#wheel of time the great hunt spoilers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

an-s-sedai · 7 months

Text

Have seen a few show-onlies say that book readers told them that Egwene's damane training was fade to black in the books. um??? did we read the same books??

Excerpts from The Great Hunt below the cut...

"Balling her fist tightly, Egwene hit the woman as hard as she could, right in her eye—and staggered and fell to her knees herself, head ringing. It felt as if a large man had struck her in the face."

“The very first thing you must learn,” Renna said, “is to do exactly as you are told, and without delay.” Egwene gasped. Suddenly her skin burned and prickled as if she had rolled in stinging nettles, from the soles of her feet to her scalp. She tossed her head as the burning sensation increased. “Many sul’dam,” Renna went on in that almost friendly tone, “do not believe damane should be allowed names, or at least only names they are given. But I am the one who took you, so I will be in charge of your training, and I will allow you to keep your own name. If you do not displease me too far. I am mildly upset with you now. Do you really wish to keep on until I am angry?” Quivering, Egwene gritted her teeth. Her nails dug into her palms with the effort of not scratching wildly. Idiot! It’s only your name. “Egwene,” she managed to get out. “I am Egwene al’Vere.” Instantly the burning itch was gone. She let out a long, unsteady breath. “Egwene,” Renna said. “That is a good name.” And to Egwene’s horror, Renna patted her on the head as she would a dog.

“No!” Egwene shouted. She heard Renna curse softly, and suddenly the burning itch covered her skin again, worse than before, but she did not stop. “Please! High Lady, please! She is my friend!” Pain such as she had never known wracked her through the burning. Every muscle knotted and cramped; she pitched on her face in the dirt, mewling, but she could still see Elbar’s heavy, curved blade come free of its sheath, see him raise it with both hands. “Please! Oh, Min!” Abruptly, the pain was gone as if it had never been; only the memory remained.

Egwene cried out as a switch seemed to lash across her back, then another across her leg, her arm. From every direction they seemed to come; she knew there was nothing to block, but she could not help throwing her arms about as if to stop the blows. She bit her lip to stifle her moans, but tears still rolled down her cheeks. Bela whinnied and danced, but Renna’s grip on the silver leash kept her from carrying Egwene away. None of the soldiers even looked back. “What are you doing to her?” Min shouted. “Egwene? Stop it!” “You live on sufferance . . . Min, is it?” Renna said mildly. “Let this be a lesson for you as well. So long as you try to interfere, it will not stop.” Min raised a fist, then let it fall. “I won’t interfere. Only, please, stop it. Egwene, I’m sorry.” The unseen blows went on for a few moments more, as if to show Min her intervention had done nothing, then ceased, but Egwene could not stop shuddering. The pain did not go away this time. She pushed back the sleeve of her dress, thinking to see weals; her skin was unmarked, but the feel of them was still there.

Suddenly the invisible switches were back, striking at her everywhere. Yelling, she tried to hit Renna, but the sul’dam casually knocked her fist away, and Egwene felt as if Renna had hit her arm with a stick. She dug her heels into Bela’s flanks, but the sul’dam’s grip on the leash nearly pulled her out of her saddle. Frantically she reached for saidar, meaning to hurt Renna enough to make her stop, just the kind of hurt she herself had been given. The sul’dam shook her head wryly; Egwene howled as her own skin was suddenly scalded. Not until she fled from saidar completely did the burn begin to fade, and the unseen blows never ceased or slowed. She tried to shout that she would try, if only Renna would stop, but all she could manage was to scream and writhe. Dimly, she was aware of Min shouting angrily and trying to ride to her side, of Alwhin tearing Min’s reins from her hands, of another sul’dam speaking sharply to her damane, who looked at Min. And then Min was yelling, too, arms flapping as if trying to ward off blows or beat away stinging insects. In her own pain, Min’s seemed distant. Their cries together were enough to make some of the soldiers twist in their saddles. After one look, they laughed and turned back. How sul’dam dealt with damane was no affair of theirs. To Egwene it seemed to go on forever, but at last there was an end. She lay sprawled weakly across the cantle of her saddle, cheeks wet with tears, sobbing into Bela’s mane. The mare whickered uneasily. “It is good that you have spirit,” Renna said calmly. “The best damane are those who have spirit to be shaped and molded.” Egwene squeezed her eyes shut. She wished she could close her ears, too, to shut out Renna’s voice. I have to get away. I have to, but how? Nynaeve, help me. Light, somebody help me. “You will be one of the best,” Renna said in tones of satisfaction. Her hand stroked Egwene’s hair, a mistress soothing her dog.

That was one of the properties of the a’dam; if a damane tried to channel without a sul’dam wearing her bracelet, she felt sick, and the more of the Power she channeled, the sicker she became. Lighting a candle beyond the reach of her arm would have made Egwene vomit. Once Renna had ordered her to juggle her tiny balls of light with the bracelet lying on the table. Remembering still made her shudder. Now, the silver leash snaked across the bare floor and up the unpainted wooden wall to where the bracelet hung on a peg. The sight of it hanging there made her jaws clench with fury. A dog leashed so carelessly could have run away. If a damane moved her bracelet as much as a foot from where it had last been touched by a sul’dam. . . . Renna had made her do that, too—had made her carry her own bracelet across the room. Or try to. She was sure it had only been minutes before the sul’dam snapped the bracelet firmly on her own wrist, but to Egwene the screaming and the cramps that had had her writhing on the floor had seemed to go on for hours.

“They can’t even help themselves, Min. I only talked to one—her name is Ryma; the sul’dam don’t call her that, but that’s her name; she wanted to make sure I knew it—and she told me there is another. She told me in between bouts of tears. She’s Aes Sedai, and she was crying, Min! She has a collar on her neck, they make her answer to Pura, and she can’t do anything more about it than I can. They captured her when Falme fell. She was crying because she’s beginning to stop fighting against it, because she cannot take being punished anymore. She was crying because she wants to take her own life, and she cannot even do that without permission. Light, I know how she feels!”

Egwene took a deep breath and reached for the hilt. A soft quiver ran through the muscles of her arm. As her hand came within a foot of the knife, a cramp suddenly contorted her fingers. Eyes fixed, she tried to force her hand closer. The cramp seized her whole arm, knotting muscles to her shoulder. With a groan, she sank back, rubbing her arm and concentrating her thoughts on not touching the knife. Slowly, the pain began to lessen.

Egwene went on dully, as if the other woman had not spoken. “They are training me, Min. The sul’dam and the a’dam are training me. I cannot touch anything I even think of as a weapon. A few weeks ago I considered hitting Renna over the head with that pitcher, and I could not pour wash water for three days. Once I’d thought of it that way, I not only had to stop thinking about hitting her with it, I had to convince myself I would never, under any circumstances, hit her with it before I could touch it again. She knew what had happened, told me what I had to do, and would not let me wash anywhere except with that pitcher and bowl. You are lucky it happened between your visiting days. Renna made sure I spent those days sweating from the time I woke to the time I fell asleep, exhausted. I am trying to fight them, but they are training me as surely as they’re training Pura.” She clapped a hand to her mouth, moaning through her teeth. “Her name is Ryma. I have to remember her name, not the name they’ve put on her. She is Ryma, and she’s Yellow Ajah, and she has fought them as long and as hard as she could. It is no fault of hers that she hasn’t the strength left to fight any longer. I wish I knew who the other sister is that Ryma mentioned. I wish I knew her name. Remember both of us, Min. Ryma, of the Yellow Ajah, and Egwene al’Vere. Not Egwene the damane; Egwene al’Vere of Emond’s Field. Will you do that?”

“You have been channeling.” Renna’s voice was deceptively mild; there was a spark of anger in her eyes. “You know that is forbidden except when we are complete.” Egwene wet her lips. “Perhaps I have been too lenient with you. Perhaps you believe that because you are valuable now, you will be allowed license. I think I made a mistake letting you keep your old name. I had a kitten called Tuli when I was a child. From now on, your name is Tuli. You will go now, Min. Your visiting day with Tuli is ended.” Min hesitated only long enough for one anguished look at Egwene before leaving. Nothing Min could say or do would do anything except make matters worse, but Egwene could not help looking longingly at the door as it closed behind her friend. Renna took the chair, frowning at Egwene. “I must punish you severely for this. We will both be called to the Court of the Nine Moons—you for what you can do; I as your sul’dam and trainer—and I will not allow you to disgrace me in the eyes of the Empress. I will stop when you tell me how much you love being damane and how obedient you will be after this. And, Tuli. Make me believe every word.”

Outside in the low-ceilinged hallway, Min dug her nails into her palms at the first piercing cry from the room. She took a step toward the door before she could stop herself, and when she did stop, tears sprang up in her eyes. Light help me, all I can do is make it worse. Egwene, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Feeling worse than useless, she picked up her skirts and ran, and Egwene’s screams pursued her. She could not make herself stay, and leaving made her feel a coward. Half blind with weeping, she found herself in the street before she knew it. She had intended to go back to her room, but now she could not do it. She could not stand the thought that Egwene was being hurt while she sat warm and safe under the next roof. Scrubbing the tears from her eyes, she swept her cloak around her shoulders and started down the street. Every time she cleared her eyes, new tears began trickling along her cheeks. She was not accustomed to weeping openly, but then she was not accustomed to feeling so helpless, so useless. She did not know where she was going, only that it had to be as far as she could reach from Egwene’s cries.

[Egwene] gave an abrupt squeak. “That’s Seta. How . . . ?” Her voice hardened so that Nynaeve barely recognized it. “I’d like to put her in a pot of boiling water.” Seta had her eyes squeezed shut, and her hands clutched her skirts; she was trembling. “What have they done to you?” Elayne exclaimed. “What could they do to make you want something like that?” Egwene never took her eyes off the Seanchan woman. “I’d like to make her feel it. That’s what she did to me, made me feel like I was neck deep in. . . .” She shuddered. “You do not know what it is like wearing one of these, Elayne. You don’t know what they can do to you. I can never decide whether Seta is worse than Renna, but they’re all hateful.”

Suddenly Egwene threw herself against Nynaeve, sobbing raggedly at her breast. “She hurt me, Nynaeve. She hurt me. They all did. They hurt me, and hurt me, until I did what they wanted. I hate them. I hate them for hurting me, and I hate them because I couldn’t stop them from making me do what they wanted.”

#wheel of time #the great hunt #wot books #wot on prime #egwene al'vere #sul'dam #damane #seanchan #wot book spoilers

113 notes · View notes

justalittlebluetiefling · 8 months

Text

Mat’s whole life is, picks up random object, become bound to said object until death.

#or until an intervening power heals him #wheel of time #the great hunt #wot book spoilers #this is about him throwing the horn of valere over the wall and not letting ingtar take it for no reason lol #erin rereads wot

122 notes · View notes

butterflydm · 8 months

Text

wheel of time s2!! 2x1-2x3: first impressions

Just watched the first three episodes and jotting down my thoughts before I finally remove my filters and read other people's thoughts. <3

I'm sure I missed a bunch, but I'll be rewatch the next couple of days.

There will be mild book spoilers in the sense that I'll talk about differences and pacing and whatnot, but only through book 2, The Great Hunt.

Okay, okay okay okay. I was surprised by so many things, even with the teasers and trailers!

I just feel so hyped and thrilled and I hope that everyone else loved that as much as I did, wow.

I don't even know where to start!

I was NOT expecting the Seanchan to be introduced so quickly! Holy shit! Uno is DEAD! And in such a nasty way. That was such a bold introduction to the Seanchan. And now Perrin is split off on his own with Elyas and the wolves. I loved the talk that he and Ishamael had and it really set up a reason for Perrin to worry about the wolf inside him too.

My girl Elayne! She was very sweet. I'm looking forward to her getting to know Nynaeve in the upcoming episodes. I am sorry for @markantonys's sake that we still have not heard anything about her brothers, though!

Egwene and Nynaeve getting very different Tower experience overall. Liandrin taking Nynaeve under her wing seemed... sincere? We still don't entirely know her situation.

Nynaeve's journeys through the arches made me cry! I'm just... it was a lot, I feel very emotional.

@markantonys was right that they made Verin and Adelas sisters and it worked really well. That whole plotline with them and Moiraine and Lan was very interesting and surprising. So Moiraine has the info about Toman Head.

Mat's plotline! Mat and Min being captives together, except that Min is working for Liandrin (on a promise to be left along by Aes Sedai? Moiraine's methods backfiring on her) so Liandrin's eyes are on Mat even though she's pretending to let him leave. I am fascinated by this plotline (is she going to lead him to Falme? is she going to lead him to Cairhien?) I also wonder if part of the reason she's willing to betray him is due to that viewing she had of Mat stabbing Rand (which was, again, fascinating!). Mat almost talking to Egwene was heartbreaking, thanks!

And my boy Rand!!!! He's trying to find his own mentors (first Errol with learning sword forms and then trying to get Logain to teach him). And everything that Selene said was just... amazingly double-sided. Being with you helps me remember the man I was in love with indeed, lol! (also, um, given that that last sex scene with Selene was a dream of Rand's, apparently he kinda wants someone to call him 'my lord' during sex so, that's interesting -- also, dream!Rand had Selene's number better than awake!Rand)

I love that we got to see the EF5 being connected in their hearts even when they were separated from each other.

Oh, man, I'm just so overwhelmed. Will definitely be doing a deeper dive on all these episodes this weekend!

!!!!

#butterfly watches wot #wot #wheel of time #wot prime spoilers #wot show spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #wot 2x1 spoilers #wot 2x2 spoilers #wot 2x3 spoilers #the wheel of time #wot book spoilers #the great hunt

108 notes · View notes

moghedien · 1 year

Text

I’m willing to believe that Rosamund is deranged enough that she received no direction on how to do the Seanchan accent and didn’t know what RJ said they sounded like and she just naturally came to Texan on her own

#she just knew they were cowboys deep in her soul #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #rosamund pike #Seanchan #the great hunt #great hunt

344 notes · View notes

noal-you-didnt · 2 months

Text

God I can only imagine Lanfear's internal thoughts during TGH as she literally pushes Rand into doing things. To watch this naive sheep herder who blushes at the thought of kissing a woman and is scared of touching the one power while having all of this knowledge about Lews Therin and his miraculous feats.

#lanfear #rand al'thor #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #the great hunt #wot

42 notes · View notes

mashithamel · 9 months

Text

How did the Seanchan, the most superstitious people in the world who see omens in the way a butterfly flaps its wings or the shape a cloud makes, and people of the “if you’ve forgotten the oaths we made up and never told you based on Artur Hawkwing being the most important person ever we’re probably going to stick you in a cage until you die of dehydration and exposure,” not recognize Artur Hawkwing charging at them, or at least take a good look at the Heros of the Horn coming out of a mist to defeat them, and not a one of them thought:

#seriously #you need to questions everything in your messed up culture based on being Artur’s rightful decendents #how was this not an omen?#the great hunt #wheel of time #wot spoilers #seanchan

69 notes · View notes

ofthebrownajah · 11 months

Text

I forgot how much Rand starts spiraling from the getgo in TGH. He's using Lan as an impromptu therapist which is the worst decision.

Rand is just desperate for someone to talk to about how his entire life just went to hell and Lan is like "ignore that right now let's go back to sword forms." no, Lan! He is crying for help right now!

Half of me wonders if the reason he's so closed off emotionally later is cause he tried reaching out to people for emotional support early on but he's completely ignored

#wheel of time #wot book spoilers #the great hunt #the great hunt reread #rand al'thor #lan mandragoran

102 notes · View notes

kaladsphantom · 1 month

Text

"From Stone to Stone run the lines of 'if', between the worlds that might be."

Is this good sir gonna introduce alternative realities in fucking book 2? I mean he was a physicist, but god damn.

#spoiler #robert jordan #the great hunt #the wheel of time #rand al'thor

14 notes · View notes

asongofstarkandtargaryen · 8 months

Text

"Nynaeve would never use a sword, it's so out of character for her!!!"

Meanwhile Nynaeve at The Great Hunt:

[Siuan]: [...] I suspect that you will learn a great deal once you reach the White Tower.

"I'd rather one of the Wardens taught me how to use a sword," Nynaeve growled. She swallowed convulsively and opened her eyes. "There is someone I'd like to use it on".

#nynaeve al'meara #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot on prime spoilers #wot book spoilers #the great hunt #wot fandom

73 notes · View notes

youngmasterwisdomperson · 1 year

Text

Re-listening to the Wheel of Time, specifically The Eye of the World. Just barely seeing the first glimpses of what I recall will be an irritatingly long time of the Two Rivers boys not trusting Moiraine as much as they definitely should, all because she’s an Aes Sedai, but it bothers me a little less this time with the benefit of hindsight.

Sure, Moiraine is a good egg, but the vast majority of Aes Sedai definitely should not be spared at least some amount of suspicion. The pieces of advice they’ve all received about how “Aes Sedai do things for reasons that aren’t always what you think” and they “don’t always speak the truth you think you hear” would be legitimately good advice if they applied it to anyone but Moiraine and a select few others. As much as it may be frustrating, I must admit that it’s not only in-character, but also perfectly reasonable for them to be so cautious.

In light of this, Egwene being super on-board with learning to channel is honestly the more surprising behavior. Hasn’t she heard the same tidbits of advice the other Emond’s Fielders have heard? Then again, she’s been anxious to leave her hometown behind since the very beginning, and certainly Moiraine has done plenty to convince her that she’s one of the good guys. She’s probably willfully ignoring the warnings she’s been hearing because it better suits her existing worldview that life will be better and more interesting beyond the bounds of the Two Rivers. Out of the four of them she’s certainly the most adventurous, being the only one to leave home by choice as opposed to out of necessity.

Still, as good of a choice it is for Egwene to trust Moiraine specifically, it pains me to recall the degree to which blindly trusting an Aes Sedai will cause suffering for her in the next book, with (spoiler) Liandrin handing her off to the Seanchan and some of the most traumatic experiences of her life. What a cruel lesson to teach a wide-eyed girl who dreams of adventure. But I digress.

Time will tell if my attitude toward this piece of conflict will remain positive as my re-read continues. If memory serves, a lot of the conflict in these books is founded on an unnecessary lack of communication, and I can easily see this lack of trust taking a turn in that direction if it overstays its welcome, which I suspect it will. We’ll see, I suppose. Back to listening for me. Further updates will probably follow.

#the wheel of time #the eye of the world #the great hunt spoilers #wot book spoilers #wheel of time

72 notes · View notes