Thanks. A few comments... - Edit 1
Before modification by Shannow at 21/09/2010 07:29:54 PM
Graendal is holding the TP and using a dove to spy on Rand. She sees him take out the Access Key and quickly figures out what he's planning. She releases the TP, and in a panic, almost fails to embrace Saidar.
She then first weaves a Gateway. After that, Aran'gar, who's watching out of the window, makes a comment about how much of the Power Rand was holding. Graendal realizes that since Aran'gar and Delana wove compulsion on Ramshalan, they'd have to die, or else Rand would think Graendal was alive. So she slams a shield into both of them, and ties them off. As she does this, both women gasp. Delana gasping is no surprise, since she can see Graendal weave a shield. Thus, she may not have been holding the source. That Aran'gar gasped implies to me that she was holding the source, and felt it get cut off (and it makes sense that she was holding the source. Rand had just channeled enormous amounts of the OP). After tying off the shields, Graendal now wraps the two women in Air, and flees through her Gateway. At no time is the angreal mentioned.
Some critical things:
Graendal is confident that Aran'gar cannot break through her shield anytime soon. Since she made it really really fast, I doubt she made a complicated knot. That means that Graendal is enough stronger than Aran'gar that the other woman can't easily brush off her shield.
Graendal is a really fast channeler. That even in a panicked state she could do so many things that required so much power implies to me that she is one of the most skilled among the Foresaken. I think only Lanfear could have done the same.
More than anything else, Graendal is an intelligent channeler, which makes her much more dangerous than her strength alone would have. She's certainly been set up as Moridin's counterpart among the females, with her TP access.
Nynaeve has insane skill with Healing. The way Graendal phrases it, someone with the ability to read her compulsions is extremely rare. It might interest you to know that before she figured out that Rand was going to BF Natrin's Barrow, Graendal made a plan to kill Nynaeve.
She then first weaves a Gateway. After that, Aran'gar, who's watching out of the window, makes a comment about how much of the Power Rand was holding. Graendal realizes that since Aran'gar and Delana wove compulsion on Ramshalan, they'd have to die, or else Rand would think Graendal was alive. So she slams a shield into both of them, and ties them off. As she does this, both women gasp. Delana gasping is no surprise, since she can see Graendal weave a shield. Thus, she may not have been holding the source. That Aran'gar gasped implies to me that she was holding the source, and felt it get cut off (and it makes sense that she was holding the source. Rand had just channeled enormous amounts of the OP). After tying off the shields, Graendal now wraps the two women in Air, and flees through her Gateway. At no time is the angreal mentioned.
Some critical things:
Graendal is confident that Aran'gar cannot break through her shield anytime soon. Since she made it really really fast, I doubt she made a complicated knot. That means that Graendal is enough stronger than Aran'gar that the other woman can't easily brush off her shield.
Graendal is a really fast channeler. That even in a panicked state she could do so many things that required so much power implies to me that she is one of the most skilled among the Foresaken. I think only Lanfear could have done the same.
More than anything else, Graendal is an intelligent channeler, which makes her much more dangerous than her strength alone would have. She's certainly been set up as Moridin's counterpart among the females, with her TP access.
Nynaeve has insane skill with Healing. The way Graendal phrases it, someone with the ability to read her compulsions is extremely rare. It might interest you to know that before she figured out that Rand was going to BF Natrin's Barrow, Graendal made a plan to kill Nynaeve.
If you're equal to someone in strength they will not be able to break through your shield once they're cut off. To break a shield, you have to be much STRONGER than the person shielding you, e.g. Logain and Nynaeve's temporary shield, Amys holding Egewene temporarily despite being much weaker than her, and direct comments to that effect by Rand courtesy of Lews Therin.
The more difficult aspect is to cut off the other channeler in the first place. Here I have only your description to go on, but since Sanderson doesn't bother to mention whether Arangar is holding the Source or not it seems likely that he also did not bother to mention whether Graendal used her angreal or not.
If Graendal could cut off Arangar from the Source while he was channeling, and cut off an Aes Sedai at the same time, then imagine what Cyndane - who Graendal herself said is stronger than her - and Lanfear - who Mesaana said is stronger than Cyndane, or any of the strongest male channelers could have done to Arangar.
It seems unlikely that he would have survived this long, if he was that easy to overcome. This is especially troubling given the comment that he was quite strong in the Power, and also given the deduction that pretty much the only reason this rather stupid and unskilled Forsaken has survived for so long was his raw strength in the Power.
It seems more feasible that Graendal used her angreal in this scene, which also allowed her to shield Cyndane and Moghedien together in PoD.