Oh Egwene Thoust Ego Is So Big

[randsc]

I suspect that we will see that it is not Rand or Egwene who brings the Sea Folk into the mix. It will be that, "Great and good man" Mat Cauthon.

[Gathering Storman Norman]

In this post I'm going to try to try and stay on what I think was the intent of MT's original post because I've banned myself from commenting on what I thought the thread was going to be based on the title.

 

So here is my crack at trying to stay on topic; I think Egween falls in third and here is where and why:

 

#1 Rand - this wouldn't even be close if he didn't have the whole saving the world from evil taking up his priorities. If it was just Rand's forces against Fortuna's I don't think there is even a conversation.

#2 Fortuna - close behind a TG distracted Rand. Far above the WT. Even though the Seanchan treat the average joe well and some of the Randland cities under Seanchan rule are better off (unless you can channel th OP) than they were under their previous rulers the majority of the soldiers in the Seanchan army are essentially impressed locals and forcing someone to wage war for you is never very efficient.

If the Seanchan homeland wasn't such a mess and most of the Seanchan soldiers weren't impressed to serve I might even put them over Rand's.

#3 Egween - she has the WT behind here and ties to Andor, the Seafolk and Wise Ones. She was also able to muster several nations that are loyal to Rand to stand beside her to face him about his TG plans. I know that is exactly what he wanted and I don't expect that the support Egween has to last past the first chapter of aMoL once Rand explains what and why he is doing it and he sicks his ta'vereness on them.

# 4 Perrin - this was hard because of whatever you want you call his deal with Elayne and that makes it look like he is subject to Andor and under Elayne's control. I doubt that he doesn't do exactly as he thinks he needs to do even if it contrary to what his "Queen" wishes. You throw in his ta'veren nature and he is above Elayne.

#5 Elayne - ruler of the most powerful nation in Randland, with ties to the WT, Aiel, Mat, and some guy named the DR.

# 6 Mat - his status as Prince of Ravens muddies this, but since I have no idea how that will play out he is down at six.

 

One point of contention I have about the meeting between Rand and Tuon is some have Tuon as the winner of that meeting. I disagree, they both lost. Rands didn't get his alliance with the Seanchan and they gained nothing. No one wins. Well I guess that isn't true the big winner was the DO.

[Gathering Storman Norman]

I suspect that we will see that it is not Rand or Egwene who brings the Sea Folk into the mix. It will be that, "Great and good man" Mat Cauthon.

Interesting! Is that a hunch or do you have anything that lead you in that direction?

I'm good if it is a hunch. I've learned if you trust those you will be right more than you're wrong, but I would like to hear what you would classify it.

[Mandro]

It's interesting to notice that another very skilled woman in healing is Sumeko, who is with the Kin. She is able to do things that even Nynaeve can't. It seems that the WT is quite restrictive.

Kind of raises the question of what the hell the AS have been up to the last 3000 years.

 

 

 

Two words: Pillow Friends. :)

 

HAH!

[randsc]

I suspect that we will see that it is not Rand or Egwene who brings the Sea Folk into the mix. It will be that, "Great and good man" Mat Cauthon.

Interesting! Is that a hunch or do you have anything that lead you in that direction?

I'm good if it is a hunch. I've learned if you trust those you will be right more than you're wrong, but I would like to hear what you would classify it.

 

Do you recognize the quote?

 

Rand is the Sea Folk's leader of prophecy. But they have made it clear that they still consider their interactions with him subject to their Bargains.

 

Egwene is the head of the Aes Sedai who, let's face it, haven't treated the Sea Folk especially well.

 

But Mat went to personal risk to free the captured Sea Folk. They owe him a debt, and we know how they are about bargains.

[Gathering Storman Norman]

Honestly, no I didn't recognize it. I'll have to go back and re-read it.

[randsc]

Winter's Heart, Chapter 31

 

He did have an errand, and maybe not so small. It was not something he wanted to do. Light, he had tried to talk himself out of it! It was something he bloody well had to do, though. As soon as Egeanin vanished around a corner after Domon and the others, he darted for the nearest room that he remembered containing one of the Sea Folk.

 

Easing open the plain wooden door soundlessly, he slipped into the pitch-black interior. The sleeping woman inside snored with a rasping sound. Slowly he felt his way forward until his knee bumped into the bed, then felt along the mound beneath the blankets more quickly, finding her head just in time to clamp his hand over her mouth as she jerked awake.

 

“I want you to answer a question,” he whispered. Blood and ashes, what if he had mistaken the room? What if this was not a Windfinder at all, but one of the bloody Seanchan women? “What would you do if I took that collar off your neck?” Lifting his hand, he held his breath.

 

“I would free my sisters, if it pleases the Light that should happen.” The Sea Folk accents in the darkness made him breathe again. “The Light be willing, we would cross the harbor, somehow, to where our people are held, and free as many as we were able.” The unseen woman’s voice remained low, but grew fiercer by the word. “The Light be willing, we would take back our ships, and fight our way to sea. Now! If this is a trick, punish me for it and be done, or kill me for it. I was on the brink of yielding, of giving up myself, and the shame of that will burn me forever, but you have reminded me who I am, and now I will never yield. Do you hear me? Never!”

 

“And if I asked you to wait for three hours?” he asked, still crouching over her. “I remember the Atha’an Miere judging the passage of an hour within minutes.” That fellow had not been him, but the memory was his now, passage on an Atha’an Miere vessel from Allorallen to Barashta, and a bright-eyed Sea Folk woman who wept when she refused to follow him ashore.

 

“Who are you?” she whispered.

 

“I’m called Mat Cauthon, if it makes a difference.”

 

“I am Nestelle din Sakura South Star, Mat Cauthon.” He heard her spit, and knew what she was doing. He spat on his own palm, and their two hands found each other in the darkness. Hers was as callused as his, her grip strong. “I will wait,” she said. “And I will remember you. You are a great and good man.”

[Gathering Storman Norman]

Winter's Heart, Chapter 31

 

He did have an errand, and maybe not so small. It was not something he wanted to do. Light, he had tried to talk himself out of it! It was something he bloody well had to do, though. As soon as Egeanin vanished around a corner after Domon and the others, he darted for the nearest room that he remembered containing one of the Sea Folk.

 

Easing open the plain wooden door soundlessly, he slipped into the pitch-black interior. The sleeping woman inside snored with a rasping sound. Slowly he felt his way forward until his knee bumped into the bed, then felt along the mound beneath the blankets more quickly, finding her head just in time to clamp his hand over her mouth as she jerked awake.

 

“I want you to answer a question,” he whispered. Blood and ashes, what if he had mistaken the room? What if this was not a Windfinder at all, but one of the bloody Seanchan women? “What would you do if I took that collar off your neck?” Lifting his hand, he held his breath.

 

“I would free my sisters, if it pleases the Light that should happen.” The Sea Folk accents in the darkness made him breathe again. “The Light be willing, we would cross the harbor, somehow, to where our people are held, and free as many as we were able.” The unseen woman’s voice remained low, but grew fiercer by the word. “The Light be willing, we would take back our ships, and fight our way to sea. Now! If this is a trick, punish me for it and be done, or kill me for it. I was on the brink of yielding, of giving up myself, and the shame of that will burn me forever, but you have reminded me who I am, and now I will never yield. Do you hear me? Never!”

 

“And if I asked you to wait for three hours?” he asked, still crouching over her. “I remember the Atha’an Miere judging the passage of an hour within minutes.” That fellow had not been him, but the memory was his now, passage on an Atha’an Miere vessel from Allorallen to Barashta, and a bright-eyed Sea Folk woman who wept when she refused to follow him ashore.

 

“Who are you?” she whispered.

 

“I’m called Mat Cauthon, if it makes a difference.”

 

“I am Nestelle din Sakura South Star, Mat Cauthon.” He heard her spit, and knew what she was doing. He spat on his own palm, and their two hands found each other in the darkness. Hers was as callused as his, her grip strong. “I will wait,” she said. “And I will remember you. You are a great and good man.”

 

Thanks.

 

You might be on to something.

[Diederichos]

#1: Rand - The DR automatically wins.

#2: Tuon - Say what you want about the Seanchan, but they clearly steamroll everything in their path if Rand wasn't there.

#3: Egwene - Not her as an individual but the WT.

#4: Aiel - No single individual stands out, but as a whole they are extremely powerful and likely give the WT a very good run for the #3 spot.

#5: Elayne - Andor-Cairhien, connection to the DR.

#6: Mat/Perrin - In terms of their importance, and what they have actually accomplished, they are clearly above Elayne and perhaps in the #4 spot, in terms of sheer numbers directly under their control, they lose as of ToM.