That's still the first place someone would look for it, and it happened to be there.



This is probably not such a big mystery. In EOTW, Moiraine carefully dispelled the residues of her wards because she said Myrddraal could sense them otherwise. Among other things, Shaidar Haran is a Myddraal... their ability to sense saidar/saidin is mysterious, and there's no telling they can't sense inverted wards too. It's even possible he felt Elza's compulsion.




It's a fairly obvious fact Cadsuane has not wondered how the Shadow found the DM "on screen", as it's not in the book.

No character did., not even the uber-paranoid Rand. As for off-screen, Cadsuane kept sharing very important plans with Sorilea and Bair afteward, so it's pretty obvious she didn't see any reason to suspect them...


Everything got blamed on Elza.



I was merely pointing out the fact this issue wasn't raised at all.

It's quite possible there's a DF among the WO (or well-placed within one or more of the societies - the Maidens for instance: either about the only way DF circles can be kept alive beyond the barriers of the Clans), heck... one of those may even be Bair or Sorilea, but I still think they had nothing at all to do with the way the Shadow found the DM in Cadsuane's room. It doesn't seem to make much sense that SH got the location of the DM from a WO and then went and used not her but a BA compelled by some unknown person for the rest of the deed. The fact SH knew Elza was compelled also makes me lean toward her using the TP, because the interaction of TP/OP are unpredictable and dangerous and if I were SH I would not have trusted Elza to channel saidar near me... the TP however, is the DO. I'm not even convinced the TP does what you want it to do unless Shai'tan let it happens.

Sorilea makes a very unlikely DF, however, for how pushy she's been with Aviendha, and the importance that she marries Rand. In a similar way, Bair has been very pushy to send Aviendha to Rhuidean soon, and unless she's prepared a trap for her there, it's very strange that a DF WO would do that.

To find a DF WO, I'd rather look at those who are trying to avoid the changes to the Aiel brought by Rand. Amys and Sorilea are pushing the other way, to make those changes accepted.

I don't really think there's a DF among the core of the WO we know, though Melaine seems more likely than Bair/Sorilea if there's one. I'd be a lot more suspicious of the WO from the Clans that dithered coming to Rand, and who interpreted his kidnapping as him abandonning them to go to the WT - this spread like wildfire, and the WO who went to Dumai's Wells had a hard time getting things back under control. If the Shadow has tried to turn the Aiel against Rand, it's likely when it happened, and I'd look for WO characters who stayed in Cairhien, not among those who went to DW.

Sorilea had her back turned while Cadsuane dispelled the ward of her box (Cadsuane turned to look before she did it). It was also inverted, so she would have seen nothing anyway, maybe not even sense that there was any ward. So SH/Elza had a way to find the ward, and finding the inverted ward was finding the hiding place...

I don't know why you assume Cadsuane has placed tons of other wards in her room...



It's Brandon who told us SH has needed Elza as a minion because of his limitations to affect the physical world. I don't see why it's such a huge leap to conclude he has needed Elza to steal the DM and bring it to Semirhage.... It makes a lot more sense that Brandon was referring to that rather than to the killing of the sisters holding Semirhage's shield. He had Elza do that too, it seems, but we know SH can kill (and interact physically with people including non DF as he killed two of Graendal's favourite pets. With objects.. that's what's in doubt).



I just don't buy this argument that because the DO uses permission to use the TP as a reward, the possibility he also might force a DF to use it to accomplish specific goals is excluded.

I think you guys are way too trusting of the egomanical Forsaken's opinion about the True Power and to whom and why permission to use it is granted. You see it too much as a reward/mark of status, because it's how the father of lies wants his Chosen to see it.

Elza doesn't even have to be dedicated. The idea wouldn't be to elevate her status, it's simply to get the job done. Elza wouldn't be able to use the TP ever again unless Shai'tan let her tap it, even if she knew how now. We know this is possible for a fact, because the Forsaken beside Moridin have been cut off the TP.... it's in part why the Forsaken are so afraid of becoming addicted to it: it's available at the DO's whim.

Beside, the DO let his archenemy Rand tap the TP when it suited his goals. Why should he have frowned on forcing Elza to use it if SH needed that to get the job done? That mission was important enough to have SH take it personally, after Moridin forbid the Chosen to attempt anything...




I've already addressed that. I don't think because human channellers can't see the OP unless they weave it we have to conclude SH and Shai'tan have no way to teach someone to use the TP, and it may not involve "show and tell" but passing the instinctual knowledge to do it. Rand knew instinctively how to weave balefire with the TP - was it because Shai'tan gave him the knowledg or his link to Moridin did? Either way, he got the knowledge...

Shai'tan is the True Power, and SH... we just don't know the extent of his powers. Given what SH is, it still sounds far more likely to me that he could give Elza knowledge to use the TP than having him teach her weaves of saidar.

Normally I would have believed SH did all the channelling and Elza picked the DM and carried it, but it's Brandon who said she has been taught "rare weaves" to do what Shaidar Haran wanted her to do. From there I merely find it most unlikely the Hand of the godly being who is the True Power itself passed her knowledge of saidar rather than use his own Power....