in Egwene’s mind, I was rather indignant on his behalf. Yes, Rand is determined to make himself hard, and to do whatever must be done to ensure the survival of the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he would stoop (morally speaking) to employing a weave like Compulsion.
Except, that actually is what he did. He didn’t use that exact weave, but he did use his ta’veren power, and also the threat of the Asha’man to force the sisters, including those who risked their lives to save him—leaving them little choice but to swear loyalty to him, and knowing that the binding of the Oath Rod would make such a swearing impossible to break. More impossible than breaking free of Compulsion, perhaps. We saw Morgase’s strong will break through Rahvin’s Compulsion, after all—and he was one of the Forsaken!
It’s a chilling reminder.
Next week I’ll have an essay on Egwene as Amyrlin, and then we’ll continue on to Chapters 20 and 21 for the following post. See you then!
