so'jhin are Imperial da'covale, and all the descendants of an Imperial da'covale share that status.
so'jhin and da'covale are two different things. One is made da'covale as a punishment and apparentyu kept for lowly menial tasks. Descendants of someone punished this way are often forced into service to the throne as da'covale too (it doesn't seem to be always the case, as some like Karede and the Seeker were called hereditary da'covale - that'd be redundant if they all are), but can eventually rise very high (as Karede and Selucia, for example) and even be named so'jhin (as happened to Selucia).
I was writing out a rebuttal to this when I realised you're actually right...most so'jhin are probably da'covale, but Alwhin became Suroth's so'jhin but was still allowed to act a sul'dam, which I doubt she would have been had she then been property. And Selucia is now a Truthspeaker, and free by definition, though she continues to act as Fortuona's Voice. Though there's a bit of contradiction there - if being an Imperial da'covale, tattooed with the ravens etc, marks you and all your descendants, which we've been explicitly told it does, then it shouldn't have been possible for Selucia to be freed. But I suppose if the Empress decrees something, it is done, law or no law.
Egeanin was a free woman because her mother was so'jhin but not an hereditary da'covale. She was also a free woman.
Quite possible. Though it seems odd that she managed to get promoted far enough to become a Captain of the Gold - she must have won a great many military victories - without at some point being raised to the Blood. Egeanin would have been one too, then, and wasn't. Still, evidently that's not how it happened. It was probably just a throwaway line.
Seanchan slavery is a peculiar thing. They don't do or see things like the Europeans/Americans did, nor see their slaves as sub-humans (with the exception of damane). Everyone in Seanchan serves the Throne, even the Empress herself. Those who fail (by betrayal, crime, incompetence etc.) become part of a caste that doesn't have anymore the freedom to choose how they will serve. It's a lot more similar to slavery and serfdom in ancient Asia, and even to some aspects of the caste system in India.
The whole Seanchan society is divided into a hierarchy of duties and status. A High Lord has no more choice than a da'covale but to fulfill the duties the Throne asks of him, and like them he is born into the status. The difference is that a High Lord has a high status, and with it comes a more complicated (though more comfortable) life and is even under greater pressure of competence. Even Tuon herself is hardly "free". She has no choice but to be who she is. Her whole life has been programmed for her. As everyone has those duties to the Throne and the Empire, the Seanchan don't really see how da'covale are so different. To them are just people who failed in their duty to the Empire (or whose bloodline is tainted with crime against the Empire) - or in the case of damane women they perceive can't be trusted because of their nature - and who have to be forced to do what everyone else in Seanchan is expected to do freely.
The whole Seanchan society is divided into a hierarchy of duties and status. A High Lord has no more choice than a da'covale but to fulfill the duties the Throne asks of him, and like them he is born into the status. The difference is that a High Lord has a high status, and with it comes a more complicated (though more comfortable) life and is even under greater pressure of competence. Even Tuon herself is hardly "free". She has no choice but to be who she is. Her whole life has been programmed for her. As everyone has those duties to the Throne and the Empire, the Seanchan don't really see how da'covale are so different. To them are just people who failed in their duty to the Empire (or whose bloodline is tainted with crime against the Empire) - or in the case of damane women they perceive can't be trusted because of their nature - and who have to be forced to do what everyone else in Seanchan is expected to do freely.
This is one of the best explanations of the Seanchan culture that I've seen so far - I've thought along these lines, but never been able to articulate it as well as this.
Tiny question about Egeanin
- 06/02/2011 12:19:48 AM
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I scanned the WoT encyclopedia and wot wikia, no mention of her mom, but the library at
- 06/02/2011 03:29:00 AM
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Why would Egeanin inherit the later slavery?
- 07/02/2011 09:27:32 PM
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DomA sorted it all out, but yes, I'd read that slavery was hereditary. *NM*
- 07/02/2011 11:09:27 PM
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Re: Why would Egeanin inherit the later slavery?
- 08/02/2011 11:41:52 AM
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You do know that the Papacy and the bishopric of Rome are the same, yes? 
- 08/02/2011 07:03:51 PM
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- 08/02/2011 07:03:51 PM
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Re: Tiny question about Egeanin
- 06/02/2011 01:12:15 PM
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Aha 
- 06/02/2011 03:16:48 PM
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- 06/02/2011 03:16:48 PM
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Re: Aha
- 06/02/2011 10:38:43 PM
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- 06/02/2011 10:38:43 PM
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Re: Aha
- 07/02/2011 12:31:15 AM
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- 07/02/2011 12:31:15 AM
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Definitely Da'covale
- 07/02/2011 04:05:41 AM
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Re: Definitely not Da'covale
- 07/02/2011 11:55:21 AM
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Yes, those children WOULD be slaves. That was the point of the story.
- 07/02/2011 08:27:05 PM
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