Well... third names were awarded for service to society.
Given her raw, undisguised ambition, it's not so surprising Lanfear never got a third name. She must have been way too busy using her assets to serve Mierin Aronaille to do any truly remarquable service as an Aes Sedai, despite her potential.
Bel Medar was similar, but more of a clever hypocrite. It seems he understood that to get to the top of the system, he had to give all the appearances of great service, even though in the end he did it all out of personal ambition rather than a genuine desire to serve society.
Given her raw, undisguised ambition, it's not so surprising Lanfear never got a third name. She must have been way too busy using her assets to serve Mierin Aronaille to do any truly remarquable service as an Aes Sedai, despite her potential.
Bel Medar was similar, but more of a clever hypocrite. It seems he understood that to get to the top of the system, he had to give all the appearances of great service, even though in the end he did it all out of personal ambition rather than a genuine desire to serve society.
Yes, my point being that she should have been able to easily manage the task if she had EVER bothered to make the effort involved. I'm convinced other AS would have looked down on someone who should have easily been able to earn that 3rd name, but didn't have the strength of character necessary to achieve it. If Tel Janin Aellinsar could earn it as was what amounts to a professional athlete and Nemene Damendar Boann could fake it well enough to fool the system into not seeing her true nature, Mierin Aronaille should have had no problem.
I'd go so far as to say that even people who had not earned the 3rd name would have looked at her as an anomaly since it should have been something easily within her. To your point Barid Bel Medar, and Tel Janin Aellinsar for that matter, obviously saw the benefits of going through the process... Lanfear wasn't even aware enough to have figured out that it was a necessary (critical even) step for her to make if she truly wanted power/fame. But then I don't think Lanfear really wanted anything if she had to actually earn it ... like a child she expected things to be handed to her.
As I said in another post, we don't know how third names were earned. I doubt beauty and OP strength had anything to do with anything, unless the council were all horny males.
I think third names were very rare and reserved for the highest levels of service. The FS with third names were all world renowned. If the third name was commonplace in most people who served society then Mierin was indeed a massive loser. If however it was a rare thing, then at worst, she's as useless as 99% of the population.
I also don't think that the FS duped society into awarding them. The third name was for service to society. Semirhage could have received it for all her brilliant Healing, even though she was a nasty piece of work. Same for Be'lal and Graendal and Ishamael.
I agree that very few actually earned the 3rd name. The point is that Lanfear's strength, beauty and obvious intelligence should have made her a no-brainer for earning it at some point. Someone who was once linked to LTT and was working in cutting edge research? All the pieces were right in front of her and instead of figuring out what the others who would later be FS did, she ignored it or was blind to it!
Also note that all the other "top 6" had earned the 3rd name. The only 3rd namer IIRC who wasn't top 6 was Be'lal. It says something about Lanfear that she could rise into the elite realms of the FS, but not in the world prior.
Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
This message last edited by darius_sedai on 03/06/2010 at 03:29:22 PM
Matching the Dragon with a mate
02/06/2010 10:09:49 AM
- 1455 Views
I think there is more to these women than simply being the Dragon's Mate
02/06/2010 12:09:10 PM
- 787 Views
What more IS there to being a woman?
02/06/2010 03:52:23 PM
- 845 Views
Re: What more IS there to being a woman?
02/06/2010 04:58:36 PM
- 697 Views
Re: What more IS there to being a woman?
03/06/2010 08:51:25 AM
- 638 Views
riiiight
03/06/2010 11:20:31 AM
- 562 Views
Re: riiiight
03/06/2010 01:53:49 PM
- 682 Views
the problem with your working out how strong they are is that it always begins with how much
03/06/2010 02:14:08 PM
- 703 Views
Re: the problem with your working out how strong they are is that it always begins with how much
03/06/2010 02:23:32 PM
- 772 Views
I never said that's all they were
03/06/2010 08:49:53 AM
- 665 Views
Re: I never said that's all they were
03/06/2010 11:44:51 AM
- 698 Views
Yeah Nynaeve is fantastic
02/06/2010 12:48:56 PM
- 712 Views
oh dear god no
02/06/2010 02:41:13 PM
- 674 Views
Back in the concept days I believe the DR was more like Tam and the love interest
02/06/2010 02:55:45 PM
- 718 Views
Re: Matching the Dragon with a mate
02/06/2010 02:15:35 PM
- 884 Views
Great post, but I would disagree with the top part
02/06/2010 05:58:59 PM
- 747 Views
Re: Matching the Dragon with a mate
03/06/2010 09:27:05 AM
- 754 Views
LOL
03/06/2010 12:01:27 PM
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Re: LOL
03/06/2010 12:41:20 PM
- 619 Views
Excellent point!
03/06/2010 12:50:03 PM
- 640 Views
Re: Excellent point!
03/06/2010 01:34:04 PM
- 833 Views
Re: Excellent point!
03/06/2010 02:05:19 PM
- 732 Views
We don't even know how third names were earned
03/06/2010 02:31:46 PM
- 697 Views
The point isn't her strength or beauty
03/06/2010 03:01:03 PM
- 722 Views
Ah, so by great you mean Ghandi, and not Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great...
05/06/2010 08:57:52 AM
- 568 Views
I think there is more to these characters than being a mate, and I don't think the Pattern cares.
02/06/2010 03:23:13 PM
- 684 Views
Re: I think there is more to these characters than being a mate, and I don't think the Pattern cares
02/06/2010 03:40:38 PM
- 676 Views
I doubt he needs one. They just get in the way.
02/06/2010 05:14:08 PM
- 847 Views
Re: I doubt he needs one. They just get in the way.
02/06/2010 08:30:32 PM
- 648 Views
02/06/2010 10:42:17 PM
- 636 Views
Meh. How do we know they aren't awarded the way the Nobel Peace Prize is in our world?
02/06/2010 11:33:48 PM
- 671 Views
I don't know if Lanfear, the perfect woman didn't have a 3rd name it must have been
02/06/2010 11:49:02 PM
- 587 Views