Other than {SPOILER}, which Black Ajah reveal bummed you out the most?

[imlad]

Obviously, this thread has major spoilers in it, all the way through to the end of the story, so if you haven't finished and you are one of those who believes in the commonly held mythology of the spoiler, please navigate away from this thread now, before you see something that you will think ruins your reading (or potentially viewing) experience. (Even still, I'll be using spoiler tags, just so the more sensitive readers don't pick up anything.)

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So, we all know that in the end it turned out that

 

Verin Mathwin

was a Black sister, and I'm pretty confident that probably 95% of the readers shouted out a Vader-like "Noooooo!" and almost threw their book across the room at learning that fact (I almost did, just as I did when Ned lost his head, and when the Red Wedding happened -- ooops, spoilers for another franchise... eat it folks, I dunna care!). That reveal was pretty devastating since

 

most people loved Verin, and still do

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But what other Black Ajah reveals bummed you out, or upset you? Made you feel bad, sad, disappointed, or angry?

 

For me, I would have to say it was learning that

 

Sheriam Bayanar, Mistress of Novices

was a Black sister. That was almost as big of a blow to me as

 

Verin

was, as I really liked her character a lot throughout the series. I always enjoyed her scenes and her interactions with Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne. She had a nice personality, I thought, and seemed like a kind hearted person. But apparently her desire for political power within the White Tower was so great that she was willing to sell her soul to the Dark One and join the Shadow, becoming a member eventually of the Supreme Council of the Black Ajah (despite, supposedly -- according to the Wiki -- not holding their views).

 

So which reveal wrecked you, or at least upset you in some way, other than

 

Verin

?

Edited March 4, 2020 by imlad
minor copy edit errors

[Cheyboygan]

I think when you put "spoiler" in the subject line anyone who chooses to read the thread anyway has only themselves to blame if they learn something they didn't want to know.  Anyway, V's revelation was shocking but it only increased my admiration for her.  She was undercover all those years at great risk to herself and sacrificed her life to reveal the truth when it really mattered.

[Sabio]

V wasn't a big surprise to me after all she was about to kill Cas and she put compulsion on all the captive Aes Sedai, even admitting it may shorten some of their lives.  but that's why I liked Verin, I suspected she was BA but couldn't figure out the game she was playing.  Verin wasn't about power, the companion says she was caught snooping about by the BA and was given a choice join or die, so she joined to save her own skin. After she joined she thought about spying on the BA.

 

Sheriam was the big surprise for me.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Sabio

[Cheyboygan]

She was prepared to kill Cadsuane *if she thought Cads was a threat to the Dragon Reborn* not to serve the Dark One.  And she had poison prepared so that wouldn't violate the Three Oaths (which only restrict killing with the One Power.  That wasn't a hint she was BA, quite the opposite.  It showed she was committed to seeing the DR succeed and prepared to be ruthless in his defense. Fortunately Cads answer satisfied her that she was also committed to the DR.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Cheyboygan

[imlad]

2 hours ago, Cheyboygan said:

I think when you put "spoiler" in the subject line anyone who chooses to read the thread anyway has only themselves to blame if they learn something they didn't want to know.  Anyway, V's revelation was shocking but it only increased my admiration for her.  She was undercover all those years at great risk to herself and sacrificed her life to reveal the truth when it really mattered.

 

Well, I've found that you can never be too cautious with people and the whole nonsense concept of spoilers (which at least one scientific study at a university has shown to be bull excrement; I can provide links if anyone is interested). People have said it was a spoiler that Perrin wasn't in FoH, or that Luke Skywalker was in The Force Awakens; yes, even though the press made a big deal about all three original actors being hired to reprise their roles for that movie, some people were still big enough idiots and crybabies to call that a spoiler. People will call just about anything a spoiler. And they actually believe it is true, even when the psychological studies done have shown that "spoilers" don't ruin movies or books or shows, but have the opposite effect in most cases. I know of people who refuse to watch trailers or commercials for shows and movies "because spoilers." ::smh:: (I guess you could call me a largitiophile, "largitio" being Latin for "spoilage," since not only do spoilers never bother me, but I often actively seek them out.)

 

So other than the one you and I have already mentioned, which Black Ajah sister's reveal bothered you the most? 

[Cheyboygan]

None really.  I can't say I had any emotional investment in any Aes Sedai who turned out to be Black Ajah other than the subject of the thread.  I didn't like that many AS in the first place.

[Sabio]

Since most the BA you never really met it was hard to be shocked by most.  Only Sheram was a surprise for me.  I think RJ was trying to make people think Elaida was BA for a bit, the scene where the accepted was killed on the farm always seemed to me that it was put in to make people think it was Elaida.

[wotfan4472]

I was surprised by Sheriam being Black Ajah myself. That was the bummer reveal for me.

But the most satisfying reveal is actually Verin's. I was suspicious from The Great Hunt that she was Black Ajah, but to find out her reason for being Black Ajah makes Verin one of the amazing characters. I also think that she is as cool as Ingtar, as both made a decision to fight for the Light when it counted, and in Verin's case, her fights always did make it count.

The fact that her research not only helped purge the Black Ajah, but also showed what the Brown represented and stood for was a brilliant development, and puts her on a level with Moraine going to face Lanfear at the docks, all the while knowing what would happen to her.

A Badass Aes Sedai living up to what that title means.