I just posted a question in regards to Lanfear and Verin under the RJ Questions post on the General board. This brought up old and dear memories of long battles concerning the connection between my two favorite female characters. So, in the Spirit of renewal, and in hope of additional converts to my Faction, I give you my Verin and Lanfear Connection theory.

Faction: Verin & Lanfear

Theory:

The most important parts of this theory occur within books 2-4. We come to know Verin and Lanfear at the beginning of The Great Hunt. Our first real encounter with Verin happens when she is discussing the dark prophecy with Siuan. By the way, I do not believe that Verin is Black Ajah. She says:

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 7 - Blood Calls Blood

Verin tilted her head, peering at her notes in thought. "Possibly. It has the form of some of the few dark prophecies we know. And parts of it are clear enough. It could still be only a taunt, though." She rested a finger on one line. " Daughter of the Night, she walks again.' That can only mean Lanfear is loose again. Or someone wants us to think she is."

And, just as a funny point, she does mention the Dark One as the Great Lord in this same chapter (however, I do NOT believe she is Black Ajah).

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 7 - Blood Calls Blood

"I can only give you what I know, Mother," Verin said, looking up from her notes, "and leave the decision in your hands. I believe the last of Artur Hawkwing's foreign armies died long ago, but because I believe it does not make it so. The Time of Change, of course, refers to the end of an Age, and the Great Lord - "

Then Verin points out that she believes the Dragon Reborn is one of the three that Moiraine has with her. This could be really good deduction, but it doesn't surprise me when some people call into question Verin's motives.

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 7 - Blood Calls Blood

"And of course," Verin said calmly, "the man who channels must be one of the three young men traveling with you, Moiraine."

Once again, I don't believe that Verin is Black Ajah - but this moment where Verin tells them what she has "figured" out comes soon after the prologue Darkfriend meeting we are all aware of.

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: Prologue - In the Shadow

For the third time air solidified into the shape of a young man, this time directly under Ba'alzamon's eye, almost at his feet. A tall fellow, with eyes now gray, now almost blue as the light took them, and dark, reddish hair. Another villager, or farmer. The man who called himself Bors gasped. Yet another thing out of the ordinary, though he wondered why he should expect anything to be ordinary here. A sword swung from the figure's belt, a sword with a bronze heron on the scabbard and another inset into the long, two-handed hilt. A village boy with a heron-mark blade? Impossible! What can it mean? And a boy with yellow eyes. He noticed the Myrddraal looking at the figures, trembling; and unless he misjudged entirely, its trembling was no longer fear, but hatred."

Verin isn't stupid, but she lets her hand play out a bit by following up her revelation with the following statement:

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 7 - Blood Calls Blood

A hint of satisfaction settled on Verin's face, but no sign that she realized she had hurled a lightning bolt. She only looked as if she had found another piece that fit in a puzzle. "Yes, I thought it must be so. Moiraine could not do this alone, and who better to help than her girlhood friend who used to sneak down with her to snitch sweetcakes." She blinked. "Forgive me, Mother. I should not have said that."

Then Verin indirectly threatens them, and tells them that she is revealing what she knows so they will allow her to study the three ta'veren. Of course to study them she would have to travel with them.

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 7 - Blood Calls Blood

Verin's eyes widened in surprise. "Yes. Yes, I suppose I should. I hadn't thought of that. But then, if I did, you would be stilled, Moiraine, and you, Mother, and the man gentled. No one has ever recorded the progression in a man who wields the Power. When does the madness come, exactly, and how does it take him? How quickly does it grow? Can he still function with his body rotting around him? For how long? Unless he is gentled, what will happen to the young man, whichever he is, will happen whether or not I am there to put down the answers. If he is watched and guided, we should be able to keep some record with reasonable safety, for a time, at least. And, too, there is The Karaethon Cycle." She calmly returned their startled looks. "I assume, Mother, that he is the Dragon Reborn? I cannot believe you would do this - leave walking free a man who can channel - unless he was the Dragon."

Verin tells them that she started to become suspicious twenty years ago:

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 7 - Blood Calls Blood

"It is unlikely," Verin began, "that anyone who hasn't studied the old records thoroughly would notice anything except that you were behaving oddly. Forgive me, Mother. It was nearly twenty years ago, with Tar Valon besieged, that I had my first clue, and that was only . . . .

Strangely, Verin isn't allowed to go with the boys, or decides not to push her advantage and make the Amyrlin allow her to travel with Rand. But, instead, Verin gets to spend time with Rand's girlfriend, and the wilder healer that both grew up with and knew Rand. During the first lesson, Verin brings up men going mad when they channel, and Egwene mentions seeing the vagueness leave Verin's eyes as "her gaze flicked from Egwene to Nynaeve as sharp as the Amyrlin's had." Then Egwene thinks to herself:

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 12 - Woven in the Pattern

Can she know about Rand? It isn't possible. She'd never have let him leave Fal Dara if she even suspected. But she was sure she had not imagined what she saw. "Thank you, Verin Sedai. I will try."

Then Verin and Moiraine, in fact most of the Aes Sedai, ignore Egwene and Nynaeve throughout the trip. And Egwene then finds out that Moiraine and Verin have left.

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 12 - Woven in the Pattern

"Which ship is Moiraine Sedai's?" "Moiraine isn't on a ship, girl. She's gone, two days gone, and the Amyrlin is in a taking over it." Anaiya grimaced and shook her head, though most of her attention was still on the workers. "First Moiraine vanishes with Lan, then Liandrin right on Moiraine's heels, and then Verin, none of them with so much as a word for anyone. Verin did not even take her Warder; Tomas is chewing nails with worry over her."

1. This is Verin's first mysterious behavior. The other information I brought up was more for development of Verin's mysterious revelation that she knew about the three ta'veren that Moiraine had brought, and she knew one was the Dragon. But, we could have written that off as common curiousity until Verin leaves on Liandrin's and Moiraine's heels without her warder and without the Amyrlin's permission. We know that Liandrin is Black Ajah, and most likely was at the darkfriend meeting, and her leaving is not that suspicious now. And we know Moiraine went with Lan to go search for some information. But why did Verin leave without her warder? She didn't have permission. She is Brown Ajah, dedicated to her books like the two sisters we meet when Moiraine visits them. She could have pushed the Amyrlin to allow her to go with Rand when they originally left, so why wait until this moment and why leave her warder? Even Moiraine took her warder with her. What we know of Verin's trip certainly gave us no reason to believe that her warder wouldn't have been extremely useful. Verin does give us a reason, but it becomes the second mysterious question about Verin.

2. Verin tells Ingtar that Moiraine sent her. This becomes problematic because Moiraine later tells us that she did not send Verin. She also notices, quite quickly, that Rand is missing from their group.

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 14 - Wolf brother

"Moiraine Sedai sent me, Lord Ingtar," Verin announced with a satisfied smile. "She thought you might need me. Such a gallop I've had. I thought I might not catch you short of Cairhien. You saw that village, of course? Oh, that was very nasty, wasn't it? And that Myrddraal. There were ravens and crows all over the rooftops, but never a one went near it, dead as it was. I had to wave away the Dark One's own weight in flies, though, before I could make out what it was. A shame I did not have time to take it down. I've never had a chance to study a-" Suddenly her eyes narrowed, and the absent manner vanished like smoke. "Where is Rand al'Thor?"

TITLE: Great Hunt, CHAPTER: 49 - What Was Meant To Be

"I did not send Verin." Moiraine frowned. "She did that on her own. You are of interest to a great many people, Rand. did Fain find you, or you him?"

This is very important. Moiraine was confused because she didn't send Verin, yet Verin says she did. Moiraine was suspicious of Verin's motives from the moment they spoke at the beginning of TGH, and this only confirmed it in her mind that she shouldn't trust Verin too much, which she tells Rand in her letter to him. Now, Jordan writes that Verin looked satisfied after she said that Moiraine sent her. This suggests that Verin was telling a half-truth, Aes Sedai talk, like she was supposed to be there, instead of coming on her own. But, this could just be Verin's curiousity about Rand getting the best of her. We could simply write it off as such, except for the fact that she shows up the morning of Rand's dissappearance.

If you are familiar with those events, Lanfear helps Rand, or activates the stone herself as Rand sleeps. Rand saw a woman in white in a window of the town they traveled through. Lanfear has been trailing Rand I would suggest since they left the castle. The breaking of the seal allowed the Forsaken to get out of the Bore, so they have had weeks to set up plans. Lanfear appears to be interested in all of the ta'veren (which we can gather from her trips to see Mat in Tar Valon, etc.), but her attention is for LTT. If Lanfear is going to be in the Mirror World with Rand, who is going to watch over the other ta'veren for her? Verin's arrival works perfectly. Lanfear wouldn't be aware that Perrin could have followed the scent of Fain, so Verin showing up and taking a leading role is quite convenient. Again, not conclusive, just suspicious IMO. Lanfear hooks up with Rand and forces him to try to channel to get them out as Perrin leads them towards Cairhein on Fain's trail. Truly, Verin could have been compelled to leave her warder and follow or she could have been tricked by disguise or she could have come on her own, but the manner of her departure, and the partial lie she works out to explain her arrival just put her motives in question.

I am going to jump into the third book now where more of the direct connections with Lanfear show up. This third point discusses the whole time that Verin is with Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve in Tar Valon.

3. Siuan Sanche secretly sets up the girls as Black Ajah hunters. The only other person in the White Tower that knew about their job was Verin. Yet, Lanfear knows about it somehow, and shows up at their rooms disguised as Else Grinwell with instructions as to where they can find the possessions of those Black Ajah that left the Tower. To remind you all of this incident, here are some important quotes:

TITLE: Dragon Reborn, CHAPTER: 25 - Questions

Egwene exchanged wondering looks with Nynaeve and Elayne. "Well, what is it?" Nynaeve demanded. Else arched an eyebrow in amusement. "The belongings left behind by Liandrin and the others were put in the third storeroom on the right from the main stairs in the second basement under the library." She glanced at the papers on the table again and left, neither hurrying nor moving slowly.

TITLE: Dragon Reborn, CHAPTER: 25 - Questions

Egwene felt as if she could not breathe. We're afraid to trust anybody, and the Amyrlin decides to trust Else Grinwell of all women?

Then Egwene leaves her room following after Else, and finds Lanfear instead as she turns the corner. Lanfear knew, without doubt. This was a secret only known between the Amyrlin, Verin, and the girls. Sure, anyone can say, "Lanfear could have hidden in a corner and spied on them, or eavesdropped" but she would specifically have to have heard that these three were hunting the Black Ajah. The more logical conclusion is that Lanfear used Verin. I say logical because Jordan actually does some work to make that connection, whereas, he never mentions Lanfear using the one power to divine it on her own. We know that Lanfear is using the disguise of a novice to walk the halls of the Tower. She could have various disguises but Jordan gives us that one to chew on. Also, Lanfear is typically dressed in white. These two facts leave us with a question when Egwene sees a flash of white as she turns the corner to Verin's rooms.

TITLE: Dragon Reborn, CHAPTER: 21 - A World of Dreams

Verin had her quarters above the library, in corridors used only by a few other Brown sisters. There was a dusty air to the halls there, as if the women who lived along them were too busy with other things to bother having the servants clean very often, and the passages took odd turns and twists, sometimes dipping or rising unexpectedly. The tapestries were few, their colorful weavings dulled, apparently cleaned as seldom as everything else here. Many of the lamps were unlit, plunging much of the hall into gloom. Egwene thought she had it to herself, except for a flash of white ahead, perhaps a novice or a servant scurrying about some task. Her shoes, clicking on bare black and white floor tiles, made echoes. It was not a comforting place for one thinking of the Black Ajah.

First of all, notice the location of Verin's rooms. They are above the library, and Lanfear sent the girls to find the belongings of Liandrin and the others in the second basement under the Library. Second, Egwene connects the flash of white she sees with a person, either a novice or servant. This occurs right before the famous scene where Verin gives Egwene the ring. The reason why this scene is an important piece to the puzzle is that first, it is against Tower law to give a novice a ter'angreal, second, Verin does not inform the Amyrlin that she is going to give Egwene this dream ring, third, Egwene provides very little instruction as to its use and its dangers, fourth, she doesn't even write any instructions for Egwene as to how to use the ring or T'A'R which is something she could easily have done from what the last Dreamer wrote, and fifth, Lanfear disguised as Sylvie meets Egwene in T'A'R the first night it is used. This dream ter'angreal leads the girls to the Black Ajah in Tear. This dream ter'angreal allows Lanfear to spy on the girls and learn of their plans. This is one of the few times where Lanfear could have shown up as the Amyrlin herself and it wouldn't have mattered. Verin was supposedly the only Aes Sedai who knew of the existence of the ring. So why would Verin have done this? Complusion is a good possibility. Verin's reasons could have to do with some master plan...although, Egwene's abilities are just showing up, so why she would care about it is beyond me because it doesn't benefit Verin in anyway that Egwene has this ring.

Some have pointed out that Verin could have some mysterious reason for giving the ter'angreal to Egwene that doesn't have to do with Lanfear. And that Else sees the ring that Egwene has while visiting their rooms, which is how she could have been waiting for Egwene. But I personally believe that the Else point is stretching it. That would be assuming that Lanfear knows all ter'angreal on site, and this was a ter'angreal that wasn't in the Tower's lists. The idea that Lanfear was responsible for Verin giving Egwene the ring, and that she noticed that Egwene had taken the ring from Verin seems more likely to me.

The action of the books change from the Tower out into other cities. Mesanna moves into the Tower and Lanfear visits Rand in Tear and follows him into the Waste. Whether RJ will ever tell us if Lanfear compelled Verin or if Verin willingly served, or if Verin was tricked by disguises is unknown, but I think Verin exhibits some strange behavior that seems to favor the Forsaken, specifically Lanfear.

A final addition to the Tower scenes is Verin's eratic behavior in the kitchen. Here is the scene:

TITLE: Dragon Reborn, CHAPTER: 27 - Tel'aran'rhiod

Verin had come into the kitchens after the midday meal, blinking as if she were not sure why she was there. When she saw Egwene and the other two on their knees among the cauldrons and kettles, she looked surprised for a moment, then walked over and asked, loud enough for anyone to hear, "Have you found anything?"

TITLE: Dragon Reborn, CHAPTER: 27 - Tel'aran'rhiod

Verin nodded as if that were the answer she had been seeking. "Well, keep looking." She peered around the kitchen again, frowning as though puzzled to find herself there, and left.

TITLE: Dragon Reborn, CHAPTER: 27 - Tel'aran'rhiod

Hanging her dress in the wardrobe, Egwene told herself once again that even Verin's slip could have been perfectly ordinary; the Brown sister was often absentminded. If it was a slip. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she pulled up her shift and began rolling down her stockings. She was almost beginning to dislike white as much as she did gray.

We all know that Verin's absentmindedness is a lie, or a false face she puts on. Would someone that has been compelled various times begin to exhibit eratic behavior like this? I think it is a possibility. There is no reason for her to speak so loudly or bring suspicion on the girls. Even Egwene begins to suspect her motives for doing that.

Some parting quotes:

"Elayne hesitated, then gave her head a small shake. Egwene was quicker and more vigorous with hers; slip of the mind or not, Verin had left out too much to be trusted."

"Trust no woman fully who is now Aes Sedai. I do not speak simply of the Black Ajah, though you must always be watchful for them. Be as suspicious of Verin as you are of Alviarin. We have made the world dance as we sang for three thousand years. That is a difficult habit to break, as I have learned while dancing to your song. You must dance free, and even the best intentioned of my sisters may well try to guide your steps as I once did."

Verin says, "There are many . . . designs in the White Tower. Not all are malignant, by far, but sometimes it is difficult to say until it is too late. And even the most benevolent often allow for a few threads snapped in the weaving, a few reeds broken and discarded in making a basket. A ta'veren would make a useful reed in any number, of possible plans." Just as suddenly she was looking a little confused by the bustle around her, more at home in a book or her own thouglits than in the real world. "Oh, my. Master al'Seen is not wasting any time, is he? I'll just see if he can spare someone to fetch our horses. Faile shivered as the Brown sister moved away. "Sometimes Aes Sedai make me . . . uneasy," she murmured."

Other Miscellaneous Behavior:

- Verin speaks with a known Darkfriend Lord the night before he is ripped apart by a gholam.

- Verin knows a great deal about T'A'R, the domain of one mistress we all know very well.

- Verin tells Rand that he has been “transported” by Portal Stone more recently than she had. By whom was she transported?

- Verin happens to know the sign for the Portal Stone to get Rand to Toman Head...previously Rand has another run in with a Portal Stone and Lanfear is there to bail him out...wonder where Verin learned that little piece of information...funny, when asked about how she knew she said "The Brown Ajah knows many things", very Aes Sedai "I'm hiding something" talk.

- Because Verin gave Egwene the ring Lanfear, and many other Forsaken have been able to track their movements through the rest of the books.

- Lanfear talks to Mat about their being "other alternatives" than choosing the Light or the DO. Verin later speaks to Perrin about how many Aes Sedai have plans with good intentions but that many of these plans are malignant...maybe Verin has a few malignant plans that lead to some end she sees as good. Is she beyond making the deal with a devil to get there?

Other Theory Resources:

Board Discussion 1

Board Discussion 2



Board Discussion 3