Also, Siuan did nothing because they had been beaten back, and the next time they came, she was no longer Amyrlin.


But the protagonists aren't impressive either. WoT is filled with mediocre people, filled with failings. I find that realistic. I'd have hated this to be the contest between the super-villain and the super-hero.


I don't think its ridiculous, though. Sure, Egwene herself has gone through worse, and Rand too. But neither of those instances had them cool, collected and capable of mounting a stinging political attack on their opponent while calmly accepting their beatings. Also, there's something people are ignoring. All those women who respect Egwene for taking the beating know that she can end it any time. She just has to ask for a rescue and the Rebels will do it. That she does not shows that she is putting her discomfort as secondary to Tower unity, and that is indeed respect worthy.
It isn't just the beating, which are bad enough. Its how she takes them and what she's doing despite them.


What crime, though? Keeping the Dragon Reborn and her plans for him a secret? If Elaida was so sure that was a crime by Tower law, then why didn't she prosecute Siuan and hold an open trial?
Worse, Elaida herself saw the sense in keeping her plans for Rand and the Black Tower a secret from others, as also her failures in these matters.
There seems to be nothing at all to indicate that keeping the Dragon Reborn secret is against Tower law. The wisdom of doing so might be questioned, if the plan is horribly bungled up, punishment might be given. But merely keeping him secret is no crime, and Elaida knew it.


Lets see. A Sister steals the Tower's most powerful sa'angreal and asks her Warder to guard it, as also mercenaries that she has secretly placed as masons in the library. Another sister, confused and angered that a sister could do this, asks her Warder to retrieve the sa'angreal. The two Warders fight. Is the fault with the second sister-warder pair?
In the history of the Tower, no Aes Sedai, let alone an Amyrlin, had been stripped of her position without even a trial. Suddenly, an Amyrlin is magically deposed and another is installed in her place, and several Sitters are clueless about this as well! Why shouldn't the Greens and Blues have sent their Warders to rescue Siuan?


But the Tower was containing him! An Aes Sedai was his only adviser, and while he was showing signs of rebellion, that was not something anyone around Siuan knew. Siuan herself did not know.
As for what happened in Fal Dara... Siuan achieved her purpose, however unexpected the manner in which it happened was. She wanted to manipulate him into following the Horn (which he did) and then have him reveal himself as Dragon Reborn, which also happened.
Unless you think that packing him off to Tar Valon in a box is the only way to contain him, Siuan did a fair job, because she prevented him from going into some obscure place to die, and pushed him to his destiny. Sure, it was Falme instead of Illian and appearing over the sky instead of handing over the Horn, but surely, better than an obscure death in the Black Hills?
And Elaida has done a worse job with Rand than Siuan. Not only did she rile him severely by storing him in a box and having him beaten like a rug, she then went ahead and issued an idiotic edict that she is the only one who can have dealings with him!


But she doesn't rationalize them so. And I'm not saying Elaida's crimes have no motive. I'm saying her motives are less pure than Egwene's.


No authority to order her? Since when can Aes Sedai not order an Accepted? And Egwene knew from Elayne and Nynaeve how Elaida, from a very great distance, almost had them captured. Why could the same not be done to her? Its not like no one from Salidar had eyes and ears in Cairhein. The moment she refused to go, they could have had her captured. Plus, their embassy could have come to town and taken her away.


But she set herself down that path. She didn't just ask for the job, she grabbed it by staging a coup! And then, allowed the Tower to be riven with cracks so that her mistakes with Rand and the BT would not result in her being stilled. And now, she wants Oaths of obedience so her prior mistake (made to save her own neck) can be rectified so that her neck will be saved again? Absurd!


But neither of them knew Rand forced it out of her, and Moiraine gave the impression (with all her talk of controlling through accepting) that she did so voluntarily. All Egwene and Nynaeve said was that it was wrong of Moiraine, an Aes Sedai, to bow to a man.
Which is ridiculous, of course. But what Nynaeve and Egwene are showing here is a lack of understanding of Rand's frustration. If they had made the same statement even if they understood what was going on, then I'd agree Egwene was a hypocrite for doing this herself.
This makes me wonder though. When Egwene insists that she was the only one who understood him, is this what she meant? That she now sees the frustration that must have driven Rand to his actions?

What's the connection between this and what I said?
I said Elaida is asking for Oaths to rectify her own bloody mistakes, whereas Egwene is doing so because she has been forced to play puppet without ever actually wanting the power or glory of the Amyrlin.


But people like Elaida wanted the life of politics. They entered fully aware of the risks, and fully prepared to take them. Egwene did not know the risks, Egwene did not want the power, yet Egwene had to ear the responsibility, yet got no authority to see it fulfilled to its logical conclusion. That's the difference between their situations, and why Egwene's situation arouses sympathy while Elaida's arouses contempt. Elaida got what she asked for, having grabbed power by shady means.


Self defense against Darkfrineds? The Rebels and the various Ajahs are Darkfriends? Where does Elaida state that this is her motivation?
By the way, Egwene has stated straight out that the reason she supports the Rebellion and wants Elaida out is because this keeps the Tower from interfering with Rand, and keeps Elaida from harming Rand. Surely, there can be no better goal than preventing interference with the world's prophesied savior? Egwene is seeing herself as a shield between the Tower and Rand, and that noble goal surely justifies a few oaths?


Huh? How so? Egwene has innumerable proofs that she is human. She cannot be any kind of rat, and there's nothing wrong in her not realizing this. I mean, no one thinks its incongruous that Rand doesn't realize he's a crazy walrus, do they?