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No not at all. The Aes Sedai where already at under half strength due to the split and further splintered due to Elaida. The Seachan attacked from a direction that was completely unexpected. The Seachan at no point ever intended to occupy the tower and nor could they. The sole objective was capturing individual channelers and then fleeing. Tar Valon was surrounded by another army so the gates and bridges where guarded further weaking its internal defences when attacked from a completely unbelievable direction. Could they have guarded against a known army using an unknown troop deployment method maybe? But it's unlikely. Don't forget that the Seachan had travelled for many nights to stage this attack Tar Valon was a massive way from the Seachan lines at this point. The only warning they had was Egwenes dream which Elaida refused to listen to.

Wrong the seachan where aiming for a purely hit and run attack their objective was simply to capture Damane using a lightning strike and then escaping as soon as they met resistance they were to retreat. They employed overwhelming force via an avenue of attack that was not thought possible. It was a good plan. Standing against 4 to 1 odds toe to toe is a shit plan. If you think it was the novices that held their own you need to go and read that section again. Egwene was the sole rallying point not the novices. Egwene used some of the novices by linking and then took Vora's Rod and ended the attack by herself. Egwene was the faction that's canon dude.

So you are really arguing that the Tower does not really believe that the Dark one is a threat despite all the prophecies and all their knowledge. Just noticed X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett ~ Absolutely love that Pratchett is my 2nd favourite Author

I was just going along with the assumption that Couladain was going to be very confrontational as he is in the books which would make that big a turn around surprising. In the books having the Gleeman made sense because it played on the Thom role and his stories and music could inform and relax Rand and leaders having bards is fairly old hat. if you wanted to keep Couladin close he needs a cover which is harder. it would have to be almost Aviendha role he took.

The children are a point because the Aes Sedai dont just live behind the shinning walls their entire lives. Browns visit libraries Greys negotiate treaties Blues get involved in the world. So being aware of the dangers means being able to defend themselves. Again not the point. Not expecting the last battle to happen in your lifetime is a reasonable assumption or possible assumption. Them knowing that Shai'tan and the forces of the dark are 100% real in another.

Not talking about the general population. Its a completely different thing comparing the Seachan attack on Tar Valon where they used overwhelming targeted strikes on a fractured tower with the sole aim of capturing Damane to Having a self confessed member of the Black Ajah standing right in front of you being defended by 4 other members of the Black Ajah and having a 4 to 1 advantage and not being able to do anything at all you even had 3 members of the green ajah in the room. The only kill they got was by using a club they are totally useless.

I didn't say that they knew the Dragon had been reborn. Are you trying to tell me the Aes Sedai do not know about the dark one and shadow and Children of the light. And i am not talking about the general population. Why are you strawmaning this so hard.

Did not mean any offence when i said the people, i just remember having a lot of arguments with posters who used that as the reason for that battle. In that scene there is not an existing storm present from the views i can see all though it is dark there is certainly no rain or lightning.

If i was guessing i'd say Bathamel and Aginor are almost certain to be cut as they are out of action so early. Belal, Rahvin, Sammael and Asmodean will probably got rolled into 2 characters drawing mainly from Rahvin and Asmodeans stories as they have the most impact. And the final cut Graendal. Simply less story impact and the decadence and compulsion heavy scenes may be tricky

Think about what you guys are arguing for. You have a powerful group of gifted power channelers. You know without any doubt that the Dark one and the forces of the shadow are real. You know that there is an entire nation dedicated to killing you. You live for hundreds of years. And you are saying that they are completely garbage at using the power they have in the defence of themselves their warders or others. Except for 2/7ths of your population.

Thats not the point people defended that scene and said it was her practice with the power that allowed her to use those attacks and now people are claiming that massively more powered Aes Sedai with decades maybe centuries more experience with the power are incapable with it. How would she even now how to conjure a lightning blast since she never even attained an Ajah and offensive abilities are only being taught to the Red and Green. If she had simply used massive simple attack like fire or air slices it could be explained. But that does not make a great visual is the answer. Its the Dothraki charge with flaming swords. Fantastic visual shit storytelling. As i said its possible the full episode could give meaning to the Moiraine and Lan scene.

You are wrong. The first things they did was cast a fireball and what appears to be a thread of air attack these are blocked by Leane. Then straight after that they walked into the middle and surrounded Liandrin then after setting up that defence. Then they cast a fireball and another air attack slicing the Brown in half.

Ok firstly there where 3 Reds initially yet the black sisters hit one of them with the power when her back was turned as I never saw her again i assumed she was of the fight making it 2v2. It's possible that a couple of blacks did not get involved however i would assume that anyone sitting on their hands in a fight between the Light and the Shadow would have some serious questions to be answered. You have people here arguing that only the green red and black are even remotely able to fight, and you are comparing it to a sneak attack against a fragmented tower by battle hardened units. Maybe you should get some glasses.

What about everyones arguments about Lady Amalisa being a trained channeler being the reason she could use Egwene and Nynaeves power at the end of season 1. She never made it even as far as an Ajah so would have received zero training in offensive abilities. How does this match up to this arguement that only certain Ajahs are trained in combat.

But they did almost nothing with that surprise they launched a couple of attacks towards Alanna and Siuan which got blocked by Leane then they walked into the middle at an unhurried pace turned and set up a defensive circle around the Black Ajah sister. If each of them had a dagger hidden up their sleeves they could have killed 4 sitters before they even embraced the power.

They are not specifically combat orientated but they could throw a fireball or use a thread of air to hit something without having to "charge up". What the hell is the purpose of the power in the Tower then outside of the Red, Green and Yellow since they apparently have no actual use for it and are rubbish using it even in defence of their lives. If you watch the Ryma fight again she starts with some of the stupid hand waving which then burns the sul'dam, but then basically within 1 second casts the ability to destroy the 2nd sul'dam Even if I agreed with all this there are 3 green sitters in the hall why are they not being effective in battle against the black. None of the 3 green sitters was of the black. And again what about the corridor battle you have 2 Red Ajah and about 20 warders vs the 2 Black sisters yet again the Blacks win taking zero casualties. even if you allow that a black/yellow sister = a Red sister the fact they have to avoid 20 of the best soldiers in the world while fighting would surely tip the fight in the lights favour. And where exactly is this Black Ajah training school to turn the nufties into battle ready warriors making them the match to the Ajah that exclusively trains as the battle Ajah.

Oh come on so Green Red and Black ajah are the only ones with those abilities that seems incredibly stupid and short sighted and they get insta cast as what a class bonus. I guess rigorous decades long training really does not mean that much Fair enough that you have some people who are better at fighting than others but to make the claim that the others need some sort of wind up time or something is just silly. Just lol that the most powerful woman and channelers in the tower are mostly just admin.

But thats not what happens at all. Take the opening of the battle before anyone would even be holding the power. Alanna insta casts the shield on Liandrin. The Yellow/black sister insta casts a fireball the white/black sister insta caster whats appears to be a slice of air Leane insta casts a shield to deflect these attacks. So it's clear you dont need a long build up to deal an attack. Then looking back there is the hilarity of just watching them all walk calmly into the middle of the room to defend woman who has outed herself as black ajah with the other Aes Sedai doing absolutely nothing.

That would complicate using him as the hidden teacher role, although you could use a mask of mirrors but that would mean basically a recast of the role. So not sure of that how that changes just killing him.

I think they did it because they wanted the visual. It's a dangerous slope when you start to prioritise visuals over the story. I am not saying that this incident is a super terrible example of it but an example it is.

I was thinking about how I would rework that 11 minutes to make it work better and this is what i have come up with. 1 Completely remove the Moiraine and Lan sections (it is possible that the full episode could change this). The show is already desperately short on time and these scenes provide nothing. 2 I don't like sitting the reds out as it damages Siuan characters reputation as a political master but for this I am going to keep it. 3 Bring the oath rod out when you reveal Nynaeve is present and have the black ajah steal it when fleeing, this fixes the issue of Nynaeve just being there convincing Liandrin she is caught. It also prevents the tower from simply using the rod to reveal all black sisters which would be a high priority following the incredibly public revelation of their existence. 4 Have the battle start with Blacks stabbing a sister next to them giving no warning of the attack beforehand then rushing to defend this would make the numbers more even. Have them on the defensive for most of the encounter slowly being worn down then have the 2 black sisters that turned up outside arrive and start killing all the warders outside which evens the battle as the Aes Sedai react to the deaths. The Reds then turn up and start fighting those outside. This gives you a more feasible reason why the blacks are able to escape allows you to set up that not all the reds are evil angle if that is what they are trying to do. This is admittedly a rough idea but it would I believe fix some issues and enhance some things going forward

Yes for sure but they are to gain an advantage once you have that advantage i would return to my speciality ability as quickly as possible to finish it as quickly as possible.

You are wrong about the numbers every Ajah but the red is present so that is 18 sitters plus Siuan Leane and Liandrin for 21. I am fairly sure that the numbers being mentioned despite it having no relevance to the upcoming scene is to set the stage for Siuans removal latter this season. Obviously spirit is not going to block a physical attack. But a weave that actually cuts a person in half is has a physical component. I have no problem with the initial strike with the staff it is the subsequent strikes that would have been more reasonable to use the power for.

It has to be an inside job because the black sister that was with Verin was specifically on a mission to retrieve an item from the 13th depositry without knowledge that Verin was going to access the depository it makes no sense that she would be tagging along by chance. I am guessing that Verin's pretending to be affected was to preserve her secret from her sister.

Come on there are 21 Aes Sedai in that room with only 5 Black and Liandrin is already shielded so it is basically 4 to 1 and yet the black wins. The acting from Alannas warders is terrible knocking on the door instead of at least putting their shoulders into it was just embarrassing. Not even attempting to try and find another entrance if that door is securely locked. Big change to the warder bond that just because you are Black Ajah now you enjoy the feeling of their deaths. Why would you use the staff to beat a woman to death when you have the power to literally cut her in half with the power as seen in this spoiler. The slow motion was poor. The act of leaving the Red Ajah excluded when the charge was being a dark friend smacks of an amateur political move designed to sow discontent within the tower. She has proof that Siuan met with a man that can channel she can ask her a direct question.