Re: Accepted are not anything, let alone junior partners. Don't think N&E's experience was typical - Edit 1
Before modification by RugbyPlayingAshaman at 28/04/2011 11:45:25 PM
Being part of the Tower does not give you any sort of insider credibility or equality with Aes Sedai at all, unless you are part of the Tower that is allowed to wear the shawl. All being a part of the system does is slot you firmly into your assigned place. Outsiders escape that. While they might be closed off from the highest levels of Aes Sedai respect or equal treatment, so are most sisters, who are forced to defer to one another according to the hierarchy. Yet, Nynaeve has no authority over Daigian's Warder and would face extreme disapproval, if not penance for any such presumption. I see your point in that Warders are not like NCOs because NCOs & COs are members of the same group and hierarchy. However, in the case of the White Tower (note that the US Military, which RJ understood from the inside, was an organization created by males, for males, while the White Tower is one created by females, for females, which may account for certain aspects being nearly similar and absolutely opposite at the same time - Rand notes the same thing about saidar & saidin), being outside the Tower, while limiting in some aspects, is liberating in others. Because they are not truly part of the Tower (and thus their facilities on Tower grounds would be roughly equivalent to a company day care center on the premises of the corporate HQ and not appearing at all on the org chart), each Warder's relationship is a PERSONAL compact between his Aes Sedai. The terms of their relationship are akin to a marriage in that they are what the parties involved agree upon between themselves. While a Sergeant First Class or Sgt Major HAS to obey a 2nd Lieutenant, for the good of the organization, the Lieutenant's wife, or civilian tennis partner or civilian plumber is in no way obligated to the same sort of subordination. Where Egwene might feel obligated to put down Bode Cauthon for the good of the organization they both serve, Gawyn is not a part of that, his relationship or dealings with Egwene have nothing to do with the organization, the organization is explicitly prohibited from taking notice of their relationship, and he has about as much of an obligation to obey Egwene as she did to obey and show respect to Rand al'Thor. And a stronger case could be made for the latter, since for most of their time together in WoT, Rand is the ruler of the Wise Ones, to whom Egwene is sworn obedience. While she might not be directly sworn to him, her relationship with him would be roughly akin to that of a Warder to the Amyrlin Seat - only Egwene is not the Amyrlin in this equation. Let us also recall that he was the liege lord of Moiraine, who was also Egwene's superior in the Tower. Even setting aside the issue of the Dragon Reborn, of whom Davram Bashere says "the world must follow you or fail", Rand is the superior of Egwene's superiors in more ways than one. You think she would recall this, as well as his generally benign and helpful treatment of her in that situation, when she is dealing with subordinates herself. Even if we stipulate why she cannot permit Bode Cauthon the same leeway Rand afforded her, that rule does not apply to Gawyn who is in no way required to be her subordinate. Egwene herself guesses that his own sister has bonded Rand, yet there is plainly no subordination or deference there (just, you know, positive attitudes towards one another, and actual offspring, which is the point of marriage/sexual commitment in the first place).
The main issue is in the latter part of your paragraph: the organization is actually not forbidden from criticizing her choice to keep him around because he was denying that he was part of it. It actually was commented on and was a point of criticism against her that she kept him around and he was trying to act as her Warder, but had not taken the official role a Warder would take. This is why I said Gawyn wanted to have his cake and eat it, too. I see your point - I am just pointing out that Gawyn himself was confused and fighting against the role he would inhabit. At the end of the day, Gawyn wanted to fill this function, but his whole character arc was about accepting it and finding peace with his choice. As he said, he always thought he'd be leading armies and gaining glory, not serving and being secondary to one woman. If you were to critique her on anything, I would think it should be that she (more like they) made it a condition of their relationship that he would be her Warder and would have to serve in this secondary role. The truth is that they could have come to some other arrangement, but he would not be able to accompany her everywhere the way a Warder would have and ultimately, he would have less freedom to see her due to the demands of her position.
I didn't claim that being part of the Tower gives anyone parity with an Aes Sedai; but being a Novice and Accepted of the Tower is far different from being a high-ranking servant, Guardsman or Warder, especially for a student that for whatever reason (among them being intelligence, judgment, subtlety, strength in saidar, leadership ability and etc.) is generally understood amongst the Sisters to be a natural candidate for the test for the shawl. This is because the Novices and Accepted represent the future of the Tower. A Warder, Guardsman and Mistress of the Kitchens are, at the end of the day, expendable and not as essential to the organization. They serve the Tower in the way nuns, the Swiss Guard and various offices occupied by non-priests serve the Vatican.
A Warder's relationship with his Aes Sedai may be personal, but the Warder still has a place in the overall hierarchy of the organization. Put it this way: in the military, though wives are not part of the official hierarchy, control over their surroundings and living situation is exerted via orders that can change where their mate is based, modifications being made to government property and other indirect means of control. A general can't order a lieutenant's wife to do anything, but the general can arrange to have orders issued that re-assigns the lieutenant and his family as he sees fit. The lieutenant, if the wife is an embarrassment, may find his advancement hampered if his wife is unpopular and lacks etiquette. It may be the case that Guardsman are moreso ingrained in the hierarchy because we have seen them be ordered by random Sisters, but that doesn't mean Warders are superior to them. It really just seems to be a different type of assignment - it would be like comparing the U.S. Secret Service, which is charged with the protection of the President and senior level officials, and the military personnel that forms the Armed forces.
The Wise Ones and the Car'a'Carn are a different story altogether; their relationship flows both ways so it really isn't as simple as saying that since Egwene was trained by them, and the Wise Ones defer to Rand, that she has an imperative to do the same. She was their student, but as soon as she returned to the Tower, she was no longer subject to their demands. Her honor is in that she doesn't forget that she is indebted to them for their training and understands their way of thinking.