Is Aes Sedai power creep a problem?

[Mirefox]

I suppose this topic can have some spoilers for both the show and the book, though I'll try not to spoil specific events, but just discuss abilities.

 

I am a bit concerned with the level of power the Aes Sedai exhibit thus far and am wondering if it is problematic.  I do acknowledge that the use of powers creates spectacle, which is great for a visual medium; there is no denying that the fight to start season 3 was visually cool.  Yet it seems to me that the Aes Sedai are far to powerful than they ought to be at the moment.

 

Consider that in the books, one of the defining charateristics of the Aes Sedai is how little they know of the power, having forgotten almost everything from the Age of Legends.  The Forsaken even go so far as to label their lack of skills as childlike.  This is important because if offers a stark contrast between the Aes Sedai, who are initially seen as incredibly powerful, and characters like the Forsaken, Rand, and then the wonder girls who surpass them by orders of magnitude.

 

Between the end of season 2 and the beginnng of season 3, though, we see feats of weaving that would have been earth-shattering in the books, from Moiraine sinking a fleet from who knows how far off to makng someone vomit blood, cutting a sister in half, instantly killing a sister with a weave to the forehead, and healing wounds in Nyn and Perrin that should have been fatal.  On top of that, channeling is supposed to be draining for these women, and bigger weaves cause exhaustion and - as seen with Moiraine - unconsuiousness.  We saw a bit of that in S1E1, but they juxtoposed that with a trolloc wound.

 

Here's why I think this matters:

 

1. This diminishes how special it is for Nyn, Eggy, and Elayne to excel.  Yes, they will discover some things that were thought lost, ut Nyn as a healer doesn't seem all that special anymore, since it seems like anything aside from instant death can just be healed away now.  Maybe if she goes super-saiyan and mass heals, or actually resurrects somone, it will be special, but they've taken that from her a bit.  The same goes for other weaves that we will see the girls perform.

 

2. This also diminishes Rand's relative power, or at least seems to.  This also seems to take away from some of his more intersting weaves, like the power-wrought blade, which we've now seen.  Also, balefire.  One of the biggest temtations Rand has to use balefire is that it is essentially an instant kill.  That was earth-shattering in the books.  Well, we've seen a similar power used here against two Aes Sedai at once.

 

For me, this is a little like the Harry Potter movies where in the first series we saw spells being created with a flick of a want and clear diction, but come the Fantastic Beasts movies, the wizards are slinging spells around rapid-fire without verbalization.  It was jarring, even if within the lore verbaliation wasn't necessary all the time; there was a difference in visual tone with how spellcasting was represented.  Here we have the Fantastic Beasts scenario as I think Aes Sedai power doesn't jive with how they should be according to the books or even the show lore at this point.

 

The solution to power creep is, of course, more power creep but at some point the distinction between the ability to kill multiple people at once to the ability to kill more multiple peoples at once becomes inconsequential.

 

I cna't help but feel I wish the Aes Sedai seemed more limited in their abilities now so as to have a greater impact on abilities in the future.

[king of nowhere]

Cutting people in two with air is not hard.

Actually, i'd say the worst power creep was the destruction of the trollocs in  the end of S1.

Healing is also too effective; seems like everyone has the improved healing that nyn invented halfway through the books. I don't think it will be a big issue.

Everyone being able to heal may be, though

[Elder_Haman]

The healing power creep is the biggest problem for me. It's tricky, but you have to keep the stakes high.

[Mirefox]

  19 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

The healing power creep is the biggest problem for me. It's tricky, but you have to keep the stakes high.

Expand  

But stakes aren’t very high when getting stabbed a dozen times, for example, doesn’t matter.

[Elder_Haman]

  18 hours ago, Mirefox said:

But stakes aren’t very high when getting stabbed a dozen times, for example, doesn’t matter.

Expand  

Yes. That was my point.

[Windigo]

The healing power creep really is an issue. 
It makes me really wonder how they are going to elevate Nynaeve having better/stronger healing talents, unless they only focus on her healing the mind, which they have called out as limited. 

Show Season 3 Spoiler 

  Reveal hidden contents

that there was no obvious effect for Moiraine after having to heal, Nynaeve, Perrin and Egwene, and none of them were weak from it really bothered me. 

 

[Andy MacLeod]

I think that is exactly where they are going with Nynaeve being able to heal the mind.

[Donchadh]

  14 hours ago, Andy MacLeod said:

that is exactly where they are going with Nynaeve being able to heal the mind.

Expand  

It would certainly seem to make a natural tie-in to later healing Logain....

[Andy MacLeod]

Exactly!

[Turin Turambar]

That makes sense. I also think that when Nyn comes into her own by beating the block (hurry up already),

  Reveal hidden contents

I know it takes longer in books.but she was mostly able to channel most times by being angry, which she was good at, lol.

She will quickly be able to do things quicker and better than current AS are performing.