#draghkar

[wot-tidbits]

Raven by eismesser

Gate by eismesser

Bond by eismesser

Throne by eismesser

Grolm by eismesser

Talent by eismesser

Shadowspawn by eismesser

[farmergilesofham]

On Halfmen

So, Myrddraal.

The way they're technically described in the books is as 'eyeless' in the sense of 'there is naught but skin over where eyes should be', but I don't like that.

Don't get me wrong, in the 90s that was a (reasonably) novel monster look, but nowadays it's been done to death and back - and besides that, even with the mentions of "pale skin where eyes should be", it is not what I imagined the first two times I read the series.

The Fades/Myrddraal/Halfmen/Eyeless/Lurks/Fetches/Nightrunners were made through human experimentation using the extra-dimensional magic of the Dark One, and it would be far more fitting if they more obviously looked like tortured corpses - grim, yes, but accurate to the books (Lan says at some point that in making Fades, the human strain and Dark One's magic are both made stronger).

The way I imagined them then, and belligerently continue to imagine them now, is as otherwise-ordinary-looking humans, with the signature waxy skin, but with tar-spattered hollows where eyes once were. It adds, in my opinion, to the body horror of the Wheel of Time when the monsters don't just look like generic monsters: looked at intently for a few moments they, instead, begin to look a bit too human. Also, a bit easier on anyone trying to adapt them to screen.

The same goes for Daghkar - they're often shown in art as these quasi-vampiric creatures, but I always saw them as oversized, pale dimorphodon/toothed pterosaur looking things, except that they look more like something out of All Tomorrows, as the only genetic material being used to make them was that of regular humans.

Trollocs are already described as well as they could be, with their grotesque, twisted features framing too-human eyes and their animal calls being twinged with the flavour of a human scream.

As for Shaidar Haran, I thought it would be extra neat if, on top of just being a Very Tall Halfman, it also had tiny points of white light fixed just in front of the ruined eye sockets, never moving in any expressive manner in order to highlight that yeah, those probably aren't eyes the way we understand them.

[amemoryofwot]

Oh another fun parallel is when Aviendha shoots some fire past Rand’s head to take out the Draghkar behind him and he yells at her before he knows what she was actually doing, versus Tuon trusting Mat when he throws a dagger past her

[xillionart]

Illustrations from the Japanese Lord of Chaos, 偽の竜王 (False Dragon-King)! (I waited one month for the little paperback, lol.)

From top to bottom, left to right: Mat, Rand, Perrin, Faile, Elayne, Birgitte, Min, Aviendha, Nynaeve, Egwene, The Dark One’s army, Moghedien

Translation undercut!

Mat Cauthon: The one who weaves the history (Japanese translation for Ta'veren). The sounder of the Horn of Valere.

Rand al'Thor: The one who weaves the history. The Dragon That Comes Again (aka Japanese translation of the Dragon Reborn) who can channel the Absolute Power (the One Power).

Perrin Aybara: The one who weaves the history. One who has golden eyes and is sympathetic with wolves.

Faile: Originally named Zarine Bashere. (I think the translation skips the "ni" in her name?) Perrin's wife.

Elayne Trakand: a Talented (異能者, Aes Sedai) candidate. Princess of the Kingdom Andor.

Birgitte: a legendary hero and gifted archer.

Min: a girl who possesses the inconceivable power of reading people’s future from their aura.

Aviendha: a Aiel Wise candidate.

Nynaeve al'Meara: a Talented (異能者, Aes Sedai) candidate and Wisdom of Emond's Field.

Egwene al'Vere: a Talented (異能者, Aes Sedai) candidate and Rand's childhood friend.

The Dark King's army: consisted of abnormal individuals and beasts like Myrddraal, Trollocs, and Draghkar.

Moghedien: one of the Dark Sedai (that's how they translated the Forsaken lmao, 闇セダーイ)

[birgittesilverbae]

I can't recall if we've had a vandene and/or adeleas casting leak but that water bucket moiraine is serving ch22 research sabbatical vibes for me (chanting under my breath: draghkar attack draghkar attack draghkar attack)

[onaperduamedee]

Notes on The Great Hunt

Very strong beginning rife with political intrigue and stealth break-in. Also, you cannot get a stronger opening than with the arrival of the Amyrlin Seat herself.

Siuan must be the most imposing character I have read in a while. She radiates such intelligence and power, it's the most incredible experience. I was also really looking forward to her reunion with Moiraine and it did not disappoint, particularly with how they are written as conspirators. And were ready to blast Verin out of existence. I don't think I grasp yet how much of radicals Moiraine and Siuan are within the White Tower. Although their actions do not lead to systemic changes, it's fundamentally rebellious and extreme.

Smart move on the show's end to move the Horn's theft to S1. It builds anticipation and allows more room for the power dynamics shifting around Rand in early B2 and that were exemplified by this unspoken tug-war between Shienar and Tar Valon for influence over Rand.

The white cloaks and Bayle Domon chapters... I keep thinking these books need more thorough editing and these are strong arguments in favor. Bayle Domon is a fun character and I enjoy the way he is used as a very external point of view character who wants little if not nothing to do with the plot. Which is a fine cool concept, but it seems a tad contrite to me in the context of such a breadth of POV characters. At times, it felt like arbitrary switching between POVs to show how it looked from a different angle and create tension.

Am unexpectedly annoyed with Lan, who managed to fall down to the bottom of my favourite character's list after this book. I do not like how he acts with Rand, Nynaeve, even Moiraine. I loathe manly superhero hypocrisy and he has it in spades: he's no more helping Rand than Moiraine is, just shaping him into a warlord, a future ally in his war against the Shadows. A whole other meta is in progress about Moiraine and Lan as two contrasting mentor figures in this book and how Rand uses parts of their teachings, but I have just an epidermal reaction to how he is written. It doesn't help that he seems to be leading Nynaeve on. I preferred him when he was barely talking.

On the other end of the spectrum, I cannot wax enough poetry about Siuan. Going into the books, I was sure I could not love her more than her show personification and I was so wrong. She is the very definition of a force of nature and to witness her fine mind clicking like a well-oiled delicate clock is a privilege. I adore how Robert Jordan makes you feel the power of her mind and the way she weighs and turns people. I will need to mourn for a week if the Amyrlin casually dropping off to teach Nynaeve and Egwene, then getting slammed against a wall because she successfully angered Nynaeve into using her power is not included in the show. I will be distraught.

Thom dropping by to go "lol, I hate you guys, you were the worst experience of my life, I am never helping you ever again" was funny.

The Lan/Moiraine scene was super interesting for reasons I will maybe expand on another time, but what struck me most is that not that long ago, Aginor mopped the floor with Moiraine. Truly, beat her so brutally they had to carry her on a stretcher, and neither Lan's presence, nor strong channelers' like Nynaeve or Rand, was enough to spare her. Her decision has been strongly driven by the brutality with which she was reminded of her own mortality, of how weak she is compared to the new players. Her death - a debt for the quest she had accepted to pay a long time ago - is very much about to be paid and in a way that she might have not suspected would hurt so much.

Was disappointed in Nynaeve's Accepted test and Moiraine's fight against the Draghkar. The former came much too soon after the girls' arrival to the Tower, to the point where I didn't get why Nyn was even going with it and why she should care, or worse, why the reader should care. The latter was downright expedited. This was the first time we were seeing from up close those truly terrifying creatures and it was just over in an instant.

Verin was everything the fandom let her out to be. I love that sly old fox who is far more observant than she lets everyone believe but is also absolutely in the clouds.

Loved the venture into the parallel universe and the steading most. These books are never better than when they turn into travel journals, except in odd and magical realms. Same with the description of that monstrosity being unburied that Rand passed by. Have you ever heard of nuclear waste Chekhov's gun ? Because that's how it felt.

Padan Fain is a self-serving bastard and I love him for that: soft retconning the first book helps discard the more classist aspects of his character as well.

The hunt in itself was really engrossing. Because of the title, I was somehow expecting a Wild Hunt from European folklore to turn up but technically we get two! One in the form of the Trolloc party, the other with the Seanchan. Which means the heroes are following the steps of a Wild Hunt rather than fighting or fleeing it. It's a nifty twist on the archetype. And it pays off stunningly when the horn is blown and an army of the dead rises to fight the Seanchan.

Despite knowing Ingtar was a fan favourite, I found him extremely suspicious from the start and the narrative didn't exactly spare hints to show he was obsessed with the horn. So, when the revelation came, it was a) expected but good, b) trying because Rand shows FAR more sympathy toward men doing bad things trying to do the right thing than women.

The description of the battle over Falme itself was impressionistic at best, so like the Ways and TEotW, I bet people are going to complain about the screen adaptation, no matter how obviously unadaptable to the screen it is. I don't care. It was so enjoyable in the books and it'll be good but different in the show. I was really looking forward to it and it went beyond my expectations.

Now the Seanchan... I've got to admit I had to stop reading for a few days after encountering Damane for the first time. On one hand kudos to Jordan for creating antagonists who are genuinely abhorrent and terrifying. Like one hundred percent, bloody hell, hats off, I was not expecting that level of cruelty and political commentary. On the other hand, I have now sizeable concerns about how well a white American author can handle writing about slavery where the victims are so far in the books mostly white. In the same vein, I am very concerned with how it will translate to the screen given the numbers of black and brown channelers involved. If you add on top the fact that this violence seems suspiciously gendered... I am afraid.

Nynaeve and the Seanchan though, hell yes. Everything about that encounter was breath-holdingly good, from her righteous fury to her ability to hold it back not to kick someone who was already down and would get her punishment anyway. It almost makes up for the fact the girls fell for such an obvious trap.

Egwene and the Seanchan too. It honestly hurts too much to think about what she went through and how it will impact her development as a character. She's going through too many traumatic experiences in the span of a few months for it not to leave painful scars.

Oh, the chills I got from the sounding of the Horn of Valere. Seriously. Chills. Beyond that, I am In Love with the concept of the heroes of the horn, the idea of great warriors and heroes from the past walking the world again, some more legends than history. Reminds me of the myth incarnations in Mythago Wood.

Overall, this book was a little frustrating. Frustrating because I knew this was the book where the story was really supposed to pick up the pace and expand lore, so I was looking forward to getting a taste of the series onwards. And it started off really well - Rand, Mat, Perrin and Loial on the hunt, Nynaeve and Egwene on their way to the Tower, Lan and Moiraine doing research, and then it petered out into nothing much. Oh, things happened, but among everything that was set up, only Rand's path was really fleshed out in the middle. I was expecting much more of Nyn and Egwene at the White Tower, and it was treated as a sort of palate cleanser between swaths of Rand chapters. Mat and Perrin didn't have anything to do. Even Lan and Moiraine got more done in the few chapters they were in.

I guess Mat was there as an incentive for Rand and Perrin got to use his powers in a way that would make him feel less monsterized which was actually quite neat, but it's pillow fluffing compared to how much of the story was Rand's.

Even when the girls finally got to do something it was entirely driven by Rand. I get he is the main character and I truly enjoyed his journey across worlds and cities, but part of what spurred me to read the book was the promise of an ensemble, with the characters each having their own story. So far, this doesn't cut it.

THAT said, despite the soft middle, the finale was incredible, much like TEotW. The pacing increased drastically in the last chapters, as well as the tension. It felt like a series finale more than a book finale. I'm starting to see a pattern in Jordan's writing: intriguing steady start, meandering middle and bombastic finale. I am not entirely sure the frustration of the middle part justifies the payoff for me because those are long books, but Robert Jordan knows how to set all the fireworks to make sure the lasting images are the biggest, loudest finale you can imagine. Overall, I did enjoy this one more than TEotW, but less than NS.

Edited: I completely forgot to add I really like Hurin. Much like Loial in TEotW, he gets the archetypal anti-hero treatment from Jordan, and with a lot of benevolence and honesty. It's kinda heartwarming. For his interest in chosen ones and exceptional heroes, Robert Jordan shines most to me when he writes about average people.

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 22: Watchers

Spoiler alert: This post is not about the death metal band Draghkar or any other metal bands who are the kinds of nerds as to be fans of Wheel of Time, like Blind Guardian. It's about the books. Pretty sure that's all the spoiler alerts I need. Why would I even need to mention at this point that this post will have spoilers for the whole series?

This chapter has the dagger icon because Shadar Logoth is one of the subjects of Moiraine's research - and because it's the central revelation she has.

["]Nothing is happening as I expect,” Moiraine muttered, not expecting an answer from Lan.

Yep, delightful parallels between Rand and Moiraine.

No danger of pursuit here. No one would expect her to come here. Clear my head, and begin again, she thought. That is all there is to do.

And another parallel. Moiraine's just got twenty years of her epic quest to fuel her paranoia though, not all the craziness.

With the one equally aged Warder who remained to them, they lived quietly, still intending to write the history of the world since the Breaking, and as much as they could include of before. One day.

Yeah, the theme of this series means this particular mission is doomed to fail with another Age about to end. I wonder what all of the pre-Breaking history there is available to these ladies. Just the War of the Shadow, or anything more? Would any of it even be all that interesting, or just some random list of leaders pre-LTT, none of whom had anything to report in the glory days of the AoL?

This was a subject neither of them ever mentioned; nearly twenty years ago she had told him—with all the stiff pride of one still young enough to be called young, she recalled—that she would never speak of it again and expected the same silence of him.

So first of all, their first meeting is awesome and I can't wait to get back to New Spring to take a look at it...

But also, note another weakness of the Oath Rod. Moiraine really didn't intend to bring it up again at the time, so she could say that, but her mind has naturally changed since. She never lied, but what she said has turned out not to be true.

“I was young,” she repeated. “And does your bond chafe after all these years? You are not a man to wear a leash easily, even so light a one as mine.” It was a stinging comment; she meant it to be so.

I don't like this part. Moiraine's upbringing really made her casually cruel sometimes.

“Before we left Tar Valon I made arrangements, should anything happen to me, for your bond to pass to another.”

And I hate this detail too. People shouldn't have their relationships reassigned by someone else's whims. It's a good example of the casual sexism of Tar Valon and how things are forever changing but staying the same - plenty of real life women have been remarried without their consent on the loss of their first husband.

I will not allow you to die in a useless attempt to avenge me. And I will not allow you to return to your equally useless private war in the Blight. The war we fight is the same war, if you could only see it so, and I will see that you fight it to some purpose.

I get where she's coming from and why it must be done but also damn it's cruel to treat people like this.

“I had never thought,” he said slowly, “that I might not be the first of us to die. Somehow, even at the worst, it always seemed. . . .”

Sadly, bro is probably right, since both he and Moiraine survive to the end.

“What I do is for your own good, and perhaps it may be for another’s, as well. It may be that Myrelle will find a slip of a girl just raised to sisterhood—was that not what you said?—who needs a Warder hardened in battle and wise in the ways of the world, a slip of a girl who may need someone who will throw her into a pond. You have much to offer, Lan, and to see it wasted in an unmarked grave, or left to the ravens, when it could go to a woman who needs it would be worse than the sin of which the Whitecloaks prate. Yes, I think she will have need of you.”

Okay but Moiraine said all this happened before they last left Tar Valon and unless I'm crazy mistaken, they haven't been to TV since before book 1 started (if the timeline is right it's only 10 days since she left the party so it's not like she somehow outraced a boat and then got here), which was before Nynaeve was even in the picture. So at this point I have to wonder: did Moiraine's unseen encounters with Min inspire all of these decisions? She very specifically avoids answering Lan's question about foreseeing her death in a straightforward way.

“Why did you do as you did with Rand?” He blinked; it was obviously not what he expected. She knew what he had thought was coming, and she would not let up now that he was off balance.

It says a great deal about Moiraine's unhealthy Cairhienien worldviews that the real threat in her eyes is not Lan's affection for Nynaeve but for his helping the boy they've spent the last two decades trying to find and help. All because he's not helping according to the script. That's what makes all of this justified in her eyes.

“Ta’veren,” Moiraine sighed. “Perhaps it was that. Rather than guiding a chip floating down a stream, I am trying to guide a log through rapids. Every time I push at it, it pushes at me, and the log grows larger the farther we go. Yet I must see it through to the end.”

Honestly, I think it's a lot more about who Rand and Lan are as people than it is about a magic power manipulating Lan. A nudge from the Wheel, maybe, but... Not destiny outright cheating.

Much more likely Rand's ta'veren keeps Moiraine from ever realizing she can't play him until it's too late to matter.

“All men dream. But I know dreams for dreams. This”—he touched his sword hilt—“is reality.”

I wonder what the Aiel would say if they knew their much-respected Lan was saying something like this. Was Jordan setting up the Aiel worldview already with this contrast, or is it just a funny coincidence?

“So many subjects. The Trolloc Wars. The Watchers Over the Waves. The legend of the Return. Two treatises on the Horn of Valere. Three on dark prophecy, and—Light, here’s Santhra’s book on the Forsaken. Nasty, that. As nasty as this on Shadar Logoth. And the Prophecies of the Dragon, in three translations and the original. Moiraine, whatever are you after? The Prophecies, I can understand—we hear some news here, remote as we are. We hear some of what’s happening in Illian. There’s even a rumor in the village that someone has already found the Horn.”

Moiraine is not at all subtle; she clearly was counting on the privacy she requested. Vandene has probably put together a good deal more than she's admitting. Also note that the books on the Forsaken and Shadar Logoth are EQUALLY nasty, more foreshadowing for that.

“No. Except for the fact that the Horn must be found before Tarmon Gai’don and that the Dragon Reborn is supposed to fight the Last Battle, there is no link between them at all.”

And indeed, once this book is over Rand will have nothing to do with the Horn again.

But I believe it means the Dragon Reborn will appear somewhere above Toman Head, in Arad Doman, or Saldaea.

Vandene is of course confusing "above" with "north", which apparently means that 3A maps - and possibly AoL maps as well - have oriented north consistently for some time. Here in the first age, maps used to have "east" atop them (hence "the Orient" describing the east), so it's not a given as Jordan and Vandene assume.

In full, you will have to stay here a month and listen to Adeleas lecture—she has the true knowledge of it—but even I can tell you there’s nothing of the Dragon in it.

I think the reason that Shadar Logoth didn't show up in the prophecies is that revealing its true purpose to the Shadow would ensure Ish destroyed it prematurely somehow, if by no other mechanism than throwing massive armies of Trollocs in until the two evils canceled out.

“If I did,” Moiraine replied levelly, “would I be here, instead of in the White Tower? The Amyrlin knows as much as I, that I swear. Have you received a summons from her?”

Here Moiraine doesn't rely entirely on evasion because Vandene could see right through that, but she does mislead with her leading questions well enough.

“If I thought it would do any good, I’d pull Adeleas’s nose out of her book and set off for the White Tower. But I find I am glad to be here where I am instead. Perhaps we will have time to finish our history.”

It's always so sad knowing what's going to happen to these people.

An answer, or a hint to an answer, for a question she had not asked—but she could not bring the question to mind, either.

Presumably that Mordeth is looking for a soul to steal in Shadar Logoth - or rather, that he already has stolen a soul. Otherwise why would this chapter have the dagger icon specifically?

A shadow loomed dimly only a few paces from her, a shadow that appeared to be a too-tall man wrapped in his cloak. But the face caught the moon, gaunt-cheeked, pale, with black eyes too big above a puckered, red-lipped mouth. The cloak opened, unfolding into great wings like a bat’s.

Really I'm surprised that Moiraine let her guard down, even for a moment. I guess she was counting on being able to sense it and it not being warded, but again: she's actually properly paranoid.

But even as she began, Lan cried out, “Embrace death!” Jaem echoed him firmly. “Embrace death!” And the two men stepped within reach of the Draghkar’s touch, drove home their blades to the hilt.

It's so sad that Moiraine thinks she needs to test Lan at all when he's still got this going. Dude knows his job and he really is just as married to it as she.

It's also sad that this is what Lan's got at the moment.

Moiraine said the words none of them wanted to hear. “The Black Ajah.”

It's practically uncharacteristic of Moiraine to be so open. She must assume Jaem's good behavior proves their innocence even though proper paranoia would suggest that the most likely Black Ajah candidates are right in front of her. They're not of course, but still.

Adeleas turned to study the Draghkar as if it were a puzzling passage in one of her books. “Whether Aes Sedai are involved or not, whatever could have brought it here?” Vandene regarded Moiraine silently.

If you can't say anything but uncomfortable and revealing truths, don't speak at all I guess.

That's it for this chapter! Next time: A trip to off-brand McDonald's!

[alectology-archive]

chapters 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32 partly:

Only three nights before, she had married Bael, in a ceremony that made her his wife and first-sister to his other wife, Dorindha. That part had been just as important as the marriage, apparently;

yeah, sentences like this make me think RJ really wanted to write poly relationships but was too enamoured with his kinks and obsessed with heterosexual relationships to do so. I’m fascinated, though, by his choice to make women choose other women as the most important people in their lives over even their love interests - min is the rare exception to this rule.

“Well, just you remember it. It was not your fault.” She heeled Mist on, and began talking to Aviendha before she was out of earshot. “I am glad he is taking it so well. He has the habit of feeling guilty over things he cannot control.”

once again, egwene Gets rand! and she cares so much! people who dislike egwene are fully delusional and probably base their dislike for her off of her characterisation in sanderson’s books. again, I feel the need to mention that egwene only ever admonishes rand in private in RJ’s books - and not even in front of moiraine! - but publicly insults him in front of world leaders in the sanderson books. plus rand undermines egwene’s authority and makes her look powerless in book 13 by walking into the white tower and demanding promises without offering any explanations. lol, sanderson has a tendency to write from a place of “Does this sound cool?” rather than “Is this a politically or logically sound action?”

ohhh and while we’re still on the topic of sanderson and bad characterisations and egwene telling rand that rand that it wasn’t his fault that the shaido ravaged Taien - rand makes a fucking point about trying to save as many people as he can! and blames himself for not achieving everything he sets his mind to in order to save people! part of the reason his mental health worsens as the books progress is because he can’t protect everybody around him despite trying his best to do so - this holds true at least up to book 11, if not book 12, and nothing really happens in book 12 to warrant a change on that note. so the fact that sanderson makes rand monologue something stupid about how he’d stopped caring for the people around him during his dragonmount epiphany infuriates me to no end. I just generally hate any of the new character flaws he introduces for all the characters. who asked him to do that 😵‍💫

[Rand to Aviendha] “Did you ever for one minute think that it could have bitten you?” he said. “Did you ever think of using the Power instead of a bloody belt knife? Why didn’t you kiss it first? You had to be close enough.”

they’re both so funny. yeah, avi and rand are also a similar kind of stupid, lol.

avi feeding rand the meat of a poisonous snake she killed is unironically the height of romance actually. and rand doesn’t complain, so I’m proud of him. anyway, I love her. have I mentioned that I love avi?

Aviendha sniffed at him in perfect imitation of Egwene. Those two women were definitely spending too much time together.

aw, avi is copying egwene’s mannerisms! back in chapter 5 she was also appreciating egwene and telling her that she was very good at everything she did <3 in chapter 22, we also have egwene stepping in to calm her down after rand yells at avi for nearly hurting him in the process of trying to kill a draghkar.

Aviendha appeared disappointed that he did not spit the stew out in disgust, though sometimes it was difficult to tell what she was feeling. At times she seemed to take great pleasure in discomfiting him.

sort of mat vibes from this, again! I think avi and mat could have been best friends if they’d tried. I’m honestly kind of shocked that we don’t see more of mat and the maidens being buddies except when he’s trying to catch their interest - because men and women can’t be friends, of course.

“You are thinking of Mat Cauthon?” She actually giggled. “Sometimes, a man gives up the spear for a Maiden.”

once again, weird mat gender moments! only maidens giving up the spear is really a thing in the books.

… he dreamed a dream of Min and Elayne helping him throw Aviendha, wearing nothing but that necklace, over his shoulder, while she beat him over the head with a wreath of segade blossoms.

wearing nothing but the necklace EGWENE gave avi? rand doesn’t know that egwene gave it but. anyway. more rand/egwene soulmatism, I guess.

Nothing after Artur Paendrag Tanreall, and nothing before Maecine of Eharon.

hello! mat’s memories have a specific limit apparently. but don’t the finn grant him memories of everybody who’s ever entered the redstone doorway? a bunch of rulers from mayene were using it pretty recently, I think? I need to look up the wiki later.

[Mat] He supposed that he would marry someday, settle down. That was what you did. A woman, a house, a family. Shackled to one spot for the rest of his life.

this is definitely another one of those mat things that are usually discussed in reference to female characters more often. and again, I vibe with the idea of him being allowed to be single - I think he has a lot of romantic tension with practically every character he interacts with, but I personally really relate to him saying he’s not interested in marriage. plus he just sounds so despondent about the prospect? I’m sad! very mat is repressed vibes too, because he specifically makes a note to mention disliking the thought of the two rivers having a lot of expectations about marriage, family etc.

“You are not made for spits, but for great honor, I think,” Melindhra said softly.

lol, melindhra and lanfear both try to get mat to step out of rand’s shadow and reach for honour/glory! and they both fail! I love mat. your faves want what mat has with rand - the narrative keeps goading him to become demandred 2.0 but mat consistently refuses to do so and manages to defy the narrative and some sort of potentially darker fate at least in that little way even if the prophecies mostly knock him down a bunch in the books.

It was being near Rand that got Mat into these things. All he wanted from life was some good wine, a game of dice, and a pretty girl or three.

hello??? three girls?? put him in rand’s polycule! again, mat is very repressed and in denial about his feelings.

once again poly vibes from melaine, dorindha and bael! the wise ones are betting on whether melaine will check on dorindha or bael first after the shadowspawn attack on the camp.

rand is wondering why moiraine didn’t come to find him immediately after the alarms went off - I’m guessing it’s because she saw a future in the rhuidean ter’angreal that said it wouldn’t be a good thing to do so.

rand is also showing a lot of restraint and being courteous! he’s not abusing the power he has over moiraine now - he briefly considers forcing her to tell him why she didn’t appear immediately but decides he won’t do something like that to somebody trying to help him. I think this is the section where rand is learning to find a balance - he’s come into a lot of power and is consciously preventing himself from abusing it.

This time he dreamed of Aviendha hurling fire, only she was not hurling it at a Draghkar, and Sammael was sitting at her side, laughing.

rand has the weirdest dreams about aviendha. what am I supposed to make of this.

I can’t shake off the feeling that avi would enjoy femininity if not for the way the wise ones sort of force her to adopt it? she genuinely enjoys exploring wearing wetlander clothes when she and elayne try to teach one another other about their respective customs. I just really dislike the line where sorilea tells avi that she has hips made for making babies - leave her alone. as a concept, I love the wise ones but I’m also irritated by their matchmaking and babymaking agenda.

avi and rand also do have a bunch in common - they’re forcibly expected to channel and are pushed into radically different lives from the ones they’ve been leading prior to rhuidean/rand finding out that he’s the dragon reborn.

[Egwene about Rand announcing he’ll hang chiefs who violate his rules about not hurting Cairhienin] Justice would do him no good if he found the others [the chiefs] turning against him as well as the Shaido.

see! she gets him!

He could waste an hour being soothed by the flow of a river.

Rand is so right.

When he doesn’t see familiar faces amongst the maidens who usually guard him, rand is constantly asking other maidens if they’re sick - it happened with joinde in rhuidean, and he’s now once again asking after adelin and enaila! I love this relationship sooo much.

Sitting on the stone rail of the wide flat bridge in the heart of the town,

area man sits weird again!

Elayne would have known what taxes were used for; it had certainly been more fun taking advice from her than from Moiraine.

I’m. I guess I agree about the principle of the thing I suppose, lol 😭

edit: help, this is also the book where we learn that two rivers folk are tax evaders! RJ is fully clowning on rand here, lol.

[Rand to Aviendha] “Do you have any idea how I will miss hearing you breathe at night?”

romance <3

He watched Asmodean from the corner of his eye, but the man only sat there, looking slightly ill. He could not know whether Rand meant to stuff that spear down his throat.

do I even need to say it?

ah, yeah, I did remember a weirdly specific fact correctly! avi accidentally taught rand the lesson of ~being hard~ when she told him he should have been harsher with the seanchan they dealt with. his demeanour completely shifts after that one exchange and he becomes noticeably colder - he’s a lot harsher with asmodean after this. insert tumblr post *having plot relevant sex with my thematically appropriate wife* (quite literally!)

And I’m only skimming chapter 41 but… there is so much going on in this quote. so much:

[Rand] He thought he could have been friends with any of the four, but especially Mangin, who had a sense of humor much like Mat’s. If he had no time to study women, he certainly had no time for making new friends. Little time for old friends, for that matter. Mat worried him.

I mentioned that a lot of mat’s personality was moulded as a direct consequence of being rand’s friend, but this is a lot! 1. rand loves mat’s sense of humour 2. rand makes friends based on that blueprint! hello, I’m crying. what does it MEAN that rand hangs mangin in LOC? is there some hidden symbolism there about how he’s left his boyhood behind? the hanging parallels are making me insane. does it imply that rand accidentally forces mat through a traumatic arc from books 7-9 the same way he can’t help but kill mangin for violating one of his laws? I will not be normal about this. local girl has been found dead on the streets!!!!!!!!

(I honestly skimmed everything from chapter 30 onward, I think, so there really was not much to say in this post - I never intended to really read much past rand arriving at eianrod, at most)

But I’ve officially finished rereading the parts I wanted to! I’d fully forgotten how the characters sounded in my head and I mostly wanted to go back and immerse myself in RJ’s writing style because I was not in a happy place after reading sanderson’s style in AMOL (literally to the point where I was wondering if I actually liked reading the series, lol). I think I managed to like TGS way better than I did the other sequels - but it kind of feels like TGS might have still been a mostly enjoyable read because he was piggybacking off of iconic plotlines that RJ had already set up and left notes for - but I’m consciously going to shut up about AMOL now. I only accept book 12 as canon at most anyway, lol, idk why I waste my energy yelling about the last two books at this point.

[sanctificetur]

nerissa said to rand the horses were a friend to the faerie, the other hesitant to trust as it reminded him of the draghkar. windspear had finished chewing grass just moments before, and was now walking towards where they were sitting by the campfire ;; its black iris yellow eye staring at the red-haired human.

rand sees, his hand reaching for his brown bow with a golden finch bird emblazoned square ( white feathered arrow still notched ), in cautious stance. seeing the monster — horse, he remembers — trot over to kieran.

mat, egwene, and moirane were huddled around the campfire too, still recovering from their long trekking and fighting with monsters, including trollocs. as they are walking, unbeknownst to them, a trolloc with purple hair named aesop was walking nearby on another path — aesop guising himself a bit like an elf yet perhaps someone might know he’s a trolloc from one of the various clans so he had to be careful. their feet quite exhausted from running wild — finding the forest at the end of caemlyn road.

they had bumped into aesop, nonetheless, rand being startled, yet not nearly as enraged and determined ; tears of fury as when he saw the horse windspear. and they talked, aesop being rather melancholic and while not really friendly, was not like what rand imagined all trollocs to be like. his girlfriend, soleil had a silver cross with blue cornflowers painted on them, a guiding light of hope, which he had given her. and he had a sun necklace with ‘ soleil ‘ on it received from her.

rand says, ‘ would you like to join us? we are finding someplace to rest for the day. ‘

aesop nods, ‘ yes, I would, thank you. ‘ and they continue walking down the street.

now at the campfire ground, which aesop also joined, mat sees the yacht rand had placed onto the wood, as he shivers slightly in his black jacket worn over a loose grey shirt — ‘ it’s a little chilly ‘ ;; it reminding him of a lamp at an inn he and his friends once went to during their long trek. he is also wearing a scarf so the deep scar on his neck from fighting doesn’t sting in the cold icy wind.

as he sits on the grass with rand, green bushes nearby that looked like yellow pollen from flowers. he had heard whispers about the cold peace there in the inn, and to look out for faeries 🧚, he remembering not being sure whether to believe in them. his black hair curls around his forehead, the cold beading there as it had been raining during their trek.

[norteenlinea]

Nameless Grave Records & Sunshine Ward Productions Proudly Presents: A Glorious Call in the Terrible Darkness by Draghkar / Helcaraxë

http://dlvr.it/T75Z7g

[wot-tidbits]

Winternight

Dumai's Wells

Road to Taren Ferry

by Arsenije Kojic

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 53 - The Wheel Turns

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Wheel of Time icon) In which the story is only just begun.

PERSPECTIVE: Rand, as the GM's garden is brown and dying, nearly all the flowers gone, butterflies absent, birds silent. This is wrong, Rand thinks. They won, after all! Loial says it isn't right that Treebrother falls to the Blight. So he walks to the great oak, and sings. His treesong is amplified by what of the GM remains, and the Blight will not take it. They make a litter for Moiraine between Bela and Moiraine's horse, and leave.

Rand half expects to have to fight their way out of the Blight, but it's silent as they move. They make camp in the evening, but everything about the region feels less than it was. Perrin asks why, and Moiraine says they struck a great blow, the Shadow will be a long time recovering. Mat asks what exactly they did, and Moiraine tells him to sleep, they're still not out of danger.

As they ride south out of the Blight, the diseased foliage turns not to the bare trees that were there on the ride up, but to full, lush, green.(1) As they approach the border towers, men come to greet them, laughing joyfully. They think their army must have won a great victory at Tarwin's Gap. In late afternoon they reach Fal Dara, which rings with celebration. Literally, as not a bell in the city seems to sit silent.

They meet Ingtar, who arrived at the battle just one hour too late to see what happened for himself. Moiraine insists he bring them all to Agelmar at once. Agelmar berates him for not bringing Moiraine to a healer, she's still on a litter being carried around.

“We hear,” Moiraine said as soon as the door shut behind Ingtar, “that you won a great victory in Tarwin’s Gap.�� “Yes,” Agelmar said slowly, his troubled frown returning. “Yes, Aes Sedai, and no. The Halfmen and their Trollocs were destroyed to the last, but we barely fought. A miracle, my men call it. The earth swallowed them; the mountains buried them. Only a few Draghkar were left, too frightened to do else but fly north as fast as they could.” “A miracle indeed,” Moiraine said. “And spring has come again.” “A miracle,” Agelmar said, shaking his head, “but. . . . Moiraine Sedai, men say many things about what happened in the Gap. That the Light took on flesh and fought for us. That the Creator walked in the Gap to strike at the Shadow. But I saw a man, Moiraine Sedai. I saw a man, and what he did, cannot be, must not be.” “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, Lord of Fal Dara.”(2)

She tells him the Green Man is dead, a casualty of their battle, and the Eye of the World gone. There should be no more quests to find it. The final battle has yet to be fought (Rand stirs at this, but she glares him into submission), and then she shows him the Horn. When he starts talking about riding into the Blight with it, she yells NO! then explains calmly that the Horn must be carried to Illian, its place isn't here, it's at the Final Battle proper. She shows it to him only to let him know that their might is as great as any, now.

Seven days later, all the people of Fal Dara have returned, and the bells still ring. Rand is training at swords with Lan, who says he's doing well but he can't become a blademaster in a few weeks. Rand says he doesn't care about that, and he doesn't have a few weeks.(3)

Lan takes his leave, and Egwene has snuck up and asks where Rand is going. He doesn't know. She says he could come with the rest of them, they all have reason to go to Tar Valon, for long or short stays. He says he can't just wait around for some Aes Sedai to realize what he is and gentle him. Egg suggests he might try never channeling again, and Rand says he’d sooner cut his hand off than touch the Source again,(4) but privately thinks he might not be able to stop, since he’s never been in control of it yet.

Egg asks if he’ll go home. Rand wants nothing more than that, but knows he can’t go home yet. He has to find somewhere he can be alone, so he won’t hurt anyone. He tells her he’s going away soon, but not home, and wishes privately that she weren’t going to become Aes Sedai.

PERSPECTIVE: Moiraine finishes eavesdropping on Rand and Egg with a trick of magic she learned as a girl in Cairhien’s Royal Palace.(5)

“The Prophecies will be fulfilled,” the Aes Sedai whispered. “The Dragon is Reborn.”

The End of the First Book of The Wheel of Time

=====

(1) A stark contrast with the dying Green Man's grove. War means losing even when you win, something Robert Jordan would have understood all too well. (2) Mo knows Rand is no false Dragon, and what Agelmar saw was what must be. (3) Aw, buddy, what's so important? Running away from the only people who know, understand, and want to support you? (4) That sounds rather impractical, not only because you haven't been in control of it yet, but also because you have no idea you're the first, perhaps main character of an 11 000 page epic. (5) Hmm, so I've given away part of the game already by telling you her last name because of my desire to keep things tagged consistently. But, if you have the print or ebook version of the book, you'll also have a glossary. We saw Galad named Damodred, and his father Taringail. If you look up Taringail in the glossary, the first line is "A Royal Prince of Cairhien". So, Moiraine is some kind of relation to the royal family of Cairhien, is she? Close, do you think, or a more distant cousin kept at the palace purely through her name?

[amemoryofwot]

TDR wrap up under cut! (In no particular order)

Not to be a Lan hater on main again but man if anyone is to be accused of being overwritten show screen time vs book screen time it’s him. Rand’s Fal Dara sword training aside, in TGH he just like fights with Moiraine for two pages, kills a Draghkar, then yells at Perrin a bit in TDR and refuses again when Moiraine tries to send him away pre-Darkhound showdown. Once again hoping Alanna’s S2 was enough of his LoC storyline and he can just go straight to Nynaeve. I guess we’re also missing him giving his ring to Nynaeve which like I’m sure will be S3 now that they’re back in the same place.

Speaking of Nynaeve somebody threw out it seems like we’re getting her unsure FoH self in S2 which I think is fair. She’s written as much more confident and competent between TGH/TDR than S2, but I think that’s due to her experiencing that moment of losing control of a situation earlier. In the books it’s post-Birgitte/Moggy showdown that she becomes so anxious and fearful but in the show her trauma in the circle at the end of S1 is that catalyst. So it will be interesting to see how she reacts to that same book scene in show (season …4? lol)

I am Team Not Going Back To The Tower in S3 but there’s such lovely character moments between Siuan and the kids I will be disappointed to miss. I’m liking Caemlyn as a centre point as well so perhaps there’s some way to mash these together? Siuan attempting to soothe Morgase over Elayne going missing? Mat being there somehow? Mats luck streak happening in Caemlyn instead of Tar Valon? Again, I do not envy the writers having to rework this series, there are SO many moving parts to consider.

Mats luck is one outstanding TDR item to address in S3 (please I need it) as well as Dreaming. Like we do really need the ter’angreal ring. I suppose we could find it in Falme with Turak’s curiosities, or even in Tanchico. Nynaeve seems to share a bit of Elayne’s ability to read ter’angreal so maybe they won’t even need someone to give it to them, if they find it they can figure out what it does while Egwene is a natural Dreamer.

There is such a HUGE personality shift in Rand between TGH and TDR, I think all he went through in S2 is really going to crash down on him and reflect that transition on screen rather than inferred between books.

I do genuinely find these books and RJ’s writing quite funny at times and I hope the writing can lean into that more. Like sorry GoT has ruined everything and we need to be Serious and Dark to be considered good now but WoT is my silly little series with my silly little guys getting into situations and there can be room for that too.

[onlyhurtforaminute]

DRAGHKAR-PURSUED BY BLACK FORMS

[metal-patches-vinyl]

Ossuarium / Draghkar split from 2018. The cover art on this is so sick. The highly detailed line work is amazing.