Yes - I said Altara is effectively south as they don't control or patrol most of their lands. - Edit 1
Before modification by RugbyPlayingAshaman at 11/11/2011 10:00:22 PM
Evidently, you were incorrect. As far as not holding northern Altara, that is irrelevant, it is still nominally part of Altara. For comparison's sake, Andor only nominally holds anything west of Whitebridge, which does not stop Andor from treating the raising of a lord in the Two Rivers as an actual rebellion. Borders actually do matter. If Andor or Murandy or Ghealdan tried to seize that area, that might not only give the monarchy the outside threat it needs to extend its influence over its own country, but it would also draw the attention of those nations' enemies who would rush to defend Altara to stymie the expansion of those countries.
If Andor were to cross Altara's borders to "defend" the road against the Seanchan, then that would be an invasion of Altara and an act of war against the Seanchan. And probably futile - as mentioned earlier, Andor itself hardly holds its own territory west of the Arinelle, and most of the Altaran territory being discussed is also west of that river.
If Andor were to cross Altara's borders to "defend" the road against the Seanchan, then that would be an invasion of Altara and an act of war against the Seanchan. And probably futile - as mentioned earlier, Andor itself hardly holds its own territory west of the Arinelle, and most of the Altaran territory being discussed is also west of that river.
I'm not going to deny you are technically right but this was a point that was brought up in the story - Tuon had promised Beslan she would secure the rest of the country, since the rulership had effectively been reduced to Ebou Dar and immediate surrounding lands before then.
But I don't think borders matter if you can't exercise control over them. If you can't do that, borders are nothing more than lines on a map, even if the noble sitting in the well-defended capital hundreds of miles away throws a fit. And a war at this point against the Seanchan with a fully united Western effort destroying the Seanchan occupying the Westlands now might actually be the best time to strike, given that the Empire is in a shambles and the Return has been cut off. Dark Rand probably could have done it himself by eliminating all of the Blood at once. Unfortunately Tarmon Gaidon makes this impossible, with so many enemies literally at their backs and poised to besiege all of their cities.