So Egwene is putty in the hands of a Forsaken for months, and nothing comes of it?

[sam.jn.sinclair@gmail.com]

Is it me or is this a large plot thread - referenced in 5+ books - that doesn't go anywhere?

 

It seems quite bizarre, especially considering how easy it is for even the most powerful channelers to be the victim of Compulsion (Elayne and Nynaeve, Forsaken talking about doing it to each other).

 

But aside from giving her headaches it didn't seem to effect Egwene at all, and she simply was removed from the situation and later found out about Halima's identity.

 

(For those that don't remember: Halima/Aran'gar is performing witchcraft on Amerlyn Seat Egwene nightly, under the guise of curing her headaches).

[Sabio]

The headaches were to simply make sure Egwene needed Halima.  Halima's purpose was to control the information Egwene received and to make sure the Aes Sedai wouldn't trust or join up with the Black Tower.  She made sure the other spies working for the different factions "vanished".  But the headaches were simply a way to make sure she could remain close to Egwene.

[sam.jn.sinclair@gmail.com]

@sabio

 

For me it just seems like a really minor inconvenience considering she was helpless for a long time against a Forsaken.

 

I just finished the series and am reflecting on the plot threads that Jordan/Sanderson didn't seem to have a plan for. I've seen some pointed out elsewhere, but this one jumped out to me, as it seemed like a potentially cool hurdle.

 

Also, with all the hate that Egwene apparently gets, having her work for the Dark One might have been cathartic for those readers ?

[Thrasymachus]

Egwene herself was likely considered too inconsequential to bother corrupting, until after she saved the Tower.  She was intended to be a puppet of the Hall, after all.  Further, compulsion, unless it's the total mind-wipe that Graendal was fond of, it can be fought off, as we saw with Morgase.  And that kind of total mind-wipe leaves the victim pretty useless, unable to do anything other than what they were given specific instruction to do.  Halima did warn that Egwene was becoming difficult to control, and wanted more done about it.  But her fellow Forsaken preferred to mock her in order to elevate themselves in front of Moridin, who had broader and more esoteric concerns.

[Sabio]

Exactly, Halima like the older Aes Sedai assumed Egwene would be easy to control.  She didn't want a puppet since that might draw suspicion or be detected.  She had the BA cause problems but Halima's main tasks were to make sure the rebels didn't unite the divided white tower and the rebels didn't join with the Black Tower.  She needed to be close to Egwene to know what was occuring and to keep an eye on Egwene, so the mysterious headaches only she could fix.

[Jsbrads2]

Halima and the other Black Ajax in Egwene’s camp didn’t just prevent Egwene rejoining the White Tower AES Sedai. The Black were instrumental in keeping Egwene’s whole camp in two-three factions. Romania, Lelaine, and Egwene’s crew. And until the Black Ajax was discovered, the Black were very effective at their task.