Yes, we could even come up with modern swords forms!

A block-and-slash could be "Loading the Dishwasher"

A low to high slash could be "Starting the Lawnmower"

The sauntering walk could be "Too Sexy For Your Shirt"

A stabbing attack could be "Tween Texting her BFF"

-sigh- I have too much time on my hands.

But if it doesn't mean something, why did RJ include this whole sequence at all?

In my opinion, RJ was demonstrating the limits (or lack of limits) of the first Oath.  The Great Hunt is the first book where we deal with Aes Sedai as a group or society, and he is starting to demonstrate how they can wiggle around the Oaths as part of developing them in the story.

I'm really thinking that she has something pretty big up her sleeve, and it will play a big part in AMoL.

I agree with that.  Why does releasing herself from the Oaths that all Aes Sedai take, while still pretending to be Aes Sedai, have to be a part of that?

I have to admit, I will be extraordinarily disappointed if she is free of just that one Oath, without being a Darkfriend.  It would make her a hypocrite of the highest order.

But they can't tell a lie. A lie is to intentially tell an untruth.

Alghar ... that is YOUR definition.  It also happens to be what I tell little children when I'm trying to teach them to behave morally.  But it is NOT in any way related to the first Oath.  The word "lie" is nowhere in the oath.  Aes Sedai can and do deceive people on a regular basis.

WORDS DO NOT MEAN THE SAME THING TO EVERYONE, IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE.  It seems absurd to me that I even have to make that statement (which will, obviously, be interpreted differently by each person who reads it).  Ironically, you are demonstrating that my point is correct simply by having this argument!

Verin is an expert in the field of using people's contextual expectations to make deceptive implications without violating the first Oath; she may be the best we've seen among the Aes Sedai in that area.

The Oaths are interpreted (and enforced) through the subjective mind of the Sister in question.  Not your mind, Alghar.  Not my mind, either.  In a very real way, each Sister takes a slightly different Oath, at least in application, because each Sister will perceive the Oath differently.  A White would be much more likely to be inclined to agree with you, and if she did, then that is how the first Oath would work, for her.  Verin's mental processes, best evidenced in her POV in TPoD prologue, do not agree with your interpretation.  You are simply, in this case, incorrect.

What could Lan's weakness be?

Chocolate cream pie.

Just keep saying it as loud as you can, Alghar.  Maybe stick your fingers in your ears too.  Tack a "lalalalala" on the end.

;D

Well, RAW has already won, but it seems like no-one noticed.

LOL ... story of my life, Don Enyalius.

Guys, the result of any sword-fight is not the result of absolute "skill levels".  Blademasters are not identical.  So, just because one person won under specific circumstances in one case does not necessarily mean that translates into a different circumstance with a different opponent.

So, it doesn't boil down to "Galad > Gawyn > Hammar, so Galad > any blademaster you care to name".

The "best" status of Warder training is simply an opinion.  That doesn't mean that no one else in the world can train to a point where they are better than someone who was Warder-trained.  Also, we don't know HOW Gawyn killed Hammar ... he may have gotten the drop on him, or not been alone.  There are so many variables here.  Valda had been a blademaster for years, and probably kept training his whole life.  He certainly fought enough duels for those around him to know his tendencies quite readily.

There are just a lot of variables here.

Lanfear was setting the trap for Be'lal, just as BFB said, for the reasons BFB said.  Egwene found the Stone, but didn't know what she was seeing, or what it meant.  "Sylvie" provided her with that information, in a way that encouraged her to go to Tear.

"Sylvie" referred to the Dark One as the Great Lord, something Birgitte would never do.

Actually that begs the question - if she saw egwene (when under the guise of Sylvie) in tDR, how comes she didnt know her to NOT be Aviendha when she took Moiraine through the doorway?

Egwene probably looked quite different after several months in the Waste ... tanned, fitter (running laps and all that), and dressed like a Wise One.

Plus, Lanfear was pretty pissed.  She probably wasn't looking too clearly at details.

We learn later on that it is actually Moghedien who is the expert in T'A'R, but Lanfear believes it to be herself - what extra knowledge does Moggy have?

Its never spelled out, but Moghedien seems to be better at finding things and people, better at hiding (a big plus in her book), and possibly better at actually manipulating the stuff of Tel'aran'rhiod.

Yep.  Silvie is almost certainly Lanfear.

Just to throw out another possibility, since we don't have nearly enough to know for sure, it could have been something that would have exposed the fact that Mesaana (or at least one of the Forsaken) was in (and controlling) the Tower.  I'm not sure exactly what could have done that, but if there was some kind of evidence like that, it probably would have driven the Salidar Sisters right into Rand's arms.

I don't think that anyone here is arguing that Rand's list is healthy.  It is a pathological reaction to his mental state.

But there is a big different between where Rand is (mentally ill), and societal imperatives for men to defend women physically.

Its very popular to say, nowadays, that "Anything a man can do, a woman can do too."

Physically, thats simply not the case, for the vast majority of people.  Thats why LeBron James and Diana Taurasi don't play in the same league.  Thats why Serena Williams doesn't have to play Roger Federer at Wimbledon.  Thats why every woman that gets pissed off at me for my smart mouth and punches me in the shoulder, stomach, or side of the head ends up being even madder at me for her hurt knuckles or wrist.

Technology has allowed for a great deal of equalization between men and women, especially in the military sense.  Guns don't require great upper body strength.  Piloting a jet does not require hulking shoulders.  Running a computer targeting system does not require prodigious physical acumen.  But none of these things exist in Randland.  And channeling is only available to 1% of women ... and not all of those women even know it.

The women I respect and admire the most are the women who, rather than spending their time trying to prove "I can do anything a man can do," spend their time refining and honing their own abilities.  So what if you can't bench press 275 lbs?  Men and women complement each other, they're not meant (either by evolution or God, whichever you believe in) to be the same.  And neither can be said (accurately) to be "better" than the other.  They are simply different.

That could have some effect, but you seem to be forgetting that 1) he was raised to believe he should lay down his life for any woman, and 2) he's going a bit crazy. If it were only Maidens that Rand was obsessed with protecting, then I'd say you probably have the right of it. But it isn't just Maidens, it's all women. And it started before he ever met an Aiel.

Couldn't have put it better myself (but I'll add more anyway, because I'm a guy  ;D ).

"A man who will not not die to save a woman is no man."  That phrase didn't originate with Rand, and it was spouted long before he ever met a Maiden.

His problem with women and death only became pathological when Lews Therin's personality began emerging more fully.  This emergence coincided with a number of other things (discoveries about his past, torturous episodes with Aes Sedai), and was probably hastened by exposure to the taint (which also could tip what was a possibly quaint but relatively harmless sort of idea about protecting women over the edge into a very damaging obsession).

Addressing the principle in general ...

In most physical situations, men are bigger and stronger than women.  Of course exceptions exist, and a highly trained woman like [insert Maiden of your choice] could take a man like, say, Halwin Norry, apart in moments.  But as much as some women hate the idea, if we had an all-out gender brawl, the guys would win.  Hands down.

So, because women are very necessary, for reasons that have nothing to do with fighting ability, societies develop social protections for them.  Rand's attitude in the early books, and Mat and Perrin's attitudes toward women, are a reflection of that sort of social imperative.  It is a generalization, but I'm not sure I would call it a ridiculous one.  Women who can channel are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves ... but women who can channel make up a very small percentage (1%) of the female populace.  The idea that men, in general, have a responsibility for the physical protection of women, in general, is not bad for society (real or fantastical) as long as that idea is divorced from an idea of male domination in return for that protection.

Of course, the best philosophy here is to understand that while men and women are undeniably different, they make one heck of a team.  If a man spends his time guarding his woman with his skills, and a woman spends her time guarding her man with her skills, they make a much more formidable force together.  Tuon and Mat are much more dangerous than either Tuon or Mat.  Ditto Perrin and Faile.  Ditto Lan and Moiraine in the past, and Lan and Nynaeve now.  And boy oh boy, just wait for Moiraine and Thom ...

Sure, its sexist.  And its unhealthy.  But really, I think there are worse flaws in the world than a desire to protect women.

He goes through it at least once in ACoS, ch 2, The Butcher's Yard, as he adds the names of the Maiden's killed at Dumai's Wells.  Of course, its not a complete list (I don't think he ever does one).  And, if you're looking for a dramatic backdrop, the charnal house that was Dumai's Wells would be very dark.  Here's an exerpt with him naming the Maidens (Perrin's POV):

Last night he had walked away from the wagons to be by himself, and as the sound of men laughing because they were alive faded behind him, he found Rand.  The Dragon Reborn, who made the world tremble, sitting on the ground, alone in the dark, his arms wrapped around himself, rocking back and forth.

 

To Perrin's eyes, the moon was nearly as good as the sun, but right then he wished for pitch blackness.  Rand's face was drawn and twisted, the face of a man who wanted to scream, or maybe weep, and was fighting it down with every scrap of his fiber.  Whatever trick the Aes Sedai knew to keep the heat from touching them, Rand and the Asha'man knew, too, but he was not using it now.  The night's heat would have done for a more-than-warm summer day, and sweat slid down Rand's cheeks as much as Perrin's.

 

He did not look around, though Perrin's boots rustled loudly in the dead grass, yet he spoke hoarsely, still rocking.  "One hundred and fifty-one, Perrin.  One hundred and fifty-one Maidens died today.  For me.  I promised them, you see.  Don't argue with me!  Shut up!  Go away!"  Despite his sweat, Rand shivered.  "Not you, Perrin; not you.  I have to keep my promises, you see.  Have to, no matter how it hurts.  But I have to keep my promise to myself, too.  No matter how it hurts."

 

Perrin tried not to think about the fate of men who could channel.  The lucky ones died before they went mad; the unlucky died after.  Whether Rand was lucky or unlucky, everything rested on him.  Everything.  "Rand, I don't know what to say, but -"

 

Rand seemed not to hear.  Back and forth he rocked.  Back and forth.  "Isan, of the Jarra Sept of the Chareen Aiel.  She died for me today.  Chuonde of the Spine Ridge Miagoma.  She died for me today.  Agirin of the Shelan Daryne ..."

A Crown of Swords, ch 2.

Three other names that we know are on the list are Moiraine Damodred, Liah, of the Cosaida Chareen, and Ilyena Sunhair.  There are others, of course, but that scene always captured the pathos of Rand's list to me.  Alone, in the dark, hugging himself, tears and sweat streaking his face, rocking back and forth, crooning on the edge of insanity.

Tenshin is right. In TDR ch 54, Mat does see Rand scaling the wall. He climbed in.

Actually, that particular quote only proves that Rand knew them on sight, and remembered their names from other lives. Thats one reason I think he's tied to the Wheel, and would answer the Horn if he were dead when it was blown.

The part about Hawkwing, however, is found in CoT, chapter 3, A Fan of Colors. Tuon asks Mat if he remembers Hawkwing's face, and although Mat lies and says that he does not, Tuon sees through it.

Bingo. Beat me to it.

Rand's conscience would not let him allow any woman, even Semirhage, to be collared.

Um, Rand just sent the damane that were with Semirhage back to the Seanchan still collared, over the objections of Nynaeve and disapproval of Cadsuane. Still, I don't see him letting Semirhage out of his control.

Heres a question though... will Tuon demand Semirhage be turned over to her, and if so, what will Rand do?

That is an interesting question, and a very real possibility ... as well as a potential point of friction, since I see Rand refusing point blank.

I believe that when he finally gets to meet with Tuon, he will bring Semirhage along to show Tuon that she had a Forsaken in her ruling council (whether she was aware of this or not). Tuon's eyes will be lowered and Rand will be able to make whatever bargain he wants.

While this no doubt strengthens Rand's bargaining position, I still doubt he gets to make "whatever bargain he wants".

Thanks Sinister. I understood why it happened.

Here's one ...

After Nynaeve battles Moghedien in Tanchico, she finds the Seal hidden in an illusion created by Moghedien. The flows are described as so minute that Nynaeve could barely discern them. But she could see them.

If Moghedien was really trying to hide it, why didn't she just invert the flows? Because I don't think RJ had invented inverting the flows yet.

Can anybody find an instance of inverting the flows before that duel (near the end of The Shadow Rising)? Because Moghedien surely would be smart enough to hide something with inverted flows in a palace full of channelers (from whom she was also hiding).

I'm not sure if thats an "inconsistency", but it sure struck me as odd.