Semirhage planned on being caught during the showdown with Rand in Chapter 27. While terribly strong evidence is lacking, there are quite a few clues to lead to this conclusion. The purpose of being caught is to be collared by one of the female a'dam Semi had in her possession. Either one or all of the female a'dam are reversed in usage, (ie the braclet is the submissive end, and the collar is the controlling end). Semi will be collared, and thus gain the power over whomever leashed her.

An obvious clue is the title of the chapter, "A Plain Wooden Box". This is the box in which the a'dam were found in. Jordan uses the chapter titles as clues to what's going on, as with the chapter titled, "Something...Strange". This refers to the ripple effect Faile feels at the Shaido camp, but is also the same words Suroth uses to describe the "let the lord of chaos rule" line from Semi.

The something strange is from the Shadow, so don't bother pegging it anywhere else, is what it's saying. Back to the "Plain Wooden Box" title, this points to the box with the a'dam as being very important. Nynaeve points out that there are copies of the male a'dam, which proves that they (the Dark folk) are making their own a'dam. It stands to reason that they are also making the female versions as well. And if the Great Lord can put a saidin wielder in a woman's body, why not reverse the a'dam control? The a'dam are simply too important to merit a chapter title clue, and not just because there are a slew of male a'dams now in their hands.

Another clue is given at the beginning of the book when Semi visits Suroth. Semi asks Suroth to kill Tuon, and Suroth thinks about seeing if she can get Semi to do it. (Semi is dropping hints she already has something else to do, but more on that later.) Suroth thinks: "Killing her [Tuon] would be impossible in those circumstances. Unless Semirhage could be induced to do it herself. Six damane might well be dangerous even to her [Semi]." Six damane is exactly how many Semi takes with her to see Rand. True, Suroth might not understand channeling and Semi's strength.

However, it stands to reason that if Semi wanted to capture Rand, she would have had more than just herself and six damane with her. She invited Rand to bring channelers with him as well, and knowing that Semi was at the Cleansing, and no doubt has heard about other Chosens experiences there, she must have a good idea as to how strong some of the people with him are. It would be a folly to expect him not to have the strongest with him at this time. So it's fair to say that Semi knew she would be out matched at that confrontation, and that her side would lose.

Another clue is the sul'dam she has with her. They are not DFs. The sul'dam and damane are described as being "stunned" (p.591 HC). And Falendre says on page 593, "We thought she was the High Lady....I swear it on my eyes!" The Seanchan don't take oaths lightly, and again, these sul'dam and damane are NOT Dark Friends. They believed they were following Tuon, and this explains where Tuon's missing sul'dam went. A good reason why the fight ended so quickly was because the Seanchan were no doubt shocked to see "Tuon" become Anath. But why would Semi bring this particular bunch with her? She surely should have known that they weren't enough to over power Rand and co. And she certainly couldn't keep up the Tuon disguise and return with this bunch to the main Seanchan headquarters. If she wanted to have secured Rand, she would have had Dark Friends and possibly other Chosen with her to secure the victory. By bringing these sul'dam with her, she weakens Tuon's defenses. However, Semi doesn't really care about Tuon anymore. She does't care whether she becomes Empress, or Suroth does.

"Take the offer, Suroth. I will not make it again. You will make certain matters slightly more convenient, but not enough for me to put myself out a second time." and: "But remember, if Tuon manages to return safely, it will matter little to me, so don't dally."

Semi is getting ready to be captured, and therefore will not be able to help Suroth out. Also, with the male a'dam and Rand in close proximity, her use of Tuon is over. The Seanchan serve no more purpose to the Shadow now except to sow that marvelous chaos. Why would Semi put herself out like that, and what does she know? Semi is as close to Mesaana as Chosen can be with one another. Mesaana was just really punished badly for screwing up, and following her own path. Moggy and Cydane are mindtrapped, and Chosen doing their own thing are disappearing. When Mesaana is reprimande by Moridin, Demandred and Semi avoid looking at her (p. 147). So she knows what happened. She's playing by the rules, Semi is. Which brings us to what Moridin says, "You will not harm him in any way!" This after repeated stating that no one else will determine Rand's death but him. As this comes on the heels of Mesaana's reprimand gives it some gravitas. Semi is NOT going to try to kill Rand, and she will try to keep the physical damage as light as possible. But... The fireball? The fireball she threw to him was to attract the attention of the others, not to harm him. The sul'dam with her would surely give pause to notice their High Lady channeling, and would stop them in their tracks. Semi tried to keep the damage as low but still dangerous as possilbe.

What Semi knows: Rand won't kill or allow the murder of a female; Nynaeve had Moggy in an a'dam before, and is the woman who helped him with the Cleansing; someone knows where she is, and will come and rescue her butt if necessary. ("No one is allowed to go advernturing on their own any longer." Moridin, p. 147. And someone did save Moggy after some time.)

Semi will be collared before anyone puts the braclet on, and having spent time among the Seanchan, she will know how to behave. Semi's perferred weapon is nerve stimulation. The a'dam works in that fashion, in that the sul'dam can think of pain and the damane feels it. She will be in the position to Compel whomever dons the braclet, and control them however she sees fit. It will be her and the woman she contols... two women, two needed for the male a'dam. If severing is brought up, she will be rescued. But with the a'dam, the good guys WILL collar her instead. As far as they know, it is the perfect imprisonment. Moggy's escape was due to slack guarding, but Semi will be guarded. Risky, yes. But at this point the Shadow is taking more risks. A very weak clue is Min's viewing about Perrin. Rand will need him twice. The first time Rand was a prisoner. And so will he be the second. Rand needs the guy to save him, not just be there.

At this point, all the Dark wants is Rand. Why, I don't know. But the Great Lord wants him, alive, and that's where all of the energy is going. The Seanchan, White Tower, Black Tower, etc. is all to sow chaos, but not the main goal. Everyone else in Randland is distracted with this, that, and the other. To have any one of those groups in His pocket is moot, and not gonna win the war. All He needs is Rand, and that's where He is directing the Chosen. He doesn't care if the Chosen set up kingdoms, or anything like that, and doesn't want them wasting their time on such things anymore. He doesn't care if they even die, so long as Rand is captured. Counterpoints: Semi wanted to win. Well, then why the a'dam, and why so far out of reach? Tuon's sul'dam are useless once Rand is captured, and there's no doubt the others (Rand's party) would be killed. Taim already has a slew of male channelers, and there's been no proof at all that the Chosen are out to recruit the good guys to their cause. They either use them, or kill them. The female a'dam serve no purpose, as it seems highly unlikely Semi would have the sul'dam take Ny and whoever back with them to base.

I'm sure there are more counterpoints, and I know I can dig up more info to strengthen this theory with a little more time. One argument that won't hold is the whole "The Forsaken are dumb and continually **** up". When Moridin lectured them this last time, he mentioned twice "The Time of the Return". (Second mention is was simply "The Time".) If ever there was a time for a high ranking dark friend to cut the crap, I image it would be at this Time. And with the apparent induction of Taim into the cool kid, bad guy table Moridin has a 3rd ager willing to get the point through that these so-called channelers are the real deal. Thanks, more later!