Nope... - Edit 1
Before modification by Shannow at 09/12/2010 08:50:42 PM
13 women of 10 strength would not be strong enough to easily overcome Rand who would be stronger than Lanfear who you have as a 100, on this scale Rand must me at least a 125 meaning he may well be stronger than 13 linked Daigians. Since not 100% of a woman's strength can be used in a circle it would be a close struggle with a man such as Rand and we know from Asmodean that 13 women of even weak strength could do it and the "13 weakest in the Tower" would manhandle him like a child.
Daigian is much more likely to be 13-15 with Moiraine maybe as high as 45 and Elayne could be from a 75-80 based on the same quotes you are basing your arguments on. If you look at all of the FS level women in the 90-100 range this all makes sense ... Elayne would need a 25% uptick in strength to match Nynaeve (significant when you consider it's probably more raw strength than Daigian has). If Egwene/Elayne/Aviendha were that much weaker than the FS we would have seen instances where they could not accomplish tasks that only the FS level seem capable of.
Daigian is much more likely to be 13-15 with Moiraine maybe as high as 45 and Elayne could be from a 75-80 based on the same quotes you are basing your arguments on. If you look at all of the FS level women in the 90-100 range this all makes sense ... Elayne would need a 25% uptick in strength to match Nynaeve (significant when you consider it's probably more raw strength than Daigian has). If Egwene/Elayne/Aviendha were that much weaker than the FS we would have seen instances where they could not accomplish tasks that only the FS level seem capable of.
Egwene says she has no chance against Moghedien. That means you have to AT LEAST add a full Dagian on top of Egwene to get to Moghedien's level. At least, else the outcome would not be beyond a doubt as Egwene stated it was.
That means if Egwene is at 75, which is the LOWEST level you put her at, then Moghedien has to be at around 85-90.
Nynaeve exactly matches Moghedien in the Shadow Rising at a time when Nynaeve is FAR from her full potential. Considering that women increase gradually in strength, and that Nynaeve has never been forced like Ewgene was, Nynaeve would under normal circumstances continue increasing in strength for many years after this point.
And as late as Book 8, Nynaeve STILL states that she has not yet reached her full potential. In fact, even now we have not yet been definitively told that Nynaeve is at her full strength, although we ASSUME as much after the Cleansing.
It is therefore highly likely that Nynaeve, in Book 4 had another 20-30% of growth ahead of her before she reached her full strength. And yet she already matched Moghedien in strength.
Therefore, to get to Nynaeve's full potential you would probably have to add AT LEAST 20-25% to Moghedien's 90. That means that Nynaeve is already sitting at about 110.
Now consider that Alivia is CONSIDERABLY stronger than Nynaeve, and you get to what, 120? 135? And then Lanfear is conceivably even stronger than that. So it is clear that your placement of Egwene is way too high in this context.
AS for Dagian and the Linking story, there are many factors at play here. Too many to use it to discount the clear evidence from all the other quotes.
Asmodean says 13 women who can barely channel can overwhelm most men, linked. Not all men.
He says the 13 weakest women in the Tower could overwhelm Rand and barely breathe hard.
Well, you have to ask the obvious question: What does Asmodean consider a woman who can barely channel? I would argue that he would place Dagian in that category - if he knew her strength. Rahvin says the Aes Sedai he Compels in FoH isn't strong enough to be let outside without a keeper.
How would Asmodean know the strength of the average Aes Sedai in the Third Age Tower? He hasn't spent any time amongst them. In fact, he's been hiding in some hole since he's been released from the Bore, according to Lanfear. Keeping a low profile.
By his standards, 13 Dagian's might well be the "13 women who can barely channel", and who can overwhelm MOST men, linked. Not all men.
Also, the precision and other benefits of the link - as evidenced by the massive gateways 13 women can make - something like 20 times larger than Rand can make, for example - makes it very difficult to use this as a direct strength comparison.
It certainly isn't enough to disprove the rest of the comparative strength picture that has consistently been presented by the books.