#Amalisa Jagad

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THE WHEEL OF TIME REWATCH 10/∞ — 1x8 ❝ the eye of the world ❞

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Let's (re)Read: The Great Hunt! Chapter 4: Summoned

Welcome back to my reread, folks! Today we're in for a real treat: Our first real Moiraine POV. Sadly, this post - like every other one I'll ever make - is filled with indiscriminate spoilers for the whole damn Wheel of Time series, so you should move on if you don't wanna deal with that.

Another chapter, another new chapter icon. The Horn of Valere makes an appearance, which is funny because for the most part it's only discussed by Anaiya, who doesn't know what's up with it. Its container is seen but not openly mentioned.

Little in Tar Valon besides a meeting of the Hall of the Tower called for the formality of the shawls, and beyond the Shining Walls a sight of the Flame would send too many people running, to hide or perhaps to fetch the Children of the Light. A Whitecloak’s arrow was as fatal to an Aes Sedai as to anyone else, and the Children were too wily to let an Aes Sedai see the bowman before the arrow struck, while she still might do something about it.

So like, do Whitecloaks just murder Aes Sedai in broad daylight on city streets? Do they follow them out of town and kill them on the roads? The former seems like something that would get them into a lot of trouble regardless of their target: someone willing and able to kill an Aes Sedai is going to be a dangerous assassin regardless. The latter seems like a hassle. I think there's a reason the Whitecloaks drop off of the threat scale pretty quickly after book four.

There must be trouble, or she would not have come herself, she thought for at least the tenth time. But beyond that lay a thousand questions more. What trouble, and who did she choose to accompany her? Why here? Why now? It cannot be allowed to go wrong now.

Frankly, even while stressing about it, I think Moiraine's underselling the crisis. She knows there's been all sorts of trouble out in the world of late, with the unnatural winter and the false Dragon and the time Caemlyn was almost wiped out by Trollocs but no one knew about it. She knows that there's other bullshit going on in the world at large too from the eyes and ears she'd be talking to. Meanwhile, she's just made herself a major figure of import in Fal Dara by showing up just as multiple miracles occur and explaining nothing. It makes sense that now that the hunt phase of her quest is over, the game is going to change drastically, but she's spent twenty years doing one thing so it's not something she's ready to adapt to.

Her sisters in the White Tower knew a few of her tricks, and suspected others, including some that did not exist, some that had shocked her when she learned of them. The things she did with the stone were simple and small, if occasionally useful; the kind a child would imagine. But if the wrong women had accompanied the Amyrlin, the crystal might put them off balance, because of the tales.

You could take the crystal off... Just saying. (Also note how ineffective the White Tower is at preserving knowledge that at this point it's just taken as a given that a Sister will have secret tricks not even shared with the rest of her Ajah.)

Both women were taller than Moiraine, though Liandrin by less than a hand.

Jordan's Law of Inverse Power Volume means that Liandrin is almost as much of a threat as Moiraine, but not much.

“Against all,” Moiraine replied smoothly. “Many of the serving women are curious about Aes Sedai, and I do not want them pawing through my rooms when I am not here. There was no need to make a distinction until now.”

So she's lying about something here, that's the rule of Aes Sedai talking smoothly. Possibly the only lie is the implication that she will respond to the need to make a distinction to her wards, but also possibly she's bringing up the serving women to distract from far more interesting culprits: Darkfriends in general, but also possibly the EF5.

“This time, Moiraine,” Anaiya said, “you have been gone from Tar Valon too long. Much too long. Tar Valon misses you. Your sisters miss you. And you are needed in the White Tower.”

Clearly Moiraine returns to the Tower on occasion, both to keep up appearances and also because Tar Valon provides a lot of opportunities for pursuing her investigations. How long has she been gone though? Does she usually come to the Tower every year and missed the last one? Are the gaps even longer than that?

“Three more false Dragons.” Liandrin bit the words off. “In Saldaea, Murandy, and Tear false Dragons ravage the land. The while, you Blues smile and talk of nothing, and try to hold on to the past.”

Liandrin is so bad at socializing. You'd think the Black Ajah would hold socialization practice meetings to help their sisters blend in more. The reason the Wheel makes sure that women don't pick up facial hair is because the Black Ajah would completely give itself away two years after its establishment with all the rampant mustache twirling they'd do.

Also I guess for posterity I should note that this is our first mention of Taim, one of our few mentions of the unnamed Haddon Mirk DR that is completely irrelevant but people keep asking about him, and probably the only mention of the Murandy DR who was apparently teamkilled.

How easily can the world deal with three at one time? How many will flock to their banners? There has never been a shortage of followers for any man claiming to be the Dragon Reborn. How great will the wars be this time?

Is that middle bit strictly true? Were the initial claimants very popular, or did the popularity of the Dragon Reborn grow overtime as the political and technological might of the region declined? To what degree could the existing power structures forestall the popularity of DR claims, if any?

Anaiya tsked. “Sometimes formality is necessary, but men often make more of it than they must. Please, call me Anaiya, and I will call you Amalisa, if I may.”

I've been back to highlighting flaws with Jordan's ideas of gender roles and stuff but I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be ironic: I've known lots of people who love formality when it means people have to fawn all over them.

From the corner of her eye, Moiraine saw Egwene, far down the side hall, disappearing hurriedly around a corner. A stooped shape in a leather jerkin, head down and arms loaded with bundles, shambled at her heels. Moiraine permitted herself a small smile, quickly masked. If the girl shows as much initiative in Tar Valon, she thought wryly, she will sit in the Amyrlin Seat one day. If she can learn to control that initiative. If there is an Amyrlin Seat left on which to sit.

F-f-f-FORESHADOWING! About the only part that doesn't get relevant in some way or another is that Egwene never learns self-control in any meaningful sense. ;)

(Also if I'm not mistaken this is our first time seeing Rand outside his POV.)

“. . . and I would welcome the chance to learn more of your land.” She wore a smile, open and almost girlish, and her voice was friendly.

Liandrin's a great counter-example of the whole, "Judge people by how they treat waiters" advice. You should people by how they treat folks all over the place - some folks who think they're better than everyone are very kind to those that society recognizes as beneath them in the way that most of us are kind to puppies, but very shitty to those who are broadly considered their equals.

It constantly amazed Moiraine that Anaiya dealt as well as she did in the White Tower, but those who were devious always seemed to take her openness and honesty, her acceptance of everyone, as cunning devices. They were always caught completely off balance when she turned out to mean what she said and say what she meant. Too, she had a way of seeing to the heart of things.

Anaiya deals very well: a good deal of evidence suggests that at this point in the series, she's the Head of the Blue Ajah! For example, Moiraine's earlier line in this very chapter where she says she'll leave the Hall to Anaiya even though Anaiya is not a Sitter. She's certainly very important regardless and I have no doubt that Jordan intended it to be that she had risen to such acclaim because she didn't play the White Tower game, not despite it. It's very strong for his themes that even minor characters whose histories are of no importance to the narrative reflect them.

Morgase holds her throne less securely than she did last year, but she holds it still, and will so long as Gareth Bryne is Captain-General of the Queen’s Guards. ... The Daughter-Heir’s party was followed to the River Erinin by the Children of the Light. To the very bridges to Tar Valon.

Foreshadowing for the next book or three here, with Morgase's fall, Bryne's departure, and the encounter with the Whitecloaks all set up.

But she still must keep the full extent of the girl’s potential secret. Would the people of Andor knowingly accept Elayne on the Lion Throne after Morgase if they knew? Not just a queen trained in Tar Valon according to custom, but a full Aes Sedai?

And this I'd say is setting up the succession crisis arc, though honestly I don't recall a lot of Elayne's status as Aes Sedai being anywhere near as much an issue as Morgase's reputation.

“You must know that the Great Hunt of the Horn has been called in Illian, the first time in four hundred years. The Illianers say the Last Battle is coming”—Anaiya gave a little shiver, as well she might, but went on without a pause—“and the Horn of Valere must be found before the final battle against the Shadow... In any case, there will be a new lot of stories for the bards and gleemen to add to the cycle. The Light send it is only new stories.” “Perhaps not the stories they expect,” Moiraine said. Liandrin looked at her sharply, and she kept her face still.

This is pretty much it for Horn discussion in this chapter, one rumor among many that all make it clear that Tarmon Gaidon is coming. There's a particularly millenarianist mindset in the people of the world, in many ways the Hunt is just a much more pleasant variation of a Crusade. It's really no surprise so many people end up Darkfriends when even the good guys seem desperate for the world to be destroyed and replaced.

And then there's Moiraine, smugly bragging about being at the center of it all and thinking she's slick.

The Sea Folk are agitated, their ships flying from port to port with barely a pause. Sisters from the islands say the Coramoor, their Chosen One, is coming, but they won’t say more.

Interesting that Anaiya says "Sisters" instead of "The sisters". There's only three, so most people would phrase it the latter way because a poll could be conducted quickly and thoroughly (especially since they all live and work together). I think Jordan hadn't quite decided how separate the two societies would end up being yet.

The Aiel appear to be stirring, too, but no one knows why. No one ever knows with the Aiel. At least there is no evidence they mean to cross the Spine of the World again, thank the Light.

Meanwhile, less than sixty miles away, a Stone Dog is examining his sixth Borderlander farm for the day while hiding in a leafless bush and sadly concluding that the Car'a'carn is probably on the other side of the continent.

“Almoth Plain,” Liandrin said, and looked surprised that she had spoken.

Liandrin's need to be the smartest person in the room means she's pretty terrible at espionage. She almost certainly got the full debrief on the Seanchan from Ish back in the prologue and if she hasn't been given the order to kidnap the girls yet, it's coming.

What is the wretched girl up to?

I'm a little surprised that Moiraine doesn't suspect her of being Black Ajah outright, but I suppose that she thinks that the Black Ajah infestation is a lot smaller than it is and that being suspicious of every oddly behaving Aes Sedai would mean falsely accusing a whole third of the tower. Shame she couldn't just balefire every Aes Sedai that looked at her funny and saved the world a whole lot of trouble.

The Brown sisters concerned themselves with little beside seeking knowledge. Moiraine sometimes wondered if they were really aware of what was going on in the world, or even immediately around them.

Yay Verin, my favorite Aes Sedai (besides our mains) and Least Suspicious Woman in the World! @checkoutmybookshelf , she is not sketch!!!!

Moiraine not spending any time at the Tower is really coming to bite her in the ass is what I would say if Siuan isn't going to be just as blindsided as she is.

Where are the others? There was no need for them all to be there—most would be resting in their rooms, freshing from the journey—but she was on edge now, all the questions she could not ask running through her head.

Don't worry Moiraine, they're completely irrelevant. Hell, the nameless Yellow Sister in the room with you is irrelevant. Why were they all brought? Siuan says it's about giving each Ajah two representatives (plus her and Leane as non-Ajqah), but why do all the Ajahs want representatives specifically just for bringing in Moiraine? Why not thirteen sisters who could be trusted to shield her if necessary, a number they don't have because there's only twelve non-Blues (and some of the Hall would be concerned that Siuan at least would join in, which would necessitate even more sisters to keep both in check).

At the sight of the golden cube Moiraine had difficulty keeping her face unruffled. The last she had seen of it, it had been safely locked in Agelmar’s strongroom. On learning of the Amyrlin Seat’s arrival she had meant to tell her of it herself. That it was already in the Amyrlin’s possession was a trifle, but a worrisome trifle. Events could be outpacing her.

Events are outpacing you, Moiraine, it's time to get out of denial. What even have you been up to this past month? You haven't been training Rand, you didn't expect this meet-up with Siuan... Did you just send her word and decide to await further instructions? And if so, why wouldn't you expect the Wheel to keep weaving while you stood still?

She was only of medium height, and handsome rather than beautiful, but her face held a strength that had been there before her elevation, the strength of the girl who had survived the streets of the Maule, Tear’s port district, and her clear blue gaze had made kings and queens, and even the Captain Commander of the Children of the Light, drop their eyes.

I really wanna know about the time that Siuan and Niall met. Heck, I also wanna know about Siuan's Maule adventures possibly.

Morgase was one of the few rulers to openly admit to an Aes Sedai councilor; almost all had one, but few admitted it.

Presumably the Borderlanders are the others who admit to it. Tear's leaders probably don't have an advisor, maybe Amadicia's don't either though I could see them doing it in secret since they're not the Whitecloaks. Of course, I could also see the Aes Sedai seeing Amadicia's supposed leaders being far too irrelevant to risk a perfectly valuable sister on.

The Amyrlin nodded as if it were all of no consequence. Moiraine’s eyebrows lifted in surprise before she caught herself and smoothed her features. Those were the two main concerns in the Hall of the Tower, that fewer girls who could be trained to channel the One Power were found every year, or so it seemed, and that fewer of real power were found.

The political positioning around the three Wondergirls really isn't! Elayne won't be providing the Reds any glory going forward because of the Schism, Egwene sheds Ajah affiliation and then dies, and ain't nobody going to want to say they deserve special treatment because their Ajah found Nynaeve as she will Gateway straight to them with her favorite stick and provide it on the spot. What really matters is what the three girls bring to the Tower as a whole, which is a goddamn shitton. Per girl. Plus, all three girls are going to reverse the trends about the two main concerns before the end of the series.

Elaida had another reason for coming to Tar Valon, Daughter. She sent the same message by six different pigeons to make sure I received it—and to whom else in Tar Valon she sent pigeons, I can only guess—then came herself. She told the Hall of the Tower that you are meddling with a young man who is ta’veren, and dangerous.

The thing I love about early book Elaida is that she's not even wrong. Moiraine is a weird Aes Sedai who fucks off for months or years at a time, gave herself a suicidal prince for a Warder, and now she's playing around with ta'veren in the midst of a supernaturally prolonged winter while False Dragons declare themselves in every corner of the world? That's fucking terrifying when you don't know her. Of course Elaida writes to Siuan in desperation. Of course she wrote letters to the Head of the Red Ajah and the Red Sitters and probably every other Sitter and fifteen other sisters who looked important just in case they were the other Ajah Heads.

...Elaida harms no one except those she considers dangerous. Darkfriends, or those poor fool men who try to channel the One Power. Or one who threatens Tar Valon. Everyone else who isn’t Aes Sedai might as well be pieces on a stones board as far as she is concerned. Luckily for him, the innkeeper, one Master Gill as I remember, apparently thinks much of Aes Sedai, and so answered her questions to her satisfaction. Elaida actually spoke well of him.

And like, I think it's Siuan's bias that makes her say that middle bit about pieces on a board. Elaida's a red whose desperate letters include complimentary things about a man who helped her. She didn't have to do that but she did because she knows he's just a dude trying to live his life in uncertain times.

“It was put forward in the Hall that you should be sent into retreat for contemplation. This was proposed by one of the Sitters for the Green Ajah, with the other two nodding approval as she spoke.”

This, and the further proposal by the Greens that the Reds be in charge of Moiraine's retreat, likely comes specifically from Talene, since she's the only Black Ajah Sitter among the Greens.

“It was further proposed, also by the Greens, that your care during your retreat should be given to the Red Ajah. The Red Sitters tried to appear surprised, but they looked like fisher-birds who knew the catch was unguarded.” The Amyrlin sniffed. “The Reds professed reluctance to take custody of one not of their Ajah, but said they would accede to the wishes of the Hall.”

Amusingly, thanks to the Vileness, none of the Red Sitters (Teslyn, Pevara, and Amira) are Black Ajah themselves. Also note the fisher-birds simile. Siuan loves em.

“There was yet another proposal, one that still smells like week-old fish on the jetty. Since Leane is of the Blue Ajah and I came from the Blue, it was put forward that sending two sisters of the Blue with me on this journey would give the Blue four representatives. Proposed in the Hall, to my face, as if they were discussing repairing the drains. Two of the White Sisters stood against me, and two Green. The Yellow muttered among themselves, then would not speak for or against. One more saying nay, and your sisters Anaiya and Maigan would not be here. There was even some talk, open talk, that I should not leave the White Tower at all.”

Again we can assume Talene was one of the Green, and Velina amid the White, but which others did they convince? The Green is probably Rubinde since she votes to depose Siuan later, but then there's the Whites. Neither of the other Whites is invited to the coup vote later; one is sent away to the Rebels for her own safety and the other nominated Siuan for Amyrlin in the first place.

There was only a moment’s hesitation before Leane said, “As you wish, Mother.” Moiraine could feel her surprise. The Amyrlin gave few audiences without the Keeper present, especially not to a sister she had reason to chastise.

Leane should be used to being a third wheel when Moiraine's around if you ask me.

“I don’t know that any of the others have your old trick,” the Amyrlin Seat said, lightly touching the blue stone on Moiraine’s forehead with one finger, “but most of us have some small tricks remembered from childhood. In any event, no one can hear what we say now.”

It's later clarified that eavesdropping is one of the most common early weaves for a wilder to teach herself, so this is wise. It's also interesting that Siuan says that most Aes Sedai have these: the official policy is anti-Wilder but it seems that most sisters are technically among their ranks.

“No, I would not give it up. Most of the time, no. But there have been times I envied that village goodwife. At this moment, I almost do. Moiraine, if anyone, even Leane, discovers what we plan, we will both be stilled. And I can’t say they would be wrong to do it.”

I can! Unlike all the previous Amyrlins who might have gotten involved in raising up Dragons Reborn, y'all are doing it because you know damn well that it's happened and that the world needs to be ready. The only thing wrong in what you two got up to is that you stay so relentlessly secretive even now. Oh well, it had to be done. The very first Aes Sedai who's going to discover what you're up to is Black Ajah, after all.

Anyway, that's another chapter done. See you next time when we have three new POVs and a first with four POVs in a single chapter altogether! Our transition from Rand is gonna hit hard folks!

[iviarellereads]

The Great Hunt, Chapter 5 - The Shadow in Shienar

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Sunburst icon) In which we start getting more perspective changes mid-chapter.

PERSPECTIVE: Moiraine, reeling as the word “stilled” seems to hang in the air. Stilled, the female equivalent of gentling for men, and women bear it no better than men do. It's been done so seldom that every Aes Sedai novice learns the name of every Aes Sedai stilled since the Breaking.(2)

Moiraine had known the risk from the first, and she knew it was necessary. That did not mean it was pleasant to dwell on. Her eyes narrowed, and only the gleam in them showed her anger, and her worry. “Leane would follow you to the slopes of Shayol Ghul, Siuan, and into the Pit of Doom. You cannot think she would betray you.” “No. But then, would she think it betrayal? Is it betrayal to betray a traitor? Do you never think of that?” “Never. What we do, Siuan, is what must be done. We have both known it for nearly twenty years. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and you and I were chosen for this by the Pattern. We are a part of the Prophecies, and the Prophecies must be fulfilled. Must!”

(Separately)

“Only twice since the Breaking of the World has the Amyrlin Seat been stripped of stole and staff.” “Tetsuan, who betrayed Manetheren for jealousy of Ellisande’s powers, and Bonwhin, who tried to use Artur Hawkwing for a puppet to control the world and so nearly destroyed Tar Valon.”

Both of them were Red Ajah before they were raised, and both were replaced by Blues. There hasn't been an Amyrlin from the Red since Bonwhin.(3) The current Reds will use any excuse, and Siuan doesn't want to be the third. Stilled Amyrlins are kept in the Tower as scullery maids, to be pointed at as examples of their mistakes. Moiraine asks if Siuan wants to give up on their project of twenty years for fear of washing a few pots.

Siuan is not suggesting giving up, but she also won't watch while everything slips away and she can do nothing. Everyone wonders why she hasn't brought Moiraine back to the Tower for discipline. They had a plan: find the boy and bring him to Tar Valon to hide and keep him safe and guide him. Siuan has had only two messages from Moiraine since she left the Tower, one to say she was entering Emond's Field, and one from Caemlyn to say she was going to Fal Dara and the Blight and not Tar Valon at all. Twenty years of planning and searching, and Moiraine is literally throwing it all away to rub their success in the Dark One's face?

Moiraine reminds Siuan that the Pattern and ta'veren pay no mind to Aes Sedai plans. They have perhaps only a fingernail's grip on events, but the winds of destiny blow, and they must follow.

Siuan opens a golden box Moiraine had noted pessimistically in chapter 4, and takes out the Horn of Valere, reads the inscription, “The grave is no bar to my call,” and puts it back quickly. Agelmar near forced it into her hands, saying the temptation to blow it himself was too great. Siuan won't even be able to sleep with it in the room. She notes that it was only supposed to be found just before the Last Battle. Can it be that close?

Moiraine brings up the Karaethon Cycle, the Prophecies of the Dragon. Siuan doesn’t need reminding of THAT, of all things. But, three false Dragons all at once, that makes six in two years. The Pattern is preparing for Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, but Siuan fears that Logain or Mazrim Taim might have been the true Dragon. Moiraine assures Siuan, if they were, the Pattern wouldn’t have allowed them to be taken down, wouldn’t have thrown up new false Dragons since. Once the true Dragon declares himself, the Pattern will stop trying to mount fakes.

Siuan can see that Moiraine has more to tell her, and nothing good. Moiraine takes out the shards of the cuendillar seal, from the Eye. Nothing and no power can break cuendillar, yet something did break this. Only seven were ever made, the White Tower has records of every item ever made of cuendillar, and those seven pieces were remembered above all the rest. One of the seals from the Dark One's prison. The Amyrlin Seat is supposed to watch over all seven seals, but none has known where even a single seal was since the Trolloc Wars.(4) And this one's already breaking.

They have little time, then, but it must be enough. Siuan says she saw the boy, the ta'veren, in the courtyard. It's one of her Talents, though it's almost useless given how few there are.(5) The young man didn't look much different from any other, but he blazed in her sight like the sun. Is he the one they've sought these twenty years? He is. Rand al'Thor is the one true Dragon Reborn.

Siuan wonders if he's safe here, with so many sisters, especially those allying with the Red. Moiraine says he's safe enough, for the moment. Siuan wonders what Moiraine suggests, if their old plans are in the wind.

Moiraine responds that she's let him think she has no interest in him, because Manetheren's blood runs strong in the Two Rivers, and his heart is as stone to Manetheren clay. He'll bolt in the opposite direction if he's not handled right. Siuan will do whatever needs doing, but to what purpose? Rand's friends want to see the world, she could recruit them to carry the Horn to Illian. Though, Mat has an issue with a dagger from Shadar Logoth... but there may be enough Sisters here to sever the connection and heal him. And then they can all go together, with no Aes Sedai. They must be let off the leash a short while, to guide back later.

Siuan is hesitant, wondering if Rand will ever declare himself. Moiraine says that one way or another the Pattern will force it. As ta'veren, he has no more control over his destiny than a candle wick has over the flame. Siuan would sit and plan now, but Moiraine says everyone will be getting suspicious if they take much longer, especially if anyone found the warding against sound. She promises to meet again in the morning, and leaves, trying to look chastened. There's much work to do before morning.

PERSPECTIVE: Geofram Bornhald leads a column of Children of the Light. Two thousand, to meet someone at the edge of Almoth Plain. Pedron Niall the Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light, had given him the order himself. Bornhald had left Eamon Valda in charge of the company at Caemlyn, but he wouldn't be surprised if Valda had led them to Tar Valon behind Elayne's group and kidnapped the Daughter-Heir by now, or worse. And Dain, Geofram's son, had arrived just before he was recalled, but Dain was too full of zeal to be effective at stopping Valda.

Niall ordered Bornhald to take a full legion of the best men he could find, and to silence any tongue attached to eyes that saw them on the way. Bornhald balked a little, wondering if it was war they marched to. There's rumour of Artur Hawkwing's armies come back, and he want to know why he's risking war with Tarabon. Niall says there are forces at work beyond what he can know, and to ask him no more.

Bornhald had been very careful to avoid anyone seeing his legion, so that he wouldn't have to kill any innocents.(6) Finally, he gets to his destination and meets... Questioners. He doesn't like them, thinks they assume guilt before they ever start their torture. The leader, Einor Saren, says he's second only to Jaichim Carridin, the leader of the Hand of the Light(7) in Tarabon, and that the village nearby has been pacified, to allow them to pass safely.  Bornhald wonders if the bodies were stacked outside the village, or just thrown in the river.

Bornhald questions Saren as to why he's got an entire Legion of the best men in the Children's ranks, and Saren says it's to root out darkness, as they always do. Particularly, there are strangers on Toman Head, who may carry darkness. Bornhald reiterates the rumour that they're Hawkwing's old armies, and Saren reinforces that they're simply strangers, and probably darkfriends, and that's all Bornhald needs to know.(8)

Bornhald calls on Byar to lead the legion over the bridge to the village and make camp. He'll join them as soon as he can. Then he takes his reins and follows the Questioner to ask some more questions of his own.

PERSPECTIVE: Liandrin walks the halls at twilight, imagining she can feel the Dark One’s power stirring. She feels the Dark One stirring now, at twilight, the death of day, and at dawn, the death of night. She goes to Amalisa's chamber, and enters without knocking. It takes them a moment to notice her, and when Amalisa greets her, Liandrin cuts her off and tells everyone else to leave.(9)

Amalisa is confused, Liandrin was friendly before. Liandrin questions whether Amalisa walks in the Light. It's easy to think you're following the Light and to be led astray by the Shadow, especially so close to the corruption of the blight.

When Amalisa thinks Liandrin is accusing Agelmar of being a Darkfriend, Liandrin strikes with a Compulsion, one of her Talents, forbidden as soon as the Mistress of Novices learned of it, but that just meant one more thing Liandrin had to hide from those who were jealous of her. It's not perfect, she can't force anyone to do anything, but she can make them open to more arguments for her point of view than they otherwise would be, and to want to believe her.

Liandrin questions Amalisa about Fain (Amalisa knows little) and the three boys.(10) She's been to their rooms, but they weren't there. She wants the keep searched for them, in utter secrecy. She mentions the Black Ajah, and Amalisa swears there is no corruption in the Aes Sedai, because they're known to get angry at the mere suggestion. Instead, Liandrin confirms that the Black Ajah is indeed real and active within the walls of Fal Dara this very minute. Any Sister she walks past in the hall may be one. But Liandrin can protect her, if Amalisa follows her instructions.

As she leaves the room, she feels a prickling on her skin. Someone was watching or listening to her with the Power, but... the corridor is empty. Must be just fancies. Now, time to do more work. Her orders were explicit.(11)

PERSPECTIVE: Padan Fain sits on his cot until the door to the guardroom opens. He sees a figure and, hiding his absolute glee, declares it's not who he expected, but hurry on, he wants to get some sleep eventually. As the lamp enters his chamber, he stares through the ceiling at something and says the battle isn't over yet.(12)

=====

(1) As my initial notes appended to this, "Wuh-oh." If you read in print/digital, you fairly quickly learn a sense of slight dread at the Whitecloak icon. (2) So, perhaps even worse than you might have thought on first reading of chapter 4. Rare and horrifying. (3) Artur Hawkwing's time was a bit more than 1100 years ago, so you can see how a whole organization within the White Tower not feeling represented in that time period might raise some bad feelings. (4) Interesting. We don't know when the Eye of the World was assembled, but it was implied that it was soon after the Breaking, while some men still had their sanity. How could this one seal have been put in, when the Amyrlin Seat was supposed to have had all seven hundreds of years later? (5) If you can identify a ta'veren from their social context and surrounding events, it could make you wonder why such a talent would be considered valuable enough to crop up in the Pattern, or if it's just a random variation. (6) If not for how he allowed Perrin and Egwene to be treated last book, you could believe he was a good man. As it stands, he seems at least to be one with a true moral code. He's certainly not our Bors, who bore the Questioners' red crook on his cloak and wouldn't care about killing innocents. (7) The formal name for Questioners, since they hate the short one, but I will be using Questioners in the text where relevant, just like I use Whitecloaks in place of Children of the Light. (8) Yes, that'll really quell the rumours on the subject. (9) That's not very "attract no attention" of you, Liandrin, when you're being so suspicious already. (10) Does Liandrin know about them from talking to servants about who came in with Moiraine? If so, they would have known more than Amalisa, surely. Where else might Liandrin have learned about the lads? (11) Who gave mysterious orders to someone else in this book so far? (12) This will surely cause no harm or danger or mischief for anyone else. But, who’s setting him free?

[ao3feed-lanaeve]

Watch Me Burn

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/6cOVyPe by lorienbird32 Lan is not typically a man to hold grudges. At least, not until you insult Nynaeve, the love of his life. Nynaeve is easily made jealous, and today is no mistake. But she sees how tired Lan is, and for once, she stays quiet. In which Nynaeve eavesdrops behind a door and is caught, Amalisa insults Nynaeve and Lan refuses to put up with it. This story takes place during episode seven of season one of WOT TV, The Dark Along The Ways. Words: 2427, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: The Wheel of Time (TV), Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Nynaeve al'Meara, Lan Mandragoran, Amalisa Jagad, Moiraine Damodred Relationships: Nynaeve al'Meara/Lan Mandragoran, Amalisa Jagad/Lan Mandragoran, Moiraine Damodred & Lan Mandragoran Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Drama & Romance, Lan doesn't put up with crap, Amalisa is scared of him, Nynaeve is surprisingly agreeable, but shh! it's actually an act, Nynaeve PoV, Customs, Ta'veren (Wheel of Time), The Wheel (Wheel of Time) read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/6cOVyPe

[markantonys]

everyone in the wheel of time universe wants moiraine and/or rand: the ongoing saga

[dykedivorce]

THE WHEEL OF TIME | 1x07 "The Dark Along The Ways"

[aflawedfashion]

The Wheel of Time 1x07 | The Dark Along the Ways

[pandemoniumonwheels]

Level bars for One Power

[ofushers]

light protect Fal Dara.

[quinntamsin]

Merry Yule to everyone, taking a break from Witcher Season 2, to do my WoT finale review!

Spoilers ahead!

*Rends the earth at her feet Delphine dances at her side, sword flashing between the enemy.*

“The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.”

Season 1 Finale, Episode 8, “Eye of the World.”

WE open to Lews Therin Telamon speaking to Latra Posae Decume, the current Tamyrlin Seat of the Aes Sedai. It is the age of Legends before Lews went mad, and the Dark One ruined it all. Before the Bore was destroyed in search of the “True Power”. It’s all conducted in Old Tongue, which really shows they budget went into expanding the bits and bobs from the books.

Fast forward to Rand and Moiraine, they are in the blight. A thicket of rotting fungal growth and dead grasping vines. We see the former body of a dead Borderlander Boy, overtaken by fungal rot. A view of the Seven Towers of Malkier and it all comes home, this truly is a Broken world. Flashing back between the Blight and Fal Dara we first see Egwene consoling her grief with Perrin. Another scene featuring Lan and Nynaeve, we see how she is dealing with the grief of one of her friends. She has finally accepted she will got to Tar Valon so she can be with Lan.

Back to Rand, and the Blight has started to take him, the moss itself creeping over him. And yes we finally meet Ba’alzamon, Ishmael, Elin Morin Teldronai, worse of the Forsaken. The one who stood with Lews Therin when he had his moment of lucidity, and the actor chosen to play him is rightfully menacing (Fares Fares). A sa’angreal is finally revealed, awesome, we get a name for it, and we an image of Tarwin’s Gap.

And finally, we learn of Moiraine’s backstory and how an older Aes Sedai beat her, abused her, to learn how to channel. This is a point which drives home to Rand, that yes he will channel.

“The Gap will not hold.”

Lady Amalisa Jagad

Further into the Blight...

Trollocs are preparing to pour out of the Blight, Lan tracks the pair, and Lord Angelmar Jagad prepares for battle. His sister, Amalisa, tries to convince him to remain. Tarmon Gai’don, is almost here, but it is not today. The small salute, the right palm tapping the left breast fits well with the arm pounding we saw at Stepin’s funeral. Suddenly, we are in the Hall of Servants mayhap? Memories come colliding into Rand’s mind as he is now back in the Two Rivers. A trick of the Dark One as he sees his son with Egwene.

Moiraine is confronted by Ishmael, yes, the power of a Forsaken is revealed. I love it. The cacophany of the ongoming horde of trollocs as well. yes, the budget in the past hasn’t always shown the best, but now yes, now it all comes to a head. The men riding for Tarwin Gap as the women defend Fal Dara. Blessed is the Light, yeah, this fighting scene is so fucking good. Not Battle of the Bastard’s Good, but damn it’s fun!

Alright, I got suuuuper pulled into the episode so I kind of didn’t keep track. But let’s get back to brass tax. The scene witht he Trollocs, the graphics were definitely a little wonky, but hey, what do you expect from a series that had to slog through fucking covid. Rand is breaking through the compulsion and lies that Ishmael has placed him in. The temptation by the Father of Lies to twist Rand, and free himself. I wonder if they will differentiate him from the Dark One soon, or if he will just be the Dark One.

Padan Fain has broken in with Two Fades, and the Trollocs are coming. The Horn of Valere is revealed (yup we’re setting up season 2). And holy shit the storm casting by Aes Sedai and how it killed the Malkier woman is saddening. I’m happy Amalisa was able to push back the trollocs. And then Rand kicks the Dark ONe’s ass, for now, and let’s get onto PERRIN. He is confronting Pada Fain who has arrived to make it all worse. Will the season end with us thinking everyone is dead? And Moiraine is stilled? Ah yes, the first step in the coming of Tarmon Gai’don is here. A solid ending, and of course NYNAEVE ISN’T DEAD!

Fucking best healer of a generation and yeah she’s going to survive.

And yes, we get a little ending scene introducing the MOTHER FUCKING SEANCHAN! YES MY FAVORITE SECONDARY BADDIES ARE COMING! ANd holy shit do I love the hair and the design of the Damane!

Conclusion:

Wow, so it looks like we are getting 1 book per season roughly. I’m okay with this, and especially with how everying has looked. From the armor design to the simple clothes they all wear. I’ve seen a lot of bitching about the costuming and whatever, costumes don’t need to be pretty. What matters was the story!

Overall, this series is at the same level of strength as Witcher S1, and I’m perfectly happy with that. Fuck yes, let’s here for season 2!

Hottakes:

Amalisa in her father’s armor is fucking awesome. Reminds me a lot of armor I saw in Red Cliff mixed with elvish armor.

Angelmar’s death was definitely a n ice touch, it shows he should have listened to his sister. He just had to wear “his” armor.

Fares Fares was a good casting call for Mishmael, all my fucking god love it.

Heh, Seanchan Empire is coming!

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 5: The Shadow in Shienar

It's that time again folks! Yadda yadda yadda, heavy spoilers for all of the books, the TV show, the RPG, the video game, and the limited run commemorative cups that have all either gone missing or been confirmed destroyed. Oh wait that is the spoiler for the cups. Sorry. Don't keep reading if you don't want more spoilers!

This chapter has the sun of the Whitecloaks, which symbolizes how we're getting our first Whitecloak POV this chapter. There's a lot of POV hopping really, kind of too much. Sometimes I wish Jordan had stayed more focused in each chapter instead of hopping around the way he does, but oh well.

So seldom had it been done that every novice was required to learn the name of each Aes Sedai since the Breaking of the World who had been stilled, and her crime, but none could think of it without a shudder.

Terrifying to think that over three thousand years, the list is still small enough to be easily learned. At this point, two of them are Amyrlins (though the upcoming third example is in the room right now!), but there were obviously more. Did the Compendium list them all? I really need to read that someday.

“Both of the Red, and both replaced by Amyrlin from the Blue. The reason there has not been an Amyrlin chosen from the Red since Bonwhin, and the reason the Red Ajah will take any pretext to pull down an Amyrlin from the Blue, all wrapped neatly together. I have no wish to be the third to lose the stole and the staff, Moiraine. For you, of course, it would mean being stilled and put outside the Shining Walls.”

I think the reason that the Red Ajah has such a shit track record is in part because of the poorly formed nature of their cause (yes, gentling dudes is important, but dedicating themselves entirely to it clearly led to a poor moral character) and in part because the apparently best time to turn to a Red to lead is exactly when having no tradition of leadership leads to disaster.

Having a Red during the Trolloc Wars makes a lot of sense considering all the Dreadlords and whatnot. Bonwhin against Amalasan was probably a great idea at the time (though I expect even the Hall got played here because this False Dragon is the most plausible candidate as a Tar Valon puppet). But Tetsuan was consumed by her petty squabbles instead of being able to play the political game correctly and arguably the fall of Manetheren was the reason the Ten Nations as a whole were unable to withstand the war. And Artur Hawkwing beating Amalasan meant that Bonwhin's best strength was gone and her attempts to replace one puppet with another backfired so hideously that the White Tower was nearly destroyed.

Other Amyrlins were screw-ups; there were at least two who were exiled by politics, but only the three Red Amyrlins really had a chance to be as disastrous as they were. And to be honest, it doesn't say great things about the Tower as a whole that they were allowed to be the failures that they were.

“For me, it would be different. Even stilled, an Amyrlin who has been pulled down cannot be allowed to wander about loose; she might be seen as a martyr, become a rallying point for opposition. Tetsuan and Bonwhin were kept in the White Tower as servants. Scullery maids, who could be pointed to as cautions as to what can happen to the mightiest. No one can rally around a woman who must scrub floors and pots all day. Pity her, yes, but not rally to her.”

So like obviously this whole section is foreshadowing Siuan's eventual fate, but this bit in particular is the nice dramatic irony. Siuan manages to wander around loose and while she doesn't quite get people to rally around her, she does pick candidates for them to rally around to her advantage (Logain and Egwene).

“The Pattern pays no heed to human plans, Siuan. With all our scheming, we forgot what we were dealing with. Ta’veren. Elaida is wrong. Artur Paendrag Tanreall was never this strongly ta’veren. The Wheel will weave the Pattern around this young man as it wills, whatever our plans.”

On the one hand, it's smart of Moiraine to acknowledge this. On the other hand, it's very dumb of her to refuse to internalize this in any way.

“ ‘The grave is no bar to my call,’ ” she translated, so softly she seemed to be speaking to herself. “The Horn of Valere, made to call dead heroes back from the grave. And prophecy said it would only be found just in time for the Last Battle.”

I feel like maybe in the planning phase the Siuan/Moiraine chat was meant to be one chapter with the Horn being discussed there (hence the icon) and the other disparate POVs meant to be their own thing, but ultimately the one chapter got too long and the other too short and Harriet said "Why not a good chapter break on a dramatic moment?" cause that's good editing advice but they never changed the icons to match.

“Agelmar pushed it into my hands as soon as the Welcome was done. He said he was afraid to go into his own strongroom any longer, with it there. The temptation was too great, he said. To sound the Horn himself and lead the host that answered its call north through the Blight to level Shayol Ghul itself and put an end to the Dark One. He burned with the ecstasy of glory, and it was that, he said, that told him it was not to be him, must not be him. He could not wait to be rid of it, yet he wanted it still.”

Mad respect to Agelmar here, but also: would blowing the Horn at Fal Dara even do anything? The prophecy about salvation instead of glory might well mean that blowing the Horn in any situation except the desperation that Mat and Olver feel at their respective moments would be as effective as if a Darkfriend tried to summon the Heroes to fight for the Shadow.

“And it was not to be found until just before the Last Battle. Can it be that close? I thought, hoped, we would have more time.”

Hey, y'all have a bit over two years to go. That's not nothing.

 “Never more than one false Dragon in a generation since the Breaking, and now three loose in the world at one time, and three more in the past two years. The Pattern demands a Dragon because the Pattern weaves toward Tarmon Gai’don. Sometimes doubt fills me, Moiraine.”

Moiraine of course points out that the Pattern doesn't accept Dragon substitutes, but there is reason to think there's more purpose to so many I-Can't-Believe-He's-Not-Therin products on the market at this point, especially since the two still standing will get struck down when Rand makes his declaration. Basically, since this particular iteration of the Third Age is pretty clearly way off course (hence three ta'veren at once to correct the Pattern), the false Dragons are doing a bunch of the work that Rand no longer has the time to do himself: rallying armies together and giving them and the Aes Sedai combat training so that as many people as possible will be ready for the actual Last Battle. Hence their locations: Ghealdan and Murandy where Rand never has a chance to personally intervene, Illian where Rand doesn't really have time to organize the armies, Tear where he needs them ready as soon as he arrives, and Saldaea that receives the first blow from the Shadow at Maradon. None of the Seanchan-occupied territories get False Dragons because they get their own combat boosts, the two middle Borderlands get nothing because they're just kind of there (and Shienar got its training from hell last book), and Andor and Cairhien are places where Rand has time to source things anyway (plus Andor has the civil war and Cairhien gets the Shaido).

The secret hidden from the world, if the world ever thought of it, was that no Amyrlin Seat had known where any of the seals were since the Trolloc Wars.

Frankly, it's probably mythology that the Tower ever knew the locations of all seven seals. One was in the Eye, made at least 100 years before the White Tower existed. One found its way to Rhuidean, which means it was probably in Aiel hands the whole time and again this predated the Tower. A third seems to have ended up in Seanchan, which the White Tower probably didn't know about even back then.

Losing track of the others though, that's extra sad. The one in the Stone of Tear was almost certainly given to the people of Essenia for safekeeping. The one the Panarch had may well have been distributed similarly - and that suggests that the other two were meant to be safeguarded as well. Both allegedly came from Saldaea, and I'm going to suggest that Bayle's legitimately did so and had been put in the northwest corner of the known world to match the southwest and southeast - and that as a result we can theorize that the fourth may well have been safely in Malkier (and its predecessors) for generations until, y'know. Then Taim the Darkfriend was given it to give to Rand.

“I saw the boy, you know, in the courtyard during the Welcome. It is one of my Talents, seeing ta’veren. A rare Talent these days, even more rare than ta’veren, and certainly not of much use. A tall boy, a fairly handsome young man. Not much different from any young man you might see in any town.”

I'm a wee bit surprised Siuan didn't mention how he really looks less like a town boy and more like an Aiel, but I guess since Rand isn't nearby fretting about his parentage there's no reason to twist that dagger.

“If he is the one, then we truly may have time enough. But is he safe here? I have two Red sisters with me, and I can no longer answer for Green or Yellow, either. The Light consume me, I can’t answer for any of them, not with this. Even Verin and Serafelle would leap on him the way they would a scarlet adder in a nursery.”

Nice of Siuan to suggest that the Browns might be remotely useful (frankly I think the reason these digs aren't tossed at the Whites is that they don't even have hobbies enough for the other Aes Sedai to remember they exist half the time), but frankly I suspect that Serafelle, like Verin, would just start studying Rand for whatever her current book project is.

“I have purposely let him think I no longer have any interest in him, that he may go where he pleases for all of me.” She raised her hands as the Amyrlin opened her mouth. “It was necessary, Siuan. Rand al’Thor was raised in the Two Rivers, where Manetheren’s stubborn blood flows in every vein, and his own blood is like rock beside clay compared to Manetheren’s. He must be handled gently, or he will bolt in any direction but the one we want.”

No Moiraine, you really fucked this strategy up. Ghosting the boy so quickly and thoroughly only made him hurt and resentful about everything, especially since he's already going through so much. It would have been a far wiser move to keep up some degree of communication with him, even if it was just inviting him to tea and a game of stones once a week.

“His two friends, Matrim Cauthon and Perrin Aybara, are ripe to see the world before they sink back into the obscurity of the Two Rivers. If they can sink back; they are ta’veren, too, if lesser than he. I will induce them to carry the Horn of Valere to Illian.”

She's literally already back to scheming and forgetting what she's dealing with. Moiraine. Girl. Get a clue.

“He must be let off the leash for a time. There is no help for it. I have had all of their old clothes burned. There has been too much opportunity for some shred of what they were wearing to have fallen into the wrong hands. I will cleanse them before they leave; they will not even realize it has been done. There will be no chance they can be tracked that way, and the only other threat of that kind is locked away here in the dungeon.”

Like... she literally veers from "Two Rivers stubborn" to "I can make them do whatever" to "I burned their clothing" and it never occurs to her that these claims are all very contradictory. "The Pattern gives no fucks about our plans" gives way to "I will see to everything in Illian" as if she hasn't spent an entire book watching as the Pattern carefully picks up each of her plans and then flings them against a cuendillar wall.

“I have the means to see him named Dragon whether he wills it or not. And even if I somehow fail, the Pattern itself will see him named Dragon whether he wills it or not. Remember, he is ta’veren, Siuan. He has no more control over his fate than a candle wick has over the flame.”

More dramatic irony. Rand has a good deal of control over his fate: he demonstrates in The Gathering Storm that not only can he commit suicide if he feels like it, but omnicide to boot. He had every ability to slay the Dark One at the climax of the series, for all the good that would have done anyone, and walks away. When Rand interprets the Karatheon Cycle, he's correct about what it means, a privilege given to exactly zero other characters. He gets to fall in love without the prophecy of its inevitability hanging over him: it's his own choice, not his capitulation to the Wheel like Min.

Meanwhile, Moiraine has no control over Rand's fate whatsoever. He doesn't go to Tar Valon or Illian until she's long gone and never for the reasons she intends. She doesn't want him to have Thom as a mentor figure, but when she gets rid of him Rhuarc and a fucking Forsaken step up to fill the gap. When she goes through the rings, she sees that the vast majority of timelines - every one where she abandons all concern for Rand the person and embraces any desperate and cold method to save the world - her manipulations only make the situation worse.

The column would have made an impressive sight under the waxing moon, moving through the Tarabon night to the jangle of harness, had there been anyone to see it.

Oh thank god. Hopefully since we're changing POV I'll stop ranting so much.

“My Lord Captain Commander, may I ask why I was called back from Caemlyn, and with such urgency? A push, and Morgase could be toppled. There are Houses in Andor that see dealing with Tar Valon as we do, and they were ready to lay claim to the throne. I left Eamon Valda in charge, but he seemed intent on following the Daughter-Heir to Tar Valon. I would not be surprised to learn the man has kidnapped the girl, or even attacked Tar Valon.”

I think Geofram is missing the bigger picture here. With winter magically over and spring making up the difference, the political situation is now much less tenuous than it was.

“There are forces at work beyond what you know, Geofram. Beyond what even you can know. Choose your men quickly. Now go. Ask me no more. And the Light ride with you.”

Say what you like about Niall being a vile jackass who leads the continent's worst organization (and when I say continent I am including Shara and all their mess), but damn if he's not perceptive. Dude has absolutely no clues about what's going on in the world except an unnatural winter, an uncertain western invasion, and whispers of Trolloc sightings in Andor and he's already deduced that the Last Battle is around the corner and it's time to get ready for it. Such a shame he's so morally repugnant or he could have been a great asset for the good guys.

I have been sent here to meet Questioners?

Shame you're not being put to the Question yourself, buddy. You can be all "Oh yeah they're totally corrupt," but you're fucking allied with them. That's your choice.

Pacified. He wondered if the bodies had been piled outside the village, or if they had been thrown into the river. It would be like the Questioners, cold enough to kill an entire village for secrecy and stupid enough to throw the bodies into the river to float downstream and trumpet their deed from Alcruna to Tanchico.

WHY ARE YOU PART OF THIS GEOFRAM? YOU CLEARLY KNOW BETTER!

(Also weirdly Einor Saren will show up again. I have nothing in particular to say about him though. He exists and if I wasn't obsessively checking which minor characters do in fact recur I wouldn't even realize we're going to see him again in Lord of Chaos.)

For a moment, Bornhald stopped breathing. “Then the rumors are true. Artur Hawkwing’s armies have returned.” “Strangers,” Saren said flatly. He sounded as if he regretted having mentioned them.

You can't just use insistent terminology to bend the world to your will, Saren. They're a very big threat and calling them "Strangers" is just happily living in denial. Bad enough I have to put up with this crap from Rand. Oh well. Onto the next POV!

Twilight was a troubled time for Liandrin of late, that and dawn. At dawn the day was born, just as twilight gave birth to night, but at dawn, night died, and at twilight, day. The Dark One’s power was rooted in death; he gained power from death, and at those times she thought she could feel his power stirring.

Liandrin is quite a glass half empty kind of lady, isn't she? Maybe if you didn't focus on how birth and death are so intrinsically linked there'd be less power for the Dark One to claim, did you ever think of that Liandrin? (Except of course she didn't go Dark out of nihilism, so her focus on death isn't remotely like Ish's despair.)

It was The Dance of the Hawk and the Hummingbird, by Teven Aerwin, which purported to set forth the proper conduct of men toward women and women toward men. Liandrin’s mouth tightened; she certainly had not read it, but she had heard as much as she needed about it.

Liandrin thinks that the proper conduct of men toward women is groveling and pleading for their life and that as long as the woman doesn't like the man or do anything kind to him she can do whatever she likes. Anything that says otherwise is scandalous, anything that suggests men and women might enjoy each other's company offensive.

“Do you walk in the Light, my daughter?” There would be none of that foolishness of calling her sister here. The other woman was older by some years, but the ancient forms would be observed. However long they had been forgotten, it was time they were remembered.

See what I mean from last chapter? Liandrin absolutely hates the idea of respecting someone who might be behaving as if she's even remotely an equal.

Casually she threw the book into the fire. Flames leaped as if it were a log of fatwood, thundering as they licked up the chimney. In the same instant every lamp in the room flared, hissing, so fiercely did they burn, flooding the chamber with light.

We're not even being remotely subtle about Liandrin's general disposition here, are we?

In that moment of doubt and confusion, Liandrin struck. She did not move, but lashed out with the One Power. Amalisa gasped and gave a jerk, as if she had been pricked with a needle, and Liandrin’s petulant mouth perked in a smile. This was her own special trick from childhood, the first learned of her abilities. It had been forbidden to her as soon as the Mistress of Novices discovered it, but to Liandrin that only meant one more thing she needed to conceal from those who were jealous of her.

Just another reason why the general secrecy of the Tower about weaves is stupid. If people knew about Liandrin's trick more generally, they'd have more understanding of her character and she might not have been allowed to progress to the shawl at all.

It was not a perfect ability; Liandrin could not force anyone to do what she wanted—though she had tried; oh, how she had tried. But she could open them wide to her arguments, make them want to believe her, want more than anything to be convinced of her rightness.

Interesting that this kind of Compulsion is so limited compared to what Graendal can accomplish. Is it just a less effective weave, or does Graendal's knowledge of physiology and psychology let her accomplish more outright than Liandrin can?

“Moiraine came to Fal Dara with a Darkfriend.” Amalisa was too frightened to show surprise. “Oh, no, Liandrin Sedai. No. That man came later. He is in the dungeons now.”

And this is an interesting twist on it as well. Amalisa is still quite capable of arguing logically because there's a reasonable way by which she can interpret Liandrin as mistaken but not lying. Is this confusion part of why Liandrin won't name the ta'veren as Darkfriends?

“The Black Ajah is real, child. Real, and here within Fal Dara’s walls.” Amalisa knelt there, her mouth hanging open. The Black Ajah. Aes Sedai who were also Darkfriends. Almost as horrible to learn the Dark One himself walked Fal Dara keep. But Liandrin would not let up now. “Any Aes Sedai in the halls you pass, a Black sister could be. This I swear. I cannot tell you which they are, but my protection you can have. If in the Light you walk and me obey.”

It's also worth noting that except the quote just before this one (which may well be in-character confusion), Liandrin doesn't really say anything explicitly false from her perspective. Even her threats are based in the truth. Either Jordan hadn't quite decided that the Blacks had abandoned the Oaths yet or Liandrin is masterfully keeping her alibi by acting as if she is still bound by them in these public interactions.

Pulling the door shut behind her, Liandrin suddenly felt a prickling across her skin. Breath catching, she whirled about, looking up and down the dimly lit hall. Empty. It was full night beyond the arrowslits. The hall was empty, yet she was sure there had been eyes on her. The vacant corridor, shadowy between the lamps on the walls, mocked her. She shrugged uneasily, then started down the hall determinedly. Fancies take me. Nothing more.

I listed a bunch of possible causes for Rand's paranoia last we saw him, and it was pointed out I neglected the possibility it might be the Gray Man who is going to be a problem soon. I would thus like to note that I am very confident that's what Liandrin feels at this point.

You! No...

Wait no I'm getting way ahead of myself. A fuller quote would be:

Fain stood. “You! Not who I expected.”

Who did Fain expect to break him out of jail? Ishamael himself? Graendal for reasons related to my above quote? Liandrin? A Fade? Not Ingtar, obviously. Guess we can conclude he definitely wasn't at the Darkfriend Social.

Ah well. Next time: Moiraine's plans are smashed with the Pattern's finest cuendillar hammer.

[iviarellereads]

The Great Hunt, Chapter 4 - Summoned

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Horn of Valere icon)(1) In which we get a lot of worldbuilding in a fairly short period of time.

PERSPECTIVE: Moiraine adjusts the shawl on her shoulders. She only had it by luck. Aes Sedai shawls are rarely worn outside of Tar Valon, since the giant flame embroidered on them would send people running, away or toward to fight. Hers has a blue fringe, marking her of the Blue Ajah. There are proprieties to observe when meeting with someone like the Amyrlin Seat herself. She looks younger than she is, because of her nature, but she developed a graceful, calm presence growing up in the Royal Palace of Cairhien, and honed it in the Tower. She might need every bit of it today.

An insistent knock at the door, and she greets Anaiya (Blue) and Liandrin (Red). She's glad to see Anaiya, to know that the Amyrlin brought at least one friendly face with her. Liandrin notices and comments on the wards on Moiraine's room, and Moiraine says she didn't need to distinguish her Sisters until now, and the serving women are too curious about Aes Sedai. But, they shouldn't keep the Amyrlin waiting.

As they go, Moiraine asks what news, since Tar Valon gets it all concentrated. There are three new false Dragons. Three in the last two years, now three all at once. Liandrin says they'll be dealt with, the same as all the others.(2)

They stop to exchange greetings and introductions with Lady Amalisa, since she's Agelmar's sister, and deserves more than the passing nod and smile they give other women in the halls.

From the corner of her eye, Moiraine saw Egwene, far down the side hall, disappearing hurriedly around a corner. A stooped shape in a leather jerkin, head down and arms loaded with bundles, shambled at her heels. Moiraine permitted herself a small smile, quickly masked. If the girl shows as much initiative in Tar Valon, she thought wryly, she will sit in the Amyrlin Seat one day. If she can learn to control that initiative. If there is an Amyrlin Seat left on which to sit.(3)

When she comes back to the conversation, Moiraine is shocked by Liandrin being friendly with Amalisa, because Liandrin doesn't like anyone outside of the Red Ajah, ever. Liandrin is clearly Up To Something, and Anaiya isn't taking much notice, since she tends to accept people as they are since she puts herself out so straightforwardly.

They catch Moiraine up on the arrival of Elayne and co at the White Tower before they'd left, and Moiraine wonders if Andor, and the world, will accept Elayne if they know she has the potential to be a full Aes Sedai, as only a few queens have ever been, and every one had lived to regret making it known.(4) The thought makes Moiraine a little sad.(5)

They also say the Great Hunt has been declared in Illian, for the first time in 400 years. Anaiya says there will be a new lot of stories for the gleemen to tell, and the Light send it will only be stories. Moiraine says aloud that perhaps they won't be the stories they expect. Beyond all that, only rumour. The Sea Folk seem to be restless, and there's talk that they believe their Coramoor is coming, their Chosen One, though the few Sea Folk who have become Aes Sedai will say no more than that. The Aiel are stirring as well,(6) but they have no Sisters from among the Aiel, which Anaiya bemoans. They could learn so much from just one. Moiraine says perhaps Anaiya should have become Brown Ajah.

Liandrin mentions Almoth Plain, and looks startled that she spoke up at all. Anaiya explains that they've heard vaguest rumour that there's fighting on Almoth Plain and Toman Head. Moiraine says it must be Tarabon and Arad Doman, and begins to ask Liandrin, who's Taraboner, why they might--

She's cut off by Liandrin throwing open doors and reminding Moiraine that she's here to see the Amyrlin, who waits inside and will have no idle talk for her. Moiraine sees Verin Mathwin and Serafelle (both Brown Ajah), Carlinya (White), Alanna Mosvani (Green), and a Yellow sister she doesn't know. They all turn and stare but none speak to her, though the Yellow sister turns away with an air of regret, clearly wanting to greet her but put off by everyone else's behaviour.(7)

Leane, the Keeper of the Chronicles (Blue, wearing a stole instead of a shawl to indicate her rank) opens the inner door in the chamber, and calls Moiraine in. Moiraine curtsies and observes the formalities of greeting, but remembers that the Amyrlin Seat was once Siuan Sanche, a fisherman's daughter from Tear.

The Amyrlin says they turned the winds and the tides to rush their ships here, and they've seen some of the damage they've caused to do it. She also says that Elaida is in Tar Valon with Elayne, and Moiraine says it's no time for Morgase to be without Aes Sedai counsel. The Amyrlin says the Red Ajah are "swollen up like puff-fish"(8) at having been the Ajah that found the girl who may be the most powerful Aes Sedai in a thousand years. Moiraine says she's got two, one Elayne's equal, the other even stronger, and both are amused enough by men to never choose the Red.

Moiraine is surprised when the Amyrlin nods as if this means nothing. The two biggest concerns in the tower are that fewer and fewer young women are being found to train up, and those who are found are getting weaker. The Amyrlin continues that Elaida came to Tar Valon, after sending at least six messenger pigeons, to tell her about a dangerous ta'veren that Moiraine has been meddling with. More dangerous than any man since Artur Hawkwing, she said, and she has a bit of Foretelling, so she knows it's true.

Moiraine assures the Amyrlin that none of the young men with her is a king, and none dreams of uniting the world under one banner, as Hawkwing did. The Amyrlin says that one of the leading Green sisters proposed that Moiraine should be sent into retreat for contemplation of her actions, and her care be taken over by Red sisters.

Moiraine is flabbergasted. Green and Red are as much in opposition as is possible to be, why are they working together? The Green Ajah have ever been the allies of the Blue. The Amyrlin points out that four of the last five Amyrlin Seats have been raised from the Blue, and perhaps the rest desire a change, especially in a world with so many false Dragons.

 She shook herself, and her voice firmed. “There was yet another proposal, one that still smells like week-old fish on the jetty. Since Leane is of the Blue Ajah and I came from the Blue, it was put forward that sending two sisters of the Blue with me on this journey would give the Blue four representatives. Proposed in the Hall, to my face, as if they were discussing repairing the drains. Two of the White Sisters stood against me, and two Green. The Yellow muttered among themselves, then would not speak for or against. One more saying nay, and your sisters Anaiya and Maigan would not be here. There was even some talk, open talk, that I should not leave the White Tower at all.” Moiraine felt a greater shock than on hearing that the Red Ajah wanted her in their hands. Whatever Ajah she came from, the Keeper of the Chronicles spoke only for the Amyrlin, and the Amyrlin spoke for all Aes Sedai and all Ajahs. That was the way it had always been, and no one had ever suggested otherwise, not in the darkest days of the Trolloc Wars, not when Artur Hawkwing’s armies had penned every surviving Aes Sedai inside Tar Valon. Above all, the Amyrlin Seat was the Amyrlin Seat. Every Aes Sedai was pledged to obey her. No one could question what she did or where she chose to go. This proposal went against three thousand years of custom and law.

Who would dare? The Amyrlin points out all the world's terrible events, and says that if you don't think the White Tower is losing its grip, you're already dead. Time is growing short, for everyone. Moiraine points out that there are worse perils outside the Tower than within it, and the Amyrlin asks Leane to leave. She wouldn't say a word about what had happened, but it would set flame to rumour, that Moiraine would be chastised privately by the Amyrlin herself.

When they're alone, the Amyrlin performs a channelling to shield them from listeners, a trick Moiraine came up with when they were young and at the Tower training together, and suddenly she's Siuan with her best friend. Moiraine is the only person in the Tower she can be herself with, and sometimes she wishes they were still young, with dreams of finding princes who could tolerate Aes Sedai power, and finding happy endings.

“We are Aes Sedai, Siuan. We have our duty. Even if you and I had not been born to channel, would you give it up for a home and a husband, even a prince? I do not believe it. That is a village goodwife’s dream. Not even the Greens go so far.” The Amyrlin stepped back. “No, I would not give it up. Most of the time, no. But there have been times I envied that village goodwife. At this moment, I almost do. Moiraine, if anyone, even Leane, discovers what we plan, we will both be stilled. And I can’t say they would be wrong to do it.”(9)

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(1) Well, that's pretty unambiguous, but there's only passing mention of it with regard to Illian's hunt. What else might the Horn represent? Or was it just the prepared icon that was relevant to the contents of the chapter, without being repetitive? (2) Liandrin, being Red Ajah, would of course have absolute conviction in her Ajah's ability to do their jobs as efficiently as they did with Logain last book. (3) That's the second time Moiraine's said just that about Egwene. You could almost think it was some sort of… Pattern… Still, amusing that the in-universe Pattern drew Rand across Moiraine's line of sight even as he was trying to hide. You can't escape your fate, though there are still plenty of books left to explore all that. (4) In some ways, RJ made his world a near-exact flip of patriarchy but with women in power (which isn't "matriarchy" as we know it but it's easy to shorthand it to that if you don't know or care about the precision of the language). In other ways, he just made a patriarchy and gave lip service to women's power. This is one of the latter, of course. We've seen anti-Aes-Sedai sentiment, but for the people to regularly be implied to rebel against leaders with magic? Yeah, it gets messy. (5) Recall that I've been tagging her "Moiraine Damodred", and we've heard of Damodreds in the royal family of Cairhien. Why would Moiraine be sad? It's possible she turned down the opportunity to hold a royal seat, and from her reaction here, it wouldn't be a surprise to find out she was partially motivated by commoners' reactions to Power-wielding queens. (6) So, multiple cultures seem to believe the end of the world is coming and they must make preparations for it, and even the ones that can't be confirmed right now are agitated over something, which feels like a rather conspicuous coincidence. (7) Every Aes Sedai present seems to think Moiraine's in for a lashing, verbal or physical, for what they think she's been doing. It's unclear what they think that is, though if they know that she's working with a ta'veren, maybe they think she's positioning another false Dragon, to go with all the ones getting thrown into the Pattern. (8) You can take the fisherman's daughter out of the fishing village, but you can't take the fishing metaphors and analogies out of her. (9) Stilling, if it's not obvious, is the female equivalent of the gentling that male channelers get. Safe to assume it's a horrifying thought, to anyone in the prime of their power. And if Siuan knows that's a real risk, and thinks it might be the RIGHT decision for what she and Mo have done? Stakes, high, etc.

[witchesnet]

LADY AMALISA JAGAD

While your power may have not been strong enough to become one of us, I hope I might still trust your discretion. // D i s c r e e t  as I maybe , my allegiance lies with this city, not your Amyrlin Seat.   the wheel of time 🔹 1.07 🔹