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markantonys · 2 years

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path of daggers prologue-chapter 6: you’ve seen my cauthor hollering, you’ve seen my matlayne hollering, now get ready for my avilayne hollering! truly, what would i have done if i’d read this series before knowing that polyamory was a thing? i would’ve been in so much distress over how many different combinations there are of Characters Who Should Fuck.

so no mat? [throws book on the ground]

anyway. verin pov in the prologue! she is slippery and stone cold ruthless and i love her. i just know there are 100000000 hidden layers to her we haven’t seen yet and i can’t wait to find out what her endgame is.

a man (moridin) described another man (a servant) as “impossibly handsome” without adding “to women, probably” stop the presses!

forgot to say this in my previous book recap but what on earth is this True Power business (rhetorical question as always)??? very intriguing

“that troubled [moridin] sometimes, enraged him, what knowledge might be lost in the turnings of the wheel, knowledge he needed, knowledge he had a right to.” as an ancient history major, i do relate jksdf that’s a fascinating trait for a villain! a nerd who turned to the dark side!

aviendha’s worried about olver 🥺 she’s such a mom to him, elayne’s such a mom to him, rand would be such a dad if he got to meet him. yet another reason to put mat in the polycule. single dad gains 3 coparents!

“mat cauthon would find the boy in any case. he could find anything, it seemed.” since mat is not in this book (sob) and won’t be reunited with the gang for several books (bigger sob) i’ll be clinging to whatever mentions of him and his relationships with the others that i can get. and aviendha complimenting him is a good one! ok she’s mostly just pointing out his ta’veren-ness, but in my heart it counts as a compliment.

5 pages into chapter 1 and aviendha is already talking about elayne’s boobs, god bless. she and mat have a FIXATION. “wetlanders...walked about half-exposed where any stranger could see. aviendha did not really mind for nynaeve, but elayne was her near-sister. and would be more, she hoped.” Aviendha Gay Thought #1 (for this book anyway. also, know that i’m using gay as an umbrella adjective because aviendha and elayne are actually bi and i want my bi women rep (come through, show!) and i once saw someone say something like “aviendha gives me lesbian vibes except that she likes rand” and i lost 20 years off my life. the b stands for blood and ashes, i guess.) anyway gee aviendha i wonder why elayne’s revealing dress flusters you much more than nynaeve’s? elayne, the woman you want to be More Than A Sister? it’s a mystery.

birgitte is shorter than elayne??? no. NO! i refuse to accept this! elayne is 5′2″!!!!!!

“the difference between a friend and a near-sister was a thing these wetlanders seemed unable to comprehend” aviendha really wants us to know that elayne is Not Just Her Friend, she is MORE. Aviendha Gay Thought #2 (yes i will continue to willfully misinterpret aiel relationship concepts for avilayne’s entire relationship, prepare yourself now)

when aviendha glared at birgitte to defend elayne (after birgitte made a joke about elayne and rand, can’t forget that extra polyerotic flavor): “birgitte only smiled, glancing from her to elayne, and murmured under her breath. aviendha caught the word ‘kittens.’ worse, it sounded fond. everyone must have heard. everyone! ‘what’s gotten into you, aviendha?’ nynaeve demanded, prodding her shoulder with a stiff finger. ‘do you intend to stand there blushing all day? we are in a hurry.’ only then did aviendha realize by the heat in her face that she must be as red as elayne.” birgitte ships avilayne, aviendha is embarrassed her crush is so obvious (Aviendha Gay Thought #3), and nynaeve is oblivious.

aviendha re: herself being a blushing mess: “she was shaming her near-sister as much as herself. elayne always held her composure, no matter what.” don’t worry avi if we were in elayne’s head right now she would be having just as many gay thoughts

“a wise one did not stoop to thrashing someone with her fists, but [aviendha] was only an apprentice; perhaps it would not cost her ji if she just bruised this teslyn baradon a little.” aviendha my BELOVED. the sheer number of times she wants to fight someone in this single chapter brings me so much joy.

"[elayne] stood straight, her eyes blue ice; a chance ray of light from a high window caught her golden-red curls, seeming to set them afire.” Aviendha Gay Thought #4. also, aviendha giving mat a run for his money in the “unnecessarily poetic and romantic descriptions of elayne’s appearance” department.

“you summer ham” is my new go-to insult. just absolutely devastating. there’s no coming back from that one. did elayne pick it up from mat? i hope so. seeing as no one else knows what the fuck she’s talking about, except for lan who is surprised and amused

“elayne regretted not having a chance to truly see the festival of birds, two days before, and never gave a blush for the scant garments many people had worn.” bi elayne rights! she wanted to party and scope out all the hot people.

aviendha promised mat to protect elayne and mat promised rand to protect elayne..........this isn’t a randwich, it’s an elaynewich and i’m here for it

aviendha says she’ll plant steel in the heart of anyone who tries to harm elayne or nynaeve, “especially elayne” Aviendha Gay Thought #5

i love verin thinking in the prologue how it made no sense that wise ones didn’t determine hierarchy by channeling strength and now aviendha thinking it makes no sense that aes sedai determine hierarchy by channeling strength instead of age

“she gave a start as elayne touched her arm. she was getting soft. letting people sneak up on her, jumping at a touch.” Aviendha Gay Thought #6

aviendha on elayne being better than her at making gateways: “she felt no envy - rather, she took pride in her near-sister’s accomplishments” awww proud girlfriend! this doesn’t quite count as an Aviendha Gay Thought but it’s in the neighborhood

and that was all just chapter 1, i can’t keep tracking avilayne moments this thoroughly, there’s too many. the most notable ones will get shoutouts but rest assured there were many more in these upcoming chapters that i left out! they’re just so protective of and loyal to each other and AAAAAHHHH

“suddenly tears trembled on the edge of falling, stinging [elayne’s] eyes. rand was going to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.” 😭😭😭😭 i think this might be the first time we’ve seen elayne “rand is impossible to marry TO YOU, egwene. i can marry him though” trakand really acknowledge the hopelessness of rand’s fate. it hurts!!! but thanks to a good old Lini Saying, she sets her tears aside for later rather than letting future grief ruin the present. why pay for therapy when Lini Sayings are free?

aviendha unweaves a weave instead of letting it dissipate and everyone freaks out. i would be more shocked/impressed by this if a) i understood what this even means and b) it had ever been mentioned before that this was allegedly impossible (tho of course maybe it was and i’ve just forgotten, i can only retain maybe 30% of the info that these books throw at me. i still don’t really know the difference between angreal, ter’angreal, and sa’angreal and at this point i’m too afraid to ask.)

aviendha has a Talent for seeing weave residues. again not something that’s been brought up before that i can remember, but maybe because no one else can see weave residues so it hasn’t been relevant. i do crack up at how every main character in this book is so very rare and special, the most powerful magic person anybody’s ever seen, who can do a super cool trick that nobody else can do. good for them!

“[birgitte] seemed to understand that elayne wanted a private word with aviendha.” birgitte continues to ship avilayne and to be the best wingman

“aviendha was far more important than any ter’angreal ever could be.” 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ and this coming from elayne who loves her ter’angreal more than almost anything else! this is a declaration of love on par with mat giving elayne his medallion!

“‘he frightened me.’ an admission [aviendha] likely would have made to no one else in the world.” ❤️❤️❤️

elayne on avirand: “it was not the jealousy come back; rather, more and more she found herself wanting what aviendha had shared with him.” 1) is elayne finally letting herself be horny after all these books of suffering from andoran sexual shame? good for her! 2) elayne is making progress in accepting the polycule - she no longer begrudges what avi has with rand, she just wants to be part of it too. avirandlayne triad when?

"that was when aviendha chose to discuss how rand seemed to like kissing the sides of her neck. and incidentally how much she had liked it. elayne had liked that when he did it to her too” whoo! steamy! for someone who almost passed out from seeing a woman’s legs in book 2, book 4 rand knew more moves than i would’ve given him credit for. and it seems randlayne got spicier in tear than i’d imagined at the time, love that (tho i know they didn’t go as far as sex). also, avirandlayne triad WHEN?? also, normal platonic activity, describing to your friend in detail exactly how you like to be kissed. just, you know, just in case she ever gets any ideas.

“...a few of the choice phrases [elayne] had picked up in various places, most recently from mat cauthon.” matlayne my beloved. “she did not understand all of them, not most of them really - nobody ever wanted to explain what they meant exactly - but they did have a way of relieving emotion.” elayne my beloved.

elayne recalls some heavy Ruling Advice from morgase that i imagine will come into play again down the road: “what you order done, you must be willing to do with your own hand. as a queen, what you order done, you have done.” “even a queen cannot be above the law, or there is no law.” and a lini advice, “you can do whatever you wish, child. so long as you’re willing to pay the price.” (tbt to “take what you want and pay for it”)

“instinctively, elayne began to plan how to smooth matters over” she could’ve been gray!! in general i wish we saw more of the gray and white ajahs especially, they don’t get much screentime or any super major characters.

“[the angreal statue of a naked woman covered by her long hair] was not even as strong as the turtle, but [elayne] found it very appealing” elayne is a big fan of the naked lady statue

me, who can’t get tsr cauthor gazing into the valley together scene out of my head, watching avilayne stand on a cliff gazing out at the distance together: getting real cauthor gazing into the valley together scene vibes from this

“i am weak and soft, elayne. i cannot bear to shame you further. if i fail you again, i will die.” 😭😭😭

“nothing you’ve ever done has ever shamed me, and nothing you do ever could.” 😭😭😭😭😭

“‘you’re about as weak and soft as a stone.’ that had to be the oddest compliment she had ever paid anyone, yet aviendha actually looked gratified. ‘i’ll bet the sea folk are scared silly of you too.’ another strange one; it made aviendha smile, if only faintly.” cackling and beaming over elayne cheering her girlfriend up by going “no babe you ARE scary! you’re so scary! the scariest!”

aviendha is teaching elayne maiden handtalk!! 🥺 she said it was forbidden but “apparently, being near-sisters who were learning to be more changed that.” 🥺🥺 also, i will get into this more at the end of this post but this whole near-sister/first-sister thing is truly starting to feel like THE most blatant attempt at No Homo lmao like “near-sisters who were learning to be More” okay, yeah, that’s very heterosexual, being More Than Sisters with your good pal.

“suddenly she smiled, much wider and warmer than before, and lightly touched elayne’s cheek. ‘we both have weakness in us,’ she whispered, ‘but it brings no shame so long as only we two know.’” LADIES! LADIES!!!!!

“this woman contained more surprises than any gleeman.” THE WAY THIS IS LITERALLY THE EXACT “WOMEN ARE SO UNPREDICTABLE” THING THAT THE MALE CHARACTERS ALWAYS THINK ABOUT THEIR FEMALE LOVE INTERESTS

elayne gives aviendha the naked lady statue. heh.

“she touched elayne’s cheek again, pressing her fingertips; that was the aiel equivalent of a kiss and a hug.” IT’S TOO MUCH FOR ME I CAN’T THEY’RE IN LOVE YOUR HONOR

also, even if we do want to interpret this as platonic (which i certainly do not), it did give me a sad thought about how Stoic and Toxically Masculine and No Homo the male friendships in this series are compared to the female ones. can you imagine even baby eotw rand pressing his fingertips to mat’s cheek? giving him a kiss and a hug? i mean. of COURSE i can imagine it, but i can’t imagine it actually happening for real in the book.

“[redacted] beckoned; it throbbed, and she throbbed with it. it demanded. the longer she hung just a hairsbreadth from touching [redacted], the worse the desire, the need, would grow. hanging, she began to tremble slightly...it took less than a heartbeat, and seemed to take hours, days. she wanted to howl, but she could not breathe. abruptly, like a dam bursting, [redacted] flowed through her, a rush of life and joy, of bliss, and breath left her in a long gasp of pleasure and relief so overwhelming her legs wobbled. it was all she could do to keep from panting.” i have redacted all mentions of the source/the power and i think the results of that experiment speak clearly enough on their own. i am snickering.

they’ve used the bowl! v interesting how saidin somehow got involved (the bowl itself drawing it??) even tho they were only using saidar. i think they should’ve grabbed mat and traveled straight to cairhien and had rand help them with the bowl and then never left each other’s sides for the rest of the series.

they feel a ton of channeling in ebou dar and see lightning strikes. nynaeve: “i’ll meet you [in andor]. mat’s in the city. i have to go back for him. burn the boy; he came for me, and i have to.” SHE LOVES HIM 😭😭😭😭 you can take the birds out of nynaeve’s nest but you can’t take the mother bird out of nynaeve!!

“but mat cauthon, [elayne’s] very strange, very instructive subject; her most unlikely rescuer. he had come for her too, and offered more.” 😭😭😭 also, what is this “more” that mat offered elayne??? ?????????? i’m assuming she’s referring to him offering her the medallion and/or his bargain to make the windfinders help her, but boy did my imagination run away with that phrase jkfg

“she had to think like a queen. the rose crown is heavier than a mountain, her mother had told her, and duty will make you weep, but you must bear and do what must be done.” THE RAND VIBES THOOOOOO wheel of time would’ve been 5 books shorter and rand’s mental state 5x better if he and elayne had been able to stick together the whole time and help each other bear the burdens of leadership.

i’m devastated that they aren’t going back for mat, but elayne and aviendha are right that it’s the right choice for the greater good of things: the forsaken are likely after the bowl and the girls have to keep it safe from them, mat might not even still be in the city anymore and might not be in danger at all, and going on a wild goose chase to try and find him would only result in them being captured by the forsaken or collared by the seanchan. they can’t prioritize mat (and thom) over the bowl and the 150+ channelers at the farm they need to get to safety before the seanchan come looking for the source of all this channeling. of course we the readers know that the forsaken have gone after mat in the past for being ta’veren (like melindhra who i THINK was acting on sammael’s orders tho honestly i’m still not really sure what her motive was) but mat never confides anything in the girls so they probably aren’t aware that he’s a possible target of forsaken.

i’m listing all this out because i’ve seen elayne haters blame her for not going back for mat and that’s bs. elayne gets blamed for so much stuff that isn’t her fault or that was a very hard decision where either choice would’ve had a cost and, as a leader, she had to choose the one with the smaller cost. i wouldn’t be surprised if these same people defend rand for making similar hard choices................

“nynaeve nodded, slowly, painfully; elayne thought she murmured, ‘oh, mat.’” 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“aviendha gave nynaeve a flat look that almost made elayne grab her arm. the longer they remained near-sisters, the more she seemed to think she had to defend elayne’s honor; if they did become first-sisters, elayne could see having to keep her away from nynaeve and birgitte completely!” LMAO aviendha can and will throw down with anyone who so much as looks at her girlfriend funny

“[nynaeve] flung her arms around elayne in a hug that made her ribs creak. ‘you be careful, you hear me,’ she whispered. ‘if you get yourself killed, i swear i’ll skin you alive!’” ❤️❤️❤️

“despite the mocking words, what elayne felt from [birgitte] was affection. no; stronger than affection. her own eyes stung suddenly. her death would hurt birgitte to the bone - the warder bond made that certain - but it was friendship that made her stay now.” ❤️❤️❤️

“mAkiNg ELaYnE aND aVieNdHA dAtE iN ThE sHOw WOuLd RuIN a sTRoNG fEmALe FRieNdSHip” literally fuck off, there are SO MANY strong female friendships in this series (elayne-nynaeve, elayne-birgitte, elayne-egwene, nynaeve-egwene, egwene-aviendha, egwene and the wise ones, etc.), i think we can spare one (1) to be changed into a romantic relationship. i’ve seen that argument so many times and it’s absolutely bananas. yes, well-written f/f friendships are rare in fantasy..........as opposed to well-written f/f romances which are a dime a dozen, apparently? please send me to the alternate reality you’re living in where close f/f relationships are turned canonically romantic so often that it exasperates you and makes you wonder why women can’t just be friends with each other.

“‘i am thankful to have two friends such as you,’ [elayne] said simply. birgitte grinned at her as if she had said something silly. aviendha, however, blushed furiously and stared at birgitte, wide-eyed and flustered, as though the warder’s presence were to blame for her fiery cheeks.” aviendha stop turning into a blushing mess around elayne challenge (no don’t stop it gives me life). at first glance you would assume aviendha tops but it’s actually totally elayne.

“aviendha watched closely, but did not say another word, though she always had an encouraging smile when elayne needed it.” ❤️

i still do not understand this unweaving business. one of the things where i’m v much looking forward to seeing it in a visual medium, bc all the descriptions of what tf is going on just aren’t landing in my brain lmao

birgitte: “i’ve never met a queen of andor before you, but i’ve known queens like you. a backbone of steel and a lion’s heart. you can do it!” ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

when elayne finishes unweaving and the gateway explodes: “haggard, looking as though she could not possibly move, aviendha hurled herself from her saddle at elayne, carrying them both off.” NOT AVIENDHA COVERING ELAYNE WITH HER BODY TO PROTECT HER FROM AN EXPLOSION 😭😭😭 that is the most romantic move in the goddamn BOOK!!!!

elayne comes to and feels right away that birgitte is alive, but she doesn’t see aviendha. she rolls over “with a sob” and gets to her feet despite agonizing pain, and she sees smoke from the site of the explosion but thinks it is “unimportant, now. not important at all.” she is so desperate to get to aviendha! and when she sees her: “aviendha was on her hands and knees too, almost falling over when she raised a hand to wipe away blood that poured down her face, but searching anxiously.” for elayne!! 😭

"elayne crawled to her...as she came close, aviendha gave a relieved gasp. ‘you are all right,’ she said, touching bloody fingers to elayne’s cheek. ‘i was so afraid. so afraid.’ ... ‘we are both all right,’ elayne said softly.’” THIS IS!! LITERALLY!!! SO ROMANTIC!!!! i can’t. i simply cannot!!!!! this moment is so cinematic, i can picture it perfectly in my head, two characters who almost died searching for each other in the aftermath, cupping each other’s faces with bloody hands as smoke billows behind them, sharing relief that the other is all right. the PERFECT moment for a Big Damn Kiss™!!! if i were rafe and i were planning to make avilayne become romantic in the show, this is the exact moment i would choose for it.

aviendha says that elayne’s unweaving could’ve easily burned out elayne and every woman within a hundred paces of her. “elayne stared at her. [aviendha] had stayed, knowing that?” 😭😭😭

and it is this very thing that makes elayne tell aviendha she wants them to adopt each other as first-sisters 😭😭🥺🥺

“what they were to do about rand, she could not imagine. the very idea that they would both marry him - and min too! - was worse than ridiculous.” 1) i’m literally so tired of how unhappy the polycule members are about being in a polycule. it’s exhausting. earlier in this post i pointed out a moment where it seemed elayne was coming around to the idea but i guess we’re back at square one now. 2) watch your word order, robert, you made it sound like elayne and avi will both marry rand and they will also both marry min lmao 3) Once Again avirandlayne are so intrinsically tied up with each other and min is an offhand “oh, and min too” again thirdwheeling in her own relationship. avirandlayne triad when??

“‘i don’t need to know any more about you. i want to be your sister.’ gently, she kissed aviendha’s bloodstained cheek. she had only thought aviendha blushed fiercely before. even aiel lovers did not kiss where anyone could see. fiery sunsets paled beside aviendha’s face. ‘i want you for my sister too,’ she mumbled. swallowing hard - and eyeing birgitte, who was pretending to ignore them - she leaned over and quickly pressed her lips to elayne’s cheek. elayne loved her as much for that gesture as for the rest.” 📣📣📣 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. OKAY.

kissing bloodstained cheeks!!!! see my point above about the inherent eroticism of bloody post-battle touches.

“aviendha being a blushing mess because of elayne” and “birgitte being a good wingman” counters have both ticked up by 1

aviendha has just been more intimate with elayne than she would with a lover. AVIENDHA HAS JUST BEEN MORE INTIMATE WITH ELAYNE THAN SHE WOULD WITH A LOVER!

“elayne loved her as much for that gesture as for the rest” INSTANTLY reminded me of the line in tsr where elayne says about rand listening to her political opinions something like “she could have loved him for that alone” the parallels!!! avirandlayne triad when?

to anyone who would claim that romantic avilayne in the show would feel forced, i say, at this point in the books it feels forced that their relationship is NOT romantic. like. they are straight up in love with each other by now! bringing me back to my point about the No Homo-ness of it all. i understand first-sibling/sibling-spouse relationships being a unique facet of aiel culture and all, but all this stuff with these two (three plus rand) is just. man. elayne and avi are in love with the same man and plan to share him, and the earlier book mention of first-sisters “not letting a man come to one of them without the other” implies threesomes on a physical level at the very least. the wise ones’ post-battle conversation of “i wonder if melaine will go to check on her husband or her sister-wife first” implies equal love on an emotional level. we’ve seen avilayne brushing each other’s hair, which a maiden had previously suggested that rand offer to do to aviendha as a romantic gesture. now they are kissing in front of another person which is a level of intimacy beyond what aviendha would do with a lover. like holy shit dude they are In Love. and then after all this to just be like “oh they’re sisters, no homo” just feels like such an odd and forced twist of mental gymnastics to steer their relationship away from the romantic conclusion that feels so natural. it is soooo clear that elayne’s relationship with avi feels different than her relationships with nynaeve, birgitte, and egwene. elayne does not see avi the same way she sees her other female friends and vice versa. and thus i conclude it would be 100% natural and right for the show to make their relationship romantic, and in fact i will be absolutely shocked if they don’t. [bangs gavel]

and this huge wall of text was only for the first 6 chapters LMAO but as you guys know i have the most to say when my ships are involved and avilayne is the only one currently together, so i’m sure my thoughts on the other plotlines in this book will be much briefer.

#wot #wot book spoilers #avilayne

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