“Cloak flapping like a sail, Egwene braced against the
wind and tugged at what felt like a collar of smooth metal. It would not budge; under her frantic
fingers, it felt all of one piece, though she knew it had to have some kind of
clasp. The silvery coils the woman had carried
now trailed over Egwene’s shoulder, their other end joining a bright bracelet
on the woman’s left wrist. Balling her
fist tightly, Egwene staggered and fell to her knees herself, head ringing. It felt as if a large man had struck her in the
face.” – The Great Hunt, p. 565.
This and the subsequent essay are going to be a deep
dive into Robert Jordan’s portrayal of trauma inflicted on one Egwene al’Vere, a
topic which will find itself returned to in subsequent books and essays. This essay (and the subsequent essay, labeled
Part 2) will be discussing slavery, torture, and the resulting loss of free
will associated with that. The above
quote is the main event, Egwene al’Vere being leashed with an a’dam and
essentially sold into slavery by Liandrin, who lied to Egwene and Nynaeve to get
them out of the White Tower so they believed that Rand was in trouble. Min and Elayne find themselves coming along,
Nynaeve and Elayne escaping (and immediately beginning to plan Egwene’s
rescue), but the real power is the exploration of the sul’dam/damane
relationship.
Egwene begins the section in the White Tower,
practicing the One Power silently while Min is watching. This is a small look into normal life at the
White Tower, it being about three months since they arrived in the White Tower,
which actually does bring some of the timeline into focus with the four month
gap between Cairhien and Rand arriving in Toman Head by Portal Stone, so when Liandrin
tells Egwene and Nynaeve to meet them because Rand is in danger the reader
doesn’t question it. Min also is partly
responsible, due to her viewing that Rand is in danger. There is some interesting dialogue between
Nynaeve and Egwene about the danger of Min or Elayne discovering Rand can channel
through carefully chosen words, though it’s heavily implied that Min already
knows due to her viewings and Elayne is too naïve to work it out. What you have here forming is what will be
this great relationship between the four women as the eventual rescuing of
Egwene and into further books. Liandrin
takes the girls through the Ways where her first moments of being of evil here. When discussing Elayne and Min tagging along
she says this “I had made arrangements for you to be taken care of, but as you
are here, you are here. Four can make
this journey as well as two.” – The Great Hunt, p. 554. Later, when Liandrin takes them through the Ways
to Toman Head, she implies she has control over the Black Wind, “If the Black
Wind appears, I will deal with it…Moiraine does not know so much as she thinks.”
– The Great Hunt, p. 560.
Egwene, as soon as she is leashed, is given both an
explanation for why the leashes came about and begins her dehumanization into
the role of slave. The reason for the a’dam
are essentially fear of those who could channel, with the Breaking of the World
creating a fear of both women and men who could channel, the first woman to
make an a’dam leashed herself and begun the Seanchan culture of slavery “Deanin
made more a’dam, the first sul’dam were found, and women captured
who called themselves Aes Sedai discovered that they were in fact only marath’damane,
Those Who Must Be Leashed. It is said
when she herself as leached, Deanin’s screams shook the Towers of Midnight, but
of course she, too, was a marath’damane, and marath’damane cannot
be allowed to run free. Perhaps you will
be one of those who ha sthe ability to make a’dam. If so, you will be pampered, you may rest
assured.” – The Great Hunt, p. 573.
Jordan here is commenting on quite a bit of slavery, including the myth
that a pampered slave isn’t really a slave at all, Jordan being a historian on
the Civil War as well as an author (his earlier works were historical fiction
about the Civil War). The idea of Egwene
being a pampered slave is still putting her into the position of slave, and the
idea of being pampered is just to get her to obey her master. The men who are leashed who can channel die
screaming, while Renna, the sul’dam in charge of Egwene here, is
exceptionally cruel.
Egwene, perhaps for the first time, shows her own perseverance
through the trauma of being leashed as a slave, attempting to lash out at any opportunity. “Egwene was shocked to discover an urge to do
as Renna commanded. She had not
channeled, or even touched saidar in two days’ the desire to fill
herself with the One Power made her shiver. “I” – in half a heartbeat she
discarded “will not”’ the weals were not there still burning too sharply for
her to be quite that foolish – “cannot,” she finished instead. “It is too far, and
I’ve never doen anything like that before.”…Suddenly the invisible switches were
bak, striking at her everywhere. Yelling
she tried to hit Renna, but the sul’dam casually knocked her fist away,
and Egwene felt as if Renna had hit her arm with a stick.” – The Great Hunt,
p. 574. There is the resistance but she
is beaten, something put even into stark contrast with how dark the Seanchan
are, Egwene being leashed as the cover of the Part 2 young adult reprint for The
Great Hunt, making for something so dark almost presentable which is a
shame. This is a sequence which is dark
and only the beginning of Egwene’s trauma, even if she is still fighting (she
does save Min who cannot channel, so she was meant to be killed as an extra),
and a rescue party is on the way.
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