This week in Reading The Wheel of Time, we are finishing up The Path of Daggers. There’s an interesting juxtaposition with Min and Rand fleeing Cairhien while Egwene is finally about to arrive in Tar Valon, with Perrin trying diplomacy with Masema while Faile is captured by Shaido, who are breaking traditional Aiel laws in doing so. Also we have one of the saddest deaths so far in the series, which… is really saying something.
Having heard that Elayne is in Caemlyn and that she has had all the Dragon Banners taken down, Rand is in a foul mood. Min encourages him to go to Elayne, and points out that Rand wanted her to have the Lion throne. Rand agrees that he did, and now she doesn’t want anything to do with him, and that’s good because it means she is safe from his enemies. Min tells Fedwin, who is on guard duty, that the Dragon Reborn is sulking because he thinks a woman doesn’t want to see him.
Sorilea comes in, brushing past Fedwin, with five Aes Sedai in black da’tsang robes. They are some of those who kidnapped and tortured Rand and who were taken prisoner at Dumai’s Wells—Elza Penfell, Nesune Bihara, Sarene Nemdahl, Beldeine Nyram, and Erian Boroleos. Sorilea explains that all five have asked to be beaten the same way Rand was while their prisoner, and all have asked for the chance to try to make up for their shame. Sorilea says that their toh cannot ever be met, but that she has decided to leave the choice to Rand.
Min sees this as very out of character for a Wise one, especially Sorilea, and notes that Sorilea seems to be watching Rand carefully while pretending not to be.
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A Season of Monstrous Conceptions
Rand asks each Aes Sedai in turn one question: Why? Their answers vary. The Greens point out that Rand must fight in the Last Battle and the Battle Ajahs must follow him. Sarene, a White, says that it is only logical for her to follow Rand now. Nesune, a Brown, admits that she wants to study Rand.
Rand asks them if they would accept being confined to a box and they all answer that they would, though with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Min thinks that it is understandable that Rand would consider returning the treatment he got from them, but she knows he would regret it later and tries to think of what she could do to stop him from making this mistake. She is also seeing many auras around the women, including some that speak of glory and impressive deeds. Suddenly she sees one that encompasses all of them.
“They will serve you, each in her fashion, Rand,” she said hurriedly. “I saw it.” Sorilea would serve him? Suddenly Min wondered exactly what “in her fashion” meant. The words came with the knowing, but she did not always know what the words themselves meant. But they would serve; that much was plain.
Min sees Sorilea give her a small, approving nod. Rand’s fury seems to drain away, and he tells the five that they can swear to him as Kiruna and the others did. He tells Sorilea to put them with the rest of the “apprentices.”
On her way out, however, Sorilea remarks, seemingly casually, that Cadsuane is in the palace again, and that she seems to think that Rand is afraid of her. Rand almost immediately tells Min that he’s going to go see what Cadsuane wants, and asks Min to come with him. They have only gone a few steps down the hall when they are knocked down by a huge explosion from Rand’s apartments.
Rand immediately orders Fedwin not to channel unless he must, for fear of being detected, and to take Min down to the servants’ quarters. He tells Fedwin to kill anyone who gets in their way, and to guard Min with his life. As Rand runs off, Fedwin promises Min that he will take care of her.
Rand waits until Min is out of sight before he seizes saidin. For a moment he sees an image of Lews Therin in his mind’s eye, and tells the man in his head that he won’t let him win. Rand travels through the halls as quietly as he can, using a weave of fire and air to fold light around himself and render himself basically invisible, hiding from the Maidens and from Cadsuane leading a group of Aes Sedai.
But just as he lets the weave go, Ailil and Shalon, Harine’s Windfinder, peek out of a doorway and see him. Rand shields Shalon and ties it off with a knot that will unravel in a day or two, then leaves them tied up under Ailil’s bed. Then, coming around a corner, he sees Dashiva with Gedwyn and Rochaid, talking about whether or not Rand is dead. When Dashiva sees Rand he attacks with saidin. Rand channels a weave he doesn’t know, thinking maybe it’s one of Lews Therin’s, making a cocoon around himself that will keep out anything short of balefire. He bounces backwards before letting the weave go, then attacks Dashiva with red wires of fire and light.
He runs, not waiting to make himself a target, but when he eventually makes his way back to the spot he sees no sign of the three men. When he finally returns to Min, he learns that Fedwin now has “the mind of a small child,” and that Min had to keep him occupied and safe so that he didn’t use the One Power for anything. Rand has Fedwin shielded when Taim finds them. The way Rand and Taim look at one another makes Min think they are trying to decide whether or not to try to kill each other.
Taim explains that he only came by to report specific deserters—Gedwyn, Rochaid, Torval, and Kisman.
Taim offers to take Fedwin with him, but Rand tells him about Nynaeve and how she taught Rand what herbs were safe and which were not. He gives Fedwin some wine to drink, then holds Fedwin to his chest, urging him to sleep. Fedwin dies quietly, smiling, and Taim remarks that Rand is harder than Taim realized. He seems surprised when Rand tells him to add Dashiva to the list of deserters. Once Taim has left, Min tries to tell Rand that it is okay to cry for Fedwin, but Rand counters that there’s no time. They have to go.
Perrin lead a group towards Abila, where Masema is staying. It includes Neald and Grady, Balwer, and some of the Aes Sedai and Wise Ones. Elyas is also with him, but Perrin has left Faile in the camp. Perrin has followed Elyas’s advice on how he should interact with Faile, and has to admit that it has helped their relationship.
In the city, Balwer rides off on his own to gather information. The Aes Sedai keep their faces hidden as they arrive at the house Masema has commandeered for himself. Speaking carefully, Perrin announces that he has come with a message from the Dragon Reborn, and that the Prophet knows him. They are taken to a large room with a roaring fire, where Maseema is waiting.
His deep-set eyes burned with a black fire, and his scent… The only name Perrin could give that smell, steel-hard and blade-sharp and quivering with wild intensity, was madness. And Rand thought he could put a leash on this?
Masema begins to upbraid Perrin, then breaks off when the Aes Sedai drop their cloaks and reveal themselves. Masema is incensed, but Perrin calmly tells him that these Aes Sedai have sworn to obey the Lord Dragon, and asks if Masema obeys him, too—the Dragon sent Perrin to stop the killing and bring Masema to him.
Masema answers that he will obey his summons, but recoils at the idea of being touched with the One Power, calling it blasphemy for mortals to touch it.
“Perrin came close to gaping. “The Dragon Reborn channels, man!”
“The blessed Lord Dragon is not as other men, Aybara!” Masema snarled. “He is the Light made flesh! I will obey his summons, but I will not be touched by the filth these women do!”
Perrin considers having Masema knocked out and taken by force, but fears violence if anyone realizes what he and the Aes Sedai are doing. Sourly, he agrees that they will ride to Cairhien, rather than Travel, and wonders how they will manage to keep that long journey a secret.
Faile and Alliandre are hawking together, with Bain and Chiad nearby, and forty guardsmen looking after them. Maighdin serves as Faile’s maid. Faile is pleased with the recent change in Perrin. Now he ignores Berelain for the most part, and Faile no longer feels like she needs to curb her temper around him, or worry that he sees her as too weak to stand up to him.
Some of her people arrive to report that Masema has been meeting with the Seanchan. Faile can’t believe that Masema would ally with them, but Berelain points out that Masema hates Aes Sedai—and the Seanchan keep women who can channel as prisoners.
Faile decides she needs to ride and warn Perrin. Then they are attacked by seemingly hundreds of Aiel. Faile nearly escapes herself before her horse is shot out from under her. She fights, but is overwhelmed by a huge Aielman. She is stripped and brought to kneel beside Bain and Chiad, who have also been captured. The two Maidens protest, saying that Faile does not follow ji’e’toh and so cannot be made gai’shain, but fall silent when ordered.
Faile can’t fathom how the Shaido could be here. Maighdin, Alliandre, Arrela, and Lacile are also captured. As they are forced to march, Faile realizes that Berelain is the only one who escaped.
Egwene rides beside the column of initiates, considering how, in the month since she opened the novice book to all interested women, the number of novices has risen to almost a thousand. Egwene is mostly uncomfortable because two sisters brought in a group of girls from Emond’s Field, who are having a very hard time accepting that Egwene, the innkeeper’s daughter, is the Amyrlin Seat.
Siuan and Bryne seem to be getting along now, which surprises Egwene, and Sheriam has been growing more and more diligent in her role as Keeper. The Hall has continued to give Egwene trouble in every area they can manage—but continues to obey in all matters concerning Elaida. Romanda and Lelaine’s animosity towards each other continues to be useful to Egwene.
On Egwene’s order, thirteen linked Aes Sedai open a gateway a hundred paces across in the field before them. On the other side of the gateway snow is falling too thickly for Egwene to see far, but she still imagines she can see Tar Valon in the distance.
“It has begun, Mother,” Sheriam said, sounding almost surprised.
“It has begun,” Egwene agreed. And the Light willing, soon Elaida would fall.
Many rumors cross the land, rumors that Elaida has crushed the rebels, rumors that the rebels have put her head on a pike. Rumors that the Dragon Reborn has been broken and bound to the Aes Sedai, rumors that the Aes Sedai have been bound to him, and to the Asha’man. Rumors that the Seanchan have allied with the Dragon Reborn, rumors that he has cast them into the sea.
Across the nations the stories spread like spiderweb laid upon spiderweb, and men and women planned the future, believing they knew truth. They planned, and the Pattern absorbed their plans, weaving toward the future foretold.
I love that chapter 31, which has the traditional little afterword about how the rumors of these events spread across the world, is titled “Beginnings.” The opening of every book in the series always reminds us that there isn’t one big Beginning but that there are many beginnings, and I did feel as though a certain chapter was closing at the end of The Path of Daggers, and a new chapter will begin with Winter’s Heart.
I have also now written the word beginning too many times, and it has lost all meaning.
Both Rand and Egwene have now established themselves in their respective roles, insofar as they have been recognized by a good many people as being the Dragon Reborn and the Amyrlin Seat. They have both established a base of power, and both have faced the first tests of that power. However, when it comes to actually hanging on to the titles that they have acquired, and using their power to further ends, they are both still somewhat untested. Rand’s methods of uniting people under him has mostly been through conquering places and using people’s fear of him, and I think it’s pretty clear that this strategy will only take him so far. He needs willing allies, and to be someone who people want to follow. Someone who people trust. That won’t be an easy feat to accomplish, given the preconceived notions that people have about the Dragon and the knowledge of the taint on saidin, of course, but as impossible as it probably seems to him, I am certain that it is necessary. I suspect this will also be part of Cadsuane’s lesson.
And if Rand’s alluded-to plan to cleanse saidin works, that would certainly be a big step in earning the world’s trust. People won’t just lose their fear of male channelers overnight, but such a feat would show Rand in a really positive light, not only as someone who is doing Good, but as someone who can achieve things that even other channelers would think impossible. The thinking might be, if the Dragon can get rid of the taint, maybe he can also actually win the Last Battle.
Egwene is still untried as Amyrlin. She’s achieved what she has so far through political maneuvering, but she hasn’t been the Amyrlin long enough for us to see the results of her decisions. This attack on Tar Valon will be the first test of those decisions, and the results will shape the future of the Aes Sedai in a number of ways that I imagine no one, not Egwene or Siuan or anybody, has yet anticipated. Hopefully, Egwene’s Aes Sedai will be able to reunify the Tower under their very new, very young Amyrlin, but I imagine there will be complications in that, even if their army is able to defeat Elaida’s.
And of course, the Black Ajah is still in the Tower, and Egwene still has “Halima” and Delana with her—probably some other Black Ajah members as well. (Sheriam? Maybe?)
Perrin is also at a turning point, I think. Although he’s still uncomfortable with the idea of being a lord, he’s starting to accept it as an unfortunate necessity. He’s coming to some kind of equilibrium with Faile, with his wolfbrother nature, and with his identity as someone who doesn’t like violence, but sometimes must participate in it. But at the same time, all these relative moments of balance are about to be challenged, with Faile’s kidnapping, with the return of Elyas, and with the question of what to do about Masema. I have a feeling that in the next book, Perrin is going to be forced to face his demons in a whole new way, and might come to some interesting and surprising realizations.
I think Rand will have a similar journey, and hopefully he and Cadsuane will come to some kind of understanding, some kind of truce, that Rand can live with and that can help take him and the Asha’man to a better place. If the taint can be cleansed and Rand’s personal fear of vulnerability be mitigated, both he and his Asha’man are going to look very different than they do now.
Speaking of Asha’man, Taim showing up to report that Gedwyn and Rochaid are deserters right after they tried to kill Rand seems incredibly suspicious to me. It’s like reporting your car stolen right after you committed a crime in it—the timing is just too on the nose. Not to mention the question of how Taim would even know that the two have gone AWOL—if they were with Rand in Cairhien, Taim would have no way of knowing that they weren’t where they were supposed to be until someone reported it to him, and I don’t think there has been enough time between the explosion and when Taim shows up for any of the other Asha’man to know for sure that everyone isn’t accounted for.
At this point I feel like Taim just about has to be a Darkfriend. But there’s always still a chance that he’s Rand’s enemy but not technically sworn to the Dark. Taim’s open hatred for Rand has been clear since day one, and he’s obviously tried to undermine Rand wherever he could, making the Black Tower his own and giving many of the other Asha’man the same disdain for Rand that he so clearly carries. It’s even possible that Taim has convinced himself that Rand isn’t really the Dragon, or that, Dragon or no, Taim himself could act in Rand’s stead during the Last Battle. Or something along those lines. He is a channeler of saidin, after all, which means that the taint is working upon his mind—some kind of extreme delusion of grandeur like this would make sense in that context.
The thing that is throwing me is how little Rand seems to suspect Taim. Most of my questions about Taim come from a narrative perspective. Could he be a red herring to distract us from some other Darkfriend in Rand’s periphery? Is it so obvious it’s too obvious? How much of Rand’s hatred of the man comes from Lews Therin? Etc. But if I were Rand, I feel like I’d be pretty certain Taim is a Darkfriend, especially after this. All four of these “deserters” seemed very loyal to Taim, and, again, the timing is so suspicious. As Taim’s timing always is. As is his obvious hatred of Rand, and the hatred he is clearly instilling in other Asha’man. Rand hates Taim, as well—though he may be putting that down to Lews Therin’s influence?
Taim being surprised that Dashiva is also among those who tried to kill Rand is interesting, but doesn’t really point one way or another. If Dashiva is Osan’gar, he might not choose to reveal his true identity to regular Darkfriends—even Asan’gar is keeping that a secret, using other methods to secure Delana’s cooperation and service. If Taim is a Darkfriend and ordered his men to kill Rand, it makes sense if he didn’t think Dashiva would be involved. On the other hand, if Dashiva was the one who orchestrated the attack, not Taim, then Taim’s surprise might just be because he had heard about the others but not Dashiva.
Only, again, how would he have heard about them? That’s the question that feels most important to me, and I also think that it makes narrative sense for Taim, Rand’s second, to be a Darkfriend. Jealousy of Lews Therin drove so many of his closest friends to swear to the Dark, after all. And the more I turn it over in my head, the more I think that Taim almost has to have been involved in orchestrating this attack on Rand, and that he’s either a Darkfriend or that his taint madness has taken a Padan Fain route and focused in specifically on Rand as an enemy that must be destroyed.
Meanwhile, Perrin is dealing with a very different kind of madman. I can’t help wondering if there’s more to Masema’s actions than we understand, possibly some kind of manipulation by the Forsaken. There isn’t really anything specific to indicate this, but given the Dark One’s directive to sow chaos in the land and how the Forsaken seem to have a hand in destabilizing every other major power in the story, it seems unlikely that they wouldn’t at least be monitoring what’s going on with the man, and possibly encouraging his more unhinged and violent tendencies. His hatred of Aes Sedai is pretty strong given that he doesn’t have any specific reason for it—he’s Shienaran, so would have been raised with respect for Aes Sedai, and hasn’t had any bad encounters with them as far as we’ve seen. Since he saw Rand fighting Ishamael in the sky over Falme, you can see how he got the idea that the Dragon Reborn is something more than a human being. But the idea that Rand is “the Light made flesh” comes a little too close to the idea that some of the Forsaken have that they have become something more than human.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it feels like there’s probably something about Masema that we haven’t encountered yet. Maybe it has to do with these talks with the Seanchan. Berelain’s point that Masema might like the Seanchan because of their ability to enslave Aes Sedai makes sense, but I can’t really think what the Seanchan would want from him. He and his people are exactly what the Seanchan despise in a culture, and Masema doesn’t have enough power to be a real threat to the Seanchan, as far as I can tell. However, if he is being manipulated or used by the Dark, there might be a reason for Suroth, specifically, to be in contact with him.
And speaking of manipulation, I was curious if any of the da’tsang Aes Sedai who came to swear to Rand were under Verin’s pseudo-compulsion trick… and then I went back and checked the Prologue and sure enough, Beldeine was one of the women she worked with while in the Aiel camps. This is, no doubt, why each of these women had their own very different reasons for deciding to swear to Rand—Verin’s more convoluted, weaker version of compulsion requires the subject to find their own reasons to obey.
That might also explain Min’s viewing that each woman would serve Rand “in her fashion.” They have sworn to obey him so unless one of them is Black Ajah (which would raise some different questions about the power of Verin’s weave) they will have to stick to those oaths. But if their motivations to serve aren’t to actually help Rand, that might have some interesting results.
I found Rand’s upset over Elayne both amusing and heartbreaking. Amusing because, as Min points out, Rand is basically sulking because he thinks the woman he likes doesn’t like him, like a boy in a teen movie. There’s definitely some classic Robert Jordan-style “men and women communicate so differently they can’t understand each other” here, especially with the reference to the two different letters Elayne wrote to Rand, way back… whenever it was. I had forgotten all about them, but I think that was also the last time they saw each other in person. In my mind Rand took those letters far too seriously, and it’s interesting that he never guesses that Elayne might be nervous about the same thing that Rand is nervous about—giving someone else too much power over her heart.
We learn in chapter 29 that Perrin and Faile are communicating better because Elyas has been giving Perrin advice on handling Saldaean women. It’s nice to see that they’ve been able to bridge that gap between them—although again, I feel like Faile could have just been straight with her husband about the kind of behavior she expects from him. I did have a little more empathy for Faile when the narrative acknowledged that she was thinking about the fact that Perrin isn’t Saldaean, and that she was aware that her hurt and upset was emotional, not strictly logical.
I’m not really one for the old-school heteronormativity that’s written into the interactions between men and women in this story, regardless of their different cultural trappings, but I do appreciate how the Saldaean culture makes the power play between the genders overt, rather than covert. There’s an honesty there I can appreciate, though I suppose that it’s also part of the reason I’ve been so irked with Faile when she wouldn’t just spell out the dynamic for Perrin.
Rand, meanwhile, can’t seem to figure out why Elayne might want (and need) to make her claim to the Lion Throne without his help, or that her personal care for him might not be in play when she is working the political side of her life. On the one hand, that feels a little silly of him, and that’s where we get the sulky side that Min is so exasperated (and a little bit amused) by. But on the other hand, I think that this reaction speaks to how little Rand is able to separate the different aspects of his identities. He doesn’t really think of himself as a person anymore, doesn’t think of Rand al’Thor as being a man outside of the legendary, prophesied Dragon Reborn. For him, there is no difference between Elayne tearing down the Dragon Banners and Elayne telling him to his face that she doesn’t love him. I think this part of his and Min’s exchange really covers exactly how he’s thinking.
“Haven’t you twisted yourself into knots to make sure she got the throne of Andor? Which is hers by right, might I add. Didn’t you say you wanted her to have Andor whole, not ripped apart like Cairhien or Tear?”
“I did!” he roared. “And now it’s hers, and she wants me out of it! Good enough, I say!”
Even when Min points out that everything has worked out politically just as Rand wanted, and reassures him several times that she knows Elayne loves him and wants to see him, Rand doesn’t so much reject her words as seem unable to hear them.
Of course, Rand’s deep-seated self loathing is also a factor here; he thinks of himself as a monster whose soul is damned, and he anticipates rejection at every turn. No doubt part of the reason he is so worked up is that he really does believe that Elayne is safer if she doesn’t want to be with him, but also he still wants her to be with him. No doubt he feels terribly ashamed over that. We also know that he feels shame over the fact that he’s kind of in love with three different women, which further complicates his ability to engage sensibly with his own emotions.
I really, really appreciated Lews Therin’s comment (and there’s a sentence I didn’t anticipate writing) that “Eagles and women can only be kept safe in cages.” Rand and Perrin have both really struggled with their own fear of losing the women they love, which is of course understandable, but it does come with a desire to curtail their lovers’ freedom. Perrin has had to accept that Faile won’t always stay behind, that she is the kind of person who rides into danger and who will always insist on being included in important tasks and journeys (an acceptance that will no doubt be hard to hang onto now that she’s been captured). Rand has tried to take care of all of Elayne’s obstacles to obtaining the Lion Throne, to “gift” it to her, and is angry and hurt that she is rejecting his help, even after Min points out that Elayne has her own right to the throne, outside of Rand’s designs for it.
And yet he has also tried to run from all the women he loves, determined that he is too dangerous to allow any of them close to him, and has really struggled with their insistence that they get to make their own choices. This is the same problem he is having with the Maidens—Rand knows that he has promised to take them into battle, knows that they experience pain and shame when he doesn’t keep that promise. He knows that for the Maidens dying is considered part of life, that they have chosen the life of warriors and that they view dying as something to be embraced, when necessary, not feared or avoided. And yet still he tries to control something that is not his right to control. His pain is understandable (and amped to a fever pitch by Lews Therin’s pain regarding Ilyena), but rather than confront that pain, he chooses to let it fester, to wallow in it, and the Maidens continue to feel shamed by his actions. Not only that, his refusal to accept their agency, to accept Elayne’s agency, is leading to him losing the little emotional support he has left. Only Min remains, now, and she has been very careful in the ways she challenges him, backing down more often than not. I’m not sure what would happen if she were to be more forceful.
I suppose I should be a little more fair to Faile here, now that I think about it. Perrin’s desire not to yell at her, to treat her softly and with kindness is not about thinking her fragile, as Saldaean culture believes—that’s just the kind of person Perrin is. He doesn’t like yelling or being angry, even outside of the cultural context of how a Two Rivers woman would expect to be treated. But from a Saldaean point of view, part of a man arguing forcibly with, and even shouting at, his wife is to prove that he doesn’t believe he has to protect her from himself. Proving that he believes her strong enough to stand up to him, and to have a different opinion than him, and thus, to have her own overt agency in their relationship. I may quarrel with how this expression is made, but I have to respect Faile’s desire for it.
I haven’t touched on Fedwin’s death at all this week, but that’s because I’ve realized I had so much to say about it that it deserved its own essay. That will be next week’s post. In the meantime I’m left musing about the future, about how Mat is doing and if Rand’s defeat of the Seanchan is affecting him, and how long it will take Nynaeve to get Lan’s bond transferred to her. A while, maybe, since they’re in Caemlyn and Myrelle is with Egwene, about to take on the siege of Tar Valon.
That’s going to really be something, I think.
Sylas K Barrett is still quite ill, and would like a visit from the Yellow Ajah, please. Also, fantasy and historical books always make hawking sound so fun.
