Was Latra Posae Decume a Darkfriend/Forsaken

[zerachiel76]

I don't know if this has been discussed before, so sorry if it has.

 

I've been reading the World of the Wheel of Time and reading about the situation that led to LTT's sealing of the bore in the AOL.

 

It says that a woman named Latra Posae Decume led the opposition to LTT and managed to convince every female AS not to go along with LTT's plan.

 

Now to me, someone who opposes the main leader in the fight against the Shadow has got to either be stupid and arrogant, or a Darkfriend/Forsaken in disguise. After all LTT's plans had saved the world from complete destruction up to that point so he had proved himself over and over again. Even 2 Forsaken had joined the shadow specifically because they were jealous about how good he was.

 

Therefore for her to get all the female AS to block his plans either show's her stupidity or her dark allegiances. Maybe she was told her rewards would be great if she blocked his plans. However with the evidence provided by the modern AS to go on, maybe she was just stupid and arrogant.

 

Just a thought that's troubled me for some time so I'd like to hear what people think.

[RAND AL THOR]

I must say when I say the title of this post I thought, " Who the hell is Latra Posae Decume?"  ;D

Anyway, here goes:

 

Extract from 'the strike on Shayol Ghul' :

This plan was considered risky for a number of reasons. Even today it is known that the Dark One has a certain degree of effect on the world close around Shayol Ghul, and it was probable that any attempt to channel

there would be instantly detected and the raiding party destroyed. Lews Therin himself, who intended to personally lead this huge raid, admitted that even with sucess, he expected few of the attackers to survive,

perhaps none. Worse, several experts claimed that if the seals were not placed with exact precision, the resulting strain would, instead of sealing up the Bore, rip it open, freeing the Dark One completely.

 

LTT's plan was awfully risky. I'm sure the AS didn't even know what the area surrounding the Bore was like. Latra was in favour of completing the sa'angreal and using THEM to seal the Bore permanently. So it is unlikely that she was with the Shadow because her overall goal was to close the Bore after all. Of course, the area where the ter'angreal were made were overrun with the Dark's forces and the Hall of the Servants had extreme difficulty in continuing with Latra's plan- and this may suggest that she herself had given the shadow info about where the ter'angreal were being made.

 

I think it was very harsh that the entire female part of the Hall of the Servants sided against the men. Sexism existed even then! I also find it difficult to believe such a thing. How could every single female think so? Nevertheless it happened.

 

Latra's plan was considered safer. I don't think she was with the Shadow-I think she was just examining the possibilities more strongly than LTT. LTT's plan did work-but how would you have felt about it BEFORE it happened? IT does seem close to madness.

Imagine Rand doing the same now. We would be sure of imminent failure.

 

However, the Fateful Concord was truly going too far.

[Mr Ares]

Didn't she spend the next 40 years or so fighting the Shadow after the Strike? I'm guessing she's not a Chosen. The mere fact that LTT had been proved right in the past was no guarantee that he was right this time. In fact, was he undefeated? By blocking the women from taking part she shows her belief that LTT was taking a foolish risk. Given how things turned out, can we really say she was wrong? With women involved, it could quite possibly have ended with both sides of the Source tainted.

 

LTT's plan did work-but how would you have felt about it BEFORE it happened? IT does seem close to madness.

And madness was the result. They didn't even seal the Bore properly, did they?

[balefire]

Definitely not a df/chosen. She was later on given the title of "Shadow Cutter", as translated from the old tongue, in appreciation of her efforts against the dark.

 

And i doubt her caution can be labelled as arrogance. Lews therin's plan was afterall a mad risk, compare the two choices available at that time. Lews therin's plan, with extreme risks, or Latra's plan to create two sa'ngreal with enough power to potentially break the world and use that power to seal the bore. Best case scenario, the the dark one is permanently sealed off, worst case scenario, the dark one is temporarily sealed off. Either way, was a win-win situation for the LIGHT because even if the dark one is temporarily sealed off, it would give the light enough time to regroup, root out df's, take care of the huge no of the chosen at that time, formulate new strategies and ter'angreal to use against the shadow etc.

 

And Latra didn't ask all female aes sedai to go along with her. She only asked women of noticeable strength and influence to join her cause. The weaker ones, who wouldn't have been used even if the women were cooperating, joined of their own accord, after realizing the plus points/low risks of Latra's plan as compared to Lew Therin's.

[Bob T Dwarf]

The fact remains the access keys were lost.  The agents sent to covertly recover them were all captured/klled.  They were back to square one.  And, they only had maybe two months max before they would be completely overrun and the war totally lost.

 

Still the Fateful Concord held.

 

Had LTT and the Hundred Companions not acted it all would have been over.  Their actions at least bought the Light time to recover.  Latra Posae's actions would have purchased only death.

 

DF?  I don't think so.  Obstinately stupid.  You bet.

[Mr Ares]

DF?  I don't think so. Obstinately stupid. You bet.

By that point, yes. When the Choedan Kal were no longer an option, and attempts to make them an option again had failed, and they were running short of time they should have gone with the only remaining plan. Initially, though, when the Fateful Concord was first formed? Not so stupid then. Also, as I mentioned before, had women gone as well, both sides could have ended up tainted. Then we would have a bunch of crazy women running around as well.

[Luckers]

Mmm. I agree--something along the lines of Elaida really. Technically intelligent, and acting for all the right reasons, but so blinded by personal ambition and personal belief that she nearly destroyed the light in her desire to protect it. It's why i have such an issue with the references to 'men's pride' leading to the breaking. The men acted in desperation, it was the women who acted in pride--that may have saved women from being tainted, or not. RJ's has had a long running theme that men and women were stronger together, a closed circle. But either way the pride there was theirs.

 

In any case she was no darkfriend. As has been stated she continued to fight the war against the shadow for nearly forty years after the sealing of the bore--she became the new First Amongst Servants and held the Light together for as long as she could. A fool, but a right minded fool.

 

 

[RAND AL THOR]

Then we would have a bunch of crazy women running around as well.

 

I think we already do. ;D

[Mysterious]

You should also put in the affect of the Prophecies would've had on the female Aes Sedai. It's not known when exactly they were foretold but we do know that Latra based her later actions upon them. When Rand was in the remembering ter'angreal in Rhuidean his ancestor was waiting upon instructions from her on what the Aiel mission and goals were to be.

 

 

Since the time of the Breaking, and possibly before, though any such prophecies have been lost to myth, the Prophecies of the Dragon have grown, telling of a man who will be both destroyer and savior of the world. That man will be able to channel, and he will be the Dragon Reborn. He will be destined to fight the Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle against the Shadow. The Prophecies also state that he is the only hope of the world for salvation.

 

 

If the prophecies were foretold before the bore was sealed and Latra knew of them it could explain a great deal of the actions taken then and in the intervening years during the breaking. The Aes Sedai were the ones who advised the Cairhenin of allowing the Aiel of digging the wells to obtain their drinking water.

 

 

 

 

 

Mysterious

[CUBAREY]

[iNow to me, someone who opposes the main leader in the fight against the Shadow has got to either be stupid and arrogant, or a Darkfriend/Forsaken in disguise.][/i]

 

No she was just a woman. Enough said. ;) Actually, Luckers has it amost exactly right. Not a Dark one but full of herself. She was obviously one of the most influential A.S. that gained even more status by opposing Lewis Therin even when his plan was the only option left.

[Jonn]

I think it's a failure by both sides to compromise.

 

Lews Therin ignored the fact that half of the Servants didn't agree with him, and it wasn't like all of the male Aes Sedai did agree with him.

 

Latra also could have tried harder to convince Lews Therin that they could try out both plans.

 

If the access keys were lost to recent changeover, Lews Therin could have offered to send a similar strike consisting of males and females to recover them. Could have forced her to promise to support his plan if their coordinated attempt failed.

 

I don't see why Lews Therin was so keen to simply rush in as he did. As it turned out, it ended in disaster. The solution was not permanent, he effectively destroyed the world and the Shadow survived to gather its might for thousands of years.

 

Latra seemed to have a more long-term oriented plan, which in the end, she executed and it has lead to the circumstances of the Light actually having a fighting chance 3000 years after the debacle at Shayol Ghul.

 

I see it as another case of things could have been a lot easier if men and women of power were simply willing to work together, find common ground and join in the most important cause for human civilization rather than it turning into a petty squabble over pride and who is more right.

[RAND AL THOR]

 

Latra seemed to have a more long-term oriented plan, which in the end, she executed and it has lead to the circumstances of the Light actually having a fighting chance 3000 years after the debacle at Shayol Ghul.

 

???

[Snowy Dawn]

``his ancestor was waiting upon instructions from her on what the Aiel mission and goals were to be.''

 

Not clear. The women who gives Jonai his instructions as the Aiel are about to leave Paaren Disen is Solinda Sedai: ``At any rate, I mean to save something here, and that something is you.''. She may have been acting on instructions from Latra Posae Decume, or perhaps that scene is actually more than 40 years after the sealing of the bore. (But it seems not so. She refers to the destruction of the city of Tzora as tho' it has just taken place.) In any case Solinda and her companions in that scene will soon be dead: it seems clear from what they say to Someshta, telling him that they have a task for him, the last of the Nym---i.e., that they are preparing to go to construct the Eye of the World.  TSR, Ch. 26, ``The Dedicated''.

 

BTW, there is a conflict with things elsewheres in that chapter: Coumin thinks to himself, ``...the war had been old when he was born''. Since the war of the power lasted only ten years, either there is a mistake here, or Coumin is referring to the entire 100 year period from the original drilling of the hole in the Dark One's prison, even tho' there was no war in the first ninety years. Now there were years of preparation by the Forsaken and Friends of the Dark before the actual war of the power, and maybe he is referring to that as part of the war. [That length of time was not some later addition, either, LTT says ``Ten years your foul master has wracked the world...'' and Ishamel responds that ``the war'' has lasted since the beginning of time. This is in the prologue to TEOTW. So what is said later on in the BWB is consistent with what is there in the beginning of the series.]

[Snowy Dawn]

``No she was just a woman. Enough said. :-)''

 

Being deliberately provocative, Cubarey? Haven't we had enough of that recently? Tsk, tsk....

[RAND AL THOR]

there was no war in the first ninety years. Now there were years of preparation by the Forsaken and Friends of the Dark before the actual war of the power,

 

Oh my god I didn't know that.

 

This makes the Light seem ridiculous. When the Bore is drilled, darkness floods the sky and all that (Rand in the columns in Rhuidean). So what was the Light doing for 90 yrs?

[Snowy Dawn]

``When the Bore is drilled, darkness floods the sky and all that (Rand in the columns in Rhuidean).''

 

The darkness floods the sky around them, but over the whole world? In any case, it is clearly not there later. The scene with Coumin at the seed singing comes at the end of the war of the power (i.e., 100 years later), and clearly the world is not still enveloped in darkness.....

[Luckers]

If the access keys were lost to recent changeover, Lews Therin could have offered to send a similar strike consisting of males and females to recover them. Could have forced her to promise to support his plan if their coordinated attempt failed.

 

Men did take part in the attempts to recover them--the Fateful Concord included only women resisting enactive Lews Therin's plans, every effort was made by the council to recover the Access Keys.

 

It was not for LTT to offer, the council enacted it freely.

 

I don't see why Lews Therin was so keen to simply rush in as he did. As it turned out, it ended in disaster. The solution was not permanent, he effectively destroyed the world and the Shadow survived to gather its might for thousands of years.

 

The Light was within six months of total defeat, and all attempts to retrieve the Access Keys failed--Lews Therin waited after the loss of the Access Keys and twice tried to convince the council again to enact his plan--and seemingly was gainingly political support since Latra had to get the women strong enough to be involved to directly foreswear doing it.

 

Eventually he could not wait any longer. The light was on the edge of losing, and there was no way to avert that aside from his plan, and that was being blocked by Latra's Fateful Concord despite political support--so he acted.

 

And no matter the result, no matter the destruction LTT gained the Light 3,000 years to regather itself. For your comment is wrong--the Shadow may have survived, but it originally stood on the edge of victory, the delay caused by the destruction served the Light alone.

 

Latra seemed to have a more long-term oriented plan, which in the end, she executed and it has lead to the circumstances of the Light actually having a fighting chance 3000 years after the debacle at Shayol Ghul.

 

What? Latra's ideas were specifically short term--she opposed LTT's plans specifically becuase of the short term potential problems, ignoring that the Shadow would have emerged victorious in a matter of months if nothing was done. Nothing in her actions assured the Light having a fighting chance--sure she fought with the shadow for forty years following the sealing of the bore, but had she not the breaking still would have cancelled things.

 

 

[Bob T Dwarf]

If the access keys were lost to recent changeover, Lews Therin could have offered to send a similar strike consisting of males and females to recover them. Could have forced her to promise to support his plan if their coordinated attempt failed.

 

Nobody knew for sure where the access keys were anymore.  No strike could have been sent, because there was no longer any specific target.

 

As the Fateful Concord demonstrates, nobody was going to force Latra Posae to do anything.  She was either ruthlessly ambitious, using the crisis to increase her own power and prestige at the expense of everything else, or just another politician too stupid to realize that everyday rules and procedures aren't adequate in a crisis.

 

They didn't have time to study the problem any longer.  It was act or die.

[RAND AL THOR]

It would seem that Latra was more frightened of LTT's plan than anything.

[Jonn]

If the access keys were lost to recent changeover, Lews Therin could have offered to send a similar strike consisting of males and females to recover them. Could have forced her to promise to support his plan if their coordinated attempt failed.

 

Men did take part in the attempts to recover them--the Fateful Concord included only women resisting enactive Lews Therin's plans, every effort was made by the council to recover the Access Keys.

 

It was not for LTT to offer, the council enacted it freely.

 

Yet Lews Therin was still intent on acting contrary to what the council wanted to do at that time.

Think of it this way: Lews Therin convinced over 100 Aes Sedai to commit to a suicide attack on Shayol Ghul itself, and to a degree he succeeded in sealing the bore.

 

You're telling me a man who could accomplish this task could not muster the same strength to  take back the Choedan Kal instead?

 

Had he done so, he would have had the full support of Latra and her followers, probably doubling the strength of their attack.

 

Sounds like it wouldn't have beaten back the Shadow from the regions that were occupied, but given a little more time it might well have succeeded with the cooperation of a unified Hall.

 

I don't see why Lews Therin was so keen to simply rush in as he did. As it turned out, it ended in disaster. The solution was not permanent, he effectively destroyed the world and the Shadow survived to gather its might for thousands of years.

 

The Light was within six months of total defeat, and all attempts to retrieve the Access Keys failed--Lews Therin waited after the loss of the Access Keys and twice tried to convince the council again to enact his plan--and seemingly was gainingly political support since Latra had to get the women strong enough to be involved to directly foreswear doing it.

 

Eventually he could not wait any longer. The light was on the edge of losing, and there was no way to avert that aside from his plan, and that was being blocked by Latra's Fateful Concord despite political support--so he acted.

 

And no matter the result, no matter the destruction LTT gained the Light 3,000 years to regather itself. For your comment is wrong--the Shadow may have survived, but it originally stood on the edge of victory, the delay caused by the destruction served the Light alone.

 

There are other ways to look at it.

Eventually the access keys for the Choedan Kal were recovered weren't they? Sadly, they just ended up in Rhuidean, the purpose for their construction lost in memory and time.

 

How ironic would it be if Latra's group had finally succeeded in retrieving the keys only a short time after Lews Therin's strike?!

 

Seems like that is what happened seeing as the keys did end up with the artifacts in Rhuidean.

 

Now the questions...why weren't they used?

 

I can only assume that they weren't used because a) saidin was tainted so only the female choedan kal was of any use.

b) Using the choedan kal was dangerous and would be a beacon that drew every remaining forsaken and mad channeler for a thousand miles.

c) Lews Therin had already sealed the bore.

 

We'll probably never know if Latra's plan would have worked or not. Thanks to Lews Therin's rash actions.

 

Latra seemed to have a more long-term oriented plan, which in the end, she executed and it has lead to the circumstances of the Light actually having a fighting chance 3000 years after the debacle at Shayol Ghul.

 

What? Latra's ideas were specifically short term--she opposed LTT's plans specifically becuase of the short term potential problems, ignoring that the Shadow would have emerged victorious in a matter of months if nothing was done. Nothing in her actions assured the Light having a fighting chance--sure she fought with the shadow for forty years following the sealing of the bore, but had she not the breaking still would have cancelled things.

 

Her efforts to preserve what she could led to Aes Sedai like Solinda sending the Aiel into the wilderness towards their destiny. If she had not fought, there would be none left to construct the Eye of the World.

 

Even after the Bore was closed, most of the battlefields weren't changed overnight. All of Lews Therin's moaning about the Light losing in a matter of months sounds a lot like panic on his part.

 

Even after he and the survivors of the attack on Shayol ghul were mad as bats, and tearing the world around them apart, Latra continued to fight on, not giving up as Lews Therin seemed to think would happen if he didn't act on his own. Even as the world was torn to shreds around them, Latra's Aes Sedai fought on to the death to preserve what they could, and pland the seeds of hope for the next Age.

 

Latra believed that they could continue fighting as long as it took retrieve the keys, and maybe if a powerful ta'veren like Lews Therin could lend them some fortune by getting behind their cause...

 

But we all know what happened instead.

 

I do get leary of the assumptions brought up in arguments like this. Jokes aside, there is the instigation of sexism in this topic.

Lews Therin, despite sealing the Dark One away, blundered. He was not the savior. He failed. Everyone who loved him was destroyed and the world with them.

Still, this question comes up contending that of all things, that the true cause of woe was a stubborn woman who got a bunch of other stubborn women to refuse to follow the great savior.

 

Nobody knew for sure where the access keys were anymore.  No strike could have been sent, because there was no longer any specific target.

 

As the Fateful Concord demonstrates, nobody was going to force Latra Posae to do anything.  She was either ruthlessly ambitious, using the crisis to increase her own power and prestige at the expense of everything else, or just another politician too stupid to realize that everyday rules and procedures aren't adequate in a crisis.

 

They didn't have time to study the problem any longer.  It was act or die.

 

Nobody knew including the Shadow. The attempts they were using at the time were all covert so as not to tip off the Shadow as to what they already possesed but weren't aware of it. One can assume, lacking Lews Therin's support, things could have gone more smoothly.

 

Again, somehow the access keys ended up in Rhuidean, and I can't call that a wild coincidence. Somehow, Latra's people pulled it off and retrieved the keys.

 

So, as it turned out, all they did need was a little more time, but instead Lews Theirn decided to act independently and because of this many people died and so did the Age of Legends.

[Luckers]

Yet Lews Therin was still intent on acting contrary to what the council wanted to do at that time.

Think of it this way: Lews Therin convinced over 100 Aes Sedai to commit to a suicide attack on Shayol Ghul itself, and to a degree he succeeded in sealing the bore.

 

You're telling me a man who could accomplish this task could not muster the same strength to  take back the Choedan Kal instead?

 

Attacking Shayol Ghoul and recovering the Access Keys are very different matters John--the Light could easily have mustered that sort of strength with or without Lews Therin. Even in the end there were hundreds of thousands of Aes Sedai--they could have mustered the strength for an attack against Sammael--one exceeding LTT's 10,000 soldiers and 140 Aes Sedai... but what would they have achieved? They had to locate and remove the Access Keys, an all out attack would not have insured that--indeed, a counter-attack from Sammael would have been immediate, and we know they didn't have the numbers to stand against his forces. All they would have done was reveal that there was something there of importance.

 

The strike at Shayol Ghoul was just that--a strike, it worked not because they had some amazing strength as gathered by LTT, but because it came as a surprise, and their intended goal was immediately realise--the bore does not move. It was easily--and more important, quickly found.

 

Latra Posae Decume did not need LTT's petty forces--she could have amassed one larger would that have served, but it would not have.

 

And I would point out that Lews Therin held back, supporting Latra Posae's plan until it became obvious it had failed--he acted because it was the only option.

 

Had he done so, he would have had the full support of Latra and her followers, probably doubling the strength of their attack.

 

Doubling? Dude there were more than 300 Aes Sedai around, and the Council actively supported Latra's plan, as did Lews Therin, which means all of 'his' forces were hers anyway, and a thousandfold more besides.

 

Latra's Fateful Concord only worked because incredibly strong women were required for LTT's plan--only a few in number, she was able to approach them and get their concent. Her issues had no such constriction.

 

Eventually the access keys for the Choedan Kal were recovered weren't they? Sadly, they just ended up in Rhuidean, the purpose for their construction lost in memory and time.

 

Only because the Shadow's forces were ripped apart by their men going insane--the Light did not have the military strength to achieve it.

 

How ironic would it be if Latra's group had finally succeeded in retrieving the keys only a short time after Lews Therin's strike?!

 

Seems like that is what happened seeing as the keys did end up with the artifacts in Rhuidean.

 

I hardly see how you sustain that--that was forty years afterwards, and after the world had dissolved--if not for the Tainting the forces Sammael had left would have remained firm, the Light would have lost the war, and were the Choedan Kal discovered it would have been by a Chosen--though far more likely the Dark One would have been freed by then.

 

Now the questions...why weren't they used?

 

I can only assume that they weren't used because a) saidin was tainted so only the female choedan kal was of any use.

b) Using the choedan kal was dangerous and would be a beacon that drew every remaining forsaken and mad channeler for a thousand miles.

c) Lews Therin had already sealed the bore.

 

Or they were discovered only following the complete dissolution of the Shadow. Forty years later.

 

Her efforts to preserve what she could led to Aes Sedai like Solinda sending the Aiel into the wilderness towards their destiny. If she had not fought, there would be none left to construct the Eye of the World.

 

Later, yes. We were discussing the issues surrounding the Sealing--afterwards Latra did prove herself well, fightig and in the end dying to protect what she could over the following forty years.

 

I do get leary of the assumptions brought up in arguments like this. Jokes aside, there is the instigation of sexism in this topic.

Lews Therin, despite sealing the Dark One away, blundered. He was not the savior. He failed. Everyone who loved him was destroyed and the world with them.

Still, this question comes up contending that of all things, that the true cause of woe was a stubborn woman who got a bunch of other stubborn women to refuse to follow the great savior.

 

No, Lews Therin, inspite of the death and destruction that resulted from the tainting of saidin, gave the world three thousand more years to recover--he staved off inevitable defeat when there were no other options availliable. He acted in desperation, and with terrible consequences, yet it was nevertheless the exact right thing to do--had he not done it, its shadow and darkness and pain for all time.

 

I dont see how its sexist either--Latra Posae Decume might have been a fool for instigating the Fateful Concord, or she may have stopped women from being tainted as men were--either way it doesn't change the realities of what Lews Therin achieved, or make it 'sexist' to hail him for that.

[Bob T Dwarf]

The closest thing we have to canon on the subject is the BWB.  The relevant section is simply too long to post, so I commend to you pages 44-46 therefrom.

 

The condensed version is that there were multiple plans in existence.  Each with its adherents.  Some favored negotiation.  Some favored LTT's plan for seven women and six men to implant the seven seals.  Others, including Latra Posae,  favored a plan that would have used the Choeden Kal and just one man and one woman.

 

LTT's plan was to seal the Bore.  Then, with access to the DO cutoff, the Dark's forces could be defeated in detail.

 

Latra Posae's plan was the opposite.  Wait until the access keys were completed and then use the CK to defeat the Dark's forces and then erect a barrier around SG until the exactly perfect method for emplacing the seals could be determined.

 

Then the access keys were lost.  With no guarantee that the keys could be found, or that they even still existed, the Light was really down to just one option other than surrender.  LTT acted while others still dithered.  The result was the Breaking and the Third Age.

 

Them's the facts.  All else is speculation.

 

There is no factual basis for saying that any other course would have had a better outcome.

[Luckers]

Whilst that is true i would point out the LTT didn't act until after two attempts to recover the keys--he tried to support alternate possibilities, but in the end the press of defeat was too great--so as bob says, he acted while others dithered.

[RAND AL THOR]

He had the guts! Way to go LTT! I wish he were sane now....though I love it every single time it says "LTT giggled"  ;D

[Jonn]

Hey, what happened was obviously meant to be, right?

 

I just don't see the point in blaming Latra any more than Lews Therin for the way things turned out.

 

Lews Therin is the reason the Breaking happened. I believe it's rather convenient for the people who even know about the Fateful Concord, to place blame on Latra.

 

We don't know exactly the details of what was holding up her position. Obviously a substantial contingent of Aes Sedai believed enough that her plan would work to hold back on joining Lews Therin, the most powerful ta'veren ever seen at that point.

 

The point is furthered by the fact that he could only get about a hundred to go with him. Like Luckers says, there were far more Aes Sedai than just 300 right? So then it can be said that the majority favored Latra's position.

 

Also, we aren't exactly sure when the keys were recovered are we? We know they ended up in the caravan with the Aiel, but I honestly can't see the keys falling into the Shadow's possession for long without them figuring out what they are and using them against he Light. That leads me to suspect that the Light recovered the keys before the Shadow even knew they had them, and I can't say that years could go by without them coming across that information. That's what leads me to believe that the keys were tragically recovered just shortly after Lews Therin's strike on Shayol Ghul.

 

You gotta admit, that would be terribly ironic. Poetic even.

 

Anyway, back to the original assumption of whether or not Latra was a darkfriend.

 

Obviously not. If she was, the Shadow would have long known that Lews Therin planned an assault on Shayol Ghul, and what was a debacle would have instead ended as the utter defeat of the Light.

 

Ultimately, I see what happened as a failure on both sides between Latra and Lews Therin. You can't blame one more than the other for the breakdown in communication leading up to the Strike on Shayol Ghul, although we can see that the person most directly at fault for the physical destruction of the Age in the form of the Breaking is, in fact, Lews Therin.

 

Sure you can praise him for having the guts to take the risk, but he paid the cost for it and so did the entire world, a thousand fold.