Nynaeve al'Meara
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
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| Nynaeve al'Meara | |
|---|---|
| Race | Andoran |
| Nationality | |
| Rank | Aes Sedai |
| Title | |
| Position | |
| Occupation | |
| Affiliation | |
| Gender | Female |
| Born | 973 NE |
| Died | |
| Height | c. 5'4" |
| Build | |
| Hair | Long, dark |
| Eyes | Deep brown |
| First Mentioned | TEOTW 1 |
| First Appeared | TEOTW 3 |
"I will NOT apologize."
~ Nynaeve al'Meara
Nynaeve al'Meara (formally el'Nynaeve ti al'Meara Mandragoran) is one of the primary female protagonists of the series.
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[edit] Wisdom of Emond's Field
Nynaeve's father thought of her as the son he never had and taught her to track, hunt and fish. Unlike fellow tomboy Min, however, Nynaeve later integrated femininity in her adulthood. Older than the rest of the Emond's Fielders who left after Winternight, Nynaeve was the village Wisdom, or healer, by the time Moiraine Sedai and her warder Lan Mandragoran arrived. She had been the youngest Wisdom the Two Rivers had ever had, partially due to her forceful personality.
[edit] Hunt for the boys
“You are part of the Pattern, too, both of you, in some fashion. Perhaps not ta'veren - perhaps - but strong even so..."”
— Moiraine Sedai to Nynaeve and Egwene al'Vere
When Moiraine absconded with several Two Rivers youths--specifically Rand al'Thor, his friends Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara, and Rand's childhood sweetheart (and Nynaeve's apprentice) Egwene al'Vere, Nynaeve volunteered to track them down and bring them back. She seemed to think that she could face down an Aes Sedai and bring them home; she was wrong, and ended up getting swept up into the adventure with the rest. This set the tone for her relationship with Moiraine, and to some extent with Aes Sedai in particular--not only was Moiraine consistently riding rough-shod over Nynaeve, but she'd managed to ensnare Lan as well, whom Nynaeve was, quite against her will, starting to fall in love with, an attraction that was strongly returned. Even worse, Moiraine identified Nynaeve as a wilder -- someone who had independently learned to wield the One Power without training. Egwene was also identified as having ability to channel (although she had not yet), but Moiraine wished to take her to Tar Valon for training and safety; not all who must learn to channel on their own survive the experience. For Nynaeve, it was too late; she'd already learned how to integrate the ability into her skill as a healer, but due to her fears, she developed a mental block against the concept. Nynaeve was totally unable to channel unless extremely angry, something which later caused her no end of trouble.
[edit] At the Eye of the World
At the Eye of the World, Rand discovered he could channel, and Moiraine claimed he was in fact the Dragon Reborn; perhaps because of this, and to avenge herself of the perceived injustices wrought on her by Moirane, Nynaeve eventually agreed to go to the Tower. Once there, she was immediately promoted from Novice to Accepted by virtue of her sheer strength in the Power. It was unheard of to completely bypass being a novice like this, and some Aes Sedai resented her for it. She is one of the strongest female channelers alive. Like Egwene and Elayne Trakand, she was tricked into going to Falme, ostensibly to help Rand, but really as part of a trap by Ishamael and the Seanchan; Later, she, Egwene, and Elayne were assigned the task of hunting down the Black Ajah, a journey which took her far from the White Tower and her ostensible training as a future Yellow Ajah Aes Sedai. It also took her farther and farther away from Lan, who she had developed feelings for, feelings he tried not to reciprocate due to his loyal service to Moiraine. Before Lan leaves he gives his Golden Crane signet ring to her. She wears this around her neck at all times now.
[edit] To Tear, and beyond
After Rand drew Callandor from the Heart of the Stone in fulfillment of prophecy, Nynaeve and Elayne continued the quest for the Black Ajah along with Juilin Sandar and Thom Merrilin. The clues the Black Ajah left in the Stone of Tear all pointed to the city of Tanchico; Nynaeve and Elayne went, hoping that, if it was a trap, they'd have enough warning to escape it. Egwene had instead decided to learn about Dreaming from the Aiel. While hunting for the Black sisters, Nynaeve happened upon Moghedien, one of the dreaded Forsaken. The two dueled, Nynaeve expecting unstoppable force at any moment... until she realized that Moghedien was working just as hard to fend off her attacks. The two were equally matched in terms of strength. Nynaeve managed to shield and bind Moghedien eventually through ingenuity rather than strength, but a Black Sister soon intervened and Moghedien disappeared in the intervening time. The enmity between the two was to later bear bitter fruit.
[edit] To Heal what could not be Healed
With chaos reigning in Tanchico, Nynaeve and Elayne set out for the White Tower -- only to receive news that it had broken, that Elaida Sedai, a Red sister (and former advisor to Elayne's mother Queen Morgase Trakand), had deposed and replaced the Amyrlin Seat, a former Blue named Siuan Sanche. With the Tower split over this turn of events, the group changed course and joined with the rebel Aes Sedai in Salidar, near Amador. Before arriving at Salidar, they encountered Galad(Elayne's older half-brother whom she despises), and were forced to flee. They joined Valan Luca's travling menangerie for a time, before running into Uno and, again, Galad. This time, Galad and Masema--through Uno--aided in helping Nynaeve and Elayne to a ship where they continued their journey to Salidar. During their stay in Valan Luca's show, Birgitte was torn from the World of Dreams by Moghedian while Nynaeve was unable to save her. Elayne bonded her as her warder in order to save her when Nynaeve's healing failed.
Upon reaching Salidar, they were punished for leaving the tower, but continued their lessons as accepted. Nynaeve also managed to capture Moghedian and Elayne fashioned a ter'angreal akin to the damane collar without the leash, and forced knowledge out of her which they sported as their own discoveries. She studied Suian Sanche, who had been stilled as part of the deposition, as well as her former Keeper of the Chronicles, Leane Sharif. Stilling had been considered impossible to heal by the Aes Sedai, but Nynaeve, after studying for many months, healed the False Dragon Logain Ablar. The technique worked for the two women as well, though they did not regain their full strength, for reasons as yet unknown to the characters (Jordan has confirmed that severing can be healed fully only by a healer of opposite gender to the patient). Nynaeve has also developed a form of Healing which uses all five elements, instead of just Spirit, Air, and Water, as is usual for Aes Sedai-style Healing. When Egwene was made Amyrlin for the rebels, she immediately decreed that Nynaeve, Elayne, Theodrin, and Faolain raised as Aes Sedai. Nynaeve joined the Yellow Ajah and learned as much as she could of Healing with the One Power, which turned out to be not much more than she already knew and considerably less effective than her own methods.
[edit] A shift in the weather
When Rand dispatched Mat to rescue Egwene and return Elayne to Caemlyn, Egwene instead assigned him as an escort to Nynaeve, Elayne and Aviendha, and sent them to Ebou Dar for the Bowl of the Winds, a ter'angreal that could change the weather and possibly break the unnatural summer the Dark One had imposed on the world. While in Ebou Dar, Moghedien struck at Nynaeve's boat with balefire, nearly succeeding in drowning her; Nynaeve's fear and desperation as she sank into the river forced her to surrender to saidar completely, and when Lan suddenly appeared to help her out of the water, her block was gone. He told her that he was unable to be Bonded to become her Warder since his Bond had been passed onto another. Nynaeve predictably vowed to make sure that the Bond would be passed onto her from the Aes Sedai who holds it (Myrelle Berengari, of the Green Ajah). It was the first time Nynaeve and Lan had been in each other's company since before Moiraine's death; Nynaeve had no intention of wasting time. They were married later that day.
After forming a coalition of Aes Sedai, Sea Folk Windfinders and Tower expel-es (a previously unknown group called the Kin), Nynaeve and Elayne led an expedition into the Rahad, a dangerous 'downtown' area of Ebou Dar, to retrieve the Bowl of the Winds. They succeeded, capturing a member of the Black Ajah, and recovered a hidden cache of ter'angreal, including the Bowl of the Winds. The 13 most powerful women in the group then used the Bowl to break the Dark One's unnatural summer. The coalition then fled to Andor to avoid a Seanchan invasion.
[edit] Cleansing what could not be cleansed
At the Royal Palace in Caemlyn, Rand approached Nynaeve for help with a major project: he had discovered a way to cleanse the male half of the True Source. To do it, he would need the strongest female channeler he knew of and could trust--Nynaeve--and likewise the strongest male--himself. They succeeded, using the Choedan Kal, though both required some time to recover from the intense experience of channeling huge amounts of Power for hours on end.
[edit] Current status
Nynaeve is typically described as having dark colorings and a long braid, which she would yank at in times of exasperation. In addition to being a Healer and a Wisdom she can also sense storms (both physical and metaphorical) and has done this ever since she could remember. The el' in "el'Nynaeve" is a Malkieri honorific given to the Queens of Malkier. As wife to al'Lan Mandragoran, the exiled last King of Malkier, Nynaeve is entitled to the honorific. She is still one of the most powerful channelers alive, male or female, and the most powerful among the Aes Sedai, although recently at least one or two female channelers have been discovered with even greater strength. During her journeys, Nynaeve becomes more responsible and better able to control her temper around others.
Acknowledging Lan's allegiance to his never-ending battle for his lost country, she sets him on the very edge of the Borderlands. She then visits multiple cities in order to inform men of Lan's coming and says (showing Lan's ring), "My name is Nynaeve ti al'Meara Mandragoran. The message I want sent is this. My husband rides from World's End toward Tarwin's Gap, toward Tarmon Gai'don. Will he ride alone?" and after encountering resistance, she says: "Lan told me once that Malkier lives so long as one man wears the hadori in pledge that he will fight the Shadow, so long as one woman wears the ki'sain in pledge that she will send her son to fight the shadow. I wear the ki'sain, Master Aldragoran. My husband wears the hadori. So do you. Will Lan Mandragoran ride to the Last Battle alone?" She is joyous when she learns that Lan will not be alone, and continues her quest to recruit more Borderlanders to help Lan.
Semirhage blew off Rand's left hand with a fireball when he unmasked her masquerading as the Daughter of the Nine Moons. Nynaeve was able to heal his arm but not restore the hand.
