Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 27: Shelter from the Storm
It's that time to warn people about spoilers again! My reread has spoilers for the whole damn series and if you don't want to know all the cool secrets, you should go be somewhere else. I try to make this paragraph long enough to hide everything under the "expand this post" thing, but also hopefully you'll just block spoiler posts already jeez!
This chapter once again has the leaves on a vine icon, which as I said before just reflects the Tuatha'an among other things. Perrin and Egwene are traveling with them so this all checks out. Not much to discuss.
Any suggestion that they might go further, or more quickly, was met with laughter, or perhaps, “Ah, but would you make the poor horses work so hard?”
Werthead of the Atlas of Ice and Fire wordpress did a series on Wheel, and one thing he concluded that always stuck with me is that judging by the distances and the timeline, the caravan is actually traveling pretty damn fast! Perrin must just not be good at judging the distances covered on the Caralain Grass.
But Perrin had learned that hidden beneath the surface was the wariness of a half-tame deer. Something deep lay behind the smiles directed at the Emond’s Fielders, something that wondered if they were safe, something that faded only slightly over the days. With Elyas the wariness was strong, like deep summer heat shimmering in the air, and it did not fade.
Perrin seems to be gaining his empathetic powers of Wolfbrotherhood. He does describe the ways any person might notice, but based on the speed of his thoughts so far I'm going to assume he figured that stuff out after getting the supernatural push. Like Rand, he's got a lot of denial.
“Something tells me it’s important to wait. A few more days. I don’t get feelings like this often, but when I do, I’ve learned to trust them. They’ve saved my life in the past. This time it’s different, somehow, but it’s important. That’s clear. You want to run on, then run on. Not me.”
Perrin wants to leave, but his own ta'veren-ness won't let him. It's good that Jordan was planting the seeds for this, since we'll be getting to it in a few more chapters.
“Three Girls in the Meadow,” for instance, the Tinkers named “Pretty Maids Dancing,” and they said “The Wind From the North” was called “Hard Rain Falling” in some lands and “Berin’s Retreat” in others. When he asked, not thinking, for “The Tinker Has My Pots,” they fell all over themselves laughing. They knew it, but as “Toss the Feathers.”
I absolutely love this particular bit of worldbuilding and will probably quote it every time it happens even though I have absolutely nothing to add to it.
“I have to thank you,” Elyas told him, his tone sober and solemn. “It’s different with you young fellows, but at my age it takes more than a fire to warm my bones.” Perrin scowled. There was something about Elyas’s back as he walked away that said even if nothing showed, he was laughing inside.
Perrin really hates sexuality. If he weren't trapped in a narrative where all men coming of age had to get married as quickly as possible, he'd be aggressively asexual. It makes the whole "becoming a werewolf" thing mesh all the more poorly with his character, since raw instinct and wild abandon are things that he never, ever becomes comfortable with.
Then Aram held out his hand to her, and she darted to him, already laughing again. As they ran away to where fiddles sang, Aram flashed a triumphant grin over his shoulder at Perrin as if to say, she is not yours, but she will be mine.
Honestly, as much as I despised the bizarre love triangle angle the show brought in to things, between this and the fact that Perrin's fight with Egwene never mentions her sort-of relationship with Rand, it may not be as entirely out of left field as I thought. Perrin is just extra shitty this chapter.
Sometimes he wanted to shout at them. There were Trollocs in the world, and Fades. There were those who would cut down every leaf. The Dark One was out there, and the Way of the Leaf would burn in Ba’alzamon’s eyes.
I mean, if you talked to them about it, you might either convince some of them or at least hear about the justifications their culture, which is nearly as old as the Trollocs, has come up with? Surely there's answers you could find? Especially without shouting? Come on bro.
Hopper was a scarred and grizzled fighter, impassive with the knowledge of years, with guile that more than made up for anything of which age might have robbed him. For humans he cared nothing, but Dapple wished this thing done, and Hopper would wait as she waited and run as she ran.
And he's going to spend his afterlife being Perrin's babysitter. Not gonna lie, I refuse to believe he's gone-gone as of the end of the series, just because bro deserves something better.
He crooked a finger, and the wolf howled as fire burst out of its eyes and ears and mouth, out of its skin. The stench of burning meat and hair filled the kitchen. Alsbet Luhhan lifted the lid on a pot and stirred with a wooden spoon.
Props to Ish for managing to make Perrin's absolutely normal dream seem so much more terrifying. Just absolutely terrifying.
Beyond the trees where the wagons lay, the wolves howled, one sharp cry from three throats. He shared their sensations. Fire. Pain. Fire. Hate. Hate! Kill!
It's interesting to me that Ish's dream raven seems to have accelerated Perrin's powers developing. Obviously he didn't mean to do that at all, but the stress probably helped open his mind even more. And here Ish thinks he's done this a trillion trillion times before but he's still making rookie villain mistakes.
Egwene did not notice the regretful, sidelong looks Ila gave her. She asked what was going on, and Perrin prepared himself for her to say she wanted to stay with the Tuatha’an, but when Elyas explained she only nodded thoughtfully and hurried back into the wagon to gather her things.
Perrin has absolutely no idea what's going on in Egwene's head, Wolfbrother powers or no. Of course she doesn't wanna stay forever, dummy! She's just been enjoying not spending every other night being chased by demons. If it's time to go, it's time to go so she can get to Tar Valon, the thing she actually gives a fuck about.
Why the hell is Perrin the people person ta'veren when the other two could be dead and Perrin would still be the least socially aware? Rand displays martial and political aptitude from the beginning. Mat's got martial and trickster qualities from the start too, he just gets a bit screwed up by the dagger. But while Perrin is a good fighter, he has absolutely no qualities that explain why people might follow him without reality literally rewriting their minds. I think this is why his arc is the worst of the three boys: he doesn't follow their structure so he wouldn't have had anywhere to go even if Jordan did have content for him.
“Peace be on you always,” Elyas replied, “and on all the People.” He hesitated, then added, “I will find the song, or another will find the song, but the song will be sung, this year or in a year to come. As it once was, so shall it be again, world without end.”
And here's Perrin's ta'veren again, making Elyas be more socially aware (again: Perrin is the people ta'veren even though he's the worst at this stuff) and kind. It's clearly pretty out of character since Elyas bitches about it once they're out of earshot, but it's a kindness that helps bind him more to the group, which would be nice if he ever saw them again. Sadly, I don't think he does, though I feel that if Jordan had lived to write the ending that Perrin would have folded at least some of the Tuatha'an into his group in a better way than what he pulled with Aram.
Perrin did not want to think about his dream. He had thought that the wolves made them safe. Not complete. Accept. Full heart. Full mind. You still struggle. Only complete when you accept.
He forced the wolves out of his head, and blinked in surprise. He had not known he could do that. He determined not to let them back in again.
It's also very difficult to accept that Perrin is supposed to be the smart one when upon hearing, "Your dreams could be safe if you were more comfortable with this," is to go, "Fuck no get the hell out!" It's just... Damn. If it were specifically some psychic side effect of the dream raven or something, that might be one thing, but Ishamael never mentions any such thing and the reasons to avoid wolfiness just multiply. The character arc that has the most potential for Perrin is the one where Jordan makes damn sure he never tries and apparently I'm just going to be frustrated as all hell about it this whole reread. Alas.
“Ila was giving me advice on being a woman,” Egwene replied absently. He began laughing, and she gave him a hooded, dangerous look that he failed to see.
“Advice! Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are.”
“That,” Egwene said, “is probably why you make such a bad job of it.” Up ahead, Elyas cackled loudly.
On the plus side, while my love of Perrin POVs has diminished since middle school, I can safely say that this exchange is just as funny now as it was then. See y'all next time!
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