#wot 2x6 spoilers

[butterflydm]

show changes to the One Power

So they've now officially made two changes to how the One Power works in the series and I like both of them.

1. last season, they made it clear that a circle doesn't prevent someone from burning out from using too much of the One Power. Fantastic change! Makes linking much more of an act of trust! Will make the idea of linking with a man who is potentially influenced by the corruption/madness of the Dark One's touch on saidin terrifying! Explains why Aes Sedai aren't in circles all the damn time in the latter parts of the series, once they know how much danger is around them. Creates drama and creates a reason for people to hesitate to link.

2. this season, they've shown that being able to sense a channeler (who is not currently embracing the source or using weaves) is a Talent with a capital T that only a few specific people have. Love this change as well and it has some fascinating potential knock-on effects.

a. This helps solve our numbers plotholes about why the Aes Sedai are having such a hard time getting new novices, but other cultures still have plenty of channelers -- if this is a relatively rare Talent, and there are currently no Aes Sedai who possess it (or maybe the only Aes Sedai who does is Black Ajah?), then that puts them at a significant disadvantage when trying to find new novices and waiting for women to spark on their own and come to the White Tower really is possibly the best they can do right now. And it can help explain why Egwene is able to find those women later on -- all she needs is one person with the Talent and she has an advantage there (they could even potentially make it Miri herself, if she is freed from the Seanchan this season).

b. It means that the Seanchan can be more effectively targeted in order to try to save women from them -- find out which damane have the Talent of sensing channelers and focusing on freeing (or killing) those specific damane. And it means that it makes more sense that no one has figured out the sul'dam secret, if this is a relatively rare Talent and the amount of intense 'training' that the damane undergo.

c. It explains how the Aiel can get every single potential channeler -- Wise Ones are explicitly allowed safe passage among all the clans, so you only need one Wise One with the Talent in order to spot every single potential candidate (similar with the Sea Folk, who also have big meet-ups).

d. It also shows us how much Moiraine was relying on wishful thinking in s1 -- when she separated Egwene out, it really was an act of hope/faith that the woman in the group would be able to channel and potentially be the Dragon Reborn.

e. It gives Logain a strong purpose for the Black Tower, so if Logain is our major Asha'man who has this Talent, then he's irreplaceable as a recruiter.

[butterflydm]

#there's that classic 'rolled a 20 in gay melodrama and a 1 in communication' cauthor vibe we love to see#absolutely chef's kiss 10/10 no notes (via @markantonys)

THE WHEEL OF TIME | 2x06

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch (book spoilers edition): 2x6

First, it looks like tumblr refused to actually let my non-spoiler post be in the tags so here is the link: deeper dive 2x6: eyes without pity; hopefully this post will show up in the tags!

Not only is this one going to have spoilers for all the aired episodes plus any teasers (including the trailer for episode 7), it will also have book spoilers through book 14: A Memory of Light

"A few weeks ago I considered hitting Renna over the head with that pitcher, and I could not pour wash water for three days. Once I’d thought of it that way, I not only had to stop thinking about hitting her with it, I had to convince myself I would never, under any circumstances, hit her with it before I could touch it again. She knew what had happened, told me what I had to do, and would not let me wash anywhere except with that pitcher and bowl."

It is a little stunning how the show was able to take that paragraph and make this heartbreaking episode using it as the spine. And by changing it from a wash bowl into a water pitcher, they made it even more of a fundamental torture because Egwene is literally being dehydrated until she gives in to her abuser's demands.

Which, her mention of 'weeks ago' (Egwene is damane for roughly two or three months in the books) is making me wonder about the timeline in the show. Because we were visually shown the brutality of the 'training' process already, I wonder if the timeline is going to be shortened, or if we're going to get a timeskip of some kind next episode. Because Rand is definitely not interested in waiting around for weeks now that he knows Egwene is in captivity, even if he doesn't know the full extend of what's happened to her.

Also, double-checking the books, Egwene hits Renna in the stomach with the pitcher and doesn't hit her over the head like I had remembered; hitting her over the head was what she had thought about but never did. Maybe she'll get to brain her in the show.

2. Note: Renna may be wrong when she says that any pain a sul'dam feels, her damane feels twice-over even to the death, because in the last book when Min comes to rescue Mat and (ugh) Tuon, there is a damane attached to a dead sul'dam. And Min just... leaves her to die in a fire instead of saving her because book!Min kinda sucks but, yeah (she actually screams at the damane to help even though she should know it's impossible for her to help while she's still leashed). Though I wonder if Renna is actually correct but the implication is wrong -- which is that the damane does feel the full pain of the sul'dam's death (twice-over) but just doesn't necessarily die as a result of it.

3. The show is really really evoking book!Tuon in both the characters of Renna and Suroth in this episode, I have to say. Renna makes a point of saying she's a ~kinder softer~ sul'dam because she believes in cultivating a ~friendship~ with her damane and that's basically exactly how Tuon presents herself and her relationships with her ~well-behaved~ damane. And then later in the episode, we get Suroth's scene where she purposefully mocks and degrades Loial for her own amusement, evoking... well, Tuon in many moments tbh -- she laughs at Mat like this frequently in CoT & KoD, because she sees him as her own personal court jester -- but definitely the moment when Tuon steals Egeanin's name from her.

It's... it's an interesting thing because I also feel like the show has deliberately evoked book!Min in some of Lanfear's characterization changes, mostly when she was playing Selene -- pretending that she doesn't want a romantic relationship with Rand but desperately wanting one; pretending that she's not jealous about the other people he cares about but actually being incredibly jealous; trying to make herself his emotional anchor and the one person that he depends on; using their connection to get him to do things for her that he doesn't want to do (in Min's case, it's about using sex to get Rand to take her into dangerous situations, like the fake!DotNM meeting that ends up with Rand losing his hand while trying to protect Min). And taking characteristics that belonged to 'love interest' characters in the books and giving them to villains is... an interesting choice.

4. Is Lanfear questioning Rand near Shayol Ghul in TAR (that large blasted area) or is she just dramatic?

5. Turak's room of curiosities... I really wonder if we're going to sub in the Stone of Tear's storage room from TSR to Turak's room of curiosities and if there is a twisted stone doorway in there. That would give us a chance to do (some parts of) the beginning of TSR in 3x1 next season by having Mat, Rand, and Moiraine potentially all going into the doorway.

@markantonys was talking about how it was interesting that Min's romance viewing didn't come up in her scenes this season and speculated that the show is hedging its bets somewhat with regards to how much time they'll get to play out the storylines. And wondering that if that's the case for Rand's Situation, then it might end up being the case for Mat as well, and the show might hold back on the marriage prophecy (because if s4 or s5 ends up being the final season, they might not want to have to deal with squishing in Mat marrying some random slaver that we just met a handful of episodes ago). Definitely interesting to think about!

I personally love the idea that Avirandlayne could all get together without the viewers actually having heard about Min's viewing (besides the little hint of it we got in s1).

I do wonder sometimes if Jordan regretting sowing Mat's marriage prophecy in so early once the book series really started to stretch out, because it really handcuffed him to a very specific Mat plotline and some of the authorial choices that Jordan made to shackle Mat to that plotline were... very weird and involved characters behaving very strangely to their normal behavior (I have an entire post at the end of my WH reread where I go over how WTF some of Jordan's writing choices were to 'justify' Mat going on his road trip with Tuon).

6. I know that some people take issue with Alanna, Maksim, and Ihvon confronting Lan over potentially being a Darkfriend but... as Pevara says in A Crown of Swords, “You were very brave coming to me, Seaine. I’ve known Darkfriends to kill brothers, sisters, parents, to try hiding who they are and what they’ve done. I love you for it, but you were very brave indeed.”

Holding Lan above suspicion because of his background seems like it would have been foolish for Alanna & co to do, after having found that poem in his belongings. After he and Moiraine have been doing secretive journeys together for twenty years, very soon after Moiraine herself changed to be much colder and much more isolated from her fellow Sisters (especially since she and Siuan likely 'broke up' at that time).

I do think that book readers were potentially so distracted by wondering whether or not Alanna was going to get Lan's bond that they didn't necessarily realize that he was being covertly interrogated all of episode 4 by her and her two Warders, trying to figure out what Moiraine is doing and why she dumped Lan this way. I didn't look at the storyline like that on my first viewing because I was looking at it as a Lan plotline, but on my rewatch, it was actually very clear that Alanna, Maksim, and Ihvon were all trying to get information from Lan in various ways to try to figure out what's up with him and Moiraine. Alanna doesn't want Lan's bond; she wants his secrets.

7. More eye trauma for Mat in Rand's dream here. Both Nynaeve and Rand give Mat eye trauma foreshadowing in their visions, which does imply to me that the show wants to do the 'Finn plotline.

8. "You can travel too, see the world as it really is." hmm, I almost wonder if Rand is going to do what Egwene did in LoC, and use TAR to get to Falme quickly? (but then how do Moiraine, Lan, & Mat all come too? hmm. Might just be set up for a later season)

9. My constant emotional surprise when Randgwene keeps being a thing even though we haven't gotten to the part in the books where they break up For Real: my own personal toxic book reader trait, lol.

10. We once again have it kinda being hammered into Rand that going off entirely on his own and abandoning the people that he loves is a bad thing, actually. It's very very difficult to see the show ending in the same place that the books did, because "Rand off on his own and emotionally isolated" is definitely being shown as a negative.

(of course, it was mostly treated as a bad thing in the books too, until it's suddenly Rand's happy ending. but the show has the advantage of already knowing the journey they need to take to the ending, so I feel like they wouldn't be pressing this button so hard if they planned to end it the same way -- plus, this Rand doesn't even smoke pipes, which was really just Jordan, known pipe-smoker, stapling that trait onto every single male character in the series, no matter what their culture)

11. I really hope that the show is able to find some excuses to let more character reunions happen in the show than happened in the books because the idea of Mat and Rand splitting up in s4 for their respective narratives and then not seeing each other until they get one single scene in s8 is absolutely excruciating. My biggest disappointment with the Sanderson books...

...okay, no the biggest disappointment was Mat magically teleporting to Ebou Dar with zero explanation in the text of how it happened or why he changed his entire set of character motivations in between ToM & AMoL.

One of my disappointments was how... hollow the Mat & Rand reunion was. It happened on enemy territory, while Mat was still in full 'fawn over the slaver' mode and hadn't yet gotten his spine back, and it ends in this weird bro-out one-up competition that didn't really match their previous relationship in the books at all. So if the show could just... do all that differently... that would be great.

12. I wonder if Rafe & co noticed the same thing about Rand and Mat that I noticed in my last reread -- which is that their lives kinda drastically go downhill once the plot forces them to separate for the rest of the book series. Because we really see them being a source of comfort and support for each other here. Which is also very true in portions of the book series -- I think especially of moments like Mat quietly sitting with Rand after Rhuidean, which is literally exactly what Rand needs at that moment in time.

13. So, my current theory re: Mat and the dagger viewing is that he is going to essentially be the 'proof' for show-onlys that Min's viewings are unavoidable. Because Mat does not want to stab Rand and he even knows now that there's (essentially) a prophecy that he's going to do just that. And Mat stabbing Rand anyway, even though he actively does not want to and does his best to avoid it, would serve as a harsh lesson for the viewers and for Mat himself that prophecy cannot be avoided (my money is still on compulsion from Ishy, but we will see!).

Which is relevant to Mat's arc in a lot of ways. In the books, it was really frustrating how he thinks about how he'll run away from the DotNM if he finds out who she is but then once he's face to face with her, he basically rolls over and caves to fate pretty much instantly.

He didn't have to take Tuon with him when he escaped Ebou Dar. He didn't have to stay with the circus once he'd left the city; he literally could have just walked away from her and yet he inexplicably actively courts someone that he never, at any point, wants to marry (even after the final vows are said, Tuon's slave Karede notes how Mat looks miserably resigned to his awful fate), and fawns over her despite her being basically the lovechild of Suroth and Renna, in terms of characterization (Suroth's Mean Girl (TM) behavior towards Loial in this episode vividly reminded me of Tuon's Mean Girl (TM) behavior towards Egeanin; show!Suroth and book!Tuon both have the most fun in life when they have someone to mock and look down on and treat like shit).

If, in the show, he's already learned the hard way that some fates cannot be avoided, then we might get into a more interesting situation where Mat tries to find a way to make the prophecy come true in a way that still helps his friends, and tries to manipulate fate for the better. It's also a way to make the relationship somewhat more palatable for the viewers

Just... the whole way that Jordan played their relationship in CoT & KoD will eternally leave a bad taste in my mouth. Especially since WH set Mat up to challenge Tuon's beliefs. (though probably the worst part is running across that certain variety of 'Mat fans' who either don't notice or don't care that he threw away his morals in between WH & CoT and did a near-complete 180 turn on his attitude about slavery). It's just wild how much shit Jordan makes Mat swallow with a smile for the sake of this terrible prophecy marriage -- and other characters get covered in Tuon's shit too, because of Mat's choice to bring her along in the escape. Joline, Teslyn, and Edesina get tortured because of Mat's choice. Yeah. Pretty much any decision that Rafe & co make about this storyline is guaranteed to be better than the original version.

14. So Siuan coming here is basically the show's version of the scene from Fal Dara, given what we have of the set-up -- fourteen Aes Sedai making a traveling journey to a major city. But that is definitely worrisome news for Moiraine, given the differences in the show vs books.

15. I don't think that Alanna will bond Rand next week (it feels way too early for it) but I do think that the seeds of why she believes that he should be bound might be planted. It depends on if Rand gets publicly outed as a man who can channel & who believes that he's the Dragon Reborn. Because we do have those fires and potentially a riot going on in the Foregate in the next episode, based on the trailers. Rand may do something that 'proves' to Alanna that the White Tower needs to control him so that he doesn't destroy the world. Especially if he disappears from the city after the riot, with them having no idea where he disappeared to.

16. ...I am really looking forward to Egwene putting that damn collar around Renna's throat.

[butterflydm]

morning thoughts on 2x6 (includes book spoilers)

spoilers through a memory of light; some speculation about future events, including what might happen in 2x7 and in s3.

So much other stuff happened in the episode that I barely pondered the potential setup for what's going to maybe happen next episode!

Siuan showing up in Cairhien with fourteen Sisters... forced into action by being 'officially told' that Moiraine and Lan found the Dragon Reborn, I assume?

Are they setting things up for the coup to happen potentially in the first episode of s3 (which would definitely mean no White Tower return for the Wondergirls)?

Or is this taking the place of the Fal Dara visit from the start of TGH? We are going to get Rand and Siuan's conversation, it seems, from the original trailer before the season started airing ("you are the water").

Is Rand going to be officially known as the Dragon Reborn to the White Tower as a whole next episode? Alanna, at the very least, knows that Lan and Moiraine believe that Rand is the Dragon. But are Alanna and Siuan the only ones in this group who officially know that Rand is the Dragon? (Verin knows, but only Moiraine knows that Verin knows, etc) Liandrin doesn't seem to know anything, after all (officially, she doesn't know anything!).

It wouldn't really be speeding things up too much because, in the books, TGH is when Rand gets banner'd across the sky and people make posters of him, etc, plus Rand has mostly accepted himself as the Dragon in the show already due to differing events so it could also be subbing in for claiming Callandor as well. But it definitely would speed up certain events.

IF Siuan and Moiraine successfully keep their association a secret in the next episode, then it doesn't led directly into the coup at the start of next season, not until it's uncovered that Siuan has been working with Moiraine all these years. But right now, everyone believes that Moiraine and Siuan are at odds and that Moiraine has been doing this all of her own devices.

I am also wondering again about the Rand & Egwene timeline. It is true that at this point in the books (whether we are talking about TGH or TDR), Rand and Egwene are still very much doing a will-they/won't-they, so it's not inaccurate to the books that they're still a major part of the emotional landscape (and Egwene is Rand's motivation for staying and fighting in Falme in TGH as well) but I am still so used to their post-relationship book dynamic that it throws me every time I remember that they haven't emotionally disengaged from their romance in the show yet. And it just really makes me wonder what the reasoning will be in the show for them to break up, given that Rand and Egwene will likely spend all or most of s3 hanging out near each other, given the storyline being covered. Will Rand be trying to stay away from her so as not to trigger Lanfear's jealousy issues and that leads to them drifting apart? The puzzle pieces of how Rand's relationships are going to fit together in the show still eludes me, lol.

What didn't elude me was that Rand & Mat reunion! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Definitely the lightest and brightest part of last night, even with the ending where Mat learns about Min's viewing and isn't willing to go meet with Rand because, in Min's words, "If you love him, you'll stay away from him." Mat and Rand actually trying to talk about their very similar enough damage was like catnip for me. They have so many issues in common in the books and never talk about any of them! (worries over being a puppet; dealing with having an ancient voice/memories in your head)

It wasn't enough and it didn't fix anything, but I loved that they each tried to give each other the advice of "actually your friends love you and aren't better off without you". The hug! (I'm pretty sure they never hug in the books and it is a crime!) Where they were both incredibly happy and Mat was wiping away tears and touching Rand's fuzz and disapproving of his haircut! A+, very romantic reunion, better than I was ever expecting!

And I was wondering how much the show would take into account the differences between book!Mat's journey and show!Mat's journey and they have, once again, shown that they are deeply invested in making their characters emotionally realistic. It would not make sense for Mat to have the same reaction in the show to knowing that Rand is the Dragon Reborn as he had in the books: a. Mat is more mature than he was in the books at this point; b. Mat has known for a year now that one of his group was the Dragon Reborn; c. Mat abandoned Rand & the group at the end of last season and still feels intensely guilty over that.

In s1, Mat's main feelings about the Dragon Reborn situation were "okay, Moiraine is out of her mind to even suggest this idea" to slowly going "oh shit it's me and I'm literally gonna die of the madness before I ever even channel" to "oh shit it's not me (probably) which means that it has to be Rand, Perrin, Egwene, or Nynaeve". Pasting book!Mat's reaction onto show!Mat would not have been emotionally realistic in that context. It makes sense that the relief and joy of seeing Rand again will be his most predominent emotions. Even in The Great Hunt, when he does have that more negative reaction (to being completely shocked by brand-new information, rather than it being information that has had a chance to settle in over the course of a year), he's upset when Rand has disappeared without saying goodbye and hopes that Rand is coming back when they see a rider on the road.

But the biggest question that this episode left me with about the future is: so... how are they gonna do Mat and Tuon after this? Because... this is the same feeling that I personally always got from the Seanchan in the books but the show was able to make it very visceral, in the way that visual media does. The difference between Egwene telling Min about what happened with the pitcher is just gonna feel different from actually seeing on-screen the brutality of the dehumanization process.

This is mostly likely what viewers are going to be thinking about when they meet Tuon, because the screen-time difference is going to be considerably shorter than the page-time difference was between TGH & WH. Because if this season is mostly bk2 (with some bk3 characterization beat wovens in), then on the eight season plan, we'd have s3: TSR (with some TFoH character beats maybe); s4: TFoH/LoC; S5: ACoS/TPoD; s6: WH-KoD, which at eight episodes per season would mean that Egwene's torture (which she is not likely to escape until ep8 of this season) will only be 25-28 hours away from Tuon's introduction (if Tuon is not introduced early).

Compare that to the audio books, where TDR-TPoD are a total of 197 hours (which doesn't even account for the fact that Tuon is introduced part-way through Winter's Heart). Tuon's introduction is going to be a lot closer to Egwene's 'training' than in the books.

And Tuon is a sul'dam, even if she doesn't do it often.

They are going to have to completely re-imagine both Tuon and the Mat & Tuon relationship, most likely. Which is basically what I've been saying but seeing how they committed to the Seanchan culture in this episode really affirmed it for me. There isn't any possible way to do Mat & Tuon the way it was written in the books because Mat will just straight up come across as an evil character at that point. If you read CoT & KoD without bringing in any of the leftover affection from earlier books Mat, he DOES just come across as a callous and selfish monster in those two books; or at least he did to me in my recent reread. CoT/KoD Mat reads as a genuinely bad person who manages to do a handful of non-shitty things per each of those books but is mostly just there to kiss Tuon's ass in the hopes that maybe she'll treat him like a person someday; Mat is one of my favorite characters pre-CoT but, wow, I despise him in those two books for turning his back on all his moral convictions for the sake of ~mysterious eyes~; luckily, the break from his previous characterization is both abrupt and severe enough that I don't hold pre-CoT Mat to account for CoT/KoD Mat's crimes but... it's a lot of yikes in those two books.

The entire Seanchan culture is rotten to the core and I don't think it's fixable. It needs to be torn to pieces. I'm hoping that the show will do what the books were never willing to get around to, and actually begin that process on-screen.

Anyway, I hope Egwene gets some really good hits in on Renna when she's freed. I'm pretty sure we're 100% going to get her braining Renna with the pitcher, because they really emphasized the way that it was used as a torture device in this episode.

And this episode did such a good job establishing what the stakes are against the Seanchan -- all marath'damane will be leashed, Suroth says in ep5 and now we see what it means to be leashed by the Seanchan. It really is the big Fate Worse Than Death from the books.

[butterflydm]

It just occurred to me that one of the consequences of folding much of the character work and some events from TDR into TGH and then rolling straight into TSR from Falme, as the show is poised to do, is that it keeps up the pressure from the Lanfear & Rand relationship.

Because (unless I'm remembering this incorrectly), Lanfear just kinda dips out of TDR entirely, for the most part, and doesn't start trying to work on Rand again until the events in the Stone of Tear at the start of TSR, when we have her trying to jog "Lews Therin's" memory and convince him that they should be allies.

And The Shadow Rising is really a big Rand & Lanfear book in a lot of ways -- she goes to him in the Stone, she stalks him as Keille in the Waste, she offers him Asmodean as a teacher. And Rand is doing the same sort of spy vs spy with Lanfear and Asmodean in that book that we saw him doing with her in TAR in this recent episode (also, I had misremembered Rand finding out that Selene is Lanfear as happening off the page, because it actually does happen in chapter 9 of The Shadow Rising, when 'Selene' mysteriously shows up in Tear and reveals her identity).

So the show has pulled several things from TSR into s2 already. Rand has learned Lanfear's true identity and she's pitched herself as wanting to protect him from the other Forsaken. When the season is over, I'm going to try to go over all the information that we've already covered and what might be yet to come (any and all things Caemlyn, for example) but it was interesting to realize that they're already covering emotional beats from book 4 with Rand and Lanfear this season.

[butterflydm]

wot 2x6: eyes without pity

Oh, that was brutal.

The way they built up the Seanchan in this episode, piling stone upon stone of what horrors they commit on women who can channel, and the pain and the despair. That is all going to be so rough to rewatch to this weekend when I do my longer post about the episode. Seeing Maigan and Egwene and Ryma all at various stages of being dehumanized by the Seanchan. Renna repeatedly telling Egwene that she's not a person, not a woman, but a damane (and the cruelty of Renna pouring the water out onto the floor once she's gotten Egwene to pour it for her).

The Cairhien side of things was relatively lighter this episode but there was still a lot of more subtle pain - Min getting drunk because she followed through on her deal with Ishamael; Mat wavering at the last moment of going to meet with Rand because of the doubt that Min put in his head by telling him about the viewing, the quiet pain that exists in the Damodred family as a whole.

For the small bit of happiness that existed in this episode between characters: the reunion between Rand and Mat was really great and we actually saw how much their emotional damage has in common right now, though they're approaching it from slightly different directions. They both believe that the people they love are better off without them. Mat wiping tears out of his eyes when he was reuniting with Rand!

The Rand and Lanfear stuff was very good, very interesting. She really does care about getting him to work with her, if she was willing to show him Egwene and her situation (though she did NOT let him actually touch Egwene, I noticed).

But, yeah. Brutal.

[butterflydm]

2x7 wot speculation

Trying to put together the pieces of what we know about next episode from the trailer (spec does include book spoilers through book; and spoilers for the trailer for 2x7)

So, it looks like we're getting a remixed version of Siuan's visit to Fal Dara, adjusted for the point of the story that we're at. Siuan's official reason for visiting might be to talk to Moiraine, since she summoned her for a talk.

It looks like we'll get that argument between Moiraine and Lan that we saw in the initial trailer for the season ("guiding Rand is all that matter" vs "you can't do this alone") and Lan is going to try to give Rand some advice before he talks with Siuan.

It looks like this is when we're going to get the riot/burning down of Foregate. We see a hand with a white/silvery/gray sleeve wreathed in fire -- is this Joiya, maybe acting on either Ishamael or Lanfear's orders? Is it Lanfear herself?

Does Rand get put under 'house arrest'? I am assuming that Alanna knows that he's the Dragon, given the way that the scenes flowed, but technically Lan only said (on-screen) that they'd found the Dragon and didn't mention Rand's name, so there might be ambiguity there. Though I feel like "Alanna knows that he's the Dragon" feels the most logical right now.

From Alanna's perspective then, six people know that the Dragon Reborn has been found and who he is: Moiraine and Lan because they searched him out, Alanna (& Ihvon & Maksim) because they wrinkled out of Lan, and Siuan because she was informed by Lan & Alanna.

Other people who know that Rand is the Dragon: Verin (only Moiraine knows this but might tell Siuan in their meeting); Liandrin & Joiya (probably; I'm guessing one of them was at the DF social and I suspect they share a Heart in the show).

Did Mat see Rand get stopped by Lan, Alanna, & her Warders? The show could play it either way. But that would be one way to make sure that Mat sticks along with Rand's storyline -- worrying that Rand might get gentled by the Aes Sedai.

Liandrin definitely goes to Moiraine's house (it's in the trailer).

We're getting the Foretelling (it's in the trailer).

There's a shot of Logain in the trailer (is he getting taken back to the White Tower?).

The trailer itself is very very focused on Rand's storyline, but I do think we'll get snippets of the other storylines as well, to set up for the finale.

Perrin & Aviendha arriving near/in Falme, probably (a chat with Bain and Chiad where Aviendha tells them about her toh?).

Elayne and Nynaeve -- maybe we see them work out how to open the collars in this episode?

Mat... he's in Cairhien, so I feel like he will dovetail back into Rand's storyline.

Egwene... now that Renna believes that she's officially 'broken' her, she might be let out of her cell and be allowed to ~socialize~ with other damane.

Lanfear & Ishamael -- if Rand does get put under 'house arrest' by the Aes Sedai, they may arrange the fire in Foregate via their Black Ajah agents to create a distraction so that he can escape.

I do not think that Alanna will bond Rand in this episode; it just feels way too early and too many other characters would be pissed at her for it (most pertinently, Lanfear, who is okay turning people's heads into a fine mist). I feel like both Lanfear and Moiraine need to be out of the way for that to happen and for Alanna to still be alive the next day.

[butterflydm]

wot deeper dive 2x8: what was meant to be

So excited to take a scene-by-scene look at this epic episode. This post will be dealing only with show spoilers and there will be another post later on that includes spoilers from the books.

I really loved season one, but season two has been richer, deeper, and so emotionally powerful. Have loved it so much. Posts that I'm planning to do in the next few weeks: I want to do a post covering each main character's s2 journey, I'm gonna do some speculation for s3, and I've got some posts planned on the imprisonment/control themes and the 'alone-vulnerable; together-shieldwall' theme that was so beautifully realized in the finale, and more.

But that's for the future.

For now, let's get into the show-only deep dive!

I don't think I really talked about the opening scene in my previous posts about the episode, but I really enjoyed it! I hope that future seasons continue the theme of having the final cold-open of the season be something from the Age of Legends.

2. What they did with showing the close relationship with Lews Therin and Ishamael really plays well with how Ishamael feels a kinship with Mat and thus believes that Mat is vulnerable to the same kind of philosophy and influences that Ishamael fell victim to -- he sees that Rand and Mat are close in the ways that he was close with Lews Therin, and thus believes that Mat being Rand's downfall is what is most likely to tip Rand over to the dark (alongside Egwene, who is our modern-age Lanfear counterpart imo). I really love what they've done with this relationship and with how Ishamael essentially tricked himself into believing that he understood Mat when he was really projecting himself onto Mat, just as he's been projecting Lews Therin onto Rand.

And we get the symmetry of Ishamael asking for death here and being denied, and then Rand killing him at the end of the episode, like he wanted.

3. We get confirmation here that LTT sealed the rest of the Forsaken first and Ishamael is last. This is where we get another name drop: Sammael. So the names that we have for sure are: Moghedien, Graendal, and Sammael (plus Ishamael and Lanfear, of course).

4. It looks like the other Aes Sedai here are all men, which ties us into the discussion/argument that Lews and Latra were having in the 1x8 cold open.

5. "They say this seal is so strong, not even I could break it." And while the seals do appear to be weakened by this modern point in time, we saw the effort that Ishamael went to in 2x4 to break out Lanfear. He did that six more times in this episode before he went to confront Rand. He was worn out, y'all.

I do think it's interesting the ways that Ishamael's nihilism interacts with his behavior with Rand. Once he realizes that Rand is here, he knows that his plan for turning Rand to the Shadow has essentially failed. Because Rand's friends have come to help him, and because of Lanfear's betrayal, Ishamael knows that it's over. And part of him is grateful when Rand kills him, and relieved. He doesn't really believe that he's going to reach Rand on that tower and turn him to the Dark -- that's why he sets two back-up plans into motion: a) releasing the Forsaken and b) trying to get Rand gentled.

6. Lews Therin's resigned apologies to Ishamael here for trapping him into a Fate Worse Than Death vs Mat's frantic apologies to Rand after he accidentally stabs him with the dagger from Shadar Logoth -- Lews Therin has been forced into this because of Ishamael's choices, while Mat was tricked into hurting Rand (both here and back in 2x6, when he 'abandons' Rand).

And I love the pan-up and the reveal that the "Eye of the World" was the place where Rand and Moiraine were tricked to go in 1x8 to free Ishamael from his seal.

7. I missed the credits! Though I absolutely understand the team prioritizing getting a little more screen time in each episode, since they were forced to choose. The golden threads bursting out when Josha's name appears always give me chills.

8. Our episode proper starts with the Whitecloaks planning their attack on Falme. The way that the Whitecloaks get introduced with that fade-in from light is very intriguing. I'm not a military expert but Bornhald's strategy sounds pretty solid to me: non-military expert, lol. We can see that they're hiding in the jungle for now, and they plan to make the assault as quick as possible because they have to take out the 'witches' first or any assault is doomed.

The Whitecloaks estimate there are 28 damane with the Seanchan at this time.

I really like how we see the Whitecloaks' ranks shown by how their armor is designed. The costume design on this show has been so striking, this season even more than s1. There's an almost stained-glass quality to the bands on the armor, which helps enhance that 'church/inquisition' vibe that we are going to also get with the children swinging incense.

9. "But we have something they don't."

haha, you don't know how long it took me to realize that Bornhald was implying "we have the Light on our side". Which, funnily enough, the Seanchan ALSO believe! Both sides believe that they are the ones fighting in the name of the Light, not suspecting that here comes Rand al'Thor with the steel chair (of the Light).

But I really love how drenched this episode is in light, after a season that has been very dark (emotionally and frequently literally).

10. "The Watchers on the Waves called for help, letters to every queen, every king in the world, to the Amyrlin Seat herself, begging, but no one came."

This 100% explains the reaction of the people of Falme at the end of the episode, imo. They have been begging for help and no one has come, so they gave up hope and are just doing their best to survive each day. And then the Seanchan are driven out in a matter of hours and they see that huge-ass dragon on the tower (and this version of the story does have people knowing what a dragon looks like -- the book that Rand looks at in season one with the Karaethon Cycle has a dragon sketch in the pages (at 17:38 in episode 1x5 -- there is SO MUCH subtle lore in 1x5, y'all) -- so they know what it means when they see the dragon on the tower). They know exactly who saved them from their recent oppression.

It also ties into a theme from the books, where the different nations are so wrapped up in their own problems that they don't see the big looming apocalypse that is coming for everyone. Everyone was so busy with their own problems that they ignored the messages from Falme.

11. "These strangers are slavers and murderers. We fight them because we must."

Where's that "Heartbreaking: the worse person you know just made a great point" meme? lol. honestly, that's something that the show has been doing really well! Even people who are doing terrible things are not 100% terrible and are capable of making genuinely good arguments. And they believe in themselves and their cause. The Whitecloaks and the Seanchan are both scarier when we are seeing the True Believers in the cause.

12. And Dain brings up the prophecy here that "in Falme's greatest moment of need, the Dragon will return to us" which really gives me "King Arthur" vibes (which is fitting! one of the cool themes in the book is heroic archetypes and how the wheel turns myth into legend, and we also see the Heroes of the Horn bringing that theme into the show in the major way in this episode). So, once again, the people of Falme are going to know exactly who to credit for their big rescue and seem pretty primed to become strong supporters of the Dragon Reborn, given the information that we've gotten about the city.

Bornhald dismisses prophecy in general as "the lies of long-dead witches" and we intercut into Lanfear leading Rand & co through the Ways, which is a beautiful transition. That was excellent.

13. A lot of characters have mentioned the Falme prophecy but I don't think anyone has mentioned it to Rand, specifically. He's not coming to Falme to fulfill prophecy -- he's coming to try to save Egwene. Much like Mat's reaction to Rand was very much colored by how he abandoned Rand at the Waygate, Rand's reactions with Egwene are colored by how he abandoned her at the end of s1. We know why Rand made that choice, of course, but now he's seeing the unintended consequences of that choice.

14. Lanfear's full plan gets revealed over the course of this episode, not in a super in-your-face way, but clear enough to put all the pieces together of exactly how long she's been planning to screw over Ishamael and the rest of the Forsaken (... since the moment she woke up and learned that LTT's new incarnation was around). Some of the details of this plan go into spoilers, so I'll put it in the later post but, in brief: she's manipulated various pieces on the board to use Ishamael's own plans against him -- trapping Egwene and Nynaeve in Falme was an Ishy plan, but Lanfear was able to use Egwene's presence in Falme as a way to get Rand motivated to want to go there to rescue her and, incidentally, fulfill a teeny-tiny prophecy. After Rand killed Ishamael and was proclaimed the Dragon, she was planning to have Doman dump the rest of the Forsaken in the ocean and then she would have plenty of time to manipulate seduce her dearest Lews Therin Rand into loving her again.

And it almost worked! Well, I don't think seducing Rand a second time would have gone as well as she was hoping, but most of the plan really worked out for her.

15. It looks like the show just revealed here that Lanfear also has the Talent of being able to see fellow channelers even when they aren't embracing the Source. ("I can see it in you.")

I love Lan protectively trying to step in front of Moiraine even though he has zero chance against Lanfear. It's giving real "bless him, he tries" vibes.

Lanfear just yeeting them out onto the beach cracks me up.

It also was really great in terms of how it set Moiraine up not as one of the main players fighting in the battle, but as support from the side, smoothing the way. When Rand and the rest of them come down from the tower and are greeted by the grateful people of Falme, none of those people will know that Moiraine and Lan had anything to do with Rand's success. It feels like such a natural progression of her role -- in s1, she was the driving force that led them all to the Eye of the World... and that ended up being a massive screw-up. This time, they all find their own ways to Falme, and none of our main six young heroes are there because they're planning on fulfilling prophecy or fighting the Last Battle. They're there to save one of their own (first Egwene, and then Rand). "Think not of glory but of salvation". They didn't quote it, but the thought is there in the action of what happened in the episode.

16. "How can you think I'd ever trust you again?"

"I'm the only one who actually cares about you, Rand. Everyone else -- Ishamael, Moiraine -- they just care about what you can do."

Lanfear attempting to use her manipulating wiles on Rand. Of course, at the end of the episode, he's going to get a big reminder that she's incredibly wrong and there are a bunch of people who care about him for who he is, but even in this moment, he doesn't look like he's falling for it. And Rand didn't walk away from his friends at the end of s1 because he believed that they didn't care about him. He walked away from them because he believed that he was dangerous to them.

(and she tried to use this tactic on Rand in 2x6 as well, but she failed there too, though she may believe that she succeeded, because Rand does still extend trust to Moiraine in 2x7 when she asks him why he was leaving Cairhien and he tells her everything that he knows/believes, including very much implying that he thinks Lanfear wants to kill him after he's been proclaimed Dragon)

Lanfear lost Rand's trust when he found out who she really was and that she had been manipulating him for months. And I think she's massively underestimating what she would need to do in order to earn any of that trust back.

17. After the Maidens warn Perrin that they are getting Bad Vibes and are pretty sure that today is going to be filled with people getting killed, Perrin asks Hopper to stay behind, trying to keep him safe. Oh, Perrin, that never works. And Hopper has just as much right to be in the fight as you do.

18. Lanfear accidentally screws over her own plan because she can't bring herself not to gloat before her future husband Rand kills Ishamael. This is the big moment when we see how much Ishamael and Lanfear's plans are diverging from each other (and Ishamael sees it too). Ishamael had been planning to play the long game with Rand, keep him away from Falme until he was ready to be turned to the Shadow. Now Lanfear has jumped the gun and brought Rand at a time when Ishamael only has two of Rand's friends in hand (Egwene and Mat) and even those two have not been broken yet. He's not ready for Rand to be here! There's still so much work to be done!

19. After this conversation, Ishamael is aware that he's potentially fighting a losing battle. But he doesn't give up -- he sends in Fain to try to accelerate Mat's corruption; he prepares Suroth for the possibility of gentling Rand. He won't give up without a fight.

Ishamael does sound so intense when he talks about how Rand isn't going to "choose us".

20. ...is Lanfear wearing a dragon earcuff? I think she might be wearing a dragon earcuff/earring. That is not subtle.

I like that it seems like Lanfear believes that she's tricked Ishamael, at least in part, just like she believed that she'd tricked Rand a lot more successfully than she had (since he was very much still lumping her together with Ishamael when talking to Mat and Moiraine).

21. ...I don't ever really have much to say about the fighty-fight part of battles. The image of the Whitecloaks galloping out of the incense/fog was pretty cool.

22. Nynaeve really does have a very rough go of it in this episode. While she does manage to help, that help is in the realm of "get Elayne to the tower so that Elayne can do something". And while I understand the frustration from her fans... her block needs to actually be a problem for us to understand why she wants to get rid of it. This episode made her block a problem, one that she wasn't able to overcome at the last second when it was desperately needed. Much like Mat's low ebb this season was intentional so that we could get the amazing high of the Horn scene, Nynaeve is entering a low ebb. At the beginning of the season, she was showered in praise and special attention that she didn't want. Now she wants the power that had earned her all that praise and she can't reach it (this is similar to how Rand's lack of training needs to actually be a problem so that we understand why he needs to get some training).

23. Oof, it's hard to watch Renna with Egwene. We do get clarification that the dark facepaint is for going into battle.

Renna cutting off Egwene's braid... much like the tree she forced Egwene to burn down, she's trying to attack something that she knows brings Egwene comfort.

Egwene's eyes when she's feeling at her shorn braid. Baby!

24. I've been finding it interesting to think about What's Up with Padan Fain. So far this season, he's stayed within Ishamael's orders (to our knowledge) but when Ishamael orders him to give the dagger to Mat, we hear the whispers of it calling to him. Once Ishamael is dead, does that free Fain to follow the call of the dagger? Because when Mat was under the influence of the dagger, he still was not a fan of the Shadow. Different kinds of evil. The evil of Shadar Logoth scared the Trollocs enough that they weren't willing to chase our people into the city. I will keep an eye on future developments!

25. Poor Mat has been having a Fucking Time of it. First, he has to watch Rand leave, knowing that he's apparently fated to kill his best friend with an evil dagger. Then he gets hit on the head and wakes up across the continent? With a scary lady who insults him? Then ol' flame-eyes is here and his eyes aren't flame anymore and Mat is just so exhausted and tired and he takes this tea that gets REAL trippy and depressing and tells him that he's destined to be awful forever. And then he's locked up alone in a room. And then... Padan Fain shows up???? With the dagger from Shadar Logoth?????

The one Mat is destined to kill Rand with?

Like... he has been having a time of it.

26. Oof, hard to watch Nynaeve torturing Seta. I understand why Elayne needs to keep looking away. Nynaeve wants so badly to find Egwene and save her. We actually get a lot of ruthlessness from the ladies in this episode -- Nynaeve with Seta; Egwene and Renna; and Moiraine's willingness to "kill a thousand innocents if there's even a chance [Rand] will live". But I think the show did a good job of showing you why each of these characters is driven to be so ruthless at this moment in time.

27. Rand confirms with his own eyes that Egwene is here in Falme, as he sees her and the other damane being led out of the kennels. And he sees the gag in her mouth -- I wonder if part of the reason for that part of the costuming was to make it easy for Rand to see from far away part of the indignities that are being forced on Egwene (obviously, he also saw what horrible conditions she was enduring in her cell back when Lanfear showed him Egwene, but now he knows for certain that what Lanfear was showing him was true).

28. Mat and Fain's conversation with Fain here is interesting because I think Mat is figuring it out -- so many people keep telling him over and over that he's destined to do the stupid thing; that he's worthless; that he's going to be like his dad; that he abandons his friends. Padan Fain is saying the exact same thing that Liandrin was saying (you abandoned your friends for the dagger). Having his old peddler from back home showing up to say the same things that the Aes Sedai who had kept him captive for months had said... that's kinda suspicious, bro. That kinda seems like someone else is supplying the script, bro. Because Mat is not in the same kind of despair here when he's listening to Fain as he was when he was listening to Liandrin. He's paying attention to who the messenger is (and who sent the messenger), not just the message itself.

The first time through watching this scene, it can feel like Mat is trying to convince himself when he smiles at Fain and tells him that he's not going to touch the dagger. But... he doesn't touch it. Instead, he inspects the room and comes up with a plan to escape that doesn't involve touching the dagger. It wasn't just bravado, when he was talking to Fain. He meant it. All these people, they keep telling Mat that they know him better than he knows himself. That they are the ones who really know his inner darkness. That they can guess what he's going to do next.

And Mat... he decides right here, I think, that he is going to prove them wrong. Maybe he WAS always terrible in his past lives? Well, then he'll fucking do better in this one. He makes the decision to do better BEFORE he learns that his past lives weren't rotten, and I think that's so important.

29. Moiraine and Lan's scene here is very sweet. I think this was a really sweet capstone to Lan's journey through the season and an affirmation of Moiraine trusting and allowing Lan and Rand to help her at the end of the last episode. Though the main culmination of the "alone we are vulnerable, together we are a shieldwall" comes in the fight against Ishamael, Moiraine has been very much a parallel with Rand this season in how she's been pushing people away so that she can face the danger alone, so her literally allowing Lan to share in her burden is a lovely little illustration of that same point. Plus the weaves and music here are just gorgeous. I really do love the intimacy here, between a man and woman who are fundamentally connected but not in a sexual or romantic way.

Meanwhile, Lan's journey goes back to a similar point as Mat's, I think, in that he accepts the idea that Moiraine views him as inferior and says he wants to help her anyway, before he gets rewarded with learning that she sees him not as an equal but as better than her. "Okay, what if this horrible thing, this thing that I don't want to believe could be true... what if it IS true and then I keep on doing the right thing anyway?"

Though I've never had the issue with Lan's storyline that I feel like I've seen some other book readers have. The only time his story felt 'slow' to me was through my first watch of 2x4 and even that changed when I did my rewatch and saw how much we were getting told about Alanna & her Warders and how it was leading up to Alanna getting folded into all the big plans. But, yeah, my main interest in Lan was never how many enemies he could kill per minute and the show has made him a much more interesting character to me than the books did.

30. I suspect all this 'getting the Horn' stuff might have been expanded on if we'd gotten ten episodes but there's enough information there to make it clear that Lanfear (as 'Selene') gave them the Horn so that her future devoted husband Rand would get his special toy before he fought Ishamael. Heists can be fun but we did get the info a couple of episodes ago that the Horn was barely being guarded, so that also tracks with it being easy for a 'slave' and a 'guard' to be able to sneak in and grab it.

...the Seanchan uniform actually looks really hot on Ingtar.

31. Perrin finds out here that Egwene is in Falme, and he instantly pivots to that information -- Egwene has been captured by the Seanchan; we have to help Egwene. We know that Perrin has been worried that all of them being isolated away from each other makes them vulnerable and here is proof! Obviously, if Egwene is here, then she has to be the priority over the Horn.

"The Horn of Valere summons the dead heroes of the past. It's the key to the Dragon winning the Last Battle."

Yeah, the show was very clear about what the Horn does. Even if you miss Ingtar's line on an initial watch, a rewatch would instantly clear it up (especially with the knowledge of what it does when Mat uses it). The fascinating thing is that Ingtar NEVER SAYS that the Dragon needs to use it, but that's clearly what Perrin assumes (and a lot of show-only reactors assumed it too, and were surprised by Mat being able to use it).

I like Loial's little speech. He shames Ingtar right out of his determination to leave the city with the Horn.

32. The way that Renna and Egwene's power struggle comes to a head in this episode was really effective I think.

We see Egwene not being able to bring herself to attack until she sees the Whitecloaks, and she takes care to place her fireball where it will only hit Whitecloaks and not any cilivians.

33. I have to admit, the view that certain book fans have that Rand did nothing in this episode are baffling (Nynaeve didn't do 'nothing' either, but both she and Rand ARE going to, I'm sure, seek ways in the new season to do more because they were both clearly frustrated by being 'blocked' from what they wanted to do). Rand did less than he wanted to do, because he got shielded -- motivation for him to want to search out some training next season, because there were several moments this season when his lack of training has been pointed out! -- but in both the Turak scene and the Ishamael scene, Rand ends the fight almost effortlessly (once he's free to do so, in the Ishy scene).

Turak and his guards stood literally no chance against Rand -- he raised his chin and looked, and over a dozen people died (but only the ones with weapons, not the Voice who wasn't a threat). I'm sorry, that is power. The idea that Rand indulging in a sword fight would have shown more power than what he actually did is ridiculous. He would have been a cat playing with a mouse instead of just killing it (and every show-only reactor that I've watched so far has had a BIG reaction to Rand doing this).

We've been shown throughout this season with the Forsaken that the less effort channeling takes and the more casual that you are with it, the more powerful you are. And that's exactly what Rand shows in this scene. Not only does he create and send the projectiles, they are precisely aimed to only target combatants.

Which means that Rand gets to see another aspect of Seanchan culture here -- the main slaves of a High Lord kills themselves when their lord dies. It really does show how deeply the brainwashing goes in Seanchan culture. And you can see that Rand is disturbed by the violence that he just did, but he has to move on, so he does.

34. I really do love how Josha embodies the physicality of Rand's channeling. He does move to channel but it feels very natural, like an extension of himself. It was that way in s1 as well. Rand channeling just... idk it hits different for me than any of the other channelers we've seen, as beautiful as the weaves can be.

35. "The Forsaken fought amongst themselves as much as they fought the Dragon," feels like a very important note for s3 -- the six Forsaken that Ishamael released are not going to be going after Rand together. Just as Lanfear ended up undermining Ishamael's plans, with the goal of killing him, getting rid of the other Forsaken, and living happily ever after with Lews Therin Rand, the other Forsaken will each have their own agenda too. So it's not complete doom and despair that they've all been released.

36. So even as Lanfear is making plans to dump the rest of the 'Chosen' in the ocean, Ishamael is busy at work releasing each of them, one by one. We learn here that Lanfear has been manipulating events in Moiraine's storyline from the very beginning of the season.

Ishamael brushing the dust of the remaining seals from his hands as he talks to Suroth: a+, lol. But to make matters even worse for him, he learns here that Turak is dead and the Horn has been stolen. And everything was looking so rosy for him before Lanfear showed up!

Ishamael's "shit, Lanfear betrayed us" back-up plans:

step 1: free the rest of the Chosen

step 2: get Rand shielded ASAP

step 3: Maybe seeing Mat and Egwene in dire straits will be enough to turn Rand to the Shadow? (it's confirmed here that Ishamael made sure to have Egwene ordered to the tower where "the whole city can see her")

*fails*

step 4: okay, we'll gentle him and then work on breaking him once he's less dangerous

*fails*

step 5: maybe I just kill him?

*fails*

step 6: well, guess I'll die. At least I screwed over Lanfear on my way out. The rest of the Forsaken will have to handle things from now on.

37. I love Mat working out a way to use the dagger without touching it. Also it kinda cracks me up that he ties the dangerous thing to a bedpost because... um... Lanfear tied Rand to a... I think that's maybe only funny to me. lol

We see here that Mat understands how the dagger works, probably a lot better than Ishamael did or Fain does. It nearly killed him last season! He's aware of how dangerous it is... but also how useful it can potentially be at the moment.

And I love that Rand's stubborn 'ACTUALLY, Mat is amazing and one of the best people who has ever lived, so jot that down' attitude from 1x7 gets proven correct here. Rand knew Mat better than anyone else, from what we saw at various points in s1, and now his certainty that Mat Is Good, Actually gets to be proven (including, very importantly, Mat himself... until the Accidental Stabbening gives Mat a brand-new guilt complex).

38. We can see here that the fireballs coming down from the damane in the tower are hitting ordinary citizens as well as the Whitecloaks -- not everyone is being as careful as Egwene.

She sees it too -- that's what makes her spit out her gag and refuse to help anymore. And this moment (among some others) really sells why this addition to the costuming works because Egwene actively and literally reclaims her voice here.

And the Whitecloaks attack on the tower work, killing many of the damane and sul'dam at the top of the tower.

39. While earlier, we saw that some of the Whitecloaks were helping pull civilians out of the way, once again, not everyone on their side is being that careful -- the Whitecloak archers shoot Seta, dressed as a damane, but they also shoot Elayne, dressed as an ordinary citizen. Both the Seanchan and the Whitecloaks are causing innocent people to get caught in between them and die.

And I do think it's clear here that Nynaeve is overwhelmed and scared, not angry. That's why she isn't able to reach the power. Her block is now officially a problem for her, one that she has a very good reason to try to get it fixed next season. This is a similar lesson to what they've been showing us in Rand's storyline: raw power isn't enough. You also need control, or other people will be able to control you.

40. And that ties into what Egwene does too -- both Mat and Egwene think outside the box in order to find clever solutions to their problems in this episode and not be limited to what their captors thinks they're capable of. They both choose an unlisted option.

She seizes control over herself and her situation, because she understands her power now. Egwene, Mat, and Moiraine all reclaim themselves after having gone through a long, rough period of being put in a situation where they feel inadequate and broken down.

And Egwene figured it out by being clever and putting together the information. We also get more confirmation here that only channelers can see weaves.

41. Reunions! Mat and Perrin's reunion here is very sweet. It's also much more straightforward than the more complex and fraught (though just as sweet) relationship between Mat and Rand. Perrin and Mat share a good long hug! Mat holds his shoulder for a moment! But when the hugging is gone, they pull away from each other and don't constantly stay all over each other like Rand and Mat were in their initial reunion scene in 2x6 (or like Rand and Mat will do in their upcoming scene, post-stabbening). So I love that we see that Mat and Perrin are very good friends and they love each other and... and it's not quite the same as Mat's friendship with Rand.

42. Poor Egwene really is so burnt out, emotionally, by her experiences and so traumatized, and we can really see how exhausted she is by everything that happened. She needs some real processing time.

I'm glad that we got Rand's apology to Egwene here, even if I think she's maybe only half-processing it at the moment.

43. I love how quickly Mat gives out the info of "Rand is alive, he's here, he's headed to help Egwene" to Perrin here. And that he takes another dig at Rand's hair, lol. When Rand regrows his hair, Mat gets the credit for it, lol. I also miss Rand's curls, Mat! You are not alone!

44. Ishamael is talking here like he's knows that it's over. He does not expect his appeal to Rand here to work -- like he told Lanfear, it's too soon. Egwene isn't broken. Mat isn't broken. He doesn't even HAVE Nynaeve or Perrin in hand. "Maybe next time it'll be different," Ishamael says, because he already knows that his primary goal of turning the Dragon to the Dark has failed.

I love the echoes of this scene to the one from the cold-open.

45. "You're his only hope" vs "betrayer of hope". I talked about this in one of my earlier posts I think, but the contrast still hits me hard.

Here we have Ishamael, blaming Lews Therin for his fall to the dark (and the stories say that it was LTT's 'fault' that Lanfear turned to), but it wasn't LTT's fault. It was Ishamael's choice. And it's Mat's choices that make him different from Ishamael.

But, yeah, this is another of those things that just gets extra weight to Mat and Rand's friendship vs Mat and Perrin's or Rand and Perrin's.

46. Dain and Perrin meet on the battlefield and get to fight back-to-back for a moment. I think everything with Perrin & the Whitecloaks & Hopper is well-done, but it's tough to talk about. Hopper does get a lovely send-off, as he see him leaping the way that he did when he told Perrin his name. Also, the tension between Dain and Perrin the next time they see each other (narratively, they have to see each other again, with all this set-up) is going to be fantastic.

Hopper's last sending to Perrin is so beautiful. And it's so easy to understand Perrin's rage here, just as it was easy to understand Egwene's need to kill Renna.

47. I like how Elayne (in agony!) is doing her best to help Nynaeve get to a place where she can help Elayne. She really takes charge of the situation and is able to bring a level of calm to it, even when she's under significant distress herself.

Nynaeve is trying so hard to channel here and she can't even embrace the Source. I do think that her 'block' probably got some reinforcement when her most recent use of the Power directly led to Ryma's capture.

(speaking of Ryma, since we don't see her in the tower or on the ships, it's entirely possible that, as a brand-new damane, she was still in the kennels and can get freed after the battle here is done; I would like that for her very much and - if they do decide to have the Wondergirls go back to the White Tower, Ryma could be the one to take them there, as she delivers the news about the Seanchan. That's one of the few reasons that I can see for the Wondergirls to think it will be safe for them to go back to Tar Valon, after they hear Moiraine's news, tbh)

But, yeah, I'm glad that Nynaeve can't just Bruce Banner "I'm always angry" at her problems. That her block is now something that is causing her distress in times when she desperately needs to be able to channel.

48. Mat blowing the Horn is such a beautiful moment. Time slowing and the music changing and the effects of how the Heroes appear. This is a moment of intense despair for everyone and Mat blowing the Horn here turns everything around. I think they did a really good job in making this the turning point of the episode. Mat blowing the Horn did bring back the hope of winning. It didn't win the battle, but it gave back hope. Instead of Mat being ~just like~ Ishamael, he is instead Ishamael's opposite. Instead of betraying hope, he creates it.

And it's such a joyous moment. Mat gets to have his self-worth affirmed by an outside source, gets to feel connected to something bigger than himself, after feeling alone for most of the season. It's really beautiful.

Just... gorgeous. And when Mat remembers and is able to get that validation that he is not destined to be a 'damn prick', just like his father, that he isn't rotten to his core... witnessing him going through that moment is so lovely. Cannot say enough good things about it, A+ television.

49. We also see that, after Mat says that he 'remembers', that he's handling his weapon differently, more familiarly, and he can now speak the Old Tongue. So we can see the impact that remembering his past lives has on him.

And, of course, we see here that Uno is one of the Heroes of the Horn! It's a nice hint to viewers who maybe weren't listening to Ingtar earlier that the Horn brings back the dead. Because we definitely all saw Uno die.

50. And, of course, being magically-fast ghost warriors, the Heroes absolutely can make sure that they only target active combatants and that no civilians get caught in the cross-fire.

Uno saving Perrin. <3 And then lending him a magic shield! Useful! I'm guessing it probably also fades away after the Heroes do.

And once the arrow is out of Elayne's leg, everyone is on their way to the tower.

51. Rand is able to push himself to his feet, despite the effects of the shield on him, and tell Ishamael, point-blank, "I will never serve him. In a thousand lives, I never have. I'm sure of it."

Ishamael knows that his main plan is a bust. It's only back-up plans and failsafes from here on out.

52. Mat's throw is a really good throw! Unfortunately, Ishamael is a trickster too, and it goes right through the illusion of him. This moment is incredibly traumatizing for Mat who only literally just now regained his sense of self-worth -- while we are going to end up with our heroes triumphing over Ishamael and the Seanchan and saving Falme... they all end up damaged and traumatized by it.

Mat just clutching onto Rand here in the wake of accidentally stabbing him. Oh, wow, it really gets to me. And Rand's anger is 100% (and very appropriately and accurately) focused on Ishamael.

And Ishamael is so distracted by this moment that he doesn't realize that Egwene has gotten up from where he threw her.

53. I love how delicate Elayne's healing weave is. And the wound left behind looks very nasty. And Rand getting healed by Elayne and then seeing the sun shining in her hair. What a way to be introduced to someone for the first time! They save your life like that and are literally wreathed in sunlight.

54. Moiraine and Lan getting on the same (ruthless) page when it comes to supporting Rand/the Dragon. And we get to really see Lan let loose with his fighting as Moiraine lets loose with her channeling.

55. I was honestly a little nervous about the idea of them actually doing a sky battle because I could not possibly picture how that would not be cheesy. I trusted the show's team but... I was nervous. What the show did was not at all cheesy. It was heartfelt and epic, but not cheesy.

I love how everyone works together to make it work. The team did such a good job of playing out this theme of having the characters be isolated and showing how that made them vulnerable, and then rewarding us with this beautiful coming together. They can be there for each other and protect each other.

And I'm confused about anyone feeling like this takes away from Rand because... they all contribute so that Rand can strike the final blow -- because Rand is the only one who could have done that part. Moiraine freed Rand from his shield and Elayne healed him, Egwene and Perrin were able to block Ishamael's attacks, but Rand absorbed Ishamael's attacks into his own weave to strengthen it, and then he wove the One Power directly into his sword and we can see the results -- instead of getting back up again, Ishamael crumbled to dust.

Ishamael himself was aware that he had lost as soon as Rand was unshielded, imo. He makes another attack after that, but it's clear that he knows that he lost. There's a reason that Ishamael's first big move in the scene with Rand is to get him shielded by the damane. That's the only way he even has a chance in this fight and he knows it. Egwene isn't able to go on the offense against, Ishamael in any way and we can see what a toll it's taking on her to hold up her shield against him - holes develop in her shield before Perrin shows up.

Minor Cauthor note: I love how after Rand gets rocked by being unshielded and he realizes that Mat got pulled away from Mat, he grabs Mat's hand again. Cute, even in the middle of a pitched battle.

56. Our poor traumatized babies! Let's count up the trauma:

a. Rand felt shielded and helpless for much of the fight and now has a wound in his side that Elayne wasn't quite able to heal. He's also very aware that his lack of training is causing big problems. And he's got a heron brand on his hand now.

b. Egwene is deeply traumatized from her time as a slave.

c. Nynaeve spent this entire battle feeling helpless and her only contribution was bringing Elayne here so that Elayne could heal Rand. Nynaeve may even blame herself for the state Rand's wound has been left in, wondering if she could have healed him fully if she'd had access to the Power.

d. Perrin just lost his new wolf BFF in a traumatic way.

e. Mat stabbed his best friend with an evil dagger (after spending months being psychologically tortured).

f. Elayne has a pretty nasty leg injury. Also, she has to be the most confused person here, by a mile. She likely knows about the prophecies and the Dragon Reborn as general concepts but had absolutely no clue that she was accidentally stumbling into the middle of them. She's gonna have so many questions.

57. But this whole section really is beautiful. Just... I love the fire-illusion dragon so much. Moiraine is always So Extra, all the time.

58. This is the first time any of them have seen Rand channel! Even though they can't see the weaves, they can see Rand walking through Ishamael's attacks without flinching, they can see his sword glowing red, and Ishamael turning to dust. And they heard Ishamael call him "Lews", probably.

It's also another incredibly intimate stabbing, though in a different way than Mat 'stabbing' Rand was. He looks directly into Ishamael's eyes the entire time and, afterwards, he stays focused on Ishamael until he's turned to dust.

59. Yeah, Falme looks pretty all-in on the Dragon Reborn. He saved them from the Seanchan and (given what the dude in Atuan's Mill said) he also saved them from the Whitecloaks. At their greatest hour of need, the Dragon really did come to save them. We also get the confirmation here that these Aiel Maidens, at least, believe that Rand is the Car'a'carn that they've been searching for.

60. At this point in time, Lanfear is feeling pretty damn happy with herself. Step one of her plan was a complete success! Ishamael has been taken care of. Lews Therin Rand has been publicly proclaimed the Dragon! Her happy ending is within her grasp!

Then, as Lanfear is basking in her victory... she discovers that Ishamael took action when he realized she was betraying him. We meet "softly, softly from the shadows" Moghedien and see her stand toe-to-toe with Lanfear. All of the Forsaken are now loose.

Love the vibe they've given to Moghedien.

We can see here that those conflicts that Moiraine talked about between the Forsaken are clear and present. Lanfear and Moghedien are definitely not on the same page when it comes with how to deal with the Dragon.

Moghedien says that "him" and "all five of them" are now the other Forsaken's business and that Lanfear is to stay away from Rand in particular.

And she vanishes before Lanfear is set free and our last words of the season are Lanfear saying, "Light help you, Rand al'Thor."

Interesting in two ways! Acknowledgement of him as Rand, not Lews Therin, and calling upon the Light to aid him. I feel like it does a good job of setting up some very clear issues for the next season.

Hope we have a shorter wait this time!

[butterflydm]

speculation for wot 2x6-2x8

Okay, I talked about this briefly during my last book spoilers rewatch for 2x5, but I wanted to take another look over the imdb listings for the last three episodes and take a guess at the storylines we'll be tracing. disclaimer: it's imdb, so grain of salt about the accuracy.

2x6: Eyes Without Pity

For the Cairhien storylines:

Siuan is listed in this episode, so I suspect that this may be the episode when she arrives in Cairhien (either that or she's in flashbacks in this episode and then shows up in person in ep7 if the royal wedding happens then)

Lanfear is listed for all the remaining episodes, so we're going to get our continuation of the Rand & Lanfear scene. Logain is also listed, so we may see Logain training Rand, or attempting to train him.

Min is listed, so this is likely the episode when Mat and Min arrive in Cairhien.

Both Anvaere and Barthanes are listed to appear as well.

For the White Tower plotlines:

We have Verin, Yacissa, and Tomas all appearing, likely continuing the Black Ajah Hunt thread.

We also have Liandrin, Alurdan (her son), and Joiya. Speculation: this may be when Liandrin's son dies, which would free her to leave Tar Valon with Joiya to do Black Ajah Hijinks in 2x7.

For Lan:

We've seen in the trailer that he's going to have a confrontation with Alanna and her Warders. Don't know exactly how it's going to turn out, except that Lan will likely end up in Cairhien either at the end of this episode or in episode 7.

For our big stuff in Falme:

In Egwene's part of the plotline, Renna, Miri (the blonde damane), and Maigan are all listed. I'm putting Maigan here because I suspect that she might already be damane at this point (having another Aes Sedai in hiding in Falme seems redundant since we already have Ryma).

We have Loial & Ingtar listed, but we don't have Masema or the other Shienarans, so they may still be in their seafoam-green slave clothes in this episode while they try to figure out a way to save Egwene. Suroth is listed and may interact with them -- Turak, however, is not listed for this episode.

And in Nynaeve & Egwene's part of the plotline, we have Ryma and Basan (her Warder).

Aviendha is not listed, so this will likely be an episode without Perrin, which would make sense, as they are traveling towards Falme.

For 2x7: Daes Da'Mar

For Cairhien storylines:

We have Siuan again! I was braced for only one Siuan episode so I'm glad to see her name again and hope it is accurate. We have all the Damodreds, we have Logain, we have a "Sun Palace Servant", and we have Hayley Mills playing an unknown role. Is Siuan in Cairhien for the wedding and Hayley Mills is playing the Queen? Is this the flashback episode and Hayley Mills is Gitara Sedai?

Min is not listed for this episode (or the next), so if imdb is accurate, then she is going to split off from everyone else in episode 2x6 and will not be going to Falme.

Rand is going to be doing some more training and maybe attend a royal wedding and leave in the middle through a Waygate with his group.

The note of 'Natti Cauthon' being listed for this episode is particularly interesting. Might be Ishamael messing with Mat in TAR?

For the White Tower:

Alanna & her two Warders might end up here after their conversation with Lan in 2x6. If so, she can talk with Verin (who is listed along with Yacissa again), which might lead into the two of them collaborating next season. Maybe in a nice… mountainous region.

It looks like we'll see Liandrin and Joiya as well, but Liandrin's son is not listed for this episode.

For Falme:

I think this is the episode Perrin & Aviendha arrive in/near Falme and it looks like they meet up with Bain and Chiad at this point. Interestingly, Loial is listed for this episode but Ingtar is not.

In Egwene's part of the storyline, we have Maigan, Renna, Seta, and a character named Mulean (in the books, she's another of the sul'dam, the one who runs the damane quarters).

Ryma is not listed.

For 2x8: What Was Meant To Be

I think this is going to be pretty much entirely a Falme episode, with Rand & co having left Cairhien at the end of 2x7. None of the Cairhiein-related characters are listed. None of the White Tower-related characters are listed.

Of note: Bayle Doman is listed; Amaresu (one of the Heroes of the Horn) is listed; Uno is listed; Maigan is still there. Everyone else is basically who we would have expected, with the addition of maybe getting another of those Age of Legends cold opens, as LTT is listed.

Once again, we do not have Ryma, and we do not have Min.

So, some speculation overall:

We're going to see more Black Ajah cat-and-mouse in the White Tower in episodes 6 & 7, but by the end of episode 7, I think it's likely that Liandrin and Joiya are preparing or have left the White Tower for future Black Ajah Hijinks elsewhere (we might get a stinger at the end of the season of one of the other Forsaken being released: likely Moghedien but maybe Rahvin or his equivalent).

Yacissa might get killed by the Black Ajah, which would be heartbreaking. I like her!

I think Alanna & her Warders are going to end up in the White Tower as well, and we may get indicators of her plotline joining up with Verin's, and it might be more weighted towards Black Ajah investigation as opposed to "let's seek out strong channelers" but would still lead them towards the Two Rivers for s3.

Leane will continue to be the de factor leader of the Tower during this time.

Rand is going to get some training -- in the waking world by Logain (and I think he'll realize the limits of the training that Logain can give him in his current state) and potentially in TAR by Lanfear, if he tries to create a wedge between Ishamael and Lanfear and imply that maybe he's open to his old relationship if she helps him out.

Moiraine's focus in these episodes will be on trying to guide Rand (teaching him politics? Rand getting lessons in three different fields at the same time… maybe even four once Lan shows up)

I think Lan will arrive in Cairhien either at the end of 2x6 or the start of 2x7, after he has his confrontation with Alanna's Warders.

During these two episodes is when we will see Siuan in Cairhien -- reuniting with Moiraine, speaking with Rand, and at least one flashback with Moiraine at the White Tower.

Min and Mat are going to arrive in Cairhien in 2x6 (the promo shot of Min in the Foregate) and then something will happen that makes them split up -- if Min confesses to Mat about Liandrin to try to warn him about Ishamael or the viewing, Mat might decide that he can't trust her. Mat and Rand will end up running into each other and Mat will go with Rand to Falme.

I do think that the stabbing viewing is going to 'come true' this season, so that the audience isn't left hanging on it, and I'm very curious about the approach that they're going to be taking with Mat and Rand as a whole, because there are some key differences about their relationships with the concept of the Dragon Reborn as opposed to the books.

At the royal wedding during 2x7, Rand, Mat, Moiraine, and Lan all leave through a Waygate. Logain either stays in Cairhien or Siuan takes him back to the White Tower with her in 2x7. We may or may not see the consequences of the wedding in Cairhien on-screen this season, but Cairhien will probably be in chaos the next time we see it in the show.

So that's the thread of four of our main characters on their road to Falme.

In Falme itself, next episode looks like it's going to focus on damane training and on Elayne & Nynaeve learning about the situation in Falme from Ryma. This is the first time we'll see Nynaeve spending any significant amount of time with a Yellow Sister.

That Maigan is listed for the final three episodes and Ryma is only listed for 5 & 6 does make me wonder if we'll be introduced to Maigan as 'Pura' and Ryma leaves the show with more of a bang. Obviously, she can still be captured and then just not shown for the last two episodes (or imdb could be incorrect), but the cast listings do make me wonder.

Egwene is… it's gonna be rough. I suspect that Loial is going to take the place of Min in being the friend who visits Egwene and sees how terrible her situation is - I think that may take place in 2x7, as Loial but not Ingtar is listed for that episode.

Perrin and Aviendha are scheduled to arrive in Falme in 2x7, it looks like, and we'll get to see Aviendha reunite with Bain & Chiad and we may get more explanations about the Car'a'carn, or the show might choose to leave it a mystery for now. Ingtar isn't listed for 2x7, so I don't think we'll get Egwene's jailbreak until 2x8. Given the cast lists, 2x7 is probably going to focus on Cairhien and getting them through their plots there and then yeeting them to Falme, with slightly less focus on Falme and with the White Tower plotline being wrapped up for the season (I worry that Yacissa is going to get murdered by the Black Ajah, aka Liandrin and Joiya).

It looks like we may get an LTT cold open for 2x8; probably either with Ishamael or with Lanfear. I'm leaning towards Ishamael, since I think 2x8 will… be an Ishamael-focused episode in a way (I think it's his expectations that are going to get violated rather than Our Heroes, in a reversal of 1x8). Last season, it was Moiraine on behalf of Team Light making big promises that they were going to win it all, but as of 2x5, Ishamael is the one who currently believes that he's on track to win the whole board game by 2x8.

In 1x8, Rand mistakenly believes that he's facing the Last Battle but his enemy has hidden cards up his sleeve that destroy Rand's victory; will 2x8 be that in reverse, where Ishy thinks he has everything all sewn up and then his plans fall to pieces?

I suspect that Perrin might actually kill Daddy Bornhald in this version, thus marrying the two plotlines of him actually killing Whitecloaks and being suspected of killing Daddy Bornhald. And I think it might happen because Daddy Bornhald kills Hopper when Hopper leaps in to protect Perrin at some point during 2x8. I don't want Hopper to die, so I hope this speculation is wrong! (I mean, we'll keep seeing him even if he dies, but I will be sad!)

I think Elayne and Nynaeve rescuing Egwene is likely to be fairly similar to the books overall.

I'm really curious how the Horn is going to end up in Mat's hands and how much overlap we'll get between the plot threads as they converge on Falme. And if we believe imdb, then Uno might reappear again as one of the Heroes of the Horn.

Since it's implied that we're going to get the sky battle between Ishamael and Rand (it's been mentioned twice, once by Verin and once by Ishy), that also implies that Rand will face Turak early in the episode, maybe that is what kicks off the rest of the fighting?

One of the big things I'm hoping for is that we'll get some downtime with the group after the big events all go down or some strong reunion moments and meetings during the big events, because there will probably be another time skip between s2 & s3, and it might be easier for the show if at least some people are already in their new locations by the s3 premiere. (I am hoping that Avirandlayne all get introduced to each other, for example)