"Silviana = Mesaana" is a bold claim, but there are a few reasons I suspect her:
1) She gets to mete out punishment, something the FS love to do.
2) It's a powerful position, and she can blame Elaida for anything she does.
3) See seems above and beyond the Ajah disputes - this makes perfect sense for someone who sees the AS as children anyhow.
4) It gave her a chance to try to break Egwene. When Egwene didn't break, she decided to do what she claimed in the Prologue of tGS: "I will deliver ... an entire brood of channelers who - one way or another - will serve our cause in the Last Battle" and "More and more join our cause. Some intentionally, others unwittingly".
From the above quotes, it seems that she realises that a strong tower could be better for the Shadow if it can be turned to fight for the wrong cause. Who better to misdirect the tower than someone the Amyrlin trusts and relies on - the Keeper?
Mesaana can tell that Elaida will fall - so she goes out to the Hall and proclaims support for Egwene, knowing that Egwene will hear of this and reward her.
5) Perhaps one of the most compelling pieces of evidence - Silviana was the first Tower AS to swear on the Oath Rod. This means she could decide exactly what to say, rather than having to follow a set formula. In this way, she could make the oath that she wasn't BA and noone would question it - if the first oathtaker had said something like "I have never served the Dark One", then Mesaana would need to make a similar oath or risk sounding like she was circumventing something. By swearing first, she avoids this.
6) Finally, the part of the text that gave me the idea it might be her: In the Epilogue, Egwene is considering who Mesaana might be, and coming up with blanks. The very next sentence involves Silviana entering the study to take Egwene to see something - I might be wrong about the other stuff, but I know a literary technique when I see it.
I agree that Tsutama might well be Mesaana, but I think there is still some evidence for it being Silviana. Another possibility is that she was masquerading as a Black sister, and has left the tower - Duhara strikes me as a possibility, since she is now close to Elayne, and could free a cohort of imprisoned Black Ajah and then strike at Andor.
1) She gets to mete out punishment, something the FS love to do.
2) It's a powerful position, and she can blame Elaida for anything she does.
3) See seems above and beyond the Ajah disputes - this makes perfect sense for someone who sees the AS as children anyhow.
4) It gave her a chance to try to break Egwene. When Egwene didn't break, she decided to do what she claimed in the Prologue of tGS: "I will deliver ... an entire brood of channelers who - one way or another - will serve our cause in the Last Battle" and "More and more join our cause. Some intentionally, others unwittingly".
From the above quotes, it seems that she realises that a strong tower could be better for the Shadow if it can be turned to fight for the wrong cause. Who better to misdirect the tower than someone the Amyrlin trusts and relies on - the Keeper?
Mesaana can tell that Elaida will fall - so she goes out to the Hall and proclaims support for Egwene, knowing that Egwene will hear of this and reward her.
5) Perhaps one of the most compelling pieces of evidence - Silviana was the first Tower AS to swear on the Oath Rod. This means she could decide exactly what to say, rather than having to follow a set formula. In this way, she could make the oath that she wasn't BA and noone would question it - if the first oathtaker had said something like "I have never served the Dark One", then Mesaana would need to make a similar oath or risk sounding like she was circumventing something. By swearing first, she avoids this.
6) Finally, the part of the text that gave me the idea it might be her: In the Epilogue, Egwene is considering who Mesaana might be, and coming up with blanks. The very next sentence involves Silviana entering the study to take Egwene to see something - I might be wrong about the other stuff, but I know a literary technique when I see it.
I agree that Tsutama might well be Mesaana, but I think there is still some evidence for it being Silviana. Another possibility is that she was masquerading as a Black sister, and has left the tower - Duhara strikes me as a possibility, since she is now close to Elayne, and could free a cohort of imprisoned Black Ajah and then strike at Andor.
Mesaana is ....
17/11/2009 12:50:49 AM
- 2208 Views
I like it.
17/11/2009 01:22:25 AM
- 898 Views
Solid theory. But there are some problems...
17/11/2009 03:09:39 AM
- 885 Views
Re: Solid theory. But there are some problems...
17/11/2009 04:41:57 AM
- 921 Views
Re: Solid theory. But there are some problems...
17/11/2009 05:29:58 AM
- 1055 Views
Does anyone remember the girl who was being punished on a farm who was killed w. OP?
17/11/2009 05:25:06 AM
- 834 Views
Sahra Covenry
17/11/2009 05:36:04 AM
- 874 Views
Yes, we never really got an explanation for that.
17/11/2009 07:07:04 AM
- 820 Views
Mesaana? Blue? Tower basement? Are you sure you don't mix up something? *NM*
17/11/2009 10:49:20 AM
- 392 Views
No. she tortured a blue Aes sedai in the basements of the white Tower. *NM*
17/11/2009 07:21:44 PM
- 435 Views
Maybe Mesaana is playing Sahra?
17/11/2009 12:07:07 PM
- 757 Views
I think we had a POV from Sahra as she was killed.
18/11/2009 10:39:25 PM
- 795 Views
right and wrong
09/12/2009 05:02:39 AM
- 708 Views
Possibly - or maybe Silviana?
17/11/2009 06:12:41 AM
- 799 Views
I think her switching to Egeane was due to her reading the book about raising amyrlins.
17/11/2009 07:05:39 AM
- 823 Views
I can see more towards Evanellein...
17/11/2009 10:48:09 AM
- 881 Views
Evanellein is my top suspect, too, but Tsutama is a good one after her.
17/11/2009 02:26:27 PM
- 878 Views
I don't think so, because of:
17/11/2009 11:31:22 AM
- 788 Views
If I'm not mistaken, at that time Tsutama was still just a Sitter, not head of the Red Ajah
17/11/2009 02:36:52 PM
- 709 Views
An excellent point
17/11/2009 03:42:22 PM
- 777 Views
3rd Red Sitter is now Duhara, who is Black and last seen on a mission for Elaida in Caemlyn
17/12/2009 12:30:58 AM
- 991 Views
As others said...
17/11/2009 03:39:55 PM
- 771 Views
Meh - I'm not a fan of these "mysteries". I'm starting to think she's playing Mistress Laras.
18/11/2009 03:31:58 PM
- 675 Views
The main problem, IMHO, is that Mesaana doesn't like extravagance.
17/11/2009 08:02:49 PM
- 789 Views
Maria confirmed at Twitter...
18/11/2009 04:46:06 PM
- 933 Views
What, we have to start monitoring Twitter as well now?
What's her account?
*NM*
18/11/2009 09:56:36 PM
- 374 Views

