#teslyn

[Image description: the upper halves of wine bottles, two white and one red. One white wine bottle has text overlaid that reads “Daigian Moseneillin”, the other white wine bottle says “Saroiya Farseen”. The red bottle says “Teslyn Baradon”.]

Teslyn Baradon - An Illianer Red. Strong and surprisingly balanced, she is open-minded and works quite well with Mat Cauthon, who we would normally recommend against pairing with any Aes Sedai. She also avoids the smoke taint of the Vileness and the spoilage of the Black Ajah. She is not quite as unknown as our other choices, but is still underrated compared to the more famous and popular reds such as Pevara or Silviana.

Daigian Moseneillin - A Cairhienian White from a lesser noble House. While objectively very weak, which is why she is often overlooked, she compensates with subtle flavor and impeccable logic. She bonded Eben Hopwil, a young Asha'man who was also perhaps unfairly underrated, per Jahar Narishma; this was definitely a pairing to keep an eye on, and Eben's death was a major loss. Still, this White is worth a second look.

I was looking up various Sitters in the Companion, wondering how many of the Sitters during New Spring were still around 20 years later.

This is a list sorted by Ajah, with the year(s) they became a Sitter, whether they went to Salidar or stayed in the Tower (ie. were a rebel or a loyalist) and any other relevant info.

^ Sitter when Moiraine and Siuan were raised in 978 NE % Sitter when Siuan was raised to the Amyrlin Seat in 988 NE # One of the eleven who stood to depose Siuan + Sitter after the Tower was reunited

Blue

Anlee - ?; “Sitter for the Blue at the time of the Aiel War” ^ * Eadyth - ?; “Sitter for the Blue [...] when Moiraine and Siuan were raised” ^ * Lelaine Akashi - 962, went to Salidar ^ % +

Lyrelle Arienwin - 995, went to Salidar; went to the Black Tower in 1000 Moria Karentanis - 999, in Salidar; Black Ajah, “stilled and beheaded” in TGS 

* Anlee and Eadyth both appear in New Spring. No confirmation if either were still around when Siuan became Amyrlin. Also, a Blue Sitter was “killed in the fighting when Siuan was deposed” (WOT Companion). This could have been one of them.

pp. 719-764 / 617-806

POV: Tam, Elayne, Galad, Nynaeve, Mat, Egwene, Galad, Androl, Arganda, Rand, Mat, Olver, Leane, Talmanes, Faile, Logain.

Small details. Lan calls Tam “blademaster”. After Gareth Bryne dies, Elayne gets to close his eyes. When Mat hears Faile is still missing, he first thought is “Poor Perrin” before he thinks about the other ramifications.

Teslyn is with the Dragonsworn. There are too many Aes Sedai in this series to satisfactorily touch base with all of them during and after the Last Battle, but I appreciate that AMOL tries to.

I love that Egwene bonds Leilwin -- I love the parallels. Once again Egwene has a ~magical~ connection to a Seanchan woman, but this time it’s a connection she has chosen. She initiated it, and she can dissolve it whenever she wants. It’s a connection both parties have consented to. 

Galad versus Demandred is quite short. A page and a half. Duels apparently don’t last very long, so this makes sense, yet it comes as a surprise to find that an “iconic” moment from the book is such a brief one.

In the Rand vs Shai’tan fic war, Rand’s vision of a Shadow-less Caemlyn ends up disturbing Rand because it turns out that being “forced” to follow the Light rather than choosing it of their own free will turns them into terrifying insipid versions of themselves.

It’s an interesting twist that doesn’t quite fit, somehow. Perhaps because it’s possible to be cruel or misguided and cause hurt to others without being a Darkfriend. And WOT does not suggest that characters who cause others a great deal of suffering, like Elaida or zealous Whitecloaks or the sul’dam who capture unwilling damane, are to all intents and purposes serving the Dark One - although their actions may benefit the Shadow’s cause.  

(It’s a different stance to Narnia’s The Last Battle, for example, in which Aslan makes a whole speech about how “... if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves...”)

So I don’t see how a world without the Dark One would be this perfect, bland utopia. People would still have problems, and not all of those problems would be easily resolved. 

I suppose the implication could be the Dark One does not just give people the option of becoming a Darkfriend, but also the choices of being greedy and using cruel words and responding with violence (and so on).

Anyway, I like the idea that free will is important.

On a related note: I don’t know how I feel about Aravine’s betrayal. Because she doesn’t want to be a Darkfriend anymore, and I wish this series had more examples of characters who changed their minds about supporting the Shadow. Who were able to change their minds. 

Leane! I was wondering if she got back okay - it’s possible I missed something, but assuming I didn’t, the last time we saw her, Demandred was planning to use her as a messenger.

Teslyn: I want to catch the fiiish too, Klaus