#Aridhol

[iliiuan]

These clowns (Mat, Rand, and Perrin) knew they shouldn't go running off alone (in Aridhol) and they did it anyway. That shit's not on Moiraine.

It's an abandoned city. Like. Not a living soul. Creepy asf.

There aren't even animals.

The city isn't consumed by vegetation.

How are these not big enough hints?

The place's new name is Shadar Logoth. Moiraine told them that. They just ignored what it could imply.

But wait! There's more!

They sneak out without telling anyone. Because if they tell someone, they won't be allowed to go adventuring.

They *knew* they had no business leaving the group. And they chose to make excuses about why it would be ok to completely ignore common fucking sense to go roaming around an abandoned city on their own. They work very hard to rationalize why it would be safe, which means that they know instinctively it is not safe.

If anything, Thom Merrilin dropped the ball by leaving them unsupervised once he finished with his horse duties. Which, seriously, 18 year olds need supervision? (Yes, sadly, they do.)

Bonus:

They follow some guy named More Death. Because that's not a giant red flag. Woolheads is accurate.

However, and this is pretty stinking important: The shenanigans in Aridhol are vital to the eventual cleansing of saidin. If they hadn't gone exploring, if they hadn't followed Mordeth, if Mat hadn't taken the dagger, if Fain hadn't slashed Rand on another of his foolish outings....Rand would not have felt the two evils fighting, he wouldn't have identified Aridhol as a tool for removing the taint, and who knows when or how saidin would have been cleansed. So really, everything played out how it needed to. (They're still woolheads, but their wooldheadedness serves a purpose, so <shrug>.)

[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!!

[cannoli-reader]

WHY does everyone credit Moiraine with warning the kids about Shadar Logoth? She never warns them about any danger, and does not even translate the name. She says it twice, for dramatic effect, but not the modern meaning of "Shadar Logoth". The most she tells them is that Aridhol was an ally of Manetheren, and the last we heard about Manetheren, she was rebuking the kids' friends and neighbors for not being more like Manetheren. All she gives them is that Aridhol, like Manetheren, fought the Trollocs, like Manetheren, has fallen, and like Manetheren, has a new name. Absolutely nothing that could be used to infer the place is dangerous, let alone overtly evil. And she never fucking tells them "Don't touch anything"!

The closest she comes is asking "Did you touch anything?" after the fact (once it would be too late and Mordeth's influence could preclude an honest answer).

There's a reason why Moiraine was not the Pattern's choice to lead humanity against the Shadow.

Super quicky-sketchy thing I did. Basically what happened tho

[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]

I like the way this highlights the selfishness/self-sacrifice parallel between the Dark and the Light, and also maps it perpendicular to the Dark and the Light.

Some tangential thoughts that are intentionally non-spoilery for show-onlys:

RJ gives us multiple Darkfriend conversions to the Light that happen via death; it’s one ultimate self-sacrificing gesture to atone for many selfish ones.

It’s harder to identify Darkfriend redemptions that happen throughout life and not just at the point of death, I think because of how binary that Dark/Light choice is. Show!Lanfear (‘there are many paths through the Dark’) is close but still doesn’t feel to me like a true double agent, as to me it seems like her motivations are selfish & not selfless.

In the books the binary of Light/Dark Alliance is challenged by the nuance of Shadar Logoth. Shadar Logoth is the physical and metaphysical manifestation of the far axis of Light x selflessness (in the sense of ‘everything for the cause! the ends always justify the means!’) It’s anti-Dark and anti-humanity; a kind of purely human corruption. They were warriors for the Light who came to believe that everyone else was a Darkfriend, and thus destroyed each other.

The show gets at this a bit; SL is still a corruption, but isolationism/withdrawal is said to be their vice. It is presented as a kind of passive rejecting force of betrayal by withdrawal, rather than an active purging force like you would see in pogroms.

In the books, the Whitecloaks and Seanchan are both examples of the kind of behavior that made Aridhol into Shadar Logoth. So I have been looking for how the values of show!SL appear in those cultures in the show, and I think it’s expressed in their persecution of the ‘servants of all’ aka Aes Sedai. It’s been amped up in visceralness in the show, I think partially due to the medium change and partially as a deliberate artistic choice.

This can be seen as an isolationist stance of a sort; they don’t want Aes Sedai involved in their lives or others’ lives, they don’t want to cooperate or be beholden. They want to eliminate or use Aes Sedai for their own ends, stripping the Aes Sedai of agency. This does end up being active purging after all, and the common ground of Shadar Logoth evil in book and show is something like ‘the fear of betrayal’. They don’t want to be in community with others because they fear betrayal by the other.

It’ll be interesting to see where the show takes the ‘fear of the other/fear of betrayal = human corruption’ theme, especially since this kind of corruption doesn’t map quite as neatly onto the selfishness/selflessness axis as it did in the books.

wot book spoilers (maybe? only really vaguely mentioned and the specific character I'm talking about is not named and dead anyway but)

I have seen a lot of people commenting on the written-out redemption of a certain darkfriend and theorizing whether this specific plotline will be assigned to another character in the future. As a show-only who loves spoiling herself, however, all I can think about is if it is really needed.

If there's one message that stuck with me from this season, it's that Light ≠ Good and Dark ≠ Evil (and also that the differences between Light and Dark/good and evil aren't that great). I mean, both the Seanchan (minus Suroth and co) and the Children of the Light are sworn to the Light, but so far in the show they have been a much greater evil than anyone aligned to the dark. On the other hand, we have Lanfear, a Forsaken who burns cities down to the ground just because, working mostly for the Light (although only bc it benefited her) throughout the season. She was the one who took the Dragon to Falme, fully knowing he wouldn't choose the Dark, and arranged for Moiraine to raise his banner.

Other darkfriends, such as Barthanes and Liandrin, were also portrayed as relatively good characters, although ones who acted only in their own interests. Barthanes genuinely like Moiraine, even if he was willing to kill her, and Liandrin's interest in Nynaeve went past just recruiting her to the dark. She gave her a fighting chance against Suroth; she pushed her to be accepted. Liandrin was much more likeable as a darkfriend this season than she was as an Aes Sedai in the last one.

Honestly, so far, the main difference between the Dark and the Light is that the people sworn to the Dark are selfish and always choose to do what benefits them the most while those sworn to the Light believe in something greater and always do what they believe to be right (best example is Anveare). As a show-only, I can see any darkfriend turning to the Light; although I would've liked to see that redemption, I truly don't think the show needs it.

[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."

[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).

[cannoli-reader]

The wall bit shows exactly how badly the writers of the show misunderstand the whole point of Shadar Logoth.  Rather than the White Tower betraying Manetheren, they changed it to Shadar Logoth, because they are Aes Sedai stans, and never mind that Aridhol was dead well before Manetheren, and it was the forces of Manetheren who discovered the city had been consumed. 

Rather than the critically thematic point that fighting the Shadow with evil means can only produce evil results, the show made Aridhol’s fatal sin to be selfishness and indifference, building a wall to protect themselves and refusing to go to anyone else’s aid, because they had to get their digs in against a politician who was almost a year out of office when the episode aired and it would be too much work (or require attention to detail & reading comprehension skills which are beyond those members of the crew who did bother to read the books) to depict the more effective response in the books, where good guys make efforts to help or understand refugees, instead of massacring them like Valda does. 

One of the garbage takes I see a lot is that Mat is incredibly stupid for picking up the dagger he finds in an evil creepy haunted city, as if there is absolutely anything like Mordeth elsewhere in the world, that the kids should know he’s probably a villain or monster.  They ignore Moiraine’s secrecy and withholding of information, to leave the boys to assume the place is benevolent and perceive a safety that does not exist.  Moiraine tells them Aridhol was an ally of Manetheren, and she rebuked the Emonds Field villagers for not being more like Manetheren.  She tells them the Trollocs won’t follow them into the ruins, so the boys leap to the assumption that some halo of the righteous might of Aridhol still lingers to deter the Shadowspawn who had no fear for attacking the remnants of Manetheren.  And they are in an amazing and awe-inspiring place.  Of course they are going to go looking around! 

But on the show, with the hindsight, plus their clear favoritism of Moiraine, they are only interested in absolving her of all possible blame for Mat’s circumstances, so they have Lan be the one who decides to go into the city, with Moiraine’s only contribution being a brief moment of revival where she condemns that choice.  They have Lan tell them all to not touch anything, which no one told them in the books until it was too late. And they make the city creepy and ominous, with the inhabitants’ besetting sins and doomed fate established on entering, all to place the blame for Mat’s issues squarely on him, as a transgression for which he is being punished, rather than an innocent and understandable mistake out of ignorance.  

The ominous depiction of the city on the show fits in with the priorities and agenda of the showrunners, where a book-accurate depiction does not.  Which also proves that the priorities and agenda of the showrunners have much less to do with recapturing the themes of the story than they ought. 

My issue with making Shadar Logoth all black is that the city is not, actually. It's a shining city, a bit disheveled on the edges because plants are taking over, and abandoned so creepy asf. But from a distance? It's *gorgeous*. Even walking the streets, there's nothing really visually indicating that the city is evil. By making it a black city, the show is taking a shortcut to make the place seem ominous, but what they've really done is undermine the central message of evil residing in beautiful places.