Reading The Wheel of Time: Perrin Becomes a Hammer in <i>Crossroads of Twilight</i> (Part 6)

Okay, friends and companions of Reading The Wheel of Time. Do you know what day it is? That’s right, it’s Perrin day! Last week I said we would be covering chapters 5 and 6 of Crossroads of Twilight, but we’ll also be adding chapter 7 into the mix, as it turns out they all go together. We have a few mysteries surrounding the Aes Sedai and Masema to unravel, and the return of Darkhounds, which I totally forgot about even being a thing, so that’s fun. But first, let us recap.

Perrin dreams of being a wolf, of a scent that fills him with hatred even more than that of a Myrddraal, and wakes trying to puzzle out what it could have meant. It wasn’t the Wolf Dream, but nevertheless it feels real, and important. When he asks a wolfpack about the meaning of his dream, however, he feels fear from them before they deliberately shut him out of their minds. Only their leader answers cryptically that the Last Hunt is coming, before she, too, rebuffs him. Perrin knows that the wolves call the Last Battle the Last Hunt and that they know they are going to be there—but what he sensed from them was fear of something else.

Putting aside this puzzle, Perrin completes his daily ritual of counting the days since Faile’s capture by putting a knot on a leather cord. He has to remind himself that Faile isn’t the only person who needs rescuing, and that he has duties to those others as well as to her: Alliandre who is oath-sworn to Perrin and therefore under his protection; Bain and Chiad who followed Faile to the Two Rivers and faced the Trollocs in battle there; and Arrela, Lacile, and Maighdin, who are all oathsworn to Faile.

Perrin was too hasty at the beginning of the search, using the gateways to travel south along the Shaido’s path as quickly as the Asha’man could make them. They’d overshot the Aiel as a result, missing when the Shaido’s direction changed and having to circle back and hunt for their trail again. Now, however, they have learned that they are only two days away from their quarry.

Aram is there when Perrin crawls out of his sleeping spot, as he always is, but today he has people with him: Balwer and Selande. Perrin sends Aram to saddle his horse while he listens to Selande’s report. He has been using Faile’s would-be Aiel as spies just as she did, and they have learned that Masema keeps sending riders out towards Amadicia, that there are an increasing number of Altaran people in Masema’s ranks, and that Masuri and Annoura have been visiting Masema in his camp.

Perrin knows that Masema must have some scheme brewing and that the man isn’t really following Perrin on his quest out of loyalty to a friend of the Dragon Reborn, but he can’t fathom what Masema, who shares the Whitecloaks’ perspective on Aes Sedai, would want with two Sisters, nor what Annoura and Masuri would go to talk to him about; he’s also aware that Masuri can’t be making these visits without the Wise Ones’ knowledge and approval.

Perrin praises Selande for her and her people’s work, and is surprised by the amount of pride and pleasure she takes from it. She tells Perrin that Grace has favored the Lady Faile in Perrin. Perrin thinks that Faile has hardly done very well, given that her husband still hasn’t found her.

After Selande leaves, Perrin and Balwer walk though the camp and discuss the information. Balwer thinks that Masema might be conspiring with the Whitecloaks, while Perrin believes (because of Berelain’s information) that he is meeting with the Seanchan. They come up with a plan to have Selande’s friends spend more time with the Aiel, and to have those with sufficient noble ancestry try to make friends with Berelain. Perrin also tells Balwer to stop trying to nudge Perrin in certain directions and to speak plainly with him.

Balwer seems both surprised and gratified, and makes some allusions to his former employer not liking suggestions that weren’t asked for. He says that he believes Perrin to be very clever, in his own way, and expressed that he would be sorry to ever leave Perrin’s service. As he departs, Aram mutters that he doesn’t trust Balwer or Selande and her people. Perrin retorts that you have to trust somebody, but knows that the question of who to trust is a very difficult one.

Perrin rides outside of the camp, heading northeast because that is the direction the scouts will be returning from. He struggles to contain his answers and spinning thoughts, knowing that they must be methodical and careful, just as Balwer advised. Aram rides with him, smelling angry, suspicious, and disgruntled. Suddenly the horses balk and whicker, and Perrin recognizes the scent from his dream. He finds footprints in the stone, and knows what the scent belongs to—Darkhounds. He sends Aram back to the camp to warn everyone, though he can tell that the Darkhounds have been gone for about an hour—which means they were outside the camp right when Perrin dreamed of them.

Perrin follows the scent and paw prints, and discovers that the Darkhounds circled the camp once before continuing on. He knows they will always follow their quarry and never get distracted, and he wonders if the Darkhounds sensed him or his ta’veren nature as they went off on whatever task they were carrying out for the Shadow. He isn’t sure if Darkhounds report what they see to their master, the way rats and ravens do.

As he nears where he first smelled the hounds, he catches the scent of people and riders coming, and sees Aram coming back with a mounted party, many of whom are wearing Mayener armor. There are Wise Ones as well, and Annoura and Masuri.

Berelain spurs her horse ahead to meet Perrin and delivers him a basket of food. He’s upset, not wanting to be seen talking alone with the woman, especially since the rumor that he slept with her has turned many of the Two Rivers men against him. Still, he hasn’t been eating on schedule. He wonders if it would be disloyal to eat food brought to him by Berelain.

Berelain has also brought him news from her own spies. She encourages Perrin to smile and pretend that they are flirting as a cover for discussing the document that one of her thief-catchers took from Masema’s locked desk. It is a document signed by High Lady Suroth Sabelle Meldarath, claiming that the bearer is under her personal protection. Berelain wishes her man had the intelligence just to memorize the document instead of taking it, and Perrin agrees that it’s safe to assume that Masema knows Berelain has it.

Perrin tells her about Annoura and Masuri’s secret meetings with Masema and she is obviously alarmed. She promises to find out what Annoura is up to, then changes to a lighthearted conversation as the others draw near, quipping about Darkhounds and nursery tales, but no one is laughing or lighthearted after Perrin shows them the tracks.

Masuri dismounts and starts towards the tracks before pausing and looking towards the Wise Ones. One of them, Nevarin, nods and gives Masuri an encouraging smile, baffling Perrin, who has never seen Nevarin smile before.

The Wise Ones watch Masuri put her hands over the prints, obviously channeling, and everyone else waits with restless anxiety. Eventually Masuri gives her report.

Masuri reports that even though she has studied Darkhounds and come across tracks of many packs before, this pack is new and may contain up to fifty hounds rather than the usual ten to twelve. She also explains that the urgency and impatience she feels from this pack’s trail is much more intense than usual, as though their quarry has been eluding them for some time.

Everyone starts to relax a little, but Perrin hears signals from his sentries that Masema is approaching. Berelain declares loudly that she will not run from Masema, and Gallenne, Lord Captain of her Guards, starts arraying his men as best he can among the trees. Masuri stands with the Wise Ones, and Annoura is convinced to join them in a hushed conversation that Perrin can’t hear. He joins them, asking what they are planning, and snaps that ​​they are planning to see him and Berelain safely back to camp. Perrin warns them not to do anything unless he says so.

Masema approaches with several hundred riders, and Perrin wonders if it was a mistake not to overrule Berelain. Even with the Wise Ones and Aes Sedai, he knows this could turn bloody, and the slaughter of his own people could always be blamed on bandits. Masema isn’t above hanging a few of his men and saying that the guilty party has been dealt with, either.

Masema greets Perrin, alluding to the rumors of his relationship with Berelain. Perrin reins in his anger with difficulty, telling Masema about the Darkhounds. Masema seems untroubled, responding that those who follow the Dragon Reborn need fear no Shadow.

Masema tells Perrin about a town called So Habor, about a day south and west of their current position, which still has storehouses full of grain to sell. He points out how much Perrin’s forces need the food. Perrin wonders what kind of ploy it is, whether Masema is just trying to delay moving towards Rand or if there is some other reason he wants Perrin to take his men to this town. He responds that perhaps they will go there after they have saved his wife. Masema asks if Perrin really expects to hear word of her today.

Two Rivers men and Ghealdan begin arriving as backup, and Perrin wonders if the missing paper will force Masema’s hand. Everything is very tense for a few moments, and then Masema declares that what is done to serve the Light must be done, and that all else is trash. Then he leaves.

General Arganda is the first to notice the horsemen and snowshoe-wearing Aiel approaching from the east.

I remember when I was young and reading The Two Towers and The Return of the King for the first time. I would always get very frustrated when I’d come to the end of one section following Frodo and Sam and have to switch over to catching up with what the rest of the group were doing, then I’d settle into that side of story for a while only to get frustrated when we had to switch back. I guess I’ve never been very good at cliffhangers.

Little did I know how nice I had it! Little did I know that one day I’d watch Faile and Morgase get kidnapped by the Shaido at the end of The Path of Daggers and then have to wait an entire book (with only a brief interlude at the beginning of Winter’s Heart to whet our appetites and really get us as worried as possible for their safety) to get back to Perrin’s hunt for his wife. 

To say that I am worried about Perrin is an understatement. It’s interesting that chapter 5 is titled “The Forging of a Hammer,” and that Perrin is thinking of himself as a hammer forged in the anger and fear that he feels, because it shows how much his thinking has changed, how much he has been shaped by the violent life he’s been living, since he left home.

Elyas told him to keep the axe as long as he hated it, and to throw it away if he ever stopped. It was good advice, and Perrin spent several books grappling with the question of whether or not he could accept living the life of the axe, the life of a soldier and a general. Ultimately, he decided it was necessary, that some battles must be fought even if you despised yourself for it. This was why he allowed Aram to join the battle in Emond’s Field, abandoning the Way of the Leaf for the way of the sword. Perrin is carrying his axe and a hammer these days, but while he has always thought of the axe as a weapon made only for killing and the hammer as a more honorable tool, made for building and creating, we can see in these chapters that he is now associating the hammer, and himself, with some very violent imagery.

In the beginning of chapter 5, his anger is described as hardening and being shaped into a hammer, and Perrin thinks of the hammer as being a tool with a target.

It’s technically something you could do with a hammer, I suppose, but until now Perrin has always thought of the hammer as something used to create. A blacksmith doesn’t smash things into scrap, usually; rather, he forges raw metal into tools, weapons, toys and trinkets. But while not every metaphor Perrin uses has this violent connotation, he also uses this concept of himself as a hammer to drive himself dangerously hard, such as when he reminds himself that a hammer is useless when lying at rest. He also continually thinks of the Shaido as objects rather than people—using words like “scrap” and “kindling,” destructive images but ones that avoid acknowledging harm done to actual, living human beings.

One of Perrin’s defining attributes as a character is his reluctance towards hasty action. In addition to the violent imagery around the hammer, we also see how Faile’s capture, and the agony of Perrin’s emotions, have brought about other uncharacteristic behavior from him, as he pushed the search too quickly and ended up passing his quarry and having to circle back, causing the chase to last longer. More than once in chapter five he also reminds himself that a hammer must be used with care and precision, and that a hammer has no room for despair. He is doing his best to keep himself focused and guided with this metaphor, but I suspect he may eventually discover that it hasn’t worked quite as well as he hoped it would.

This journey is especially fascinating—and especially worrying—because Perrin is once again going through an experience that runs parallel to Rand’s. The first, of course, was when they both had to learn how to be leaders and generals, and to figure out how to bear the weight of responsibility for men’s lives, and deaths, as a consequence of those positions. They have both also had to wrestle with their personal capacity for violence, not only as men, but as ta’veren and figures of myth and legend—Perrin as a wolf brother, Rand as the Dragon Reborn.  The details are different of course, especially since Rand’s identity seems to have been laid out for him to step into, while Perrin’s is almost entirely unknown and not understood, even to the Aes Sedai.

But Perrin is facing a new challenge now, and the trauma and fear that he is experiencing is changing him in a way even the battle in Emond’s Field did not. He is being ruled by his emotions more than he realizes, and he is becoming harder, less concerned about violence or the means he uses to achieve his ends. Rand also did this. And while Rand was more aware of making the choice, and more calculated and deliberate in turning himself into a weapon, both men change in this way because they feel they have to—because they don’t know how else to get through the experience or to navigate their own emotions in a healthy way. So Rand shuts his down, and Perrin funnels his fear into anger, because that feels like a motivating emotion instead of a paralyzing one.

Perrin needs to get Faile back, and he should rescue her (and Morgase and Alliandre and Lacile and Arrela). I also wonder if it wouldn’t be better for everyone if Perrin did smash the Shaido ranks. I’m not sure he can, given the Shaido numbers, but shaking things up for the Shaido, putting a wrench in Sevanna’s activities and helping at least some of the Shaido—maybe the Wise Ones—to consider going back to the Waste wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. Even with the smaller raiding parties that might result.

There’s a moment when Perrin is considering the problem of Masema and when and how to stop him. He tells himself that they can’t do it now because even if they do defeat Masema’s forces and kill the self-proclaimed prophet, it will only result in scattering Masema’s men to the wind, turning them into smaller groups of bandits which will go on to ravage the countryside, uncontrolled and unchecked.

Perrin isn’t being rational here. From what I know about what’s going on with the Shaido I do wonder if smaller raiding parties running wild might not be at least a slight improvement over the current situation, but from where Perrin is standing, he either thinks it would be a very bad thing, but is willing to do it anyway for Faile, or is just making that up in his own head in order to justify ignoring Masema while he is searching for Faile.

But Perrin not being clear-eyed about his actions and motivations is more dangerous than the actions themselves, and that is what I am worried about for him, especially when paired with the way he’s using the hammer imagery.

Someone (I can’t remember who but it might have been Faile) warned Aram that becoming a swordsman and following Perrin wasn’t enough of a sense of identity to replace what he lost when he abandoned the Way of the Leaf and his Tuatha’an grandparents turned their backs on him. That assessment has always seemed spot on, but we can see how Aram is getting worse since Faile’s kidnapping, right alongside Perrin. He is as hungry for battle as ever, even when it isn’t warranted and when the odds are absolutely against them, and is continually showing jealousy of anyone else having any time with Perrin. It’s not hard to imagine that his resentment of others having more of Perrin’s attention could eventually translate into Aram feeling angry and resentful towards Perrin himself, who spends a lot of time curtailing Aram’s impulses and disagreeing with his advice.

Perrin doesn’t know what to do with this problem in Aram, in any case, but he’s also always dismissed it as not very dangerous, and I think that is a mistake. Now, as Perrin is consumed with thoughts of Faile and with even less time for others, he’s spending even less time paying attention to the growing resentment and restlessness Aram is experiencing. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that neglect comes back to bite Perrin sometimes soon.

But while I’m more worried about Aram than Perrin is, I’m not that worried about Annoura and Masuri. Masuri was the one who thought Masema could or should be controlled and used, and she might still believe that. True, it’s more likely that she has come around to the Wise Ones’ belief that he should be killed, but not only has Perrin forbidden that, he’s also letting Masema mostly do what he wants. From the perspective of the Aes Sedai and the Wise Ones, Perrin is going to look awfully irresponsible, focused solely on Faile while there are bigger and (in their eyes) more important problems that need attending to. Even if they aren’t prepared to do anything directly against Perrin’s orders, they are certainly going to want to keep a very close eye on Masema, just as Perrin himself is doing with Selande and her followers.

But of course, Perrin is almost as suspicious of the Wise Ones and of Berelain’s advisor as he is of Masema—more, in a way, because the problems with Masema seem very clear, even not knowing exactly what he’s saying to the Seanchan or why he is willing to negotiate with them. With Aes Sedai—and the Wise Ones are viewed as very similar to Aes Sedai by the wetlanders—there is always the question of whether they are keeping secrets, whether they are telling you the truth, whether they are trying to manipulate events, or you, into doing what they want. I don’t actually think the Wise Ones are doing that, but I can see why Perrin worries about it.

I’m really starting to love Balwer as a character, and I think his journey is very interesting. He has a very specific skill set, and it’s one that can be very useful to any type of leader, regardless of their personal goals or moral alignment. When we first meet Balwer, Niall’s observation in the narrative is that Balwer would serve any master as well as he did Niall, which rather suggested that the work itself was everything to Balwer, and the ends his masters might put his information to didn’t matter to him. But we see here that it’s not true. Balwer appreciates working for Perrin because Perrin is straightforward, honest, and respectful as a person—something a spymaster wouldn’t encounter very often, working as he does for powerful people with a need to play Daes Dae’mar, and a reason to be suspicious of everyone. This means that Perrin treats Balwer better than Niall did, not only person-to-person but also as an employer. Balwer is a very logical, methodical person; he can do his job much more efficiently if he doesn’t have to dance around Niall’s pride and self-righteousness. And I think, like most people, Balwer really respects Perrin’s integrity.

The conversation in which Balwer says that Perrin is clever in his own way and Perrin denies it was heartbreaking for me. It reminded me of how much I related to Perrin in the first few books. I’m also someone who has often felt that I was stupid or at least less smart than the people around me because of my need to think things through, the fact that I’m not as quick as the wonderful clever people in my life that I admire so much. And I think it’s interesting that Perrin’s self-image hasn’t improved in this area, despite the things he’s accomplished and the responsibilities he carries. It’s a bit like Mat still trying to convince himself that he’s a rapscallion with no natural desire to look after other people. Except sadder.

I was actually a little surprised that Perrin didn’t stay more wary of Balwer, but then I realized that the only people Perrin is trusting right now are the people Faile trusted most. He’s keeping clear of Lini because she suspects him of infidelity towards Faile, but he’s relying on Selande and her followers because Faile did, and trusting Balwer because Faile recruited him. And that makes perfect sense, not just as a logical choice—he knows Selande and the other would-be Aiel are intensely loyal to Faile—but also as an emotional one. All Perrin wants is to find Faile; all he can think about is being close to her again. Being close to her people is a step in that direction.

I’d also sort of forgotten about the rumors of Perrin having an affair with Berelain, and how it has so completely cost him the love and loyalty of the Two Rivers men. And since I forgot that, I also forgot how angry I am about it.

I find it frustrating that everyone would believe the rumors so easily. I suppose it’s because of Berelain’s maids; if Perrin had merely been seen too often in Berelain’s tent or letting her get close to him, I would hope that his men would give him more of a benefit of the doubt. But the maids probably count as eyewitnesses in everyone’s eyes, and thus would be seen as speaking the truth, not spreading unsubstantiated rumors.

When Berelain first started going after Perrin, it felt unfair Faile was upset with him for not reacting in a way that was appropriate for her culture, without ever explaining the cultural context he obviously did not have. It was also true, however, that there were many more witnesses at the time who might have read Perrin’s actions the way Faile did, which made her hurt more understandable, I think. Now, however, we see that Berelain isn’t just causing internal friction in Perrin’s marriage, she is also causing problems for him as a leader. Maybe in Mayene nobody would look askance at their leader for having an extra-marital affair, or maybe their culture would draw a line between personal disapproval and the loyalty one feels towards one general or liege lord.

However, the Two Rivers folks didn’t have nobility until they decided to make Perrin one, and like Perrin himself, they are still learning what it means to follow a lord, to believe in one. Perrin have become larger than life in their eyes when he became the hero of the battle against the Trollocs, but that makes him more of a figure of legend come to life than it makes him a real nobleman, a liege lord to be followed and obeyed not only from love, but because that is the order of things. Faile has been trying to teach Perrin what the people need, but I think she was also aware that Perrin’s people needed him to show them how this all works.

Berelain may also be a good leader who knows what the people need (in her country, anyway) but I wonder if she’s taken Perrin’s history, and his people’s history, into account. She’s a good ruler and a shrewd political operator—Perrin notes her men’s loyalty to her when she declares her intention to save Faile, no matter the cost—but she’s also kind of dumb. She really only has one move, which clearly has a high success rate, but she doesn’t seem to have anything to fall back on when that move doesn’t work. When she tried it on Rand and it backfired, she just pivoted to using the same move on his closest friend. When Perrin, a married man, clearly hated it, she just kept going, doing the same thing and, I guess, hoping for a different result despite all evidence of that being highly unlikely.

And even now, after having called a truce until Faile was rescued, she still tries to cover the delivery of the document the only way she knows how—by making everyone think they’re having a private little flirt, out in front of everyone, while Faile is still in the hands of the Shaido. Maybe Berelain just doesn’t care at all what happens to Perrin’s reputation, but that doesn’t seem right—she has mentioned more than once that he is the key to their survival. It seems more likely that she hasn’t even realized the consequences that her actions have had for Perrin and his men.

I feel so bad for Perrin, having to navigate the ire of Lini, the disdain for his men, and the loss of Faile all at once. He has so little support, and those he can most rely on have to be out scouting all the time, and aren’t here watching him fall apart.

But now Elyas and one of the Maidens have returned with the news that Perrin has been waiting for, the news about the Shaido that he has been confident he would receive today. Rescuing Faile won’t be as simple as just knowing where she is, but hopefully they can come up with a plan before Perrin truly loses himself. Hopefully, Faile will be able to restore some of her husband desperately needed equilibrium.

Somehow, though, I doubt things will be that easy.

Next week is a holiday weekend and the reactor offices will be closed, so the next Reading The Wheel of Time post will be on September 10^th. See you then!