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A tragic Pause

I'm going to have to take a break from the reading project for a while, because I only own the first three books, and need to save up a bit to buy the rest (I know I could use a library, but I feel the need to read them all in the same format, which in this case is ebook, and I want to own them all anyway).

Since the next book is called Shadow rising, I feel like it's not going to be the best place to stop, so I'm stopping here, at the end of the 3rd book, since it doesn't feel like the worst place to stop for a bit.

I will ABSOLUTELY be continuing this as soon as I am able :D

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Another Post About Rand

Spoilers below, just in case you haven't read Dragon Reborn.

I am very worried about Rand.  

It seems like some degree of violent insanity may be setting in.  I was really disturnbed when, on his way to Tear, the female merchant and her guards came up, and he straight up killed them without even finding out if they were even a threat.  They could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And even more disturbing, he then used the One Power to make their corpses bow to him.

Rand, Sweetie, I love you, but you are NOT OK.

It seems early in the series for the protagonist to go violently insane.  There has to be a way to offset this somehow.  Or at least arrest it to keep it from progressing any farther.

Rand also seems like he spent a good portion of the book sad, lonely, and/or paranoid.  Few will ever look at him the same way again.

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Thoughts on the Wind

There is a fancy literary term called “motif” for an element that an author intentionally brings up again and again.  The wind is very clearly a motif in this series, and has me thinking.

Every book so far has started with more or less the same paragraph about how the wheel turns, and refers to a wind in the 3rd age.  There is also the Black Wind in The Ways.  Wisdoms listen to the wind.  There seems to be something here, I’m just now sure what.

Time is obviously a huge theme and element in this series, and although it hasn’t used the phrase, I keep thinking about the phrase “the winds of time”.  In the Borderlands, there is a saying Rand keeps thinking about “death is light as a feather, duty as heavy as a mountain”.

There’s also a phrase sometimes used about “a feather in the wind”.  

Life, death, time, feather, wind.  Like pieces of a puzzle I can’t even begin to understand yet.  I’ll keep pondering.

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THAT Twist

Spoilers below for Dragon Reborn, just in case.

I will admit: I did NOT see that twist coming.

It appears that Ishmael has been running free for 3 thousand years, which begs the question; what has he been DOING all this time?

It does explain why “The Dark One” was so obsessed with Rand serving him.  Ishmael is just salty that he was never able to best Lews Therin.

But that leaves the huge question of what the Dark One really wants.  DOES he want Rand to serve him?  Or does he just want The Dragon dead?  Or something else?

I’m also really surprised that the Dark One would be chill with a human claiming to be him.  There is so much more I want to know…

I will say that “the Dark One” being Ishmael does make a lot more sense than that being the actual Dark One.  The Dark One is supposed to be right up there with the Creator in terms of power, and being able to be as harmed as he was in the first 2 books just didn’t really make sense with the role he was supposed to have in that world.

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I Finished Dragon Reborn

A collection of random thoughts and reactions:

(I don't know why anyone would want to read this post if they haven't read Dragon Reborn, but spoilers ahead, just in case)

*New theory: the Creator is female.  The Dark One seems second only to the Creator in power, and could even be similar in power (there hasn’t been a lot of specificity around this).  Everything about this world seems centered around male and female being 2 halves of the same whole; separate but equal.  Since it’s pretty clear the Dark One is male, it makes me think the Creator is female.

*I continue to be severely disappointed with Mat’s utter lack of loyalty. I  mean he did come to help the girls, but seems to have no interest in Rand’s well being.  He’s also showing signs of resentment toward Rand for being the one everyone remembers.  Resents that everyone seems to see Rand as a prince, and him as a servant.  I am giving you serious side eye, Mat.

*The dreamworld is awesome.  That is all.

*The wolves could be such a great resource for Perrin, yet he continues to run from the Wolfbrother thing, which I just do not get.  I know he’s worried about losing himself to the wolf, but Elyas didn’t, so clearly that isn’t inevitable.  He needs to find Elyas again, and instead of running from all this, find a way to learn about it.  I doubt he would take this option, but there’s a decent chance the wolves themselves know something about this.  They seem to have a long memory.

*It’s taking some adjustment to get used to having mostly moved away from Rand’s POV.  He’s still the one at the center of all this, and I still want to see his POV, at least some of the time.

*Speaking of POV, what I wouldn’t give for an instance or 2 of Lan POV.  He’s a man of few words, and rarely has much in the way of visible reactions to anything, which makes getting to know him, or what he thinks about things, very difficult.

*The Nynaeve/Lan ship has stalled.  They each have their own journeys to take, and at the moment, those journeys are taking them in different directions.

*When Nynaeve eventually reaches full Aes Sedai status, I can’t help but think she will join the green ajah.  She’s always ready to take action, on pretty much anything.  I wonder if this will have any effect on Lan…

*Despite continuing to have epic stakes and heavy elements, the books continue to have laugh out loud moments.

*Lanfear (whose name might ACTUALLY have been Selene originally) is the ultimate nightmare ex.  Lews Therin dumped her and married someone else.  She tried to get him back, probably stalked him, then after he died waited 3 THOUSAND YEARS for him to be reborn only to resume trying to get him back.  She’s taking stalking to a whole new level.

*The whole thing with Selene/Lanfear is even weird considering it doesn’t seem like she even wants him.  She wants the version of him in her head, which does not seem like the version of him that actually exists.  It’s no wonder that relationship failed.

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The Story So Far

Everyone Living: Rand, you're the Dragon Reborn

Everyone Dead: Rand, you're the Dragon Reborn

The Dark One: Rand, you're the Dragon Reborn

Rand:

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More Thoughts On Time

Some random thoughts related to time tumbling around my head as I try to better understand this mythology.

*The Dark One has stated to Rand, on multiple occasions, that they have been through this a thousand times.  If true (he IS the Father of Lies, after all), this would mean he had broken out of his prison at least a thousand times, making it the LEAST effective prison ever. 

At that point, does the creator really want  him bound at all?  And why does everyone seem to take so much comfort in this prison, and talk about the creator “binding him at the moment of creation”?  It’s not like he stayed in the prison the entire time.

*The Dark One has also repeatedly said that this will be the last time they go through this, that the wheel will stop spinning and whatever happens will be forever.  Again, if true this would give a lot more weight and consequence to the story, but we have no way of knowing if it IS true.  For all we know, he says that every time.

*This planet is REALLY old.  If the cycle has really repeated itself a thousand times, then this has to have been going on for at least a few hundred thousand years, if not a couple of million years.

*I’m still trying to work out the ages and the numbers.  It appears our story takes place at the end of the (a) third age.  There’s no way of knowing when any of the others took place.  I’m wondering if Lews Therin ALSO lived in the (a) third age. 

We don’t actually know (at this point anyway) how long an age is.  We know that the prophecies of the Dragon’s return happened in the 4th age, and it seems like it makes the most sense for them to have been made AFTER the Dragon’s death, but BEFORE his rebirth. 

If the Dragon last lived in the third age, that would mean that the prophecies were made not long after the last Dragon died, which makes sense, since I get the indication that these prophecies are really old.  So did the wheel complete an entire cycle in the time jump between the prologue and chapter 1 of the first book?

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Thoughts On Mat

My opinion on Mat has really gone down since the middld of The Great Hunt or so. He's gone from one of the good guys, to a neutral guy, and seems to be heading in the wrong direction still.

Mat is SEVERELY lacking in loyalty, and to say I find the extremely disappointing would be an understatement. After everything Rand did for him, everything he risked for Mat, to have Mat ready to throw away a lifelong friendship at the first sign of trouble with Rand is just so disheartening.

He had the nerve to compare Rand channeling with someone torturing small animals, which is just so inaccurate a comparison it's hard to understand. Harming small animals in the way the comparison suggested would be a CHOICE; something by definition done with intention. Rand did not choose to channel, and would stop if he knew how, if he had any idea how to control it.

The more I learn of Mat's character, the less I like him. Aside from clearly having no loyalty, he also has shown little sign of empathizing with others. He has little regard for rules, and doesn't seem to spend much time considering right or wrong. He appears to care about his own well-being over anything else, and most concerning of all, has show signs of being strongly drawn to riches and to a lesser degree glory.

All if this make Mat a prime target for recruitment to the darkness. There is foreshadowing of him betraying Rand, with him telling Rand after the portal stone the he would never betray him, suggesting that in many of the lives he saw, he DID betray Rand.

When you take this with some of the other context from the books so far, it suggests that betrayal could be central to this story. After all, the PROLOGUE to the very first book in the series focused almost entirely on betrayal. The way Ishmael was speaking to Lews Therin strongly suggested that they had long known each other. He literally called himself the Betrayer of Hope. And while the name undoubtedly refers to hope for the world at large, I also seem to remember something about the Dragon being the hope of the light, and of the world, which suggests the Ishmael may have been a frined, or someone Lews Therin trusted, whose defection to darkness represented a personal betrayal.

He then forced Lews Therin to understand that he had unwittingly become a betrayer, too, by becoming the Kinslayer and killing everyone he had ever loved, and everyone who had ever loved him.

Most of all, is the theme that comes up again and again, of the pattern, and stories, people, and relationships repeating lifetime after lifetime.

Right now, there is no reason to think that Ishmael is not still locked up in Shayol Ghul, likely not far from the Dark One himself, since the Betrayer of Hope is said to have been the leader and most powerful of the forsaken. So it doesn't seem likely that Mat is the reborn Ishmael, and yet I still get the feeling that he is being put on the road to betray Rand, and join the darkness.

I wish I could end on a more cheerful note, but things are almost certainly going to get worse, before things can get better.

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I've Started Dragon Reborn

I've jumped right into the next book in the series, Dragon Reborn. And I have to say, I'm REALLY surprised that 6 chapters in (just starting chapter 7) we're still in Perrin's POV.

I would have thought we'd jump around a bit more, if we weren't going to be mostly in Rand's head, but so far we've been sticking with Perrin. Do we have a new POV character?

I am a little disturbed, though that it seems like he wishes he could leave Rand. It's like reluctant loyalty, and I feel like Rand deserves better after growing up together.

Final thought for the moment: it appears all of the forsaken were imprisoned in the seal, which means none of our characters are the reborn Ishmael, which would be awesome. It does leave me wondering how they are connected, though.

What is it that makes Perrin and Mat ta'veren? What did the Dark One mean when he told Mat "so that's who you are"? I look forward to finding out more about Lews Therin.

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Moiraine and Lan

My thoughts after finishing The Great Hunt, post 4 of 4:

*This book was a bit lacking in Moiraine and Lan.  The problem with a huge ensemble cast of characters is that you don’t necessarily get to spend as much time as you would like with each one.

*Speaking of Moiraine and Lan, I feel like I missed something.  They were at the cozy little house with the elder Aes Sedai and their Warder, then the vampire monster almost killed Moiraine which made her realize something and dash off saying something about “getting there in time”, then you don’t hear from them for half the book.  They reappear at the very end, saying that they had been chilling in the conquered city, pretty much doing nothing other than gathering information and unsuccessfully trying to protect 2 sisters.  So now I don’t know if the 2 sisters in question were the ones they had been staying with, with 2 we heard about being captured from Egwaine, so other people entirely.  So I feel like there’s some kind of connecting story thread that I missed.

*I’m pretty sure Moiraine is going to die at some point.  She seems to be taking on an advisor/guide type role for Rand, and guides for the Hero never survive the story, so that the Hero is forced to stand on their own and figure things out for themselves.  Also, she has laid out her plan for what happens if she dies.  The only reason to dedicate time for a character to lay out a plan for what happens upon their death, is if that information/plan become relevant at some point.  I don’t think her demise is imminent, but I do think it’s coming.

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The Dark One

My thoughts after finishing The Great Hunt, post 3 of 4:

I do not get what is up with the Dark One.  We’re only in book 2, and I’ve already lost count of how many times the Dark One has demanded that Rand “serve [him] or die”.  Like, he keeps giving Rand the options, as though they haven’t had the conversation several times before (just in this lifetime!).  

And I’m just like, why?  Rand has not been avoiding the question.  He’s not on the fence, or undecided.  He’s been very clear in his answer: he will never serve the Dark One.  He’s planning on trying to find a third option, since dying isn’t high on his list of things to do, but it IS higher on his list than serving the Dark One.

Why is the Dark One so obsessed with the Dragon?  I swear it feels like there’s times when the Dark One is more concerned with whether Rand lives or dies than Rand himself.  I’m just getting Joker/Batman vibes, where the hero and villain are bound together, and the villain doesn’t want anything to happen to the hero unless he says so.  It is just such a weird dynamic.

I’m assuming that as the books go on, the Dark One will start actually making good on some of his threats, and that right now, he’s not nearly as powerful or capable as he’s making himself out to be, not until more of the seals break.  It’s the only reason I can think of to keep threatening Rand: because he can’t make good on the threats yet.

The whole thing just makes me wonder how this whole obsession even started.  Because why does it matter if this ONE guy is willing to serve him or not?

Right now, the Dark One’s behavior just strikes me as repetitive and weird.

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Lord Ingtar

My thoughts after finishing The Great Hunt, post 2 or 4:

The tragic beauty that was the life and death of Lord Ingtar.  

Part way through the book, I started to suspect he might be a darkfriend, but couldn’t fully believe it.  His actions didn’t make sense in the context of a Darkfrined.  Afterall, he was CHASING Drakfriends, trying to get the Horn back from them, so it seemed weird/unlikely that he was one of them.

On the other hand, he was WAY too focused (obsessed would be a better word) on getting the Horn back.  Like yes, the Horn is important, and no one wants the Darkfriends to have it, but his almost frantic insistence that he MUST retrieve the Horn seemed disproportionate to the situation.  No one else was freaking out the way he was.

So I didn’t bring up my mixed feelings about Ingtar when I first felt something was off, because I didn’t know what to make of any of it.  And it was written in a really subtle way.

So when the truth was revealed, it wasn’t so much a shocking twist as a beautiful twist that made everything make sense.  Because Ingtar reallys isn’t a bad guy, he’s a guy who made a SERIOUSLY bad decision with the best of intentions, and then didn't know how to go back.

So having this hidden redemption arc, where we didn’t even know he needed redemption until he was already acting to try to make things right was just really… all the feels.  Just.  So. Many. Feels. 

I love how it shows the complexity of the characters and their motivations.  That not everyone who gets mixed up with the Dark One is a mustache twirling villain (although there are plenty of those).  This is a complex world with difficult decisions and complex moral situations.

I also feel it’s really important to the idea of redemption that Ingtar came to this realization on his own, and fessed up to what he had done, and was willing to pay with his life to try to make things right.  Whether you think they did or not, he was at least trying to walk in the light again, not because he was caught and was trying to save his own skin, but because he TRULY regretted his actions, and saw the errors of his ways.

So I hope he found the light.

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I Finished The Great Hunt

I finished The Great Hunt

I finished The Great Hunt, and am breaking down my thoughts so far. This post is 1 of 4, and gathers my thoughts that aren't long enough to warrant their own post.

*I feel very strongly that chapter 50 was not a chapter, but an epilogue.  Granted it was an excellent epilogue, but to call it a chapter seems misleading.  I was not prepared for how short it was.

*I’m having trouble determining what counts as “accurate” information in the story.  We were told at one point that the dead heroes would show up for anyone who blew the Horn of Valere, and at another point that whoever blew the Horn was the only person who would ever be able to use it, yet despite the fact that Mat was the one to blow the Horn (which actually really surprised me), Artur Hawking indicated that it was tied to Rand, not Mat.  Is this a situation of technicalities, where the dead heroes will show up for anyone who blew the Horn, but just not follow them if they are Darkfriends, or anyone else who isn’t the Dragon?  It’s hard to figure out what to believe sometimes.

*I really wish I could have seen how the shanchan reacted when Artur Hawking showed up.  They are all so proud of being Hawkwing’s blood, so to have Hawking himself show up and just be like “go away”, I really want to know what they made of this.  Did  they actually fight him?  Did they even believe it was really him?  So many questions.

*I have concerns about Egwene and Nynaeve returning to Tar Valon.  Rand is somewhat public now about being the Dragon Reborn, and people are following him.  The Aes Sedai as a whole are NOT fans of the Dragon, or the prophecies being fulfilled.  It is well known in Tar Valon how strongly Egwene and Nynaeve are associated with Rand.  I’m not sure whether or not it’s safe for them there.  Either the Aes Sedai will try to turn them against Rand, or they will be in trouble for supporting him.  I kind of wish they hadn’t decided to return.

*Why did Hurin leave with them to Tar Valon?  Everyone else who left in that party had a specific reason to go to Tar Valon.  Hurin didn’t, and didn't want to go, but he did anyway.  Was he there to take the Horn of Valere?  Because it seems like Mat could have done that, especially considering he was the one to sound the Horn.  And Hurin isn’t a trained soldier like many others who stayed behind, so he doesn’t seem like the best option to provide security.  Maybe we'll find out more in the next book.

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The Joy of Show, Don't Tell

Writers are often told to show, don't tell. I think Robert Jordan does a great job of this, and one way I'm really enjoying this is with Rand's character.

Jordan has never actually called Rand stubborn, only that everyone in the Two Rivers is stubborn. But he is doing a great job of SHOWING just how stubborn Rand is. Basically, for TWO WHOLE BOOKS now, Rand has been obstinately ignoring and denying every piece of evidence, suggestion, or hint that he may have been adopted, and insisting that he is Tam's blood, and born in the Two Rivers. Anyone who suggests otherwise is met with a "NOPE!", and refusal to even consider the possibility.

It is incredibly entertaining to me, and as much as it is a difficult emotional situation, seeing him barely budging in his thinking does kind of make me laugh. The longer it goes on, the more curious I get as to what will finally make him at least accept the POSSIBILITY of being adopted.

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Can't We Move On Yet?

I jus5 finished the chapter in the Great Hunt where Rand and Loial just escaped the trollocs by destroying part of the illuminators compound.

I am SO OVER Selene. I'm pretty sure she's Lanfear, and even if she isn't, she's CLEARLY trying (and sometimes succeeding) to manipulate him. She's pushing him to do things, and embrace ideas and attitudes that he doesn't want to. And he keeps putting up with it because she's SO PRETTY [insert eye-roll].

I can't wait to be done with her.

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Rand's Journey

I'm still in the Great Hunt, and Rand has just arrived in Carhein (I'm not sure that's how you spell it, but it is the capital where everyone plays the Great Game anyway). Rand just made a comment about how he couldn't wait to get some plain clothes so that he could stop acting like something he isn't.

He does not appear to realize that somethings there is no going back from. Lords weren't always Lords. The reason there are any Lords to begin with is that someone who wasn't born a Lord lived a life that caused others to raise them to that level.

Moiraine knew what she was doing. By leaving him no choice but to wear clothes a Lord would wear, she guaranteed that people would begin treating him like a Lord. This caused people to begin looking to him for leadership, which led to him acting as a leader. It's not hard for people to believe he's a Lord, because he carries himself in a way that made it hard for people to believe he was a shepherd well before the fancy clothes.

Despite the fact that he clearly has no interest in being elevated to nobility, I'm pretty sure that the wheel isn't going to give him a choice, but will weave him into such a role whether he wants it or not.

I initially wondered at the course this story was going to take. The first book started by hinting at Rand being the Reborn Dragon, yet it is book 3 that was called Dragon Reborn. I think I finally see the initial progression.

Book 1 was Rand beginning life as ta'veren. Book 2 was about him discovering, and trying to escape from, his identity and destiny as the reborn Dragon. Book 3 will be where he finally (however reluctantly) embraces his role as the Dragon.

It's been mentioned that the false Dragons declare themselves to be the Dragon because they seek glory and power. Destiny had the actual Reborn Dragon grow up a shepherd in a small village to guarantee he would walk in humility. It now elevates him to nobility so that people will be ready to follow him.

Unlike the men who eagerly call themselves Dragon, Rand doesn't seek glory, power or legend, he seeks survival. Survival for himself, the world, and the light itself.

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Nynaeve's Journey

I just finished the chapter in the Great Hunt where Nynaeve takes the test with the tar-angreal to become one of the Accepted among the aes sedai.

I'm growing concerned about the path she is walking. She is motivated to do what she is by anger that is turning into hatred.

It's understandable that she is angry with Moiraine; I was told once that anger is born of pain and/or fear. She certainly has enough reason to feel both with everything that is happening.

One of Nynaeve's stronger traits is loyalty. Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene are all members of her village. She watched them grow up, and when she became Wisdom, she accepted responisbility for their well-being as much as for the well-being of everyone else in the village.

So watching them get swept up in something so much bigger than themselves, something none of them really wanted and that can difficult, painful and dangerous would definitley be something she would take personally and want to set right.

So it makes sense, both that she in angry, and that she wants someone to blame. But she is allowing her anger to turn into hatred, and that can only lead to the darkness.

I want her to walk in the light, to be able to see and avoid the trap, and to find the bigger picture so she can deal with all the emotional stuff without crossing any lines.

I don't want to fear for her soul...