Hey! The Wheel of Time Reread Redux is walking here, we’re walking here! Today’s Redux post will cover Chapter 8 of The Great Hunt, originally reread in this post.
All original posts are listed in The Wheel of Time Reread Index here, and all Redux posts will also be archived there as well. (The Wheel of Time Master Index, as always, is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general on Tor.com.) The Wheel of Time Reread is also available as an e-book series! Yay! All Reread Redux posts will contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series, so if you haven’t read, read at your own risk.
And now, the post!
Chapter 8: The Dragon Reborn
Redux Commentary
It’s sort of hard to remember, at this point, how tense this chapter was to read the first time, when I didn’t know what the outcome would be. But I’m pretty sure that on that first read I was more or less literally on the edge of my seat.
As they approached the women’s apartments, Lan suddenly snapped, “Cat Crosses the Courtyard!”
Startled, Rand instinctively assumed the walking stance as he had been taught, back straight but every muscle loose, as if he hung from a wire at the top of his head. It was a relaxed, almost arrogant, saunter. Relaxed on the outside; he certainly did not feel it inside.
Aw, yeah, baby.
I’ve tried multiple times to try and picture what this walk actually looks like, and I’ve found it’s rather difficult to keep my mental picture from sliding into something ridiculous, but actually what I seriously think of now is Charlize Theron’s explanation of how to walk like a queen, which is a deliciously fulfilling way to get people to clear out of your path on a crowded sidewalk.
Um, or so I hear. *cough*
The murder queen walk isn’t quite right either, of course, but it probably comes closer than anything else I can think of offhand. What Rand doesn’t articulate about the walk (because it doesn’t occur to him at this point) is that it is the walk of someone who is dangerous, and not even necessarily physically. Because in the normal scheme of things, no one in Randland would ever walk that way unless they knew the precise extent of their own worth and purpose in the world, and judged it to be pretty darn high. Basically, it is the walk of someone who is not to be fucked with. Which is why it is awesome.
This is not something Rand really realizes until later, but when he does, he uses it to great effect. So it is a damn good thing that Lan taught this to him early on, even before he knew he’d need it.
As to The Scene with Siuan and Rand: yep, still awesome, yep, still one of my favorites in the series. But this was kind of a given. What interests me more about this scene this time around, actually, is how amazingly well it encapsulates Jordan’s larger theme of demonstrating the effects of gender prejudice, by flipping the standard power imbalance from male to female. I’m not even sure, in fact, whether Jordan himself realized how deftly this scene does this.
Look at the elements: Rand is obliged to walk into an enclave of women, into a deeply intimidating space where his own gender is unwelcome at best and blatantly excluded at worst, to confront an entire passel of women whom he knows hold absolute power over his fate. And their power over him is not just socially and politically mandated, but physical as well; Rand may be destined to have Phenomenal Cosmic Powers, but at this particular moment any Aes Sedai in the castle could tie him in a knot without breaking a sweat, and he knows it.
And they know it, too, and that is reflected in all kinds of ways, both overt and subtle, in the first part of this scene. Siuan’s use of the dismissing diminutive “boy” to address him. The Aes Sedai’s ever-so-slightly derisive commentary on “Warder ways,” like, oh, those silly men and their little traditions, how amusing. The way they talk around Rand rather than to him, making him the object of the conversation rather than a participant. True, this was in part because Siuan was testing him (or at least that’s what she claims), but to someone who is regrettably more than familiar with these kinds of microaggressions in the reverse form in the real world, it is part and parcel of the way someone behaves to another person whom they see, either consciously or otherwise, as inherently inferior to themselves.
And I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this sort of scene played out in the “standard” manner, where the female protagonist must walk into an enclave of men (i.e. the world) and be obliged to prove herself worthy of her implicit demand to be taken seriously by doing so.
Jordan is not the first SF author to do this, of course, and in fact more than a few people have accused him of ripping off, for example, Frank Herbert’s Dune series, which features (among other things) a powerful, secretive, and manipulative female organization with extraordinary powers (the Bene Gesserit) and a male Messiah figure (Paul Atreides) who has access to these powers even though they are generally forbidden or not available to men. However, any close reading of the Dune series will reveal that there are far more differences between Jordan’s and Herbert’s work than there are similarities, and that both authors drew the elements of their work which are similar from a vast communal body of literary and mythological references which precede them both by hundreds or thousands of years.
That said, both authors clearly recognized the visceral impact it would have to reverse (to greater or lesser extent) the power dynamic between the genders, and Jordan, at least, did not hesitate to employ that fact to make a point. If Rand had been female and the Aes Sedai male in this scene, but it had otherwise played out the same way, it is quite likely that very few readers would have even noticed the sexism on display (especially not twenty years ago), or even if they had, would have considered it normal and expected behavior. But switching it around (sadly, perhaps) makes it stand out like a sore thumb.
So I can love that Jordan flipped his gender power dynamics in such a way that it makes it so much easier to point out the subtler aspects of sexism to those who might not ordinarily perceive it, while at the same time lamenting the ironic sexism in the fact that we are so well-conditioned to identify with the male viewpoint over the female that it is necessary to do so in the first place. Sigh.
“I told you the truth, Rand,” Moiraine said. She sounded as if they were having a pleasant conversation. “Those who could teach you, the male Aes Sedai, are three thousand years dead. No Aes Sedai living can teach you to touch saidin any more than you could learn to touch saidar. A bird cannot teach a fish to fly, nor a fish teach a bird to swim.”
“I have always thought that was a bad saying,” Verin said suddenly. “There are birds that dive and swim. And in the Sea of Storms are fish that fly, with long fins that stretch out as wide as your outstretched arms, and beaks like swords that can pierce… ” Her words trailed off and she became flustered. Moiraine and the Amyrlin Seat were staring at her without expression.
Rand took the interruption to try to regain some control of himself. As Tam had taught him long ago, he formed a single flame in his mind and fed his fears into it, seeking emptiness, the stillness of the void.
Heh. Who knows if this is wishful thinking or what, but I will totally consider this Verin’s sneaky way of helping Rand by deliberately disrupting Siuan and Moiraine’s mind games. Secret Ally Verin rocks!
“You are the Dragon Reborn.”
Rand’s knees gave way; he dropped to a squat, hands slapping the rug to catch himself from falling on his face. The void was gone, the stillness shattered. He raised his head, and they were looking at him, the three Aes Sedai. Their faces were serene, smooth as unruffled ponds, but their eyes did not blink. “My father is Tam al’Thor, and I was born… ” They stared at him, unmoving. They’re lying. I am not… what they say! Some way, somehow, they’re lying, trying to use me. “I will not be used by you.”
“An anchor is not demeaned by being used to hold a boat,” the Amyrlin said. “You were made for a purpose, Rand al’Thor. ‘When the winds of Tarmon Gai’don scour the earth, he will face the Shadow and bring forth Light again in the world.’ The Prophecies must be fulfilled, or the Dark One will break free and remake the world in his image. The Last Battle is coming, and you were born to unite mankind and lead them against the Dark One.”
And then there are some things which aren’t about men and women, really, and are just about, well, as I’ve said before, being tapped on the shoulder one day and told, “Hey, you get to save the world and wreck it too, all at once! SUCK IT, SUCKER.” I think we can agree that that is a universally not-fun announcement no matter who you are.
Well. At least, not for the person receiving it. For the person reading about it (i.e. us), it was pretty much completely badass. Ahem.
As for Nynaeve, yep, the mashiara scene still tugs goopily at my heartstrings. And since we’re evidently going with a theme today, I should mention (even though I’m sure I already have at one point or another) that a lot of what I love about Lan and Nynaeve’s dynamic is that theirs is a relationship that should be wildly imbalanced, for all the reasons I listed above, and yet weirdly isn’t, even before they took their wacky Sea Folk marriage vows in ACOS.
This is mainly because, I think, that where each of them would (in their own way) have run roughshod over any other partner, with each other, their jagged edges just… catch and hold, like interlocking ridges. Irresistible force meets immovable object, and it is hilariously beautiful. You know?
Tears blurred [Egwene’s] vision as she threw her arms around [Rand]. “You take care of yourself,” she said fiercely into his chest. “If you don’t, I’ll—I’ll…” She thought she heard him murmur, “I love you,” and then he was firmly unwrapping her arms, gently moving her away from him. He turned and strode away from her, almost running.
I know Rand and Egwene spend quite a lot of time together again between now and the end of the series (sniffle), but this still feels like their second-most important goodbye. Because this is, I think, where they both really say goodbye to any hope that they will be anything other than friends.
“I don’t think you should call me Wisdom any longer,” Nynaeve said suddenly.
Egwene blinked. It was not required, exactly, and Nynaeve never insisted on it unless she was angry, or being formal, but this… “Why ever not?”
“You are a woman, now.” Nynaeve glanced at her unbraided hair, and Egwene resisted the urge to hurriedly twist it into a semblance of a braid. Aes Sedai wore their hair any way they wanted, but wearing hers loose had become a symbol of starting on a new life. “You are a woman,” Nynaeve repeated firmly. “We are two women, a long way from Emond’s Field, and it will be longer still before we see home again. It will be better if you simply call me Nynaeve.”
“We will see home again, Nynaeve. We will.”
“Don’t try to comfort the Wisdom, girl,” Nynaeve said gruffly, but she smiled.
And just to complete the theme, because why not: Robert Jordan, people—passing the Bechdel Test with flying colors since 1990! Yay!
And that’s the post, y’all! Have a lovely Fourth of July weekend if you’re of the American persuasion, and I’ll see you again next Tuesday!
I think the best part of these chapters is the telling of the prophecy by Gitara Moroso. Loved that scene. Loved it even more in NS
I wonder how the rest of the meeting would have gone had Verin not sidetracked Moiraine and Siuan with Verin’s comments about fishes and birds. As Leigh quoted above, this gave Rand the chance to use the flame and void. It helped calm Rand’s nerves.
Leigh, I disagree. I do not think Verin was tyring to be sneaky in this scene (re her comments about fishes and birds). I think this was an example of Verin getting easily sidetracked. In her visit with Egwene in TGS, Verin admits that she often will be easily sidetracked during a conversation. Once Verin stopped rambling during her conversation with Egwene, her eyes became almost predatory. During the fish and bird interlude, RJ does not describe Verin as having those predatory like eyes.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
@2 Andrew
Heh. Who really knows with Verin? The women spends so much time merely obfuscating stupidity or flightiness that we sometimes forget she really is the flighty scholar type who occasionally goes “ooh shiny” and gets distracted from the matter at hand.
Still given how badly I personally felt Moraine and Suian handled Rand in these early sections (from a psychological standpoint not a literary one), that I guess I kind of want this to be an example of her out-Sediing Moraine and Suian. Hmm Sediing, is that a thing? Can we make that a word? I feel like that should a be a word.
@3 wcarter: Sedaiing, maybe? Sounds like something Mat would say… for a moment I actually thought he did, but that was saidaring – or something like that, wasn’t it?
Leigh, I think you broke imgur! I got possibly a better picture then the intended link though (the overcapacity gif), a giraffe sitting down with a flock of cats weighing its back down lol
@2 Andrew – I think Verin was as sneaky as Leigh is making her out to be. Her distracted meanderings was definitely an act. We see it in just about every later scene where Jordan emphasizes her dreamy and distracted air with a follow-up comment about her eyes being bird-bright, for a moment she appears more than she is. I think Verin knew exactly what she was doing.
Glad I am not the only one who has practiced Cat Crosses the Courtyard IRL…. I always imagine this to be one of Jordan’s favorite passages (I have no proof for this) since he always said in interviews that his first idea for the book was what would happen if you take an ordinary guy and tell him he has to be the savior of the world… and here is the scene.
Doesn’t RJ pass the Bechdel Test in the scene where Moiraine and Egwene discuss becoming Aes Sedai, when Rand bursts in at the end? I don’t think that had anything to do with men, though its possible it was in there somewhere (I guess it referenced male strength in the Power relative to women, but does that really count?)
That Murder Queen gif was amazing. I will make a mental note to try that the next time I’m having a bad day. I also always get distracted by ridiculous walks whenever I try to picture Cat Crossing the Courtyard. It usually turns into a kind of supermodel strut in my head, which leaves me giggling for quite some time.
@3 – I kind of agree that Siuan and Moiraine handled Rand badly here, but I’m not entirely sure what they think they’re doing. Moiraine admits that he’s too stubborn to be easily controlled, so they don’t outright tell him what to do (other than telling him to Be Jesus, which is kind of a biggie, but not terribly specific). And I guess if they’d started listing prophecies for him to fulfill, he’d have immediately run off in the opposite direction. So I suppose the whole point was to start getting him used to the idea that he’s the Dragon Reborn. It does seem like an odd way to approach the subject, though.
There’s an inherent flaw in Siuan’s anchor metaphor. An anchor isn’t demeaned by being used to hold a boat because doing so is the ONLY REASON IT EXISTS. And an object with only a single reason to exist is a thing. Rand has more reasons to live than to save the world for everyone, and trying to boil him down to ONLY that IS demeaning. It’s like saying a woman isn’t demeaned by being told she MUST bear children, because it is the only reason she exists and Twilight sucks for saying so.
Verin is something of Lethal Joke Character in the series. In a way she’s the closest the Aes Sedai have to a comic relief character, a characteristic that the Brown Ajah shares. Most of the ‘worldlier’ Ajahs might look down on Whites and Browns for being out of touch, but browns are funnier about it… and then, in the same scene were we find out that Verin’s been conning the Dark One all her life as a double agent, we also find out the Purpose of the Brown: Knowledge is Power, so find as much of it as you can and give it to the Amyrlin to use to kick the Shadow’s ass. Gotta respect that mentality.
scm of 2814 @12: An anchor can also be used for weighing down a mob target. :)
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
@13 I can’t decide if you’re talking about MMORPG lingo or mafia lingo, either way is correct and I love it.
@2 I seriously doubt that Verin has ever acted like a typical Brown for any reasons other than obfuscation, manipulation, and misdirection.
@11 MinNotElmindreda
You’re almost certainly right about Suain and Moraine wanting him to get used to the idea. It wasn’t a bad plan overall, but unfortunately they overlooked the rural environment he grew up in and failed to realize that leaving out an explanation of who the Lews Therin really was, was the worst thing they could have done.
Yes, being a prophesied savior who would also break the world is a terrible, bitter pill to swallow at best. But Rand didn’t even have that much “comfort.” According to the few twisted stories he has heard at this point, the Dragon was nothing but a monstrous psychopath who killed his own family and worked with the Dark One to destroy the world.
Rand’s biggest problem in the first three books isn’t growing insanity or even the forsaken. It’s that he knows almost nothing about the real history or prophesies of the Dragon. The Two Rivers generally doesn’t allow stories about any Aes Sedi.
So
What Suain meant for him to hear: Hey Rand, guess what? You’ve got a hard, dangerous and probably short life ahead of you, but you’re important and need to try your best for the sake of the world.
What He actually heard: ‘Hey Rand, guess what? You have super-AIDS and are going to die, but probably not before you go insane and kill everyone you’ve ever known or loved. Oh, by the way, you’re also The Joker, Darth Vader and the Anti-Christ all rolled into one. Have fun now, because we’re just going to pretend to ignore you for the next several months before crawling down your throat for messing up on things we probably should have helped you with.’
Had they taken a little more time to tell him what that really meant and discussed options with him, they might have found him hanging on to their every word as only a desperate man out of options can. When Rand knows why Moraine wants him to do something, he usually does it. It’s really only when she hands out orders without an explanation that he bucks back (Moraine to her credit did eventually figure this out later on).
Instead, they gave him just enough information to make Rand go into an even deeper panic and start on the his long road of mistrust and animosity towards all Aes Sedi that lasts the majority of the series.
I love Verin! Whee! I am totally on the ‘it’s all an act, she knows just what she is doing’ boat!
Surely WoT has passed the Bechdel test before this…? Then again, many of the scenes I am thinking of they were talking about Rand/The Dragon Reborn so maybe not. But I would think Nyneave and Egwene would have had some more scenes, or Egwene and the Tinkers (Ilya).
Anyway, at least there is more to come :) I enjoyed your analysis of the gender dynamic switch! I honestly don’t know if I thought about it that way the first time I read it. It was just an unpleasant situation for Rand to be in, but at the time (high school and had a pretty charmed life) wasn’t too personally familiar with the typical female dynamic.
Thanks, Leigh. I sense (judging from the number of comments) that there are fewer followers of your current redux, but want you to know that it is appreciated. Reflecting on the complex dynamics between/among characters is, I believe, richer when we know their fate and are aware of complexities in their personalities (e.g., Siuan) that we could not know at first reading.
By the way and re the Bechdel test: has anyone compiled a list and analysis of male/female leading characters in Jordan’s books. The trio of village boys is expanded by Egwene and Nynaeve, but Elaine soon becomes comparable (it seems to me) in the number of words devoted to her story-line. As the character list expands to secondary-but-still-major characters (Moraine, Lan, Siuan, the whole Tower of AS, Galad, and the cast of thousands), has anyone analyzed the word-count devoted to female vs male POVs?
There is more foreshadowing in Leane’s talk with Rand and Lan: a Green will bond Rand, Perrin will wear a crown.
Doesn’t Lan know that Rand isn’t tai’shar Manetheren? It doesn’t really help as encouragement when the AS are telling him that he isn’t from the Two Rivers.
Rand says he doesn’t know how to learn to channel and then summons the void.
Was Verin trying to hint that the AS should link with Rand to teach him?
Old Blood doesn’t make sense. Everybody is descended from AoL people.
Eg will not see home again.
@18: Lan knows Rand is adopted, but Lan is also the one who tells Rand about how that in the Borderlanders that a child is considered to belong to the man who raises it. In Lan’s eyes, Rand being adopted doesn’t change who his father is. So while Rand doesn’t have Manetheren ancestry, he was raised by someone who does, and maybe Lan sees that as being more or less the same thing.
Faculty Guy @@@@@ 17
In general what you say is probably true, but I do read Leigh’s posts and the comments. I just don’t post so often. I guess this is the case for a few other people. Looks to me like a lot of posters here are now regular contributors over in the Brandon Sanderson’s threads.
Regarding the Bechdel test, how about when Nynaeve finds Lan and Moiraine after they flee Shadar Logoth (TEOTW, ch. 21, Nynaeve POV). Lan is present, but not part of the discussion IIRC as Moiraine and Nynaeve talk about when Nynaeve first became a channeler.
I’m glad I’m not the only person who sees the similarities between the Bene Gesserit and the Aes Sedai. The other big similarity is between the Fremen and the Aiel. But neither feels like a ripoff to me. Like Leigh said, its more like they were both influenced by similar things, but both authors gave them their own feel. Leigh, how about Dune reread? Books 1-6? Please???
@@@@@ 22: I second (and third and fourth…) that suggestion/question/plea: I would LOVE to see a Dune re-read!!!
As for the way Siuan and Moiraine handled Rand, I think they meant well but they still had that Aes Sedai being in control of the world thing going on. Not to mention that RJ’s other main theme in the series is lack of communication and/or trust.
@leigh, Re: Cat Crosses the Courtyard.
I think the essence of this stance is that your muscles are relaxed, but ready for immediate action. Lan is telling Rand to show being relaxed, but to be wary at the same time.
FTR, I played some of my best baseball matches while in a similar mode. Being physically relaxed rocks, and to call that up at will would be an awsome skill to have :)
People who have a cat should know what I mean. If you never have seen it, watch some clips with a panther in it. It shows in the way they move.
@@@@@15 wcarter – You bring up some interesting points, but I’m not sure that is the whole story. Yes, the real tale of the Dragon is misunderstood by the common people, but I think Rand’s problems are much more personal. All throughout the books up to this point, he has been the one most intent on returning to–and missing–home the most. It is finally dawning on him that he can never return home, at least not in a way he would be able to enjoy life (shades of Frodo). Also, not only can he never return home, but he feels like his past is ripped from him with this finally cementing the fact that Tam is not his real father, though this has been building in him almost since the beginning chapters of the first book. Add to this the fact that, partially due to Ishy’s influence and mocking in the World of Dreams and partially due the reputation and his own experience with the Aes Sedai, he fears being misled and manipulated as a pawn. Indeed this last possibility offers him the false boon of desperately clinging to his past and Identity; “It’s all a lie! I’m Tam Al’Thor’s son, they’re just trying to use me!”
There is also the issue of the somewhat retconned prologue that Leigh did this time around: “Ravens”; in which Tam inexplicably seems to know most of the whole story of the Dragon and tells it to the children at the sheep shearing festival, and just as inexplicably, is not told off/smacked over the head/attacked-by-angry-mob-wanting-to-put-the-dragon’s-fang-on-his-door for doing so. So, there’s that. I guess it just goes along with Siuan and Moiraine being a lot more ignorant of the Black Ajah in these early books than what the later released New Spring indicates.
Great post, Leigh! I don’t know what it says about me that I didn’t read this thinking about the gender politics at ALL. But those are really interesting points. Actually, I think I would have been *more* likely, not less, to pick up on the sexism involved had it been a woman going into a male enclave to confront powerful men. That dynamic is so common and pervasive – and in my profession women are still such a minority, and those men like myself who support women in leadership are working hard to not accidentally perpetuate such situations or rest unthinkingly in our privilege. So I believe I would have noticed it right away in that instance. On the other hand, perhaps because Rand is a white male, I may unthinkingly assume that he’s in a place of privilege and so therefore not so disadvantaged in this situation as the portrait you paint.
But then, I’ve never been quite as sure as you or others that Randland is *really* gender-flipped. A few places, like Far Madding, yes. But in general, the biggest consequence RJ seems to have envisioned with the tainting of the male half of the Source and a female monopoly on magical power is…a near equality. There are as many females leading nations as males, as many ruling queens as ruling queens. And there are separate-but-equalish institutions for women that parallel those for men – Women’s Circle/Village Council, Wisdom/Mayor, Clan Chief to Wise Woman/Roofmistress, Shambayan to Shatayan, etc. There’s a diminishment of patriarchy but not a corresponding dominance of matriarchy, in most instances.
In fact, what I see as a result of the saidin vs. saidar split is a formalizing of the “War Between the Sexes,” lifting it to a level of ontological reality instead of a cultural construct.
Trying to compose this at work – sorry for the choppy and abrupt nature, just trying to get some thoughts out there!
I love the image of Lan and Nynaeve’s jagged edges catching and holding…and the characterization of them as immovable object and irresistible force, hah! But yeah…they need a personality big enough not to be dominated or overawed by them. They’re perfect for each other. Apart from the age difference, anyway….
@Faculty Guy – I wasn’t able to comment most of the way through the original ReRead, since I had to play catch up before being able to comment on then current postings, but I know I’m a newer follower along with a few other Tor members that came on board late in the game. One thing I’ve noticed in the earlier ReReads that I’ve been reading using links provided with the current ReRead, there were quite a few comments but there were also more chapters covered. Not sure how many comments were left to later postings in the original ReRead.
I wonder if Tor has a way to keep track of the reading views for any given posting; deviantART is able to keep track of journal, article, blog and page views, so I wonder if Tor has a similar tracking system.
I think what Leigh meant by this was not that this chapter is the first time that Robert Jordan has passed the Bechdel test, but that he has been passing it since the EOTW since that book came out in 1990.
re: “Phenomenal Cosmic Powers…”
“…itty bitty living space.”
Yeah, that’s…unfortunate. I think I might have a Funny Aneurysm moment.
re: Messiah/Antichrist shoulder tap
And the Creator didn’t even throw in that sweet water-to-wine perk. What a rip-off…
It’s funny, but in retrospect I don’t think I was as excited or impressed by this scene on first reading as everyone else seemed to be. Not that I thought it was bad, or wasn’t on tenterhooks to know what Siuan and Moiraine had planned for Rand, but I don’t think I realized precisely how tense it really was until looking back. Also, while I was pleased with how Lan took Rand’s side and the way he stood up to the Amyrlin, it was something that became more impressive and awesome the more I thought about it and looked back on it. Maybe it’s because I knew, whatever they had planned, Siuan and Moiraine had Rand’s best interests at heart (as well as the Light’s) and thus to a point, nothing he did would change what they intended or how they saw him (either negatively or, unfortunately, positively).
Now, if the Hall of the Tower had witnessed Rand’s little strut or how he refused to be cowed/bullied/used, or even just someone like Liandrin, that would have been different. Or if we hadn’t gotten the previous scene with Siuan and Moiraine where we found out they were friends and in cahoots on helping Rand save the world, in which case this scene would be far more fraught with danger since we wouldn’t know we could generally trust Siuan and that Rand’s actions wouldn’t have any truly bad repercussions. As it is, I was pretty sure neither of them would outright tell the rest of the Tower about the specifics of the meeting, so it couldn’t have gotten back to the less trusting/open-minded sisters and caused trouble that way. Of course as it turned out, Verin was there and she ended up, under duress, telling the Shadow if not everything then a great deal, but we had no way of knowing that at the time.
All of that said, though, it’s still an awesome scene for the reasons enumerated above. Mostly for the combination of how Lan took Rand’s side, how brave Rand was in standing up for himself, the big reveal finally being made, and Rand’s reaction to it. Because as much as we know being tapped on the shoulder and told he had to save an ungrateful world that would hate and fear him (and he’d likely die for it) will come to burden and nearly destroy Rand, right now he handles it…surprisingly well. Although he wants to, he doesn’t immediately panic and run away (that comes later), suggesting that to a degree Moiraine keeping him in the dark did help a bit. And while he refuses to be used by the Tower (primed for this by Ishamael’s whisperings, unfortunately), he doesn’t outright refuse the job either—because of course we know he is an honorable and good-hearted young man who wants to do what’s right. Plus just seeing him be so badass and strong, even when we don’t know yet just how much he’s going to need such qualities (or exactly how much more badass he’s going to become), is great for your main heroic protagonist.
Side note: I think the walk probably has some elements of what TV Tropes would call an Unflinching Walk, or perhaps a Power Walk.
Also, one element would did impress me and stay with me (as Leigh mentioned in the first re-read) was the recapitulation of Gitara announcing the Rebirth and then dying. Gave me chills indeed. (Not only in and of itself, but because I recognized her name from the previous book in relation to Luc and Tigraine so I knew how big this was going to be. Ironically we never do learn any more about Gitara or what she knew or had done, other than the bit in NS.)
Another side note: as much as Siuan calling Rand “boy” displayed condescension, gender power dynamics, and even a bit of mockery, I can’t help comparing it to Cadsuane always calling Rand that later and how much that grated on everyone. Yet everyone seemed to forgive Siuan/give her a pass for this. I imagine most of that is because she redeemed herself later in her work with the Supergirls, particularly Egwene, and because we realized she was simply speaking in a way she’d been trained and conditioned for by the Tower’s prevailing view of channeling men. (In fact as noted in last week’s entry, such a view is far more prevalent among Blues than you’d expect at this juncture, so she’d have been exposed to it long before she became Amyrlin or had to deal with Reds on a regular basis.) And of course, as dismissive as Siuan is here (when she doesn’t know Rand from Adam and only sees him as, at best, the tool the Tower must use to save the world), she never says or does anything toward Rand on a level with what Cadsuane did, at least not how the fandom viewed her anyway. So there’s that. But I thought it worth pointing out, both for the apparent double standard and because it shows that, as abrasive as Cadsuane was, at least her attitude and diction were not an isolated thing.
LOL at Verin’s interruption…because in point of fact, she’s actually right. This is what happens when you try and use generalizations to create truisms. And while we later see in TSR that women can’t instruct men directly, I bet you that men and women found ways to train together somehow during the Age of Legends—if nothing else than to learn how to do all those amazing feats which required both halves of the Power. That’s not the same as instruction in actual usage of the other half of the Power, but it does show there isn’t as clear-cut a divide between saidin and saidar users as is thought, and therefore underscores yet again the things Aes Sedai of the Third Age have forgotten while convincing themselves they know everything of import.
I also have to say Siuan (and Moiraine before her) is right in telling Rand there’s nothing wrong with him fulfilling the purpose destiny wove for him in the Pattern. Of course they could have phrased it a lot less antagonistically, and his reaction is again at least partly due to Ishamael’s previous taunts, but the point still stands he was meant to do this. What matters of course is that his specific destiny (destroying the world again, dying) is something Rand would be reluctant to do no matter how it was offered/revealed to him, and that matters of predestination aside, knowing what you have to do and that it’s both right and necessary doesn’t change the need to accept it on your own terms, decide how and why you will do it. Something Rand will struggle with all the way up to the end of TGS.
Still heart Nynaeve and Lan, always will. And as annoying as Egwene could be, especially in these early books, I remember being very sad about this parting. Little did I know how much it foreshadows later… And it should be mentioned, of course, that neither Egwene or Nynaeve do see the Two Rivers again by the end of the series, unless in TAR counts.
@3 wcarter: Whether or not Verin did it deliberately, I think we can all agree how necessary and awesome it was for Rand that she did.
@11 MinNotElmindreda: However else they badly handled Rand, and whatever else was their intent, I think Siuan and Moiraine did do one thing right and which is probably the main reason for the meeting: telling Rand he is the Dragon Reborn and that they intend to do nothing about it but guide and advise him (by their definitions of that, of course). Because first, as much as this naturally makes him suspicious about their final intentions and what they will manipulate him to do, it’s a great way to ease his fears of being gentled. And second, by specifically revealing his role they give an explanation for why they are treating him differently than any other male channeler which he can actually buy at face value, mostly. It obviously doesn’t fully inspire the trust they were hoping it would, or make their future encounters smooth and untroubled, but it at least sets a stage for some kind of understanding and cooperation there wouldn’t be otherwise, one that in fact might have successfully brought him and the Tower together if it hadn’t been for Elaida and Galina.
@12 scm: You have a good point. What I was agreeing above was that there’s nothing wrong with Rand doing what he was meant to do, but you are right in pointing out that isn’t all there is to him. I.e., as important as it is for him to fulfill the Prophecies, he needs to be treated like a person with agency throughout the process, despite and in fact because of how the Pattern seemingly takes away most of his agency. So while Siuan and Moiraine are technically right in what they say, they didn’t phrase it well.
And yes, love Verin for the different layers to her, both silly kook and brave, clever manipulator. Of course despite the way they’re presented, I always liked the Browns, but then I am a lover of knowledge.
@15 wcarter: Well said, insightful and accurate.
@18 birgit: Nice foreshadowing. And no, I don’t think Lan does know, not unless Moiraine told him what she and Siuan knew about the Dragon when she bonded him at the end of NS or some point after. Interesting point about Verin…maybe that was in fact what she was hinting at. Whether as a Brown or a Black, she’d probably be aware of how linking could work to allow cross-Power teaching. (I knew there was some method for men and women to work together; for some reason linking slipped my mind.)
@19 Herenya: Good analysis.
@30 Randalator: Ouch! Yeah, very much Harsher In Hindsight.
@14 WhiteVoodoo: I disagree Verrin NEVER acted like a Brown except for when she was doing it on purpose. She was a Brown for a reason, and I don’t remember it being implied she was forced into them or anything. She had the tendencies of an academic. But I agree it’s not often she actually slips, since she uses those academic tendencies to become the most awesome secret agent ever.
Leigh: As for Cat Crosses the Courtyard. I participate in medieval recreation and martial arts when I’m not here, and when I read about this stance it immediately made perfect sense to me. In my mind it’s what I heard jokingly referred to as the gunslinger walk. Back straight but knees slightly bent, natural walking and limbs relaxed, but every part of you ready to explode in to motion if need be. It’s how a great martial artist goes from ‘Shopping’ to ‘defending themselves’ in an instant. Physical tenseness restricts motion, but looseness coupled with awareness allows for a full range of response.
@31 Macster: I think the difference between Siuan and Cadsuane calling Rand boy is also timing, and status. At this point Rand is a boy, in all honesty. Yes he is the Dragon Reborn/Magic Jesus, but he’s just found that out within the last week or so and is still denying it. The dominant force in his personality is still ‘Two Rivers Farmboy’. Additionally while he is a squeaky new Magic Jesus, she is the Magic Pope in the fullness of her power and authority. Kings and Queens across the world–even the ones who hate her–are forced to recognize her authority and position, and play nice to her (for now). Their disparity of position is so great she could have called him ‘Peasant’ and it would have been insulting, but not necessarily unexpected.
When Cadsuane meets Rand, it is a very different situation. By that point Rand IS the Dragon Reborn, in all the good and bad senses of the word. With his power he has conquered nations and destroyed dire enemies, fought the Forsaken, and brought Aes Sedai to their knees and made them swear to him. Cadsuane may be powerful as hell, but so is he–if they are not equals, then the balance is in Rand’s favor not hers. Additionally by that point he is not just Messiah and Savior but a King (possibly of multiple nations, I can’t quite remember), the Aiel Chief of Chiefs, and (if I remember correctly) the head of the Black Tower (in theory). Cadsuane is an Aes Sedai, and thus not in any of his power structures–but neither is he in her power structure as an Aiel chief, an Asha’man, and the Dragon Reborn.
In other words when Siuan does it, she is doing so from a position of power and authority to one of new power and new authority. When Cadsuane does it she is doing it to someone who is at least her equal, and likely stronger, in both magical power and authority. That’s why it pisses people off, at least how I see it.