Mat Weighing Aes Sedai

[maryemi'jigede]

I am re-reading the series and am on TPOD. Can anyone shed any light on this vision from one of Egwene's dreams:

 

Mat, weighing two Aes Sedai on a huge set of balance scales, and on his decision depended. . . . She could not say what; something vast; the world, perhaps.

[Ananta]

I took it to mean Moiraine and Verin. But dunno.

[Agitel]

I took it to mean Moiraine and Verin. But dunno.

 

That was my interpretation in the end. I forget if he was weighing them against each other or just weighing them both separately or what, though the dream may not need to be completely accurate.

[Eht Slat Meit]

Mat, weighing two Aes Sedai on a huge set of balance scales, and on his decision depended....She could not say what; something vast; the world, perhaps. - PoD

 

It's just a pet theory of course, but I believe that this decision is tied up in his coming actions in AMoL. Seems pretty obvious, to me at least, that he's going to do what he does best ... walk blindly into the middle of a battle (between the Tower and the Seanchan) while he's going to get the HoV. I'm thinking that the two Aes Sedai do not represent specific people, but two different futures of the White Tower, and whichever choice he makes at the Tower will decide the fate of all Aes Sedai.

 

That may or may not be independent of Rand's need to secure the support of the Seanchan to have a chance of winning TLB.

[Kadere]

I always thought it was obviously Joline and Teslyn, I mean it does come the book before he has to rescue two Aes Sedai from Seanchan forces. And if he doesn't go for it he won't end up kidnapping Tuon, and if he doesn't do that the world is over. But if he screws up and gets caught the Seanchan will kill him and everyone with him. So yeah, to me it's Joline and Teslyn.

[baalsmistress]

My feeling was the same as yours Eht Slat Meit - a choice between the Seanchan and the White tower.

[mb]

before Towers of Midnight, I thought that the 2 Aes Sedia choice related to the Aelfinn prophecy of him giving half the light of the world to save the world; since the world was effected with both.

 

There might be a chance that it might still relate to that.

Possibly Moiraine vs Cadsuane; which one to be Rand's advisor.

[rand4747]

Im sure its following Verin or saving moiraine, doing what Verin wanted saves Caemlyn from attack but saving moiraine saves the world.

[maryemi'jigede]

I took it to mean Moiraine and Verin. But dunno

 

Me too!

 

Im sure its following Verin or saving moiraine, doing what Verin wanted saves Caemlyn from attack but saving moiraine saves the world.

 

And that's why I thought of Verin and Moiraine as well, except Mat didn't read Verin's letter so he didn't get to weigh the choice. So I'm fence-sitting on that one.

 

That was my interpretation in the end. I forget if he was weighing them against each other or just weighing them both separately or what, though the dream may not need to be completely accurate

 

Good point - I read it as him weighing them both. Following from that interpretation, the nature of weighing is not to assess each 'weight' individually but to compare one to the other, so...

 

I always thought it was obviously Joline and Teslyn, I mean it does come the book before he has to rescue two Aes Sedai from Seanchan forces. And if he doesn't go for it he won't end up kidnapping Tuon, and if he doesn't do that the world is over. But if he screws up and gets caught the Seanchan will kill him and everyone with him. So yeah, to me it's Joline and Teslyn.

 

...that means it probably isn't Teslyn and Joline, because he's not comparing their 'weights' he's weighing up their rescue and his safe escape. RJ probably had a good laugh knowing that we'd all wonder about those two after Egwene's dream. I initially thought the dream was about Mat returning to encounter Tuon, but there are things that make me think the two AS are not Teslyn & Joline. One is that Mat's marriage to Tuon has been prophecied AND viewed by Min, and the latter makes me think that Mat was always going to meet Tuon no matter what. So if he didn't go back for J & T, then he would've bumped into Tuon some other way. So I think the fate of the world wasn't hanging in the balance with that decision.

 

I thought of Moiraine and Cadsuane too, since there has to be a powerplay between them as Rand's advisor... but then that doesn't quite fit either, because Mat is doing the weighing, not Rand.

 

My feeling was the same as yours Eht Slat Meit - a choice between the Seanchan and the White tower.

 

I think I am also leaning towards your theory ESM! I forgot about the Horn. Mat has to get back in to the Tower and out again, unscathed, with his Horn, which means planting himself between his She-Mantis (not a Tuon fan, can you tell??) and the AS. Now THAT is going to be interesting! I can just picture him forcing Egwene and Tuon to shake hands and hug, lol.

 

Hurry up NOV12!!!