Who will get Carhein?

[jo]

One word "necessity".

[Rylliar]

I think it is reasonable to consider Galad as a viable candidate for the throne of Cairhien, although I don't think that it will happen now that is a prominent figure with the Whitecloaks. His position as a member of House Damodred, and the eldest child of Taringail, makes him eligible, and by most rules of primogeniture, the MOST eligible candidate.

 

The reason I think Elayne is being proposed as a candidate for Cairhien is her obvious connection to Rand (and the fact that Rand was holding Andor for her) as well as the fact that they really don't know where Galad is. Until Elayne arrived in Caemlyn, all of the heirs of Damodred and Trakand were unaccounted for, which is what caused all of the chaos and why Rand was forced to assign a caretaker in Cairhien and keep asserting Elayne's claim in Andor. I do find the correlation between the emblem of the Whitecloaks (sunburst on white) and the standard of Cairhien (rising sun) interesting, but I really don't think we're going to see it happen. Galad wouldn't really make a great ruler, with his sense of purity and "rightness".

 

He might make a good lawmaker, but his ability to handle the nobility and make compromises would be in question. Not that he couldn't learn, but his moral code has been rather unforgiving, and I think he would alienate too many people too early for his rule to be successful. Add to that the Game of Houses, and you have a royal mess (no pun intended). I think Dobraine is a good choice, considering what Rand had to choose from, and I think he (or Elayne) could do well in Cairhien.

 

I agree that Elayne could rule Cairhien, but I also agree that the administrative responsibilities alone might be too much considering how Andor is currently being run. Look at how Andor's influence has declined over the years; the Two Rivers doesn't even consider themselves part of any nation, let alone Andor. I think for her to be able to rule both Andor and Cairhien successfully, she would have to assign regional rulers for each district, and have them handle the more petty responsibilities while she works to merge them all into a compromising whole. I think Elayne has the presence and intelligence to do this, but it might take a long time (of course, she has the time, with a prospective lifespan of 300-600 years, depending on whether she ends up taking the Oaths). :)

[cannon]

My problem with Elayne ruling is that it just isn't practical to rule two separate nations at the same time. Day to day work would make that impossible. Traveling doesn't help because my point is that you don't have enough hours in the day to run two full countries. At best, she would appoint someone to basically work in her place, thus not really ruling anyway.

 

except when in history has the ruler of ANY nation really been that involved int he day to day operations of running a country? Mistress Hafnor and Master Nory anyone? There was a LONG stretch in which Andor had no one in control and aside from the whole succession conflict, it doesn't seem to be falling down around people's ears.

 

Mistress Hafnor and Master Nory do indeed actual run the country, but they also spend large portions of their day asking Elayne to make decisions, sign things, meet with people, etc. There was a chapter a few books back which illustrated my point perfectly that Elayne basically doesn't have time to do anything OTHER than run Andor, or at least make the decisions that Nory and Hafnor feel need to be made by Elayne.

 

Rand really isn't a good example of running multiple kingdoms, because he doesn't. He conquers them, leaves a regent in charge and rules by fear. That will only work in the short term. The fact that Andor kept running during the succession is another example of something that will only work for a short amount of time before it collapses.

 

I agree that the practical aspects of running two nations won't be delved into with the remaining book. In fact, I doubt we'll get any resolution at all on Cairhein. I'm just saying that in the long term, Elayne simply can't effectively rule two kingdoms.