Who Ordered the Assault on Demira?

[Vassili]

In case you don't remember, Demira Sedai was a member of the Salidar embassy dispatched to Caemlyn in LoC. While in Caemlyn, she is attacked by an Aiel who says, "tell the other witches to stay away from the Dragon Reborn." (exact words) A wetlander later warns the rest of the Salidar embassy that Demira is about to be hurt, but by all evidence he was a plant meant to ensure someone got to Demira before she died. Demira's wounds are placed so as not to immediately kill her.

 

It is never revealed on screen who ordered the assault on Demira or why. Personally, I find this mystery more interesting than who killed Asmodean; Asmodean is dead, and it doesn't really matter to the story who killed him. But the attack on Demira is very important to the story: it set the Salidar embassy on the road to Dumai's Wells. So, who could have ordered the assault, and what could they gain from it?

 

 

Mazrim Taim

 

Mazrim Taim is the most obvious suspect. He hates Aes Sedai, and even suggests killing them to Rand. He has the motive. But does he have the means? This question is closely linked to another- is Taim a Darkfriend? Either way, Taim would want the Aes Sedai dead, but his darkfriend status largely determines the means at his disposal. The attack involves both Aiel and wetlanders. Without orders from Rand, why would a group of Aiel work with a wetlander? Furthermore, why would any Aiel take orders from Taim without telling Rand first? The only way this could work is if whoever organized the attack was a darkfriend, and could draw on darkfriends among the wetlanders as well as the Aiel. This rules out "Light Taim", but leaves "Dark Taim" as a definite possibility.

 

 

The Wise Ones

 

At this point in the story, the Wise Ones have not developed a full fledged distain for all things Aes Sedai, but they are not very trustful of any Sister. Their advice to Rand is to treat them as little better than criminals. Some of the Wise Ones saw the Aes Sedai as a considerable threat. Its unlikely they would try to kill anyone, but might they try to "scare" the Aes Sedai into backing off? Its unlikely a wetlander could recruit an Aiel, but a Wise One might be able to recruit a stray wetlander into carrying a warning to the Silver Swan. Personally I highly doubt the Wise Ones would stoop to assaulting Aes Sedai in secret. It would probably violate ji'e'toh for one. Secondly, why would they tell the AS to stay away from the Dragon Reborn? They believe in the Car'a'carn, not the Dragon. But I mention them because the attack was carried out by Aiel, and besides Rand, only the Wise Ones or Chiefs could make such an order. The Chiefs would never go behind Rand's back, but Wise Ones keep their own secrets.

 

Then there is the possibilty of Wise One Darkfriends.

 

 

The Shadow

 

The Dark One commanded Demandred, "Let the Lord of Chaos Rule." Whoever ordered the attack certainly wanted to sow chaos. The motive could have been as simple as that. Or, maybe the Shadow saw a threat in a Rand/Salidar alliance. But does it fit the Shadow's overall Plan?

 

Well, maybe. We don't know much about the Shadow's Plan. It is strongly implied in TGS that Taim was meant to rescue Rand just as much as Mesanaa was meant to capture him so he needed rescuing. But how much control does the Shadow have? Could they actually have meant Merana to take her Aes Sedai to Dumai's Wells?

 

 

Verin

 

We know she is Black, and as such could have drawn upon DFs among the Aiel. Furthermore, she appears to manipulate the situation to overthrow Merana's authority with the Salidar embassy. She then "guides" the Aes Sedai into breaking relations with Rand, all while trying to deflect it as Demira's choice. Granted, this is mostly my interpretation. But it fits with Verin's character. She is unpredictable, mysterious, and prone to using her freedom from the Three Oaths to further her agenda. However, what would her motive be? If she wanted to use the incident to supplant Merana as head of the embassy, she did a very bad job of it. Furthermore, why open hostilities with Rand?

 

 

Part of me believes it was Verin, but I have no possible motive I can tie to her that doesn't involve her knowing in detail what was going to happen at Dumai's Wells. The same part of me thinks that Taim is too obvious, and the assault had more purpose than to only sow a little more chaos. However, I really don't know. So what do you guys think? What other suspects are out there, and what was the driving motive behind this? Lastly, I'll end with this question: whoever organized the attack on Demira Seda had something to gain from it. Did it backfire, or did they succeed in getting what they wanted?

[capuga]

In case you don't remember, Demira Sedai was a member of the Salidar embassy dispatched to Caemlyn in LoC. While in Caemlyn, she is attacked by an Aiel who says, "tell the other witches to stay away from the Dragon Reborn." (exact words) A wetlander later warns the rest of the Salidar embassy that Demira is about to be hurt, but by all evidence he was a plant meant to ensure someone got to Demira before she died. Demira's wounds are placed so as not to immediately kill her.

 

It is never revealed on screen who ordered the assault on Demira or why. Personally, I find this mystery more interesting than who killed Asmodean; Asmodean is dead, and it doesn't really matter to the story who killed him. But the attack on Demira is very important to the story: it set the Salidar embassy on the road to Dumai's Wells. So, who could have ordered the assault, and what could they gain from it?

 

 

Mazrim Taim

 

Mazrim Taim is the most obvious suspect. He hates Aes Sedai, and even suggests killing them to Rand. He has the motive. But does he have the means? This question is closely linked to another- is Taim a Darkfriend? Either way, Taim would want the Aes Sedai dead, but his darkfriend status largely determines the means at his disposal. The attack involves both Aiel and wetlanders. Without orders from Rand, why would a group of Aiel work with a wetlander? Furthermore, why would any Aiel take orders from Taim without telling Rand first? The only way this could work is if whoever organized the attack was a darkfriend, and could draw on darkfriends among the wetlanders as well as the Aiel. This rules out "Light Taim", but leaves "Dark Taim" as a definite possibility.

 

 

The Wise Ones

 

At this point in the story, the Wise Ones have not developed a full fledged distain for all things Aes Sedai, but they are not very trustful of any Sister. Their advice to Rand is to treat them as little better than criminals. Some of the Wise Ones saw the Aes Sedai as a considerable threat. Its unlikely they would try to kill anyone, but might they try to "scare" the Aes Sedai into backing off? Its unlikely a wetlander could recruit an Aiel, but a Wise One might be able to recruit a stray wetlander into carrying a warning to the Silver Swan. Personally I highly doubt the Wise Ones would stoop to assaulting Aes Sedai in secret. It would probably violate ji'e'toh for one. Secondly, why would they tell the AS to stay away from the Dragon Reborn? They believe in the Car'a'carn, not the Dragon. But I mention them because the attack was carried out by Aiel, and besides Rand, only the Wise Ones or Chiefs could make such an order. The Chiefs would never go behind Rand's back, but Wise Ones keep their own secrets.

 

Then there is the possibilty of Wise One Darkfriends.

 

 

The Shadow

 

The Dark One commanded Demandred, "Let the Lord of Chaos Rule." Whoever ordered the attack certainly wanted to sow chaos. The motive could have been as simple as that. Or, maybe the Shadow saw a threat in a Rand/Salidar alliance. But does it fit the Shadow's overall Plan?

 

Well, maybe. We don't know much about the Shadow's Plan. It is strongly implied in TGS that Taim was meant to rescue Rand just as much as Mesanaa was meant to capture him so he needed rescuing. But how much control does the Shadow have? Could they actually have meant Merana to take her Aes Sedai to Dumai's Wells?

 

 

Verin

 

We know she is Black, and as such could have drawn upon DFs among the Aiel. Furthermore, she appears to manipulate the situation to overthrow Merana's authority with the Salidar embassy. She then "guides" the Aes Sedai into breaking relations with Rand, all while trying to deflect it as Demira's choice. Granted, this is mostly my interpretation. But it fits with Verin's character. She is unpredictable, mysterious, and prone to using her freedom from the Three Oaths to further her agenda. However, what would her motive be? If she wanted to use the incident to supplant Merana as head of the embassy, she did a very bad job of it. Furthermore, why open hostilities with Rand?

 

 

Part of me believes it was Verin, but I have no possible motive I can tie to her that doesn't involve her knowing in detail what was going to happen at Dumai's Wells. The same part of me thinks that Taim is too obvious, and the assault had more purpose than to only sow a little more chaos. However, I really don't know. So what do you guys think? What other suspects are out there, and what was the driving motive behind this? Lastly, I'll end with this question: whoever organized the attack on Demira Seda had something to gain from it. Did it backfire, or did they succeed in getting what they wanted?

 

There weren't any actual Aiel involved. The men who attacked her were short and had dark eyes. They were wetlanders dressed as Aiel who attacked her in order to drive a wedge between Rand and the Aes Sedai. As to who set it up, my guess is on Taim.

[Bob T Dwarf]

Not much mystery to it. The dialogue tells the tale. " Tell the other witches..."

 

It was Whitecloaks.

 

The only question is whether they were agents of Carridin, or some of those corrupted by Fain.

[capuga]

Not much mystery to it. The dialogue tells the tale. " Tell the other witches..."

 

It was Whitecloaks.

 

The only question is whether they were agents of Carridin, or some of those corrupted by Fain.

 

Fain would be my second guess.

[Sid]

This attack was by people dressed as Aiel, not actual Aielmen. One of them had black eyes, they refer to Rand as the Dragon Reborn, one was described as 'squat', etc.

 

IIRC, Rand was somewhat receptive to the Salidar delegation prior to this, and then when they came to browbeat him as a result of the attack it stalled any talks whatsoever. So, he became wary of them, found that they had 11 AS staying at that particular Inn and 2 more showed up, and immediately high-tailed it to Cairhien, where the Tower delegation with Galina Casban waited to kidnap him.

 

It could have been Black agents in Caemlyn, people working under Forsaken, Mazrim Taim pushing events towards the eventual kidnapping... Demandred may have been behind the whole thing, pulling the strings from afar "Have I not done well Great Lord?" It would be nice to get some new PoV's to shed light on this little mystery.

 

I don't know that bringing the Salidar AS to Dumai's Wells was ever in it for the Shadow's plans, but it might have been in it for Verin's plans. It's been postulated that she compelled Alanna into bonding Rand somehow, so there was a way to keep tabs on him in case something like what actually happened did happen.

[Luckers]

They weren't really Aiel--notice they're described as short, with dark eyes and hair, and use terms like 'The Dragon Reborn' and the 'witches'.

 

It also appeared one of them channeled--Demira is walking home getting smirked at, then suddenly a man smirks at her and she is so irritated she deviates her route into the road where the ambush was. More than that the warning to the Warder was delivered at the exact right moment. This means they were very confident that she would randomly stray from her route, and in that exact place.

 

It seems unlikely. And the whole thing--her revulsion at the smirk, despite plenty of other men smirking at her--is very similar to Theodrin's wilder trick of making a boy either want to kiss her or get away from her.

 

From there, Taim has a reason to drive a wedge between Rand and the Aes Sedai, Taim's men have the training to know where to wound her thanks to Rand's insistance they learn to fight, and Taim is situated to have been able to plan and carry off this mission.