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esterzach · 6 months

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The price of the small pleasures

Alanna's character feels like a needed contrast that helps shape the perception of Moiraine's character. There is this whole episode where it's all about family and home. Alanna comes back home with a huge family, the kids are having fun, laughing, and playing with her Warders, it's warm, sunny, and cozy, a beautiful nature around, with lots of food as usual. Alanna is open, speaking with everyone, and making jokes. Life is good and people seem happy. Alanna is never alone and it looks like she is often home, where she is accepted and loved. And then there is Moiraine. Oh, boy... It's almost hilarious if it wasn't so fucking depressing.

This one comes back to her huge house, dark and gloomy even during the day, and revisits her memories, but it doesn't seem happy. It looks like a museum of someone long dead. Her things are covered, someone is keeping her room, all her things, but she is never home. She barely says two words to her sister and immediately they have a fight. And I get it - Moiraine is not exactly pleasant in her behaviour, even though she has her reasons. But she refuses tea. TEA! Alanna is cooking, having full meals, and enjoying life, and Moiraine refuses even that small pleasure. And tea is one of the few things Moiraine loves. It's almost as if she deprives herself of every pleasure. And it's not like she can't spend 20 minutes with her sister and say at least a few nice words.

Moiraine doesn't eat. They make a point with that one. We never see her eat. Lan eats, Nynaeve eats, Alanna( almost all the time - she is green, after all), her warders, Lan, Thomas, Verin, and Adeleas is all about LET ME enjoy my meal and wine ( half of the time she is completely out and doesn't know what happens around her and the rest of the time she is horny (now that is not exactly true, but that is for later). Perin even eats. Egwene drinks with Elayne. Everyone at some point is shown to eat. Never Moiraine.

Food is not just necessary for survival. Food is also a pleasure. It should be a pleasure if done correctly. Meals also mean connection with other people. If and when Moiraine ever eats, she eats alone. She refuses to join the others in Verin's house, her sister, and she refuses the sandwiches of her nephew. They make yet another point of showing how isolated she is, even from people, who genuinely care about her.

The first time her sister is actually nice to her, her first reaction is to get defensive and snarky and, after a couple more words, Moiraine literally crumbles and starts to cry. This is the first time in months, after The Eye she shows emotion in front of someone. And it's almost forced, she is exhausted, and hasn't slept in... a while and someone basically reads her and finds exactly her weakness and confronts her about it. That is just for a moment and she composes herself immediately. Seconds later she gets help and she shows emotion again. It sort of seems like showing vulnerability and weakness, and asking for help is something that she has no right to do, or... I don't know.

The one time we saw her doing some for her own pleasure was Tar Valon. The tea and the spa. And Siuan. And this was it. Now it sort of feels like she is avoiding that on purpose. Either she thinks she doesn't deserve it or thinks that this is a distraction.

Her baths in Verin's house are more self-punishment than pleasure. She doesn't have to carry water alone, but she does it anyway. And something tells me that this well is probably not the only one around that house. Both women are Aes Sedai, which means they can use The One Power for ... a lot of things. They have a garden and a bunch of flowers in the house, that look pretty fresh and green for the Mediterranean climate, considering the grass around is dry. Usually, every house has a well or some source of water close by. Yet, milady goes to a well, that is so far from the house, that is practically useless. Good luck bringing enough water from there for all the needs in this house, but anyway. Even with nothing to carry, in this heat, a walk like that is, to put it mildly very unpleasant. With something that heavy to carry up that hill... I don't know.

The other thing is - small pleasures are distractions. The only time she actually sits in the company of the others in S2 is when they are on their way to Tar Valon. And that is because she doesn't have a choice. And something happens there, that I think she thinks is a mistake. A moment of distraction, a small weakness, that threatens to ruin her plan. She is having a conversation. That scene is brilliant! Subtle, well-written, and perfect and I watched it like probably 30 times so far but I was focused on the wrong thing. The night when Lan and Moiraine travel to Tar Valon, everyone is around the campfire. Moiraine is again standing at a distance, isolated from everyone else until Verin goes to her, reveals what she knows and basically tells her "You know what I am not promising anything, you just have to trust me." They cut to other things and when are back again Moiraine folds and decides to sit with them. What could go wrong? Adeleas is drunk again, floating on a pink cloud, imagining romantic stories, speaking of sex life, and trying to make Lan talk. She asks how Lan and Moiraine met. What follows in uncomfortable silence! None of them speaks, Lan seems uneasy, and Moiraine glares annoyed. She continues to avoid his eyes. Verin tries to help, by saying that it's late and they have to go to bed. Adeleas ignores her, in her drunken haze and blabbing some imagined overly sexualized story, which gets on Moiraine's nerves. She quickly interrupts Adeleas's idiotic monologue with the true story of their first meeting. Whether it is because she is already annoyed with Adeleas' behaviour toward Lan, or wants to save him from an uncomfortable moment, is irrelevant. Lan is surprised. Moiraine speaks! But what was meant to be just a way to make Adeleas shut up, turns into a sweet moment. Because this memory is precious for both of them. Lan smiles and joins the explanation, they look at each other, and she smiles too throughout the whole time she tells the story. It turns into a banter between two very close people. Bond, no Bond, at this moment it doesn't matter - they are in synch again. This is beyond sweet. They joke! hell, Moiraine jokes! This is what they look like. This is them. For one very small moment. Everyone laughs. And then, all of a sudden, with a serious voice, a laser-sharp focus, and a very sober-looking expression, Adeleas says her great line. "And that's when you knew. Any old Warder can save you from Trollocks, that right one can save you from yourself." Adeleas wasn't drunk at all. You can pretend to be drunk when you are sober, you can't act sober when you are drunk. It was a setup for Moiraine, to open up, to speak, and she knew exactly how to make her drop her defenses and finally speak to him. An attempt to make her get close to Lan again maybe? Lan was happy for sure. Moiraine though... is on the verge of tears.

She knows what her goal is with him. She knows what the plan is and that little moment was a failure. The small pleasure of this moment would probably cost her. In order for her plan to work, she has to be awful to Lan. One small distraction, and she falls back into her normal self. A tiny moment of happiness, a shared memory, and the old, cold, and sour Aes Sedai is a normal woman with feelings. The danger - Lan sees through her and never wants to leave her side which eventually will lead to his death. That's how much a moment of weakness might cost.

#wheel of time #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran #wot #S2

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iviarellereads · 2 months

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The Eye of the World, Chapter 43 - Decisions and Apparitions

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one!)

(Dragon's Fang icon) In which plans are made, though you know what they say about the best-laid thereof...

Rand asks, so, what are the ways, and why will they die? Loial and Moiraine are both reluctant to answer. Loial says that after the Breaking, some stedding made offers of sanctuary to male Aes Sedai who hadn't yet gone mad from the taint. In the stedding they were cut off from the True Source, which meant they couldn't use it and go mad, but they were so used to its presence in their souls that they started to go a different kind of mad. One by one, they left the stedding. Moiraine adds that some, particularly the Red Ajah, hold that the sanctuary of the stedding only prolonged the Breaking, but the Blue Ajah, of which she is one,(1) holds to the view that if all the men had gone mad at once, there would be nothing left of the world.

In gratitude of the offer, even if it didn't work out, the male Aes Sedai made the Ways, where you could walk for a day and come out of another Waygate one hundred, five hundred miles from where you started. Time and distance work differently there, they're not part of the world, and how long you take to get somewhere may depend on which path you choose to take. Ogier would no longer have to go into the world to go from one stedding to another, and there was no Breaking in the Ways.(2)

Egwene asks how they could do such a thing, if the stedding cuts off the Source. Loial adds that the Waygates were built just outside the borders of stedding, and a thousand years ago, they began to change. Travelers started talking about feeling watched, and raving about Machin Shin, the Black Wind. Aes Sedai healers could help some, but not all, and none were ever the same. They all forgot what happened, they never laughed again, and they all feared the sound of wind.(3)

Nynaeve asks if Moiraine expects them to walk into that, and Moiraine points out Whitecloaks in the city, Trollocs outside, they can't leave without being seen by one, the other, or both. And they must get to the Eye before it can be turned to the Dark One's purpose, there's enough power in it to break his prison entirely. Three threads, chosen by the Pattern itself, have come together. They may not think they can do anything to help, and they could just run away, but they could also go and try. The choice is there, for each of them.

Rand is the first to say he'll go, Mat and Perrin quick behind him. Egwene refuses to be left behind, and Nynaeve says Moiraine still needs her herblore. Loial is still reluctant to break the laws of the Elders and open the Way, but there's little other choice.

They plan well into the night, though at one point Rand takes Egwene aside and begs her to go home, go to Tar Valon, go anywhere but with them. Egwene says no, Min said she was part of this business, too. She has to go.

“But, Egwene—”

“Who is Elayne?”

For a minute he stared at her, then told the simple truth. “She’s the Daughter-Heir to the throne of Andor.”

Her eyes seemed to catch fire. “If you can’t be serious for more than a minute, Rand al’Thor, I do not want to talk to you.”(4)

Eventually, they make their way to bed, and Rand has another dream. Blah blah, Baa uses the same old lines. When he wakes, Mat's not long behind, and afraid the Dark One knows who he is. Rand isn't so sure, Baa keeps hinting he doesn't know which of the three is... he trails off, and realizes he has a splinter from the table in the dream, deep in his hand. Moiraine comes in, realizes they've dreamed again, looks at Rand's hand, and tells them time is short.

=====

(1) So, we now know the name of a second Ajah of the Aes Sedai, the Blues, and they appear to be in direct opposition to the Red, and Moiraine is one of them. Interesting. She does always seem to be wearing blue, though she said that every other Aes Sedai in the city is red last chapter, which means obviously they don't all dress according to their Ajah colours, since Elaida's dress was green, and Mo knows who she is. (2) I do find it interesting that the Ogier thought anything crafted with tainted saidin would ever be safe to use, but I guess they got two thousand years of use out of it so it couldn't have been that bad. But boy, that Machin Shin sounds pretty mean. (3) Not great in a pre-industrial sort of society like this. (4) I think this is my favourite moment of the chapter, maybe of the book: Egwene refusing to take Rand seriously, after literally everyone else has repeatedly refused to take him seriously when he talks about the trouble being ta'veren has gotten him into. Poor Rand. And yet another "Perrin knows how to deal with women" for the tally sheet.

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw #teotw #wot dragon fang icon #rand al'thor #loial #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran

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karatam · 2 years

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So I've been having a lot of feelings about your tags on WoT posts and would like to add this thought: In the books, Egwene finds out that Siuan has been stilled (and executed they think), and is canonically the one who tells Moiraine (that conversation canonically also included Egwene asking if Moiraine has ever been in love and Moiraine not giving a direct answer). And then Moiraine goes into the archway before learning any differently. In my reread I haven't gotten to how Siuan finds out about Moiraine (although I suspect it might be Lan which please give us that scene with the two of them mourning together). I mean who knows if this will all make it in the show but if it does, it's gonna hurt.

LOT OF BOOK SPOILERS ABOVE AND BELOW THE CUT!!!

this is a lot of incoherent rambling, beware lol

I am 100% NOT PREPARED for

Moiraine's reaction Siuan's being deposed and apparently killed

Moiraine's reaction to Siuan being alive and stilled

Siuan's reaction to Moiraine's apparent death

Siuan's reaction to Moiraine actually being alive

Moiraine's reaction to Siuan's death

now, I do hope that some of this is going to get changed (especially that last point bc I HATE IT)

and I do kind of wonder if the Oath that Moiraine swore that Siuan's weave enforced will create a kind of bond between them, something akin to a Warder Bond, something that tethers them together (especially since Moiraine used Siuan's name in her vow, instead of 'Amyrlin Seat').

like, will Moiraine be able to feel a faint thread still connecting them when she hears about the coup? will it drop from a raging storm to just a trickle as Siuan is cut off from the Source? and then resurge to something more when Nynaeve heals Siuan?

and then when Moiraine ~dies~, will it feel like that connection being slammed shut (kind of like what Lan would be feeling)? which makes it seem true that Moiraine is dead. Or maybe would Siuan praying that Moiraine come back to her be enough to help Moiraine yank herself out of the Finn's realm, as she has vowed to obey Siuan Sanche.

(I've also talked with @romanimp about these two accidentally bonding each other as Warders when they were very young (before Lan) and how that connection, that knowledge of each other's well-being, is enough to keep them going)

I really really hope that the show tinkers some more with the series timeline, if only so that Moiraine and Siuan can interact more on screen, since they don't a lot in the main book series. (also, I dream of a New Spring prequel series now that they're committed to these as a canon couple)

and obviously I hope for a change to their endings from the book (sometimes I remember that Moiraine marries Thom in the books and I receive psychic damage) (and I'm still filled with white hot rage at Siuan's (and Egwene's) endings from the books. pls change that Rafe, thanks)

#the wheel of time book spoilers #the wheel of time spoilers #the wheel of time #moiraine x siuan #ask #starsplit

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fedonciadale · 2 years

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An ask to shake things up a little from That Other Topic: You and I both loved the WoT tv show, but nothing's perfect, of course, so what would you change about it if you could? What do you think could have been done better? Is there anything you're hoping they'll improve on next season? I want to hear your thoughts!

Hi there!

I'll talk gladly about that!

I wouldn't change that much to be honest, mostly because there are quite a lot of things that we'll have to see how they develop in later seasons. And there are changes I'm definitely very happy about.

My main problem was pacing. I think the season should have had 10 episodes and longer as well. There were some things that were underdeveloped and difficult to understand for Non book readers. Take Padan Fain! He was shown several times following the EF5 but it was too short to stand out. So, I don't know if show watchers even got his importance.

I know the actor left but I would have introduced the next Mat actor for episode 7 and 8. It was noticeabke that they tried very hard to work around that and it didn't quite work. Padan Fain had to confront Mat, Perrin made no sense.

I would have had Nynaeve heal Egwene in episode 8, not the other way round - or if Egwene really used the 'flame of Tar Valon' weave show that it was something super special and not normal channeling.

I'm a bit torn about the fact that they haven't introduced yet in detail that the True Source has two halves - Saidin was mentioned only on the age of legends cold open. And as much as the gender essentialism of the True Source is problematic in itself it is a huge part of the world building. And Moiraine mentioned only once that women and men can't see each other channeling. It's not easy to find a way around the male-female binary but I think it could be done : it could be too dangerous for humans to touch the source as a whole and that is why they can only touch one half. (The counterpart of the One Power the Dark One's Power is only one and it's too addictive - so that makes sense). Then you could have men tending to Saidin and women to Saidar (maybe especially if they have the spark) but enbys or trans people (people who can choose to learn) could choose. That's my solution anyway and I wonder how they will tackle that problem. It's a rather important part of the story that Rand needs a teacher after all. And that he is not exempt from going mad. I certainly would keep that in the show women and men seem to be equally strong.

In general I'm happy about how they handle romance. Lan / Nynaeve was one of the few ships I liked and it is now even better! Not sure about Perrin / Egwene though. On a rewatch I saw it but I'm not sure where they are going with that. Otherwise they can only improve on the romances in comparison to the books and they already did!

For my part they could just have scratched Min. Sigh. She's part of the show though and there is hope they just skip her attitude towards Egwene (which I hated so much in the books). I guess I'll never like her but I may be able to tolerate her. Lol. If I could change the polycule without enraging the fans, I would make Elayne and Aviendha bisexual, let them both have a crush on Rand (and get their one night stands) but I'd let them end up with each other and Rand either on his own (everybody really thinks he is dead) or if it can't be helped with Min. Actually anything but that weird male fantasy Jordan wrote....

I think it's reasonable to expect that they merge book 2 and 3 for the next season. Book 2 is still very much centered on Rand and he's barely there in book 3. If they want to keep making this an ensemble it makes sense to try to combine book 2 and 3 - it would help to reduce repetitive duels as well. We could end season 2 with Rand holding Callandor... That would be nice. The girls could escape the Seanchan mid-season and still end up chasing dark friends in Tear (you don't reall need the Seanchan to vanish completely. Moiraine could regain her strength in a fight with one Forsaken! Perrin could meet Faile already.

There's still so many thoughts! I can barely wait for season 2!

#ask box #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot on prime #season 2 speculation #moiraine damodred #rand al'thor #perrin aybara #wonder girls #saidin #Saidar

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hazelcephalopod · 2 years

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The Eye of the World Ch 21-22

Disclaimer: this is my first read thru but I’ve watched the first 4 episodes of the show and been spoiled on some things. So… I’m going to lean into that. Enjoy figuring out what I know and what I think in know and what I don’t. Also s/x I add commentary when I edit.

Spoilers for the first book under the cut.

Immediate impression: finally some rest. Or rest in comparison to the last couple days.

Ch 21

NYNAEVE POV!!! Yessss!!

So I guess Mashadar is just the evil in Shadar Logoth then. Like that’s the description. The end. That’s fine.

Yup. B/c it makes no sense and that’s always more terrifying

Yup. They might just kill you. They want the others

I believe it. She is a force of nature

… wouldn’t Trollocs where bigger boots? Tho. Perrin and Rand are very tall

That’s smart sneak up and check it out first

*sigh* get some pants. For now. Sure. And roll the skirts up for now. You must be wearing stockings. Plz tell me you are wearing stockings?

Lan!

Guess they’re hungry? (Big shrug)

Wouldn’t that be the day Moiraine? Wouldn’t that be the day.

Right where I was ma’am. You are matched in skill with a Warder today!

1000? 1k? That’s a fucking shit ton yes!

Thank you Lan. Yea. How? How here?

Five years? Mmm not the worst timeline but not a good one.

“The Ways are closed…” -Moiraine. So teleportation? That is a thing then? Cool cool cool. Thats fine. Sure. Dark side has teleportation and good side does not

“Unless one of the Forsaken is loose…” -Moiraine. Don’t like that comment. Don’t like it at all

You will accept more then one then?

Ha! That’s a great saying.

Also sorry Nynaeve. But you did that for shockingly long!

And this time you bested him! By hiding!

“…how she sometimes healed injuries, that should have been crippling, so well that there was barely a scar, and not a limp or a twinge.” -Moiraine trying to convince Nynaeve she also can wield the Power.

We all know who, Nynaeve. That asshole Cenn Buie

“…there was something you wanted more than anything else in the world, something you needed. And you got it.” -Moiraine describing a channelers first use of the power to Nynaeve. & “…a week or ten days later you had your first reaction to touching the True Source. Perhaps fever and chills… put you to bed, then disappeared after a few hours. Headaches and numbness and exhilaration all mixed together, and you taking foolish chances or acting giddy.” -Moiraine describes the potential after affects of using the power for the first time. (I later learn- it’s not just the first time but for a while after until they stop having rxns and then die, usually)

The healer can sense the one they healed. Ok. And for a long time it sounds like.

Ma’am that is truly (not) something to take for granted.

Love her. ‘No one tells me what to do and I willl follow.’

Always a good idea to ask Min I imagine.

Oh… well good news. Perrin has his. Bad news -which you prolly know- no ones else does. Except a ships captain, but doesn’t sound like it will work becaus it changed ownership. Soo… g’luck

Honestly lucky for you the one with a coin is the most capable of the lot. And unluckily for the rest

The fact that it is Egwene Nynaeve immediately worries about leaving behind.

Moiraine just still not trusted at all. And… I get why. Like I like her and trust her but I know things -and am not clouded by the biases of this world. She’s shady.

Ch 22

Oh a tree this time! Cool.

Oh at least you had a nice dream Perrin

The waking world tho. That’s rough buddy. Oof

Mmm, personally, not confident on the fate of that horse tbh.

Still has his boots! Probably the right decisions yea. I mean he lived

Hunting time!

!!! Firebox! Yes! That.. the drill friction fire thing!

Oh yea need to make a fire. Or something. Get those wet clothes off.

I mean. It’s not snowing so ok. Now that.. that would be a Problem

“Abruptly he stepped into a little clearing under the hemlock -and stopped. Behind a small fire, Egwene crouched…” -Perrin finding Egwene.

The boys and Nynaeve- refusing to accept anyone is dead. Egwene- straight up tells Perrin she thought he was dead for sure.

Fire!

Lol. Egwene pulls thru as the most 2nd most competent of 2Rivers crew

I’m sry potentially Third most competent. I forgot Bela

Mmm yup. Totally looking for you. >.>

Oh great going to a place you’ve never been based on a shoddy map. Not a bad plan just a bad situation

Truly. They are team competency and common sense. Moiraine and Lan team experience. Mat, Rand and Thom? Team ‘dad help and fortune be kind’ AKA Team Luck

Oh no! Lol. Caemlyn? Not Whitebridge. That’s… oof. A good plan to just ruin everyone else huh?

Sir. You just… he’s right. That’s is so astute

Good thing he still has that coin huh? Wonder how long that will last

I like that they always think ‘I can’t believe I just said that’ as I’m also thinking ‘I can’t believe you just said that’

She is wise enough to know when to delegate

Noo fire!

Plz don’t get pneumonia…

#the wheel of time #wheel of time #wot #many thoughts on twot teotw #< block or filter to stop seeing these posts #twot book spoilers #twot book #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw spoilers

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butterflydm · 2 years

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Wheel of Time S1E2: shadow’s waiting

The first episode was good. This episode, things got even better, though the body horror quotient also goes up as well.

(Side note: I do want to mention how much I love the costuming, especially the pants-with-divided-skirts-on-top, which I really like, and that whoever did the location scouting was amazing, because everywhere is gorgeous.)

Shadar Logoth, in the books, is one of the big things early on that really hooked me into the series. Obviously, they are able to go into more detail about the story in the books, but the whole idea of this different kind of evil that the Trollocs are afraid to deal with was fascinating to me. It made the world more complicated and interesting. It gets shortened in the series, which I was expecting, but the creepiness of it is still there.

But first, we are on the road! (as a reminder, this is my rewatch that I’m doing my best to keep future-spoilers free, so I’ll only mention the books if what they’ve dealt with has already been shown in this or a previous episode and even then, I will avoid details)

I love what they did with the Whitecloaks. They made them creepy and scary and actually a danger right away! The story of Shadar Logoth may have been compressed but the main theme of it is right here -- that evil doesn’t only come from the Dark One, that suspicion and paranoia can make monsters out of men. Again, there’s definitely some grusomeness/gore -- seeing the Yellow sister’s hands was pretty brutal -- and we also see Valda’s self-righteousness in killing someone horrifically and calling it ‘mercy’.

The intro is so pretty! I’ve rewatched the first three episodes all through now and this is my third viewing of the second episode, and I’ve not skipped the intro once. I am very curious to see if it will change over time, while still using the same concept of the pattern being weaved.

The crossing at Taren Ferry is really the first thing in the series that shows us why everyday folk might fear Aes Sedai, as Moiraine's determination can come across as cold-blooded here (and certainly does to Hightower). Yes, she didn’t kill him, but watching someone die like that because of a choice that Moiraine made would still be a shock to our Two Rivers kids. Also, this would only be the second time that Rand would have seen her channel, I believe, as he missed her throwing fireballs and rocks during the big fight. He’s had less exposure to her risking herself for others than the the rest of the group.

During the campsite, which is kinda a compressed version of all of the wilderness traveling that happens in the book in this section, I love that we get to actively see the process of the Two Rivers kids processing their shock and grief over what happened at Bel Tine and Moiraine asking them to leave their homes. They had to skip over them challenging her more at the time of leaving, because there just wasn’t time to deal with it (and I agree that, pacing-wise, they really needed to leave at the end of episode one and not drag it out), so we get to hash it out here and it’s a good conversation and I feel like we get to see a lot about the character and relationship dynamics.

Egwene is the most inclined to trust Moiraine; Rand is the least inclined -- not only does that make sense for their characters, but it also sets up yet another tension point in their already frayed relationship. Mat does his best to break the tension of the moment while Perrin is lost in his own head.

The scene with Moiraine showing Egwene that she can touch the Source hews pretty closely to the book, from what I recall, and it’s just as lovely here as I remember it being. A world of possibilities is opening up for Egwene -- again, this stands as a strong contrast to how Rand is feeling like they’re being controlled until they can be used and potentially discarded. ‘What place does a man have at the White Tower?’ indeed.

Apart from Egwene being the most inclined to trust Moiraine, I think a key element of that is that when Egwene challenges Moiraine, Moiraine actually explains to her exactly the details of what happened. Egwene does get special treatment here, in being taken aside and having her fears get taken seriously in a one-on-one setting, which is naturally going to make a huge difference in how she feels about Moiraine. Now, Moiraine’s behavior does make a lot of sense given the history of the world and the society that Moiraine comes from but we can see the difference that it makes that Moiraine is already treating Egwene like she’s on the road to becoming part of the Aes Sedai; teaching her, guiding her, and behaving more like a mentor.

To contrast, when the kids wake up in the morning from their nightmare, Moiraine is in full ‘no time for explanations; go go go’ mode. Rand doesn’t get any of his fears talked through the way that Egwene did. He’s basically just told to suck it up and get moving. Of course that makes him balk. And we can see that the other two boys also have their doubts, but they’re just wary enough of Moiraine that they aren’t going to challenge her decisions at this point.

So, the Whitecloaks scene... brief but impactful. We set up an internal conflict that is clearly brewing in the ranks, get to see Moiraine dance around the truth, and then it leads to another scene where Moiraine instructs Egwene in the nature of the Aes Sedai.

Love the broken, ancient bridge (overpass, maybe?) in the background of one of the traveling scenes.

Glad that Rafe fought to keep that Manetheren scene in the show! I love it. The bit of song is great and I’m glad we got to hear the story. Especially since the history of the Two Rivers is important when thinking about the way that shaped the way their local society developed, even if the details were lost to the locals themselves as time passed.

Perrin and wolves! I will not go into details because the show hasn’t given us too much yet, but... wolves! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I like the music playing here; I assume it’s probably Perrin’s theme?

Anyway, then we are finally entering Shadar Logoth! Creepy vibes! Story is much abridged but that’s to be expected. Shadar Logoth accomplishes what it needs to:

a. splits the party

b. scares the Trollocs

c. Mat finds the dagger

And the show did it with a wonderful atmosphere. The emptiness! How quiet it all is when they enter, except for the actual sounds that our group makes. I liked the soft moments that Mat & Perrin, and Egwene & Rand share. Especially since, due to the party split, those pairs won’t be getting to spend time together in the near future.

Some of the other stuff that happened in Shadar Logoth, I kinda feel like I can’t talk about without going into book spoilers, so I will end there, lol. For now, I’ll just be excited about Nynaeve showing up at the end! <3

Looking forward to the new episode this week! My initial reaction to that will likely be full of book-related spoilers, but I’ll try to do a book-spoiler-free rewatch for 1x03 this weekend.

#wheel of time #wot #wot spoilers #wot show spoilers #wot on prime #wot meta #wot personal meta #wot prime spoilers #butterfly watches wot

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writer-sedai · 2 years

Text

Thoughts on Wheel of Time episode 8 & first season

(long post and book spoilers)

First of all, ended up loving that Moiraine and Rand go to the Eye on their own while everyone else stays behind. In the book, they all get dragged to the Eye because Moiraine doesn’t know which one is the Dragon, then almost everyone gets knocked out immediately except for Rand who both fights Ba’alzamon and aids at Tarwin’s Gap from that weird netherspace that shows up in the frst two books and is never really explained. By leaving everyone else behind (sans Lan), Egwene and Nynaeve get the chance to fight Trollocs using the Power while Perrin gets his struggle with violence vs. peace.

(ALSO, parallels to the cold open when Latra said that while Lews Therin and his companions went to the bore, she and the others would stay behind and protect everyone else? I’ve been convinced since I first read the book that Egwene is Latra reborn - equally important but lost to history due to not like...completely dooming the world.)

Splitting the story like this sets up several threads for Season 2 that were already present in the books but now have a bit more oomph behind them:

1) Rand leaving to wander the world alone to avoid dooming his loved ones is literally straight out of the beginning of the second book. He could either wind up in Fal Dara due to Pattern reasons and end up going on the Hunt, or this could be combining his arc from the third book with the second (personally I’m leaning towards this option because I think TGH and TDR could easily be combined).

2) I fully believe that Moiraine has only been shielded, not stilled. (The language used both in the show and in the bts is very careful not to say outright she’s been stilled and Ishamael does say she can still sense the source, just not touch it). Ishamael INSTANTLY overpowering her gets across very quickly just how scarily strong the Forsaken are, and how much they know about the Power that Aes Sedai of the Third Age don’t. Moiraine is offscreen for most of the second book, and this gives her a good emotional arc, plus a reason to research ways to break the shield which could be combined with her other research journey.

3) I loved the visual effects of taking in too much of the Power - again, in the books it’s emphasized many times and in the show I don’t think it has been too much, that the power is very, very dangerous, especially to those who are untrained. Amalisa taking in too much of it shows its addictive qualities and the consequences of not being able to let go. It also nicely illustrates the differing levels of strength between the women - the two unnamed Shienaran women get burnt to a crisp while Nynaeve is shown to be stronger than Egwene, who is again stronger than the others. For my own peace of mind I’m going to assume Nynaeve was neither burnt out nor dead when Egwene healed her, just close to it.

4) Perrin picked up the axe but ultimately was unable to use it. Obviously in doing so, he allowed Fain to escape along with the horn. This gives Perrin a good reason to go on the Hunt next season, because he blames himself that it went missing in the first place - I believe in the book he only goes along because Mat must to retrieve the dagger, and if nothing else Perrin is a Good Friend.

5) (Speaking of Mat) I believe Mat’s initial arc for the second season was actually setup last episode with Moiraine asking the Red Ajah to collect him. We can possibly expect to see Mat in their posession when Egwene and Nynaeve get back to the tower, not truly harmed since of course he’s not actually a man who can channel, but with Very Good Reason to distrust all Aes Sedai and not want the Power used on him. Again, this pretty easily combines plotlines from books 2 & 3.

The only part of the episode I went “wtf no!” at was everyone dying because??? I can understand a couple of extra deaths but Uno, Ingtar, and Loial are all extremely important for the second book (and Loial well past that). But then I remembered healing magic exists and Nynaeve is still alive, so I’m HOPING that none of them are dead, just badly injured, and one of the first scenes of the second season is them being Healed.

Some other thoughts:

-Really enjoyed the combination of the “flicker” scenes from the second book and Egwene’s Accepted test as the alternate reality that Ishamael spins for Rand. Poor boy really wants nothing else from life but to herd sheep quietly with the girl he loves and their child. I’ve really liked how they’ve handled Rand and Egwene in the show (though I also always had a soft spot for them in the books, don’t @ me) - I think maturing them made their relationship feel more real rather than the “I love her because I’m expected to marry her” feeling the books had. In the show, they’re two people who genuinely love each other but whose desires are taking them in different directions, which is tragic and very realistic for a young couple. Rand realizing that the life he wants is NOT the one Egwene wants and that he can’t force her to want that life is just *chef’s kiss*

-Egwene and Perrin making up and then comforting each other at the beginning! The forced love triangle last episode was something I was not happy with and it definitely seems like it’s not a direction they’re actually going in. I just hope Perrin gets some time soon to sit with his emotions and begin to forgive himself.

-Min had her hair down during the shot of her leaving Fal Dara and suddenly I was like “THAT’S my Min!” Can’t wait to see more of her next season.

-Fain was so utterly perfect and creepy - also I’ve noticed twice now that he has a ring with a big red jewel on it that reminds me of the ruby from the dagger? Could be a coincidence but I wonder if he’s already been Up To No Good in Tar Valon, I’ll have to go back and see if you can see the ring in any glimpses of him prior to episode 6.

-The Seanchan are not at all what I expected but I’m still into it. (I actually love the Seanchan as a terrifying opposing force and I can’t wait to see them in all their horrifying glory next season)

-As soon as I saw Lews Therin’s child I thought, “oh no, that baby’s gonna be dead real soon”. I really hope we see the Dragonmount sequence early on next season to really hammer home Rand’s...everything.

Overall, I think I really enjoyed the first season, though I think some episodes could certainly have benefited from being fleshed out a bit more. (Lan’s speech to Nynaeve just doesn’t hit the same when he doesn’t preface it with how he’s destined to die). It helps to separate it from the book entirely, and instead of getting upset at things being different think about how they service the broader story that’s being told.

My biggest complaints are usually with the lore being changed for no reason - though I am forgiving if it seems like something that might be revealed at a later date. But like, Moiraine saying she was unaware Nynaeve could channel? Is Nynaeve no longer born with the spark or is the spark no longer able to be sensed or is Moiraine able to lie by leaving part of the sentence unsaid? (i.e. “I was unaware she could channel before I met her” or “I was unaware she could channel so strongly”). I think the second option breaks with the lore already established early on in the season and the first doesn’t sit right given Moiraine’s early discussion with Nynaeve at the spring.

Also, I am very sad about Mat being left behind as he’s my favourite character from the books, but I think they did a good job with what they had to work with. I’m very excited to see Donal Finn as Mat next year (I loved Barney Harris but he played Mat a bit darker than I’ve ever read him, so it’ll be interesting if Donal brings out more of his Trickster side).

Anyway, mostly I’m just here to have a good time and appreciate my favourite fantasy series being brought to life, so I can handle things being different as long as the core remains the same.

#wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot tv show #wot spoilers #wheel of time spoilers #sorry I am not familiar with all the tags so hopefully I got them all

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wot-tidbits · 3 years

Text

RJ’s notes Part 76 by Matt Hatch

SOURCE

THE EYE OF THE WORLD

OUTLINE/EXPANDED VERSION

Book One: The Eye of the World

(handwritten note: 3rd)

Box 20, Folder 2

File includes an early TEOTW concept from Beginning to end.

- “The Two Rivers” is not a thing yet.

- Tam dies. Moiraine is unable to heal him.

- Moiraine convinces all men of a certain age from villages nearby they should go to Tar Valon to discover why this attack happened.

- Nyneve and Eguene accompany them, and the party stays together. As every village they visit has been struck by misfortune. They are often attacked by Trollocs.

- In Tar Valon, Rand meets Queen Morgase of the city-state of Caemlon, who is married to King Maric Damodred. She hopes that Moiraine finds the true Dragon Reborn so she can rule at his side (until he is gentled, of course)

While there in Tar Valon in this version of the story, they get word that the forsaken and the trollocs are moving through the northern Blight (there is more than one Blight). But the Great Northern Blight is the main one. And they are threating the Eye of the World. So they go rushed to the Blight to protect the Eye of the World from this invading army. And that is how they end up there.

The whole Ba’alzamon blindsiding the Eye of the World doesn’t come in until the next version of the story. Egwene is get raped by one of the Forsaken and then Rand has to heal her. And he does it like in his sleep or something. Or he thinks he is sleeping. And that he uses the power of the Eye of the World. And then Moiraine tells him he is the Dragon Reborn on the spot.

THE EYE OF THE WORLD

OUTLINE/EXPANDED VERSION

Box 20, Folder 2, p.9

One of Morgase’s sons, Galad, who is also in Tar Valon, hates the way his mother flirts. As a reaction to his mother, he not only does not consort with women but has become a total ascetic, expounding on the need for complete purity of the flesh. Also he evinces a strong dislike for any man in whom Morgase shows interest. He goes out of his way to snub the village youths, and even tries to humiliate them.

The one man Galad does not dislike is Lan, who returns the friendship. Lan, co-incidentally, is one of the few men for whom Morgase apparently holds no attraction, and for whom she shows total disregard [NOTE: The last was not always so, for unknown to any but Lan and Morgase, Galad is Lan’s son. Morgase married Maric instead of Lan, and Lan has ignored her existence ever since. She reciprocates. Lan cares for his son a great deal, however, though he cannot reveal his fatherhood.]

Eye of the World [Part One]

FILE: OUTLINE1

and

Book One: The Eye of the World

[Part Two]

FILE: OUTLINE2

Box 20, Folder 2

Highlights of some changes from the prior file:

- The “Two Rivers” take shape including names like Mountains of Mist & Taren Ferry.

- The pre-Festival trip to Emond’s Field takes shape in all its detail including the Fade.

- The gleeman Thom Merilyn was brought down from Baerlan, and Edward White the peddler is in the village with his stories.

- Tam still dies.

- The party still goes to Tar Valon but includes an unspecified number of boys from only Emond’s Field. Nyneve goes with, Eguene followes them and joins in Taren.

- This time the party splits, and some are driven to the land of the Ogyr near the Dragonwall, Rand befriends Jak Vladad, a young Ogyr, who joins the party.

- Morgase is now the ruler of the city-state of Arranellon. Still married to Maric.

Padan Fain (Edward the White) met with the boys and tells the story of his escape in Tar Valon instead of Baerlone.

Book One: The Eye of the World [Part Two]

FILE: OUTLINE2

Box 20, Folder 2, p.5

One of Morgase’s sons, Galad, who is also in Tar Valon, hates the way is mother flirts. As a reaction to his mother, he not only does not consort with women but become a total ascetic, expounding on the need for complete purity of the flesh. [NOTE: Galad will become a Power Wielder of great ability after Rand cleanses the male source of Power, but he will go over to Sha’tan] Also he evinces a strong dislike for any man in whom Morgase shows the slightest interest. He goes out of his way to snub the village youths, and even tries to humiliate them.

The one man Galad does not dislike is Lan, who returns the friendship warlmly despite Galad’s somewhat cold nature. Lan, co-indcidentally, is one of the few men for whom Morgase apparently holds no attraction, and for when she shows total disregard. [NOTE: This last was not always so, for unknown to any but Lan and Morgase, Galad is Lan’s son. Morgase married Maric instead of Lan, for Lan was already a Warder and Maric was powerful lord in his land. SEE NOTES AT END. Lan has ignored her existence ever since. She reciprocates. Lan cares for his son a great deal, however, though he cannot reveal his fatherhood.]

NOTES/BOOKS TWO – SIX

Notes on Books Two Through Six

Box 20, Folder 2, p.3

This is notes on books 2-6, but it is not clear that they follow the outline in previous files. Maybe written earlier?

- In previous outlines, it may be that after the events at the Eye of the World. Rand flees his fate, ends up shipwrecked on the coast of a Blight, though Elyn/Arinel (earlier names for Elayne) is not with him as she was in TEOTW outlines when he fled.

- The Aes Sedai are rulers of city-states in this land (like pre-a’dam Seanchan was in canon). He is captured and given to a woman and a general who is the daughter of one of those Aes Sedai rulers. They fall in love, but Sha’tan is moving there too and he reveals himself as a Power wielder and has to flee. The woman lets him go but her army takes Stair (Tear) for him later.

- Rand spends some time with the Sea Folk.

- Rand’s mother is Morgase’s sister in this version.

After Rand decides that he is indeed the Dragon his first ally will be Morgase, who becomes his lover for a time. This makes Galad his bitter opponent, and sends Galad over to Sha’tan.

THE GREAT HUNT

Continuity #1

Box 45, Folder 1, pp.19-26

A few Highlights from this File

- Galad overhears Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne, and Min talking about Toman Head, insists on going with them because they won’t stay behind.

- Jordan considers how much Galad hear about the Black Ajah, and maybe that convinces him he has to go.

- Liandrin isn’t happy but accepts taking Galad along through the Ways.

Elaynes’ feelings about Galad. She despises him. All her life she has seen him doing good, doing the right thing no matter who was hurt. It is his lack of compassion, his lack of give for human weakness, that makes her sure he is a fraud in his goodness. She cannot trust him.

They travel the Ways (safely, despite Egwene’s/Nynaeve’s extreme nervousness about Machin Shin. Is Liandrin surprised at their knowledge of the Ways?), and on Toman Head Liandrin turns them over to the invaders, but Galad, Nynave and Min escape. (Galad causes this escape.) NOTE: Galad is alone, but Nynaeve and Elayne may be together. Nynaeve is angry enough to be able to channel, but she is foiled by the leashed channelers of the invaders. (?Does Liandrin take part in this? Some small confrontation between Liandrin and invaders?)

[This is part of Ba’alzamon’s plan. He intends to draw Rand to Toman Head and force him to fulfill one of the prophecies, namely proclaiming himself across the sky. Nyneave and Egwene, imprisoned and endangered, are meant to be keys to forcing him to use the Power. Foreshadowing in dream/not dream in pale land, when B speaks of what Rand (whom he calls Lews Therin, and Kinslayer) will do when those he loves and cares for are in danger and enslaved.] Galad takes up partisan activity. Has some contract with Bornhald, or at least with the Whitecloaks. He intends to rescue the women, especially Egwene and Elayne, for he does not know that Elayne and Nynave also escaped. Thinks he failed them. Small Galad POV for this?

NOTE1: considering that he sees Liandrin betray Elayne (if she goes) and Egwene, much less the others, he will certainly lose even the little trust of Aes Sedai that he has.

NOTE2: once he sees Rand in the sky, fighting as the Dragon, he will certainly see him as the worst danger possible. If Rand is the Dragon, he must be able to channel the Power and the evidence of it is certainly in his battle projected across the heavens. Such men are worse than merely dangerous; they must be killed or gentled (which last takes Aes Sedai, and he is not so hot on Aes Sedai, now.), therefore, Rand must be killed, in his view.

NOTE3: Note 1 and Note 2 make Galad a prime candidate for the Children of the Light.

THE GREAT HUNT

Continuity #3

Box 45, Folder 2, p.7

Galad had been sent off to Kairhein as a child to be raised at the court there.

Box 45, Folder 2, p.8

Both Elayne and Gawyn have dichotomous feelings about Galad. He is their brother (half, sure, but they have grown up with him), but he is strange. He believes in doing what is right, and often does not seem to care who gets hurt by it. He professes to have no jealousy that he will not become the First Prince etc, and indeed has never showed any. He even saved Gawyn’s life despite the fact that Gawyn’s death would have made him next in line for that position.

But he has always seemed very conscious of differences between them, that they will be Queen and First Prince, although they have tried to make him feel there were no differences. He is always too protective toward them, and always tries to get them to do the right thing, to behave as they should, which means he has often been a spoilsport as they grew up. His view of good and right is absolute, untempered by mercy or humor.

Continuity #3a

Box 45, Folder 1, p.6

NOTE: Galad did not, at first, intend to come to Tar Valon. Perhaps he felt that taking Warder training would seem as if he were attempting to challenge Gawyn’s place. It was his encounter with Rand in the garden that made him ask to go along, Elayne, as he sees it, needs someone to look after her.

INDIVIDUALS

Box 46, Folder 1, p.22

Mat will leave Tar Valon (after making an enemy of Galad). He will end up in the Aiel Waste with Rand.

Knife of Dreams notes, undated

(Contains base notes on Egwene, Leane, the Loyalist Aes Sedai, the White Tower, Elaida, Alviarin, Seaine and Pevara.)

Box 61, Folder 8, p.90

Gawyn’s death. Galad is present. Galad promises to protect Egwene (and child?) Gawyn either tells him that Rand is his half-brother or starts him on the way of knowing or confirms something learned earlier. This comes after Gawyn married Egwene, and she is pregnant

Memory of Light Outline

II. MAIN BODY [NOT NECESSARILY IN ORDER]

Box 44, Folder 2, pp 1-2, p.7

Egwene and Gawyn

[…]

5. Egwene becomes pregnant.

K. The Last Battle

[…]

12. Egwene is nearly killed and is saved by Egeanin.

13. Gawyn is mortally wounded, and, as dying, tells Galad about Rand being his half-brother.

(Handwritten note: “by Demandred/Lan then kills Demandred)

Notes on Galad

Folder Unknown

Galad’s emotional connections to various women. He flirted with Nynaeve, and believed himself in love with Egwene, but once he learns she has become not only Aes Sedai but the rebel Amyrlin, the impossibility of it hits him. It may not be for quite some time that he does Berelain, maybe not until near the very end of it all, but that is when he is struck head over heels, and so is she.

#Wheel of Time #notes #SPOILER #a memory of light #Galad Damodred #robert jordan

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myidlethinkings · 4 years

Text

So my girlfriend has been trying to have me read the Wheel of Time series since when she was just my best friend. I picked back up the second book recently but it's been a while since I read the first and she went on this massive "YOU WON'T REMEMBER EVERYTHING FROM THE FIRST BOOK, LET ME TELL YOU"

This led to her Wheel of Time in 5 Minutes ™ lecture/rant and... I had to share this with the world. Enjoy.

Obviously every spoiler for the first book. You've been warned.

_______

k, eye of the world in 5 mins.

begins in the two rivers, emonds field, is gonna be bel tine and everyones all excited. rand lives further afield with his father and theyre bringing in brandy for the inn. rands all omg someones watching me as theyre getting in, tams all i cant see anything, rands all mustv imagined it. they get there. they hear theres going to be a gleeman. meets up with his bestie perrin and LOVER mat I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP who are both like yeah we totes saw the figure too. they go we'll tell the mayor tomorrow.

they see the gleeman thom and theyre all omg a gleeman, omg. then the two strangers, moiraine, who is the best character ever to character in any universe fucking fight me on that and lan, who are asking questions about the area and people and moiraines like oh hi child to nynaeve the wisdom whose like im the fucking wisdom bitch who the fuck are you. she then says to the boys hey here have this coin which is totally a normal coin cuz i might have errands and shit and theyre like holy shit anything you want.

then he sees egwene and hes all like omg the love of my life will you dance with me tomorrow at bel tine and shes all yeah sure in the afternoon cuz i got shit to do in the morning and hes all like wut? and shes all GETTIN MAH HAIR BRAIDED YO and hes all like holy shit that means shes marriagable, holy shit man.

then the peddler paidan fain rocks up and gets everyone in a frenzy over war wherever and false dragons and logain or whoever else.

rand and tam go back to the farm overnight before the festivities begin. shit goes down. trollocs smash in, rands all OMG TROLLOCS ARENT REAL THO LIKE WUT and tams all, fly you fool and rand runs into the woods. but then hes all, i cant fucken leave my father so he creeps back and in the shadows he sees tam creeping around with a sword and rands like DAFUQ why does he have a sword, fighting ensues, tam gets hurt, is dying, rand manages to get him back to emonds field with a figure trailing them.

tams delirious, starts talking about rands dead mother and then starts talking about a battle and how they all poured over the dragonwall and that it was snowing but it was so hot, battle is always hot and she was a warrior even though she was pregnant and she gave birth and died and how he took the baby and rand was all WUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. im gonna ignore that shit.

gets to emonds field. everything is in ruins. trollocs wrecked the shit there too. nynaeve is all like sorry dude, your dads gonna die. hes all fuck that, gets back to the inn where the gleemans like hey that ladys an aes sedai, she could heal him but i totally wouldnt because you never know what they ask for in price and rands all i dont care because HE IS MY FATHER. MY FATHER. HEEEEE. ISSSS. MYYYY. FATHERRRRR. thoms all, holy shit dude calm down hes your father. moiraine, the best character in the universe, heals tam, then shes all like look, you three boys need to come with me and rands all, well shit she makes sense and they go but then egwenes hiding too and shes all bitch im adventuring too and rands all AHHHH and moiraines all huh the wheel weaves what the wheel wills, whatevs, and they go on, with thom whose also like this place is boring asf, im coming on.

they head out, dragkhar fly overhead, moiraine like a mofo destroys them, they get to tarren ferry, cross on the ferry, then coincidentally theres a whirlpool and the ferrys destroyed when theyre on the other side and egwenes like HOLY SHIT YOU DID THAT and moiraines all cuz im fucking awesome and nobody can follow us now so stfu and they head on.

rand interrupts a lesson with moiraine teaching egwene the true source cuz egwenes got it. rands all FUCKING WTF and thoms all dude, leave it, you cant do a thing about it. Shes gone now. Why don’t you bang mat instead. I mean the mat comment never happened but I will ship them till my dying breath. moiraines all to egwene youll die if i dont teach you, there was another back in emonds who also had it but she managed to survive/channel in her own way.

egwene starts to unbraid her hair. rand has a crying fit. egwenes all fuck off man, i do what i want. mydraal and shit attack them, they get to baerlon safely. where the gatekeepers like the children of the light are around but they cant cause much trouble cuz the city watch hate them and the whitecloaks are little bitches. they get to baerlon. mat and rand walk around. they see a few of the whitecloaks, dane bornhold a young man leading the small group. mats like lol, watch this, enters a shop, climbs up the top and hurls a rock at them, loosening barels. rand has started to feel feverish and when the barrels nearly knock them over, rand stands there and doesnt hide and rands like lol and danes like dafuq are you looking at and rands like im looking at you what are YOU looking at and hes feeling really odd and reckless and danes like are you a darkfriend and steps forward but then the city guards turn up who hates the whitecloaks and they face each other off and mat hauls rand off all are you fucking insane, you faced him off and rands recklessness leaves him and he freaks out and they flee.

throughout this time and through the book all three have dreams but i cant be bothered to get into those, theyre basically all the dark one figuring out who is who, and they wake up after rats backs were broken in the dream to be all oh hey it was just dreams though, to find rats dead all over the place and other stuff. Moiraine told them early on to go to her if they have dreams and the boys talk about it and theyre like we should probably tell her but nah, she saes sedai and like, its just dreams yo, yeah a few rats end up dead but cool, its fine, we’re fine.

oh baerlons also where he meets min who can see things around them, like with him a sword that is not a sword and three women on his funeral pyre weeping and with perrin she sees wolves and mat dice and with lan seven broken towers and a baby in a cradle with a sword and blah blah. And she says she can see he loves egwene and egwene loves him too but theyre not for each other, at least not in the way they want to be.

then he returns and nynaeve is there and she is PISSED and is all like we're going home now and moiraine manages to convince her they are in trouble and nynaeves like ..... i dont trust you, but fine. and lans all how did you find us and shes all i tracked you bitches and hes all like, huh.

rand says to her later about MY FATHER HE IS MY FATHERRRR and nynaeves all awkwardly like er yeah totally, i totally dont remember when your father returned after adventuring with an outlander wife, that totally explains your red hair, er yea sure. but that above all they loved him as much as they wouldv loved any baby.

oh a bunch of times during the book people startle at him and him being so tall with red hair and grey eyes and say he resembles an aiel. oh, theyre also ta'veren, so extra special they draw people into doing stuff with their lives, they effect the pattern. moiraine also says the two rivers used to be manetheran, a fabled kingdom. that night shit happens and they run off. they run, fight, attack, fight, as they battle mat starts yelling out things in an old language he doesnt know, that moiraine says was a manetheran war cry and the old blood still sings.

theyre going to get outrun in battle and against moiraines judgement lan takes them to an old crumbling city shadar logoth which fell to the darkness and even trollocs and mydraal dont like entering it.

oh also tam gave rand the sword which is a heron marked blade and lans all like er only blademasters have these why did your father have one and rands all HES MAHHH FATHERRRRRR and lans all yeah but how and rands all he bought it from a merchant years before and lans all yeah that sounds totally legit.

they go into shadar logoth, the boys sneak off, meet mordeth whose all like lol here take the treasure and mats like cool but rands like holy shit he doesnt have a shadow and then mordeth goes all rahhhh and the three manage to escape and they return and ramble about what happened and moiraines like DID HE GIVE YOU ANYTHING and theyre all like no and mats like er totally didnt and moiraines like we have to move and they leave but then this shadow thing that can kill them separates them and theyre all separated and perrin and egwene fall into a river together, and nynaeve finds moiraine and lan and is all like I will cut you aes sedai for what you’ve done to all of us and moiraine is all lol, and rand and mat with thom end up on a ship, the spray, with bayle domon and theyre worried he’ll throw them overboard cuz of the trollocs that chased them but domon seems to think theyre after him.

moiraines like with the coins i can track them, but two of them have lost their coins (paying for passage on domons ship). perrin and egwene roam around a lot, finally meet up with a man elyas who can communicate with wolves. aes sedai once tried to gentle him because of it but it has nothing to do with the one power so it didnt do anything. theres hints he used to be a warder, but now he hangs out in the wilderness. he says perrin has the same thing, perrin freaks out. elyas is like ill take you to the next city cuz you guys are lost. they then meet up with the tuatha'an, the tinkers, who roam around and dont harm anyone even if theyre to be harmed. perrin cant reconcile that, hes all how can you defeat evil by that, but in turn they pity him as hes such a young, sad, violent man with his axe. his eyes start turning gold like elyas' and he starts to communicate with wolves like hopper and a bunch of them though he tries to deny it.

egwene dances with aram, one of the tinkers and perrins all wow what about rand and they eventually leave, though aram is restless for a tinker.

the leader asks elyas if hes found the song which is their formalities, elyas is all no we havent. the leader then tells him of a story he heard, of an aiel who crossed the waste and died, to tell them that leafblighter means to blind the eye of the world. then she died. they leave and then they then meet afoul of the whitecloaks who are fighting whatever and bornhold - danes father – and byar catches them. through the ordeal perrin kills two of the whitecloaks while hes being all half wolf in the battle and they take them in to be questioned.

nynaeve and moiraine/lan end up finding them, releasing them, the wolves assist, nynaeve gets left behind, lans all about to get her, moiraine reminds him of his oaths, nynaeve turns back up.

meanwhile rand/mat are at whitebridge and mats starting to get sick and suspicious. he had a dagger from shadar logoth. a mydraal finds them, thom hurtles his flute and harp at them, says to go, to leave. hes saving them because he once had a nephew who could channel and the red ajah gentled him, while thom was having an affair with the queen morgase of andor when he was a court bard and by the time he got to owen it was too late and hed not survived, which he always regretted and then because he left morgase the way he did she was pissed at him too. rand and mat run for it, rand sobbing that thom is dead.

they go from village to village to village, mat getting sicker and sicker, a young woman who ends up being a darkfriend tries to kill them, they escape. rand keeps thinking he sees padan fain the peddlar from home, whose actually a darkfriend.

moiraine tells nynaeve she has the power too, nynaeve has a mini breakdown. moiraine said it would have begun with a doing something she desperately needed then a few days later collapsing really ill and the illness disappearing quickly. nynaeve once said egwene had gotten sick as a child and shed healed her not knowing how, then gotten sick. moiraine says thats also how she found them to begin with, in the city, she could sense egwene.

rand and mat go to a poor inn, they try to rob them by locking them in the back. mats getting sick and even more paranoid. rand is terrified when he realises theyre going to sell them to a darkfriend and he prowls and prowls till the room theyre in explodes, the wall crumbling. rand doesnt know how but he thinks he did it himself. mat becomes blinded from it and starts sobbing.

they escape. on the run again. as mat is blind, rand takes care of him and mat in his illness is worried that rand will abandon him which rand would never do because mat is the LOVE OF HIS LIFE, rand ends up really sick, paralleling what moiraine said what happened to nynaeve.

they end up hitching a ride to caemlyn where they expect moiraine to find them, if shes still alive. the buggy driver talks about the queen. how elayne is the daughter heir and her brother is the first prince of the sword. its been tradition forever that the daughter heirs go to tar valon to train and the princes go be taught by warders. he mentioned tigraine who was the queen before morgaise, who disappeared mysteriously nearly twenty years ago, who left behind a son galad. morgaise married the husband and became queen and while she had elayne and gawyn, galad lives with them too, now the husband is dead. oh, also logain the false dragon is being presented to the queen as prisoner before the aes sedai take him to tar valon to gentle him.

they get to caemlyn, mats REALLY sick. rand leaves him at an inn, tries to go see the false dragon being brought in. he meets loial an ogier whose nice, whose like 90 but really young for an ogier to have left his stedding without permission. rand ends up thinking he sees paidan, but doesnt have a good feeling, tries to run off, falls into a castle garden. meets elayne the daughter heir who might actually be the most annoying character to exist, her brother gawyn. theyre like omg you look like an aiel. elayne then talks about gareth bryne the guard captain dude she ships hard with her mother. galad MY MOST PURE CHARACTER WHO I LOVE FUCK ELAYNE (not a spoiler, his name is of the most pure camelot round table knight) rocks up, is all, holy you broke into the palace. elayne whose a bitch is like how DARE YOU YOURE NOT MY BROTHERRRR and galads all we are siblings and my duty is to protect you and shes all you wont do anything with this rand ill invoke protection, then galad goes and tells the guards because theres literally a false dragon being brought in and tension is on the rise in caemlyn and hes taken to see morgase.

the red ajah elaida is freaked out by him, knows hes taveren, has a bit of a prophecy but it doesnt really mean much and morgaise is all look, we cant just arrest everyone, let him go.

he then races back to the inn, moiraine and everyones there, they all hug, then hes all like oh yeah mats sick btw. moiraine goes up and mats not just sick hes now tainted. she does the best she can but is all like he needs to get to tar valon to have the bond between him and the dagger properly severed. then moiraine meets loial who randomly talks about an event concerning the eye of the world. perrins all oh yeah thats like the dead aiel girl the tinkers spoke about. that changes the plans once moiraine realises the dark ones trying to get to the eye and shes like we cant get to tar valon yet we gotta leave now. they use the ways which loail knows how to use cuz ogier and male aes sedai made them together centuries before but now the ways are tainted.

theyre like the worlds between the worlds, can get to places quicker but it has the black wind thatll kill you. blah blah blah they use the ways, nearly die, but get to fal dara/shienar, which is sort of where lan is from. nynaeve confesses her love, lans all no i cannot, i cannot offer anything. it ends up that his parents had the throne but his ... there was scheming. His uncles wife wrecked everything, she escaped with her baby into the blight, lans cousin, nobodys seen or heard of them, moiraine suspects isam might be alive but GASP keeps it from lan. the seven towers crumbled, lan has a death wish, he believes hes the only one left so must die.

lord agelmar wishes lan would rise up the banner of the golden crane because everything about the blight is crumbling, lans like no, i have a new oath now with moiraine. lord ingtar is a fight me soldier who fanboys after lan. theres a battle going on in tarwins gap they desperately need help for, but lan says he cant. lord agelmar orders ingtar to accompany them to the blight and leave them cuz moiraines like we cant have anyone else come with us.

Paidan fain by this point has rocked up to shienar and tried to wheedle his way into the good graces of lord agelmar but hes all wtf you look like a creeper and throws him in a cell. Moiraines like I need to question him at some point.

moiraine then takes them into the blight to find the green man who can take them to the eye of the world. the green man rocks up, hes made of vines and flowers, takes them to the eye. two forsaken rock up. moiraine tries to fight, is knocked out, nynaeve and lan get knocked out, the boys run. the green man is destroyed by the forsaken. rand ends up destroying the forsaken, goes into the eye, channels the male source in there, realises he can channel, has a fight with the dark one - whose still bound under the seals, but rand believes he ended the dark one and its done. comes out, the others are recovering. brings out an old banner from the eye thats the dragons banner, broken seals from the dark ones prison, and the horn of valere. moiraine is all, we need to take these to tar valon. rands all, you do that, but im done with aes sedai, im not going to tar valon. im done. the dark ones dead and im going to do my own thing. he turns to egwene who backs away from him when he said he channeled, then she bursts into tears and hugs him and says shes sorry.

they return to shienar, fal dara, where there was a miracle in tarwins gap where they believed they saw the creator and that the light took on flesh - they saw an apparition of a man they didnt know as rand fighting the battle he fought. ingtars flipping his shit because he missed the battle while accompanying them, and then not even being able to accompany them the entire way. After all of his talking about going after a week rand is still there, finishing his sword practice with Lan in Agelmar's private garden and meets up with Egwene. He tells her that he will go away. Egwene asks him to come to Tar Valon with her and Nynaeve, itll totes be fun, I mean theres the red ajah and shit wholl attack him if they know but hey itll be fun, but Rand refuses. He says he'll never channel again. When she asks him if he'll be going home, he tells her that he'll never go home.

Moiraine is underneath Agelmar's private garden. She uses her blue teardrop thing she wears on her forehead to focus her eavesdropping on Rand and Egwene. Using it to eavesdrop was the first use of the One Power she had learned as a young girl in the royal palaces of Cairhieren.

Smiling, she says, "The Prophecies will be fulfilled. The Dragon is Reborn."

the end.

#wheel of time #eye of the world #spoilers #i love her #she has a lot of feels with this series if that isn't obvious #I remembered everything with Lan and Nynaeve though because they're my favorites #rand #mat #perrin #moiraine #lan #nynaeve #thom #aes sedai #my gf is both a writer and history major and this is how she talks when it's just me

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highladyluck · 3 years

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Third Age Relics: The Fires of Heaven Plot Contest

We've had silly 'where was this character?' plot contests, now for an actual serious prediction from 'The Fires of Heaven Plot Contest'!

This one genuinely deserves the award that it got, which is "Most Plausible". I'm actually pretty impressed at how many future story beats it's not really that wrong about, at least over the whole course of the series. Some of these suggested plotlines also sound pretty interesting.

By: Judith Ellen Ghirardelli

Winner: First Place, Most Plausible

Here is my plot line for The Fires of Heaven:

In the Waste: Asmodean teaches Rand to shield his dreams, to channel, to travel. He learns Couladin has taken an army of Aiel and is marching on Cairhein. Rand realizes that his army from Tear is in Cairhein, so he and his Aiel army set off for there also. Egwene, Moiraine, Mat and Lan go with him.

In Saldaea: Fear runs rampant. Trollocs are everywhere, the Blight creeps closer. Queen Tenobia is viciously murdered; no one saw anyone enter her chambers, but that doesn't make her any less dead. Runners are sent out searching for the heir- apparent, who ran off some 8 months ago. Reward is offered for any info of where Zarine Bashere might be found...

Near Saldaea: A faction of BA have helped Mazrim Taim to escape. His joy at being free is short-lived; he soon discovers he is a pet of the BA, and is forced to do nefarious things under the name of Rand Al'Thor. Rumors of Rand Al'Thor's "madness" and cruelty travel like the wind...

In the Tower: Elaida's joy at being Amyrlin at last is also short- lived. She learns she is under the control of the BA (Alviarin and Danelle) and that Siuan Sanche and Leanne did truly walk in the Light. She is told they never could have pulled off the coup without Elaida's help, and when the BA finally get their hands on the 3 Accepted Brats, they will all be turned to the Shadow. Then Elaida is stilled...

In Caemlyn: The armies of Andor are preparing to march to Cairhein under Lord Gaebril's orders. Morgase hears of the coup in the Tower, and is worried about Elayne, Galad and Gawyn. She confronts Gaebril. She orders that the troops stay at home and a small contingent escort her to Tar Valon. Gaebril/Rahvin decides he is tired of playing with this particular queen. He says no, they march on Cairhein. Morgase -"Just who do you think you are??!!". He responds "It's about time I told you. I am Rahvin, you stupid bitch! *I* am in control here. We march on Cairhein." Morgase is horrified. She sends a note via Tallvanor to Gareth Bryne. He reads it, and then is almost killed by a grey man. He flees Caemlyn, vowing to return to save his Queen...

Meanwhile, back at home: Tam, Abel, the Luhhans, and the Al'Vere's sit Perrin and Faile down and ask them to tell them what is going on. What are they involved in? Where are Mat, Rand , Egwene and Ny, really? Why have Perrin's eyes changed color, etc. Perrin and Faile are forced to tell them the truth ("Perrin, they deserve to know".) Tam seems to be not too surprised. He *has* been out in the world, and knows the Prophecies after all. A peddler comes to town and announces the news out of Tar Valon, Tear and Saldaea - the Tower has fallen, the Tairen army marches on Cairhein, and good Queen Tenobia of Saldaea is dead, the Light protect her soul. According to the peddler, they are now looking for Zarine Bashere, who will be Queen. And the Dragon Reborn is outside Saldaea. He is called Rand AL'Thor, and has gone mad and started breaking the world, first with Saldaea. Perrin and Faile are stunned and overwhelmed. They decide to go to Saldaea to put Faile on the throne and for Perrin to try to reason with "Rand". ("how did he get from Tear to Saldaea??" "Well, he *is* the Bloody Dragon Reborn!!"). Now, when Perrin, Faile, Tam, Alanna and some others are about to leave, no sign can be found of Verin. Her warder is found dead...

Meanwhile in tanchico: the Seanchan attack, taking the city. Elayne is captured and leashed. Ny fights her way free (with the Dream Ring). Ny tells Egwene about it through the DreamWorld. Offshore Egeanin and Bayle Domon are captured, before dumping the sad bracelets into the Mariana trench. Suroth knows what to do with those bracelets...

Rand, while marching to Cairhein, learns from Egwene about the attack and Elayne's capture. He and Mat travel or portal stone to Tanchico. To cover up his Aiel looks, Rand disguises himself as a blind beggar. Mat is captured. Mat and Elayne are shipped off to Seanchan. There the daughter of the Nine Moons takes a liking to Mat, and inspects him. She finds the Raven and the Tower symbols on him. To save him, she marries him. It all happened too fast for him to follow...

Gareth Bryne meets up with SS, Leanne, Logain, Min and others (including Sheriam and Anaiya). They sneak into Caemlyn to find that Rahvin has killed Morgase. Bryne kills Rahvin, whom they surprised. Padan Fain, although present, is not noticed, and he slips away... Now the armies of Andor have started marching, and there is no one to stop them. Where is that fool girl Elayne???

Gawyn hears there is turmoil in Andor and leaves the Tower.

The Seanchan armies take all of the west coast, almost to Saldaea, and Mazrim Taim, who they think is Rand and the Dragon, is sad braceleted. Faile and Perrin, now in Saldaea, stop the advancing hoard. They think Rand has been captured.

The Seanchan army now turns west, to attack the Tower, and salt the ground it stands on...

Rand, who snuck onto the ship carrying Mat and Elayne to Seanchan, sneaks into Elayne's room. He finds her collared, but the bracelet is hanging empty on a peg. They embrace, while a sul'dam sneaks up on them, and puts the bracelet around Rand's wrist. They both start to die screaming. In their pain, they both touch the source, channeling enough to cause the earth to shudder. Back at home, Dragonmount errupts, and fires rain down from Heaven. A seal is broken somewhere. Back in Seanchan, Mat runs to their aid, kills the sul'dam, and cuts off Rand's hand with his spear. They cauterize it with a white hot iron.

Meanwhile, Egwene and some Aiel have left the main army to head towards the Tower. they meet Gareth Byrne and Co. They proclaim Egwene Amyrlin. In walks Gawyn, who grabs her about the neck and asks "Where is my sister?". Egwene tells him, and convinces him that they fight for the Dragon and the Light. At his time, the ash from Dragonmount obliterates the sun, plunging them all into dark. When the ash subsides, and the sun shines again, Gawyn says "Then you just fight for the Light. Word comes from the Seanchan South of Saldaea. Rand Al'Thor is dead." They are all shocked. (Of course, *Taim* is dead now, killed by too much sad bracelet channeling; Rand just needs a hand about now.)

The good Aiel (under Rhuarc) and the Tairen Army defeat Couladin's army before the Andor army arrives. Word is out that Morgase is dead, and so is Rand Al'thor. The sun is obliterated by ash, and when the ash clears, Rand and Elayne (having traveled) stand amongst them, shining like the sun. Thus is Elayne crowned Queen. Thus does the day dawn twice.

Thus book 5 ends with Elayne Queen and Rand probable King of Andor. He places Moiraine on the throne of Cairhein. The Seanchan hold most of the west (except Saldaea) and Tar Valon. Mat is still with the Seanchan, not having been able to escape. Faile is Queen of Saldaea. She, Perrin and the Two-Rivers folk, along with Gareth Byrne's Company (SS, Logain, Egwene, etc) all believe Rand to be dead.

Ending Prophecy:

Thus when the time shall come, the Dragon will burn us for his pain, and the fires from heaven will rain down upon us. And in his pain shall be his joy, that his wounds of madness might be healed. What cutting of hope is this? Oh, People, pray for his pain, that we might have fire, and blood, and healing. And the Light will shine once more.

#wheel of time #third age relics #the fires of heaven plot contest #the fires of heaven spoilers #arguably #some of these plotlines sound better than what actually happened

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iviarellereads · 3 months

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The Eye of the World, Chapter 12 - Across the Taren

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one!)

(Flame icon) In which several things are awfully suspicious.

They make their way to the ferry crossing and wait, hardly even talking among themselves. Moiraine tells Lan he has to handle the crossing, because if she stands out in the ferrymen's thoughts, the group will be that much easier to track down.(2) Rand finds himself a little jealous of Egwene, who's in the flush of finding a sought-out adventure, while he's had adventure thrust upon him and he just feels damp, cold, and sore from the night's hard ride.

Lan moves Perrin's cloak to expose his war axe, and Rand moves his own cloak to show his sword, and tries to mimic Lan's confident pose with his hand on it. The ferry haulers get in position and they start the crossing.

Quietly, Lan and Rand discuss how the ferryman is untrustworthy. Lan says those who would harm a stranger are often the quickest to accuse a stranger of wanting to harm them, since the ferryman noted loudly that the gold he was already given is in a safe place, he can't be robbed. Rand is just surprised the people of Taren Ferry are every bit as strange as he always heard.

Once they're across, the ferryman and the haulers follow them down onto the bank to get the rest of their pay. Moiraine looks out over the river. Rand shivers and pulls his cloak closer around him, and suddenly the ferry gets caught up in a whirlpool, though the ferryman notes that this river never gets whirlpools.(3)

The ferrymen go off to deal with getting back across the river, and Lan leads the group to a cave hidden in a tangle of fallen trees, well defended against curious eyes. Moiraine takes Egwene aside while the men take care of the horses and set up camp. Perrin remarks that the horses don't look tired at all, but Lan says they just don't feel it, they'd run themselves to death if you let them. It was a necessary risk, for Moiraine to do that.

When they're done with the horses outside, they go in the cave, where Moiraine is giving Egwene a lesson.

“The One Power,” Moiraine was saying, “comes from the True Source, the driving force of Creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time.” She put her hands together in front of her and pushed them against each other. “Saidin, the male half of the True Source, and saidar, the female half, work against each other and at the same time together to provide that force.(4) Saidin”—she lifted one hand, then let it drop—“is fouled by the touch of the Dark One, like water with a thin slick of rancid oil floating on top. The water is still pure, but it cannot be touched without touching the foulness. Only saidar is still safe to be used.” Egwene's back was to Rand. He could not see her face, but she was leaning forward eagerly.

Rand misses some of the conversation, but hears Egwene ask if Moiraine thinks she can really learn to use saidar, to be an Aes Sedai. Moiraine says she has no need to learn to use it, but without training, she may not survive the process of using it.(5) When she mentions that men who can channel are gentled by the Red Ajah, Thom growls next to Rand, and even Perrin and Mat look uncomfortable.(6) Rand doesn't know much about the other Ajahs, but he does know the Red take as their mission the prevention of another Breaking, and work to do that by gentling or killing every potential male channeler they learn of.

Moiraine guides Egwene through channelling in a focused way, and when Egg makes a stone light up, Moiraine says most who go to Tar Valon study for months before they can do what she just did by instinct. Egwene has a natural talent, might even be strong enough to become the Amyrlin Seat herself someday. The chapter ends with Egg's delight at her new future.

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(1) Funny how, if you put this up against the Dragon's Fang, it would look like the symbol Lews Therin wore and drew attention to. It's once again going to be hard to tag this without giving it away, so, this is the Flame of Tar Valon, henceforth just the flame, a symbol of Tar Valon, the modern Aes Sedai, and female magic, saidar. Which adds some dimensions to the complementary Dragon's Fang piece, doesn't it? (2) So, does something have some sort of telepathy, or do they assume they'll just be interrogated? (3) Definitely Moiraine's intervention. I guess she had enough left in the tank for that, even with the fog. (4) I know that's an awful lot of Capital Word Jumble. And, if we're being honest? This is 2024, so it's been almost 15 whole years I've been in this fandom, and I still mix up the words for saidar and saidin at least 30% of the time. (5) So, some people will channel, probably under some sort of stressful circumstances, and many of them die because they're not prepared. We already know it's possible to channel more than a body can hold, maybe that's an extra danger when you're not prepared for it. Since official training would, as we see in this chapter, involve starting very small, that seems likely. (6) Thom's reaction definitely seems like something personal, and close. He doesn't seem in any way gentled, so what happened?

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw #teotw #wot flame icon #rand al'thor #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran #egwene al'vere #thom merrilin #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #master hightower

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