Don't blame the Seanchan, The Aiel made an excuse to start a war. - Edit 1
Before modification by Variant at 08/01/2011 09:22:34 AM
They did **NOT** start the war. It was Seanchan's fault that did not free the captured Wise Ones. You can't expect not to release prisoners and suffer no consequences, unless you're stupid. So either the Seanchan are stupid, or they deliberately kept the prisoners to force the Aiel to attack.
What captives? You mean the Shaido wise ones? Who are probably empty husks by then? What other wise ones have the Seanchan captured? We don't know what circumstances the Aiel in Avi's vision are referring to.
The Seanchan are not the cause of the Aiel's destruction. The Aiel's inability to culturally evolve and socially adapt to a wider, more peaceful 4th Age is why they become obsolete. Remember: their banishment to the Three-Fold Land after the AoL was to prepare them for the Last Battle, nothing more. The Pattern needed an immediate, hardened army of exceptional fighters for Rand to use as his spears. Yeah, I get that people have emotional affection for the Aiel, but really, besides being able to slaughter people, what is their culture good for? ...Seriously, think about it.... Even ji'e'toh, however admirable, was a social mechanism to temper the warrior bloodlust and keep people in check. Although even Ji'e'toh has it's limits (just look at the Shaido). And in Aviendha's flash-forwards, we see an idle, bored group of frustrated people who no longer have a purpose, because besides fighting and killing, they have no purpose.