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apocalypticavolition · 10 months

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Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 19: Shadow's Waiting

Hello and welcome back to my reread. Today we're doing chapter 19, SPOILERS Waiting. Spoilers for everything. Wheel of Time (1990-2013). Barbie (2023). Real Life (still in progress). Two of those are jokes, but if you don't want spoilers for this whole book series, run away! My tendrils of knowledge are trying to catch you!

This chapter has a pair of ravens! Since that usually refers to Darkfriends or the Seanchan, neither of which are here, I can only assume it's meant to refer to paranoia. The constant sensation of being watched and the fall of the city due to distrust. Eyes are everywhere but you can't see them.

More buildings had roofs fallen in than had them whole. Tumbled walls spilled fans of brick and stone into the streets. Towers stopped, abrupt and jagged, like broken sticks. Uneven rubble hills with a few stunted trees growing on their slopes could have been the remains of palaces or of entire blocks of the city.

Note that even in the time of the Ten Nations, architectural standards were really high. A lot of the stuff that's getting on 2,000 years old in temperate regions in real life is in way more disrepair than this unless we're actively maintaining it. Nature must find it harder to reclaim Ogier work; it's probably designed to grow into the city and reinforce it up to a point.

And I thought Baerlon was a city! Burn me, but Thom must have been laughing up his sleeve. Moiraine and Lan, too.

Rand is right, but actually Shadar Logoth is something of an over-correction. Most of the cities in his time period have huge and ornate areas, but they don't have every building covered in domes and fountains and spires at every intersection. Things are decaying and retreating.

She gave him a look from the corner of her eye. “The fact is, she needs my herbs, and so do you.” Her voice was acerbic to start, and grew more tart as she spoke. “The fact is, she can only do so much, even with her One Power, and she has done about as much as she can without collapsing. The fact is, your sword cannot help her now, Lord of the Seven Towers, but my herbs can.”

Love how Nynaeve picks up a fact about someone and immediately weaponizes it against them in mockery. She's only extra hurt because the one man she thought understood her is implying she'd be careless in her specialty.

“You going to take care of your horse?” Perrin said. He had already finished his own and was lifting the saddle from Mandarb. Strangely, the fierce-eyed stallion gave him no trouble at all, though he did watch Perrin.

I should make a note to pay attention for how animals in general treat Mr. Werewolf going forward.

“Well, you heard what Moiraine said. It’s as if some dead man was speaking with my mouth. I don’t like it.” His scowl grew deeper when Perrin chuckled. “Aemon’s warcry, she said—right? Maybe you’re Aemon come back again. The way you go on about how dull Emond’s Field is, I’d think you would like that—being a king and hero reborn.” “Don’t say that!” Thom drew a deep breath; everybody stared at him now. “That is dangerous talk, stupid talk. The dead can be reborn, or take a living body, and it is not something to speak of lightly.”

Not sure if this is evidence against my theory or a way that Thom is joining the Denial Gang. He's got to have an inkling about the possibility of the Dragon Reborn at this point, so having the boys proclaim themselves to be the dead come again is really dangerous territory in his eyes.

Also, Mat really doesn't like magic when it happens to him, even if it's not Aes Sedai stuff. He also wouldn't like being a hero reborn and canonically isn't, though I don't know if that was something Jordan himself specified or a detail Sanderson came up with - or, for that matter, if it was something Jordan knew at this point in the writing if it was his idea.

“Aren’t you forgetting the Trollocs?” Perrin said. Mat shook his head scornfully. “Lan said they wouldn’t come in here, remember? You need to listen to what people say.” “I remember,” Perrin said. “And I do listen. This city—Aridhol?—was an ally of Manetheren. See? I listen.”

Huh, this whole time I've been saying Mat's one of the only people in the world who don't think Perrin's stupid, but apparently not! Also, it's worth noting that at no point did anyone tell the boys that they shouldn't wander off, and you might think that it's implied, but since it's these three I'm going to say it's all Moiraine and Lan's fault for not remembering how to deal with idiots. And good lord, but Mat actually convinces Perrin first.

A palace was plainly a palace, but what was a huge building that was one round, white dome as big as a hill outside and one monstrous room inside? And a walled place, open to the sky and big enough to have held all of Emond’s Field, surrounded by row on row on row of stone benches?

Concert halls and sports arenas were canonically a part of the Ten Nations culture. Did they survive to Hawkwing's day, or were these the last hurrah of the Third Age?

“You can sleep anytime,” Mat said determinedly. “Look at where we are. A ruined city. Treasure.”

Honestly this feels really out of nowhere for Mat. He's not mentioned much about treasure before, and really he doesn't care too much about shinies afterward - he likes getting treasure obviously but it's not much of a motivation. What's his deal with this? Is Shadar Logoth itself pulling on him a little, unable to touch Rand and Perrin because of their latent supernatural abilities? He neglects the horses immediately, which is weird for the son of a horse trader.

Maybe it's just the love of looting just something that gets burned out of him with other memories? Did the mere mention of the ruby dagger as Min's viewing prime him to see himself as a treasure hunter?

“Who are you?” Rand thought the man’s accent sounded odd, even after Baerlon; some words he pronounced strangely, so Rand could barely understand them. “What are you doing here? We thought the city was empty.”

I've mentioned it before, but this is more evidence that whatever tongue Rand is actually speaking is actually much closer to the Old Tongue than English, since Mordeth's speech - from an era when the Old Tongue was still in use - is still intelligible, just really weird. Also, Mordeth's unfamiliarity with Caemlyn is a hint of when he's from as well.

“I told you there must be treasure in a place like this,” Mat exclaimed. He darted up the stairs. “We’ll help you carry it. Just take us to it.” He and Mordeth moved deeper into the shadows among the columns. Rand looked at Perrin. “We can’t leave him.” Perrin glanced at the sinking sun, and nodded.

Whatever the reason, Rand and Perrin are definitely not taking the bait. They only care about this because of Mat, not any hope of riches themselves.

Suddenly Rand realized what had been nagging at him about the man. The scattered torches in the hallway had given each of them a ring of shadows, just as the torches in the treasure room did. Only. . . . He was so shocked he said it out loud. “You don’t have a shadow.”

So this chapter firmly establishes that Rand is the smartest one out of the trio, being the last to want to come here and the only one to realize that they've stumbled into a hellscape.

Mat peered around the side of a treasure pile, clutching a dagger snatched from the trove.

Thanks for telling him to look for it, Min. You done fucked him up, didn't even talk to him, and in the Last Battle you're going to have the audacity to treat him like an old friend.

Mat just gestured to all the gold and jewels. Before he could say anything, though, Rand seized one of his arms and Perrin grabbed the other. They hustled him out of the room, Mat struggling and shouting about the treasure.

This whole thing really needed either some stronger foreshadowing of Mat's greed or something because again even knowing he's kind of the doofus of the group, this just comes out of nowhere.

The watchers followed them. Or else there were lots of watchers, lots of eyes staring out of almost every building. Rand could not see anything move, hard as he tried, but he could feel the eyes, eager, hungry. He did not know which would be worse. Thousands of eyes, or just a few, following them.

Do the others feel it too, or is this some twist of Rand's Shadow-sense, what with Shadar Logoth being so close to the Shadow even in its opposition?

Everyone except Lan was there, gathered around the flames, and their reactions varied considerably. Egwene, warming her hands at the fire, gave a start as the three burst into the room, clutching her hands to her throat; when she saw who it was, a relieved sigh spoiled her attempt at a withering look.

Aww, Egwene really does care. Odd place to grab herself though.

Everyone began in a different place. Mat started with finding the treasure, sounding almost as if he had done it alone, while Perrin began explaining why they had gone off in the first place without telling anyone. Rand jumped right to what he thought was important, meeting the stranger among the columns. But they were all so excited that nobody told anything in the order it happened; whenever one of them thought of something, he blurted it out with no regard for what came before or after, or for who was saying what. The watchers. They all babbled about the watchers.

This is why the three of them needed to be separated as quickly as possible, because Jordan knew that no matter how much the three of them grew as people, this is exactly how all their attempts to explain themselves would go.

“Apparently you did not think at all,” she said, coolly composed once more. “Anyone who thinks would be wary of a place that Trollocs are afraid to enter.” “Mat’s doing,” Nynaeve said, certainty in her voice. “He’s always talking some mischief or other, and the others lose the little wits they were born with when they’re around him.”

Places Moiraine thinks you should be wary of:

Shadar Logoth

The Aiel Waste

Tar Valon

The beach

Indoor swimming pools

Just saying Moiraine, you really shouldn't have counted on this being a logical connection even if the boys weren't... well, Nynaeve says it best.

“Mordeth alone was not consumed by Mashadar, but he was snared by it, and he, too, has waited within these walls through the long centuries. Others have seen him. Some he has influenced through gifts that twist the mind and taint the spirit, the taint waxing and waning until it rules . . . or kills. If ever he convinces someone to accompany him to the walls, to the boundary of Mashadar’s power, he will be able to consume the soul of that person. Mordeth will leave, wearing the body of the one he worse than killed, to wreak his evil on the world again.”

It's a mystery we'll never know the answer to, but I am dying to know exactly what kind of horrible things Mordeth did to become this. Did Aridhol have a stash of ter'angreal lying around that let him preserve his abhorrent will in the worst way possible? Was there some ancient evil from the end of the Age of Legends that combined with him to become so much worse? Like Fain who he'll infect, did he simply sidestep the Pattern somehow? Is that last concept really extra bullshit and stupid? I can't answer the first three questions, but the last one is a firm "yep".

Besides, I would know the minute of his death and the way of it, just as he would know mine.

I dunno Moiraine, I hear getting distracted with desk work can prevent an Aes Sedai from noticing the death of her Warder, especially if it's a political assassination leading to a coup. Be careful not to start filling out any paperwork or Lan could be gone before you know it!

He had no idea what had awakened him from his unpleasant dream. He had been a little boy again, carrying Tam’s sword and with a cradle strapped to his back, running through empty streets, pursued by Mordeth, who shouted that he only wanted his hand. And there had been an old man who watched them and cackled with mad laughter the whole time.

Regular stress dream, or Ba'alzamon again?

“Only this,” Lan said slowly. “The Myrddraal forced the Trollocs into the city. What forced the Myrddraal?”

He's definitely in the neighborhood, at least.

“Get to your horses,” Moiraine said. “We are not across the river yet.”

Moiraine is definitely trying to keep the plan (now discussed where the reader could see it) from being guaranteed to fail by upping the tension. Sadly, she's failed, though amusingly she did discuss the possibility of hailing a trader's boat. Regardless, this is the end of the chapter. Thanks for reading!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #lan mandragoran #moiraine damodred #nynaeve al'meara #egwene al'vere #thom merrilin #perrin aybara #mat cauthon

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amemoryofwot · 1 year

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I think that WoT card hand is supposed to be Perrin’s when he’s telling Faile the horse’s name is also Mandarb but it’s way funnier if Lan is always a disembodied pointing hand

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iviarellereads · 5 months

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The Eye of the World, Chapter 18 - The Caemlyn Road

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Trolloc icon)(1) In which it always comes back to the old blood, doesn't it?

At first the road looks much like the North Road they took to Baerlon, packed dirt with trees on either side. But soon, that gives way to low, rolling hills. After two days, while they're stopped on a hill trying to get a view of the distance, they hear a horn behind them, northwest. Lan scouts it out,(2) and there are five hundred Trollocs in an army behind them. Then they hear a horn directly to the west, followed by multiple answering horns to the southeast, ahead of them. They're all but surrounded.

Moiraine says they can either go due north or due south. Lan says there's a place Trollocs won't go, and Moiraine shushes him quickly. They take off for the north. Unfortunately, they run face-first into another, quieter group of Trollocs, led by a Myrddraal. They have to make a stand.

Even before the Myrddraal moved, Lan’s sword was in his hand. “Stay with me!” he cried, and Mandarb plunged down the slope toward the Trollocs. “For the Seven Towers!” he shouted. Rand gulped and booted the gray forward; the whole group of them streamed after the Warder. He was surprised to find Tam’s sword in his fist. Caught up by Lan’s cry, he found his own. “Manetheren! Manetheren!” Perrin took it up. “Manetheren! Manetheren!” But Mat shouted, “Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!”(3)

There's some battle,(4) it's touch and go, but once Lan cuts the head off the Myrddraal, the Trollocs lose their guiding force and start howling and fall to the ground, biting and clawing at nothing. They ride as fast as the horses can go, but soon three more Myrddraal-led groups catch up to them. Moiraine uses the angreal to amplify her magic, manipulating the earth to knock the Trollocs to the ground, then fire to kill the Myrddraal.

They carry on, slower. Nynaeve quietly consults Moiraine, hands her a packet of some kind of herbs,(5) and goes back to the rest of the group. Egwene asks what they were shouting, particularly Mat, because she almost felt like she could understand it, but not quite. Rand and Perrin say, well, you just shout something at times like that, it's just the done thing, look at Lan. Mat doesn't remember what he shouted, his memory is already fogging it over.

Moiraine cuts in to tell them it meant " For the honor of the Red Eagle. For the honor of the Rose of the Sun." It was a war cry in old Manetheren, the cry of its last king, Rose of the Sun being a nickname for its last queen. She notes that the Old Blood still sings after all.(6)

Thom asks if they intend to rest for the day, Moiraine says no, punctuated by another Trolloc horn in the distance. Lan brings up the place the Shadowspawn won't go again, and Moiraine gives in reluctantly. Would that there was any other choice. Moiraine uses more magic to lay a false trail with their scents, and they head north.

They take it slow, Moiraine swaying in the saddle, clearly spent from all her magic. Eventually they come upon what Rand first takes for a cliff, then realizes is a tower, or was. A city in the forest, abandoned for who knows how long.

Egwene muses that she doesn't remember a city here, from her father's maps. Moiraine says it was once known as Aridhol, an ally of Manetheren. Later, the city died, and was called by a different name. Mat asks what name, but before he gets an answer, they hear more Trolloc horns in the distance. Lan says they've discovered the trail was false. They have to get into the city and find shelter before dark.

“What name?” Mat asked again. Moiraine answered as they rode into the city. “Shadar Logoth,” she said. “It is called Shadar Logoth.”

=====

(1) Not exactly the prettiest of the icons, but certainly one of the most obvious. (2) I'm cutting out the dialogue exchanged here, but I do want to draw some attention to "Last Lord of the Seven Towers". What sort of a title is that? If he's a lord of anything, why is he out here adventuring? (3) We know that reincarnation is a fact of this universe, but this seems to imply that separate from that, there's also some kind of genetic memory, somehow. Though, it IS a little odd that only Mat and Egwene really seem to have felt it, when Perrin is also from the village, even if Rand's parentage is in question. (4) Since we didn't get a whole lot of it at Winternight, I don't think I ever explained: for anyone new here, I struggle hard with battle sequences in large part because I have near total aphantasia. I don't form any mental images when I'm not sleeping, and battles are nearly all describing movements and positions, which I have no context for. So, a lot of my battle summaries are gonna be a lot like this. "IDK, the fight happens, read it yourself, here are the important details." (5) Nynaeve and her herbs. There are a couple of exchanges between her and Moiraine… well, Nynaeve talks about herbs that are useful in situations related to the one they're in, when you're tired but can't let yourself sleep, when you've got a lot of muscle fatigue, etc. The packet doesn't come out of the blue. But Nynaeve looks real smug afterward. She takes a lot of pride in her skill with herbs, and a lot of stock in what they can achieve. (6) A part of me always bristles when stories act like blood is literally better, more powerful, or stronger than other connections. Like, it's a trope, it's been used forever and it will be used well into the future. But, given that the same logic is how we arrive at the divine right of kings just because their ancestors were the biggest bullies… I could do with a little less of it, y'know? Fortunately, blood is far from the only or most important source of power or importance in this series. But, as with so much, RJ's handling of it is… uneven, at best. If this annoys you as well, it's not going to stop in the series, it just… fades into the background, you know?

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw #teotw #wot trolloc icon #rand al'thor #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran #egwene al'vere #thom merrilin #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #nynaeve al'meara

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moiraineswife · 2 years

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Lan and Moiraine

Mandarb and Aldieb

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susandnymm · 3 months

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The Venn diagram of "reasons I was late to school growing up" and "reasons I am late to my very grownup job as an adult" is a circle.

New one of Lan & Mandarb racing to the rescue that I couldn't put down all week until I got it done. Or done until I see something I should have done differently - I am learning so much lately and I love it.

#lan mandragoran #mandarb #wheel of time fanart #wheel of time #wot on prime #horses of the wheel of time #digital painting

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adulthoodisokay · 3 years

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I CAN TALK ABOUT THIS NOW. I SAW A PRESS SCREENING OF E1 OF THE WHEEL OF TIME AND NOW I CAN TALK ABOUT IT.

Afterwards I chatted with Rafe (I was…tipsy, and internally freaking out but playing it chill) and when he found out I was a decades-old book reader he looked me straight in the eyes and asked “Did I fuck it up?” and I replied “No. That was The Wheel of Time. If the rest of the show is like this, I’ll be completely satisfied. But I have a burning question.”

Rafe: Okay. I’m scared.

Me: Was that Bela?

Rafe, scoffing: Of COURSE that was Bela and I am deeply invested in keeping that specific horse actress alive, as well as the ones who play Mandarb and Aldieb.

Me: Ah. We’re in good hands.

#wot prime #wheel of time #the wheel of time

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alectology-archive · 2 years

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"How did you notice me?" Lan asked, containing his anger.

"The horse," Kaisel said, nodding to Mandarb. "She [Nynaeve] said you might disguise yourself. But you would never leave the horse."

HORSE GIRL LAN MOMENTS.

Honestly, Nynaeve deserves an award for juggling and caring for multiple emo guys with a death wish.

#aelia reads wheel of time #aelia reads towers of midnight #lan mandragoran #nynaeve al'meara

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apocalypticavolition · 10 months

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Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 13: Choices

It's that time again, folks! The sun has pretended to dip below the horizon and I am setting up another post for y'all to enjoy in 11 hours. You all aren't allowed to give me spoilers about what's going to happen then, but I'll be damned if y'all can stop me from giving you The Wheel of Time spoilers, so your only hope is to run away if you don't want those. We good? Good.

Today's chapter starts with the Moiraine's staff icon, which is probably a reference to her relieving everyone's weariness at the beginning of the chapter and her next lesson with Egwene.

Thom jerked away from the Aes Sedai’s hands, but she seized his gray head with a look that allowed no nonsense. The gleeman scowled through the entire thing. She smiled mockingly once she took her hands away. His frown deepened, but he did look refreshed.

Twu wuv!

Seriously, I saw the foreshadowing coming a mile away even in my first read (though it's in book four so why am I talking about it now), but I don't understand what these two see in each other. Nearly every other couple in this series has more chemistry!

(Also, if Moiraine's removing weariness is only subjective, why bother when they're all about to sleep? If it's not subjective for humans, what's the difference between them and horses? Is she doing it to cover guarding their dreams?)

“In a month or two, we’ll be back,” Perrin said in a strained voice. “Think what we’ll have to tell.”

Of the four, Perrin's the only one who does come back and it still takes him months. It's possible Rand or Mat might work their way back now that the books are done, but if not for T'A'R, the previous chapters would have been the last time Egwene saw home.

With himself and his stallion, Mandarb—he said it meant “Blade” in the Old Tongue—he was not so sparing.

Let's all just appreciate how Lan hasn't grown mentally since he was a teenager and try very hard to dismiss any thought about why that might be, since it would ruin the mood. Meanwhile, Moiraine's horse's name is a reflection of her quest: the spring rains come with Rand.

“It’s no different from back home,” Perrin said, frowning at the distant buildings, barely visible through the trees. People moved around the farmyard, as yet unaware of the travelers. “Of course it is,” Mat said. “We’re just not close enough to see.”

It's funny, that of course one's cosmopolitan instincts are to side with Perrin over Mat, that farms in the same general part of the world are in fact much the same and that the big picture is identical. Yet in a world all about individual threads making the big picture, Mat's statement is less stupid than it seems: whoever lives there is going to be quite different than the Two Rivers folk they know, even if they are also much the same.

At their first stop, before the sun sank, Lan began teaching the boys what to do with the weapons they carried. He started with the bow. After watching Mat put three arrows into a knot the size of a man’s head, on the fissured trunk of a dead leatherleaf, at a hundred paces, he told the others to take their turns.

I'm not an archer, but I do believe that this is a genuinely impressive bit of marksmanship. Though Lan's brutal take down of the boys is quite funny too. Let's quote it for fun.

“Now if you all had bows,” the Warder said dryly when they started grinning, “and if the Trollocs agreed not to come so close you couldn’t use them. . . .”

Never offer your students praise, Lan. They might start to feel good about themselves.

Rand stared at him. “The flame and the void,” he said wonderingly. “That’s what you mean, isn’t it? My father taught me about that.” The Warder gave him an unreadable look in return.

Once again, Lan is very upset that Rand has hit all the cool milestones way before he could show them off.

“What are you doing?” She gave him a sidelong look without answering. It was the first time he had spoken to her in two days, he realized, since the night in the log shelter on the bank of the Taren, but he did not let that stop him. “All your life you’ve waited to wear your hair in a braid, and now you’re giving it up? Why? Because she doesn’t braid hers?”

Rand, you are traveling with six other people. How the hell have you gone two days without saying a word to one of them? And to break the silence you go with berating her? Bro.

Warily, Rand looked around the camp. Everybody was looking at him, not just the Warder. Mat and Perrin, with their faces white. Thom, tensed as if ready to run or fight. Moiraine. The Aes Sedai’s face was expressionless, but her eyes seemed to bore into his head. Desperately, he tried to recall exactly what he had said, about Aes Sedai and Darkfriends.

Lan, as stated by the text, just really wants Rand to not to call the Trollocs down on them.

Mat and Perrin are wondering why he's trying to antagonize the scary witch who seems to be the only thing between them and a Trolloc's cookpot.

Thom is ready to throw sand in Moiraine's face and get stabbed by Lan as long as it takes for Rand to get away and hopefully not be gentled.

Moiraine really couldn't give less of a fuck what he thinks as long as he does what he's told and is trying to intimidate him into shouting to get Trolloc attention a little less.

Mat lay there on his back, his mouth still open, staring at her. Moiraine’s eyes caught the light like dark, polished stones. Abruptly Rand wondered how long she had been standing there.

Moiraine's reaction is quite different in this chat two days later because Mat wants to fuck off to Illian. She doesn't even mind them going there after Tar Valon (although it may not be place #1 on her itinerary until after this book and the Horn is recovered), but he's talking about not doing what he's told and that must be shut down.

“The Dark One is after you three, one or all, and if I let you go running off wherever you want to go, he will take you. Whatever the Dark One wants, I oppose, so hear this and know it true. Before I let the Dark One have you, I will destroy you myself.”

Unfortunately, she goes with this particular tactic, which really only cements for the three boys that she can't be trusted as far as they can throw her. (Sure, she's small, but also Lan would kill them if they tried.) Death threats are a terrible way of instilling loyalty, as most villains find out when their minions inevitably have enough. Before her time as the group mentor is over, Rand and Perrin will have each taken a turn running away while Mat will have gone full Gollum out of spite.

“The Five Powers,” Egwene said slowly. “Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Spirit. It doesn’t seem fair that men should have been strongest in wielding Earth and Fire. Why should they have had the strongest Powers?”

Per Brown v. Board of Education, this whole magic system isn't fair at all. But funnily enough, Egwene (while unusually well-rounded for any channeler) actually leans stronger into Earth and Fire than Wind and Water.

Egwene was silent for a time, digging her toe into the forest floor. “They . . . they were the ones who . . . who tried to free the Dark One and the Forsaken, weren’t they? The male Aes Sedai?” She took a deep breath and picked up speed. “The women were not part of it. It was the men who went mad and broke the world.”

No Egwene, freeing the Dark One was a group project; it's only the sealing that the women had nothing to do with. Not that this was a bad thing overall. Moiraine very clearly does not answer her question directly and this is because she's well-researched enough to know that the the truth won't make Egwene comfortable.

In the shadows, Rand shifted. A twig snapped under his foot. He froze instantly, sweating and holding his breath, but neither of the women looked around.

Moiraine doesn't need to; Lan would be freaking out if anyone who wasn't one of them were about.

Egwene drew a heavy breath. “I suppose I was afraid of that, that I’d be changed by the Power. That and the Trollocs. And the Fade. And. . . . Moiraine Sedai, in the name of the Light, why did the Trollocs come to Emond’s Field?”

Since Moiraine shoos Rand away with a glance at this point, we don't get her answer to Egwene. That won't stop me from speculating wildly! Ready for some crazy theories? Prepare yourself!

Are you sure?

She told Egwene exactly what she's been telling the boys all this time: that the Dark One is after one or more of the boys and that she can't be certain for exactly what purpose but that it's enough to oppose the Dark One in all things.

I know, I know, this sort of thinking is likely too wild for some of you.

When finally sleep came, it was fitful and filled with sweaty dreams where all the men in Emond’s Field-

Ooooh!

-claimed to be the Dragon Reborn and all the women had blue stones in their hair like the one Moiraine wore. He did not try to overhear Moiraine and Egwene again.

Oh. Well, we can certainly deduce that this dream shows how deeply in denial Rand is. His subconscious knows very well what's up, but he won't acknowledge it awake because it would freak him out way too much.

The Aes Sedai might have begun acting as if Egwene were in charge of the Emond’s Fielders...

Rand is so hilariously bitter about this, as if he weren't screaming for everyone in Andor to hear about how all Aes Sedai are Darkfriends, as if Mat hadn't tried to turn their flight for their lives into a bro's road trip, and as if literally everyone in Perrin's own home town besides Rand and Mat didn't assume that he was too stupid to walk and talk at the same time. She's not putting Egwene in charge because she's unfairly valuing women or would-be Aes Sedai but because the girl who worships the nearest authority figure at all times is, against all odds, the best candidate for getting the rest of you to put your shoes on in the morning so you can flee for your lives.

“Hey, Rand,” Mat called, “I can juggle four!” Rand waved in reply without looking around. “I told you I’d get to four before you. I—

I'm also not a juggler, but my gut's telling me that Thom's a really good teacher if Mat can juggle four stones while riding a horse after six days' practice. Then again, we'll see in one of these books that Thom is literally superhuman in his juggling skills.

“You have further to go yet,” Moiraine said. “Much further. But there is no other choice, except to run and hide and run again for the rest of your lives. And short lives they would be. You must remember that, when the journey becomes hard. You have no choice.”

It really can't be helping Moiraine's motivational speeches that the closest things she ever had to a mentor were whatever scheming tutors she got before escaping to the Tower and then Elaida. That's what I have to keep reminding myself because otherwise her speeches in this chapter are just fucking terrible. When she doesn't get to talk about dead nations and cool Aes Sedai she's just got no charisma.

“We must attract as little attention as possible.” Lan was exchanging his cloak of shifting grays and greens for one of dark brown, more ordinary, though of fine cut and weave.

I also just love that attracting attention was not remotely a concern in Emond's Field, apparently. She must have really thought she was ahead of the game for once for her and Lan to be wearing such easily identifiable attire that any smart Darkfriend asking questions would recognize right away. This whole jaunt must be a hell of a slap in the face about her own overconfidence.

“What’s all this, eh? It’s too late in the day to be opening this gate. Too late, I say. Go around to the Whitebridge Gate if you want to—”

It's not really discussed, but it's certainly too late to get to the Whitebridge Gate before it's actually closing time, so any downcountry folk who actually do come up this way (or more likely, peddlers like Fain), are just SOL. Avin's a lazy, corrupt jerk, and Rand's very lucky for that.

They say they’re here because of what’s going on down in Ghealdan. The Dragon, you know—well, him as calls himself Dragon. They say the fellow’s stirring up evil—which I expect he is—and they’re here to stamp it out, only he’s down there in Ghealdan, not here. Just an excuse to meddle in other people’s business, is what I figure.

It is just an excuse, and it's hella meddlesome at that. The Whitecloaks are engaging in quite a substantial campaign to overthrow Morgase, the ruler of the subcontinent's largest nation and the one friendliest to the White Tower. If any of her enemies came to power afterward, they might be friendly enough to help the Whitecloaks finally gain more power in Ghealdan, one of the nations bordering them, much like they want to re-establish the kingdom of Almoth to establish pincers around Tarabon. This is all part of Pedron Niall's scheme to unite the west in preparation for the Last Battle, which he is smart enough to see coming and stupid enough to think he'll be the star of.

Likely the specific hopes of the Baerlon campaign are to increase unrest enough to tear Andor in two even if Morgase keeps the throne, with the plans of then marching down through the Two Rivers to try and fuck up Ghealdan that way. Military history would show why that plan isn't really going to work, but I think Niall's pride would convince him he'd be able to pull off what hadn't been done since Manetheren (I doubt even Hawkwing conquered across the mountains instead of just taking both regions via different campaigns).

“Names mean little,” Moiraine said calmly. If anything she had heard disturbed her, she gave no outward sign of it now. “You could call your mule People of the Dragon, if you wanted.”

Moiraine does seem to have some insight into Logain's general plan of forcing the prophecy and having any edges smoothed over later by general opinion. It helps that she knows damn well he's not the Dragon.

“Tear is the greatest port on the Sea of Storms, and the Stone of Tear is the fortress that guards it. The Stone is said to be the first fortress built after the Breaking of the World, and in all this time it has never fallen, though more than one army has tried. One of the Prophecies says that the Stone of Tear will never fall until the People of the Dragon come to the Stone. Another says the Stone will never fall till the Sword That Cannot Be Touched is wielded by the Dragon’s hand.” Thom grimaced. “The fall of the Stone will be one of the major proofs that the Dragon has been reborn. May the Stone stand till I am dust.”

And here is our first bit of Dragon prophecy. We never get the whole of the Karatheon Cycle, which is just as well because Jordan probably could have made into a trilogy. This particular prophecy is straightforward and anyway secondhand, so there's not much to discuss. It is nice that there's a seeming contradiction that would prevent it from being fulfilled though, with the order being Sword and THEN Stone. Really though you'd expect most non-sheepherders to get the gist of how it's supposed to go down.

Lan’s hand went to his purse again, but even as it did another man, as big around as Master al’Vere, came hurrying out of the inn. Puffs of hair stuck out above his ears, and his sparkling white apron was as good as a sign proclaiming him the innkeeper.

Two is too early to call a pattern, but I don't have much else to say on this chapter so let's call it anyway. You can always tell a Darkfriend innkeeper by the fact that they're thin.

Anyway, it's now to the point when this post is only ten hours from being posted, so I'm off to bed. Next time: The Stag and Lion! (Lion I get, but where's the Stag come from?)

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #moiraine damodred #lan al'mandragoran #egwene al'vere #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #thom merrilin

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rena-sedai · 7 years

Text

Find the differences...

Aldieb & Mandarb edition.

#wheel of time #wot cover #aldieb #mandarb #horses

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readerbell · 2 years

Text

Towers of Midnight & The Golden Crane.

Lan has spent his whole life carrying the weight of an oath placed on his shoulders when he was just a child. It’s an oath that will inevitably lead to his death. His coping mechanism has been to do it alone & to thereby save his people from the fate that awaits him.

As the Last Battle approaches, he sets off to fight at Tarwin’s Gap alone & gets annoyed as first one and then another three people Nynaeve sent join him. He can’t turn them away and so makes peace with the situation. They will be fighting at Tarwin’s Gap under the Shienaran banner & that means something to him because as far as he’s concerned Malkier is dead. That’s until he gets to Arafel.

Camped in front of that fortress was a gathering of thousands of people, clustered in smaller groups. The flag of Malkier – the Golden Crane – flew over some of the groups. Others flew flags of Kandor or Arafel.

Not only is Malkier not dead, Borderlanders are drawn by the raising of The Golden Crane - something Lord Agelmar told Lan would happen back in book 1.

Lan struggles with the sight. He can’t fathom sending these people to their deaths and yet the sight stirs his heart.

He had thought the Malkieri gone as a people, broken, shattered, absorbed by other nations. Yet here they were, gathering at the faintest whisper of a call to arms. Many were older – Lan had been but a babe when his kingdom fell, and those who remembered that day as men would now be in their seventh or eighth decade. They had gray hair, but they were still warriors, and they’d brought their sons and grandsons. ‘Tai’shar Malkier!’ a man cried as Lan’s group passed. The call went up a dozen, two dozen times as they saw his hadori. None seemed to recognize him for who he was. They assumed that he had come for the reason they had come.

As he looks through the crowd he starts to question whether he should deny them the very thing he rushes forward to. After all, it’s the Last Battle & they will need every person they can get. Suddenly, a Prince of Kandor marches up to fight under the banner of The Golden Crane…and he’s not alone. Beside him is a Prince of Arafel. This is no longer about Lan. It is about the oath all Borderlanders swear to protect and defend. Lan is just the rallying point. He is the man who has lived those oaths his whole life. To see him marching toward the Last Battle is a walking reminder of the oaths all of these people are beholden to. The Golden Crane is not just Malkier. It is the symbol of the debt The Borderlands owe. As Lord Agelmar told the Emond’s Fielders, while the Shienarans (and other Borderlanders) rode forth to help protect the Blightborder, it was Malkier who held back the Blight.

Nynaeve took all that information in and used it to give the Malkieri a purpose once more. She raised an army that will strike hard at the Shadow. She also makes sure Lan can’t dodge this by making him swear an oath to accept whoever joins him. But she knows him well so she gave all those who would join him tips about how to find him.

‘How did you notice me?’ Lan asked, containing his anger. ‘The horse,’ Kaisel said, nodding to Mandarb. ‘She said you might disguise yourself. But you would never leave the horse.’ Burn that woman, Lan thought as he heard a call being raised through the fortress. He’d been outmaneuvered. Curse Nynaeve. And bless her, too. He tried to send a sense of love and frustration through the bond to her.

A few chapters ago, the Wonder Girls met up in tel’aran’rhiod in an Egwene chapter. ‘Elayne made herself a throne, probably unconsciously, and Nynaeve made a seat copying the chairs of the Sitters in the room. Egwene, of course, had moved the Amyrlin Seat. Nynaeve looked from one throne to another, obviously dissatisfied. Maybe that was why she’d resisted these meetings for so long; Egwene and Elayne had risen so far.’

While Nynaeve is coming to terms with the changes in her station where Egwene is concerned, I don’t think she cares as much as Egwene presumes. She has much bigger fish to fry. Her husband is riding to his death. As for how far she has risen in the world…that little Wisdom from The Two Rivers has resurrected a dead Nation & raised an army Borderlander princes would be stirred to fight in. Equally as impressive, she does the impossible. She inspires Lan to raise The Golden Crane for true.

‘The Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don,’ Lan said softly. ‘Let any man or woman who wishes to follow join it and fight.’ He closed his eyes as the call went up. It soon became a cheer. Then a roar.

Tai’shar Malkier. Tai’shar Manetheren. 🥺

#wheel of time #nynaeve al'meara #the wheel of time #lan mandragoran #wot book spoilers #towers of midnight

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