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 9: A Pair of Silverpike
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Egwene al’Vere
Egwene has Leane Sharif join her and Siuan Sanche even though it risks revealing that Leane and Siuan are not truly antagonistic towards each other. Egwene wishes them to find out what they can about the man who freed Moghedien. They suggest passing the task to Faolain Orande or Theodrin Dabei.
Egwene is suffering from fairly constant headaches and hasn’t been able to find a cure for them. Taking a walk she stops at the Traveling ground where Sisters are returning with pigeons from Salidar with messages from eyes-and-ears across the land. A few days ago Sisters finally admitted to Egwene that the delegation to Rand in Caemlyn has not reported for a while. The first report was positive from the delegations’ view point but Egwene doesn’t really believe they made a good assessment of Rand. Egwene knows from the Wise Ones that Rand moved to Cairhien, which makes Egwene suspect that Merana has misstepped with Rand. They’ve also told her that the White Tower delegation has left Cairhien, which feels wrong to Egwene. Egwene mutters that she should go to Rand, but Leane overhears and reminds her that the Amyrlin can not put herself in danger without permission from the Hall.
On her way back from her walk, Nicola Treehill stops her and pleads to be allowed to gain strength faster. Areina Nermasiv is there, too, since she usually keeps company with Nicola. When Egwene refuses, the pair try to blackmail Egwene with information they overheard from Thom and Juilin on the way to Salidar. Egwene threatens them with dire punishments, while inwardly she wonders how much this information could damage her position if it is ever revealed.
REACTION:
Egwene recruits Faolain and Theodrin to discreetly ask about who was in the vicinity of Marigan (Moggy)’s tent when she was freed from the a’dam. Neither of them know Marigan’s actual identity, but Siuan and Leane both become nearly unhinged upon learning the news. They’d both worn the a’dam and neither can even lie to themselves that they’d have any chance whatsoever against one of the Forsaken. Moggy now has a personal grudge against both (though I’d guess Nynaeve is her #1 target by far.)
I suppose the thing that best protects Nynny is that she’s beaten Moggy multiple times and the Spider is a coward. We also don’t know what kind of punishment (or assignment) that Moggy will get from the Dark One. I’d guess it will be severe. (It seems likely that the more powerful you are, the more harshly the D.O. punishes you for failure.)
Eggy’s headaches continue. Nobody in a camp filled with what are allegedly the most clever women in the world has caught on that a health problem in a world where people can be healed completely via magic doesn’t make sense.
We get some of Egwene’s insight into Rand. She doesn’t know that Alanna bonded him without his consent and she muses that if the Green Sister got into Rand’s bed that he’d be “clay” in her hands. This line of thought is maybe Egwene’s biggest flaw. Rand is demonstrably FAR more clever than she is, and battle hardened, and she cannot bring herself to think of him as anything other than slow-witted. It’s not that I think she *really* believes it, either. It’s a lie she tells herself. But her identity is wrapped up in him needing her, so even when he doesn’t need her per se, she has to invent a version of him to tell herself about, that does need her.
Notably, the Wise Ones are not telling him about anything that has happened to Rand yet. From a timeline standpoint, though, I don’t think it’s clear yet whether he’s been rescued at Dumai’s Wells. The best thought she has is going to Rand and talking things out, and she immediately dismisses that as impossible . (On the contrary, though, this would have saved probably books worth of plot and it would have worked.)
What do I think about Nicola and Areina trying to blackmail Egwene? It was a bold but dumb plan. It might have worked if they’d tried something like that before Egwene was Amyrlin, or if they’d tried it on Nynaeve or Elayne. The problem is that they over-valued their own leverage. Even if they’d tried to use it against her, the people they would have tried to feed with that info would have been embarrassed by it and come down on her (and probably Siuan.)
Nicola: “Sheriam Sedai, did you know that the Amyrlin Seat, Egwene, was pretending to be Aes Sedai before she arrived in Salidar? Nynaeve and Elayne Sedai were doing the same thing.”
Sheriam: [ponders how to use the info for herself] “You are to repeat this to no one. I will find out if you do. How dare you blackmail an Aes Sedai?!”
Then the two silverpike get sent to a farm for penance for the next five years. If they don’t just get discreetly murdered.
Not to sound like one of the contemptuous Forsaken… but which of the ladies (the ones we’ve met and spent time with) of the White Tower is the most clever? Is anyone even close to Moiraine? Eggy is obviously young, and Nynaeve had had her moments, but they’re both frequently out-thinked. Verin is the only candidate, IMO, but we cannot judge her yet because we don’t really know what her agenda is or if she is succeeding in its pursuit. Alviarin is clever, too, but how clever? That remains to be seen.
It’s not that Jordan doesn’t write clever women. Faile, Birgitte, and nearly all of the Wise Ones are clever. But the lack of cleverness among the Aes Sedai seems intentional.
Anyway… I’m not impressed with Nicola or Areina. However, I suspect that this is not the last of those two posing an unexpected threat to things. It’s worth remembering IMO that both arrived on the boat to Salidar with “Marigan.”
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