A question about Elaida....

[slynese]

Elaida, in the new spring, seemed to want Moiraine and Siuan, in particular to pass and attempted to help them cheat their test for the shawl. Myrelle was there as well, but Elaida completely ignored her, Why did Elaida wanted so much for Moiraine and Siuan to pass before they made an enemy of her. Why not attempted the same desire for Myrelle?

[wotfan4472]

It was because they were both powerful, and in Moiraine's case, had a link to a powerful Cairheinen House, which was just on the throne, before Laman was killed.

 

Siuan was simply because of her power, and possibly sticking it to Tear, considering that nation's attitudes to the One Power, and Aes Sedai.

 

But, the most important reason, is she tried to get them to choose the Red Ajah once they passed their tests. 

 

Myrelle did nothing, because Accepted are expected to stand up for themselves, and that includes standing up to the kind of coercions Elaida was using. If this was their time as novices, then Myrelle would have behaved totally differently to what Elaida was doing.

Edited January 22 by wotfan4472

[Samt]

Elaida is horribly mislead, sadistically self-righteous, and exasperatingly hypocritical.  She also thinks she is one of the good guys.  And to be fair, she never swears to the dark one and thinks that she is helping the light according to the prophecy that she believes.  At the time of New Spring, she sees Siuan and Moraine as two powerful, prospective Aes Sedai that will help the tower and serve the light (and, potentially, help her achieve her own tower political ends if they can be made allies).  

 

She believes the ends justify the means.  Most of the Aes Sedai do.  She just has badly misjudged what ends she should be striving towards.  

[Andra]

Elaida is an example of someone doing irreparable harm to a cause they believe they are helping.  Because of their arrogance and incompetence.

 

But her actions in New Spring are no more arrogant than any other Aes Sedai's, and significantly less incompetent than many.

In the White Tower, a comparatively strong Novice gives status to the Sisters who recruited her, who trained her, and to the Ajah she eventually joins.

Given their individual histories, neither Moiraine nor Siuan were technically "recruited" by any Sister, but Elaida took an early interest in both due to her personal political views and ambitions.  As a child of a minor noble house in Murandy, she despised both Illian and Andor.  So latching onto Novices from Tear (Illian's rival) and Cairhien (Andor's rival) and training them to be strong was understandable.  And being a minor noble with a particular sensitivity to status, she could be particularly cruel to those from social classes she viewed as either beneath or above her.

Siuan was far beneath her socially, while Moiraine was far above her.  Hence the odd combination of cruelty in their training and pride at their success.

 

Myrelle, being Ebu Dari and weaker than either Moiraine or Siuan (or Elaida), held neither of the attractions they did for her.

 

[books of Robert Jordan]

  On 1/11/2025 at 3:39 PM, slynese said:

Why did Elaida wanted so much for Moiraine and Siuan to pass

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One of Elaida's goals is a strong WT, and to achieve that she has/had to be sure that Moi and Siuan (both of them have amazing capabilities) will belong to the WT forever.

 

It's a different question that the 'basic training' for every would-be AS should be the same, I mean, really harsh. By the way, people with amazing capabilities (almost) always get extra attention from teachers/lecturers, from kindergarten to university (see Oxbridge etc.)   

 

edit: after reading the other comments: I like Elaida. A lot. 🙂 

Edited January 27 by books of Robert Jordan

[Codes87]

I agree with the posts above. In re reading the series several times, I have a view of Elaida as a bit of a Lanfear shadow. She's self obsessed, convinced of her own power and importance, and ultimate weakened and betrayed her own cause to stay on top. That being said, she was always an interesting character. Her ending was very fitting to fall to the very bottom.

[Mailman]

It's very much a political move as well. Because Siuan and Moiraine where so strong in the power they were always going to be incredibly influential in the Hall and Tower for centuries to come so engendering some good will or relationship with them would ultimately give Eladia more power

[Andy MacLeod]

Following this discussion with interest. She would have the long-term vision for such calculations. nodnods

[Sabio]

I think the Companion explains two main reasons why she pushed them so hard.  It even said in the Companion that when she was in Andor she would often visit the tower while they were in training and check up on their progress.

 

They were novices under Elaida when she was raised accepted,  There is this mentality of if they mess up it looks bad on her,

 

Since they potential equal to hers, she thought they had an obligation to live up to it.  Which also meant living up to her standards in almost everything.