The next episode in the saga. This prolonged, soap-operatic storytelling is a genius way of creating a long series (over three books) The Prydain series was connected but episodic as was Harry Potter. And even though these individual books have goals met at the end, they’re not neatly tidied up at their endings. The cliffhangers are more obvious and designed to keep the reader following. Now the story is expanding from the compact beginnings in which everything and everyone was in their place. The White Tower was exactly where it was, doing what it was supposed to be doing. There was a Queen in Andor, barely touched on as far as development, but a safe and familiar anchor for a lot of the main characters. The original group was still together, and even when they weren’t it wasn’t hard to keep track of all of them in the same narrative. Min is only a supporting character thus far, so her absence from the third book was a gentle way of preparing the reader for a pattern that will necessarily follow as the resolution of the world becomes clearer. Even the main characters have to take turns now, much like I suspected early on. Everyone gets a turn in the spotlight while others are put on the back burner for a bit.
Absent from this book is Perrin, which is surprising but makes sense as the rest of the characters needed time to “catch up”. Loial, Verin, Alannah, Faile, and even Padan Fain and one of the more aggressive Whitecloaks don’t appear either because that part of the story had taken place on nearly the other side of the mainland mass. Perrin’s personal quest was also resolved in the last book. Naturally it’s temporary… a side quest so to speak … but it was a satisfying place to park that character at for a while so that the personal journeys of other characters could be followed in more detail. However, although he’s on the back burner, he’s not forgotten. In some of the wanderings through Tel'aran'rhiod Nyneve and Elayne visit Edmond’s Field to discover somebody building a house. I think I can confidently guess that Perrin, after having married Faile in the last book, is at least trying to put down roots back home as well as other vague indications that they’ve also had a child together. We’ll see.
So, who’s the star of this book then? This time I don’t think that Rand is the main attraction in this book even though it begins and ends with his story as always. Rand is completely over his denial phase now and he’s done whining about it for the most part. His part of the story isn’t about him having to accept any new burdens. Now he’s making serious efforts to learn how to command and lead intelligently. He’s no longer a boy, but a man and even Moiraine has little sway with him. In fact, she even begins to yield to his decisions in many cases. But, Rand begins this book having loose ends to tie up. After accepting his place as the Dragon Reborn and convincing the Aiel to follow him, or as many clans as could make it to the meeting place in time for him to claim his position as their Car'a'carn, the one clan that refused to follow him in spite of the evidence, the Shaido led by Couladin, didn’t just fall in line after the battle at the end. They instead decided to cross out of the Waste and attack Cairhein which the Aiel had a bad history with anyway. Rand’s plans to bring the Kingdoms together in peace to prepare for Tarmon Gai'don, the final world-breaking battle with the Dark One, must be put on hold. He tries to do the right thing by waiting for the other clans to join them so there’s no chance of fomenting another rogue clan like the Shaido, but ultimately there’s no time and he proceeds to go on to rescue Cairhein and establish the Aiel nation as an ally in spite of Couladin’s actions. Along the way Mat’s newly gifted ability to form winning battle strategies comes in handy. And although Mat makes one last attempt to separate himself from Rand’s destiny, he’s first drawn back in by the Wheel of Time and then ordered to stay by Rand himself. Cairhein is saved and now has an uneasy alliance with Tear, which Rand secured in the third book. His next plan is to confront one of the Forsaken, Sammael. He chose Sammael rather than Rhavin to keep the eyes of the other Forsaken off of Elayne who is daughter-heir to the Andor throne which Rhavin has been silently controlling as well as Queen Morgase for a while now. The queen breaks away from Rhavin’s hold and manages to stealthily sneak away, but to the rest of the world, it appears that Rhavin has killed her. So Rand ends by taking revenge for the death of Elayne’s mother, killing Rhavin and saving some of the other prominent characters from dying by use of the horrific Balefire which was foreshadowed at the beginning as having strange effects on time. As to the apparently permanent deaths at the end… I don’t know. This is my favorite genre and I’ve consumed enough of this sort of material to not trust that Lanfear, at least, is truly dead. As for the definite death of Rand’s teacher that he acquired in the last book - that one was a surprise. I thought he’d have more time with him to learn. But learning in a controlled environment isn’t a luxury afforded to these poor ta’veren.
The truth is that all the female characters feature more prominently in this book than the men, however I wouldn’t even say that the deposed Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche, is the main attraction of this book either even though we see more of her and Leane than ever before. On the run with Logain, Siuan, Leane, and Min find themselves in trouble, framed for crimes in a small village. They’re rescued by Queen Morgase’s former general and consort, Gareth Bryne, who governs the area and binds them to oaths of service in return. At the first opportunity they get, they run of course. Siuan knows that there’s a secret place that the Aes Sedai that weren’t a part of the coup to seize the White Tower would gather. Gareth follows out of pride more than anything because nobody recognizes the former Amyrlin since she’s been stilled. Interesting twist: being cut off from the Power changes the ladies' facial features, but instead of looking older (since it’s been stated that most of them are much older than they look because of the Power) they end up looking much younger. Anyway this part of the story serves two purposes. First, that madness and a quick death are not the inevitable result of being stilled or gentled as long as the person has a purpose to focus on. Siuan subjects herself to the Aes Sedai’s unending condescension and humiliation while subtly manipulating them into the direction she would have led them if she was still the Amyrlin and keeping as much control of her life as she can. Second, this part of the story really validates the feelings of the other characters that don’t trust the Aes Sedai and haven’t since the first book. It was a validation I needed because, although I could see they all had agendas, I’d put them as a whole into the “wise mentor type”, supposing that even though there were a few bad eggs, they would all be steering the heroes in the right direction for the most part. But that’s not the case. Only a small number of them really understand the magnitude of Rand’s presence and what must be done to defeat the Dark One again. The rest, as impressive and even good as many of them are, are abominably arrogant and surprisingly ignorant of the big picture as well as closed minded and just as concerned with their power even though they’re not in league with Elaida and the Aes Sedai who overthrew the Tower. It gave the group some much needed depth. And now the readers can’t be entirely sure of where any of them stand, building excellent tension. Gareth finds the ladies after they get to Salidar and the Aes Sedai rope him into forming an army to help them to retake the White Tower. He's not as submissive to their want for control, but they come to an agreement using Siuan's oath to him partly as a bargaining chip since they think they control her now too. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
It's the younger ladies that steal the show in this installment. Although her part is relatively small this time, Egwene makes great progress. The story spoiled itself early on when one of her visions upon being tested at the White Tower showed a possible future in which she will be the Amyrlin Seat while Rand is at the height of power; so, a fairly close future. It hasn't seemed likely so far since she's been very acquiescent to Elayne's royal station, Nyneave's bossiness, and Moiraine's dominant presence so far. But she's the only one of the young protagonists that's still being actively taught and disciplined by Moiraine and the Aiel Wise Ones. The discipline and training makes her unafraid to be more authoritative with Elayne and especially with Nyneave, no longer yielding to her imperious attitude. She learns to be steady and more patient when dealing with Rand. She still lacks the emotional maturity needed to be a full Aes Sedai and take a cool command of situations, but that will probably change soon now that the real "wise mentor" character is gone.
Elayne as well begins to demonstrate independence from Nyneave's self-entitled leadership. She’d already displayed hints that she was much more open to learning and new experiences with the Wavedancers. And that ability to bend to the changing winds of their journey makes her more pliable in her group with Nyneve, Thom, and Juilin. Once they realize the Tower is compromised they must go on the run until Nyneave can remember the name of the place where the Aes Sedai would meet. Nyneve still gives orders as she sees it, but all of her orders are the result of her being left with no choice after Elayne and the others augment and change her orders to produce realistic instead of idealistic results. She’s not intimidated by Nyneave’s bad temper like Egwene had always been and, therefore, puts her own ideas forth with a commanding confidence. Elayne proposes dyeing their hair as a disguise. Elayne is more receptive to joining Valan Luca’s Menagerie to hide in plain sight while they travel. Elayne must deal with the subtle nuances of Galad’s character when Nyneave would have been more trusting. And we finally get to see some of Elayne’s power come to light. Since the beginning the Aes Sedai have acknowledged that Egwene, Nyneave, and Elayne possess immense strength in the True Power and could potentially be the most powerful Aes Sedai since ancient times. We’ve mostly seen Egwene’s journey in using her power and special gift in the world of dreams. Nyneave’s explosive, raw, and unregulated power has been touched on as well. And although Elayne has been remarkable, she’s not stood out yet. In this book she begins to tap into her abilities and realizes that she could use them to create. The series is littered with all kinds of channeling aids from ancient times. Moiraine’s personal project on the trek back from the Aiel waste was to ensure that a wagon load of ter’angreal was returned to the White Tower for study. They know how to use some of these objects, but nobody in the recent ages has ever created them. Elayne, although she’s not given a chance to yet, is certain that she can create a ter’angreal. In this case she thinks she can replicate an a’dam in their possession that they’re intending to return to the White Tower. She also bonds a Warder having only studied the concept. Her hidden talents will have practical uses as the story progress.
But, I think, this book really belongs to Nyneave. You have to laugh when you realize that the person who has complained the loudest about how the Aes Sedai want to control everyone, wants to control everyone in her own small circle … which is obvious from the first book. And even though she’s been a self-appointed leader so far, most can see that she’s not a very good leader. She bullies and nags those around her until they give in just to shut her up. She only listens to other views when there’s no other choice but to abandon her own. She sets herself too rigidly in her goals. And her inability to bend ends up breaking her a little this time. In the best sense. It starts with a little humbling. She has to be grateful to the guys for having the wherewithal to know what they're doing in spite of what she orders them to do. They rescue her and Elayne from White Tower spies and help secure their place in the Menagerie. She then has to suffer having a "boss" like Luca who, though a boorish huckster, is also smitten with her. She takes refuge in the fact that she bested Moghedien in their showdown and continues to explore Tel'aran'rhiod with Brigitte Silverbow as her guide. Birgitte is a Hero of the Horn from another age that hasn't been reborn from Wheel of Time into this age yet. As they spy on Moghedien in the dream realm, things take a dark turn. Moghedien catches them and Birgitte sacrifices herself to save Nyneave. As a result, Brigitte is thrust into the waking world, fated to permanent extinction until Elayne bonds her to herself as her Warder. Nyneve's ensuing feelings of guilt cause her to lose confidence. Her decisions are shaky and, much to her chagrin, require a lot of help from Elayne, Thom, Juilin and some old Shienaran friends meet up with again. But she gets a second chance at Moghedien and she acquits herself expertly. She gains control of the Forsaken woman with an a'dam in Tel'aran'rhiod and uses her to travel to Camelyn and help Rand destroy Rhavin. She'll still have quite a lot to answer for since this happened in Salidar right under the noses of the Aes Sedai while secretly teaching Siuan how to use the ter'angreal ring that helps to navigate the realm of dreams. However, that arrangement itself marked some growth in her character as she matched her wits with Siuan's own controlling nature in a more measured fashion than her usual brow-beating method. She never lost her spirit but her failures enabled her to focus on new goals instead of wanting to take some unrealistic revenge on the Aes Sedai for upending her simple life in Two Rivers. Now she's focused on learning, not only to be a healer, but also training her audacity onto learning how to heal a person who has been stilled or gentled. Just as Elayne knows she can create ter'angreal, Nyneave knows she can reverse this fate worse than death for Power wielders. Now she'll have to learn how to channel without being angry. This book has left a lot to unpack.
Next up is Lord of Chaos. Nearly halfway through. What a ride. I still highly recommend for fantasy fans.
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