Could Nynaeve be something new in the pattern?

[Dedicated]

From time to time an Aes Sedai would ask themselves if certain things were something new in the pattern or something very old and forgotten (eg: Perrin and the wolf connection). I suddenly started wondering if Nynaeve was that "something new".  She does things that no one thought possible and seems to pick up on older things like using balefire quicker than others.

 

She also uses a different mental image when wielding the one power (or whatever it's called for women; it's been a while since I've had my head in this): thorns instead of a flower bud opening up. Previously I had always chalked this up to Nynaeve being... Nynaeve, but then I can't recall any other female Aes Sedai using a different mental image. 

 

Then I started thinking what are some other novel things that crop up in the series? Presumably the ability the wield the one power is something new to the 4th age (or whatever age the book is set in); or at least it's new in terms of the 1st age (presumably ours, or whatever age ours was supposed to be set in). 

 

Thoughts?

[SinisterDeath]

46 minutes ago, Dedicated said:

Then I started thinking what are some other novel things that crop up in the series? Presumably the ability the wield the one power is something new to the 4th age (or whatever age the book is set in); or at least it's new in terms of the 1st age (presumably ours, or whatever age ours was supposed to be set in). 

The novels mainly take place in the 3rd age, and ends starting the 4th.
The Age of Legends & the Breaking happened in the 2nd Age.
 

 

47 minutes ago, Dedicated said:

She also uses a different mental image when wielding the one power (or whatever it's called for women; it's been a while since I've had my head in this): thorns instead of a flower bud opening up. Previously I had always chalked this up to Nynaeve being... Nynaeve, but then I can't recall any other female Aes Sedai using a different mental image. 

That mental image is just that. A mental image. It's a mental training technique taught by Aes Sedai to other potential Aes Sedai.
Rand's "technique" is a flame in the void, he was taught that Technique by Tam. I believe Lan even mentions he uses the same technique.
The "image" they use, only has to do with the training they got, and who taught them. Channelers from other societies, probably use a different visualization method.

If Nynaeve "sees" something besides a Flower, doesn't mean she's doing something more than channeling the one power and Saidar. 

[Dedicated]

1 hour ago, SinisterDeath said:

 

That mental image is just that.  

 

Right, I don't mean to suggest that it is really much more than a mental cue to help someone achieve something (like how I use mental cues while lifting weights to help me get into the proper form). But Jordan's illustration of it seems to collectively reflect a "delicateness" in the nature of female Aes Sedai. While Nynaeve's visualization is very different. There is no delicateness in it. It's harsh and punishing. Not unlike the Aiel's culture which could support the reasoning for the Aiel taking to Nynaeve at first (eg: Avienda and her group noted that Nynaeve acted and spoke like a wise-one when they first met). 

 

I always chalked this up to her personality, but if Nynaeve is a new thread in the pattern could her visualization and personality be a kind of sign of changes to come for female Aes Sedai? But before this thread gets really derailed, I'd like to add another possible novel thread in the pattern: Perrin.

 

Not because of Perrin's connection with the wolves, but his power-wrought weapon towards the end. I wonder if Perrin was a new thread of the creator's design to fulfill a certain role that would be necessary for Rand's success in Tarmon Gaidon. 

 

Many of the main characters seem to have hints or signs that they are reincarnations of previous significant figures in history. Mat and Egwene being the reincarnations of the former King and Queen of Manatherene, for example. I also wonder if Elyane could be the reincarnation of Illyna. 

To be fair, most of the characters don't really have hints, but then none of them really DO anything novel like curing stilling and the madness. My memory is fuzzy, but did Nynaeve do something to reverse compulsion as well? 

 

Anyways Nynaeve did things that were previously thought impossible to do and her image of herself being a thorn rather than a flower bud might be an indication of a new evolution for female Aes Sedai. 

[bringbackthomsmoustache]

50 minutes ago, Dedicated said:

My memory is fuzzy, but did Nynaeve do something to reverse compulsion as well? 

Yes but she was coached by Rand using the memories of the technique from Lews Therin (not that he was skilled in it as it was a specialism of some healers, but he knew the theory).  Not something she worked out for herself.  As for the others it is normal for wilders to use techniques they need such as instinctively using balefire when she needed a weapon and the healing gentling / stilling was down to her obsessive need to cure anything (and to prove the Aes Sedai wrong when they say something cannot be done) and endless attempts - it was always possible but as stilling in the AOL was a judicial punishment no Aes Sedai of that time would have tried to reverse it.

[JyP]

I guess Nynaeve starts like a typical wilder from Aes Sedai PoV, but having an unprecedented potential. Hence all the ways Aes Sedai got to try to break her block, to no avail.

 

but then Nynaeve is able to do things unheard even in the Age of Legends, being :

- healing gentling / stilling

- healing madness - One Step Beyond !

 

As we are talking about something unheard in the Age of Legends : 

- the warder's bond - and having male and female Aes Sedai bonded

- Egwene invents the Amyrlin's Flame, to repair burns to the Pattern caused by balefire

- The Athan' miere are able to direct satellites which control the climate - I wonder how it was done before

 

[Stedding Tofu]

14 hours ago, Dedicated said:

But Jordan's illustration of it seems to collectively reflect a "delicateness" in the nature of female Aes Sedai. While Nynaeve's visualization is very different. There is no delicateness in it. It's harsh and punishing. Not unlike the Aiel's culture which could support the reasoning for the Aiel taking to Nynaeve at first (eg: Avienda and her group noted that Nynaeve acted and spoke like a wise-one when they first met). 

 

I always chalked this up to her personality, but if Nynaeve is a new thread in the pattern could her visualization and personality be a kind of sign of changes to come for female Aes Sedai?

 

Anyways Nynaeve did things that were previously thought impossible to do and her image of herself being a thorn rather than a flower bud might be an indication of a new evolution for female Aes Sedai. 

 

Saidar is embraced by the woman opening herself to it and in effect surrendering herself.  Saidin needs to be wrestled with and is embraced by seizing hold of it, represented as a struggle for the wielder.  Nynaeve, being Nynaeve, is not good at surrender or acceptance hence her block which it takes a long time to overcome.  Weirdly the only time she can embrace saidar is when she is angry which suggests the opposite of surrender but she does eventually learn (after nearly drowning in Ebou Dar) how to embrace saidar without being angry.  I believe her visualisation is just a reflection of her personality as is the reaction of the Aiel maidens to her no-nonsense style and habit of commanding everyone around her, very similar to how the Wise Ones project and wield authority.

 

The story is set at the birth of a new age with lots of new discoveries - primarily technological as we see steam power born and explosive ordinance used in warfare - but both "new discoveries" of old things are made with The One Power as Moghedien is pumped for information and all of Nynaeve, Aviendha, Egwene and Elayne independently rediscover old things; and genuine new discoveries are made, whether by Nynaeve, Egwene, or Androl alone or in conjunction with Pevara.  In this sense Nynaeve is part of a larger pattern.

[Jsbrads2]

To be clear Nynaeve sees herself as a flower from a thornbush, thorns don’t turn to the sun and open.