The Wheel of Time Reread Redux: The Eye of the World, Part 23

Poking my head in briefly–I’ll respond in more detail to this and last week’s later, a new job has eaten up so much of my time–but @alreadymad, no, Elayne and Faile do meet, in ToM when she and Perrin speak to Elayne about Manetheren. And @Herb, Perrin and Egwene do meet once more, quite memorably, in ToM when he helps her figure out how to stop Mesaana. And I believe we’re supposed to assume a lot of hobnobbing did happen in the Stone. At least when they’re all in the Heart and wondering where Perrin is, Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve know who she is and seem to think she’s good for Perrin, even if they aren’t quite sure of her yet. (I think Elayne was the suspicious one, but it might have been Nynaeve.)

Rand thinking Perrin would like Gawyn only to have it be Galad he ends up hitting it off with is probably a Jordan irony, and another hint at how Gawyn and Galad’s roles would end up being the opposite of their first appearance. But for what it’s worth, I think Perrin actually would have liked Gawyn, if he’d met him before the Tower coup.

So, a fuller reply now.

I reiterate from before: while obviously the Whitecloaks and the approaching Shadowspawn made it imperative they get out of Caemlyn, hearing that Rand met Elaida was surely another impetus to Moiraine to get out of town–she knew very well what Elaida was like and how she’d react to men being chased by the Shadow, let alone the Dragon Reborn.

I love Loial. I love how he just randomly keeps slipping into rambling asides–he is totally me. I’m definitely one of those fantasy geeks who loves worldbuilding details, and if I knew them would be either imparting them or debating and dissecting them. Loial is as much my alter ego as a boon companion.

Regarding the infodumping as it comes to the stories of the Eye of the World and the explanations for them: yes, Ishamael does explicitly say later that he wanted Rand to know of the Eye so he would come for it and either be corrupted or killed, or at least enable the Shadow to get it. And so he Compelled Jain Farstrider to tell that tale to the Ogier and mentioned it in the dreamshards to pique their interest. As for the Aiel, I believe I posited the notion a while back that they learned of the threat to the Eye from the Samma N’Sei, so it’s nice to see Leigh making the same suggestion. I’m not sure exactly how it happened (I had originally thought them encountering each other was random chance, or perhaps the Maidens went a bit far afield and ended up discovering the Town, or a raid of Trollocs and Samma N’Sei entered the Waste). But now that I recall Ishamael’s boasting, it seems either he allowed the Maidens to find the Town, or he told the Samma N’Sei to deliberately leak his plans to them after they found it on their own, then put on a good show by chasing and fighting the Maidens before succumbing (leaving one alive to tell the story). However it happened, I agree: that’s definitely a Hero of Another Story situation it would be fascinating to hear about in more detail.

Moiraine’s abilities with the dagger may never be explained, but I always got the impression either containing items of the Shadow is a regular thing taught in the Tower, or that for some reason she made a point to study Shadar Logoth–she doesn’t know enough to figure out what Mordeth did until visiting Vandene and Adeleas in the next book, but she certainly seems to know more than the average Aes Sedai. So it’s less that she has random unexplained abilities and more that she had unusual and secret interests she kept to herself to give her an edge on her quest through the years.

Anyway, so much good information–the false Dragons, the Forsaken’s names (great that she not only mentions the very two we meet in this book, but also the two who will last the longest and be the most trouble for Team Light), all three boys being ta’veren… I too had to snicker at Moiraine’s wry fourth wall breakage with her comment about the Creator taking a hand (more foreshadowing!). And the bit where Nynaeve claimed Moiraine’s words about the Dark One were “scaring the children” instead of herself was just as amusing.

And of course there’s the Ways. I agree, even though it makes perfect sense they would be used less later after the Portal Stones and then Traveling was introduced (and of course they’d avoid them because of Machin Shin let alone what happens thanks to Fain), it is sad they had to fade out of the series, they are such a unique and unusual concept. I also have to say I’m sad for another reason–namely that we never find out what happened to them in the end. We know they were corrupted by the taint, which is now gone–but since the madness remained in men’s minds, so would the corruption. We know no one can enter the Ways now thanks to the Black Wind. But is the Wind still there? What will happen to it? Will the Aes Sedai convince the Ogier to let them destroy all the Waygates? I don’t see how else the Ways could be wiped out so as be to created all new (and pristine) in the next turning of the Wheel…

I too wonder what the Eye was intended for. And yeah, considering everything that happened in AMoL, I don’t see how the Eye’s power would have helped either Rand or the Dark One appreciably. It’s entirely likely that whatever reason the Aes Sedai who made it thought it was needed for, its real purpose in the Pattern was to a) lure out Aginor and Balthamel so they could be destroyed and b) give Rand access to pure, untainted saidin–not just so he could defeat Aginor (or as it turned out force him into overdrawing it) and Ishamael, but make use of great channeling power without accelerating the progression of his madness, so he’d have much longer to carry out his tasks while still sane. I also have to agree with whoever had the theory that drawing on the Eye is how Rand forced himself, thus jumpstarting his training and giving him the huge boost in the Power he would need to survive until he found a teacher. This could explain a number of his deus ex machina inspirations, from his appearance at Tarwin’s Gap, to all his fights with Ishamael, to his appearing in the sky at Falme, to his instinctive use of TAR and his numerous surprise abilities that kept letting him win against Ishamael, Lanfear, Be’lal, Asmodean, Rahvin…

Anyway, it can’t be denied that keeping that much Power from the Forsaken was a good thing, and that bringing all the ta’veren together is probably what caused everything from Aginor and Balthamel’s poor showings, to the Creator stepping in, to how the fights with Ishamael and at Tarwin’s Gap went (the latter staving off another Trolloc invasion until much later in the series), and even to them finding the Green Man and the Eye in the first place. So whatever the original intent, much good did come of it.

Side notes: Moiraine seriously listened to suggestions from all of them, and took them into account while planning the journey? I find myself surprised and bemused. What could they have suggested she would have found useful and worthwhile? I suspect it was only Loial and Nynaeve she listened to, since I can’t think what the three boys could have said of use (except maybe something wolfly from Perrin). Also, I love how Egwene goes from subverting expectations by understanding what Rand was really saying by asking her to stay behind, and being touched by it, to getting angry when she thought he was lying about Elayne. Typical. :P

Love the foreshadowing with the blurred mirror in the dreamshard, to the whole Lews Therin/Moridin-link hoohah, and the freaky creepiness of the whole scene (yes Leigh was right about her original commentary, very King-esque), and the way Mat described holding himself… *shudders*

As for Ba’alzamon himself, I’m fairly sure him being Ishamael was intended all along, because so many of the things he says to Rand are quite clearly from Elan Morin’s life and knowledge, and while the Dark One would have access to those things through him, this always seemed far more personal and intimate. What was probably not planned was his surviving for three books despite seemingly being killed at the end of TEotW and TGH–since I know originally the first three books were one that got split rather like LOTR, in which case the final showdown with Ishamael was meant for the end of the single book, in the Stone. This could also explain the discrepancy in Moiraine’s words of how little time they had, though it is indeed true no one in-story knew how much time they actually had before Tarmon Gai’don. And while the term dreamshard wasn’t used until AMoL, it (and the explanation for what it was/how it worked) was surely in Jordan’s notes, so that isn’t really a retcon either. Still a cool explanation, and it makes a lot of sense considering how strong both Elan Morin and Lews Therin were in Dreaming/TAR.

@3 KalvinKingsley: Interesting. I hadn’t seen that. Not sure if I buy it, since again we still don’t know exactly what the Aes Sedai intended the Eye for, or thought it would be used for. And even if it was meant for the Last Battle, quite clearly Rand was able to win fine without it (his victory in the fight depended on willpower, morality, and wisdom, not sheer Power) and as stated above, stopping the Forsaken from getting the Eye (and saving the Borderlanders at Tarwin’s Gap) were still very important tasks. So.

@10 Ryamano: The clues were indeed all there to guess his real identity, but they were subtle enough it’d be easy to miss them or their import without being an idiot. As for your other comment…I’ve noticed that as with many other fandoms, the older, long-time WOTers tend to become brusque and impatient with newcomers or with anyone who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with them let alone dares to disagree; it’s easy to become so convinced of one’s own views and their rightness either due to longevity in the fandom or how long the theories and evidence have been debated to a conclusion, because they come to seem so natural and sensible that entertaining other possibilities seems nonsensical. But as to your specific comment…yeah, I noticed that about her too.

@12 Ways: It isn’t exactly never brought up again. I was always under the impression that the power Moiriane was speaking of was that to shield dreams which is taught to Egwene and which we see Moiraine herself use in New Spring, and which Rand also learns from Asmo. I doubt this would have kept the actual Dark One out, but it certainly worked on Lanfear and Ishamael (until the balefire link let Moridin bypass it). It is true, though, that the mere presence of Aes Sedai keeping things like the taint of Mashadar, the corruption of the Ways, or Shadowspawn away is clearly not that effective later on–since aside from Liandrin taking the girls through the Ways (which may have been accomplished through the Shadow driving Machin Shin away or some other means), all of those things kept coming close and attacking for many more incidents to come.

@14 gadget: Thank you!

@15 Crusader: Very good point.

@18 birgit: Tam had been outside the Two Rivers and thus knew the value of education. Knowing how to read would be valuable to both blacksmiths and horse traders, so Abell and Master Luhhan would have insisted on it (and Perrin, with his tendency to think, would have been attracted to it). Aside from her Ooh Ooh Girl status, Egwene was daughter of both an innkeeper and the Mayor. And of course a Wisdom would benefit from knowing how to read too. None of them were exactly typical Duopotamians.

While taking the boys to Tar Valon would have gotten Mat Healed faster, I doubt it’d have been safe for Rand or Perrin there. And setting aside the Gap, they would need the Horn and seal and banner later. Of course those could have been found somewhere else, but I’m blanking as to where else would have worked.

@21 MarielaB: Makes sense to me. Good thing Ishy didn’t count on Aginor escaping from the Bore and drawing too much instead, eh? Though he does say he thought Aginor’s greed would overcome him, so perhaps he did expect it…

@29 clintack: Very intriguing theory, it definitely has merit. I still think the Eye was needed to jumpstart Rand’s channeling ability without instantly pushing him into madness, but the fact it guarded the Horn and banner (things the Light needed) and a seal (something the Shadow needed) is just an extra layer of importance–not to mention more balance.

@30 Sian: I agree re: Perrin/Gawyn/Galad, and said so above. I also agree about Nynaeve and Faile! As for the Eye, the dreams in this chapter seem to give away that Ishamael knows who is who among the boys without needing it, since he already knew about Perrin being a wolfbrother from the earlier dream and in this one Mat picked up the figure with the dagger. But perhaps he needed further confirmation, and Rand channeling from it would be that. After Aginor’s death and Tarwin’s Gap, Ishamael does say “A long search, but ended now. You are here, and I know you.”