Having finished my complete series reread, I feel ready to address one of the most pressing issues of the later books – who is Mesaana pretending to be in the White Tower?
First off, what do we know about Mesaana?In the Age of Legends, she was an academic, a scholar who wanted to perform research. She went to the Shadow after failing to get a job as a researcher at the Collam Daan. Her most distinctive physical attributes are her big blue eyes, which have been mentioned fairly often in her descriptions. We know that Mesaana is in the White Tower itself relatively early in the series (likely she took up her position there soon after escaping the Bore).
We have four main options for Mesaana in the White Tower:
1. She is disguised as an Aes Sedai
2. She is disguised as a Novice or Accepted
3. She is disguised as a Tower servant or other worker
4. She is disguised as some sort of Tower visitor (unlikely due to the duration of her stay)
The first time that Alviarin gets a little glimpse of Mesaana’s clothing is when she grabs the hem of her dress in tPoD Ch. 25. She sees that Mesaana is wearing a bronze silk dress with black scrollwork. This immediately rules out options 2 and 3 – a Novice or Accepted would not be wearing silk, and neither would a servant of any sort. Beneath her Illusion Mesaana is probably wearing whatever she is wearing in the Tower that day – it would be far too much work for her to change just to see Alviarin, and she cannot simply be wearing silk under an Illusion of a Novice, Accepted, or serving-woman’s dress because with the movement of the dress it would be imperfect – that is how Alviarin sees flashes of the hem of her dress in the first place.
As for reasons why Mesaana must be an Aes Sedai, that information is also provided by Alviarin - she sees Mesaana completely revealed when Shaidar Haran comes to punish her in this scene in CoT Ch. 21:
“Startled, Alviarin found herself with her begging hands stretched up toward a blue-eyed woman of flesh and blood, garbed in bronze-embroidered green. A tantalizingly familiar woman who looked just short of her middle years."
Alviarin seems to vaguely recognize Mesaana, but not enough to put her finger on exactly who she has been disguising herself as. This seems to indicate that Mesaana is only very slightly altering her appearance while in the Tower. Further, this is exactly the kind of reaction people have to Siuan and Leane after they are stilled and lose their ageless appearance – people feel like they look familiar, but they cannot recognize them for who they are. Therefore Mesaana is likely posing as an Aes Sedai and only adding the ageless look via Mask of Mirrors, and partially shielding her ability to channel (if Mesaana is a strong enough channeler that she would stand out, which is likely since she is one of the Forsaken). Making only small modifications to her appearance (e.g. just adding the agelessness) makes the disguise easy to maintain. Finally, in the prologue of tGS Graendal muses to herself about Mesaana:
“Mesaana was in the White Tower, pretending to be one of what passed for an Aes Sedai in this Age. She was obvious and easy to read; Graendal’s agents in the White Tower kept her well apprised of Mesaana’s activities.”
So if we trust Graendal to be well-informed (which I do, as she is one of the most subtle and cunning of the Forsaken), on top of our other evidence from Alviarin, then it is certain that Mesaana is disguised as an Aes Sedai.
In addition, note that both earlier dress descriptions feature a bronze color – the first dress was bronze silk while the second had bronze embroidery. This could be evidence that Mesaana is disguised as one of the Brown Ajah. The Brown Ajah would certainly fit with Mesaana’s personality as a scholar, which would make it easier for her to pretend to be one of their number. Pretending to be a stereotypically dreamy Brown is also an easy way to operate behind the scenes and be taken for granted, as Verin knew very well.
So Mesaana is disguised as an Aes Sedai, she is keeping her own face and just adding the agelessness (and therefore has big blue eyes), and she is likely pretending to be Brown Ajah. The most likely candidate that fits all of these categories is Danelle, a very dreamy Brown sister who has no friends and whose big blue eyes are frequently mentioned.
As I stated before, the dreaminess provides an easy cover to maintain, and the friendlessness allowed Danelle to be very easily replaced. Further, Danelle frequently shows up just before Alviarin’s meetings with Mesaana. In the Prologue to ACoS she is one of the first people that Alviarin passes after exiting Elaida’s study. We know that Mesaana often listened in on Alviarin and Elaida’s meetings, so this is evidence that Danelle was hanging around near Elaida's office so she could eavesdrop with either some inverted weaves or a ter'angreal.
The most damning evidence for Danelle, though, are her actions regarding the deposing of Siuan Sanche and the inception of the White Tower divide. In tSR Ch. 47, we learn that Danelle had two hundred soldiers brought into the White Tower disguised as masons. This sounds like a recipe for bloodshed – most sisters would not have believed soldiers necessary for a deposition or have expected actual fighting to go on in the Tower. Bringing outside soldiers into the Tower itself probably only made the fighting worse, and they may even have started the fighting if they were led by a Darkfriend – after all, Siuan’s warder was murdered without a trial before Siuan is even taken into custody, against all law and custom.
The best proof of Mesaana being Danelle comes from the entire deposition scene, where Siuan is taken into custody:
“The door crashed open, and she straightened furiously as more than a dozen women strode into her study, led by Elaida … Danelle, her big blue eyes not dreamy at all … Her cold rage should have sent them scurrying, but though a few shifted uneasily, none made a move toward the door. Little Danelle actually smirked at her.” tSR, Ch. 47
Danelle is acting quite out of character for a dreamy Brown, and while the other sisters seem nervous or determined she actually smirks at Siuan. This is quite suspicious. Even more suspicious is what happens next:
“In a rage she reached for saidar – and suffered her second shock. A barrier lay between her and the True Source, like a wall of thick glass. She stared at Elaida in disbelief. As if to mock her, the radiance of saidar sprang up around Elaida.” tSR, Ch. 47
Siuan never felt the shield be woven and never saw the glow of saidar around any of the women until Elaida embraces the Source – after Siuan was already shielded! This means that the shield was inverted, which, at this point in the story, modern Aes Sedai do not even know is possible. Therefore Mesaana must have done it, so she must be one of the sisters in the group that comes to capture Siuan. The only sister in the list of those that come to capture Siuan that matches Mesaana’s blue eyes and who cannot be ruled out by other means (being Black Ajah, being out of the Tower later, or having the story told from their Point of View at some point in the series) is Danelle.
Quote of the Day:
“My followers infest the Tower like an unseen plague, festering inside of a healthy-looking man at market. More and more join our cause. Some intentionally, others unwittingly. It is the same either way.” – Mesaana, Prologue, tGS
