Welcome back to my re-read, recap, and reaction to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. This post will only have spoilers through the current chapter.
You can find my previous chapter recaps HERE.
Chapter 12: Questions and Answers
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Nynaeve al’Meara
Nynaeve and Elayne are trying to eavesdrop on the Salidar Hall of the Tower. They want to know what Elaida‘s demands are for fixing the split in the White Tower and if those demands affect them or Rand adversely. Moghedien is telling them there is a way to get through the ward against eavesdropping, but they are not having any success. The whole village is tense and rife with rumors while waiting to see what the Aes Sedai decide.
Nynaeve asks Birgitte if she can acquire some horses in case they need to leave in a hurry without permission. Birgitte would like to have Uno come also, but Nynaeve doesn’t want to ask for his help. She then asks Birgitte to listen at a window to the Hall of the Tower but Birgitte absolutely refuses. She was caught in a prior life eavesdropping on Aes Sedai and still remembers the lesson she was given. Nicola arrives to remind Nynaeve of her copying chores. As Nynaeve heads to the meeting she thinks of all the things that could go wrong, which upsets her stomach.
Delana and Janya are waiting for Nynaeve but instead of copying, they ask her questions about Rand. Next she has to meet with Theodrin who is attempting to break the block that keeps Nynaeve from channeling consistently. On the way she goes to the back of the inn where the Salidar Hall is meeting to try to eavesdrop without using the Power. She catches the tail-end of a conversation between Tarna and the Salidar Six telling Tarna that the Hall has decided it needs more time before accepting Elaida’s terms. After Tarna leaves, the Salidar Six mention that they are tired of waiting for the “biddable child” but Nynaeve has no idea who they mean. Theodrin finds Nynaeve just as she’s stepping away from the window. An unidentified woman watches Nynaeve and Nicola from a second-story window.
REACTION:
Why is Moghedien suddenly so confident one-on-one with Nynaeve to start the chapter? We don’t really know. To some degree, I think the answer is that she knows she can be, with the a’dam out of the room with Elayne. Nynaeve won’t hurt her in any other way than with the a’dam. Moggy also probably knows by now that Nynaeve will not punish her for this when she gets it back. It’s also probably true that Moggy is *desperate* to get out from under so many Aes Sedai noses so she is going to take chances and push hard to convince the supergirls to flee ot Caemlyn.
(She can’t possibly know that Rand would recognize her or she’d never consider being within 1,000 miles of him.)
It makes me wonder: Is she less securely captured than Asmodean was? I think so. If she escapes, she won’t necessarily be destroyed. That wasn’t true for Asmodean. Moggy is trapped by a device, but Asmodean was trapped within his own mind, by his circumstances. The Supergirls’ big flaw was failing to convince her of the danger that awaited her if she didn’t switch sides to their own. Instead, they left her alone with her thoughts for long enough that she started scheming a way back into her Master’s good graces. They let that seed of irrational hope grow. Rand (but to a greater extent Lanfear) never did that with Asmodean.
To be honest, I’d forgotten that “Marigan” had two kids when the Supergirls met her. It actually is a big deal that they might start talking. There could obviously be a story that the group could come up with, to explain this away, yet it’s all but a guarantee that an Aes Sedai might want to talk to Moggy to clear that up. Could she sense Marigan’s ability close up? Maybe.
We get the Delana/Janya interrogation from Nynaeve’s POV, but as an outsider I actually appreciate the fact that the Aes Sedai are going to so much effort to understand Rand before they meet with him. Putting that understanding into a plan that makes sense and works is another matter, but this is how you should approach the meeting.
Nynaeve learns that the Salidar Tower is waiting for “the biddable child” to be part of their plans. Who could that be? The only likely guess is Egwene (though if they knew her, they wouldn’t think of her as “biddable.”) She’s the one they’ve been waiting to meet with in the World of Dreams, but who has been absent from their meetings due to her Lanfear-induced injuries.
Who is watching Nyn from a window at the end of the chapter? Not Moggy. Another Forsaken? The only window-watcher we’ve met before is Lanfear, back in book 2. Could she be back? There is a precedent for such a thing. We’ll see, though. I guess we’ll need to keep an eye out for mysterious women arriving in the near future.
Great, well done for posting. Good luck.
Thank you! I appreciate your kind words.