Mesaana (Full Spoilers)

[thewalrus777]

Although I thought the whole thing with Verin and the hour of death was the worst part of the entire series outside of the incredibly boring adventure with luca's circus i will not hold that against bs. If messy uses pedantics like the rediculous verin and gets around the rod like that ill be so annoyed. Could someone please have an idea which is good? If it turns out she gets away with it by not thinking of herself a DF she will no longer be able to claim tobe AS. Any AS who says 'im as' is not messy

 

It was the best part, by far. We literally got turned on our heads, by the reveal. And Verin tried to have those oaths removed any which way you can. She wasn't ridiculous at all.

 

Any AS who says 'i'm AS' is not messy, is far off base. Like i posted before if an AS believes what she says to be true, then she can speak those words. Compulsion can make a person believe or do anything.

 

It's not a bad idea at all. And possibly a very likely one.

[Taura-Tierno]

The Chosen only think of themselves as Chosen. They will never believe to be anything otherwise. Not Forsaken, BA, or DF. They only refer to themselves as CHOSEN. Thus making them be able to get around any oath in regards to lying, if they are asked if they are Forsaken, BA, or DF. Remember an Aes Sedai can unwittingly tell a lie if what she says, she believes to be true. And that's with swearing on the OR. Not to mention the twisting of words. If Aes Sedai can get around the oaths in a fashion, then the Chosen most certainly can. Not to mention they have more knowledge about those numbered ter'angreal, than those "child" Aes Sedai do.

 

But that depends on how you interpret the word "darkfriend", doesn't it? Does it always mean the organization of followers of the shadow as they are in the current age? Or can it be interpreted in a more general way, you ... if you're a darkfriend, then you are a friend of the dark, as in, you follow the Dark One. Which Mesaana most certainly does. That's why I wondered if there was a quote about it, since I've heard people claim that BS said that Mesaana could get away with it, and other people claim that he's said she could not.

 

 

[thewalrus777]

The Chosen only think of themselves as Chosen. They will never believe to be anything otherwise. Not Forsaken, BA, or DF. They only refer to themselves as CHOSEN. Thus making them be able to get around any oath in regards to lying, if they are asked if they are Forsaken, BA, or DF. Remember an Aes Sedai can unwittingly tell a lie if what she says, she believes to be true. And that's with swearing on the OR. Not to mention the twisting of words. If Aes Sedai can get around the oaths in a fashion, then the Chosen most certainly can. Not to mention they have more knowledge about those numbered ter'angreal, than those "child" Aes Sedai do.

 

But that depends on how you interpret the word "darkfriend", doesn't it? Does it always mean the organization of followers of the shadow as they are in the current age? Or can it be interpreted in a more general way, you ... if you're a darkfriend, then you are a friend of the dark, as in, you follow the Dark One. Which Mesaana most certainly does. That's why I wondered if there was a quote about it, since I've heard people claim that BS said that Mesaana could get away with it, and other people claim that he's said she could not.

 

 

 

But see that's just it. The Chosen believe DF's to be beneath them. They believe the BA to be beneath them. They only believe to be CHOSEN. They do not think of themselves any other way. Messy could get around that OR, especially with the questions being asked after reswearing on the OR. If only they would get the question right.

 

"Are you one of the Chosen?" Done and done. But it still doesn't exclude the fact that she may have kept the Aes Sedai she's impersonating, imprisoned. You never know when she might need that proxy to do something that she couldn't do. Like possibly swearing on the OR. Like I said before, if she's an Aes Sedai under compulsion she's not a DF by way of not being in control of herself.

[Morsmordre]

To my mind, Mesaana won't be questioned at all. Egweene has already started to think who she might be. She will eventually stumble upon the answer but not with the Oath Rod. In LoC Mesaana says that, before she had been sealed with the others, she had been a woman of average age, around 300 years old. If this is average, I'd say that the AS from the AoL did not swear under the OR. Hence, her face does not have the ageless look and she might not be impersonating as an AS but as a 'servant' of an AS. The way Halima did it.

This idea came up to me when I saw the theory from one of the posts above about having an AS as a prisoner. Yes, why not? I've never seen so far AS having personal servants but what could stop them? If anyone has seen a statement that says they cannot have personal servants in the Tower, be my guest. Being a 'servant' of an AS is the best way to keep her under control and not being questioned or ordered anything by other AS. What do you think?

[thewalrus777]

To my mind, Mesaana won't be questioned at all. Egweene has already started to think who she might be. She will eventually stumble upon the answer but not with the Oath Rod. In LoC Mesaana says that, before she had been sealed with the others, she had been a woman of average age, around 300 years old. If this is average, I'd say that the AS from the AoL did not swear under the OR. Hence, her face does not have the ageless look and she might not be impersonating as an AS but as a 'servant' of an AS. The way Halima did it.

This idea came up to me when I saw the theory from one of the posts above about having an AS as a prisoner. Yes, why not? I've never seen so far AS having personal servants but what could stop them? If anyone has seen a statement that says they cannot have personal servants in the Tower, be my guest. Being a 'servant' of an AS is the best way to keep her under control and not being questioned or ordered anything by other AS. What do you think?

It's true. Aes Sedai in the AoL could live up to 600 years plus. But it's been stated in the books by Graendal that Mesaana is impersonating an Aes Sedai. She has spies in the Tower.

[Morsmordre]

To my mind, Mesaana won't be questioned at all. Egweene has already started to think who she might be. She will eventually stumble upon the answer but not with the Oath Rod. In LoC Mesaana says that, before she had been sealed with the others, she had been a woman of average age, around 300 years old. If this is average, I'd say that the AS from the AoL did not swear under the OR. Hence, her face does not have the ageless look and she might not be impersonating as an AS but as a 'servant' of an AS. The way Halima did it.

This idea came up to me when I saw the theory from one of the posts above about having an AS as a prisoner. Yes, why not? I've never seen so far AS having personal servants but what could stop them? If anyone has seen a statement that says they cannot have personal servants in the Tower, be my guest. Being a 'servant' of an AS is the best way to keep her under control and not being questioned or ordered anything by other AS. What do you think?

It's true. Aes Sedai in the AoL could live up to 600 years plus. But it's been stated in the books by Graendal that Mesaana is impersonating an Aes Sedai. She has spies in the Tower.

 

Duh, this is very precise. I remember now :/ But I still like the idea of Mesaana being anything but an AS :D

[thewalrus777]

To my mind, Mesaana won't be questioned at all. Egweene has already started to think who she might be. She will eventually stumble upon the answer but not with the Oath Rod. In LoC Mesaana says that, before she had been sealed with the others, she had been a woman of average age, around 300 years old. If this is average, I'd say that the AS from the AoL did not swear under the OR. Hence, her face does not have the ageless look and she might not be impersonating as an AS but as a 'servant' of an AS. The way Halima did it.

This idea came up to me when I saw the theory from one of the posts above about having an AS as a prisoner. Yes, why not? I've never seen so far AS having personal servants but what could stop them? If anyone has seen a statement that says they cannot have personal servants in the Tower, be my guest. Being a 'servant' of an AS is the best way to keep her under control and not being questioned or ordered anything by other AS. What do you think?

It's true. Aes Sedai in the AoL could live up to 600 years plus. But it's been stated in the books by Graendal that Mesaana is impersonating an Aes Sedai. She has spies in the Tower.

 

Duh, this is very precise. I remember now :/ But I still like the idea of Mesaana being anything but an AS :D

 

It would be nice if she were anything but what we've been speculating in this thread. ;D

[Bobbun]

A "better" way for Mesaana to avoid having to depend on wording tricks to get around the oaths would be for her to have an inverted weave of air in her hand that keeps it from touching her skin when held.  This assumes that the oath rod has to be in contact with skin in order to function...  something that we have seen with other ter'angreal.  The advantage of this approach is that she can avoid being bound by the oaths at all, and thus doesn't have to go hunt up the rod later on to get rid of them.

[metaphor]

there is a very simple and effective way to sidestep the Oath, that is Mesaana is a Chosen and not a lowly darkfriend.

Why try to come up with needlessly complicated and improbable explanations when there is a much simpler one that works better ?  :P

 

also, darkfriends and black ajah are technically followers of Ba alzamon, and after their awakening of all the Chosen.

It's something that Lanfear says to mat in the 3rd book.

[trowabartan]

Mesaana is most likely Danelle.  Both have big blue eyes, Danelle is brown and it is highly likely Mesaana would choose Brown(I believe when Alviarin begged mesaana in the one book she got a glimpse of a brown dress too) and in ACoS it is mentioned that Mesaana questioned Alviarin on the meeting with Elaida despite it being apparent she knew everything and Danelle was the first person Mesaana came across after leaving Elaida.

 

Then again maybe encyclopedia wot doesn't know everything...  I don't remember if Danelle was mentioned in TGS, I find it hard to remember the minor AS.

 

 

[Sharaman]

There are several ways that have been suggested in the above posts to sidestep the Oath Rod. She may have used one of them or she may know more about how binders (Oath Rods) work and thus, have another way to do it.

Obviously she is going to be a plot element in ToM- aMoL.

What interests me is how Egwene is going to find her given that Egwene doesn't have access to this thread, or DragonMount in general and doesn't know Mesaana's appearance, etc.

She has to use some other line of logic and of course, whatever info Verin left her.

Those lists Egwene uses to try and review AS (captured by Seanchan, executed, escaped, passed) involves some jumps in logic that are not clearly explained.

 

[Taura-Tierno]

http://www.theoryland.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78306#post78306

 

Q: Do the Forsaken consider themselves Darkfriends?

A: Oooh, you are tricky! I know what you’re doing. I would say that, in general, yes they do consider themselves Darkfriends, though there are ways somebody would be able to get around that. I would say, yes, that that is not the sort of mental gymnastics that…it is very easy to convince yourself that you are not a Darkfriend.

 

So I suppose that's are answer :P The Forsaken would consider themselves darkfriends, but there are ways around that.

[StefanR]

Mesanna could be hiding as a stilled sister, it would explain the loss of the ageless look

[BladeDancer]

I think Mesaana is one of Danelle or Tsutama or Lirene. Danelle because of reasons discussed before.

 

Tsutama is a candidate because she has returned after a long time away from the Tower but has changed to become somewhat wild and unpredictable and more ruthless. Tsutama is now the head of the Red Ajah - the most powerful Ajah in Elaida's Tower. Tsutama wears silk - as does Mesaana. Tsutama lives in luxury when most Aes Sedai live more frugally. This implies she does not follow the conventional rules like most Aes Sedai.Some folks have discounted Tsutama because she lives with luxury and they think that the description of her being interested in power rather than the appearance of power is at odds with this. I disagree as she actually has power as Head of the Red Ajah, her rooms being overly lavish merely illustrates she goes against contemporary thinking of what is normally suitable for Aes Sedai.  I know others think she is a candidate and for the same reasons. As Head of the Red Ajah, Tsutama can basically do what she wants even Elaida does not really oppose her directly due to the Reds being her main source of support. Tsutama does not need to do what other than what she wants as the other Ajahs have isolated themselves from each other and the Reds. She is not a Sitter so does not even need to attend the Hall for meetings. It seems logical to me for Mesaana to have taken the place of an existing Sister (as it seems extremely convoluted if not impossible to create a new one) who has been away for a long time. Tsutama has been away for 15 years and so her acquaintances will have only old memories of her and any personality changes can be ascribed to the experiences and time she spent in exile. Mesaana could have captured and interrogated Tsutama before killing and then replacing her when she is recalled. Tsutama also decides to send Aes Sedai to be bonded to Asha'man and keeps this secret from Elaida - this seems to hint that she has her own agenda which might be different from Elaida's.

 

Another returned from exile is Lirene. Lirene is notable because she is described as being nervous - Mesaana might be anxious about being discovered. It is emphasized that Lirene thinks Elaida has made lots of mistakes including kidnapping Rand. Although I thought that the kidnapping of Rand was the plan of Mesaana (or at least she wanted Rand brought to the White Tower.) Lirene also fits the criteria for being away from the Tower in exile making her a prime candidate for replacement by an imposter.

 

I would be surprised if Mesaana turns out to be someone else entirely.

[StefanR]

I think Mesanna must be a brown

[BladeDancer]

Another thing that points to Tsutama is the Aes Sedai sense of Hierarchy. Aes Sedai generally defer to those stronger in the OP. Mesaana is going to be pretty strong in the OP and although she is almost certainly disguising her power level in order to keep her cover she probably would not want to have to defer and give way to the majority of 'half-trained children' in the Tower. She was elected as the Highest after Galina's supposed death. Now surely that strength in the OP is going to be a factor in selected the Highest - so presumably Tsutama is stronger than most Aes Sedai - if she was weaker than average then she would not be candidate for the Highest. Although Mesaana would aim to avoid discovery, she would also attempt to position herself in a position of power (Head of the most powerful Ajah) and influence (an Aes Sedai that other Aes Sedai defer to). As Tsutama she cannot really be ordered to do anything by any other Aes Sedai (as Elaida does not want to alienate her old Ajah.) Tsutama does not need to defer to anyone at all.

 

The main factors that possibly detract from Tsutama being Mesaana theory are that Tsutama seems to swear a lot (Mesaana does not seem to when observed by other Forsaken) and Tsutama is a very high profile Aes Sedai. Maybe Mesaana would prefer a lower profile Aes Sedai to impersonate.

[Sharaman]

Mesaana is hiding as a normal, ageless sister who is similar looking - Alviarin sees her without the ageless disguise and doesn't recognise her. But she thinks Messi looks quite familiar.

There aren't any stilled sisters randomly floating around the Tower.

There are some AS who are too new to the rod to have become ageless looking. But if Messi was posing as one of them, she would be recognised by Alvi when Shaidar stripped her Mask.

Tsutsama is a possibility at some levels, so is Danelle. Lirene seems a big stretch.

Tsutsama (Tall, hard-eyed, black hair, bosomy, beautiful) and Lirene (very short,) have physical descriptions very different from Messi (Brown hair, big blue eyes, average height).

 

The other thing is Mesaana has been in the Tower for quite a while. Verin has met her twice and Verin left the tower to go to the Two Rivers in TDR-TSR.

Tsutsama and Lirene are recalled from exile only after Elaida takes over (TSR and later)

Danelle fits better in that sense.

 

The OP hierarchy thing is not very useful - heads of Ajah aren't necessarily stronger in the power or else they would be automatically selected rather than be elected by ballot.

 

I have doubts about Danelle because she's Brown. Verin was a Brown and would be more likely to have found a Brown sister, who was acting even slightly strange. Browns also specialise in knowledge. which makes impersonating them more difficult and dangerous. Messi would have to know Danelle's areas of interest very well, or else she may get tripped up by a query about some obscure paper Danelle has written. It's like impersonating a professor - if you don't know her subject well, you will be caught out even if you look like her identical twin.

 

[BladeDancer]

Mesaana is hiding as a normal, ageless sister who is similar looking - Alviarin sees her without the ageless disguise and doesn't recognise her. But she thinks Messi looks quite familiar.

There aren't any stilled sisters randomly floating around the Tower.

There are some AS who are too new to the rod to have become ageless looking. But if Messi was posing as one of them, she would be recognised by Alvi when Shaidar stripped her Mask.

Tsutsama is a possibility at some levels, so is Danelle. Lirene seems a big stretch.

Tsutsama (Tall, hard-eyed, black hair, bosomy, beautiful) and Lirene (very short,) have physical descriptions very different from Messi (Brown hair, big blue eyes, average height).

 

The other thing is Mesaana has been in the Tower for quite a while. Verin has met her twice and Verin left the tower to go to the Two Rivers in TDR-TSR.

Tsutsama and Lirene are recalled from exile only after Elaida takes over (TSR and later)

Danelle fits better in that sense.

 

The OP hierarchy thing is not very useful - heads of Ajah aren't necessarily stronger in the power or else they would be automatically selected rather than be elected by ballot.

 

I have doubts about Danelle because she's Brown. Verin was a Brown and would be more likely to have found a Brown sister, who was acting even slightly strange. Browns also specialise in knowledge. which makes impersonating them more difficult and dangerous. Messi would have to know Danelle's areas of interest very well, or else she may get tripped up by a query about some obscure paper Danelle has written. It's like impersonating a professor - if you don't know her subject well, you will be caught out even if you look like her identical twin.

 

 

Thanks for your detailed response.

 

The thing about OP Hierarchy is that it is not explicitly said what the criteria are for choosing the Highest. However it seems very unlikely to me that the Ajahs would choose someone as Head who was not one of the most influential and strongest amongst them. It seems illogical to have a hierarchy based largely upon the OP strength but then choose an Ajah Head (who in the case of the Ajah is almost an absolute authority) without using strength in the OP as a MAJOR factor in the selection. It would be like having a Hierarchy based on who is the tallest but choosing the King/Boss as one of the shortest - it would make the hierarchy criteria illogical and self-contradicting. Other factors could play a part in selecting Ajah head - overall competence, leadership ability, organisational skills, age since adopting the shawl, personality traits etc but strength in the OP would have to be a major criteria in narrowing the field to a few candidates.

 

You have a point about Verin meeting Mesaana (which she reveals in TGS). Presumably these meetings were during TDR after Verin returns with the Horn Of Valere to the Tower - it is during TGH that we see Lanfear is free so was can assume Mesaana was freed at the same time or just after Lanfear. Verin is at the White Tower when Egwene leaves for Tear hunting the Black Ajah and in the TSR Verin then departs to the Two Rivers and meets up with Perrin. So Mesaana almost certainly has to be in the Tower during this period (Verin does not specifically say when she met Mesaana, technically if could have been just before meeting Egwene to confess to being Black Ajah in TGS but this seems unlikely). So Verin's comment would strongly imply Mesaana was already in the White Tower before the coup and not arriving afterwards. This would rule out Tsutama and Lirene who arrived from exile after Elaida summoned them. I did not really get the significance of Verin's admission at the time - Verin was revealing an awful lot during that Chapter.

 

Verin's admission to meeting Mesaana twice (and implying this was in the Tower) would strengthen the evidence for Danelle imo. It would only make sense for Mesaana to be an Aes Sedai who was mentioned as being in the Tower during this period. It would not be good story-telling for Mesaana to be some random Aes Sedai who was not specifically named and placed at the Tower at this time (ie we can rule out Mesaana being one of the scores of unnamed Aes Sedai in the White Tower immediately preceeding the coup.)

 

It is interesting how much discussion and analysis of these books is now possible due to the Web. When RJ started the WOT series this was before the WWW! Every sentence can now be quoted, cross-referenced and discussed and any inconsistencies pointed out. Theories and conspiracies can be considered, spread or discarded with great speed on dedicated forums like this. The Web certainly tightens up the demands for story consistency for future Authors!

[BladeDancer]

I have noticed that some folks have been discussing the possible loopholes of using the Oath Rod to catch Black Ajah. OK I can see that it might be plausible that Mesaana escapes detection in this method if she does not consider herself a mere Darkfriend and if she had to deny this specific question. But I should point out that it is not specifically stated what is sworn on the Oath Rod during the Black Ajah Purge. It is only shown for the Sitters in Egwene's camp (none of whom are Mesaana) and not the rest of the Aes Sedai. Egwene might have asked all Sisters from Elaida's Tower to swear that they did not serve the Dark One or the Shadow. This would catch Mesaana even if she considered herself seperate from the Black Ajah and normal Darkfriends. This would avoid the loopholes of using the names Forsaken/Chosen/Black Ajah/Darkfriend etc. The term The Dark One is not normally used by Darkfriends but they could not swear to oppose the Dark One as they know that Great Lord of the Dark is the same entity as the Dark One. OK we know that Mesaana was not caught during the purge but this does not mean that we know the exact wording that each Sister was required to swear on the Oath Rod.

[Sharaman]

I've always had a problem with that in-built inconsistency of As hierarchy.

Rj created a system where every AS automatically defers to sisters who are stronger in OP.

But they also secretly elect ajah heads except for the Browns who have a secretly elected council.

Since this is election, not selection, I'd assume that OP strength plays a minor role. Experience and political skills are probably crucial to being chosen - in fact, we do have people cribbing that sitters are "too young" so experience definitely counts.

Otherwise if OP was a main criteria for sitters, and heads, it would be an automatic process and not change for decades. 

I've always wondered how they handle this internal dichotomy - if a sister who's strong is deferring to another from the same ajah who's weaker, it is an immediate giveaway isn't it?

We don't know how much of her strength Messi is masking. It would depend on who she was impersonating.

 

[Taura-Tierno]

It seems illogical to have a hierarchy based largely upon the OP strength but then choose an Ajah Head (who in the case of the Ajah is almost an absolute authority) without using strength in the OP as a MAJOR factor in the selection.

 

Yet there have been Amyrlins who have been very weak in the One Power. By your reasoning, all Amyrlins would have to be strong. I would say that it depends on what the Ajah is looking for in their leadership - if they desire hard-core authority, a strong Sister seems a good choice, since strength in the OP would presumably come with greater self-confidence. However, I would assume that an individual might be seen as a good choice for that even without strength in the OP - if she's proven herself a good candidate by other means.

 

Also, it's not necessary that every Ajah would look for a hard-core authority figure as an Ajah head - it might be her skills as a politician, her deep knowledge regarding matters important to the Ajah, her ability to think rationally and logically, or any other kind of ability the Ajah deem necessary that qualifies a candidate for such a position. I would agree that most Ajah heads are probably above average in strength, since weaker ones are probably often overlooked. But I definitely believe that there have been weak Heads, but that these would have to have proven themselves to greater extents, to be given notice at all. We know that the Hall, the Amyrlin or the Ajah can put an Aes Sedai as the leader of a group - and all Sisters would have to follow her command, even if she's weaker than them. I would suppose that the same goes for Ajah Heads.

 

I've always wondered how they handle this internal dichotomy - if a sister who's strong is deferring to another from the same ajah who's weaker, it is an immediate giveaway isn't it?

 

First, there might be other factors to consider. A Sister might have been "demoted" within her Ajah, if she's done something very bad. And that doesn't seem like something an outsider would know about.

 

Also, I believe that it's stated somewhere in the books (can't remember where, maybe New Spring?) that outside the Ajah, the standard hierarchy is used. A weaker Ajah Head defers to stronger Sisters of the same Ajah, but those Sisters are expected to be polite and not abuse that authority, since no one wants to spite the Head.

[BladeDancer]

It seems illogical to have a hierarchy based largely upon the OP strength but then choose an Ajah Head (who in the case of the Ajah is almost an absolute authority) without using strength in the OP as a MAJOR factor in the selection.

 

Yet there have been Amyrlins who have been very weak in the One Power. By your reasoning, all Amyrlins would have to be strong. I would say that it depends on what the Ajah is looking for in their leadership - if they desire hard-core authority, a strong Sister seems a good choice, since strength in the OP would presumably come with greater self-confidence. However, I would assume that an individual might be seen as a good choice for that even without strength in the OP - if she's proven herself a good candidate by other means.

 

 

I think the selection of an Amyrlin is more of a compromise than an Ajah Head. The Reds probably would prefer not to select a Blue and vice versa. If an Ajah is to accept an Amyrlin candidate of another Ajah they may insist on having a Keeper from their own Ajah. Yes there may have been Amyrlins's weaker than average in the OP but I expect these to be the exceptions rather than normal selections. When selecting an Ajah Head it seems a candidate is likely to be stronger than average in the OP. Cadsuane would be head of the Green Ajah if she wanted to be, I doubt Adelorna would stand in her way. It will be interesting to see them both together in a scene as Adeloran is the current Head of Cadsuane's Ajah but Cadsuane would almost certainly bully her the way she does everybody!

 

As for Mesaana, has anyone noticed any clues as to whether she was involved in the coup? AFAIK she seems content in a) the White Tower splitting and b) Egwene being elected as a figurehead Amyrlin in Exile. Alviarin keeps hinting she may help Egwene escape back to her camp. Is this at Mesaana's urging? Is it a real offer to help her return to her camp - or does she intend to smuggle Egwene away and then kill her/make her disappear. Mesaana could not easily have Egwene killed while a captive in the Tower as this would obviously point to Black Ajah (although possibly manipulating Elaida into executing Egwene as a darkfriend would enable this to happen).

When the Forsaken meet in TGS Mesaana points out that she will be delivering a split Tower, so this scenario is obviously one she is trying to perpetuate, but did she also make it happen. If she was in the Tower when the coup occurred (and she favours the split) then it would make sense if she helped engineer it the coup and raising of Elaida in the first place. Danelle certainly was involved in that event. Also in the Forsaken meeting, Mesaana seems very insistent about rescuing Semirhage because she fears what a captive Semirhage will reveal. Above all, Mesaana fears that her cover in the Tower will be revealed, so did Semirhage know who Mesaana was impersonating? Maybe she did not but Mesaana thought she did. Or perhaps Mesaana suspects that Semirhage knew that Mesaana was impersonating an Aes Sedai if not the exact one and this was enough to make Mesaana worry.

 

Whoever Mesaana is masquerading as, her situation has drastically worsened after the events of TGS. Mesaana promised to deliver a split Tower and Aes Sedai who were following the Shadow's cause. Now the Tower is united under a powerful and popular Amyrlin, the Black Ajah have been revealed and many have been killed and (almost all) the rest are known and in hiding. Egwene also knows that Mesaana is in the Tower and will undoubtedly be looking for her. Unswearing of the 3 Oaths will be much more difficult now as the Oath Rod will be much more closely guarded (or at least it should be) now that the existence of the Black Ajah is acknowledged by Aes Sedai. What can Mesaana now realistically achieve by hanging around the white Tower. OK she could act as a spy for the Shadow and she could assassinate Egwene or other Aes Sedai - although she would need to rely on surprise to succeed. Once she had assassinated someone then the hunt for her would be on so she would almost certainly have to flee. She could steal some Ter'angreal, or Sa'angreal or Angreal from the cache but doing so would trigger alarms and be noticed quickly so she would have limited time to steal what she wanted. The ideal time for a raid on this cache would have been during the Seanchan attack but we do not know what Mesaana did during those events. The Black Ajah should really have raided this cache during their escape, we are not sure how they did escape, probably Alviarin opened a Travelling gateway for them. They could have raided a store-room of Angreal and just killed any guards who came to investigate any alarms before Travelling away.

 

So what do people think that Mesaana will do now? Will she try and avoid detection until she can find an opportune moment to spring a betrayal/surprise attack. Technically she could just realise that her situation was pretty much irretrievable and Balefire the White Tower before legging it. Shaidar Haran is going to be mighty pissed at the way Egwene has messed up Mesaana's plans so Mesaana has to do something to make amends. She cannot just hide away in the Tower and stealing books from the Tower Library and failing to return them by the due date is not evil enough.

[witsd]

I have doubts about Danelle because she's Brown. Verin was a Brown and would be more likely to have found a Brown sister, who was acting even slightly strange. Browns also specialise in knowledge. which makes impersonating them more difficult and dangerous. Messi would have to know Danelle's areas of interest very well, or else she may get tripped up by a query about some obscure paper Danelle has written. It's like impersonating a professor - if you don't know her subject well, you will be caught out even if you look like her identical twin.

I thought this too, but after a fair bit of thought, I think the facts that Danelle is practically a recluse, and that Verin has been out of the tower for most of the time that she would have been replaced by Mesaana probably negate these issues.

[Entreri]

Messana like Moghdien, Asmodean, Balthamael, Aginor are second rate Forsaken.  Egwene may have some worry from her, but Messana is not an elite (Ishy, Dem, Lan, Semir, Granny). 

[Bobbun]

A small point against the Tsutama theory is that Mesaana is not seen wearing red.  I thought that was an ajah custom of the Red, but I can't find a reference.  Nonetheless, a red sister who didn't wear red frequently would stand out, I think.