arna's secret
by WinespringBrother: 2004-12-16 | 5 out of 10 (3 votes)
I believe that Tarna may have been bonded when she encountered the group of Asha'man in her travels from Salidar to Tar Valon. In COT, she has a conversation with Pevara and mentions her strategy of bonding Asha'man. Where did she come up with this idea?
TITLE: Crossroads of Twilight, CHAPTER: 22 - One Answer
"When they can send six to one small village, and Travel? There is only one answer I can see. We. . . ." Tarna took a deep breath, fingering the bright red stole again, but now it seemed more in regret than to play for time. "Red sisters must take them as Warders, Pevara."
My thoughts are that she was sent to the Tower for some reason after her bonding, and was compelled to not mention that she was bonded. Either she was told to try to get more sisters into bonds with Asha'man (which they would try to control) or she is trying to clue Pevara into what happened to her in a roundabout way since she is compelled to not directly tell anyone.
TITLE: Crossroads of Twilight, CHAPTER: 22 - One Answer
"Oddly, the comment took some of the stiffness out of Tarna. She resumed her seat, leaning back, though a hint of wariness still clung to the way she held herself. She chose her words carefully, pausing to touch the wine to her lips, but she did not actually drink, that Pevara saw. "I had a long time to think on the rivership coming north. Longer, after the fool captain ran us aground so hard he broke a mast and put a hole in the hull. Days trying to hail another ship, after we got ashore, and days finding a horse. Six of those men sent to one village convinced me, finally. Oh, the district around, as well, but it was not very populous. I. . . . I believe it is too late."
It's hard to exactly say when Tarna returned to the Tower, either pre- or post-cleansing, but if she is bonded, she may be aware now that saidin is clean. And the mysterious note that Pevara showed her may allude to saidin being clean.
Thoughts?
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1
Tamyrlin: 2005-02-06
Interesting. I found this quote, "I did not know what they were then, of course, but they were openly recruiting men to follow the Dragon Reborn, and it seemed wisest to listen before I spoke. Well for me that I did. There were six of them, Pevara, six men in black coats. Two with silver swords on their collars were feeling men out about whether they might like to learn to channel. Oh, they did not say so right out. Wield the lightnings, they called it. Wield the lightnings and ride the thunder. But it was clear enough to me, if not to the fools they were talking to." From the last time we see Aes Sedai who meet up with Asha'man, especially six of them, I think you might be on to something. Who would have sent her, Logain's faction or Taim's faction?
2
Callandor: 2005-02-06
I don't quite see it. The Asha'man as a whole have been using a policy of ignoring Aes Sedai contact the best of their abilities, unless ordered or coming nearly under attack (Rand's Asha'man cliche I believe to be an acception, since they sought out the Aes Sedai for protection after Rand ran away for a bit).
Basically, you're saying that the Asha'man found Tarna out, then decided to do something about it (pre-emptive if you will).
I don't see it as too far flung of an idea for them to come up with, especially since the Salidar Aes Sedai were entertaining the same thought.
**TITLE: Crossroads of Twilight
CHAPTER: 30 - What the Oath Rod Can Do
"You think you can talk the Asha'man into accepting the bond?" Egwene could not keep the incredulity out of her voice. "Aside from that, who is going to do this bonding? Even if every sister who doesn't have a Warder took an Asha'man, and every Green took two or three, there aren't enough sisters. That's if you can find one who doesn't mind being bonded to a man who is going to go mad."
Maigan nodded at each point as if accepting it. And adjusted her skirts as if not really listening. "If the bond can be changed in one way," she said once Egwene finished, "it should be possible to change it in others. There might be a way to remove the sharing, perhaps some of the awareness. Then perhaps the madness would not be a problem. It would be a different sort of bond, not like the Warder bond at all. I'm certain everyone will agree it wouldn't be like having a Warder, really. Any sister could bond whatever number of Asha'man was necessary."**
The only real difference is that the Reds are being arrogant about it -- it's "their" problem, so they must take all the Asha'man Warders, and seems to be with a voice of whether they want to or not.
Salidar seems to be more of a neutral ground on it, but with more of "we won't agree to ~such and such~ unless we bond you."
And Tarna arrived the day after the Salidar Aes Sedai laid seige to Tar Valon, then the next day she presumably took a fishing boat to the Tower. Whether that was a one day or more to get there is not totally know, but it seems she was there pre-Cleansing (chronology isn't trusted totally by many, but it places the Prologue with Tarna 8 days before the Cleansing).
Main thing is that I just don't see how it can't be that Tarna came up with the idea to bond Asha'man out of fear and desperation at what she saw, and knew what the Aes Sedai could not overcome.
A more interesting thing comes to mind:
**TITLE: Crossroads of Twilight
CHAPTER: 22 - One Answer
"I anticipated no great difficulty in Salidar. No great success, either, but what I found. . . ." Was that a shake of her head, or had she merely changed the angle at which she was peering at the miniature? She spoke slowly, but with an undercurrent of remembered urgency. *"I left a pigeon-handler a day outside the village, yet it took me less than half a day to get back to her, ~and after I loosed the birds with copies of my report~, I pressed on so hard I had to pay the woman off because she could not keep up.* I can hardly say how many horses I went through. Sometimes, the animal was spent to the point I had to show my ring to make a stable take it in trade, even with silver added. And because I pressed so hard, I happened to reach a village in Murandy while a . . . recruiting party . . . was there. If I had not been frightened out of my wits for the Tower by what I saw in Salidar, I would have ridden to Ebou Dar and taken ship for Illian and then upriver, but the thought of going south instead of north, the thought of waiting for a vessel, sent me like an arrow toward Tar Valon. So I was in that village to see them."**
Tarna obviously sent off a letter to Elaida telling what she saw so far, and Elaida go it:
**TITLE: Crown of Swords
CHAPTER: Prologue - Lightnings
She smiled down on her palace-to-be. "Three hundred rebels, yes, but you should read Tarna's account again. At least a hundred are on the point of breaking already." She trusted Tarna to some extent, a Red with no room in her head for nonsense, and she said the rebels were ready to jump at shadows. Quietly desperate sheep looking for a shepherd, she said. A wilder, of course, yet still sensible. Tarna should be back soon, and able to give a fuller report. Not that it was needed. Elaida's plans were already working among the rebels. But that was her secret.**
Yet, Elaida seems so no commitial about it. Tarna seems surprised/a little afraid of what she saw in Salidar, and reported it, but Elaida is so calm and mentions practically nothing out of the ordinary. Meh.
3
Great Lord of the Dark: 2005-02-06
WSB: No way. Pevara's note was from Logain's 'warder', telling them that the asha'man have bonded the Aes Sedai. It may allude to the men claiming saidin is clean, which when proven true, would make the whole idea of bonding asha'man unnecessary. So why would she suggest it? I can't believe Tarna has been compromised.
4
Satin alEllien Moonsong: 2005-02-07
*It may allude to the men claiming saidin is clean, which when proven true, would make the whole idea of bonding asha'man unnecessary*
you think that the Aes Sedai as a whole will embrace the Asha'man so readily? 300 years of hatred and fear of male channelers will not just wash away. loom at the church. religion is not needed in the west anymore, as people are richer and the few poverty-stricken people do not go to church, but people are loathe to let go of it. and that has only been around for 2/3 the time that male channelers have been feared!
5
Anubis: 2005-02-08
not disagreeing but lets keep our religous beliefs off the site. The Aes Sedai will accept the Ashaman simply because they will have no other choice. It will be accept or be destroyed, and im sure Rand will play a part.
6
Aiel Finn: 2005-02-14
One thing to remember about the bonds that the AM have made, there's two types. The "Wife Bond" is more like a standard warder bond in that it allows awareness between the bonded pair, but nothing else. The "Extra bit" bond has the compulsion added in that makes all the captured AS obey their bonder.
7
Callandor: 2005-02-15
**The "Extra bit" bond has the compulsion added in that makes all the captured AS obey their bonder.**
It is not Compulsion. Compulsion leaves the person who is under it, a total slave to whoever directs it at them. They will do anything and everything to please their controller.
This is hardly like the Asha'man bond.
In general terms, the Asha'man bond to the Aes Sedai is more like a flexible Oath Rod. The Asha'man gives the commands, the Aes Sedai is required to abide by them to the letter, and that's all; however, they can do whatever the heck they feel like outside of them.
The Aes Sedai are commanded not to try to escape, but they can go to the very outer limits just short of breaking the commands all they want -- nothing stops them from doing that. It only stops them from completely breaking them (like Aes Sedai saying blatent lies, instead of half truths).
8
Aiel Finn: 2005-02-16
Allow me to clarify, I was just saying that the AM have two separate bonds. One is more like the warder bond in that it has almost no binding like aspect, the other is the one used on AS which has the flexible Oath Rod aspect to it.
9
Frenzy: 2005-02-16
Callandor:
This wouldn't be the first time Elaida misinterpreted information to fit her own view of the world. What's telling is that Elaida made Tarna her Keeper. Tarna obviously has had the chance to give Elaida her full report. Elaida has either ignored her, or Raised her to shut her up (a la Alwhin), but i SERIOUSLY doubt that. Besides, Tarna took her conclusions and controversial solution to Pevara. So either Elaida didn't believe Tarna, or Tarna held back when she saw how Elaida reacted to her earlier messages.
10
Callandor: 2005-02-16
**This wouldn't be the first time Elaida misinterpreted information to fit her own view of the world. What's telling is that Elaida made Tarna her Keeper. Tarna obviously has had the chance to give Elaida her full report. Elaida has either ignored her...**
No, it wouldn't be. But when has Elaida ever ignored the news on any male channeler, let alone groups of them? Tarna's report, contrasted with Elaida's reactions to the Asha'man numbers later on, she seems to have just flat out ignored Tarna's report, or she hid it from other people (which I think calls for more subtly then she can possibly have).
Either way, Elaida should know of Tarna's report for sure, and as early of late LoC or early ACOS, she had serious information about the Asha'man, yet she ignored them. The fact that she most likely raised Tarna because she can trust her, and that she sent the report and Elaida apparently was disbelieving in it, is quite strange.
