Welcome back to the read of The Shadow Rising. This week is lucky number 13, and our heroes are going to need some luck, as Perrin, Faile, and Loial journey into the Ways (with some company) and Nynaeve and Elayne are attempting to garner passage with the Sea Folk. It’s exciting to be introduced to a new culture, and I’m intrigued by what we see here of the Sea Folk customs and society, as well as the fact that we’re encountering a new set of prophecies.
It’s interesting that people keep being surprised that other cultures would have their own prophecies surrounding the Dragon Reborn, and I think it speaks to the prejudice of the Aes Sedai and the mainland cultures of the world that they haven’t considered that the more secretive societies of the world might have knowledge about its workings that the White Tower, Andor, and other powerful nations might not.
Chapter 18 opens with Perrin gathering up the last of his things and reluctantly replacing the axe back at his belt. He finds Gaul waiting for him outside the door, ready to travel with his weapons and pack, but no other Aiel. Gaul explains that his people have had enough of strange lands, of breathing wet air and being surrounded by so many closely-packed people. Perrin understands, and hides his disappointment that here will be no company of Aiel to drive the Whitcloaks from the Two Rivers.
Gaul and Perrin have made kept their preparations secret, but the Aiel warns Perrin that Faile and Loial haven’t taken any such precautions. Perrin threatens vengeance if Faile gives him away to Moiraine, but he also makes Gaul promise to take Faile away from the Two Rivers, even if she refuses, should anything happen to Perrin.
They see few people as they do their best to sneak down servants’ staircases and through the halls of the Stone, and Gaul tells Perrin that Rand has summoned everyone to the Heart of the Stone. Whether Rand has done this to help Perrin or for some other reason, Perrin is glad that it makes it easier to avoid being noticed—and no sign of Moiraine—as they escape out to the stable near the Dragon Wall. Inside, they find Loial and Faile, and also Bain and Chiad, waiting for them.
Suddenly Gaul’s comment that he would “try” to take Faile from the Two Rivers makes more sense, and when Perrin asks, he explains that the women will take Faile’s side, and that Chiad’s clan and his have a blood feud. He also says that he thinks that the Aiel women are fascinated by the argument between Perrin and Faile, that they like her and are coming because of that. Perrin hopes aloud that they will keep her out of trouble, and Gaul just laughs.
Loial comes up to Perrin, urging him to hurry, Faile is getting impatient and Loial worries that she will make them leave without Perrin.
“I will not leave him,” Faile called. “Not even if he is yet too stubborn and foolish to ask a simple favor. Should that be the case, he may still follow me like a lost puppy. I promise to scratch his ears and take care of him.” The Aiel women doubled over laughing.
Gaul leaped straight up suddenly, kicking higher, two paces or more above the floor, while twirling one of his spears. “We will follow like stalking ridgecats,” he shouted, “like hunting wolves.” He landed easily, lightly. Loial stared at him in amazement.
Bain, on the other hand, lazily combed her short, fiery hair with her fingers. “I have a fine wolfskin with my bedding in the hold,” she told Chiad in a bored voice. “Wolves are easily taken.”
A growl rose in Perrin’s throat, pulling both women’s eyes to him. For a moment Bain looked on the point of saying something more, but she frowned at his yellow stare and held her peace, not afraid, but suddenly wary.
“This puppy is not well housebroken yet,” Faile confided to the Aiel women.
Perrin decides to ignore her, focusing instead saddling on his mount, Stepper, and dealing with the packhorse. Loial has his big horse, and Faile hers, but the Aiel remain on foot, and Perrin wonders if there’s more to their dislike of horses than just pride in their own ability to run.
When Faile finally mounted, in her narrow divided skirts, she reined closer to Perrin. She rode well, woman and horse moving as one. “Why can you not ask, Perrin?” she said softly. “You tried to keep me away from where I belong, so now you have to ask. Can such a simple thing be so difficult?”
Suddenly the Stone rings like a great bell, causing the floor to leap beneath their feet and terrifying the horses. As the grooms scramble to comfort the other horses in the stable and the ceiling shakes above them, Perrin feels the pull of ta’veren, and knows that Rand is responsible. He has to struggle not to dismount and run back into the Stone, but he manages it, shouting “We ride now, Loial!” and even Faile doesn’t object.
They tear out of the stable, past the shaken Defenders at the Dragon Wall, tearing as fast as they can through the streets, people staring at them as they go or leaping out of their way. They don’t stop until they are surrounded by farmland, and Perrin can’t feel that pull of ta’veren to ta’veren anymore.
Loial’s ears were stiff with shock. Faile licked her lips and stared from the Ogier to Perrin, white-faced. “What happened? Was that … him?”
“I don’t know,” Perrin lied. I have to go, Rand. You know that. You looked me in the face when I told you, and said I had to do what I thought I must.
Faile is upset that they’ve left Bain and Chiad so far behind, but Perrin refrains from telling her how little she knows about the Aiel, and turns back to spot the three of them in the distance, running at incredible speed. Faile doesn’t believe that he sees them, though, and remarks to Loial that Perrin is “incredibly boastful” of his eyesight but has a terrible memory, even needing to be reminded to light a candle at night. She suspects that it’s just some poor family running from what they think is an earthquake.
Loial avoids engaging with this, and it’s not long until the Aiel come up to them, ribbing each other about their respective running abilities. Faile interjects sharply that it’s time to go, and that she can’t let a stray puppy stay close for long, lest it think she’s going to take care of it. Loial protests that she is taking this too far, but Faile only answers that she will take it as far as she must.
Perrin enjoys the journey through the farmland, but Loial gets irritated, muttering about the Ogier grove that used to be there, cut down just for grass. Perrin is reminded that while Ogier are not easy to anger, you really wouldn’t want one to be angry with you.
They finally find the Waygate, with its Avendesora leaf key. When Loial uses it to open the gate, even the Aiel are stirred. They all peer at their own reflections in the dully-shimmering surface.
“Once, it is said,” Loial murmured, “the Waygates shone like mirrors, and those who walked the Ways walked through the sun and the sky. Gone, now. Like this grove.”
Hastily pulling one of the filled pole-lanterns from his packhorse, Perrin got it alight. “It is too hot out here,” he said. “A little shade would be good.” He booted Stepper toward the Waygate. He thought he heard Faile gasp again.
Perrin goes through slowly, remembering what he learned the last time, and is followed by Gaul, who observes that Faile is angry with him for breaking the rules. He remarks that Perrin should not let Bain and Chiad get him alone, as they mean to teach him a lesson for Faile’s sake. But Perrin replies that he never agreed to these rules, and only follows them because he has to, due to her trickery. For now, he is taking the lead for as long as he can.
He indicates the white line that will lead to the first guidepost. They will need Loial to decipher it, but this much he can do on his own. Gaul asks if Perrin knows what he’s doing, and Perrin replies that he doesn’t, but there’s no need for Faile to know that. Gaul laughs, and observes that it’s fun to be so young, but Perrin can’t tell if Gaul is laughing at him or not.
He heels his horse on, knowing that he will be completely out of sight by the time Faile steps through. If she worries for a little, he thinks, it serves her right.
Earlier that morning, Elayne and Nyenave are taking a carriage down to the docks, and it’s not exactly a comfortable ride. Nynaeve tells the driver off angrily for managing to hit every pothole on the way, but Elayne thanks him for giving them the speed they asked, and doubles the amount of money she was about to give them, earning a grateful look and thanks from the driver, as much for her words as the coins, she thinks.
Nynaeve seems to take Elayne’s unspoken point, and admits she was unfair. But she also remarks that Elayne needs to be more careful with money, and that a family could live comfortably for a month on the money Elayne gives away to people just for doing the job they are paid to do. Elayne, in turn, is annoyed at the way Nynaeve seems to think they should live worse than servants unless there is a reason not to.
In any case, they are at the docks now, and the way they both reacted to the carriage driver is less important than how they are now going to handle the Sea Folk they are about to meet. Elayne expresses a hope that Nynaeve can be a little more tactful. Nynaeve answers that she will be, as long as they don’t toss her about, but Elayne’s first up-close view of the thin, light-looking ship makes her think it will toss about much worse than the carriage, even despite how large it is.
Elayne observes the crew at their work, dark-skinned, barefoot men and women, wearing gold and silver jewelry. The men are bare chested as well, while the women wear bright, colorful blouses and some have rings in their noses as well as their ears.
Elayne notices the gracefulness of the women, especially, and remembers hearing tales of the alluring and exotic beauty of sea folk women. She doesn’t think they look any more beautiful than other women, but the way they move makes her believe the tales. She also notices two women in particular, standing on the raised deck in the stern, whose rich, brocaded clothes set them apart, and is confused by the wheel behind them where there should be, she believes, a tiller for the ship’s rudder.
They approach the two women, and Nyenave gives them a careful greeting, worded based on Moiraine’s instructions to them, and introducing them as two Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. The older woman returns the greeting, introducing herself as Coine din Jubai Wild Winds, Sailmistress of the Wavedancer and the other as her sister, Jorin din Jubai White Wing, the ship’s Windfinder.
Elayne notes that there is something about Jorin, the Windfinder, that reminds her of Aviendha, although she can’t say exactly what. Coine takes them down to her cabin to talk about the possibility of granting the two Aes Sedai the gift of passage. Elayne is started to recognize a Seanchan helmet on display and asks where they came by it.
“Wavedancer encountered a Seanchan ship last year,” Coine replied. “They wished to take him, but I did not wish to give him up.” She shrugged slightly. “I have the helmet to remind me, and the sea took the Seanchan, the Light be merciful to all who sail. I will not go close to a vessel with ribbed sails again.”
“You were lucky,” Nynaeve said curtly. “The Seanchan hold captive women who can channel, and make them channel as a weapon. If they had had one on that ship, you would be regretting ever having seen it.”
Elayne makes a face, worried that the women would be offended, but if they are they don’t show it, and Elayne is starting to realize that they don’t show much of what they are thinking, at least not to strangers.
They all sit, and a woman in a red sash appears to serve tea. Elayne and Nynaeve are surprised when they see she is shirtless, and after the tea has been poured, the Sailmistress asks the young woman if there is land still in sight before sending her to work at cleaning the bilges until there has been no land in sight for a full day.
When the woman has gone, Coine apologizes, explaining that it is the young woman’s first voyage, and that the young often forget “the ways of the shorebound.” She offers to punish her further if Nynaeve and Elayne are offended, but Elayne assures her that only a fool is offended by customs different than her own. Inwardly, though, she is quite shocked, and a little worried that the Sea Folk won’t wear any clothes once they get out to sea.
“Nynaeve gave her a level look, bland enough for the Aes Sedai they were pretending to be, and took a deep swallow from her cup. All she said was “Please think no more of it.” It was not possible to tell if she meant it for Elayne or the Sea Folk women.
“Then we will speak of passage, if it pleases you,” Coine said. “To what port do you wish to sail?”
Nynaeve tells her that they wish to go to Tanchico, and offers a letter-of-rights which would allow the bearer “to draw up to three thousand gold crowns from bankers and moneylenders in various cities,” although those bankers and lenders probably don’t know that it is Aes Sedai money. Moiraine told Elayane and Nynaeve that such a vast sum might be needed to make the Sailmistress forsake her intended ports of call, but what she hasn’t told them, and that Coine proceeds to explain, is that the Sea Folk never refuse passage to anyone who ask except for Aes Sedai, and that Aes Sedai are almost always refused. Because this is well known, Aes Sedai almost never asks, and Coine is even more intrigued by the “gift.” Nynaeve, falling back into her usual bluntness, asks why the women brought them down to talk if they knew they were going to refuse.
To their surprise and confusion, Coine begins to talk about all the things that have happened, a man who can channel has taken the Stone and Callandor, and the Aiel ride to his aid, and war is breaking out over the land. The prophecies are being fulfilled, she says, but when Elayne agrees that “he” is the Dragon Reborn, Coine corrects her assumption.
Coine turned. “Not the Prophecies of the Dragon, Aes Sedai. The Jendai Prophecy, the prophecy of the Coramoor. Not the one you wait for and dread; the one we seek, herald of a new Age. At the Breaking of the World our ancestors fled to the safety of the sea while the land heaved and broke as storm waves do. It is said they knew nothing of the ships they took to flee, but the Light was with them, and they survived. They did not see the land again until it was still once more, and by then, much had changed. All—everything—the world—drifted on the water and the wind. It was in the years after that the Jendai Prophecy was first spoken. We must wander the waters until the Coramoor returns, and serve him at his coming:”
She talks about how most of the Sea Folk never set foot on land except to change ships, and how women ashore go to the sea to give birth, even if they must do so in a rowboat, as their people must be born and die on the water, and be given to the sea upon their death. But now the Jendai prophecy is coming true, including the part that said that Aes Sedai will serve him, “The White Tower shall be broken by his name, and Aes Sedai shall kneel to wash his feet and dry them with their hair.”
Nynaeve remarks that Coine will have to wait a very long time to see her wash any man’s feet, and tries to turn the conversation back to the question of passage. Coine insists on knowing why they would go to such a place, however, and the girls are forced to tell the truth, that they are hunting the Black Ajah. Elayne adds that, if they are not found, the Black Ajah may harm the Cooramor.
“The Light see us safe to docking,” the Windfinder breathed. It was the first time she had spoken, and Elayne stared at her in surprise. Jorin was frowning, and not looking at anyone, but she spoke to the Sailmistress. “We can take them, my sister. We must.” Coine nodded.
Elayne and Nynaeve share looks, confused as to why it is Jorin’s decision, rather than the Sailmistress’s. Just then, they are interrupted by a man, Coine’s husband, who has come to talk to Coine about trading snowfox pelts for three small barrels of Two Rivers tabac. He apologizes for interrupting them, but soon has other things to worry about, as Coine explains to him that they will not be staying in port long enough to wait for the pelts to be delivered, and that they are not going to the previously intended ports, but to Tanchico.
Coine’s husband, Toram, is frustrated further when the Sailmistress refuses to explain the change, and leaves angrily after she pulls rank on him. Elayne and Nynaeve apologize for being a cause of trouble, and assure Coine that they aren’t asking her to keep their secret from her husband, certain that he would be soothed by the three thousand crowns.
“I must keep you secret, Aes Sedai. What you are, and why you travel. Many among my crew consider Aes Sedai bad luck. If they knew they not only carried Aes Sedai, but toward a port where other Aes Sedai may serve the Father of Storms … . The grace of the Light shone on us that none was close enough to hear me call you so above. Will it offend if I ask you to keep below as much as possible, and not to wear your rings when on deck?”
Coine also goes on to refuse their gift of the letter-of-rights, doing the service instead for the Coramoor.
Jorin made a strangled sound. “My sister, has a Cargomaster ever mutinied against his Sailmistress?”
Coine gave her a flat-eyed stare. “I will put in the gift of passage from my own chest. And if Toram ever hears of it, my sister, I will put you in the bilges with Dorele. For ballast, perhaps.”
That the two Sea Folk women had dropped formality was confirmed when the Windfinder laughed aloud. “And then your next port would be in Chachin, my sister, or Caemlyn, for you could not find the water without me.”
Coine tells them that, as Aes Sedai in service to the Coramoor, she should honor them as she would the Sailmistress and Windfinder of another ship, but unfortunately she must make ready to sail. Just then she is cut off as Wavedancer suddenly begins to jump and thrash about, knocking against the dock, and Elayne is nearly thrown from her seat. As soon as the trashing subsides, Coine and Jorin dash for the ladder and hurry up to the deck, shouting orders.
Jordan’s really ramping up The Shadow Rising’s exploration of the relationships between men and women these past few chapters; continuing on with Faile and Perrin’s feud, showing us the tempestuous relationship between the Maidens and Gaul, and now showing a different but similar balance between Coine and Toram. In each case, the factors at play seem to be part culture and circumstance and part an innate difference between men and women that is true for all humans, though it expresses itself differently in different lands.
I’m still with Loial in my opinion that both Perrin and Faile are being childish in their stubbornness, and like Loial, I think the seriousness of their situation is more important than one or the other proving that they are right, or winning the argument somehow. Perrin is holding the line mostly because he still doesn’t want Faile involved. His feelings over the likelihood of his own death and the danger to her safety haven’t changed, and Faile’s manipulative tactics aren’t exactly designed to address those fears. Rather, she is focused only on the slight, and convincing him that she has a right to make her own choices and to stand beside him. I agree with her on this, but Perrin’s not going to be able to acknowledge it if he’s too wrapped up in his own fears, and he’s not likely to question his right to put that fear before Faile’s desires unless someone calls him on it.
Meanwhile, Gaul and the Maidens don’t seem to understand the full extent of the fight—or perhaps it just doesn’t mean the same thing to them. The relationship between men and women seems to be regarded by the Maidens as kind of game—see the Maiden’s Kiss—and I doubt they realize how Perrin feels, or would take his fear and pain seriously if they did. Gaul does, but whether that is a gendered thing or merely because he respects Perrin for the debt that he owes him I’m not sure. There’s also the fact that Gaul is older than the others to consider; Bain and Chiad are closer in age to Perrin and Faile, I believe.
Gaul is not without his own vanity and need to show off, however. I know the whole display he put on about following like stalking ridgecats and hunting wolves was supposed to be impressive, but I have to admit that I laughed a little.
It does make a lot of sense that the Maidens of the Spear would like Faile, and vice-versa. Faile has a similar temperament to the Maidens we’ve met thus-far, and the way she ran away from her home and seeks to become part of great legends would resonate with the Maidens: the way Aviendha talks about Wedding the Spear feels very similar to the way Faile talks about seeking her own great adventure. Faile also tried to fight Berelain, as Aviendha wanted Elayne or Egwene to do, when Berelain threatened to come between her and her man, so I imagine that garnered her some respect.
It’s hard to say right now how much of the relations between the Maidens and the other Aiel warriors are because of gendered rules in their society at large and which may be specific to the all-female Far Dareis Mai. The culture around Aiel courtship seems to generally align with how the Maidens talk about men. We also know that women who are friends might take the same husband. Rhuarc’s is the only example of married life that we have so far—we know he is married to a Wise One, although it isn’t clear yet if they have children together, since Amys isn’t his only wife.
In the meantime we are also learning about the Sea Folk and their culture. It’s tempting to see parallels between the two, the people of the desert and the people of the ocean, and I was particularly struck by Coine’s description of the Atha’an Miere’s experience during the Breaking. Just as the Aiel seem to have been driven into the Waste during the Breaking, so were the ancestors of the Sea Folk driven into the Sea, and I wonder if having the Coramoor return means a change in the lifestyle of their people, as it seems to do for many others. He Who Comes With the Dawn is supposed to lead the Aiel to reclaim “what was ours,” as Rhuarc puts it, which could mean leading the Aiel out of the Waste to a new home, or to a new way of life, or a new purpose. I have suggested before that the new Breaking prophesied in the Karaethon Cylce might be more metaphorical than literal, and it’s possible that it refers to the way Rand will change the lives and cultures of many people of the world, either directly or indirectly through the very fact of his existence.
It seems as though only women are captains of Sea Folk ships, although we can’t yet be certain there aren’t Sailmasters as well as Sailmistresses. I think that the job of the Windfinder is also a female-only position, although I have more evidence for this suspicion, given some of the clues revealed in this chapter.
You see at first, I assumed that Windfinder was merely a title for a navigator, just as Sailmistress basically means “captain.” But then I remembered how the Amyrlin’s envoy to Fal Dara used channeling to help speed their boats upriver—Siuan said that they turned currents to their aid and also that they “called the wind.” It makes me wonder, therefore, if the Sea Folk Windfinders are channelers who use their abilities for the benefit of the ship, much like the Seanchan damane are forced to.
Elayne did feel a kinship with Jorin—the Windfinder reminded her of Aviendha, although Elayne didn’t know why. I’m now basing a hunch on a theory, but if I’m right about Aviendha being summoned to Rhuidean because she has the spark, that might explain why Elayne feels this connection. We know, after all, that full Aes Sedai have the ability to recognize other female channelers as well as those born with the spark, and it seems as though this ability is a result of use of the power rather than a skill that is taught, so Nynaeve, Egwene and/or Elayne may be getting to that point now.
Also, while I believe it has been said that there are Aes Sedai in the Tower who came from the Sea Folk, that doesn’t mean that all of their channelers are sent to Tar Valon. Since the Sea Folk keep to themselves and even go so far as refuse to carry Aes Sedai on their ships, despite the custom of never otherwise refusing passage, this would enable them to keep their secret. It would also explain why Jorin’s input in whether or not to grant Nyenave and Elayne’s request was so important.
It occurs to me to wonder what happens to men born with the spark in the Sea Folk and Aiel cultures. Do the Wise Ones know how to gentle men? Are there women channelers among the Sea Folk who can perform the same task? I suppose I can see the Sea Folk asking the Aes Sedai for help in such matters, but surely the Aiel handle things internally. I’ve wondered the same about the Seanchan, too, and if the sul’dam and damane teams have ways of dealing with men who can channel. (Given the Seanchan attitude towards channelers who don’t suffer from the taint, I’m guessing they probably just kill the ones who do.)
Whether or not my theory about the Windfinder is correct, it still seems like the position, and the Sailmistress’s, is exclusively female, while the Cargomaster is always male. That’s not definite yet, but I’m pulling the assumption from the way Jorin genders her question about a Cargomaster rebelling against his Sailmistress, and from Coine’s comments about how they would entertain the Sailmistress and Windfinder from another ship.
If this is the case, it is yet another example of how Jordan treats the idea of gender roles within The Wheel of Time, and the strange separation of what women are and what men are. Different cultures have different roles, but the stark divide remains no matter if you’re on an Atha’an Miere ship or walking in the Aiel Waste. We have yet to encounter a culture whose roles are gender equal, where women’s participation in war isn’t couched in caveats and constraints, where gender doesn’t dictate, at least to some extent, what jobs are or are not open to a person. The only society so far that seems not to fall into this is the Seanchan, where social and class status is everything but gender doesn’t appear to factor in (unless you’re a damane). There is an Empresses, but no insinuation that only a woman can rule, as is the case in Andor. Suroth is able to rise up to take Turak’s position without gender being a factor, and the lower class servants and slaves seem to be treated and dressed the same regardless of sex.
I think the reason I keep getting caught on these ideas is that there are moments in The Wheel of Time where Jordan does unexpected and interesting things with gender. He takes the time to build different cultures with different attitudes towards gender relations, towards public or semi-public nudity, towards the professions and family positions open to the different genders. I’ll never love a binary, but I respect some of the very interesting and vivid details that he puts into his world-building. On the other hand, there are traits that remain universal, and universally agreed upon, despite one’s nationality. Women are always sneaky, and even when in positions of power they are often tricking or manipulating men into doing what they want. Men are more steadfast and loyal, but they are also more ruled by emotions and can be brought to acts of thoughtlessness or stupidity by them. So you can’t trust women, but men need a steady hand to make sure they do what they’re supposed to.
And it seems that in the world of The Wheel of Time, the only time a woman can be completely herself is if she is functionally or socially removed from men in some way. The Aes Sedai do not marry (with the exception of the Green Ajah and their warders, wich is a very particular power imbalance that still keeps the Aes Sedai somewhat separated, functionally speaking) and have no men within their ranks due to the taint. Aiel women can become warriors but only in a special company of their own, with special rules around marriage and family that do not apply to men. Andor has a history of always having a female ruler, but that gender reversal doesn’t seem to apply to the rest of society. The Women’s Circle may be the group really running the Two Rivers, rather than the Village Council, but once again the groups are divided, and the women’s part is based on manipulation and letting the men think that they are in charge.
Again, the Seanchan buck this trend, and we know that Wise Ones can and do marry, since we know that Rhuarc is married to Amys and Lian. Perhaps I will also rescind my judgement on the Sea Folk as we learn more about their society and customs: I was very intrigued by this suggestion that they have no upper-body nudity taboo for women, and that they are constrained instead by the rules of other societies to occasionally cover up.
I have a lot of other questions this week. I wonder if this theme around the extreme poverty in the Tairen lower classes will be a theme that comes around again, now that everyone is leaving Tear. I am curious about Nynaeve and Elayne’s struggle to understand each other’s class-informed perspectives about money, especially since Nynaeve in some ways seems more naive about poverty than Elayne. Sure, she has a point about Elayne not being careful, and Nynaeve is used to having a finite amount to work with. However, I wonder if Elayne isn’t actually more familiar with the struggles of the poor than Nynaeve, who grew up in an area without much of a class disparity. In the Two Rivers they might have suffered during a year of bad harvests or cruel winters, but that would have been as a community, and there would have been no lords and rulers safe and warm in their palaces while the people starved. Meanwhile Elayne has had conversations with her mother about aiding areas of Andor in need, we even have that first conversation with Rand about Elaida’s garden to show Elayne’s struggle with the idea. She may be more privileged, but she’s also been more exposed to the question of what she can do about poverty and suffering. Nynaeve has a more practical, think-of-yourself-first approach.
I wonder if Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne will all end up choosing the Green Ajah, as they have all been claiming Green while they’re pretending to be full Aes Sedai. It makes sense, of course, given that all three of them are currently deeply embroiled in the fighting against the Dark One. I also wonder if there isn’t a hint in this section as to the meaning of Min’s viewings—part of the Jendai prophecy says that “The White Tower shall be broken by his name,” and the Amyrlin, we know, is about to announce that the Dragon Reborn has taken Callandor. We also know that Elaida is suspicious of Siuan and Moiraine, and something tells me the Amyrlin’s announcement might not go as smoothly as she is hoping.
I mean, even if the White Tower did accept Rand as the Dragon, that doesn’t mean they’ll all agree as to what to do about him. And even if they got that far, I think Siuan and Moiraine’s secrets could still cause trouble for them if they come to light. There’s also the suspicious fact that we saw Elaida try to overthrow Egwene from her position as Amyrlin in the fictional future Egwene experienced during her trials, which to me feels like a symbolic warning rather than a literal picture of what is to come. Will Elaida pull a similar move against Siuan once the Dragon’s identity is declared? Will factioning amongst the Aes Seai create disarray that leaves them open to attack? An all-out civil war in the Tower seems unlikely, but I suppose it’s possible. More likely is that they’re so busy fighting each other that they give the Black Ajah exactly they opening they need in order to strike.
There’s a lot of conjecture in this week’s post, but I think that’s because the last few chapters of The Shadow Rising have been especially tight. Our protagonists have splintered off into groups again, but right now each team’s adventure feel like a gear that fits into the other, and you can see how they are all turning together, each one driving the other. There’s always a lot of clues and foreshadowing in Jordan’s work, but right now you can really see how the information a character imparts in one directly relates to what some other character learns in another. Even the titles seem to be in dialogue with each other.
I really do feel like I’m watching the Wheel weave, so to speak.
Next week we will cover two more chapters, 20 and 21, in which a few more familiar faces seek passage on Wavedancer and we get to find out what Rand did to make the Stone shake so much. Things are really picking up now, and it’s hard to believe we’ve only reached 20 chapters out of 58.
Sylas K Barrett isn’t sure, but using one’s hair to dry things doesn’t seem like it would work very well. Hair is not a towel.
Pretty sure Nynaeve is passing herself off as Yellow, not Green, isn’t she?
Your byline made me laugh. I have thick hair that is fairly coarse and absorbs a lot of water, and I probably could use it as a towel in a pinch (although I certainly wouldn’t want to).
But otherwise, really insightful comments, especially on how the cultures are described. One thing I would point out is that some of the tensions are not necessarily an ‘ideal’, so to speak. I won’t deny there is a binary, but I don’t think Jordan is espousing the strict division and working at cross purposes.
It will be interesting to see what you think of the Sea Folk as they go on. They tend to not be….popular.
@1 – not yet, I think.
“Women are always sneaky, and even when in positions of power they are often tricking or manipulating men into doing what they want. Men are more steadfast and loyal, but they are also more ruled by emotions and can be brought to acts of thoughtlessness or stupidity by them.”
I don’t think this is an intended takeaway. We just happen to spend a lot of time with some sneaky women (Aes Sedai) and a lot of time with three steadfast and loyal Two Rivers men who are very young.
Welcome Coine and Jorin, the only helpful non annoying Sea Folk in existence. Later encounters won’t be anywhere near as pleasant. The cross cultural perception of men being unreliable and needing to be controlled and women being controlling and manipulative is IMO clearly depicted as a problem and the social result of the Breaking. Only the non Westland cultures seem to be free of this perception, the Seanchan and perhaps the Sharrans. They both have fairly severe other issues.
Nynaeve’s lack of self awareness remains hilarious but this time around her misandry is really annoying me. Especially as Juilin and Thom have done nothing to deserve her attitude.
@mods:
“but Elayne assures her that only a fool is offended by customers different than her own.”
Should read “customs”. I think I also saw a couple of instances of “vary” instead of “very”, but not sure where now.
I remember thinking, based on their appearances early on, the Sea Folk were fascinating and might be the next “foreign” culture we spent a lot of time with, like the Aiel.
Unfortunately, they never got nearly the same amount of development, and spent much of their remaining on-screen time being a thorn in everyone’s sides.
@7 – Corrected, thank you.
@@.-@:
And the most steadfast and loyal person in the group is Nynaeve.
@2:
The very nature of Jordan’s culture-building points the finger that gender roles are entirely cultural, and not at all “baked-in” to a person’s physical sex. The universal takeaway is that societies tend to divide themselves into easily digestible categories and as a whole aren’t comfortable with things that challenge those preconceived boxes—a takeaway that is demonstrably true in our own world.
@9 absolutely
@5:
Yes—those are the two cultures that handled the Taint issue in a different way than the Westlands, Aiel and Sea Folk. Women with the Power are given positions of honor, men with the power are killed or sent off to die.
Because of that, they are perhaps less gendered.
@6:
Nynaeve’s attitude stems from the unresolved issues with Lan, I think. She’s taking it out on Lan’s representative, who also betrayed them and got them tortured. While she is aware he is not to blame for that, it subconsciously affects her behavior towards Juilin. Which is completely human—only fictional characters don’t suffer from this particular blindness. The rest of us subconsciously hold things against people that they had no control over all the damn time. And the mental gymnastics we do in order to justify those grudges can be staggering.
The other thing going on with Nynaeve here isn’t misandry—it’s her own insecurity in her leadership skills, which has been a baked in part of her character from her introduction. She was granted a leadership position in her hometown, at an exceptionally young age, because of talents and abilities that have nothing to do with leadership. And then had to grow into the position, which she did poorly. She was constantly challenged, and is insecure about it. She, being not self-aware, blames this on her looking young (that’s why she freaks out when she realizes it will be centuries before she gets grey hair).
She’s overcompensating with the men, not because they’re men, but because she is afraid they won’t follow her lead. And that insecurity is causing her to do the exact wrong things.
I started a Wheel of Time book club a while back to get a few friends to finally finish the series, and we just wrapped up The Dragon Reborn. At the end of that I was wondering if I might actually have a different opinion of Faile this time around, because I thought their arguing in that book was kind of cute and liked the conclusion of it. I was wondering why I’d had the impression from my first read-through of the series that their relationship borders on toxic and I hated both her and the way she treated my former favorite character.
Well, this. This is why. I forgot how much things escalate even before Berelain gets involved. Perrin’s not blameless here either, but Faile is so spiteful and intentionally hurtful about it. If the Plotline of Doom didn’t happen maybe they could have settled into marital bliss and started getting along early enough for me to come around on her, but that story stretching out over so many books really ruins any chance I had of liking them as a couple.
I almost needed a new keyboard after that bit. I wish there was a way to flag things to remember when Sylas actually gets to certain events.
Moderators: A bunch more typos:
cbut -> but
Sh -> She
Rhuidan -> Rhuidean
And t seems -> And it seems
relationship between the maidens and Gaul -> relationship between the Maidens and Gaul
Suddenly, Gaul’s comment that he would “try” to take Faile from the Two Rivers suddenly makes more sense -> One of the “suddenly”s is redundant.
@16 – Fixed, thank you.
There’s a “Three Rivers tabac” in there that should be “Two Rivers”
Anyway, definitely good analysis of perceived gender roles in a bunch of different societies. Including good memory of the Seanchan and their very gender-neutral heirarchy, with the obvious exception of channelers. But the beauty of the Two Rivers sequence coming up is that we get Perrin and Faile advised by the village council and the women’s circle, and by their individual members, and see how pretty much all of this fantasy villager misogyny is about how eye-rollingly invested everyone is in their small-town politics when they’ve got nothing better to do. Then shit needs to get done, and they all pitch in and get shit done.
The narrative on gender and culture improves greatly when you get to see more cultures and see them through one anothers’ eyes. Aiel courtship is neat, I guess, as is Ogier… Faile’s absorbed cultural binaries are the most annoying, go unexplained the longest, and then take even longer before they finally get their shit together. So that will be “fun” to watch develop. But the Aiel will be fun, and I think once we switch back to them we get to stay in the Waste for a while.
@18 – Fixed, thanks
@13, I agree with you completely about basic insecurity being the reason for Nynaeve’s behavior but she explains to herself and Elayne in misandric terms. At least she’s not manipulative, she goes for direct bullying instead.
Darn, another double post. It would have been nice to have spent as much time with the Sea Folk as with the Aiel and so developed a more nuanced and sympathetic attitude to their culture but unfortunately the SF’s role in the story becomes one of obstruction disposing us against them.
Yet more typos:
“the when”
“one the way”
“lok”
“Coromoor” → “Coramoor”
“Suian” → “Siuan” (twice)
“Turoc” → “Turak”
“their are”
“Woman’s Circle” → “Women’s Circle”
“Tieran” was probably meant to be “Tairen”
“they’re pretend”
I’m impressed with how Sylas figured out that windfinders are channelers based on such subtle clues.
@22 IIRC, back when this book came out, many speculated the Windfinders could channel based on Nynaeve’s “weather sense.” Seemed like a logical jump.
@22 – Fixed, thanks.
“Will factioning amongst the Aes Seai create disarray that leaves them open to attack? An all-out civil war in the Tower seems unlikely, but I suppose it’s possible.”
How man. I cant believe how well on the dot Sylas is with the predictions.
The line about washing feet with hair made me think of a story in the New Testament where a woman washes Jesus’ feet and dries them with her hair. This ties in with Rand being the one to save the world and beat Satan, a Savior.
@@@@@ 14 – Also worth noting that if we take the ultimate RJ mechanism of gender-flipping, the way Faile treats Perrin here is incredibly abusive. We have insight into Perrin’s thoughts that she doesn’t have, so from her perspective, this is just a guy trying to break up with her. Doing it poorly? Yeah, probably. But at the end of the day he indicated that he wasn’t interested in her anymore, whatever his reasons may be, and her response is to… basically destroy every other relationship of his she can get her hands on. Note that it goes to the point where (a) she is knowingly and deliberately putting him in physical danger (via the inherent dangers of the Ways) until he not only agrees to resume their relationship, but does so on grounds that explicitly involve him groveling to her for forgiveness, and (b) is also putting him in danger of physical retaliation from her friends. Which she also is probably aware of. If Bain and Chiad are close enough to Faile to be willing to assault Perrin for her sake, she probably is aware of their intentions and is tacitly agreeing with it, if not explicitly.
The actions Perrin takes later in this storyline are very f**ked up, to be certain, but given the context, which everyone must be aware of, it seems somewhat less egregious
@27: I have to agree. Perrin’s reasoning may be a little patronizing, but you don’t need a certain quality of reason to break up with someone. If you want to break up with them, that’s that. If you respond to being dumped like Faile does here, you’re a monster.
This is fun and applicable:
“… Some authors confront the truth that people suck by imagining a world in which people don’t suck in some particular way; I choose to say, ‘People suck. What do we do about that?'” – Brent Weeks
The weird thing to me about the Two Rivers culture is that there seems to be no acceptable version of teen ‘dating’. You are either actively courting a person (i.e. trying to get them to agree to marry you) or you maybe get to dance at very public celebrations a couple of times a year. No wonder Perrin and the others all have terrible relationships; no practice. They are out in the world where most everyone they encounter has likely had a chance to go thru puppy love and a relationship or two already and they’re like…”we kissed; now we have to get married.”
I think Faile isn’t quite all the way to being completely abusive yet; that’s the next chapter she is in. She is however getting really freaking close. I remember when I first read this chapter feeling very uncomfortable, and when the next one hit I had to put the book down for awhile I was so upset with her. Probably will always be my least favorite thing Jordan wrote, and I still cannot believe that there was never any kind of ‘oh crap I freaking beat my boyfriend/husband’ moment, or at least an acknowledgement of how bad it was.
Sylas’ question here — what do the Aiel do with male channelers? — made me so sad to think about when we actually find out what happens to them… 9 books from now. The two big things I missed in the series and never saw coming were that, and the truth behind Mat’s Ashandarei.
Per the Companion, Bain and Chiad are Egwene and Elayne’s age (i.e., roughly 18 at this point) and Gaul is “slightly older than Nynaeve” (who is roughly 25 at this point).
And although Seanchen has had Emperors in the past, in KoD it’s mentioned that Galgan is trying to become the first Emperor in 900 years, so it’s really essentially a matriarchy.
I didn’t find the subsequent Sea Folk characters especially annoying or unlikeable (mind you, I strongly dislike very few WoT characters), but remain miffed that we neber see or learn much more of their culture. I would have liked to spend much more time with them, even at the risk of envying them as I envy most ocean-oriented people(s). Given the weird aversion of most Shadowspawn to water, it makes sense that they would take to the sea in the Breaking (though channelers still wrought destruction on marine areas and islands) and won’t be centeal to the Last Battle, though Shadowspawn mostly vanish from the story for six books grumblegrumble so that’s not a perfect excuse.
“’Do you know what you’re doing?’ ‘Nope, but don’t tell anyone’ might be the most accurate summary of the series so far.” — Neuxue
Ah, when the Sea Folk were both interesting and genuinely helpful. Good times…
(What? Just choosing freely to help the prophecized savior of the world and not even bargain for it? Ridiculous!)
@35:
At least in the Aes Sedai’s case, he’s also the prophesied destroyer of the world, so there’s some excuse for wanting to control him.
@36:
Oh, absolutely.
I was commenting on how helpful and reasonable the current Sea Folk are, compared to how they’ll be portrayed later on in the series. (From: “Hey, it’s for a Good Cause and will help the Savior. We’ll help you even though it’s against our rules and will expose us, and I’ll even fund it myself, no need to pay us, thank you very much“, into: “Yeah, yeah, chosen one and all that, but we won’t lift a finger to help save the world unless you agree to this mile-long contract which gives us all kind of special goodies and benefits“)
@36 – Not only that, but the Sea Folk turned out to be utterly irrelevant to the series. They could easily be excised from the series. I haven’t read the series in a while, but it seemed like this “Coramoor” business just fell by the wayside. Totally forgotten.
Oops, my @38 should have referenced @37.
@38
I blame the kudzu plot for the Sea Folk’s appearance of irrelevance in the Last Battle.
They weren’t truly irrelevant – there are a couple throwaway references to how the Sea Folk channelers plus the Bowl of the Winds are the only thing keeping the Dark One from wiping out everyone with unimaginable storms – but yeah in a story with Traveling, naval superiority is sort of pointless for a large battle.
Outside of the Last Battle though, the Sea Folk were far from irrelevant, though their involvement is easy to marginalize.
1. Used the Bowl of the Winds to end the unending heatwave that the DO was throwing at humanity.
2. Turned the tide during the war for the Crown of Andor (multiple times, in fact).
3. Pivotal role in Mat’s escape from Ebou Dar.
All of these are easy to overlook because they were written as periphery events (especially 3) or the Sea Folk players involved were written as so unlikable that it is a natural instinct to not give them credit.
For example, one of my favorite book covers is the ebook cover for the Path of Daggers. It’s beautifully done artwork of Elayne, Nynaeve and Aviendha using the Bowl of the Winds. As great as the artwork is, though – it isn’t really accurate to the scene, which features the three mentioned above as part of a circle that is run by an expert Windfinder who has trained her entire life to use the Bowl.
@@@@@ 40 – RJ specifically talked about how shocked he was that the fandom didn’t make a bigger deal of the offscreen battle between the Sea Folk and the Seanchan that happened between Winter’s Heart and Crossroads of Twilight. To him it was some big giant horror that he thought everybody would be emotionally devastated by.
I thought it was the suicide of the Amayar where RJ was surprised that nobody cared about people we knew little about.
These Sea Folk are more likable because they are just a random trading ship. Later we only see the leaders who try to get the best deal for their people. They seem like troublemakers only because the reader has learned to identify with the AS characters who expect to be the natural leaders everywhere and are surprised when not everyone agrees. The Wise Ones have the same conflict with AS, but Wise Ones who treat AS like apprentices aren’t the only Aiel we see.
@41 – You’re thinking of what @42 said: the mass suicide of the Amayar, or the big “GASP” moment that RJ teased and which left people scratching their heads at what moment he was referring to after reading the book (Knife of Dreams).
“Perhaps I will also rescind my judgement on the Sea Folk as we learn more about their society and customs”.
^^ I am really looking forward to future takes on this subject. Sea Folk society/hierarchy and gender relations is super complicated and is, in many ways, unique in this world.
“Will factioning amongst the Aes Seai create disarray that leaves them open to attack? An all-out civil war in the Tower seems unlikely, but I suppose it’s possible.”
^^ Noted, lol.
_____
Sylas probably recognizes it, but the bit about drying with their hair (and washing feet) is a really big Biblical reference.
@42, 43: I’m searching a bit online for snippets about the Amayar’s mass suicide, and while I see a few people assuming that that was the “gasp” moment, I can’t find anything where people say that Jordan ever verified that that was what he was referring to — it seems he specifically said he wouldn’t reveal what the “gasp” moment was.
My recollection on this (about RJ being shocked that people didn’t show more, um, shock about the number of people who died in the Sea Folk flight from Ebou Dar) is based on Leigh Butler’s re-read, which upon re-reading I see she says that she can’t remember where she’d heard it:
https://www.tor.com/2010/11/26/the-wheel-of-time-re-read-crossroads-of-twilight-part-4/
@45 – He confirmed it without really confirming it. This is straight from his blog; there’s two entries 4 days apart:
The “Fixed, thanks” from the moderator @19 is missing a period at the end.
@13. Anthony Pero
Agree with everything you said, but your last sentence had me thinking:
Is it? Thom and Juilin are older and more experienced. If she acts too reasonable, they’ll soon take charge, and not pay much attention to her suggestions or protests. This could lead to disaster in Tanchico, because they’ll be going up against things of which they know nothing. The only way for her to maintain control is to act unreasonably enough that the men fear her outbursts.
Of course, her need to maintain control is a character flaw, whose origins as exactly as you described so well. Nynaeve needs to maintain control, even at the price of compromising her mission. Incidentally, this is exactly the root of her problems when channeling Saidar.
@14. ZetaStriker
Yeah, Faile in TDR is just fine, but after TSR it goes downhill. That said, links to an excellent analysis and defense of her character has been posted on a previous thread. The main argument is that via Perrin’s nose, we become privy to her thoughts, including unworthy thoughts which she recognizes as such and actively suppresses. So very often she is restraining herself from expressing jealousy or disappointment towards Perrin, but Perrin reacts as if she had slapped him in the face, and we react with him. This makes her seem more spiteful and childish than she really is.
28. Wittgen
To be fair to Faile, she sees right through Perrin’s flimsy excuses, and knows perfectly well that something else is going on. What she sees is not last night’s tinder date blocking her number, but the man who loves her going out of his way to hurt her deliberately.
38. Jon
Thank God it did, or we might have had the SPLASH to go along with PLOD.
Thom and Juilin are older and more experienced. Maybe she should listen to them? Maybe she should even tell them the truth about their mission and why the men can’t deal with the people they’re after? Maybe she and Elayne should realize that the men, who have experience digging up info, are much more likely to find a lead than the two of them are by aimlessly wandering the dangerous streets?
I wouldn’t have minded spending a bit of time with the Sea Folk. Maybe it would have helped balance the annoyance their leaders cause .