Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Some Background

Back in July of 2010 with the prospect of getting an opportunity to interview Brandon, I was chatting with Linda of 13th Depository about Verin, a favorite topic. I mentioned that Brandon, during The Gathering Storm tour, seemed disappointed that fans were not asking more Verin related questions. And I had done a podcast on Verin with 4th Age which reminded me just how much we didn't know about Verin. So, after spending some time brainstorming question topics with Linda, I grabbed a few more HCFF's (Terez and Marie) to knock out a detailed list of questions. And what you will read below is the list of Verin related questions we developed hoping that Team Jordan/Team Sanderson would be more open to the idea of discussing Verin now that she had died. I'm a bit of a Verin freak, so this shouldn't surprise anyone.

About the List

After posing a few of these questions which were much more elaborate in their setup believing I would be interviewing someone when asking them, Brandon recommended that I send him the list and he'd send it on. It's been quite busy since then for Team Jordan, but Maria gratefully walked through the List recently and sent us back the following.

So...enjoy. Linda posted in tandem with us on this and spoke a little bit about the reasoning for some of the questions she cared most about. You can find her post here: http://13depository.blogspot.com/201...a-simmons.html

How old was Verin when she died? If you cannot give us an exact number, is it correct to say that Verin's age at death was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 years? If not, will you provide an estimate of her age at death?

Verin was born in 849NE, making her 151ish at death.

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Merana said that every sister knew when each sister of the Tower arrived and how long she trained (Lord of Chaos, The Crown of Roses). The Tower keeps records on this. She thought Verin had been Aes Sedai about 40 years longer than she and Merana appears to have been Aes Sedai 70 years (their training time was the same and the novice acceptance age range is only three years). Is Merana mistaken in when Verin became Aes Sedai? Or in Verin's age when she came to the Tower?

Okay, this one has me all confused. Can you expand this and explain? I should note that we have asked for a correction to one section in this chapter (I'll include it a bit later). Somehow I'm also missing where Merana says that every sister knows when each one arrived (I do see the bit about knowing how long each was novice and Accepted). Here's the change we asked for (it hasn't been made in the mmp I'm holding; I don't know if it was elsewhere):

At present reads: Alanna had been six years a novice, Merana only five, but more importantly, Merana had been Aes Sedai ten years the day the midwife laid Alanna at her mother's breast. Should read: Alanna had been six years a novice, Merana only five, but more importantly, Merana had been Aes Sedai above thirty years the day the midwife laid Alanna at her mother's breast.

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Verin herself hints that she lied about her age when she joined up. How old was Verin when she joined the Tower?

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Maria Simons

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Even though she lived in Far Madding, did Verin channel prior to going to the Tower to become Aes Sedai? If so, had she begun to slow before going to the Tower?

No.

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Was there suspicion regarding Verin's allegiance to the Shadow, as she joined the Black Ajah at such an advanced age? If so, can you name one member of the Black Ajah that was suspicious of her allegiance to the Shadow?

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Maria Simons

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Was Verin's recruitment into the Black Ajah something she actively encouraged?

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As far as Verin's recruitment and this statement, "I found myself in a position where I could either take the oaths to the Dark One, or I could reveal that I had actually never wanted—or intended—to do so, whereupon I would have been executed," how long after Verin was in contact with the Black Ajah for the first time, did this moment she describes occur?

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What were the reasons Verin gave the Black Ajah as to why she wanted to join them?

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After becoming Black Ajah, was Verin ever caught by a non Black Ajah Aes Sedai unmistakably breaking her original Oaths sworn when becoming Aes Sedai?

RAFO.

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Did Verin ever take the life of another Aes Sedai? If so, is that Aes Sedai mentioned in the books?

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Verin makes many statements throughout the books that are suspect now that we know she was not bound by the Oaths. In regards to the ter'angreal dream ring, Verin tells Egwene, "I tried it myself, once, some years ago. Anaiya's Healing did not work as well as it should have. Remember that."

During the time Verin gave Egwene the ring she mentioned going to Anaiya to be healed. She didn't go to a Yellow for Healing—does Verin hold something over Anaiya? Were they pillow friends? Or was this simply a case of asking a friend to do a minor healing because she knew she would keep it quiet?

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Maria Simons

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How long before giving Egwene the ter'angreal ring did Verin have it in her possession?

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Verin tells Egwene she wasn't supposed to give Egwene the ter'angreal ring. Was Verin speaking about Tower Law in regards to an Accepted possessing ter'angreal? If not, was Verin speaking about the Black Ajah not wanting Verin to give Egwene the ring? If not, what did Verin mean?

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It is clear that Lanfear is aware of the search for the Black Ajah, as she shows up in the guise of Else and points the girls towards a previously unknown cache of items supposedly belonging to the Black sisters that went missing. Were those items placed there by Lanfear? If not, who placed those Black Ajah possessions there for the girls to discover?

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We see Alviarin have meetings with Mesaana. Was Verin ever visited by one of the Forsaken?

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Are the Black Ajah aware of other "black" channelers among other populations of the world?

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Speaking about activities outside of the White Tower, Verin was quite the traveler. She plays an integral role throughout the series, particularly in The Great Hunt, where she displays some of her deceptive personality.

Was Verin sent to Shienar by the Black Ajah?

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Verin's behavior throughout some of the earliest books often caused suspicion for many reasons. Specifically, we see Verin speaking privately to two Darkfriends. These meetings now seem more consequential.

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A couple of other curious events involving Verin occur in The Great Hunt, such as her discussion of Portal Stones with Rand.

Was Verin lying to Rand when she said his use of a Portal Stone was more recent than hers as she had never traveled by one?

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Verin ends up in the Two Rivers. Who sent Verin to the Two Rivers?

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Finally, regarding the infamous scene where Verin and Cadsuane come to a mutual understanding regarding Rand, was Verin considering killing Cadsuane with the "medicine" she had in her possession? If not, was Verin hoping to weave compulsion on her while Cadsuane was doped?

RAFO.

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I think Maria enjoyed that way too much, but I couldn't stop chuckling when I went through the list. Although I would suggest that it seems clear that Verin's touch on this world has not ended and we may yet get many of these answers in A Memory of Light. If not, then the encyclopedia we can hope, at least those Verin freaks among us.