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Re: All that will do is take the best fighters out of action. Cannoli Send a noteboard - 17/12/2009 08:49:28 PM
The Aes Sedai are not great fighters, but there are plenty other useful uses of the Power. And my impression is that the rebel Aes Sedai were far better prepared for attacks (in LoC we see they set up a plan of linking in the event of an attack).
Which, as Nynaeve pointed out, was a failure. And even if they are well-prepared, it does not change the fact that the Seanchan have 1,000 years of battle-testing their precautions and procedures and were seen to adapt very rapidly indeed to confronting a channeling foe. The rebels' precautions in their camp are irrelevant when considering what would happen if Aes Sedai dropped into a fight with the Seanchan.

Both were led by people with decades (or centuries) of experience in combat, and plenty of maturity. And in the case of Flinn, I imagine Cadsuane left the decision on the leader to Corele (sp?) who was one of her most trusted associates and held Flinn's bond.
Um, your point? Mine is, these were good choices, being non-Aes Sedai.

You forget Verin's other, hidden, allegiance. As I understood from both her confession in tGS and Elza's PoV in WH just before she kills Dashiva, the Black Ajah have a very strong prohibition against killing Forsaken. They have to have a *really* good justification for that. Elza was able to get around it only because she believed that Dashiva was "just" an Ash'aman.
I forget nothing. As I pointed out in a post a while back, her actions can be taken at more or less face value, since she was always loyal to the Light and working in their interests. In a forest in the middle of nowhere, with no Black Ajah superiors about, there is no reason to assume her unwillingly assumed role as a Black sister is governing her actions. And you are wrong about the prohibition against attacking the Forsaken. Liandrin was perfectly able to strike at Moghedian and her Black faction was open to taking on a Forsaken with their balefire rod. There is no such prohibition that actually impedes them, besides fear of retribution, which was not Verin's concern. She actually says the reverse to Egwene, that a Black sister CAN get away with betraying one of the Chosen.

Daigian's warder was a 15 or 16 year old boy, and by his own PoV, very immature. Halima took them by surprise, but no one could conceivably expect a woman channeling Saidin - why would they? Unfortunately that fact caused enough delay in relaying the information to the leader of the circle that it had the tragic consequence. The same would likely have happened had the circle been led by Eben and a man channeling Saidar attacked it.
Except there is no such thing. What if it was a man channeling saidin from hiding? He would still have been the first one to sense it! Even Beldeine would have been a better choice, given that she was at least suspicious of Aran'gar's presence! I mean, REALLY. What IS Daigian's problem? ANYONE showing up near Shadar Logoth should be a reason for suspicion! Why wasn't Daigian ready as soon as she saw a human being? How much advance warning was she expecting of attack? What evidence do you offer of Eben's immaturity, when just about every other word about him in the series talks about his being older than his years, and aged by his experiences. He is the only one in that entire group who has faced one of the Forsaken in combat, Flinn & Narishma being with comatose Rand while Hopwil, Morr & Adley were fighting Sammael.

How could Merise know that Elza was a darkfriend? Also Elza has not shown any signs of being unstable - she was described as "pleasant" in fact, and very dedicated to the DR's welfare.
Oh, THAT'S a reason for Cadsuane's group to trust her? Earlier in that same book, Shalon observes that Cadsuane's faction scorns the Dragonsworn sisters for just that reason (though she does not know what it is)! It doesn't matter what she could or could not know. SHE was given a job and she ditched it, for absolutely no good reason, and against her normal inclinations towards letting people do stuff with her newest warder.

I think you forget that decisions made on short notice in the heat of combat are not going to have the advantage of hindsight 20-20. Given that Cadsuane only found out what Rand was planning to do maybe 5-10 minutes earlier, I think her defensive plan worked very well.
Well enough, but the problem is the attitudes underlying the plan. She put HER people in charge and they either failed or passed the buck to people with the stones to do the job. In each of the circles from which we get a PoV, we see the most unrestrained combat channeler scorned or relegated to a lesser position. Shalon, Narishma & Hopwil were the best choices for leading a circle in battle, having no restrictions on using the Power in battle, as well as specific training (and definite experience) in combat, yet Verin scorns Shalon for not being a sister, and Daigian refrains from making full use of her resources and doesn't listen enough to Beldeine. Narishma, of course, is constrained by Callandor's limitations. As for the "heat of combat" do you think that the rest of the battles to come will not be so "hot"? Sure, it's tough to make decisions under those conditions, but they have to be made, and we have seen in the crunch that Aes Sedai in general, and academic sisters in particular fail. Military groups train and drill their people so they have something to help them through those difficult combat decisions.

"Of all his five years schooling, they don't remember much
Except the not-retreating, the step and keeping touch.
It looks like training wasted when they duck & skip & hop,
But if he hadn't learned 'em, they'd be all about the shop." -Rudyard Kipling "The 'eathen"

The Asha'man, and maybe the Green Ajah, have had the "schooling." Many of them have been in combat before, especially against the Seanchan, and it will not be a mystery or a shock to them. BTW, note that even the experience gained at the Cleansing is useless for combat leadership, since all the circle leaders but Flinn are now dead.
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
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Learning traveling will help the Seanchan, but the AS still have the advantage. - 17/12/2009 01:13:32 AM 1294 Views
Bryne will without a doubt be in charge - 17/12/2009 01:28:02 AM 652 Views
Re: Learning traveling will help the Seanchan, but the AS still have the advantage. - 17/12/2009 01:39:32 AM 789 Views
Linking provides another benefit. - 17/12/2009 02:02:05 AM 720 Views
Wow, if that happens, I will be her biggest fan *NM* - 17/12/2009 02:10:01 AM 412 Views
What an utterly stupid idea. - 17/12/2009 11:35:24 AM 680 Views
Your facts are incorrect. - 17/12/2009 02:41:42 PM 697 Views
There is a way to get around the "first strike" limitation. - 17/12/2009 05:25:05 PM 615 Views
another linking advantage - 17/12/2009 02:10:56 AM 598 Views
All that will do is take the best fighters out of action. - 17/12/2009 11:55:55 AM 644 Views
I have to agree with Cannoli on this, but with a twist. - 17/12/2009 02:46:03 PM 704 Views
Why mace of air? - 17/12/2009 05:58:32 PM 619 Views
Re: All that will do is take the best fighters out of action. - 17/12/2009 07:38:55 PM 553 Views
Re: All that will do is take the best fighters out of action. - 17/12/2009 08:49:28 PM 523 Views
Why did you post this? - 17/12/2009 09:35:09 AM 698 Views
I have not read Darius Sedai's post. Sorry. *NM* - 17/12/2009 02:49:20 PM 323 Views
What post are you talking about? - 17/12/2009 04:57:14 PM 506 Views
Re: What post are you talking about? - 17/12/2009 11:31:06 PM 627 Views
Here it is - 18/12/2009 12:42:45 AM 579 Views
I actually brought it up in an earlier thread too *NM* - 18/12/2009 12:46:56 AM 314 Views
thanks for the credit... PS I'm a guy *NM* - 18/12/2009 12:10:56 AM 344 Views
Ooops - 18/12/2009 12:48:22 AM 598 Views
I'm totally teasing you ... I added the "sedai" to be snarky - 18/12/2009 12:55:51 AM 987 Views
Yeah, I don't get that: Fantasy gender-nuetral honorific, plus Real World male name = female? - 18/12/2009 05:35:17 AM 652 Views
Cannoli sedai? *NM* - 18/12/2009 02:15:18 PM 598 Views
what about the oaths - 17/12/2009 01:24:57 PM 642 Views
The oaths stand as no bar. - 17/12/2009 02:48:32 PM 619 Views

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