Memory of Light Read-through #55: Chapter 49—Light and Shadow

By Linda

Perrin POV

The Dark One’s influence has caused Tel’aran’rhiod to become a Blight—a black wasteland, almost a void. (Rocks still remain, but they are disintegrating.) The world is collapsing in on itself in Tel’aran’rhiod. Perhaps it is a warning of what may happen or a reflection of what is happening in Rand’s battle with the Dark One. Either way, the Land cannot maintain itself against the onslaught. Shayol Ghul is a beacon of light pulling Dragonmount to it. A conjunction of mountains is being added to the other conjunctions—of people, of sun and moon, of Powers. The dual world axis is converging to one, in one way symbolising the danger that the Light could become overwhelmed and corrupted by the Shadow, in another way, heralding the sacred conjunction and the successful completion of the Great Work in removing the Dark One’s access to the world. Rand’s birthplace and death place are merging.

Cyndane was not allowed to disguise herself either in Tel’aran’rhiod or with a mask of mirrors as part of her punishment. Moridin policed this in Knife of Dreams and The Gathering Storm, but in Towers of Midnight he become preoccupied and she began to get away with it and appear more openly as Lanfear.

As Perrin enters Shayol Ghul, he sees Moridin kneeling at the Pit of Doom, and the other three standing tall. Lanfear used Compulsion on Perrin instead of seduction and even then had to pretend to be allied to the Light to manipulate him. (Otherwise she would have had to use such heavy Compulsion that he would be mindless—which would be noticed.) She felt that she “cheated” as Graendal does by resorting to Compulsion to win Perrin’s heart. The Compulsion was only effective because she played on his guilt that he wasn’t there to save his family from Fain and his resentment that Moiraine convinced him to leave the Two Rivers.

It was not because Perrin was un-willing that enables Lanfear’s Compulsion to be undone, more a matter of him willing it away with his extreme strength of will. Despite the Compulsion, Perrin has considerable independence of thought and realises that Lanfear plans to kill Rand and save the Dark One. He knows this is the ultimate wrongness and that he must do his duty. In his previous scene Perrin made two choices, but this is his third and greatest choice—between Lanfear and his beloved Faile (and his dear friends). As a character, Perrin epitomises the choice between virtue and vice which is the Lovers Tarot card. Actually, this time he must follow his duty AND his love. The Wolf King overwhelms Lanfear’s Compulsion with his love for Faile and also for Rand, his love for duty and rightness. By coming out of Compulsion in this way, he has prevented his own living death.

With the ultimate wrongness being to kill Rand, (or Nynaeve or Moiraine) and so prevent the Light’s victory, Perrin commits the lesser wrongness of killing a woman not threatening him.


Rand POV

Shaitan seems little better than Shaisam at the end (as the similarity of their names hints)—saner, and not played for laughs, but just as childishly selfish. The Dragon feels contempt for the Dark One when he realises the extent of his deceit and cruelty. Moreover, Rand realises that he created his own hell, and killing the Dark One would make it happen. This is the ultimate example of the Aiel’s belief that killing an enemy is a lesser honour than taking him captive. So, Rand shielded the Bore and repaired the hole with undifferentiated saidin and saidar: pure duality, no subdivision into “elements”.


Moiraine POV

Once Rand weaves a new prison for the Dark One, Moiraine flees the Bore before it closes, pulling Nynaeve with her. Thom saves her from running off the edge of the path outside Shayol Ghul. So determined is she to Witness the Bore closing, despite the blinding intensity of the Light, that she doesn’t watching where she is going. Rand and Moridin are both standing at this point—as the hole shrinks to nothing. The Blackness has been vanquished and the final stage of alchemical transformation, the Redness, represented by the blood of the Dragon and the Land, also has occurred. The Great Work is complete.

In alchemy, the culmination of the Whiteness phase leaves the alchemist completely free in a state of pure spirit and intelligence, beyond space, time and form, and once back in the body, the soul can realise its state of spiritual completeness. Heaven and earth in the alchemist are then united (Nigel Hamilton, The Alchemical Process of Transformation). Rand felt this at the end of his battles with the Dark One.

Jung wrote:

You can exert no influence if you are not susceptible to influence.

Carl Jung, The Practice of Psychotherapy

Moridin discovered this the hard way after he was linked to Rand. It inspired the desire for death in him, which led to him sacrificing his own corrupt soul, just as Rand sacrificed his corrupt body. So the Dark One who wanted to break the Creator’s champion, broke his own. Not that he cared.