A lot of this work was done by Moiraine and Siuan as well as Cadsuane and co. and lets not forget Verin either. The Wondergirls would not have existed but for Moiraine and wouldn't have become ready so fast but for Siuan.
So throw Moiraine, Siuan, Verin, and Cadsuane into the mix. That leaves you with 7 Aes Sedai out of roughly one thousand who have done little else but get in the way or make problems for the main characters in the series.
Why must everyone be a hero? Who can set the example... the Whitecloaks, the Aiel, the Sharans, the Seanchan? Every group has a bunch of achievers and legends. You can't expect 1,000 Sisters to all be special. They're mostly normal people who can channel and go about their daily activities.
My point is they aren't toted up to be normal people who can channel and they definitely don't mind their own business and go about their daily activities like normal people. I agree not everyone can or even should be heroes. But other groups that you reference aren't 100% composed of individuals who think they should be in charge of everything and everyone. The fact of the matter is, the majority of Aes Sedai (even those that aren't Black Ajah) negatively impact the war against the Shadow by meddling with everything they can on the grounds that they are Aes Sedai and should be in control. Very few Aes Sedai have had a positive impact in the series, and those that have done something positive have mostly had their actions negated by the rest of the Aes Sedai.
Yes, but remember that over 2/3 of Aes Sedai are permanently in the Tower - so it's not a fallacy to think that they are normal people who go about their lives. While most of them consider themselves to be queens on a level of royalty, they only act that way outside of the Tower, which is quite uncommon. Most Sisters stroll the halls and go about their daily activities.
The 'series' as you put it is a giant soup of good and evil deeds. It's very one dimensional to say that the Aes Sedai have had a minimal positive impact on the series. They do good things which are countered by Elaida's stupidity or the evil of the Black Ajah, but the same is really true of any group... Jaichim Carridin is surely counterproductive to any Whitecloak efforts to battle the Shadow, as is Suroth for the Seanchan.
Wheel of Time board admin
Fan of Lanfear
Fan of Lanfear
This message last edited by Sidious on 03/09/2009 at 09:24:52 PM
You know... it feels like the Aes Sedai are pretty superflouous
02/09/2009 09:48:19 PM
- 1273 Views
Y'know, the paralells betwen the Aes Sedai in the White Tower...
02/09/2009 10:46:29 PM
- 853 Views
That is the inspiration for the Aes Sedai that RJ used - I can't find the article, though.
03/09/2009 02:39:14 PM
- 804 Views
When I was reading this I was thinking of the paralells between the white tower and
03/09/2009 02:47:33 AM
- 1076 Views
And yet the WT has been THE single greatest force for continuity and civilization.
03/09/2009 03:37:14 AM
- 873 Views
Re: And yet the WT has been THE single greatest force for continuity and civilization.
03/09/2009 05:46:13 AM
- 838 Views
Really?
03/09/2009 05:52:38 AM
- 808 Views
Re: Really?
03/09/2009 06:03:13 AM
- 764 Views
So lets add a few more
03/09/2009 11:42:48 AM
- 773 Views
most of these are accounted for above
03/09/2009 02:18:01 PM
- 830 Views
Just because we don't know all their names, doesn't mean their effectiveness on the Pattern was less
03/09/2009 03:19:41 PM
- 824 Views
But who did the work?
03/09/2009 05:37:00 PM
- 674 Views
While these are good, none of it is because of the White Tower
03/09/2009 05:43:56 PM
- 698 Views
So if Elaida didn't order it, it doesn't count?
03/09/2009 07:29:20 PM
- 712 Views
Re: But who did the work?
04/09/2009 01:32:19 PM
- 752 Views
Only one point because obviously your mind is made up.
05/09/2009 06:13:23 AM
- 776 Views
well, yeah
05/09/2009 02:33:51 PM
- 799 Views
In that case, Rand, Mat, Perrin... all of them are superfluous.
05/09/2009 03:03:07 PM
- 700 Views
Re: In that case, Rand, Mat, Perrin... all of them are superfluous.
05/09/2009 04:57:44 PM
- 699 Views
I don't understand your point
03/09/2009 04:25:22 PM
- 717 Views
Re: I don't understand your point
03/09/2009 09:09:38 PM
- 767 Views
Re: I don't understand your point
03/09/2009 09:23:53 PM
- 707 Views
I was talking about the WT specifically, and only during recent years. It's Gotta be the Shadow,
03/09/2009 05:39:11 PM
- 701 Views
So what you are really saying is that if you ignore over 2/3rds of the AS the rest aren't doing much
03/09/2009 06:07:23 PM
- 643 Views
I'm talking about the organization as a whole
03/09/2009 10:07:37 PM
- 723 Views
You just made our point...
04/09/2009 12:49:44 AM
- 730 Views
WT has been THE single greatest force for stagancy and lack of development.
09/09/2009 08:58:58 AM
- 666 Views
Like I said earlier the AS are superfluous except the ones who aren't superfluous.
09/09/2009 11:55:47 AM
- 749 Views

To a certain extent
03/09/2009 11:33:30 AM
- 944 Views
Actually, I think Verin is a good metaphor here.
03/09/2009 07:59:46 PM
- 673 Views
Agrees with Nossy
03/09/2009 10:44:06 PM
- 974 Views