The Amyrlin tasks Egwene and Nynaeve with hunting the Black Ajah.
The Amyrlin tells Nynaeve and Egwene that they will secretly hunt the Black Ajah, if any of its members remain in the White Tower. Her reasoning? They are the only two in the Tower she is sure are not Black Ajah, and nobody will suspect the Amyrlin to task two Accepted with such a weighty task. The Amyrlin gives each woman a “get out of jail free” card: a letter, bearing her official seal, stating that they are acting under orders from the Amyrlin Seat. That’s like handing the keys for a brand new Ferrari to two teenagers who have a history of crashing their bicycles. I mean, Nynaeve’s very next thought is that she could use it to command a Warder to dance, for fuck’s sake.
Here’s what I don’t get. Even before she became the Amyrlin Seat, Siuan knew damn well that the Black Ajah infected the White Tower. She was with Moiraine at Aesdaishar Palace when Merean, the former Mistress of Novices, revealed herself to be Black Ajah. That was twenty years ago! Siuan has been Amyrlin Seat for the last ten years, so what the hell has she been doing all this time? Hoping it’ll go away? I believe the saying goes, “hope in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up first.” And now, Siuan, you’ve got a decade worth of shit to clean up.