Chapter Icon

1.2.3: What is the deal with Halima and Egwene's headaches?

In ACOS, Egwene came down with a spate of nasty headaches. The only way she can manage to get rid of them is for the lovely Halima to give her a massage. Halima just happens to be one of the DO's recycled agents, Aran'gar. Coincidence? I think not.

It's one of the oldest tricks in the book-- cause problems so you can win somebody's confidence by fixing them.

The evidence: Eg's headaches started the day after Logain escaped, and the day Eg and Halima had their first conversation [ACOS: 12, A Morning of Victory, 249]. Aran'gar had been trying very hard to get rid of Logain, either to gentle him again, or to kill him. In [LOC: 52, Weaves of the Power, 651]. Egwene says, "They will gentle him, Siuan... That, or someone really will do what Delana has been hinting at. I won't allow murder!" Delana is by now only a pawn, voicing Halima's wishes. To Halima Logain is dangerous, being the only one around who can sense her ability to channel saidin, or rather, her actual channelling. As soon as Logain is gone, Halima's free to make her move on Egwene.

It's entirely possible that something more sinister than a Forsaken gaining Eg's confidence is going on. As Halima rubs Eg, Eg answers questions in her mind. Halima says, "Just put yourself in my hands." Eg's sleepy response to this is, "That will be nice." Granted, the first interpretation of this is Halima's offer of a full-body massage, and Eg thinking of "bringing Sheriam to heel." Even so, it's a rather ominous exchange, considering who the parties are. Could Halima be poking poor Eg with a bit of Compulsion?

If she is, it doesn't seem to involve much. In TPOD, Egwene certainly seemed to be in full control of her faculties. If Halima isn't doing any mind-control stuff on Egwene, then what is she up to? Elizabeth Cornwall points out, "given Halima's access to Egwene, I can't imagine that she wants Egwene to fail in her current plans. The proof of this being a negative one: that if Halima wanted to bring Egwene down, she certainly could have already done so in any number of ways. (Two possibilities: direct compulsion during the headache sessions to brainwash Egwene into seeing some other plan as better; having had Delana "reveal" to the SAS Hall that Egwene was Siuan's dupe and that the attack on Elaida was being pursued because of Siuan's influence)." John Novak adds, "Just killing her outright would have sufficed, too. I'm sure Halima could manage something that would leave no trace of foul play."

Since no serious ill has befallen Egwene since she's been open to Halima's influence, we must conclude that either Halima is woefully incompetent, or that (at least some of) Egwene's goals coincide with Halima's, at the moment. One such goal is the AS civil war. Continued conflict between the TAS and the SAS is definitely in the DO's best interest-- the two groups of AS are tied up fighting each other, instead of fighting the Shadow, or aiding the Dragon Reborn. So long as the conflict between the two factions continues, the DO's interest is served. Halima's methods may change if it starts to look like Egwene's plans for reuniting the Tower are coming to fruition. To that end, Halima may be content to simply increase her access to and influence over Egwene so that when she has to act, it will be easier.

[ Previous Section | Previous | Section Contents | Next | Next Section ]

The Wheel of Time FAQ. Copyright 1999 by Pamela Korda and Erica Sadun. HTML implementation by Matthew Hunter. This site maintained by Matthew Hunter (mhunter@andrew.cmu.edu). Comments and questions regarding the content itself should be directed to Pam Korda (kor2 @ midway.uchicago.edu).