Sheriam darkfriend?

[Patrick]

Has anyone else ever thought of Sheriam as a darkfriend? I was jsut rereading the series and a couple things have made me think it possible. The one that stood out the most was when Egwene and Nynaeve are in the novice quarters and a gray man tries to kill them but fails and Nynaeve stops it only to find it later with a knife in its chest and Sheriam close by. Also whenever Nynaeve asked about it Sheriam never wondered about the knife or what it was doing there.

[edman]

I always thought that she might be after I read that passage, but she hasn't seem to do anything else since to say she is a darkfriend. Well I say that but I'm only up to Winter's Heart so she might have done some questionable acts in the last two books.

[aronsamma]

that gray man was killed by slayer

[Child Olaf]

I took Sheriam's reaction to the gray man like she was trying to protect two of her novices. She removed them from the situation so she could handle it. Not that she was a darkfriend and needed to cover it up. If she was, then she easily could have killed the two of them.

[Luckers]

The nature of Sheriam's allegience has been questioned since tPoD. Amongst her ambiguos behaviour there is...

 

1. The initial Grey Man incident.

2. The female Grey Man found in her bed - sounds like a warning to me.

3. The only one of Egwene's maids not killed by Halima was Chesa. Chesa was given to Egwene by Sheriam.

4. The torturing incident in tPoD

5. Her increasing instability.

 

Frankly i think she is just under someones thumb. I don't think she is black.

[Chel Vanin]

ditto with luckers

[Vo0]

I agree with Luckers.. there is a excerpt in WH though where she takes orders from someone in the shadows.. to "Find out" what Egwene is plotting etc. So she may very well be.. or maybe she has ulterior motives. Wouldn't it be great if it was someone random :D

[Luckers]

That was the torturing incident in tPoD... it's what made people question originally... still, i dont think so.

[vikingdriver]

I can't say much other than I have always thought her to be a Dark Friend since the tower split up.

[jo]

3. The only one of Egwene's maids not killed by Halima was Chesa. Chesa was given to Egwene by Sheriam.

 

I don't see Chesa as a spy for Sheriam.

But yes SOMETHING is wrong with Sheriam whether she's black ajah or just plain nuts... Maybe the Sea Folk sent her to the tower because they knew she was useless.

[Graendals favourite]

I think one option of what's going on is that she's under the thumb of the Mysterious Conspiracy Five, Takima-Faiselle-Varilin-Magla-Saroiya. They are former Sittera of different Ajahs except Blue and Red who fled the Tower. The other groups are Romanda, Lelaine, Moria, Lyrelle, and Janya, who are of proper age and can act independently, and the too-young Sitters.

 

There is a post-KoD text on this in wotfaq:

http://linuxmafia.com/jordan/2_nondark/2.6_what-up-nondark/2.6.5_sitters.html

 

The MCF would not stand in the War Vote, are dead against dealing with the Black Tower, and wanted the Negotiations, which they took into their own hands, shoving Beonin aside. Sheriam seemed desperately against the Black Tower arrangement in Cot, where she came late to the sitting.

 

Now, the MCF arranged for the young Sitters to be chosen, at least Magla did so in the Yellow according to Romanda's pov. They were all sitting Sitters so they had the power to arrange it. Perhaps there was a similar thought as raising Egwene, an easily guided figurehead. Also the melding of the Towers would be easier, meld the Halls, meld the Amyrlins.

 

Sheriam's situation came about after she'd approached a Sitters or more, which she wished she hadn't in her pov. Now her pov was when the Salidar Five's power was melting, it was going to be the Hall and the Amyrlin, the last having little apparent power. I can't see she'd approach Lelaine, who was her rival. The too-youngs? All that is left is the MCF and Janya, since the Blues would be somewhat alligned with Lelaine. My thinking is that Sheriam approached one of MCF, and they got a hold on her, a similar hold as Egwene did.

 

It seems Faiselle knows about Myrelle and Lan. In KoD she 'twisted her arm' to get her deal with Llyw, Kairen's Warder. The odd thing is, there hasn't seemed to be much odd with Morvin, Carlinya or Nisao, and Beonin aside from being Elaida's ferret.

 

The young ones also seem to be doing something, at least some of them, remembering the arrangement-with-the-BT sitting in CoT, though that is contrary to Sheriam's behaviour. Her oath of fealty would also make her actions difficult to interpret.

 

Also, now Tsutama decided the Red also will bond Asha'man, perhaps clearing a difference between the two camps? That would go down to the Ajah-heads-meeting-in-the-corners. But the question in that becomes, who pulls the strings? Sheriam would have been a prize to get a hold of, for someone manipulating behind the scenes. Perhaps it is Verin :). Anyway, these thoughts came to mind now, but I am getting confused, and I need to reread KoD.

[Guest cwestervelt]

I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that the five Sitters went to Salidar under post schism orders as quickly as that article appears to. The time line isn't that much of an issue. Salidar was not founded overnight, its location, and the number of Sisters, particularly non-Blue, required some time to establish. This was evidenced by the fact that they were still organizing themselves when Tarna (I think) arrived as Elaida's emmisary.

 

While the coup in the Tower was bloody and quick, all of the Aes Sedai could not have fled immediately. Tar Valon is an island with only 6 departure points. This makes it likely that, with the exception of the whichever Blues where in Tar Valon at the time of Siuan being deposed, the Sisters fled in small groups over a period of days. Also, unless there was at least 1 Blue with each group that fled, or communication to and from Tar Valon, there would have been no Salidar gathering. The code name of Sallie Daera was given to Blue Agents and only meant something if you were Blue.

 

My point is, the flight of the non-Blue Sisters could not have been truly spontaneous but required planning. Even the evenness of the split supports this with roughly half of all Sisters staying and half leaving. The idea of someone picking and choosing who went and who stayed isn't that farfetched, nor is it unlikely that Sitters would have been included in the who will go to help keep things in control. Most of the Aes Sedai believe in acting for "the good of the Tower" rather than doing what is right. The extra Brown Sitter may actually be someone who believes in doing what is right.

[Graendals favourite]

True, that. It probably started as a meeting of high-ranking people, perhaps the Ajah heads from the other Ajahs, to decide what they will do to this war between the Red and the Blue. Then they'd each chosen a Sitter to go to the rebels. With the plan of action being to try to merge the Towers and avoid open war. It was the Ajah heads who arranged the too-young Sitters in the Tower, and the MCF who arranged (well, likely that happened in the other Ajahs than the yellow too) it in Salidar. It is natural that the Blue and Red would not be part of this scheme. Also, no outsider would know of it. After all, e.g. Romanda does not know, and she is the head of the rebel Yellow. Pretty much on the instant they started to tell about it to people, it would become common knowledge.

 

Still, of course it is possible that it is the MCF who are keeping Sheriam in tow. We know Aes Sedai can be rough if what they do is secret, and that necessitates that they have something they can blackmail Sheriam with, something she cannot reveal even if it means being beaten. It fits what they want to want to have Sheriam in control.

 

Ah, I think that was what Sheriam wanted to feel Egwene out about in the end of CoT, when she came to meet her but only spoke of Nicola's family. She wanted to know if Egwene might pardon her, because though she had kept something hidden, it had been for the good in her mind. She even provoked her to mention the word abuse.

 

Adding, not to be completely of topic, I don't think Sheriam is a Darkfriend, just that she's been put in some tight spots. Perhaps because she was Mistress of Novices earlier, and now because she was head of the Salidar Five and is Keeper.

[Luckers]

The Too-Young Sitter Conspiracy seems to be a plan enacted by the original pre-schism Ajah heads in an attempt to bring about the peaceful reunification of the Tower. Specifically allowing for the dismissal of sitters in both halls when the Halls reconnect without causing political problems with dismissing sister who are genuinely elected sitters of the hall.

 

I don't think Sheriam is involved with them.