ah, the prequel came out after i stopped reading the series. i feel like moiraine uses balefire fairly early on? but i could be misremembering. it's a kickass use of magic, but as i remember it, it's definitely the aes sedai version of the nuclear option. i've been thinking about doing a reread now that the series is finally completed and there's a show coming out, i may have to see what my library has via libby.

and yes, i was remembering some sort of vague link to plo too. i may have to consult wookiepedia just to stop the hamsterwheel in my brain from turning that over.