CHapter 2: Strangers

This is the Chapter where we first meet Moraine and Lan. Obviously we all knew from the start that Lan was a bad-ass. What is everyone's first impression of Moraine.

Although Eric keeps telling me about how strong RJ makes his female characters, I do not believe she is introduced as one. My first impression was that she was of royal blood. A young female who had some interests in the world, and was allowed to "find" herself, but only under the protection of Lan. There also seemed to be some underlying sexual tension between those two. Later on in the book, especially after the first Trolloc attack, Morraine's strength of character appears.

Moiraine's strength is evident right from the get go. Lan defers to her in every conversation they have. When debating whether or not Egwene and Thom Merrilin should be allowed to go with them, Lan is adamant about not letting them go. Moiraine, however, tells Lan it's part of the Pattern and that's the end of the discussion.

Moiraine's knowledge and wisdom in the political realm eclipses Lan's. Lan, however, is the master of survival. They work very well together, but I certainly see evidence of Moiraine's strength in the beginning.

I agree about the part of the story you are talking about. I was referring to the very begining, when she first comes to Two Rivers. Which is why I stated after the first Trolloc attack Morraine is proven to be a very strong character. I feel that some of Morraine's strength of character has alot to do with her status in society, especially her position above Lan, that makes him subservient. In some ways he bows to her out of reverence and love, but then there are hints it is out of fear. Although I don't have any proof of that, just my mind wandering. If anyone feels that, I would love to see where in particular they felt that.

I don't know if it was the fact that Eric explained some of the series to me before I read it or that I saw her as the "Gandolf" character right away. (Much like you said in a previous post, I completely agree by the way I saw a lot of similarities in the beginning) I am enjoying re-reading the books more than I ever thought I could. The amount of things I have noticed, little clues toward events far in the future of the books that illustrate the genius of RJ. That being said I envy you Kim reading the books for the first time. I can hardly remember my first impressions of these characters so it is difficult to think back to my first impression of Moraine. After reading the posts about this though I think that they Moraine and Lan were trying to lay low. By acting like an Aes Sedai she would draw too much attention. As it is she was drawing a lot of attention posing as a high-born lady. That could be why you didn't pick up on her strength from the beginning.