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butterflydm · 1 year ago

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wot rewatch (book spoilers edition): 2x4

Not only is this one going to have spoilers for all the aired episodes plus any teasers, it will also have book spoilers through book 14: a memory of light (haha let's pretend I didn't accidentally call it book 13 in my previous rewatch book spoilers posts). I am also going to talk about the trailer for ep5.

I love this change to the seals being what's holding the Forsaken -- and Lanfear's side-step of death at the end of the episode shows us why such a choice was required on LTT's part (I am currently assuming it was LTT who was the driving force behind this because of the memory echo that Rand had at the 'Eye of the World' where he was confronting Ishamael). He had to seal them up because they couldn't be killed conventionally, because the Dark One could just bring them back (Lord of the Grave). This is a great change for a visual medium because it means they can keep the same actors instead of needing to swap them out for a new body. It also adds a great new threat level to the Forsaken right off the bat and it gives viewers another reason to understand why joining the Shadow might be compelling. They don't want the wheel and reincarnation -- they want to live on as the person that they are now.

It's also interesting because it means that the Forsaken are potentially widely dispersed and it may mean that Ishy has to actively seek for where they've been sealed up (maybe asking his Darkfriends to try to find more seals like this) -- which may mean that the Forsaken are loosed more slowly than in the books, as Ishamael discovers where Lews Therin hid them. (or they were all released here and we were only shown Lanfear because she's the most relevant one)

3. The reveal that Lady Anveare is Moiraine's younger sister! This episode gives us a lot of information about Moiraine -- one of the big things that we learn is that she's much older than she was in the books. Which is a change I like; so many of the AS that we meet in the books are still within a 'natural' lifespan and it was kinda weird tbh. I think that she (and Siuan) took longer to make Accepted and Sister in this version (hence the note we get about how Cadsuane is the person to compare Nynaeve's rocketing through the ranks to and not the two of them) and that they were already full Sisters when they heard the prophecy from Gitara. This does track with them wearing blue in that scene from the trailer, which is potentially going to be a flashback to the prophecy (fingers crossed! would love to hear it!).

I am curious about how this may affect all the various familial relations in the show! But they were basically ignored completely in the books anyway, lol.

4. "My family have a cabin up near Kinslayer's Dagger". Wanting to take Rand up to the place that was named after how LTT killed his wife and all of the people that he loved -- I mean, yeah. That's Lanfear for you. So... has Lanfear used Compulsion on Rand at all or is it all pure manipulation? I am torn, tbh. She's manipulating him hard, both in the waking world and in the world of dreams. I'm not sure if she needed Compulsion to push him over the edge -- and I feel like her reaction to him implying that he loves her feels very genuine and I don't know if she would be quite that blown away by him saying that if she's been Compelling him to go along with her part of the way. They also might not want to lean too much on Compulsion for subtle things like this and save it for bigger influences. But we may find out more next episode, so I will be patient. He does abruptly change his mind in her favor a couple of times, so that may speak to a hint of Compulsion. If she is using it, she's picking and choosing her moments. (I don't think Compulsion has been mentioned at all on the show yet?)

5. An interesting thought to me about how Alanna approaches being an Aes Sedai with her family: this is potentially similar to how we're going to be seeing how the Wise Ones are integrated with Aiel society. They keep their families and are a vital part of their community.

6. Timing-wise, they do make it clear that Moiraine bonded Lan after her abrupt personality change -- so Lan is probably the same age that he was in the books, with only Moiraine (and some other Aes Sedai) being older. It's also interesting that Moiraine didn't feel any need to have a Warder before she heard the prophecy.

7. I will note again that Egwene does NOT tell Elayne the name of the person that she lost, which I am going to cross my fingers has pay-off later on in the season, with Elayne meeting Rand without knowing that he's the person that Egwene is talking about here. I really do want them to meet without the context of "this is my friend's ex-boyfriend who faked his own death" hanging over their heads. Right now, Elayne has zero facts or knowledge about Rand as a person -- doesn't know his name, his looks, or that he's a man who can channel (she does not even know that Egwene is talking about a man! Egwene says "someone I love more than anything").

8. We get some more foreshadowing of the coup in this conversation with Liandrin and Leane. "If she falls, you'll fall with her." I really am wondering when exactly Elaida will be introduced. I feel like it would likely be before the coup itself happens.

Liandrin, I suspect, will not be going back to the Tower (or, if she does, it will only be briefly, to collect a handful of other Black Ajah members and then head out to whenever it is that the Black Ajah Hunters plotline will take Elayne and Nynaeve next season -- whether that be Tanchico like in the books or Tear as @markantonys has speculated, also, to briefly go back to the previous scene, I am sorry that you did not get your boy! Hopefully we will hear something about him soon). Liandrin torched her bridges with the Wondergirls in this episode, so even if she does go back to the Tower, as soon as she learns that the Seanchan were pushed out of Falme, she would know that her cover in the Tower is blown and that she needs to leave before anyone can learn about what she did.

9. I think the placement of Perrin learning about wolfbrothers is so much better here than jammed into right after Shadar Logoth, lol. Elyas really just rolled up, infodumped, and then rolled away in the books, lol.

10. We still don't know that LTT was Lanfear's ex, which is fantastic and I love it, lol. Show-onlys guessing that Ishamael is the ex that Lanfear keeps talking about is the most hilarious thing in the world and I'm in love with it. I've seen it at least twice now in the non-reader reactions that I've watched.

Haha, Lanfear's reaction when Rand reminds her that he wasn't a virgin when they slept together. Her face is just priceless. She is stabbing Egwene in her mind right now. (does she know it was Egwene? I mean, Egwene being one of the ta'veren actually gives her a shield against Lanfear killing her that she didn't have in the books, since Fain established that TDO sees all five of the ta'veren as important)

11. The show has been establishing so strongly that Rand dreams of having a home, raising his kids, and doesn't want to be... idk a lone wanderer in the wilderness, and it does make me wonder/hope that they'll adjust his ending epilogue and have him going to his loved ones in the end instead of wandering off on his own and wondering which of the women he loves is going to be the first to abandon her responsibilities to join in him wandering around aimlessly.

(it's probably obvious from my description there that I am in favor of a bit of tweaking of Rand's ending!)

12. Learning that the person telling him to 'take' what he wants was, in fact, one of the Forsaken, might be something that leads into Rand pushing away the idea of being allowed to ever indulge in the things that he wants, which would match a lot of his behavior in the books.

13. So, in the books, Barthanes is a Darkfriend. I'm assuming that's the son that Anvaere is talking about, the one that she is marrying to the nameless queen who might be a Galldrian expy. Is Anvaere a Darkfriend? Lanfear didn't seem to like her in 2x3 but, well, she was A Woman who was talking to Lanfear's Man and that might matter more to her than any Shadow affliations.

...still, I'm going to guess 'no', because I don't think the Shadow would want Moiraine to get literally any information on Rand and Anveare's information is a straight line that leads to Lanfear's throat getting cut. But Anvaere's son being a DF while she is not is also very tragic to think about! While Anveare was trying to restore their house the honorable way, Barthanes may have taken a shortcut. Another possibility would be that Barthanes is not yet a Darkfriend but will become so because of the events of this season.

14. I think "Elayne is following them because she's suspicious of why they're sneaking out of the Tower" is a good way to get around the fact that Elayne doesn't know any of the people that they're going to rescue and she ends up getting caught up in it by accident, little knowing how the course of her life is going to change. It really feels like it needed to be something like this because of us losing Caemlyn from s1.

15. I am so glad that Min has a storyline that isn't about following Rand around like a puppy. She has a painful backstory! She has goals and desires that don't revolve around Rand! She has to experience moral quandaries and goes through trauma that actually focuses on her as a person, instead of her being Rand's post-trauma cuddle toy.

16. Okay, so now that we know that Ishamael specifically wants Mat in Cairhien, I feel like that gives us a bunch of information:

a. It implies to me that Lanfear is still working under Ishamael's direction for the most part and that she's essentially "the agent assigned to Rand's corruption".

b. We know that they want to corrupt as many of the ta'veren as possible (from what Fain said in the s1 finale). Rand is the Big Prize but if any of them turned that's a bird in the hand. So, Ishamael is approaching this in a few different ways.

c. It seems like he wasn't certain exactly what was going on with Perrin until 2x3 but as soon as he has realized more about the wolf connection, he worked to try to get Perrin to view it as something evil and dark.

d. Lanfear got put in charge (volunteered, I'm sure) to do Rand. In every possible way.

e. Liandrin got basically "everyone in the Tower" but chose to focus her efforts on Nynaeve and Mat. It sounds like that may be because they were the two that stood out to her more -- she had the (hilarious) impression that Egwene was the one who would 'know her place' when the time came. So she worked on Nynaeve by trying to mentor her openly (while doing some more subtle manipulation). And she worked on Mat by destroying him psychologically.

f. Once the Seanchan are settled in the far west (maybe once Suroth's soldiers are close enough to a Waygate), Ishamael lets Liandrin know that time is up to corrupt Nynaeve and we're moving to Plan B. We've gonna do this the 'easy' way by throwing her at Suroth and let the sul'dam break Nynaeve and Egwene to be obedient.

g. But BEFORE that happened, Liandrin released Mat (with Min tugging him along) out into the world, and we find out this week that Ishamael wants Mat to be brought to Cairhien. Why?

h. Theory: Mat is the back-up plan if Lanfear fails with Rand (which she did). One of the theories that I posted about Mat's viewing from Min (Theory #4) is that he is Compelled to stab Rand. We know from 2x3 that Liandrin could sneak into his cell without waking him. Easy enough for Ishy to do the same with some Traveling. Maybe Mat is already under Compulsion by one of them, with a trigger-event waiting to happen.

Which would be completely devastating for Mat (and Rand) and also (along with Liandrin's torment of Mat in general) lead to a very compelling (ha!) reason for him to seek out a way to prevent channelers from using weaves on him. It would essentially give him the same kind of emotional reaction that we saw from the flicker-flicker scenes in the book (where he was talking about how he's not going to betray Rand) without us actually needing the Portal Stones. Mat will be: a. absolutely traumatized by Aes Sedai in general; b. terrified about weaves being used on him; c. have viscerally been forced to betray Rand against his will.

There is also... hmm, to this point. The first shot of Ishamael in the trailer for ep5 might be a match for the 'Mat is tempted by the dagger' scene that we've seen in some of the other trailers. And Ishamael and Mat getting a scene together would complete the circle of him having an intimate little talks with all the ta'veren boys. Not certain if it's the same place, but it feels like the lighting is the same. Not the later shot of him walking with Suroth but the earlier one of him in a room that looks like it's got some fireplaces going on. I will brace myself for potentially not getting Mat next episode though.

(again, if this doesn't happen in the show, I might be forced to write it. We will see!)

Plus!

i. It could provide a real-time example of Min accidentally creating a viewing while trying to prevent it! She doesn't want to hurt Mat but she also would not want him to stab Rand. But since she is the one who would likely be bringing Mat into Rand's orbit (as she has no idea that Rand is in Cairhien, I don't think), it would show the viewers that Min's viewings are inevitable instead of it just being her telling us that.

I've seen speculation that Min is going to do a U-turn and take Mat anywhere else but Cairhien (presumably accidentally going to Falme) after learning that one of the Forsaken wants Mat there but... but I really really want Rand and Mat to get a reunion lol. Rand was THE most affected by Mat staying behind last season and it would be good to build them up again in anticipation of them spending s3 together, so I'd love if they got a reunion BEFORE Falme. Like, I was so excited to hear Min is meant to take him to Cairhien!

17. I do feel like something changes for Lanfear when Rand implies that he loves her. She stops for a moment and reacts to that, and the vibe of the scene shifts afterwards too. Great meta on the subject here: https://moghedien.tumblr.com/post/727929706072227841/1-it-immediately-sets-up-the-threat-of-going-up and I pretty much agree completely. This is where her true obsession with RAND as LTT was born. She just got everything that she wanted and then it was stolen from her.

Episode 5 next week! So excited!

Looking forward to seeing Lanfear unleashed in the next episode! The saa in her eyes was just... yes. Such a good decision for them to treat TDO's resurrection of his Chosen this way, I think, so that we can keep these spectacular actors. We're gonna get info from Moiraine about the Forsaken next episode, it sounds like, which is exciting.

We also are going to get AVIENDHA! So excited about this. She looks amazing in the trailer. She sounds amazing. She is amazing.

This is also when we're going to get some more insight into the Seanchan as a whole (Loial is with Ishamael and Suroth in the trailer), I suspect.

The other probable important event about next episode is, uh, gonna be more trauma for one of our characters, though. Lots more trauma. So far, most (definitely not all!) of Egwene's trauma has been "horrible things keep happening to the people I care about" (Nynaeve's assumed death; Perrin being tortured in front of her; Rand's assumed death; Nynaeve's assumed death again this season) but now her trauma will include "a horrible thing is happening to me". It might be the 'cliffhanger' of the episode; Egwene getting taken as damane. Since it looks like we're spending some time in the Ways with Liandrin & the Wondergirls first. Or it might happen earlier. I will brace myself!

#butterfly watches wot #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot show spoilers #wot prime spoilers #wot 2x4 spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #wheel of time s2 spoilers #wot book spoilers #a memory of light

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sparklyeevee · 6 months ago

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Honestly I feel like the biggest error in how Aran'gar was handled is like, there's a thing with the female Forsaken. Most of them, a woman on the side of the Light kinda... chooses one, with varying degrees of actual choice in the matter, identifying some flaw or defect of character her particular Forsaken has that she believes she shares, with... varying degrees of accuracy and relevance.

Nynaeve picks Moghedian, in the midst of her whole "Oh, no, I'm such a coward, I wish I could be brave like Elayne" thing. Obviously Nynaeve's assessment of herself as a coward is substantially off the mark, but that's where she's coming from.

Moiraine chooses manipulative, obsessive Lanfear. Yeah that's, uh, that's fair. Gotta note here that the show seems to be aware of this pattern, because we've got Moiraine talking about Lanfear's casual cruelty like, a minute after she kills a horse she probably didn't need to and threatens a woman she absolutely didn't have to threaten (this is also like, the 4th time in two seasons she threatens someone when it would literally have been easier to get what she wanted by asking nicely).

Egwene chooses Mesaana, who is explicitly described as the Forsaken who holds the most hatred. This also, is fair, actually, but Egwene keeps a lid on hers in almost every circumstance. Egwene is also notable here for explicitly drawing a parallel between herself and Mesaana.

Cadsuane, who also explicitly identifies a parallel, chooses Semirhage for her inflexibility, her inability to tolerate indignity or people not being suitably impressed.

Aviendha, who perceives her relationships with Elayne and Rand, and her time in the wetlands, as having made her soft, should have gotten Graendal, who turned away from a hard, acetic path to embrace self-indulgence. She didn't, quite, there's no real enmity there, no interaction to speak of, but Sanderson must have gotten this on some level because the final confrontation with Graendal is hers.

Every woman in this situation deals her Forsaken a serious setback, and in some cases final defeat, although none of them actually kill theirs. But Aran'gar just doesn't get one of these relationships, or even anything that looks like it was maybe gesturing at where one ought to have been. The only character who even seems to have beef with her is Chesa(sp?) - and honestly, I think it would have been awesome if they'd had some kinda proper confrontation, but I could see other ways.

#wheel of time #wot #wheel of time book spoilers #wheel of time show spoilers

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asha-mage · 5 months ago

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“Hurin I-“ Mat began, then cut off, gulping. What was there to say? Hurin was staring at him, steady and weathered. He had to be at least twenty- maybe twenty five- years Mat’s senior. His dark face carried deep lines that said those years had been full of worry about Trolloc raids, about children, about a wife he loved dearly and was often away from.

Mat didn’t want to hurt him. But he would. It was one of the things he had braced himself for, when he had decided to stay at Rand’s side. To protect Rand, meant protecting his secret. No matter what that took. Mat didn’t relish the idea. But he didn’t fear it either. Maybe that was the dagger working on him still, or maybe it was something deep inside of him already: something callous that had always been there. He didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. Weighted against Rand’s life, what was the life of a stranger who got too close and heard something they shouldn’t? Hadn't Lan been ready to kill to protect Moiraine’s secrets back in Baerlon?

But Hurin…Hurin was not a stranger. He wasn’t someone who had stumbled onto something by listening at doors or sticking his nose where it wasn’t wanted. All he was guilty of was having the misfortune of being swept up in Rand and Mat’s….whatever it was.

Something of what Mat was thinking must have shown on his face because Hurin’s shoulders lowered and his voice softened considerably. “It’s alright Mat Gaidin. Really I-“ He shifted nervously. “It’s of no mind to me.”

Mat frowned at him not believing that for a second.

“It really isn’t!” Hurin insisted, touching the back of his head. “The way I see it- the Amyrlin, and Moiraine Sedai they wouldn’t have let you two run loose if they didn’t think he was safe. And besides he’s... well he’s Lord Rand! Lord Ingtar trusts him and he’s led us since we got separated from the others and- bah! Light burn me man, stop looking at me like that!” He shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable.

“What makes you think the Amyrlin did set us free?” Mat said quietly. “That sister in the mountains- Adelaid- she said the Amyrlin sent her to kill us.”

“To kill you.” Hurrin corrected. “But all that it’s… it’s none of my business.“ Mat raised an eyebrow and Hurin shrugged. “It’s not! Nobles and Kings and Aes Sedai and what not- politics, that’s your business. That Aes Sedai, she said that he’s-“ Hurin gulped.

“The Dragon.” Mat finished for him in a flat voice. Hurin waited for more- clearly expecting Mat to confirm or deny it, but Mat kept his peace instead. He still hadn’t made up his own mind one way or the other.

“Well, if that’s the case. Then- the Aymrlin she’s going to do what she’s going to do. The Game of Houses they call it in Cairhien- Daes dae'mar. That’s nothing I can do anything about or concern myself with.” Hurin made a gesture as if picking something up and tossing it aside. “I’m a sniffer and a thief-taker, sworn to Lord Agelmar and Fal Dara. I was given a task- run down those who did murder and theft in Fal Dara keep, and recover what they stole. That’s my duty. Right now the best way to follow it is to stay with you and Lord Rand. Knives in the dark and scheming and the like- that’s all for you and him to worry about.”

“And after we reunite with Lord Ingtar?” Mat said tartly.

Hurin blew out a breath. “Light of heaven, you’re not making this easy.”

“I am not.” Mat replied coldly. “If you’re going to betray us- betray him- I’d rather know sooner rather than later. I know you Borderlanders are all mad for duty. Well, isn’t it your duty to report all this to Ingtar and Agelmar also?” Light, Mat didn’t know what would be worse- the others learning that Rand could channel, or that the Aes Sedai thought he was the Dragon.

“I know what it’s like to be different.” Hurin said quietly, looking away. “To be afraid of yourself. Afraid for the people you care about. Afraid you’ll hurt them without meaning to, without wanting to.” He looked up at Rand. “To wish you were strong enough to leave them for their own sake. And to not be able to.” His eyes turned to Mat. They where dark with understanding.

Mat suddenly felt ashamed and his shoulders fell. That fear lived somewhere deep in the bones of every man. Of waking up one day and realizing: Oh. I’m a monster . Mat could imagine how bad it had been for Hurin, in the years after his talent had emerged, but before he had realized he only smelt violence and couldn’t do anything more.

Hurin perked up suddenly, as if realizing something. “Besides- if the Amyrlin wanted Lord Ingtar and Lord Aglemar to know, she would have told them herself. I imagine the Aes Sedai would say, my duty is hold my tongue and let them sort these matters out. So that’s what I intend to do.” He extended a hand. “I know you're just trying to protect him. That’s a Warder’s duty as much as mine is tracking down thieves. So why don’t we both stay to our duties, and try and muddle through until they're done, eh?”

-- Sworn, Chapter 17: Chasm

#WoT #Wheel of Time #WoT Fanfic #Cauthor #Rand al'Thor #Mat Cauthon #Rand x Mat #Hurin #The Great Hunt

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lakeofsilverpike · 1 year ago

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Been reading your blog for a while so I thought I would pick your brain for a bit. This Moiraine/Siuan train ride they are taking us on seems complicated and convoluted for dramatic purposes. Some things are problematic with 2x07 for me

1. To be honest I read this one on another blog and it got me thinking. Moiraine swore on the oath road as « Moiraine Sedai ». But in 2x07 Siuan orders her with « Moiraine Damodred » it seems a rather glaring mistake considering how very specific words are for the aes Sedai

2. Siuan goes alone to confront Moiraine in the cave or whatever, where Moiraine is opening a waygate. Does the amerlyn really go anywhere alone? Ever? This one I didn’t understand. Even being left alone with Moiraine in the hall in 2x07 seems to be shocking but she insists.

3. We have Lan telling Rand about Siuan, how good she is, from humble beginnings and blah blah and then cut to her shielding him. He doesn’t trust anyone but at the end of this episode he trusts Moiraine fully

4. We see Moiraine and Siuan in their personal relationship or where Siuan is the amerlyn. The power dynamics are different. In the former when Siuan is just Siuan the dominant one is Moiraine. We see it in the hut, and in the flashback. In the latter situation it is Siuan by virtue of being the Amerlyn. In their final scene Siuan is the Amerlyn not Siuan so the scene does not come off as personal

5. The scene where Siuan orders Moiraine to close the waygate: WE know they are lovers. But the way the scene was played out, there was nothing overtly pointing to that to Rand who was the only witness to it. Even the mention of love was vague, how a good friend would mention the years they have known each other. None of the heart wrenching betrayal of actual love, no immense shock from Moiraine after 60 years or whatever together. Siuan has tears because she is physically hurting Moiraine through the order. These two communicate in person well from the little we have seen. They get into things, especially Moiraine. She talks, explains and Siuan listens then replies. But here the replies from Moiraine are short, vague, lacking detail….exactly how she replied to the amerlyn in 1x06. It was just weird for me

Maybe me takes are totally off but this was a very strange way for things to play out. And I have confused myself along the way so good job if you managed to reach the end of my ask !

Thanks for the ask anon!

Here’s my best attempt at answers to your questions:

1) I think the oath binds Moiraine. Sedai is an honorific, like Prof or Dr. If you agree to something you agree to it whether you are called by your honorific or not. I’m calling on some New Spring knowledge here, but Moiraine has a complicated relationship with being a Damodred. And I think Siuan calling her Moiraine Damodred in that scene is meant to evoke a feeling of coldness and to bring in the baggage of Moiraine’s house. It’s a contrast to the tender sweet teasing Lady Damodred in the first scene. Tldr, oath binds Moiraine no matter which of her names or titles you call her.

2) I suspect Siuan rarely goes places alone and asking to be alone in the hall with Moiraine could raise suspicion. But Siuan doesn’t want anyone else to know about the fact that she and Moiraine have been secretly on this mission for 20 years, hence the secrecy. Siuan wants to confront Moiraine and she wants privacy for that.

3) Rand’s trust in Moiraine is one of the best things in this episode. I think part of it is Moiraine protecting him, but another part is her trusting him. She trusts him to unshield her. She trusts him to see her so vulnerable- in tears after she unshields him, crying and overwhelmed and thanking him. She is intensely human and vulnerable in that moment. And Rand sees that. This whole season he sees her as increasingly human, and that is something he really didn’t get before. Also Rand shielded is unable to even stand due to the weight of it. He felt that pain and then understood Moiraine felt that for months all while fighting to protect him. I think that changes how he looks at her too.

4) I think in the last scene Siuan is putting her mission above all else. She is doing what she thinks is right to save the world. And yes now she’s Amyrlin, but I think her commitment to this has been as steadfast as Moiraine’s for twenty years. Siuan chooses the world despite the potential for that choice damaging her relationship.

Regarding power dynamics what I see is that in public of course there is a show they put on. Siuan is the Amyrlin. And also she and Moiraine are putting on a show of hating each other. In private I think there isn’t a power differential. They are partners. They are equals.

5) I think Siuan outside the waygate either thinks Moiraine has an awful plan that is potentially very dangerous or maybe thinks Moiraine is a darkfriend (I’ve read compelling arguments for both and think either is plausible, though I think the former is more likely for reasons I’ll refrain from explaining). Siuan feels intensely pressured to get Moiraine to stay and not walk through the waygate. And so Siuan did what she felt she needed to when she forced Moiraine to close the waygate. Is this the best plan? Probably not. Things are blowing up around Siuan very quickly (and have been since Lan showed up saying he spilled the secret they shared for twenty years to Alanna and company, which forced Siuan’s hand), and so she acts decisively, even if it means hurting the trust between herself and Moiraine.

And let’s be honest, last season Siuan and Moiraine decided very quickly that the best plan was to go to the eye of the world with five kids even though this meant killing innocent people. They are both ruthless and singleminded in their pursuit of trying to save the world. I agree that forcing someone to channel is bad, but is it as bad as the fact that they both are fully on board with murder for their cause?

I think these are two women who fully believe their mission is literally about saving the world. They sacrificed their own happiness for it. And this scene is heartbreaking because now they disagree about how to save the world, which puts them in conflict with each other.

Moiraine looks very angry in that scene to me, but I think she understands that Siuan is doing what she thinks she must. Just as Moiraine thinks she is doing as she must when she walks through the waygate and leaves Siuan bleeding on the ground.

I firmly think this isn’t the kind of hurt that is irreparable for them. I think they did the same thing. Put the mission about the other. Put the mission about the person they love most.

Siuan is crying because she hurt her wife, who she loves so much. She looks genuinely heartbroken to have to do this (and I think she feels she has to). I think there was a fight/discussion they would have had if Lanfear didn’t show up. Because people who have been married for sixty years fight and yell and then talk things out and still love each other. Especially when, as much as it might hurt or feel like betrayal, they both would have done the same if they were in the other persons position.

Regarding Moiraine’s vague answers - yes this comes back to bite her in the ass. Communicating with Siuan would have been very helpful this season (I could write an essay about Moiraine not disclosing the stilling to Siuan because it’s telling about Moiraine’s mental state and so so heartbreaking. I have so many feelings about it. But at the risk of this post never ending I’ll refrain). Moiraine has made some bad choices this season, because she’s been desperate and depressed and traumatized . She’s trying her damn best. And so is Siuan.

Hopefully we’ll get more time with Siuan next season to put her decisions and pain in context. I do think this is an episode that reminds us that Moiraine and siuan didn’t choose this mission. They didn’t even want adventure like their book counterparts did. They wanted peace and a life together. But they heard the prophecy and did their duty.

#anon ask #moiraine damodred #siuan sanche #asks

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shadowsong26fic · 1 year ago

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Coming Attractions!

Yes, I'm aware it's Tuesday not Monday but shhhhh XD

Just a quick one this month. Not even going to split it up by fandom as I usually do, just kinda blitz through.

So I ended up...essentially taking January off from writing, apart from a scattered few sentences here and there. Which on the one hand was probably good for me but on the other hand I'm behind on projects lol. Ah well.

Priorities for this month: 1. SWBB I'm picking up the project I had to step away from last year. Anakin was not found at age nine and never became a Jedi; we're handwaving that TPM ended roughly the same way anyway because Padme and Obi-Wan are very good at what they do and one of the other pilots got lucky on the droid control ship. Fast-forward to like a year and a half/two years into the Clone Wars, Ahsoka ends up briefly stranded on a planet that's neutral mostly because it's a black market hub. They click pretty quickly, hang out for a while, stumble into a Separatist plot to test a chemical weapon and blame a limnic eruption for the deaths, and Deal With It. Hondo and Bo-Katan are briefly involved because I said so XD 2. P&J We're getting to the part where Ari actually finds stuff out, lol. Getting to Europe and talking with other researchers, etc. There's some interesting stuff in Marseille, and Calais is important. And Ari and Phil continue to be cute in the background. 3. The Other Battlestar Baltar ends up on Pegasus; there's a bunch of stuff built up around the two OCs who fill the plotholes he left behind...I need to get more text down in general, lol. And also figure out how I want to structure it? Like...I do need to establish the new people (including a few on Pegasus, like the senior medical officer, a marine officer, there will also be a Four who gets pulled from the civilian fleet...) and also clarify why Baltar ends up in a different position (and why Helo doesn't because he and Athena still need to meet). And it would probably make the most sense to just go linearly and handle all the miniseries exposition in order. But then again would that actually be Interesting; or would it be better to pick up later and jump back and forth in time...yeah, you see my problem lol. 4. Acheron Javert Groundhog Day fic; looping the last 36ish hours of his life. (from right before he heads to the barricade to his death). 5. Maybe get back into Precipice or write some origfic if I have time/brain.

Longer-range projects: 1. Percussive Maintenance is still hanging out in my head, so I'm tentatively planning on that for GBB (aka the one where the at least two concussions Sam gets during Downloaded unlock Enough of his memories) 2. Or maybe I'll jump back to The Blood of Angry Men, we'll see. (aka a Zarek character study; looking back on his life (and the allies/friends/tools that he's led to their deaths) from the night before his execution) 3. What I'm definitely not doing is any of the crossovers floating around in my head; either the Star Wars ones or the WoT ones. (the one I talked about the other night; and a fusion is actually sort of building in my head because of course it is. Mostly because of the Kara-as-Mat thing I pinged onto the other night; but also Baltar would be an interesting Logain; possibly Zarek as Taim? I think I'd leave Rand as Rand and just fill in the roles around him. Lee also lines up really well with Perrin...and since this would derail pretty early on I feel a little more Flexible about love interests/etc. lol. For reasons of Tuon, Moiraine, and Lan, mostly. Also Faile. Also I'd still want Caprica as a sul'dam, I think, but Logain doesn't have a canon love interest IIRC sooooo that's easier to sort out XD ...although now that I think about it, Athena as Nynaeve and Helo as Lan could work...) 4. Incinctus/other Castlevania things. 5. I'm doing pod_together again once signups open. I need to refine my fandoms list, haha. Not that I haven't had interesting times the last couple years, but it'd be nice to get matched based on something that Isn't a very secondary/tertiary fandom for me again. 6. AtLA may come floating back into my head enough to pick up some of the projects I wandered away from there, we'll see.

Not writing, strictly speaking, but there's some admin/modding stuff for this year's GBB that I should get a move on, especially since the event is moving to May-October, plus helping out with SWBB the way I do every year.

...yeah, that's pretty much where things stand. Hopefully I'll hit a nice groove this month!

What about you guys, what are you working on?

#coming attractions #miscellania

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apocalypticavolition · 1 year ago

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Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 3: Friends and Enemies

Welcome back to the reread, folks who don't want spoilers will be escorted out like this dude was in a picture that really depicts something from last book, but he's in this one, but it's all without context if you haven't read them. Also, read everything in the series, I will spoil all of it.

This chapter starts us out with a new icon: the ruby dagger. It typically symbolizes bullshit related to it, Shadar Logoth, or Padan Fain. In this case, it's mostly about Fain, but the dagger shows up too and gets infodumped for those of us who for some reason picked up book two without touching book one.

“Peace favor you, Rand al’Thor.” Ragan almost shouted to be heard over the bells. “Do you intend to go hit rabbits over the head, or do you still insist that club is a bow?”

Please someone draw Rand braining rabbits with his bow. Come on. You know you want to.

Rand recognized him, now, with his deep-set, almost-black eyes that never seemed to blink. They peered from his helmet like twin caves inside another cave. He supposed there could be worse luck for him than Masema guarding the gate, but he was not sure how, short of a Red Aes Sedai.

Oh dear. Masema is an interesting guy in that he continually threatens to be plot relevant and yet never quite hops that threshold because even at his most terrifying he is way behind the level curve. I'm really not sure what to make of him, though I'll give it a try as I reread this time around. For right now, it's worth noting that he starts somewhat unpleasant.

Ragan was an easygoing man, his manner belying his grim scar, and he seemed to like Rand. But Masema was already shaking his head. Ragan sighed. “It cannot be, Rand al’Thor.” He gave a tiny nod toward Masema as if to explain. If it were up to him alone. . . .

It's a real shame that the Wheel never got a Shaidar Haran / Nakomi avatar who could just laugh at how much it got to consistently punk Rand with the tiniest little details.

Perhaps he could find a length of rope. . . . He climbed one of the stairs to the top of the outer wall, to the wide parapet with its crenellated walls. ... He looked up at the nearest guardtower; one of the soldiers raised a gauntleted hand to him. With a bitter laugh, he waved back. Not a foot of the wall but was under the eyes of guards.

Rand: I'm sure that fortresses are built so that it's easy to rappel your way out of them! No one will even notice!

It sure is a shame he didn't have a mentor to teach him about warfare and defense, since both of these subjects will be very important to him going forward.

Gentled. Would it be so bad, to have it all over? Really over? He closed his eyes, but he could still see himself, huddling like a rabbit with nowhere left to run, and Aes Sedai closing round him like ravens. They almost always die soon after, men who’ve been gentled. They stop wanting to live. He remembered Thom Merrilin’s words too well to face that. With a brisk shake, he hurried on down the hall. No need to stay in one place until he was found. How long till they find you anyway? You’re like a sheep in a pen. How long? He touched the sword hilt at his side. No, not a sheep. Not for Aes Sedai or anybody else.

Rand's almost pathological strength of will is a great characteristic. He's completely out of any tenable options and he still refuses to play Moiraine's very fucked up game.

The armorer’s forge, with all the fires banked, the anvils silent. Silent. Cold. Lifeless. Yet somehow not empty. His skin prickled, and he spun on his heel. No one there... Angrily he stared around the big room. There’s nobody there. It’s just my imagination. That wind, and the Amyrlin; that’s enough to make me imagine things.

Is it this? Is Rand picking up on Fain's staring at him from his prison? Is he getting some paranoia from channeling the taint? All of the above?

Loial was watching them dice, rubbing his chin thoughtfully with a finger thicker than a big man’s thumb, his head almost reaching the rafters nearly two spans up. None of the dicers gave him a glance. Ogier were not exactly common in the Borderlands, or anywhere else, but they were known and accepted here, and Loial had been in Fal Dara long enough to excite little comment.

Loial! Mat's teaching him how to be a thriftless layabout! I'm so proud of them. Loial deserved more opportunities to be chilling while people did absolutely banal crap that he could still find fascinating.

That was something I had not seen before. Two things. The Shienaran Welcome, and the Amyrlin Seat. She looks tired, don’t you think?

Wow, Loial way to play into sexist narratives. You don't say this about Agelmar and that bro has had a lot more on his plate the past couple months and he's like a million times older.

Rand opened his eyes to see his friends straightening up out of the knot of dicers. Mat Cauthon, long-limbed as a stork, wearing a half smile as if he saw something funny that no one else saw. Shaggy-haired Perrin Aybara, with heavy shoulders and thick arms from his work as a blacksmith’s apprentice. They both still wore their Two Rivers garb, plain and sturdy, but travel-worn.

It's so rare having all three of these boys in the same room that I'm just happy it's happening at all.

“You’re as white as your shirt. Hey! Where did you get those clothes? You turning Shienaran? Maybe I’ll buy myself a coat like that, and a fine shirt.” He shook his coat pocket, producing a clink of coins. “I seem to have luck with the dice. I can hardly touch them without winning.”

Again, if Moiraine had wanted to fuck with people's clothing, Mat would have been all for it once she got him into a shop. And also note that despite a lot of misconceptions about this, Mat's been unusually lucky his whole life. It's just something about him that isn't even related to his being ta'veren. He only gets inexplicably lucky in book 3 though.

Perrin’s eyes lifted. Yellow eyes, gleaming in the dim light like burnished gold. Moiraine hasn’t hurt us? Rand thought. Perrin’s eyes had been as deep a brown as Mat’s when they left the Two Rivers. Rand had no idea how the change had come about—Perrin did not want to talk about it, or about very much of anything since it happened—but it had come at the same time as the slump in his shoulders, and a distance in his manner as if he felt alone even with friends around him. Perrin’s eyes and Mat’s dagger. Neither would have happened if they had not left Emond’s Field, and it was Moiraine who had taken them away.

That's some bullshit, Rand. Perrin almost certainly would have ended up a werewolf no matter what happened because the wolves were coming down from the mountains and while you can't know that, you can very much know that Mat disobeyed Moiraine. If he hadn't had sticky fingers and wanderlust, he never would have been cursed. You have so much bullshit to blame Moiraine for legitimately that this is just silly.

He knew that was not fair.

How dare you undercut my chewing you out in the very next sentence?

“Walls don’t stop a Fade,” Mat muttered. “Not when it wants to come in. I don’t know as laws and lamps will do any better.” He did not sound like someone who had half thought Fades were only gleemen’s tales less than half a year before. He had seen too much, too.

Mat's... sadly correct. There's no plausible way to stop a Fade from showing up in your house if it wants to be there unless you have the ability to light up every single surface and get rid of every shadow. The only reason that the Shadow hasn't just outright slaughtered humanity is that it's not actually in their interest to do so. And really, for all the shit people give pre-book 3 Mat, he's been a completely good friend and voice of reason in this seen.

“Easy, Rand,” Perrin said softly. “There is no need to be so rough.”

And meanwhile, Perrin isn't saying much, but he's playing peacemaker. It fits where Jordan seemed to be going with him.

“Isn’t there? Maybe I don’t want you two going with me, always hanging around, falling into trouble and expecting me to pull you out. You ever think of that? Burn me, did it ever occur to you I might be tired of always having you there whenever I turn around? Always there, and I’m tired of it.” The hurt on Perrin’s face cut him like a knife, but he pushed on relentlessly. “There are some here think I’m a lord. A lord. Maybe I like that. But look at you, dicing with stablehands. When I go, I go by myself. You two can go to Tar Valon or go hang yourselves, but I leave here alone.” Mat’s face had gone stiff, and he clutched the dagger through his coat till his knuckles were white. “If that is how you want it,” he said coldly. “I thought we were. . . . However you want it, al’Thor. But if I decide to leave at the same time you do, I’ll go, and you can stand clear of me.” “Nobody is going anywhere,” Perrin said, “if the gates are barred.” He was staring at the floor again.

And now Rand's being a dick. Mat and Perrin were nothing but supportive and concerned and he pushes them away because he has to be alone. I am begging writers to stop using this trope, it's annoying and forced drama and Mat and Perrin deserved better.

“I am not staying here,” Mat told the rafters, “with a bigmouthed Ogier and a fool whose head is too big for a hat. You coming, Perrin?” Perrin sighed, and glanced at Rand, then nodded.

And now Rand's shittiness is infectious and making Mat be rude to Loial, but it only gets worse with...

Rand made his voice harsh. “What are you waiting for? Go on with them! I don’t see why you’re still here. You are no use to me if you don’t know a way out. Go on! Go find your trees, and your precious groves, if they haven’t all been cut down, and good riddance to them if they have.” Loial’s eyes, as big as cups, looked surprised and hurt, at first, but slowly they tightened into what almost might be anger.

Loial is not your emotional dumping ground, boys. Y'all are only picking on him because he's soft and kind and you don't wanna fuck with a target that can fuck you up in kind.

Well, a voice in his head taunted, you did it, didn’t you. I had to, he told it. I will be dangerous just to be around. Blood and ashes, I’m going to go mad, and. . . . No! No, I won’t! I will not use the Power, and then I won’t go mad, and. . . . But I can’t risk it. I can’t, don’t you see? But the voice only laughed at him.

And we can see Rand's maladaptive coping mechanisms, with the very first hint of his shoving the parts of himself he's not comfortable with (in this case, the love he feels for his friends and his ability to channel at all) outside of his "self" and creating an emotionally unstable alter ego that he tries (and fails) to wrangle validation out of.

She jumped when he popped out right in front of her, and her breath caught loudly, but what she said was, “So there you are. Mat and Perrin told me what you did. And Loial. I know what you’re trying to do, Rand, and it is plain foolish.”

Egwene is 110% done with Rand's shit. Lan's idea that he could somehow wrangle her into abandoning Tar Valon is some hilarious projection.

Her hair suddenly made him angry. He had never seen a grown woman with her hair unbraided until he left the Two Rivers. There, every girl waited eagerly for the Women’s Circle of her village to say she was old enough to braid her hair. Egwene certainly had. And here she was with her hair loose except for a ribbon. I want to go home and can’t, and she can’t wait to forget Emond’s Field.

Rand, who wants "to go home and can't": Never makes any effort to establish communications with his father figure until it comes time to try and murder him.

Egwene, who "can't wait to forget Emond's Field": Regularly sends letters home throughout the series because that's where her family lives.

He turned to walk away, and with a cry she threw herself at him, flung her arms around his legs. They both tumbled to the stone floor, his saddlebags and bundles flying. He grunted when he hit, sword hilt digging into his side, and again when she scrabbled up and plopped herself down on his back as if he were a chair.

Foreshadowing for Merrilor, Rand's wounds, and her future occupation, all in half a paragraph.

“Men! When you cannot win an argument, you either run away or resort to force.” “Hold on there! Who tripped who? Who sat on who? And you threatened—tried!—to—”

Nynaeve ain't the only lady in these books who is hilariously hypocritical in her sexism.

Finally he told her what Lan had said. “What else could he mean?” Her hand froze on her arm, and she frowned with concentration. “Moiraine knows about you, and she hasn’t done anything, so why should she now? But if Lan. . . .” Still frowning, she met his eyes.

Heck, this is basically bookends with Merrilor: Rand and Egwene are having a stupid fight about bullshit where they're both right, and one half of the Moiraine/Lan duo ends up being how they come to hold common ground. And shit like this is why communication has to be so rare in this series, as soon as Rand tries it he starts getting results instead of ten thousand headaches and knife wounds.

“Rand, he has brought his wagon into the Two Rivers every spring since before I was born. He knows all the people I know, all the places. It’s strange, but the longer he has been locked up, the easier in himself he has become. It’s almost as if he is breaking free of the Dark One. He laughs again, and tells funny stories, about Emond’s Field folk, and sometimes about places I never heard of before. Sometimes he is almost like his old self. I just like to talk to somebody about home.”

If Fain hadn't sidestepped his fate, would Egwene's kindness here have gotten him back onto the path of the Light? But also... well, see below.

“Moiraine has said it’s safe? Egwene?” “Moiraine Sedai has never told me I could not visit Master Fain,” she said carefully.

Not even a Novice yet and already all over them three oaths. Also I love every aspect of their fight in this page and would quote it all if I had anything intelligent to say on the subject.

The man studied Rand, his upper lip quivering back to bare teeth. Rand did not think it was supposed to be a smile. “Well,” Changu said finally. “Well. Tall, aren’t you? Tall. And fancy dressed for your kind. Somebody catch you young in the Eastern Marches and tame you?”

Let's all relish the fact that this racist Darkfriend is going to be skinned alive in seven chapters, shall we?

“He’s waiting for you.” He thrust the lamp at Egwene, and undid the inner door almost eagerly. “Waiting for you. In there, in the dark.”

If this were in a horror movie, the line would be too corny.

“They know me better than that,” she said, but she sounded troubled, and she added, “They seem worse every time I come. All the guards do. Meaner, and more sullen. Changu told jokes the first time I came, and Nidao never even speaks anymore. But I suppose working in a place like this can’t give a man a light heart. Maybe it is just me. This place does not do my heart any good, either.”

Remember when I said "see below"? People, especially Egwene haters, talk about how since Fain corrupted the guards, Masema, Elaida, Niall, and Riatin, he should have corrupted her too. And yet Egwene doesn't seem to be anywhere near as fucked up as all of those people ended up being - she's stubborn, but in a Two Rivers sense, and arrogant, but not to the point of it being a fatal flaw. Rand doesn't talk about her eyes being messed up like he did with Masema. I think she managed to sidestep the effects precisely because she kept Fain out of Gollum mode and made him behave like a normal human.

Looking straight at Rand, hidden in the blackness behind the light, he pointed a long finger at him. “I feel you there, hiding, Rand al’Thor,” he said, almost crooning. “You can’t hide, not from me, and not from them. You thought it was over, did you not? But the battle’s never done, al’Thor. They are coming for me, and they’re coming for you, and the war goes on. Whether you live or die, it’s never over for you. Never.”

Is Fain channeling Ish's usual nihilistic shtick because his current metaphysical status is equally depressing, or did it just end up being shoved into him when Ish made him the Hound?

“Soon comes the day all shall be free. Even you, and even me. Soon comes the day all shall die. Surely you, but never I.”

Sometimes it feels like every villain in this series is convinced that they're some kind of metaphysical constant. Fain buddy, you're literally going to become more and more irrelevant to the point that your death is an afterthought in someone else's plot line. You won't even leave behind some kind of evil legacy through which it could be said you're surviving. You represent nothing because two separate authors couldn't figure out what to do with you.

“This was not a good idea, Rand.”

Haters take note of the fact that when Egwene fucks up she can just admit it and move onto plan B. Not her fault that Fain is super extra crazy today.

In the darkness, Fain laughed. “It’s never over, al’Thor. Never.”

Also, I just want to note: While obviously time being cyclical means that sure, nothing's ever really over, you might as well argue that it never really starts either. The Last Battle is coming and when it's done, it's done. Rand spends two years in shittiness and decades if not centuries doing whatever the fuck he pleases, and it's very unlikely that his next incarnation will be dealing with anything so extremely miserable - nor is it likely he'll have to recall all of his past lives like Rand did, so he won't even be aware of it all. The villains who insist at looking at the apparent big picture only make themselves crazy because they never get to see the whole of it.

Anyway though, that's it for this chapter. Next time, more Great Hunting!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #ragan #masema dagar #loial #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #egwene al'vere #changu #nidao #padan fain

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cannoli-reader · 1 year ago

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My notes Watching the WoT show. Season 1, Episode 1 (spoilers)

So I got some interest after putting up the notes from the finale not long ago, and I figured I would post the rest from this project, originally appearing on the readandfindout.com message board. There were posted on 11/19/2021. The notes are under a cut because I get verbose.

00:15-00:30 - "The arrogance.. And the women of the Aes Sedai were left to pick up the pieces."

This is going to be a problem going forward. There's already a problem with the books, where readers accept at face value the characters' assertion that men don't want to marry a woman who can handle them like a child with the One Power. It's clear in the context where we see many female channelers having good relationships with mundane male partners, that the White Tower is just rationalizing their own isolation from the rest of the world. So is this just Moiraine and the White Tower using their bullshit to justify their own policies, or is it the through line of the series? It could, however, be a legit interpretation of Moiraine's lecture to Egwene in EotW about the men who broke the world, so IDK.

03:45 - "Four ta'veren" Screw this bullshit, if she does not turn out to be wrong. Not to mention in the books, Moiraine herself says she was only expecting one. How the hell would she even HEAR about "four" ta'veren? Anyone who learned something like that would be all over the issue, not just passing along the rumors! "All the right age" Egwene and Nynaeve are years apart from the three boys. Less than a month was enough to disqualify two other boys their age from the search. In New Spring, a few DAYS eliminated one baby.

And anticipating the ad hominem response from the dipshits out there, I don’t believe ta’veren is a power or elevated status. My distaste for Egwne’s personality has no bearing on this issue (not least because I’d feel the exact same about Nynaeve, whom I have defended emphatically and often on this and other fora). Egwene’s role and arc are nothing like the other three. She is all about her White Tower stuff, and has little to no effect on anyone else or the rest of the world. Tuon, for example, could also not be a ta’veren because she affects nothing much outside the Seanchan. Nynaeve, meanwhile, operates on a different scale. Even things like rallying the Malkier are not ta’veren-type things. She was just making them be Malkieri, the way Egwene works to bring out the best of the Tower and Tuon the Seanchan. The ta’veren CHANGE things. The ta’veren introduce new concepts, not just practical reforms. They break the paradigm. Egwene and Tuon and Nynaeve work within the system, figuratively speaking. Though each is a rebel or revolutionary in some ways (given his plans for a sequel set in Seanchan, I am pretty sure RJ intended Tuon to be a player in a da’covale & a’dam revolution/reformation down the road), they are people who rearrange the box in which they operate. The ta’veren break the boxes and make new ones. The multi-national coalitions Perrin & Mat are leading in KoD are a synecdoche for what Rand will assemble for Tarmon Gaidon. Whereas the girls might be doing something superficially similar, it’s through established institutions, like Malkier, the Tower, Seanchan conquests and the laws of succession in Andor & Cairhien.

04:00 - What little I've seen, I do like Moiraine & Lan's performances. Physically, they are horribly cast, but it's good enough to go with.

5:07 - I kind of like the idea of a ceremony and invocation to go with the braid-awarding. It's just too bad that they could not come up with anything better than a bunch of of mystic-sounding mumbo-jumbo bullshit. And while superficially it seems like they missed the point that the Women's Circle is the governing body, and not the adult female population, it also makes sense that it could be a women-only secret that ALL women are in the Circle, not just the "elders" who are publicly acknowledged as such. We know that the actual Two Rivers women have things they keep secret from the men, like their sexual mores.

And it gives some context to the cliff-pushing scene in the trailer, even if it would have been more satisfying as a surprise, by Egwene's apparently resting smug-face. But it's a really stupid & out-of-character ritual/test thing. Edit from the Future: Also a huge time waste!

07:10 - There is no progress in the Two Rivers! The road has not improved in their lifetimes! if anything, it should be fading. Although, not really, because I think the implication in the books is that the Two Rivers is a relatively healthy society, essentially being quarantined from the problems afflicting the rest of the world with stagnation. But the isolation and lack of development is a THING for a reason! Not to idealize it, but for Perrin to change with his leadership. Bad enough to make up an extra ta'veren who serves no purpose in the story, but let's also take away one of the canonical manifestations really proving that we have no damn idea what ta'veren means!

07:30 - The thing with the wolves almost makes sense. This in no way looks like the tag end of a bitterly cold winter that has not actually let up yet, and they're clinging to the calendar 's definition of springtime out of a desperate hope it's coming. So the wolves are instead a hint that there is something bad coming out of the mountains. Except of course for the fact that wolves HUNT Trollocs. They are animals, who don’t have concepts really of the future, except in the vaguest terms, so they don’t think about strategic retreats. If Twisted Ones and Neverborn are around, the wolves are going after them. If there are too many for their pack to take down, other wolves are going to come, until someone confirms the Twisted Ones are dead.

If wolves run from Shadowspawn, that’s another piece of significance you’re taking away from Perrin! Setting aside their lack of utility at Tarmon Gaidon, Perrin’s identity crisis is that he’s afraid of losing his rationality and human reasoning! He’s afraid that he will become like a wolf, and that manifests when he goes hell-for-leather at a Myrdraal like a wolf would, instead of fighting smart like a human!

07:45 – I am getting cognitive dissonance from Michael McElhatton’s Santa beard.

07:50 – Hey, where’s the wind?!?!?!?

09:10 – Perrin’s married. His wife is going to get killed. This should be really interesting! The question is, on Winternight, or is he going to come home later to find her dead?

09:20 – Okay “down to Taren Ferry” makes sense topographically. People don’t always use up or down to refer to north and south. But there are armies heading SOUTH from Taren Ferry? The only thing SOUTH of Taren Ferry is the rest of the Two Rivers.

09:35 – So they are going to address Mat’s distinctive superficial character traits by making him gross. And something close to a gambling addict. You don’t need to have him so desperate for another game just to convey the difference when his luck power kicks in.

10:05 – That the whole village blows smoke up Egwene’s ass explains a lot of her personality issues. In the book, she was making more of a big deal about her braid than anyone else was. A standing ovation, because, what? She managed not to die all these years while under the care of responsible adults?

For the record, Egwene in the books, got her braid late. Though not as late as some, it was later than the normal age and notably late for someone who was determined to get it younger than anyone else, ever. But according to Moiraine & Lan, the ta’veren candidates are 20. Not 17. So if Egwene is one of them, she’s four years behind the curve. That’s like graduating high school at 22. Like getting out of Hogwarts at 21. Maybe the applause is sarcastic.

Oo, oo, ooh! What if Perrin’s wife is the fourth ta'veren and it’s a big thing that she gets killed!

10:15 – Damn, stocky, fat bald sexagenarians, as Bran al'Vere is supposed to be, are sexy in TV Emond’s Field.

10:20 – I like the little sad smile from Nynaeve, because she doesn’t have a dad anymore.

10:25 – Since when are the Coplins and Congars friendly? Since when are they the sort to buy a round? Is this show’s idea of showing how unpleasant they are going to be restricted to shaming them for drinking?

10:30 – And Nynaeve is toasting and quaffing. What, the, actual, fxck.

10:50 – Not to get all real-worldy, but farming communities do not spend a whole festival day in the bar, when there is plenty of sunshine, and the weather is warm enough not to require outerwear.

11:10 – “How did the ceremony go today?” Perrin, the whole female population was cheering and celebrating. That should be a clue. Also, she came back alive, which, from what we see of the ceremony is probably not 100% guaranteed. That should tell you all you need to know without needing to ask her possibly estranged boyfriend.

11:43 – I don’t know if the Two Rivers folk are being uncharacteristically hostile to someone who just came into an inn out of the rain (two factors that alone make his behavior thus far completely normal and to-be-expected, and not the kind of thing inspiring you to put a hand to hilt in anticipation of trouble), or if it’s just a way to show how insular the village is, that strangers are not a normal thing. In the books, they found Thom’s arriving late at night to be suspicious or rude, as if he was a friendly visitor who should come at a considerate time, rather than a customer or hired professional. OTOH, they see strangers as fascinating and a cause for celebration. There mere presence of three people no one knows are enough to make this the potentially best Bel Tine ever.

11:46 – Lan “mun-DRAG-or-in”. WTF?

11:58 – Moiraine’s entrance (not to mention Egwene’s, earlier) makes more sense in context than how it looked in the trailers. OTOH it feels like they are trying to have their cake and eat it too. The promotional material suggests she is the focal character, but they also want her to be the mysterious stranger viewed from the perspective of the hobbits Two Rivers folk.

12:05 – Walking by Nynaeve without eye contact is a nice touch.

12:15 - Damnit Marin, the ring was supposed to keep things discreet! Also, the Aes Sedai bit was supposed to be a secret, because it makes people nervous and a place like the Two Rivers would clam up if she started asking prying questions about their neighbors.

13:17 – Yes, Nynaeve, tell the blacksmith how his job works. Actually, that kind of works with her early perception as a controlling pain in the ass.

13:40 – Yeah, baby, stoke those bellows. Show Faile how it’s done.

13:50 – Maybe it’s different if you’re married, but touching someone like that when they are working has a kind of creepy vibe. But I want to know all about the future late Mistress Aybara. Who looks like she escaped the set of Vikings.

14:30 – Is this degradation of the Cauthon family necessary? Some of us like Abell. It’s a thing that Mat looks up to him! You don’t need to shit on his parents to show Mat has a good side. This is just such lazy, short-hand characterization. "Oh, the guy we think is a jerk has a tragic family history."

16:00 – I am going to laugh my ass off if the scene people on social media have been assuming is post-coital is just them relaxing after finishing up the dishes.

16:10 – Egwene really does spend most of the series avoiding her Two Rivers compatriots.

16:15 – And as I suspected, the woman ceremonies are secret from the men, making Perrin asking Rand even dumber.

16:53 – Rand does not do surprise kisses. Rand needs a gold-engraved invitation for PDA. In a relationship that’s clearly going through an awkward phase, where they seem uncertain where they stand, that would especially be the case.

17:40 – Is she talking about the berry?

17:53 – Moiraine, WTF are you bathing in? It looks like when my mother would forget to put the wheelbarrow** away after pulling weeds, and it would fill up with rain and become this vegetable soup-like mess. Or the kiddie pool that would fill up with grass from jumping in and out of it with wet feet.

** given the subject matter, I reflexively capitalized Wheel at first

18:02 – A Malkieri man and a Cairhienin woman would not bathe together unless they were doing it! No, this is just wrong. Especially not in a tub that was just used by half a dozen Nym.

18:15 – Lan saying a bath in the Two Rivers could be warmer is like a guy from Alaska complaining about the temperature in Jersey. Also, Lan does not ever complain, even if he had to take a bath on the Ross Shelf.

18:45 – I’ve seen Rosamund Pike jam a wine bottle up her hoo-ha to fake rape trauma, and the bits of plant stuck to her somehow seem more off-putting.

18:55 – “What is it?” "I think I’m sitting on a thorn."

19:15 – Ah. So they were playing hide the Dragon Scepter, after all.

19:25 – Canonically confirmed, Egwene is boring in the sack. Not surprising, really.

20:08 – Rand’s problem with Egwene being the Wisdom was not about himself, it was that he found it ridiculous for Egwene, because it’s a job for life, currently being held by a 24-year-old, and he knows that’s not how she operates. Then he had a problem when she confirmed it and said she wanted to move away to find a post. Celibacy was not a thing! Daise Congar, Nynaeve’s replacement, has a husband. Why would it even be a job requirement?

It looks like they’re altering this for no reason other than to make Egwene “right” in this argument, while incidentally messing with her characterization. Egwene would have no hesitation. Onward and upward is her thing (which is why Rand laughed at the idea of her serving a 50-year apprenticeship). If you can’t keep up with her, she’ll move on. This is, like it or not about her, one of her most important aspects, that informs so much of her relationships and choices in the story! But they decided to just make her worried and Rand butt-hurt even after she specifically says she was asked, and hasn’t accepted.

And if the Two Rivers is cool with extramarital sex, why is the Wisdom celibate? This is the problem with changing things out of character favoritism or convenience – you disrupt everything connected to it.

21:23 – British accents aside, they have a rather odd mix of Anglo and American slang. “Mum” and “Guys” being two examples.

22:30 – This is not Mat. He might have stolen from a neighbor to buy his sisters food. But not freaking toys!

23:00 – Moiraine and Lan already know the Shadowspawn are there?!

24:27 – Okay, I was wrong. This might actually be an improvement on how Rand’s & Egwene’s relationship was done in the books. The understanding and acceptance is a better explanation for Rand’s reaction than being pissy about his feewings being hurted. Of course, by the books’ society, it makes Egwene a dirty rake and cad who besmirched Rand’s virtue when she had no intention of doing right by him, so it’s going be amusing if the results of their tampering is to make their world more patriarchal than the books. Edit from the Future: LOL. You have no idea!

24:45 – “This pool is sacred. It’s an honor to clean it.” It’s also outdoors and a natural feature, making cleaning it somewhat pointless.

27:05 – The Nynaeve-Moiraine conversation works when you bear in mind they are trying to keep the Dragon’s identity a mystery, but the whole White Tower thing is bullshit. It might work if the old Wisdom who raised Nynaeve, but whose name Nynaeve can’t be bothered to use, turns out to have been lying, but even then, it makes Listening to the Wind a known manifestation of the Power.

Identity and self-perception is an important theme in these books! That she can channel should come as an utter shock to Nynaeve, that upends everything she thinks she knows about herself! This was my objection to non-white Two Rivers people, that Rand should absolutely believe without a shadow of doubt that he is the biological son of Tam. If he is markedly different from the rest of his neighbors to the degree that it’s not plausible he is a half-breed (as a pale-skinned red-head would not be in Africa or India or East Asia or the pre-civilized New World), then news that Tam found him as a baby does not land with the same impact.

BTW, this doesn’t necessarily go for Nynaeve, given that ITB she did have issues of isolation and estrangement from her neighbors. But that’s because of her dedication to her duties and role and coming to it too young, with her authority being challenged, not because she’s known as an outsider who is desperately trying to fit in.

Speaking of those duties, after several scenes of Nynaeve in her role as Wisdom, we are not super clear what that job is, much less that it’s the equal of the mayor. Given real world preconceptions, it could easily be seen as a peripheral clerical role. Especially with the pointless celibacy.

27:10 - I also feel like Perrin would not be spending so much time away from his wife, drinking with his buddies. Not because of his ITB preoccupations with Faile, which are at least in part due to every other member of his family being dead, but because it’s undutiful.

28:10 – So Listening to the Wind is literal. I guess when the Sea Folk teach Elayne Cloud Dancing, it’s going to involve actual choreography?

28:57 – I was first thinking, ‘why is Lan looking for Shadowspawn tracks when he has already sensed them, instead of doing something constructive like warning the villagers?'”' And it turns out it’s even more stupid. They have killed sheep and left the corpses in the shape of a Dragon’s Fang! A. How did they get away with it? Sheep are super important to the Two Rivers people who would be guarding them. That’s what a shepherd is for. Shouldn’t a Two Rivers person have been the one to find them? B. Why would they leave anything edible? If they are in too much of a hurry to eat them all, why make artistic shapes, especially when, from the camera angle, only a Draghkar could see what they did? Edit from the Future: Re-watched this with my non-reader sister, whose comment was "Why is it an apostrophe?" Way to use the Dragon's Fang, without actually establishing what that is, show!

29:42 – I’m going to give all the benefit of the doubt and assuming Moiraine is both eavesdropping on the boys with the Power and also preparing village-wide wards against Shadowspawn.

30:45 – Necessary exposition regarding the life-rebirth cycle and Wheel. Especially since WoT Novices (we need a good name for those who have not read the books; for GoT, I understand they were often called Unsullied) probably have no idea why it’s even called “Wheel of Time”.

31:05 – And good context for Tam’s trailer line, where before it looked like a substitute for his commentary on the resilience of the Two Rivers folk.

Then again, if you have to explain to your twenty-year-old son during an annually-performed ritual for the dead how the afterlife works, you’ve probably failed as a parent somewhere along the line.

32:37 – If Emond’s Field has a four-piece band, why even is Thom?

33:08 – Also fuck everyone who complained about Jordan putting superfluous detail in the story. He didn’t make us sit through actual dancing and Bel Tine festivals before the shadowspawn showed up.

And, just for the record, the Bel Tine practices seem much better suited to Sa Ven or what the WoT-quivalent of Samhain is.

Though, come to think of it, in a culture that believes in practical reincarnation to the point that the return of an historical figure is a really big deal, maybe the springtime festival IS a better time for it.

33:25 – More dancing. You’d think this is what would have been on the page and cut for the screen.

33:59 – Why?!?! Trollocs like dramatic surprise? There is a reason Jordan did it the way he did! Because it works! You don’t see the Trollocs approaching Rand & Tam because there is a door there! Not because they sneaked up to throw a spiked mace through the torso of the miller’s son without making any noise until he fell over! And this slight wispy-built guy gets hit in the back by a mace or axe or whatever and is NOT thrown violently forward, he just collapses like he was run through by a rapier?

34:17 – Maybe they are trying to show Egwene protecting people, but it just looks silly, like she’s distracted during a game of duck-duck-goose. I mean, it is a character trait of hers to assume that kind of responsibility that she is in no way capable of carrying out, but come on. Make sure there is someone behind you before volunteering yourself as a human shield.

34:45 – The Trollocs appear to be having more difficulty killing the villagers than I would expect. Lots of swinging and missing and shoving.

34:58 – Fain just noping out, like “My job is done…”

35:20 – Get bent, Rafe. Natti & Abell can’t even be bothered to make sure their daughters are safe?

36:02 – I’m sorry, I can’t not see Madeleine Madden’s nose wart. Been driving me nuts all episode.

36:43 – The al’Thor experience would have been a lot scarier if that was the very first appearance of the Trollocs.

36:52 – Ah, Hollywood Archery! It’s something you use in the same room as your target! It’s like pistol shooting, which is why they often assign it as a specialty for slender women, too. And you can instantly pick up a bow and start shooting, and never mind that leaving it strung is a good way for the bow to lose its strength and power.

Which actually might explain why Rand failed to kill a Trolloc with a headshot from a "longbow".

37:15 – Trollocs always go for the easiest kill. That’s why Narg would turn from a supine victim to honorably fight an armed foe. First of all, Narg’s one trait is that Narg smart. Narg can’t kill man with stick and boy with stool, Narg sure as shit not going to fuck with blademaster.

37:48 – On the one hand, Narg came pretty damn close to winning blademaster status for himself, but on the other, he goes down like a bitch.

38:18 - The trolloc on all fours was neat.

40:24 – Dammit Mat, they’re better off in such a good hiding spot! Out in the open, being carried by an as-a-result slower person is not nearly as safe.

40:29 – “Remember when we played hide-n-seek?” Kids do it all the time, it’s not something you need to remind them of, but TV writers all seem to think it is. Screen characters are always saying "Remember how we would play hide and seek" to kids when mortal danger threatens.

Of course, a better response from Bode and Eldrin would be “No shit, Mat! We were doing pretty good until you dragged us out of our shelter.”

Where does he think the Shadowspawn came from? The well on the green? How does he know the oak he is sending the girls toward isn’t right in their path?

41:20 – I like Moiraine’s channeling better than I thought I would from the trailer. It’s not like Rand’s kill-em-all weave in the Stone. Those white lines are flows of saidar, not the effects of her weaves, and she’s only killing a few at a time, in sight.

41:23 – I feel like Nynaeve getting dragged off by her braid is supposed to be a joke.

42:06 - PERRIN KILLS LAILA! That’s awesome! Brilliant! He’s going to be SOOO messed up about this! This could be, if done right, a great bridge to a lot of his issues!

And for the record, I find a blonde Two Rivers person a much greater violation than the black people cast as such.

43:37 – Something about the way that last Trolloc snarls at them reminds me of Lurtz, the Uruk-hai who killed Trevalyn in Fellowship. If only Miranda Sedai had been there to save him.

Bad Cannoli! Use their epic fantasy names, not their Bond names.

I now want Daniel Craig to play Rhuarc.

45:36 – The al’Thors made it to the village! What happened to the baby reveal?!?!?

46:59 – I want to throw things whenever the Cauthons are on screen.

48:12 – We lose so much world-building and characterization by having Moiraine just wander past and Heal Tam unsolicited.

49:18 – And just about all of Moriaine’s characterization goes out the window when she tells them straight out that she’s here for the Dragon Reborn who is one of the kids in front of her. (hint, it’s the White Guy; nice job, casting people)

49:44 – Egwene being ordered to come is another mistake. Her thing, one of the things that makes many of her fans love her, is that she looks for, and seizes on, opportunities to get the Call to Adventure. She, more than any of them, wants to be a Main Character! It’s the very last bit of characterization of her in the books, FFS!

49:56 – “You’ve lived too long in these mountains, pretending that what happens in the rest of the world won’t affect you.” This feels more like some sort of political virtue signaling than anything relevant to the Two Rivers folk themselves.

50:07 – “the other sisters of the Aes Sedai” Sisters OR Aes Sedai. You don’t make the Old Tongue more accessible with this silly redundancy. It sounds like Aes Sedai is a specific entity, and Moiraine and Liandrin and the others are its sisters.

51:09 – Putting the wind bit here is just fan service and makes no sense. Get bent, show.

I will add more of these as I can get them up and adapt the format.

#wot on prime #season 1 #timestamp annotations

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writer-sedai · 1 year ago

Text

Why the Wondergirls might be back in the Tower at the beginning of season 3

I've seen a lot of spec assuming that the girls won't return to the White Tower at all next season (with plenty of very sound reasoning!) However, I can't quite convince myself that this is the route the show's going to take, so I wanted to take a closer look at the White Tower's role in book 3 leading into book 4, and how some of these elements can or can't be handled in a different way.

(Major spoilers for The Dragon Reborn and The Shadow Rising below!)

1. Missing character links

There are three characters originally introduced* at the White Tower who have not yet been seen on screen yet: Galad, Gawyn, and of course Elaida.

(*Rand meets both Gawyn and Elaida in Caemlyn but as neither interact with him again for a very long time, it doesn't really count for the moment.)

In the books, Galad, Gawyn, Elaida and Elayne all arrive at the Tower together; this is how Egwene and Nynaeve meet them. Additionally, Min being at the Tower is how she and Elayne meet.

Obviously, this impacts future relationships, most significantly Egwene's relationship with Gawyn (tbh, I think Elayne and Min could meet much later on after they've both fallen for Rand without it impacting their dynamic much).

But GAWYN - if he hasn't met Egwene yet and we haven't seen his relationship with Elayne, how are we supposed to understand the side he picks during the coup? Why should we care? His storyline would lose so much of its point - that he makes decisions that he thinks are best for Elayne/Egwene, but that actually put him in direct opposition to them.

2. Missing training

Less significantly, Galad being a Whitecloak next time he sees Elayne and Nynaeve near Salidar will have less effect on them - since Nynaeve wouldn't have met him at all yet. (Again I think Elayne could probably carry this on her own, but the difference doesn't hit as much if we never see their relationship before.)

Also important here is that the White Tower conflict will probably be a major plot point in season 3, and if the girls aren't at the Tower we wouldn't have any existing POV characters to introduce it to us (Verin and Alanna will be in the Two Rivers, Moiraine is banished, and neither Min nor Suian have had sufficient screen time so far). It's possible to introduce the conflict without the girls of course, especially if Siuan is elevated to a main character, but it might be harder to invest people in from the get go with only new characters and secondary characters holding it up.

It's frequently joked about how little time the Wondergirls spend at the Tower in the books - if they never go back there in the show, then this time would be even shorter (Elayne has only been there for a handful of weeks!). However, some of their knowledge gap could be filled in with training from Moiraine.

Obviously if they don't go back, then Elayne and Egwene won't be raised Accepted. This would mean that they spend the next 3 books pretending to be full sisters while barely being able to control their power - in the books the fact that this deception was successful was already a bit unbelievable and this would only make it moreso.

It would also mean that Egwene becomes Aes Sedai without ever becoming Accepted and then that she also raises Elayne straight to Aes Sedai without becoming Accepted, which stinks even more of favoritism.

And lastly, Egwene's Acceptance test is important - both to my Randgwene heart but also to foreshadow her future and show how tightly she and Rand are bound together. (I've seen spec that this scene could instead happen at Rhuidean, which is definitely possible if Egwene also goes through the silver rings with Aviendha and Moiraine).

I do think the show might run into issues from a visual medium perspective to repeat the Acceptance test the way Nynaeve undertook it, in which case it might make more sense to move the experience away from the tower.

3. Missing tools

This one is by far the easiest one to rectify, I think. Egwene is originally given the twisted ring by Verin at the White Tower, and it's how she and Elayne/Nynaeve meet in tel'aran'rhiod while separated so it will have to come into play eventually (along with a bigger introduction to angreal and ter'angreal).

I think @butterflydm was the first one I saw mention Turak's "room of curiosities" replacing the storeroom in Tear - in which case, it could also easily stand double for the Tower's store cache as well. The girls could easily find the ring in Falme (or be given it).

They could also be given the charge to hunt down the Black Ajah in Falme as well (this is where I'd love to see Ryma come back into play as a communication link to the Tower, potential teacher, etc), with Egwene only choosing not to participate in the hunt when Amys invites her to the Waste.

Problems with returning to the Tower

The biggest one here is time - I think there will probably be a time jump somewhere at the beginning of S3 since there was a jump between both TGH-TDR and TDR-TSR, but even with a jump of a month and quick travel via the ways it means sacrificing bonding/group time in Falme (Egwene and Elayne bonding with Aviendha, Egwene and Rand sorting out their relationship, Nynaeve and Lan being in the same place) in order to fit the Tower in.

Egwene could bond with Aviendha and break up with Rand while in the Waste , but I'll miss Aviendha constantly describing how beautiful Elayne is to Rand! (Although I've seen spec that Elayne and Rand won't be developed until later on - which would make sense - so that opportunity has probably already been lost, rip 😭)

The second major thing I can think of right now is getting Egwene to the Waste - if Rand, Mat, and Moiraine all leave from Falme it seems kinda silly for her to leave from the Tower to meet up with them there. (Though it could be explained as a ta'varen twist of chance! In the books, Rand, Mat, and Egwene all have very different reasons for going to the Waste.)

And finally - depending on the current state of instability in the Tower, it might not make sense for the girls to go back. We've already received several hints that Suian's grip is not as strong as she would like, and all three girls would have to be out of the Tower before the coup happens to avoid being swept up in it.

— In conclusion:

From a streamlining perspective it might make a lot of sense to skip returning to the White Tower, but I worry about how several important story beats and character arcs would be handled without the girls there to serve as an initial anchor.

#wheel of time #wot on prime #wot book spoilers #this is less spec and more following several trains of thought

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daisychainsandbowties · 2 years ago

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what are your favorite pieces of sci fi and/or fantasy media? (can be either books/comics/movies)

i didn’t read many comics because i lived in a rlly small rural town & comic books were too expensive with my reading speed. i had to pick the biggest books i could to make them last or i’d end up reading the cook books again by the end of the month. also i added video games bc that’s where a lot of my fav universes are.

books: (i could go on for 20 years but i’ll stick to a few)

wheel of time -

i got the first book i think when i was 8/9. it took me a week to get past the prologue bc i did not appreciate feeling confused but once i got to Rand & the road and the figure in the cloak i was HOOKED. i brought it to school that week & a sub teacher (legend, in hindsight) came up & was like ‘oh! that’s a great book’ and i mostly glared distrustfully at her bc teachers liked to take books off me or (hate hate) take me aside when the rest of the class were doing sums or whatever and make me read a passage to them, then drill me about the meaning of different words. i get they were trying to see if i actually had that reading level or whatever but it was mortifying. so yeah, glared at her, so sorry bc she was right. it took me years to acquire and read all of the books but been so so normal about them ever since. my favs are probably moiraine (shocker), lan, elayne (actually love her so much an unreasonable amount), mat (gender reasons) and siuan (obviously).

the book of the ancestor -

THESE BOOKS. there are nuns in this too. they are badass ninja magic nuns and a lot of them are so so gay. it’s about the found family and a little girl called Nona who probably would bite you but she’s actually the kindest softest best person in the world. her friends are all kind of gay for her; she’s kind of gay for all her friends. there are two older nuns called Apple & Kettle who are just flagrantly massive lesbians and it’s so so funny. Apple is a poisoner & Kettle is a spy and they have just such a THING going on i adore them. this trilogy is wonderful & the magic is so cool & the character dynamics are !!!!! feral there’s a Judas character there’s rivals-to-lover/ friends-to-lover. it’s a meditation on where we find meaning and in whom and what we fight for. has everything i love love love. also like… can think of two men off the top of my head in a cast of like 40 deranged women. amazing.

the fitz & the fool books -

got this on family holiday to Rome when i was 10. ignored rome in favour of reading this day and night. i read it three times in one week. barely stepped foot in the pool. it’s a gorgeous character-driven story. fitzchivalry farseer is ultimate himbo rep. also magical bonding with a wolf will get me every time. there are like two trilogies now. they r so good.

the murderbot diaries -

ghdklskdsl killer robot gains sentience. just wants to watch their TV shows & be left alone. sadly, stupid humans get in stupid situation & secunit has to endure the mortifying ordeal of being known. SECUNIT i’d die for u. the novels are pretty short but there are quite a few now & each one has a new and awesome take on artificial intelligence and self-advocacy and found family and what it means to be alive.

the broken earth trilogy -

these books ripped my heart out of my chest and i said thank you. gorgeously written. deals with rlly rlly interesting & important themes. the main character is just so cool, she’s also, like, an older woman with kids but she’s the hero and the main character and i think that’s kind of awesome. the magic SLAPS. it’s plate tectonics babey.

the black magician trilogy -

these & wot were my gateway to the fantasy genre fr fr. my friend’s mom bought her the first one and she fobbed it off on me (we were 9. she was only interested in this webside called Howrse where you pretended to own horses??) i got locked outside my house after walking home from hers and spent two hours tucked into a narrow nook outside the back door while it bucketed rain down around me. best two hours of my life. first canon queer rep i ever read. there r a bunch of trilogies now. great stuff on healing magic & sonea is so stubborn i love that for her. don’t let anyone reason with you darling.

movies:

star wars: yes yes yes we know that casper likes star wars. but casper LOVES star wars. obi-wan is my favourite character in the prequels. in the og trilogy probably han solo (i am not immune to THAT), but also as i got older Luke Skywalker too. c3po for that bitch boy energy. i owe him a lot. there is only one movie in the third trilogy & i love Finn. shame they never made the last two movies.

pirates of the caribbean: ELIZABETH SWAN. we can all blame her for my lesbian behaviour. we can all blame will turner for my gender.

the alien movies: 1 & 2 mostly, but i will watch the others with my eyes. i can’t help myself. lots of blood & gore = casper happy. blood + actual good storytelling is like porn with plot to me but i will take porn without plot. i am a simple creature. i loved NEWT because talking can be evil sometimes and also living for weeks in a deserted compound with a killer robot - what?? like it’s hard?? obvs Ripley is a legend. bush representation.

lotr: i love the books too but i grew up on the movies & my uncle only loaned me his 3-in-1 version when i was 10. i don’t know what to say don’t ever talk to me about boromir don’t ever talk to me about gimli and legolas don’t EVER talk to me about sam or frodo. unless you are prepared for a sleeping-beauty type situation where you blink and your kingdom has fallen into darkness bc i’ve been talking for 35 years.

i LOVE the movie Arrival: linguistics & aliens, non-linearity of the narrative. CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP. it’s the good tasty stuff. also mood when she arrives to teach & there are like 4 people and she’s like ‘hmm. okay.’ that’s every day of my life teaching obscure bs. i also kind of want her house. badly. and LISTEN the short story is also good but i rlly like the weird feral energy she had going on in the movie. sign me up so fast for a deranged woman in stem. (she’s in linguistics but let me have my joke. it’s basically math)

video games

mass effect: if you were here with me on tumblr in 2014 1. i’m sorry and 2. you know that liara t’soni is my wife and i’d die for her. these games gave me the most severe brainrot. no i cannot ever be mean to anyone ever but i do push that guy off the Dantius tower in ME2 because it’s funny. Aria t’Loak can [redacted] me if she wants. but yeaaaah. these games are amazing and i still genuinely burst into tears every time Leaving Earth comes on my playlist. there’s just something abt it. played the game on rec of my hot physics teacher. to nobody’s surprise. my favs are Liara (going to tell you humiliating anecdote now. one time i was talking loudly to my friend in my room while playing ME and i said ‘hey, that’s my girlfriend’ loudly and my mom burst in like !!!! YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND I WANT TO MEET HER. imagine her disappointment when it was a collection of pixels on my tv. she was like ‘…. cas. go outside.’) i also like Jack, Miranda (love a woman who is mean to me), WREX BOI, tali bc i want to smooch her helmet and because of that time she gets drunk it’s so funny. i like garrus too okay but my friend never shut up about him so i was sick of him in the same way she was sick of Brynjolf after the 500th time i said he could [redacted].

jak and daxter: aaaaahhh. the mild child neglect game. basically my mum got this when i was a toddler & one time got so engrossed trying to cross Fire Canyon she let me fall asleep in my walker. i was fine but my dad never let her or me or anyone forget about it. it’s his measure for how good things are. ‘oh, is it fall asleep in your walker good?’ i think i learned my motor skills playing this game. my hands were sucky clumsy bastards so actually it helped. i was bad at it for so long but now i can 100% the game without dying once in about 3 hours. not speedrun territory but still. it’s just!!! visually incredible. the story is so funny. whatever gender Jak has i want. Daxter was my comedic role-model so you can see how that turned out for me. it’s totally worth watching Jak & Daxter (the whole trilogy) on YT or playing it. the games of all time to me. the kind of fantasy worlds i create are still massively influenced by this. also Jak didn’t speak for the first game so he was autism rep to me as a kid even tho i had only bouts of being non-verbal & other times never shutting tf up.

ratchet & clank: same vein as jak & daxter. made by naughty dog who yes also made TLOU. so funny, so visually stunning. A Crack in Time is the best game come and fight me. but also LOVED Rift Apart bc one character had a prosthetic limb & she was rlly rlly cool. idk the sci-fi world in Ratchet and Clank is basically a shitpost but it’s also so gorgeous and so fun and makes no sense but (Daniel Craig voice) compels me though. i love the second and third games also and ALSO tools of destruction. HAS AMAZING MUSIC. such bopping. best track is probably novalis imo.

horion zero dawn: this is more recent. drives me insane. there are kind of mechanical dinosaurs and you have a bow and arrow and you fight them and Aloy is so sarcastic and so clever and so (looks into the camera like she’s on the office) about everything. it’s an amazing world & i love her little found family and the BIG ‘go the fuck to sleep’ energy she has. so stubborn love that for her.

pokemon: like i said. neighbour wanted to play GTA on PS2 without traumatising me so gave me his red gameboy and pokemon gold. then i learned to read. got sapphire for my 7th christmas + the GameBoy Advanced SP. got every game since then & I JUST LOVE POKEMON. it’s THE autism game (sorry stardew. sucks to suck) you collect little guys and you battle and you walk around and you shiny hunt and there are like 900 different pokemon now. i mean we all know pokemon anyway but yeah i was obsessed my whole life. wanted to be ash ketchum i love his attitude imo he’s a very ava silva character and i like how he says “i like carrots and peppers and bugs” he’s so valid for that.

skyrim: hehehehe. 2011. got this for christmas based on the cinematic trailer (god’s strongest soldier i am not) and was so scared of the draugr i emerged out of my room at 3am on st-stephen’s day in a pose like i was holding a greatsword WIHOUT REALISING i was doing it. i git good at the game tho & learned to mod. aaaaahhhh it’s one of my fav worlds to get lost in. my mum sent me this text when i texted her a pic of the official skyrim guidebook

#gosh there r so many more but these?? are the main ones??? i think??#also httyd and atla get a s/o #but also this little bastard did not have the good kids channels growing up so i missed atla #kind of resented it honestly bc my friends talked about it & i was like ???#casper writes #thanks anon!#long post

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caracarnn · 1 year ago

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There's a cold storm that he can feel brewing far from here. A sharp feeling that weighs like a wound. He knows what comes after, he knows what he faces. This has been the destination for however long it's been since he had left The Two Rivers and he knew that facing it now meant that he was finally going to bring about a conclusion. The Dark One kept touching the world and Rand needed to shut that off. He needed to make sure that nothing, and no one, would ever have to suffer under the weight of that again. The Last Battle. It was here and all it was going to take to bring himself to its precipice was to take that step. Did he have the strength to? He refuses to acknowledge that his hands are shaking even as he starts on pouring the tea for himself and for Mat. Moiraine has fallen asleep, his own cloak tucked over her like a blanket. She seems peaceful and the angreal on her wrist looks heavier than she can carry. He wanted to ask her about what had happened, if anything had occurred that could help in the days to come. But maybe that would be pressing too much. Mat had gone into that tower and he had brought her out just as had to happen. Right now might not entirely be the time for opening wounds that were that fresh. Finally he picked up the cup meant for Mat and held it out towards his friend. He 's looking at him and there are too many thoughts rummaging inside of him. Too many thoughts that feel like burdens. What would happen to Mat during The Last Battle? Wouldn't it be easier to send those that he loved away? Wouldn't that make that climb through Shayol Ghul easier? If he simply made a Gateway and sent them somewhere the Shadow couldn't touch them? Only if things were that easy he was sure that he would have done so already. This had to happen this way. Everyone had their parts and he couldn't steal that from them.

"Where were you going before this?" He questioned with a light furrow of his brows as he regarded Mat closely. There were a million thoughts playing in his friend's head. He could see the wheels of thought turning the longer that he stared at his friend. No. They were more than that. Brothers really. Bound to one another in ways that neither of them could fully explain. Ta'veren. Bound to the Wheel. Forever fighting alongside the other. Brothers under the Light that had survived more than maybe they should have. It seemed too little a thing to simply look at Mat and speak of sending him away. Mat, above all, he couldn't steal this moment from him.

He took a drink of his own tea and let his gaze drift downward. "The Field of Merrilor. The meeting with Egwene awaits." He said calmly although there was a storm of feelings brewing inside of him. What would that meeting bring? He wasn't prepared. He didn't have time for this and yet he knew that maybe it was necessary. After everything maybe it was what was needed to finally make it so that he and Egwene saw eye to eye. The two most powerful leaders in the world had to come to some sort of peace with one another.

"I was hoping that maybe you might join me there." Perhaps there was a touch of wishful thinking then as he trailed his gaze back up to Mat's. He took a hard swallow and the tea warmed its way down. Much like it did those nights that he would curl up by his father's hearth and read his books, smelling that familiar scent of his father's tabacc. His heart ached for those nights but those nights belonged to another man. They weren't the nights that belonged to the Dragon.

He knew that Mat hated all things war. He could see, often, the scars that war had provoked in him. But how else could he fight The Last Battle without him? He knew that it was needed just like having Perrin at his side would also be needed. Still he hestiated, uncertain of how to offer Mat the chance to fight for freedom from the Shadow but also laying a chain on him that would continue to forever tether him to The Pattern. It wasn't fair and yet Rand knew that there was no fairness, not anymore. Was there ever?

"Join me there among my ranks. You, your Band." That was an impressive feat. Everyone had been surprised at Mat's success as General but not Rand. Somehow he had always known. "You could join me there in preparation for The Last Battle." He needed friends. He needed Mat, his brother. He needed that sense of the past that would propel him to remaining the man that this world needed. At least for one more day. One more, that was all that he needed to give. How long had he been hoping for that final day?

So he smiled, just a small glint of one there across his lips as he held Mat's eyes and he reached his hand out to settle it calmly on his arm. "As The General of the Light?"

-- end thread --

@luckhissoul

#.thread #luckhissoul #v. under the storm #end thread

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cannoli-reader · 9 months ago

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It's about her AGE, you nitwit.

Faile, sorry Mandarb's, response to Perrin, first is an assertion of her skills, to which Perrin ironically adds modesty, before she says:

"I took the oath and received the blessing in the Great Square of Tammaz, in Illian. Perhaps I was the youngest, but in that crowd, with all the (noise) ... A six year old could have taken the oath, and none would have noticed."

Faile does not even think that he is challenging her claim on the basis of her sex. And unlike a certain idiot reader, she is not aware that Perrin has been following the leadership of various women for over a year of his life now, that this book began with him meeting a pacifist woman who had made her way through dangerous country to bring reports to the woman who is in charge of their group, or that the person he most confides in lately is another woman, who herself is being sent on a long journey on the basis that she is the only one fit to travel who the authorities will listen to, precisely because she is female. And that Perrin never once notes the incongruity of this less-competent sex doing all these things.

No, the meaning behind his surprise, is that someone no older than himself (and actually a couple of years younger) is an actual bona fide professional adventurer. Yes, there is what he is doing, but he does not think of himself as a hero on a quest, the way people talk about the Hunters. He's just a guy doing what has to be done, and in over his head, much the same way Rand was objecting and balking over being told he is Ingtar's second-in-command over Uno, and how Perrin will later resist accepting his own leadership role in the Two Rivers or ordering around Tam and Abel. The Two Rivers people value experience over rank or social standing. That's why Nynaeve has all the problems she does. Tam explains that people select the men they do for the Village Council, because they are trusted. You don't build up that kind of reputation for trustworthiness overnight, or at 20. Likewise the array of skills needed to Hunt the Horn of Valere. Perrin's done that. It's a lot of work. Everyone involved without some sort of preternatural attribute, like being a channeler, wolfbrother, sniffer or bound to a companion artifact and able to follow it, or a ta'veren (all three of whom also fall into one of the other categories), is a veteran soldier. Perrin, who knows where the Horn is and was, equates looking for it with the kind of skills and experience demonstrated by Lan, Uno and Ingtar, the powers of Moiraine & Verin. As far as he knows, he and his friends were just along for the ride, until their powers began to emerge to track the thing, or carry them to its location.

Perrin is not saying "How can you hunt the Horn without a penis?" he is saying "How can you hunt the Horn, when you're a dumbass kid like me (and will prove rather less mature over the rest of the book)?"

This is the problem with Leigh Butler and people like her. They love being offended, condescended to, insulted or picked on, because it triggers their martyr/resistance kink and gives them an excuse for these rants. During her read-through of "A Song of Ice and Fire" when people were getting really, really fed up of, rather than analysis or discussion of a beloved book series, they were being treated to these sermons and nit-picking rants, and were starting to make their displeasure known. Then a Brienne chapter comes along and Butler sneers something like "Well, I know you all hate my noticing sexism, but when there is a chapter like this, what am I supposed to talk about." You are supposed to talk about sexism in the parts of the story where it's warranted. Like a chapter about a woman's reception in a masculine-coded field. No one is saying there is no sexism in the world, nor that discussions of the same have no place in these epic fantasy fandoms. But the thing about the Boy Who Cried Wolf, is that a wolf really does attack the sheep he is guarding. The conflict of the story is that he has sounded so many false alarms that he no longer has any credibility.

In the re-read of Chapter 20 of The Shadow Rising, Thom and Elayne have the most on-point, metatextual discussion of the themes of their own series. Butler's analysis of the chapter is two brief and superficial paragraphs about their discussion, that basically amounts to "Yeah, it's hard to remember things that happened a long time ago, isn't it," and an eight or so paragraph rant triggered by the fact that Sea Folk anthropomorphize a different gender for ships than English-speaking people do IRL. The thrust is generally sexism, or something, but the real issue is that this idiot seems to think that an effort to discover why feminine pronouns are used for ships failed to turn up anything that satisfied a miserable ideologue, and society sucks, because this information is not readily available to some dumbass whose efforts began and ended with Google, and the state of its algorithm 15 years ago. The idea that the lived experience of a group of (largely male) people doing backbreaking work in extremely hazardous conditions is not immediately accessible to some academic who is obsessed with the notion that a certain gender is incapable of understanding the experiences of another, so their commentary on certain issues is very much Not Welcome, and who I am absolutely certain has never done any real manual labor beyond moving furniture on occasion, should be fairly obvious, but no.

Her plaintive justification for the gluteal pain she is experiencing is "I was simply looking for a parallel, hopefully similarly poetic description of why we call ships 'she' to compare with Jordan’s rationale for calling ships 'he'. Imagine my surprise when all I could find are jokes..."

Setting aside that "all I could find" (Google, again, is the only place she mentions trying to look) is more of an indictment of her research skills or effort than the state of the world, she's too dense to even realize that the same explanation applies that the sailor in the book gives! It applies exactly the same, the relationship is the same for men, who see the ship as a romantic partner in the Exact. Same. Way that female sailors do, because men and women are both human beings.

Winston Churchill defined a bore as someone who can't change their mind, and won't change the subject.

Amen.

WOT REREAD № 67

LEIGH BUTLER

THE DRAGON REBORN

“I scent something strange in a party of travelers such as yours, and strange trails are what Hunters look for.”

[Perrin] blinked; there was no mistaking that emphasis. “A Hunter? You? You cannot be a Hunter. You’re a girl.”

You’re a girl!

Yep. There it is. The three word phrase which encapsulates and summarizes, in infuriating succinctness, the centuries-old condescending (and infantilizing) incredulity that is the bane of every woman’s existence who has ever dared to aspire to something more than the world has told her she is allowed to do, or think, or be. It’s all the more condescending for how often the speaker doesn’t even realize that fact. You’re A Girl, so the idea that you can or want to do X thing is just unthinkable. Or even worse, laughable. You’re a girl. How dare you.

This is a thing that I think every woman I have ever met in my life has had to confront, in lesser or greater form, one way or another, whether they realized it or not. And in most stories, its appearance would garner from me—well, anger, of course, but it’s a type of anger that has a significant portion of grim resignation mixed in. By which I mean, in most contexts, the appearance of You’re A Girl is upsetting, but not particularly surprising.

But, I gotta say, I really do find it surprising here. Even now, after all these years.

Maybe it’s just me (but really, I don’t think it’s just me), but I have always felt this attitude in Jordan’s Randland to be particularly incongruous—not to mention irritating. It’s one thing to see this kind of statement in a setting where casual sexism towards women is a regular thing, but it’s quite another to see it in a context where supposedly prejudice against women is not only not a thing, but it’s actually supposed to be the other way around.

Jordan justifies this attitude in various places by having his characters express the opinion that women in mainstream Randland don’t do warrior-type stuff because they feel it is beneath them, rather than that they have not been allowed to do it, but this is… kind of a wonky justification, at best, in my view. Certainly, if that were the case, it would not support the kind of blatant astonishment Perrin displays here at the notion that a Hunter of the Horn could be a girl, shock, gasp. At most, his level of surprise should be no more than that of discovering that a boy he met had chosen to become a ballet dancer. Because maybe ballet is a little more the purview of the female dancer, but it’s not like male ballet dancers are some incredible fairy tale, either

I just feel like in a supposedly mostly-gender-egalitarian society like mainstream Randland purports itself to be, that finding a woman choosing to do something that is generally a more male-oriented profession should not be cause for so much over-the-top amazed whatthefuckery on Perrin’s part as is displayed here. It should just not be that shocking, is my point.

Note that this is with the definite caveat that outside of “traditional” mainland Randland culture—i.e. the Seanchan, the Aiel, and even the Sharans—women warriors appear to be very much a normal thing, so it’s certainly not like I am accusing Jordan of believing that no woman could be a warrior, or anything like that.

It’s more that I think it is kind of a strange discrepancy to imagine a society where women are (sort of) the dominant gender, and yet are also apparently so strenuously uninterested in protecting that society, to the point where it seems sufficiently bizarre a notion to Perrin that he would blurt it out like that. That just seems very odd, to me.

#Leigh Butler #bad faith analysis

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butterflydm · 2 years ago

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wot rewatch (book spoilers edition): 2x1

And here is the very spoiler-filled follow-up to my earlier post!

Not only is this one going to have spoilers for all the aired episodes plus any teasers, it will also have book spoilers through book 11: The Gathering Storm.

Thinking of the Darkfriend Social in terms of spoilers -- the x-ray notes that the 'location' for the scene is Tel'aran'rhoid. What does that mean for the little girl? Hmm.

2. I also wonder if this scene isn't set a little earlier than the rest of the episodes are set. We know that by the end of this episode, it's been a full year since 1x1, because Bel Tine has rolled around again. Other things that this being in TAR could mean: that the fallen seal is symbolic rather than reflecting reality and is a representation of the fact that Ishamael has been released from his prison.

3. Darkfriend roll call! We've got Fain, who is still a member in good standing (has not yet killed a Fade); we've got Lord Ingtar; we've got High Lady Suroth; we've got at least two Black Ajah sisters (Sheriam and Liandrin? One of them is wearing a black dress and one is wearing a red one, I think); we've got Unnamed Tuatha'an Mom; we've got a Whitecloak (probably Carridin). I'm not 100% on anyone else at the table. I'm pretty sure our main characters are basically surrounded by Darkfriends right now in their various storylines!

4. The storyline of Moirine fighting her depression over not being able to touch the One Power by forcing herself to have a sense of purpose each day and not give up to the despair... it really does show how poorly served the male channelers are by the Tower. After they get gentled, they get shoved into prison, basically, but the White Tower knows that a sense of purpose is what makes severed (or, in Moiraine's case, probably shielded) channelers have the will to keep living. And that gets denied to the men who are gentled.

5. Verin being merged with Vandene feels like a perfect example of a merged character -- the much more important character is plucking bits and pieces from the minor character and folding them into her characterization. It does really make me wonder how the future is going to go down, though! Will Verin be ordered to kill her own sister and feel like she has to do it in order to maintain her cover? Also: I wonder how much of the reason why Tomas 'picked' Verin over Adeleas had to do with him being a repentant Darkfriend and Verin finding out about it. Also, in our first major storyline, we have two Darkfriends interacting with main characters. Total count so far: 2.

Both the Verin/Vandene merger and the Elyas/Hurin merger should be, I think, our hints as to how the show is handling mergers and it's roughly what I would expect: the more important character swallows up the more minor character. This is why I don't think Liandrin & Elaida would be merged, because Elaida is a more important character than Liandrin, so 'Elaida' is what the merged character would have been named imo.

6. Haha I can't believe that I got so caught up in everything else that I didn't even mention Doman in my first impressions post! I loved his scenes. I think they did a good job giving him a purpose that suited what he does in the books, and he also delivers key plot info to Moiraine. Given that he calls the broken piece part of a 'moondial', I'm guessing he found part of Lanfear's seal (and he's being chased by the Shadow to recover the prophecy that he sells here to Moiraine, maybe?). I suspect that the poem is the Dark Prophecy, which means that we've already got a way for Rand to find out that he needs to go to Falme/Toman Head and he may even go there having zero idea that his friends are in trouble there (which makes sense since he's already in 'stay away from them to protect them' mode; either way would make sense to me, so I'm just curious what road the show takes).

But if Doman takes Moiraine's advice, he might be sailing right into the Seanchan's arms.

7. Egwene taking a moment to look at the official Amrylin outfit. I See You, foreshadowing. I See You. And as much as it pained me not to get my girl Elayne in the first episode, I do think it was a good idea for us to focus on Elayne and Nynaeve as they are before we get our third Wondergirl added to the mix.

8. Given that both Nynaeve and Egwene have learned about The Wonders of Poly (That Are Not For Them, Personally), I wonder if that means that we're going to get them finding out about Rand's polycule situation over the course of the series (maybe as someone for Elayne to talk to?) but in a more gradual and natural way. Also, I noticed a handful of novices watching the sparring down there, but we don't get to see the faces of the people sparring -- could one of them be a Certain Someone?

9. Haha, it's kinda weird seeing Nynaeve as a novice given that she spent zero time as one in the books. But this scene with her was a perfect illustration of why she makes a terrible novice, lol. She's perfect, but she's also a terrible novice. But also, the show is continuing to build up the characters' toolkits for the future - last season, Rand watched Moiraine pull the corruption of Shadar Logoth from Rand and this season, Nynaeve is learning how to purify water (and the Power is often compared to water/rivers). It does also point to the cleansing being more of an actual team-up instead of just Nynaeve being Rand's battery.

10. Poor Alanna is surrounded by Darkfriends in this next scene. We have Liandrin, Sheriam, and Joiya (literally every speaking character apart from Alanna is a Darkfriend in this scene, lol RIP). Total Darkfriends hanging out in main character plotlines: 5. If the show has preserved the 'heart' format from the books, it's entirely possible that none of them actually know that they're hanging out with other Black Ajah Sisters right now, too. Were Liandrin and Sheriam working together or are they both working under their own interpretations of their orders but don't know the other one is also Black Ajah? Given the way Joiya backed up Liandrin in this scene, I suspect that they may know about each other.

The show has done such a good job making Alanna understandable, empathetic, and charming. But she also has already shown herself not to be great at... appropriate boundaries.

11. We don't get much time with Uno before, well, Future Events, but the show did a good job painting his character very vividly, and using him to show the comradery that has built up between Perrin and Loial.

12. So I did a little post mentioning it but the girl who runs away while Fain is killing the other girl! I think that's the girl from the Darkfriend social scene! She looks like she's wearing the right outfit and is the right age with the right color hair. "There was a child who made it out." Her entire family (except her Darkfriend mom?) was slaughtered by Fain and his Trollocs. I wonder if we'll see her again. Hmm, actually, if Fain attacked a Tuatha'an caravan that he knew had a Darkfriend in it, was this his first move of going against the Dark One's/Ishamael's wishes?

13. Now that we're in Perrin's plotline, time to mention that Lord Ingtar, who doesn't want to hear Uno go on about how evil the traitor soldier was, is also a Darkfriend. Total Darkfriends surrounding our main characters: 6.

14. They did a good job in hitting all the main points of the actual Hunt for the Horn, tbh. In the first two episodes, we've got Perrin using his heightened senses, we've got the abandoned village and the room of flies, we've got the Fade nailed up that imo shows the moment when Fain stopped taking orders from the Dark One/Ishamael, and we've got Ingtar bonding with one of the main characters. And Rand's 'pushing people away' arc was pretty well covered with him faking his death. And Mat Suffering Terribly is also covered, lol.

15. I do feel like what Alanna tells Egwene here about poly relationships is probably something the show is going to lean into once Rand's situation starts rolling. "things are messy before they are perfect; nothing worthwhile is neat and tidy". Them leaning so much into Alanna's relationship is definitely giving me some good reassurances about poly plans for the future, because they're investing a relatively large amount of time into showing that this is a valid type of relationship to have, and explaining it to the audience.

16. Per Fain, the Darkfriends do know that 'all five' ta'veren will be important and will matter to how things go down with the Last Battle, so I feel like Liandrin trying to cultivate Nynaeve makes a lot of sense in that case. She wants to take Nynaeve under her wing to turn her to her point of view and her side. It's actually interesting to compare and contrast what Moiraine knew vs the Dark One, because they were actually pretty close in their timelines of figuring out when the Two Rivers was the hot spot.

17. I feel like it really works to give Siuan's scene to Liandrin here, in training Nynaeve. The Two Rivers folk are more vulnerable and more 'exposed' in the show than in the books. So it makes a lot of sense to me. It also feels like they are leaning into the idea that not all Aes Sedai have to 'surrender' in order to channel (so women don't always need to submit and men don't always need to dominate, per Jordan's canon), which is a change that I like.

18. And the Perrin and Ingtar stuff is also working really well for me. I think it helps his character a lot to have him be the one who is going through this with Ingtar instead of Rand (who has plenty going on already). And Ingtar! "Perhaps Padan Fain had a reason for doing what he did."

19. Moiraine's platonic breakup with Lan feels a lot more grounded in the show than it was in the books imo.

20. The letter! Oh, gosh it's so beautiful. It does feel like a little promise from the show that they aren't going to forget about the EF5 bond, and I'm hoping that we'll get more moments of reconnection than we got from the books.

21. So, what are everyone's thoughts on if what Liandrin tells Mat about the letters ("not a single mention of Mat Cauthon") counts as a lie and our confirmation that she's already Black Ajah or was it a wiggle around the truth (either going by the logic of there being multiple mentions of Mat and/or SHE didn't mention Mat and or well it doesn't ever say Cauthon)? I mean, she also seems to be keeping him as her completely isolated little secret. I feel like it's a Black Ajah clue but maybe there's wiggle room.

22. Mat also seems VERY aware that Moiraine is partly responsible for his current circumstances (he notes her along with Liandrin when he's saying he's not a danger to anyone). Liandrin probably read him the note that Lady Amalisa sent from Fal Dara. The show is doing such a better job of actually establishing Mat's motives for various ways he behaves than the books did -- in the books, he seemed to take against Aes Sedai for the terrible crime of... healing him? But selling him out to someone who has kept him locked up for six months and who spent that time psychologically torturing him is an EXCELLENT reason for him to feel wary about being around Aes Sedai. He's seen the worst of them! Because it's not just Liandrin and the Reds. It's Moiraine too!

And they did this in s1 too, giving Mat actual reasons for his canon-typical behavior by changing his background to one more fraught with tension.

#butterfly watches wot #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot show spoilers #wot prime spoilers #wot 2x1 spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #wheel of time s2 spoilers #wot book spoilers #the gathering storm

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moiraineswife · 3 years ago

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To Die - A Moiraine/Lan/Nynaeve Fic - Chapter 3 Human

Didn’t expect to update this, and definitely didn’t expect to update it with Rand and Mo content. but the awkward roadtrip bonding Called to me so here we are. Oh and it’s also blatantly going eventual ot3 directions bc I must always push my agenda

Read Chapter 1 Read Chapter 2

Title: To Die - Chapter 3: Human

Warning: SPOILERS for episode 1x07 of the show; very minor New Spring references. Will also refer to what Moiraine is doing with Rand as a ‘suicide mission’/her understanding is that she will not walk away from it.

Summary: Rand and Mo awkward Blight Roadtrip conversation ‘so you abandoned Lan, huh, how does that make you feel?’ edition.

Teaser: ‘Glancing at him she said flatly, “There is simply no telling Lan Mandragoran to do anything that he does not wish to do if you do not have his trust. Even then he will fight you on it, if he thinks he has a good enough reason to.”

Rand nodded slowly, chewing on his tongue, a nervous habit he apparently had. Then he said, softly, “That’s why you didn’t tell him about this? Because you knew he wouldn’t let you do it.”

Moiraine looked away from him and nodded slightly. The fond warmth that had kindled in her chest died to cold darkness once more, like a campfire in a rainstorm. The battle she had been fighting all day, to not think of him, was suddenly lost, as her mind turned itself back to Fal Dara, and the man who should have been by her side that she had chosen to leave behind.’

Link: AO3 or Read Below:

“You left Lan at Fal Dara,” Rand’s voice was low, almost swallowed by the thick trees around him, yet she heard, and wished that she had not.

Ahead on the path, with him unable to see her face, she did not bother exerting herself hiding her reaction to that comment. The hole within her where Lan ought to have been was bad enough without stopping to dwell upon it. Being without their bond for this long, in a situation where she wished so badly to have it, felt like trying to walk after half of her bones had been removed. Still possible with great effort, but painful, and awkward, and wrong . She had no wish to pick over it, like carrion birds with a carcass, and discuss the matter.

Moiraine had expected, as they made their trek towards the Eye, that the youth’s self-control would eventually snap and he would attempt to bait her into speaking to pass the time. He had done so several times already. The conversations they’d had so far had been so awkward and stilted, she’d hoped he might at last have given up on the notion. Evidently not. Regardless, she hadn’t anticipated having to deal with questions about this, of all things, from him, of all people.

However, he could be blasted stubborn when he wanted to be, and now that the question was hanging in the air between them like a rotten tree branch, there was nothing to do but deal with it.

“Yes, I did,” she agreed calmly, ducking beneath a long, snatching branch. Straightening, she glanced over her shoulder to see him following her, with more difficulty, due to his height, and added with a rather pointed look, “As you left your family.”

Rand chewed on this for a moment, following behind her for several silent steps. Finally he said, “None of them have sworn oaths to protect me.”

“Technically,” Moiraine said, striving with increasing difficulty to keep her tone light and neutral, “Lan hasn’t sworn to protect me, either.”

“Just to serve you?” Rand jabbed, in the same tone he had used when he’d implied that Lan was her ‘errand boy’ in the woods beyond the Two Rivers.

She actually drew to a halt at that, and he almost walked into her, which was what she had wanted. It put them almost chest to chest as she turned in place and said, allowing a little emotion to slip through into her tone, “He did not swear to serve me, either. Lan is not a groomsman, or a manservant. He is my Warder, which is a thing entirely on its own.” She paused, allowing those words to sink in for a moment, then she added, “He is also my partner, my friend, and my family. I would have thought, after the time you have spent with us, that you would understand that.”

Spinning in place she continued on through the trees, Rand tromping behind her. She could practically hear the thoughts churning in his head as he considered her words.

“I don’t know,” he said, finally, “He doesn’t ever say much to anyone but you. And Nynaeve,” he added, and a slight smile tugged at Moiraine’s lips, in spite of herself, though Rand could not see that. Shrug evident in his tone, he went on, “He just seems to follow you everywhere and agree with everything you say.”

She laughed a little at that, unable to stop herself, “Hardly,” she said, still entertained by the concept.

She sobered a little as she thought about what Lan would say if he could see what she was doing now. Pushing that thought aside, she focused instead on trying to find a way of explaining their relationship, everything it was, and everything it was not.

“Twenty years ago, when I asked Lan to be my Warder, I did so by explaining my quest to him. I told him about the prophecy I had heard, and that I was trying to find the Dragon, trying to find you,” she said, glancing over her shoulder to look at Rand. It still felt strange to address it so baldly, but she supposed she should get used to it, before the end. “He was…At a crossroads in his life,” she said, delicately, remembering how she had met him on the very fringes of this Blight, where he had been preparing to throw his life away after in his grief, “I offered him an alternative to blind rage and pointless martyrdom. He accepted.”

“So he swore to…” Rand pressed, trailing off pointedly, waiting for her to fill the space he left.

She did, with a soft sigh. Stubborn as an oak stump indeed , she thought wearily. Then she finally acquiesced and said patiently, “He pledged himself to me, and to this mission. He swore to come with me, and see it through to the end, and accepted my offer of the Warder’s bond. We’ve been together since.”

An answer that was not quite an answer, but which would hopefully suffice. The words that Lan had sworn to her on that day had been for her, and her alone. An oath he had carved upon their souls, and she had sealed with weaves of Spirit. No amount of stubborn prying would get more from her on this, of that she was adamant.

“Your offer of a bond?” Rand repeated, sounding obviously surprised by that.

Moiraine turned to him, smiling a little, “What?” she asked, letting her amusement colour her words, “Do you think I simply slapped shackles upon him and told him that he belonged to me now?”

“Kind of,” Rand mumbled, but he met her eyes, and smiled a little as he said it to take out any of the sting it might once have held.

“No,” Moiraine said with a small smile of her own, the thought lightening the darkness of her mood for the moment. “Lan is the most loyal person that I have ever had the honour to know. There is nowhere in this world, or beyond, that he would not go with me, and nothing he would not do if I asked him.”

The tangle of corrupted trees spread out a little, and Rand came to trot at her side, peering down at her with an intensely curious look on his face. Like a sheep confronting a fox for the first time, and trying to understand what it was. He absently lifted a hanging net of thorns out of the way with his sheathed sword, allowing her to pass under it more freely. She nodded her thanks as he fell in beside her once more, then continued.

“You have to remember, however, that we have been together for twenty years now,” she said, smiling faintly, “He is deeply loyal to me now . But believe me I had to earn that loyalty from him.

Her smile lingered as she spoke, along with a gentle warmth in her heart as she remembered the first few months that she and Lan had spent together, butting heads, clashing wills, trying to understand each other and navigate their new bond.

Suddenly living partially inside one another’s minds had not made everything naturally fall into place for them. They had not woken up the morning after they had bonded with the relationship that they had now. Several times she had been sure she’d made the greatest mistake of her life, in shackling herself to that impossible boulder of a man. She was quite sure he’d felt the same way about her.

Slowly, they had grown to understand one another, finding the similarities beneath all of their differences. That understanding had grown into a fondness, which had blossomed in time to the deep, unconditional love that they now shared with one another. But it had been a rough, rocky road to reach that point. The memory of that still made her smile, thinking how far they had come, how much they had seen and done together.

Shaking her head, she focused on Rand again, watching her reminisce with an expression one might wear watching a horse talk. Glancing at him she said flatly, “There is simply no telling Lan Mandragoran to do anything that he does not wish to do if you do not have his trust. Even then he will fight you on it, if he thinks he has a good enough reason to.”

Rand nodded slowly, chewing on his tongue, a nervous habit he apparently had. Then he said, softly, “That’s why you didn’t tell him about this? Because you knew he wouldn’t let you do it.”

He would know that she had left by now. He would understand why she had not opened their connection again with the coming of the morning. She could not feel him, yet she did not need to be linked with him presently to know how furious he would be with her right now. Not to mention how furious he would be with himself. It took her more will than she would ever have admitted to force down those thoughts and remind herself that she had done the right thing.

“How did you manage it, though?” Rand asked, trotting along in the wake of her thoughts, frowning deeply, “I thought that you had a connection. He’s your Warder after all.”

“We do,” Moiraine confirmed, the words tighter now that she was speaking of things more raw and recent than the old, fond history she shared with Lan. Glancing at Rand, she explained carefully, “It is possible to mask our bond, which I have done. He cannot feel or sense me in any way at the moment. As I cannot feel or sense him.”

Had she not done so, he would be there with her. Would probably have met her at the gates as she and Rand had left Fal Dara in the night. He wouldn’t have said a word. There would just have been a slightly stern look on his face as he fell in beside her, where he belonged. It almost shocked her into a nearby tree, how deeply that thought hurt, how much it stabbed at her heart.

Rand was watching her with a strange expression, and she took a deep breath, bracing for him to berate her, or interrogate her further, or question the morality of her making that decision. All of the things she had been doing to herself since they had left.

Instead, he said, in a surprisingly gentle voice, “That must be difficult for you.”

She turned to look at him, and tried to shrug the comment off, or brush past it, but found that she couldn’t. The two of them headed to confront the end of the world together. He had left behind everything he knew, and everyone he loved, to take part in this quest with her. And he was right.

So she held his gaze and said, as simply and openly as she could, “Yes. It is.”

Rand nodded slowly, that odd look on his face deepening as he peered down at her then said, slowly, “You love him. Don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Moiraine replied, without pausing to think, “I thought that was obvious.”

“But you’re not- You know-” he gestured pointedly, then actually blushed a little, which made her heart constrict.

This man, barely old enough to deserve the title, held the world upon his shoulders, yet could not talk to her about sex without becoming overwhelmed with embarrassment. She wished that he had been given more time before the Pattern had caught up with him. It was Siuan’s face that she saw as she wished that they had all been given more time.

Still, flushed red cheeks or not, he was looking at her, clearly waiting for an answer, “No,” she said evenly, “We’re not.” He looked a little bewildered at that, and she found herself saying, “Do you think it’s necessary for me to be having sex with him to love him?”

“No!” Rand said at once, “No, of course not,” he added, shaking his head like a horse bothered by flies, “It’s just- Well-” he rubbed the back of his neck, face working horribly as he tried to articulate his thoughts.

“It’s alright, I understand,” she said, putting him out of his misery and patting him consolingly on the arm, “A lot of people assume that about us,” they had entertained themselves playing up to that on more than one occasion, in their early years. That had lessened, as they had gotten older, and were comfortable in what they were to one another, and past caring how that was viewed by others. “But Lan and I have never thought of each other in that way.”

“Is there- Is there anyone you do think of that way?” Rand asked, staring at her as though seeing her in a completely different light, all of a sudden.

Never before had he asked her any questions about herself, and certainly none like this. Frowning slightly, it suddenly dawned on her that what she had done, in leaving Lan, had finally humanised her in his eyes. Before that she had just been the strange woman with a Power he barely understood who had waltzed into his life, uprooted him and his friends, swept him half a world away from everything he had ever known, and announced that he had to save the world with her.

Her act of love towards Lan, leaving him behind to protect him, as Rand had done with the other Two Rivers folk, was something relatable for him. It was something he could understand, and connect to. Now he looked at her, he didn’t only see a mysterious Aes Sedai with motives and goals beyond anything he’d ever experienced before. He saw a person.

Still, she had no intention of telling him about Siuan. Even if she would not be in danger from the knowledge, not after they reached the Eye, she intended for him to walk away. If he did, she would not have him in possession of anything that could harm the woman she loved.

So she smoothed her expression into a neutral glance as she said lightly, “Do you think it necessary to tease my full life story from me before I die? If so, I'd like a moment to get everything in order for you, so you remember me appropriately.”

She had meant it with as much levity as one could possibly say something like that with, but as soon as it was out of her mouth, his face fell. Apparently it was one thing knowing that she had walked in here with him not expecting to survive the experience, and quite another to be confronted about it so directly.

“You really expect to die there, don’t you?” he murmured quietly.

Moiraine sighed. Perhaps she could have tried to talk her way around it, to say that there was a chance, since there was always, theoretically, a chance for any outcome. Yet the question had been asked with a quiet sincerity, and she found she couldn’t bring herself to composedly brush off her impending end to the one person who was walking with her to it.

“I told you and your friends at Fal Dara that whoever came between the Dragon and the Dark One at the Eye of the World would die. Did you think that I wasn’t included in that?” she murmured, tone still gentle, having no wish to crush him, even if she would not give him false hope.

“I don’t know,” Rand said, looking horribly honest, and far too young for all of this as he did so, “I never really thought you would count for something like that. You just seem so-” he struggled for words, then gestured expansively towards her in an attempt to get across his point.

No, he had not thought of her as a person before all of this. Not even close.

She smiled a little sadly and murmured, “I have a lot of power, a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge. But I do not know what will happen when you confront the Dark One at the Eye,” she told him, as gently as she could.

The Blight forced her to pause a moment, a gnarled collection of twisted roots and stumps entirely blocking the path. She had to stop and take stock, navigating around. When they emerged into a more open section of trees, she looked to Rand and continued, as though there had been no interruption.

“All I know is that my part of the Pattern is to simply to facilitate this meeting, to guide you there, and leave with as much as I can. This has been my mission for twenty years, and I have always understood it, and my place within it. All that time I have known, in my heart, that it was not something I was supposed to survive. The same way that after a crop has been harvested, the plant that bore it dies,” she explained, trying to relate these concepts to something that he would have a touchstone for, a basis for understanding. “Once a thing has served its purpose, it is reclaimed by the Wheel. This is my purpose, and has been for a very long time. I understand the shape of it.”

He frowned very deeply, and opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, as though he wanted to argue, or even insist that she go back, and let him attempt to make his own way to the Eye. That, of course, was something she could not allow, and thought best not to let him so much as voice.

“No, Rand al’Thor,” she said, very gently, “I do not expect to walk out of here with you again.” She touched his arm gently, somehow feeling driven to comfort him, even as she confronted the idea of her own death, “That is alright. I never truly did anyway. I have made my peace with that.”

That did not seem to soothe him as much as she intended. The look on his face was simply…Sad. But, after a long moment, in which she expected an indignant outburst no less than three times, he finally nodded slowly, seeming to understand.

Voice a little hoarser than normal, he said, “And that’s why you left Lan. Because you think that this is the end. He’s come with you as far as he could…And you don’t want him to die, too.”

It was not a question, this time.

“I believe that whoever goes to the Eye with you to confront the Dark One will die,” she said, nodding, lifting her arm to avoid her sleeve snagging on a thicket of thorny vines, “I must guide you there, and likely meet my end as a result. But I saw no reason for him to do likewise, simply because I was. We are bonded, but I do not own him. His life is his own, and he should be allowed to keep it, and live it, and find what joy he can from it once this is all over. I have never wished for him to throw his life away needlessly in the Blight.”

How strange, that after all this time, their Pattern should come full circle in this way. When she had bonded him as Warder she had told him of her quest to find the Dragon, and in doing so had stopped him getting himself pointlessly killed battling the shadows that lurked within the Blight. Now, at the end, she had found the Dragon, and as she let him go as her Warder, she saved him once more from dying in this foul place. Or perhaps it wasn’t strange at all. The Wheel wove as it willed, after all, and this felt fitting, in a way.

“Do you think he’ll see it that way?” Rand asked, with a tone that implied he did not believe he would for a moment.

Moiraine laughed humourlessly at that, feeling a pang of guilt for the state that Lan was no doubt in at present, now that he must surely have discovered what she’d done.

“No,” she said with a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling incredibly tired, the weight of everything she had been through finally catching up to her at this moment, “No I do not think that he will.”

“I don’t think Egwene will ever forgive me, either,” Rand said quietly, forced to step behind her again as the trail became so obscured and narrow that Moiraine had to channel weaves of fire to clear a path for them.

“She will,” Moiraine said, patting Rand’s shoulder as he scrambled through the hole she had made, before he straightened to his full height and it became much harder to do so. “Egwene is a smart girl,” she told him, nodding encouragingly, “She will understand that you did what you had to do. When you come out of here and meet her again she will see you as a hero, and she will forget any anger she felt towards you.”

Lan, meanwhile, likely never would forgive her. Or himself. She hoped that Nynaeve was ready to knock some sense into the foolish, wonderful man. He would need her. That thought made a lump form unexpectedly in her throat, so she pushed it away. Impatient, she swallowed pointedly, taking a sip of water from the skin at her side with slightly shaking hands.

Rand seemed to notice her sudden quiet, and understand what it meant. Holding out a hand to help support her over a thick fallen trunk in front of them he gave it a soft squeeze and said quietly, “Is there- Is there anything you want me to tell Lan? If I do make it back?”

That threatened to shatter the carefully constructed veneer of control she had been struggling to hold together since she had made her choice, and masked their bond.

Forcing her voice to remain steady, she shook her head, “No,” she murmured, “I think that he knows everything I would say already. In his heart. Even this," she said, gesturing between them with a very shaky smile, "He will never agree with what I have done, but he will understand why I have done it. With time I think he will come to see that it was for the best. Then perhaps he will think fondly of me again.”

She broke off, realising that she had likely said far too much, the words spilling from her before she had thought of the wisdom of saying them. Though what was the point in stopping such thoughts any more? Even if all of this went as well as it possibly could, she would still be dead within the day. What did it matter if she was a little honest, and a little vulnerable, and a little human before that happened?

Rand patted her rather clumsily on the shoulder and said, “I’ll try and take care of him for you,” he promised. Then he paused, face scrunching up a little, seeming to think better of that. “Or- Or I’ll make sure that Nynaeve does,” he corrected.

Moiraine actually chuckled a little at that and, ridiculous as it was, she felt absurdly better for it.

“Thank you, Rand,” she murmured.

The smile on her lips was warm and genuine. Lan would be taken care of, in her absence, and she knew that she had done all she could for him.

Hardening both her expression and her heart, she looked forward and said, grim determination replacing fond softness in her voice, “Now come, we must get this done.”

****

feed me ur thoughts. i crave the comment.

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primeideal · 3 years ago

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Wheel of Time Episode 8: The Eye of the World

Okay well...that was certainly...an episode that happened. (Book spoilers, though hopefully not major.)

Old Tongue scene! Props to the conlangers, who are they? Jordan left behind a pretty extensive glossary for the Old Tongue afaik that made it into one of the new encyclopedias, but not much in the way of grammar/syntax. Is there an equivalent of David Peterson and Dothraki out there? (Nerd cred, I don't really care about Game of Thrones, but I've met Peterson in person and he is just as delightful as his internet persona would indicate.) Huh, I got the impression that the baby was Latra's because she was saying "I can't condone the risk of attacking," with a subtext of "I've got a future to live for, we can't destroy the world." But no, it's Lews'. Lews and Latra aren't together in this timeline, are they? That would kind of undercut the "men and women need to work together platonically sometimes!" vibes. Lews is the "Dragon Reborn," not just the "Dragon." How far back does this name/identity go? Flying cars and cool architecture! Love this Age of Legends glimpse. "Don't touch anything here" How well did that work for you last time, Moiraine? Yesss, we got the Lan/Nynaeve scene! Although I feel like even Lan is smart enough to realize that Nynaeve specifically wants him even if she goes to the White Tower? Dream within a dream, creepy. And Ba'alzamon's face is a squick :( "Burn their goat-kissing hides" It's Uno, hello Uno! Or is he not supposed to be part of the cast until season two? If so, who's the one-eyed potty mouth dude? How has Lan never picked up on Moiraine's tell in 20 years? (I get that he's not looking, but still.) Lan and the seven towers, awww. Parallel universe scene! This isn't how things go down in EotW, but it ties into enough cool "now we are looking at what things could be like in a parallel universe" scenes in the books that I don't mind. Where are the Emond's Field people when this battle stuff is going down? ...oh here they are (a few moments later) "I'm standing" :D Loial! Moiraine with her knife at Rand's throat ayyyyy that's our girl, and by our girl I mean our adult independent magic woman, but still, characterization win! The Horn of Bloody Valere is buried under the throne of Fal Dara to be used at the Last Battle which, based on the Shienarans' limited knowledge, this probably is!!! Hahaha, I had wondered when they started digging, but this is a fun twist. Rand using Egwene's autonomy and respect for her own decisions to recognize the illusion! Is this...character development for our boy??? Padan Fain holding the Horn and monologuing to Perrin makes me wonder if Perrin is going to get some of Mat's book plotlines. Five ta'veren? Um...so...that happened. I actually think the changes to Rand's plotline, while a departure from the books, make sense. Like, the Dark One trying to lure him into a trap via a parallel universe, and Rand recognizing the limitations of the parallel universe via other people's agency, is covering a lot of ground thematically, but it works for Rand. Also, the fact that the baby is named "Joiya" is the kind of detail that would have been so easy to do whatever, put in the prop designer's name because she's awesome--the fact that Judkins and co. picked that out shows that they do have an attention to detail and are fans doing a labor of love.

But. With everything else, I'm a little underwhelmed, and share some of the cynicism expressed on Reddit. Lan miraculously finds Moiraine just because Nynaeve showed him how? Perrin just watches Padan Fain run away with the Horn and is so easily taunted out of fighting back because violence bad? Egwene being able to miraculously resurrect Nynaeve would make no sense in terms of power creep for future stuff, but I'll give the writers some credit and assume that Nynaeve just tried to sacrifice herself but her magic was just that strong that she wasn't completely dead and bounced back, tbh, from Nynaeve, I'd buy it. But like...how are any of these people getting back together next season? And then "meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, war was beginning"? Like, if I wasn't a book fan, I think I'd be pretty annoyed at that ending.

#wheel of time #wot on prime #wot book spoilers #wot on prime s1e8 #crossposted to dreamwidth #prime liveblogs

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transkholins · 4 years ago

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hey uh, throwback to 2019 when i made a rand fanmix. posting it because it can't hurt, but note that the track descriptions and song choices are all unedited.

. BLACKOUT — frank turner

but it’s not enough anymore

we can’t turn just around and close the door on the world

it’s asking uneasy questions

this one’s for winternight and the eye of the world. it’s the start of the world going to hell and being overwhelmed by the shadow (“are you afraid of the darkness?”), and it’s essentially rand against the world. he can’t just walk away from it— his house is attacked by trollocs, and the only option he has is to go with moiraine. he doesn’t really know what he’s up against, only that he’s up against something bad.

. HERO — family of the year

let me go

I don’t wanna be your hero

I don’t wanna be a big man

I just wanna fight with everyone else

this song’s all about not wanting to be a part of something big, just wanting a simple and easy life. at the beginning of the great hunt, rand really does not want to be the dragon reborn— I mean, who would? but it’s a role that he’s forced into, nonetheless. at his heart, he’s just a farmboy who wants to go home. moiraine kind of forces his destiny on him, not letting him postpone it or shove it aside. but at this point, he just doesn’t want to be a hero. the song itself is very soft (and acoustic to boot), which I think nicely represents the simple life that rand wants.

. UNUSUAL — typhoon

get your pitchforks out

the crowd is coming and they’ve named you

why, gentle mother, must you wring your hands and weep?

tide brings you a sword, sword will cut you free

dead demands a tribute in the hour of our need

blood be the river to wash the ledgers clean

oh, it took so much self-restraint to not put more than two songs from this album on this playlist. offerings is just so good AND highly existential, so if you’re wanting more sad rand hours, go listen to it. I think this song best fits rand’s start of really being the dragon reborn, around (you guessed it) the dragon reborn. the world is kind of a mess, and he doesn’t really know what to do, so he just does what he thinks he should do. he’s chosen by the pattern— the world demanded a dragon to save the world, and he was the unlucky soul born on the slopes of dragonmount. you know, his blood on the rocks of shayol ghul and all that. this song, like the one preceding it, is softer— rand hasn’t hardened himself like he will in later books. however, around halfway through, it gets louder and brings in more drums. tdr is the start of rand’s transition from farmboy to dragon reborn, in both good ways and bad.

. KIDS — mgmt

we like to watch you laughing

picking insects off of plants

no time to think of consequences

this song focuses a lot on the idea of self-control/self-restraint— not doing more than you have to, good or bad. it reminds me a lot of rand’s earlier experiences with channeling and being ta’veren. saidin is dangerous, what with the taint and all, and drawing too much of either half of the one power has severe consequences. he’s not as in control of his ta’veren-ness as he will be in later books— like his channelling, it’s a bit all over the place. the quote at the beginning of the music video (it’s friedrich nietzsche, not mark twain, but whatever) also ties in with this idea— if you’re not careful, you can become the very thing you were fighting against.

. LOUDER THAN EVER — cold war kids

I was carrying my cheek

I was digging my strange

I was taking you for granted

you were holding the reins

but I can hear you louder than ever

whisper to me, help me remember

I can’t see you but we’re still together

I can hear you louder than ever

moiraine’s “death” is a tipping point for rand— he feels like he could’ve prevented it, even though moiraine literally tells him that he couldn’t, and that what happened was the best possible outcome. after she passes through the portal, rand realizes that he took her presence for granted. her advice was good, if often unwelcome, and after her death rand just ends up going off the rails in so many different ways. when she returns in a memory of light, he realizes how helpful she was to him.

. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT WITH ME — cold war kids

something is not right with me!

I’m trying not to let it show

the taint on saidin is just really like that, huh? rand can tell that something’s wrong, with lews therin’s voice in his head. the thing is, he doesn’t let anyone know because he’s 1) scared of showing weakness and 2) sane people don’t normally hear voices. this song is fast, but not in an upbeat way— it feels chaotic, panicked, and just barely in control. the singer is almost shouting the lyrics instead of singing them, contributing to that feeling. I think it embodies most male channellers’ experiences with the taint— it isn’t smooth or calm like saidar, it’s a raging river of fire.

. DREAMS OF CANNIBALISM — typhoon

unhand me, I am not a criminal

but I’ve played a guilty part

in the modern sense that one pretends their life is original

I wrote a book and I will call it something cynical

the story’s slow, the hero does not change

and if he can, then he won’t anyway

instead his foes and lovers all become identical

this song ends with the line “soon enough you will be dancing at my funeral,” and I can’t come up with something that encompasses rand-as-the-dragon more. people are terrified of him— hell, even he’s terrified of him. the world doesn’t want a dragon, but they got one anyways. the second set of verses above is a more textual examination of rand at this point— a crown of swords through crossroads of twilight is incredibly slow, and rand doesn’t change much throughout those books (hence why this song covers 4 books). he could make a change in his life if he tried, but he doesn’t, since he thinks he needs to shut others out to protect them. the whole song seems to be conveying the idea of being stuck and not going anywhere, but running from yourself, which, to be fair, is very close to what rand experiences in his own head in these books.

. GHOSTS THAT WE KNEW — mumford and sons

so lead me back

turn south from that place

and close my eyes to my recent disgrace

so give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light

’cause oh, that gave me such a fright

but I will hold on as long as you like

just promise me we’ll be alright

I picked a soft song for the softer scene in the gathering storm where min and rand are talking about how cold he’s become. he realizes that he doesn’t have to fake an uncaring and unemotional nature— to be human is to feel, and it’s not bad to be human. the song is about going through something that’s wearing you down (a common interpretation is depression), and knowing that you have someone helping you through it. min sticks with rand during almost everything that happens from lord of chaos to the end of the series. she’s a support for him, and too stubborn to ever leave him, no matter what.

. DARKER — typhoon

I tried, you know, just to toe the line

love all the neighbors and live in the light

sure, I stumbled sometimes

self-contained; a convenient lie

every source of pain, every sting of pride

had to come from the outside

you won’t even fight me fair

wait for the darkness, catch me unaware

yeah, you pull me close

then you twist the knife

of course, that happy, warm feeling can’t last, because that scene is followed by semirhage being sadistic and deciding that now is the perfect time to use this new torture device. because of that, rand ends up shutting himself off even more than before. he’s suspicious and cruel, and thinks only for himself. it’s scary, frankly. darker, like all the songs on the album that it’s from, is very existential, though this song is, fittingly, darker than the others. it’s filled with the sense of impending death and strong suspicion that characterizes rand at this point in his life. he tried to open up, and look where it got him. this quick change is mirrored by the sharp musical contrast between the quiet, acoustic ‘ghosts that we knew’ and and the more drum-heavy, electric, and distorted ‘darker.’

. MOUNTAIN AT MY GATES — foals

I see a mountain in my way

it’s looming larger by the day

I see a darkness in my fate

I’ll drive my car without the brakes

through lanes and stone rows

black granite, wind blows

fire lake and far flame

go now but come again

dark clouds gather ’round

will I run or stand my ground

oh, when I come to climb

show me the mountain so far behind

yeah, it’s farther away

its shadow gets smaller day after day

the obvious scene for this song is the events leading up to rand’s epiphany on dragonmount. I mean, ‘mountain’ is in the song’s name. I think that this song works well to represent the weight and lack of direction he feels in the days building up to that. something that works especially well about this song is how it builds, both lyrically and musically. the song starts with a hopeless and dark tone to the lyrics, and stays that way for a while. the bridge (second set of lyrics above) is where the tone starts to change. the bridge also uses a lot of imagery that one can tie to the buildup— the streets of ebou dar, the rocky and windy peak of dragonmount, the belly of fire in the mountain itself and tar valon, the city that the peak looks over. the song then crescendos into its final segment, where the singer sings “give me my way/give me my love/give me my choice/give me my fate/give me my lungs/give me my voice.” to me, these represent rand’s realization that the reason the wheel keeps turning is so that people can live again and love again.

. COLORFUL — jukebox the ghost

we're just getting started

take your fears and let them go

for the lovers and the broken-hearted

I! love! this! song! I haven’t found another song that captures that feeling of hope in darkness: when everything around you has gone to hell, but you keep going because the darkness isn’t all there is. that’s how veins of gold ends— with rand realizing that there’s something worth fighting and living for. the gathering storm literally ends with rand laughing without bitterness for the first time in months, if not years— he’s finally looking on the bright side of life again.

. BEAUTIFUL LIFE — the collection

you do not have to be good

even the best of us have been misunderstood

so get up onto your feet

the sun is shining repentance through the leaves

its rays will wash you clean

this one’s for the end of a memory of light, when rand decides to leave and live the rest of his life on his terms. he wants to explore the world, without the pressure of his past and who he was weighing on him. he has a chance to slow down and appreciate this “beautiful life,” instead of rushing through it towards tarmon gai’don. and that’s what this song is about, i think. it’s not super peppy, and neither is rand at this point. it’s more of a quiet and peaceful acceptance.

. ALL THESE THINGS THAT I’VE DONE — the killers

I wanna stand up, I wanna let go

you know, you know, no, you don’t, you don’t

I wanna shine on in the hearts of men

I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand

over and in, last call for sin

while everyone’s lost, the battle is won

with all these things that I’ve done

first of all, the wheel of time series takes place over the span of two years, and rand does so much within that time. within this playlist, I don’t think of this song as an ending, rather a summary of rand’s life through the books. I specifically want to talk about the iconic refrain of “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier.” it serves as a bookend to rand’s arc as a character— initially he refuses his role as the dragon reborn (even though he’s suited for it, due to his heritage and upbringing) because he doesn’t want to fight in that way. during the bulk of the series, he embraces a role as a fighter, even though he doesn’t have the soul for it. and finally, he realizes that he isn’t a weapon, and that he never was. on another note, the line “these changes ain’t changing me/that cold-hearted boy I used to be” hits a bit too close to his character.

#the wheel of time #wheel of time #rand al'thor #wot #fanmix #dislike him but this deserves to be out there so that people who do like him can enjoy it #matt speaks

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