S02.E07: Daes Dae'Mar

[AnimeMania]

A familiar face foils Moiraine and Rand’s plans.

Premiere Date: September 29, 2023    Prime Video   

[bluestocking]

Did I get this right--Moraine can channel again and her bond with Lan is restored?  Or?  

I'm very confused on why Rand et al. are seemingly cooperating with Lanfear now though.  

 

[thuganomics85]

Figured the flashback with Moiraine and Siuan was going to mean the episode was going to end with them at odds, but it was still nice seeing a carefree, even happy Moiraine before she, well, became the Moiraine that we know now.  It does make one wonder what could have happened if both of them weren't forced into serving the world like they did.  Would they have found true happiness just living in a fishing shack?

Dammit, Barthanes!  I liked you!!!  And you just had to be in league with the Dark One (or at least Liandrin) this entire time!  Show got me there.  I blame Will Tudor and his ability to come off innocent and well-meaning no matter who he plays.  At least Anvaere was a step ahead and has put a stop on this for now.  Still felt bad for her.  Lindsay Duncan continues to own it all.

Kind of confused as well over all of the switching allegiances, but it basically seems like Siuan's plan to imprison Rand until he is used "as a weapon" for the Great Battle is enough of a problematic one for Moiraine that she is willing to basically let Lanfear assist them, even though Rand going to the west is exactly what she (and The Dark One) want.  Wish they explained that a bit more, but I'll roll with it for now.  Granted, I'm at the point that I'm almost willing to hand-wave anything concerning Lanfear and her methods, since Natasha O'Keeffe is making me love her, her badass stone throne, her awesome outfits, and her ability to both literally and figuratively heat up the screen whenever she shows up.  Excellent casting right here.

So, Mat has now been captured as well and thanks to that tea unlocking some trauma more or less, it looks like he might be more susceptible to The Dark One's mind games.

Nynaeve and Elayne continue to be the team I never knew I wanted until I saw it on screen this season.  Hope we get more of this going forward!

Egwene is continuing to be even more powerful under Renna's leash, but at least she showed a sign of not being fully broken, hopefully.

Perrin and Aviendha meet up with more of her people and they seem to have... strange conditions, to put it mildly.  Curious to find out more about their culture.  Noticed one of the new characters was played by Ragga Ragnars, who I know as Gunnhild from Vikings. 

[AnimeMania]

One quarter of this episode's subtitles were missing.

I was waiting to see if Egwene injured anybody with her casting.

If you want to learn how to defeat the magical harness, it is best to go to the place where they are made and see what it takes to make them special.

[metaphor]

3 hours ago, bluestocking said:

Did I get this right--Moraine can channel again and her bond with Lan is restored?  Or? 

 

Moiraine can channel again since Rand cut the shield. I personally think she'll need to actively unmask the bond with Lan, since she masked it in 1.07 and told him in 1.08 that she couldn't unmask it because she couldn't touch the source. Now she can. I'm very happy about this, and I hope she and Lan can reconcile more deeply next episode, hopefully with a good, heartfelt conversation. 

I really enjoyed this episode notwithstanding the surprising way Siuan went. I'll be honest; unlike thuganomics85, I didn't expect Siuan's vow to row beside Moiraine early in the episode to turn into Siuan basically compelling Moiraine to do something against her own will at the end. I do like that Moiraine has found allies in Alanna and Verin, at least for now.

Very curious about how this little Rand/Moiraine/Lan/Lanfear roadtrip will turn out. 

 

[MJ Frog]

Hayley Mills!

[paigow]

Like others, very confused how Rand being free works for both sides...

Bain wants sexytimes with Perrin... see if that goes anywhere....  

[quarks]

1. Leane Sharif. Overhears - she had to - that the Forsaken a) do not want Rand in the Sun Palace, b) can find Rand, and c) are coming for Rand. Does she do anything, like, say, try to warn anyone that hey, the Forsaken might be on their way? 

No.

Then, despite knowing how carefully Aes Sedai chose their words, hears Verin's very careful little speech and just....hands over Rand's shield to Verin. Good for the plot, but so far, I have to say that Leane is the one character on the show coming off far worse, and not in a good way, than her book counterpart, with nothing sympathetic or cool to counter this.

2. Kinda cool to see some of ji'e'toh in action, but I think Perrin and others - and by others I mean "the audience" - will need more of an explanation than what Aviendha just gave.  

 

3. Though speaking of that scene, after being completely unable to tell Bain and Chiad apart in the books, it....kinda works that I can't tell them apart in the show, either. 

4. Egwene, still wanting to kill Renna! So not totally broken! Yes! Or just channeling the feelings of the audience, by which I mean me. I mean, seriously, Renna, after everything you did to Egwene last episode, you seriously thought that explaining that you want to conquer the world was going to get Egwene on your side - yes, you seriously did. You. Are. The. Worst.

5. I'll be the first to say that I am not at all sure what is going on between Ishamael and Mat, but, Ishamael, the longer that went on, the more I personally was convinced that it just could possibly - on your side - be a sex thing.

6. I gotta say, I've seen nothing to suggest that show Mat, however eager he is to find out who he really is, would actually drink tea recommended by Ishamael. I think I know what they were going for there, but it didn't quite work for me.

7. Elayne's face when Loial started calling her Daughter-Heir and all that, followed by Nynaeve's look. Hee. And the Elayne/Nynaeve team-up. This is delightful, and I hope we get to see more of it.

8. Lanfear! Killing it! In every single way, from the outfits (the bondage gear in the dream world; that amazing silver thing she was wearing while burning everything down) to the actual random ok I will just kill everyone if I must to her whole seriously medieval battlements are you kidding me thing. And while on the subject of Lanfear and killing, Natasha O'Keeffe is completely killing this role.

9.

 

9 hours ago, bluestocking said:

 

I'm very confused on why Rand et al. are seemingly cooperating with Lanfear now though.  

 

Moiraine and Rand had already agreed to kinda sorta work with Lanfear in previous episodes, largely on the basis that they both had to sleep at some point and that Lanfear would not hurt Rand. (Moiraine is obviously another story - don't think I didn't notice you sending Liandrin off to tell Barthanes to kill Moiraine, Lanfear.) And that way, they might get some useful info.

In this episode, Rand et.al. essentially had two options:

A. Stay under the control of the Aes Sedai/Cairhein. In this scenario, Rand stays shielded/unable to touch the Source, something that left Logain insane after just six months and was clearly doing a number on Moraine, as well. On top of this, Rand won't get any training - he'll just be held in the Tower until the Last Battle, when he'll be brought out as a weapon - somewhat similar to what the Seanchan plan to do with Egwene but with less training. On top of that, at least three of the Aes Sedai believe that some of the other Aes Sedai may be Darkfriends, and it's a safe bet that both Moraine and Rand have similar suspicions. And on top of that, as long as Rand stays with the Aes Sedai, they Forsaken will continue to attack. Moraine may be completely dedicated to her cause, but not to the point where she wants people to die.

B. Work with Lanfear, who, yes, is all into randomly killing people, not great, and is working with Ishamael, also not great, but who also won't harm Rand and will bring Rand to Falme, where the Prophecies apparently say he's supposed to go. And this way, Lanfear might stop attacking Aes Sedai (I wouldn't count on this) and Rand can continue to practice using the One Power and get ready for his battle with the Dark One.

10. I also think they were able to recognize that Siuan was making a number of not great decisions here. I mean, I get it: she was upset that Moiraine hadn't been honest with her, and of course her entire job is to follow/enforce Tower law. But announcing Rand to the Cairhein court and then dragging him back to the White Tower, shielded and unable to learn, when, hi, Siuan, you just discovered that he doesn't even have the skill to fight one Aes Sedai, let alone the Forsaken - not the best move.  

11. But speaking of the best move, or at least the ethical/right move, let's hear it for Anvaere, doing the right thing with her son despite knowing that a) this is her son, and b) this just ended everything she's been working for. 

12. "Come now. Did you expect we would fight the Last Battle against an army of kittens?" 

Speaking purely as a viewer here, did I expect it? No. Would I welcome it? Yes. Also, Alanna, it sounds as if you need to spend more time with kittens if you think fighting an army of them would be easier than fighting the Forsaken. Have you SEEN what just one kitten can do to what was a careful arrangement of knickknacks on a shelf?

[Danny Franks]

Maiden handtalk! I didn't know if we'd get it in the show, but I'm really glad we did. More ji'e'toh and Aiel customs. They're a harsh people.

So that flashback is how I wanted the first season to open - the birth of the Dragon Reborn and Gitara Moroso's Foretelling. I don't think they executed it quite like I imagined, but it worked.

Seeing young, optimistic Moiraine and Siuan was nice. All these plans they had, completely uprooted by fate. It's hard to disagree with everything Siuan said to Rand. He has no idea what he's doing, he doesn't know how strong he is, I'm not sure he even knows the basics of recognising the different strands of the One Power.

"Can you imagine what would happen if one of the Forsaken got their hands on him?" Yeah, about that...

But now things between them are definitely on the outs, with Siuan using Moiraine's oath to obey against her.

Lan giving Rand a bit of a telling off and a bit of advice was nice. Cat Crosses the Courtyard was a nice moment in the books. I want more scenes between the two of them.

Leanne has to be one of the best dressed characters in this show. That coat she was wearing was amazing. And it's fun seeing Aes Sedai interacting and scheming. They're all so suspicious of each other, and usually for good reason.

Lanfear is still completely owning this show, her scenes with Rand are just sizzling with sexual tension. The cut from her little smile to just torching the fuck out of the city was perfect. She can be subtle when she wants to be, but when she doesn't want to be...

Ishamael isn't far behind her. His crazy was way more obvious in this episode. He genuinely wants to break the Wheel and destroy the world. 

Nynaeve is just so bull-headed, of course she wants to bust right into the palace to save Egwene. And of course Elayne is the voice of sanity, while barely being able to stop from rolling her eyes. Nynaeve saying "get up, don't encourage her" when Loial knelt to Elayne. Heh.

The damane Top Gun scene was cool. Renna's pride in 'owning' such a powerful damane, Egwene almost taken satisfaction in people actually recognising her strength. The Seanchan training methods are so fucked up. Brutal and harsh, then pampering to play on the vulnerability of the damane and create an emotional dependency.

One episode to go, and lots to cover. I hope it ends with the bang that it should.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, quarks said:

7. Elayne's face when Loial started calling her Daughter-Heir and all that, followed by Nynaeve's look. Hee. And the Elayne/Nynaeve team-up. This is delightful, and I hope we get to see more of it.

 

Loial needs to spend some time with Lt. Dan [among others] about saluting superior officers on the battlefield... FFS!

[quarks]

I'm seeing some speculation elsewhere that Siuan might be under Compulsion, either from Lanfear or Liandrin or both, which would a) help explain why/how Lanfear knew exactly where Rand was (I mean, she had various ways to figure that out, but something about the way she said "I know" kinda suggested some sort of fairly direct involvement), b) given how cheerfully Lanfear keeps killing people, explain the whole "a broken Amyrlin is more useful than a dead one" thing, c) explain why Siuan was being so unreasonable about "this is all the progress you've made in six months" thing when we know from comments in the show that it takes months for women to learn how to do anything with the Source, not to mention Logain's comment about how it took him years of practice to learn the weaves, d) explain why Siuan was willing to compel Moiraine - like, that would have been a hideous violation on anyone, but doing that to Moiraine - yikes, and e) explain why the episode was drawing such clear comparisons to what the Seanchan were doing to Egwene (turning her into a weapon for, as Rinna explicitly stated this episode, the Last Battle) and what Siuan said the White Tower would do to Rand (use him as a weapon for, as Siuan explicitly stated this episode, the Last Battle.)

 

Book spoiler note on some of this:

Spoiler

I may be reading too much into this, but when Siuan was summoning rain, she was standing right next to someone that Amazon/IMDB are crediting as Joiya Bair, identified as Black Ajah in the books but not, as far as I know, in the show so far. I originally just figured they had Joiya there because she's briefly appeared in previous scenes and they don't want to throw too many unfamiliar faces at us, but....what if that was more significant than I originally thought?

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I actually know what the title means for a change!

I'm glad to see Rand and Lan back together again. I think it's good he's got a non channel guy in his corner (sort of). He's harsh, but I think he likes Rand genuinely. I liked the 'put on a jacket!'

I don't like the whole deal of 'boy' with Rand. Or anyone. They believe he's actually the Dragon. Not that they should genuflect to him at all, but a sympathetic or more teacher-student approach like Lan. 

For a pampered princess, Elayne is certainly a natural in the field. 

I'm even more convinced there should be a Brown Ajah spin off. 

Siuane being put out that Rand couldn't do much was a good touch. I would have liked more of them just alone. Maybe ask him what he thinks might happen? 

Is the camerawork different in the Dreamworld? Or am I seeing something not there?

I knew Moiraine wasn't stilled and only thought she was! She had little weaves when they fought the Mydraal. 

I was wondering if Logain could still see weaves, so thank you show to confirm. 

They're doing a great job with Lanfear too. "You going to help me or not?" KABOOM!

The king in the cell is very Man in the Iron Mask. 

Too bad the Amyrlin got too ahead of her skis. 

11 hours ago, paigow said:

Like others, very confused how Rand being free works for both sides...

For the 'light' side, they want to use Rand basically as a nuke at the last battle, and the Tower thinks they will be running the show. For the dark side, they want to use Rand basically as a nuke at the last battle, and Ishamael thinks he is running the show. tbh, it's the same as Yoda and Kenobi v Vader and Palpatine with Luke. 

8 hours ago, quarks said:

explain why Siuan was being so unreasonable about "this is all the progress you've made in six months" thing when we know from comments in the show that it takes months for women to learn how to do anything with the Source, not to mention Logain's comment about how it took him years of practice to learn the weaves

I'm going to cut some slack here in that thinking Rand is the Dragon, Siuane (also finally good to get some fish metaphors in) so she might have thought inherently he might know a lot more. 

 

[Avaleigh]

14 hours ago, quarks said:

4. Egwene, still wanting to kill Renna! So not totally broken! Yes! Or just channeling the feelings of the audience, by which I mean me. I mean, seriously, Renna, after everything you did to Egwene last episode, you seriously thought that explaining that you want to conquer the world was going to get Egwene on your side - yes, you seriously did. You. Are. The. Worst.

This part. I can't wait for Renna to be dealt with. That said, I will admit their scenes together are compelling.

13 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Lanfear is still completely owning this show, her scenes with Rand are just sizzling with sexual tension. The cut from her little smile to just torching the fuck out of the city was perfect. She can be subtle when she wants to be, but when she doesn't want to be..

I was on the fence about the casting when she was in Selene mode, but wow has Natasha O'Keefe won me over as the season has gone on. Now that she's in full Lanfear mode she's kind of my favorite part of the show. There's a playfulness to the character that I'm really enjoying and her fashion is so fun. The showrunners really nailed this character. A perfect balance of taking inspiration from the source material while making the character totally their own. 

14 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Leanne has to be one of the best dressed characters in this show. That coat she was wearing was amazing.

Agreed about the fashion for Leane although my favorite outfit in the episode was Lanfear's torch the city outfit. 

If I have one note of criticism for the fashion/styling on this show it's Loial's hair. It's a little distracting and almost Carrot Top-ish. I'd like to see him with a better wig next season. 

12 hours ago, quarks said:

e) explain why the episode was drawing such clear comparisons to what the Seanchan were doing to Egwene (turning her into a weapon for, as Rinna explicitly stated this episode, the Last Battle) and what Siuan said the White Tower would do to Rand (use him as a weapon for, as Siuan explicitly stated this episode, the Last Battle.)

Yes, the comparison with what the Seanchan are doing to Egwene and what Siuan wanted to do to Rand was very clear and I have to say that I definitely understand Moiraine not wanting that to happen to Rand. Aside from it being obviously wrong, it's not a great plan. How effective of a weapon can Rand be if stays locked up and doesn't learn and train?

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I knew Moiraine wasn't stilled and only thought she was! She had little weaves when they fought the Mydraal.

Nice job in catching that. They had me totally convinced that this was a forever thing and I really wasn't happy with the idea of Moiraine being stilled for the rest of the show. 

I'm curious what Lanfear means when she says that having a broken Amyrlin is better than having a dead one. What part of Siaun is broken? Is she physically hurt? Could Lanfear have stilled her? Could she be under Compulsion? 

[quarks]

1 hour ago, Avaleigh said:

 

I'm curious what Lanfear means when she says that having a broken Amyrlin is better than having a dead one. What part of Siaun is broken? Is she physically hurt? Could Lanfear have stilled her? Could she be under Compulsion? 

I thought Lanfear mostly meant emotionally, since Siuan is now broken-hearted. And maybe physically - Siuan looked injured, though I figured one of the Aes Sedai travelling with her is Yellow Ajah, and can heal that. So maybe.

And yes, I think there's some indications that she may be under Compulsion. May.

Whether she is or not, though, Siuan:

1. Just allowed a man who can channel to escape.

2. Rushed out to stop Moiraine and Rand without bringing anyone else along, despite knowing that she was heading out to face at least one experienced Aes Sedai and the Dragon Reborn. And sure, she had easily shielded Rand before this and she knew she had the ability to command Moiraine, but...I suspect a few of the other Aes Sedai are going to ask why she didn't bring at least some back up along, especially given what happened with a shielded Logain fairly recently.

3. Has at least four Aes Sedai now working against her. Granted, I have no idea if Lanfear knows about Verin and Alanna, but Lanfear certainly knows about Liandrin.

4. On that note, Anvaere now knows that one of the Aes Sedai who arrived with Siuan is a Darkfriend. Not a great look for Siuan.

5. And Lanfear definitely knows that the Seanchan have captured and collared one of the White Tower novices; she may also know that the Seanchan have captured and collared two other Aes Sedai, at least one of whom was a Sitter for the Blue Ajah and thus presumably aware of White Tower security. I don't think that's entirely or even mostly on Siuan, and as far as I know no one in the White Tower other than Liandrin seems to know about this, but, various Aes Sedai have been kidnapped/mind-controlled under Siuan's watch, and eventually, word of this will get out. 

I think Siuan is in a lot of trouble, and Lanfear presumably has the same thought.

[MissLucas]

I love the Nynaeve/Elaine combo so much! Nynaeve's face when Elaine told her that this time they were doing it her way and later when they met Loial was simply priceless LOL!

Can't wait for Egwene's time in the kennels to end - preferably in a blaze of fury that flattens the place for good.

Damn it, Barthanes - I thought you were one of the good ones! I do hope Anvaere makes it out of this mess alive. Lindsay Duncan is terrific in the part.

Perrin just got an intensive course in Aiel culture. Bit risky to start a physical altercation with a confused wolf present but ultimately even Hopper knew better than to interfere with the Aiel ways. Also: Looks like Aiel subscribe to Drummer's school of makeup - seems fitting.

Lanfear's costumes are simply stunning. Well, I kept wondering how long it took to lace those domina boots (couldn't see a zipper) but the 'let's torch a city' look was breathtaking. 

6 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

If I have one note of criticism for the fashion/styling on this show it's Loial's hair.

For me it's the damn collar on Matt's coat. I had hoped it would not show up again this season as the costuming budget has clearly been giving healthy financial injection. This looks nothing like hand-knitted (granted there is a possibility it actually is, skilled knitters can produce very even patterns) but more like the repurposed waistband of a mass produced sweater or at best a piece produced on a knitting machine. Which doesn't fit into what we have seen of the Two Rivers. And I can't come up with a historical point of reference where knitwear was combined with textile in this manner - it just looks way too modern for lack of a better term.

Weird costuming pet peeves aside I loved how they opened with a flashback that not only explained how Moraine knew about the Dragon Reborn but also gave us some heartbreaking insight into Moraine and Siuan's relationship. Moraine wanted to go to Cairhiern and introduce her to her family! And then it all went to hell - it really brought home what Moraine sacrificed to the 'cause'. And now even the last piece that tied her to the hopes of her youth - her clandestine relationship with Siuan - has gone. Watching Siuan violating Moraine's newly established bond with the One Power was brutal - both Rosamund Pike and Sophie Okonedo acted the hell out of this scene. Their relationship has gone.

On the yay-side: Moraine and Lan are back together!

Who is the bald Aes Sedai? The camera lingered on her several times so I guess she's important but I can't place her.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

The White Tower in chaos serves the dark. I think the choice of 'broken' by Lanfear was deliberate there. 

I honestly don't think Siuane was going to keep Rand shielded and in a cage though, but I do think she expected Rand was going to play along with the game plan. You can't count out that the Dragon isn't just going to bust out of the shield eventually and you need someone on him 24/7.

The whole 'boy' approach was always going to backfire. 'How do you feel about being the Dragon?' Start there. 

[paigow]

5 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

The White Tower in chaos serves the dark. I think the choice of 'broken' by Lanfear was deliberate there. 

Yes. Killing her simplifies succession... Now she has to be impeached...

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm not sure they're all on the same page with just caging Rand either. There's probably going to be some debate on that. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

13 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I knew Moiraine wasn't stilled and only thought she was! She had little weaves when they fought the Mydraal.

Also, per the books:

Spoiler

If she'd been stilled, she wouldn't have been bound by the Oaths anymore.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

Right. That too. 

Given Logain's reaction to being cut off, Moraine was way subdued. And like I said before, they showed the spark with the Mydraal. 

I liked Lan being all detective to figure it out, and then coaching up Rand. 

[quarks]

5 hours ago, MissLucas said:

 

Who is the bald Aes Sedai? The camera lingered on her several times so I guess she's important but I can't place her.

 

According to Amazon/IMDB, the bald Aes Sedai is Joiya Byir. I say "according to Amazon/IMDB" because as far as I can recall, no one has addressed her by name on the show.

She had a couple of lines back in episode 2 of this season, but I don't think she's had any dialogue since then. 

[tennisgurl]

I really liked the flashbacks with young Moiraine and Siuan, its sad to see how sweet and wholesome they used to be, Moriraine was even planning on introducing her to her family. The weight of what they were tasked with really did shape them into such hard people, still good people that really do care about others, but they had to harden themselves to get the job done and cut them off from a lot of things that were important to them, even their families. Of course when we started out with a flashbacks of them together it would end with them at odds. 

I love the Elayne and Nynaeve team up, even with the dire situation Elayne seems to really enjoy getting her hands dirty, Nynaeve's reactions to her are much needed comedic relief. Especially when they saw Loial and started all of the "daughter heir" bowing and Nynaeve was like "don't encourage her" about it. Egwene is going to be surprised when she gets out of her imprisonment to find out that they've become reluctant besties. 

I'm so glad to see that Egwene isn't totally broken, even if her scenes are all really rough. They're all very compelling though, the actresses are just crushing this creepy relationship as Egwene is trying to hold onto herself while also having some grim satisfaction in her increasing powers. Renna can fuck right off with her whole "this is all for the greater good" crap, nothing justifies the horrible things that they're doing. 

They are definantly making a parallel between how the Seanchan treat their captives and how the White Tower is treat Rand, which is a really bad look for them. Siuan really couldn't have just talked to Rand about what being the Dragon Reborn would mean and how they could work together instead of automatically acting like he's a feral dog that needs leashing or a weapon that has no will of his own and only exists to be used as a nuke by the Aes Sedai? At least Lan has his back, it seems like no one else around her does. 

I guessed that Moiraine was just temporarily separated from her powers, she's really doing too well to be totally cut off. Hopefully she gets her groove back now and she will stop pushing Lan away. Lan had a good episode, he seems like he's doing a lot better now that he has a mission again, getting Moiraine her powers back and helping Rand.

Damn it Barthanes, I liked you! You cant trust anyone, there are Darkfriends lurking around every corner. 

Lanfear is such a great addition to this season, she's just crushing every single scene she's in with her crazy, plus she and Rand have a crazy amount of chemistry. That little smirk as she blew up a whole ass city was wild, you never know where any scene with her is going.

[DoctorAtomic]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Siuan really couldn't have just talked to Rand about what being the Dragon Reborn would mean and how they could work together instead of automatically acting like he's a feral dog that needs leashing or a weapon that has no will of his own and only exists to be used as a nuke by the Aes Sedai?

I agree. Though I think she was surprised that Rand freaked out so fast. I didn't think she was serious about just caging Rand, but was trying to be glib about it. Rand isn't going to pick up on that. He also probably was worried about whether to mention the Foresaken are roaming around too. 

To be fair though, all the guys who could channel in recent history; Logain, caused a ton of political disruption, and they were false Dragons. They could be gentled. Clearly, Rand can't, but the taint is a documented fact. What can you actually do? He's wildly untrained. Certainly, caging him is not a good idea. Maintaining a shield for 24-7 isn't practical. I think she knew she blew it and just wanted to buy time. She should have had Moraine or Lan come into the meeting with him. 

I don't think anyone is really giving any consideration as to *how* this last battle is going to be executed either. Again, it's not unreasonable that the organized body of channelers on the continent would have a big part to play. They think they're going to lead it, but they're naive if they think all the nations are just going to fall in line. 

I tend to think the whole fiasco was more just really lack of any planning and some arrogance thrown in for good measure. 

The show hasn't really shown us the relationship with Aes Sadai with the day to day politics of these nations. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

I liked this one, but Siuan's uneven/crooked headdress had me screaming at the TV. I know it's probably supposed to be that way, but it looks like she just woke up in it.

Instead of dark, they used the cheap-assed filter to make it look dark.  I can't win.

Next week is the finale, yes?  Damn, this season flew.

[ShannaB]

Two things depress me about this Season:

1.  I thought there would be 10 episodes.  I am not ready to let this series go at just 8.  It's been a great Season and we may have to wait for a long time for a Season 3.  Hope not.

2.  I don't think Moraine will ever know what her sister did for her.  Anvaere took matters in hand to save Moraine that will have repercussions for her family status which is a big deal in the Kingdom.

[DoctorAtomic]

I did know there were 8 either. They're going to have to cover a ton of ground if  we're only getting 8 per season. 

I would bet Moiraine finds out down the line, but Lindsay Duncan won't tell her. Maybe (unspoiled) she finds out when Lindsay Duncan passes or something. 

[rmontro]

On 9/29/2023 at 3:04 AM, MJ Frog said:

Hayley Mills!

I can't believe I didn't catch that.

[Absurda]

On 9/29/2023 at 8:32 AM, quarks said:

Speaking purely as a viewer here, did I expect it? No. Would I welcome it? Yes. Also, Alanna, it sounds as if you need to spend more time with kittens if you think fighting an army of them would be easier than fighting the Forsaken. Have you SEEN what just one kitten can do to what was a careful arrangement of knickknacks on a shelf?

Preach!  I adopted two kittens this summer and it's been complete chaos in the house ever since.  I'm covered in scratches just from playing with and them jumping off my lap with no warning.  Plus, their sooo cute and sweet, I can't even be mad at them.  An army of kittens would be unstoppable. 

 

On 9/29/2023 at 11:53 PM, Avaleigh said:

I'm curious what Lanfear means when she says that having a broken Amyrlin is better than having a dead one. What part of Siaun is broken? Is she physically hurt? Could Lanfear have stilled her? Could she be under Compulsion? 

Better a weak/broken leader than a martyr possibly replaced by a stronger leader.  Amyrlin was easily defeated by Lanfear, this will make her more frightened of the threat the Darkfriends present, perhaps even unduly cautious in facing against them.  She's also likely to be seen weak among the sisters for her failure to hold onto Rand and Moiraine.  This might cause infighting in the white tower and distract them from the threat of the Darkfriends.

[Affogato]

On 10/7/2023 at 9:58 AM, rmontro said:

I can't believe I didn't catch that.

I don't see why. I didn't recognise her and when I heard she was in it I had to hunt around to find the character she played. I don't ever remember her being really a distinctive actor.

[rmontro]

4 hours ago, Affogato said:

I don't see why. I didn't recognise her and when I heard she was in it I had to hunt around to find the character she played. I don't ever remember her being really a distinctive actor.

Well, now I don't feel so bad.  I just chalked it up to being so drawn into the world by the show that I wasn't thinking about who was playing the parts.  I just saw a Blue Ajah Keeper of the Tower.