is that Laras has a strong personal tie to an Accepted or Novice who met a bad fate, for instance she committed suicide because she broke down, or because she could not accept being put away - and this made Laras extremely critical of the Tower's methods, and once she had a position where she participated in the discipline measures, she started helping novices she thought on the point of breaking up to escape before it was too late. Just as she offered Egwene. It might well mean Laras strived to rise in the ranks in the kitchens until she reached the top position on purpose, as it is the one position not filled by a sister that is tied to punishing the novices (even the gardens are managed by a sister, the kitchens really sound like the one exception, excepts outer farms for exiled novices or sisters).
This all seems really possible and the kitchens probably aren't run by a sister because of the amount of work that goes into actually cooking for hundreds of people at a time. An Aes Sedai wouldn't be caught dead sweating in a hot kitchen and channeling to cook food probably doesn't work so well.
Examples of a tie could be simply friendship, for instance Laras and her best friend were two lively girls who ran away from home and ended up in Tar Valon to live the life, and one day the two made their minds to go to the Tower to get tested. Laras didn't pass the test, her friend did. Laras got hired as a scullion, and made her way up. Her friend died. Laras is thorn between some admiration for the Tower and individual sisters she likes a lot (like Verin, who happens to be known for her great kindness to novices, and this could be relevant to Laras liking her), and ressent for what some sisters did to break her friend (it might have included getting "shaped" by some harsh mistress of the kitchens, under Sereille Bagand, maybe and she decided to remain in the Tower so she could help, and stop the kitchens being used to break girls etc.
I wish we got more of Laras' backstory.
She probably also got involved with the Kin at this time. I definitely think she is one of their agents.
Another possibility of tragedy in her past could be that Laras is the illegitimate daughter of an Accepted or Novice who was put out of the Tower, was too ashamed to return home, and who died soon after giving birth. Learning her fate, the Tower discreetely sent for the girl not to be seen abandonning the child, and because the odds were high the baby could channel one day. laras got raised by one of the couple of servants or something. It turned out Laras couldn't channel, and was quite a bit more lively than what the AS expect of servants, so theyput her straight, made her a scullion, and made her way up from there to Mistress of the Kitchens.
This is also a really good idea for her backstory. Now I want to read this version of it!
I think Laras is "just a cook", but one who has an interesting path, and rather personal views on the WT.
Just a cook? I don't think so. Definitely she has shown that she is a resource for girls for the Kin. Maybe if she interacts with Egwene more she can be the catalyst for even more of the Kin returning to the fold.
I believe either Egwene or Siuan will get the full story out of Laras at some point. It could well be Egwene, as Egwene has quite the reputation for sternness and discpline, but might see eye-to-eye with Laras about "breaking girls". Laras is also aware that the Amyrlin knows she might help novices to escape, and might be proactive and explain herself to Egwene (or Egwene could ask her to) in fear that one of the first things Egwene will do is fire her ass.
Yes, I had forgotten her extensive interactions with Suian earlier in the series. One of them really needs to at least ask her some questions and see what is really going on.
It sound to me like Laras and her restraints about "breaking girls" make a nice balance to Egwene's new stern yet fair MoN.
Hell yeah. She is a great character and has great character! lol
Distant possibilities for a future role of Laras could include being the repository of secrets from Verin - for instance the location of the Horn of Valere. Another is that Mesaana is indeed very involved with novices like she used to like using children as her agents in the WOS (especially possible if she's really the young Brown Danelle, who would teach them). It could be Laras who raises a red flag because she's noticed something about novices close to Danelle. Mesaana is very harsh in her punishments and "training" - Laras could reveal that she's noticed seem to act quite afraid when Danelle is around. Egwene could find that out.
Verin did seem to trust her. I don't think she knows where the horn of valere is though. Someone else surely will with one of Verin's infamous Letters from the dead.
Egwene probably doesn't know much about Mesaana, but her meeting with Rand might very well change all that, if she bring up that subject that she has to find out if Mesaana is still in the Tower, and if so identify her and root her out (it might also occur to Rand that since Semirhage was with the Seanchan, and that Mesaana and Demandred might have related activities, as these three always teamed to topple their opponents, and Demandred love to use proxies - and one of the most potent use of proxies is to throw two of them at one another (a proxy war).
She has to be at least somewhat involved with the Novices. Small doses of compulsion and actively recruiting some of the novices surely must have paid untold dividends. Egwene comments on the effectiveness of a white dress in TGS. She could go anywhere in the Tower while full Sisters dared not even walk into another Ajah's section of the Tower.
Based on the information in the Guide, the first thing Lews Therin's full memories would make Rand say to Egwene about Mesaana is that Mesaana is probably hiding away from the appearance of power, as she cares nothing for these trappings (so, forget the Hall, AH and prominent sisters etc.) and that she is interested most in the destruction of knowledge and civilization and might well see the White Tower as the last remnant of AOL scraps. That, and the fact her famous WOS tactics was the indoctrination of very young minds, which she seduces to the Shadow, and "educates" to serve her. She used those agents to destroy sources of knowledge, museums, technology and she targeted especially scholars and "officials".
I agree. She is most definitely following her previous MO precisely. Why not? It worked out fairly well for her previously. The only thing that went wrong is she got caught during the Strike and sealed away.
This might well be the final reason why Jordan built up to something special between Egwene and the novices, developped a relationship between her and Silviana, has included a group of novices close to the main players (Rand, Egwene, Mat) and in TGS completed this by having her form a relationship to Laras as well.
There's been a very curious, and as yet totally unexplained sudden surge in the numbers of novices under Elaida (Sheriam brought many out, and may have been ordered to do so, being told which ones should remain, and which must go because Mesaana found them unsuitable material for her techniques, too advanced or too old etc.). For many years, the Tower had a scarce 40, and suddenly since the Coup they got over a hundred. Unlike among the Rebels, who recruited, there's nothing to explain this under Elaida. Even among the rebels, the increase in novices is highly suspicious, as the original idea came from Sheriam (before Egwene made this go totally out of Sheriam's control by opening the books to anyone). Verin is another BA who "recruited" several novices, which could have been a cover up to leave the Tower and the vicinity of a Forsaken, and pursue her plan (in the sense that Mesaana could have mentionned novices, or Mesaana might have mused on the strength of Egwene and Nynaeve, and Verin answered "oh, I have a good idea where I might find a bunch of strong ones like this", and Mesaana told her to go and recruit. Novices are useful to her, and novices close to Rand might have sounded a good idea (as Mesaana also likes to infiltrate her "innocent" agents).
What do you mean by innocent? Do you mean her young agents?
Having built a network among the novices would also explain why Mesaana said in TGS that "more and more join us each day". She could hardly have been talking about increasing the number of BA! Who could be these new followers that keep increasing each day? Quite possibly the novices she managed to bring to her side. Mesaana was forbidden to make decisions about Egwene, and this could explain why she rather chose to surround her with her secret network of novices in KOD...
I can't understand why she was forbidden from making decisions about Egwene. She probably could have killed Egwene and gotten rid of her after the battle for the Tower. Seems like opportunity lost for the Shadow.
With the BA rooted out, Mesaana could still be extremely dangerous if she had a parallel network, agents who are everywhere in the Tower, attending sisters including the most important like Sitters etc. Mesaana could have had enough pawns to learn about nearly anyone who entered Elaida's office, who reported to her if Alviarin told the full truth about the comings and goings and so on. A network like this could also spot the AH meeting in corners and so on (better than Mesaana could only by herself. Spotting one or two meeting, yes, but spotting enough of the secret meetings to figure it was more than happenstance would require her to be extremely lucky... unless she had agents spying for her all around the Tower, while she had Alviarin handle mostly the "higher circles" her novices had few inways with) . Travelling around to test the daughters of DF and arrange for those who passed to be sent to TV to ask to be tested might also be one of those "errands" from Mesaana Alviarin thought demeaning and beneath her. Interestingly, those "errands" started when Alviarin reported to Mesaana about her fears surrounding the BT. What could have gone on in Mesaana's mind there is "hmmm... Demandred's pawn Taim is having a lot of success in recruiting and very fast, and she has already agreed with Demandred that at the end the BA would be joined to this army he will lead to make it mix gender (which would explain why Mesaana cared nothing for how much BA got sacrificied or lost etc. - she's promised Demandred he could have them once her job of destroying the Tower was over)... it might be wise to accelerate her plans to increase her own private network among the novices, the one she has not told Semirhage or Demandred about. She then told Alviarin that she must serve her and her alone, not the others, not Demandred. Then, she taught Alviarin to Travel.
So Alviarin was her eyes and ears and a recruiter too. I'm sure she was out of the Tower at other times as well. Looks like Mesaana is not leaving the Tower much at all anymore.
Finally, there was Graendal's comment in TGS that Mesaana was predictable and transparent, implying it was very easy to puzzle out who she's hiding with. That has a high chance of meaning that like the others Mesaana went straight back to her old games the other Forsaken know so well, and Graendal started by getting herself spies (compelled, no doubt - and probably not sisters) who would note down faccs about everyone involved with the young girls in the Tower, from Silviana down to each of the teachers and sisters who like novices etc., and from there Graendal narrowed it down and down, until she had a few top suspects she set many spies on, and those spies started to spot little oddities about the behaviour of one of them in particular, and so Graendal had found Mesaana's disguise. One "oddity" could have been that the young Brown teacher Danelle tends to have many of the students from a day-classes called to her alternate quarters above the Library for private lessons.
Danelle has been suspect since the Tower coup occurred. Remember she had a role in that going down for sure, maybe a larger role than anyone suspects.
Laras-who is she?
- 21/10/2010 02:29:04 PM
1492 Views
Messana posing as a cook?
- 21/10/2010 02:55:35 PM
860 Views
we would crap ourselves, probably because I don't think it CAN be true...
- 21/10/2010 04:29:51 PM
654 Views
Messy killed the real Laras and replaced her and then put fembots in place of Elaida and 3 others *NM*
- 21/10/2010 05:26:56 PM
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Re: we would crap ourselves, probably because I don't think it CAN be true...
- 21/10/2010 07:43:42 PM
542 Views
I believe a younger Laras does appear in NS, not sure if she was already cook.
- 23/10/2010 03:17:00 AM
474 Views
I actually traveled this road long ago, and realized at this point it was too ridiculous.
- 23/10/2010 03:21:05 AM
455 Views
She's Demandred. *NM*
- 21/10/2010 04:04:36 PM
264 Views
Chesa is Demandred, duh *NM*
- 21/10/2010 04:20:56 PM
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"My rule over the kitchens in the White Tower is secure!!! Buahahaha!!!" *NM*
- 21/10/2010 08:23:10 PM
219 Views
OMG! Now I almost hope Demmy's great revelation will be something like that 
*NM*
- 21/10/2010 08:58:17 PM
266 Views
*NM*
- 21/10/2010 08:58:17 PM
266 Views
the softer sides of Demmy. Long walks, conquest under the moonlight, and a killer souffle. *NM*
- 21/10/2010 11:42:33 PM
208 Views
My idea of the subject
- 22/10/2010 01:21:02 AM
712 Views
I agree with most of this. Or perhaps just want most of it to be the case
- 22/10/2010 04:45:32 AM
499 Views
Re: My idea of the subject
- 22/10/2010 10:27:57 AM
635 Views