Nakomi

[rambling]

It's Amys!

 

It's simply the Wise Ones' doing, a part of the process. They need to be sure Aviendha can think for herself and come to reasonable conclusion, they know she will have a big role to play.

They've been asking her philosophical and political questions since the begining of the last book.

In TGS ch.11 Melanie makes Aviendha think on the future of Aiel. She spends whole paragraphs doing it - "A remnanat of a remnant. He had broken the Aiel as a people. What would become of them?"

They tell her not to Travel straight there so she has time to think. On the way they get 'Nakomi' to ask some more questions to make think some more and check on her state of mind.

Part way through the conversation Aviendha thinks "[Nakomi] did not wear the clothing of a Wise One, but there was something about her..."

And in TGS ch.15 - "Of all the Wise Ones, only she [Amys] - a former Maiden - could have sneaked up on Aviendha."

[Sharaman]

It's Amys!

 

It's simply the Wise Ones' doing, a part of the process. They need to be sure Aviendha can think for herself and come to reasonable conclusion, they know she will have a big role to play.

They've been asking her philosophical and political questions since the begining of the last book.

In TGS ch.11 Melanie makes Aviendha think on the future of Aiel. She spends whole paragraphs doing it - "A remnanat of a remnant. He had broken the Aiel as a people. What would become of them?"

They tell her not to Travel straight there so she has time to think. On the way they get 'Nakomi' to ask some more questions to make think some more and check on her state of mind.

Part way through the conversation Aviendha thinks "[Nakomi] did not wear the clothing of a Wise One, but there was something about her..."

And in TGS ch.15 - "Of all the Wise Ones, only she [Amys] - a former Maiden - could have sneaked up on Aviendha."

Does Amys know how to mask her channeling ability?

[jwillis7]

isn't there a theory that avi's traveling gates some how send them back in time, so what if it is an older her....

[KefkaPalazzo]

Just read the scene, and I agree that at bare minimum, Nakomi isn't a stranger to the Waste and the basics of Aiel culture. At least she knows that a woman running alone in the waste = Wise One. She knows the basics of Ji'e'toh, too. She is a bit heavy-handed with it, but that's likely a red herring, since every group of Aiel claims that every other group is doing it wrong. However, if was native, she would know that Aviendha was an apprentice, since she was running TOWARD Rhuidean, rather than away from it. Of course, this makes the (IMO) reasonable assumption that Rhuidean's general location is common knowledge among the Aiel.

 

I say that, but then I think that the rambling on and on she does is very definitely not an Aiel trait. It's more of an Aes Sedai trait. Even Egwene notices this when she is called back to Salidar. She mentions in her narration that the Wise Ones gave instructions exactly one time, and punished her if she missed them. The AS repeated instructions over and over.

 

OTOH (I'm running out of hands here!), why would Verin (or any AS aside from Elayne and Egwene, for that matter) care about Aviendha? Very few people know just how involved she is in everything. It definitely is not Cyndane. I know that for sure. The last time they were within a mile of each other, Lanfear was rather unhappy with her, throwing things (fire, people, splinters from ships) trying to find her.

 

Something that bothers me is that Nakomi introduces herself, but doesn't ask for Aviendha's name. To me, this implies that Nakomi knows Aviendha. We are, however, purposefully denied a small, but possibly critical piece of information: Nakomi's reaction to Aviendha introducing herself.

 

Just kinda rambling about what I picked up.

[Yehosh]

It's actually a nice puzzle. Let's see, who knew where Avi would be and where she is heading to?

Wise Ones

 

Who directed Avi not to go straight to Rhuidien and go for a stroll in the waste first?

Wise Ones

 

Who cares about the Aiel future and would take an active role to ensure that their future leaders save the Aiel from destruction?

Wise ones

 

Who can sneek up on Avi and understands Aiel culture and the waste

Wise ones who were previously maidens?? or a dreamwalker if they are in the dreamworld

 

Do we have any reason to think Verin would care about the Aiel future or Avi?

none that I can think off, but maybe there is something we don't know

 

If Nakomi is a DF, would this be how she'd hurt Avienda?

doesn't really make sense

[Cazajay]

Did you also notice that when Aviendha said she was only an apprentice Nakomi changed from calling her Wise One to Child. Calling Aviendha a child wasn't a reference to the age difference it was a reference to her Rank.

Nakomi slipped up by calling Aviendha child showing despite her claims that she out Ranked Aviendha.. but in what way Aes Sedai or Wise One?

Also Aviendha had been day dreaming not paying attention she could have fallen asleep and Amys or another entered her dream to test her.

Remember Aviendha noticed weird stuff happening during the meal preparation and after Nakomi left it was as if she had never been it was a probably a dream. Or a manifestation of Aviendha's worries for the future of the Aeil now that she thought the glass pillars have no special use anymore..

[Terez]

I considered Verin, and would LIKE it to be her in some ways, but I would be more inclined to think she would have given Avi one of her famous letters instead. A person given one of these letters I could see, but again, why not give it to Avi directly?

A letter wouldn't work with Aviendha because she wouldn't have respected the opinion of a non-Aiel.

[Alanna]

Of all the posibilities, I would go with Verin right now, though I'm not 100% convinced, re:her motivation for doing it. The one thing I am certain of is that it's not a DF, or a Forsaken. It doesn't make sense. For one thing, she seems to be guiding Aviendha towards something that could help the Aiel. For another thing, they're talking about the future of the Aiel after the Last Battle. Which I can't see the Shadow caring about, because in a Dark One-wins-post LB, they'd likely kill all the Aiel, and in a Light-wins-post LB, they themselves would be defeated and wouldn't care what happens to the Aiel.

[Sharaman]

Of all the posibilities, I would go with Verin right now, though I'm not 100% convinced, re:her motivation for doing it. The one thing I am certain of is that it's not a DF, or a Forsaken. It doesn't make sense. For one thing, she seems to be guiding Aviendha towards something that could help the Aiel. For another thing, they're talking about the future of the Aiel after the Last Battle. Which I can't see the Shadow caring about, because in a Dark One-wins-post LB, they'd likely kill all the Aiel, and in a Light-wins-post LB, they themselves would be defeated and wouldn't care what happens to the Aiel.

If the Dark lost this battle, their chances of winning the next time round would be enhanced if they could induce the People of the Dragon to self-destruct.

I don't think who ever it was could have predicted Avi's ability with ter'angreal- no one but Elayne knows about that, and I'm assuming Nakomi is not Elayne.

[Juggler]

I think Nakomi was far too Aiel to be Verin. I think she was Jenn maybe the last Jenn but definately one of them somehow, maybe the last, maybe a ghost but she just seemed to Aiel to be Verin and have too much ease with the terminology.

 

I don't think it was TAR because Avi isn't a dream walker and I doubt she had her dream ter'angreal touching her skin.

[Sharaman]

I think Nakomi was far too Aiel to be Verin. I think she was Jenn maybe the last Jenn but definately one of them somehow, maybe the last, maybe a ghost but she just seemed to Aiel to be Verin and have too much ease with the terminology.

 

I don't think it was TAR because Avi isn't a dream walker and I doubt she had her dream ter'angreal touching her skin.

Portal stone - mirror world?

The description of her camp suggests it's possible.

[The Doctor]

Wasn't Avi exerting herself for days before the meeting? So much so that she was actually complaining of her feet hurting, and I've never seen her complain about something to that effect before. I'd have to re-read to be sure, I was reading in a hurry trying to get through to the end, but I believe that was the case, and if that was indeed the case, than I believe it is a good possibility that the whole thing was an hallucination of some sort. Wasn't there some culture that historically (although I could be totally off my rocker here and thinking of a fictional thing) would send it's members out into the wild upon achieving adulthood to fast until they hallucinated a spiritual journey of some sort? The more I think about this I believe I read that in the Celtic historical fiction Boudicca series by Manda Scott, but I believe much of what takes place in that series is structured around true life events. I also believe that one if the bases for Jordan's Aiel clan/sept structure was the old Celtic way of doing things (not sure where I read that). I mean these people are basically desert dwelling Vikings, so anything is possible. I'm voting hallucination/spiritual journey at this point.

 

Oh and I realize Vikings weren't Celts, but Jordan made such a mish mash of cultural identifiers in this series, it's kind of fun to look for stuff like that. Like saying "The Aiel are Scandinavians that structured there society in similar ways to the ancient Celts, and speak like Native Americans."

[Packar]

I considered Verin, and would LIKE it to be her in some ways, but I would be more inclined to think she would have given Avi one of her famous letters instead. A person given one of these letters I could see, but again, why not give it to Avi directly? All I know is that from the first time I read the name, before any of the strangeness began, I had a VERY strong feeling that I had read/heard it somewhere before... So I, and hopefully some other sharp fans, should probably look for the magic word Nakomi on our next read through

 

There is no Nakomi on www.encyclopaedia-wot.org under characters: N

 

 

Hm... Thanks for that. I didn't have time to check anything before my next class. I've still heard it, or something like it, somewhere. It's the puzzle of where and when that will keep me awake for a few weeks. It'll probably come to me sometime next month that there was someone in an obscure book, or one of my classes, who was named similarly and stuck in my mind while I was reading WoT book.

 

May you find Water and Shade.

 

I realised why the name sounded familiar to me...Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard :p

[Tavokk]

• It could be an Aiel from the future...one of Aviendha's children perhaps
  
• It could be a Jenn Aiel - perhaps one of the last that has been hiding in a portal world or TAR until need (for TG/this purpose).
  

[Maji]

I'm going with Verin. She spent enough time in Rand's camp to know enough to pass as Aiel since Verin is very observant. I'm sure she knows enough to be able to hide her ability to channel since several Aes Sedai know how to now. Verin was also pretty hands on, I don't think it's too far fetched to see her taking an active role in the Aiel's future.

[Vermillion]

I'm going with Verin. She spent enough time in Rand's camp to know enough to pass as Aiel since Verin is very observant. I'm sure she knows enough to be able to hide her ability to channel since several Aes Sedai know how to now. Verin was also pretty hands on, I don't think it's too far fetched to see her taking an active role in the Aiel's future.

 

How would she find her though? You really think Verin can just survive in the Waste that long waiting for her to come or travel to where she is automatically?

[Mulk]

the argument against Verin is that in order to make a gateway away, she would have had to channel. You can hide the ability to channel and you can hide the weaves if you reverse them, but you can't hide the fact that you are holding the power and channeling from women close by, and the series has made it clear that a gateway can be sensed from a fair distance. I got the impression that Nakomi just vanished and Aviendha sensed nothing. That could be Verin having walked far enough away to get away without Avi sensing it, or not. Also, I have no clue how it is Verin would know where to find her. She can't know where Cold Rocks is having not been there, and while she may know where Rhuidean is, camping out in the desert hoping to run across Aviendha just doesn't seem all that feasible to me for one who did not grow up in the Waste.

 

/two cents

 

I don't know who I think it is. I'm just leaning against Verin atm personally.

[Lynander]

A bunch of weird things happen in that chapter. Nakomi's bag disappears, Nakomi's Aiel-ness is a little off, the burning coals, Avi is complaining about her feet, Nakomi disappears without a trace.

Here's 3 things I can think of

 

Hallucination

 

She fell asleep - TAR

 

Someone with access to TP or a male channeler. Could have used variations with MoM and some sort of compulsion.

 

(My first gut reaction was Jenn Aiel, but that doesn't make sense)

[Caedn of the Taardad]

I realised why the name sounded familiar to me...Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard :p

 

Doesn't work for me, never played it

 

Everything I can think of makes me want to point to Verin (though, as my favorite Aes Sedai, that could just be my own fervent wish to see her delicate hand in every plot...). She could have masked the ability (gets rid of the glow AND the feel if I recall correctly), prepared an inverted Gateway, and then hidden it with the mask of mirrors like weave (don't think they ever named it, and "invisibility weave doesn't sound right), backing back out after her talk.

 

The only problem is the bloody roots cooking so fast. I suppose she could have inverted that as well, but why prepare a cooking weave before hand?

 

With that, I could more believe a WO dreamwalker coming upon Avi as she dozed.

 

I'm still going to keep my eye (yes, one eye, just like Mat...) out for that name in the books, my next read through should come here soon, once I've finished my second time through ToM.

[nolirion]

She is the creator

[Bowden]

She is the creator

 

You know, that thought really crossed my mind. I know he says that he can't or won't take part, but he did open the way to Ishy the first time for Rand. If N was the creator, it was more of a nudge than direct assistance. XD

 

Edit: Oh, btw... Nakomi = Bela (can't believe no one saw that yet >.> )

[nolirion]

She is the creator

 

You know, that thought really crossed my mind. I know he says that he can't or won't take part, but he did open the way to Ishy the first time for Rand. If N was the creator, it was more of a nudge than direct assistance. XD

 

Edit: Oh, btw... Nakomi = Bela (can't believe no one saw that yet >.> )

The Bela thing crossed my mind actually but i am trowing myself as the creator thing

i am going to Ask B.Sanderson one day But perhaps we are both right

[Bowden]

She is the creator

 

You know, that thought really crossed my mind. I know he says that he can't or won't take part, but he did open the way to Ishy the first time for Rand. If N was the creator, it was more of a nudge than direct assistance. XD

 

Edit: Oh, btw... Nakomi = Bela (can't believe no one saw that yet >.> )

The Bela thing crossed my mind actually but i am trowing myself as the creator thing

i am going to Ask B.Sanderson one day But perhaps we are both right

 

We are both right. Bela is the Creator after all :P

[capuga]

the argument against Verin is that in order to make a gateway away, she would have had to channel. You can hide the ability to channel and you can hide the weaves if you reverse them, but you can't hide the fact that you are holding the power and channeling from women close by, and the series has made it clear that a gateway can be sensed from a fair distance. I got the impression that Nakomi just vanished and Aviendha sensed nothing. That could be Verin having walked far enough away to get away without Avi sensing it, or not. Also, I have no clue how it is Verin would know where to find her. She can't know where Cold Rocks is having not been there, and while she may know where Rhuidean is, camping out in the desert hoping to run across Aviendha just doesn't seem all that feasible to me for one who did not grow up in the Waste.

 

/two cents

 

I don't know who I think it is. I'm just leaning against Verin atm personally.

 

We see Mesaana hide her channeling. When she is punishing Alviarin the weaves are described as coming from nowhere and Alviarin can't even sense that the woman can channel. If Mesaana had reversed the weaves, Alviarin wouldn't have even seen those. If Verin knew how to hide her ability to channel and how to reverse her weaves she could definitely have channeled without Avi knowing about it.

[Kaznen]

Wasn't Avi exerting herself for days before the meeting? So much so that she was actually complaining of her feet hurting, and I've never seen her complain about something to that effect before. I'd have to re-read to be sure, I was reading in a hurry trying to get through to the end, but I believe that was the case, and if that was indeed the case, than I believe it is a good possibility that the whole thing was an hallucination of some sort.

She was running from Cold Rocks Hold to Rhuedian and she was running until after dark and setting out before dawn, she isn't wearing a soufa on her head and no head covering at all, and she is on limited rations of food and water. Plus maybe she bumped a spiny thing that isn't supposed to be bumped.

 

When you factor all that in plus the intensity of the sun it isn't hard to think Avi might have been feeling a little loopy. And she was told to start from CRH so she could meditate during her journey (part of the final testing).

 

I agree that N was just a hallucination reflecting Avi's inner turmoil.