arbmms

[arbmms]

Rambling about Veins of Gold

Art by dem888 on DeviantArt.

Spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series.

If you asked me what made Rand al'Thor my top 1 character of all time, I would probably answer something along the lines of his understanding the importance of balance between Light and Shadow, how it brings about free will at Tarmon Gai'don, and his character conclusion. However, even if that is what sealed the deal for me, this conclusion, of him becoming my top 1 character, started becoming a possibility in The Gathering Storm's last chapter, Veins of Gold.

Veins of Gold is the long-awaited catharsis for Rand's character arc of becoming harder than iron. Harder than steel. Harder than cuendillar. Closed off from every sort of emotion, positive or negative, focused solely on getting to Tarmon Gai'don, getting to the end of his life. This way, he won't feel pain, and will be able to take harsh decisions when needed to. And this way, even if a darkfriend or one of the Forsaken hurts someone close to him, he wouldn't be broken even then. But the truth is, he already is broken.

In TGS Ch. 22: The Last That Could be Done, Semirhage makes him almost kill Min. Min, the only person, along with Nynaeve, he trusted. Min, the only person he could show his weaknesses and imperfections to. This truly is the last that could've been done to break Rand. He puts on the facade of this harsh ruler not to not break, but because he is already broken.

His world is completely nihilistic. He sees no point to living than to await death at the Last Battle. All this pain, all this suffering, is because he lives. Rand, at this point, is the same as Moridin. Moridin's entire reason for turning to the Shadow, when he used to be Ishamael, was the same thing Rand is going through right now. Both of them are tired of existence, tired of living. In the world of the Wheel of Time, where time is cyclical, they end up having to go through the same sufferings, the same pain, again, and again, and again. There is no point to existence aside from pain.

But then comes into play Tam. Rand almost kills his father. Almost wipes him completely out of the Pattern itself. This is when he realizes that no matter how hard he may be, a human being can only shut off so many emotions. This is the beginning of his path to his epiphany on Dragonmount. Furthering him on this path is when the Altarans in Ebou Dar genuinely feel worried for him, a random stranger, on the road. This is the tipping point. He goes to Dragonmount, and thinks. Thinks about what the Dragon Reborn is truly supposed to represent. What he actually is.

And the answer he figures out is so simple, but so central to the Wheel of Time's narrative. Love.

Moridin's hellbent on insisting the Pattern only repeats suffering and pain. Much of Moridin's views are the same as Rand's before the epiphany. Both of them think existence is worthless. People do not have a purpose. They exist solely to keep going through the same failure, same pain, same suffering. However, what Moridin doesn't see is the other side of the coin. If we do not have any assigned purpose, is it not that we can choose one for ourselves? The Wheel turning makes everyone go through pain and suffering again, but it also gives them a second chance. A chance to fix things. A chance to strive to be better. A chance to be more compassionate. "Because each time we live, we get to love again."

This realization is so core to the Wheel of Time. Rand realizing the importance of being able to love and the importance of making your own meaning within the world, is directly what lets him win Tarmon Gai'don. If he hadn't realized this, he 100% would've made the deal with the Dark One, to stop the Wheel from turning and the Pattern from being Weaved, i.e. to stop existence. This epiphany of Rand is what lays the stage for the final realization of how humans in the Wheel of Time universe are free, even if their lives are Woven by the Pattern. The freedom to... choose rests with us. Easily one of the single greatest chapters in fiction.