The Gathering Storm (in a glass of water?)

Thoughts and musings about the official announcement released by Tor Books.


Yesterday was a day to mark on the calendar for all Wheel of Time Fans.

We have a title for the first part of the series's finale: The Gathering Storm. We have a definitive release date: November 3, 2009. We have the great lines of the plan for the the publication of the remaining volumes of what Robert Jordan originally thought would be the single last book of the series.

Great news or bad news? It's all a matter of perspective.

I am a passionate person who feels very strongly for what grabs my interest, for what I decide to devote precious time and energy. I sympathize with all my fellow dedicated fans who today feel betrayed, worried, disappointed or very sad about the decisions the 'Wheel of Time Team' have just announced. This has happened to me in the past over other hobbies and passions of mine, and it really sucks - but the more negative I was about it, the worse it seemed to suck.

For all my understanding of these feelings, I can't join in the concert of bitter disappointment and criticism, because for me today is a great day, and the announcements made by Tor, Harriet McDougall and Brandon Sanderson are cause for much rejoicing and even a bit of relief. A few qualms and worries, but no many.

I want to salute first Brandon Sanderson for his honesty and openness – since you've taken on this project, Brandon, I have come to respect you and to enjoy your Blog and your attitude toward us fans more and more. You're truly a great guy, and truly one of us – your own passion and dedication to the series permeate all your communications with the fans. Kudos for that.

The very long blog post explaining the reasons for the split was frank and courageous, heart warming and often funny. I must speak my mind on this, though: Brandon, often you are a bit too honest and open, and today it landed you in the pickle many of us predicted on the first days you took over this project and began to communicate directly with the WOT fans, notably among us at Wotmania. But with your comprehensive Blog post you've set matters straight – again - about progress on the book and the process behind the hard decisions, and gotten yourself out of that pickle with both courage and elegance. If you can be blamed for anything, it's certainly not for misjudging the scope of the project in the early phase, for adapting your plans as it evolved, or for feeling a bit overwhelmed and tired. No, the only criticism I'd put at your feet today is that in your generosity and desire for transparency, you've created too many hopes and unreasonable expectations among part of the fanbase that Tor and Harriet now had to crush, at least among those who have less aptitude to read between the lines a bit, nor have heeded all your warnings that nothing was set in stone or would be for a long time, and that anyway you were not the one who would make the final decisions on publishing, and you could only give your opinions. Perhaps taking a page from the ever discreet Harriet's book would have simplified your life, though personally if you cope well with all this controversy and pressure, I say by all means do go on being yourself – your candor would be greatly missed in the years to come before this project is over.

I want also to salute Harriet McDougall. The decisions you've announced today were no doubt difficult ones to make, and you must have known they wouldn't be very popular and at best highly controversial, that your late husband had created too many expectations with his promise to finish in a single book, with his jokes about forcing his publisher to invent new methods to bind books if necessary – which as usual were taken dead seriously at face value by too many fans who should have understood Jordan's humour better after all these years of reading his work. But again, you're showing how much you have your priorities straight in this project, and again you've taken the necessary hard decisions to achieve what is best for the book, to make justice to Jim's memory and legacy. As always, it's very reassuring for a fan like me to see the helm of the Wheel of Time vessel in your capable and loving hands. You'll get us all to port, in your time.

A thank you as well to Tom Doherty and Tor Books. All around you're accused today by the more cynical who can't seem to see motivations behind those with dollar signs, of being this evil capitalist publisher, obsessed with making the most financial gain out of the Wheel of Time, with your hawkish eyes targeting the wallets of Wheel of Time fans worldwide.

You're in this for profit, of course, but I rather choose to see in all of this primarly your steadfast support of Harriet and Brandon, your obvious love for Robert Jordan's work you've been involved with and believed in since its genesis, and your support of the creators when they decided to stay true to Jordan's vision, by taking as much pages as they feel the story needs to be told in full. Some would have pressured the writing team to shorten things up to be able to publish the story in one book, and some would have pressured them to stick to the announced deadline. Tor rather chose to bite the bullet on this one, to go with the options that won't be popular among the readers and even leave a bitter taste among some of your customers. This isn't greed I see in your decisions concerning the publishing of the last Wheel of Time books, this is vision, and respect for the story and its creators, skills at finding the best possible compromise solution for the book, and for your company. And yes, you'll make money out of all this.. but then, I was under the impression publishing books for a profit was the raison d'être of Tor Books, so why blame you? Thank you Mr. Doherty. Robert Jordan was right to put his trust in you.

And I genuinely have come to believe that this 'WOT team' have just taken the best possible decisions for the series, one for which we'll thank them when all is said and done. Jordan's promises can be dismissed for what they were : well meaning wishes and intentions and a genuine desire to reach the end of the great journey – an end he no doubt was deeply eager to have us read at last. Harriet believes he would never have managed it, and it's all too easy to trust her opinion on this. All too easy. If anyone knows how much his tales expanded in the telling, it's her. She heard them over the table, she read them at her work desk. He announced this a bit too early, with just an outline to judge the length of the coming book. Jim Rigney excelled in many things, but with all due respect to his beloved memory, if anyone ever sucked at evaluating how long it takes to tell a story, it's Robert Jordan. For years, it was always '2-3 more books". It had become a running gag in the fan base, a bitter one for some, a funny on to others like me who really didn't care how long it would take to reach the end. It's hardly surprising he had misjudged the length of the 'last book' too, and if alas he is no longer here to have revised his early judgment along the way, his passing is no good reason to make his statement virtually sacred and untouchable, and to point now the accusing finger at his widow and his friend Tom Doherty for facing reality and finding viable solutions.

I am one of those fans who appreciate all the details and intricacies of Jim's story, one of those whose love for the series increased as the books went on and one of those who much prefer the famously or infamously 'long winded' books 4-11 to the early and faster paced 'trilogy'. Lacking in the details that for me truly makes WOT WOT, is often how I describe Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn. In many ways, for me, the Wheel of Time really kicks off with The Shadow Rising, still one of my favourites.

Knife of Dreams, as good as it was, was also cause for some concerns. Perhaps under some pressure from the fans, perhaps because he was eager to get to the ending, Jim began to cut a few corners here and there, to precipitate resolution that felt like maybe it wasn't fully doing justice to all his 'set up'. If the price for a single volume A Memory of Light was to rush the ending, let too much of the details abandoned behind, unused for lack of space, then my belief is that this was too high a price to pay. I can only salute now Brandon and Harriet's decision to take all the time and pages they need to let the story breath.

The fact the book will be split into three installments may even be seen now as a gift. We were seeing the end of the WOT communities, very soon. We had only one book to look forward to, the book that would resolve everything at once. The end of theories, the end of many beloved topics of debate and discussion. A rush of discussions for a few weeks, tainted by the depressive effect that it's all over, and by the division between those who will be satisfied and those who will hate the finale (just look how the BSG fandom has just recently collapsed over the controversial ending of the series). For many years, the fan base has had it rough. Jim's disease and sad passing was a massive blow. Some sites vanished almost overnight, one of the major ones is about to close down. Harriet's decision to take all the time she needs to finish the book, and to offer them to us in three volumes over the next two years, has the very positive effect (one of Siuan's beloved unintended consequences) of giving us our Wheel of Time back. We have a book to look forward to and be excited about, and it's but a few months away. And then we'll have months of discussions and anticipation ahead of us, with the knowledge that the next chapter isn't that far away.

It is all a matter of perspective. When you have passions that bring you pleasure in life, you must make the efforts to protect and nurture them, and part of achieving that is in looking at things positively whenever it's possible, and to accept letting go of things you can't change. The alternative is too often to let changes and disappointements sour and ruin everything.

Harriet McDougall and Brandon will now have all the necessary time to make these books as good as they can be, and to ensure they do justice to Jim Rigney's legacy – books the fans can enjoy, and books Brandon and Harriet can look back at and be proud of. We will have the entirety of the story as envisioned by Robert Jordan in his notes and outline, not a shortened version to accommodate publishing, or to bow under the pressure of the more impatient part of the fan base. And we have ahead of us a reprieve of 2-3 years for the WOT fandom, with a new Wheel of Time book to enjoy every autumn. I don't know about you, but I salivate in advance. Today, watching over Harriet's shoulder from wherever he is, Jim must sport a content smile, and gave a good chuckle when she uttered her first official RAFO. All is well and his legacy is still in the best and most loving of hands. Brandon, Harriet, Mr. Doherty – best of luck to all of you with the rest of the project, and again, thank you for all the care you put into this for Jim and for us all.

And for the little worries, for instance how what was conceived as an 'Act 1', and knowing how RJ's 'acts 1' were usually structured, will make a satisfying read, are better left for post-reading discussions in November. At least we'll know then what we're truly talking about.


Dominic

New Article Released : Egwene, Leane and the Harbour Chains

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Egwene, Leane and the Harbour Chain

This article, written by Old Salt for the Wotmania FAQ section in 2006, is republished here fully indexed and completed with pictural research by Linda. It explores all the details between Egwene's plan to block the Harbours of Tar Valon, and the consequences of having partially succeeded.

This article and its content have also been added to the Index.

New Article Released : The Noble Houses of Andor

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: The Noble Houses of Andor


This is Linda's first new article written exclusively for the Thirteenth Depository, and one we're both fairly proud of. It documents the nineteen Great Houses of Andor and all the known lesser Houses. The article also explores the founding of the nation of Andor and some key historical events known from the series or The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time. The article is illustrated with charts, maps and renditions of Andoran sigils.

A thourough reference tool and a good read in itself, it was also written to be a comprehensive refresher before jumping back into this storyline in A Memory of Light

This content of this article is in process of being added to the Index.

Linda and myself hope you enjoy it, and as always we welcome your comments.

The Study of Master Roidelle : Mapping the Wheel of Time

For many years, I have loved cartography, especially from the Renaissance, Age of Discovery and Baroque eras. Creating maps of the Wheel of Time universe is for me a natural extension of my fascination with Robert Jordan's series.

Over the years, I have worked in different media. A very great deal is done purely as computer graphic imagery - a natural medium for me as it's been the stuff my professional life is made of since the late 1980s. Other maps have been painted in watercolours or acrylics, or done in charcoal or china ink, with or without CGI enhancements or treatment.

Within the 'The Study of Master Roidelle - Mapping the Wheel of Time' series (Master Roidelle is the mapmaker of Shen al Calhar, for those not completely up to date on WoT trivia), I will be adding to the Thirteenth Depository's Reference Library some of my favourite maps. Some have been done long ago, some are quite new, and many are in-progress. In the next couple of months, much of my the efforts will be focussed on finishing the maps that are meant to complement Linda's various articles; illustrations being a major improvement we are very excited to be able to offer, and something we had long wanted at the old FAQ section at Wotmania. On an irregular basis, I will also add maps from my personal collection and show you some of the ongoing projects. I am, of course, very much looking forward to documenting cartographically some of the events of A Memory of Light.

The maps will be collected over time to form a virtual Wheel of Time Atlas - the 'Study of Master Roidelle' section, where I will often add more information and comments, pointing book sources and various guesses and problems. Several maps will also be found in the articles in the Library.

You can expect soon the first two maps, documenting the Siege of Caemlyn during the Succession (that didn't dare speak its name) and the events in and around the city on the day of Arymilla's last attack that brought her final defeat. These maps will complement Linda's first wholly new article written specially for our new site: a great essay on the early History of Andor and a study of the known Noble Houses and their members. The article to be published later this week will also be augmented with family trees, and renditions of the Andoran Houses' sigils.

I hope you'll enjoy this feature of the Blog, and I'm looking forward to your comments.

New Article Released : Setalle Anan

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: The Importance of Setalle Anan


Written in 2004, the article is Linda's exploration of the mysterious character of Martine Janata, the burned out Aes Sedai scholar of ter'angreal and other One Power related objects, better known under her new identify of Setalle Anan, once Innkeeper of the Wandering Woman in Ebou Dar, the nightmare of Nynaeve and Elayne, and currently a valuable ally and friend to Mat Cauthon, and even a mother figure to him and Tuon in their carnivalesque escape from Ebou Dar.

This content of this article has also been added to the Index.

New Article Released : Foretellings

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Foretellings


This article, written by Linda in 2005 for the Wotmania FAQ section and kept up-to-date with each new book, is a compendium of all the Foretellings in the series and their possible interpretations. The Weaves and Talents and Fate, Free Will and Divining the Pattern articles have a general discussion of the Foretelling Talent and of the characters who can Foretell.

Foretellings is the first re-published article from the Into the Future series, which discusses all the Prophecies and as well as the matters of Fate, Free and Divination in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. The rest of the series will be re published in installments in the Thirteenth Depository... in a very foreseeable future. ;)

This article and its content have also been added to the Index.

New Article Released : The Black Ajah

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: The Black Ajah


It is the latest iteration of whatwas once the Wotmania 'Black Ajah FAQ' researched, rewritten and added to by Linda and Wotmania member Moridin_2000 over the years.

You'll find in the latest version we add to the Thirteenth Depository in-depth discussions of many Black Ajah related topics, from the early History of the secret society to what we know of its functionning and beyond, as well as a 'Who's who' repertoire of all the Black Sisters & their deeds in the series.

The article also embodies a full section on the use of Crytography in the Wheel of Time world.

The content of the Black Ajah article is fully indexed.

Individual entries for the Black Sisters can also be accessed directly using the Characters Index.

New Article Released : Herbs and Other Medicines

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Herbs and Other Medicines

Its a repertoire of all the WOT medicines, herbal and occasionally otherwise, and their uses. The article is completed with many real life parallels, and general information on the use of herbs and medicines in the series. The center piece of this article is without a doubt the extensive Forkoot entry.

The article was originally published in March 2008 by Linda, for the Wotmania FAQ section. For its first anniversary, the article makes its entry in the 13th Depository in new revised and illustrated edition. Each of the entries is also available directly using the Index.

New Article Released : Ter'angreal and Allied Items

A new article is now available in the Reference Library: Ter'angreal and Allied Items

Written by Linda in 2005 and originally published in the FAQ section of Wotmania, it now enters the Thirteenth Repository in a revised edition. This article offers a complete catalogue of the ter'angreal described in the series, as well as comprehensive general entries about all sort of issues related to these devices: Their making, the Talents involved, security measures various characters have put in place to protect their collections or caches of ter'angreal, as well all many issues related to specific items, like the Accepted Test and the sul'dam and damane culture of Seanchan. Several 'Allied Items' are also discussed, notably the Portal Stones and the Ogier's Book of Translation.

The topics covered by the article as well as all the individual entries are also searchable through our index. The main entry for Ter'angreal can be found here.

Dabel Brothers post two new WOT images

By Dominic

The Dabel Brothers have posted new image from their upcoming comic book adaptation of The Eye of the World in this Dragonmount Announcement.

After the sour turn their New Spring adaptation project took (in a complex imbroglio caused by Red Eagle Entertainment, now solved and not worth getting into), I'm still waltzing between excitement and mild scepticism concerning the new project.

The guys picked by DB for the WOT project(s) are very talented, and the work on New Spring was often outstanding and very interesting to follow month after month. Good art - often better than good art, and a surprisingly good adaptation, considering the complexity of the novel. Adapting the whole series is however such a massive, many years endeavour. I'm not convinced just yet they will manage to bring even the first book to its end (and not necessarily by their fault, mind you - with REE out of the picture and Tor involved in the publication of the issues in graphic novel form, a drop in sales would be a more likely reason the project could come to an early end), and the possibility we may begin the journey but never get to finish it damper my enthusiasm a bit.

The new images are very nice - to my taste a bit too stylized in the character design compared to the art direction chosen for New Spring, perhaps - and they are apparently for the cover(s) of issue #1.

They've used some artistic license there - early morning in late spring somehow looks more lik sunset in autumn - and this changes the atmosphere early book one scenes evoke with me. Though, admittedly, cover art is a different game and the DB took similar license with the covers of New Spring, while the content of the comic book adaptation itself remained a lot more faithful to the novel.

Alas, some of that faithfulness that made New Spring even more interesting may have had quite a bit to do with the close involvement of Jim Rigney with the project, and his enthusiasm to get faithful WOT art at last. Part of the attraction of New Spring by the DB was that RJ saw it as an opportunity to guide talented artists into making renditions from his world for his fans. And for once, this was to be done by people who cared to bring his vision faithfully to the page, not artists commissioned to create covert art under the direction of marketing execs and the like.

For many years, Jordan had been dissatisfied with WOT art like the covers or the illustrations from the BWB, and the DB were giving him a new chance to 'get it right'. With the Dabel Brothers he got gorgeous renditions from his world, with attention to details in costumes and architecture. The rendition of a bird view of Tar Valon from an early issue was especially stunning then and still is now, looking again at the comic book. With his passing, let us hope the adaptators at DB make can make full use of Harriet and RJ's assistants as advisors, though all the little insight RJ could offer, all these little details that weren't in his notes but only in his head, or that he created along way, inspired by the rough version the artists sent him, are now lost forever. They probably miss that collaboration as much as we do, however.

This project remains exciting, far more so for me than the possibility Universal goes forward with a film adaptation of the novel, a format I personally find totally inappropriate for the series. As with many other 'long winded' authors of renown like Alexandre Dumas (whose work became fairly disappointing mini-series and movies, especially the awful Hollywoodian versions), a main attraction to the Wheel of Time is in the details of plots, characters, descriptions and atmospheres. Rushing and cutting WoT would degrade it to standard fantasy fare, and that's without going into the massive problem created by Jordan's decision to evoke 'Fellowship of the Ring" and its plot a lot in the early parts of The Eye of the World (he intentionally wanted the reader to feel comfortable with a well-known setting, before suddenly opening his world to something quite different from LOTR once they leave the Two Rivers), with the ensuing big risk that after the movie adaptation Wheel of Time is perceived by movie-goers who haven't read the books as a 'sub-standard LOTR rip-off'. The series's legacy, often unrecognized and unfairly maligned by readers of Fantasy and critics in the last years, deserves better than the REE/Universal project.

Comics and graphic novels are much more interesting, as they leave a lot more to the reader's imagination, especially when they're done by talented artists like the team the DB have assembled for the WOT project.

Good luck guys. With such an ambitious project you'll certainly need it, but it will be a treat to follow these issues month after month.

Mapping the Wheel of Time : Andor

by Dominic

This image is a 'draft' version of a map of Andor, done in a mock 17th Century Dutch style two years ago.

It is decorated with the sigils of 18 of the 19th main Houses of Andor (the 19th's, House Candraed's, has never been described).

Click the picture to get the full-size version.

Artistic license was taken with the House colours whenever unknown. More accurate renditions of the House Sigils can be found in the heraldry article, and eventually I'll add them to a more advanced version of the map.

A major gripe I have with map is the fact it uses the book's full colours map as background. Since I've done that draft, I've started work on a giant reproduction of 'big map', painstakingly translating all the details using grids. Once finished, this painting of the map of the Westlands (including the Waste and part of Shara, and a bit more of the Blight as well) will be used to finalize the regional/national maps I've done, like the present 'rough draft" of Andor.

Bayle Domon

Egwene

INDEX OF POVs


THE EYE OF THE WORLD

EARLIER:
Ravens (new prologue, Young adult edition only)

Summer 988 NE

• Egwene at the Shearing, ten years before the events of Winternight.

Egwene - The Great Hunt

Geofram Bornhald

Jaret Byar

Jaichim Carridin (Bors)

Liandrin

Moiraine

INDEX OF POVs


THE EYE OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER 53
The Wheel Turns

POV:Moiraine
Saven 8, 998 NE (day 56)

• Moiraine spies on a conversation between Rand and Egwene and murmurs the Dragon is reborn.

Min Farshaw

Nynaeve

INDEX OF POVs


THE EYE OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER 21
Listen to the Wind

Aine 20, 998 NE (day 13)

• Across the Arinelle, Nynaeve is reunited with Lan and Moiraine and confronts the Aes Sedai. They head downriver for Whitebridge.

CHAPTER 28
Footprints in Air

Adar 5, 998 NE (day 26)

• Nynaeve, Lan and Moiraine in Whitebridge. Moiraine catches scent of two of the boys. They prepare to leave east on the Caemlyn Road.

CHAPTER 37
The Long Chase

Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• Moiraine has found Perrin. Nyaneve stalks into the Whitecloak camp to steal horses.

Nynaeve - The Great Hunt

Perrin

INDEX OF POVs


THE EYE OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER 20
Dust on the Wind

Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• Perrin is joined by Egwene. They flee to the river. Perrin is separated from Egwene as he gets across.

CHAPTER 22
A Path Chosen

Aine 20, 998 NE (day 13)

• Across the Arinelle, Perrin finds Egwene. They agree to by-pass Whitebridge and head east cross-country.

CHAPTER 23
Wolfbrother

Aine 23, 998 NE (day 16)

• Perrin and Egwene meets Elyas Machera. Perrin has his first encounter an communication with the wolves. They head south toward the road the next morning.

CHAPTER 25
The Traveling People

Aine 26, 998 NE (day 19)

• Perrin, Egwene and Elyas with Raen's group of Tuatha'an. Perrin and Egwene meet Aram.

CHAPTER 27
Shelter From the Storm

Adar 5, 998 NE (day 26)

• Perrin, Egwene and Elyas take their leave from the Tinkers.

CHAPTER 29
Eyes Without Pity

Adar 10, 998 NE (day 31)

• Perrin, Egwene and Elyas are pursued by ravens and take refuge in an abandonned stedding.

CHAPTER 30
Children of Shadow

Adar 10, 998 NE (day 31)

• Perrin and Hopper attack Whitecloaks in the stedding, and Perrin kills two. Perrin and Egwene are separated from Elyas and captured by Geofram Bornhald's men.

>

CHAPTER 38
Rescue

Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• Jaret Byar offers Perrin and Egwene the chance to escape. They are rescued by Moiraine' party. They head for Caemlyn, a few days away.

Perrin - The Great Hunt

Padan Fain

THE EYE OF THE WORLD - Quick Guide

PROLOGUE
Dragonmount

POV: Omni-Lews Therin
(second age)

• Ishamael confronts Lews Therin after the Kinslaying. Lews Therin commits suicide.

EARLIER:
Ravens (new prologue, Young adult edition only)

POV:Egwene
Summer 988 NE

• Egwene at the Shearing, ten years before the events of Winternight.

CHAPTER 1
An Empty Road

POV:Rand
Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand and Tam on the Quarry Road down to Emond's Field. Rand meets Mat at the Inn.

CHAPTER 2
Strangers

POV:Rand
Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand and Mat meet Moiraine.

CHAPTER 3
The Peddler

POV:Rand
Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Padan Fain arrives at Emond's Field. Egwene joins Mat and Rand.

CHAPTER 4
The Gleeman

POV:Rand
Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Thom Merrilin joins the boys outside the Winespring Inn.

CHAPTER 5
Winternight

POV:Rand
Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand and Tam return to the farm. They are attacked by Trollocs.

CHAPTER 6
The Westwood

POV:Rand
Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand carries the wounded Tam through the woods.

CHAPTER 7
Out of the Woods

POV:Rand
Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Rand arrives in Emond's Field. Nynaeve is powerless to save Tam.

CHAPTER 8
A Place of Safety

POV:Rand
Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Moiraine heals Tam and tells Rand the boys must leave Emond's Field.

CHAPTER 9
Tellings of the Wheel

POV:Rand
Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Moiraine is confronted by the villagers and tells them the story of Manetheren's fall.

CHAPTER 10
Leavetaking

POV:Rand
Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Thom and Egwene join the travelers in the stable. Rand sees a draghkar hunting in the night on the North Road.

CHAPTER 11
The Road to Taren Ferry

POV:Rand
Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• The party passes Watch Hill. They are attacked by the draghkar. They reach Taren Ferry.

CHAPTER 12
Across the Taren

POV:Rand
Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• The party crosses the Taren then Moiraine sinks the ferry. They make camp. Moiraine guides Egwene through her first touching of the True Source.

CHAPTER 13
Choices

POV:Rand
Aine 10 to Aine 15 998 NE (days 3 to 8)

• The trip and the arrival at Baerlon. The party arrives at the Stag and Lion Inn.

CHAPTER 14
The Stag and Lion

POV:Rand
Aine 15, 998 NE (day 8)

• Bath and supper at the Inn. Rand dreams of Ba'alzamon.

CHAPTER 15
Strangers and Friends

POV:Rand
Aine 16, 998 NE (day 9)

• Rand meets Min who shares viewings with him. Rand and Mat visit Baerlon and run into Padan Fain then Whitecloaks. Back at the Inn they learn from Perrin Nynaeve has tracked them down.

CHAPTER 16
The Wisdom

POV:Rand
Aine 16, 998 NE (day 9)

• Min talks to Rand and shares new viewings. Meeting with Nynaeve. Nynaeve reveals to Rand he was born out of the Two Rivers.

CHAPTER 17
Watchers and Hunters

POV:Rand
Aine 16 to Aine 17, 998 NE (days 9-10)

• Common room fun. Rand confronts a Fade. The party flee the Inn. Moiraine confronts Dain Bornhald's Whitecloaks at the Gate.

CHAPTER 18
The Caemlyn Road

POV:Rand
Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• On the road. They are surrounded by bands of Fade-led trollocs and attacked. They escape in the direction of Shadar Logoth.

CHAPTER 19
Shadows Waiting

POV:Rand
Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• In Shadar Logoth. The boys have a close encounter with Mordeth. The Shadowspawn have entered the city and the party prepare to flee toward the river.

CHAPTER 20
Dust on the Wind

POV:Rand
Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• Separated from Moiraine and Lan, Rand is confronted by Trollocs and Mashadar. He is joined by Thom and Mat.

POV:Perrin
Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• Perrin is joined by Egwene. They flee to the river. Perrin is separated from Egwene as he gets across.

POV:Rand
Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• Rand, Mat and Thom are further attacked by Trollocs on the way to the river. They get aboard Domon's rivership Spray.

CHAPTER 21
Listen to the Wind

POV:Nynaeve
Aine 20, 998 NE (day 13)

• Across the Arinelle, Nynaeve is reunited with Lan and Moiraine and confronts the Aes Sedai. They head downriver for Whitebridge.

CHAPTER 22
A Path Chosen

POV:Perrin
Aine 20, 998 NE (day 13)

• Across the Arinelle, Perrin finds Egwene. They agree to by-pass Whitebridge and head east cross-country.

CHAPTER 23
Wolfbrother

POV:Perrin
Aine 23, 998 NE (day 16)

• Perrin and Egwene meet Elyas Machera. Perrin has his first encounter of communication with the wolves. They head south toward the road the next morning.

CHAPTER 24
Flight Down the Arinelle

POV:Rand
Aine 22-23, 998 NE (days 15-16)

• Aboard Spray. Rand has a reaction from touching the Source a few days before.

CHAPTER 25
The Traveling People

POV:Perrin
Aine 26, 998 NE (day 19)

• Perrin, Egwene and Elyas with Raen's group of Tuatha'an. Perrin and Egwene meet Aram.

CHAPTER 26
Whitebridge

POV:Rand
Adar 4, 998 NE (day 25)

• Aboard Spray, which then reaches Whitebridge. They learn of a crazy man and a Fade hunting them. They decide to move out of Whitebridge. Thom attacks a Fade and seemingly dies. The boys are now on their own.

CHAPTER 27
Shelter From the Storm

POV:Perrin
Adar 5, 998 NE (day 26)

• Perrin, Egwene and Elyas take their leave from the Tinkers.

CHAPTER 28
Footprints in Air

POV:Nynaeve
Adar 5, 998 NE (day 26)

• Nynaeve, Lan and Moiraine in Whitebridge. Moiraine catches scent of two of the boys. They prepare to leave east on the Caemlyn Road.

CHAPTER 29
Eyes Without Pity

POV:Perrin
Adar 10, 998 NE (day 31)

• Perrin, Egwene and Elyas are pursued by ravens and take refuge in an abandoned stedding.

CHAPTER 30
Children of Shadow

POV:Perrin
Adar 10, 998 NE (day 31)

• Perrin and Hopper attack Whitecloaks in the stedding, and Perrin kills two. Perrin and Egwene are separated from Elyas and captured by Geofram Bornhald's men.

CHAPTER 31
Play for Your Supper

POV:Rand
Adar 4 to Adar 18, 998 NE (days 25 to 39)

• Several days on the road. Rand and Mat work and shelter at the Grinwell farm. They play the flute and juggle at the Inn in Arien. They are given a ride by a farmer and arrive at Four Kings.

CHAPTER 32
Four Kings in Shadow

POV:Rand
Adar 18, 998 NE (day 39)

• Confrontation at the Inn in Four Kings with Saml Hake's thugs who try to rob the boys, and with the darkfriend Howal Gode. Rand channels and the boys escape in the stormy night.

CHAPTER 33
The Dark Waits

POV:Rand
Adar 18, 998 NE (day 39)

• (awkward flashback sequence)
  
  Rand has a dream of Ba'alzamon and Gode. Encounter with the darkfriend Paitr at Market Sheran. A few day later, Rand is sick from touching the Source in Four Kings. At the Queen's Man, a confrontation with the darkfriend Mili Skane. They flee and get a ride with a farmer again.

CHAPTER 34
The Last Village

POV:Rand
Adar 18-19, 998 NE (days 39-40)

• More adventure on the road. Darkfriends and Fades are looking for them. They take a ride with farmer Bunt and reach Caemlyn.

CHAPTER 35
Caemlyn

POV:Rand
Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• Rand and Mat go to the Queen's Blessing where Basel Gill agrees to give them shelter.

CHAPTER 36
Web of the Pattern

POV:Rand
Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• At the Queen's Blessing, Rand meets Loial who decides he will travel with him.

CHAPTER 37
The Long Chase

POV:Nynaeve
Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• Moiraine has found Perrin. Nyaneve stalks into the Whitecloak camp to steal horses.

CHAPTER 38
Rescue

POV:Perrin
Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• Jaret Byar offers Perrin and Egwene the chance to escape. They are rescued by Moiraine's party. They head for Caemlyn, a few days away.

CHAPTER 39
Weaving of the Web

POV:Rand
Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• Rand leaves the Inn to see the captured Logain being showed in the city. He has a close encounter with the 'beggar' (Padan Fain) and falls into the palace garden.

CHAPTER 40
The Web Tightens

POV:Rand
Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• Rand meets Elayne and Gawyn. Galad brings the guards to the intruder and Rand, Elayne and Gawyn are taken to Queen Morgase. Rands meets Bryne, Morgase and Elaida, who has a dire foretelling about him. He is finally allowed by Morgase to leave the palace.

CHAPTER 41
Old Friends and New Threats

POV:Rand
Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• At the Inn, Rand is reunited with Moiraine and the others. Moiraine realises Mat is tainted by an object from Shadar Logoth and prepares to heal Mat.

CHAPTER 42
Remembrance of Dreams

POV:Rand
Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• Discussions at the Queen's Blessing after Moiraine healed Mat. Some revelations as the characters share their secrets and knowledge. They decide to go to Fal Dara using the Ways. Rand dreams of Ba'alzamon and when he wakes up he he tells Moiraine about his dreams.

CHAPTER 43
Decisions and Apparitions

POV:Rand
Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• The party enters and travels through the Ways.

CHAPTER 44
The Dark Along the Ways

POV:Rand
Adar 24, 998 NE (day 45)

• In the Ways.

CHAPTER 45
What Follows in Shadow

POV:Rand
Adar 24-25, 998 NE (days 45-46)

• In the Ways. Lan senses something following them (Fain). They confront Machin Shin and escape though the Waygate at Fal Dara.

CHAPTER 46
Fal Dara

POV:Rand
Adar 25, 998 NE (day 46)

• They reach Fal Dara keep and are welcomed by Ingtar and his master Lord Agelmar. Fain is captured and brought by Ingtar to Agelmar and Moiraine.

CHAPTER 47
More Tales of the Wheel

POV:Rand
Adar 25, 998 NE (day 46)

• Fal Dara Keep. Agelmar retells the fall of Malkier. Moiraine reports about her questionning of Padan Fain.

CHAPTER 48
The Blight

POV:Rand
Adar 26, 998 NE (day 47)

• They head for the Blight. They camp in front of the ruins of the Seven Towers.

CHAPTER 49
The Dark One Stirs

POV:Rand
Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• In the Blight. They reach the Eye of the World and the Green Man.

CHAPTER 50
Meetings at the Eye

POV:Rand
Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• They enter the Eye. Outside, confrontation with Balthamel and Aginor.

CHAPTER 51
Against the Shadow

POV:Rand
Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• Confrontation between Rand and Ba'alzamon.

CHAPTER 52
There Is Neither Beginning Nor End

POV:Rand
Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• They discover the Horn of Valere, the Dragon Banner and a broken seal. They camp at the Eye for the night.

CHAPTER 53
The Wheel Turns

POV:Rand
Adar 28 to Saven 1, 998 NE (days 49-50)

• They travel back to Fal Dara and Moiraine shows the Horn to Agelmar.

POV:Moiraine
Saven 8, 998 NE (day 56)

• Moiraine spies on a conversation between Rand and Egwene and murmurs the Dragon in reborn.

MAIN INDEX

BOOK 2: THE GREAT HUNT

Rand

INDEX OF POVs


THE EYE OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER 1
An Empty Road

Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand and Tam on the Quarry Road down to Emond's Field. Rand meets Mat at the Inn.

CHAPTER 2
Strangers

Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand and Mat meets Moiraine.

CHAPTER 3
The Peddler

Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Padan Fain arrives to Emond's Field. Egwene joins Mat and Rand.

CHAPTER 4
The Gleeman

Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Thom Merrilin joins the boy outside the Winespring Inn.

CHAPTER 5
Winternight

Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand and Tam return to the farm. They are attacked by Trollocs.

CHAPTER 6
The Westwood

Aine 8, 998 NE (day 1)

• Rand carries the wounded Tam through the woods.

CHAPTER 7
Out of the Woods

Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Rand arrives in Emond's Field. Nynaeve is powerless to save Tam.

CHAPTER 8
A Place of Safety

Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Moiraine heals Tam and tells Rand the boys must leave Emond's Field.

CHAPTER 9
Tellings of the Wheel

Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Moiraine is confronted by the villagers and tells them the story of Manetheren's fall.

CHAPTER 10
Leavetaking

Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• Thom and Egwene joins the travelers in the stable. Rand sees a draghkar hunting in the night on the North Road.

CHAPTER 11
The Road to Taren Ferry

Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• The party passes Watch Hill. They are attacked by the draghkar. They reach Taren Ferry.

CHAPTER 12
Across the Taren

Aine 9, 998 NE (day 2)

• The party crosses the Taren then Moiraine sinks the ferry. They make camp. Moiraine guides Egwene through her first touching of the True Source.

CHAPTER 13
Choices

Aine 10 to Aine 15 998 NE (days 3 to 8)

• The trip and the arrival to Baerlon. The party arrives at the Stag and Lion Inn.

CHAPTER 14
The Stag and Lion

Aine 15, 998 NE (day 8)

• Bath and supper at the Inn. Rand dreams of Ba'alzamon.

CHAPTER 15
Strangers and Friends

Aine 16, 998 NE (day 9)

• Rand meets Min who shares viewings with him. Rand and Mat visit Baerlon and run into Padan Fain then Whitecloaks. Back at the Inn they learn from Perrin Nynaeve has tracked them down.

CHAPTER 16
The Wisdom

Aine 16, 998 NE (day 9)

• Min talks to Rand and shares new viewings. Meeting with Nynaeve. Nynaeve reveals to Rand he was born out of the Two Rivers.

CHAPTER 17
Watchers and Hunters

Aine 16 to Aine 17, 998 NE (days 9-10)

• Common room fun. Rand confronts a Fade. The party flee the Inn. Moiraine confronts Dain Bornhald's Whitecloaks at the Gate.

CHAPTER 18
The Caemlyn Road

Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• On the road. They are surrounded by bands of Fade-led trollocs and attacked. They escape in the direction of Shadar Logoth.

CHAPTER 19
Shadows Waiting

Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• In Shadar Logoth. The boys have an close encounter with Mordeth. The Shadowspawn have entered the city and the party prepare to flee toward the river.

CHAPTER 20
Dust on the Wind

Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• Separated from Moiraine and Lan, Rand is confronted by Trollocs and Mashadar. He is joined by Thom and Mat.

Aine 19, 998 NE (day 12)

• Rand, Mat and Thom are further attacked by Trollocs on the way to the river. They get aboard Domon's rivership Spray.

CHAPTER 24
Flight Down the Arinelle

Aine 22-23, 998 NE (days 15-16)

• Aboard Spray. Rand has a reaction from touching the Source a few days before.

CHAPTER 26
Whitebridge

Adar 4, 998 NE (day 25)

• Aboard Spray, which then reaches Whitebridge. They learn of a crazy man and a Fade hunting them. They decide to move out of Whitebridge. Thom attacks a Fade and seemingly dies. The boys are now on their own.

CHAPTER 31
Play for Your Supper

Adar 4 to Adar 18, 998 NE (days 25 to 39)

• Several days on the road. Rand and Mat work and shelter at the Grinwell farm. They play flute and jungle at the Inn in Arien. They are given a ride by a farmer and arrive at Four Kings.

CHAPTER 32
Four Kings in Shadow

Adar 18, 998 NE (day 39)

• Confrontation at the Inn in Four Kings with Saml Hake's thugs who try to rob the boys, and with the darkfriend Howal Gode. Rand channels and the boys escape in the stormy night.

CHAPTER 33
The Dark Waits

Adar 18, 998 NE (day 39)

• (ackward flashback sequence)
  
  Rand has a dream of Ba'alzamon and Gode. Encounter with the darkfriend Paitr at Market Sheran. A few day later, Rand is sick from touching the Source in Four Kings. At the Queen's Man, confrontation with the darkfriend Mili Skane. They flee and get a ride with a farmer again.

CHAPTER 34
The Last Village

Adar 18-19, 998 NE (days 39-40)

• More adventure on the road. Darkfriends and Fades are looking for them. They take a ride with farmer Bunt and reach Caemlyn.

CHAPTER 35
Caemlyn

Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• Rand and Mat go to the Queen's Blessing where Basel Gill agrees to give them shelter.

CHAPTER 36
Web of the Pattern

Adar 20, 998 NE (day 41)

• At the Queen's blessing, Rand meets Loial who decides he will travel with him.

CHAPTER 39
Weaving of the Web

Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• Rand leaves the Inn to see the captured Logain being showed in the city. He has a close encounter with the 'beggar' (Padan Fain) and falls into the palace's garden.

CHAPTER 40
The Web Tightens

Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• Rand meets Elayne and Gawyn. Galad brings in the guards on the intruder and Rand, Elayne and Gawyn are taken to Queen Morgase. Rands meets Bryne, Morgase and Elaida, who has a dire foretelling about him. He is finally allowed by Morgase to leave the palace.

CHAPTER 41
Old Friends and New Threats

Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• At the Inn, Rand is reunited with Moiraine and the others. Moiraine realises Mat is tainted by an object from Shadar Logoth and chase the others as she prepares to heal Mat.

CHAPTER 42
Remembrance of Dreams

Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• Discussions at the Queen's Blessing after Moiraine healed Mat. Some revelations as the characters share their secrets and knowledge. They decide to go to Fal Dara using the Ways. Rand dreams of Ba'alzamon and as he wakes up he he tells Moiraine about his dreams.

CHAPTER 43
Decisions and Apparitions

Adar 23, 998 NE (day 44)

• The party enters and travels through the Ways.

CHAPTER 44
The Dark Along the Ways

Adar 24, 998 NE (day 45)

• In the Ways.

CHAPTER 45
What Follows in Shadow

Adar 24-25, 998 NE (days 45-46)

• In the Ways. Lan senses something following them (Fain). They confront Machin Shin and escape though the Waygate at Fal Dara.

CHAPTER 46
Fal Dara

Adar 25, 998 NE (day 46)

• They reach Fal Dara Keep and are welcomed by Ingtar and his master Lord Agelmar. Fain is captured and brought by Ingtar to Agelmar and Moiraine.

CHAPTER 47
More Tales of the Wheel

Adar 25, 998 NE (day 46)

• Fal Dara Keep. Agelmar retells the fall of Malkier. Moiraine reports about her questionning of Padan Fain.

CHAPTER 48
The Blight

Adar 26, 998 NE (day 47)

• They head for the Blight. They camp in front of the ruins of the Seven Towers.

CHAPTER 49
The Dark One Stirs

Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• In the Blight. They reach the Eye of the World and the Green Man.

CHAPTER 50
Meetings at the Eye

Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• They enter the Eye. Outside, confrontation with Balthamel and Aginor.

CHAPTER 51
Against the Shadow

Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• Confrontation between Rand and Ba'alzamon.

CHAPTER 52
There Is Neither Beginning Nor End

Adar 27, 998 NE (day 48)

• They discover the Horn of Valere, the Dragon Banner and a broken seal. They camp at the Eye for the night.

CHAPTER 53
The Wheel Turns

Adar 28 to Saven 1, 998 NE (days 49-50)

• They travel back to Fal Dara and Moiraine shows the Horn to Agelmar.

Rand - The Great Hunt

Thom Merrilin

Towers Of Midnight Chapter 1: Apples First

By Linda

Towers of Midnight opens with glimpses of conditions on the Seanchan continent. Appropriately one of the first references after the Dark One’s impenetrable cloud cover starving the world of light (the Light) and animals from the If worlds is of thirteen (midnight) black towers:

The killing field surrounded thirteen fortresses, tall and cut entirely from unpolished black marble, their blocks left rough-hewn to give them a primal feeling of unformed strength. These were towers meant for war. By tradition they were unoccupied. How long that would last—how long tradition itself would be remembered in a continent in chaos—remained to be seen.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

Total war prevails on the whole Seanchan continent. There seem to be Seanchan prophecies that this would happen at the end of time:

Men did not whisper that this might be the end of times. They yelled it. The Fields of Peace were aflame, the Tower of Ravens was broken as prophesied and a murderer openly ruled in Seandar. This was a time to lift one’s sword and choose a side, then spill blood to give a final color to the dying land.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

The wind then bids farewell to Seanchan and heads to the mainland:

The wind howled eastward over the famed Emerald Cliffs and coursed out over the ocean. Behind, smoke seemed to rise from the entire continent of Seanchan.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

Since the Emerald Cliffs are in Normany, France and their counterparts are the White Cliffs of Dover across the English Channel, perhaps they are a reference to the Seanchan invasion.

Near Dragonmount it’s now early afternoon in late spring/early summer.

The Land is so blighted that some plants are behaving like those in the Blight:

And then there was the incident that had killed Graeger. The man had walked around a corner over in Negin Bridge and vanished. When people went looking, all they found was a twisted, leafless tree with a gray-white trunk that smelled of sulphur.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

People are blaming each other. Almen Bunt, whom we met in The Eye of the World, scorns that, but he’s looking at the Aes Sedai as scapegoats:

The Dragon’s Fang had been scrawled on a few doors that night. People were more and more nervous. Once, Almen would have named them all fools, jumping at shadows and seeing bloody Trollocs under every cobblestone.
Now . . . well, now he wasn’t so sure. He glanced eastward, toward Tar Valon. Could the witches be to blame for the failed crop? He hated being so close to their nest, but Alysa needed the help.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

During Rand’s darkest night (so far) all the apples in the orchard shrivelled and fell, as Rand’s hope shrivelled and nearly fell. There is little food or fertility in the Land. Almen despairs:

Staring down those neat, perfect rows of useless apple trees, Almen felt the crushing weight of it. Of trying to remain positive. Of seeing all his sister had worked for fail and rot. These apples . . . they were supposed to have saved the village, and his sons.
This is it then, isn’t it? he thought, eyes toward the too-yellow grass below. The fight just ended.
Maybe it was time to let go.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

Rand did too – only much more so.

Almen, who as his name shows, represents all men, all humanity, appears to sense the end of Rand’s fight, but unexpectedly for him the ending was not in despair, but in pure sunlight. The trees immediately re-bloom and fruit and the ground absorbs the rotten windfalls.

Those apples seemed to shine. Not just dozens of them on each tree, but hundreds. More than a tree should hold, each one perfectly ripe.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

These are the Platonic ideal of apples; a localised Utopia.

This restoration of health is similar to what happened after Rand’s major victory at Eye when he defeated two Forsaken and destroyed a Shadowspawn army while channelling without the taint and the Blight promptly receded a considerable distance. Rand said it was his presence that undid Dark One’s Blighting, ie he did not channel. His presence has healing properties as well as restoring fertility to the Land, but nothing ‘unnatural’:

Almen watched the man until he vanished, then dashed toward Alysa’s house. The old pain in his hip was gone, and he felt as if he could run a dozen leagues.
“Apples,” Almen said. “What else bloody grows on apple trees! Listen, we need every one of those apples picked before the day ends. You hear me? Go! Spread the word! There’s a harvest after all!”
Almen continued on, and as he did, he noticed for the first time that the grass around him seemed greener, healthier.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

It also indicates what power and influence the Way of the Leaf must have had in the Age of Legends.

After his epiphany, Rand understands and accepts the Pattern and his place in it:

“No. I’m not lost. Finally. It feels like a great long time since I’ve understood the path before me.”

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

He is enlightened (literally, with the sun on him) and is Buddha-like.

Almen thought—for a moment—he could see something around the man. A lightness to the air, warped and bent.

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

This is the opposite of the darkness and shadow that was increasingly attached to Rand until his epiphany. There is now true Oneness within Rand as well as with his relation to the Land. However the Shadow is so strong that Rand’s effect is fairly localised around him. Just as the break in the cloud follows him about but can’t widen beyond his vicinity:

“It’s not you who is mad, friend,” the stranger said. “But the entire world. Gather those apples quickly. My presence will hold him off for a time, I think, and whatever you take now should be safe from his touch.”
The man looked back at Almen. Meeting those eyes, Almen felt a strange sense of peace. “

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

The Dark One is making the world mad, turning it upside down, spreading chaos and disorder. These weaken the people. Rand changes the Pattern to Rightness and what is natural. The Dark One is Wrongness/unnatural and his True Power is hatred, destruction and suffering.

Almen Bunt feels as though his conversation with Rand is on two levels and he’s right.

Rand was dark from Lord of Chaos to Winter’s Heart and that caused bubbles of evil and loss of fertility etc and allowed the Dark One to touch the Pattern more. Since Winter’s Heart, the decline in the state of the world and the Pattern , and in Rand’s physical and mental state, accelerated rapidly due to Rand’s sin of using balefire extensively, not just on the Forsaken, but on those captured by Forsaken and also his usage of the True Power. Such great sins affect the Land hugely. Even filtering off the taint - exposing himself to it, a great sacrifice, contributed to sickening Rand and therefore the Land. Rand’s link to Moridin symbolises that Rand became increasingly like the Shadow (risking a repeat of Shadar Logoth as Cadsuane feared) until he could actually use that link to draw on the Dark One’s power.

The state of Rand’s mind and body affect the Land. His wounds, physical and spiritual, are those of the Land. Being the Creator’s Champion is way above the taveren effect, or the power of a Hero of the Horn (although he is those too). This is why at Falme Hawkwing, a great Hero and ta’veren, bowed to Rand:

Hawkwing bowed formally from his saddle to Rand. "With your permission . . . Lord Rand. Trumpeter, will you give us music on the Horn? Fitting that the Horn of Valere should sing us into battle. Bannerman, will you advance?"

- THe Great Hunt, The Grave is No Bar To My Call

However, Masema’s assertion that Rand is the “Creator made flesh” is probably untrue. Masema was shown to be corrupted into great Wrongness.

Rand has now not only changed his attitude to peace, non-hatred and acceptance but shows a willingness to face and mend problems:

The man looked back with a faint grimace. “To do something I’ve been putting off. I doubt she will be pleased by what I tell her.”

- Towers of Midnight, Apples First

Rand’s walk from Dragonmount to “She” in Tar Valon (nowhere else is feasible on foot, really) shows how close Rand and Egwene are. Close yet opposing. Rand’s meditations on Dragonmount involved the Pattern, his role in it and the defeat of the Dark One, therefore he is not going to talk about the Black Tower, the Bonding, etc with Egwene, but about what he intends to do now to win.

The condition of the apple orchard between Dragonmount and Tar Valon also refers to Tar Valon itself; in Arthurian myth Avalon was the Isle of Apples. First the apples were blighted - and so was the White Tower. Then they regrew, just like the resolution of the rebellion and the removal of the Black Ajah.

But it also shows Rand will go to Tar Valon and receive a lack of support from the Aes Sedai and maybe a change of heart later.

How has Moridin been affected by Rand’s epiphany? Perhaps we shall see in Towers of Midnight.

Towers of Midnight Chapter 2: Questions of Leadership

By Linda


The chapter contains two POVS, and the chapter title applies to both of them.


Perrin

Perrin is in the waking world, moving north. He is concerned that he has not met up with Gill and the supply wagons he sent on ahead before the Battle of Malden. Some refugees have left, but he is attracting others:

Turne smelled unwashed and dirty, and above those scents was an odd staleness. Had the man’s emotions gone numb?

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

This staleness is new. We’ve seen people die from corruption of their bodies but perhaps this is a manifestation of a more insidious breakdown – of emotional and mental health. Some new disturbance in the Pattern.

Perrin thinks he should turn people away but he doesn’t; he judges it is better to add them to his forces and stop them from becoming desperate. If he’s one of the few around that has or preserves food, then he’s in the best position to keep people alive:

“Tell me, my Lord,” Turne said as his group began to hike down the line of refugees. “Do you really have food?”
“We do,” Perrin said. “I just said so.”
“And it doesn’t spoil after a night left alone?”
“Course it doesn’t,” Perrin said sternly. “Not if you keep it right.” Some of their grain might have weevils in it, but it was edible. The man seemed to find that incredible, as if Perrin had said his wagons would soon sprout wings and fly off for the mountains.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Is Perrin’s food is not spoiling an effect of being a strong ta’veren? Rand can actually restore fertility and health to the Land – undo the Dark One’s corruption. This is beyond Mat and Perrin, but can their presence preserve what health there is – hold off the breakdown of reality? Otherwise it seems the presence of living things is necessary to keep other things hale. Anything cut off from living things, rots. Living things must unite, literally stand together, against Dark One. We have too little information yet to work out more.

“Your queen is my liegewoman,” Perrin said as they reached the front of the column. “We’re not stringing anyone up unless we have proof of their crimes. Once everyone is safely back where they belong, you can start sorting through the sell-swords and see if you can charge any of them. Until then, they’re just hungry men looking for someone to follow…You may send someone to talk to the newcomers, Arganda,” Perrin said. “Talk only. Find out where they’re from, learn whether they did serve a lord, see if they can add anything to the maps.”

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Perrin is being a leader, but doesn’t see it because he doesn’t believe in himself. Turning into a wolf and losing his family and home not surprisingly undermined his self-confidence and left him in a depression-like state.

He thinks he could solve his problems easily if his group were its original size and composition:

[Perrin] himself could Travel back to Rand, pretend to make up--most people would still think that he and Rand had parted ways angrily--and then finally be rid of Berelain and her Winged Guard. Everything could go back to the way it should be.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Wishful thinking but futile. Things returning to as they were probably isn’t the way it should be, even if it could be achieved.

The Prophet was dead, killed by bandits. Well, perhaps that was a fitting end for him, but Perrin still felt he’d failed. Rand had wanted Masema brought to him...
Either way, it was time for Perrin to return to Rand. His duty was done, the Prophet seen to, Alliandre’s allegiance secure. Only, Perrin felt as if something were still very wrong. To understand something... you have to figure out its parts...

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Well for a start he has to figure out his own parts that he plays in the Pattern and the parts of his character.

However the wrongness he probably is referring to is the Pattern around him. Perrin can feel the Pattern to some extent, like a scent in the air, not just see the future in Tel’aran’rhiod or his dreams.

Returning to Rand right now would be wrong. Parrin is being warned off going to Rand until some other tasks are done, or events have occurred and it ‘feels right’ to go.

Perrin feels bad that he never did bring Masema to Rand. If he doesn’t fulfill his allotted tasks he feels he has failed. Perrin is very focused, task oriented and has a high work ethic.

Since Malden:

“We must have picked up five thousand people these last few weeks,” she said thoughtfully. “Perhaps more. Odd, in this desolate landscape.”...
“You think this is me? Being ta’veren?”
“Every stop along our trip, you’ve gained more followers,” Faile said. “Despite our losses against the Aiel, we came out of Malden with a stronger force than when we started. Haven’t you found it odd that so many of the former gai’shain are adapting to Tam’s training with weapons?”
“They were beaten down so long,” Perrin said. “They want to stop that from happening again.”
“And so coopers learn the sword,” Faile said, “and find they have a talent for it. Masons who never thought of fighting back against Shaido now train with the quarterstaff. Sell-swords and armsmen flock to us.”
“It’s coincidence.”
“Coincidence?” She sounded amused. “With a ta’veren at the army’s head?”

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Perrin’s group has been held by the Pattern for this and to encounter the Whitecloaks at the right time.

“This is all going to end in a few days, Faile,” he said. “Once we have Gateways again, I’ll send these people to their proper places. I’m not gathering an army. I’m helping some refugees to get home.”

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

He will help refugees return, but he probably is also gathering an army. After all Artur Hawkwing named him the Dragon’s bannerman back at Falme. This is one of his pieces, his roles.

Perrin feels he was a poor leader, but Faile has asked around:

“They say that you kept Arganda contained, and put out flare-ups in camp. Then there’s the alliance with the Seanchan, the more I learn of that, the more impressed I am. You acted decisively in a time of great uncertainty, you focused everyone’s efforts, and you accomplished the impossible in taking Malden. Those are the actions of a leader.”
“Faile...” he said, suppressing a growl. Why wouldn’t she listen? When she’d been a captive, nothing had mattered to him but recovering her. Nothing. It didn’t matter who had needed his help, or what orders he’d been given. Tarmon Gai'don itself could have started, and he’d have ignored it in order to find Faile.
He realized now how dangerous his actions had been. Trouble was, he’d take those same actions again. He didn’t regret what he’d done, not for a moment. A leader couldn’t be like that.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

It was a dangerous time and he had to steer the best possible course through the problems. Leaders can’t be bogged down in regrets or indecisiveness. They must decide, act, and move on.

Because he did what he thought necessary without deliberating long on it, he dismisses his actions.

Perrin was a blacksmith. It didn’t matter what Faile dressed him in or what titles people gave him.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Being a blacksmith is another of his roles and I think he will make at least one important object for the Last Battle as well as forge a huge army. Of course, he can be a blacksmith and other things as well.

Where Perrin sees their quest in the south as a failure, and a narrowly averted disaster, Faile see the positive results:

“Yes, indeed,” she said, musingly. “I’ve been thinking on this for the last few weeks, and - odd though it seems - I believe my captivity may have been precisely what we needed. Both of us.”

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Perrin needed to stop the Prophet, extend his forces and bring certain people together. He had to be a leader, and face his dark side. It takes time to do the latter because it’s a task no one wants to do. Aes Sedai try to accelerate the process with their testing ter’angreal, but I don’t think they’re successful.

Faile needed to learn to work with others and lead them, and to stop her silly games with Perrin and Berelain. She now no longer toys with him or expects him to play by her rules only. For instance, Perrin expected her to insist he yell at her in this scene, but she did not.


Galad

The Whitecloaks are a short distance north of Perrin. It is a day or so since Galad nobly surrendered himself to the Questioners rather than have the Children fighting one another. They were rough:

He was still naked, and with tentative fingers he determined that there was dried blood on his face. It had come from a long gash in his forehead. If he didn’t wash it soon, infection was likely. He lay on his back, staring up at the pinprick lights, breathing in and out with care. If he took in too much air at once, his side screamed.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

This is standard torture technique as Semirhage described it:

Alone, in the dark, with the pain

- Lord of Chaos, Threads Woven of Shadow

Egwene was left in a similar situation in The Gathering Storm. However, Aes Sedai are legally not allowed to draw blood or break bones or allow others to do so for them. From what we’ve been told, Questioners only ever use torture in their interrogations.

Most of the action in this POV is off-screen and we see Galad’s reactions to his circumstances and his reasons for his actions:

Then, methodically, he cleaned the grime and blood from his face. The cleaning gave him a goal, kept him moving and stopped him from thinking about the pain. He carefully scrubbed the crusted blood from his cheek and nose. It was difficult; his mouth was dry. He bit down on his tongue to get saliva…
The wound to his head, the dirt on his face. . .these things were marks of victory for the Questioners. He would not leave them. He would go into their tortures with a clean face.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

We needed to read Galad’s thoughts to truly judge his worthiness as a leader.

Galad did not fear death or pain. He had made the right choices. It was unfortunate that he’d needed to leave the Questioners in charge; they were controlled by the Seanchan. However, there had been no other option, not after he’d walked out of those trees and into Asunawa’s hands.
Galad felt no anger at the scouts who had betrayed him. The Questioners were a valid source of authority in the Children, and their lies had no doubt been convincing. No, the one he was angry at was Asunawa. He took what was true and muddied it, clouding the understanding of men. There were many who did that in the world, but the Children should be different.
Soon, the Questioners would come for him, and then the true price for saving his men would be exacted with their hooks and knives. He had been aware of that price when he’d made his decision. In a way, he had won, for he had manipulated the situation best.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Galad is correct, which he always tries to be. He did win; by showing Asunawa up so much that the troops rebelled.

He would not run. He could not avoid what was coming. Even if he could escape, fleeing would invalidate his bargain with Asunawa. But he would face his enemies with self-respect...It wasn’t the cloak, the uniform, the heraldry, or the sword that made a man. It was the way he held himself.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

We’ve heard Lan express similar thoughts. Like Egwene, Galad also embraces pain.

“Stop!” Galad said. “I gave orders to you three. Bornhald, there is blood on your cloak! I commanded you not to try to free me!”
“Your men obeyed your orders, Damodred,” a new voice said...
“I see,” Galad said. “You have turned your swords on fellow Children.”
“What would you have had us do?” Brandel asked, looking up from his kneeling position.
Galad shook his head. “I do not know. Perhaps you are right; I should not chide you on this choice. It may have been the only one you could have made. But why did you change your minds?”
“We have lost two Lords Captain Commander in under half a year.” Harnesh said in a gruff voice. “The Fortress of the Light has become a playground for the Seanchan. The world is in chaos.”
“And yet,” Golever said, “Asunawa marched us all the way out here to have us battle our fellow Children. It was not right, Damodred. We all saw how you presented yourself, we all saw how you stopped us from killing one another. Faced with that, and with the High Inquisitor naming as Darkfriend a man we all know to be honorable... Well, how could we not turn against him?”

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Asunawa is not a Darkfriend, but may have been influenced by the Shadow, just as Elaida was.

The Sitters are the political representatives of advisors and academics. This is why the divisions played out differently among the Aes Sedai compared to the Whitecloaks. Being bound not to commit violence with the One Power, can spread to not using violence in other ways too. The same goes for warfare. Alternatively, being used to violence or warfare increases the risk of using it without considering whether other means might serve better.

Galad realizes all choices likely to be bad – in the sense of ‘not good’.

If the Perfect Knight is not good enough and is claimed to be evil, then nobody is good.

“You accept me as Lord Captain Commander?”
The three men bowed their heads. “All the Lords Captain are for you,” Golever said. “We were forced to kill a third of those who wore the red shepherd’s crook of the Hand of the Light. Some others united with us; some tried to flee. The Amadicians did not interfere, and many have said they’d rather join with us than return to the Seanchan. We have the other Amadicians – and the Questioners who tried to run - held at swordpoint.”
“Let free those who wish to leave,” Galad said. “They may return to their families and their masters. By the time they reach the Seanchan, we will be beyond their grasp.”
The men nodded.
“I accept your allegiance,” Galad said. “Gather the other Lords Captain and fetch me supply reports. Strike camp. We march for Andor.”
None of them asked whether he needed rest, though Trom did look worried.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

We don’t know if they let the guarded Questioners go. Asunawa and most Questioners are not the good shepherd despite wearing shepherd symbolism. It would be interesting to know if Einor Saren was killed or tried to flee. Or if there are Darkfriend Questioners remaining alive.

Egwene castigated the Hall because they did not act decisively or in the interests of the Tower. The Sitters were played by the Darkfriend Sitters not to, though. As might be expected, Darkfriends probably are rarer among the Children than among Aes Sedai. In the Age of Legends, half the Aes Sedai went over to the Shadow. In the Third Age, it is about a quarter.

Galad didn’t feel wise or strong enough to bear the title he did. But the Children had made their decision.
The Light would protect them for it.

- Towers of Midnight, Questions of Leadership

Like Perrin, Galad doesn’t want the job and he too doubts he should be leader. If he had no doubts, if he was unaware of or denied his shortcomings, he (and Perrin too) would not be as good as a leader.

The cut-down version: the chapter title, Questions of Leadership, says it all really. Both men question whether they are worthy. Others assure them they are and insist they lead on. Not surprisingly they get more followers.