The Wheel of Time sidenotes: This is not the beginning.

[Fredward]

Oh God, you really do have OCD

Srsly.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

You were warned.
OK, time for more reading. Well, after I wash my hands again.

[Suttree]

Let me quote: "By chance, all thirteen of the Forsaken were at Shayol Ghul (perhaps summoned for a conference with the Dark One?), and they were trapped in the sealing, thus decapitating at one stroke the Shadow's leadership. "

So I understand that The Forsaken whoever they were exactly were his main commanders, and there were exactly 13 of them at that point. Like generals or admirals. And when they were trapped the less important leaders of bad guys turned on each other.

Interview: Jan 25th, 2005

TOR Questions of the Week Part II (Verbatim)

Week 12 Question

In Winters Heart, you mention that back in the Age of Legends, there were several other Forsaken that the Dark One had killed because he suspected they would betray him. What's their story? Were those people ever as high ranking as the 13 survivors, or where they more like high-ranking Dreadlords then actual Forsaken?

Robert Jordan

First off, Dreadlords was the name given to men and women who could channel and sided with the Shadow in the Trolloc Wars. Yes, the women were called Dreadlords, too. They might have liked to call themselves "the Chosen," like the Forsaken, but feared to. The real Forsaken might not have appreciated it when they returned, as prophecies of the Shadow foretold would happen. Some of the Dreadlords had authority and responsibility equivalent to that of the Forsaken in the War of the Shadow, however. They ran the Shadow's side of the Trolloc Wars, though without the inherent ability to command the Myrddraal that the Forsaken possess, meaning they had to negotiate with them. Overall command at the beginning was in another's hands.

Forsaken was the name given to Aes Sedai who went over to the Shadow in the War of the Shadow at the end of the Age of Legends, though of course, they called themselves the Chosen, and despite the tales of the "current" Age, there were many more than a few of them. Since they occupied all sorts of levels, you might say that many were equivalent to some of the lesser Dreadlords, but it would be incorrect to call them so. At the time, they were all Forsaken—or Chosen—from the greatest to the least.

Some of those Forsaken the Dark One killed were every bit as high-ranking as the thirteen who were remembered, and who you might say constituted a large part of the Dark One's General Staff at the time of the sealing. With the Forsaken, where treachery and backstabbing were an acceptable way of getting ahead, the turnover in the upper ranks was fairly high, though Ishamael, Demandred, Lanfear, Graendal, Semirhage, and later Sammael, were always at the top end of the pyramid. They were very skilled at personal survival, politically and physically.

In large part the thirteen were remembered because they were trapped at Shayol Ghul, and so their names became part of that story, though it turned out that details of them, stories of them, survived wide-spread knowledge of the tale of the actual sealing itself. Just that they had been sealed away. Other Forsaken were left behind, so to speak, free but in a world that was rapidly sliding down the tube. The men eventually went mad and died from the same taint that killed off the other male Aes Sedai. They had no access to the Dark One's protective filters. The women died, too, though from age or in battle or from natural disasters created by insane male Aes Sedai or from diseases that could no longer be controlled because civilization itself had been destroyed and access to those who were skilled in Healing was all but gone. And soon after their deaths, their names were forgotten, except for what might possibly be discovered in some ancient manuscript fragment that survived the Breaking. A bleak story of people who deserved no better, and not worth telling in any detail.

As for AS in the Age of Legends, if they had gone along with LTT's plan then Saidar would have been tainted as well and the world would have already been destroyed.

RJ:

The result of this was that Lews Therin carried out his plan with only male Aes Sedai, so there were only male Aes Sedai channeling there, which was a lucky thing, because if there’d been women as well, then both saidin and saidar would have been tainted.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Well, I'm still alive.

I survived crash of my laptop and Holy-Hand-Grenade Christmas, and now I'm back.
Meanwhile I read New Spring through chapter 21, before gift books took all my time.

Anyway now with my computer back, and definitely too much of filled pages I'm back on a track

Chapter 03: Practice

- Fish icon.

Why equal, when some Ajahs were larger than others? Had they once been the same size? How could that have been achieved? A newly raised Aes Sedai chose her Ajah freely. Yet each Ajah had quarters of the same size.

- The brightest adepts of mystical arts they are.

“I wager you will be in the Hall of the Tower by the time you have worn the shawl a hundred years, and Amyrlin before fifty more,” she said, not for the first time. It brought the same reaction it always did.

- No, she won't. Have you already forgotten, Moiraine? Doom is coming. THE DOOM. What are the chances that you, your friend, White Tower and institution of Amyrlin Seat, would survive the next thirty, forty years, not even speaking about one hundred and fifty? Come on!

Once, my father took his boat all the way downriver to the Sea of Storms, and I could hardly pull on the nets for staring south, wondering what lay beyond the horizon. I’ll see it, one day. And the Aryth Ocean. Who knows what lies west of the Aryth Ocean? Strange lands with strange customs. Maybe cities as great as Tar Valon, and mountains higher than the Spine of the World. Just think of it, Moiraine. Just think!

- They all gonna be destroyed soon enough, so don't be too excited.

Siuan was so fierce about her intended adventures, though she would never call them that. Adventures were what took place in stories and books, not in life, as Siuan would point out to anyone who used the word.

- Fictional character stating "it's real life not some kind of story" cliche.

That infant’s birth meant the Dark One would break free again, for the child would be born to face the Dark One in Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle. On him rested the fate of the world. The Prophecies said he was the only chance. They did not say he would win.

- I wonder why they called it The Last Battle. Aren't it against circular conception of time, where everything repeats itself over, and over, and over. Shouldn't it be called "Just Another Battle against Evil Overlord with World's Fate on Stakes"?

Maybe worse than the thought of his defeat, though, was the fact that he would channel saidin, the male half of the One Power. Moiraine did not shiver at that; she shuddered. Saidin bore the Dark One’s taint.

- Does Dark One's taint is supposed to be more terrifying than Dark Ones loose and consuming every last bit of reality?

- And apparently Aes Sedai numbers are dwindling. Maybe they should stop discouraging future Aes Sedai from getting married and having some kids.

- Siuan and Moiraine have mutual spider-senses.

Embracing the True Source, Moiraine let saidar fill her. Not as much of it as she could hold, but enough for practicing. Channeling was tiring work, and the more of the Power you channeled, the worse. Even that tiny amount spread through her, filling her with joy and life, with exultation. The wonder of it was near to torment.

- That's explain why Wizards of Discworld preferred spells over sex.

- I have to admit this magical system seems to be really well designed. But where the hell is Subtractive magic?

Any sister was expected to deal with a man who could channel if she encountered one, but Reds concentrated on hunting them down.

- Wait, you have one of your Ajahs specially for hunting down male channelers. Are they such a common threat that you need to design an Ajah solely in that purpose?

A grim fate, to save the world if he could, then for reward be cut off from this wonder.

- Of course that assuming that there will be any Red sisters to cut him off after Apocalypse.

- And now I really think that those Reds won't be waiting till Tarmon Gai'don to deal with the Dragon.

Myrelle was gregarious and also mercurial, with a boisterous sense of humor and a temper even worse than Moiraine’s when she let it go.

- Damn, one sentence and I had to check three words in my dictionary. And I'm pretty sure half o' Mericans have no idea what "boisterous" means.

“I did not squeal like…in the way you said", she said primly, playing for time.

- So you squeal in a totally different way, huh?

A number of sisters claimed that various passages in the Prophecies of the Dragon referred to the Aiel. Of course, just as many said they did not. At the beginning of the war, there had been rather animated discussions about the matter. They would have been called shouting arguments if the women involved had not been Aes Sedai.

- Because Aes Sedai don't shout. They speak loudly to overcome wind howling through leaky windows.

- Oh, they have their own Game of Thrones here. Game of Houses. I wonder if GRRM takes the name from here. And apparently whole Moiraine nation is constantly playing this Game. Even farmers or stewards. Because you know while being farmer in semi-medieval landscape you have lot of time and will to become manipulative schemer. Like "oh' my neighbors can't find out whether I'm going to cultivate oat or wheat this year. They could use it on my disadvantage. I'm gonna tell everybody it's time for cabbage and beetroots."

- Here it comes! The spanking orgy. Not even remotely as exciting as it sounds.

They are just learning how to make a ball of fire, and if I am not there, one of them is sure to try it anyway.

- So you are learning novices how to make fireballs. Wonderful.

- Welcome to White Tower. We have even the most rare nations.

“In thanksgiving for the continued safety of Tar Valon,” she said, her voice carrying easily to everyone, “I have decided the Tower will give a bounty of one hundred crowns in gold to every woman in the city who bore a child between the day the first soldiers arrived and the day the threat is ended. It is being announced on the streets even as I speak.”

- That's kinda weird plan. Or maybe, I don't know, it's common enough in this world.

“As some of you may already know, an army is always accompanied by camp followers, sometimes more camp followers than there are soldiers. Many of these are craftsfolk an army needs, the armorers and fletchers, the blacksmiths and farriers and wagonwrights, but among them are soldiers’ wives and other women. Since the army provided the shield to Tar Valon, I have decided to extend the bounty to those women also.”

- You have soldier wives among camp followers? Are you nuts? Or maybe that's just some sophisticated metaphor.

Alanna was a shy woman at heart, but she worked hard at being fierce. She told anyone who would listen that she wanted to belong to the Green, the Battle Ajah, and have a dozen Warders. Only Greens bonded more than a single Warder. None had that many Warders, of course, but that was Alanna, always exaggerating.

- I really hope we gonna meet Alanna in the future as a full-armed bad-ass Aes Sedai with twelve Warders.

- And here our generic Inquisition guys.

A Whitecloak will know an Accepted’s dress when he sees one, and if he can safely put an arrow through her back, it will please him as much as if she were Aes Sedai.”

- So maybe it would be reasonable to give them some other dresses while they're going outside to do Tower's work.

That was how Aes Sedai hid things in plain sight. Some said Aes Sedai had invented the Game of Houses.

- After thousand of years people should really learn to see through such a cheap tricks.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Chapter 04: Leaving the Tower

- Preparations to leave. Take your time Moiraine.

- Really, no hurry.

No need for the penknife, she thought ruefully, careful to keep her face smooth.

- Great, five pages of preparations for nothing.

Siuan saw patterns where no one else could.

- Which is technically called paranoia.

- Welcome in Hitchhiker's Guide to Tar Valon. (Ethnic diversity appendix contained.)

There were dark-clad Cairhienin, easy to pick out because they were shorter and paler than nearly everyone else

- Short, pale, always playing Game of T... Houses. So basically Moiraine you belongs to nation of Littlefingers.

She even glimpsed a charcoal-skinned fellow who might have been one of the Sea Folk, though some Tairens were as dark. His hands were hidden in his frayed cloak as he scuttled away in the throng, so she could not see whether they were tattooed.

- Sea Folk tattoos were described before as a "scattering of black tattoos". What's the point of making black tattoo on black skin?

- And here we have an inhuman race. Ogier. They are basically elves. Huge elves. With big noses. And dangling eyebrows... Dangling eyebrows? How can you have a dangling eyebrow? Maybe I went too far with elf comparison.

- Oh' and Ogier in my native language means stallion. Just so you know how bloody weird it is for me.

- Damn, Children of the Light, did no one ever told you that white cloaks are bad choice for action guys. Just ask the Moon Knight.

And they dared to block traffic on one of Tar Valons bridges? Well, there was only her and Siuan and the Guardsmen, but the principle was the same. The fact that it was Siuan and her and Tower Guards made it worse, in truth. That made it intolerable.

- Slowly, slowly Moiraine. I know those guys are mortal enemies, but still they didn't commit any acts of hostility here. Maybe they were just admiring beauty of your Unholy Babylon city or something.

- What are all those women and children doing in a war camps. Unprotected! When you rode on a war with Eastern hordes of very possible Darkfriends you shouldn't take all your family with you! Are these people made?

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Chapter 05: The Human Heart

- All those women in war camp! All those pregnant women!

Maybe they were merchants, though what trade they could find here was beyond her.

- Yeah, pregnant merchants in the middle of the World War.

I refused to stay behind when my husband rode to war, of course.

- Of course, that is totally understandable.

She was not an innocent − she had observed horse-breeding and helped at foaling; if you did not know how a thing was done, how could you know whether your servants did it properly? − but she had no experience with babies.

- I was thinking about some Ogier-joke but I decided to abandon this idea.

In a haybarn a mile west of here? No, not the place youd expect to give birth to your heir. Perhaps you shouldn't have been out riding so close to your term, not to mention the fighting that was going on.

- At least Siuan notices that all those pregnant women in the middle of a war are wrong.

The only surprise was the number of women who were not Murandian. Soldiers gone to war, it seemed, frequently acquired foreign-born wives.

- Yeah, they called them salt wives.

The Tower could afford to be generous, yet no one could be allowed to take Aes Sedai for fools. A good part of the Towers power came from the belief that sisters were the very opposite of fools in every way.

- A trick. Shadow on a wall.

- Wait, so Elaida who has been Aes Sedai only for five years were assigned to be a private adviser to the Queen. That's kinda fast career.

- So Whites are all in philosophy. I really wonder why organisation of powerful sorceress need a special division for philosophers. I mean you don't need magic to become a philosopher. That should be more like a hobby, than a center of your magical career.

- Anyway Meilyn seems cool.

- And Elaida is one of the Reds. I suppose that's officially makes them Slytherin of this particular Hogwarts.

- Moiraine sense of modesty is so touchy that she has a problem with using even more neutral term for human breeding.

Cairhienin, Meilyn breathed. She sounded very nearlyamused!

- Oh, so it's not only Moiraine but whole nation of Cairhien. Yikes.

- Let's put thing into the order. Cairhien - pale, short, schemers constantly playing their games even among social classes that should really find more suitable entertainment. Nation of Littlefingers. And they're blushing each time when someone mentions that those stork stories aren't exactly true. Well that explains why Baelish rhymes with Amish.

- And what advice can Cairhienin bride gets from her mother? "Close your eyes and think about Daes Dae'mar"? Actually when I think about Petyr's marriage that makes some sense.

When a man believes he may die, he wants to leave something of himself behind. When a woman believes her man may die, she wants that part of him desperately. The result is a great many babies born during wars.

- Yeah OK, but that's why they don't take their pregnant wives and newborns with them. Because that would decrease chances that they'd leave something of them behind.

- Damn, that really annoys me. I have this feeling that all those bloody kids were put here only to make search for Dragon Reborn harder.

There were things one did in public and talked about, and things that were done in private and definitely not talked about.

- Like for instance demography. Well, Moiraine shares that trait with my government.

he struggled to regain control of herself, performing mental exercises for seeking calm. She was the river, contained by the bank; she was the bank, containing the river. She was a flower bud, opening to the sun.

- Ah, soothing erotic metaphors to calm down after terrible contact with basic human psychology.

- And here comes the mindfuck.

Alone among the Ajahs, the Red refused to bond Warders. Most Reds seemed to dislike men altogether.

- Because all men are mudbloods!

Logically, Meilyn said, her serene gaze going to the other sister, Reds have greater need of Warders than any except Greens, perhaps greater even than Greens. But no matter. The Ajahs choose as they will.

- Logically powerful magical order shouldn't need to have division devoted to protecting logic and rational thinking.

- And now Moiraine's uncles are all dead. But she doesn't cares.

- Littlefinger land without his king. That can be interesting.

Moiraines opinion was that he had remained unmarried for the simple reason that even the inducement of becoming Queen of Cairhien was not enough to convince any woman to marry him.

- Too scheming to force, to shy to seduce. The curse of Cairhien.

- Oh, and one of the uncles were called More sin. No wonder he grew to become a bad guy.

And in contempt for her father because he was a scholar, because he had taken another scholar for his second wife rather than marrying to bring lands or connections to House Damodred.

- At least he was married. Twice.

- Moiraine's family is called Damodred. Moressin Damodred, yes, that couldn't possibly end well. Lucky he died or he could become some serious Evil Master.

- Weren't one of Forsaken guys called Damodred? (checking notes) Demandred. Close enough.

- And Merean thinks that Moiraine is eaten by grief.

Extinguishing her lamps, she wove a ward to keep her dreams from affecting anyone elses − that could happen with those who could channel; others nearby could find themselves sharing your dreams − and crawled beneath her blankets.

- Now that's cool!

They can bring him to the Tower, Moiraine replied, putting more confidence into her voice than she felt. He can be protected here.

- From your friend Elaida and her red sisters for instance?

“He can be guided.” That would be the most important of all, to make sure that he made the right decisions.

- Oh, those Aes Sedai are such a control freaks.

A bird could not teach a fish to fly.

- Penguins anyone?

Aes Sedai dont have bad dreams.

- And here's the greatest secret of White Tower. Valium recipe!

but she saw a babe crying in the snow on Dragonmount, and a faceless man calling down lightning

- Damn, Jaqen H'ghar you're a busy, assassin fellow, aren't you.

- And here fifth chapter ends. And also the first day.

- First day of the rest of your lives.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

As before, almost all of your issues are covered extensively in later books, in particular the issue of declining numbers of channelers and the divisions among Aes Sedai.

Also, having female camp followers is not historically unusual.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Nice recap.

Ou and ogier aren't elves, they're ogres. Shrek basically.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

As before, almost all of your issues are covered extensively in later books, in particular the issue of declining numbers of channelers and the divisions among Aes Sedai.

Well I hope so. What would be point of having issues if they are only randomly created by author ;)

Also, having female camp followers is not historically unusual.

Yeah, but whores or some servants. Not wives of soldiers. Not PREGNANT wives who are just to give birth. Not newborn heirs of nobleman. I mean they aren't some refugees. They just left with their husbands to join great war in some foreign land. With no apparent reason.

Ou and ogier aren't elves, they're ogres. Shrek basically

.

I get that the name is derieved from an ogre, but Ogiers themselves (is it name of nation or species, and if it's specie why we wrote it with Capital O) seems to me more like some gigantic elves. Can you imagine Shrek with dangling eyebrows? Come on dangling eyebrows are just the second most un-ogrish thing evah! ;)

[Sansa_Stark]

There is no fictional character I want to make love to more than Moraine.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Wives followed their husbands to war all the time. Some have become very famous doing so (Fanny Duberly, "Molly Pitcher"). Medieval German Landsknechte regiments traveled with "Tross" groups, in which almost all women were wives or the betrothed of soldiers in the regiment (since they didn't allow unskilled single women into them for fear of prostitution).

There's a pretty good book about this called "Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe." Suffice to say that up through the Crimean War and maybe beyond, wives were always a significant portion of the camp followers.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

That's an absolute madness, either way.
But well my country was always less into professional soldiers and mercenaries and more into free armies of noblemen with women left behind caring about properties (that's of course unless war come into those properties but that's just another story.)

Anyway OK, I'm leaving my charges against an author. Now I blame all humanity ;)

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

There is no fictional character I want to make love to more than Moraine.

Lord Rickard, I beg you now, don't speak such a things aloud. Don't you know that there are things to be definitely not talked about?

Poor girl could get a stroke or aneurysm or asthma attack.

Just breath steady and keep thinking about Daes Dae'mar, Moiraine.

Anyway time for moving on.

Chapter 06: Surprises

- Day two.

- Aiel are retreating. With some luck they are carrying the Dragon Reborn with them. Funny no one has considered this option yet.

One sister may be mistaken, but when three tell you something, you may be sure they have the right of it.

- I'd like to test that theory.

They would find him first. Somehow, they would. Grin? She could have laughed aloud and danced.

- It's nice, Moiraine, that even in the face of Armageddon you can find something to be happy about.

They should have known better. All they achieved was to have Merean note them with a glance, and she would dig until she discovered what they felt guilt about. In Cairhien, a gooseherd would have known as much.

- I would rather wonder if he knows anything about geese actually. Like for instance geese breathing.

Well, she was right, in point of fact. When Merean said an Accepted might test soon, it always came within the month.

- Like executions in Belarus.

- Awwww, and Merean cares about her little geese. But however I'm deeply moved, they are still grown-up women, and that's a bit of exaggerating.

- And now it's Siuan who saw the opportunity. Siuan - Daes Dae'mar 1:0.

I doubt there could be two boys born on Dragonmount.

- Well, yesterday I wouldn't believe that there could be a war camp full of pregnant soldier wives and their newborns. But each new day gives us a valuable lessons.

“Why would you be brooding? Why are you supposed to be in shock?”

- That's the thing about being a Cairhienin with a soul. Extra brooding.

- But seriously I'm still impressed by Siuan wits here.

What you don’t know is, I have two others my father wouldn’t let cross his doorstep, one his own brother. My father wouldn’t even say their names.

- I wonder if your father often mentions your name this days, Siuan. (AKA Tairen Are Assholes).

- And why they even pray for their deceased. Is there some sort of Purgatory for wicked souls to attend before they are allowed to reincarnate again?

Then again, she truly did hate doing clerical work. No one enjoyed that.

- No I wonder if me writing this things down can be classified as clerical work.

- Oh, its day three already!

- And Tamra so obviously sees through their little plan. And apparently she's quite cool with it. I should be surprised but after Albus Dumbledore found suitable to basically arrange duel between 11 y.o. student and DADA teacher possessed by Evil Overlod, and after Gandalf decided that middle-aged hobbit would be an excellent addition to band of dwarf rogues...

Interpreting what others really meant was integral to the Game of Houses, and put together, Tamra’s smile, the cast of her eye, and the phrasing she had used were as good as written permission.

- Yeah, I'm sure every court would find you not guilty.

- Moiraine is like Sirius Black. Decent descendant of Ancient and Most Noble House of Nuts.

- And her half-brother is married to Queen of Andorra. Or whatever. So basically thanks to their brother's son Lame Man and More Sin achieved enormous diplomatic success, and they still were ass to him because his second marriage? Man, truly they were totally assholes.

- Anyway this half-brother thing can be really interesting in a future. When real Game of Houses will begin.

- And now Moiraine is in serious threat of becoming a queen. That would be some sweet, sweet mess.

- Apocalypse Now, war against Unspeakable Evil, channeling Messiah/Antichrist in one body, second Breaking of the World = cool adventure. Becoming first decent ruler of your nation in generations = terrible fate, horror that has to be avoided. That's what I call borderline personality.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Chapter 07: The Itch

No woman would want to admit that she had birthed a son who would channel the Power one day, with all that entailed, the child of her body doomed to madness and terror. How much less would she admit to bearing a child who might become the Dragon Reborn?

- I'm not sure but I suppose that being Dragon Reborn is kinda better than being common channeler. I mean OK he will be abomination, but at least world-saving abomination.

- And Tamra knows everything so obviously.

She wanted to beg Tamra to halt that scheme, yet she knew begging would be useless. The Tower was no less implacable in its weaving than the Wheel of Time itself.

- Maybe you could, I don't know misbehave in some serious way and be expelled, or something.

No Aes Sedai had ridden to war since the Trolloc Wars, but when the Last Battle came, the Battle Ajah would ride in the forefront. Until then, they fought for justice where it often could be obtained only through their Warders’ swords, but that was just what they did while they waited on Tarmon Gai’don.

- So, basically they are unemployed last two thousand years? Whole Ajah doing nothing important but waiting for an Apocalypse? So no living Battle Sedai have took part in real battle. Damn, hope they aren't rusty on the edges or something.

- And to think I find idea of Red Ajah irrational.

Meeting a Warder’s gaze was akin to that. Not fierce, but full of self-knowledge, absolutely aware of their own capabilities, their capacity for violence.

- Do they have a special academy for it?

- Green Ajah and their Musical Warders.

- And no even sight of spanking orgies.

Families died, and everything you knew vanished. Except the Tower. The White Tower always remained.

- Yeah, we gonna see that one after the Last Battle.

Kerene herself stood working at an embroidery frame mounted on a stand. It always seemed incongruous to see a Green doing needlework.

- Why? After all Action Girls always love their needles...

- And some more Aes Sedai/Warder mindfuck.

- Tamra's sending more important messages.

- Oh, OK, so Grey Ajah are lawyers and diplomats. Ajah of lawyers, srsly. Do you need magical powers to be a lawyer? Or diplomat? Or philosopher? No you don't. Everyone can be one.

- Beware of Mighty Dragon Seekers. Or maybe better Dragon Searchers. Yeah, that's sounds definitely better.

- And obviously Tamra is using two, extremely talented Accepted to carry those messages. Accepted that accidentally knows about Gitara's Foretelling. Oh, you nasty, nasty Dumbledore.

- And even Amyrlin Seat sees that Reds are Slytherin.

- Moiraine can wonder that Siuan cannot see through veils of Daes Dae'mar, but she seems to be unaware that they are like open book to Amyrlin.

- And now new Keeper stops their absolutely unnecessary tries to spy on Amyrlin Seat. She's kinda cool.

- Any why does this chapter even exists?

[Frey Pie]

Many people say that the Greens likely spend a lot of time at the Borderlands, advising the Kingdoms there and helping to beat back raiding parties

Also from an earlier question: A horsebow would likely be a recurve bow, smaller and more manageable on horseback or in terrain such as woods. A normal bow would be a longer, straight bow. Longbows for example could be quite big, hence impossible to fire from horseback

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Chapter 08: Shreds of Serenity

- Beware! Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillon are back in even more heartbreaking sequel of world's most famous epilogue!

- Aes Sedai have enough of whole bounty situation. Damn, how long could they be taking those names.

- And M&S are collateral damage.

- The only Aes Sedai that agrees to give girls some lessons are Dragon Se... Searchers.Though I cannot see why so close of final exams they are learning about history or philosophy. Shouldn't they practice those lightdamned spells?

Had she dared, she would have asked why they were still in the Tower. Why were they not out hunting down the names on the list? Why?

- Because they don't have all the names. You haven't finished your rewriting yet.

“Rumor is irrational and has no place here, child,” Meilyn told her firmly, her gaze serene above the teacup balanced on her fingertips. “Now. When Shivena said that reality is illusion, where did she gain insight from Willim and what was her own?”

- Yeah, rumors are irrational, let's talk about why world isn't real.

A gusting evening breeze in the well rippled the waves of golden hair framing her perfect face. Her eyes were like large sapphires, her skin like rich cream. The only fault in her appearance that Moiraine could see was an over-abundance of bosom.

- And how's that a fault?

“I mean to have six Warders when I ride to the Last Battle.”

- Why six when you can have twelve.

Ellid was always telling you what she intended to do. She almost always did it, too. That hardly seemed fair.

- That hardly seems Aes Sedai.

“Siuan, did you never wonder how Tamra could be certain this is the time, that the boy will be born now? I would say it is very likely that at least one of those other Foretellings spoke of him. Something that, put with what we heard her say, told Tamra that now is the time.”

- Maybe because it was like "HE IS BORN RIGHT NOW. HE IS TAKING HIS FIRST BREATH". And then she bloody died. That sounded really Present-timish to me.

You will pass, or I’ll make you take off your skin and dance in your bones before you’re sent away.

- I'm pretty sure that's not legal. (But Aes Sedai really cannot lie, damn)

We knew how to practice when I was Accepted

- Good old times. Five years ago.

- And now Elaida is so absolutely psycho-bitch.

“Even if you managed to finish, as you are, you would still fail. There isn't a shred of serenity in you.”

- Since when turning those two into hamburgers counts as serenity?

Remember, you must be serene whatever is done to you.

- I really hope those words gonna return to you in the future and bite your ass off.

- So I understand that novices and Accepted are expected not to complain even if Tower's laws are broken. Not exactly healthy system.

- Thankfully Merean saves the day.

Never a straight answer when mystery would do, and perhaps do better.

- People have to love you for that.

- Mortification of Flesh. Sounds cool.

Perhaps I shouldn't tell you, but I will. Her penance would have been for helping you cheat in the test for the shawl. All that saved her was the question of whether it actually was cheating.

- Cheating? How exactly?

I trust you will accept her gift in the spirit it was given.

- There are some kinds of spirits that are better to be avoided.

Oh, this was no small enmity that might fester over time. What was in Elaida’s eyes was full-blown animosity. They had acquired an enemy for life.

- There's this short poem in Polish: Cardinal Richelieu's secret / I shall to you reveal / God protect me from my friends / With enemies I shall deal.

One week to the day after Gitara made her Foretelling, the weather warmed suddenly.

- Wait, it was only eight days since Foretelling? Damn I was sure it was at least two weeks.

- Melting snow is giving limits to Prophecy. Quite cool.

- Oh, and now it's time for Moiraine FINAL EXAM. Wonder if auntie Elaida lessons will help Moiraine in some way.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Many people say that the Greens likely spend a lot of time at the Borderlands, advising the Kingdoms there and helping to beat back raiding parties

If that's true then it has some sense.

Also from an earlier question: A horsebow would likely be a recurve bow, smaller and more manageable on horseback or in terrain such as woods. A normal bow would be a longer, straight bow. Longbows for example could be quite big, hence impossible to fire from horseback

I was thinking so, I only wasn't sure if it could be some specific kind of bow that we haven't proper word in Polish. Thanks.

[ziz0z]

Apparently weeks are ten days in the WOT world, per the wikia. (I think that's in an appendix somewhere, as well as the worldbook; I don't recall if it's ever made clear in the text.)

[Suttree]

- So, basically they are unemployed last two thousand years? Whole Ajah doing nothing important but waiting for an Apocalypse? So no living Battle Sedai have took part in real battle. Damn, hope they aren't rusty on the edges or something.

The author has confirmed they are up patrolling the blight and working with the borderland nations to hold back the shadow.

As for other things they get up to, here are some of RJ's notes on Cadsuane:

There are the usual tales expected of a Green, only more of them. Riots suppressed and wars stopped single-handedly; rulers steadied on their thrones, or pulled from them, sometimes toppled openly and sometimes more subtly (toppling rulers was something Aes Sedai had not really done much of in the last thousand years, but Cadsuane seemed in many ways a throwback). Rescuing people carried into the Blight or kidnaped by dangerous bands of Darkfriends, breaking up murderous rings of Darkfriends plaguing villages and towns, and exposing powerful Darkfriends who tried to kill her to protect themselves...

[jagilki]

I really, really, really think reading the books in chronological order screws things up. But that's just me.