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Seems logical to me, for whatever that is worth. Joel Send a noteboard - 21/05/2012 07:28:11 PM
Aran'gar had opportunity, ability, and motive to use compulsion on Egwene. Can anyone think of a reason why Aran'gar would not have at least attempted to control Egwene through compulsion?

My theory is Aran'gar was not very talented in the use of compulsion and Egwene was strong willed. Directives that Egwene partially of wholly agreed with were the ones that were effective. Examples of this would be 'The Dragon Reborn is Dangerous, and you must protect the world from him', The White Tower must be reunited and you are the one most able to achieve this', and 'Do not trust men especially those in the military'. An example of one that would not have work would be declaring Elaida a dark friend.

Talented or not, directives toward which a victim is most inclined are always easiest to Compel (unless Moghedien lied to Liandrin, hardly beyond the realm of possibility.) We likewise know Balthamel had SOME talent and skill with Compulsion because we saw him use it at Graendals request. Logically, it was probably not an especially rare or clumsy practice among the Forsaken, who were themselves greatly "inclined" to employ such a powerful tool with no concern for its destructive effects. We know Graendals habit of using it like a sledgehammer drew her associates scorn, but that was simply because she rarely cared enough about the damage to use a lighter touch, not because the AoLs foremost mental health specialist lacked the skill. We also know Balthamel in particular was an infamous lech and sexual deviant/predator (I want to say his crimes were great enough to earn him Severing,) so we have every reason to believe he would have practiced until quite adept with Compulsion. That illustrates another advantage the Forsaken had with Compulsion: Not only were they inclined to use it, with no regard for its harmful effects, but during the century-long War of the Power they acquired countless victims on whom they could experiment and refine their techniques.

If I had to bet, it would not only be that Balthamel used Compulsion on Egwene, but SO skillfully neither she nor we have ever detected any hint of it. It strains the limits of plausibility to believe Balthamel had the means to Compel Egwene and was tasked with controlling her (both of which were stated in the text,) yet never once used the former to aid the latter. The absence of hints would not mean much in itself, because Jordan and Sanderson have the luxury of revealing her PoV and everyone elses selectively. Half of Randland could be convinced she is under Compulsion and we would never know it if the authors deliberately concealed all evidence of it until a time of their choosing.
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Egwene under compulsion - 17/05/2012 05:40:31 AM 1662 Views
Re: Egwene under compulsion - 17/05/2012 08:27:50 AM 934 Views
To add to that - 17/05/2012 01:46:02 PM 800 Views
Re: To add to that - 18/05/2012 06:04:07 AM 816 Views
Re: To add to that - 18/05/2012 08:58:23 AM 685 Views
Re: To add to that - 19/05/2012 04:00:49 AM 693 Views
Re: To add to that - 19/05/2012 11:04:14 AM 646 Views
Re: To add to that - 20/05/2012 05:38:31 AM 631 Views
I think you are misunderstanding what I meant - 18/05/2012 04:22:38 PM 647 Views
Re: Egwene under compulsion - 18/05/2012 11:31:01 PM 811 Views
Except we know Aran'gar was punished in some way for "losing control of her charge" - 18/05/2012 11:47:44 PM 595 Views
Re: Except we know Aran'gar was punished in some way for "losing control of her charge" - 19/05/2012 12:31:10 AM 803 Views
Yes I know. That's the point we are discussing. - 19/05/2012 12:44:27 AM 579 Views
Re: Yes I know. That's the point we are discussing. - 20/05/2012 07:01:23 AM 692 Views
Fair point on Ishamael - 20/05/2012 03:36:32 PM 723 Views
Re: Fair point on Ishamael - 21/05/2012 01:56:30 PM 713 Views
You are over simplifying it I think - 21/05/2012 03:33:48 PM 725 Views
Re: Except we know Aran'gar was punished in some way for "losing control of her charge" - 20/05/2012 06:54:40 AM 629 Views
Well, Elza did somehow... - 20/05/2012 11:04:56 AM 633 Views
It happened off screen - 20/05/2012 03:44:40 PM 638 Views
Re: It happened off screen - 21/05/2012 01:45:26 PM 618 Views
Re: Egwene under compulsion - 19/05/2012 12:05:32 AM 928 Views
And lets not forget that Egwene knows to counter compulsion... - 19/05/2012 01:13:39 AM 696 Views
The Headaches - 19/05/2012 04:47:23 AM 687 Views
Re: The Headaches - 19/05/2012 05:12:26 PM 753 Views
Re: Egwene under compulsion - 20/05/2012 06:37:23 AM 630 Views
Like I said before... - 20/05/2012 07:30:58 PM 663 Views
Re: Like I said before... - 20/05/2012 08:57:17 PM 567 Views
Finding a weave and recognizing the symptoms are different things - 21/05/2012 03:13:12 AM 551 Views
Re: Finding a weave and recognizing the symptoms are different things - 21/05/2012 01:32:30 PM 623 Views
No argument that a subtle compulsion would be necessary - 21/05/2012 01:48:06 PM 653 Views
Re: No argument that a subtle compulsion would be necessary - 21/05/2012 01:57:44 PM 623 Views
Re: No argument that a subtle compulsion would be necessary - 21/05/2012 02:44:09 PM 680 Views
Re: Like I said before... - 21/05/2012 01:21:34 PM 543 Views
Re: Like I said before... - 21/05/2012 06:00:35 PM 693 Views
Seems logical to me, for whatever that is worth. - 21/05/2012 07:28:11 PM 499 Views

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