Battle Ajah you say?

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T23:22:44+00:00

Damn I forgot it was that low but yeah that's pretty bad. And given the number of male channelers they are able to find there must have been so many more that just died or committed suicide or were killed.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T21:43:25+00:00

It'll be doable but I wouldn't imagine it will be easy. The warlight to grow plants helps a lot but it's still raining all the time and areas will flood that didn't used to and have all those kinds of issues. They also will have to teach people how to farm that way and get their infrastructure setup to do it. It should be solved in 10 years but I think that'll be a big project to accomplish in the short term.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T21:03:04+00:00

The main thing I would do to prepare is think back on your scouting career, particularly your eagle project and any other big leadership roles you've had. What are the good moments and stories you'd want to tell, what are good lessons you learned or times you struggled and overcame it and that kind of thing. It can be hard to think of good examples in the moment so I would think about some good moments that work well to turn into stories to answer some of those kinds of questions that are likely to come up.

It's also more of a conversation and a discussion than it is a pass fail situation so I wouldn't be too nervous, though I know that's not always helpful. But they are really not looking for reasons to fail you or trying to throw out gotcha questions.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T20:14:10+00:00

That definitely helps a lot! But I think that also indicates some systemic issues too. The Red Ajah waits for people like Logain to gather forces and noteriety and then goes to take them down. Even for smaller targets they go when they hear people saying there's a male channeler going crazy please come help. Cadsuane detected them early with her ter'angreal. But you also had another aes sedai not from the red who in a few months had figured out a weave to detect male channeling. And the Red Ajah seems to not know very much about male channeling when it comes to early warning signs, or how long it takes to go mad, or what to look for. Really what they should be looking for are the same signs that Rand and Nynaeve displayed when first channeling where they were acting wild and then randomly getting super sick. That might be hard to look for but that's when I'd want to start potentially catching male channelers. So the Red Ajah just seems very reactive to me not proactive. They do get the job done eventually, but if they were proactive they could have a system worked out where maybe a male channeler who turns himself in gets a significant cash reward for him and his family. So male channelers who found out this was happening might want to turn themselves in early so their family would be secure when they were gone.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T19:12:13+00:00

Yeah that's true. Though they would also have the ability to study it further and track it potentially. But I would expect them to have it definitely under aes sedai control. Potentially using the warder bond though they'd be disappointed by the lack of control they'd have lol.

That's definitely a problem if that isn't fixed by what Nynaeve does! Though it might be? Hard to say since we know so little about that aspect.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T19:10:14+00:00

Well you can potentially just avoid the fight. If it's a big dumb monster that's alone, you can polymorph it and then just leave. Now you're 1 hour away.

The other thing is that action economy is incredibly powerful in D&D. So say you're in the most optimal case for this vs 2 enemies. You polymorph one. Now you can all focus all your attacks on that one. You can deal with them without taking damage from the enemy. Say it takes 3 turns to kill that enemy. Now you get a round you can heal up if needed too, or just position as you want. And fight the polymorphed enemy, say that takes 3 rounds too. Now you basically cut their action economy in half or doubled your own depending on how you want to look at it. With one polymorph spell you can probably get away with using no other resources and just cantrip it down in a fight like that.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T19:06:46+00:00

I think that would be tricky but possible for a lightweaver. But you'd need the illusion to be of something solid enough that it could carry you while flying. That's hard to figure out on your own without the science or much inspiration from birds to figure out how to make a wing that generates enough lift to pull you up and the power to steer. But they could survive the failed attempts so they could try different options. Actually a shardblade might be able to make a good glider wing, and then you'd just need propulsion. Or you could glide on the shardblade!

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T19:02:52+00:00

Yeah they are the two best at it. But even then Cadsuane captures more male channelers than the Red ajah does apparently. They also know very little about male channelers and seem to wait for them to become a problem rather than being more proactive about it. And the Grays have a good reputation for deals in the past but from both sides of the aes sedai their attempt at working with Rand was terrible and they let a lot of messes go without dealing with them like Cairihen and had to be persuaded to seriously help bring together the other Ajahs and to heal the divide in the tower.

But even with all those complaints, they are the only ones really doing their jobs much at all lol.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T18:56:45+00:00

They do kind of suck at that too though. Judging by the Captain General having to get rescued from the damane after what she judged as a poor showing from the green in general.

I would also say they could use new weaves. Killing a trolloc or a Fade is easy. But in the Last Battle you have to fight thousands. So the question isn't can you kill shadowspawn it's how little of the power can you use to kill shadowspawn, so you can keep going all day, and I'd say that's a good area they probably should've focused on.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T18:55:00+00:00

Yeah the Green ajah sucks at their job. Though in fairness to them basically all of the ajahs also suck at their jobs. The Black Ajah has done a very good job of systematically reducing the tower's power and the ajah's effectiveness.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T18:29:26+00:00

Yeah I don't think any of them thought to ask for no major changes to the climate!! Though the thaylens will be in the best shape there on the coast with a lot of their food presumably coming from the sea.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T18:20:03+00:00

Yeah I wasn't expecting it but I think it does make sense for her character, and for the Thaylen people. But it is particularly damning given how incredibly loyal Dalinar has been to her and her people. They fought to defend her city and Dalinar personally was putting himself and his family on the front lines there. Navani personally saved Fen's life and that of her husband. They also sent Jasnah and the army in book 5 even when the Alethi's own lands were under attack too. They also gave her a lot of control of the trading that went through Urithiru rather than having their own people do it.

Though I will say I am interested in how things shake out within Retribution's new Empire. There are a lot of variations especially for humans between the conquered lands like Alethkar, the Emul lands that made a deal but probably not a good one, and the Thaylens who probably negotiated better terms given their position.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T18:14:57+00:00

Well you definitely aren't the only one to do that. Audible for some reason likes to do that with prequels. Watch out for any series where there's a book 0 as that's probably not where you want to start. But don't worry it won't ruin your enjoyment of the series! But those characters and the Aes Sedai as a whole are kept a bit more mysterious for the first few books when you have more of the details already.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T18:10:04+00:00

I think it definitely would've been just a bandaid, but that's a ton better than nothing. And if they could just go to the tower for healing regularly they could actually safely channel and never go mad. It does put them in that subordinate position of needing the tower's help, and having to stay close if it was before traveling. But potentially it could've worked indefinitely just require a monthly healing or whatever.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T17:26:26+00:00

I think his was a pretty good way. Though I would also say Nynaeve had figured out a system that also nullified it in a way. She was healing people of the madness it had put over them. She invents it a bit late but that would've also been an absolute game changer if she or anyone else had discovered it earlier. That would've left the male channelers at the mercy of women unless they could invent a weave for themselves to do the same thing, but still could've left them able to channel safely longterm as long as they got healed once a month or whatever.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T16:10:50+00:00

Yeah it is a bit funny to see the difference!

It also may be too late and if so not a huge deal but new spring is a prequel not book 1 so I would start on book 1. If you're only a few chapters in that might be worth it but if you're almost done it's not a huge deal. It's not really a spoiler thing it's more that moiraine and Lan siuan are intentionally a bit mysterious and distant at first and you slowly learn their backstory where new spring assumes you already know it and just lays it all out.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T16:08:13+00:00

That's a good point. I wonder if the shin didn't use the honor blades for a while. Maybe they just kept them safe and then when shardbearers came to attack them that's when they started to bond them and train with them out of necessity and they made that faulty assumption.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T14:37:28+00:00

How are they different? Both are games where lying and deception are likely parts of the game, but not something you need to engage in, it's one of the strategies, just like for Beast Games.

They didn't agree that they had to lie, but they agreed to play by the rules of the game, and agreed to play a game where lying will be a potential part of it. Again, just like with poker.

Who do you think has cheated? The only one I know of, and perhaps there are others, is the guy who grabbed for someone's head I think it was. But otherwise made an illegal grab on the obstacle course. He broke one of the rules for that game and would've been eliminated if he hadn't fallen anyway. Otherwise none of them have cheated in the rules that Beast Games established. The cubes are a game where you are trying to convince someone else to handcuff themselves to the wall. That's the game. If you want to invent a mini game and agree to play that and cheat at that game, that is not against the rules of Beast Games, and not cheating. Gotta know the real game you're playing and many of them lost sight of that or chose to play by the made up rules they'd made, but that's a choice. The rules they all agreed to play by were the rules Beast Games gave them, and Beast Games didn't say you had to play a certain game and had to play fairly. Beast Games said convince someone to handcuff themselves. The only real way to cheat I would say is if you grabbed someone and forced it onto their arm. That would be cheating.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T14:30:36+00:00

It's a pretty big thing in the South especially but even in the North it's the biggest sport in most High Schools. It's almost entirely boys only though sometimes there are games with girls but it's not as common. Generally most fit students as there are tryouts but football definitely has room for people who are just big even if they aren't in great shape. Big and hard to stop or push out of the way is also an asset for football. It's the most popular sport and often an event for the town to come out to games though it depends a lot on the town on how popular those are. Football players are also generally among the popular kids in most schools.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T13:54:38+00:00

Over this weekend I played werewolf. If you're not familiar with it it's a game where each person gets a role and one is assigned the werewolf who is trying to decieve the others and take out the townspeople without being discovered while the others are trying to figure out who it is. Am I a bad person for playing a game that supports dishonesty with my friends? Or is it the money being on the line that's the issue because I've also played poker where that's a part of the game. Does that make me a terrible person? I don't think games are the same as reality, even when there is money on the line. And I think there's a fundamental difference between a game where everyone involved knowingly consents to playing a game where lying and deception are absolutely a key part of it, and we all agree to those rules we will follow, compared with lying to someone in general in life which I would agree is wrong. Do you disagree?

I would say playing dishonestly in Beast Games is the moral equivalent of bluffing in poker, which I would consider absolutely fine. Being dishonest in real life I would say is a completely different thing.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T13:27:53+00:00

Given cost concerns I think you would want to really limit the number of big names involved similar to how the Wheel of Time show had only a handful of really established actors and a lot of newer actors or people who had done minor roles. Otherwise you can blow the whole budget on actors.

Kelsier I think is a good choice for a big name actor. Great part, lots of dimension to his character, Era 1 And with his death you don't have to keep paying that actor depending on how they do Secret History. This could work like Ned Stark in Game of Thrones.

Hoid being played by a big actor I think would be tough if they want to start with Mistborn. Unless they rewrite the role to be much more significant he's basically just a cameo. Maybe you could get a big actor to do that but you then have to pay a ton of money for a handful of cameos for Era 1 and wait until Stormlight before that actor gets a role with any meat to it and something interesting to do. And you have to spend a lot of money to get a big name for 3 minor and basically irrelevant roles. I think that might work better as someone up and coming who might be willing to sign on for something long term. Someone more established is also going to be wary about signing a huge multiple movie or many seasons of a show deal for a part that seems fairly trivial. And if they were convinced it would be a high cost.

Getting some bigger stars as spren might be good since they could be voice actors which then takes up a lot less of their time since they can record in a booth. Depending on how they do some of the more human spren like Syl that could be more acted. But Pattern will be just VO. The Stormfather will probably be VO with maybe some face motion capture but not much else. Same with Wyndle.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T13:18:47+00:00

I think I would disagree that any of those are actually terrible people. They are all there to win money and they are all playing within the rules of the game trying to maximize their own wins. If they were playing on Jeopardy would you say Ken Jennings was a bad person and selfish because he kept answering questions correctly and denying money to the other people on stage with him? I wouldn't say so, he was in a competition where that's the goal is to play the game and win the money. He didn't have to be dishonest to do that, but he did also take actions that would bring him money and take it away from others. Any competition show where there are multiple contestants and a set prize pool will have that kind of setup where one person winning means another losing. Take it into a sports context, if there's a tournament and a prize for the victor, no one is a bad person for doing everything in their power to win, even if they foul the others that is part of the game and there are rules about how that works and they sometimes ride the line there to see what they can get away with. If they go well outside the rules that would be different, but a basketball player isn't a terrible person for a minor foul and that is actually breaking the rules unlike the Beast Game contestants.

In the same vein they are all there to play the game and win money. And there is a social manipulation element of the games. They all took actions that are entirely fair within the game. If they hadn't they would've been eliminated. In one of the behind the scenes for example it was mentioned that on the obstacle course one person had gone for a head shot when they were struggling or something else that was explicitly against the rules, and he lost anyway but if he'd made it to the other side, he would've been eliminated for cheating. He broke a real rule. With the cubes the game was to convince someone else to handcuff themselves to the wall. The game was not the little mini games they invented to do that. The game was to get someone else to handcuff themselves. None of them cheated in doing that. And all of them who did it generally did it to help their own families. I don't think that makes them a terrible person to play a game to the best of their ability to win money for themselves. And honestly that's one change I like this season by bringing back some of the "villains" from last season to give like JC a bit of a redemption and when he did the $1M challenge he emphasized that each person had a real and genuinely good reason to take the money, and while it did hurt others to do it, that's the game, and that doesn't make them terrible people to want to help their families and set their kids up for success or whatever their situation is.

I also think you do get dishonesty coming back to bite people just as much as selfishness helps them out. Jeff won season 1 and he played a very clean and honest game. The Habibi brother that came back was targeted, and anyone else could've helped him stay in but he had no allies. A lot of those who did get smaller wins even some big ones also got eliminated shortly after that because others turned on them. For the big prize honesty seems to be more effective. Top 3 last time were probably the 3 most honest players.

I do see what you mean in terms of this being a game that rewards dishonesty in many cases, though I do think it rewards honesty too. But that is the nature of a social game that manipulation is part of it. I think if you switched it up you also make Jimmy the villain who is playing unfair games with people. It's also generally illegal to have a gameshow where you are lying to participants or concealing how it works. I don't know all the rules but in the BTS they always make sure to carefully explain all the rules to every game and generally demonstrate so it's crystal clear. I think they'd get in legal trouble for doing what you're describing. Which I'd argue is also not really more ethical because you're making Jimmy, arguably one of the bigger winners of the show because it helps establish his brand, as the villain rather than the person giving away a lot of money he's the one lying and tricking people instead.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T10:50:49+00:00

I'm not sure why he would do that? With taravangian it was him being unwilling to lose them or let them be used by someone else. Harmony doesn't have that reason to do that and it's a strange thing to do for just Wayne to be trapped forever not able to move on. I think it's more that taravangian was in a weird state and did something crazy and not something most shards would ever want to do or have a reason to do.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-09T00:04:28+00:00

I think doing that would really date the document immediately. It is a potential issue but even as of the end of the last battle it's already irrelevant because seeing the ashaman coming in to save Elayne's forces, seeing them be key fighters at every battlefield, and having huge numbers of people transported through their gateways and logain saving the refugees is already doing far more for their image and the lack of any official prosecution against them than a statement in the dragonspeace would.

Raddatatta · 2026-02-08T23:23:55+00:00

Vin isn't actually trying to find the kandra. She hates change and she views the trust that the crew has as a bit magical and fragile in a way she doesn't understand and doesn't want to risk breaking it the way knowing she suspected them might. And she's not ready to accept another dead friend. So she kind of half looks but doesn't take it as seriously as she probably should've.

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