#zaired elbar

[iviarellereads]

The Great Hunt, Chapter 40 - Damane

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(A’dam icon) In which I hate every single second of it.

PERSPECTIVE: Egwene. Armored men await, more than fifty, in insect helmets, and one with his helmet on his hip, his only distinguishing feature a hooked nose.(2) There are some women as well, two in plain grey dresses with wide silver collars, and two next to the collared ones, with two more set apart a bit with divided skirts, and one more woman on a palanquin, most of her head shaved, and her nails long and lacquered.

Egg asks if Liandrin knows who they are, and Liandrin addresses High Lady Suroth directly, saying these are the two she told Suroth about, and another is the Daughter-Heir of Andor. The two with divided skirts approach, and Egwene asks if these people are here to help Rand too.

The hook-nosed man suddenly seized Min and Elayne by the scruffs of their necks, and in the next instant everything seemed to happen at once. The man yelled a curse, and a woman screamed, or perhaps more than one woman; Egwene could not be sure. Abruptly the breeze was a gale that whipped away Liandrin’s angry shout in clouds of dirt and leaves and made the trees bend and groan. Horses reared and whinnied shrilly. And one of the women reached out and fastened something around Egwene’s neck.

Egwene tugs at the collar, but can't find a catch. The coils are now trailing behind her, a leash connecting to a bracelet on one woman's wrist. Egwene punches the woman in the face, and then reels, feeling as if someone's just punched her quite a bit harder than she'd managed. When she can see straight again, Min is kneeling, her knife just out of her reach but red with the hook-nosed man's blood. Nynaeve and Elayne are nowhere to be seen.

The woman holding Egg's leash says it's her first lesson, and she won't punish her further this time, because she should have been on her guard. She tells Egwene to know this: she is a damane, a Leashed One, and she is a sul'dam, a Holder of the Leash. When damane and sul'dam are joined, the damane feels twice what the sul'dam feels, even to death. So, best to protect the sul'dam even more than herself.(3) Her name is Renna, and she asks what Egg is called. Egg says she’s not whatever that was, and asks Liandrin why she’s allowing this to happen. Renna says she must learn to do exactly as she's told, without delay, and suddenly Egg feels her skin burning and prickling all over. 

“Many sul’dam,” Renna went on in that almost friendly tone, “do not believe damane should be allowed names, or at least only names they are given. But I am the one who took you, so I will be in charge of your training, and I will allow you to keep your own name. If you do not displease me too far. I am mildly upset with you now. Do you really wish to keep on until I am angry?” Quivering, Egwene gritted her teeth. Her nails dug into her palms with the effort of not scratching wildly. Idiot! It’s only your name. “Egwene,” she managed to get out. “I am Egwene al’Vere.” Instantly the burning itch was gone. She let out a long, unsteady breath. “Egwene,” Renna said. “That is a good name.” And to Egwene’s horror, Renna patted her on the head as she would a dog. That, she realized, was what she had detected in the woman’s voice—a certain good will for a dog in training, not quite the friendliness one might have toward another human being.

Egwene gets angry but Renna feels it, and tells her to be careful how she reacts, she'll feel it twice as hard. And she will never channel without Renna's express command. Egg ignores Renna as much as she can, and calls out to ask Min if she's alright. Then lightning strikes out of a clear sky, striking the trees some distance off. Nynaeve and Elayne are safely away, then. Egg takes heart, because if anyone can rescue her, it's them. Though, there's a reckoning coming for Liandrin.

Suroth says there were only supposed to be two, and now she has only one, with two loose, one of them very powerful indeed. Liandrin says if Suroth can’t hold three, perhaps she’s not worth their master’s effort. Suroth says she could take Liandrin in as the second, but Liandrin seizes saidar, and Renna calls out to warn Suroth.(4) The soldiers stir to attention, but Suroth says Liandrin won’t act against her, they’re at a stalemate out of mutual fear of their master. Liandrin reminds Suroth that both Egg and Nyn must be on the ships when she leaves.(5) Suroth assures Liandrin that neither of the escapees will remain free for long, and Liandrin will be collared someday. But for now, she lets Liandrin go back through the Ways.

The hook-nosed man asks Suroth if he can kill Min, but Egg shouts NO! Renna starts punishing her immediately, but Suroth waves her off. She asks if Egg will listen and work hard to become a good damane, if she lets Min stay and visit her from time to time? Egg promises she will. Suroth says that if the damane proves a disappointment, perhaps the man can have Min's head then.(6)

As they ride to Falme, Renna says that Egwene was honoured to have the High Lady speak to her. Another time, she could wear a ribbon to mark the honour, but since it was Egwene's lack of control that brought it on... Egg feels lashes across her back, her arms, her legs, from every direction. Egwene can't help but throw her arms out to block the blows coming from inside her own mind. Min asks Renna to stop, but Renna says this is a lesson for both of them.

Eventually Renna lets the punishment stop, and Egg says it's not Min's fault, and she soothes Bela, saying it's not hers, either. Renna says condescendingly that it's Egwene's fault. When a damane is punished, it's always her fault, even if she doesn't know why.

Egwene bit her lip until she tasted blood. This is a nightmare. It can’t be real. Why did Liandrin do this? Why is this happening? “May . . . may I ask a question?” “Of me, you may.” Renna smiled. “Many sul’dam will wear your bracelet over the years—there are always many more sul’dam than damane—and some would have your hide in strips if you took your eyes off the floor or opened your mouth without permission, but I see no reason not to let you speak, so long as you are careful in what you say.”(7) One of the other sul’dam snorted loudly; she was linked to a pretty, dark-haired woman in her middle years who kept her eyes on her hands.

Egg asks who the master Liandrin and Suroth spoke of was, and what he wants with her and her companions. Renna says the affairs of the Blood are not for her to take notice of, and certainly not for a damane. Anything she hears, it must be as if she never heard it at all. Otherwise, she could end up without a tongue or hands. Damane don't need those things to be of value.

Egg says it's horrible, how can you do this to another person? Renna says that men who would be marath'damane must be killed, but women don't go mad. Damane can be dangerous if left free. And the one who made the first a'dam was an Aes Sedai, helping Luthair Paendrag Mondwin, son of Artur Hawkwing, to tame the power of her sisters, until eventually they leashed her too. It's said that her screams shook the Towers of Midnight.(8) Renna pivots the conversation slightly to say that if Egwene is found to be able to make a'dam, she'll be pampered.

Egg asks if she should look forward to a lifetime of being chained to men and women who think she's little more than a dog? Renna says never a man. For most men, the bracelet does nothing. Another sul'dam chimes in to say that sometimes, though, both man and damane die screaming. The Empress plays with the Lords sometimes, by linking them to damane. It makes them sweat, and entertains the Court of the Nine Moons.(9)

Renna says to the other sul'dam, naming her Alwhin, that she has no plans to train this one only to be wasted. Alwhin says there's not much training going on yet that she can see. Renna studies Egwene and asks if she can channel at a distance yet. Egg isn't sure, so Renna points at a tree and asks her to visualize the sap in the tree, and make it so hot it all turns to steam at once. Egg feels a compulsion to try, but says she cannot, it's too far and she's never done anything like that before. Renna says that sometimes if you're sul'dam long enough you can tell many things about a damane without the bracelet, but wearing the bracelet, you can always tell if a damane has tried to channel, and Egg must never lie to a sul'dam.

The switches are back, striking Egg everywhere. She tries to hold saidar, but just as quick as thought her entire body feels like burning on top of the invisible lashes. When she lets go of saidar the burning stops, but the lashing continues, longer than Egwene can keep track of. Renna says it's good that Egwene has spirit. The best damane are the ones who have spirit to be shaped and molded, and Egwene will be one of the best. She strokes Egwene's hair, a mistress soothing her dog.

PERSPECTIVE: Nynaeve, hiding. She thinks about having used the Power as a weapon, going against what Aes Sedai are supposed to stand for. There's a rustling nearby, but it's just Elayne, having found her. They confirm that they're no longer being followed, and Nyn asks if El has seen Egg or Min, but she hasn't, either.

El feels ashamed that she ran so quickly when faced with danger, saying her mother had better marry Gareth Bryne quickly and have another daughter, because she's not fit for the throne. Nyn tells her not to be a goose, she couldn't have fought off dozens of men and other Aes Sedai.(10)

Now, says Nynaeve, get on your feet, dust off your dress, and brush your hair. They're going to Falme, where Suroth said she had business. They may be detected by those damane, Aes Sedai can tell a woman who can channel just by being near her. Elayne wonders if Rand is alright, and Nynaeve says he's probably all the way back in Fal Dara. Elayne takes some comfort in this, and they ride on toward Falme. Nynaeve hopes that by the time they get there, she can stop being afraid and start being angry.

=====

(1) What is this feeling? Dread, oh definitely dread. (2) We could've done without using that as the descriptor but sure. (3) Oh, no. If I didn't have a nausea response to just the sight of the collar icon, this'd do it. (4) Curious. How can she see someone holding the One Power? So far, only someone who could channel could see that aura, and only after learning how to channel themselves… but I don't think the Seanchan are leashing only some channelers and leaving others loose, with their whole bias going on, do you? And besides that, how did Suroth know that Nynaeve was so powerful? (5) So, who is their mutual master, and why would he want Egwene and Nynaeve out of the picture? Is it too soon to give it away, or had you already guessed that Liandrin served the Dark, which is why she was so suspicious up to here. Who else would want these two, the most powerful channelers found in hundreds of years, out of the way? Only the Dark One, or one of his generals pretending to his identity, wanting to be sure these young women wouldn't be in any position to interfere. (6) Nothing like a hostage to guarantee good behaviour. (7) Renna is so practiced in the art of breaking people, you could wonder if she was brought specifically for her skill in this area and obedience, if she's not a Darkfriend her own self. The kindness in between the punishments is so… affecting. (8) That's funny, that's the name of one of the later books… (9) So much information about Seanchan culture in this chapter, and yet it's interspersed with such horror as to make it hard to remember. Bookmark it for later if you think they might be an important part of the story. (10) See, Nyn knows a few correct things about people and appropriate responses.

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 40: Damane

Look dear reader, if you don't know what you're getting into this chapter, you really shouldn't keep reading. You shouldn't do it anyway unless you like spoilers for the whole series, but this chapter is better to avoid anyway than most. It's a lot. Don't keep going.

Behold the a'dam icon! Simple, geometrically pleasing, and utterly filled with menace. It's perfect and it's evil.

When she did notice them she stared uncertainly; they were as odd a group as she had ever seen, and she had heard too many rumors of the war on Toman Head.

One of the problems of being trusting of authority figures is that when they're leading you astray you become unable to properly respond to dangerous situations. Liandrin's actions here are probably why Egwene ends up so power hungry later on; she can't let herself be subordinate to someone who might abuse her again.

Oddest of all was the last woman, reclining on a palanquin borne by eight muscular, bare-chested men in baggy black trousers. The sides of her scalp were shaved so that only a wide crest of black hair remained to fall down her back. A long, cream-colored robe worked in flowers and birds on blue ovals was carefully arranged to show her skirts of pleated white, and her fingernails were a good inch long, the first two on each hand lacquered blue.

Meet Suroth. She's fucking evil and has a terrible fashion sense.

“What are you talking about?” Nynaeve demanded. “What is she talking about, Liandrin?” Liandrin laid a hand on Nynaeve’s shoulder and one on Egwene’s.

1. Note that Nynaeve again omits the title "Sedai".

2. Note that Liandrin doesn't even acknowledge these girls as people any more than the Seanchan do.

“Liandrin Sedai,” she said urgently, “who are these people? Are they here to help Rand and the others, too?”

Poor, sweet Egwene. It's rather sad that the EF5 member most eager to see the world is the one who is by far the most naive.

Balling her fist tightly, Egwene hit the woman as hard as she could, right in her eye—and staggered and fell to her knees herself, head ringing. It felt as if a large man had struck her in the face.

The forced linking aspect of the a'dam is already an incredible achievement by Deain Sedai, but really that's at least something the One Power is meant to connect. Carrying pain like that means that Deain came very close to creating the Warder Bond too (in some ways more so), something no one in Seanchan would know (the Hawkwing descendants wouldn't have carried that knowledge over) so she was possibly the greatest Aes Sedai in the world at the time. What a waste.

“I will not punish you further this time, since I should have been on guard with a newly caught damane. Know this. You are a damane, a Leashed One, and I am a sul’dam, a Holder of the Leash. When damane and sul’dam are joined, whatever hurt the sul’dam feels, the damane feels twice over. Even to death.

It's nice that the Seanchan Empire does instill this sense of responsibility in superiors regarding their inferiors, but also JESUS FUCKING AL'THOR EVEN TO DEATH???? Fuck them Seanchan.

“The very first thing you must learn,” Renna said, “is to do exactly as you are told, and without delay.”

You'll note I didn't give Seanchan points for their opinions of how superiors should take responsibility when they fuck up and that's because of shit like this.

That, she realized, was what she had detected in the woman’s voice—a certain good will for a dog in training, not quite the friendliness one might have toward another human being.

This is one of the many reasons there's no such thing as a good slave owner, by the way. Especially not when it comes to chattel slavery.

She wanted to go to Min, but the amount of leash Renna had let out would not reach that far. She called softly, “Min, are you all right?”

The haters never mention how Egwene is more worried about Min than herself in this situation, even though Egwene's situation is way, way, way worse.

“I brought you three,” Liandrin said calmly. “If you cannot manage to hold them, perhaps our master should find another among you to serve him. You take fright at trifles. If patrols come, kill them.”

Oh yeah, and here's another problem with the sheer vertical cliff that is the Seanchan hierarchy: in any sane society, the lessers would be able to report Suroth as a Darkfriend and Aes Sedai sympathizer and something would happen, but they don't and I don't think it's because they don't care.

“Elayne is of no importance, but both the woman and this girl here must be taken with you on your ships when you sail.”

How utterly wrong the Dark is. They clearly weren't expecting anyone other than the DR to be relevant last book and were frustrated with the three for one trick, and now they've added the girls to the roster but not all of them. They're utterly oblivious to how much of a team effort things are.

Should you survive the encounter, the leash and collar will teach you a new life, and I do not believe our master will trouble to deliver one foolish enough to let herself be taken.

Suroth's got that much right, but of course is much too short-sighted and self-interested to think things through.

She had to save Min. If it means groveling. . . . She parted her lips and hoped her gritted teeth would pass for a smile. “Yes, High Lady.” “And if I spare her, if I allow her to visit you occasionally, you will work hard and learn as you are taught?” “I will, High Lady.” She would have promised much more to keep that sword from splitting Min’s skull. I’ll even keep it, she thought sourly, as long as I have to.

This exchange (and everything a'dam related, obviously) is another thing that clearly leads from Egwene being a dedicated teacher's pet, mostly follow the rules type to the ambitious semi-fiend we'll know later on. She's glad to help Min but she's subconsciously being taught that authority only exists to be subverted to your own ends.

“You were honored,” Renna said after a time, “having the High Lady speak to you. Another time, I would let you wear a ribbon to mark the honor. But since you brought her attention on yourself. . . .”

And this is why Suroth can proudly conspire as a Darkfriend in front of Renna even though Renna isn't a Darkfriend, why she can let an Aes Sedai run free around a sul'dam. This absurd standard that applies to Egwene applies to Renna too and everyone else. Never draw the attention of your betters, even if it's for their own good.

Min raised a fist, then let it fall. “I won’t interfere. Only, please, stop it. Egwene, I’m sorry.” The unseen blows went on for a few moments more, as if to show Min her intervention had done nothing, then ceased, but Egwene could not stop shuddering.

This is a reason why it's so upsetting to see Min shanghaied by the Seanchan in the Last Battle, because she knows them at their worst. She's gonna have to do a lot of truth speaking to Tuon, even when Tuon fucking hates it, if she's going to make much difference overseas.

“Liandrin”—Egwene would not give her the honorific, not ever again—“and the High Lady spoke of a master they both serve.” The thought came into her head of a man with almost healed burns marring his face, and eyes and mouth that sometimes turned to fire, but even if he was only a figure in her dreams that seemed too horrible to contemplate.

No Egwene, you've basically got it exactly correct.

She knew it was silly to avoid naming Nynaeve—she did not think any of these people would forget her just because her name was not mentioned, especially the blue-eyed sul’dam stroking her empty leash—but it was the only way she could think of fighting back at the moment.

Rand and Egwene have very parallel arcs, and this seems to be her inverted equivalent of an earlier moment of his: he shouted the Aiel oath of defiance involuntarily against nothing in particular, drawn into power. She's being pulled against her will too, but her defiance is both very real and yet tragically more inconsequential than the oath he swore.

One such, a woman named Deain, who thought she could do better serving the Emperor—he was not Emperor then, of course—since he had no Aes Sedai in his armies, came to him with a device she had made, the first a’dam, fastened to the neck of one of her sisters. Though that woman did not want to serve Luthair, the a’dam required her to serve. Deain made more a’dam, the first sul’dam were found, and women captured who called themselves Aes Sedai discovered that they were in fact only marath’damane, Those Who Must Be Leashed. It is said that when she herself was leashed, Deain’s screams shook the Towers of Midnight, but of course she, too, was a marath’damane, and marath’damane cannot be allowed to run free.

Firstly: the first sul'dam were found after the first a'dam was made and the first collar attached. This very infodump all but gives away the twist! Deain herself must have been wearing the bracelet then.

Secondly: How much like the Shadow the Empire is, that it was strengthened so hideously by a woman who thought that she might benefit herself from service, and that her only reward was suffering from her actions.

“From time to time the Empress plays with lords by linking them to a damane. It makes the lords sweat and entertains the Court of the Nine Moons. The lord never knows until it is done whether he will live or die, and neither does the damane.”

These dudes are mostly the male equivalent of sul'dam and so their deaths (let alone the deaths of the damane, who don't deserve anything that happens to them) aren't even productive for removing male channelers who have the spark from threatening the populace. It's just murder for fun.

Egwene was shocked to discover an urge to do as Renna commanded. She had not channeled, or even touched saidar, in two days; the desire to fill herself with the One Power made her shiver.

Here's the closest thing to a downside that power addiction has for Egwene.

Frantically she reached for saidar, meaning to hurt Renna enough to make her stop, just the kind of hurt she herself had been given. The sul’dam shook her head wryly; Egwene howled as her own skin was suddenly scalded. Not until she fled from saidar completely did the burn begin to fade, and the unseen blows never ceased or slowed.

If I have to read such horrible things, you do too.

“It is good that you have spirit,” Renna said calmly. “The best damane are those who have spirit to be shaped and molded.”

The best damane are those who have to be beaten a hundred times as much as any other just to be good? This empire really does run on BDSM.

Her contact with saidar was gone, and she could not bring it back. In that first fury of knowing that Liandrin had betrayed them, saidar had been there almost before she knew it, the One Power flooding her. It had seemed she could do anything.

The circumstances they're in probably made Nynaeve's power level grow two sizes just from the sheer terror. Plus all the training at the Tower probably kicked in a bit too.

I don’t think they got away, Nynaeve. I should have done something. Min cut the hand that was holding me, and Egwene. . . . I just ran, Nynaeve. I realized I was free, and I ran. Mother had better marry Gareth Bryne and have another daughter as soon as she can. I am not fit to take the throne.

Survivor's guilt is a terrible thing, and Jordan likely heard or even experienced stories of people abandoning each other in the chaos of Vietnam. He's also quite right (through Nynaeve's words) that Elayne is a silly goose for hating herself for breaking under the pressure.

Why are they interested in Egwene and me? Why us in particular? Why did Liandrin do this? Why?

I'm a bit surprised Nynaeve doesn't remember that Liandrin knows they're connected to Rand, but I suppose her source of knowledge about Rand's relative specialness being Moiraine means she's inclined to just toss it aside and ignore it.

I have no intention of buying us dresses, and they won’t be new in any case. My gray silk dress will do us some good, with all those pearls and that gold thread. If I can’t find a woman who will trade us each two or three sturdy changes for that, I will give you this ring, and I will be the novice.

Really the difficulty might be finding a woman in these parts who feels like she can keep a silk dress with pearls and gold in any state of repair. Eventually finery gets so rich that poverty would ruin it on contact. But Nynaeve keeps her accepted ring so I guess things work out!

To speak no word that is not true. That was one, but everyone knew that the truth an Aes Sedai said might not be the truth you thought you heard.

Like I said last chapter, Nynaeve really should have been a lot more suspicious. I suppose she cares of Rand too much to stand by while he's under any kind of threat, even if it's a very tenuous one.

Speaking of, next time: Rand vs. Ba'alzamon again!