#Nynaeve al’Meara

[asha-mage]

“She hurt me, Nynaeve. She hurt me. They all did. They hurt me, and hurt me, until I did what they wanted. I hate them. I hate them for hurting me, and I hate them because I couldn’t stop them from making me do what they wanted.” “I know,” Nynaeve said gently. She smoothed Egwene’s hair. “It is all right to hate them, Egwene. It is. They deserve it. But it isn’t all right to let them make you like they are.” Seta's hands where pressed to her face. Renna touched the collar at her throat disbelievingly, with a shaking hand. Egwene straightened, brushing her tears away quickly. "I'm not. I am not like them." She clawed the bracelet of her wrist and threw it down. "I'm not. But I wish I could kill them." "They deserve it." Min was staring grimly at the two sul'dam. "Rand would kill someone who did a thing like that." Elayne said. She seemed to be steeling herself. "I am sure he would." "Perhaps they do." Nynaeve said, "and perhaps he would. But men often mistake revenge and killing for justice. They seldom have the stomach for true justice." She had often sat in judgement with the Women's Circle. Sometimes men came before them, thinking women might give them a better hearing than the men of the Village Council, but men always thought they could sway the decision with eloquence, or pleas for mercy. The Women's Circle gave mercy where it was deserved, but justice always, and it was the Wisdom who pronounced it. She picked up the bracelet Egwene had discarded and closed it. "I would free every woman here if I could, and destroy every last one of these. But since I cannot..." She slipped the bracelet over the same beg that held the other one, then addressed herself to the sul'dam. Not leash holders any longer, she told herself. "Perhaps if you are very quiet, you will be left alone here long enough to manage to remove the collars. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and it may be that you've done enough good to counterbalance the evil yo have done, enough that you will be allowed to remove them. If not, you will be found, eventually. And I think whoever finds you will ask a great man questions before they remove those collars. I think perhaps you will earn first hand the life you have given to other women. That is justice." She added to the others. Renna wore a fixed stare of horror. Seta's shoulders shook as she sobbed into her hands. Nynaeve hardened her heart- is it justice, she told herself, it is- and herded the others out of the room.

This probably my favorite moment in The Great Hunt, maybe my favorite Nynaeve moment overall, which is saying something since she has a truly impressive number of amazing moments. It's easy to forget sometimes that as a Wisdom Nynaeve wasn't just a healer and guide to her people, but also a judge, an arbiter, a leader. This is a woman who has to sit in judgement, to weigh the lives of men and women, to give justice and know that when she spoke it, it would be as law. The stakes might not be has a high as they are for say, Morgase, yet that doesn't mean her choices matter less, especially to those she presided over.

And her insight here: about how men often mistake killing and revenge for justice, and instead lack the stomach for real justice, rings both true to real life, and true to Nynaeve's character. What she does this in this moment, leaving Renna and Seta at the mercy of their fellow sul'dam, and their own twisted culture, facing the very real possibility that they might be chained, might suffer, in the way they have chained other women, made other women suffer, is a lot more harsh then simply killing the women, especially in light of what we as readers and Nynaeve as a character know from first hand knowledge of Egwene's experience as damane. Killing them would likely be more merciful given the bleak existence they are now faced with.

Maybe worst of all, she gives them an unlikely sliver of hope. Maybe fate will allow them to go free, maybe the Wheel will have mercy on them, as unlikely as that seems.

And maybe more interestingly the Wheel does give them mercy, but not because they deserve it, but rather to offer them a chance to attone for their deeds many books later. They both live, but suffer in the mean time, prisoners of Suroth, having lost all their status and power within the sul'dam. And when Mat has need of aid to save three Aes Sedai from captivity in Ebu Dar, Renna and Seta get the chance to aid in the escpae and perform some small measure of atonement for what they did to Egwene. (And when Renna rejects that chance at redemption and tries to flee back to the Empire, to her old life, she dies for it, killed before she can ever sight the Seanchan army again).

Anyways Nynaeve great, and Jordan's themes of what justice means, what balance means, are still awesome.

[wyrd-syster]

I’m rewatching wheel of time s1 ahead of starting s2 and I forgot how much I love lan mandragoran’s whole dynamic. like “hello yes I am Lan, this is my bratty young bride, Nyneave and my lesbian soulmate, Moiraine, and they are mortal enemies.”

[theoraclej]

THAT SEASON FINALE!

light, where to begin, a disjointed ramble of things I observed:

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain! - Mat said the words, he said the words!

And he made his own ashandarei! I hope he gets the raven-inlaid one though because I’m sure no one wants him running around with that dagger

And I know he’s going to get a massive S3 glow-up because he sees himself as MORE, now. Yay Mat!

RAND exploding the shit out of the Seanchan including Turak; nice way around his general lack of swordtraining which I’m sure will be remedied

Once the Heron, to set his path!

The interplay between Rand (and Lews Therin before him), Lanfear, Ishamael - they were besties in the Age of Legends, lmao!

I had expected the intro to be a high society polyam party they were attending, not the Sealing of Ishamael, 🤭

The Warder bond was beautiful, flowing, intimate, just what I imagined when reading these books some 25 years ago

I knew Moiraine was gonna say Lan was her better!

I’m so glad they’re back together though, legendary qpp

Nice to see the S1 intro sequence with the gorgeously woven Aes Sedai tapestry

I was a bit sad Nynaeve didn’t heal Elayne OR Rand but she DID swear to make Seta’s mother curse the first kiss her father ever gave her and THAT was cool

Hopper, my beloved! 😩 I would be chopping Whitecloaks too!

It was so satisfying to see Perrin obey his wolfly instincts already!

Elayne being the one to heal Rand’s wound was an interesting choice, and you can tell he was dazzled by her!

Book lines, book lines, book lines making me have conniptions every time one was uttered

“From birth to death I serve the Blood.”

UNO I KNEW YOU WERE COMING YA SHEEP-GUTTED MILK DRINKER

“For the Light, and Shinowa!” still gave me chills even without an expanded story behind it for Ingtar

Egwene al’Vere. I hope she earns a title of “the Unbroken” someday. Remember, Nynaeve even said that about her when Egwene was captured by Whitecloaks in S1!

Egwene, spitting out the damane gag and refusing to rain down fire on innocents, ah my girl, that’s that Two Rivers steel

Egwene, collaring Renna and choking her to death, being stronger than Renna, being able to withstand the pain of that because that’s exactly what Renna taught her

Egwene later, with that amazing shield against Ishamael to protect her friends!

Lanfear pushing Lan and Moiraine out of the ocean Waygate was very unexpected but totally within Lanfear’s lane, just to keep Moiraine away from Rand

Lanfear working to sell the Seals to Bayle Domon, which was so lmao also, and it really enhanced her utter shock when she entered the room later with the Seals all broken.

M O G H E D I E N 🕷️

She is perfectly creepy, perfect in every way. I can’t wait to see her tear shit up, or to see how she will be used in S3 and beyond

Never expected her to cage Lanfear in her webs, either, dang. Lillen Moiral wasn’t near so strong as Mierin. But we know some things are just Talents, and Moghedien is better in Tel’aran’rhiod than Lanfear

Did you notice Rand’s wound swirling with evil bits throughout the healed part? Really cool effect if you catch it

Aviendha, Bain, and Chiad showing they can fight just as well in close quarters in a city as in the Three-Fold Land; and then later acknowledging Rand as Car’a’carn

Though I’d hoped we’d get some good old He Who Comes With The Dawn in here too

Moiraine’s outstanding torpedo weaves that fucked up the Seanchan boats! And she understands the stakes - if the Dragon is gentled, or harmed, or captured, everyone’s life is in danger and that includes her and Lan

Anyhow fuck the Seanchan

Did it look like Suroth got blown up too? Does that mean she’s dead? I guess we’ll see who gathers in the scattered remnants of the Hailene!

The first “I’m not Lews Therin” from Rand

Mat taking a moment to mention Rand’s “shit hair” to Perrin while they were in the mix, lmao

That shadow ashandarei is really scary, it is a laser knife (lightsaber?) on a stick

I can’t wait for Perrin and Hopper to meet again in the Wolfdream

Speaking of which, I think Perrin’s eyes are permanently golden now

I cried at the coming of the Heroes of the Horn, I’m sure many of you did too 😭

Cool Hero fighting effects, I liked those

BIRGITTE SILVERBOW MY LOVELY

I figured Min’s vision of Mat “killing” Rand would be something like this, an accident, not an intentional thing

His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul…

AL’LAN MANDRAGORAN, the Uncrowned King, Sworn to the Flame, bonded again, fighting as he was meant to, just slicing through armies, snatching arrows out of the air and stabbing people with them, chef’s kiss

I wonder if Nynaeve’s “failures” and inability to channel at these vital moments will give her the drive to break her block

Ishamael’s channeling at the end was really impressive, a testament to how much more he knows than Rand

I hope that’s not the last we see of Fares Fares, he was remarkable as Ishamael and a truly enjoyable villain

And since they didn’t have the Dragon banner of Lews Therin Telamon found with the Horn like in the books, Moiraine saw to it that he was heralded with literal fire

This I can imagine many people seeing from far away, and of course rumor travels further

The Falmen sure seem to appreciate it and of course the Seanchan are gone for now

Lanfear asking the LIGHT to protect Rand at the end is something interesting and NOT LOST ON ME

I REALLY ENJOYED IT and am looking forward to a full rewatch of S1 and S2!

Proclaimed across the sky in fire 🔥🐲

[emillungs]

like a raging sun / inprnt

[iliiuan]

wot characters on Survivor (not playing with each other)

Rand al'Thor: Starts out naive, latches onto an alliance pre-merge, gets continuously targeted post-merge but maintains his alliance well, wins all types of challenges, becomes Sole Survivor.

Mat Cauthon: Coasts on charm and luck, finds all of the idols, plays one for an ally pre-merge, saves himself with his Shot in the Dark, wins archery and gambling challenges, makes it to final tribal council, loses the popular vote.

Perrin Aybara: Makes solid alliances, performs well in physical and puzzle challenges, gets voted off at the merge because he's perceived as a threat.

Egwene al'Vere: Becomes best friends with everyone on the island, votes them off without remorse, always knows every political undercurrent, wins every distress position challenge, becomes Sole Survivor.

Nynaeve al'Meara: Becomes instant enemies with everyone (even though she's right in her arguments), keeps her tribe safe through two or three challenges, gets voted off the first chance her tribe has.

Elayne Trakand: Gets by on charm and skill, manages multiple overlapping alliances, does well at puzzle and balance challenges, coordinates multiple blindsides, becomes Sole Survivor.

Gawyn Trakand: Starts off strong, is liked by his tribe, helps win challenges, doesn't understand who's voting for who, ends up consistently on the wrong side of the vote, becomes someone's goat post-merge, makes it to final tribal council, gets a couple of votes, loses because he's the goat.

Galad Damodred: Thinks the game is about outdoor survival, and votes always for the weakest member, everyone hates him, gets voted off at his second tribal council.

[wheelwheelwheel]

Sick and twisted that everyone keeps telling Nynaeve that what she saw in the test wasn’t real and couldn’t be real and then the show keeps showing us the viewers ways that it could be. Lan wearing his hair the same and Alanna telling him Nynaeve was about to go through the Arches can’t be a coincidence. Just like Egwene saying she came to the Tower to learn how to fight (which makes it seem like she’ll choose the Green Ajah) probably isn’t either

[geryrrs]

People who don’t like Rand al’Thor or Nynaeve al'Meara, are you guys okay? These are the two best characters of the series, and their relationship is one of a kind.

[mashithamel]

Any fellow Lanaeve shippers left wanting for shots of our favorite ship after that trailer, which was otherwise super exciting? The Longing continues…

I offer my own story for anyone looking to fill the gap until March 13 (where I am manifesting “you have made flowers bloom” and a certain ring):

[amyrlinegwene]

Maybe this is just my personal preferences coming through but I really wish the show would dedicate more time to channeling/the channeling fights. Now two disclaimers: 1. I know that many of our channeling protagonists are in the beginning of their channeling journey 2. I did always find the channeling fights to be more interesting than the physical fights in the book.

But in 2x05 I was really disappointed in the difference in time dedicated to Aviendha’s physical fight vs the time given to Egwene’s capture/Elayne and Nynaeve’s escape.

Aviendha’s (and Perrin’s) fight sequence (not including the scene leading up to it) was 2 minutes almost exactly. In contrast, from the time we hear Suroth say ‘get them’ to the time the scene ends and cuts away after Egwene has been captured is 51 seconds. In total. And there was not that much action in it.

Now this is not saying that Aviendha (plus Perrin lol) got too much time. She got the right amount of time for the introduction to an important character and being the introduction to Aiel as great fighters, even if I don’t really appreciate a two minute fight sequence, I know other people do and it was well done for the most part and it also gives us so much info about Avi and other Aiel.

My problem is the episode didn’t give us a sufficiently satisfying capture sequence. 51 seconds for the whole beat. We get Elayne channeling once and then Egwene channeling once, the Seanchan channel three times. Now in the books Egwene was taken before she could react at all, which did add to the shock of the sequence, but I was glad that we got to see her trying to fight back. My real problem is with the escape sequence, after Elayne and Nynaeve pass a few trees that’s it? Why wouldn’t the Seanchan who were expecting at least two marath’damane be prepared to go after them?? They are only a few feet away?? Especially since the show had Nynaeve be unable to channel in the moment.

Speaking of which, we also don’t get to see Nynaeve channel like she did in the books, did the writers feel like they wrote themselves into a corner, that they thought if Nynaeve could’ve channeled then she would have been able to free Egwene due to the way they’ve portrayed her channeling thus far?

I feel like the scene could have benefited from using more of Elayne and Nynaeve’s escape from the book, the calling lightening, being separated and finding each other again. Nynaeve being able to channel enough on instinct to escape but not having enough control/knowledge to save Egwene, and Elayne being prepared to protect herself with her knife. It would have been exciting and interesting and shown us more about how Nynaeve and Elayne react under pressure.

I just feel like this pivotal scene almost felt like the show didn’t care about it, and I feel like the channeling this season has been treated with less reverence than season 1 in the way they film/edit channeling scenes and certainly in comparison to physical fight scenes in s2.

I don’t even think it’s budget because while editing in weaves is probably expensive, I imagine choreographing, training/teaching actors, and filming a 2 minute fight sequence with 10+ actors is equally or more expensive.

And I know that the damane plotline will be getting much more time in the coming episodes but I don’t think that that takes away from the fact that this scene/sequence deserved more time. I believe it is the first multiple person fight between two groups of channelers in the show but we didn’t get to see much channeling and it was less than a minute long.

Like I said I’m obviously not a neutral observer and I know the girls are still beginners but I feel like both as an adaptation of a scene AND as a stand-alone scene the show didn’t do it justice like they did with Avi’s introduction.

[ofthebrownajah]

Both Rand and Nynaeve are struggling with who they perceive themselves to be vs what destiny wants from them. She says "I am the Wisdom of Emond's Field!" In the same way Rand tried to convince himself he's still a shepherd

[cherrybubbl]

Nynaeve and Egwene paralleling each other and I’m not supposed to lose my mind over it? Could never be me

[carai-an-caldazar]

NYNEAVE'S FACE OF UTTER CONTEMPT AT ELEAYNE'S CASUAL LEADERSHIP

[cha-faile]

yooooo do you know one thing that Nynaeve's rough times in s02 have set her up for? venting her spleen by demolishing the wondergirls' would-be kidnappers in Tanchico

[alectology-archive]

moghedien surviving tarmon gai’don and not having evil gay sex with nynaeve is such a big fail

[iliiuan]

Poor Nynaeve. Getting crap from the village for the state of the weather. Standard weatherman treatment right there.