In this
section, the heroes suffer setbacks and losses.
Deep in the
Blasted Lands, on the approach to Shayol Ghul, Faile discovers the village
supplying the Shadow’s armies.
Perrin awakens
to find hours have passed and he is still weak from his ordeal. The rationing
of healing for even heroes of his stature indicates how poorly the battle is
going. Perrin insists Faile is alive even though her caravan vanished in a
bubble of evil. As well he might, for the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and
the Horn must be at the Last Battle. Since nothing guarantees she is still the one
carrying it, the scene still plays nicely as a point of faith, as opposed to
counting on divine providence.
Androl and Pevara flirt as they make plans to
find Taim. They sit on a hillside looking down on fields where nothing grows,
surrounded by dead trees. Androl feels that mirth and love have a place even in
the face of such desolation, perhaps it is even the best place to have them so
they can build something up.
Rhuarc
stalks the valley of Thakan’dar, killing Trollocs and red veils until Hessalam
finds him. He looked up and someone
beautiful stepped through the storm to inspect him. She had wonderful eyes,
though the two were offset from one another. He’d never before realized how
horribly balanced everyone else’s eyes were. Thinking of it nauseated him. And
all other women had too much hair on their heads. This creature, with thinning
hair, was far more marvelous.
The first
thoughts are portrayed neutrally as though they could be Rhuarc’s or a narrator’s.
The second sentence shows a slight resistance, as Rhuarc is still able to
describe the offset eyes in a neutral, slightly pejorative manner. By the third
sentence, Rhuarc is well and truly her creature, comparing her to all other
women, with not even a thought of his wives, even to dismiss them. His memory
of them is completely overwhelmed by his immediate need to please Hessalam. Rhuarc’s
conversion jabs the reader with the speed and totality of his change of
allegiance, undercutting the positive emotions displayed in the earlier
sections with Perrin, Androl and Pevara.
Mirroring
this example of good things turning suddenly bad, Rand weaves a world where all
is well, and finds it overtaken by the Dark One very quickly. THESE PEOPLE ARE
MINE NOW. I WILL TAKE THEM. The Dark One goads Rand with uncharacteristic
explanations to point out the flaws in his creation, and attacks Rand when he
wavers slightly. IT IS NOT ENOUGH, AND WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH. YOUR DREAM IS
FLAWED. YOUR DREAM IS A LIE. I AM THE ONLY HONESTY YOUR WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.
Whatever
hope came from Rand’s triumphant dismissal of the Dark One’s reality is now
seriously undermined. It is good that this pivotal confrontation not end too
easily or quickly, and with the Dark One taking the upper hand, things once
gain look bleak for Rand. At least readers expect a second round of battle. It
is another stroke of genius to have this confrontation rely on character and
imagination instead of ability with the One Power. Outside of the Pattern, weaving
reality into being, Rand is more powerful than he ever was as a mere channeler.
Silviana
offers to take Egwene’s bond so that she doesn’t suffer from his death during the
Last Battle. Egwene defends keeping the bond, a link of love and trust that she
fought hard to create. She believes the importance of her role will be enough
to see her through his loss, but she nonetheless hurries to try rescue him.
Birgitte
describes Gaidal in a way that makes her loss poignant, and relates directly to
what happens when a loved one or warder is lost. Discussion of the deep
personal nature of the loss adds a lot of emotional intensity to the story. Readers have seen several supporting
characters killed or destroyed, and forcing the reader to contemplate what
those losses mean to the main characters heightens the tension over which of
them may perish. The reader is being primed to feel the losses as deeply and
personally as the characters will.
Galad
receives orders and Mat’s medallion. He is to kill as many channelers as
possible. Bryne arrives searching out Gawyn.
Mat is
excited about playing in the highest stakes game ever. Having previously stated
that both Mat and Demandred are master generals and master gamblers, the effect
is reinforced with their mutual admiration for each other’s talents. This saves
the author much trouble in actually conceiving of brilliant battlefield
tactics, as the impression of skill can be conveyed far more convincingly than
the skill itself.
Logain is
given permission to seek out Taim. Mat looks for a good reason to fake a rift
between himself and Tuon. He is not convinced Tuon’s safety is a good enough
reason to pick a fight, yet his luck intervenes and a band of Gray Men and
Sharan channelers makes Tuon’s point admirably. Having given away his
medallion, the stakes are suddenly higher for Mat.
Min saves
Tuon with the help of Siuan who dies in the effort. Siuan’s almost last words under
pressure reveal her character, one reminiscent of the people of Manetheren: “Whatever you think you did, the viewing has
not been accomplished yet, It’s still there.”
Siuan stood frozen for a moment. “Cauthon is in
danger.”
“But—“
“I don’t care, girl!” Nearby, the ground
trembled with the force of the One Power. The damane
were fighting back. “If Cauthon falls, this battle is lost! I don’t care if we
both die from this. We must help.
Move!”
Egwene
tries desperately to reach Gawyn in time.
Demandred
considers how to defeat Mat, and opts to drag things out, so as to avoid
committing himself to a potential trap and to maintain full control of the battle
and his eventual confrontation with Rand. Demandred’s girlfriend Shendla is
devious, capable, powerful, but not enough to change his heart. “I would cast it all away,” he said, looking
into her eyes. “Everything for a chance at Lews Therin.” Demandred
considers whether he could change, given the new feelings budding with him.
This is the third Forsaken given an option of redemption in this book. Surely, readers
think, the author wouldn’t show three such situations unless at least one of
them will take it? The very fact that three options were presented implies that
an option will be chosen, creating an expectation for the author to fulfill or
surprise readers with. Precious insight into the twisted mind of this opponent
creates interest and excitement. Will Demandred get his wish to confront Rand?
Will he find out Rand isn’t coming and crush Mat? Many tantalizing
possibilities are made available with a short jaunt into Demandred’s thoughts.
The M’Hael
is admonished by Demandred and is assigned a specific task of confronting the Aes
Sedai.
The Dark One
shows Rand the fighting. I WILL WIN
EVENTUALLY, ADVERSARY. WATCH THEM SCREAM. WATCH THEM DIE.
THE DEAD ARE MINE.
“Lies,”
Rand said.
NO. I
WILL SHOW YOU.
Juilin
fights and keeps on fighting. His uncertainty about what to do other than keep
resisting mirrors Rand’s predicament.
Androl and
Pevara in disguise are able to learn Taim’s whereabouts from Demandred. This
scene would have lacked some credibility without having seen Demandred just
before, so that readers are already familiar with his whereabouts and state of
mind. Demandred’s ability to detect Gawyn wreathed in shadows doesn’t extend to
an inverted Mask of Mirrors. Demandred is too preoccupied to notice if whipping
Androl’s cheek breaks reveals the disguise. Androl points out that even
Trollocs battle in shifts, a reality shown earlier with Lan, yet unexpected here
as the battle rages. If Mat’s armies are doing the same, it hasn’t been shown
because it would detract from the perception that every last person is needed.
It is more difficult to portray dire need when a third of your army is sleeping
and another third is in reserve. The fact that the Trollocs can afford to do
this demonstrates how badly the good guys are outnumbered.
Galad has a number of plans which he signals to
his men by holding up a number of fingers. Memorizing a handful of plans may
not be too difficult, but do men remember them under the pressure of battle? It
seems risky given that they would have had under an hour to develop the plans.
Galad finds
Gawyn as he dies and learns Rand is his brother. Gawyn’s extraordinary survival
so far is explained by his Warder bond, another fantastic invention that gives the
author a lot of leeway to make events play out as needed. Galad is motivated by
his brother’s loss, and maybe by his newfound brother’s existence, to seek out
and destroy Demandred. He is a better swordsman than Gawyn was, and has a
medallion to negate Demandred’s channeling, and he’s taken down several
channelers easily, and his desire for vengeance seems so right that his victory
feels fairly certain.
Egwene feels
the crippling loss of her Warder. A short amount of text is dedicated to this,
for the good reason that every character in sequence is building up emotions of
worry, frustration, fatigue, and loss. Each character’s point of view not only
describes their own situation, but builds up to or builds on the points of view
presented before and after. The rhythm of the Last Battle and Rand’s conflict
play off each other emotionally more than they do temporally. Egwene’s
realization of her naiveté plays very well with Rand’s imminent next round
against the Dark One.
Writing lessons:
Set or maintain
the emotions you want from one point of view to the next, using them as parts
of a whole, not only to advance plot.
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