Discussion: AU where The Dragon Reborn grows up with Moiraine living in the village.

Boreas Silverfir

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So my mind got wandering, as it does, and I wondered, would Rand have learned the final lesson in book 14 earlier and been better prepared for his trials if Moiraine or a similarly sympathetic Aes Sedi lived in the village. My inclination is that the sister in question would have been able to impart some level of wisdom but am not sure how much.
In book 1 he seems to trust Moiraine as much as any stranger until he learns she's from The Tower. Would that have changed if he considered her a part of his village family?
Worth thinking about I warrant.
 
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My view is that in the Wheel of Time primary timeline, all things happened exactly as they needed to in order to facilitate Rand repairing the pattern.

I'm not sure having a close Aes Sedai would be that much help - I mean in TDR he doesn't seem to trust Egwene all that much considering they were childhood friends/sweethearts. I'm not sure how much anyone can help when you find you are destined to go mad and either break the world or redeem it.

We also do see some of the alternative timelines via the portal stones but none of these have a local Aes Sedai - but also none of them lead Rand to the Last Battle.
 

Polegnyn Nemeara

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The keyword here would be "sympathetic". Rand still wouldn't have been able to learn from the Aes, possibly going mad anyway as Silencia mentioned. He would have to travel throughout Randland still causing chaos while trying to find a mentor. But he would have had another trusted ally instead of a complete stranger he had no choice to trust. But then, that's awfully close to the actual storyline of the books.

I keep thinking of the relationship between Garion and Aunt Pol from Eddings' series here. He trusted her throughout so I can also see the same being true here.

However, had the Aes been unsympathetic, constantly barraging all children with tales of Red Ajah gentling male channelers, then things could have been incredibly bad and rather traumatic. Instilling fear in people is never a good thing much less into someone who ends up quite literally able to break the world.

Eta: So I'm basically in agreement with Silencia that things would have still happened the way they did if Moraine/another sympathetic Aes had lived nearby.
 
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Ananke Ruadh

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So my mind got wandering, as it does, and I wondered, would Rand have learned the final lesson in book 14 earlier and been better prepared for his trials if Moiraine or a similarly sympathetic Aes Sedi lived in the village. My inclination is that the sister in question would have been able to impart some level of wisdom but am not sure how much.
In book 1 he seems to trust Moiraine as much as any stranger until he learns she's from The Tower. Would that have changed if he considered her a part of his village family?
Worth thinking about I warrant.
Given that the Show ignored Moiraine's use of a false name for shock value, I think if it had happend in the Books, Rand would have ultimately only felt betrayed that a Sister was living in close proximity, fostering blind trust, only to shatter his illusions when the time came by admitting she was sent by/from the Tower.

If it had happened in the Show, despite the wary respect of the TR folk, I think she would have been run out eventually due to suspicion.
 

Boreas Silverfir

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We also do see some of the alternative timelines via the portal stones but none of these have a local Aes Seda
All of the timelines we see in novel begin at Winternight. My premise is along the lines that instead of all the hunting Moiraine needed to do in "New Spring", she knew all along to follow Tam back to the Two Rivers.

I mean in TDR he doesn't seem to trust Egwene all that much considering they were childhood friends/sweethearts.
In that moment, Egwene has become "other". They've been away from each other so long that they don't trust the changes they see in each other. My thought line was around Moiraine being that strange lady no one knew how old she was, considered odd at times, butts heads with the wisdom on occasion, however she always has good advice, and that man of hers is always willing to help chase of predators or split wood. Very much a "20 yrs of living here and she's one of us now" vibe.

The keyword here would be "sympathetic". Rand still wouldn't have been able to learn from the Aes, possibly going mad anyway as Silencia mentioned.
I figure Moiraine can teach about how to identify and handle flaws. Rand has a pretty big one in his inability to let others take responsibility for their actions. So many of his poor choices stem from this issue. If she had been there watching over him from youth, occasionally having visitors, he might have been better prepared for the role the world demanded of him. And been able to let his followers be heroes from the beginning.

Rand would have ultimately only felt betrayed that a Sister was living in close proximity, fostering blind trust, only to shatter his illusions when the time came by admitting she was sent by/from the Tower
This is probably true. There's a part of me that hopes that in this scenario I've devised, Rand treats it the same as learning he is not biologically related to Tam. Devastating, but something to get over. And Moiraine was mostly honest with him about what she wanted in the books. So it stands to reason he could learn to trust her instincts more if given more time with her.
 

Polegnyn Nemeara

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I had forgotten Moiraine's false name, Ananke. Yeah, that would have been a shock.

I figure Moiraine can teach about how to identify and handle flaws. Rand has a pretty big one in his inability to let others take responsibility for their actions. So many of his poor choices stem from this issue. If she had been there watching over him from youth, occasionally having visitors, he might have been better prepared for the role the world demanded of him. And been able to let his followers be heroes from the beginning.
This is why I don't participate in book discussion very often. My memory is poo and don't remember a lot of details like that one. You'll have to remind me where Rand didn't let others take responsibility for their actions :)
 

Boreas Silverfir

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You'll have to remind me where Rand didn't let others take responsibility for their actions
The big piece of evidence is "The List of Names". Each time a woman dies on his watch, he adds their name to a running list in his head. At Dumais Wells he spent hours to days combing the dead to make sure no Far Deries Mai was forgotten. Over time the list grows to include everyone he failed. By the time he is confronting the darkness outside the pattern, Rand is feeling emotional pain for watching Huran and Bashire dying. It's not until he listens to the echo of Egwene who asks him "Why can't we be heroes?" (paraphrase) and lets go of the list that he is able to stand in the darkness.
 

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Also, Moiraine didn't hide her name until they got to Baerlon per EotW Chapter 2 & chapter 13.
 

Polegnyn Nemeara

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The big piece of evidence is "The List of Names". Each time a woman dies on his watch, he adds their name to a running list in his head. At Dumais Wells he spent hours to days combing the dead to make sure no Far Deries Mai was forgotten. Over time the list grows to include everyone he failed. By the time he is confronting the darkness outside the pattern, Rand is feeling emotional pain for watching Huran and Bashire dying. It's not until he listens to the echo of Egwene who asks him "Why can't we be heroes?" (paraphrase) and lets go of the list that he is able to stand in the darkness.
Ahh, right! Thanks :)

In that case, it's hard to say if his upbringing with Moraine (specifically) nearby would have kept him from reciting his List. Women in WoT are greatly emphasized, and therefore incredibly special to male characters which feeds Rand's desire to protect. But had he grown up seeing women in active combat (wouldn't have to included an Aes. That Women's Circle from the show is fierce!), then maybe he would have realized sooner women can be heroes and make their own choices.

Also, Moraine was the one to remind Edmond's Field of the story including Queen Eldrene (had to look up her name). The town forgot how involved her role in the Battle of Manetheran was until Moraine recited the story. So, again not necessarily Moraine living closer would have made a significant impact, but that women of Edmond's Field (in general) being in more active combat roles and remembering their history would have prevented his List. Not saying women wouldn't have been any less special, but Rand would have possibly been able to handle them dying better because he grew up in that type of battle-ready environment.
 
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