1Powerslave
09-04-2009, 11:13 AM
Alviarin turning to the Light
Alviarin doesn't like her place in the world right now. She is hardly living the life of an esteemed woman of power. Instead she is running around the Tower like a mouse and being beaten every day, and loathed by her own Ajah. She feels that her life is threatened by Mesaana because she witnessed her humiliation. And the Mark that Shaidar Haran laid on her terrifies her and at the same time inducing hate. Hate towards the Great Lord (and Shaidar Haran).
Alviarin cries a lot and is under enormous pressure, from the reasons mentioned above. People under pressure tend to make illogical decisions, and unexpected ones. She wouldn't be the first to turn from the Shadow, or to sell out the Shadow. And it doesn't seem a stretch to me any more.
The mark she got from Shaidar Haran is upsetting her to the point that can't stop thinking about it. In her POV she is constantly fingering her forehead where the mark is, though it is not visible.
"On the outside she displayed absolute composure, but within was a swirling tangle of mortification and hatred and very near gibbering terror." -- p 62, KoD
We know from Egwene's chapter that infact Alviarin shows very little of composure. The hatred is towards those who marked her - The Great Lord/Shaidar Haran. It is the gibbering terror part that still keeps her in line, a little.
She is actively seeking to get her out of her situation. Specifically she is doing these things:
1.
She is trying to find some threat to the BA so that she would get/keep the Great Lord's protection. See quote below.
2.
She is desperately trying to get Egwene to escape with her. As to why, one can speculate. Maybe she wants to get out of the Tower to escape the shame, the beatings, etc. And maybe she thinks a way out is to capture Egwene and use her to placate the Great Lord for leaving her post. Or something to bargain with.
It seems a silly hope. But it testifies to Alviarin's general state right now.
3.
She is contemplating killing Mesaana.
"Every night she dreamed of killing Mesaana, often daydreamed of how to manage it successfully, yet that must wait on finding her without the woman knowing herself found."
Killing Mesaana might end one threat to her life. But it still might not be wise to do so without permission. Were she found out, it might cost her. Chosen are power players, and there is precious few of them around.
4.
She is looking to find some way to break her BA oaths:
"The question was, had she panicked on receiving her summons to the Supreme Council, or was there something more? Something more, Alviarin decided. Talene had looked to Yukiri and Doesine as though seeking... guidance, perhaps. She was sure she had not imagined it. Could she have? A very small seed of hope. There must be something more. She needed a threat to the Black, or the Great Lord would withdraw his protection." -- KoD prologue
And next page:
"Talene must be found and brought back, of course. For punishment and execution, if she had simply panicked, and if she had not, if she had somehow found a way to betray her oaths... Alviarin clung to that hope while she commanded a close watch put on Yukiri and Doesine."
The only way we know of for BA to break free from the oaths that bind them is what the BA hunters have been doing. So we know there is a way for Alviarin to be free from her normal oaths to the Great Lord, physically at least. And we also know that the plot is drawing Alviarin very close to that liberation or that knowledge.
---
The Mark:
What the mark actually does is an unknown. It might be it does nothing really physically, and is only meant to cause Alviarin to fear more, inorder to keep her in line. If that is all it does it might be a huge mistake, since it set Alviarin on her current path.
Some part of Alviarin is still Light:
"Break the Tower from within, she had been ordered. Plant discord and chaos in every corner of the Tower. Part of her had felt pain at that command, a part of her still did, yet her greater loyalty was to the Great Lord. Elaida herself had made the first break in the Tower, but she had shattered half of it past mending.
Abrubtly she realized that she was touching her forehead again and snatched her hand down."
How large is the part of Alviarin that feels pain when the Tower is broken? The part of her that is Light.
Her loyalty towards the Great Lords certainly is greater at the moment. But it got a serious stab when she was marked, and set in motion points 1 through 4 listed above.
We have previous examples of major players for the Shadow that doesn't at ALL like ties that bind, even from their master The Great Lord. Shaidar Haran searches for ways to break his ties to Shayol Ghul. Several male Chosen disliked to say the least their necessary protection from the taint. A dependancy towards the Great Lord that they much rather would live without. A control he had over them, as some female Chosen pointed out at some point.
If she were to turn to the Light:
Alviarin has two incredibly devastating bargaining chips were she to go back to the Light. Her position as the head of the BA could make a purge of the BA much faster and cleaner than it would otherwise happen. She could deliver Mesaana to Light. And no one is so far into the Shadow that they can't go back to the Light.
Alviarin might not be completely pardoned for her crimes. She might not survive long, cause of Shadow assassination, were she to turn. But she also know that she would go down in history as a huge player. Whereas to die in a Shadow power struggle wouldn't leave a mark at all.
Of course she fears being brought kicking and screaming to Shayol Ghul, but she is also close to breaking in her current situation.
Alviarin is a very dangerous woman to both the Light and the Shadow at this moment. She could do tremendous damage to both if she is desperate enough to risk it. It will be interesting to see what she does.
Alviarin doesn't like her place in the world right now. She is hardly living the life of an esteemed woman of power. Instead she is running around the Tower like a mouse and being beaten every day, and loathed by her own Ajah. She feels that her life is threatened by Mesaana because she witnessed her humiliation. And the Mark that Shaidar Haran laid on her terrifies her and at the same time inducing hate. Hate towards the Great Lord (and Shaidar Haran).
Alviarin cries a lot and is under enormous pressure, from the reasons mentioned above. People under pressure tend to make illogical decisions, and unexpected ones. She wouldn't be the first to turn from the Shadow, or to sell out the Shadow. And it doesn't seem a stretch to me any more.
The mark she got from Shaidar Haran is upsetting her to the point that can't stop thinking about it. In her POV she is constantly fingering her forehead where the mark is, though it is not visible.
"On the outside she displayed absolute composure, but within was a swirling tangle of mortification and hatred and very near gibbering terror." -- p 62, KoD
We know from Egwene's chapter that infact Alviarin shows very little of composure. The hatred is towards those who marked her - The Great Lord/Shaidar Haran. It is the gibbering terror part that still keeps her in line, a little.
She is actively seeking to get her out of her situation. Specifically she is doing these things:
1.
She is trying to find some threat to the BA so that she would get/keep the Great Lord's protection. See quote below.
2.
She is desperately trying to get Egwene to escape with her. As to why, one can speculate. Maybe she wants to get out of the Tower to escape the shame, the beatings, etc. And maybe she thinks a way out is to capture Egwene and use her to placate the Great Lord for leaving her post. Or something to bargain with.
It seems a silly hope. But it testifies to Alviarin's general state right now.
3.
She is contemplating killing Mesaana.
"Every night she dreamed of killing Mesaana, often daydreamed of how to manage it successfully, yet that must wait on finding her without the woman knowing herself found."
Killing Mesaana might end one threat to her life. But it still might not be wise to do so without permission. Were she found out, it might cost her. Chosen are power players, and there is precious few of them around.
4.
She is looking to find some way to break her BA oaths:
"The question was, had she panicked on receiving her summons to the Supreme Council, or was there something more? Something more, Alviarin decided. Talene had looked to Yukiri and Doesine as though seeking... guidance, perhaps. She was sure she had not imagined it. Could she have? A very small seed of hope. There must be something more. She needed a threat to the Black, or the Great Lord would withdraw his protection." -- KoD prologue
And next page:
"Talene must be found and brought back, of course. For punishment and execution, if she had simply panicked, and if she had not, if she had somehow found a way to betray her oaths... Alviarin clung to that hope while she commanded a close watch put on Yukiri and Doesine."
The only way we know of for BA to break free from the oaths that bind them is what the BA hunters have been doing. So we know there is a way for Alviarin to be free from her normal oaths to the Great Lord, physically at least. And we also know that the plot is drawing Alviarin very close to that liberation or that knowledge.
---
The Mark:
What the mark actually does is an unknown. It might be it does nothing really physically, and is only meant to cause Alviarin to fear more, inorder to keep her in line. If that is all it does it might be a huge mistake, since it set Alviarin on her current path.
Some part of Alviarin is still Light:
"Break the Tower from within, she had been ordered. Plant discord and chaos in every corner of the Tower. Part of her had felt pain at that command, a part of her still did, yet her greater loyalty was to the Great Lord. Elaida herself had made the first break in the Tower, but she had shattered half of it past mending.
Abrubtly she realized that she was touching her forehead again and snatched her hand down."
How large is the part of Alviarin that feels pain when the Tower is broken? The part of her that is Light.
Her loyalty towards the Great Lords certainly is greater at the moment. But it got a serious stab when she was marked, and set in motion points 1 through 4 listed above.
We have previous examples of major players for the Shadow that doesn't at ALL like ties that bind, even from their master The Great Lord. Shaidar Haran searches for ways to break his ties to Shayol Ghul. Several male Chosen disliked to say the least their necessary protection from the taint. A dependancy towards the Great Lord that they much rather would live without. A control he had over them, as some female Chosen pointed out at some point.
If she were to turn to the Light:
Alviarin has two incredibly devastating bargaining chips were she to go back to the Light. Her position as the head of the BA could make a purge of the BA much faster and cleaner than it would otherwise happen. She could deliver Mesaana to Light. And no one is so far into the Shadow that they can't go back to the Light.
Alviarin might not be completely pardoned for her crimes. She might not survive long, cause of Shadow assassination, were she to turn. But she also know that she would go down in history as a huge player. Whereas to die in a Shadow power struggle wouldn't leave a mark at all.
Of course she fears being brought kicking and screaming to Shayol Ghul, but she is also close to breaking in her current situation.
Alviarin is a very dangerous woman to both the Light and the Shadow at this moment. She could do tremendous damage to both if she is desperate enough to risk it. It will be interesting to see what she does.