Themes regarding sexual orientation aren't political except inasmuch as certain people have hijacked them to create wedge issues. Edit: It occurs to me that I should probably clarify here. What I'm saying is that LGBTQ themes aren't political because sexual orientation is a civil rights issue first and a political issue only for those who make it one to serve their own ends.

Themes regarding sexual orientation aren't political except inasmuch as certain people have hijacked them to create wedge issues.

Yes, but *gesticulates wildly at images showing that what happened to Moiraine looks almost exactly like what happened when Logain was shielded*. Am I crazy here? Also, not only has she never been shielded by Saidin as someone pointed out below, she's never had a shield even remotely as powerful as this one placed on her. Though she knows how powerful Ishy is in theory, the practical reality of that may be throwing her for a loop.

The first hint is the visual of what happened to her, which mirrors the shield on Logain. The second is that this visual doesn't match what we saw when Logain was gentled. A third would be the wording used by both her and Ishy about being able to sense it, but there being a barrier in the way. The visual is the biggest for me, but the other two make it pretty definitive. We also know that you can tie off a shield and that it will dissipate over time. Honestly, it's hard to imagine it being anything but shielding. They're keeping it ambiguous for the non-readers because it's dramatic, but it seems pretty clear to me.

She's not though? I feel like they've made this obvious to anyone familiar with the books.

I really don't understand the gripes about the lesson in the kitchen. It seemed pretty obvious to me that it was more about a sister working on Nynaeve's block than it was about teaching the novices as a whole.