Why haven't the Seanchan Sul'dam marked all their captured BA AS?

[wvlr]

We know quite well from the books that the Seanchan are well aware that the AS they capture mostly have no / little fighting value because of the three oaths.  But since that is the case they must have also noted that some (say 10%) CAN be used as weapons.    That being the case, when they find an AS that can fight it should not have taken them long to discover WHY they can fight - i.e. they are BA.    I am surprised that this is not noted in the books.

 

What is your opinion on this?    Has it been discussed before?

[Feral]

It's not definite that they have discovered some AS can fight. Why would they? After leashing the first few (very unlikely that these would be Black sisters) they would discover they're useless as weapons and wouldn't bother trying to use any of the others to fight.

[RobertAlexWillis]

First ... there aren't very likely to be any Black Ajah among the Aes Sedai taken so far ... because Suroth probably would have gotten orders to let them go.  Besides, there aren't a large number of Aes Sedai who have been taken, period.  Probably less than 20, total, maybe less than 10.  So, odds are, there weren't any Black Ajah among them to start with.

[Luckers]

Actually we know all the Aes Sedai that have been taken from Edesina who was taken in Tarabon. Ryma, Sherraine, Edesina and Teslyn--and none seem to have been Black Ajah.

 

[wvlr]

First ... there aren't very likely to be any Black Ajah among the Aes Sedai taken so far ... because Suroth probably would have gotten orders to let them go.  Besides, there aren't a large number of Aes Sedai who have been taken, period.  Probably less than 20, total, maybe less than 10.  So, odds are, there weren't any Black Ajah among them to start with.

 

Sorry Robert but I just find that hard to believe.   I don't know how many that they got at Flame, but at Ebou Dar there seemed to be quite a few in the one facility that Mat visited and that was only one facility and one city.   They have a significant amount of land now so the number of captured AS must be mounting.    My WILD unfounded guess would be about 100, but that IS a wild guess.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Um ... there were all of 4 Aes Sedai damane in Ebou Dar, and only 3 were taken there: Teslyn, Guisin, and Edesina ... the fourth, Mylen (Sheraine Caminelle) was taken at Falme.  If there had been any others, Teslyn would have insisted than Mat save them, just like she insisted that he save Edesina. 

 

The vast majority of the ones that Mat saw in the attic in Ebou Dar were either brought from Seanchan, or captured Sea Folk Windfinders.  The Aes Sedai have been aware of the Seanchan threat for some time, and have avoided areas where they were in command.

 

There is absolutely no way that the Seanchan have anything near 100 Aes Sedai.  They probably don't have 20.  They probably netted 2-4 at Falme, possibly a similar number in Tarabon, and 3 in Ebou Dar.  That adds up to 7-11.  They wouldn't have gotten any in Amadicia ... there likely weren't any Sisters there to start with.

[Gentled Ben]

Yeah, not only do we have Edessina's account, as RAW pointed out, but there are only around 300 AS in the Tower, 300 more with the rebels, and 300 sitting it out. That's around 900 total Aes Sedai in all of Randland. It's unlikely that nearly 10% of their number were not only hanging around in Ebou Dar and Falme during the invasions, but were captured, as well.

[Luckers]

Nope, its five (not four, sorry). Edesina and Guisin who were taken in Tarabon, Ryma and Sherraine who were taken at Falme (now known as Mylen and Pura) and Teslyn who was taken in Ebou Dar. Now they may have captured more since Mat freed Edesina and Teslyn--though i doubt it. In KoD Suroth actually thinks about the captured and freed Aes Sedai, and i imagine there would have been a reference there if more had been caught given the paranoid nature of her thoughts re: the White Tower and Tuon's disapearence.

 

Um ... there were all of 4 Aes Sedai damane in Ebou Dar, and only 3 were taken there: Teslyn, Guisin, and Edesina ... the fourth, Mylen (Sheraine Caminelle) was taken at Falme.  If there had been any others, Teslyn would have insisted than Mat save them, just like she insisted that he save Edesina. 

 

Edesina and Guisin was taken in Tarabon (and yeah, sorry, I forgot about Guisin). This is why i cut out the suggestion of other unreferenced Aes Sedai. For starters from both Moiraine and Egwene we know that only Sherraine and Ryma were taken in Falme. So thats a definate two. Tarabon is a bit blurier, since its possible Aes Sedai were taken and then kept there, rather then brought on to Ebou Dar--but i doubt it since Edesina and Guisin were taken there, and they make no reference of other sisters and it seems to me that like Egwene they would have encountered other newly taken sisters. There was no where else for these sisters to be sent, no other training kennels had as yet been created, and I see no reason for them to be sent back to the islands the Seanchan perched on.

 

Similarily, I don't see any being taken in Amadecia, and then we have a direct comment about those present in Ebou Dar. Thats five.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Yeah, I forgot Ryma.  Sorry ... 5 not four ... but that doesn't change to total numbers at all, since Ryma was taken at Falme.  And, taking into account that Edesina and Guisin were taken in Tarabon, not Ebou Dar (my bad) that means that only one Aes Sedai was actually captured in Ebou Dar itself, and that the five who were present could easily represent all the Aes Sedai currently in Seanchan possession.

 

Regardless, there certainly aren't a hundred, and it is probable that none of the captured Aes Sedai are Black Ajah.

[Luckers]

I suppose its still not as bad as the BILIONS OF TROLOCS!!!!!!.