I have to completely agree with you on this one. I always felt that this faction was one of RJ's failures in the series. As a Threat/Villian/World force they always seemed (to me) to be a bad joke.
You have a bunch of "religious fanatics" who's target is people that wield the one power, and we are supposed to consider them a threat? 2 Sisters, alone in the wilderness, are suddenly suprised by 1,000,000,000,000 white cloaks. Oh my what can they do??? Umm slap up a wall of air around themselves and sit down to tea maybe? Tie off the flow, take a nap, play a few hands of bridge, *sniff* at them a few times, then saddle up and ride off still surrounded by walls of air... Oh! the drama....
Expect that we never see sisters do this. The closest thing would be Moiraine making a wall of fire to prevent the Trollocs from getting to them in tEotW or scaring the brigands in NS. In a tight spot the AS almost always resort to their fireballs and lightnings.
Anyway, the WC way of doing these things is to hide in a bush and shoot the AS. And then hang the dead body afterwards in a sorry attempt to make it look like they're not pathetic. Unless the AS holds the Power all the time, she has no more chance to see the arrow coming than anyone else.
As a political faction they have no support from any of the major nation-states, and are universally despised. Basically, they are simply pathetic.
Are they? Thom thinks the WCs have more power than the ruler of Andor. He should know. The WCs have Amadicia, a wealthy nation as far as we know. And they seem to be above the law wherever they go. Eamon Valda killed the refuges he encountered while travelling to Amador since there was no way to separate them from the Dragonsworn.
Before the huge armies of Rand and the Seanchan the WC military might was probably pretty formidable. And Petron Niall was one of the Great Captains. According to Niall it was close that the Children didn't get both Altara and even Illian in the Whitecloack War. They obviously don't need support from anyone.
Some hate them but many do not. Many Andorans preferred them over the Tower in the first book, I recall. You're really making them seem less than they are.
I got the impression that RJ just couldn"t wrap his brain around total fanatacism and thus wasn't capible of writing it. I wish he had left them out of the story.
This might've been for the better. They are pretty boring. Though I do look forward to reading about Galad a bit.
Character discussion 11 : The Whitecloaks
- 26/07/2010 08:33:50 AM
1377 Views
I think Galad will lead them to their "epiphany" at TG
- 26/07/2010 08:53:52 AM
716 Views
Re: I think Galad will lead them to their "epiphany" at TG
- 27/07/2010 07:44:08 AM
638 Views
Have lost a lot of my interest since both Carridin and Niall died off
- 26/07/2010 06:44:58 PM
550 Views
None. Uninteresting villains.
- 28/07/2010 04:32:01 PM
561 Views
Re: None. Uninteresting villains.
- 29/07/2010 03:15:16 PM
729 Views
I'm not so sure
- 29/07/2010 06:13:30 PM
662 Views
The only band of brothers pre-Rand?
- 04/08/2010 03:38:43 AM
588 Views
I don't think so, though.
- 04/08/2010 10:39:55 PM
558 Views
Their proper name is "Children of the Light." Will there be a discussion on the "Tar Valon Witches"? *NM*
- 06/08/2010 12:03:27 PM
228 Views
Maybe, Child Cannoli. *NM*
- 06/08/2010 05:52:53 PM
228 Views
Go read about saidar, child 
*NM*
- 06/08/2010 05:57:27 PM
226 Views
*NM*
- 06/08/2010 05:57:27 PM
226 Views
Repent your madness, the pair of you. No one is so far into the Shadow he cannot return to the Light *NM*
- 06/08/2010 10:56:58 PM
231 Views