The Aes Sedai are not. The Tower as a whole rules the polity of Tar Valon.
Cannoli Send a noteboard - 31/10/2009 11:34:42 PM
The Amyrlin Seat is the ruler of Tar Valon, which is an established nation with lands and claims.
And I would be just fine with anything within that limitation. No one is fighting over rulership of the island and its surrounding lands, and I have no doubt that either Egwene or Elaida (assuming either was thinking rationally) would concede to the other absolute queenship over those lands in exchange for being acknowledged as the Amyrlin with her authority limited to Aes Sedai and the Tower and its grounds. Of course, that would not stop Elaida from trying to immediately win back those lands and title from Queen Egwene (though I believe Egwene would leave Queen Elaida alone). Rulership of Tar Valon is just a sideline for the Tower and the Amyrlin, while it is the raison d'etre of a real government of a nation. The difference between the two is like the difference between a homeowner and a business that owns the premises out of which it is based. For the latter, property ownership is a sideline and a means to an end, while for the former, it is the end in itself. If the Tar Valon and all the lands the Tower currently rules were suddenly sunk beneath an inland sea and all the non-channeling inhabitants transported to another nation, the Aes Sedai would regard it as a nuisance or an encumbrance, but they would not say the Tower was gone, or that they were no longer organized or anything. Tar Valon means no more to the Tower than a corporate headquarters means to a company. Both still exist without the physical location. A nation of people can still exist if they no longer have land (such as the Tinkers or Jews), but they are not a state any longer.Egwene's battle is the same as Elayne's contest with her fellow nobles for the leadership. As an Aes Sedai, Egwene has the right to fight for the Amyrlin Seat.
No, she does not, since the Tower law does not acknowledge this, anymore than a mail clerk has the right to hire a group of mercenaries, seize the executive suite and call himself the CEO. Egwene is as legitimate as Elaida. Elaida was raised by Sitters, some of whom were from the Black Ajah. This makes the vote invalid and illegal.
Do the names, Delana, Moria & Sheriam mean anything to you? 
Egwene is also not a rebel - she was an Accepted in the Waste before being summoned by the Hall of the Tower in Salidar. You can even say that she is not a rebel because she is a registered Novice in the White Tower at the moment.
Then Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were not rebels, either, since they were not there at the beginning, and were no doubt on the census as citizens of the Galactic Empire. 
Egwene has the right to the Amyrlin Seat as much as Elayne has the right to the Lion Throne (not Sun Throne). All Aes Sedai have that right, they merely need to go through the steps and once the Hall raises them, they are legitimate. Egwene was raised without the consent of the Red Ajah which makes her an illegal Amyrlin, and Elaida was raised without the Blue and with the presence of the Black. Either Amyrlin is acceptable and thus the contest was inevitable.
Elaida is legitimate because the Blue were legally excluded from the sitting that elected her. Absolutely no one, include Anaiya, who was cited as the most anti-Elaida rebel, denied her legitimacy. Can you really think that Anaiya would miss the fact that Elaida had no Blues in the sitting where she was raised if that detail had any significance? She could not call Elaida the Amyrlin unless she believed it to be true. You could argue that the Sitters in the Tower, including the one who had proposed Siuan in the first place, and admits she would not have supported deposing her, were just ignoring the technicality. You could argue that Elaida was in denial when she claimed that she got the Amyrlin Seat by making use of a loophole in the law, and that she actually broke it. You could argue that Cadsuane does not know all the facts when she states that Elaida is the rightful Amyrlin. But you cannot argue that even the Salidar rebels would blind themselves to any lawful argument against her rule!
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
Well Brandon Sanderson has officially killed off the last volume of the Epic Saga of the Chosen One.
30/10/2009 02:36:19 AM
- 2539 Views
I skimmed cannoli's predictable rant. I disagree. I LOVED EVERY CHAPTER!
30/10/2009 03:29:24 AM
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I liked her chapters. Mainly because they gave her something to do.
30/10/2009 09:43:58 PM
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I adore Brandon Sanderson.
30/10/2009 05:05:11 AM
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Re: I adore Brandon Sanderson.
30/10/2009 02:45:03 PM
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Re: I adore Brandon Sanderson.
30/10/2009 04:34:53 PM
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Ditto. Thought he was a breath of fresh air to the series.
30/10/2009 03:27:43 PM
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If renewal means someone grossly unfamiliar with the series, sure.
30/10/2009 06:26:19 PM
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Everything up to tGS
30/10/2009 06:25:28 PM
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Re: Everything up to tGS
30/10/2009 08:21:33 PM
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What on earth makes you think I dislike it?
31/10/2009 05:25:07 AM
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General impression lately I guess.
31/10/2009 04:38:29 PM
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Don't agree completely but what I do want to see is
30/10/2009 07:12:54 AM
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so I guess ...
30/10/2009 02:48:10 PM
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You want a friend like Mat
30/10/2009 06:33:47 PM
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Yes, he will pull thru 4 u in the end, but Matt still needs to grow up. and fast *NM*
30/10/2009 07:32:28 PM
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might I add..
30/10/2009 08:30:24 AM
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Re: might I add..
30/10/2009 10:41:39 AM
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I sit somewhere in the middle, she's improved, but still many flaws
30/10/2009 11:35:47 AM
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Like others don't have flaws?
30/10/2009 02:58:08 PM
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EVERYTHING is handed to her on a platter!
30/10/2009 06:41:02 PM
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Touched a nerve did I?
30/10/2009 07:19:00 PM
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Re: Touched a nerve did I?
31/10/2009 06:36:33 AM
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Re: Touched a nerve did I?
31/10/2009 09:33:34 AM
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Bah
30/10/2009 03:36:42 PM
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Actually, Elaida WILL reveal Traveling. We've seen countless times AS broken easily by the Seanchan. *NM*
30/10/2009 05:28:06 PM
- 464 Views
More than likely, but if anyone could avoid giving it up it would be stubborn, self rightous Elaida.
30/10/2009 09:20:31 PM
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A personal question: Cannoli, are you threatened by a powerful woman?
30/10/2009 07:13:30 PM
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Obviously.
31/10/2009 05:37:52 AM
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I'm afraid of the ooze left over when I take spam out of a can *shiver* *NM*
31/10/2009 05:39:03 AM
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Well...
31/10/2009 05:56:56 AM
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Countries are real, normal and natural things. The White Tower has no proven value.
31/10/2009 06:52:48 AM
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Tar Valon is a nation
31/10/2009 09:20:43 AM
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The Aes Sedai are not. The Tower as a whole rules the polity of Tar Valon.
31/10/2009 11:34:42 PM
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The "Elaida's election was illegal because of Black Ajah Sitters" is really an absurd argument
01/11/2009 12:06:32 AM
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It wasn't absurd. Just clever...
01/11/2009 03:33:22 AM
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I wasn't saying the rebels had no cause for rebellion. Just that the election *was* legal.
01/11/2009 10:38:59 AM
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Hmm.....
06/11/2009 04:18:14 PM
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I take it she'll carefully avoid bringing up the war vote, then.
*NM*
08/11/2009 12:47:21 AM
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Re: Well Brandon Sanderson has officially killed off the last volume of the Epic Saga of the Chosen
30/10/2009 11:38:24 PM
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The harbor chain incident was no less stupid because it helped her
31/10/2009 05:40:20 AM
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It must be embarassing to be on the same side as such dingbats.
31/10/2009 07:18:42 AM
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Re: It must be embarassing to be on the same side as such dingbats.
31/10/2009 09:28:16 AM
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Don't expect rationality from Cannoli...
31/10/2009 02:01:45 PM
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Or logical trains of thought from fionwe1987....
01/11/2009 01:07:06 AM
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Re: Or logical trains of thought from fionwe1987....
01/11/2009 04:30:21 AM
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Re: It must be embarassing to be on the same side as such dingbats.
01/11/2009 12:31:10 AM
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I have one question
01/11/2009 07:12:23 AM
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Capture, NOT kill, and she herself said the sa'angreal made that impossible.
01/11/2009 07:59:44 AM
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Re: The harbor chain incident was no less stupid because it helped her
31/10/2009 04:31:29 PM
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I don't agree with all of that, but yes, Egwene's successes are a little too much.
31/10/2009 04:30:32 PM
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I too wondered when exactly Elaida took an overdose of crazy pills
01/11/2009 06:46:16 AM
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There were a few instances in the book where Egwene really bothered me.
02/11/2009 12:54:10 AM
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Poor cannoli; give it a rest you ridiculous numsquatz
07/11/2009 06:43:10 PM
- 759 Views
Yes, my long string of complaints about Sanderson has reached the limit.
09/11/2009 05:22:23 PM
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Re: Yes, my long string of complaints about Sanderson has reached the limit.
10/11/2009 07:36:46 AM
- 949 Views
