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Yes and No darius_sedai Send a noteboard - 09/12/2015 04:35:48 PM

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Level 19 is about the "middle" of the Aes Sedai strength range (at least for named characters) making roughly 50% of the Aes Sedai being strong enough to Travel.

108 Aes Sedai women above level 19
101 Aes Sedai women below level 19

15-16 years of training seems to be about the average time. 73 women completed training in 16 years or less, 87 women took longer.

Most women spend less time as Accepted than as Novice, in some cases a LOT less time, but most of the time it is no more than 1-2 years longer as a Novice. Team Jordan tended to explain when a woman spend a significant time as a Novice (typically lied about age or was some kind of discipline problem etc).

Weak women generally take longer in training time than strong women. 30 women managed to achieve the Shawl in 10 or fewer years only 4, Amico (27), Lyrelle Arienwin (24), Vandene (22) and Adeleas (23) had weaker than 19 strength.

Of the 73 women who achieved the shawl in fewer than 16 years 24 had less than 19 strength.

of the 87 remaining women with training times, 38 were below strength 19

Black Ajah seems to skew high in strength ... of the 34 Aes Sedai we know are Black and have a strength score, only 8 are weaker than level 19

Nationality breakout (every nation is represented):

52 Andorans (counting Two Rivers)
45 Seanchan
44 Aiel
24 Sea Folk
24 Taraboner
23 Domani
21 Arafellin
18 Tairen
17 Cairhienin
17 Saldaean
16 Murandian
14 Kandori
12 Illianer
9 Altaran
8 Ghealdanin
6 Far Madding (including a False Dragon)
6 Shienaran
5 Amadicians
3 Mayener
2 Black Hills
1 Malkieri (counting Nynaeve as Andoran)
1 Sharan
1 Tinker

Age Ranges

4 400-600+
11 300-400 (2 Aes Sedai lived past 300)
24 200-300
76 100-200
58 50-100
68 <50

Ajah

60 Green
53 Brown
48 Gray
45 Yellow
42 Red
39 Blue
37 White

42 Black

*please note that not all Aes Sedai had complete information on strength, training time or Ajah etc so the numbers here don't add up consistently.


This is further proof that natural skill increases with strength. This is very obvious with very strong channelers like Egwene and Elayne who could fully channel within only two years and with multiple flows. However, it is nice to see how the trend continues all the way down. Weaker women take longer to master channeling. Not a surprise at all.

It's also interesting that the BA are so strong. They might target stronger women for conversion, or kill the, if they refuse , or stronger channelers enjoy power and find other ways to become "more powerful".


While it's obvious that stronger women generally move through training faster, I'm not sure we can say that strength = faster to learn. We've seen many weak women learn weaves quickly, I think it's more about how long it takes them to gain strength. Aes Sedai won't let a woman advance to Accepted until she's hit roughly level 53 in strength. If women gain strength at a relatively steady pace once they begin channeling you have to figure that a stronger woman probably achieves these strength minimums a bit faster than a weaker woman (i.e. if a woman gains 5% of her strength a year a stronger woman would naturally hit the minimum levels before a weaker woman).

I think what we can also look to is the stronger women who did NOT move quickly:

Shemerim = behavior
Silviana = Issues learning despite her strength
Merise = spent 15 years as novice because she was so young, she was only 5 years as Accepted

I think this sort of tells us that most of the time strong women attain the necessary strength at a quicker pace, but that they don't always have the learning capacity or personality necessary to move quickly through training. Merise, because she was so young would have gained strength more slowly (we are told that the older a woman is when she begins training the faster she will gain her strength).

Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
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Sortable, searchable file of Channelers - 28/11/2015 10:01:57 PM 3158 Views
Outstanding job - 29/11/2015 04:15:17 PM 861 Views
Re: Outstanding job - 29/11/2015 06:53:40 PM 835 Views
Very impressive. Well done. - 29/11/2015 04:41:52 PM 970 Views
Re: Very impressive. Well done. - 29/11/2015 06:54:02 PM 882 Views
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Re: I added Rand and Lews Therin to the ++1 Strength - 01/12/2015 08:02:01 AM 952 Views
Well, it also states that there are gradations within each level too - 01/12/2015 04:26:29 PM 1006 Views
Well maybe - 02/12/2015 06:31:05 AM 938 Views
Here's how I see it: - 02/12/2015 08:34:54 AM 1032 Views
I agree - 02/12/2015 04:22:52 PM 971 Views
Re: I agree - 02/12/2015 05:14:50 PM 1130 Views
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Re: It's always been confusing - 02/12/2015 07:27:11 PM 1099 Views
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Re: Here's how I see it: - 02/12/2015 04:46:54 PM 1137 Views
Morgase - 03/12/2015 04:37:47 AM 956 Views
I agree with you on this - 03/12/2015 03:22:22 PM 832 Views
Re: Morgase - 03/12/2015 07:46:59 PM 1095 Views
I didn't realize he was being literal in that comment - 03/12/2015 09:29:52 PM 949 Views
Re: Well maybe - 02/12/2015 03:52:49 PM 1046 Views
Re: Well maybe - 02/12/2015 04:42:37 PM 1109 Views
Probably - 02/12/2015 06:11:42 PM 902 Views
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Indeed - 02/12/2015 08:21:07 PM 909 Views
Re: Indeed - 03/12/2015 04:08:03 AM 830 Views
close enough to not debate about it - 03/12/2015 03:47:55 PM 857 Views
Re: close enough to not debate about it - 03/12/2015 04:14:38 PM 855 Views
I think you misunderstand what I'm saying - 03/12/2015 04:43:29 PM 890 Views
Re: I think you misunderstand what I'm saying - 03/12/2015 05:41:17 PM 936 Views
um, no - 03/12/2015 09:24:31 PM 853 Views
You two seem like Egwene's interchangeable defenders to me; it's weird to see you fighting. - 04/12/2015 09:21:23 PM 1051 Views
That's on you... - 04/12/2015 09:46:51 PM 870 Views
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Re: close enough to not debate about it - 05/12/2015 11:29:44 AM 923 Views
Re: I added Rand and Lews Therin to the ++1 Strength - 03/12/2015 07:22:15 AM 824 Views
Great job - 30/11/2015 05:45:27 AM 863 Views
Re: Great job - 30/11/2015 03:22:09 PM 840 Views
Made a few adjustments to add some presumed minimum/maximum levels *NM* - 30/11/2015 04:28:13 PM 595 Views
Some questions - 30/11/2015 05:18:00 PM 870 Views
Re: Some questions - 30/11/2015 07:26:29 PM 834 Views
Re: Some questions - 01/12/2015 08:05:01 AM 1031 Views
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Some more - 01/12/2015 05:24:40 PM 921 Views
Re: Some more - 01/12/2015 07:34:20 PM 973 Views
Re: Some more - 02/12/2015 12:27:40 AM 969 Views
Re: Some more - 02/12/2015 02:26:53 AM 902 Views
Re: Some more - 02/12/2015 08:24:49 AM 904 Views
Re: Some more - 02/12/2015 05:54:49 PM 972 Views
Re: Some more - 03/12/2015 04:26:45 AM 811 Views
You said this much better than I did - 03/12/2015 03:53:57 PM 833 Views
I think the men are much too strong - 02/12/2015 09:01:56 AM 1026 Views
Yes - 02/12/2015 03:06:44 PM 880 Views
Re: Yes - 02/12/2015 04:45:20 PM 953 Views
Re: Yes - 02/12/2015 06:39:43 PM 999 Views
Re: Yes - 03/12/2015 03:56:23 AM 828 Views
I think when characters quoted information from their world it gets muddled - 03/12/2015 04:19:43 PM 863 Views
Shielding - 05/12/2015 11:19:40 AM 831 Views
I feel like there is an RJ quote about this actually - 06/12/2015 06:41:35 PM 804 Views
Re: I feel like there is an RJ quote about this actually - 07/12/2015 12:39:54 PM 839 Views
seriously! - 07/12/2015 04:55:43 PM 862 Views
Who should defer to whom? - 01/12/2015 08:17:22 PM 1047 Views
Interesting... - 02/12/2015 08:44:32 AM 982 Views
I think there needs to be a pretty significant (5+ levels) difference - 02/12/2015 06:25:35 PM 1036 Views
Good job - 05/12/2015 08:43:09 PM 1211 Views
Some questions - 06/12/2015 12:28:46 AM 880 Views
Can't offer much - 06/12/2015 12:33:29 AM 1069 Views
Cool. Hopefully Dom will see this... - 06/12/2015 08:58:39 PM 770 Views
Re: Some questions - 06/12/2015 08:06:56 PM 817 Views
Then there would be some mention of it, yes/ - 06/12/2015 08:56:10 PM 770 Views
Not at all ... He clearly had a general sense of how it worked - 07/12/2015 03:28:35 AM 785 Views
Re: Some questions - 07/12/2015 04:19:43 PM 1042 Views
it probably has to do with the fact that the characters in the books are also obsessed with strength - 06/12/2015 07:58:20 PM 897 Views
Sort of. - 06/12/2015 10:30:36 PM 1223 Views
Makes sense - 07/12/2015 12:38:54 AM 789 Views
Clearly his strength rankings came in mid-series - 07/12/2015 07:39:59 PM 1003 Views
Re: Clearly his strength rankings came in mid-series - 10/12/2015 05:33:27 AM 838 Views
Probably something along those lines - 10/12/2015 03:44:48 PM 756 Views
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Moiraine... - 09/12/2015 02:28:50 AM 837 Views
That too is possible - 09/12/2015 03:02:12 PM 816 Views
Some random trends/data points - 08/12/2015 08:39:14 PM 801 Views
Who is the one Sharan? And I'm surprised so many Seanchan have listed strength levels. *NM* - 09/12/2015 02:42:51 AM 570 Views
Re: Who is the one Sharan? And I'm surprised so many Seanchan have listed strength levels. - 09/12/2015 02:31:18 PM 860 Views
Not sure she can channel, though - 09/12/2015 03:22:17 PM 727 Views
Re: Not sure she can channel, though - 09/12/2015 04:54:37 PM 874 Views
duplicate post ignore *NM* - 09/12/2015 02:31:36 PM 484 Views
duplicate post ignore *NM* - 09/12/2015 02:31:55 PM 519 Views
so.... - 09/12/2015 06:10:41 AM 861 Views
Nope... - 09/12/2015 03:24:07 PM 830 Views
Yes - 09/12/2015 03:46:30 PM 808 Views
Some things to consider - 09/12/2015 04:18:50 PM 792 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 10/12/2015 05:43:35 AM 770 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 10/12/2015 06:28:49 AM 737 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 10/12/2015 11:53:51 AM 768 Views
Sorilea has always been shown as skilled - 10/12/2015 04:10:37 PM 804 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 10/12/2015 04:46:29 PM 745 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 10/12/2015 05:50:17 PM 769 Views
plenty of weaker ones with notably strong Talents actually - 10/12/2015 06:26:03 PM 862 Views
This is a flawed list - 11/12/2015 05:14:47 AM 767 Views
and you are just rationalizing to make your point seem plausible - 11/12/2015 03:10:12 PM 859 Views
another point about Talents (unrelated to the Strength question) - 11/12/2015 06:06:42 PM 955 Views
Not really - 11/12/2015 09:09:41 PM 805 Views
You are trying to force fit thin evidence into a sweeping statement - 11/12/2015 10:13:13 PM 835 Views
Re: You are trying to force fit thin evidence into a sweeping statement - 12/12/2015 06:46:05 AM 791 Views
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Some quotes - 12/12/2015 01:18:41 AM 775 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 12/12/2015 03:18:30 AM 825 Views
Re: Some things to consider - 12/12/2015 06:19:15 AM 824 Views
Hey ... I have no interest in making you look stupid! - 12/12/2015 03:15:26 PM 785 Views
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Re: Yes, it's a sad thing to realize that this is pretty much the end of the road - 15/12/2015 06:01:58 AM 788 Views
I'm actually perplexed - 15/12/2015 07:19:27 AM 719 Views
Re: I'm actually perplexed - 17/12/2015 11:36:59 AM 824 Views
LOL ... Amen! *NM* - 15/12/2015 03:54:55 PM 525 Views
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Yes and No - 09/12/2015 04:35:48 PM 772 Views
Re: Yes and No - 09/12/2015 10:41:32 PM 844 Views
Indeed - 09/12/2015 11:01:03 PM 790 Views
Ajah Strength Index - 09/12/2015 10:45:29 PM 837 Views
Greens... - 10/12/2015 12:24:11 AM 786 Views
Me too honestly - 10/12/2015 03:12:21 AM 718 Views
Re: Me too honestly - 10/12/2015 04:59:42 AM 786 Views
Re: Me too honestly - 10/12/2015 04:18:00 PM 753 Views
Re: Ajah Strength Index - 10/12/2015 05:40:39 AM 819 Views
I'm not so sure you'd have a chioce - 10/12/2015 04:01:35 PM 737 Views
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Explain - 11/12/2015 05:16:55 AM 859 Views
Several reasons ... Edited for clarity - 11/12/2015 02:54:58 PM 870 Views
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The Cleansing Circles ... some speculation here - 15/12/2015 05:52:14 PM 760 Views
If I was Cadsuane I would have done it differently - 15/12/2015 10:01:07 PM 797 Views
Aran'gar - 16/12/2015 01:11:17 AM 920 Views
Re: Aran'gar - 16/12/2015 06:54:28 AM 825 Views
mostly agree - 16/12/2015 06:27:06 PM 817 Views
Re: Aran'gar - 16/12/2015 06:50:27 PM 929 Views
Re: Aran'gar - 17/12/2015 10:07:48 AM 969 Views
We do have some additional clues - 17/12/2015 06:26:20 PM 994 Views
additional thought - 16/12/2015 06:49:04 PM 748 Views
Does she know that? - 16/12/2015 06:58:24 PM 910 Views
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Known... - 05/01/2016 01:54:56 AM 708 Views
Re: Known... - 05/01/2016 02:55:50 AM 866 Views

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