Your facts are incorrect. - Edit 1
Before modification by Logain at 17/12/2009 02:42:17 PM
She won't do this because she is not a complete and total moron. See, the VAST MAJORITY of enemies whom damane face are NOT channelers and NOT susceptible to shields. Logic would therefore suggest that since the Seanchan sul'dam and damane are USED to facing people whom they cannot shield, they have devised other methods of dealing with them. Lightning bolts. Fireballs. Crap like that. Your suggestion would result in 2000 dead Aes Sedai right quick. The ability to link did not save them from the Shaido Wise Ones or Asha'man at Dumai's Wells after all.
The Aes Sedai at Dumai's Wells did not link (except for those who held Rand's shield). Furthermore, the AS at Dumai's Wells did just fine against the Shaido Wise Ones. The only thing that beat them was the Asha'man and we see that the Asha'man greatly outnumbered the AS. Mazrim Taim brought practically every abled-body he could find that could channel.
When you link, you basically do nothing other than create a super-strong channeler. You trade a bunch of little guns for one big gun. The other people in the link are merely ambulatory magazines or batteries. Given their inability to fight without their lives being threatened, and their certain knowledge that the Seanchan would prefer to take them alive, the circles jumping into Seanchan territory will not have any first strike capability and very little practice using the Power as a weapon, whereas the Seanchan have institutionalized procedures and practices. Alivia's skill with weapon weaves might not be shared by all the damane, but you can bet the sul'dam have it all down. They view the White Tower as their greatest adversary and believe all other opposition they have faced thus far is connected to the Tower. Do you REALLY think they don't have contingency plans for an army of channelers appearing in their midst? After initial attempts to shield the sisters fail, they will simply start trying to kill them.
You contradict yourself from your first paragraph. With shields utterly useless, the only thing left for the Seanchan will be to try to kill the AS. At that point, the AS can fight back. And as we saw from Egwene, it is rather easy to stop ALL attacks from the Seanchan when you are in a linked circle.
If you don't like circles of 13, or as you put it, you like more little guns, then circles of 10 or 9 AS would be just as good. That would still be utterly unstoppable, and if the AS used circles of 9 or 10 they could increase their number of total circles considerably.
The Seanchan collar channelers primarily because they need them to fight other channelers - their top priority is control of all channelers, NOT having the Power. If they cannot leash the channelers, they will destroy them, rather than leave mareth'damane free.
And that is exactly why the AS linked could use deadly force. The Seanchan would have no way to stop the AS except to try to kill them.
The Aes Sedai at Dumai's Wells did not link (except for those who held Rand's shield). Furthermore, the AS at Dumai's Wells did just fine against the Shaido Wise Ones. The only thing that beat them was the Asha'man and we see that the Asha'man greatly outnumbered the AS. Mazrim Taim brought practically every abled-body he could find that could channel.
When you link, you basically do nothing other than create a super-strong channeler. You trade a bunch of little guns for one big gun. The other people in the link are merely ambulatory magazines or batteries. Given their inability to fight without their lives being threatened, and their certain knowledge that the Seanchan would prefer to take them alive, the circles jumping into Seanchan territory will not have any first strike capability and very little practice using the Power as a weapon, whereas the Seanchan have institutionalized procedures and practices. Alivia's skill with weapon weaves might not be shared by all the damane, but you can bet the sul'dam have it all down. They view the White Tower as their greatest adversary and believe all other opposition they have faced thus far is connected to the Tower. Do you REALLY think they don't have contingency plans for an army of channelers appearing in their midst? After initial attempts to shield the sisters fail, they will simply start trying to kill them.
You contradict yourself from your first paragraph. With shields utterly useless, the only thing left for the Seanchan will be to try to kill the AS. At that point, the AS can fight back. And as we saw from Egwene, it is rather easy to stop ALL attacks from the Seanchan when you are in a linked circle.
If you don't like circles of 13, or as you put it, you like more little guns, then circles of 10 or 9 AS would be just as good. That would still be utterly unstoppable, and if the AS used circles of 9 or 10 they could increase their number of total circles considerably.
The Seanchan collar channelers primarily because they need them to fight other channelers - their top priority is control of all channelers, NOT having the Power. If they cannot leash the channelers, they will destroy them, rather than leave mareth'damane free.
And that is exactly why the AS linked could use deadly force. The Seanchan would have no way to stop the AS except to try to kill them.