ulling the White Tower
by hassman: 2004-05-04 | Not yet rated
The power of the White tower appears to have been waning for some time. Some points: overall number of novices is dropping, number that pass the tests is going down, the most powerful sisters are less and less common and less powerful. In addition, the WT appears to be very divided internally and isolated from the world in many ways.
The internal politics of the tower may be the natural progression of a 3,000 yr old bureaucracy, but a little push here or there and it becomes much worse. This is a bastion of light and civilization, one would think that it has been a central target of the DF's, with no evidence of any long campaign.
We know in NS that the BA assassinates the investigators, who are the most powerful living AS, excepting Cadsuane. Cadsuane would be a special case, in that she appears to have been trained before she entered the tower, making her a harder target, and everyone thinks that she should be dead of old age.
Given an immortal enemy (Ishy as Ba'alzamon), a plan of rot and decay would work well. Slowly make the novice testing harder, wash out, kill or ter'angreal the best accepted (remember the promising sister who doesn't come back) Encourage the infighting, the pride and the rivalries.
The number of channeling non-AS (wise ones, windfinders, suldam) have not been mentioned as dropping. If you add in the Kin/knitting circle, we have a more normal distribution of channelers. Interestingly enough, the BA did not know about the Kin, so the culling essentially moved channelers from the tower to the kin, where they still trained.
I will go one step further in that the BA started the "vileness after the Aiel war" I think this started a RA campaign of stilling or killing men who could channel without trial. This has the RA acting as a cats paw, animosity toward the RA by every one else etc. Assuming that Elayne is the same age (within a year or two) as Rand, Thom left when she was very young, that would put his nephew being "viled". Morraine had several names of those involved, so it wasn't just Elaida.
You cannot rate theories without first logging in. Please
log in.
1
Tamyrlin: 2004-08-04
(Frenzy for Tamyrlin)
It's a given that the White Tower is weakening. This is the first time i can remember anyone theorizing that the weakening is an intentional plot by the Shadow. Most people (myself included) chalk the weakening up to the internal practices of the White Tower of no recruitment, virtual elimination of fecundity and overall elitism.
shameless plug: the Vileness has it's own theory here:
http://www.theoryland.com/theories.php?func=5&rec=61&theo=1044
2
Saldean Farm Boy: 2004-08-04
I like this theory, it makes sense. Take over from within, cause infighting, and make it more difficult to expand their numbers. This would insure there isn't a major rally point when the LB comes and it reduces the influence the WT has.
I think it either back fired or the Creator planned it that way. If the WT was stronger I do not think that Rand would have been as effective in gathering so many nations so quickly.
3
Callandor: 2004-08-05
**Given an immortal enemy (Ishy as Ba'alzamon), a plan of rot and decay would work well.**
The Forsaken (Ishamael included) are not immortal. That is their promise gift if and when they break the Dark One free. I can quote RJ from the Budapest interview if you like.
**Slowly make the novice testing harder, wash out, kill or ter'angreal the best accepted (remember the promising sister who doesn't come back) Encourage the infighting, the pride and the rivalries.**
The Tower has always had it's standards, although it is interesting that you pose Ishamael is behind them.
**The number of channeling non-AS (wise ones, windfinders, suldam) have not been mentioned as dropping. If you add in the Kin/knitting circle, we have a more normal distribution of channelers. Interestingly enough, the BA did not know about the Kin, so the culling essentially moved channelers from the tower to the kin, where they still trained.**
There is a problem there. The White Tower does not actively search for female channelers, like the Black Tower does, or the Aiel, or the Sea Folk, or the Kin does (the Kin takes in Tower runaways instead of wilders though). However, since Egwene opened the Novice book to everyone, all ages, and sometime before, the number of novices has swelled beyond handling almost. Egwene's army contains 987 novices, 20 Accepted, and roughly 300 Aes sedai. That's a lot of novices from the time Salidar started to now, and rivals what the Tower has brought in comparitively to 100-200 years I would say.
4
Aelfinn: 2004-08-05
I've never seen a theory like this one before. Great job!
**Slowly make the novice testing harder, wash out, kill or ter'angreal the best accepted (remember the promising sister who doesn't come back) Encourage the infighting, the pride and the rivalries.**
I don't think anyone else's behind the novice/Accepted high standards, but the infighting/pride/rivalries is VERY probable.
Or maybe we're just blaming the Shadow for everything.
5
snakes-n-foxes: 2004-08-06
I'm sure this will be pointed out by others.
Callandor, I don't think it was meant literally that Ishy was immortal, but rather, immortal in the sense that he's had effect on the world over 3,000 years
6
Mairashda: 2004-08-06
an interesting theory, even though I do not find myself to agree with it.
there is, however, one important factor that massively contributed to the white tower's decline that can directly be blamed on darkfriends; Yes, the Oath Rod. the binding was probably introduced as a measure against darkfriends infiltrating the tower... while it did not hinder them successfully, the effect on Aes Sedai as a whole cannot be stressed enough: being bound by the OR cuts your lifespan (at least) in half. bound aes sedai do not live to acquire as much knowledge as their unbound predecessors. additionally knowledge start to deteriorate more quickly since more links (people) are required to hear and retell an item of information over a period of time: old knowledge is lost or changed more quickly.
7
wattj69: 2004-08-09
just about the vileness....isn't that supposed to be talking about all that happens in the prologue books? two amrylins dead in a few years mysteriously, a mass hunt for "lucky" boys, possibly facilitated by the BA...I think that's what they're always talking about with the "vileness after the aiel war"
8
a dragonburned fool: 2004-08-12
It seems reasonable, that the Shadow will try to weaken the Tower. But I strongly disagree, that the high standards and the factionism of the Tower are elements made by the Shadow's plot. The Shadow would definitely try to use both the elitism and the factionism for it's favor, but it's not bad practice at all. I'm even standing for, that the Tower would be much weaker without the elitism and the factionism, i.e. the elitarism and the factionism saved the Tower from the natural decline too open and too monolite organizations allways experience during time. A monolite and open Tower would be much stronger in hard times of intensive struggle, but it would be uncapable to survive peaceful times. Long peace makes the best skills of the strong organizations unnecessary and gives not enough motivation and not enough experience. Stron monolite and popular organizations are prone to become lazy, formalistic, ineffective and corrupted in long periods of peace. Long periods of peace overpopulate the ruling posts of strong monolite organizations with incompetent people, with corrupted people, with not really devoted people. In long peaceful periods strong monolite and open organization allways become to rot from inside. And under rotting I mean not any enemy, but normal laxity and carelessness.
The combination of elitarism and factionism provided the motives to intensively support high skills and devotion during peaceful times. Factionism provided concurrence, i.e. intensive struggne, that requires mobilization of all inner forces and requires practically-appliable intelligence. Elitarism provided the never dropping of the high standards during this concurrence, in never allowing non-elegant, rude playing the game, in not neglecting the skills that are not immediately needed for the period, in not becoming lazy. Without the both trends I cannot imagine, how the Tower could remain whole and high-standarded during so long time as 3000 years. Whitout the elitarism it would too easy split in openly fighting organizations and become something like Seanchan before Luthair Paendrag. Without the factionism, the Tower will become a organization with no real power, with no capability to face real problems, a organization leaded by people with good intentions and complete incompetence to apply these good intentions to the practics. Without both elitarism and factionism the Tower would be only formally an organization, but practically only a place to have official sittings between people having actually different devotion and having no significant influence, it would be like the current Westland's system of aristocracy: all nobles from all lands have different behavior to other nobles then to non-nobles, but all nobles are standalone and have different quality of nobleman's virtue, that depends only on the particular persons and particular Houses.
The elitarism is causing not so many recruits as possible. Factionism causes not so good co-operation as possible. That are natural consequences. But they are not so bad as would be the consequences of a Tower without the factionism and elitarism. If the Tower dropped the factionism and elitarism 50 years before the current story, it would be very strong. But if the Tower dropped it before 500 years, it would experience strenghtening for some time and decline after that, so in NE998 the Tower would be much much weaker. Thanks to the Light for the elitarism and factionism of the AS!
