i don’t know if anyones ever considered this (they probably have these books are older than me i’m reading my dad’s copies) but i’ve been wondering about galad being raised an aeil warrior bc tigraine went “i’ll leave my husband happily but my son is coming the fuck with me”.
because as far as we know, the only constraints were that she couldn’t tell anyone where she going and couldn’t return to andor, so if she just. never told galad where they were going and just took him with her. technically, it would be within the bounds of gitara’s fortelling.
galad as we know him would take to be being raised to follow ji’e’toh like a fish to water. one of the main things elayne has to say about him is that his honour and drive to do the right thing is almost always at the forefront of his mind, even at the expense of himself and others. it would genuinely be perfect for him. he may not have the look of the aiel but he would certainly have the conviction of one.
plus, being able to see him and rand develop a real brotherly relationship while they are both with the aiel would make his fight against demandred in tarmon gai’don — He is not here, but his brother is! — even more compelling. the siblings he didn’t grow up with need him, and he will be loyal to them to the end because not only is that how he was raised but, aeil or damodred or trakand, that is simply who he is.
furthermore a galad who didn’t have to suffer through taringail for longer than he absolutely had to would probably have a healthier childhood. janduin would have been able to have a pseudo/second?-son he would have adored. (though i doubt tigraine would have been able to directly raise galad after becoming a maiden, she would have still been in his life. he wasn’t born when she was a maiden so there would probably be some arguing but a compromise could be made i think)
post-rhuidean reveal galad would have jumped at the idea of a free first-brother and two free second-siblings. and maybe a even near-brother in mat, who would be a little freaked out but honestly has bigger problems at the minute so kind of just goes with it. galad and aviendha would have been bickering about the best ways to teach rand about aiel culture and poor rand would just be stuck in the middle of it. galad having a little sulk about the winespring brother’s shelter and not being able to go be with his baby first-brother.
i think i quite possibly need to write this now.
