Welcome back to week eleven of Reading the Dragon Reborn! This is a fun, adventurey week, with Robin Hood-style antics from Mat, sneaking and disguises from Lanfear, and some Indiana Jones beneath-a-library spelunking with Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne.
Also, both Mat and and the girls have some strange encounters with Else Grinwell, who may or may not be who she seems. But then again, who inside Tar Valon is, really?
Mat wakes to sunlight and cheery servants bringing him food and telling him how much better he looks, but he remains hostile to the idea of the Aes Sedai’s control over him and is determined to find a way out of Tar Valon. Still, he’s happy enough to have the food.
After breakfast, he decides to have a look around, bringing his dicing cups along with him. It takes some wandering to find his way out of the tower, but he doesn’t have any trouble from any of the Aes Sedai, novices, or Accepted that he passes, and he wonders if perhaps they take him for one of the male servants.
He did feel some regret that none of the women he saw was Egwene or Nynaeve, or even Elayne. She’s a pretty one, even if she does have her nose in the air half the time. And she could tell me how to find Egwene and the Wisdom. I cannot go without saying goodbye. Light, I don’t suppose one of them would turn me in, just because they are becoming Aes Sedai themselves? Burn me, for a fool! They’d never do that. Anyway, I will risk it.
Eventually he finds his way outside, and into a wide, flagstoned yard with a fountain in the middle and a barracks to one side, where guardsmen sit around taking care of their weapons and tools. He strides over to watch them, trying to look and sound casual as he asks a few questions. Eventually he finds who he’s looking for, a man with an Illianer accent who is also a bridge guard. Mat asks him about the traveling conditions on the other side of the river, learning from the man that there’s no mud but a lot of Whitecloaks, “poking their noses into every village within ten miles,” and although they haven’t done anything, the guard suspects that they are trying to bait Tar Valon. But the guard also says that Mat won’t be crossing the river in either direction. He knows who Mat is; an Aes Sedai came down to the bridge while he was standing guard, to make sure that every guard knew his description by heart. She said Mat was a guest, and not to be harmed, but that he is also not allowed to leave the city.
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A bit dubiously, the guard asks if Mat stole something, as he does not have the look of a typical guest. Mat insists that he is not a thief, and the guard admits that it isn’t a thief’s look he sees in Mat’s face, but that it is a tricky look, alike to a man who recently tried to sell him the Horn of Valere.
Mat gave a jump at the mention of the Horn, but he managed to keep his voice level. “I was sick.” Others of the guardsmen were looking at him now. Light, they’ll all know I am not supposed to leave, now. He forced a laugh. “The sisters Healed me.” Some of the guardsmen frowned at him. Perhaps they thought other men should show more respect than to call the Aes Sedai sisters. “I guess the Aes Sedai don’t want me to go before I have all my strength back.” He tried willing the men, all of those watching him now, to accept that. Just a man who was Healed. Nothing more. No reason to trouble yourself about him any further.
The Illianer nodded. “You do have the look of sickness in your face, too. Perhaps that do be the reason. But never did I hear of so much effort to keep one sick man in the city.”
“That’s the reason,” Mat said firmly. They were all still looking at him. “Well, I need to be going. They said I have to take walks. Lots of long walks. To build up strength, you know.”
He walks away, feeling their eyes still on him, frustrated. He only meant to find out if the guards at the bridge had his description, hoping to slip by if only the officers knew to look for him. He has always had a talent for slipping in and out of places unseen, but now instead he’s managed to make sure that a whole barracks of guards knows who he is.
Mat finds himself walking a wide gravel path surrounded by many trees, and he could almost imagine he was walking out into the country, if not for the towers visible over the treetops. He thinks that, if there is any other way to get out of Tar Valon unseen, this is the most likely place to find it.
He’s surprised when he crosses paths with a girl in a novice’s dress and recognizes her: Else Grinwell, who he met when he and Rand stayed at her father’s farm on their way to Camelyn. He’s surprised to find her here, but emboldened by the luck of it. He approaches her, remembering she has an eye for the boys, and reintroduces himself.
Else, however, is not as receptive to his friendly smile as Mat accepts, and coolly asks him what he’s doing up and about. He’s a little surprised that she knows about it, and that she steps back, keeping her distance from him, when he tries to come nearer to him. Mat assures her that he was Healed and she isn’t going to catch anything. Seeing her cold, haughty stare, he remarks that it’s like she doesn’t know him.
“I know you,” she said. Her manner was not as he remembered, either; he thought she could give Elayne lessons now. “I have… work to be about. Let me by.”
He grimaced. The path was broad enough for six to walk abreast without crowding. “I told you it isn’t catching.”
“Let me by!”
Muttering to himself, he stepped to one edge of the gravel. She went past him along the other side, watching to make sure he did not come closer. Once by, she quickened her steps, glancing over her shoulder at him until she was out of sight around a bend.
Wanted to make sure I didn’t follow her, he thought sourly. First the guardsmen, and now Else. My luck is not in, today.
A little further down the path, a loud commotion has him turning aside to investigate. He finds a large open space with men at training, Warders and young men grouped into pairs and wielding practice swords as instructors look on. There’s also a group of women, some Aes Sedai and more Accepted, watching one pair of students in particular.
Mat sits down beneath a tree, just as glad to rest, and juggles a few stones as he watches. It doesn’t take him long to work out who the two students are: one tall and lithe, who moves like a cat and is almost as pretty as a girl; the other golden-haired. When the Warder overseeing them orders a break, Mat gets a better look at the golden-haired youth and realizes that he must be Elayne’s brother. And the other one must be Galad. Mat heard much about both of them from Elayne on their journey back to Tar Valon from Fal Dara, and he learned a lot about what she thought were their virtues and vices, as well as noting that Egwene tended to blush whenever Galad was mentioned.
But while Mat is noticing Elayne’s brothers, Gawyn is also noticing him, and he and Galad come over to greet him as Mat scrambles to his feet.
“You are Mat Cauthon, are you not?” Gawyn said with a grin. “I was sure I recognized you from Egwene’s description. And Elayne’s. I understand you were sick. Are you better now?”
“I’m fine,” Mat said. He wondered if he was supposed to call Gawyn “my Lord” or something of the sort. He had refused to call Elayne “my Lady”—not that she had demanded it, actually—and he decided he would not do her brother better.
Galad asks if Mat came to learn the sword, but Mat answers that he was just out walking, and that he doesn’t know much about swords. He would rather put his trust in a bow or a good quarterstaff. Galad remarks that if Mat spends much time around Nynaeve he will need bow, quarterstaff, and sword to defend himself and that still might not be enough. He tells Mat that he should still learn something of swords, that everyone can use such knowledge these days, then remarks about Rand’s unusual sword and asks what Mat has heard of him.
“I haven’t seen Rand in a long time,” Mat said quickly. Just for a moment, when he had mentioned Rand, Gawyn’s look had gained intensity. Light, does he know about Rand? He couldn’t. If he did, he’d be denouncing me for a Darkfriend just for being Rand’s friend. But he knows something. “Swords aren’t the be-all and end-all, you know. I could do fairly well against either of you, I think, if you had a sword and I had my quarterstaff.”
Gawyn’s cough was obviously meant to swallow a laugh. Much too politely, he said, “You must be very good.” Galad’s face was frankly disbelieving.
Mat doesn’t know if it’s the fact they obviously think he is making things up, or if it’s his experience with the guards or Else, or if it’s the way the Aes Sedai are all looking at Galad, but he does know that what he is about to do will be fun, and that he can even earn some money at it. He challenges them to a two-on-one fight, betting two silver marks against two from each of them that he can beat them.
“Mat,” Gawyn said, “there’s no need to make wagers. You have been sick. Perhaps we will try this some time when you are stronger.”
“It would be far from a fair wager,” Galad said. “I’ll not take your wager, now or later. You are from the same village as Egwene, are you not? I… I would not have her angry with me.”
“What does she have to do with it? Thump me once with one of your swords, and I will hand over a silver mark to each of you. If I thump you till you quit, you give me two each. Don’t you think you can do it?”
Galad insists that Mat would have no chance against two trained swordsmen, but his declaration is overheard by the Warder, Hammar, who was training them. He asks if the boys think that they are so good with their swords to take on a boy with a stick, and, despite their protests about Mat’s recent illness, orders them back out into the practice yard.
Still, he does ask if Mat is up to it, nothing that Mat looks like he is supposed to be in a sickbed, and Mat assures him that he is up to it, and that he must be, if he doesn’t want to lose his two marks. As he turns to take a quarterstaff from the nearby rack, however, he can feel how his knees want to buckle. He tells himself firmly that he has to win, that he can’t afford to lose that money, now that he’s gone and opened his fool mouth.
When he turned back, the quarterstaff in both hands before him, Gawyn and Galad were already waiting out where they had been practicing. I have to win. “Luck,” he muttered. “Time to toss the dice.”
Hammar gave him an odd look. “You speak the Old Tongue, lad?”
Mat stared back at him for a moment, not speaking. He felt cold to the bone. With an effort, he made his feet start out onto the practice yard. “Remember the wager,” he said loudly. “Two silver marks from each of you against two from me.”
Gawyn and Galad take up position on either side of Mat, swords only half-raised, still insisting that there is no wager, until at last Hammar calls that he will cover it if the two of them don’t have the nerve. Only then do they accept, and the fight begins.
Even with both of them coming at him, Mat takes Gawyn down quickly, with a blow to the side of his head. Some Aes Sedai rush out to tend to him, but Galad, meanwhile, is starting to take Mat seriously.
Mat’s legs chose that moment to tremble. Light, I can’t weaken now. But he could feel it creeping back in, the wobbly feeling, the hunger as if he had not eaten for days. If I wait for him to come to me, I’ll fall on my face. It was hard to keep his knees straight as he started forward. Luck, stay with me.
Mat presses forward, and though Galad manages to meet each blow, the strain shows in his face, and he can’t counterattack, only defend, his wooden practice sword barely holding up against the quarterstaff. Matt can feel the hunger gnawing at his insides, his strength fading, so he throws his last reserves into a final attack.
The quarterstaff flickered past Galad’s sword and in quick succession struck knee, wrist, and ribs and finally thrust into Galad’s stomach like a spear. With a groan, Galad folded over, fighting not to fall. The staff quivered in Mat’s hands, on the point of a final crushing thrust to the throat. Galad sank to the ground.
Mat almost dropped the quarterstaff when he realized what he had been about to do. Win, not kill. Light, what was I thinking? Reflexively he grounded the butt of the staff, and as soon he did, he had to clutch at it to hold himself erect. Hunger hollowed him like a knife reaming marrow from a bone. Suddenly he realized that not only the Aes Sedai and Accepted were watching. All practice, all learning, had stopped. Warders and students alike stood watching him.
Standing beside Galad, Hammar calls out to them, asking who was the greatest swordmaster of all time. They all shout the reply, Jearom, and Hammar goes on to tell of how Jearom fought over ten thousand times, in battle and in single combat, and was only defeated once, by a farmer with a quarterstaff. He tells them all to remember that, to remember what he just saw. Lowering his voice, he adds for Galad’s benefit that if he cannot get up by now, then it is done. Hammar motions to the Aes Sedai to come over to Galad as well.
Mat sinks to his knees, holding onto the staff, but then he sees Gawyn, Healed of his injury, coming over and hauls himself up again. He doesn’t want anyone to see his weakness lest it result in his being tended from dawn to dusk. Gawyn hands over the two silver marks with a wry “I think I will listen next time,” and remarks upon Mat’s skill.
“Not as good as my da. He’s won the quarterstaff at Bel Tine every year as long as I can remember, except once or twice when Rand’s da did.” That interested look came back into Gawyn’s eyes, and Mat wished he had never mentioned Tam al’Thor. The Aes Sedai and the Accepted were all still clustered around Galad. “I… I must have hurt him badly. I did not mean to do that.”
Gawyn assures Mat that he didn’t kill Galad so he should be on his feet already, but no doubt the Aes Sedai don’t want to squander the chance to have their hands on him. Mat doesn’t understand the significance of Gawyn’s exclamation that some of them are Green Ajah, but Gawyn jokes that Galad’s only danger is becoming a Warder to a Green Aes Sedai before his head clears. Not that they would actually do that.
Mat asks if the Aes Sedai would mind if he collected his wager from Galad.
“They very likely would,” Hammar said dryly as he joined them. “You are not very popular with those particular Aes Sedai right now.” He snorted. “You’d think even Green Aes Sedai would be better than girls just loose from their mother’s apron strings. He isn’t that good-looking.”
“He is not,” Mat agreed.
Gawyn grinned at both of them, until Hammar glared at him. “Here,” the Warder said, pushing two more silver coins into Mat’s hand. “I will collect from Galad later. Where are you from, lad?”
“Manetheren.” Mat froze when he heard the name come out of his mouth. “I mean, I’m from the Two Rivers. I have heard too many old stories.” They just looked at him without saying anything. “I… I think I will go back and see if I can find something to eat.” Not even the Midmorning bell had rung yet, but they nodded as if it made sense.
Mat keeps the quarterstaff and as soon as he is out of sight amongst the trees, he leans upon it as if it is the only thing holding him up. But although the hunger makes him feel like there must be a literal hole in his belly, his thoughts are caught up with the strangeness of his Speaking the Old Tongue, and mentioning Manetheren.
Light help me, I keep digging myself deeper. I have to get out of here. But how? He hobbled back toward the Tower proper like an old, old man. How?
Meanwhile, in Nyenave’s room, Egwene lies on her stomach across Nynaeve’s bed as Nynaeve paces the room and Elayne sprawls by the fire, re-reading the list of names Verin gave them, while the list of the ter’angreal lies nearby on the table. They’ve talked about, and argued about, everything, while leaving that list carefully aside.
Egwene is exhausted, having had little sleep after going through her trials and then having to get up early for the kitchen chores and her visit to Sheriam. What sleep she did get was filled with unpleasant dreams, dreams that she could perhaps ask Anaiya for help with, if there wasn’t the ever-present possibility of any Aes Sedai they speak to being Black Ajah. Her dreams about her experiences in the ter’angreal, and her dreams about the Seanchan collaring Aes Sedai, are easy enough to dismiss as ordinary, and her dreams of Whitecloaks binding her father’s hands could perhaps be homesickness. But the others were different.
There had been a dream of Rand, reaching for a sword that seemed to be made of crystal, never seeing the fine net dropping over him. And one of him kneeling in a chamber where a parched wind blew dust across the floor, and creatures like the one on the Dragon banner, but much smaller, floated on that wind, and settled into his skin. There had been a dream of him walking down into a great hole in a black mountain, a hole filled with a reddish glare as from vast fires below, and even a dream of him confronting Seanchan.
She’s not sure about the last one, but the others she is confident have real meaning. Back before she was worried about the Black Ajah, she did a little cautious, carefully disguised questioning of Anaiya, learning that a Dreamer’s dreams about ta’veren were almost always true, and the stronger the ta’veren, the more certain the truth.
But she also dreamed of Mat and Perrin, even stranger than her dreams of Rand. She saw Perrin with a Falcon on his shoulder, and Perrin with a Hawk—both female birds, she somehow knew—and the Hawk was trying to fasten a leash around Perrin’s neck. And then there was the dream of a bearded Perrin leading a huge pack of wolves, and the dreams of Mat placing his left eye on a scale, of Mat hanging by his neck from a tree limb. There were more dreams of Mat and the Seanchan, and Mat speaking the Old tongue, but Egwene thinks those must also be ordinary products of her own mind.
Forcing her mind away from these thoughts Egwene turns her attention back to the other women in the room. Seeing that Nynaeve’s pacing has slowed, she tells herself that any second now, Nynaeve is going to say it again.
Nynaeve came to a halt, staring down at Elayne. “Put those away. We have been over them twenty times, and there isn’t a word that helps. Verin gave us rubbish. The question is, was it all she had, or did she give us rubbish on purpose?”
As expected. Maybe half an hour till she says it again. Egwene frowned down at her hands, glad she could not see them clearly. The Great Serpent ring looked—out of place—on hands all wrinkled from long immersion in hot, soapy water.
“Knowing their names helps,” Elayne said, still reading. “Knowing what they look like helps.”
“You know very well what I mean,” Nynaeve snapped.
Egwene rests her chin on her folded arms, thinking of how, as she left Sheriam’s study that morning, Nynaeve had been waiting in the cold, dark hall, looking both ready to chew stone and aware that chewing stone would not change anything. Egwene understands where Nynaeve’s anger is coming from, and that Nynaeve is as touchy about her pride as any man, but it isn’t fair for her to take it out Egwene and Elayne. Egwene thinks that if Elayne can stand the indignity of the punishment, Nynaeve should be able to too; after all, she isn’t a Wisdom anymore.
Elayne, however, is more engrossed in her musings over the information on Verin’s list. She points out that, while Liandrin was the only Red, there were two from each of the other Ajahs; that none were from the same city and no more than two were from the same country; and that their ages were similarly diverse. Nynaeve doesn’t see the point Elayne is making until Elyane spells it out: The neatness of the information is too precise to be chance, and they must have had women to choose from to come up with such a diverse allotment.
Nynaeve gave her braid one ferocious tug. “Light! I think you may be right. You did find secrets I couldn’t. Light, I was hoping they all went with Liandrin.”
“We do not even know that she is their leader,” Elayne said. “She could have been ordered to… to dispose of us.” Her mouth twisted. “I am afraid I can only think of one reason for them to go to such lengths to spread everything out so, to avoid any pattern except a lack of pattern. I think it means there is a pattern of some kind to the Black Ajah.”
“If there’s a pattern,” Nynaeve said firmly, “we will find it. Elayne, if watching your mother run her court taught you to think like this, I’m glad you watched closely.” Elayne’s answering smile made a dimple in her cheek.
Egwene, sensing that Nynaeve’s mood is easing, offers a counter-suggestion: The Black Ajah wanted them to think there is a pattern, so they waste time looking for it. She cautions that they should keep looking for other things, too. Her suggestion makes Elayne doubt her earlier conviction, and she suggests that she has built them a bridge out of wishes. Reading aloud random bits of information, she crumples the pages up as she goes until Nynaeve stop her, pointing out that, whether Elayne’s hunch is right or not, she found them something to look for, and perhaps in time they will find other things. And then, of course, there is the other list.
Egwene doesn’t want to think of the ter’angreal on that list, but it is etched into her mind. Thirteen ter’angreal in all, many of unknown use and last studied by Corianin Nedeal.
The knowns on the list were fewer, not all of any apparent real use, but hardly more comforting, as she saw it. A wooden carving of a hedgehog, no bigger than the last joint of a man’s thumb. Such a simple thing, and surely harmless. Any woman who tried to channel through it went to sleep. Half a day of peaceful, dreamless sleep, but it was too close not to make her skin crawl. Three more had to do with sleep in some way. It was almost a relief to read of a fluted rod of black stone, a full pace in length, that produced balefire, with the notation DANGEROUS AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL writ so strong in Verin’s hand that it tore the paper in two places. Egwene still had no idea what balefire was, but though it surely sounded dangerous if anything ever did, it just as surely had nothing to do Corianin Nedeal or dreams.
Nynaeve finds an item on the list that she thinks Mat would enjoy, a carved cluster of spotted dice that seems to affect chance in some way when someone channels through it, affecting the fall of coins and dice, for example. But Egwene’s thoughts can’t be torn away from Corianin Nedeal, and after a moment she gets up and goes to the fireplace, retrieving a stocking from the inside of the chimney in which she’s stuffed the ring for dreaming.
“Perhaps,” Nynaeve said finally, “Verin simply missed the fact that so many of them were last studied by Corianin.” She did not sound as if she really believed it.”
Elayne nodded, but doubtfully. “I saw her walking in the rain once, soaking wet, and took a cloak to her. She was so wrapped up in whatever she was thinking, I do not believe she knew it was raining until I put the cloak around her shoulders. She could have missed it.”
“Maybe,” Egwene said. “If she did not, she had to know I’d notice as soon as I read the list. I do not know. Sometimes I think Verin notices more than she lets on. I just do not know.”
“So there’s Verin to suspect,” Elayne sighed. “If she is Black Ajah, then they know exactly what we are doing. And Alanna.” She gave Egwene an uncertain, sidelong look.
Egwene has told them everything that happened in the testing chamber after she finished her Accepted test, including what Sheriam told them about the secret weakness of channeling, and everything Verin said. But they had trouble accepting what Alanna had done, since it was just so far and away from anything any Aes Sedai would ever do. Still, Nynaeve points out that the Amyrlin knows about Alanna’s odd behavior and can keep an eye on her better than they can.
“What about Elaida and Sheriam?” Egwene asked.
“I have never been able to like Elaida,” Elayne said, “but I cannot truly believe she is Black Ajah. And Sheriam? It’s impossible.”
Nynaeve snorted. “It should be impossible for any of them. When we do find them, there is nothing says they’ll all be women we do not like. But I don’t mean to put suspicion—not this kind of suspicion!—on any woman. We need more to go on than that they might have seen something they shouldn’t.” Egwene nodded agreement as quickly as Elayne, and Nynaeve went on: “We will tell the Amyrlin that much, and put no more weight to it than it deserves. If she ever looks in on us as she said she would. If you are with us when she comes, Elayne, remember she does not know about you.”
Elayne assures them that she won’t forget it, but also wishes that the Amyrlin had provided some way for them to contact her. Nynaeve knows that the Amyrlin can’t trust her messengers, so unless one of them wants to have another talk with Verin, they must wait for the Amyrlin to come to them. And Verin has made them all too suspicious to want to talk to her again. Nynaeve adds that she’s just as glad that they have no way to contact the Amyrlin on their own, as it means they get to make their own decisions without having to check in all the time. After a moment, she declares her intention to sleep with the ring.
Egwene is proud of herself when she doesn’t hesitate to take the ring from Nynaeve’s hand, even though she wants to. She reminds Nynaeve that she is the one who may be a dreamer, and that anyone who sleeps with the ring needs every advantage she can get. Nynaeve counters that her ability in channeling is greater, but Egwene points out that Nynaeve can’t know that she’ll be able to get angry enough to channel in a dream, or even if channeling is possible at all in a dream. And in any case, Verin gave the ring to her.
Nynaeve reluctantly agrees, but insists that she and Elyane be there with Egwene while she does it.
Now that she had their agreement, Egwene felt a queasiness in the pit of her stomach. I talked them into it. I wish I did not want them to talk me out of it. She became aware of a woman standing in the doorway, a woman in novice white, with her hair in long braids.
“Did no one ever teach you to knock, Else?” Nynaeve said.
Egwene hid the stone ring inside her fist. She had the strangest feeling that Else had been staring at it.
“I have a message for you,” Else said calmly. Her eyes studied the table, with all the papers scattered on it, then the three women around it. “From the Amyrlin.”
Egwene exchanged wondering looks with Nynaeve and Elayne.“Well, what is it?” Nynaeve demanded.
Else arched an eyebrow in amusement. “The belongings left behind by Liandrin and the others were put in the third storeroom on the right from the main stairs in the second basement under the library.” She glanced at the papers on the table again and left, neither hurrying nor moving slowly.
Egwene feels like she can hardly breathe, and she can’t imagine why the Amyrlin would trust Else Grinwell, of all people. Nynaeve echoes the thought that the girl can’t be trusted not to blab to anyone or everyone. At that, Egwene starts into a run after Else, coming out into the hall only to see the flash of white disappearing down the nearest ramp. Thinking that Else must be running too, to get so far ahead of her, Egwene follows after her.
A woman turned to face her at the foot of the ramp, and Egwene stopped in confusion. Whoever she was, this was certainly not Else. All in silver and white silk, she sparked feelings Egwene had never had before. She was taller, more beautiful by far, and the look in her black eyes made Egwene feel small, scrawny, and none too clean. She can probably channel more of the Power than I can, too. Light, she is probably smarter than all three of us put together on top of it. It isn’t fair for one woman to—Abruptly she realized the way her thoughts were going. Her cheeks reddened, and she gave herself a shake. She had never felt–less–than any other woman before, and she was not about to start now.
“Bold,” the woman said. “You are bold to go running about so, alone, where so many murders have been done.” She sounded almost pleased.
Egwene tries to compose herself, mentally berating herself both for her state and also for caring so much what the woman might think of it. She explains politely that she is looking for a novice who came the same way, and describes Else, asking if the woman has seen her.
The woman, looking her up and down and perhaps letting her gaze linger for a moment on Egwene’s fist hiding the ring, answers that she does not think Egwene will catch up to her, as she was running quite fast, and is no doubt far away by now. Egwene, addressing her as Aes Sedai, starts to ask which way Else went, but the woman cuts her off, saying that she has more important matters to see too and ordering Egwene to leave her. The command in her voice is so strong that Egwene has turned back up the ramp and gone three steps before she realizes it. But when she turns around again, the woman is gone.
Egwene looks around, down the ramps and into the galleries and gardens below, but sees nothing besides a few Accepted walking in the garden. The woman in silver and white is nowhere to be seen.
With nowhere else to look, Egwene checks out a few of the nearby doors, even though she knows they all lead to rooms that are unused. Nynaeve and Elayne catch up to her, having moved at a normal, unhurried pace, and tease her a little for having lost Else. But their amusement doesn’t last after Egwene explains her encounter with the strange woman. Nynaeve tells Egwene to point her out the next time she sees her, then urges them to get moving to check out the storeroom Else mentioned, before anyone else finds out about it.
Egwene slips the dream ring into her pouch, and the three start off, keeping an eye out for the woman. The more Egwene thinks about her, the more she feels like something is wrong about her. They go out to the library, a building in blue stone a little away from the tower part of the Tower, as stately as a palace and with entrances guarded to make sure no one takes any of the books or scrolls or scraps of paper out without the permission and knowledge of the Brown sisters who keep it. Nynaeve doesn’t take them to those entrances, but instead around to the side, where there are entrances for servants and laborers to access the storerooms underneath the library.
They enter, descending into darkness, and Egwene opens herself to saidar in order to conjure a ball of light to see by. Elayne creates one as well, and they both note how wonderful it feels to channel, while also being careful to remind each other not to get too caught up in the feeling. Nynaeve, meanwhile, has to use their light, since she can’t channel without being angry.
She leads them down without hesitation, through a hall and down another flight of stairs.
Egwene followed quickly. The bluish light washed out Elayne’s face, but Egwene thought it still looked paler than it should. We could scream our lungs out down here, and no one would hear a whimper.
She felt a lightning bolt form, or the potential for one, and nearly stumbled. She had never before channeled two flows at once; it did not seem difficult at all.
Nynaeve finds the door that was described to them by Else, but is surprised to find a new lock and chain has been put on the door. She begins working herself up about it, yelling about how she saw no other locks on any of the doors, surprising Elayne.
Letting the rest of the tirade fade from her awareness, Egwene touched the chain. She had learned more things than how to make lightning bolts since leaving Tar Valon. One was an affinity for metal. That came from Earth, one of the Five Powers few women had much strength in—the other was Fire—but she had it, and she could feel the chain, feel inside the chain, feel the tiniest bits of the cold metal, the patterns they made. The Power within her quivered in time to the vibrations of those patterns.
Nynaeve interupts her, and Egwene turns to find the other woman holding a pry-bar made of bright-white power. Ordering Egwene out of the way, she puts the pry-bar to the chain and is shocked when the chain snaps like a thread. Egwene explains that she thinks she did something to the metal.
Nynaeve throws the door open and they all go into the storeroom, where they find thirteen bags of heavy brown cloth, each tied and sealed with the flame of Tar Valon. Egwene fastens her light to the side of the wall without knowing how she did it, and is a bit alarmed about how she keeps doing things without knowing what it is she is doing. Elayne, having been watching Egwene, performs the same trick, and Egwene thinks that she can see how it was done—each of them has somehow learned it from the other.
They break the wax seals and unwind the binding cords, searching through the piles of possessions that amount to little more than old clothing and useless bits of paper. At first they think that there is nothing of use in any of the bags, but then they begin to realize that each bag contains something that references Tear—a bit of a map, or a book with the cover ripped off, or a list of shipping vessels traveling from Tar Valon to Tear.
“It is too much,” Elayne said. “There is too much of it.”
“Too much,” Nynaeve agreed.
There was a second book, a tattered, leather-bound volume entitled Observations on a Visit to Tear, with half its pages falling out. Caught in the lining of a badly torn cloak in Chesmal Emry’s bag, where it might have slipped through a rip in one of the pockets of the cloak, had been another list of trading vessels. It said no more than the names, but they were all on the other “list, too, and according to that, those vessels all had sailed in the early morning after the night Liandrin and the others left the Tower. There was a hastily sketched plan of some large building, with one room faintly noted as “Heart of the Stone,” and a page with the names of five inns, the word “Tear” heading the page badly smudged but barely readable. There was…
“There’s something from everyone,” Egwene muttered. “Every one of them left something pointing to a journey to Tear. How could anyone miss seeing it, if they looked? Why did the Amyrlin say nothing of this?”
Nynaeve points out bitterly that the Amyrlin keeps her own counsel, but that she is more worried that they are looking at bait, either a trap or a diversion, but all this material is clearly intended to lead them. Unless, as Elayne points out, it’s a sort of double-blind, meant to make it so obviously intentional that anyone who saw it would dismiss Tear as a read herring. Egwene adds that perhaps they meant to taunt whoever found it.
“What do we do now?” Elayne asked finally.
Egwene squeezed the ring hard. Dreaming was closely linked to Foretelling; the future, and events in other places, could appear in a Dreamer’s dreams. “Maybe we will know after tonight.”
Nynaeve looked at her, silent and expressionless, then chose out a dark skirt that seemed not to have too many holes and rips, and began bundling in it the things they had found. “For now,” she said, “we will take this back to my room and hide it. I think we just have time, if we don’t want to be late to the kitchens.”
Late, Egwene thought. The longer she held the ring through her pouch, the greater the urgency she felt. We’re already a step behind, but maybe we won’t be too late.
There’s a certain irony to the fact that, technically, Mat is stuck in the Tower because he’s a thief. Not quite a literal burglar or pickpocket, but someone who put his hands on something that did not belong to him and is suffering greatly for it. He can’t leave the Tower partly because it will kill him, and partially because he blew the Horn of Valere. Which, again, wasn’t exactly wrong of him, but it was a pretty audacious move to just take it and blow it, knowing what it is and what it is meant to be connected to. And now he’s has escaped one life-changing bond for another, although at least the Horn won’t posses him or (directly) kill him.
That quarterstaff duel with Galad and Gawyn rocked my world. It’s so Robin Hood, with Galad and Gawyn as the over-confident Robin and Little John, and Mat as… Alan-a-Dale maybe. Or Much the Miller’s son. Mat’s personality is very Much, I think. And Galad and Gawyn are even worse off than Robin in these stories, since Robin at least took the weapon itself seriously, whereas they dismiss it in a rather classist way. Not understanding the advantages of the quarterstaff—its length, for one, and the versatility provided by the ability to change quickly from an angled blow to a thrust, or from a parry to a strike, much more quickly than a sword can—was their downfall, I think, along with not understanding that just because farmers and shepherds don’t train for war doesn’t mean they aren’t trained.
In medieval England, the quarterstaff was very popular in gladiatorial-style fighting, and like wrestling, it was a way for combatants to earn money as well as entertain at public events, fairs, and busy marketplaces. Apparently that’s true in the Two Rivers as well. Emond’s Field may be so far out of the way that its inhabitants never consider that the trials and wars of the outside world could ever reach them (and I’m sure we can all guess how well that assumption is going to turn out) but that doesn’t mean they aren’t at least somewhat prepared, as the boys’ skills with the bow have also shown.
May this be a reminder to me, as well; I am used to thinking of Perrin as the big one and Rand as the tall one, but now I know Mat must be pretty strong and imposing, too. Quarterstaffs are heavy!
Galad and Gawyn may have underestimated a farmer with a quarterstaff, but they were right to be worried about Mat’s recovery. I really do understand Mat’s desire to get away from the Aes Sedai, especially after how much he’s been through and how little control he’s had over his life, or even his own mind, since he left the Two Rivers. But the Amyrlin did warn him that if he left the Tower he’d probably starve to death, and he’s going to need to take that a bit more seriously, at least. He may be all about “thinking it through” now, but he’s still letting his impulses overwhelm his more cautious thoughts.
And then of course there is the increasing problem of the bleed-over from his other life. More Old Tongue, and his instinct to go in for the killing blow against Galad. Not to mention saying that he’s from Manetheren! I thought maybe the effects of that strange time connection would fade, but now it’s starting to look like Mat may be carrying them with him permanently. I am really curious how this will affect him going forward. In some ways it’s a bit similar to how Egwene keeps finding that she can do things with saidar without knowing what she is doing, some combination of past memory and instinct, which neither of them can understand or control, unlike the way Nynaeve learns so quickly, or even how Perrin’s abilities manifest without his trying.
I love how Galad is a little shaken by his encounter with Nynaeve. I do like his character, although I’m getting annoyed by this whole thing where every woman who sees him just has to either swoon or eat him up. On the one hand I suppose it’s not terrible that Jordan is balancing the weird Lanfear thing with a male equivalent. But also, people aren’t really like this. Is the narrative saying that the mostly-celibate Aes Sedai are so sex-starved they have to go stare at this one dude? Is he really that much more handsome than any other man? And what does “almost pretty enough to be a girl” even mean?
In other worldbuilding news, this is the first time we’ve encountered another Illianer, and he does have Domon’s accent and speech patterns, so if I hadn’t had all of you to tell me that’s where it came from, I would know now. I’d been confused about it because it sounds very piratey, so I guess Illian is kind of like the Bristol of this world.
I had no idea what to make of Mat’s encounter with Else until we got to see her/Lanfear again in the following chapter. It seemed possible to me that she could have gotten mixed up with either the Black Ajah or something to do with Elaida plotting against our heroines, but the way she needed to keep such a wide distance from Mat suggests a little something else. I thought maybe she could be carrying something, but my best guess now is that it was, in fact, not Else at all but Lanfear in disguise, perhaps some kind of glamour that looks like the real thing but wouldn’t hold up so well if Mat touched her? I wonder which aspects of channeling one uses to make a glamour. Maybe Air and Spirit?
But when she encounters Egwene later I don’t understand why she doesn’t disappear at once, rather than having the little chase first, if that’s something she can so easily do. If she can vanish as soon as someone looks away from her, she could have stepped out of the doorway and disappeared at once, rather than having to high-tail it away from Egwene on foot. Unless it really was Else delivering the message, and Egwene running into Lanfear while chasing her was really a coincidence?
It’s possible, but I don’t think it’s as probable as Lanfear impersonating the novice. But if that’s the case, then where is the real Else? Did Lanfear kill her, or stash her somewhere?
The way Egwene is threatened by Selene again suggests some kind of glamour or something that affects the way people perceive her. Hot or not, dignified or not, there’s no reason for Egwene to get that worked up about it, unless maybe she can actually sense Lanfear’s Age of Legends-level abilities somehow? It’s still a little weird that Ba’alzamon’s power manifests as a fire face and Lanfear’s manifests as men thinking she’s so hot they can’t control themselves and women being viscerally threatened that she’s not only prettier, but also smarter and more powerful. But I could see it being a thing.
Speaking of Egwene, it’s an interesting game to try and figure out which of her dreams are foretellings or Dreams versus which are ordinary nightmares, especially when you bring in the extra information that we readers have but she doesn’t have yet. E.g. we know more about Rand’s journey to find the Sword That Cannot Be Touched than she does (it’s in Tear!) and more about Perrin’s connection to wolves and the manly beards that seem to come with them. And we also know that Jordan doesn’t put in random details that don’t end up meaning anything, which is why I was alarmed that Egwene dreamed of Whitecloaks binding her father’s hands. It seems inevitable that some kind of trouble will find its way back to the Two Rivers, given what five of its young people are up to in the world, and since there’s no specific reasons for Egwene to fear Whitecloaks coming after her father, I think it’s safe to assume that this is a Dream, capital D.
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But the dream that intrigues me the most is what she saw for Mat. I’m not sure about the significance of the birds—my first thought was it might be a Manetheren reference, but their symbol was an eagle, not a hawk or a falcon. The eye on the scale, however, immediately made me think of the Norse God Odin, who sacrifices his right eye in exchange for a drink from the well of the God Mimir. Since Odin also voluntarily hung himself from a tree in order to gain runes from the Norns, these images make sense together. And in both these occasions, Odin was seeking wisdom and knowledge, so perhaps that is where Mat’s future is going as well. The scale suggests either payment or a test, like the weighing of a dead person’s heart in Egyptian mythology.
All this talk of losing eyes reminds me of the dreams the boys had early on about ravens attacking their eyes, or Ba’alzamon burning them with balls of fire. This may be unconnected, especially since Mat was also physically suffering from damaged eyesight at the time, but you never know. And I did just compare Mat to Loki two or three weeks ago, so now I can feel smug about that.
We’ve got Rand al’Thor too. Maybe Perrin is Heimdall, then, what with the golden eyes. (Shout out to Idris Elba and the MCU.)
Nothing makes me more suspicious that Sheriam is going to turn out to be Black Ajah than Elayne saying that it’s impossible for her to be. I’m still of the opinion that it has to be one of them, either Elaida or Sheriam, unless maybe it’s Leane. Someone in a position of great power, at any rate. But narratively speaking, it feels like Elaida is being set up to cause a different kind of problem within the Tower, given her obvious and vocal disapproval of Egwene and Nynaeve, and of the Amyrlin’s decisions. If she’s upset about them now, imagine how she would react if she found out about the Amyrlin and Moiraine’s secret agenda with the Dragon Reborn. Elaida is exactly the sort of person the Amyrlin was worrying about, at least until the Black Ajah became a more pressing concern. And now we’ve seen Egwene’s “for what will be” trip through the arched ter’angreal, showing us Elaida stripping an Amyrlin of her power and status because she didn’t like how that Amyrlin handled a man claiming to be the Dragon Reborn. It’s not hard to imagine we’ll see that again, maybe for Egwene far later in the books, or maybe for Siuan just a couple chapters from now.
I didn’t address it last week, but the issue of Darkfriends being able to forcibly turn channelers does complicate the question of who might be Black Ajah. The drama of the departure of the thirteen, complete with captured ter’angreal, suggests to me that it probably hasn’t been done by anyone yet. Although the Black Ajah are stronger in number than anyone could have guessed, I don’t think the Shadow’s forces have had the capability to have thirteen women channeling through thirteen Myrddraal all over town this whole time. It’s more likely that this will be the first attempt, that they are going to Tear to capture Rand, with the intent of trying the technique for the first time.
But that still leaves a lot of questions. It is presumably Ba’alzamon’s plan, and he has intimated he had ways to make Rand serve him, willing or no. But there’s also a chance this is Lanfear meddling in things. And why would they want to leave those clues behind, luring people after them to Tear. Overconfidence? A trap, as Nynaeve suggests?
I wonder if the tampering of turning a channeler would show in some way, if it would affect one’s personality or habits, or if that person would go on living their life exactly the same, except now they are aligned with the Dark One.
I also wonder how long it will take for Nynaeve to get past her block, and what she will have to do to figure it out. I keep waiting for her to show more interest in healing through the One Power. She was going to try it with Mat, because she felt she had too, and she was going to use her herbs as well as channeling. But we haven’t heard anything more about her studying Healing or anything like that. And somehow, I can imagine that Healing requires a certain calm and contentedness that might pose a real problem for a woman who can only channel when she is angry.
Sylas K Barrett is a reader who is obsessed with Robin Hood and an actor obsessed with stage combat, who studied quarterstaff in his classes. It’s been a fun week.
Typo – It was Gawyn who handed over the marks, Galad was still a crumpled heap being attended by every novice, accepted and aes sedai in the tower…
Also,
Both birds are sitting on Perrin’s shoulders (at least they were in my 1994 copy). Although, if it were a //Raven//…
As it is the location of the birds may have impacted Sylas’s commentary and thoughts. Since Sylas is no longer reading a mod may wish to point this out.
I can’t remember when the fandom first started noticing all the Norse connections, but they are rather heavy-handed in this chapter when you take the time to think about them. I’m surprised Sylas isn’t more interested in the clues left behind, particularly since they were given by Else and it’s rather obvious something is hinky there.
One thing that struck me this read-through, the Black Ajah clearly knows the girls are investigating them. *Whited out some very late series spoilers* //The only people who could give that information to them are Siuan and Verin. Hindsight is 20-20, but that seems less subtle than RJ usually is when it comes to the who’s-on-team-dark dance. Maybe you could figure someone read Verin’s notes during Egwene’s testing, but that’s a pretty thin fig leaf to point the finger at someone other than Verin.//
@1 – Fixed, thanks!
Oooo, Mat as both Loki and Odin.
And of course Sylas foresees the coup based on an unrelated dream and the current political situation. There have been so many incredible predictions now, it’s hard to impress us anymore.
For reference, the most common weights and heights I’ve seen for the main boys are as follows.
Rand is gigantic. Jordan has reliably noted him to be around 6’6″, and I usually see his weight cited at around 235lb.
Perrin is “about half a head” shorter than Rand, probably around 6’1″ or 6’2″, but he weighs in the neighborhood of 240lb, boy’s probably built like a barge compared to either of the others.
Mat is the shortest of the three, but he’s still right around or just shy of 6′. He does have a lankier build and I’ve seen it claimed he weighs around 180lb.
Course, Mat is probably thinner than usual right now.
All that aside: The quarterstaff fight is a sequence I love dearly, and I’m curious going forward how you’re going to feel about Mat.
I love, love the sequence with Mat, Gawyn, and Galad. I forgot how long it takes the book to get there.
The fight has more signs of the Old Blood, I think. Mat is good with a quarterstaff and knows it, but he doesn’t appreciate how good Gawyn and Galad are with the sword…and what did he ever learn about fighting a man with a sword?
I know Sylas isn’t reading the comments anymore but can a moderator tell him that he misread the hawk and falcon as being a dream about Mat instead of Perrin? I would hate for the analysis of future chapters to go off track because of this mistake.
Question for the commenters: does some of the loooooong foreshadowing in WoT /(like the eye on the scale)/ lose anything for you since we had to wait a decade+ in real time for it to come to fruition or does that make it all the more impressive?
I wondered too about Lanfear not just like, vanishing when she left the room… but I think for her, it doesn’t fit her personality. That’s too much like ‘fleeing the scene’. She’s arrogant. I think she liked the idea of handing over the information and then just calmly strolling away, knowing no one would be able to figure it out.
Regarding Galad and his attractiveness. I always used to picture a younger Jared Leto as Galad. I always felt Leto was a strikingly attractive guy. Anybody else have real life references you associated with Galad’s good looks?
Edit: Weirdly I never really attached real life people to any of the women and how they looked in my head. Perhaps because as a straight man I am predisposed to think of women as beautiful, therefore I needed to find a reference for a man in order to understand how attractive Galad was. Interesting thought.
The scene with Mat, Gawyn, and Galad is my very favorite scene in the entire series. Just… perfect.
We’ll get the answers to all of those questions about people turned by 13×13 trick… eleven books from now. That was something that had been thrown out so casually so early that I honestly just chalked it up to early-book weirdness, rather than something that would come up again.
It’s very, very weird to me that Sylas has picked up on seemingly everything so far, but doesn’t pick up here on the concept of Lanfear using Compulsion on Egwene. I get that it hasn’t been explicitly referenced in the text yet, but, like… The Imperius Curse in Harry Potter is a pretty old trope in fantasy fiction. For somebody who’s usually very genre-savvy, it’s weird that Sylas didn’t pick up on that here.
With respect to Egwene’s dreams, it’s kind of funny to me because almost all of her dreams in these early books are prophetic. It seems like the main purpose of Aran’gar’s infiltration of Egwene later on is to suppress her dreams, which is strange, because unless I’m mistaken, none of Egwene’s prophetic dreams ever actually lead her to engage in any particular course of conduct (unless maybe you want to count bonding Egeanin?). They provide a bunch of information for the readers, but not much for the characters themselves.
I’m very confused about Mat’s past-life bleedthrough here. Like, it’s very clear here that Jordan already had a plan for Mat’s interactions with the *Finn — Sylas mentions the connections to Odin here already — so what exactly was the point of having him have a little bit of knowledge from past lives here early on? I could almost understand it if Mat were a Hero of the Horn, with past lives bleeding into his current one, but it’s stated in text specifically that he’s not (although I choose not to believe that particular thing because it’s less awesome).
@9: More impressive. I first read the thing about Mat losing an eye here in… 1996, I believe. So that means I had to wait 14 years for it to come to fruition in Towers of Midnight. Having that long of a plan is definitely impressive.
@10: It takes no time to get rid of the weave of illusion that Lanfear was using here, but it does take time to open a Gateway and Travel away from the tower with Saidar (//it takes less time if you’re travelling using the True Power, but I don’t think Lanfear had access to that at this point//). It certainly wouldn’t have done for Lanfear to let Egwene see even the residuals of a Gateway, much less one being actually used.
@11: I think Jordan was just trying to say that Galad is the perfect ideal of beauty, as is Lanfear (and, later, Rahvin is described the same way, although people don’t seem to be as awestruck by Rahvin’s good looks as by Galad’s or Lanfear’s). It’s one of those things that I tend to just accept without trying to picture it, same thing as the “ageless” look. You’d know it when you saw it.
@14 I think Rahvin and Lanfear are both cheating regarding their good looks while Galad comes by it naturally.
@11 I picture a Chris Hemsworth type for Galad.
As an extremely hetero-man, I always pictured Galad as like a young Leonardo Dicapprio. Annoyingly good looking, and not overly masculine. (As the text says, almost as pretty as a girl.) I know he’s supposed to be bigger and probably more muscular than that, but you asked and that’s my head-cannon.
@2:
Lanfear is working with (and against) Be’lal. Lanfear can be invisible. Lanfear can easily listen to their conversations and know what they are doing. Hell, Lanfear could have been sitting in Siuan’s office when she ordered them to hunt the BA. No Verin needed. This is all part of Be’lal’s trap.
At first it bothered me that Gawyn and Galad are supposed to be so tall — both are roughly the same height as Rand, 6’6″ — but then I remembered that the Andoran royal line contains Aiel blood, from the Aiel women Rand saw captured during his trip through the way-back ter’angreal, and that made more sense. Still doesn’t explain why Lan is that tall; none of the other Malkieri we run into is particularly noted for their height.
As a side note, the height of the Aiel never made any sense to me. Traditionally, some ethnic groups tend to be taller than others — the Dinka, for example — but generally speaking, height is relatively directly correlated with nutrition. This is why average heights have increased so substantially since the Industrial Revolution. And nutrition in the Waste seems to be… lacking. On the other hand, the shortest race of people, the Amyar, make total sense, as they would be subject to insular dwarfism.
@8 @Moderator At risk of starting another debate about spoilers, perhaps we could have a minor addendum to the new comment policy for tagging (with text colour?) a comment as specifically something we want to address to Sylas? I think one of the coolest parts of this read is the chance to interact – however indirectly – with someone reading the series we love for the first time. Moderators could peruse such comments for spoilers and use their best judgement on forwarding things to Sylas. I know that’s a 50% increase in responsibilities, but it would be nice to still have an established line of communication with the OP.
@13 I think in Lanfear’s case, her attractiveness is in service to her character. We can immediately identify her archetype as the Seductress just by reading her description without a single word uttered about her actions. It serves as a sort of shorthand for her character (which we only get to see so much of on screen initially). On the other hand, Galad seems like more of an odd choice, he could be ugly and it wouldn’t really effect his character that much. I think it’s meant to be a commentary on his sterling behavior. He’s perfect in every way, and that perfection is actually his failing. If he had been unattractive, or even bland, it would have made his arch carry less punch. That said, on my first reading, I didn’t find the descriptions terribly over the top, but through Sylas’ eyes, I do agree that they do perhaps cross the line.
@9 rc_math, Yes. For me, the longer the wait, the more impressive the groundwork. Jordan was a master of the long game.
@13: (on attractiveness) Fair enough, though I would say I wasn’t actively trying to attribute Galad’s looks to anyone. It’s just something that occurred to me naturally.
@14: Hemsworth might be the perfect example, he’s an imposing dude and without the beard (picturing his Star Trek role as Kirk’s father more than his Thor role) he’s definitely got the look and probably the best body type. Hmm, might he also work as Rand?
@15: A young Leo I could see also. Another good example. Like you said regarding Leo, I didn’t think Leto’s body type would fit Galad either.
“it feels like Elaida is being set up to cause a different kind of problem within the Tower, given her obvious and vocal disapproval of Egwene and Nynaeve, and of the Amyrlin’s decisions. If she’s upset about them now, imagine how she would react if she found out about the Amyrlin and Moiraine’s secret agenda with the Dragon Reborn.” – LOLOLOLOL.
As an aside, it’s Perrin that has the halk/falcon imagery associated with him. Two of the most divisive characters, really. (I actually don’t mind Faile, but Berelain is my absolute least favorite character in the whole series, MAYBE tied with Elaida.)
I remember how fun it was to try to dig through all the symbolism and allusion in the dreams. Some of these have a long payoff!
Else was Lanfear right? I can’t remember.
@22, Right.
Who was it who described Mat as Odin’s stunt double? Leigh wasn’t it?
You don’t have to be sex starved to admire an exceptionally good looking man. I once came across my own mother and some of our co-workers admiring a very handsome repair man as he worked. The reaction to Galad is a little extreme but apparently he’s something unique in his pulchritude.
Thus begins the Rise of Cauthon. From this point on is why Mat tops a large number of people’s favorite WoT character lists.
Shall we guess that Hammar would welcome a chance to hit Niall on the head? ;-)
@25 I loled
RE: Galad in this scene:
Its pretty easy to make this make sense.
For the Novices and Accepted, the Warder bond is romanticised. Galad is the most skilled and most attractive potential partner they are ever likely to encounter. Factor in that he’s literally a prince without any of the baggage that that entails for them. He’s the perfect fantasy for them. And the perfect antidote to chores and study.
For the Greens (and other Aes Sedai looking for a Warder), most of the same things apply. Especially since so many Greens are polyamorous. And throw in a solid connection to the Throne of Andor and a Great House in Cairheienin. Galad is the most significant potential catch as a Warder in the past 20 years.
Minor correction: Anaiya was spelled Aniya twice. Allow me to stand up for second (third?) tier characters.
@11 trouty42
I give away my age, I guess, but I always thought of a young Charlton Heston.
Spoiler for the very end of the series, but based on this chapter does anyone have thoughts on if Matt with his ashandarei could have beaten Demandred in single combat where Galad and Gawyn both failed?
@28 – Corrected, thanks.
Mat would have a better chance against Demandred because of his protection against channeling.
Galad is a bishōnen from manga.
Regarding Galad, it’s not that all women are falling all over him, it’s that the ones that do hover around him. He isn’t just good looking either, he’s pretty much the Sir Galahad archetype.
@30 Mat was probably the only other person that had a shot at him. But Lan is the better fighter, Mat is the better general and they both beat Demandred at their respective jobs.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve read and re-read this so often, but I’m a little disappointed, yet find it interesting that Sylas glossed over when Mat first awakens and clears the cobwebs. I read it as three different hero journeys with the three main boys, and this is where I always start when I read the Mat parts, so I think it’s rather important. (During the long waits for the later books, I tended to skip around to focus on a single character.) But, it’s interesting to see from Sylas, what he sees as a first time reader.
On the topic of these paradigms of beauty. I always thought there was a purposefulness as they seem to share the flaw that abstracts their thinking to a very black and white world view. Also, pretty like a girl, now reads to me like he’s a Kpop star (going with the times), and I’m not sure I can shake that.
nygmus @6: The Wheel of Time Companion (as official a source as there is for these sorts of things) gives:
Mat: 5’11”, 170 lbs.
Perrin: 6’1″, 235 lbs.
Rand: 6’6″, 235 lbs.
Everytime Galad is mentioned I associate him with young Stephen Amell (clean-shaven boyish look of Arrow season 1) or Jensen Ackles (clean-shaven look during his Smallville intro or Supernatural season 1)
@35 Wow Mat is lanky. That’s about as skinny as he could possibly be and still be remotely believable that he has the strength to use a polearm.
Can’t believe I’ve never made the Mat/Odin connection before. It probably speaks to my weakness in Norse mythology, but still… I knew about Odin on the tree and the loss of his eye (if not the why of either), but holy cow… for Sylas to focus right in on that right now is so stinking impressive. As others have said, it’s gotten to be a bit uncanny.
Love the quarterstaff vs swords fight — one of the highlights of this book for sure, and possibly even my top-ten across all books.
Just so anxious to get to //dreamwalking//, the ta’veren trio making their mark in the world, the coup, and the Aiel (forgot it took so long for them to really become integral to the story).
@37
That’s not remotely true. I was 6’2 and fought in the under 162 lb. division for judo my freshman year of college. I assure you I had plenty of strength at that time to swing a quarterstaff. In fact, that height and weight falls into the “normal” BMI.
*”That” meaning Mat’s, not mine.
I gotta say, it’s kinda odd to still see the white-out in the comments. It’s mixed with unconcealed spoilers. Not exactly sure who the white-out is helping…
I have read this book several times before and never until today have picked up on the fact that Else Grinwell was not acting like herself during the her and Mat scene. In previous books she always a flirty type that was always chasing after the guys or like the girls at concerts that will follow after the musicians from one town to the next. (I forget at the moment what they are called. Lol) So when she was with Mat she was not the flirty swooning type that we know her as. And also with her being authoritative about Mat’s health. Previously she would not have cared one iota about mat’s Health. So I never picked up on that till today that she may have been at that time Lanfear in disguise.
Also pertaining to Lanfear and her “beauty”. Sylas mentions how Lanfear will be a problem especially on the whole beauty/compulsion thing. Lanfear has //nothing on Graendel. Especially the scene in a few books from now when she is having a meeting with the other Forsaken and she is depicted as wearing a sheer almost see thru outfit and the love and devotion of her, for lack of a better word, slaves.// It will be interesting what Sylas thinks about that who he decides is the worst of the two.
As far as trust issues in the tower are concerned; don’t forget that in addition to good and evil you basically have 7 different political parties; with the blues being the liberals and the reds being the ultra-conservatives. Any ‘government’ pretty much has to be a coalition of ‘parties’ to get formed in the first place. (So let’s see; yellows are healers so they could be the labor party; browns as scholars would maybe be the green party? Whites as the logicians would be good for the socialists…..)
Moderators, I also caught a little typo with the names: “But while Mat is noticing Elayne’s brothers, Galad is also noticing him, and he and Galad come over to greet him as Mat scrambles to his feet.” It was Gawyn who noticed Mat, after which he and Galad came over.
Sylas has done a superb work (as always!), but I did notice this: “Which, again, wasn’t exactly wrong of him, but it was a pretty audacious move to just take it and blow it, knowing what it is and what it is meant to be connected to.”. Only, Mat did not know he would be connected to the Horn back then, he did not know it until Siuan told him a few chapters back.
Woohooo, was I happy to read this chapter. This is where the Mat we know and love really seems to emerge, and the duel itself was pure joy. Robin Hood vibes indeed! And have to agree with Sylas, it Is funny how much of an impression Nynaeve managed to leave on Galad.
I have not read this book for years, not after finishing the series. Incredible, how much things I missed and even more how much things were foreshadowed, some, as pointed out, not coming to fruition until over a decade later!
@11, I had just pictured him for myself in my head as with all the other characters. But then I saw “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” for the first time, and I have not been able to picture him in any other way than Ben Barnes ever since. Ben (at least during that era) seemed to have it all – the looks, the litheness, the persona. (@14, I do appreciate Chris a lot, but he’s not my Galad. Also, @36, shout-out for mentioning Jensen, because he is just one of the most gorgeous people I know! Though I do prefer how he looks now, or maybe a few seasons ago, it might be I might be getting old myself.)
@44 – Fixed, thanks!
Lanfear’s disappearing act was not travelling with the Power or the True Power. She just stepped into the world of dreams,like Perrin learns to do in AMoL.
Galad for me = Orlando Bloom circa LOTR
I’ve pictured a young Chris Evans as Galad since the first pre-release Captain America EW cover. Gorgeous, but in an almost comically square way.
Okay, as Galad I nominate Tony Curtis as he was in _The Great Race_ (talk about showing one’s age): young, with absurdly pretty eyes and an impossible gleam to his teeth.
But Orlando Bloom would do very nicely.
When the girls tell Siuan about Else, Siuan says she was sent away from the Tower some time before. It is obvious from that that it had to be Lanfear impersonating her.
Yeah, my response to “I didn’t steal anything!” was “Uh, yes you did, that’s why you’re here.”
Dreaming sounds like a nice ability at first — you can sleep while you work. But such sleep is tiring, probably even more so than ordinary dreams are tiring for me, and Egwene has to go do other work after she wakes.
@42: Yeah, “Else’s” surprise at Mat being out of his room was a tip-off to me on this reread. Mat didn’t seem to notice, but maybe he thought the novices were all in on the Aes Sedai scheme to keep him captive.
Spoilers:
“It’s not catching!” No, but it can apparently be immunized against.
Elayne is said to rave about Gawyn’s “virtues.” Hah.
Egwene, what exactly did you dream about “Mat and the Seanchan”?
I don’t think it was intended to be that long a wait. Jordan just kept adding characters and subplots and meandering by-ways
@52 That chapter about Unintended Consequences (in Path of Daggers?) seems rather ironic now that you point that out. I’ve thought for a while that one of the lessons of WoT from a writing perspective is to be careful about things which seem like a neat thing to try. Digging a little deeper into a side story now could mean tens of thousands of words spent in search of a way to wrap the plotline up.
@46 stepping into the world of dreams in the flesh still requires a gateway, and the tell tale slash of light, as Egwene does to travel to Salidar later on. I think the fact the Else had disappeared up the corridor and ‘Selene’ was coming up the corridor can be put down to early book weirdness before any hard and fast rules about gateways were fixed.
‘Selene’ wouldn’t have run the length of the corridor and wouldn’t have needed to be at the top of the stairs if she wished to be elsewhere but leaving a gateway or its residue about would have been a big no-no.
@11 – Daniel Sharman. Every time I see him I gasp and say he looks like a porcelain doll.
@54
For those truly versed in T’A’R it doesn’t take a gateway to step in. //Perrin, who has no ability in the Power at all, is able to enter and exit as he pleases eventually.// And it is shown that Lanfear knows how as well, since, iirc, she’s the one who teaches the aforementioned how to do so.
@53:
Seeing as books 8-14 all went No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, earning RJ , and his estate, quite a bit of money — and seeing as there is no shortage of people still willing to talk about these books more than a decade after RJ wrote his last word — I think its safe to say that RJ would count the cost of tens of thousands of extra words spent trying to wrap up things he opened in previous books as worth it.
@57 Financially maybe, but not necessarily from an artistic point of view. While we can’t know how RJ would have written the final arc, Sanderson had to make a number of compromises, some which were less than ideal, in order to actually finish the series.
@57, 58 – Back when RJ was still alive and writing, I would frequently bemoan the fact that he seemed to be milking the series, especially after the travesty that was Crossroads of Twilight. I wasn’t the only fan saying that either.
I think the incredible character development, foreshadowing, and the long plot playoffs more than make up for any wordiness etc. on Jordan’s part.
@56: Absolutely not. Only two people are able to step into tel’aran’rhiod without a Gateway: Slayer and Perrin. Lanfear absolutely cannot do that. Slayer was created specifically to have that ability, and it required melding two different people together to allow him to do so. I seem to recall at some point somebody saying that there had never been anybody like Slayer in history (obviously, before Perrin came along); Perrin was only able to do so due to the merging of his human-self and his wolf-self. Lanfear needs to make a Gateway to enter, just like any other channeler.
@58-60:
I’m with @ladyrian on this one. You don’t get the really good stuff without the detours he took. A lot of the slog of books 8-10 are a result of the detours he took and expansions he made to the storyline in books 4-6, which are arguable the best three books in the series. This is a fundamentally different (and probably weaker) series if he doesn’t take the time to explore and expand the world. There’s also 90 other series that do just that — stick to the main point. I’m personally grateful that RJ decided to dig deeper.
@61:
While I don’t disagree with your conclusions, I’d love to know where you are getting the information from. Slayer being “created” is not something I encountered while reading the books. I’m not sure it was ever fully explained in the books, but what was explained seemed to make it more an accident to me. Can you elaborate for me?
@62 – Slayer was the combination of that Luc guy and another guy wasn’t he? That the Dark One created specifically, as @61 said, to be able to move in and out of TAR at will. I definitely remember something about all that, but it’s all quite fuzzy for me.
@62: From the prologue to A Memory of Light, Slayer-as-Isam’s POV: “He knew his abilities fascinated the Chosen; he could do something that they could not. Oh, they could imitate the way he stepped into the dream, but they needed channeling, gateways, time.”
From A Memory of Light, Chapter 45, Perrin’s POV: “‘Luc wanted to be part of something important,’ Slayer shouted. ‘In that, we’re the same, though I sought the ability to channel. The Dark One cannot grant that, but he found something different for us, something better. Something that requires a soul to be melded with something else. Like what happened with you, Aybara. Like you.”
One of my favorite moments in the entire series! Glad you enjoyed Matt kicking butt as much as I did when I first read it so many years ago.
“Matrim Cauthon’s last words: ‘Hey guys, watch this!’” — Neuxue
Keigh notes that this section is the first time we learn that a Forsaken can take on a completely differenct appearance, in this case impersonating a specific individual. A usedul skill…
I always thought that the staff vs sword fight was probably inspired by a similar story about Musashi.
With regard to Galad’s good looks, I picture him as being a finer-featured version of a young Arne Hammer.
@64
I always thought that this was pretty ropey writing and a bit deus ex machina to be honest. I can accept that Slayer is an amalgam of two souls (Luc & Isam) and can phase to and from TAR at will changing appearance between the two corporeal parts as he does because you know ‘Shai’tan’
There is no such reason for Perrin to be able to accomplish the same feat, the whole of Perrin’s arc is about self acceptance and acceptance his nature. He has one soul and it is not melded with anything else, wolf brother or not.
@62 My comment is that he was stuck in later books, such as CoT, because he made an effort to widen the world in earlier books without a concrete plan of how he was going to weave things back together. I get a feeling of “hey, this’ll be neat” in early books. It’s is fine in trilogies and short series but causes problems for longer epics.
@68 I agree with you.
@several: I think the “detours” were tedious reading originally but, in the end, contributed to the world-building at which I consider RJ in this series to be the best ever among modern writers (it’s difficult to compare any modern writer with Tolkien).
The only comparable master is GRRM in ASOIAF. Martin is a more skillful writer and master of language. Both are wonderful at creating characters that develop and demand continuing interest. But I’d give the top rating in world-building to Jordan. Martin based his series on Medieval England/Europe, whereas Jordan’s “world” of female dominance, lost advanced civilization that then evolved into separate cultures (Ariel, Sanchean), single-religion (but not a real religion), etc. had to be conceived almost entirely from his creative imagination!
There may be other candidates; I am not as widely read in Fantasy as some here (my background in reading is more SF together with the classics “canon.”
I always assumed that Lanfear simply used an inverted invisibility weave. She’d have to invert pretty much everything she does while in the White Tower anyway, and invisibility would be more useful in many of the circumstances in which she finds herself than alternatives like Skimming, Traveling, or entering TAR.
I also assume that Lanfear arranged the clues in large part to inject the Supergirls into Be’lal’s plan as a way of protecting Rand and making sure that only her plans would come to fruition.
Mat’s duel here is one of my favorite scenes in this entire series, and it really cemented him as one of my favorite characters going forward.
@69:
That’s literally how everything in the Wheel of Time was written. Robert Jordan is not really an outliner. He doesn’t “plan”. Its very fluid and spontaneous. That’s his process. Much of what was expanded upon in books 4-6 were not in any sort of original plan he had. If he’d stuck with it, we’d have been left with about 6 books of tGH quality — that would be a good series that I would have enjoyed, but it would have been interchangeable with about 30 more just like it. So I thank God for the exploration Jordan chose to do, and I live with negative aspects of it as well, because without them, we don’t get the good stuff.
Its probably worth noting that there has never been a series this long. Its over 1 million words longer than Malazan. And by the time Gardens of the moon was first published, WoT was already on Book 9. There are no other single stories that approach the length of the Wheel of Time. Any other series even half this long are self contained novels that are connected to each other, but tell multiple stories. The Wheel of Time is unique in its structure. Even Malazan is pretty different, the volumes more self-contained (not entirely, obviously). Game of Thones is similar but will finish out (eventually) at a little less than half the size. All that to say, I don’t think its entirely fair to make that statement, when no one has ever really tried to do what Jordan did before.
@64:
Thank you for that quote! I totally missed that in AMoL. I’m with @68, though — it does seem a bit hackish to me.
Brandon did say that RJ left very little notes behind on Perrin. Perrin in the last 3 books was pretty much 100% Brandon. So the slipping between TAR and the real world could very well be an invention on Brandon’s part.
@74:
Brandon said there weren’t a lot of notes regarding Perrin’s plotline; that’s not to say a detail like Perrin’s abilities didn’t exist in RJs thousands of pages of notes on each character. That’s not to say it does exist, either. We just don’t know, until someone happens across a note that confirms or denies this.
I personally highly doubt Sanderson would have made up a new superpower for Perrin, but its not impossible he did.