I deff mean this title from a more logical than literal perspective. Academically Moiraine is right. In practice, there were certainly times she was wrong. But this is more about her education and understanding VS these farm boys she picked up. EDIT: PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL OF SPOILERS IN THIS COMMENT SECTION! This is probably the most intense editing I have ever done. Idk if it comes across, but the first half especially, was so much fun. There might be a part two where I do how Moiraine was wrong and present the other side of things!

I didn't like Moiraine until we got to meet so many other Aes Sedai. After that, I was like, "Damn, I miss Moiraine. She was so much cooler than most of these people."

Daniel has Warder pants. Also I stan Moiraine since read 1. Such a complex and grounded character.

A really huge part of Moiraine's character development is her realization of what Rand being so strongly ta'veren actually means. It may be that he's so strongly ta'veren that he actually CANNOT be guided on his major decisions. That's really hard for Moiraine, who has spent decades at this point as an Aes Sedai and is used to all the clout and power associated with that. Watching her come to that realization is the conclusion of her whole character arc, and having a character arc like this for a mentor figure is definitely impressive. It's quite a journey.

Moiraine is my favorite grey old wizard mentor ever. Moiraine is BAE.

Moraine was a badass. I love when she's come back and stops everyone from arguing. Totally shocks everyone. Especially Rand.

I think an important point is Thom's influence on the Emond's Field boys.His disdain for Aes Sedai sort of bolstered the Emond's Fielders initial distrust in Moiraine early on in EOTW. I think this is especially true considering how much Thom ended up influencing the boys during their brief journey together in other facets.

For me one of the most pivotal scenes in getting me to appreciate Moraine was when she switched tactics on Rand. She promised to stop trying to control him and to do what he says, and in exchange all she wanted was to be allowed in, and to give her advice and then he could do what he wanted. And she really did it, their dynamic shifted drastically but she was at least able to give him advice.

I got a coworker of mine to read the eye of the world and she asked me about half way through if Moirane was a baddie. It genuinely took me a moment to remember how dodgy the character seemed that first read and how by the end of the series she was literally the only person in the entire series that you could trust.

Moiraine: "Shadar Logoth is the most dangerous place in all of the world!"" The Two Rivers folk: "Why couldn't you mention this before?" Moiraine: "Because f&%* you!

Loved the video! I was so infuriated on my first read through by how the farm boys (and Nynaeve) treated Moiraine! I stood with her from the beginning. ;)

Daniel: It would take an idiot to not listen to Moirane Moirane: stay here and don't touch anything Matt: hold my beer

I get very frustrated because of how little they trust her despite ALL she does literally all the time to keep them safe.

I think the issue with Moiraine is how secretive she comes across in the POVs of the boys. They see it like she's belittling them and from their perspective she's secretive. It gives you the impression she is hiding something and is evil. It's only when Rand and Co mature that they start to understand how important and calculating she was.

I remember when I read Eye of the World I was convinced Moiraine was evil and had her own motives for bringing the Emonds Field folk along with her. May have to do a reread before the show comes out.

Moiraine is one of the very few Aes Sedai that actually do something useful against the Dark One prior to Tarmon Gai'don, and a certain twist about one of the others, in the end, speaks fifteen volumes on how useless, if not outright damaging, the others are: almost only concerned with internal power struggles and attempts (sometimes uncoordinated) to manipulate kings and peasants to further their ends. Even the best of them never give straight answer so they can lie by omission or obfuscation... honestly, why would anyone think "I just met an Aes Sedai for the first time in my life and she is different from the rest. I am the luckiest guy in the world". With all the good that can be said about her, Moiraine, at least in the beginning, seems oblivious to this simple consideration, and she was concerned mainly with controlling Rand by virtue of her superior upbringing and secret knowledge. Later interactions with other Aes Sedai would cast both lights (by contrast) and lowercase-shadows (by association) on Moiraine, so to trust her is never a simple choice for Rand. Now, I grant that she had very little time to build a reciprocal bond of trust with the Emondfielders at the beginning, but still... a little more effort would not cause many problems. Regrding Shadar Logoth, let's be fair to the guys: a bunch of high ranking Aes Sedai, the pinnacle of education and level headedness, enter Tel'aran'rhiod with the first Dreamer in millennia, are told by said Dreamer, "please stay close, whatever you think might spring to life and kill you" and what they do is scoff, abandon their guide, practically end-up in trolloc cauldrons and are narrowly saved by the aforementioned Dreamer.

I’m starting my first reread of WoT and my love for Moiraine has only grown. She’s the best. ❤️

Beyond just finding the EF5 and rescuing them, she handled the whole situation brilliantly. That’s not to say it was mistake-free but she learned and adapted on some Bear Grylls shit. Even after saving their asses, they don’t win without her. Hell, they don’t grow without her.

I've only read the series once and Moraine was the one character that I never had any disdain for. She was actually the one character that seemed pretty level headed most of the time - when almost every other character made me want to pull my hair out at least once.

Moiraine was my favorite character from the beginning. (There were one or two times when I was terrified Jordan would reveal she'd been a secret Darkfriend the whole time or something, but my fears never came true, obvi.) On my first read-through she did come off as haughty and evasive sometimes, but even that felt like having a rounded character with credible flaws, not her being a bad person; and her occasional haughtiness and secrecy seemed kind of justified, given her incredible power, education, and heritage. It wasn't until watching through this that I fully appreciated that honestly, no, she wasn't really even being haughty!

Having just finished New Spring for the first time during my second read through of WoT it really made me appreciate her and her position so much more! Have always loved her but it really helps define her dedication to finding Rand. And her distrust of everyone...

Can I just say that the actress for Moraine is exactly how I pictured her in my head every time I read this series?

That description of the night in Shadar Logath was perfect. Just *chefs kiss*.

"At this point you would have to be a complete idiot to-Oh hi, Mat."

Moiraine is an incredible character and we could spend hours talking about it. Let's just say that she has so many incredible moments that really drive the story forward and present a shift in tone. Her speech to really hook us and the village, her sacrifice, etc.

These style videos are by far the my favourite, I just love the energy and passion you can see oozing through, I can tell the are Daniels favourite to make

I'm on my first read of the series and I still love her. She's amazing.

"it would take an idiot not to listen to you in this city" Matt

This video was pure gold. Love that you're a Moiraine stan. She deserves the world

I don't agree with everything here, especially not getting upset with Rand for wanting someone to ask before messing with his body. He is feeling incredibly powerless at that point. That everything is the pattern and that he has no say in his life or future, and so one of the very few things he has any control of is his own body. Moiraine despite good intentions takes that away when she doesn't ask before healing him. I do agree that Moiraine is a great character and definitely learns as she goes along. She is one of my favorite characters in the series, but she most assuredly makes mistakes.

The title should be "Moraine THINKS she's always right", especially when you re-read and get to the part where she holds Rand couped up for MONTHS waiting for the right signs, meanwhile Rands ta'veren senses are SCREAMING at him to move to the next prophecy bit.

I actually started my very first read of the series with New Spring (it was VERY confusing) and I loved Moiraine! I was always like “what the f*ck is wrong with these stupid kids. She’s an angel trying to save your lives”

Rand, book four: I have a Ferrari! Morraine: Can I explain how to drive stick? Or at least what a car is? Rand: Vroom, vroom! How hard can it be?

Daniel Genie, with his wispy legs and his world editing powers.

My sister and I have finished the series, and my bro is on book 8 and we had totally different opinions. My sister loved her, my brother hated/hates her, I was really suspicious of her until it was too late. In book 5 I began to understand why she was awesome and then BAM. So ya... that letter hit hard

I liked Moiraine on my first read through, since with my second read through she been my favorite character in series. This video has given me an even greater appreciation for her. I don't think she was right about everything, but I can for sure see where she was coming from.

Rand is being an ass toward Moiraine in Book 2, because Moiraine WON’T TELL HIM ANYTHING. She knows who he is now, she knows what the score is, and not only does she not tell him anything, she leaves him more or less alone in a strange place, with people who treat him weird, friends who don’t know what he is going through and no one who can do anything if he starts channeling uncontrollably. And then she starts other forms of manipulation, such as stealing and replacing his clothes with no explanation, except the new clothes further isolate him from his friends, and create an impression he does not want. These are classic abuser tactics, you do realize this, right? You say that Moiraine has no way of knowing she can trust the characters, except they are very open and frank. Rand has no idea about Moiraine, but she is very secretive and manipulative. Why SHOULD he trust her? “Up to this point she has not done anything bad…” She has made numerous threats, destroyed a ferryman’s boat, deceived and manipulated Rand, concealed her real agenda from him, led his friend to a place that got him corrupted, mostly because she refused to give them any basic information at all, trusting in her own abilities to take care of everything and never mind that without Thom’s teaching, Rand and Mat would have been dead long before Caemlyn. One person helps, the other refuses to, and the former makes his distrust of the latter clear. Why WOULD you trust the latter? Even when she does “nice” things, Moiraine demonstrates her manipulative side, such as when she tells them she thinks Thom is alive. It is very plain that she is only telling the group because they need a morale boost, that she is calculating the need, and doling out a bit of information to achieve the ends she seeks. She is treating them like her subjects, not like people with agency or rights. Rand can see all this. The bit about Rand being a nuclear bomb reflects badly on MOIRAINE, in their conflict, NOT RAND! Daniel is an utter numbskull. The fact that Moiraine is keeping everything a secret at this point is confusing to Rand. Rand is not demanding that Moiraine trust him or his judgment, he is the one who has to be very conscious of his fate and his incredibly reduced life expectancy, and Moiraine is keeping secrets about that. There is a clear solution to the issues of a man like Rand, and Moiraine is not doing that. So right there, it’s clear she’s up to something. Moiraine has knowledge that explains why Rand can’t be gentled and suggests that the Pattern might keep him alive longer. This is information Rand needs, and Moiraine is withholding. Why SHOULD he trust her when she is clearly working an agenda without him? Daniel is acting like Rand needs to earn Moiraine’s trust. The reality is what Davram Bashere states when Rand questions why Bashere is not, well, acting like Moiraine, and treating Rand’s moment of near-madness like something to turn him against Rand. Bashere quite simply says that “the world must follow you or fail.” Moiraine, though, has an out-of-control ego, coming from one of the most arrogant and elitist aristocracies and tyrannical countries in the world, and in her world-view, there is her, against her political rivals, and lesser beings are pieces to be deployed as she wills, or assets of her opponents, to be destroyed if they will not conform to her agenda. Moiraine cannot see the need to follow Rand, and I would argue probably only figures it out after he forces her to give her oath. It does not matter “how tainted” Rand is, and if that’s a thing that is holding back Moiraine’s trust, it’s a stupid thing. Moiraine is not that stupid, so I have to put this down to Daniel flailing to find a rationalization for her indefensible behavior. See, there is no way to measure the taint or predict its advance. It is not something about which Moiraine can do anything. Therefore, there is no point to withholding information. It does no good. She will never be able to verify his sanity and the fact is, due to the nature of the taint his sanity is only going in one direction. So her choice is tell him now, when he will literally NEVER be any more sane, or wait until he gets the information later down the line, after the taint has had more time to work on him and the result is even less predictable! Daniel keeps repeating that Moiraine has devoted her life to this mission as if that is in any relevant to the Two Rivers’ people’s trust issues with her. She has no basis for expecting them to trust her and they later prove right not to do so. He keeps calling their views of the Tower superstitions and accuses them of holding inaccurate beliefs, except he never says what they are. They discuss various rumors about Aes Sedai, but they never seriously act as if they believe Moiraine is a Darkfriend. The only rumors they go on are that Aes Sedai are untrustworthy and manipulative, which Moiraine’s behavior supports. “Even though you’ve done nothing but help us out…” Like when Rand asked for help with channeling? When Egwene wanted to learn more of the Power? When Perrin needed help with his wolf powers? When Nynaeve wanted to find the boys? When Mat needed to be Healed of the dagger? Each of these things is something where Moiraine said she couldn’t help. The only thing she has helped them with is an abstract danger they have to take her word about. Instead of listening to this posturing imbecile who spends more time with his juvenile editing than reading the material he is supposedly focused on, why doesn’t everyone go look at a map, and measure the miniscule distance Rand traveled in Moiraine’s company, against the much longer distance he had to travel with only a deteriorating Mat, hunted by Darkfriends at every step, and which he survived mostly by his own wits and Thom’s teaching, with no help from Moiraine, and then try to come up with your own explanation why Moiraine is justified in thinking Rand should listen to her instead of relying on his own judgment. Even the whole Eye of the World thing only happened because Moiraine had to listen to them for once, and might not have if Loial had been ushered out of the room as Moiraine wished, rather than remaining because Rand said he could.

I started reading Wheel Of Time from the “New Spring”. So basically Moraine was my favorite from the very beginning. I’m on book 5 now.

Watching this I realized that Moiraine is in just the five books before coming back. Her presence is so ubiquitous even after she's gone.

I just realized that RJ did a phenomenal job making me see Moiraine through the mistrusting boys's eyes and that's what stuck with me a lot, even after rereads (last books only twice, rest more). I like her but somehow I also didn't want her to put a leash on Rand because AS? But she is the good one and I recommend all first readers reading New Spring and then starting a reread of the series because that helps understanding her and feeling for her so much more due to her PoV's. Thanks, Daniel, for her perspective. I will keep it in mind on my next reread.

Daniel is utterly wrong in his characterization of Moiraine’s & Rand’s relationship in Tear. Moiraine is not trying to give Rand advice to make the best decision he can, she is trying to tell him what to do, and to take away all his other options so he has no choice but to listen to her. Rand WANTS advice, he WANTS lessons about how the world works, but Moiraine will only teach him what supports her preconceived notions of what he should do. This is Moiraine’s elitism coming into play again, because she really thinks she can control him and that all she has to do with leave him with no other choices, and he’ll come crawling back to her and meekly submit. Rand is not egotistical, he is VERY aware of his ignorance. The whole THEME of “The Shadow Rising” is learning and getting knowledge. Everyone wants knowledge in this book, but Moiraine won’t give it to Rand, so he has to find it on his own. And he does, without Moiraine having the slightest clue where it came from. As far as "Ask, first," Daniel gets the books wrong, AGAIN. Moiraine comes in, approaches Rand, and tells him to touch the Power, randomly and out of the blue, so Rand asks “Why?” pointing out that he can’t Heal himself. And Moiraine is on the verge of flipping out and losing her shit because Rand asks a very reasonable question. If you want people to take your advice, you have to answer their questions. Then when Rand is unable to reach the Power, because of the adverse circumstances and his lack of training. Moiraine Heals him and he does not object or protest. Rand never says anything like Daniel imagines she does. And, Daniel, you know WHY Rand is not stable after the attack? Because he’s been using Callandor. Rand figures out there is a connection and ditches Callandor as too dangerous for him to use without training. It’s MOIRAINE who WANTS HIM TO USE CALLANDOR! She encourages him to take it in the first place in the prior book, she tells him to use it to help her Heal him, she is planning on it being the key to Rand defeating Sammael despite his not knowing less about channeling than Daniel knows about the events of The Wheel of Time, and she argues against his decision to leave it in the Heart of the Stone. Which is where we come to another point in the conflict between Rand and Moiraine. Rand’s instincts are superior to hers. She is almost as ignorant as Rand, but he knows and figures out a lot more than she gives him credit for. Even if her plan for Rand worked perfectly, it would have left Rand in control of Tear & Illian, both countries depleted by warfare, with the Tairens being asshats and the Illianers resenting being conquered. And that’s assuming he can beat Sammael on his home turf, without Traveling or any real knowledge of how to channel and that he somehow survives the flaws in Callandor that Moiraine could not be bothered to look up as Cadsuane did when she figured out the Dragon was Reborn. Instead, by ignoring Moiraine and doing things his way, Rand wins the support and affection of both Cairhien and Illian, by feeding them instead of slaughtering them with saidin, and on top of that, he gets the Aiel, with six times as many female channelers as the White Tower, and no stupid Oaths limiting their ability to help him, with better combat knowledge and faster battle weaves, plus Dream powers. Oh, and an all-but invincible army that’s three times as large as a force that fought the united wetlands to a draw a generation before. There is no debate, there is no argument, there is nothing subjective here - Rand’s plan was WAY better than Moiraine’s and that’s without even counting the fact that he also got a teacher and the Choedan Kal access keys out of the deal. And took a Forsaken off the board. Asmodean is one of the more clever Forsaken, while Sammael is the dumb jock of the bunch. Rand outperforms Moiraine on every level in this book. Daniel’s description of Moiraine’s reaction to Rand’s plan to go to the Waste is AGAIN, inaccurate. She tries to argue him out of it. She does not decide to take Egwene, Egwene was already intending to go the Waste, and Moiraine ridiculed her intentions. Moiraine argued against Rand’s plan to go to Rhuidean, telling him “You don’t need to be an Aiel chief.” The Aiel are the deadliest warriors in the world. Even a two year old should be able to figure out the advantage of gaining a position of authority and leadership among the Aiel. Especially since we now know that they are the People of the Dragon mentioned in the Prophecies and that their chiefs are marked with the symbol of the Dragon. Daniel keeps calling Rand a jumped-up farmboy, like that’s some sort of pejorative. He is not ignorant, he is not stupid. By the time he is in Tear, he has been away from his farm longer than Moiraine had been away from her student days in the Tower when she confronted the Black Ajah and bonded Lan in New Spring. Rand has faced four Forsaken and killed two of them. He has seen and used the Eye of the World, spoken to the Green Man, to Ogier Elders, and walked in another world. He has defeated blademaster in single combat, fought beside the Heroes of the Horn, and saved a Great Captain and his army from annihilation at the hands of Trollocs. He has twice crossed half the continent without Aes Sedai help, scaled the Stone of Tear and performed feats of the Power even in his ignorance that Moiraine could never dream of matching. If he died on the portal stone trip to Chaendar, his life would already have more adventures than half the heroes of legend and he’s already accomplished more than Moiraine has in twice his lifetime. At what point does he, in the judgment of semi-literate internet pundit with poor taste in video editing and worse reading comprehension skills, get to shed the “jumped up farmboy” label? The very term reeks of classist prejudice and the assumption that class is an inherent quality in people. To the extent that Rand is “jumped up” he did the jumping himself. Moiraine is a jumped-up spoiled aristocratic child of privilege, who is only elevated above that by the say-so of a regressing, incompetent organization that is losing its grip on the world. Only Daniel Green could utter the phrase “he’s still by no means qualified to lead all these people and he gets all these Aiel to follow him.” Getting people to follow you is the ONLY qualification for leadership! Whatever Rand is doing, it works, regardless of whether or not it works the way Moiraine thinks it should. If Moiraine said the sun was going to come up in the west, and it did not, Daniel would refuse to admit she was wrong and blame the sun for acting weird and praise Moiraine’s fortitude for sticking to her guns even though the sun is not cooperating.

Randlanders not trusting Aes Sedai is more like not trusting the police than believing in a Flat Earth.

Hey, remember that time in The Great Hunt when the Fellowship of the Rand is attacked by trollocs, Perrin has a bunch of wolves show up to help out, then Moiraine heals every injured wolf she could find? I that doesn't scream "I care and I'm a force for good," then I don't know what does.

I don't recall if it was mentioned in books 1-5 but not only did she devote her entire life to finding, protecting and guiding the Dragon Reborn, she passed on becoming the White Tower backed, Aes Sedai Queen of Cairhien. The first openly Aes Sedai ruler in...hundreds, maybe a thousand years? She practically took a vow of poverty to accomplish her mission. Definately one of my all time favorite characters.

15:20 You really don't understand Moiraine, she doesn't want their gratitude, never wanted it, never needed it, that's not what blue ajah is about, they're 'Seekers after Causes'. And Moiraine embody the blue Ajah. They should stick her on their banners becaus ehse truly was the greatest of the Blue.

dude, I wish you would stop pretending that the Aes Sedai's reputation wasn't at least partially justified by their actions. Even some of the ones who didn't fall to the shadow are pretty nasty, and they as a group do deserve a less than sterling reputation even if groups like the White Cloaks take it too far.

In book 4, Rand has an ego cause he has to. He thinks, and he is partially right, that if he isnt going to behave so, no one will listen to him. He also refuses to listen to Moriane because he is afraid she will manipulate him. Moriane isnt that wrong, but she has weak points, mainly her beilef that she knows best and can and should control everything. She knows much, but not all. Its clear she shouldnt just hand over anything at the start, but at the start of book 3, she could at least involve rand in making decisions instead of commanding and manipulating him. Then he would listen to her, and will correct her when she is wrong(and there are also such points too). Delibirately trying to keep him ignorant of the prophecies, trying to make all his other help go, not explaining anything, and just trying to make him tell her everything, is the exact opposite. She also cant control everything and must be flexible. She should also care more about the well-being of her companions, and treat them as companions. She isnt treating them badly, but she certainly does not seem to care more than is needed for the world, even when it does not collide. She treats them as subjects, which is bad. She isnt constantly wrong, and she does much right, but like everyone in the wheel of time, she has many flaws, and she does mistakes

Really liked the video, but... Most of your beginning argument was she is a magical priest and they are simple farmers, so they should listen to her. My only argument would be that if she was truly wise she wouldn't have approached the farm boys like their better, Which she clearly does. Still... I love her and your content!

Boy I disagree hard with many things in this video. Firstly, you changed my mind on Moraine's frustrations not being visible because we don't get her pov. I can fully understand this but I have never thought Mat or Perrin was totally right when it came to clashes with Aes Sedai but Rand was definitely in a different situation. The problem is that I have reread the first five books around December and I don't clearly remember the details. One thing I remember is that everyone treats Rand horribly in the early books. Mostly women always call him shepherded (as if to make him feel know your place before he got his ego) treat him like an idiot no matter what he does. I am not saying Rand is better off without Moraine's advice or other woman but that is not how you manipulate someone. Aes Sedai is supposed to be great manipulators but Moraine did a really bad job with that. You are talking about how much of a time bomb Rand is, I remember clearly the main reason for Rand's depression/dark feelings was that he was aware of himself being a time bomb but nobody gave any sympathy to him as soon as he was revealed to be dragon reborn. Nynaeve only knows how to be a hammer against every problem, Egwene sees two-person relationships as battles she has to fight and win (still I really like her character, Moraine was like "Okay I dedicated my life to this so you have to do everything by me and don't expect details ever and just blindly follow me". When there is a lot of responsibility on you and people can die due to consequences, the least you expect from advice on why you should follow them. Your explanation on Moraine not trusting Mat or Perrin fully can make sense but later in the story she doesn't treat Rand as an adult. Rand is mostly frustrated while going through huge pain (emotionally) and nobody cares about the boy's pain. They don't see the pain they only see Rand getting a huge ego. Of course, Rand lashes out because of the stress he was in. By the time they realized and tried to mend Rand it was too late because he had zero trust in women close to him having his best interest. After awhile Rand started acting stupid but at least they pushed him into that place collectively.

And the man that was the least responsible Matt. Is the one that ultimately gave up the most, half the light of the world, to save Moiraine.

I read New Spring first, and it irrevocably coloured my perception of Moiraine and Lan. I was 14/15(?) and on my way through an airport. I stopped in the bookshop to find something new to read while I was at my destination (where I would be for about 3 weeks). I'd seen the WoT books on shelves before but didn't know anything about the series. I thought the smaller prequel would be a good taster of the series, upon which I could cut me teeth. The moral of the story is: Always begin at the beginning!

I am on my first read through and my problem with Moiraine is that she doesn't trust anyone but expects others to trust her unconditionally. This just seems to me like a basic fact of human interaction that lasting trust needs to be mutual. As I read it, this is also the reason for Rand's attitude towards her in Book 2.

Ah, a hilarious 20-minute love letter to Moiraine was just what I needed tonight! (Book 5 Moiraine is *heartbreaking*. At least she gets to come back and floor everyone by walking into a tent ^_^)

Every time Rand and Moiraine disagree, definitely after Falme, and probably before, too, Rand is right and Moiraine is wrong. This is not a matter for dispute. Rand's ignoring Moiraine once he proclaims himself saves him from disaster again and again.

I was always on Moiraine's side. That poor woman.

Rand leaves in Book 3, because Moiraine was refusing to DO anything. She refused to let him go to the people who swore to follow him, claiming it was too dangerous, and that people would crush any group he joined. Except when that does NOT happen… she still makes excuses why they STILL can’t do what Rand wants, even though the exact opposite thing to her predictions came to pass! Now the new story is that the Shadow is assassinating people who might be Rand, so they have to stay hidden in their mountain camp where it is safe… and then Trollocs attack that very night! Moiraine KEEPS BEING WRONG. But she’s Daniel’s favorite character, so Rand should just ignore her absolute shit track record and keep listening to her. Rand has been doing what she said all winter at this point. With Moiraine around, Emond’s Field was attacked by Trollocs, and Moiraine frankly admits that even if Rand told her everything he knew, every odd circumstance as soon as they met, there was nothing she could have done to change the outcome. When he finally does tell her about Baalzamon in his dreams, he gets zero help. Rand was the one who made friends with Loial, and without him, they could never have traveled the Ways to reach the Eye or escape the Trollocs who have surrounded Caemlyn, where Moiraine told Rand to go and wait for her. Moiraine is all but helpless against Aginor, and Rand kills him. He faces and defeats Baalzamon twice, with no help from Moiraine. He destroys the Trolloc army in Tarwin’s Gap. Moiraine was a hindrance to his reaching the Eye of the World to get the Power to do those things, because she insists that the rules don’t apply to her. In reality, although they don’t realize this, the only reason Moiraine was able to visit the Eye a second time was because Rand was with her. Then Moiraine is no help at all as Rand chases down the Horn, keeps himself, Loial and Hurin alive through their portal stone adventure, retrieves the Horn from Fain, gets to Cairhien, survives Daes Daemar for several weeks without her help, gets more information from Thom about the Prophecies, making Thom the guy who has told him almost everything he knows about them, while Moiraine, who insists that she is the one to guide him, has told him nothing. Verin is a lot more helpful than Moiraine, and helps Rand use the Portal Stone to go to Tomon Head. He defeats Lord Turak in a duel and gets the Horn out of Falme, managing to help a repentant Darkfriend find the Light by his example. He is hailed as the Dragon by the Heroes of the Horn who agree to help him rescue his friends (again, not a thing Moiraine has ever done - from what Rand can see, everything bad to happen to his friends can be traced to Moiraine dragging them along with him and her). At this point, why on earth would ANYONE who has experienced what Rand has listen to an Aes Sedai not even 10% into her career? Especially one who refuses to share information and manipulates and deceives him at every turn? And then Rand has a threefold reveal of how little use he is being in the mountain. He channels accidentally, almost hurting his friends, and causing an injury to the Tinker spy visiting Moiraine. Then he is unable to discern the sense of approaching Shadowspawn from the sense of taint on saidin. Finally, he is useless for Healing the wounded or relieving Moiraine’s fatigue. This is a clear signal to Rand that he is not doing any good where he is, and is more of a danger to his friends and followers than a help, so he goes off on his own, since hiding has clearly failed and the Forsaken are attacking his dreams again. And he survives fairly well on the road, staying ahead of a pursing Aes Sedai and Warder. Now Moiraine earns her right to keep breathing by actually managing to help Rand with Belal… but she only succeeded because Rand left her behind! Belal sent his Black henchwomen to set a trap for Moiraine, in order to isolate Rand further, and he believed it worked, because he sensed it spring. If he had not, he would have made more efforts to be sure of getting Moiraine out of the way. If she had been in Rand’s company, he would have absolutely had her killed before she ever got to the Stone. He WANTED Rand to make it, and took efforts to make sure Rand came alone. But because Belal is not an idiot, he has to focus on the Dragon Reborn, and can’t leave Callandor unattended while a ta’veren is coming to get it. If Moiraine was with Rand, he could go after her, and keep an eye on Rand at the same time. As it is, because Rand left Moiraine behind, Rahvin cannot turn his attention from Rand & the sword to make sure of Moiraine, so she is able to shoot him in the back while he is distracted. And then she gets curbstomped by Baalzamon, whom Rand has defeated twice and now finishes off for the third and final time. Rand was the important figure in all of this, making Moiraine’s smaller part possible at all. That’s why, even though he has very few PoV appearances, the book is called “The Dragon Reborn”. Because everything depends on Rand and without Rand, none of them could have succeeded. Without Rand’s efforts, Moiraine dies in the Heart of the Stone, the Aiel die trying to take it, Tear falls thoroughly under the Shadow, Perrin dies looking for Faile, Loial is eventually killed guarding his body, something awful happens to the Wondergirls in the dungeon and Mat and Sandar are eventually overwhelmed in the halls of the Stone. Leaving Thom to take over the whole mission to save the world on his own, once he gets over the pneumonia at Mother Guenna’s.

I don't think you can justify Moiraine's behavior as somehow necessary or well thought out. Sure it's clear why she thinks it is and why she approaches things as she does, but when you conscript a bunch of farmboys to follow you on a grand quest it's your responsibility to lead them. And Moiraine does not know how to lead people, because just expecting them to fall in line is not it. We see what it does take later on in some of the other characters: the ability to inspire people, to seem like you are in control and have a plan, to make people believe that you will look out for them, etc. The comparison to Gandalf is interesting because really the difference is that Gandalf didn't need to go through a long character developing arc to understand that his faith in providence required also faith in Frodo to walk the path he had been chosen for. Although being a literal angel probably helps in that regard. Finally, uh... we basically find out that all those "conspiracy theories" about the Aes Sedai are like 90% true and not only are they constantly doing stupid Illuminati bullshit but like half of them are evil. And the half that aren't full out evil are still assholes.

Your points are all well and good, I can even mostly agree with them. However, the main issue was always _trust_ and _respect._ She didn't trust them, and it showed. She didn't respect them, and it showed. Sheepherders or not the Two Rivers folk deserved the bare minimum of respect one human being gives to another. Moiraine could have _easily_ just told them what you told us: She can't be sure she can trust them because of X, Y and Z and if they thought shit was real _before_ the coming storm will make their adventure so far seem tame. Instead of ignoring or downplaying their fears regarding Aes Sedai she should have sat them down and hashed it all out. You don't dispel mistrust by telling the people who mistrust you that they just need to learn to get over it.

Moiraine is an example of why hillbillies bring out shotguns whenever the revenuers show up.

I have read the books many times, and have superior knowledge of the books, which I demonstrate in pointing out the many, many, MANY errors in Daniel’s attempts to summarize the events of the novels (without looking stuff up, but you’ll have to take my word on that - and even if I DID look stuff up before commenting on his videos, it just means that Daniel does a worse job researching his own videos than I do before posting a comment). I am not super impressed by Moiraine or her handling of things. She is stuck with her tunnel-vision adherence to an out-of-date and inadequate status quo, who barely figures out her place in the grand scheme of things in time to avoid an outcome as disastrous as her sisters’ experiences in dealing with Rand. She was also a shitty abusive friend with regard to Lan and her mentorship of Rand was absolutely loaded with bad faith. She gets a lot of credit from both characters and fans for “saving” Rand from a danger she herself created, and deliberately so in order to maintain her own illusion of competence. - Spending 20 years looking for something does not necessarily say anything good about Moiraine. In fact, if anything, it suggests a degree of incompetence. But it’s pretty irrelevant, since he was found at the right time, which means it’s not Moiraine’s ability that found him in time, but the Pattern making it happen that way. Given that her plan was to take Baby Rand (and then Toddler Rand, then Child Rand, then Teenage Rand) straight to the stomping grounds of the most dangerous group of Darkfriends in the world, what is much more likely is that the Pattern was *hiding Rand from Moiraine* Given the bonds he forms with Nynaeve, Mat, Perrin and Egwene, his time in the Two Rivers was necessary. Also, Moiraine knew almost from Day One that the Black Ajah was aware of Rand and looking to murder anyone who might possibly BE Rand… and she did not alter the plan! The Pattern had to figuratively smack her upside the head with an anvil to get the message to sink in that Moiraine’s plan for the last 20 years has been FUCKING STUPID.

Moiraine was cool. I always felt the two rivers kids were being just... incomprehensibly offensive to her for no good reason. I guess I never fully settled in the two rivers perspective despite it being covered more and saw Moiraine kinda for what she was even if I didn't understand it fully. The later parts of the story enlightened that and just give made respect for her.

I don't think I had any issues with Moiraine when I read the series (and I've only read it once). If anything I kept wondering why everyone kept pushing against her. She saved all your lives. But I get it the belief is that you can't trust an Aes Sedai.

I remember feeling sorry for her in books 4 and 5 cause of how rand was treating her. And rereading it, I can see and hear the desperation in her voice to try and pass on all that she can to rand before the docks. Just drives the feeling home even more.

It's super late and I should definitely be sleeping, but I saw the title of this video and I *had* to watch it. I'm actually at my first read through the series, reading through CoS atm, but I absolute love Moiraine. I fell absolutely in love with her character and it was hard at times not to frown at how everyone was treating her. After the events of FoH I actually had to read New Spring because what she did hit me hard. I may be biased towards her, but it was her character that made me fall in love with WoT (love other characters, the events and the Game of Houses and other political/power struggles too), but she's definitely my favourite WoT character, and really high up in my top of favourite fantasy characters. I'm glad this video exists because not only is it spot on, but people should try and understand her perspective, dedication and motives because anything else would be, in my biased opinion, a disservice to her character

Hands down, she's one of my favorite fantasy characters of all time.

On the re-read situation. I read WoT for the first time this year, then a few weeks after that immediately started reading again and just now finished. WoT is incredible.

I just finished the series and Moraine is one of my favorite characters

My first read (up to KoD): Moiraine very frustrate me much. Second read: holy moly... Moiraine’s amazing! She’s the adult in the room (world), and even though she has an ego, she’s able to put it to the side to help Rand for everyone else’s sake. I think my fav line is when she was asked why she was being submissive and she says that she remembered how to embrace Saidar. So smart, so selfless.

She definitely was, but it was important for her to me removed from the plot multiple times (book 1 when they're separated, book 2 she lets Rand and co go with Verin, book 3 Rand dips) because of the Wizard character trope. Like Gandalf leaving the plot for stretches at a time allows for things to happen because of the other characters rather than letting it be "A WIZARD DID IT!" to reference something another KZfaqr (Hello Future Me) says in his videos. The characters needed to grow in ways they wouldn't have if they were always under her safe umbrella. Supid Mat and the dagger, Rand channeling (which upon my reread of the series I realized that when he got sick as heck in the barn on the road with Mat, that was Rand experiencing the first time channeling backlash Moiraine talked to Nynaeve about), Perrin gaining the wolf eyes I loved the moment in book 5 when Moiraine and Rand finally start actually working together after Moiraine pleads with him, and the letter to him. Such a touching moment, the faith she has in him (eventually)

7:31 As an uncle to 3 toddlers, I can confirm that instructions like that hold for about 5 seconds after breaking eye contact. If I'm lucky.

Never seen a truer title in my life. It was only after she was out of the picture for a while that you feel her absence.

This video released when I was reading book 1. Came back after a year and after I finished the first 6 books + New Spring. Worth it. 👍

Excited to learn more about her because WOW is she my fave from the show. Hnnnng this woman is fan bloody tastic

Moiraine is not preparing to sacrifice herself. When she writes the letter to Rand pretending she is going to her death for her sake, she is also writing a letter to Thom asking him to come rescue her and passive-aggressively manipulating Mat into helping. She is being fundamentally dishonest! She is adding to Rand’s trauma and contributing to his downward spiral, just to regain his awe and respect, after her dishonesty and incompetence pissed it all away. And she is so full of shit about her claims, too. As the Wise Ones say, and Moiraine herself admits, she cannot remember everything she sees in the ring ter’angreal, it is physically impossible to retain all knowledge of all possibilities. And yet, Moiraine, with her customary arrogance, assumes that the only outcomes she remembers are the only possible ones. And things have already been changed, by Moiraine making Rand go to the docks, when he had no intention of doing so, and balked until Moiraine and everyone else talked him into it. So ultimately, Moiraine saved Rand from a danger she created. It is as likely as anything else that Kadere told Lanfear his theory about Rand & Aviendha, because he saw them right before Lanfear showed up and demanded a report. But in any event, even if Lanfear flew into a rage and went looking for Rand, she’d have dropped into Caemlyn during the fight with Rahvin and been as likely to be killed by him as actually managing to capture Rand. This is foreshadowed in the initial discussion about Moiraine going to Rhuidean, where the Wise Ones admit that in all the ways they foresaw Moiraine going into the rings, they never saw the scenario that actually plays out, where they bring up the idea, instead of Moiraine herself demanding it. Likewise, whatever Moiraine claims, the scenario that played out in real life did NOT inevitably bring Rand to the docks. Just as on Chaendar, the one with the foreknowledge changed the scenario from what she saw, rendering the outcome foreseen suspect. Moiraine sacrifices nothing “for some farmboys”. She spends way too much of her time trying to control the heroes destined to save the world instead of helping them. She dismisses important aspects of their lives as insignificant, and tries to make them do stupid things that would have put them straight into the hands of Sammael or the Black Ajah and she tries to sabotage Rand’s leadership in order to make him reliant upon her. Rand does not all have the attitude Daniel describes. He is not worried about the loss of his “safety net” and never sees Moiraine as such. Because you TRUST a safety net, and Rand does not trust Moiraine. By the time she regains a measure of his trust, he only trusts her for political stuff, not the One Power, since he can do a lot of things the Tower has lost. Rand is not relying on her at all. And prior to her faked death, he was not arrogant or overconfident. Sorilea, with decades of leadership experience and the respect of the Wise Ones, disputes Egwene's perception of arrogance. Even Elayne does not perceive any arrogance in Egwene’s slanted descriptions, and she is not prone to overlooking Rand’s errors out of love. Not even Moiraine calls him arrogant, she just calls him stubborn for doing what he wants instead of blindly following her off a cliff, instead of assuming that she CLEARLY has learned the best possible course of action for a ruler in the two decades she has spent wandering around the continent checking birthdays. Rand's a far better ruler than Miraine, for one. She believed, and fled the Tower for that belief, that to be an effective ruler, you have to use assassinations and tyranny. She sees ruling as simply a matter of staying ahead in Daes Daemar and beating other nobles at political intrigue. Nothing she tells Rand has anything to do with bettering the lives of the common people or governing them justly. He gets that from his own moral instincts and bottom-up view of a society, and from Thom and Elayne. Remember, part of Moiraine’s reason for sending Thom along with Nynaeve and Elayne is because Thom’s teachings and his plots are helping to secure Rand’s hold on Tear and win the trust of the people, while Moiraine wants to concentrate on using Tear as a base of power for a program of world conquest. Elayne, in proximity with her thoughts about Rand’s questions about ruling, thinks about feeding the hungry and guiding merchants to do what you want. And the policy Rand enacts contains both of those actions, feeding the hungry of Cairhien and creating a grain trade with Illian. Moiraine, brilliant force for good that she is , calls the first one senseless and dismisses the latter as unimportant. And then, it turns out that because of these policies, Rand is offered both the Sun Throne of Cairhien and the Laurel Crown of Illian. Seriously, where does this idea come from in the fandom that Rand is stupid or arrogant for following his own judgement and moral instincts instead of going along with Moiraine’s plans that keep forgetting to take into account that the Forsaken are free and not as stupid as Aes Sedai, and that Aiel matter. Moiraine: “We have to do this. I know what’s going on, I’m in charge. Listen to me” The Pattern: “Hahahah. No.”

Daniel fundamentally misunderstands Wheel of Time on many levels. I don’t know what books he is thinking of where a character like Moiraine is submissive to farmboys. Gandalf leaves the choice to which Daniel refers to Frodo, because equally smart, equally knowledgeable people on both sides are making good points and the brains of the group are at an impasse. Also, Gandalf is not one of them, he is a being sent by the gods to HELP them, not do everything for them. The whole point of Frodo is that his decisions are uncorrupted by ambitions or special interests. Back in Wheel of Time, the major themes have to do with knowledge, with perception and how those things affect choices and actions. And EVERY character is susceptible to shortcomings in that regard. No one is better or more right, especially not better than the main characters. Moiraine represents the status quo perspective, she is someone intrinsically stuck in the conventional mentality as she herself admits at the end, and Rand’s whole POINT in the story is that he creates new options, because the status quo is sinking the world into the Shadow. More than anyone else, Moiraine typifies a particular danger to the Light side, that of arrogance, of certainty of one’s position or mastery. With only a fraction of the information available, Moiraine is adamantly convinced of her superiority and make decisions based on that certainty, regardless of how removed from reality she is. She does NOT know what’s going on and is almost never the voice of what has to be done. She drives very little of the choices the characters make after Shadar Logoth. Even going to the Eye of the World is not Moiraine’s plan so much as Moiraine reacting to the Pattern holding up a three-fold signpost telling them what to do next. From then on, she is behind the 8-ball and reacting. None of the plans she comes up with get followed and none could have succeeded because they are mostly stupid. She sits all winter in a hidden camp in the mountains, paralyzed by indecision, and unable to move until Rand forces her hand. The intel she receives proves this. Moiraine has no clue what the world needs and what the Light needs. She has a skillset that is mainly about dealing with powerful people by manipulation and controlling information by withholding it. By contrast, we see the good guys constantly being rewarded for sharing information, and that giving out information generally works. Elayne is successful in her quest for the throne, because she makes the choice to tell her subordinates her agenda and her reasoning. She is frankly honest with Dyelin on arriving in Caemlyn, even about things that could make her suspicious of Elayne’s independence, and Dyelin takes wounds defending Elayne. She is open and honest with Birgitte when she bonds her, and Birgitte saves her from the Black sisters. And it is ultimately information that gets Elayne the throne, as she uses the available data to figure out where to capture her rivals. Egwene is able to get rid of her Black keeper and chase the Black sisters into hiding, because Verin shares information. She is able to even make a start at claiming the authority of her position, because her friends supply her with sources of information, namely Moghedian and Siuan. Nynaeve wins the Malkieri to Lan’s side by spreading the word of what he is up to, and she respected Lan’s own choice to return to the Borderlands to take up his old fight, and makes him respect the choices of his subjects as well. She and Elayne befriend Egeanin by freely answering her questions, they win over Tylin by being honest about their goals in Ebou Dar. Elayne and Mat forge a positive relationship when they first start offering respect. The whole mission to find the Bowl of the Winds is stagnating until they decide to start telling people about it, both the Sea Folk and then Mat. Mat & Birgitte become friends by acknowledging each other’s secrets and respecting their privacy. Both Rand and Perrin are more successful at politics by being open and honest. Perrin wins over the Two Rivers by being upfront about the threat they face instead of demanding people trust them, and it works with Alliandre, too. Rand make a point of spreading the word that the Forsaken are free so people don’t find out at the worst possible time and freak out. He comes all but openly to the rebel camp and wins over Carline which in turn, brings Darlin to his side, and makes Darlin from one of Rand’s greatest critics to his strongest supporter. Rand proves himself to the Aiel by telling them the truth about Rhuidean and their history. His honesty about his feelings moves Ingtar to let the Horn and his dreams of glory go. The theme of “The Wheel of Time” is that while secrets and lack of knowledge are a tragic fact of life, honesty and candor and genuine respect (not kowtowing to higher, artificial status) are generally better practices. Moiraine is the epitome of getting all that wrong. She starts out the series thinking she is above all these peons she is saddled with, but Wheel of Time is about inversion as well. When a Wheel turns, what is on top ends up on the bottom and what was on the bottom rises to the top. Moiraine is a cautionary tale the good guys all have to learn to transcend.

The woman straight up turned on and fire blasted Machin Shin, a force that unnerves even the most courageous characters in the book. She and Lan were a rock and a tank for those lovely fool village kids.

I like Moiraine...at book 6. When all the other Aes Sedai shows why Moirane was clearly the best person to lead him. Though to be fair, if they would just LET THE PROPHESIES PLAY OUT life would just be better. Prophesies can't be guided, IMO. Does anyone else hate Elaida because of that?

As Moiraine admitted out of her own mouth in the aftermath of the Eye, the very first thing she did with the boys, was try and put a compulsion on them through those coins she gave them. “The Shadow can be anywhere” indeed. “The Father of Lies” aspect of the Dark One is all about the lies and excuses one tells oneself to justify their misdeeds. Within such, darkfriend or not, Moiraine is one that is constantly walking a knifes edge of being one of the Dark One’s greatest and most effective servants. Ultimately, the Two Rivers folk are RIGHT to mistrust her. She IS out to use them. She WOULD kill them the moment she thought it “necessary”. Hell, even more then the whole threatening to kill them bit, one scene in TEotW that really stands out, is how once they finally came clean about the dreams, she blatantly Aes Sedai-truthed it up when asked if she knew the names of the False Dragons. Hardly even tried to be subtle about it, just took them for a bunch of fools who wouldn’t noticed she didn’t answer the question. Moiraine is a badass, and she gets shit done. These are both true, but she is also a deeply flawed individual. Who is willing to sink to damn near any level to do what she thinks “needs” to be done, and is whole convinced she, and only she, can truly know what that is. She goes on and on about “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills”, yet the moment ANYTHING goes contrary to how she wants it to, it’s all “yet is the Dark One’s touch effecting the weaving?”. As if she thinks the literally infinity old Wheel of Time cannot even tie it’s own shoelaces without HER there to see it done. Hell, the Wheel has to actively beat her over the head with the visions of the future telling her “You. Are. In. The. Way!!!” for her to even begin to get a clue, and even THEN she makes one last effort to manipulate Rand with her letter to him. To say nothing of her letter to Thom. In short, Moiraine is FAR too willing to do “what is necessary”, lacks trust in people, faith in the Wheel, and just over all wants to control literally everyone and thing around her.

When we were at the docks, and saw her sneak around the cart positioning herself out of sight, then rush into certain death to tackle Lanfear and not just save Rand al'Thor, but all of humanity, my heart stopped. I threw the book across the room and sobbed. Her redemption, though...LoL, that was a good day.

Well done. I do find people tend to treat her a bit harshly on their first read and better on subsequent reads. One thing to note though is that while some of the boys attitudes are warranted. It could be argued that she trusts the White Tower a bit to much. Not as much as other Aes Sedai of course, but she still isn't as suspicious as she should perhaps be. One of the reasons I love her character, (and this series) is that everyone is far from stupid. Every single character is clever, intelligent, and strong in their own way, but each also has their own flaws and hers is that she believes that the White Tower is the safest place for Rand.

Firstly thanks for putting me onto these books, it was one of those series from childhood that I never got around to reading. In saying that, maaaaaaan, I found reading the three boys (because they definitely aren't mature enough to be men) like poking chopsticks into my eyes repeatedly. The 'why did the universe/deities/etc choose these over-entitled brat(s) to be these messianic figures?' in fantasy is strong. I also struggle with the portrayal of mental illness, but again given that is generally done poorly to outright 'you've actually never taken the time to get to know anyone's mental illness have you dear author?' in fiction, I am continuing through the series. I suppose it is a sign of the times that it was written in that it's up to the womenfolk to get the saviours into adulting, which begs the question - why weren't those womenfolk chosen in the first place - they are fundamentally better candidates? I had to pause on each book, and taken a lengthy pause on The Shadow Rising just to give myself time to move past just how poor the candidates are, and how obviously better candidates the women would have been.

Everytime you say that there will be spoilers, I just mute the video and open a new tab to watch something else, so that you can have my view anyway. Guys, let's protect Daniel's analytics, just like he protects us from spoilers

10:58 is the perfect facial expression for her to make a couple of times during the movie ;D

I am still on my first read through but as of the second book I found that Moiraine through her scheming had essentially made all of her previous allies into people who were either suspicous (like Rand, Mat and various Aes Sedai) of her or hated her (Nynaeve, Elaida) which eventually lead to some like Rand trying to break away from her influence after she tried to hold him back too much. I find it hard to consider this the action of someone who 'got everything right'.

Hi Daniel, I'm new to your channel and I love it! You reminded me how much I love the wheel of time. Also your comment about how it's helped you through some bad times , I feel the same and I've started listening to the audiobooks again while packing my house for a very difficult move back to Virginia! It is definitely helping me focus and get through so thanks!

There is is great moment in book 3, where Perrin during a haty flight basically says: "You know, this wouldn't be half as frustrating and we would be halb as stubborn, if you would just sit down and explain, what the plan is." And Moiraine is like: "Ok, fair, I'll explain it. It only took me 30 years to understand all this shit, doing research, and learning in the tower, but I'm sure you will understand it all in a lunchbreak."

Started my current reread/listen with New Spring and it totally changes your perspective of Moraine and Lan and why they act the way they do.

Funny enough my first experience in reading the Wheel of Time series was from the POV of Moraine and I believe Lan a little bit only, in the Novella that came out as "New Spring" in the the The Legends Anthology in 1999 which I plucked from the NEW FICTION section of the Library in 1999 :) I hadn't read any of the other books and in fact that story got me into reading the series in the first place. So I went into reading Wheel of Time knowing Moraine's purpose and resoluteness and tenacity in all things and Lan's story just a bit way before they came into Emond's Field. So in that, I knew she was trustworthy and and not a possible antagonist to lead the other main protagonists astray... Moraine is most definitely badass in so many ways as you described.

SPOILERS I’m reading Towers of Midnight right now and as I’ve got through the series I’ve realised my opinion of Moiraine has changed greatly. At the start of the series, Aes Sedai are a sort of inhuman, elevated league of women; but as the series goes on, you realise they are really just human and are not as different as the rest of the characters in the books. And so, my opinion of Moiraine went from her being a bit of a manipulative, cold hearted woman to being a guide and guardian for the Emond’s Field Five. Honestly, I can’t tell if it’s a lazy way of developing a character (given that she’s not been present for quite a while) or if it actual pure genius. I’m starting to lean towards genius and I cannot wait for her reunion with the Five. I hope it lives up to expectations. Let me know what you think!

Moraine was not immune to the institutional arrogance of the Aes Sedai and it caused her some problems.

Having raised three boys, the one thing you never do is tell them not to touch something. It almost guarantees that one of them surely will. Moiraine's lack of parental knowledge (which being an Aes Sedai she could never gain) bite's her in the butt here.

I started WoT with New Spring and fell in love with Moirain's character. Even after a couple of rereads, thinking of those docks still hurts

Moiraine is mostly her own worst enemy throughout these books. The information she shares is a trickle when it should have been a torrent. If we posit what she (believed) knew, 1. This is the Dragon Reborn, 2. The end is nigh, 3. These three boys will save or damn the world forever 4. The White Tower is blinded by internal arrogance - then we can critically armchair quraterback the whole story. Jordan gave her hubris, he defined it, he breathed life into it, he ran with it. In the end her role would only really flesh out, like Nyneave, after she surrendered herself to it. When she realized she was carrying out a role of support, rather than trying to lead as a guide, her character became whole. This allowed Rand to become the Dragon as well.

I see in her the dangers of excessive secretkeeping. Never once does Moiraine try to explain things if ppl don't want to follow her lead. I mean how hard could it be to say "there's a curse to things here, it is dangerous to touch them" as opposed to "don't touch anything" Her "I must manipulate you for your own good" attitude is in my reading why she ultimately isn't trusted. Especially towards Rand with her "You must make sacrifices for the world, but why you must make them is above your paygrade" approach it is no wonder that Rand views her as untrustworthy.

- “Sherlocked-Holmesed it out” is a strange way to describe benefiting from a bunch of random coincidences. Like the fact that she just happened to be present when his rebirth was foretold, and that she was assigned to a job that gave her access to the list of women who might be his mother. And until we get some evidence or description of what actually went down on her search, my above point, that the Pattern dragged her to the Two Rivers and stuck her right in front of Rand, is at least as good as Daniel’s fan-fiction hype version. - “puts herself in a little bit of a disguise” is a funny way of saying “Makes no effort to disguise herself, goes by her real name, and even a bunch of ignorant farm boys are able to guess at her Warder’s occupation.” Saying that she found 3 farmboys, all ta’veren implies she figured out that they were ta’veren, instead of having an adolescent runaway scholar point it out several weeks later. -Also, Moiraine did not identify Rand as the Dragon Reborn right off. She was not certain which of the three boys was the actual Dragon Reborn. And she did not make the assumptions Daniel attributes to her, because she is not a moron (Daniel assigns them to her, because he is, and with the benefit of hindsight, is giving her the benefit of all he can). Even if Rand is an Aiel, that does not make him the Dragon Reborn (although Moiraine will remain unusually dense regarding the “People of the Dragon” for the first 4-5 books of the series, considering Daniel claims she instantly identified Rand as the Dragon Reborn due to his Aiel appearance). It just means there is an Aiel or part-Aiel person in the Two Rivers, and since there was a war going on, with thousands of Aiel in the wetlands for the only time in three thousand years right around the time Rand had to have been conceived, it should not be hard to imagine a mundane reason for him to be there.

Not often i read about a gandalf figure being literally pushed away, and ignored by the chosen one.

Loc«ved the video, I've never seen an opinion on Moirane as similar to my own as your, so thank you for that. However, i think a moment should be spared to contemplate the extreme craftiness Moirane displays when she's figuring out how to help Rand, when she decides to aproach it like the surrender to Saidar and is resilient enough to withstand Rand's lack of respect for her. Hes utter understanding of the importance of her task, how she must forsake her priorities in order to do what needs to be done is unriveled. Most of all, before she is taken in the door ter'angreal, she is able to get to Rand and he does start listening to her. She educates him and prepares him as best she can in the little time she has before she must go away. She is one of, if not my favourite character in the series, and as a person, one of my personal idols.

I started the WoT just after the third book was released, and have re-read the serious as prep for the release of every book after. It is my favorite series of all time. I just wanted to say that your assessment of Moiraine is spot on. She ended up being one of my favorite characters for the entire series.

My first time through WOT I (foolishly) read New Spring first...so I was robbed of the mystery surrounding her character, because I always understood her motivations. On my first re-read I found I still loved Moiraine (especially when she tells the story of Manetheren), but I find I was able to see things more from the Rand and Nynaeve perspectives since New Spring wasn’t as fresh.

Here’s something: Mat haphazardly picks up the dagger in Shadar Logoth... Fain haphazardly tries to kill Mat at Shayol Ghul. I think there is an interesting symmetry between these two moments and that this was at least mostly intentional. If it wasn’t, it has become my head cannon because I think luck is pretty much the only thing that prevents Fain from killing Rand on multiple occasions. Mat and Perrin are both Rand’s shields in many multiple ways.