LOC (Gifts) - In the mirror his head tilted as if he was listening, and he nodded, voice dropping to a murmur. “Yes, I can handle three, if they aren’t too strong… Of course, if one of them is Moghedien in a wig, or Semirhage, I may be in trouble.”

What do you really think of this statement?

Technically any of the following could be true...

1. One of the women could be as strong as the Forsaken. Rand plays a huge gamble by assuming that no one in the Tower is a high level channeler. It's even more likely that a woman of that strength would be sent after him if they decided to take him. One of them could have been Nynaeve or Sharina, for instance.

2. The women could have angreal or sa'angreal. This is even more likely considering the precautions the Tower would take if they sent a group of women to trap him. "Take Vora's sa'angreal along and capture al'Thor, Galina"

3. They could send one woman into the room and have the other thirteen in a circle outside. The range of a circle doesn't seem to be that limited. She could probably still wield the full power of the circle even if they were outside.

In the end it comes down to risks, I guess. Rand can't hide away from Aes Sedai all the time on the off-chance that the emissary is covered in sa'angreal. He's probably reasonably sure that he can handle three women in most situations. Taim is even more dismissive of facing three women. Maybe he's stupid though - Elayne is a very strong woman and even worse, she has a turtle angreal. He might have found himself in for a nasty surprise.

If you were a high strength male, how would you agree to meet groups of potentially threatening females? Would you meet any group of less than thirteen? Would you also stop at three or scoff at three?