#wot the shadow rising

[pien-art]

I read @eve-is-obsessed ‘s fic “mysteriously missing moiraine” and my eyes have been opened to Moiraine / Melaine 👁️👁️ Everyone go read this fic (and every other amazing fic by eve bc hghn,, they’re really good)

I can’t wait to see Moiraine in the Aiel Waste with the Wise Ones in s3

(click image for optimal quality)

[two-ponds-and-a-bowtie]

HE'S SICK FOR THIS

[bluenoisen]

currently reading through the Wheel of Time (and loving it) and this dynamic in The Shadow Rising is so funny to me, Rand get HELP!!!

[normallyiminsane]

When Elayne rescues Amanthera from Temaile and thinks, "I hope Nynaeve is not having as hard a time...." Robert Jordan was so funny for that because Nynaeve not only had to grapple with a Forsaken but also a balefire ter'angreal-wielding Black Ajah sister

[syl-stormblessed]

everyone loves talking about the batshit worldbuilding in WoT but I feel like everybody tends to overlook the Vaguely Evil Elves From Another Dimension that have their own officially licensed chutes and ladders-esque board game that you Cannot Ever Win

[toastandjamie]

Egwene’s inner monologue in chapter 35 of shadow rising about Mat having nothing to learn and wouldn’t want to learn anyways is really funny because she’s so close to the truth of it lmao

Mat does not want to learn, but he does anyways. He gets knowledge thrust upon him like a protagonist in an eldritch horror novel. He does not want this information, knowing it decreases his quality of life, but now he does know it and he’ll just have to live with it

[moghedien]

Wheel of Time season 3 announcement on Saturday 😩

[butterflydm]

new s3 timeline thoughts

I never would have thought of starting our mains in Tar Valon in order to untangle the potential time-crunch for this season! If it does turn out to be the case (and it sounds like it is a distinct possibility: see @markantonys's post here: a few more tidbits), what a brilliant way to solve the Wondergirls continental yo-yo problem!

Because that's a huge part of why I doubted that we would see the Wondergirls in the White Tower this season, because I couldn't see how we would find the time for it. But if everyone goes back to Tar Valon via the Ways (to warn the Amyrlin about Liandrin being a Darkfriend), then we've re-centered everyone and they can go back out into their own plotlines more sensibly distributed. If the "two episodes in the wetlands before Rand goes to the Waste" is the same two episodes as "the Wondergirls go to the White Tower", then the time-crunch problem is solved.

Okay, the thoughts below contain spoilers for the new trailer, the reports of the new clips, and any other random spoilers like interview spoilers that might be floating around. Some of my speculation definitely overlaps with @markantonys

In the con-exclusive scenes that were aired, one of them was about Liandrin being publicly revealed as a Darkfriend and her escape from the White Tower. Briefly, this scene then cuts to Moiraine and Rand in the streets of a city. If this is the shot of Moiraine in the rain from the trailer, then they're in Tar Valon. This is supported by the interview at the recent con saying that our kiddos start out the season together.

So, I won't worry about the reasoning behind them all going back to Tar Valon right now, and I'll just do some thoughts based on the 'what if'.

It means they're likely saving the bulk of Rand learning politics until after he's already gone through everything with Rhuidean and the Waste (aka until s4 which, if it follows the pattern of s2 & s3, would have two focal episodes for our mains, and it would be Mat and Elayne's turn to have one each, which could really work for their respective arcs) and (since Moiraine is still wearing the clothes from the end of s2), they are going to be rushing away from Falme as quickly as they rushed there, and we are probably going to first see them in Tar Valon (or potentially in the Ways, but that can probably just be assumed, since Loial is with them).

Moiraine is leaning back into the plan that she wants to believe she can still make happen, the one that she made with Siuan back in the day -- where she finds and trains the Dragon while Siuan gets the White Tower ready to work with him (as opposed to imprisoning him). Now that Moiraine knows that Liandrin is a Darkfriend, she can take that information to Siuan (along with the info about the Seanchan) and prove to Siuan that she did not lose her way, that their original plan can still work. They damaged each other's trust in s2 but now she wants to rebuild it.

So, episode one is the reunion in Tar Valon, and the reveal of Liandrin as Black Ajah. Maybe this is also where Egwene and Elayne get rushed through their Accepted Tests by Siuan. Moiraine and Siuan get their romantic reunion. We might get our bubbles of evil here -- Rand destroying the mirror selves is I think what's in trailer when he has that burst of power. Maybe Lanfear making her offer to Rand to find him a teacher comes in here?

Episode two is where I think the rest of our Andorans will come in -- a cold open in Andor, introducing us to the royal family & to Elaida, and Galad and Gawyn coming to train as Warders in the White Tower aka to be Morgase's eyes to make sure her daughter doesn't disappear again (which she will). And Elaida becomes our Red Sister in the White Tower as Liandrin has left.

It seems likely that this will be our trigger point for our team to split up -- Perrin hears the rumors about the Two Rivers, and Nynaeve, Elayne, & Egwene guess that Liandrin is heading to Tanchico, while Rand decides that he needs to go to the Aiel Waste. Why doesn't Mat go with Rand? This is where I wonder if we get our doorway, and the questions, but he gets pointed towards Tanchico instead of the Waste, maybe? TSR is such a strong book for the Mat-Rand relationship, so I really hope we get some of that in the season.

Now, it may be that we have two episodes with the gang together before separation... or we might get three. In the books, Rand does pretty much get tossed into Rhuidean the second he arrives, and we know that Rhuidean is happening in episode four. So maybe they get three episodes together before the split.

Episode three may be when we get Egwene (originally planning to go with Nynaeve and Elayne to chase Liandrin) and Mat (originally planning to go to the Waste with Rand; or to the Two Rivers with Perrin) swapping paths. Mat gets information that points him towards Tanchico (this is based on earlier spoilers that place him there with Nynaeve, Elayne, Min and Thom), while Egwene meets Amys in TAR and decides she needs to go with Rand to the Waste.

At some point during these three episodes, I do suspect that Rand and Egwene will sort out the status of their relationship officially, and I do think we'll get some hints of potential feelings between Rand and Elayne.

Other book-based events we might get in this block of episodes:

Egwene and Elayne trying to 'teach' Rand channeling and failing, thus continuing to remind us all that Rand needs a proper teacher of some kind.

We're definitely getting Rand's bubble of evil. We might get Perrin's, since he picked up an axe last season to kill Daddy Bornhald. And we might get Mat's, giving us a chance to see Mat out and about in Tar Valon (having a streak of good luck?).

Since Galad and Gawyn are both (likely) going to be in the White Tower, this is our only chance to get Mat facing off against them, two on one.

Egwene meeting the brothers and feelings of some kind sparking.

We could get Elaida's prophecy about Rand, and the two of them meeting.

We know we're getting Lan & Nynaeve scenes, because Daniel has already talked them up a lot, saying that they need to catch up and go past where the characters were at during this time of the books (which would be Tear-era).

If we get any kind of indicator of blossoming feelings between Rand and Elayne, maybe we'll get the feathers scene (I would love that so much. I am so fond of the feathers scene and how Elayne keeps the feathers as something precious because Rand wanted to make them into flowers).

I do hope that some of the stuff from the Waste for Mat & Rand can somehow be transposed to these three episodes, since spoilers indicate that Mat will go to Tanchico instead of the Waste.

Episode four is Rhuidean -- Rand sees the past, while Moiraine sees the future. In the side plots, Perrin arrives in the Two Rivers, while Elayne, Nynaeve & Mat arrive in Tanchico (we might even skip them entirely and pick up with those two groups in ep5). A lot of what we saw in the trailer is probably coming from this episode. Rafe mentioned that Rand, Moiraine, and Egwene would all be in their own separate world for a whole episode, so I'll speculate that the episode c plot is Egwene doing Dreamwalker training while Rand and Moiraine are in Rhuidean.

Episodes five & six will probably give us more about the Two Rivers and Tanchico. We might get the coup in here, though that might be saved for the end of the season.

Book events we're possibly going to see:

We'll meet Lord Luc. We may see Brigitte and Uno in TAR as well.

Aviendha being assigned as the person to teach Rand the ways of the Aiel, and him accidentally flirting with her via regard gifts.

Either Egeanin, or Tuon taking on Egeanin's role in the storyline (which would be a good reason for Mat to go to Tanchico instead of the Waste!).

Episode seven is going to be the Battle of the Two Rivers, and probably Perrin's focus episode. If Rand and Moiraine's story climaxes happen in ep8, then we might get the Tanchico storyline climaxing here with Nynaeve's confrontation with Moghedien.

Episode eight is probably going to be Al Cair Dal, and the splitting of the Aiel into the faction following Rand, and the faction following Couladin, but I do think likely the second climax of the episode and the climax of the season as a whole will be Moiraine and Lanfear's confrontation over Rand's future, stealing that bit of TFoH for this season but saving the rest for when Mat comes back into Rand's story in s4. Basically both Moiraine and Lanfear being taken out of the picture so that Rand is going to have to travel the paths between light and shadow without either of them trying to influence him. Our end of season teaser might be the reveal that Asmodean placed the dragons on Couladin's arms.

(yes, this is me letting go of my 'reunion at the end of s3 hopes' lol. at least for now)

This leaves chasing down Couladin for the start of season 4, which would be an appropriate place to bring Mat back into Rand's story to kill Couladin and form the Band of the Red Hand. This is also when Elayne and Thom can come back into Rand's life to help teach him wetlander politics (with Moiraine gone). Given the pattern of the focus episodes, Mat and Elayne seem likely to get theirs in s4, because they're the only members of the core six not to get them yet.

[twicetolivetwicetodie]

If you're not watching the wheel of time my biggest question for you right now is: why? Yes I'm biased cause I've been a hardcore book fan since I was 14 but it's legitimately the best fantasy show on the air right now

[ofthebrownajah]

everytime I see someone say it's a problem that a "majority of the audience" (it's not) hate Rand I'm like "have you ever spoken to another book reader in your life."

[wot-tidbits]

[two-ponds-and-a-bowtie]

mat cauthon is a slut (affectionate)

[shitpostingkats]

They weren't lying. This Shadow do be Rising.

[liptonrm]

One of the most interesting things about RJ's work is the way he portrays the stultifying pressure of destiny. It's a terrible thing to be chosen by fate. Mat's stuck. Trapped. And I don't think either Thom or Mat really get it at this point, it's not Aes Sedai, it's not Mat waffling, it's literally life itself that won't let Mat leave.

I think it's easy to see how trapped Rand is by prophecy and miss how much Mat and Perrin and even Min are also imprisoned. The only freedom any of them can find is by running with the Pattern and stealing moments when they can.

Terrifying.

Compare this to Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne's later discussion about next steps. Maybe it's all about perception, but they've committed to their path (chasing the Black Ajah) and they only have to choose which trail to hunt down.

[chloristoflora]

"That is the one that will kill me, isn't it?" he asked her softly, then quoted, " 'His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul, washing away the Shadow, sacrifice for man's salvation.' "

"You read too much," she said sharply, "and understand too little."

"Do you understand more? If you do, then tell me."

"He is only trying to find his way," Lan said suddenly. "No man likes to run forward blindly when he knows there is a cliff somewhere ahead."

Perrin gave a twitch of surprise. Lan almost never disagreed with Moiraine, or at least not where anyone could overhear. He and Rand had been spending a good deal of time together, though, practicing the sword.

Moiraine's dark eyes flashed, but what she said was: "He needs to be in bed. Will you ask that wash water be brought, and another bedchamber prepared? This one needs a thorough cleaning and a new mattress." Lan nodded and put his head into the anteroom for a moment, speaking quietly.

"I will sleep here, Moiraine." Letting go of the bedpost, Rand pushed himself erect, grounding Callandor's point on the littered carpet and resting both hands on the hilt. If he leaned a little on the sword, it did not show much. "I won't be chased any more. Not even out of a bed."

"Tai'shar Manetheren," Lan murmured.

This time even Rhuarc looked startled, but if Moiraine heard the Warder compliment Rand, she gave no sign of it. She was staring at Rand, her face smooth but thunderheads in her eyes. Rand wore a quizzical little smile, as if wondering what she would try next.

The Shadow Rising, by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time #4, Chapter 3: Reflection)

[toastandjamie]

You know, Mat’s Rhuidian adventure is really funny. Rand left him outside alone for about one minute before Mat was already considering going in after him and getting distracted by the red stone door- almost dies too.

Disaster boy, can’t be left unsupervised