Moiraine theories

[Ekho 52]

Thats always been the reason I thought she broke the bond, even with the bond masked she should have been able to tell if Lan was alive or not

[jan 14]

Yeah. She said she didn't know if he was trying to get up or dying (no idea if that's what you are talking about...I don't care!). I mean, Rand could tell Alanna had stubbed her toe, so I would think Moiraine could tell the difference between death and "man my back hurts! I can't get up! :("

*nod* Yes, that's what I meant, and I agree with what you said! That's why I think the bond was already gone by then.

[Kaitlin 22]

Yes, I agree, I thought she did too. I mean, she set it up to pass when she was killed, and she told Lan that, but it wouldn't be a lie if she changed her mind after thinking about what could happen. He still could have that reaction just to the fact that she'd dead... he was insanely protective even for a Warder. (Meep, I thought!)

 

Yes, Foxy Lady. *giggles* Sorry I didn't answer sooner, Ajit!

[Ishmael Moridin 0]

Yes, Foxy Lady. *giggles* Sorry I didn't answer sooner, Ajit!

I'll listen to it again. Its been a while.

 

Back on topic :

Moiraine was convinced after her visit to the finns that she was not going to survive her encounter with Lanfear at the dock. So she had made the arrangement to shift her bond with Lan to another sister as soon as she dissolved it herself.

 

I don't remember correctly about Moiraine's visit to the finns ... she did visit both the finn doors didn't she ? If so, what did she ask for at the aelfinn world (where one's wishes are granted) ? Was her subsequent imprisonment in the finn world the price for her wish ?

[Marie 73]

She only visited one -the one in Tear- ...and she visited the finns before she knew about Lanfear. Her letter to Thom makes it clear she knew she would survive (or believed she would). I can see why she got rid of Lan's bond, although I would like to know her exact reasoning.

 

I say this because if it turns out she got stilled I'll be pissed.

[Ekho 52]

Well if she was stilled its hardly that big a deal anymore is it, one of the ashaman could hear her

[Kaitlin 22]

Yes, I don't want her stilled, or even coming back super powerful. I like that she wasn't the strongest but used her craftiness. *thinks of her kicking Be'lal's behind*

 

Moiraine made arrangements to transfer her bond before Tear. She told Lan what she was going to do all the way back in the second book, when she and he were at Adeleas and Vandene's cottage. I'm not certain if she went off to find Myrelle at the beginning of book 2, when she went missing for some time, or whether she'd done it before the series began.

 

So, from the beginning she knew she didn't want anything to happen to Lan if she were killed. Myrelle promised to pass the bond to somebody that suits him better later, and it pretty much seems like Moiraine knew all along that Nynaeve would be the one who should get his bond in the end.

 

Moiraine knew she wouldn't die, yet the bond went to Myrelle anyway. Would it still happen like that if she got stilled? She embraced just before she flung herself at Lanfear, and it was then she didn't seem to know what happened to Lan. When she pushed him out of her mind at that point, was that when she did it or maybe a little before?

[Marie 73]

Well if she was stilled its hardly that big a deal anymore is it, one of the ashaman could hear her

 

Only if an Aes Sedai doesn't get to her first. Neither camps know the other figured out how to heal stilling. So if an Aes Sedai heals her it is a big deal, because then she'll be like Siuan.

[Olivia 26]

Moiraine made arrangements to transfer her bond before Tear. She told Lan what she was going to do all the way back in the second book, when she and he were at Adeleas and Vandene's cottage. I'm not certain if she went off to find Myrelle at the beginning of book 2, when she went missing for some time, or whether she'd done it before the series began.

 

I think she did it at the very begininning of book 2 in Fal Dara when Siuan and all her bitches *cough* I mean all those other Aes Sedai visited.

 

I agree with you on not wanting her coming back as either weaker or more powerful than before; her craftiness and skill at manipulation was indeed the best part of her.

[Marie 73]

She made arraignments in Tar Valon.

 

For the hundredth time — or so it seemed to her — she considered the words to use. "Before we left Tar Valon I made arrangements, should anything happen to me, for your bond to pass to another." He stared at her, silent. "When you feel my death, you will find yourself compelled to seek her out immediately. I do not want you to be surprised by it."

[Olivia 26]

She made arraignments in Tar Valon.

 

Ahh, it seems you're correct - my version of TGH says the same. Mea culpa I guess I had always associated the bond passing with Moiraine's realization that Lan had fallen in love with Nynaeve.

[Kaitlin 22]

She made arraignments in Tar Valon.

 

Yay, Marie has discovered it. I wonder how long before the events in EotW it was. If RJ ever writes the other prequel he might say. *hums*

 

I'm sure all versions would have the same information as that.. it seems kinda important! ;D

[Olivia 26]

I'm sure all versions would have the same information as that.. it seems kinda important! ;D

 

I'd think so too, but I thought it safe to doublecheck. It's happened a couple times before; where an error was spotted in one of the WoT books (for example, there was once a mention of Lan sharpening his sword) and was then corrected in later editions.

[Kaitlin 22]

What is with Momo in that scene where she brags about making the fog? I read it again, and she took time out to explain all involved and such why she was doing what she was to Thom, and then she did the grow trick and got really pissed off when one of the boys asked her about something else.

 

It's almost like she's embarrassed to have behaved one way in front of the boys who now think she'll behave that way toward them.

 

Well, actually, I know why she was behaving like that, but I wanted to bring it to everybody's attention and see what you thought.

 

Here's the scene anyway, it's in the quotes.

 

"It follows the river as if drawn with a pen," Moiraine was saying in satisfied tones. "There are not ten women in Tar Valon who could do that unaided. Not to mention from the back of a galloping horse."

 

"I don't mean to complain, Moiraine Sedai," Thom said, sounding oddly diffident for him, "but would it not have been better to cover us a little further? Say to Baerlon? If that Draghkar looks on this side of the river, we'll lose everything we have gained."

 

"Draghkar are not very smart, Master Merrilin," the Aes Sedai said dryly. "Fearsome and deadly dangerous, and with sharp eyes, but little intelligence. It will tell the Myrddraal that this side of the river is clear, but the river itself is cloaked for miles in both directions. The Myrddraal will know the extra effort that cost me. He will have to consider that we may be escaping down the river, and that will slow him. He will have to divide his efforts. The fog should hold long enough that he will never be sure that we did not travel at least partway by boat. It could have extended the fog a little way toward Baerlon, instead, but then the Draghkar could search the river in a matter of hours, and the Myrddraal would know exactly where we were headed."

 

Thom made a puffing sound and shook his head. "I apologize, Aes Sedai. I hope I did not offend."

Do you see? She didn't just explain herself, she did it in detail. She didn't have to do so to that degree, and Moiraine usually never explains more than she strictly has to.

 

"Ah, Moi . . . ah, Aes Sedai." Mat stopped to swallow audibly. "The ferry . . . ah . . . did you. . . I mean. . . I don't understand why . . ." He trailed off weakly, and there was a silence so deep that the loudest sound Rand heard was his own breathing.

 

Finally Moiraine spoke, and her voice filled the empty silence with sharpness. "You all want explanations, but if I explained my every action to you, I would have no time for anything else." In the moonlight, the Aes Sedai seemed taller, somehow, almost looming over them. "Know this. I intend to see you safely in Tar Valon. That is the one thing you need to know."

And here she did the grow trick and snapped at Mat. They were on the run and she needed to conserve her channeling, so it really must have made her mad. She's not this mercurial in the rest of the book to them, so it's not just that RJ was getting used to everyone's character.

[Olivia 26]

Good question, Kaitlin My guess would be that he went into detail in the first instance so that the reader of the book could understand more about the way Shadowspawn function with each other, and also basic behavior patterns. Also, a reader might have wondered why the Dragkhar didn't just follow them across the river, and might have thought the fact that it didn't was just a convenient escape. I think Moiraine went into detail on this instance not for Thom's sake but for the readers'. I'm interested to see what others think about this.