My argument is solid. Your argument makes ridiculous assumptions.



Your credibility is about null after this.

First off, I've never said the BA would "attack" anything. I'm saying they would have done what all but 50 of them did, which is bugger off. Where did you get this attack idea?

Acting immediately, with about a good a plan as could be quickly and and practically implemented, they still lost about 2/7 of the SAS BA. If they'd waited, the percentage caught could only have dropped. Meanwhile, who knows what mischief they're up to. It is simply not practical to have them all watched or take any other kind of precaution. Plus you have to remember that Egwene doesn't know for sure that Verin's list is accurate or complete.

And since you need it explained to you, the reference to Moggy was in terms of trying to capture, imprison, and question the captured BA, rather than dispose of them quickly.



Sending ANYONE into the tower using travelling might have set off a premature confrontation. Inserting spies using any other method wouldn't yield results fast enough. The tower was weak and disorganized following the Seanchan raid and she had decided to attack immediately to take advantage of that. The SAS had done the heming and hawing and bumbling around thing long enough. It was time to act.



I've already answered most of this, but I'll get more specific.

The AS were NOT going to use Travelling to enter the tower. They'd been adamant on that since day 1. I personally disagree with that attitude, but it's true there were serious risks involved. The SAS can NOT open a gateway anywhere in the city with 100% certainty they won't be accidently slicing some poor soul in half. They can have even less certainty they won't be seen. Even their familiarity with the tower grounds can no longer be counted on ( "Novice quarters are where?" ).

It was only at the last minute that Egwene decided to allow Travelling to be used in the assault, and the fact that she planned to weave the gates herself suggests that she wasn't confident any other sister would agree to do so.

Inserting a spy without Travelling was possible, but only through Shemerin's drains. And once they've inserted someone, how exactly were they supposed to acquire useful intelligence and bring it back in short order? A non-AS can't just walk up to a sister and ask for gossip, and it's not so easy as you think to insert yourself among the tower servants or guards and get them to talk to you (sure, a typical sister won't notice a stranger among the servants, but the other servants will).

BTW, they don't have any kin in the camp, an Accepted would face the same challenges as a Sister (they'd be recognized. There weren't that many of them), and they'd never trust a Novice to perform such a dangerous and difficult task. Essentially, the only people they could and would trust to perform a mission like this is a full Sister, who would have to be disguised and masking her ability to channel (do the SAS even know how to do that?), and who would then face all the challenges I outlined for a non-channelling spy.

You make it all sound very easy, but you're forgetting that Tar Valon is a city under siege. The people who know anything useful are not going to be chatty with anyone they don't recognize.



England wasn't ready for war. Among modern historians there is a growing belief that Chamberlain did the right thing.

That doesn't matter. None of your points matter because they're all based on HINDSIGHT. You've admitted it.

If we're going to use hindsight, then okay. Egwene is now Amyrlin Seat of a united tower that is BA-free, and 25% of the BA are now dead. Sounds pretty damn good to me.



So your optimal plan was for Egwene and the SAS to continue sitting on their ass and wait for the magic information fairy to come along and tell them what to do? Meanwhile allowing 200 BA to go about their merry way doing who knows what?

Anyway, you're making a lot of assumptions about "most readers" here. I haven't seen anyone suggest that the BA were about to launch some kind of mass attack. I'm not saying it hasn't been suggested, since I do miss the odd post, but I'm sure I'd have noticed if it was some mass consensus. The most likely thing the BA were going to do was flee, which is what they did, less the 25% of them that Egwene caught and beheaded. Until you present some plan that would have netted more that 25% that makes sense based on information AVAILABLE TO THE SAS, then we have to call it a win.

I'm also not seeing any great support for the idea that Siuan was wrong to rescue Egwene. I believe she acted correctly based on available information, and even in hindsight I think things may have worked out better for it. The fact that Egwene doesn't think so is hardly going to sway my opinion.

As for assaulting immediately? Well that's debateable, I'll grant you. But since I believe they should have assaulted the tower when they first arrived, I'm hardly against an assault now. The tower is in disarray due to the Seanchan raid. There was never going to be a better time. In the end, it was good that they held up and didn't attack, but honestly, I think Egwene's position is stronger now for having been approached in a position of strength, at the head of an army, rather than if she'd been still in the tower in novice white.

And since when did this become an argument about whether Egwene was a perfect leader or not? I don't know anyone who thinks she hasn't made a ton of mistakes and been very, very lucky to not pay for them. She's an arrogant, blind fool. Like most AS. My only point is that snatching up the BA in her own camp and lopping off their heads was the absolute right thing to do. Every other decision she's made is debateable.

But since you love hindsight so much, then I'll say it again. Egwene is now AS of a united WT which is finally free of BA influence, and a full quarter of known BA are now dead. Sure, it was mostly luck and the effort of others, but Egwene's in about as good a position now as she could be. If you want to keep arguing, you need to present a scenario that would have netted better results.