WOT season 3 episode 1 title is "to race the shadow" (source)

So um...maybe I went a little unhigned after watching episode 2.07 and wrote a whole piece about how it could make sense for Siuan to believe that Moiraine (and Lan?) have turned to the dark?

First of all, I should preface this by saying that I don’t 100% believe that this is what happened, or that this is the thought progress Siuan went through, but it seems at least plausible? Many have suggested that seeing Moiraine channel is what made Siuan believe that she could be a darkfriend, and that would explain Siuan enforcing the sacred oath despite Moiraine's pleas, but it didn’t sit right with me as the only explanation because Moiraine never directly told her that she was stilled, and therefore did not directly lie to Siuan about it.

But taking a few steps back and looking at the whole episode, and even the previous episode, and considering the possibility that the seed of doubt had been sown in Siuan from the moment Lan told her Moiraine had been stilled for months, it started to make more sense to me how the episode could unfold the way it did. Maybe I’m giving more credit to the writers than what they deserve and this is not what really happened at all, but it was an interesting thought experiment to go through.

Now, starting from episode 6. Siuan has been corresponding with Moiraine for 6 months after the Eye of the World, and not once has Moiraine even hinted at being stilled. Lan then appears out of the blue one night to stop her carriage, telling her that Moiraine has been stilled ever since taking Rand to the Eye of the World.

Now, that simply does not compute for Siuan. Her and Moiraine keep secrets from everyone else but never from each other. For 20 years they have shared this mission and the Moiraine she knows would not keep something so big from her, or so she had thought. 

So what does mean for Siuan? Either Moiraine has been stilled for six months and she hasn’t said anything to Siuan about it, or something even more sinister happened at the Eye of the World and the Dark One somehow got to Moiraine.

For the first time in her life, Siuan has to seriously doubt Moiraine, and by extension she also has to doubt Lan: because why is Lan the one to tell her that Moiraine has been stilled? If it’s a lie, of course it makes sense to send Lan to tell it, because if Moiraine herself was caught in a lie, it would immediately be obvious that she has broken the three oaths.

And so Siuan arrives in Cairhien, with 14 Aes Sedai in tow, because she doesn’t know what she is dealing with and whether she is entering a trap or not. She needs to see Moiraine, alone, to determine where they stand, but she can’t go there without reinforcements and a back-up plan.

It’s telling that she doesn’t disclose to the other Aes Sedai why they are there. As she tells Liandrin: “We’ll have to wait and see.” Even Siuan isn’t sure at this point what she will need the 14 Aes Sedai for, if for anything other than show. It will depend on her meeting with Moiraine.

Then she meets Moiraine, and immediately opens with “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me you’d been stilled?” because that’s what it all boils down to.

She desperately wants to believe Moiraine and needs to hear her explain why she has not communicated this monumental thing to her before, but she finds Moiraine distant and defensive. They are alone but Moiraine isn’t talking to her. She is avoiding answering anything and is in fact countering Siuan’s questions with questions of her own (an effective way to avoid having to lie) and no matter how closely Siuan is looking (and she is looking very closely) she cannot glean the answers from Moiraine that she’s looking for.

As a last resort, she approaches Moiraine and tries to directly appeal to the love they share, the mission they share together and Moiraine visibly flinches under her touch before surrendering to it.

The change that has happened in Siuan's expression by the end of the “interview” is noticeable:

She still may not fully believe that Moiraine has pledged herself to the Dark, because that would be a huge leap, but it’s an option she now has to take very seriously and act accordingly.

Next she has to meet Rand. She is in no mood to have a real conversation with him, nor give him a pep talk like she did to Nynaeve and Egwene. She just needs to find out what she can and learn if Moiraine has actually held any part of their deal and taught him how to channel - the answer: she has not. Rand is completely useless and unprepared, which happens to be hugely convenient for the Dark One.

Siuan now knows what she must do: the Dragon Reborn must be separated from Moiraine, for the sake of the mission, if there is any chance that Moiraine is now a darkfriend (and maybe for Moiraine’s sake as well, because maybe things are not as bad as they seem and there is still something that can be salvaged) and at the moment, the best action Siuan can see before her is to fall on Tower protocol, especially, as Siuan has found during her interview with Rand, the Dragon Reborn is still weak and easy to control. They had tried their way and it now seems to have cost her Moiraine. What else is there to do now but try the other approach?

When Moiraine enters the room again, Siuan meets her, not as her lover, but as the Amyrlin: cold and detached.

When Moiraine asks “have you forgotten that day” it clearly affects Siuan. She has not forgotten. But has Moiraine?

“Of course I’ve not forgotten, but YOU were supposed to be with him”

Now, it’s unclear to me if Moiraine is imprisoned with Rand, or if she is there with him by her own will, but clearly she is at least under surveillance. Leane tells Verin not to let Moiraine get close to her, implying that Moiraine is now considered a threat. Presumably these are  instructions from Siuan.

Things are already bad, but they are about to get worse, and confirm Siuan’s worst fears which she still might not have fully allowed herself to believe.

Lanfear is on the loose, and Moiraine and Rand escape. Verin seems to be in on it too. The person that Moiraine recently spent several months with. (I’m not sure if Siuan knows that's where Moiraine was, but since she and Moiraine did correspond during those months, I assume Siuan was aware of her whereabouts.) It doesn’t look good.

Siuan rushes to find Moiraine and Rand because it’s now of paramount importance that they don’t leave the town together. The best case scenario remains that Moiraine has simply lost her mind due to being stilled, but the worst case, and now a seemingly very possible scenario, is that she could be worse than that. But still, Siuan has not let go of all hope and she goes alone to deal with the woman she loves - to try one more time to either reason with her or stop her by force.

She finds her at the waygate and arrives just in time to see that it’s Moiraine - the supposedly stilled Moiraine - who has opened it. Whatever hope she was still clinging onto is gone.

“You lied to me about being stilled.”

Moiraine denies it but what value do her words have anymore if she has pledged herself to the Dark and broken her oaths?  And she looks utterly unhinged too. This is not her Moiraine.

But also Siuan can’t play her hand and directly accuse her of being a darkfriend because what good would that do? If she is a darkfriend she can lie, so her words are worth nothing.

But there is another oath that Moiraine has made directly to Siuan. Maybe that’s been broken too, but it’s all Siuan has now.

Moiraine is begging her not to, and it’s almost enough to break Siuan’s resolve, but she can’t know anymore what Moiraine’s motivation is. Is she begging her not to enforce the oath because it’s wrong, or because it would reveal that she is no longer bound by it, or maybe there is even a possibility that she still is bound by this oath because her deal with the dark one only included freeing her from the three oaths of the Aes Sedai, and now being commanded by Siuan would simply prevent her from taking the Dragon Reborn to Ishamael?

Siuan's command works and it hurts her more than anything to watch Moiraine being moved against her will by a force she cannot resist, but maybe there’s also some relief in seeing that the oath is still in place. Maybe, just maybe, Moiraine has not turned to dark after all?

When Siuan looks at Moiraine after the deed is done, she sees  her Moiraine again and she is beyond sorry for what she has just done. There is a fleeting moment where things could have been said and misunderstandings cleared, but it's too short. There is not time, because Lanfear appears before any of those things can happen.

Siuan doesn’t have any answers yet, but one thing she knows is that she’s not going to let Lanfear go unopposed. It was a valid effort but completely useless. Siuan gets tossed aside as easily as she herself had just knocked out Lan.

Now, I don’t know how Siuan interprets the last things she sees before passing out, whether she believes now that Moiraine remains true to the mission and can appreciate the fact that Moiraine having managed to win Rand’s trust is a good thing. She is awake to see Lanfear about to attack Moiraine, and to see Rand stand between them, which should suggest that Moiraine and Lanfear are not working together, but then Moiraine does go with her to the ways, so it’s open for interpretation I guess, but that doesn’t really matter in the sense that it’s something that must be dealt with later. What matters more is what Siuan believes up until the moment she forces Moiraine to close the gate.

If this is what happened, it kind of makes sense to me. But I guess only time will tell what the real story is.

I have a crazy theory about episode 7 of The Wheel of Time, but I need it to cope. Feel free to cope with me. Feel free to discard that too.

It was all Siuan's quick thinking and her masterplan. And Verin didn't lie.

To start we need to separate all Moiraine - Siuan meetings. There were three.

The first one, the cold one.

Moiraine demands answers and gets none. Siuan is visibly angry, but also worried. She outright calls Moiraine's stilling a violation. She is aware how hard it is, how dangerous, how difficult to survive. And she loves Moiraine, we know she does, she worries about her. She also has to check if Moiraine can continue their mission. At the same time she can't speak too freely, they're in Cairhien, the chances of someone listening to them are higher than chances of people not eavesropping on them. She needs to be careful. What Siuan says is: "The Tower's laws have stood for 3,000 years, it's time we obeyed them." She is quite vague about the laws she refers to. And she doesn't lie, they stood for 3000 years and every time is the time to obey them. According to the law. Moreover, it's a clear parallel to season 1, episode 6 Moiraine's words: "When have we ever followed the rules?" Since when Siuan who took a marriage vow in front of the whole chamber of Aes Sedai gives a damn about Tower's laws? Why would Siuan suddenly care? Well, she doesn't, it's just a phrase only Moiraine would understand, a code in case someone is listening. This scene is also the only one we see them being close, showing affection (Siuan's hand on Moiraine's cheek? I almost hear "pufferfish" in the way Moiraine relaxes). It's another sign to Moiraine, the non-verbal communication of Siuan's real intent. Then it fades to black. We don't really know what happened between them later. Siuan also talks about rowing together. Keep that in mind, because all that she does next contradicts that statement at the first glance.

The second scene - Rand

Siuan talks with Rand, a very weird conversation. Just a few seconds earlier we saw Lan reassuring Rand that Siuan is not a typical Aes Sedai. And what is Siuan doing? Talking about caging him. But also, she doesn't say she is planning to do it to him. Only that Tower laws require it. The idea is to have Rand as a warrior, not general. But Siuan never says it is hers idea. She shows him how powerless he is. Stresses how he needs to learn. How caging him would help with that? And then Moiraine comes in. Why? To be told (in front of Rand) how incompetent she is? Only to lock them later together, because why not suddenly imprison a banished Aes Sedai with the Dragon Reborn. It doesn't make sense. Unless it's a show created to convince Rand to trust Moiraine. Rand is afraid of the Tower, rightly so. He keeps pushing Moiraine away afraid she is trying to manipulate him, make him follow the path created for him by the White Tower, put a leash on him. Moiraine can't guide him if he sees her as an agent of the power he fears. That's why Siuan becomes exactly that - the White Tower Rand doesn't trust, an Aes Sedai carrying more about forcing him to obey rather than reaching his full potential, an image he hates. On the other side is Moiraine, taking his side, arguing with imprisonment. In comparison, she is extremely trustworthy. And it works. Rand finally confides in her, shares his plans, his brilliant idea of bringing Lanfear to the city(/s). That's when Moiraine's and Siuan's plan fails, one of the Forsaken is not something they wanted, but we'll get to it.

Bonus - Verin 007

We all assume that Verin lied because that's what Moiraine suggested. But did she really? Moiraine decided to trust her to some extent. Why wouldn't Siuan? The phrasing of the "order" was very careful, but maybe not because it was a lie, but as an attempt to allow Siuan to deny such order without suspicion. And to keep the pretence in front of Rand. It worked again.

The third meeting - the pain

It all went perfectly. The Dragon trusts Moiraine and takes her with him (finally) instead of running from her. Siuan is ready to proclaim him. She doesn't need him to do so. Him fulfilling the prophecy in Falme will only make her words more believable. Verin helped them escape, no one can trace this ploy back to Siuan. There is, however, one factor they couldn't expect. Lanfear. Maybe her appearing changed Siuan's mind about letting Rand go? More likely she just Aes Selies about some boy and runs after Moiraine. And magically she finds her without any issue in front of the Waygate. How? Only Verin knew where the Waygate was, and where Moiraine would take Rand. You know where I'm going with it, right? So we get to the closing of the Waygate. Because suddenly it wasn't only about convincing Rand. They had to deal with one more, unexpected guest, and they didn't have time to discuss any tactics. Siuan had to make sure Lanfear didn't see Moiraine as a threat. She would never allow Rand to keep close someone who is working for the White Tower. The risk would be too great. Someone cast away, alone, someone who just lost their love, whose grief might be just enough to turn them to the Dark is, however, a very different thing. Siuan had to create a scene which could convince the very mistress of the dream world that Siuan and Moiraine do not work together anymore, and that Moiraine is no threat to Lanfear's plans. There was no time for planning, no time for explaining, for games. Lanfear was getting closer with every second and they wasted some of the precious time on "you lied to me" part. Side note, I do think Siuan actually believed she was lied to, and her shock was real. So was Moiraine's reassurance. But that's when Siuan came up with a way they could fool Lanfear. All she needed was Moiraine looking utterly broken and betrayed. And there was one way she could achieve that easily. By violating Moiraine more than even Ishamael did, by taking control over her in the most violent of ways, by making herself a villain. So she did. She used the only thing Moiraine never suspected could be used against her by Siuan - their love, their devotion, their secret, sweet, forbidden dream. Siuan broke both of their hearts. And when Lanfear came all she saw was shattered pieces of their love. For her that was what made her turn to the Dark, what's more convincing than a lost loved for Lanfear? Before she could think for too long, see through it, or before Moiraine could do anything, ask questions Siuan would not be able to answer, Siuan attacked. Possibly expecting that's the last thing she would do in her life. And it worked again. Lanfear let Moiraine live. Lanfear took Moiraine with her and Rand.

Siuan made herself a villain in front of Rand. And a betrayer in the eyes of Lanfear. She took that burden from Moiraine, so Moiraine could focus on helping Rand. She used every resource she had, she gave up everything she had. Because Moiraine isn't the only one that knows the right thing to do, no matter how hard that is. And her last plea was for forgiveness and nad of hope that Moiraine understands and continues their mission. As Moiraine herself said, guiding, protecting Rand is more important than Lan. It's more important than her. It's more important than any love. It was Siuan's time to give up everything to the cause. Just like Moiraine did at the Eye of the World.

__________

And it was longer than I expected. I think I will be adding more analysis to the certain scenes, words and looks. Because as I said, I do cope hard.

I really loved the conversation Egwene and Moiraine have in Book 5 when Egwene tells Moiraine about Siuan being deposed as Amyrlin and stilled. I really resonated with the part where Egwene asks Moiraine how she can be so outwardly cool learning about what happened to Siuan given their long “friendship” and Moiraine basically says that she and Siuan made their choices years ago and they always knew payment would come due one day. I think it helps me contextualize where they both would be mentally in and after 02x07. I’m still devastated for them, but it helps to remember that their headspace is such that they are not only prepared to lose everything they have been working for at literally any time, but honestly *expect* it.

I also had obviously reacted similarly to Lan and Nynaeve to Moiraine swearing to obey Rand because I bristle at any narrative where strong women have to bow to reactive boys, but Moiraine’s perspective in this conversation helps get across just how much it’s not about Rand’s authority but about her knowing the best way to get him to listen to her and being willing to do whatever that takes given the stakes. (And he absolutely has to listen to her about balefire so like, any sacrifice that gets him to do that is a noble one in that context.)

I also loved this conversation because Egwene leaves it feeling like she just talked to Moiraine as an equal. Given that Egwene is one of few characters so far we’ve really watched grow and have an emotional journey (for many of them their character changes are thrust on us through plot, at least so far), her getting to have that dynamic with Moiraine feels really deserved. And it helps me understand how Egwene gets to the point where she could be Amyrlin, and I’m excited about it for her.

I’ve really appreciated Egwene for a while, but especially since we got to the Waste, and I’m excited to go along with her on the rest of her journey. I still think if I had read these books when I was younger and before the show Moiraine would still have been my favorite (I always like the Merlin/Gandalf/Dumbledore character the best), but I’m starting to see how much I think I’d have also resonated with Egwene on the more personal level, and that’s really fun.

Minor WoT Odds & Ends, with some s3 speculation

None of this is really big enough for a post of its own, so I'm just posting a few thoughts

Another Rand & Egwene parallel this season just came to mind:

In 2x3, Logain demands wine before he'll teach Rand anything and Rand goes out of his way to get him the wine he asks for, only to have Logain pour it out and waste it, because it was never about the wine but about seeing what he could get Rand to do for him.

In 2x6, Renna demands that Egwene pour her a glass of water, and after Egwene breaks enough that she's able to do it without picturing herself hitting Renna with the pitcher, Renna pours out the water on the floor and wastes it, because it was never about the water but about what she could force Egwene to do.

And we have the purity of water (saidar) vs a pleasant intoxicant in wine, something that damages the body but makes the person who drinks it feel good (corrupted saidin).

...

Also, a note about Nynaeve not healing Rand in 2x8:

“Moiraine says Nynaeve must have done something, or you wouldn’t have lived till we carried you to Verin, but Nynaeve says she was too frightened to light a candle. There is . . . something wrong with your wound. You will have to wait for it to heal naturally.” (from The Great Hunt)

It's clear that the show was leaning on that part of Nynaeve's issue when she was in Falme, imo. Because her block needs to be a problem so that she has a very strong reason to want to break it.

...

re: Lan Investigating Moiraine's stilling issue, the Amrylin that Verin wanted to look up a passage about was Tetsuan, an Amyrlin from the Red Ajah and one who was stripped of her stole and stilled -- might have ended up being part of Lan's investigations into stilling, since he did note Tower records, and it seems like the journey he went on was:

2x1: Tifan's Well (in Arafel) with Moiraine, Verin, Adealas, & Tomas

2x2: Traveling south with Moiraine & co, and then handed off to Alanna & co

2x3-2x4: hanging with Alanna, Ihvon, & Maksim at her family's place, which is in Arafel but sounds closer to Tar Valon

2x5: confrontation with Alanna & her Warders on the road to Tar Valon

2x6: meeting up with Siuan on the road; at first I assumed that they went back to the White Tower before going to Cairhien but Liandrin states in this episode that they were 'called' to Cairhien to meet up with Siuan, which implies to me that Siuan and Lan DIDN'T go back to the Tower first

Which makes me think about Verin, doing investigations in the Tower about the Black Ajah, sure, but she was also investigating at least one person in history who had been stilled. Did she sneak some Tower records to Lan? From 2x7, we know that he's the one who basically hooked Verin and Alanna both in on the plan (Alanna and her Warders are talking about how Lan has said that Verin can be trusted).

2x7: completes his investigation when he speaks with Logain & confirms the weave on Moiraine

...

And then there was an official Amazon press release back on the 15th, which did confirm that part of The Fires of Heaven will be covered in s3, which... I'm still leaning towards that being the doorway encounter. "[at NYCC] Judkins revealed that Season Three of The Wheel of Time will focus primarily on the storylines from Book Four, with elements of Book Five".

But Rand & Aviendha's romance also seems likely to be one of the elements from book 5 that's brought forward into s3 (if Lanfear is going to crack at the end of s3 over the idea of Rand loving someone else, then Rand/Avi would kinda need to be somewhat accelerated). If they still want to start Aviendha off as somewhat resentful/wary of Rand, they might tie it into the fact that he had Moiraine lie to everyone about him being dead (so she's offended on Perrin's behalf, essentially, instead of on Elayne's) and it takes him proving that he's going to do his duty to the Aiel people that makes her soften towards him.

I'm feeling pretty good about my early speculation of 3x3 being Rhuidean, because of the casting of Maigran being for director Thomas Knapper, who is filming/filmed 3x3 & 3x4, so it'll definitely be either 3 or 4. Rafe also talked about how Rand & Perrin are going to have 'focus' episodes in s3, like how Nynaeve had 2x3 and Egwene had 2x6.

My guess is that Mat would get that kind of focus episode in s4 (probably the formation of the Band of the Red Hand); and maybe Elayne would get one in s4 as well, which would have meant all six of our main younger cast would have gotten a big focus episode by the end of s4.

I do think/hope that it's very unlikely that we won't get s4, but I'm definitely hoping that we get all 8 seasons that Rafe wants. But I can see a path to finishing the show in s5 and still hitting all the main beats (won't go into details here for spoiler reasons! but they've set up a lot of the foreshadowing and puzzle pieces that they would need), as long as Rafe knows going into the final season that it's the last one.

The big wildcard for me right now is Rand/Elayne. Their introduction felt very much like a promise that their romance is 100% happening*, but they are also destined to have separated storylines for most of s3 (and if they follow the books, the entirety of s4 (!), though I feel like it would be very easy for them to let Elayne be part of Rand's storyline that season because her plotline in TFoH is literally just wandering the continent in a sidequest while Nynaeve tries to remember a word; it's a fun sidequest but 100% a sidequest).

So my most generous to Rand & Elayne's development outline for s3 would be:

episodes 1&2 are in Falme for Rand's group, and our team isn't going to Caemlyn at all (Caemlyn is reserved for introducing Elaida & co to the audience, in this case). Episode 1 would be Rand & Egwene's final breakup, and then episode 2 would be Elayne having sparks with Rand (and maybe also Aviendha?) but nothing solidly romantic happening. Just some ~vibes~.

episodes 3-6 feature them being separated into their own plotlines, with Elayne and Nynaeve staying behind on the west coast while everyone else goes east (through the Ways?). Rand and Aviendha grow closer together while Rand deals with his stalker ex-girlfriend (Lanfear) who keeps bringing him gifts (Asmodean).

episodes 7&8 has Elayne & Nynaeve rejoining Rand's group (which also would give Nynaeve & Lan more time together, which Daniel has implied that we'll get -- he said in that one s3 teaser interview that the show would be going further along in the relationship than the books had at this point and if that's the case, then a lot needs to happen in s3), in Tear or maybe in Cairhien. And that would be half the season of Elayne and Rand getting to be in the same place. If they get to spend half the season together, that does give considerable time for relationship growth, especially with that separation in the middle to give them time to miss each other.

If in Perrin's storyline in 3-6, we have a subplot about Bain, Chiad, & Gaul, then this could also be more subconscious priming of the audience towards not being weirded out if s3 ends with Elayne, Rand, and Aviendha all having some feelings for each other.

That being said, I do kinda lean towards the idea that s3 is gonna be Rand & Aviendha's season, and the show will make some plot adjustments so that Elayne will actually get to be in the same place as Rand in s4 and so s4 will be either Rand/Elayne or Aviendha/Rand/Elayne. And if we don't get any kind of reunion at the end of s3, then I'm guessing that would happen near the beginning of s4 instead.

(* Though Rafe talks about Rand and Elayne's first meeting in his collider interview:

"We really wanted to flag for the audience that this is a relationship to pay attention to. So having her heal him of this wound that can’t be healed is a way to cement right away for the audience, 'These two have a connection to each other, and I’m paying attention to what’s going on with the two of them.' The way he sees her, the way that she comes into the scene, it all hopefully is signaling to an audience that’s not familiar with the books that there’s something to really pay attention to there — because there is." (from https://collider[dot]com/wheel-of-time-season-2-finale-rafe-judkins-interview/)

Which kinda implies they're going to follow up on it sooner rather than later. But who knows!)

The fish wives are fine! Either that ending did not happen or it was all a planned thing for everyone to get stuck in THEIR nets. Whatever. Those are the only 2 options.

Still in all seriousness it was a planned thing between Moiraine and Siuan IMO for too many reasons. The delusion is real

Oh I have no doubt they'll be alright, nonny! Rafe Judkins is smart enough to know that if he was going to canonize Siuanraine, we wouldn't accept its mishandling. We're gonna be fine.

Personally though I do think that conflict was real, not planned. Of course, I do love the idea of them orchestrating a fake falling out! But it just doesn't peg me as something that wins them anything.

I think Siuan is so used to her and Moiraine being in agreement about how to handle the Dragon prophecies that she truly didn't expect for Moiraine to go rogue. The way I see it, Siuan sees two things: for one, Mo has been stilled. That is agony no matter how you slice it, and she's deadset on taking as much of the Dragon burden off of Moiraine's shoulders as she can so Mo has more of a chance to heal (remember, there's been a whopping two Aes Sedai who ever managed not to kill themselves after being stilled in the Tower's known history).

Secondly, she sees that the time of the Last Battle draws near, and Moiraine has been withholding information for the past six months and also very pointedly not tried to prepare Rand at all. Siuan is the Amyrlin Seat. She's made of strategy, and that is a bad one, whether it was her lover's choice or not. I think Siuan was certain that if she made a point of taking the burden off Moiraine's shoulders, she'd be met with acquiescence---perhaps even appreciation.

Watching the episode, I took Siuan's reaction to Rand having been released to be one of complete shock. I'm sure she expected stubbornness, but not outright double-crossing. That's why she made a point of chasing after them alone, with no guard. She felt betrayed.

Then she runs in to see Moiraine channeling. I'm sure she was floored, and this is why I think the theory that she suspected Moiraine of joining the Dark to hold weight. I mean, how bizarre from her perspective. Six months of correspondence, and Rand hasn't been trained even a little, and this alleged stilling was kept from her completely until Lan tattle-taled. That's outrageous, especially since it doesn't seem like Moiraine has ever been that dishonest with her before. And now it was apparently a complete lie? It shouldn't be possible. Unless of course Moiraine made an oath that supersedes her previous ones...

Which is why she forced her to close the Waygate. Twas a test. Once Moiraine obeys, you can see just how much Siuan regretted doing it. Her eyes well up immediately, like all she wants to do is apologize. Had Lanfear not walked in that very second, I'm sure she would have.

So, we'll just have to see how Siuan feels once she hears about the events of Falme, that Ishamael is dead, and that Alanna and Verin were Mo's accomplices. Hopefully she reacts well, or at least well enough to still want to talk it out with Moiraine when she gets the chance---and I think she will. This has been the burden that's ruined their lives for 20 years. She's not just gonna let that go.

So yeah, we'll be okay. We're just gonna need some medicine, perhaps an emergency operation. 😭

WoT S02E06 deeper dive

There will be book references, both past and present, from here on out.

I'm not really gonna talk much about Egwene's damane scenes, primarily because they speak volumes for themselves and there is no profit from my viewpoints on them. I want to talk about the little things, the other things, that come up. Moiraine. She has finally hit bottom here. We keep thinking she has, but there's just that little bit more to go. She has finally admitted to Siuan, if only in writing, that she's been stilled. She has lost the Dragon Reborn. Everything her life has been about since Gitara's Foretelling is gone. The last thread she had was protecting and supporting Rand. She pushed Lan away, she lost her channeling, but that was all chaff to the millstone of keeping Rand safe and able to face the Dark One. And now, all gone. And so now she stands on the ruins of her mistakes, and realizes that she still should absolutely connect to those around her. She reaches back out to Barthanes. Trying to repair what she'd done to her connection to him. This ties into the Last Battle, in a way, given how Rand needs to learn the same lesson to stop being Darth Rand. Nyneave and Elayne. Nyneave is The Wisdom. From her perspective, her relationship with almost every single person in her life is as a superior. As the Wisdom, she was the one to give aid and comfort to the villagers. As the most powerful channeler in a 1000 years, the Aes Sedai need her more than she needs them, she got by just fine her whole life without them. As the victim of Black Ajah, she is the only one, beyond Egwene (and maybe Elayne), she can count on who isn't a Darkfriend. Now we have a situation where her involvement not only will make things worse, but is counter to what she needs, to go save Egwene. Elayne is the one here who can show her the way. Her whole life is basically having to hold it in, not do the thing she burns to do more than anything else. Elayne lights the path for Nyneave to come to terms with the realities of the new life she's in. And she helps, she isn't acting like the Princess that Nyneave kept calling her. She quiets her, reminds her, and Elayne comforts Nyneave. A totally new experience and one she desperately needed. Ryma. It's subtle and I love it but they're not just treating the magic as "whiz bang zoom fight the bad guys". They have character. Alanna was chucking fireballs and shit when fighting Logain's forces. Ryma is yellow. She's a healer. She is a MASTER of the human body and how the Power interacts with it. Of course she doesn't just throw fireballs. Of course she melts that sul'dam's face. Of course she folds that one like origami. That's where her power lays.

I'm holding judgement on the mat/rand things, because I want to see where it goes. The future will color my perceptions of this episode. I will say that it will not surprise me in the least if Matt actually comes to Rand's rescue and helps him break out because he was following him.

Also lol at Lanfear calling him Ishy. she's me, fr fr.

I’m still not completely certain there isn’t some amount of what transpired between Moiraine and Siuan in this episode that wasn’t a plan they arranged together or with Lan.

But I’ll be honest, the biggest let down for me was that there wasn’t a longer beat between Siuan telling Moiraine that they row together now and asking to meet Rand.

If everything Siuan did this episode was what she thought was best politically and not a set up she and Mo and/or Lan agreed to, I would have felt ok with it as long as Moiraine and Siuan had a personal moment.

Because I rewatched that scene where Siuan calls Moiraine “love,” and strokes her cheek, and says “from here on out I row beside you.” And you watch Moiraine and she looks about to give in to feeling something, to let her walls down, and then Siuan stops touching her and asks to see Rand.

And I’ll be honest and say I can’t think of any in world reason for Siuan to act that way. To not take a beat with Moiraine ( since they’re already touching and using per names and so clearly not hiding in case of spies) to just be themselves and talk about themselves rather than Rand.

It feels like a writing choice to move the plot along and to make Siuan look suspicious. But I really do think that moment of tenderness was needed (and not just as fan service to the sapphics, though obviously I would have much appreciated it!).

more pondering and some of the aspects of the show that’ve dissatisfied me so far

on a more serious note this show is really not doing good in terms of economical storytelling lol, and has indeed already made some very stupid choices. liandrin is a side character who gets like three lines at the most. I won’t lie - I’ve enjoyed her in the show in the recent episodes because I do think she’s fairly relevant in terms of the liandrin/nynaeve/moghedien trio although she really annoyed me in the beginning but all that screentime could have been dedicated to other important characters / more worldbuilding in a show that’s already struggling with pacing because it’s limited to 8 episodes. moiraine’s family doesn’t exist in the books at all and moiraine being a Distant Person is reiterated too often to count as smart storytelling. the emphasis on the warders this early in the series is very annoying, not going to lie, because they’re mostly relevant in the autonomy question and I don’t really care about them otherwise because they literally don’t deserve a greater focus in the story than the main characters themselves. lan and moiraine’s storyline tackling the Distance question so quickly makes me unhappy because tfoh is a book I’m very fond of, although I guess it Kind Of makes sense since the story is set in cairhien and they clearly wanted to tackle the question of moiraine’s family. I’ve already talked about this but I’m also pretty unhappy that moiraine and lan aren’t the same age on the show. more importantly why does min not have THREE aunts when they’re clearly in reference to the three fates in the books. it would’ve taken zero (0) effort to throw in a random extra. why was there a domesticated animal in tel’aran’rhiod in the dream sequence when lanfear interrupts ishy invading rand’s dream. why is every single sex scene involving rand lacking any real eroticism. how is it possible to *sleep* in the world of dreams. why is there so little of siuan. can logain see or feel rand channeling (?) that sequence was so weird. when are we going to see siuan and egwene bond!!!! why were all of siuan’s plotlines transferred to liandrin!!! are we already getting started on the black ajah plotline in the show without seaine and pevara :/

Last line tag game

@lilolilyr tagged me a while ago to post the last line from one or multiple WIPs and tag as many people as there are words in the sentence. And all the teasing she had to endure aside, I obviously love that you tagged me, and am more than willing to share a line or two. Thank you for the tag!!

So I am just gonna leave this here.

“And he looked so funny with my tail on!”

Yes, I am still writing that mermaid AU. Though, I decided to not call it mermaid AU anymore, but washing machine AU, because let’s be honest, that machine is actually the third protagonist/party in their relationship, because this is another line from the same chapter (it’s chapter 7/ the epilogue, omg): "Anything unusual? My dear, there is always something unusual happening, we are talking about washing machines! They attract all kinds of uncanny.“ […] "We are talking about laundry, people's dirty laundry to be precise. And there is nothing more bizarre than that. It is so human. And we humans are quite unusual sometimes, wouldn't you say?"

So, yeah, let’s hope that laundry will get clean and fresh to your table (the chapter be posted to ao3) soon! Other last lines I have stored in documents are:

“Awesome!“ The girl starts squeezing her bad into the luggage compartment, then plonks down in front of Moiraine. 

“Light, you are such a lightweight,” Siuan laughed and joined in on the kisses, kissing her lightweight drunkenly. Sometimes life was good. 

We could start a scientific research program on the matter, which you hate, or I can ask Lan on Monday. If he doesn’t know, no one does.”

Myka interrupts her by kissing her again. (This is technically the last line of a finished one-shot, that is some nonsense fun about Cavorite, and I am not sure if to post, so it’s not edited and therefore counts as WIP)

So, that Actual last line had 9 words, so I am tagging: @lilolilyr right back, because I am sure you will brew new delicious things since you last made this post, @trollocks-in-my-bollocks, @anandabrat, @purlturtle, @thatordinaryoddity, @lakeofsilverpike, @hecatesbroom, @onaperduamedee, and @wibblywobblyida. Only do this when and if you have time and want to of course, there is no pressure to share anything at all!

i cannot stop thinking about this so, naturally, in the year of our lord 2023, i’m gonna share it for all the world to see:

“the great war” by blondie taylor swift was made for siuanraine. 

“all that bloodshed, crimson clover"

all they’re trying to do is to survive now (but maybe life is about more than just surviving). to do their duties. to do what’s right. moiraine’s duty is to guide and teach the dragon reborn and siuan called her out bc she failed at doing that. moiraine said that she’d “let a thousand innocent people die if there’s even a chance that he will live.” loads of people actually died in what they thought was the “last battle” in s1, and more people will die in the actual last battle.

“sweet dream was over”

ever since they found out that the dragon was reborn, their lives completely changed. they were talking about their future minutes before they found out about it, and when they did, it was as if that future they talked about was completely wiped from existence. whiplash indeed.

"my hand was the one you reached for / all throughout the great war"

siuanraine have been together for god knows how long, and despite everything they've gone through, all the shit they endured, they’re still together!!! (we do not talk about s2e8 ending here shush) (i am a firm believer that they will find a way to reconcile in s3). in those years they’ve been together, they’ve surely had fights/wars in their relationship. but also–they have an upcoming war they need to be a part of. and i know they’ll find a way to come back to each other, to reach each other’s hands, and fight off the enemies that come their way.

“always remember / tears on the letter / i vowed not to cry anymore / if we survived the great war”

that scene where moiraine was creating a letter for siuan, letting her know she’s been stilled. the poor woman hasn’t slept for how long, got into a fight with her sister, all the while she’s processing her being stilled, finding the right words to say to siuan. she cried on that scene, but not to the point where she let herself breakdown completely. i am amazed at how she composed herself so fast bc if that were me… i’d put a pillow on my face and scream until i passed out. but yeah. once they survive the “great war” which, in this case, is the “last battle”, i’m delusional enough to believe that there’s no more tears to be shed–they will live peacefully, catching fish together, living their best lives away from all the drama.  

don’t even get me started on the last chorus bc it’s oh so perfect

“to that bloodshed, crimson clover / the worst was over”

the last chorus is all about them surviving the last battle. the aftermath. the celebration. they can honor the lives that were lost. here they’re making a toast–the worst is finally over. 

“i vowed i would always be yours / ‘cause we survived the great war”

like??? this reminds me a lot of the oath rod scene. they basically exchanged marriage vows there let’s be real here. but also: they survived the last battle. now they can actually live their best lives.

in conclusion, you have to listen to this song. 

thanks for coming to my ted talk

Nah, episode 7 was something. The way I'm so stressed about every damn thing lol. I'm so excited for the finale but i cant believe its come already. It feels like they should have 10 eps per season tbqh.

- Young Moiraine and Siuan are just so precious. The lightheartedness of their steps, their future plans and dreams. Then that damn vision went and ruined them ffs. I hope they'll have their happy ending!!

- Lan and Rand, do I sense a father/son duo burgeoning???

- Not Elaine telling Nynaeve what to do!! I'm surprised Nynaeve didn't tell her to piss right off.

- Moiraine is annoying me like crazy. Why is she taking out her aggravation on Lan. Tf??? He should leave her ass to wallow.

- Ugh. I really love Siuan. "A lone Aes Sedai can handle you like baitfish" LOL

- This Renna needs to be killed since YESTERDAY. "You will shine bright and everyone will know that you're mine" BR Uh

- DAMN EGWENE. She did all that??? My girl out here causing earthquakes even when she's in chains.

- That whole exchange between Elaine, Nynaeve and Loial was so funny. My new fave trio.

- "Is this a sex thing or a murder thing, either way I'd prefer you skip the talking" okay Mat, you ate that one little thing.

- Okay but why do I kinda like Ishamael 😳🤫

- Perrin and Aviendha and Hopper ❤️

- Uhhhh, I don't approve of this decision to shield Rand from the one power though, Siuan. Wtf???

- I knew I couldn't trust Moiraine's nephew.

- Lanfear is kinda great, lmao, I love her so much!!! And I also kinda love her relationship with Rand even though its manipulative and toxic. I think that says something about me 😬

- Angry Lan is really a sight to see. I also do feel a little sorry for Logain too.

- NYNAEVEEEEEE AND ELAINEEEEEE I CANT BELIEVE THEY JUST DID THATTT. IM SO PROUD OF MY GIRLS!!!

- So the two rivers gang are all going to meet up at Falme. Oh how excitinggggg.

- SEE HOW LAN HELPED MOIRAINE RECOGNISE WHAT HAPPENED TO HER AND SHES BEEN GIVING HIM NOTHING BUT ATTITUDE. I hope she feels the egg on her face!! (Rand I'm so proud of you for doing that baby boyyyyyyyy, and with very little training too)

- Oh no, the wives are in their divorced era. Can they recover from this? I don't think so.

I promised more meta of why I think what happened between Moiraine and Siuan this season was Siuan's game, not an actual breaking. So buckle up, we're talking about Rand and why his moms were arguing in front of him.

I believe the meeting between Moiraine and Siuan, the one in front of Rand was staged to a certain degree. I'm not sure they were able to discuss details in the previous meeting, but the general idea of Rand not trusting Moiraine, not trusting Aes Sedai is not that hard to communicate, even if there are people that might be listening. Anyway, they made the scene quite believable, but at the same time Siuan said everything Rand was afraid Moiraine was.

To Daes Dae'Mar ot not to Daes Dae'Mar?

The moment Moiraine enters she commands Siuan (the Amyrlin Seat nonetheless) to release Rand. Siuan says "no". And then Moiraine accuses Siuan of not being able to protect Rand from the Reds. Which Siuan dodges rather unconvincingly. She starts talking about some rules they should obey. But she never specifies the rules she means. We only assume it's about caging the Dragon. And so does Rand, because that's what they were talking about, but Siuan never confirms that in any other way. I bet there're multiple rules that are equally old, like facing the Dark One's powers in the Last Battle for that matter. Which is interesting since the episode is called Daes Dae'Mar...

After that Moiraine explains to Siuan what were their tasks in a way that even someone who hears about it for the fist time would understand. Coincidentally they have someone like that kneeling on the floor, listening to the conversation. Moiraine goes to the very personal question, we can see Siuan is taken aback by suggestion she might have forgotten that day. Their argument looks quite real at that point.

Then it's Siuan's turn. She makes Moiraine vulnerable in the eyes of Rand, revealing Moiraine was stilled, and incapable of using her power on Rand. Rand that is at the very moment shielded form the One Power by an Aes Sedai who moments earlier informed him any Aes Sedai would be able to do this to him. Any, but not Moiraine.

She goes even deeper. You can't control him. You can't guide him. Everything that Rand is afraid Moiraine is trying to do to him, she's incapable of doing right now, She's no threat to him. It's no accident the camera focuses on him during this part of Siuan's speech. At that moment he realized he can actually trust Moiraine, because there is nothing she can do to him. She can't use her power to control him. And by supporting him she is going against the White Tower rules (about which he just has learned thanks to Siuan). So there is no reason for her to cage him in Tar Valon. Siuan made herself a villain, she took all Rand's fears upon herself, and left Moiraine free of them. And it works so well. Rand not only helps Moiraine to get her powers back, he stands up to Lanfear protecting Moiraine, deciding to take her with him. In exactly the same situation, before his meeting with Siuan, he dumped Moiraine and decided to do what Lanfear told him. All it took to change that was two conversations, one with him and another between Moiraine and Siuan that he witnessed.

It's in the title

Just look at it. How conveniently it all worked out at the end. Moiraine is chasing Rand all over the continent, trying to make him see reason, but he is stubborn, he does not trust her, he feels betrayed by everything she does, even if it is to help him. Then he meets Siuan in the episode called Daes Dae'Mar. Siuan that is the Amyrlin Seat. Which should make her one of the best in the game of houses. She balances on the knife for so long, she mastered the way of lying without telling a single lie. So, after a conversation with that very person, in this very episode, Rand changes his attitude towards Moiraine.

Rand needed to see that Moiraine is no threat to him, he knew her, he could believe that. He would never believe that the Tower and other Aes Sedai are on his side. But that wasn't necessary. All that was needed at that point was for Rand to trust Moiraine, to have her with him, because otherwise she would not be able to complete her part of the mission. And I do think it would be too much of a strech to assume it was all an accident, and not an actual, cunning plan of two masters of a Daes Dae'Mar.

The main post

i've been skimming through The Great Hunt as i plot out the next chapter of my fic and i ended up having some Random Thoughts about the Show

(book spoilers under the cut)

what got me thinking was the Dragon Banner scene in TGH, particularly Mat's less-than-stellar reaction to finding out Rand can channel. it's a hard scene to read - even on rereads, knowing that Mat stops Being Like That fairly quickly - but it does help set up the fact that (nearly) everyone is going to be at least a little afraid of Rand moving forward.

i am, however, wondering if the show will skip all that, thinking that Mat staying behind at the Waygate is enough to put the necessary strain on their relationship. although... Rand defended Mat pretty vehemently in 1x07. it'll be interesting to see if Rand really isn't upset about it, or if he just snapped at Egwene in a "no one talks shit about my boyfriend bestie but me" kind of way.

while i was writing the last chapter of my fic, i rewatched the scene where Min tells Rand about Tam finding him in the snow, which got me thinking about them. i love Rand's screwy love-life, but in the books, Rand/Min is the least compelling of the relationships to me, mainly bc she spends so much of LOC/COS trying to make her viewing happen, regardless of what he wants (or says he wants). Show!Min's "ugh, you" reaction to him walking into the tavern makes me hope wonder if the show is going to rework their dynamic a bit.

Speaking of relationships, the show leaning into Moiraine/Siuan so hard (love it) has me curious re: what it plans to do with Siuan/Gareth and Moiraine/Thom. i have zero investment in either of those relationships, but Thom and Moiraine's feelings for each other are tied up with how the Tower of Ghenjei stuff plays out.

(not me maundering about stuff that'll be in, like, Season 10 or 11 when we're still waiting for Season 2.

back to Season 2: in the promo and the stills, Rand sure does seem to be channeling a lot. i wonder if he's going to skip the whole I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN I PROMISE stuff. likely, he starts off like that in 2x01/2x02 but gets "talked" out of it by "Selene." Rand traveling with her alone instead of with Loial and Hurin (RIP) has the potential to do truly bonkers things to their dynamic.

back to Mat (sorry i'm genuinely all over the place today): there's a scene in the promo that looks like he's being Healed, which suggests he's at Tar Valon. i'm wondering how he gets out. i understand that they're collapsing some plotlines from TGH and TDR, which would probably put Mat in the Tower while Egwene/Elayne/Nynaeve are at Falme. that means they won't be there to bust him out with Siuan's Black Ajah hunting letter.

Unraveling the Pattern on YT did a promo breakdown that's convinced me the Rand/Siuan meeting goes down in Cairhien. i'm wondering now if Siuan brings Mat with her. that would get him to Rand in time to go to Falme and blow the Horn.

Sadly, this could end up costing me two of my absolute favorite Mat sequences: his quarterstaff face-off with Gawyn and Galad, and the whole bit where he gambles his way out of Tar Valon.

(he still better answer the door naked when Rand saves him from the Darkhounds. that is peak comedy. PEAK.)

i'm probably not saying anything anyone hasn't already figured out here, but i'm thinking, since TGH and TDR are getting meshed, that Rand goes straight from Falme to the Aiel Waste. i've seen some speculation that Aviendha is the Aiel Perrin rescues from the cage, thus explaining why she's with him at Falme, but she wouldn't be the only Aiel around. i'm betting the show is altering the People of the Dragon prophecy so that it's about Falme (the Car'a'carn appearing in the sky???) rather than the Stone. Maybe Rand takes the Aiel with him when he goes to Tear and picks up his plot coupon Callandor.

okay, that's it. i swear.

ok!!! I have some exceedingly crackpot WoT show theories. Herein lies musings on Siuan Sanche....full book spoilers!

Since Siuan Sanche has been in the season less than I would have expected, and I keep seeing posts talking about her scheduling difficulties, I wonder if...

a. Siuan will be actually killed off in the coup. Moiraine has gotten pieces of Siuan's post-stilling plot points (being stilled (pseudo-stilled or no!); Logain and the Be Productive Now, Kill Yourself Later speech), so I wonder if Leane will take over all of Siuan and Leane's combined Salidar plots. It would be doable, and so very painful for Moiraine!!

b. If they don't actually kill off Siuan, I wonder if they're going to recast her and Leane and go with the whole "Stilled Aes Sedai are all-but-unrecognizable because they suddenly look young again" book plot. Either way, I don't know if Sophie Okonedo is going to be in the whole show. I would personally prefer a re-cast to Siuan being killed off, but it would make sense for the sprawling later cast to be condensed more and theirs are relatively easy plotlines to merge.

c. Less a theory, more commentary: I really really don't think they're gonna do the whole Siuan/Gareth, Moiraine/Thom endgames. My fingers are crossed for those relationships to be cut!!

d. Where is Thom, anyway? I would like to see him.

wot deeper dive 2x1: a taste of solitude

Today is all about 2x1 for me! I am going to go scene by scene, talk up some thoughts about where we're starting with all our lovely characters in this first episode of season 2.

This specific post I am going to avoid any spoilers from the books! I will be doing another post later today that includes those spoilers and related thoughts.

Our first scene is the meeting that Our Friend From the Eye is having with his buddies, which I've talked about before since it was one of the released teasers but I really do love how it sets up some themes that I'm sure we'll follow over the course of the season -- what is evil? How can you tell if something or someone is evil? I really get the vibe that we're going to do a deep interrogation of Why People Become Darkfriends and I am here for it. I love him setting up his own philosophical view on the world here.

What the Man is arguing here is essentially that the Trollocs (and, by extension, the Shadow) aren't immoral but are amoral instead. "Hungry" rather than "malicious".

2. I do mourn the loss of our lovely little title sequence. I guess they wanted to squeeze every last possible second that they could for content!

3. I love the sort of bait-and-switch here where Moiraine is working her ass off... in order to fill a bath for herself. But this whole sequence is so touching and heartbreaking. When she tries to heat the water but fails to reach the Source. Heartbreaking! And when she's all alone, you can really see how she's despairing over her situation and her helplessness. She can't hold in her tears when she's alone.

4. And Lan is feeling his own sense of despair here. Equally heartbreaking. Going from a feeling so deeply connected to someone to them just being gone, and not as a temporary thing but, as far as you know, a forever thing.

5. Verin and Adeleas (and Tomas) are a fun set of characters. I just found their entire setup very charming and I enjoyed everything with them. Poor Adeleas is so thirsty though, lol.

6. It really is hard to see Moiraine staying at such an emotional distance from Lan! She didn't even look at him.

7. Egwene's Journey Through The White Tower did a good job setting the new expectations for her current situation and her role here as a novice -- cleaning the Amrylin's room, enjoying the view, the little bow she gives Leane, trying not to watch Alanna having fun with Maksim and Ihvon, passing by the Warder sparring area, and ending in the kitchens. We learn here that the Amrylin is off traveling. Hmm. I wonder where she went (I mean, it's likely an excuse to not have the actress for this set of episode -- I'm guessing we'll only get Sophie for one episode, maybe two, for this season).

8. Nynaeve telling Egwene to stop smiling over doing her chores, lol. I don't think we get a 'time-stamp' yet in this part -- I think it's Perrin who first lets us know how long it's been since they parted at Fal Dara. I'm guessing that they didn't leave Fal Dara right away and needed to take time to recover before heading to Tar Valon -- I even wonder if maybe Perrin & co actually traveled with Nynaeve and Egwene to Tar Valon as an escort? Because they all celebrate Bel Tine later in this episode, so it's been one year since 1x1, but Perrin notes that he's been hunting the Horn with the boys for "five months". This would also mean that Loial could have gotten some Aes Sedai healing at the Tower. I don't think that the show will go back and address it because we are barreling forward but... things that make me go 'hmm'.

9. Nynaeve is SO ANNOYED and feels so bait-and-switched by Siuan's promises, lol. "I have enough character". Amazing, perfect, no notes.

10. I love so much how Alanna's lesson is folded into the chores! She's teaching them but also showing them useful things (purifying water is a VERY useful skill!) while also giving them an incentive to get better as quickly as possible lol. Alanna as the Charming Green is such an interesting contrast to Liandrin the Bitter Red, especially since they're both getting explored as full, rich characters.

11. Egwene takes lessons wherever she can find them -- here, we see her avoiding using her hands because she doesn't want to be helpless if someone ties her hands up again, like Valda did. Ah, we do get the "five months" timestamp here too -- five months "in this Tower", so that's not including the travel time it took to get there. That matches what Perrin is saying, so I feel like there is an implication there that Perrin & co escorted Egwene & Nynaeve to the Tower. Five months is a long time for Nynaeve to have completely failed to channel again despite being surrounded by teachers, so I understand why she's so frustrated.

12. Nynaeve drinking the glass of filthy water is just so disgusting but also perfect. And Alanna just going ??? what is wrong with that girl???

13. So... holy shit, a novice died under Liandrin's teachings. Wild that she was given permission to 'talk' to Nynaeve. I'm with Alanna on that, 100%. Liandrin should not have been allowed anywhere near Nynaeve.

14. Liandrin gives us some world updates: Hunt for the Horn declared in Illian; Trollocs raiding Arafel; and a new false Dragon is Saldaea. Thank you for the world info update, Liandrin! I appreciate it!

15. Perrin writing letters to his friends really gets to me. It makes me very emotional. I love that sense of connection getting to still be present. And Perrin has been writing them regular letters!! And Perrin is also writing letters home and asking if Mat has found his way back!!

16. Oh, hello, Mysterious Golden-eyed Tracker. Nice to meet you, Elyas.

And the way they're doing everything with Perrin is interesting. I feel like given the audience something to experience is important, rather than it being Perrin narrating what he sees/smells, especially since he hasn't talked about any of what he's been going through with anyone on-screen, really.

17. Padan Fain killing a young woman and helping slaughter an entire caravan of people who follow the path of non-violence. What was that about not being able to tell if someone's actions are evil or not, Man from The Eye of the World?

18. One of the children escaped, and one of the Tuatha'an dogs killed one of the Darkfriend soldiers protecting the young girl's escape but died protecting her.

19. Moiraine is very successfully sneaky here with Doman, making him believe she's after one thing but getting him to haggle down on the thing that she's truly interested in. And I think she realizes that Doman has something real because of his mention that he's being followed and then the whole, you know, "Old Tongue written in blood" thing. She plays him good. But then when she realizes how much danger he might be in, she gives him another ten marks to help him out.

Lan's thoughts on the bond are very poetic. I love him getting to talk these things over with another Warder. And Lan is very aware that Moiraine is trying to push him away and is determined not to let her freeze him out, but it's hard!

20. Nynaeve finding so much more comradery with the Warders than with the Aes Sedai (but then also that moment when she insults Alanna and they make it clear that she's gone too far). We also get a bit of a look into the Alanna-Maksim-Ihvon poly dynamics. Nynaeve does try to reach out to Egwene but Egwene is never in her room!

21. It is so funny that Alanna thought that Egwene came to her for advice on poly relationships. Egwene trying to mirror Alanna with how she leans against the cushions: also hilarious. (who does Alanna think that Egwene is having sex with, I gotta wonder, lol) Poor Egwene. Once Alanna realizes what Egwene is actually asking, though, she gives her some solid advice.

22. Nynaeve practicing Alanna's lesson on her own because she DOES want to learn but she doesn't want to fail in front of other people. And Liandrin's entire scene with her was so well done but also: wow, yikes ouch. Nynaeve's reaction to being shielded by Liandrin (getting teary; looking at her hands afterwards) reminds me of Moiraine's reaction to what happened to her at the Eye. Liandrin is also really good at getting under people's skins. Hearing the official Red policy on Warders is really a sad way to look at things, but does explain a lot (but she's also trying to get Nynaeve to react). "You saw that weave only once but you were able to copy it" - Nynaeve's a quick learner, when she can touch the Power. Such an intense scene!

23. Really liked the funeral scene. Elyas buries the brave dog who protected the little girl. Ingtar and Perrin talk about Darkfriends and revenge and grace. "All men deserve a proper burial". Perrin talking about being worried that the rage will overwhelm him (which is directly what led to him accidentally killing his wife in the premiere). "Anger won't bring my men back." But Perrin can't stop thinking about how open and warm his people were to Fain, and then Fain betrayed them all (with a smile!).

24. Lan telling Moiraine not to smile at him while they're in a terrible situation like this, and she's pushing him away. Getting two flashbacks from that -- a. Nynaeve telling Egwene not to smile about doing her chores earlier in this episode and b. Siuan telling Moiraine not to smile back in episode 1x6. This does hurt and I think it hurts Lan that he knows what she's doing, trying to drive him away, and it's still working anyway because he doesn't feel that intimate connection that they've shared for the last twenty years.

25. Us getting that lovely moment of Perrin writing the letter, and Egwene and Nynaeve receiving it, and Rand all on his own, thinking of his friends, and then poor Mat, getting tormented by Liandrin by her only reading part of the letter, making him believe that his friends don't care about him anymore. The way Egwene and Nynaeve are able to connect for a moment, and how all five of them are thinking about each other on Bel Tine (which tells us that it's officially been a year since 1x1). Perrin is a wonderful correspondent, with a very nice way with words.

26. "A dozen letters now, and not a single mention of Mat Cauthon." Liandrin is very very good at knife-twisting. Also, Perrin has sent them a dozen letters in only five months. He is a very faithful correspondent. Ugh, I was immediately gutted by the look on Mat's face. And this is confirmation that Mat has heard that Rand is dead (and from Liandrin, probably the worst person to hear it from!). Ah, we have a "six months" timestamp from Mat here, so it took Egwene & Nynaeve roughly a month or so to get to Tar Valon from Fal Dara, since they've been in the Tower for five months. Ugh, Liandrin has been picking and picking at him for six months. My poor darling. And I bet he's especially emotional over it right now because it's Bel Tine.

27. Mat can't afford a lantern this year either, and he doesn't have any other ways of getting one. Perrin almost says goodbye to Laila here but can't quite do it (that's how I'm interpreting the moment with the ring), which means that this lantern is only for Rand. And Nynaeve and Egwene also put out a lantern for Rand, to say goodbye. Then we see Rand with a lantern, all by himself in a city. We only get this one glimpse of Rand in the whole episode but it's still very emotional.

28. Love the reveal that Mat is secretly trying to work on an escape plan. Great moment to end his little scene here on.

29. Also love Lan getting some Warder therapy from Adeleas, Verin, and Tomas. Also, lol, Adeleas just wants to eat her meal. I love Verin and Adeleas's relationship. This is such a good scene.

30. Apologies to my dearest Moiraine & Lan, but I never have much to say about fight scenes. That scene sure did... fight. Good fighting in that scene. Their hands touching at the end got to me though. I liked getting to see Verin channel Tomas's sword to be on fire. That was pretty cool.