Let's face it, when we first saw Siuan she was awe inspiring. She was the personification of the ultimate Aes Sedai, and the most powerful person in the world before the arrival of Rand al Thor.

What struck me as totally counter productive and unbelievable, was how Siuan almost instantly lost all the respect of the Aes Sedai once she arrived in Salidar, post stilling.

I compare this to a situation where Abraham Lincoln suddenly appears in front of the US congress, having miraculously been revived from a 150 year magical stasis, only to be scoffed at and treated with disdain by the members of Congress.

You'd think that the Amyrlin had a personality that dwarfed that of normal Aes Sedai, but RJ totally destroyed that idea in his portrayal of Siuan after her stilling.

My only explanation is that he wanted to pave the way for that "slip of a girl", Egwene, to attain the Amyrlin seat, and the only way he could do it with some measure of credibility was to show that the appointment of an Amyrlin was as much a result of political infighting as it was of a superior, dominating personality ascending to her rightful place as most powerful woman in the world.

Anyway, bottomline is that I could not reconcile the dismissive treatment of the post-stilling Siuan with the inherent respect that the position should have conferred to an individual for life.

If I had written the novels, I would not have portrayed her in that fashion. It cheapens the sense of awe that should accompany a woman that used to have Kings and Queens at her beck and call.