Right, now you're in my domain - although others claim it as their own in error! Mhuhahahaha...
Shannow Send a noteboard - 16/11/2009 08:27:12 PM
There are a couple of factors at play here.
First.
Cadsuane says that it is NORMALLY sufficient to have one sister maintaining a shield, but she stresses that she never considered using only 1 sister on Semirhage. Remember that any normal circumstance would refer to holding an Aes Sedai shielded. There has never been a case where a Forsaken had to be shielded, so the "normal" measures go right out the window.
In truth, 3 sisters are needed to hold the shield over Semirhage. Remember that in CoS, 2 Black Ajah sisters were able to hold a shield over Nynaeve.
Second.
It is harder to hold a shield over a channeler of the opposite sex. How much harder, is difficult to say. But the hints are pretty clear that you would need more sisters to shield a man of comparative strength to Semirhage, than you would need to shield Semirhage herself.
And third.
Rand is a much higher on the male strength ladder than Semirhage is on the female ladder. So even if it was just as easy to shield someone of the opposite sex, you would STILL need more sisters to shield Rand than you would need to shield Semirhage.
Just as an aside, Rand only broke free once the shield was down to 3 sisters. But it seems pretty clear that he did that to be absolutely sure. If time had run out, he might well have tried his luck while 4 were still holding the shield.
And if he wasn't so weak at the time, he would probably have been able to break free of 5. It is indicated that Logain almost broke free from 6, and might well have overcome 5.
Hope this answers your question.
First.
Cadsuane says that it is NORMALLY sufficient to have one sister maintaining a shield, but she stresses that she never considered using only 1 sister on Semirhage. Remember that any normal circumstance would refer to holding an Aes Sedai shielded. There has never been a case where a Forsaken had to be shielded, so the "normal" measures go right out the window.
In truth, 3 sisters are needed to hold the shield over Semirhage. Remember that in CoS, 2 Black Ajah sisters were able to hold a shield over Nynaeve.
Second.
It is harder to hold a shield over a channeler of the opposite sex. How much harder, is difficult to say. But the hints are pretty clear that you would need more sisters to shield a man of comparative strength to Semirhage, than you would need to shield Semirhage herself.
And third.
Rand is a much higher on the male strength ladder than Semirhage is on the female ladder. So even if it was just as easy to shield someone of the opposite sex, you would STILL need more sisters to shield Rand than you would need to shield Semirhage.
Just as an aside, Rand only broke free once the shield was down to 3 sisters. But it seems pretty clear that he did that to be absolutely sure. If time had run out, he might well have tried his luck while 4 were still holding the shield.
And if he wasn't so weak at the time, he would probably have been able to break free of 5. It is indicated that Logain almost broke free from 6, and might well have overcome 5.
Hope this answers your question.
This message last edited by Shannow on 16/11/2009 at 08:30:10 PM
A questions about shielding.
- 16/11/2009 08:15:43 PM
564 Views
Right, now you're in my domain - although others claim it as their own in error! Mhuhahahaha...
- 16/11/2009 08:27:12 PM
464 Views
Men and women are different
- 16/11/2009 08:34:20 PM
370 Views
men can't link, so how does two men maintain a single shield on a woman? *NM*
- 16/11/2009 08:38:14 PM
143 Views
This is a clear example of where the male strength advantage is unquestionable...
- 16/11/2009 08:52:08 PM
426 Views
Lews Therin says that no three women could shield him unless they were as strong as Semirhage...
- 16/11/2009 08:39:23 PM
1855 Views
your memory is a little fuzzy, it's actually much simpler than you think
- 17/11/2009 02:46:24 AM
351 Views