Moiraine and Lan vs Trevor and Sypha

[big_adventure]

Ehh, the problem being at 100 ft can Moraine hold a person faster than her in place as Sypha is darting around (a tactic Sypha often uses)?


Because, while admittedly it’s been over a decade since I read a WoT book, I don’t recall Moraine’s Air Flows working like that (and I seem to remember a lot of Aes Sendai getting taken by surprise throughout the series). And if she can’t target hit a moving Sypha, that might be a problem because Sypha has a helluv a lot of power to bare here, and quickly too. Her fire can immolate super durable monsters pretty quickly.

Yes, Moiraine can do that. Again, WoT channelers don't have to aim all that much, they just have to see (or, in a number of cases, just know where their foes are). Again, if Sypha started 10 feet away, her comic book agility and speed might let her keep away from Moiraine's attacks. If she had tons of cover to use, maybe, but even then, Moiraine knows Balefire. Here, she has neither, and Aes Sedai, not even powerful ones, grab multiple warders (who are all well beyond real-world humans in speed and such) and string them up like ragdolls instantly, before they can do anything, several times in the series. Moiraine is stronger than those people, and certainly has an angreal which multiplies power and responsiveness. Moiraine also knows compulsion (mind control), can send out waves of fire herself, can cast illusions, etc. Sypha's fire attack is just begging to be used against her - manipulating fire is trivial for Aes Sedai, as it's not even a complicated weave, it's just one of the five flows. The situation here just strongly favors Moiraine, because the two people face each other at a range of 100 feet and there's no cover. One of the people's attacks have to form and cross distance. One of the people's attacks doesn't. Even balefire, an attack that neither Trevor nor Sypha has the slightest answer for, forms instantly in a line from the target back to the caster. I'd favor the one who doesn't need her attacks to cross the space.

Aes Sedai get taken by surprise sometimes, sure, but often it's PIS. They react stupidly quickly very, very often.

[Nik Hasta]

Well, if it's thought activated instant paralysis magic that doesn't care about distance, I'm not seeing Belnades and Belmont having much of a chance here.

[big_adventure]

Well, if it's thought activated instant paralysis magic that doesn't care about distance, I'm not seeing Belnades and Belmont having much of a chance here.

It doesn't care about distance because it just forms from the air at the target. This all ignores a dozen other things she's capable of, it's just one way she can stop both of them with a thought and there really isn't anything they can do about it. Again, both of them are vastly more agile and have as quick or quicker reaction time to her, it's just that everything they do has to cross the 100 feet, and most of it requires physical actions or gestures. The agility and speed, close up, might let them avoid getting snagged somehow by staying out of her clear line of focus - at least one of them might be able to - but here, nah, no freaking way. It's just an unfair scenario.

It would be infinitely worse if Rand were there. As fast and strong as the lead women are, Rand is the prophesized legend and he, early on, before training and before really knowing what he was doing he did some crazy thing where he shielded two of the strongest, bound them in air, made them dance in the air, made a fire rage massively in the hearth, made the tables come to life and frolic around the room, and another 6 things, all so quickly that they couldn't do anything about it and could barely understand what was happening. But Rand is Rand. It makes the situation where he lost his hand that much more full of PIS. Oh well, he has all of the last laughs and is probably, I dunno, some kind of god at the end of the series.

[The Drunkard Kid]

I just remembered that Moiraine lost a huge chunk of her original power by the end of the series, so unless she is allowed her angrael (which made her somewhat stronger than she was before she got depowered), then she probably doesn't stand a chance unless she manages to make tiny air blades in her opponents' eyes, or some other super fine and precise application of channeling that I don't recall her having feats for doing mid-battle.

[Postmania]

I just remembered that Moiraine lost a huge chunk of her original power by the end of the series, so unless she is allowed her angrael (which made her somewhat stronger than she was before she got depowered), then she probably doesn't stand a chance unless she manages to make tiny air blades in her opponents' eyes, or some other super fine and precise application of channeling that I don't recall her having feats for doing mid-battle.

I don't see why she wouldn't get the angreal if it was with her though for the rest of the series. Since that would be standard equipment, at that point.

[big_adventure]

I just remembered that Moiraine lost a huge chunk of her original power by the end of the series, so unless she is allowed her angrael (which made her somewhat stronger than she was before she got depowered), then she probably doesn't stand a chance unless she manages to make tiny air blades in her opponents' eyes, or some other super fine and precise application of channeling that I don't recall her having feats for doing mid-battle.

She lost some of he channeling abilities to the Aeelfinn and the Eeelfinn, but one of her three wishes specifically was for an angreal in the form of a bracelet that makes her stronger than she was before (and she was as strong as any non-Cadsaune Aes Sedai in at least the last 1000 years until Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene showed up) despite the loss of base power. She has that until the end of the series.