This week in Reading The Wheel of Time, Rand returns to the Stone of Tear while Logain visits the Sea Folk, and the march towards Tarmon Gai’don begins.
After dropping Loial off at Stedding Shangtai, Rand and his party go to Tear. Min is saddened they travel through the city, noting that many of the people she is seeing will die of hunger. They come across a “steamwagon,” which Rand recognizes as the (now fully functional) invention Mervin Poel was working on back in the school in Cairhien. Rand’s ta’veren nature shows itself as they ride through the city, causing two flocks of pigeons to smash into each other, and a man to fall out of a second-story window and land on his feet, unhurt.
Since the Stone is under siege—Rand can see several hundred armsmen as they near the great building, though they seem bored and relaxed—they ride to an inn called the Dragon. Rand notes the animal painted on the sign, a rough approximation of the creatures on his forearms, but for some reason with leather wings added.
Inside they negotiate for a single large room with a view of the Stone, and the innkeeper acquiesces once Cadsuane shows him her face. Although the room is spacious for an inn, Rand experiences claustrophobia when his entire group—Cadsuane, Min, Nynaeve, Alivia, and several Maidens—fill the space, and Lews Therin moans about being in the box. Min is aware of Rand’s feelings, as she is aware of the sickness he experiences when he seizes saidin.
The face of the man from Shadar Logoth floated in his head for a moment. He looked furious. And near to sicking up. Without any doubt he was aware of Rand in that moment, and Rand of him. Move a hair in any direction, and they would touch. No more than a hair.
Rand makes a gateway into the Heart of the Stone, and holds onto saidin even once everyone is through, still worried about Lews Therin trying to take control. They have a conversation with the two Defenders on guard, and Rand learns that sometimes the corridors of the stone change position.
So. The Pattern truly was loosening. That meant the Dark One was touching the world more than he had since the War of the Shadow. If it loosened too much before Tarmon Gai’don, the Age Lace might unravel. An end to time and reality and creation. Somehow he had to bring about the Last Battle before that happened. Only he did not dare. Not yet.
Rand follows the bond with Alanna until he comes to a sitting room with polished doors. He finds her sitting with Darlin and a High Lord named Astoril Damara, and is intrigued to realize that Alanna hasn’t warned anyone that he was coming. Caraline Damodred is also there, reminding Rand strongly of Moiraine and dressed in a fashion like Min. But Weiramon and Anaiyella, who claim to have come to aid Darlin against the siege of the Stone, are there too, much to Rand’s annoyance.
Bera Harkin arrives, and remarks that she shouldn’t be surprised to find Rand there. She reports that they have reached an agreement with the rebels, implying that Rand’s ta’veren power may have influenced it. The leader of the rebellion, Estanda, suddenly began asking if “the Lord Dragon would restore her title and lands” and everyone else followed suit. The agreement made was that Darlin will be accepted if he is made King, that the rebellious lords will keep all their lands and titles, feeding the city for one year as a fine for their rebellion, and that all Rand’s laws will remain in place.
Darlin is a bit shocked at the idea of being made King of Tear. Rand is more concerned with getting soldiers and fighting men assembled to be taken to Arad Doman. Weiramon is eager to come, and Rand gives permission for him and Anaiyella to accompany Darlin’s forces.
“But what am I supposed to do in Arad Doman?” Darlin wanted to know. “The little I’ve heard of that land, it’s a madhouse.” Lews Therin laughed wildly in Rand’s head.
“Tarmon Gai’don is coming soon,” Rand said. The Light send not too soon. “You are going to Arad Doman to get ready for Tarmon Gai’don.”
In Illian, Harine and Shalon make their way to a meeting of the First Twelve of the Atha’an Miere. As their boat travels into the harbor of Illian, Harine notes the presence of many Seanchan-built ships, and reflects that, despite the ships’ ungainly build and strange sails, they will see many years of use by the Atha’an Miere, as it will take a long time, and be very expensive, to replace all the Sea Folk ships that have been lost.
They go aboard one of the Seanchan ships anchored there in the harbor, Harine encouraging her sister by reminding her that they have survived the events at Shadar Logoth and dealing with Cadsuane.
Harine is not surprised when she is ignored and shunned by the rest of the First Twelve, and even teased by Pelanna; Harine has been punished for the bargain she made with the Coramoor, and some probably believe she should have stepped down as Wavemistress of Clan Shodein. But despite her disgrace, Harine has Min’s vision to bolster her. She knows that one day, she will be Mistress of the Ships. One of the other Wavemistresses, Mareil, is also supportive of her.
Zaida arrives, attended by her Windfinder, Shielyn, and Amylia, an Aes Sedai teacher Zaida brought back from Caemlyn. Amylia is Brown Ajah, and decided to be a teacher because she wanted to study the Atha’an Miere. She quickly learned that she was not going to be treated as someone with rank and privilege, and has tried to desert three times. Her current frightened, wide-eyed demeanor makes Harine wonder what sort of punishment Amylia received for the last escape attempt.
The reason for the gathering is that the Coramoor is sending someone to speak to them, but he has not yet arrived. Zaida takes the opportunity to remind Harine again of her failing, that it is her fault that they have to wait on the Coramoor’s ambassador and cannot summon Rand himself to attend the Mistress of the Ships. Harine reflects to herself that Zaida has no idea what it is like to be near Rand or to deal with Cadsuane, and reminds herself again of Min’s vision.
The Sailmistress of the ship they are on comes in to inform them that the ambassador from the Coramoor has arrived via gateway. The man introduces himself as Logain, shocking everyone—even the Atha’an Miere know the name. Amylia tells Zaida that Logain is tainted, a channeler of saidin and a False Dragon who was once gentled. Logain replies that she is partly correct—he is an Asha’man, but there is no longer any taint on saidin. He asks Amylia whether she serves Egwene al’Vere or Elaida a’Roihan, but Zaida replies that for the next three years, Amylia serves her.
Zaida demands to know Rand’s location, so that she can send an ambassador. Logain replies that Rand’s location is secret for now, after the Forsaken’s recent attempt to kill him, but that he is willing to take Harine din Togara back with him. Harine consoles herself with the knowledge that Zaida will never allow her to be the ambassador.
Logain informs them that Rand requires the Sea Folk to carry food and supplies to Bandar Eban from Illian and Tear—a simple enough request until he adds that the supplies are for more than a million people. Zaida’s indignation at the request, and Logain’s manner of delivering it, is interrupted by the Sailmistress coming in again. She runs to Zaida and whispers something in her ear, and Harine watches Zaida’s face take on a look of horror. A messenger is brought in.
“I am Cemeille din Selaan Long Eyes, Shipmistress,” she said hoarsely, “Sailmistress of the darter Wind Racer. I sailed as fast as I could, but I fear it is too late for anything to be done. I stopped at every island between Tremalking and here, but I was always too late.” Tears began to trickle down her cheeks, yet she seemed unaware of them.
Cemeille reports that about three weeks ago, all of the Amayar on Tremalking began to ask passage to the islands. When the Sea Folk realized, after some time, that none had come back, they went to check on the Amayar and found them all dead or dying of poison. The children were all given fast acting poison first, but since there was not enough of that to go around, some of the adults took a more slow-acting variant, and lived long enough to be found and questioned.
“The Great Hand on Tremalking melted. The hill where it stood reportedly is now a deep hollow. It seems the Amayar had prophecies that spoke of the Hand, and when it was destroyed, they believed this signaled the end of time, what they called the end of Illusion. They believed it was time for them to leave this… this illusion”—she laughed the word bitterly—“we call the world.”
The women in the room express their distress in tears and funeral keening, and Zaida declares that they must go searching in case there are any Amayar still living, but Logain interrupts. He says that it’s as sad a story as he has ever heard, but he tells them that their ships are already committed.
As he spoke, it seemed to Harine that the space turned chill and the light dimmed. She was not the only woman to hug herself against that cold. “Mourn if you must,” he said, “but mourn on the march for Tarmon Gai’don.”
These are slower chapters that feel rather like they are intended to be transitory, moving us from the first half of the book into the second, letting both the characters and the readers know that the time has come to focus on Tarmon Gai’don. We’ve had a lot of examples, especially in Knife of Dreams, but also some in Crossroads of Twilight, of the nearness of the Last Battle. The failure of weaves that should remain solid, the increase in rot and spoilage, and the fact that physical reality has been shifting—sometimes rearranging itself, sometimes mingling with the realities of the past—are all examples that have been noted by knowledgeable characters as showing how close the world is getting to the inevitable confrontation with the escaping Dark One.
Rand himself thinks about this in chapter 21, and he worries over the idea that the Last Battle might not come in time—that the Pattern could loosen so much that “the Age Lace might unravel,” ending reality. What I found interesting about this thought was that Rand doesn’t think to himself “the Dark One might break free before I’m ready for Tarmon Gai’don.” It was my understanding that Tarmon Gai’don was inevitable, and that it would occur the moment the Dark One broke the last seal on his prison and attacked the world.
But this thought from Rand seems to contradict my previous understanding, at least a bit. The idea that the Last Battle is something that Rand would initiate, that the Light would initiate, hadn’t really occurred to me. I’m not sure if it’s something I missed in the text or if the point is that most people in this world don’t know what Rand realizes., or perhaps what he has come to realize.
We do know that many people believe that the Dragon Reborn is going to cause the arrival of Tarmon Gai’don. I always took that as a false equivalency—of course the Dragon would be reborn shortly before Tarmon Gai’don, fighting the Dark is what he is for, but that doesn’t mean he’s the cause, or even the catalyst, of it. One could even argue the reverse, that the approach of the Last Battle is the cause of the Dragon being reborn into the Pattern at the time that he is needed.
But what if this isn’t the case? What if the Last Battle is not an attack by the Dark One onto the world, but an attack by the Light to stop the Dark One’s advance into the Pattern? After all, the Dark One only uses human (and Shadowspawn) agents because he can’t touch the Pattern directly, and even now, is only reaching through a hole to touch the world in a small way. If he could get out completely, would he even need to bother with Tarmon Gai’don at all?
I don’t really have an answer to this question, and I suppose in a way the question of whether or not the Last Battle is an attack by the Dark One and a defense by the Light, or a battle initiated by the Light to stop the encroachment of the Dark One might be considered one of perspective, or even semantics. But I do think it’s interesting to ponder, especially when we remember Herid Fel’s argument that it must be possible to fully restore the Dark One’s prison, due to the cyclical nature of the Wheel of Time. He also left that incomplete message about “clearing away the rubble,” which I suspect refers to Lews Therin’s Seals on the Dark One’s prison.
If the seals must be gotten rid of before the Bore can be properly restored, and if Rand’s worries that the Pattern might unravel before he can get to Tarmon Gai’don (he specifically considers that he needs to “bring about” the Last Battle) are well-founded, this suggests that the Forces of the Light have a lot more agency in what is happening than I originally considered. Rand seems to intend to start the Last Battle himself, and only worries about being able to do so before too much of the Pattern is harmed.
I can’t help thinking about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, from which Jordan drew so much inspiration, and how the forces of good decided to attack the Gates of Mordor. This was done primarily to draw Sauron’s attention and his army away so that Frodo might have a better chance of reaching Mount Doom, but it was also argued by Gandalf that it would be folly to wait until Sauron had his strength fully mustered, his plans completely in place. The other point of the attack was to make the first move, rather than to wait for doom to march down upon them.
I am somewhat amused that Lan was complaining about Rand not getting ready for Tarmon Gai’don, and then in the very next chapter we see him making those preparations. Both these chapters serve as a reminder of how much perspective matters, and how little even allies know about each other’s thoughts and intentions. Lan believed that Rand wasn’t thinking about Tarmon Gai’don enough because he couldn’t see those preparations, but Rand has actually been very focused on it. The rest of the First Twelve can’t understand what Harine went through making the Bargain with the Coramoor, and have no sense of what it was actually like to deal with the Dragon Reborn or his representatives. Harine thinks about Cadsuane much in the same way Elayne and Nynaeve and the other Aes Sedai have been thinking about the Sea Folk and their attitudes: Each side considers the other to be self-righteous, over-bearing, and cruel in their methods of establishing hierarchy and obedience.
Harine is astonished that Amylia thought her dignity was equal to Zaida’s, astonished that she would try to escape when she found herself, an Aes Sedai of the White Tower being treated like a lowly deckhand. Yet we have also seen the Sea Folk chafe at being treated with less than every power and courtesy their culture demands whenever they are put in the position of being under someone else’s authority, even minimally. Harine’s observations about Amylia being ridiculous about her expectations of dignity, and the deservedness of the punishments that have been inflicted on the Aes Sedai come only three paragraphs before her reflections upon “Cadsuane’s rude methods of enforcing her will [and] her total lack of respect for Harine’s dignity. [Harine] had been an ambassador from the Atha’an Miere in name, and forced to dance to any tune the Aes Sedai piped. She was willing to admit, if only to herself, that she had almost wept with relief when she realized that cursed woman was going to let her leave.”
I’m just saying, these two situations sound awfully similar. What’s the difference? Perspective. Amylia is Aes Sedai. From her perspective she is owed the same deference as a ruler, and even owed deference by that ruler. Harine and the other Sea Folk don’t share that perspective, which is fair enough, but they should understand that in many other cultures, Aes Sedai are given that respect. When one is an ambassador to another land or culture, one must behave accordingly, and the Sea Folk… kind of don’t. They are very imperious, and want things to go the way they are used to. And I get that, especially given how isolated they are as a culture, compared to the shorebound. It’s not an easy adjustment to suddenly shift your perspective to accommodate another culture’s, especially under such heightened circumstances.
But I do find it fascinating, and clearly Jordan does as well, since it’s a concept and a theme he is constantly exploring. I also find it so interesting how much easier it is to have sympathy and empathy for the Sea Folk when we’re getting a chapter from one of their perspectives, which, again, kudos to Jordan for the way that he writes and his desire to give us so many different perspectives and to explore so many different types of people.
The Amayar, however, are not a culture we have spent much time with, and that makes it somewhat difficult to know how to interact with the revelation of their mass suicide. I was initially put off by it—this isn’t a culture we know, and it’s such a huge and tragic event that comes (as far as the reader is concerned) out of nowhere, and for no clear reason. It isn’t like we have any shortage of death and tragedy already in this story, after all, and we don’t know enough about the Amayar to analyze what this seemingly religious mass suicide really means, either for the world or for the theme of the story.
Jordan did seed this event in his series, however. The Amayar were mentioned back in chapter one of The Path of Daggers, in which they were described as following a way of peace called The Water Way.
The Amayar ignored the world beyond their scattered islands, for the Water Way taught that this world was only illusion, a mirrored reflection of belief, yet some watched the wind carry dust and deep summer heat where cold winter rains should be falling, and they remembered tales heard from the Atha’an Miere. Tales of the world beyond, and what prophecy said was to come. Some looked to a hill where a massive stone hand rose from the earth, holding a clear crystal sphere larger than many houses. The Amayar had their own prophecies, and some of those spoke of the hand and the sphere. And the end of illusions.
As always, I’m impressed with his skill at foreshadowing and how almost everything that is mentioned in the story will come up again, sometimes several books later. I’m also very intrigued by the concept of the Water Way, which is very reminiscent of the Aiel. It’s a way of living peacefully that is based on observations of nature, which reminds one of the Way of the Leaf, but what it makes me think of most is the Aiel saying about death; “Life is a dream from which we all must wake before we can dream again.”
There’s no suggestion that the Amayar are descendants of Da’shain Aiel, but even if there is no direct lineage, their culture may have kept some memory of the philosophies popular during the Age of Legends. They also might be more aware than the average Third Age citizen of the fact that mirror universes exist. If so, the concept that this might not be the “true” reality, but merely a reflection of some other, truer reality is not a far-fetched one. For all we know, they could be right. But choosing ritual suicide as a reaction to a belief that the illusion is coming to an end doesn’t really make sense. It could be that the Amayar wanted to avoid the destruction and suffering that will come with Tarmon Gai’don and the fact that the Dragon Reborn is supposed to break the world again, but that is just conjecture on my part—there’s nothing in the text to support it. And if the Time of Illusions is meant to come to an end by itself, why not just wait for that? On the other hand, if you believe that this life is an illusion, why do you have to wait for the period to come to an end in the first place, if death can release you from it at any point?
So yeah, I’m not sure what to make of these events, and I’m definitely much more anxious and sad about Min’s viewings of how many people in Tear are going to starve to death, since that tragedy feels more present and real than one about a people we know nothing of. Maybe that’s the point—maybe Jordan included it to remind us that the world is larger than what we know, and that the losses and pains experienced by us and our friends and neighbors aren’t the only losses and pains that exist in our world. The death of an entire people is a tragedy even if we didn’t know them. It’s a tragedy even if we never knew it happened.
In any case, I think the Water Way is a very interesting philosophy, and one that makes sense for the world of the Wheel of Time. Also (and I don’t think I caught this when I read The Path of Daggers) are the Amayar actually the ones who make Sea Folk porcelain? Because it’s mentioned that they make “fine glass and porcelain” and that they don’t travel much on the water, while the Atha’an Miere hate staying on land for any extended amount of time. It would make much more sense that the land-dwelling Amayar are the ones making the porcelain, which would be very difficult to make on a ship. It’s clear that the two cultures have a close relationship despite the Amayar’s apparent distaste for the open ocean.
Maybe there is a clue in the discussion Rand overhears about the silkworms in the common room. If people in this land don’t know where silk comes from, it must come from a land that is far away and separated from those we know. Which—unless there is somewhere I’m forgetting or that hasn’t yet been mentioned in the text—means either Shara or Seanchan. Probably both, as the Seanchan spy knew that silk comes from silkworms, so they must have silkworms in Seanchan, but that continent hasn’t been in touch with this one for a long time, so Shara could possibly be where silk comes from for all the cultures we know. It has been mentioned that the Sea Folk do trade in Sharan ports and we know that Noal has been there, so it is an accessible land, albeit to a limited degree. And if people don’t actually know where silk comes from, maybe they don’t know who is actually making their porcelain, either. The Amayar seem to be a private people, and probably wouldn’t care or might even approve of the Sea Folk taking credit for their work. Otherwise, traders from other lands might try to cut out the middle man and deal directly with the Amayar themselves.
I really want to like Cadsuane, but honestly, I find her more irksome than anything. I understand that she is a powerful Aes Sedai who has been leading men and women for much longer than Rand has even been alive, but is the condescending way she treats him really going to teach him humility? She tells Rand at one point that too many people doing what you command is bad for you (which he rightly acknowledges as being highly ironic coming from Cadsuane Melaidhrin, of all people) but I’m not sure what her attitude is teaching him other than how to swallow his temper because he knows he needs her as an asset. I can’t help thinking about how little compassion Rand gets from people. He has Loial, and he has Min, Aviendha, and Elayne, but everyone else thinks he is either a danger to be shunned and defeated, or a danger to be bowed down to.
I do think Cadsuane was looking for something in that exchange, however, and the clue might be in the pity Rand feels from Min while he and Cadsuane are talking. Rand tells Cadsuane that he is fighting a war, and the more people who disobey, the more likely he is to lose, in which case “everybody loses.” Rand feels pity from Min while Cadsuane seems to have learned something she was trying to learn, as she remarks “That’s what I thought.” So it may be that Cadsuane is working on how to help Rand carry the burden of his identity and his duty without being destroyed by it. Perhaps she needed to confirm that his attitude towards commanding people was fueled by this duty and this fear of failure, rather than a sense of superiority or a tyrannical nature.
If so, this test of him reminds me of the way Verin was testing Cadsuane, trying to decide what Cadsuane’s true intentions towards Rand actually were.
I have more thoughts about what chapter 21 reveals about Rand’s mental state (and mental health) but I’d like to save those for an essay, so I’ll stop here for now. I hope everyone has a great week, and I look forward to catching up with Egwene in chapters 23 and 24.
“Her current frightened, wide-eyed demeanor makes Harine wonder what sort of punishment Harine received for the last escape attempt. ”
Second Harine should probably be Amylia.
Aside from that, happy to read another entry! I always look forward to these on Tuesdays.
The Amayar suicide was probably inspired by the Solar Temple suicides.
And the Jonestown mass suicide, and Heaven’s Gate…
A lot of people had similar reactions to the Amayar suicides, given how little we knew them. Jordan seemed taken aback by the reactions of readers (or non-reactions) as he said in several online posts after KoD came out that he expected more of an impact.
A little clarification about the Dark One and the Bore which I think Sylas partly alludes to. The Bore is closed by the remaining Seals. If the Seals break, the Bore is open and the Dark One can more directly touch the world. The DO already does influence things to a degree but obviously not as much, despite the magnitude of the signs of unraveling currently being experienced. But the Bore being open is not equivalent to the Dark One being free, just that the hole into its prison is unblocked. The Bore was open for over a hundred years during the Age of Legends and the DO did not escape, though society totally collapsed. If the Dark One is fully free it is GAME OVER.
Add to that that most readers (including myself) found the Sea Folk the most annoying people in WoT, so who would care that they would be devastated.
If I were a cynic, I’d say that they wept more about the loss of porcelain…
I always thought the Way of Water meant the Amayar were another branch of the Aiel scattered by the breaking in a different way.
I do think Cadsuane was looking for something in that exchange, however, and the clue might be in the pity Rand feels from Min while he and Cadsuane are talking. Rand tells Cadsuane that he is fighting a war, and the more people who disobey, the more likely he is to lose, in which case “everybody loses.” Rand feels pity from Min while Cadsuane seems to have learned something she was trying to learn, as she remarks “That’s what I thought.” So it may be that Cadsuane is working on how to help Rand carry the burden of his identity and his duty without being destroyed by it. Perhaps she needed to confirm that his attitude towards commanding people was fueled by this duty and this fear of failure, rather than a sense of superiority or a tyrannical nature.
This is awesome insight to some of Cadsuane’s, eh, thought process I guess. I love Leigh’s commentary but this is something that we both glossed over. I never really asked myself why she behaves like she does. Quite interesting.
I think a large part of what makes Cadsuane frustrating is that she has *absolutely* identified a serious problem with Rand that must be addressed before the Last Battle. She’s 100% right, if he went into what we now know of his part in the Last Battle as he is now, it would have been the end of the wheel. But also the end of the wheel? One of the forsaken puts Rand in a male A’dam and travels to Shayol Ghul. So good thing you destroyed or at the very least sent those away, like Rand suggested. Or Rand kills himself at the peak of dragonmount, because you once again try to blatantly manipulate him in a way that anyone who even casually knew Rand would have told you was a terrible idea.
She identified the greatest problem in the world, and then basically worked against solving it. It’s hard to see how her plan could possibly have worked. Make her a darkfriend working against the light and her actions actually make more sense.
The “min’s dumptruck” plan was actually much better, even if it also almost backfired. At least it makes sense.
Actually at end of Winter’s Heart there is a very short passage about Amayar which was a foreshadowing of their reaction to destruction of female Choden Kal. A man sees it glowing and settles down to witness, happily thinking about coming End of Illusion.