Discuss Alanna

[Sharaman]

I never got the BA vibe from Alanna. She has a temper and has her own motivations but I don't think she is BA. If Verin knew she was BA she would have been on that list. I don't see Verin telling people not to trust her then protecting her. Also it isn't like Alanna was the only AS trying to bond Mat/Perrin/Rand. Alanna just did it to Rand against his will because of her emotional state and once the damage was done she saw no reason to undo it.

 

I also think she might be BA. Though I have to admit there might be more to it - she's not simply BA but BA with some mission (maybe kind of Verin style).

 

The reasons for Verin not killing her or including her on the list might be many: ranging from the fact DR is bonded to her and would go into warder's rage if Alanna dies, to Verin knew some role Alanna might play.

 

Alanna is a shady character and a wild card if you ask me.

 

Early in online WoT discussion the term "Purple Ajah" was used to describe Verin and her shady actions. Maybe Alanna is also a member of the Purple Ajah (I forget who coined the term, but it was on rasfw-rj).

 

 

I'm not sure you can use the Purple Ajah as an association any longer. It was used to describe the odd or shadey actions of Verin who turned out to be able to lie because she was a member of the BA. We've not caught Alanna in any lies and the Purple does not appear to exist as far as we know, it seems safe to rule this out.

 

I would like to know why Alanna was heard crying for weeks before she left. Did she receive Verin's letter that far in advance and grieved for her presumed friend or was it for another reason. Was she being tortured, threatened? How did she manage to leave Tear? People felt channeling from her rooms but never enough to make a gateway. Did she move to a location to where she wouldn't be felt channeling that much of the One Power before she made the gateway? So many questions! D;

She's lost a warder - the pain is felt for years.

Another of her warders has gone nutso, dislikes and distrusts her - that could be upsetting.

She could have just put on a MoM pretended to be a servant and walked out, then Gated somewhere.

[mossman87]

Verin would absolutely leave Alanna out of the BA book given to Egwene if it meant Alanna has some role to play that would help the DR. And since we see Alanna got a letter from Verin and went off we know she does have a role to play. So I don't think her not being in the BA names means anything.

[Sharaman]

Verin would absolutely leave Alanna out of the BA book given to Egwene if it meant Alanna has some role to play that would help the DR. And since we see Alanna got a letter from Verin and went off we know she does have a role to play. So I don't think her not being in the BA names means anything.

Would Verin have provoked a member of the BA into bonding Rand??

[Hopefire]

Verin would absolutely leave Alanna out of the BA book given to Egwene if it meant Alanna has some role to play that would help the DR. And since we see Alanna got a letter from Verin and went off we know she does have a role to play. So I don't think her not being in the BA names means anything.

Would Verin have provoked a member of the BA into bonding Rand??

Perhaps she felt that Alanna could be saved, and decided on a backhanded way of doing it. By having Alanna bond Rand, she's given Alanna motivation to see Rand survives the Last Battle.

 

In any case, it may be significant that Alanna vanishes after Rand has his epiphany. Secondly, if I recall, Rand indicates that she's gone north, probably to Arafel, which is where she was originally from.

[johthohar]

She's in Arafel, helping put together a defence for her homeland or doing something specific that Verin told her about.

About leaving, she could have just put on a MoM, pretended to be a servant or something, wandered out and then done a Gate beyond Corele's sensing range.

Or somebody Gated in for her.

 

I did see Arafel mentioned before but if you ask me, it would be very random (just because it's her country it does not mean she will run there). Do we actually have confirmation on this or is this a theory? As far as getting out, I can see where you're coming from and have to agree.

Anyways, shouldn't Illian play some huge role before the LB? After all, HoV is always referenced to it.

 

Where is it said anywhere that the HoV is somehow connected to Illian? Other than the Hunt for the Horn kicking off there I can't recall anything that says Illian and the Horn have some bound together destiny. And why are you trying to shift the discussion to the Horn when this is a thread that has nothing to do with it. You said one time that you think Allana might be after the Horn. That's pretty thin. Maybe you should request a HoV thread.

[grolm]

Would Alanna's death breakin her warder bond with Rand send him off on a rampage as it does other Warders when their AS dies? Or is Rand buffered from that impact by the shield of light in his brain protecting him from the madness, or would his bond to Avi, Elyane, and Min negate or lessen the impact?

 

If not, would her death be a way the Shadow could destroy Rand's newfound zen experience?

[Duskfire]

Q: Would a Gaidin be aware if his Aes Sedai was Black?

 

RJ: There are some ways that the Aes Sedai can fuzz, so to speak, the two way nature of the bond. After all, think about it a minute. Do you know many women who'd really like to have this guy looking over her shoulder if she was getting it on with somebody? This minute that she doesn't really want him to know what's going on, what she's doing, she can fuzz the bond to the extent that Elyas Machera has to ask whether the woman who is his . . . who held his bond has perished. He needs to know. He can't be sure simply by feeling because she fuzzed the bond after he ran away so he wouldn't know until she tapped him on the shoulder.

 

While there has been some fuzzing of the bond between Rand and Alanna, it isnt a constant thing. Thus, I find it hard to believe that Alanna could be Black without Rand knowing something was up. I just think she is passionate and moody. Alanna hasnt actually done anything dodgy as such that would mean she was Black; Verin had some so, thus for the while Purple Ajah theory. Everything Alanna has done can be explained, and theres nothing she has done that violates the three oaths.

[DemandredFO]

I find it funny that a slightly nuts Green without travelling was more help against Trollocs than the entire Green Ajah. The only Greens that have done anything useful are those sworn to Rand or did swear. I mean the Head of the Green got captured but was released.

[Hatrel]

I am currently re-reading new Spring and it is funny to see Moiraine say that Alanna was "...a shy woman at heart, but she worked hard at being fierce..." and that she was "...always exaggerating."

 

Likely she has become the fierce woman that she was trying to be all those years ago, but it still strikes me that her once being known as shy at heart seems to tell a lot. She seems to be someone that needs to prove that she is something other than the shy girl that had arrived at the tower. Plus, being Arafellen, that would not seem to be a desirable trait in a woman from the borderlands.

 

I do not think that she was BA though. I agree that the bond is not always perfect and that there was that one in the original 13 that had left the tower in TGH had a warder that was not a DF IIRC and he was none the wiser during their time together. Also Rand does not really use the bond from Alanna very often so who knows. But I do not want to see her turn out to be BA...

[randsc]

Q: Would a Gaidin be aware if his Aes Sedai was Black?

 

RJ: There are some ways that the Aes Sedai can fuzz, so to speak, the two way nature of the bond. After all, think about it a minute. Do you know many women who'd really like to have this guy looking over her shoulder if she was getting it on with somebody? This minute that she doesn't really want him to know what's going on, what she's doing, she can fuzz the bond to the extent that Elyas Machera has to ask whether the woman who is his . . . who held his bond has perished. He needs to know. He can't be sure simply by feeling because she fuzzed the bond after he ran away so he wouldn't know until she tapped him on the shoulder.

 

While there has been some fuzzing of the bond between Rand and Alanna, it isnt a constant thing. Thus, I find it hard to believe that Alanna could be Black without Rand knowing something was up. I just think she is passionate and moody. Alanna hasnt actually done anything dodgy as such that would mean she was Black; Verin had some so, thus for the while Purple Ajah theory. Everything Alanna has done can be explained, and theres nothing she has done that violates the three oaths.

 

 

Don't forget that it is possible for Aes Sedai to be Black while their Warders are unaware. After Egwene's purge of the BA, the Warders of the executed Aes Sedai needed to be confined until it could be determined which were Black themselves.

[blazetheearth]

I know that this is from way back, but someone else mentioned her and Verin in the TR already.

 

Has anybody ever figured out what Alanna was doing the 2 times she disappeared while in the Two Rivers? The 2 times that Faile told Perrin about that Loial had noticed while Perrin was hunting trollocs.

[Hatrel]

I think that her disappearances in the TR are still an open issue. I do not think that it has been determined what she was doing. I would like to know if Verin was aware and if that might be part of the content of the letter that Alanna received from her.

[Kaznen]

I don't think she is BA. She spent a lot of time with Verin who is the most observant brown and doesn't trust any AS. She would have figured out Alanna was BA from their time spent in close quarters in TR. And she would certainly have included Alanna in her list of possible BA. But she would have added a notation she was bonded to Rand because she couldn't be stilled or killed with Rand going crazy, but if she was left to wander free she could feed information to the outed BA.

 

I think she left instructions for HoV because Verin, Saune and Saune's warder are the only people who knew where it was in the WT (I don't think the BA knows it is in the WT) and the warder is dead.

 

Verin's splans probably included getting the horn to Mat. All her letters were contingency plans in case she couldn't get the oath rod.

 

And I Alanna just inverted her weaves to make the gateway. Nyn taught all the AS with Rand how to do it. We know because Caudy also inverted her weaves when they went to the meeting with "DoNM" in KoD. And they left for that meeting from the Stone.

[Hatrel]

And I Alanna just inverted her weaves to make the gateway. Nyn taught all the AS with Rand how to do it. We know because Caudy also inverted her weaves when they went to the meeting with "DoNM" in KoD. And they left for that meeting from the Stone.

It was not that the weaves were not to be seen but that there was not enough of the power channeled to explain that a gateway had been opened. I do not think that Nyn showed them how to hide the ability to channel.

[Kaznen]

And I Alanna just inverted her weaves to make the gateway. Nyn taught all the AS with Rand how to do it. We know because Caudy also inverted her weaves when they went to the meeting with "DoNM" in KoD. And they left for that meeting from the Stone.

It was not that the weaves were not to be seen but that there was not enough of the power channeled to explain that a gateway had been opened. I do not think that Nyn showed them how to hide the ability to channel.

She showed Caudy, stands to reason she would show the others as well. Nyn's not all that into "secret weaves" or "ajah only weaves" she believes every AS should know every weave they can learn.

[TreeJoe]

Inverted Weaves? Secret Gateways? The True Power?

 

Didn't we have a battle scene where Rand wrapped himself in invisibility, which used so little of the power you'd have to be on top of him to detect it?

 

She could have just walked out using inverted invisibility weaves, no?

 

P.s. She's not black ajah but is under compulsion a-la Jain

[Sharaman]

She may be under Compulsion but it's not ala Jain.

She has been a more than competent negotiator as a free agent and shows no signs of Noal/ Jain's memory lapses, etc., in her conversations.

Rand/ her other warder would probably have been tipped off if she had weird mental brownouts.

I don't think Rand would have risked using her as a negotiator in those circs.

 

If it is Compulsion, it's the "gentle" Verin kind.

All we know from Corele is that Alanna didn't open a Gate in her chambers.

She could have gone to the stables in disguise (or invisible) or somewhere else, and then opened a Gate

We know she did Travel because Rand can feel her in Arafel or somewhere else in the Borderlands.

Or somebody could have come to fetch using a Gate, delivered Verin's latter and taken her with him/ her.

(Pity nobody has done controlled triangulation experiments involving Bonded people Travelling).

[Mystraka]

She's in Arafel, helping put together a defence for her homeland or doing something specific that Verin told her about.

About leaving, she could have just put on a MoM, pretended to be a servant or something, wandered out and then done a Gate beyond Corele's sensing range.

Or somebody Gated in for her.

 

I did see Arafel mentioned before but if you ask me, it would be very random (just because it's her country it does not mean she will run there). Do we actually have confirmation on this or is this a theory? As far as getting out, I can see where you're coming from and have to agree.

Anyways, shouldn't Illian play some huge role before the LB? After all, HoV is always referenced to it.

 

Rand felt her up North, maybe in Arafel he said.

I'm assuming from the timeline (VoG+2) that this is connected with the invasion. Egwene learns about it within a couple of days from the AS eyes and ears.

Hence, it makes sense. Verin tells Mat about the Caemlyn invasion, she tells Alanna about the Arafel invasion ---

 

I think its pretty safe to say that the trollocs pouring out from the blight is expected, and not something Verin would waste time informing Alanna about. I'm sure the letter contained something a little more unique

 

(Pity nobody has done controlled triangulation experiments involving Bonded people Travelling).

 

I really like this, +1 internetz

[blazetheearth]

 

I think its pretty safe to say that the trollocs pouring out from the blight is expected, and not something Verin would waste time informing Alanna about. I'm sure the letter contained something a little more unique

 

 

I agree. I don't know what was in it, but I doubt that it was an easily predicted invasion of a Borderland nation. If that were it, it would have made much more sense to send it to someone different. I mean really, how much can one Green AS of only average strength in the OP (IIRC) actually do against an invasion that we are left to assume is at least as big is the one we see in Shienar. I mean she could warn whatever troops are left there, but one channeler (unless it's the new Mahatma-Rand) is not going to make a HUGE difference. I think that this is one of those things that is going to have a large amount of speculation on it, but I doubt that any will be correct until we know a bit more.

[Canis Rufus]

A few thoughts and please pardon my inablity to name things correctly I do not have my books here.

 

First isn't there an age of ledgends thing that allows traveling without the OP? I thought that we have seen this used a few books back by some of the Aile. We know she is far North I think traveling is being implied. Be it by choice or force I think is the real question.

 

Second while I am not on the BA side of the fence I do belive that she is not really on the up and up. She has her own angle that V never quite pinned that was why they were told to not trust her. Perhaps she was not BA but has been turned.

[moratcorlm]

First isn't there an age of ledgends thing that allows traveling without the OP? I thought that we have seen this used a few books back by some of the Aile.

No. This is what Sammael told the Shaido (under his guise as 'Caddar'), but he wove the gateways himself. The "nar'baha" were just bits of rock with a red circle on one side.

[TonyMacaroniGlenholmes]

She cries because she bonded a madman.

 

(that's Rand, by the way, kids.)

[blazetheearth]

She cries because she bonded a madman.

 

(that's Rand, by the way, kids.)

 

I doubt that. I think her tears are mainly due to 3 things.

 

1) One of her Warders died in the TR, and we see from Verin's PoV that Alanna had been emotionally unstable for a while before she bonded Rand.

 

2 ) She feels Rand's pain, the wounds in his side are the first thing that gets commented on by Min and Elayne after bonding him. Min says some thing like "Oh, the pain, Rand. How can you stand the pain?"

 

3) The last thing is how Rand treats her, keeping her away from him. Every Green takes her connection to her Warders very seriously, and having her Warder shun her and actively avoid her would be very distressing for her, though it is likely that were she not already in an emotionally unbalanced this distress may have manifested itself as anger, but in her present condition this just adds to the total emotional pressure.

 

Other AS have bonded male channelers who had the effects of the taint on them (until Nyn Healed the taint from them) but we do not see Merise (for example) in tears constantly because of having bonded a madman.

[Thews Lerin]

Yep, Laras has the Horn of Valere and she's using it to serve wine to the Aes Sedai who actually eat in the dining room.

Logain came to Alanna's room via gateway, which is why no one felt it, and took her to Arafel where they are shacking up and waiting for the Last Battle to be over so they can dominate the Black and White Tower's, respectively.

End of speculation.

[Jon Paul]

I think we can rule out her being Shadowsworn. Whether or not Rand Sedai Himself can sense Darkfriends, Darkfriends do not like being in His presence. I don't think Alana would be able to remain sane and bonded to Him if she was on the Shadow's team.

 

Every Green takes her connection to her Warders very seriously,

 

Yea very seriously. A dog is not just for Christmas after all!