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1.2.5: Who is Cyndane, and where did she come from?

Cyndane is a "new" character in TPOD. She appears in [TPOD: 12, New Alliances, 262-268], when she and Moghedien visit Graendal to bring her into the fold. Of course, we must immediately ask, "who is she really?" First, let's look at the facts we have about her:

What do we know about Cyndane?

Her name means "last chance" in the OT. She is "a short young woman with long silver hair and vivid blue eyes" and has an "impressive bosom," of which, in Graendal's opinion, she doesn't make very effective use. Although she is short, she appears to be "striving for every inch of height."

Cyndane works with Moghedien in Moridin's service. She appears wearing the same red-and-black dress sported by Moggy, which we know from [ACOS: 30, The First Cup, 483] is Moridin's "livery." Between Moggy and herself, Cyndane is the leader, although her "place in [Moridin's] eyes is not far better than [Moggy's]." Cyndane and Mog's identical reactions to some unknown stimulus (gasping and shuddering) also parallel Mog's description of her feelings when Moridin plays with her mindtrap [ACOS: 30, The First Cup, 484]. Cyndane and Moghedien hate each other with a passion. We also know that Cyndane was already mindtrapped when Moggy met Moridin; Mog glimpsed a second mindtrap when Moridin pulled hers out in [ACOS: 25, Mindtrap, 419].

Personality-wise, she has a haughty attitude: "By her demeanor, she might have been a Prime Counselor forced to endure the company of common laborers and intent on ignoring their existence." Outwardly, she's cool and collected, but inside, she has a temper; Graendal describes her as "a beautiful doll carved from ice, with hidden fires." Cyndane is not the least bit cowed by the Forsaken; Graendal's analysis is: "The girl knew she spoke to one of the Chosen, and yet her tone remained frost. Even given her strength, this was no simple Friend of the Dark. Unless she was insane." She disapproves of Graendal's use of strong Compulsion on her "servants," and has no compunction about expressing her scorn of this practice to Graendal's face.

Finally, Graendal can sense her strength in the OP, which means that Cyndane channels Saidar, and she is stronger then Graendal.

What can we conclude about Cyndane

What conclusions can we draw from all this? Quite a few, actually. For one thing, she's almost certainly not a random DF from the Third Age; it is likely that she is a Forsaken. This conclusion can be reached by considering her situation. The fact that she is mindtrapped indicates that she is somebody who, like Moggy, is very valuable and useful to the DO/Moridin, but whose past actions have shown that she cannot be relied upon to do the "right" thing without direct supervision and control. She's also powerful and valuable enough that the usual methods of control-- simple intimidation, torture, Compulsion, etc.-- would not produce the desired result of her being in control of her abilities, but totally under the thumb of an overseer. No Third Ager we've seen thus far has been given such consideration. Furthermore, trained channellers of Forsaken-level strength are almost unheard of in the Third Age. Finally, given Moridin's utter contempt for the Third Age, it is unlikely that he'd place a Third Ager over an AOLer, even if that AOLer was Moghedien. Add to this her complete lack of fear, or even caution, when confronting and insulting Graendal, and it seems that Cyndane (or at least the mind controlling her body) must be from the Age of Legends.

Since we have such slim knowledge about the conditions under which the DO can recycle a person, we can't absolutely rule out the possibility that Cyndane is some AOL dreadlord who we've never heard of before. There are some arguments against this, though. First, we have no other evidence of the DO bringing back anybody else who died in the AOL or after the Bore was sealed. The only other resurrectees we've seen have died in the Third Age, and were recycled within a few years of their deaths (Aginor/Osan'gar, Balthamel/Aran'gar, Ishamael/Moridin, Isam/Slayer (possibly)). Secondly, according to the Guide [Guide: 5, The DO and the Male Forsaken, 49-50], the thirteen Forsaken were the strongest of the AS who turned to the Shadow; during the AOL, they managed to finish off anybody who "equaled or approached [them] in strength." Apparently, the DO did not deem those who failed to survive the winnowing process to be worthy of resurrection during the War of Power, why would he deem them worthy now? Finally, one must consider the fact that it has been over 3000 years since these Dreadlords died; they could have been reborn during the interval, possibly multiple times. If that were the case, it is far from certain that the DO could resurrect them with their old AOL personalities.

If she is an unknown AOL resurrectee, there is no point in discussing the question any further. So, henceforth, we will assume that she is, in fact, somebody we've seen before.

Who is she, then?

The only Forsaken who are unaccounted for when we first meet Cyndane are Lanfear, Sammael, and Asmodean. Cyndane cannot be Sammael, because Sammael was still alive and in his own body when Moggy was mindtrapped. As mentioned above, at that time, Cyndane was also mindtrapped (and Sammael definitely was not). As for Asmodean, he's probably permanently dead; in [LOC: Prologue, The First Message, 15], the DO associates Asmo with Rahvin, who has "DIED THE FINAL DEATH." Furthermore, Asmo is a worse traitor than Moggy-- there was more free will in his decision to help Rand than in Mog's a'dam-compelled teaching of El and Ny. It is unlikely that he'd be set above Mog. This leaves us with only one option: Lanfear.

Further evidence that Cyndane = Lanfear, rather than Asmodean, is that she channels Saidar, not Saidin. Granted, we only have one example of a man recycled into a woman's body (Aran'gar), so we can't really say if Aran'gar's channelling of Saidin is the rule, or an exception. However, it is the only thing we have to go on, and that example indicates that a recycled Asmodean would channel Saidin, regardless of the sex of the body he was put into. Furthermore, a man, remembering everything about his life as a Saidin-channeller, would not be immediately be able to channel Saidar, if he was put into a Saidar-channelling body. We've been told time and time again about the vast differences between how the Power works for men and women. It follows that a man would have to go through lots of training before he could channel Saidar with any skill. Thus, Cyndane's soul ought to be female, as well as her body.

Even more evidence arises from Cyndane's personality and behavior. The juxtaposition of a cool demeanor and a fiery temper match Lanfear very well. She "strives for every inch of height," implying that she's used to being taller. We know that Lanfear was tall from [TSR: 9, Decisions, 127].

So, the best guess for Cyndane's former identity is Lanfear.

If she is Lanfear, how did she come to this state?

The last we saw of Lanfear, she was knocked through the doorway to Foxland by Moiraine, and the doorway melted. The big question is what happened to her that she ended up with a new body (and a mindtrap)? There are two basic ideas. One is that she died "off-screen" and was recycled by the DO in the same way as the Gars and Moridin. The other idea is that the new body is a consequence, possibly unintentional, of one the wishes she made in Foxland. Since we have absolutely no idea what happened to Moir and Lanfear after they fell through the door, it is difficult to choose one of the many options. We'll just look at the various possibilities, and point out any points in favor of or against them.

Lanfear died, and was recycled by the DO

If she was killed at some point, and recycled by the DO in the usual fashion, we must ask, "when did she die?" The possibilities are:

She died when she went through the doorway.
She was killed in Finnland, by Moiraine or by the Foxes.
She escaped from Finnland, but died when she got back to Randland.

How could Lanfear have died when she went through the door? One option is that the destruction of the doorway itself killed her. However, if that was the case, then one would expect that Moiraine would have been killed as well. Since we know Moiraine is not dead (see section 2.2.6), this scenario is unlikely.

Another possibility is that she was killed by drawing too much Power. "Koby Kobia" explains: "If we recall the incident in TFOH, Lanfear was drawing deeply on the bracelet angreal when Moiraine struck. She was probably drawing every particle of the OP she could stand through the angreal, and it must have been a humongous amount because she was winning against Rand and his angreal, when Moiraine cannoned into her and clawed away the angreal as the two of them fell through the doorway. Now, an angreal allows a person to channel a lot more of the OP than the person can channel unaided. What happens if the angreal is suddenly stripped away while is person is straining to draw as much OP as he/she can?" If she wasn't able to release the Source quickly enough, she would have been stilled at the very least, and it's quite possible that she'd have been "burnt to a crisp" like Aginor at the end of TEOTW.

If Lanfear didn't die from the Power, there are other ways she could have perished. Moiraine could have got a lucky strike in, and finished her off on the other side of the doorway. This is improbable because Lanfear was much more powerful and skilled than Moiraine. The Forsaken would have had every advantage in a fight between the two of them. Moiraine has only been able to take Forsaken down by surprise (Be'lal, tackling Lanfear), and if she didn't kill or incapacitate Lanfear right off, it's unlikely she'd have any defenses in the long run. The exception, of course, would be if Lanfear was stilled, and Moiraine wasn't. On yet another hand, Moiraine might have been stilled in the doorway's destruction, as well.

If Moiraine didn't kill her, Lanfear might have been killed by the Foxes, if she didn't deal with them wisely. Mat's experience with them certainly would have been lethal if Rand hadn't known CPR. When Moiraine told El, Eg, and Ny about the Snake doorway in Tear, where one can get three questions answered, she said, "Questions touching the Shadow have dire consequences. If you asked about the Black Ajah, you might be returned dead, or come out a gibbering madwoman, if you came out at all." [TSR: 7, Doorways,95] It has been suggested that the Foxes might have a similar reaction to wishes "touching the Shadow." Given who Lanfear is, it's possible that anything she wished for would be connected to the Shadow. This idea that Lanfear was killed by the Foxes presupposes that she was stilled by drawing too much Power or by the doorway explosion. If she still had channelling ability, she could have defended herself from the Foxes like Rand defended himself from the Snakes in TSR.

On the other hand, there are reasons to believe that the Foxes wouldn't have immediately killed Lanfear for being Forsaken. Firstly, we don't know that the Foxes have the same problem with the Shadow which the Snakes have. Secondly, Lanfear could have asked for personal things which didn't directly involve the Shadow, for example, having channelling ability restored if she was stilled, or having Lews Therin love her, or having Moiraine detained, or getting back to Randland. One might want to consider that Lanfear might have known as much about the doorways as Moiraine, and possibly more. The doors, like (almost) all ter'angreal, date from before the Breaking, and Lanfear was a OP-scientist during the AOL. It's not that unlikely that she'd be aware of the doorways and at least some of their properties, and know enough to avoid getting killed. Another question which has a bearing on this issue is whether the DO can retrieve the souls of dead Forsaken from other dimensions.

A final possibility for Lanfear's death is that she survived and escaped from Finnland, and died at some later point. This idea is sketchy in that it begs the questions of how did she manage to die, and why did it happen "off-screen." None of the primary Good Guys killed her; they'd have noticed. This leaves either assassination by somebody on the Dark Side, or an accidental death. Most of the "loose" Forsaken (i.e. those not tied to Shaidar Haran and/or Moridin) have expressed ignorance of Lanfear's whereabouts. This leaves a direct order from Moridin/SH/the DO, and if that was the case, why bother killing her just to get her in a mindtrap? Surely it would have been just as easy to send her to SG for the same treatment as Moggy. One could always suppose that she tripped, fell down some stairs, and broke her neck, all off-screen, but that would just be incredibly lame.

Lanfear did not die; the new body is the result of a wish

Just because Lanfear has a new look, we shouldn't immediately assume that she got it in the same way (from the DO) that the other "new" Forsaken got theirs. The TPOD Glossary entry on "Forsaken" has something a bit weird to say on the matter: "Moridin... may be yet another of the dead Forsaken brought back from the grave by the Dark One. The same possibility may exist regarding the woman calling herself Cyndane, but... speculation as to the identities of Moridin and Cyndane may prove futile until more is learned." [TPOD: Glossary, entry "Forsaken," 598]. Clearly, this is RJ making fun of us, but it could also be a signal that Cyndane might not be wholly what she seems: Lanfear resurrected by the DO. (Moridin is obviously Ishamael. (See section 1.2.4)).

So, what alternative is there? If she is Lanfear, and wasn't resurrected by the DO, she had to have gotten the body someplace else. The most likely source is the Foxes. We know that they grant wishes in ways which are often not quite what the wisher expected or desired (witness the restoration of Mat's memory). We also know that they demand a "price" for the granting of wishes, and will exact one of their choosing if the wisher does not negotiate one. In Mat's case, the "price" was for him to be hung from the Tree of Life when he was returned to Rhuidean. Now, while Lanfear would never voluntarily change her legendary looks, might have wished something which unexpectedly resulted in a change of body. For example, if she was stilled after falling through the door, she certainly would have asked for her channelling ability to be restored. This could have been granted, in a twisted way, by putting her mind into a new body which could channel. Another idea is that she asked for Rand/LTT to love her, and she was put into a body which was reminiscent of the long-dead Ilyena. Of course, this idea depends on Cyndane looking like Ilyena. The only thing we know about Ilyena's looks is that she was blonde. Cyndane is also blonde, although she is described as silver-blonde, while Ilyena was golden-blonde. An objection to that idea is that Ilyena was the wife of a very famous, prominent Aes Sedai, and as such, her appearance would have been widely known (like, say, Hillary Clinton's is today). Surely Graendal would have commented upon Cyndane's resemblance to Ilyena, if such a resemblance did indeed exist.

If Cyndane is Lanfear, why was she mindtrapped?

Moghedien was mindtrapped for betraying the DO by teaching those who would oppose the Shadow. What did Lanfear do to merit the same treatment? It's simple: like Moghedien, she demonstrated that she could not be relied upon to put the DO's interests over her own personal desires and needs, if a conflict arose. She offered to ally with Rand to supplant the Creator and the DO both. While this may have been just talk, she did enable, even cause, Asmodean's defection. Essentially, she committed the same transgression as Moghedien, albeit in a less direct fashion-- she helped somebody opposing the Shadow learn skills which would make him more likely to succeed. The conversion of Rand to the DO is a Shadow priority. If Rand had remained ignorant of channelling, his lack of control could have served as a powerful motivation to turn to the Dark Side. Providing a non-Shadow-controlled tutor for Rand removed that motivation. Finally, her psychotic episode at the Cairhien docks, where she tried to kill Rand, and made a general hash of things, was a clear indication that she could not be relied upon to act in the Shadow's best interests, without strong supervision.

What about the body?

[John Hamby, Steven Cooper]

It has been proposed that the origninal owner of Cyndane's body was Cabriana Mecandes. This is the AS who was tortured by Semirhage in LOC, to get information for Halima's infiltration of the SAS. The evidence is scant, but suggestive:

From [LOC: 6, Threads Woven of Shadow, 188-190]:

"A pale-haired silk-clad woman..."
"The woman's blue eyes bulged."
"...her head flung from side to side, flailing her hair..."

Cyndane is described as having "long silver hair and vivid blue eyes" [TPOD 12, New Alliances, 262]. The blue eyes and long hair match, and silver hair and pale hair could be considered as matching also.

On the other hand, there are missing pieces in the description of Mecandes. Cyndane is unusually short, and apparently has "huge tracts of land." (If you don't understand that last bit, proceed to your local video store and rent Monty Python and the Holy Grail.) Neither of these distinguishing features is noted by Semirhage.

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