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 23: Next Door to a Weaver
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Nynaeve al’Meara
Setalle Anan bullies Elayne and Nynaeve because she thinks they are pretending to be Aes Sedai. She leads them to the leaders of the Wise Women of Ebou Dar. Elayne is indignant over the treatment but Nynaeve believes this may help in their search for the Bowl of the Winds. On the way Setalle stops at many inns to pass on the sad tale of the girls spending all of their money to impress a man. They stop at a house next to a weaver.
Reanne Corly is unhappy with Setalle for bringing the girls to her home, but Reanne still shows deference for some reason. Reanne and two others question Nynaeve and Elayne to make sure they really spent time in the Tower. This group helps women put out of the Tower, but not wilders or runaways. Finally Elayne puts her Great Serpent ring back on her finger and states that she is Aes Sedai and Nynaeve does the same. They plead for information on the Bowl. They are told they will not be helped and they should leave the city since the Aes Sedai in the Palace will be told. They are escorted out of the house.
REACTION:
“Kick her? Elayne really was becoming violent spending so much time with Aviendha. Someone ought to slap some sense into that pair.” – Nynaeve
Sometimes the slapstick comedy between these two works. Jordan is much more successful with it when we’re in Nyn’s POV, IMO. Her lack of self-awareness and internal contradiction is funnier than Elayne the Princess being flustered.
I’ve thought about Jordan’s take on Elayne. She’s a drag for me to read. I *suspect* though that she could be a great tolerable character on the screen. Some people are understood better with the force of their charisma in tow. Jordan probably had a real person in mind when writing her. It’d be very interesting to know who, though. She reminds me of Shelley Long’s character “Diane” from the TV series Cheers – and as that show existed during the creation of the character, I guess we can’t rule out that she was an influence for Jordan. I looked online and couldn’t find anything from Jordan himself on this topic, but perhaps it’s out there somewhere.
Anyway… Diane was annoying but she plays much better when you get to see her visually than if you were limited to just reading her words. Jordan is descriptive re: Elayne. Maybe I’m supposed to picture someone like her.
Nynaeve figures out that a Circle of 50 women who can channel is likely to know where a storehouse of power-related objects within the city are located. Her motivation in letting herself be manhandled is finding the Bowl without Mat’s help. To Elayne’s credit – I can say nice things about her sometimes – she points out that the only reason they met Mistress Anan is via Mat. So he’d be the root cause if they find the Bowl this way.
“The Circle” seems to be a relatively large number of women who can Chanel. They are from all over the world. My assumption is that these women are women who failed one of their Aes Sedai tests. My reasoning is that the group won’t accept runaways or wilders AND they insist on prior knowledge of the White Tower. They revere Aes Sedai. So who does that leave? This is one of those random bits of continuity that we kind of knew about going back to Nyn and the other’s Accepted tests, but never had anything come of it. We knew women were tossed out if they failed a test or refused to take it. This must be them… or at least some of them. Further… since one of the Aes Sedai mentioned “runaways” on the trip to Ebou Dar, I’d guess that the Aes Sedai know about this group and encourage it in some way.
They are good with the One Power – particularly with making Shields. That implies they were trained to use the One Power. As to the shields, one of them is better than any Aes Sedai with making a Shield and she holds Nynaeve easily, despite being weak with the One Power. Given how strong Nyn is, when this woman says she could hold one of the Forsaken, we know it’s true. So this reminds me a little bit of the Sea Folk knowing things about the weather that Aes Sedai do not and the Aiel knowing things the Aes Sedai do not. It’s likely that this group started out as WT failures but started learning some things on their own in the decades (centuries?) after their formation.
I’d guess that the group *does* know where the power wrought objects are located.
Setalle Anan is a mystery – even to some of the women in the Circle. Let’s see if we can puzzle it out. These women kind of defer to her. It’s implied that Setalle is *very* old. These women kind of defer to her. She’s clearly spent a lot of time in the White Tower and bullies people like an Aes Sedai might. She acted in the previous chapter like she personally knew the Aes Sedai in the palace. Yet she cannot channel.
She reminds me of Siuan before Nyn healed her of being stilled. Ex Aes Sedai? Burned out? I think it’s safe to assume she wasn’t stilled but as with knowing that women are sometimes kicked out of the Tower, we’ve also heard that women get burned out. Maybe she’s one of them? It fits.
I doubt we’re done with Setalle or the Circle, but the plot is advancing no farther from here.