#this was bugging me THE WHOLE TIME I was writing my femslash exchage fic

[girlonthelasttrain]

I don't exactly know what Wheel of Time is trying to do by suggesting that Liandrin was subjected to so much (gendered) violence as a girl. I don't know that this show can support a complex plotline about a victim ultimately turning into a perpetrator without falling into oversimplification. (The fact that they made up a secret son as a backstory for Liandrin does not bode well, imho. Talk about clichés.)

The most generous interpretation I can give is that Liandrin has lived all her life in fear and mistrust of everyone, essentially bargaining with and finding loopholes in oaths and institutions in order for her and her child to survive (born into a family that mistreated her -> forced into a violent marriage -> escapes to the White Tower which however won't allow her to keep her son -> eventually swears oath to the Dark). Her allegiance is not with any place she's been in, although her belief in the Red Ajah's "mission" is likely sincere; there's always, however, a more basic math at play I think. The Tower forced her to live without her son, and so Liandrin will never put the survival of the Tower, much less its rules, above her own. As a related note, I think the power of what Lanfear offers to Liandrin is precisely that it is, for once, more than survival through nominal observance of random rules. Lanfear already knows everything there is to know about Liandrin, so Liandrin doesn't need to fear discovery anymore. If she lets all her other secrets go (her fondness/animosity for Moiraine the most prominent among them), then Liandrin will be unfettered—although still bound by her oath to the Dark. But Liandrin has never known an oath-free life, has never lived without someone having the power to force her to obey. There's never been a true way out for her, so a little more (apparent) wiggle room is incredibly tempting for her.

The ungenerous interpretation is that this whole thing will turn into a sketchy distinction between two types of victims, the good virtuous ones and the bad ones, Liandrin belonging to the latter. Maybe there's a case to be made about victimhood being weaponized (I feel like it matters here that Liandrin is played by a white actress), but is it something that a fantasy show like WoT can do well without falling into easy moralizing? Again, I don't know.

ETA: I'm allowing reblogs now, but please keep any eventual addition on topic; also I kindly ask to not minimize my concerns in additions or in tags.

#this was bugging me THE WHOLE TIME I was writing my femslash exchage fic #i really don't know what to think about this! #wheel of time #liandrin guirale