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shrugs darius_sedai Send a noteboard - 05/02/2011 06:46:02 PM

Neither Bode nor Nicola are stronger than Cadsuane:

First, we are told by Merise that Elayne was stronger (potentially) than Cadsuane, but not by much.


Merise hasn't been in the same room as Elayne or Egwene. I don't think there is a direct quote anywhere in the series comparing Egwene or Elayne to Cadsuane.

In TGS Melaine tells Aviendha that only Cadsuane would have been able to accomplish what Aviendha did with the water during the bubble of evil ... which illustrates that Aviendha has a significantly more potential than Cadsuane as we know she's probably not even as far along in her growth as Elayne.

Second, we're told that Nicola had remarkable potential, which would have made all the AS talk before Elayne, but no mentions are made about how she would have been the strongest in a thousand years but for them. Instead, we have this:

Nynaeve understood all too well. Nicola lacked the inborn spark—without teaching, she would never have touched saidar— but already her promise was spoken of, the strength she would have one day if she applied herself. Two years earlier, with more potential than any novice in centuries, she would have caused real
excitement.


We're also told Bode falls just short of Egwene's potential, but again no mention is made of how before Elayne, she would have been the strongest in a 1000 years.


You are correct ... I actually do have Nicola placed below Cadsuane on my list, around the same level as Mielyn and Karene.

All this makes me believe that Bode and Caddy are equally strong, whereas Nicola is as strong as Meilyn.


I think Bode is stronger than Cadsuane. Egwene's quote makes it clear that Bode is very close to her in potential. No mention is made of the 1000 years comment because it's irrelevant now that they have Sharina, Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne and Bode!

No. What she says is that there may have been 50 or more sisters stronger than Moiraine:

A thousand years ago, there would have been fifty sisters or more who stood higher than this child.

Which, given general AS numbers, means after Moiraine, the number of stronger people starts really tapering off. She does say there's a sharp drop from Karene to Moiraine. So, my list would read:



That actually makes my argument that Moiraine is less than a 50 stronger. 50 sisters ahead of her level ... given Bell Curves that means there would be even more than that of equal strength ... but she's right around that middle ground ... no doubt in my mind, I typically just assume she's about 50% of Nynaeve.

Cadsuane, Bode: 70
Meilyn, Kerene, Nicola: 65
Therava: 60
Moiraine: 50-55.


We're so close in how we see this it's not even an argument ... only real difference is I's just bump everyone except for Bode down about 5 points. Trivial.


I disagree. I take this list to be one of effective strength, not just the raw strength.


I think when comparing women to women effective and raw are probably the same ... not when looking cross gender ... which is what makes me wonder how the "dexterity bonus" actually works ... is it universally the same for all women (i.e. a flat 25%) or does it differ from woman to woman like strength (i.e. Egwene has a 30% while Moghedien has a 22% etc...) it could very well be that the stronger the woman the more dexterity bonus she gets too ... we have almost nothing to go on from this only that it exists and is significant enough to offset several levels of strength between men and women.

Agreed. I always said it was ridiculous to base Egwene's position, and that of Amys, based on the quote of an ignorant Aviendha, of all people.


I think we have a lot of strength generated based on different scales actually... IMO in the early stages when Elayne or Aviendha estimate strength they are talking in terms of full potential as it's likely what they immediately sense. But when an AS or other well trained women speak of it they are speaking in terms of the "at this moment" Strength... which is probably why there is some confusion in the text about who is stronger than who ... for instance, it's possible that Tamela and Viendre have equal or even less Potential than Elayne and are merely stronger at that moment in time since Elayne and Avi have not yet peaked. Elayne has had far more training at this point in the series so she is likely talking about "of the moment" strength (although this could also be a case of both potential and current level being higher). Much as Reanne almost certainly was comparing Alivia's strength to Nynaeve's current level... not to Nynaeve's potential which is a moot comparison if Nynaeve had not peaked yet.
Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
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Proof that Asmodean's effective One Power strength is greater than Moghedien's... - 03/02/2011 03:22:42 PM 2237 Views
Huh? - 03/02/2011 04:08:29 PM 1167 Views
Why do you deliberately misquote the text? - 03/02/2011 04:12:50 PM 1187 Views
You're deliberately being obtuse... as usual... - 03/02/2011 10:07:09 PM 1120 Views
Right. So Egwene can shield someone of Egwene's own strength, plus Elayne, AND weave a dozen flows.. - 03/02/2011 10:26:27 PM 1117 Views
- 03/02/2011 10:46:40 PM 994 Views
No. Egwene is very close to her full potential at the time... - 03/02/2011 11:44:20 PM 1093 Views
Bullshit... - 04/02/2011 12:39:42 AM 969 Views
Unbiased view... - 04/02/2011 01:46:40 AM 1088 Views
The WoT Board in a nutshell. *NM* - 04/02/2011 02:34:32 AM 536 Views
Yeah, thats unbiased... *NM* - 04/02/2011 05:23:17 PM 520 Views
Don't agree - 04/02/2011 08:30:02 AM 1105 Views
Fair comment, but my question then is: - 04/02/2011 11:26:25 AM 953 Views
I think the WO and Moiraine also Force Egwene as they know what's coming and need her - 04/02/2011 03:55:46 PM 968 Views
It is specifically stated that Egwene was forced by the rigours of the damane training... - 04/02/2011 05:15:20 PM 949 Views
Egwene has been continually forced... - 04/02/2011 06:02:08 PM 907 Views
The direct quotes contradict you... - 04/02/2011 06:23:03 PM 1002 Views
actually the quote substantiates that Egwene is only slightly stronger than Moiraine in TSR - 04/02/2011 07:51:10 PM 1017 Views
here ya go they were all Forced - 04/02/2011 07:59:40 PM 883 Views
Nope... - 04/02/2011 08:23:00 PM 970 Views
I think you may have misused the term - RJ meant 'effective' to mean something a bit different. - 03/02/2011 04:40:41 PM 1146 Views
Re: I think you are mistaking what RJ meant effective to mean. - 03/02/2011 05:30:15 PM 1061 Views
Re: I think you are mistaking what RJ meant effective to mean. - 03/02/2011 05:45:30 PM 1061 Views
Re: I think you are mistaking what RJ meant effective to mean. - 03/02/2011 06:31:34 PM 985 Views
Re: I think you are mistaking what RJ meant effective to mean. - 03/02/2011 07:06:50 PM 1007 Views
Re: I think you are mistaking what RJ meant effective to mean. - 03/02/2011 07:17:25 PM 1004 Views
We still don't know who is effectively stronger, and not sure if Asmo was equal to Rand by the end. - 03/02/2011 06:58:14 PM 822 Views
See my post above, I would say Asmo is Weaker than Moggy... *NM* - 03/02/2011 07:10:07 PM 542 Views
I'm not certain either way. I think it all depends on the terms being used. - 03/02/2011 07:22:01 PM 1040 Views
My impression of your view, in general, is that... - 03/02/2011 07:33:37 PM 914 Views
How... - 03/02/2011 10:15:34 PM 871 Views
If Nynaeve could do to Egwene and Elayne what Rand did to them, then I rest my case... - 03/02/2011 10:36:46 PM 1031 Views
Re: If Nynaeve could do to Egwene and Elayne what Rand did to them, then I rest my case... - 03/02/2011 10:50:57 PM 973 Views
Got you now... - 03/02/2011 11:32:49 PM 946 Views
You're clearly delusional... - 04/02/2011 12:59:26 AM 952 Views
You sound ridiculous - 04/02/2011 02:05:18 AM 951 Views
Re: You sound ridiculous - 04/02/2011 02:23:50 AM 1034 Views
Ok... - 04/02/2011 04:13:34 PM 897 Views
Elayne is not stronger than most AS at this point in the books - 04/02/2011 08:14:41 PM 932 Views
Re: How... - 04/02/2011 08:34:21 AM 1090 Views
They're very close now... - 04/02/2011 05:46:48 PM 1045 Views
That is unfortunately not true... - 04/02/2011 06:02:34 PM 1030 Views
It is... - 04/02/2011 06:05:05 PM 878 Views
Re: It is... - 04/02/2011 06:31:32 PM 1139 Views
Yup... - 04/02/2011 08:20:33 PM 886 Views
Semirhage hated Lanfear, but dared not act against her strength... - 04/02/2011 08:29:24 PM 1308 Views
yet Graendal showed a lot of respect for Semirhage ... even assumed she was the most - 04/02/2011 08:53:05 PM 973 Views
Graendal on Semirhage and Demandred... - 04/02/2011 09:23:50 PM 1240 Views
No - 04/02/2011 11:10:00 PM 1018 Views
CLAPS *NM* - 05/02/2011 05:15:21 AM 570 Views
We will just have to disagree on this one... - 05/02/2011 06:57:36 AM 908 Views
Indeed - 05/02/2011 07:38:10 AM 899 Views
I agree with you ... especially abou the perpective issue - 05/02/2011 03:00:58 PM 993 Views
I agree with you here - 04/02/2011 08:19:35 PM 907 Views
I don't think that's true.. - 04/02/2011 08:21:38 PM 843 Views
Considering that Asmodean and Rand were using a sa'angreal... - 04/02/2011 04:55:03 AM 1113 Views
I think this is a no brainer - 04/02/2011 08:22:00 AM 1057 Views
The nice fact which is proven is the magnitude of the gap between Moghedien and Semirhage... - 04/02/2011 11:32:00 AM 893 Views
Nynaeve could be at 90% or 80% when she faced Moghedien we have no way of measuring that - 04/02/2011 08:42:03 PM 892 Views
Disagree... - 04/02/2011 08:51:55 PM 967 Views
spin it all you like... I'm tired of this arument and your creative quoting. - 04/02/2011 08:56:14 PM 867 Views
The creative quoter is Fionwe, not me. You quote correctly, but your interpretations are way off... - 04/02/2011 09:05:43 PM 869 Views
Nynaeve has grown in strength, but she started nearly as strong as Moiraine! - 05/02/2011 05:35:05 AM 858 Views
Starting out at Moiraine's strength meant starting out at barely 30% of her full potential... - 05/02/2011 07:05:46 AM 912 Views
Nynaeve's strength - 05/02/2011 07:49:07 AM 963 Views
Agree, Egwene has never been as strong as Nynaeve at any stage. *NM* - 05/02/2011 03:03:25 PM 625 Views
I disagree that Moiraine is 30% of Nynaeve. Much closer to 50% of Nynaeve. EDIT - 05/02/2011 03:02:06 PM 1047 Views
Minor quibbles aside... - 05/02/2011 04:05:30 PM 1047 Views
Agreed, the exact numbers are arbitrary, I place Egwene a tad higher than you ... EDIT - 05/02/2011 04:30:00 PM 861 Views
Re: Agreed, the exact numbers are arbitrary, I place Egwene a tad higher than you ... EDIT - 05/02/2011 06:09:41 PM 993 Views
shrugs - 05/02/2011 06:46:02 PM 916 Views
Re: shrugs - 05/02/2011 08:03:37 PM 926 Views
I don't recall the Merise quote you are refering too and they have not been together in the series - 05/02/2011 09:20:56 PM 847 Views
I'm sorry, I meant the glossary entry... - 05/02/2011 10:29:46 PM 902 Views
Thanks for clarifying - 05/02/2011 11:12:19 PM 822 Views
Re: Thanks for clarifying - 06/02/2011 12:42:51 AM 881 Views
fair enough ... I can agree to Cadsuane and Bode both being 70 with Egwene and co at 80 *NM* - 06/02/2011 04:29:49 AM 488 Views
Cool! *NM* - 06/02/2011 04:18:52 PM 527 Views
Sorry, but here your entire Bell Curve goes up in smoke... - 06/02/2011 01:13:15 PM 838 Views
In fact, Moiraine is even STRONGER than I postulated in the above post... - 06/02/2011 01:22:11 PM 1231 Views
well... - 06/02/2011 02:11:02 PM 972 Views
Only a separate Bell Curve for the Age of Legends - when the average strength was higher - will work - 06/02/2011 03:29:49 PM 891 Views
Or, you know, the Aes Sedai aren't a representative sample... *NM* - 06/02/2011 04:19:22 PM 634 Views
I don't think Strength was higher in the AOL I think there were just more channelers - 06/02/2011 04:50:42 PM 943 Views
Yup. - 06/02/2011 05:30:54 PM 864 Views
Trivial - 06/02/2011 06:10:55 PM 884 Views
Uhhh... no... - 06/02/2011 04:18:19 PM 779 Views
Read these facts slowly, maybe you will grasp the implication then... - 06/02/2011 04:41:02 PM 936 Views
you are missing the fact that women like Sharina have no interest in the Tower - 06/02/2011 05:05:10 PM 963 Views
You equate random exclusions with the deliberate block exclusion of 37.5% weakest women... - 06/02/2011 05:41:47 PM 891 Views
wrong - 06/02/2011 06:08:20 PM 1002 Views
That is weak logic in the extreme... - 06/02/2011 06:16:46 PM 877 Views
what I'm saying is that a representative sample of the entire population - 06/02/2011 06:40:51 PM 925 Views
Yes. *NM* - 06/02/2011 06:47:59 PM 583 Views
Yes. *NM* - 06/02/2011 06:48:00 PM 507 Views
But you don't prove that the undiscovered women are stronger. They may well be weaker... - 06/02/2011 07:26:27 PM 771 Views
Amys is far from the strongest WO! - 06/02/2011 07:37:14 PM 1081 Views
Explain the 1000 women they found in Murandy then... - 06/02/2011 06:26:46 PM 873 Views
And a 1000 years ago... - 06/02/2011 06:33:29 PM 898 Views
The only implication I grasped is that you don't grasp math... - 06/02/2011 06:21:12 PM 990 Views
Circular reasoning... - 06/02/2011 07:03:53 PM 935 Views
Agreed. - 04/02/2011 04:32:05 PM 977 Views
Agree. *NM* - 04/02/2011 05:49:05 PM 594 Views
agreed *NM* - 04/02/2011 08:27:22 PM 609 Views

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