Who is the Taraboner working with Arymilla?

[lummy]

Who is the Taraboner working with Arymilla when they are camped outside Camelyn besieging the town in COT?

 

Is he a Forsaken working to cause chaos or just a rogue character?

 

I may have missed something when reading the book previously and am currently working my way through the COT at the moment.

[mikey sedai]

Do you mean the nasty 'secratary'? Torture master?

IIRC there's a couple of theories. I think one is that he's Demandred. The other is that he's Mogheiden, working together with Cyndane(Sylvase) in Camelyn.

I think tho, that the events at the end of KoD mean that only one of them could be a Forsaken in disguise. I don't think that they'd work together so openly if they were both Forsaken.

Don't ask me which tho. But it's probably Sylvase.

[DemandredFO]

I never heard the theory that Sylvaze is a Forsaken in disguise. Is this a new theory or did I miss it somewhere? It would, if true, explain why Nacen is nuts.

[Graendals favourite]

The last I read it I wondered if he might be Fain, though I do think it more likely there's someone of the shadow there. Moghedien at least gave those Aes Sedai, when they returned to Caemlyn in the nick of time, those ter'angreal toys, that might speak for her presence. Has Sylvace shuddered like Moghedien and Cyndane do when Moridin gives them reminders?

[Luckers]

I never concidered that Sylvase might be Cyndane, but now i think about it, it does fit. Her personality, the coolness almost exactly mirrors how she behaved at the various Forsaken meetings, and the way she integrated herself into Arymila's group and facilitated the ongoing war certainly fits the Forsaken. Even the confusion of her uncle or grandfather or whoever he was fits--compulsion.

 

The only problem is that it seems that Cyndane is being kept on a short leash. It was my belief that she was being used only in specific missions as a part of the gathering of darkfriends in various lands based on the scene in Winters Heart.

[mikey sedai]

ok. the theory i've subscribed to revolves around her behaviour at amyrilla's camp meal. She acts vague - to the point that she's renowned for it, but is caught with a 'sharp' look in her eye. Sylvase is either a lot smarter than she lets herself appear -itself a very useful tool- or not who she's claiming to be.

She's also very quick to pick up Jaq Laqont(think that's his name. don't have my books here) which is a very good excuse for gaining 'information' for Elayne. anyone questioning her ability to gain information will be met with : i have a handy man available who's good with interesting knot combinations.

asnd i'm sure at one point she's wearing red and black, which just screams "I'm evil and working for Moridin".

sometimes RJ is subtle with clues. sometimes he likes to pick them up and hit us round the head with them.

[RobertAlexWillis]

In the interest of being picky, Sylvase's secretary's name is Jaq Lounalt.

 

I have to say I'm not quite buying the whole Sylvase equals Cyndane thing. First off, I agree with Luckers, that Cyndane has been on a very short leash since her revival. Second, I don't buy the Compulsion bit for Lord Nasin, because of the passage near the end of KoD chapter 17. Nasin defuses an incipient confrontation between Sylvase and Arymilla, with the only thing we ever see from him that isn't doddering senility. He gets Sylvase to back down by reminding her that she will be High Seat when he is gone, as if he is pleading for patience ... like they have this planned out. Then he goes right back to senile old fool, and she goes right back to vapid non-personality. Its fairly obscure, but the whole tone of it is wrong, to me, for Cyndane (even in disguise) interacting with any kind of underling. Also, it displays a changeable presence of mind for Nasin that doesn't fit the pattern with Compulsion.

 

Finally, unless the Shadow anticipated defeat, both Jaq and Sylvase were in the wrong place. Arymilla lost, and not in a very predictable way. With Arymilla as Queen, Sylvase is at best a High Seat in a mediocre position of influence, and Jaq isn't her employee. The Shadow has more important things going on at the moment for the Chosen than having Cyndane spend most of her time posing as a fluff-headed hanger on. If Moridin predicted things would fall out as they have in Caemlyn, and put Sylvase there deliberately to get her close to Elayne, he's a psychic.

 

As far as the "red and black", the only reference I can find to that is a brooch she wears in KoD ch. 33, described thus: "A single enameled brooch, a red star and silver sword on glittering black, appeared to be her only jewelry." She is wearing a plain blue dress at the time. That seems more in keeping with the House Sigils that all the High Seats seem to wear.

 

As far as I can tell, the only times she actually appears and is described are in CoT ch 15, KoD, ch 17, and KoD ch 33. In none of those chapters is she garbed in red and black ...

 

Anyway, when it gets right down to it, I don't think any of the Forsaken are bothering with impersonations anymore. Only Mesaana and Graendal have reason to maintain the ones we know of, and I seriously doubt that Mesaana's will survive the Seanchan invasion, and Rand's forces just popped in on Granedal's doorstep. Semi and Halima are exposed. Cyndane and Moghedien are on short leashes, and Moridin is in the owner's box. Demandred is the only real wild card left, and he's probably preparing a nice hammer of Shadowspawn for the Borderlands.

 

Its go time for the Shadow. No more pussyfooting in the shadows, I think they're bringing the main guns online for AMoL. And so is Rand, in all likelihood. Jordan may not kill many main characters, but I have a feeling that a WHOLE LOT of scrubs are gonna die in AMoL.

[mikey sedai]

as i said, i don't have my books on me at the minute.

So YAY me for remembering (nearly) a very very minor character's name!

the compulsion thing was never part of any idea i've suggested, and i'd have seen that as pointing more towards moghedian anyway.

as for predicting which way the battle could of gone i don't really think it matters either way. Dyelin's gotta be a darkfriend, although she seems to have been supporting elayne all along, she's been sitting on the fence really. she could of stopped the civil war by publishing her support of elayne. she'd of brought her mother's estranged friends in right behind. end of war and amyrilla's support would of melted into the background.dyelin is not as tightly tied to elayne as she would like to appear to be.

and if sylvase had been on the losing side, how easy would it of been for dyelin to claim she was a mole. Elayne trusts her implicitly.

[Guest Barmacral]

I disagree Mikey, I don't think Dyelin is a dark friend, in fact, I think she is just as tightly tied to Elayne as Elayne thinks she is, and that just because she wants to be. I think Dyelin has a sense of righteousness that is akin to Galad's, albeit not near so strongly, and in her eyes, Elayne is the rightful heir, therefore Elayne is the one that she will support.

[mikey sedai]

so why not just cripple the opposition in one fell swoop?

not formally proclaiming her support for elayne ( like those two women - whose name's temporarily evade me)has prolonged a useless war, whose only achievement was to destabilise one of the DR's strongest allies. "Go the Shadow"

[Graendals favourite]

I take it that publishing the support is a dangerous thing. After that, she will not be able to contend herself even if Elayne fails, and the other houses might still have gone the other way, except for Arymilla, her taking Elenia and Naean and then failing. What if Ellorien had run? Being on the losing side is bad business for the Houses.

[mikey sedai]

some more evidence towards Sylvase being Cyndane (note not my work so i won't take credit):

 

there's the obvious similarity between her name and one of Cyndane's previous identities, Silvie, the old woman in TAR.

 

Sylvase's sigil is a silver moon on a field of red and black. so that's lanfear's favourite colour ontop of moridin's. she is after all now his pet.

 

and sylvase was raised in seclusion. which is handy.

 

there's alot of moons in this storyline. moon is lanfear's sigil. it may be coincidence but it might be RJ smacking us around the head. There's moons on Amyrilla's sigil. and one of moridin's agents, shiane, lives on full moon street.