Hero Profile: Nynaeve al'Meara

 She's here to mix ointments and kick ass, and she's all out of ointments to mix.

Okay, so we’ve covered our three Ta’Veren, now we’re moving onto the two of their group that AREN’T Ta’Veren, but still are instrumental in saving all of reality. First up, Wisdom of the Two Rivers and local big sister Nynaeve al’Meara. She’s… intense. A combination of intense anger, immense power and loyalty, and a burning desire to heal make Nynaeve… I think intense is the best word for her. At times annoying, often a bit condescending, still, these kids probably would have died multiple times over if it weren’t for her. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Spoilers

Perfect "I'm done with this" energy.

Nynaeve al’Meara was born and raised in the Two Rivers. She’s about four years older than the boys, making her 24 at the time of the series. She spent the first few years of her life living with her father, her mother, Elnora, having died when she was young. Her father raised her like the son’s he never had, giving his girl a LOT of training in the art of woodcraft and tracking. He unfortunately died when she was 14, at which time she was more or less adopted by Mistress Doral Barran and made her apprentice Wisdom. She trained under Barran until she was 19, when she took over the role fulltime. A Wisdom is a combination hedge doctor, meteorologist, and spokesperson for the Women’s Circle, and Nynaeve was one of the best. Despite mutterings by some that she was too young or her rather intense temper makes her unfit, no one ever tried to replace her, as she performed almost miracle cures at times, and could predict the weather with extreme precision. And, in her defense, if I constantly had grey haired old men like the curmudgeon Cenn Buie questioning if I’m good enough at my job due to my age, I’d be pissed pretty often too. She began training Egwene al’Vere as her own apprentice when she was 24, but the plan of showing her the ropes of Wisdom were derailed by Winternight.

 

She is one of the first people to meet visiting Aes Sedai Moiraine Damodred and her Warder Lan, it doesn’t go well. Moiraine saw a young woman and followed an Aes Sedai impulse to call her “child.” She apologized when she realized what Nynaeve is, but she’d already made an enemy for life. When we first meet Nynaeve for real, she is immediately chastising Mat Cauthon for spreading a story that the Dragon would be Reborn during the world’s greatest time of need. She was the older kid that often looked after the boys when they were younger, also punishing them for their wrong doings, and she never quite let go of her role as the defacto-big sister. She goes to join the Village Council’s interrogation of peddler Padan Fain about the War and False Dragon in Ghealdan, and that’s the last we see of her for a bit. There are some mutterings that Nynaeve has been angrier than usual of late, as she predicted that winter should have ended weeks ago, but it still lingers on. When Nynaeve’s weather sense is off, she’s usually quite peeved about that and everything else around her.

 

She is in town when the Trollocs and Myrddraal attack the city. While she wasn’t able to help in the fighting, she worked for hours to save the injured. By the time Rand al’Thor drags his gravely ill father into town, she was exhausted and covered in grime, except for her arms which she cleaned religiously. She looked over Tam, but is unable to help as the infection killing him was beyond her skill level. I have to imagine she was… miffed when she heard Moiraine saved him.

 

Braid gets tugged, a lot.

We don’t see Nynaeve again until Baerlon. She followed the group a mere day or so after they left, and went straight for their inn upon arriving in town. At the Stag and Lion inn, she has an audience with Moiraine and the kids. Egwene in particular semes scared to meet Nynaeve’s eye, as she’d stopped braiding her hair, a massive no-no for Two Rivers women. In this audience, Nynaeve explains how she caught up to them. While the Tarren Ferry was sunk by Moiraine in their flight, she got across by bullying the ferryman to ferry her across in row boat. She impressed Lan with her ability to follow his trail, her dad was REALLY good at tracking, and was obviously embarrassed by the compliment. They all try to convince Nynaeve to keep going, but Nynaeve doesn’t believe things are desperate as they think. Of the boys three fathers/father figures, Tam believed they were doing the right thing and actually wanted to follow despite not being well, Abell Cauthon was worried his son’s practical jokes would get him killed, and Master Luhhan was displeased Perrin left. I assume papa Aybara and the al’Vere’s weren’t happy either, but she doesn’t draw attention to them. It’s at this point when Moiraine asks the young people and Lan out so they can have a private discussion.

 

Rand meets her after, and asks what they talked about. Nynaeve claims it was more of the same, and Moiraine didn’t convince her that there is danger. She actually thinks Moiraine was fishing for a reason for the attack, asking if any of the boys were born outside of the Two Rivers. Rand asks her if that’s really true, and tells her about his dad’s fever ramblings about finding him on the side of a mountain. Nynaeve does confirm that Rand was born outside the Two Rivers, she definitely didn’t tell Moiraine this, but said that she remembered Kari al’Thor looking at the baby she carried with the sort of love she only associates with biological mothers. Bit judgmental of her, but come on, Nynaeve was five at the time, she’s bound to remember things rosily. Rand isn’t comforted by this as it does confirm he was born outside the district. Nynaeve tells him not to worry and that she’ll at least stay the night in town. That night, she participates in an inn dance, absolutely flooring the boys as she doesn’t normally dance. She joins the group when they flee after a Myrddrall attacks Rand.

 

Queen.

They spend several days running from Trollocs. The first day, Nynaeve ignores Moiraine entirely, but spends the following two trying to talk herbs with Moiraine, but the Aes Sedai isn’t interested. Granted, if human eating monsters were following me, I’d have trouble focusing on other things too. After a clash with Trolloc outriders, they make for the ancient, abandoned city of Aridhol, later called Shadar Logoth. Nynaeve, despite her dislike for her, searches her pouch of herbs for something to help the exhausted Moiraine. Her distraction and Moiraine’s exhaustion is what lets the boys slip away to explore the city without they seeing. When they get back after their encounter with Mordeth, she joins in Moiraine’s chastisement of them, deducing that Mat was the ringleader. Moiraine explains the fall of Aridhol, due to the machinations of Mordeth who forever haunts the city, looking for a way out. Lan returns and warns them that Trollocs are in the city. They group tries to run and stay together, but the group is broken up by Trollocs and Mashadar, the killing mist that haunts the city after dark.

 

 Nynaeve spends the rest of the night sleeping against a tree in a hollow a short way from the riverbank. She’s awakened by her horse when the sun rises, and reflects on her escape. She’d escaped one Trolloc, only to run into a pack of ten. They caught a scent, though, and ran off without looking at her twice. It’s at this point that Nynaeve, angrily, has to admit Moiraine was right about hunting the boys. She resolves to ride all the way to Tar Valon to find her people, despite this being the farthest she’d ever been from home, herself. She rides for a few miles, but only finds jumbles of tracks. She does catch the whiff of smoke and heads toward it. She finds Moiraine and Lan, and elects to watch them from a distance for a while. They’re discussing the seemingly disappearing Trollocs and the lack of trail the boys left. Nynaeve takes a small measure of satisfaction that Lan couldn’t find them either. Lan is more concerned how close to a thousand Trollocs got this far south without the Borderlanders noticing, and why they didn’t attack Emond’s Field with that number if they had them. Moiraine doesn’t know either, but hopes it doesn’t mean the Forsaken are loose. She says that one of the boys is across the river and safe, but the other two are traveling down it and her connection to them is fading. Moiraine suddenly notices Nynaeve is there and calls out to her to join them. Nynaeve is obviously annoyed at being caught, but happy that it looks like Lan never noticed. Nynaeve starts yelling at Moiraine for her clearly underhanded plot to use the boys, but Moiraine doesn’t react. She instead chooses to drop the bomb on Nynaeve that she can channel.

 

Nynaeve tries to deny it, but Moiraine picks apart her excuses. First and foremost is the fact that she found Nynaeve, as female channelers can see the ability in other women. It’s like a glowing halo of light around their body, the only reason Moiraine didn’t see her sooner was due to being distracted. She talks about how the first use of the power is usually to get the channeler something they want badly, and they have a fever or other reaction ten days later. This definitely happened to Nynaeve, despite her denials. Moiraine then points out that a sort of bond can form between a healer and those they heal, and that explains why Nynaeve went straight for their inn despite it not being the closest, deducing she healed either Egwene or Perrin. Which she did, having cured Egwene of a fever when she was a baby. And Nynaeve does admit that she took for granted that she somehow could sense when certain people approached her and that it was always someone she’d healed. She still doesn’t want to be Aes Sedai, though and thinks that if she survived, so could Egwene. Moiraine disagrees, claiming that those born with the Spark that don’t get training die ¾ of the time. Moiraine goes on to tell her that, with training, Nynaeve could be the most powerful channeler on record, stronger than Egwene who will be one of the strongest. Nynaeve pushes back against this, asking that Moiraine keep this information to herself, which she agrees to. Moiraine sends Lan to find Nynaeve’s horse, saying the Wisdom won’t be joining them.

 

She'll break you nose, but then set if for you if you
apologize.

While alone, Nyneave asks more questions, namely how she can follow the boys. Moiraine explains that she gave each boy a token, a silver coin, that so long as they have them, she can track them a great distance. Rand and Mat had used theirs to pay for passage on the Spray, hence why their connection is fading. She can find them again if she gets close enough, though. When Moiraine mainly shows concern for the boys, it just makes Nynaeve angrier that Egwene doesn’t rank higher on her priorities. She ends up following the two, reasoning that if she can learn to use the One Power, she can use it against Moiraine.  

 

They arrive at Whitebridge a few days later, sadly long after Mat and Rand escaped the Myrddraal. Nynaeve hadn’t spoken much to Moiraine after that first day, and when she did, it was mostly Moiraine trying to convince her to go to the White Tower. Nynaeve knows she will go, but won’t admit it to Moiraine just yet. She spends most of the time annoyed and angry with Moiraine, or Lan, or both. Mostly both. Lan tries on a few occasions to convince her to go back to the Two Rivers, which just gets both women mad at him. When they actually enter Whitebridge, it’s in minor chaos. Apparently, there was a small fire that occurred when the Myrddraal attacked, distracting the people from the walking horror in their midst. They find the inn the boys stayed at briefly, but the trail is cold. Nynaeve asks where they’re going next, like after the boat that was rumored to have escaped the fire with a gleeman passenger. Moiraine says no, they’re going to go after the one boy she can still track. Mostly because she knows where he is. The other two could be anywhere, but she hopes they’ll head toward Caemlyn and wait for them there. Lan also informs them that he can smell the residual stink of a half-man, meaning the boys did have every right to run far and fast. Nynaeve is angered that Moiraine seems to not give a damn about Egwene, but Moiraine states quite angrily that she will not give up on a girl with such potential so easily, she’s just prioritizing. And it’s at this point that Nynaeve wonders if she’s not another prospect that Moiraine won’t give up on.

 

They followed the Caemlyn road for a few days after Whitebridge in the hopes of finding the two, but had to turn north eventually to find the trackable one. Eventually his connection broke, too, but Moiraine thinks this is because the coin was taken from him, not that he died. A few hours later, Moiraine claims the connection is reestablished and all will be well, which doesn’t help Nynaeve sleep. She does finally pass out, but Lan awakens her a short time late and brings her to a rise overlooking a Whitecloak camp. Lan knows where the boy is, having sneaked into the camp earlier, but doubts he will be able to move stealth-fully and asks Nynaeve for her help to free him. Nynaeve agrees, and is told to go to the Whitecloak’s horse pickets and cut the lines most of the way through. When Moiraine starts a distraction, the horses should be able to snap themselves free and will cause enough chaos for them to escape. Moiraine warns her to be careful and then she’s off.

 

She races to the picket line as fast as she can while staying hidden. She comes across two Whitecloak guards, but the morons don’t notice her, walking in a straight line and loudly announcing that all is well. She lets them make the rounds twice to get their pattern before running through. She starts cutting lines. She makes it about halfway through the horses before she cuts her hand and barely stifles a yelp. She considers running then, but the thought of Lan’s understanding but still slightly judging response to her getting only half the job done spurns her on. She gets to the final line to find stout, shaggy Bela also tied to them. She frees the horse so no one will have to ride double and avoid getting caught. She takes another horse too, for Perrin. She waits for Moiraine’s signal, which turns out to be a lightning flash, and escapes with the horses in the confusion.

 

They all eventually get back together and bid a hasty exit. They escape the Whitecloaks and get caught up on their separate adventures, Nynaeve taking the time to rub Perrin’s body down with an ointment that, combined with her channeling, heals his various bruises. She also asks about his eyes, but Perrin deflects that line of questioning. 

 

Okay, highspeed time. They meet up with Rand and Mat at the Queen’s Blessing in Caemlyn. All three boys and their new friend Loial tell Moiraine warning about the Eye of the World being under attack, and she forces Loial, an Ogier, to led them through the Ways to get to the Borderlands and the Eye in time. They learn in the extradimensional ways that the Trollocs have been traveling through them as well, allowing for an army to slip south unseen. They almost get attacked by Machin Shin, the Black Wind, that haunts the Ways but escape. They rest for a day in Shienar while Moiraine learns the dark secrets of a man that had been following them, the peddler Padan Fain. They arrive in the Blight, and cross it into Lan’s destroyed country of Malkier.

 

They make camp, and in the night, Rand overhears Lan and Nynaeve having a private conversation. It was a bit subtle, but it’s clear by this point that Nynaeve is smitten with Lan, and while he’s attracted to her, he’s doing his best to fight it. He claims that his war against the shadow to avenge his people is all that matters, and all he has to offer her is widows black. Rand closes his eyes at this point because he doesn’t want Nynaeve to know he saw her crying.

 

Just strutting out with the crew.

They make it to the Green Man’s grove the next day, and meet the Green Man, a large man made of vegetation. He leads them to the Eye, which turns out to be a large container full of untainted Saidin. It’s then that they’re attacked by two of the thirteen Forsaken, Aginor and Balthamel. Lan hesitates for just a moment, as Moiraine and Nynaeve are so far apart he can’t defend one without leaving the other open, and Aginor uses that moment to knock him out with a flick of his wrist. Overcome with rage, Nynaeve charges them with her knife, gets picked up by the throat by Balthamel, who then shocks her with the power. The others try to help, but Balthamel and Aginor are too powerful. The Green Man destroys Balthamel with plants as he too is killed.  And Aginor is ultimately defeated by Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn. Moiraine is able to heal Nynaeve and she returns with the others to Fal Dara Keep. Despite her continued unease with Aes Sedai, there she waits to travel onto Tar Valon with Egwene.

 

Nynaeve al’Meara is at the start of the story Wisdom of Emond’s Field. She’s incredibly skilled with making ointments and drafts with herbs to help with illness and pain, and is an excellent woodcraft-woman and tracker. She has no skill with a weapon, but carries a belt knife and has been known to crack people over the head with her Wisdom’s staff. She is also a Channeler of immense, but un-discipled power. She was born with the Spark, meaning that she channeled without being shown how to by someone with more skill. This actually leads to one of her biggest hurdles in the series, her block. See, as Nynaeve learned to channel on her own, she is what’s considered a Wilder in the White Tower. Wilders, Nynaeve included, often develop mental blocks that keep them from accessing their powers at will. It’s a way of denying what they are, in a sense. Nynaeve’s is anger, unless she’s thoroughly pissed off, she can’t channel more than anyone. She works through it eventually, but it’s a constant annoyance for her for a while. While it’s not exactly a power, the most common barometer to determine Nynaeve’s anger is how tightly she grasps and tugs her long braid. IF she’s grabbing her hair in a white knuckle grip, it’s best to kiss your ass goodbye, as it’s too late to run. 

 

Nynaeve is set to appear in Amazon’s Wheel of Time Adaptation, set to premier November 19, 2021. She’s going to be played by Zoe Robins. Zoe Robins has appeared in mostly television roles, The Killian Cures, The Shannara Chronicles, The Brokenwood Mysteries, and, my personal favorite factoid, Power Rangers: Ninja Steel. That’s right, Nynaeve was a Light Forsaken Power Ranger! What, that was a huge part of my childhood. And, final-final fun fact, she’s exactly 11 days younger than my baby brother. I just find that cute.

 

Nynaeve is one of the best characters in this series. She starts off as being incredibly judgmental, quick to anger, nagging and in general irritating, but she grows through out the series like few others. I appreciated her more now that I’ve gone through the stage where you’re not much older than the teenagers around you, but you still have to be the adult in the room. I can also appreciate how absolutely galling it must be to have incredibly power at your fingertips, but also unable to use it when you want. The fact she isn’t always pissed is something of a miracle. She and Lan also have the most believable romance in the series. Sure, a large chunk of it boils down to Nynaeve “Lan, I love you, do you love me?” Lan, “Yes, but we can’t be together,” Nynaeve “Why?” Lan “because I can’t love anybody, I’m an edgelord.” Nynaeve “harumph.” It’s almost funny, as Lan seems deadest against them being together, but he expresses it in such a beautiful, poetic way that I can understand Nynaeve getting flustered by it. al’Lan Mandragoran is king of sending mixed signals. She has an intense, and I would argue justifiable dislike of Moiraine and the White Tower as a whole, believing both meddle far too much in normal people’s affairs for their own ends. Which, she’s not wrong, and I think helps her keep from being sucked into the White Towers, at times, extremely cult like following. But more on that as the show goes on. Alright, so now that’s 4 of 5 Emond’s Fielders down. The only one left is the one that actually wanted to leave the village of her own accord, Egwene al’Vere. Gotta give props to the girl who wouldn’t take “No, stay behind” for an answer. See you then. 

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