#leftovers from the big TDR post that did not fit there

[onaperduamedee]

The more I progress, the more I suspect Rand's status as Dragon Reborn is less crucial than the fact he is a ta'veren. From their importance in the pattern to their powers, down to the consequences on their mental health and how little we know of their characteristics, ta'veren cover more ground than Dragon Reborn. I'd argue it is the lesser interesting aspect of Rand, except I have crunchy thoughts about narratives and the title itself, but more on that later. In short, channeling provokes Rand’s sickness, not being the prophecized one, the same way the dagger affects Mat or being a Wolfbrother affects Perrin, so at that point in the story being the Chosen One is almost parenthetical.

I feel there is a reason Loial, the character who is explicitly a storyteller, repeats ta'veren the way one would point out devices in a narrative. The Dragon Reborn in itself is a title granted by stories, and more interestingly in WoT, by loss of History. He is someone people believe in, a myth, and there is no direct evidence beyond the Dark One or Forsaken naming him as such and they are hardly reliable. In truth, there is no way of having direct evidence, really : the Dragon Reborn as a title is an archaelogical artefact backed by textual and oral sources.

I've seen people argue that being the Dragon Reborn is A Bad Thing which is why this aspect of Jordan's writing is unique. I haven't finished the entire series yet, but I suspect by the end I will disagree with that notion: the Chosen One being unenviable is baked into the definition of tragic heroes (Oedipus, Phaedra, and all of Racine’s heroes basically), with the added prophesied element, to the extent one could argue the Chosen One is merely the tragic fantasy hero. However, being the incarnation of a device in a story is a heck a lot fascinating to me, which is what ta'veren are. 

And it’s also on that narrative level that the concept of the Dragon Reborn is most interesting to me.

More than his power, it's the people around Rand who make him the Dragon - the Wheel doesn't want anything, it's people who want - and the belief that he is their savior. The books don't leave any wiggle room as Rand gets proof he is the Dragon Reborn before meeting Moiraine, but wouldn't it have been fascinating if he hadn't been? Just a strong channeler whose sense of duty toward the world (as well as a diminutive indomitable Cairhienin Aes Sedai) pushed him to begrudgingly accept he was the savior of the world.

On an emotional, purely entertaining level, it’s so compelling: the Wheel may be uncaring, but people aren't. More than the Dragon Reborn, this book could have been called People of the Dragon due to the number of people who went out of their way to help the heroes - travelers, soldiers, thieves, even Aes Sedai. And yeah, Siuan, Moiraine and Verin risk everything to guide the EF, even imperfectly and with all the emotional stuntedness the White Tower drilled into them. People believe in Rand, though barely aware of what he is, what his power is. They are worried about him, are dreaming, hoping. He draws people to him and moves them, literally attracting every single main character to the Stone of Tear. 

And this intensity of emotions surrounding Rand is in stark contrast to Rand’s relative absence, the way he keeps being glimpsed by other characters, always an outsider, even pushing others from his dreams - he’s fleeing, rushing to the end in order to get rid of his role as the Dragon Reborn. This denial extends to another level, as he’s very much a no-show in the book, refusing to take his place in the narrative of the book named after him. For as long as he does not become the main character of this story, he cannot be the eponymous character and claim the title, right?

On a narrative level, it’s the story about the Dragon and the people telling that story that create the Dragon, even before he claims the title and truly becomes the Dragon in acts. Again, I find this extremely telling that the character who has the most clearly archetypal coming-of-age arc in TEotW, Loial, is also writing a story about his adventures and so far his comings and goings have followed Rand’s closely. Stories-within-stories fashioning the hero. As if the prophecy in itself as a trope is incidental compared to the text, the fabric of stories surrounding the Dragon.

I know that as the story progresses, the psychological element will almost certainly get the upper hand, if only because Rand will be accepted as Dragon Reborn and will occupy a precise role in the narrative due to his status, but I thought that was a fascinating aspect at that point.