#Aridhol

[divorceblogger]

good for them (the show leaning into moiraine and lanfear’s homoerotic situationship)

[faircastle]

Shadar Logoth. Sounds like the Old Tongue. It means Shadow’s Waiting. But it was once called Aridhol. During the Trolloc wars, it was the richest, most powerful city in the world. But when the world needed them most, they built their wall with no gate. Locked themselves inside and let the other nations and men burn. It was the people of the city who promised Manetheren aid and they were the ones who let them die. When the Trolloc wars ended, survivors came here to find food, shelter…  When they knocked, no one answered. When they finally broke through the wall, there was no one inside. It is said that evil itself grew from the city’s heart, consumed everyone and everything that lived. Ever since, the city’s been abandoned. Not even Trollocs will step foot behind these walls.

[toastandjamie]

Hey so I wanna talk about the two distinct types of evil present in WoT, the Dark one and Shadar Logoth.

These evils are similar in that they amplify negative emotions to the point that they boil over into cruelty and violence, where they differ however is that the emotions that draw people to them are born from different places, the dark one being an internal force where as Shadar Logoth relies on external forces.

The dark one is very classic satan allegory where the emotions he preys upon are the seven deadly sins. Greed, envy, lust, pride. The people who seek out the dark one and become dark friends usually feel like they are entitled to something that they aren’t receiving, whether that’s power, money, attention, knowledge- the dark one in turn offers them a way to achieve these goals they feel they deserve but evil is a corruptive force and eventually these feelings of envy and greed grow to the point where they no longer care about who gets hurt in the process of attaining their perceived just reward. The core of the Dark Ones evil is selfishness.

Shadar Logoth by contrast is a more “sympathetic” evil, born of feelings of anxiety and fear. Shadar Logoth was born from the people of Aridhol’s fears of the Trolloks and dark friends and as that paranoia grew they lashed out inwards and destroyed themselves. The evil of Shadar Logoth doesn’t make you violent or angry, the irritability and violence we associate it with are just side affects of the long lasting stress the evil does amplify. The core of Shadar Logoths evil is distrust.

These two types of evil while they do claim to despise eachother are not mutually exclusive however as we see Padan Faine seamlessly blend his greed and pride with Mordreth’s anxiety and fear, which feed on eachother until it developed into what we see him become where he’s callous and cruel, and specifically in the way he targets Rand, he “hates” Rand because of the anxiety that was born of failing the dark one and being tortured was amplified and mixed with his already present contempt and feelings of superiority.

However we see the flaws in the evil in the characters that manage to break out of the cycles of violence that they both feed on.

Verin, though she doesn’t go in with the intention of joining the dark went in with the selfish motivation of seeking out knowledge not for the good of the world but out of curiosity and boredom. She breaks away from the corruptive evil by her selfless act of sacrificing herself to bring to light the knowledge of the black ajah to the Tower.

Mat, is an interesting case because the corruptive nature of Shadar Logoth is more obvious. We see his fear amplified and it might be easy to say that the only reason he was freed from the evil was outside intervention and while that was what finished the job of cutting out the rot we also learn that he held up surprisingly well against the daggers corruption. He was able to last as long as he did because he was willing to be vulnerable and trust Rand. He was able to suppress many of the violent urges his fear created by sheer force of will because of the fact that he knew that he COULD trust someone which is antithetical to the evil of shadar logoth.

The two evils can survive on their own but they truly thrive in tandem and that was what made Faine so powerful that both the light and dark feared him. Because he exemplified all the worst parts of humanity all the fear, distrust, greed, envy and hate all personified into one being. The one thing however the destroys them both is in the most cliche of senses love, it is trust and kindness and selflessness that both evils can not defend against.

[missnightshade]

❝ FOUND² ❞

Moiraine Sedai x Original Character

English is not my first language.

          

The first two days with the Aes Sedai were helpless. Moiraine was stubborn, quiet, misterious and infuriating. She was born with the irritating habit of speaking with her eyes, and they didn't say much as Ahrim herself wasn't trained to understand what was going on inside her mind. It was almost like Moiraine's hopes rested on the fact that the owner of the small yet comforting cottage was nothing but a normal person.

But the Blue Ajah also knew, or suspected, that Ahrim was not who she played herself to be. Not when she was the only living creature with enough courage to live as close to The Shadow City as they were. Even as far as she lived, Moiraine could feel the strength Mashadar held upon those lands, even if it lived inside the walls of the once great city of Aridhol. She was even more skeptical about her healer as the days rolled around and the brunette started to find herself learning bits about Ahrim's life as she was the only one that could make the house less silent. Not to mention the slight feeling she had running though her everytime Ahrim got as close as possible to heal her.

Moiraine listened carefully to her every word and everytime, the green-eyed woman almost believed that her company for the week was actually invested in her stories on the run. The Sedai wanted to know more, she was sure. But it was only to suffice her knowledge of the person she didn't trust. Not being able to fully use her channeling abilities without promoting herself to death bed, it was useless to look for something if not by listening.

She wasn't the type to easily trust. In a world in which the Dark One's forces  were stronger by the minute, it seemed too much to ask from her. Ahrim, on the other hand, touched her shoulder like she was familiar with Moiraine's presence, and like she could kill her at the same time.

In fact she couldn't. Not only by her oath, but also because of her weeping strength. It was better than before crossing paths with the woman standing just outside, feeding the few birds that would come to this place in hopes to find easy food. As the woman, dressed in a navy dress with white details moved around the backyard and back to the house, the Sedai winced in pain, but didn't wander away from the window to sit down and rest, like Ahrim told her to. She worried that these extra days of traveling would end up with the kids killing themselves, but there was little she could do in that state.

“I told you to stay in bed," the voice echoed inside the house and Moiraine was sure that from the far cry of her tone, she was still in the kitchen.

It took a few more minutes till the healer was inside the room she was occupying. Moiraine's eyes were glued to the forest, but a smirk played on her lips as she heard Ahrim exasperated sigh, putting something on the nightstand before approaching her.

“It'd be much easier to care for you if you listened."

“I'm not much of a listener.” was her response as she distanced herself from the window, deciding to sit on the bed before Ahrim lost her patience. “And was never good at following rules."

She smiled that wicked smile Ahrim hated, and then loved. It was exciting, and had the power to drive you in like a senseless puppy in need of attention. She hated it.

“I'm not making rules for you, I'm trying to keep you alive." Ahrim answered, carefully siting in her usual chair, bringing the cloths, hot water and herbs closer. Her eyes analyzed Moiraine, and then again the brunette felt a pulling in her own power, but the sensation was gone fast enough. “And you've shown yourself to be good at listening, giving that you're not much of a talker."

“I'd simply like to know you.", There was a long pause and none of them said anything while Ahrim's hands worked to put aside the yet to change shirt she was dressed in. And then again, while she was cleaning the wound, Ahrim looked too focused and too good at what she was doing. Another pulling inside her body and the slight pain of the wound made her talk. “Its uncommon the circumstances we've found you in.”

“ I found you." was all ahrim said, as quick as possible, hoping to cause a diversion in the subject, already feeling the direction it was going.

“ In the middle of nowhere, close the Shadar Lagoth, where not even Trollocs dare to enter. Still, you've built a life here and seem content with it." she conspired, eyeing how Ahrim's expression grew darker, and how uncomfortable the touch against her skin became. “Why? Why do you live here? What are you hiding from?"

There was a sudden movement. Ahrim was standing within the second, hands slightly shaking as the chair balanced itself almost getting knocked from ralt. Moiraine saw how nervous she looked, almost mad. Ahrim eyed the wound, halfway taken care of, but left the room without a second glance. The lady knew then she had put salt in an open wound, too much to ask for the blonde's ever bright nature to cope with.

The other next two days were different. On the day Ahrim almost fell apart, she eventually went back into the room to finish up attending to Moiraine before her body was taken over by the poison again. By the end of the forth day there was hope Lan was going to be back soon, and that Moiraine was going to be alright.

Ahrim was scared for too many reasons. She cared for the Aes Sedai, yet was afraid of her and what she meant after their little situation the day prior. She was always on the verge of breaking whenever the older woman did as little as looking at more for more than a few seconds. It was a behavior that made Moraine doubt, and care too much for the younger one. The fragility and humanity shown was enough to break the walls she Blue Ajah carefully built to survive the days spent with her. But now, as the feeling of Lan became a little closer to home, she feared her time was limited. Ahrim also feared Moiraine's time was limited, but for other obvious reasons.

Not many survive with Trollocs poison for so long.

As the forth day came to an end, Ahrim was set by the fire. It was a particularly cold night, and being surrounded by woods didn't provide as much heat as they needed. Her mind was going into spirals. Moraine didn't even need to hear her steps around the house at dawn to know that she wasn't sleeping soundly for the past days.

The Blue Ajah was out of the bed. Somehow Ahrim managed to help her with bath more than twice, and it was the most intimate she's been with someone other than Lan in two years. So, as she ghosted against the doorframe that led the open living area and shared kitchen to the corridor, she was dressed in one of her spare clothes packed for the long two-year trip. It was the most comfortable set of clothes she had, just a simpler version of the one she was wearing before, but without her Ajah covering her shoulders as Ahrim made sure to wash it and it was now waiting for the sun to dry in the next morning.

Green eyes looked at her after a while, and even though she'd heard little from Ahrim in the last days, she somehow found herself already knowing what that look meant. So, as quietly as possible, she approached the woman sat on the ground, with a heavy blanket under her, and another resting of her lap. As she found a place beside the woman and blue eyes bore into the flames of the fireplace, listening to the cracks of the fire, soft hands brought the blanket over her sitting body, sharing it enough.

They stayed like that for a while, no one daring to talk as they had since the inconvenience. But they were never that close. Partly because two bodies produced heat. Partly because they both needed it.

“It's painfully awkward to hear your voice only ever so often.” Moiraine was the first to speak, eyes shifting from the fire to look at Ahrim's blank expression, lit by the flashing pattern of the flames. “I am truly deeply sorry if I've said something that upset you. It was not my intention to do so by making you feel uncomfortable inside your own home."

The blonde woman stayed like that, apathetic, for another painful amount of time that even made Moiraine sure that whatever was awakened by her words, it wouldn't be undone till she was gone and thriving away from her life. It was saddening, almost, to think like that.

“ I'm from Caemlyn.” her voice and information surprised the brunette that was now comfortable in a position that allowed her to look between the glowing fire, and the gloomy once-sunshine girl. “Born and raised. Had a family, two younger siblings. A boy that must be twelve now, a girl that should be eight. When I left they were eight and four. It was the most painful thing. To look at them and my mother and know that, even if they cried and suffered, it'd still be better that way.”

Ahrim's voice was soft and full of sorrow, but no hint of crying came. Moiraine was sure she had gone through all of those words over and over again in the past four years, untill it didn't made her cry anymore. She didn't ask why. She couldn't. And she didn't have to.

“ I - they were in danger. Being next to me, that is. I knew that when I hurt my sister. She was so young and even if it was a small thing, the next time it wouldn't. So I ran away. Found a place that I'd be safe, and keep them, anyone else, safe.”

“There's nothing safe about this land, Ahrim. ” she corrected, holding her hands under the blanket. They were warm, but shaky.

“ You and Lan were the first ones in years to stop by, and giving your state, it was rather uncommon." Ahrim said, almost smiling. “ I was uncomfortable because you were right. And I didn't want you to be. I didn't want to be afraid of you. But then I was, I still am. But -

“But?" She stared at her, blue eyes meeting hazel.

“ You pull me in enough to make my mind too foggy. I fear for your health more than I fear for my own.”

Those words were almost like knifes. As Moiraine nested closer to her heat, her head fell on Ahrim's shoulders and she felt too week to do anything, say anything. It was like this half painful confession brought two sides of the same coin, and only one could be chosen to play with. So she chose none.

Chose not to care what Ahrim's past meant while tangled with her newfound admiration of the younger, or what Ahrim's  feelings towards her meant against her fear. It was too complicated to understand, and her body felt like giving up against the blonde's frame, until there was nothing in her mind but the sound of cackling fire.

────────

In the next day, things went hellish. Light forgive Ahrim, but the only thing running though her mind was how unfair it was that Moiraine's life was again in the line.

Last night she felt Moiraine slipping away after their talk. At first she was certain it was only the comfort of heat and a body to rest on that slowly lured her to sleep, but after a few minutes of almost vanishing breathing from the Sedai, she stared to panic.

There was no apparent reason as to why Moiraine was suddenly fighting for her life again. She was treating the wound, it was much better and almost free from the superficial poisoning. So, after another sleepless night trying to keep her alive, she decided that the poison was already taking over her body from deep inside.

When Lan got to the house, on the marked fifth day, he had a beautiful woman by his side. Ahrim was exasperated, and one look from her was enough to tell him how bad things were.

“ Found a camping two days from here. There'll be someone there to help her.”

As the big man went closer to the bed, Ahrim's stepped in front of the unconscious, pale and dying Moiraine, holding a face that was far too serious for herself. She looked at the woman with braids and dressed in green behind him, looking at anything but the two. Was she not an Aes Sedai? She had to be.

“ She won't survive an hour moving in the back of a horse. She'll barely make out alive here if someone doesn't cure her with magic.”

Lan was lost to say the least. He thought he'd have more time, but the encounter with the Wisdom of The Two Rivers was an issue he was not proud to address. He looked at her, questioning once more if she could do anything.

“ I'm no witch. But I can take a look and see if I have something to hel-"

Ahrim almost rolled her eyes at that, patience and time slipping as fast as anything. She was going to scream at her, the stress taking over, before there was a week voice calling.

“Lan?"

As answering the call from the Wheel, the man was by Moiraine's side. She was delusional, mumbling things no one could understand, but Lan seemed to. And whatever it was, didn't sit well with Ahrim. It was almost like they were accepting to see each other for the last time.

The second Lan was standing again, there was a soft touch of cold hand against hers. Moiraine was using her last drop of strength to call for her, and pull her in.

“ Hey...stop, please. ” Ahrim pleaded, eyes shinning with worry and tears. She barely had her there. She was fine, healthier. “Stop trying to say goodbye, I won't do that. ”

There was a faint smile in Moiraine lifeless features, and her fingers were suddenly intertwined with the younger's ones, before Ahrim felt like she could be lost there too, alongside Moiraine. And by the Light, why everything in her life had to be a lost? She was so tired of wanting something, of having to taste it just to never do it again. Her family, her life, her powers, her -- Moiraine.

Moiraine was quiet again, the breathing getting slower by the second, and the grip on her hand weaker. A wave of another kind of fear and something with the resemblance of hatred and hurt burst inside of her, and for the first time since meeting Moiraine and Lan on that dammed clearing on her side of the woods, Ahrim allowed herself to fully channel, a wild and reckless type of magic flowing through her by manifesting the true Talent that she was best at: healing.

It's been ages since she'd done it the last time, and if felt as learning to ride a horse. It ran freely, almost uncontrollably so. And just as she felt herself losing her control and focus in healing Moiraine's almost dead body, there was another softer and tamed channeling of the one power tangled with hers, a silver mist grounding Ahrim's before her eyes found the infuriating Blue Ajah bringing her back from the road she promised herself not to travel close to any other human.

As she poison was absorbed and sucked by Ahrim's magic, the brunette's cheeks gain another colored tone Lan haven't seen since the blade tone into her, and a breathless Ahrim almost fell, hands grasped the younger before she could collapse on the floor, instead falling over Moiraine's recovered body.

Not a sould moved inside of the room. Lan was too shocked to say anything regarding the exposure of a channeling woman he didn't know. The Wisdom was almost sure she was seeing a crazy sick show and it was all a freaking prank. Ahrim's mind was blank, she was tired and emotionally drained with all of the feelings that had gone through her since Moiraine came into her life, and Moiraine herself was too stunned by the power Ahrim held. Now her mind could pick up the pieces from what she felt around the healer. Could understand better her fear towards the Sedai and what her presence meant.

“ You're...a Wilder.” was all she whispered, looking down to the woman struggling to lift her own body from the place Moiraine had offered her against her chest. “And you saved me.”

Her voice was incredulous, but not mad, not threatening or meaning anything more than what It was. Ahrim's was a rare kind of women that survived touching the source without being trained by the tower. The one in four. And she'd found her. A woman that exposed herself and risked being taken to the tower just so she wouldn't die. They were left alone then and there, the other two humans deciding that it was none of their business.

“I guess I did." she breathed out, looking down at the place where it'd be the familiar wound. Now there was just a faint scar that her untrained magic made sure to leave behind, but Moiraine didn't mind it at all. Maybe I'd be good to have a mark to remember Ahrim by.

“ I won't tell. This...whatever it was, or is, won't leave me, or you." she promised, touching Ahrim's face. The younger looked at her fully, the words said In the previous night replaying on her mind.

She risked it all, and would do it again if it meant Moiraine would be okay.

“ But I fear that now that I found you, I can't let you go. Nothing happens without a reason, and you're one of mine." the cheesy tone came around as the older one predicted that whatever natural spell Ahrim had only by existing worked on her judging by how her heartbeat was fastening as the blonde, still tired, moved to fully lay beside her instead of over her.

“ I was the one to find you...and Lan.” she reminded her. Her sentence, kept so much to read in between the lines.

I don't regret.

I'd go wherever you want me to.

I'm not afraid anymore.

Keep me by your side and tell me this is alright to feel.

The Blue Ajah, just as tired as the Wilder, laughed lowly. She knew they had too much to decide, and places to go. A world to save. But, at that moment, she allowed herself to feel how lovely intimacy felt with Ahrim, and how good it was to hold and be held.

“ You sure did, Darling. ”

────────

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 29: Seanchan

Let's get right to the point: Spoilers spoilers spoilers. This book, last book, next book, every book. Don't like? Don't read. I'm in a hurry, no time for big explanations.

We have a new chapter icon! This is the very buggy helmet of the Seanchan, which will be showing up whenever the Empire is the primary driver of events of a chapter.

Reining up before the inn, his eyes went past the prisoners his soldiers held near the village well to the long gibbet marring the village green. It was hastily made, only a long pole on uprights, but it held thirty bodies, their clothes ruffled by the breeze. There were small bodies hanging among their elders. Even Byar stared at that in disbelief.

Considering how awful the Seanchan are as a nation, you really have to appreciate how the Whitecloaks manage to be so deeply morally lacking as to be the bad guys during a colonial style invasion.

Also, I guess it's appropriate we're seeing these the Seanchan get introduced in a chapter that starts on a Whitecloak, since both represent the modern equivalents of Aridhol's paranoia to a large degree. The Seanchan also somewhat end up eclipsing them as the "With friends like these..." player of the setting.

“Cut them down,” Bornhald said wearily. “Cut them down, and make sure the villagers know there will be no more killing.” Unless some fool decides to be brave because his woman is watching, and I have to make an example.

Just so you don't think that Bornhald is a reasonable authority figure in all this. He's as good as Whitecloaks get in this time, but that's still not very much.

Bornhald’s requests for information from the Sea Folk had been met with silence. Amador did not hold the Atha’an Miere in good favor, and the attitude was returned with interest.

Oh no, I can't believe that Amador's irrational xenophobia is coming to bite them in the ass now that they need the xenos. Not even Pikachu could be surprised at this.

I would kinda like to know how the disdain was born though. Do Whitecloaks disapprove of boobies? Do the Sea Folk not let Questioners kill their sailors? What ridiculous pretext have the Whitecloaks come up with?

“My Lord Captain, he—he says you are moving too many men too close to Toman Head. He says the Darkfriends on Almoth Plain must be rooted out, and you are—forgive me, Lord Captain—you are to turn back at once and ride toward the heart of the plain.”

Oh no! The authoritarians who value unquestioning loyalty have been subverted by the very enemy they wish to destroy.

Even this Jeral dude knows this order is not a great one, poor dumb bastard.

“The sins of the mother are visited to the fifth generation,” Byar quoted, “and the sins of the father to the tenth.” But he looked uneasy. Even Byar had never killed a child.

Moms sin less because they've got less taint in them, I guess.

Also JFC Byar are you seriously okay with this?

“Has it never occurred to you, Byar, to wonder why Carridin has taken away our banners, and the cloaks of the men the Questioners lead? Even the Questioners themselves have put off the white. This suggests something, yes?”

It does! But even Bornhald doesn't dare say it, even as he plots his (completely justified except for how it doesn't go far enough) treason.

“Now, young man, you will tell me everything you know about these strangers, yes? If you need to think on what to say, I will send you back out with Child Muadh to consider it.”

Again, I cannot emphasize this enough: There are no good Whitecloaks. Not even Bornhald. Thankfully, we're done with them for now.

When Seanchan ships anchored off the coast, the villagers who drew up to defend their homes were rent by lightning from the sky while small boats were still ferrying the invaders ashore, and the earth erupted in fire under their feet. Domon had thought he was hearing nonsense until he was shown the blackened ground, and he had seen it in too many villages to doubt any longer. Monsters fought beside the Seanchan soldiers, not that there was ever much resistance left, the villagers said, and some even claimed that the Seanchan themselves were monsters, with heads like huge insects.

You gotta hand it to these Toman Head guys, in a world themed around the loss and corruption of information the further from its creation it gets, they manage to get just about every detail right.

New mayors were chosen by the Seanchan, and new Councils, and any who protested the disappearances of the women or having no voice in the choosing might be hung, or burst suddenly into flame, or be brushed aside like yapping dogs.

I wonder how the Seanchan are choosing to elevate the peasantry. Are they picking successful, rich types who seem compliant or something else?

The eruptions died as quickly as they were born, spray from them blown across the deck. Where they had been, the sea bubbled and steamed as if boiling.

Say what you want about the White Tower's failings (goodness knows I'm going to), for over 3,000 years they've kept their corner of the world safe from this crap. For all their failings, they certainly haven't been useless.

Then the armored figure removed his helmet, and Domon stared. He was a woman.

Domon is of course extra panicky about this because of the prophecy that no man of woman bo-

Wait, that was that other guy. JRR Shakespeare.

If this woman wore a dress, no one would look at her twice. He eyed her and revised his opinion, that cold stare and those hard cheeks would make her remarked anywhere.

She also probably doesn't have the body shape or way of carrying herself for the expected formalwear of the west, being far more muscled and disciplined than the average noblewoman.

The two women dressed as women were coming up from the longboat, one drawing the other—Domon blinked—by a leash of silvery metal as she climbed aboard. The leash went from a bracelet worn by the first woman to a collar around the neck of the second. He could not tell whether it was woven or jointed—it seemed somehow to be both—but it was clearly of a piece with both bracelet and collar.

There is so much to say here but since the sheer horror of this isn't evident yet, let's just all be disgusted by this form of chattel slavery for a moment and then move on. I don't want to use all my good invectives right now.

And I make no claim to be of the Blood. Not yet. After Corenne. . . . I am Captain Egeanin.

Well we'll see what you get after Corenne, Egeanin. But hello for now! It's funny to think how intertwined you and Domon are even now.

“To obey, to await, and to serve. Your ancestors should have remembered.”

Yeah god forbid things go weird after a thousand years. The Seanchan are way too high on their own supply, especially when you consider the textual evidence that the invaders themselves have been pretty fully absorbed into the upper echelons of those they've invaded and are thus barely even the ancestors of the High Blood.

A dark-eyed man in his middle years, with an old scar above his eyes and another nicking his chin, his name was Caban, and he had nothing but contempt for anyone this side of the Aryth Ocean. That gave Domon a moment’s pause. Maybe they truly do be. . . . No, that do be madness.

I'm impressed Domon got him to talk at all, to be honest. I'm also wondering where else Domon can think the Seanchan are from at this point. He knows all the major naval players.

“Oh. That is the First Watcher. Not the one who sat in the chair when we first came, of course. Every time he dies, they choose another, and we put him in the cage.”

One can't help but wonder how long Falme would have lasted against this initial Seanchan strike. One also wonders why people always remember the whole "They bring order" propaganda and never remember how they enforce that order.

He guided Spray to a place at one of the docks, and wondered, while the crew tied the ship fast, if the Seanchan might buy some of the fireworks in his hold. None of my business.

Moral cowardice, Domon. Though of course, his questions already show that he doesn't really think this. He wouldn't be our POV if he did.

A hulking creature with a leathery, gray-green hide and a beak of a mouth in a wedge-shaped head. And three eyes.

Have we met before?

The Seanchan captain had something wrapped in a piece of yellow silk, Domon noted warily. Something small enough to carry in one hand, but which she held carefully in both.

Domon doesn't even try to deny to himself what she has found, because there's really no point.

“Some of them be on your side?” Egeanin frowned over her shoulder at him, obviously puzzled.

"What other side is there other than Empire?"

The man’s hands went white-knuckled gripping his knees, and there was suddenly sweat in his voice. “I have sworn the oaths, Captain. I obey, await, and serve.”

And how many people had to be tortured and killed for him to come to this level of dedication so quickly? At least the First Watcher and their successors. Presumably more.

Domon understood why the Seanchan could allow the people as much freedom as they did. He wondered if he would have had nerve enough to resist. Damane. Monsters.

Something something monopoly on violence. Another thing that the One Power pretty handily provides, since even the "monsters" ultimately derive from its applications.

Two men appeared in the doorway at the far end of the room. One had the left side of his scalp shaved, his remaining pale golden hair braided and hanging down over his ear to his shoulder. His deep yellow robe was just long enough to let the toes of yellow slippers peek out when he walked. The other wore a blue silk robe, brocaded with birds and long enough to trail nearly a span on the floor behind him. His head was shaved bald, and his fingernails were at least an inch long, those on the first two fingers of each hand lacquered blue.

Since the Seanchan are a fictional culture, I have absolutely no regrets in pronouncing their fashion choices "ugly as sin".

Domon imitated her with alacrity. Even the High Lords of Tear would no demand this, he thought.

Something worth remembering when we meet them and have a chance to consider the things they demand that perhaps the Seanchan would not.

After the Return, new names will be called to the Blood. Show yourself fit, and you may shed the name Egeanin for a higher.

Or a lower. Just saying.

“I do collect old things, High Lord, from times past. There do be those who would steal such, did they lay easy to hand.”

Another great Aes Sedai lie. They're just so powerful.

“Unshaven dog! You speak of giving the High Lord what Captain Egeanin has already given. You bargain, as if the High Lord were a—a merchant! You will be flayed alive over nine days, dog, and—”

I have a suspicion that even in Seanchan proper, this particular rank exists in part to vent anger in place of the High Lords and Ladies while allowing them to seem merciful by not permitting such grandiose threats to be followed through. Sort of a hideously inverted version of the court jester.

Domon took one look at the girl and pulled his eyes away with a strangled gasp; her white silk robe was embroidered with flowers, but so sheer he could see right through it, and there was nothing beneath but her own slimness.

Not creepy at all. Also fun to note that it's been a mere six chapters since our last naked lady incident and while this isn't been "all ladies must be naked" it's still interesting how we went from a very chaste book one to this.

Ah well. Next time, we check back in with Rand as the plot remembers that we're only three-fifths of the way through the story and that he really shouldn't have the plot coupons just yet.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Blue Ajah Fourth Age

The Blue Ajah has fought for many diverse causes throughout its history, yet always it has stood for justice and bending the politicking of Mardhol's squabbling nations away from calamity and towards peace. Though it remains among the smallest Ajahs, it's impact throughout wider Tower politics is historic. Over time, it's sisters have gained the reputation of Seekers of righteous Causes who lose themselves in their endeavors that range from ending famine caused by abusive nobility in small villages to saving the very world at the Last Battle itself. Over the centuries of the Third Age, however, it's common mission grew muddled by the independence each of its sisters were given in their operations. At the dawn of the Fourth Age, the Blue has begun reorganizing to ensure some form of common justice stands for all peoples under the Dragon Peace.

Rights of the Dragon and Courts

While the Gray Ajah concerns itself with diplomacy and the letter of the law, the Blue has always adhered more to the spirit of justice and honor. The Gray is split on whether the new direction of the Blue makes them a closer ally or a pompous rival who has involved themselves in their work without knowing the realities of what it entails. Even the sisters of the Blue are split on what the nature of their common missions should entail, or whether they should be so common as many chafe under stronger centralized control. Today, the mission of the Blue Ajah is to secure that all people under the Dragon Peace are protected from injustice, from both outside forces and domestically. For centuries during the Third Age the Blue fought to protect commoners from the violence of weak and feudal nations, to save as many from the darkness of lawlessness with the torch of order and civilization; Now, the sisters have determined that in this new Age, some of those "lights" are as twisted as that evil that once took Aridhol, and that it is not enough for some number of people measured in a mathematical formula to survive, but that all most be given equal right to truly live. When the Blue Sitters in the Hall announced their great mission, it caused uproar; Using the existing framework in the documents of the Dragon's Peace, they desired to form a common court of law amongst the nations of Mardhol. Even further, using the language the Dragon Reborn had included in the document's clauses, they sought to one day bring the leaders of the nations together once again, this time with representatives for their people to create a Charter granting all people, commoner and nobility, Rights under the Dragon. Styling themselves as the Ajah that mentored the Dragon Reborn, the Blue's newspapers and pamphlet campaigns have been leveraging their vast connections and intelligence network to grow support and tangible action done to forward their goals.The Tower is split on the issue; Many outright consider it foolish to unite separate nations under the law and consider radical movements for equality dangerous. More moderate sisters support some of the ideas, but consider the Blue doing so under the Dragon's Peace and wanting these Courts and Charter to exist outside the influence and political machinations of the Tower to be borderline treachery against the Hall itself.In the meantime, the common Blue sister has taken up the roles of Traveling Magistrates, pushing for nobility to face punishment for crimes equally as commoners, and for the end to cruel and excessive punishments. Others have styled themselves as investigators, reporters even, rooting out secrets and publishing stories of corruption and tyranny, calling people to support areas stricken by disaster or to rally against injustice.

Eyes and Ears and Printing Presses

The Blue has been one of Ajahs that has adapted to the press best. Alongside their reformists and muckraker investigative reporters, much of their presses are dedicated to use informing commoners of their existing rights and trying to rally support for expanding them. Pamphlet campaigns calling for commoner action against cruel and abusive factory bosses, posters and letters rallying communities to aid the poor as they fight for the governments to provide for their people, and educating people on the ideas of equality are merely some of their most famous escapades. Even with the world growing more tumultuous, their spy network keeps them informed and gives them ways to influence the choices of the ruling nobility toward their goals. Their new mission has cut off some of their direct influences, however, and the more progress they make towards their common goal, the more it seems they encounter pushback from those who do not desire their changes. While they have worked with the Aiel peacekeepers and Wise Ones in the name of protecting the Dragon's Peace and worked together for their missions, even the Aiel are uncertain of whether they would fully support a common court; Some Aiel feel it would weaken their role as peacekeepers to allow others to keep a Peace of law alongside them. The Blue Ajahs rivals and critics slander them as busybodies who have no right and no idea how to actually run governments; With their own presses printing propaganda to slander the Blue Ajah, and other Ajahs not always feeling obligated to stand against slandering the Tower by slandering the Blue, the Blue has gotten into serious conflicts in the presses. Losing grip on old political favors, some sisters of the Blue have turned towards gather favor from more radical movements such as reformers or Republicanists or even truly radical New Dragonsworn whose clubs advocate for the end of old nations and the beginning of a untied Dragon Empire. These relationships too stress the Blue's reputation and waning power amongst its older alliances.

Amyrlin

Unlike the other Ajahs, the Blue has formally withdrawn proposing any new Amyrlin candidate; The Blue Sitters have announced that they can no longer participate in worsening the chaos the Hall has created in the Tower and the World, and will not worsen it by suggesting new candidates. The Blue has sworn to support another Ajah's candidate should they present a worthy woman who has other Ajah's support. Before this, many older sisters and even newly raised sisters were proposed; Part of the reason the Blue has taken the stance it has is because of how many of these proceedings have placed the futures of many promising sisters in jeopardy over proceedings most did not even know were going on for years now. The Blue Sitter believed their announcement would turn the tide and get the other Ajahs to agree one another candidate with their built in support, but so far little had changed. The First Selector has had sisters come to her and request she and the Sitters propose new candidates to the Hall, hoping to curtail the current chaos; Most do not now of these meetings, but if they knew, many would be against breaking their word and potentially worsening the chaos.

Extra notes

Less from me here because the Blue is fairly more straightforward than most other Ajahs. Sorry for the Delays, I've been busy. Please ask anything you'd like to know about! And feel free to interact!!

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 18 - The Caemlyn Road

(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.)

(Trolloc icon)(1) In which it always comes back to the old blood, doesn't it?

At first the road looks much like the North Road they took to Baerlon, packed dirt with trees on either side. But soon, that gives way to low, rolling hills. After two days, while they're stopped on a hill trying to get a view of the distance, they hear a horn behind them, northwest. Lan scouts it out,(2) and there are five hundred Trollocs in an army behind them. Then they hear a horn directly to the west, followed by multiple answering horns to the southeast, ahead of them. They're all but surrounded.

Moiraine says they can either go due north or due south. Lan says there's a place Trollocs won't go, and Moiraine shushes him quickly. They take off for the north. Unfortunately, they run face-first into another, quieter group of Trollocs, led by a Myrddraal. They have to make a stand.

Even before the Myrddraal moved, Lan’s sword was in his hand. “Stay with me!” he cried, and Mandarb plunged down the slope toward the Trollocs. “For the Seven Towers!” he shouted. Rand gulped and booted the gray forward; the whole group of them streamed after the Warder. He was surprised to find Tam’s sword in his fist. Caught up by Lan’s cry, he found his own. “Manetheren! Manetheren!” Perrin took it up. “Manetheren! Manetheren!” But Mat shouted, “Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!”(3)

There's some battle,(4) it's touch and go, but once Lan cuts the head off the Myrddraal, the Trollocs lose their guiding force and start howling and fall to the ground, biting and clawing at nothing. They ride as fast as the horses can go, but soon three more Myrddraal-led groups catch up to them. Moiraine uses the angreal to amplify her magic, manipulating the earth to knock the Trollocs to the ground, then fire to kill the Myrddraal.

They carry on, slower. Nynaeve quietly consults Moiraine, hands her a packet of some kind of herbs,(5) and goes back to the rest of the group. Egwene asks what they were shouting, particularly Mat, because she almost felt like she could understand it, but not quite. Rand and Perrin say, well, you just shout something at times like that, it's just the done thing, look at Lan. Mat doesn't remember what he shouted, his memory is already fogging it over.

Moiraine cuts in to tell them it meant " For the honor of the Red Eagle. For the honor of the Rose of the Sun." It was a war cry in old Manetheren, the cry of its last king, Rose of the Sun being a nickname for its last queen. She notes that the Old Blood still sings after all.(6)

Thom asks if they intend to rest for the day, Moiraine says no, punctuated by another Trolloc horn in the distance. Lan brings up the place the Shadowspawn won't go again, and Moiraine gives in reluctantly. Would that there was any other choice. Moiraine uses more magic to lay a false trail with their scents, and they head north.

They take it slow, Moiraine swaying in the saddle, clearly spent from all her magic. Eventually they come upon what Rand first takes for a cliff, then realizes is a tower, or was. A city in the forest, abandoned for who knows how long.

Egwene muses that she doesn't remember a city here, from her father's maps. Moiraine says it was once known as Aridhol, an ally of Manetheren. Later, the city died, and was called by a different name. Mat asks what name, but before he gets an answer, they hear more Trolloc horns in the distance. Lan says they've discovered the trail was false. They have to get into the city and find shelter before dark.

“What name?” Mat asked again. Moiraine answered as they rode into the city. “Shadar Logoth,” she said. “It is called Shadar Logoth.”

=====

(1) Not exactly the prettiest of the icons, but certainly one of the most obvious. (2) I'm cutting out the dialogue exchanged here, but I do want to draw some attention to "Last Lord of the Seven Towers". What sort of a title is that? If he's a lord of anything, why is he out here adventuring? (3) We know that reincarnation is a fact of this universe, but this seems to imply that separate from that, there's also some kind of genetic memory, somehow. Though, it IS a little odd that only Mat and Egwene really seem to have felt it, when Perrin is also from the village, even if Rand's parentage is in question. (4) Since we didn't get a whole lot of it at Winternight, I don't think I ever explained: for anyone new here, I struggle hard with battle sequences in large part because I have near total aphantasia. I don't form any mental images when I'm not sleeping, and battles are nearly all describing movements and positions, which I have no context for. So, a lot of my battle summaries are gonna be a lot like this. "IDK, the fight happens, read it yourself, here are the important details." (5) Nynaeve and her herbs. There are a couple of exchanges between her and Moiraine… well, Nynaeve talks about herbs that are useful in situations related to the one they're in, when you're tired but can't let yourself sleep, when you've got a lot of muscle fatigue, etc. The packet doesn't come out of the blue. But Nynaeve looks real smug afterward. She takes a lot of pride in her skill with herbs, and a lot of stock in what they can achieve. (6) A part of me always bristles when stories act like blood is literally better, more powerful, or stronger than other connections. Like, it's a trope, it's been used forever and it will be used well into the future. But, given that the same logic is how we arrive at the divine right of kings just because their ancestors were the biggest bullies… I could do with a little less of it, y'know? Fortunately, blood is far from the only or most important source of power or importance in this series. But, as with so much, RJ's handling of it is… uneven, at best. If this annoys you as well, it's not going to stop in the series, it just… fades into the background, you know?

[thestormlightnetwork]

Thom "yes and..." Merrilin really made up a whole story about how they got to Aridhol. iconic behaviour.

[c01dwitch]

these 2 go together: “Later Aridhol died, and this place was called by another name.”

https://www.redbubble.com/i/photographic-print/Aridhol-by-coldwitch/89248955.ZRLK5

[highladyluck]

How do you go from 'our holier-than-thou neighbors sure are paranoid today' to 'there's a semi-sentient bone-dissolving evil mist monster haunting the ruins of the city next door'?

Because in lieu of any mechanical explanation for Shadar Logoth I'm just gonna start explaining it to myself as "the Age Lace is old and delicate and easily soiled, if you let bad vibes sit on it too long it's gonna leave a stain and grow mold."

[divorceblogger]

moiraine following lanfear into another interdimensional space through a magical doorway moiraine x lanfear in aridhol truthers we’re SO back

[neuxue]

In reference to your thoughts about Rand in CH23, might I remind you of the battle cry of Aridhol?

“The victory of the Light is all.” Yes, very much so. Rand has become not unlike Aridhol in the sense of champion of the Light that has become a light so cold and harsh that it no longer serves its true purpose, even as it denounces the Shadow. 

[nadiattlee]

Mat showing exceptional judgment of character by trusting a guy named Mordeth who won't step out of shadows. Also setting himself up for a lot of future content.

The full text for this scene takes up like a whole page so instead you get Moiraine quoting some quality lore.

I realise I’ve unintentionally been increasing the number of panels in my comic pages but I should probably dial it back from nine (I just wanted to fit this scene on two pages).

[marvelfanlife]

It means "Shadow's Waiting." But it was once called Aridhol. During the Trolloc Wars, it was the richest, most powerful city in the world. But when the world needed them most, they built their wall with no gate, locked themselves inside and let the other nations of man burn. It was the people of this city who promised Manetheren aid. And they were the ones who let them die. When the Trolloc Wars ended, the survivors came here, to find food, shelter. When they knocked, no one answered. When they finally broke through the wall, there was no one inside. It is said that evil itself grew from the city's heart and consumed everyone and everything that lived. Ever since, the city has been abandoned. Not even Trollocs will step foot behind these walls.

THE WHEEL OF TIME | Episode 2 | ‘Shadow’s Waiting’

[caraianellisande]

WoT Meta: Mat and Perrin's arcs

I’m going to be discussing what I believe were the original intended arcs for Mat and Perrin in Robert Jordan’s earlier drafts of the series. However, I want to make clear that I am not saying this is how things should’ve happened, this is just a thought exercise for fun.

Under Read More for lenght.

The most obvious indication that RJ switched Mat and Perrin’s intended arcs is Min’s visions from book 1. She sees a red eagle for Mat, a symbol of Manetheren, and a broken crown for Perrin.

Why would Mat be the only one with a vision of Manetheren, given that Perrin is the one to raise up its banner? Why is Mat’s connection to it emphasized so much, what with the old blood and all, if he’s not gonna do anything with it, other than name his army after it?

It’s also been speculated that the broken crown was meant to symbolize the (broken) empire of Seanchan, and was later retconned to be the crown of Saldea to tie loose ends up.

The thing that really convinced me of this theory tho, is the overarching narrative of Manetheren and Aridhol/Shadar Logoth.

In the first book, the story literally comes to a halt so Moiraine can deliver exposition abt the kingdom of Manetheren, focusing on how it came to its demise when its allies did not come to its aid. Later, when the main characters are in Shadar Logoth, the fact that it was Aridhol that did not come in aid comes up. The legacies of Manetheren and Aridhol begin being pitted against each other. (This is also when Mat, hailing from the old blood of Manetheren, picks up the cursed dagger, creating a personal connection to Mashadar, the evil that corrupted Aridhol.) This is all brought up very frequently throughout the series, by most of the main cast.

Padan Fain, originally sent by the dark one to hunt the dragon, ends up merging with mashadar and starting his own crusade against a champion of Manetheren. He leads an army of trollocs to the two rivers (as well as the whitecloaks). This all comes to a head in the Last Battle, where Mashadar/Mordeth/Fain, in his final boss form, with an army of converted trollocs and freed from its confines to the city of Shadar Logoth itself, is defeated by a champion of Manetheren.

Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense if those children of Manetheren were the same character, instead of two?

It’s also worth noting that even tho Mat is the one with the pre-established connection to Shadar Logoth, it’s Perrin that becomes Fain’s target, having his whole family murdered by him. Only for Mat to be the one to defeat Fain in the LB. it seems that Fain was supposed to be Mat’s nemesis, a champion of Shadar Logoth for a champion of Manetheren.

Essentially, Perrin probably wasn’t supposed to ever be a champion of Manetheren. His thing is being a wolfbrother and dealing with the Seanchan. He also already had a planned nemesis in slayer, resulting in him ending up with two mortal enemies while mat has none. I bring this up because all three others Eamon Fielders have one as well. Egwene has Elaida, Nynaeve has Moghedien and Rand has Moridin(plus the dark one). It seems weird to me that Mat doesn’t have one and Perrin has two.

With all that said, let’s talk about why the switch happened. I don’t think it was because it would suit the characters better. (This take probably comes from looking at Perrin, then looking at Tuon, and thinking: nope. Which is fair, but we have to remember, RJ didn’t write the books and then change out the names, he changed his plans.)

If we look at the bare bones of their arcs, it’s very easy to see where they fit in.

Perrin goes back to the two rivers and revives the legacy of Manetheren, being hailed a lord by the people in the process. He learns to accept the responsibilities that come with this and how to be a leader.

Apart from location, this is all things that Mat also does, with the Band and his marriage to Tuon. In fact, I believe his original arc encompassed all of this (BotRH, Manetheren, lord, but with no Tuon).

As for the Seanchan plot, Perrin’s internal struggle, symbolized by the hammer and the axe could work very well as a parallel to the empire’s inevitable collapse following the return. The exposure to a different culture, especially when it comes to channelers is guaranteed to cause their entire system to fall apart. They too will have to choose between the hammer and the axe.

So, what I think happened is that when he was writing book 4, RJ realized he had a problem. The story was really packed, like really packed. There was just too much going on, something had to give. And so, the Seanchan plot got pushed back (remember, after showing up with a bang in book 2, they only come back in book 7). I’d go as far as to say that the planned Seanchan sequel trilogy is the part of their story RJ felt the need to cut. This of course creates another problem: with no Seanchan plot, there’s nothing for Perrin to do. (he’s got his internal struggle going on but boy is a main character, one of the three ta’veren supposedly super important to the LB, he can’t sit around and do nothing plot wise(yes I’m aware of the irony given his later plots, but this is about the og outline)).

Hence, dividing Mat’s planned arc and giving part of it to Perrin, and subsequentially giving the Seanchan plot to mat.

The reason I think this happened in book 4 is because this is when we begin to see RJ make corrections. In Book 4, we have the broken crown retcon and Berelain being identified as the hawk from min’s vision (Berelain away from Perrin my beloved; Berelain near Perrin my beloathed. She probably already existed as a character since she’s one of Rand’s closest allies, with a little sideplot with the aiel, and got the hawk label slapped on her to explain the vision), Mat gets his prophecy about the daughter of the nine moons. (I wonder if Berelain was supposed to be his love interest…)

I don’t think the Allfinn telling him not to go to the two rivers matters much here, the answer could have easily been “not yet, go to Rhuiden first” and everything would be the same, or maybe the news of what is happening there takes longer to get to him. This would mean Mat going to the Two Rivers instead of going to Salidar and Ebou Dar.

As an aside, the two rivers being attacked is Perrin’s plot, and yet we get the emotional scene where the protagonist discovers his home’s being invaded from Mat’s pov. (This was totally meant to be his plot).

Perrin’s storyline tho, that’s where things get interesting.

When I started thinking about this, I figured RJ decided to make this change during the writing of book 3, and that Faile was his love interest reworked from Seanchan heir to saldean heir. But I just couldn’t wrap my head around the Berelain plot.

RJ wrote all of his romances in a painfully straightforward way, to the point most of them are extremely underdeveloped. So why the hell did he write this mess of a love triangle?! And this wasn’t even a small part of Perrin’s plot. It lasts books! Min has a vision about it! And it doesn’t add anything to the story! It doesn’t even get a nice resolution; Perrin just decides to ignore Berelain and she gives up after getting the hots for Galad.

This haunted me, especially Min’s vision. And then I started thinking. Why is the symbol of the Seanchan Imperial Family a raven? They’re HAWKwings descendants. That’s their banner. Why Ravens? The only purpose it serves is connecting them to Mat, but Mat’s association with ravens comes from the fact that he’s Odin (the hanging, the eye, getting knowledge out of it, the whole trickster thing and Odin has two ravens, like mats ashandarei and ring). So maybe, once the Seanchan were given to mat, they got their symbol changed to match.

And if the symbol of the Senchan is a hawk, then maybe min’s vision isn’t about Faile and Berelain, it’s about Faile and proto-Tuon.

There’s a post going around about how a lot of the times love triangles are used to represent a larger conflict in the narrative and the protagonist’s life. Given RJ’s atrocious approach to romance, I think this was what he was trying to do. This also relates to how a lot of Perrin’s growth comes from his relationship with Faile. She’s a very important factor in his growth and eventual decision to put down the axe and choose the hammer.

Just like he needs to choose between the axe and the hammer, he needs to choose between proto-Tuon and Faile. (Yes, this would mean that he doesn’t actually marry the Seanchan heir, since he chooses the hammer/Faile, but Mat’s the one with all the marriage foreshadowing not Perrin.)

This would also add another layer to what it means to find balance, tying up nicely with his connection to the Thuatha’an.

Like, Perrin figures pretty early on that the way of the leaf isn’t really feasible, but struggles with what it would mean to embrace his violent side. The resolution to this arc is instead of choosing, just like he does with the man and the wolf, he strikes a balance: the Hammer, that can be both a weapon and a tool.

(In this scenario, Faile gets the same arc she has in the finished books, but getting married later in the books since the choice wouldn’t be a given, and since the Two Rivers is mat’s plot, his family never died leaving him really wanting to tie the knot (Mat’s family probably dies, yes). Proto-Tuon’s arc would probably be something along the lines of following Perrin’s example and mending her broken empire.)

This would also leave more room to develop his relationship to Slayer (his alleged nemesis, who shows up for half a book in the middle of the series and then disappears until the last one, and this guy is supposed to be such a big threat that Perrin’s entire role in the last battle is defeating him).

As for the whitecloaks, Perrin’s whole deal with them would be tied up with the Seanchan. They wouldn’t have gone to the Two Rivers, since they’re only there cause Perrin is there (they don’t even do anything during this time, they literally just stand around). Also, remember that scene where Galad convinces the whitecloaks to join forces with the Aes Sedai, their most bitter enemy for centuries, to get back at the Seanchan? And how there was absolutely no pay-off? Yeah, it’s probably cause the planned resolution counted on Perrin getting the Seanchan plot and RJ didn’t get around to fixing that before BrandoSand took over.

That just leaves Masema, and that plot can probably stay exactly the same and change nothing, and the Shaido, who honestly should’ve exited the story after Dumai’s Wells at the very most so I’m not gonna bother trying to work out how they fit to this. ( I do think Dumai’s Wells was always gonna be Perrin, that is a plotline that suits him better than Mat.)

[butterflydm]

wot reread: a crown of swords (prologue - chapter 12)

spoilers for a crown of swords

1. Elaida likes the view from the top of the White Tower so that she can see her palace being built. Honestly, after being reminded that she’s been brushed by Aridhol’s corruption via Padan Fain, I feel... bad for her. She WASN’T entirely unreasonable, once upon a time, and while she was wrong about the meaning of her Foretellings, her assumptions were fairly reasonable as well. She was never that great a person, but she wasn’t this egotistical monster that she currently is. And she did some horrible things pre-Fain but most of them were horrible things that are considered generally acceptable in Wot-verse so that’s more of a thing that I hate about what was written into the fabric of this world than something that I can hate Elaida, specifically, for doing. Also: lol, of course she’s destroying the Warders’ practice yard to build it. That is the most stereotypical Red Ajah place to decide to build your palace, lol.

2. She’s been sent a coded message by pigeon about Rand’s capture and is feeling gleeful and smug about it, especially since Galina sent the version that means that no one was alerted of said capture (Galina did not count on Dobraine and Berelain, two of Rand’s most loyal people, figuring it out -- and they absolutely do get the credit; it’s clear that Perrin had no immediate plans on acting, and if the Salidar Aes Sedai had run into Galina’s group on the road, they would have all died or been taken prisoner along with Rand. There were not enough of them).

3. We also learn here that the two Aes Sedai in Ebou Dar, Teslyn (Red) and Joline (Green) were both sent there by Elaida to punish them for something. I don’t remember if this was mentioned earlier but now we’re in Ebou Dar, so it’s relevant. So they are likely not huge Elaida partisans.They were both Sitters who were stripped of their rank and sent away. Elaida finds out Elayne and Nynaeve are in Ebou Dar and orders them captured. She also orders that ‘those men’ (Rand’s Asha’man) be ‘rooted out’. This group will be led by Toveine and will have fifty sisters (and it’s implied here that Toveine was part of the Vileness, I think? haha, being reminded of the Vileness makes me take back part of point #1, as it’s implied here that Elaida approved of it, though she was attached to Morgase already at the time, so wasn’t actually involved). And the last bit of news she learns is that Salidar, with Egwene as Amrylin, is on the march towards Tar Valon and it will take them five months to get there.

4. The quick pace of Elaida’s (Shadar Logoth-encouraged) mood swings, from gleefulness to rage to laughter, really does mirror a lot of what we see from Rand these days, plus the egotism, etc. I think the main difference is that pre-saidin Rand was really a pretty sweet and humble kid (and we still see hints of that earlier Rand from time to time). so he had a much longer journey to take to become hard and angry and prideful, while it was... a shorter trip for Elaida. Plus, no matter how alone Rand feels at times, he does always (once he gets to Tear) have at least one person around him who cares about him. Elaida doesn’t have that for... a number of reasons, most of them her own fault lol.

5. Alviarin makes her report to Mesaana and as a result of how Mesaana declines to answer her question about whether fifty sisters would be enough to take down the Black Tower, she decides to make certain no Black Ajah sisters are sent along with Toveine. She teaches Alviarin to Travel but warns/orders her not to share the knowledge with anyone else.

6. Morgase is still there in the Fortress of Light. After serving for a bit of world exposition, Niall is killed by his (decoy) spymaster, who is in turn killed by Valda. But Niall’s death was a plan orchestrated by Valda and by Anunswa (head of the Questioners of the Whitecloaks) basically because their opinion is that Niall wasn’t extremist enough for them. Valda will be the new Lord Captain. So both the White Tower and the Whitecloaks are currently being run by extremists.

7. While the Shaido Dumai’s Wells scene was pointless (it’s there to set them up as a continuing threat, which it is frankly RIDICULOUS that they still are), Gawyn’s post-Dumai’s Wells PoV is definitely necessary. Anyway, Gawyn has managed to convince himself that Elayne being in love with Rand is actually a reason that he should kill Rand, not a reason to refrain kill him. Once he saw Aes Sedai fleeing from the battle, he pulled out as many Younglings as he could and escaped. He does not look forward to explaining this failure to Elaida.

8. A lot of Perrin’s chapter here is exposition, catching people up on the state of the world. Necessary, since the books were published so far apart from each other. There are a few useful tidbits: we get the names of some of the Aes Sedai that Rand has captured, we get some further insight into Aram and Perrin’s dynamic (...it’s very unhealthy and Perrin still has no idea what to do about him) but a lot of it is catch-up exposition. We also get the further hammering in that it is a Two Rivers Thing to Protect the Womens, because Jordan didn’t understand how much of the Protect the (helpless) Womens attitude is based in the sexism of various cultures, because he was steeped in such a culture himself.

9. Ah, we get the beginning of Min as Rand’s accessory here, like a handbag or a bracelet, always clinging to him but not doing much. I seem to recall that it will be a familiar thing in the future. I won’t harp on it, but Min playing the helpless but soothing damsel who is here mainly to be Rand’s emotional support plushy is... not something I’m enjoying. If she does something important, I’ll mention it. If I don’t say anything, assume she’s stroking Rand’s arm or telling him she doesn’t have any useful viewings at the moment.

10. If Perrin were able to understand Rand’s PTSD and his battle-shock, maybe he would have had a chance at understanding Aram’s too and then maybe he would have been able to help both of them. But both men’s pain seems to confuse and baffle Perrin to a certain extent. I think this is another place where Perrin’s wolf-senses are actually hurting him -- he can’t match their scents to their behavior and he doesn’t know anymore how to react without scent as his main guide. He runs into this issue with Faile and her jealousy a lot, though in the opposite direction -- in the last book (and I believe in the future as well), Faile was clearly trying VERY HARD to control her jealousy and keep it from showing, but because Perrin can always smell when she’s jealous, he does things that make it obvious that he knows she’s jealous, which makes it harder for her to ignore what she KNOWS is an irrational reaction (plus his reactions let OTHER PEOPLE known that his wife is jealous, which she really really hates them knowing!).

11. It is time for Rand to make a decision about the Aes Sedai. The sides: Taim, the Wise Ones (and the Maidens), and the Salidar Aes Sedai all wish the Tower Aes Sedai released into their care and judgement. Taim and the Wise Ones each make it clear that they are including the Salidar Aes Sedai in their assessment of who should be a prisoners. The Salidar Aes Sedai are also trying to convince Rand to accept healing. Rand gives them over to the Wise Ones (which is the only group here he even half-trusts; he knows they keep secrets from him and that they prioritize the Aiel, but he also understands that they are a willing weapon for his hand). All nine of the Aes Sedai who came from Caemlyn swore fealty to Rand after the battle yesterday, but he still does not trust them. He also all-but gives them over to the Wise Ones, though they are allowed a bit more freedom than the Tower Aes Sedai who were captured. Rand orders Alanna to heal him, in a way that reminds the readers that she has bonded him, but puzzles most of the characters watching.

12. In addition to the Aiel, Rand will now have an honor guard of men from the Black Tower -- four ‘soldiers’, four Dedicated, and one Asha’man, Dashiva. From his scent, Perrin can tell that Rand feels a lot of rage towards Taim. So far in (only 80-ish pages), there’s nothing to say if Taim’s plot has already been changed or not, but I will keep you updated. We also get a reminder that Rand is “not among the few” who know about Perrin’s thing with wolves. We also learn that Taim has given himself the title of M’Hael among the Asha’man, which means ‘leader’.

13. Rand verbally establishes that of the people currently with him, he trusts Perrin, Loial, and Min. He talked earlier about how enemies are everywhere and you don’t always know who they are. We know he trusts Mat too, and I will go out on a limb and add Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha. He must trust Bashere to a certain extent, but I’m not certain how far that goes. I am also uncertain to what extent he still trusts Egwene -- his most recent thought of her was how Aes Sedai she is now. We know that when Moiraine was alive, he assumed that Lan would be willing to kill him on her order, so I’m not sure how far he trusts Lan, though he does consider him a friend. He mistrusts the Aiel with him less than he mistrusts most people.

14. We learn from an Aiel Wise One who has come to meet Rand as he returns to Cairhien, that Lady Colavaere has declared herself ruler and says that the Lord Dragon will confirm it when he arrives. We also learn that the rebel lords from both Cairhien and Tear have gathered here and are at a camp to the south of the city. We also learn there are at least ten Aes Sedai in the city (which Rand obviously has issues with).

15. Okay, so Min (I think?) ends up getting credited for the fashion trend of women wearing breeches in Cairhien, but it started with the Cairhienin women who wanted to play at being Aiel (Perrin compares their clothes here to Min’s but they are obviously copying the Maidens, down to the rattail hairstyle). I guess once Min becomes Rand’s semi-official mistress, her also being someone who wears breeches would accelerate the fashion trend, but she’s not the one that started it. Yep, Selande is here, leading this ‘society’ of Cairhienin women who wear breeches and fight with swords. This is Aiel influence. I do like that Rand takes a moment to reassure Selande in particular, after how he scared her at the start of TFoH. Selande’s character arc has been minor and in the background, but I’ve appreciated it.

16. Rand condemning Colaveare and taking the crown from her is a pretty great scene. The silence, how Rand takes note of the fear that is laced into everyone, pulling the crown out of her hair while using the Power to unshape and then reshape it. Intense and foreboding in a lot of ways, but most of it is very sharp and well-written “Whatever can be done, can be undone.” And how Rand’s internal argument with himself that no one else realizes is happening drives Colavaere to desperately trying to talk herself out of trouble.

17. And I like when Colavaere calls on Annoura for advice and we get a harsh, but polite set-down from her... she is and always has been Berelain’s advisor she tells everyone, not Colavaere’s. And now that’s one Aes Sedai in the city that we know the identity of. And Rand trusts Berelain enough that he’s willing to release Annoura to her custody rather than send her out to the Aiel camp. And, then, after Annoura speaks, Faile steps forward to reveal all the things that she’s learned in Colavaere’s inner circle. Perrin deeply underestimated his wife -- he thinks of her still as the impulsive Hunter of the Horn that he met and fell in love with, I think, but this is a big moment of maturity for her. She held her tongue, acted meek enough for Colavare’s taste, and played an excellent spy/spymaster role.

18. Perrin refuses to help Rand with the army in Illian. Wow. It would be nice if Mat were here, like he was supposed to be. *forlorn sigh*

19. Okay, interesting. This is the point when the swirls of color and light happen for Rand when he thinks of Mat and Perrin. I almost wonder if it wasn’t some odd ta’veren response to his trauma, trying to seek out the people he’s connected to? This is actually earlier than I thought it started. He’s also having issues with LTT’s voice responding to him. Yeah, Rand specifically thinks that the swirls of color started when he was trapped in the box. I think it may have been a further manifestation of him being the strongest ta’veren in thousands of years, desperately trying to tug on Perrin and Mat’s threads to come and save him. Also, Rand is having a very rough time with LTT right now.

20. Yeah, in this scene, the Maidens are still completely believing that Rand and Aviendha are A Thing (Somara teases him about Aviendha settling him down) yet are inexplicably chill with Min’s incredibly flirtatious actions towards Rand despite Min absolutely not being Aviendha’s first-sister (they have never even met). Why do Aviendha and Elayne have to jump through so many hoops while Min gets to pursue Rand on Easy Mode? Like, I love Elayne and Aviendha’s relationship, don’t get me wrong, but I would like Min so much better if she weren’t getting to take so many shortcuts without any good reason apart from Authorial Fiat. This is not the way the Maidens have treated any other woman making a move on Rand (post-Aviendha interest gift; they were chill/amused about Berelain and Elayne in the Stone of Tear, but that was pre-Aviendha). Also, it would have done the set of relationships so much good if Min and Aviendha had actually needed to bond at some point?

21. Sulin actually does notice Rand’s trauma here and its source. “They did this to you” she says, noticing his reactions to having his hands tied up (as per his own request for his disguise). Why didn’t Rand just use Mirror of Mists here on himself? I thought he knew how already. Doesn’t he? Anyway, he’s sneaking into Caemlyn to talk to Bashere and Bael, but he doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s there.

22. Rand is trying to figure out if Elayne (and thus also Mat) have arrived yet but all Bashere has are vague rumors. And... *sigh* so Rand puts forward this elaborate ruse so that he can come and go from Caemlyn without Elayne (and Aviendha) knowing that he’s there, and he says things like “What woman could I hate enough to marry her to the Dragon Reborn?” and yet he’s been wandering around everywhere with Min attached to him like a barnacle (I think this is the first Rand scene where Min hasn’t been physically glommed onto him somehow). Officially dating or not, if being attached to him makes someone a target, then he has been actively making Min a target ever since she arrived. And the thing is... if this thing with Min were actually about her trying to help Rand, then she would helping him in general, not just into her own bed. But Rand keeps on trying to avoid Elayne and Aviendha, who he loves, so the exemption that Min has secured just feels... weird and random. Ugh, I’m trying not to let it get to me too much, but the inconsistency is frustrating.

23. Rand spends some time trying to figure out why Mat is taking so long to arrive in Caemlyn with Elayne and Aviendha. He wants to see all of them, even if he has to try to couch everything in terms of needing or not needing them, and he isn’t going to be allowed to see them at all this book and I am frustrated! And this is only the start of the agonizing separation between Rand and these other people he cares about, so it’s only going to get worse and I’m just... I’m sad about it.

24. Even as LTT’s voice has become a louder and more personalized presence in his thoughts, LTT’s memories have essentially become Rand’s own. He feels a certainty about them -- knowing Sammael’s face, etc -- that he shied away from before his time in the box. Rand lost his angreal when he was abducted. :-(

25. I understand that Elayne feels she has a duty with the Bowl of Winds but wow, she was really really needed in Caemlyn too. And the longer the span of time is between her mother disappearing and her coming to Caemlyn, the harder it becomes to secure herself as a ruler. And I guess the really frustrating thing was that she absolutely understood that and was on board with it... and then got caught up in this idea of the Bowl of Winds. Egwene was ready to let Elayne go to Caemlyn and go to Rand. She could have done that while Nynaeve went to Ebou Dar to search for the Bowl. And maybe after she was crowned, she could make Dyelin her Regent and go help Nynaeve in Ebou Dar, if needed, since she also learns Traveling from Egwene. Traveling is pretty much underused by pretty much everyone in this series imo. “Bring Elayne quickly, Mat,” Rand thinks, “Bring her quickly, before Andor and Cairhien both erupt in my face”.

26. Okay, we are with Egwene now and have jumped forward a month and a half. Rand’s storyline was taking place over the course of a couple of days, so this is quite a leap. I mean, we need it, since we heard it will take five months for them to get to the White Tower. Maybe this time jump is Egwene catching up to Rand’s storyline? Ah, this is covering what Egwene was doing while Rand was getting abducted by Elaida’s people. Anyway, now that we’re in Egwene’s PoV, she’s gotta do her storyline catch-up too, like we did with Perrin earlier.

27. Oh! We jumped back in time from the last time we saw Egwene, because Moghedien is still her prisoner (briefly; this chapter is essentially an expansion of her tiny snippet in the epilogue when Moghedien is released). “She had hardly thought of Elayne and Nynaeve since their departure to Ebou Dar”. But yeah, if it’s been a month and a half, no wonder Rand is worrying over Mat and Elayne.

28. So, very important here is that we find out ten sisters from Salidar were sent back to the White Tower - two from every Ajah except Blue (well, and Red, because all the Reds in the Tower stuck with Elaida). Their purpose is to try to spread the word about the Red Ajah using Logain as a false Dragon (actually a lie Siuan made up, but she’s convinced pretty much all the Salidar Aes Sedai of it). Egwene has also realized that she is genuinely enjoying the messy politics of the Aes Sedai. She enjoys the challenge and the puzzle of trying to work through to success.

29. lol, Egwene thinking that Leane “in true Aes Sedai fashion” had embraced what had changed about her. In true WHAT. From everything that we’ve see about the Aes Sedai, they are actually TERRIBLE at accepting change. One of the big big warnings that Moiraine gave Rand in her letter was that Aes Sedai would have difficulty doing anything but trying to control him, because it was what they were used to and they wouldn’t willing adapt to the changed circumstances. Egwene had to manipulate and push them at every turn to keep them going after Elaida, because they still desperately want to pretend that, somehow, the Tower can be easily mended. Also, apparently Leane and Siuan are “prime childbearing age” now per a member of the Yellow Ajah. ...why in the WORLD would AES SEDAI use that as their definition of youth & health when Aes Sedai rarely have children?

30. So, this is the current state of Siuan and Gareth’s ‘relationship’: she does his laundry, she yells and throws things at him, and then he beats her for being ‘childish’. Ugh. I’m pretty sure this relationship is going to get entirely cut from the show and I am absolutely fine with that. Again, if this were JUST THEM, it would be one thing (some people are into that and do it on purpose), but there’s a pattern of “woman loses her temper at man until he beats her to remind her of how to behave around him, and that’s how you know it’s true love!” that kinda started with Faile and Perrin back in TSR. It’s not every relationship, but it’s enough to be a pattern. These books do, though unintentionally in this aspect, I believe, show off the contrast/contradiction that’s inherent in this kind of benevolent sexism. Women are precious flowers who must be protected from danger! And they are also willful children* who must be punished to be taught their place! It just creates this situation where it sounds like the ideal is that the woman is only in danger from the man who she ‘belongs’ to, who protects her from other men, who would beat her more than she ‘deserves’.

*I do want to note here that I’m not a fan of children being spanked either.

31. Egwene learned about Skimming from Moghedien. Oh right, she wasn’t there when Rand Skimmed everyone to Caemlyn but... it’s just continually astonishing to me that Egwene and Rand were traveling with the same group of people for months and yet each knew so little about what the other one was doing. There’s something funny about the fact that Mat knew all of this stuff pretty much as soon as Rand learned it, and Egwene has been just putting it together like a detective.

32. Merana sent a coded message to Salidar, which they received later, and of course, all of Rand’s business gets shared. Rand hasn’t told ANYONE about Alanna bonding him, so has gotten zero comfort or help so far with dealing with that additional stress, but Alanna told Merana and Merana passes on the information that Alanna has formed an ‘attachment’ to Rand to the Salidar Aes Sedai. At least it’s coded enough, and the idea of bonding a man who can channel likely repulsive enough to most of the sisters here, that Sheriam and Egwene didn’t figure out what Merana meant. Also, Merana thought it was good that Rand was ‘somewhat afraid’ of them. Which is also another hint, I think, that Rand isn’t actually as expressionless as he believes that he is.

33. “Lately, the Wise Ones did little more than acknowledge that Rand was alive.” Good for them. For all that they don’t respect Rand’s privacy in-group, because it clashes with their cultural ideals, they do protect him from outsiders, and Egwene -- she is now part of a group of Aes Sedai that is NOT allied with or pledged to follow Rand in any way -- is most definitely an outsider now. ...I wonder if Egwene is still trying to batter into Rand’s dreams through his wards or if she gave up once she left for Salidar.

34. This is sweet though: “One hour, and [Egwene] could straighten everything out. Underneath, he was still Rand.” But it is strange that she associates Rand not fearing/respecting Aes Sedai with him being influenced by the Wise Ones. Another example of how little Egwene and Rand actually interacted when they were both with the Aiel, I think. Also, believing that Rand is a fool for thinking he has to handle everything on his own but then also thinking that she’s the only one who can ‘deal with him safely’ as if she weren’t there when SHE riled up Rand’s temper and Elayne is the one who talked him down, lol. She talks about Aes Sedai striking sparks off Rand’s temper but she’s been doing that herself for a while. She’s so worried right now about Rand making ‘dangerous mistakes’ but if she WERE back with him, we all know she wouldn’t actually be explaining anything to him anyway. She’d tell him one tidbit of info and then mysteriously intone that he knew all he needed to know and all the rest was Aes Sedai business.

35. “Some said she had begun picking up weaves as if she already knew them” re: Nicola. If Moghedien hadn’t been revealed a couple of books ago, I would suspect Nicola of being a hidden Forsaken. Very strong in the Power, picks up things very very quickly. Anyway, what she’s ACTUALLY here to do is try to blackmail Egwene. Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne pretending to be Aes Sedai is coming back around on them (well, on Egwene). Egwene is able to pull herself together to overawe them into not saying anything (for now).

36. Aw, we get a little reminder that Elayne “listened to stablemen and wagon drivers and every sort, memorizing the words she should have refused to hear.” tbh, one of the reasons that it seems natural to me that Elayne and Mat SHOULD like each other, once Mat sees her as more than a noble and Elayne sees him without letting Egwene and Nynaeve’s view of him influence her. What better source of curse words than Mat? And Elayne actually is a genuinely good person who cares deeply about the safety and happiness of her people. I’m just gonna #PutMatInThePolycule but for Matlayne rights instead of Cauthor rights this time, lol. If Mat were going to reluctantly fall in love with a noble, it should have been Elayne.

37. Egwene thinks here that even though her OTHER two maids are spies, she trusts Chesa, who has ‘proved her loyalties more than once’. I... can’t remember anything of the kind happening? What on earth is Egwene talking about? Egwene just liked Chesa instantly, from what I remember of the last book. Honestly, I would assume Chesa was also a spy, if I were Egwene. Safest that way, even if you like her.

38. In the dreamspace before she reaches TAR, Egwene puts a message into Nyneave and Elayne’s dreams to absolutely not return to their group until they have located the Bowl of Winds, due to the threat from Nicola. She makes another attempt to spy on Rand via his dreams, so she is still attempting to invade his privacy there. Then she touches Amys’s dream and lets her know they need to speak.

39. She meets with Amys, Bair, and Melaine to tell them that she has been chosen as Amrylin. They also quickly realize that she’s meant to be a puppet, though she doesn’t take offense to them saying it, only tells that she means to teach them to follow her for true. Then Bair asks if she plans to brings these Aes Sedai to kneel before Rand, and Egwene instantly refuses -- they must be loyal to the Tower only, even above the lands of their birth (which is the exact reason why, tbh, Elayne driving so hard to Be Aes Sedai No Matter What kinda feels jarring, since she would be expected to betray her own country’s interests if the Amrylin requested it).

40. It’s interesting that Egwene doesn’t really reflect on WHY the Wise Ones aren’t showing any respect for Aes Sedai any more. She doesn’t connect it to the arrogance that the Salidar Aes Sedai might have shown during their meetings together or ponder if they’ve had bad experiences with Aes Sedai recently. But Egwene... for someone good at politics, she does not think about people’s motives very deeply and frequently misses the subtext in conversations. She still has no idea that Min or Aviendha have feelings for Rand, despite being present during conversations about that very issue. (Mat knows about Aviendha and Elayne’s feelings for Rand, though not Min’s; Nynaeve knows about Min’s and Elayne’s feeling for Rand, but not Aviendha’s. I think Perrin probably assumes that Rand and Min are a thing and that Rand and Elayne are over? It’s hard to say, because Perrin doesn’t really think about things like that. He thinks about his friends as briefly as possible before moving on lol. And he hasn’t even met Aviendha. He would have possibly seen her at Tear but not in a way that would have merited an introduction)

41. Egwene does realize here that she wants to guide Rand just as much as any of the other people pushing at him, but she sees the difference being that she DOES still care about Rand as a person and not just a tool. tbh, I do think at least some of the Wise Ones do care about Rand as a person. It’s just that their culture focuses on being hard and enduring. But Amys was a Maiden once and we know both that she understands how the Maidens feel about Rand and keeps the secret from others about why they feel that way. And, here and now, they don’t whisper a hint of what’s really happened between the Salidar Aes Sedai and Rand, only tell Egwene that there isn’t any trouble between them and won’t be. Again, Egwene does not connect this backwards to their question about Aes Sedai kneeling in fealty to Rand, because that’s so far out of the realm of possible for her.

42. Oh! At the thought of anything ‘going wrong’ between Rand and Merana, for the briefest of moments Amys is wearing cadin’sor and gestures in Maiden handtalk. That is a HUGE lapse of control for someone as experienced as Amys. Yes, yes, she still has her Maiden’s heart for protecting Rand, I would say. No harm must come to the only son of a Maiden who returned to them, even if she isn’t a Maiden anymore. And the Maidens are also, more than pretty much anyone else, acutely aware of how much harm Rand has already suffered. Rand & the Maidens found family honestly matters to me so much. Even if I do wish they’d respect his privacy more. But Rand and his found family mothers & sisters is one of the things I want most to see on-screen. Going from being an only child to a single father, to having more sisters and mothers than anyone in history. Egwene assumes that Amys was just briefly wishing she was somewhere far away from the tangle of Rand’s problems, because in addition to never seeing the stuff about Aviendha and Min, she has also completely and wildly misinterpreted the relationship between Rand and the Maidens.

43. Egwene asks them to promise not to bring up her becoming Amyrlin -- not lie, she stresses, just avoid the issue so that Rand won’t send people to ‘rescue’ her. And, once again, I am mourning that Mat is in Ebou Dar. They agree -- surprisingly quickly, to Egwene’s thoughts. Hmm... I wonder if the reason they’re choosing not to tell him is more about trying to keep his trust in Egwene somewhat intact? “He thinks he knows better than anybody.” Egwene and Rand can be so similar. Hilariously, she was just thinking about how she DOES know better than anybody earlier in this chapter.

44. Oh, what Amys says here: “I hope we will always be friends in your eyes, Egwene al’Vere” is likely because she knows that Egwene’s feelings about them might very well change if she knew the true relationship between Merana’s embassy and Rand (and the Wise Ones) these days.

45. Egwene’s prophetic dreams:

Gawyn walking towards her on broken glass.

Gawyn riding towards a fork in the road - down one way lies violent death and down the other, a long life and a death in bed. She doesn’t know which road leads where. One of the paths means he marries her and the other means he doesn’t.

Herself, tearing at a wall made of the seals for the Dark One’s prison but she isn’t able to break it down.

Mat watching fireworks, reaching up and grabbing one of them, then shooting arrows of fire from his hand, which will lead to death and the world changing.

Herself on the headsman’s block, waiting for the axe to descend, waiting for rescue to come first.

Logain stepping over a paper puppet of Rand’s body.

Herself being tied to a female hawk.

Someone dying who needs to live, but the funeral pyre has already been built.

A dark young man holding something in his hand too bright to see.

46.  tbh, out of Egwene’s three maids, Meri is my favorite. Egwene’s descriptions of how Meri looks when she talks crack me up. “This shade of blue will set off your coloring nicely, Mother,” Meri said as she did up Egwene’s buttons, her face an accusation of vanity. Egwene is aware that Meri’s face just looks like that all the time, but she can’t help but feel judged.

47. I really do appreciate Faolain for being an unpleasant person who is on the side of good simply because she saw that what Elaida did was wrong. She never liked Egwene, she admits, but Egwene IS the Amrylin and thus deserves her respect. Faolain is a good example of Good but not Nice. In general, I’m enjoying Egwene’s chapters a lot in this book so far, so my memory didn’t deceive me that I would like Egwene in the future. She was not a fav for me in the first five books, but is rapidly reaching fav status in this book. Egwene as the underdog trying to prove herself is just a more enjoyable story (for me) than Egwene as the manipulative student lying to everyone around her. Though I do understand that the second helped lead to the first, lol. Faolain and Theodrin both swear fealty to Egwene (she did not ask; they just did it - ta’veren, I tell you). Egwene assigns Faolain and Theodrin two tasks that we the readers are not told the details of.

48. Siuan comes to talk to Egwene and there’s some talk about the Power-based hierarchy that the Aes Sedai use, and Siuan notes that, as low in the Power as she is after being healed, “[Romanda and Lelaine are] so far above me now, I should be holding my tongue until they give me permission to speak”. What a terrible system! Literally, I’m certain a Black Ajah sister put this system into place, because it sucks! I have some issues with the Wise Ones as well, but they don’t use this ridiculous Power-based hierarchy, so they definitely do much better than the Aes Sedai in that regard. I must admit that I laugh every time one of the characters argue that it is “ingrained” in Aes Sedai to adapt to change. Egwene even points out that “there’s too much we do because Aes Sedai have always done it that way”. All that time with the Aiel, and Egwene never figured out how they determine who leads and who follows. Strength of character, wisdom of age, and who has the strongest connection to the issue at hand, is what I would guess, from what I’ve seen. You have to be willing to stand your ground against the other Wise Ones (and against the clan chiefs) without being a fool about it.

49. Delana’s current Aran’gar-assigned task is trying to get the Hall to proclaim Elaida as Black Ajah, which would mean publicly admitting that the Black Ajah exists in the first place. Romanda believes acknowledging the Black Ajah would only drive them ‘deeper into hiding’. Because keeping them a secret hasn’t helped them hide? lol. Anyway, she wants a secret inquisition branch, essentially, which Lelaine condemns.

50. “A fair number seemed to be wives; at least, they sat about knitting or darning dresses or shirts or stirring small cookpots.” The endless number of sighs that I have for this implicit acceptance of the idea that soldiering is naturally ‘men’s work’ and sewing/cooking is naturally ‘wives/women’s work’. And this is in Gareth Bryne’s army, the one that is attached to the Salidar Aes Sedai. And yet we still have this rigid division of men’s work vs women’s work. The (subconscious on Jordan’s part) assumption that these gender roles are biologically assigned and not related to culture at all, with anyone who chooses to be different treated as a strange aberration.

51. Egwene and Gareth talk over the plan about what do to when they reach the White Tower -- Gareth says they need to sink ships to block the two harbors and starve them out in a siege. “Most of soldiering is waiting, when it isn’t marching.” For the first time, Egwene realizes that people will be dying in her name and feels ill because of it. That is the burden that Rand has been dealing with for a few books now. I wonder if this realization will help her understand Rand any better?

52. Myrelle hates the BotRH and all ‘Dragonsworn’ we learn, and Egwene reflects on how the Salidar Aes Sedai do seek to control Rand if they could find a way. Also, as Bryne’s army has grown in the last month and a half, so has tBotRH, which now has ten thousand soldiers, he estimates. Egwene also notes that Bryne looks at her when he talks about how Mat Cauthon is not currently leading the Band. Meanwhile, Egwene is coming to the realization that Mat... might possibly... have been leading the Band due to merit and not just a handout from Rand. “She had believed he commanded only because of Rand, and that had been hard enough to swallow.” Literally thought Rand gave Mat an army because they’re besties. Thx for keeping the Cauthor flame alive, Egwene.

53. Siuan has worked out that Myrelle is keeping a dangerous secret and is able to trick her into revealing it to her and Egwene: it’s Lan, of course. Of note: Lan comes out of the tent wearing just boots and breeches and he flinches when Myrelle touches him. This secret was being kept by Myrelle, her friend from the Yellow Ajah, Nisao (who disapproved but not enough to turn Myrelle in), their Warders, and Nicola and Areina. We also learn here that Myrelle is from Ebou Dar which, combined with another ‘relationship’ that is about to happen in Ebou Dar, paints a very ugly picture of the ways that women from that country are taught to abuse their power over men.

54. Egwene at first makes the assumption that Lan chose to be bonded by Myrelle and judges him for it. Oh, man, but Egwene’s reaction when she does find out that it was against his will is pretty ugly. “she knew she should feel the same disgust as Siuan. Aes Sedai put bonding a man against his will on a level with rape*" but then she also wonders whether she might not force a bond on Gawyn herself if he changed his mind and refused her. So... yeah. Yikes, Egwene. Your love for Gawyn does not bring out the best in you.

*and we do find out that Myrelle has actually been literally raping him too. Using the bond to compel him into sex with her is ABSOLUTELY rape, not even the metaphorical rape of the bond itself. This really is the book of consent issues and this will be far from the last time that rape will come up in the book.

55. But she does go to Lan and tell him that Nynaeve is in Ebou Dar, a dangerous city, and tell him that she orders him to go there to ‘act as her Warder’ and Lan is immediately ON THAT. He DOES NOT CARE what Myrelle wants at all and good for him. Ironically, Egwene basically tells Lan to act around Nynaeve pretty much exactly the way that Rand told Mat to act around Egwene & Elayne and such - they are in danger but will deny it, so protect them anyway. Egwene and Rand continue to be very similar people. Anyway, she Skims Lan to the same place she dropped the others off when they left, a few days north of Ebou Dar.

56. Egwene uses this incident to wring oaths of fealthy out of Myrelle and Nisao (like the kind Faolain and Theodrin offereed to her). Afterwards, when Siuan finds out that Nicola and Areina have caused trouble before, she suggests they meet with ~accidents, which horrifies Egwene and she forbids it. Siuan warns that they will be trouble again in the future.

57. Halima aka Aran’gar waltzes into Egwene’s tent to give her anti-headache massages, as has been happening for a while, it seems. Since we know that Aran’gar is a resurrected Forsaken, we know that the headaches have probably been caused on purpose via saidin in order to enable Aran’gar in getting close to Egwene.

Unnecessary scenes:

There shouldn’t be enough Shaido to pose a threat after both the Battle of Cairhien AND Dumai’s Wells (they are one of TWELVE clans and all of the other eleven are on Rand’s side). It is ridiculous that they are still going to be an important plot element going forward and I refuse to acknowledge them. - Shaido scenes in this section: 1 (12 pages)

Berelain-Perrin-Faile jealousy nonsense: 1 (3 pages)