Just thought I'd get this out of the way before anyone began going back over her past actions with a fine tooth comb trying to decide how they should be viewed in light of her being Black Ajah. It doesn't matter. Unlike just about anyone else, her being Black is NOT an issue in any of that. She makes it plain that she became Black when she had a choice to join or die, and whatever orders she's had to follow or foul actions she's had to perform in the course of being a Black sister, her motivations were in the right place. It seems fairly certain that her actions through the series were motivated by her private alignment with the Light and helping Rand as she thought best. There may be some debate as to what orders she was following or how she reconciled her actions with her superiors, but we can be fairly certain that she did not involve herself with Siuan & Moiraine's intrigue and get close to Rand or go to the Two Rivers, or her subsequent actions aiding Rand and Cadsuane because she was Black. Rather she took those actions for the same reason she did what she did in the Tower with Egwene in tGS - because she was trying to serve the Light.

Incidently this once again exposes Siuan's poor judgment - the one sister she trusted on Black Ajah issues, to whom she exposed her so-secret trio of Accepted hunters, was Black herself! Not that she can be faulted for not knowing, but whatever criteria she used to determine where she should place her trust were faulty.

Also, in direct contrast to Verin, the one respectable member of the Black Ajah, we get Sheriam, who is a disgrace even by those standards! She's like a Muslim terrorist who only watches Al Jazeera for the soccer scores, and enjoys the fellowship of his brother martyrs-to-be, and doesn't REALLY want to smite the infidel! How completely LAME do you have to be to join the Black Ajah and be disappointed that their big moment comes along in your lifetime? Back on wotmania, I went on at some length about how pathetic and inept she was as an Aes Sedai who theoretically served the Light. Who would have thought she was an even worse Darkfriend? "I joined a clandestine underground network of evil-doers, in constant fear of discovery which would lead to instant death, involving myself in incredibly lethal intrigues with allies who would see me dead as readily as my enemies would, AND I REALLY DON'T CARE ALL THAT MUCH ABOUT THE CAUSE?!?!?!" There are not words for the level of pathetic contemptibility that is bundled into the person of Sheriam.

And regarding various revelations about the servants of the Shadow, the person I felt most sorry for turned out to be a real worlder, not even a wot character. Poor Sidious has spent so much effort in trying to reconcile the failures of the Forsaken with their god-like status and elite abilities, and it turns out that there is nothing elite about them - they are simply there because they are the most venal and corruptible. The Dark One promoted them because they are so selfish that they are easily controlled! Not for superior channeling or skill or intelligence or accomplishments, but because they were incredibly selfish jerks who happened to be born with natural power. Sorry, man.