A Memory of Light - Chapters 29-32

In this section, the Great Captains are removed and Mat takes over everything.

The next chapters contain a bit of overlap, as we see closely-spaced events from several perspectives. Since they all concern the erratic behaviour of the Great Captains and the events on the field, they mesh together well, though they remain strongly plot-driven.

Lan investigates Agelmar’s tactics, and finds disturbing facts. Lan resolves the problem with dutiful competence. He doesn’t grow, he doesn’t learn, he simply applies what he already has, and solves the problem. Perhaps the fact that the solution is to admit defeat constitutes character development of a sort, but it feels much more like plot-driven necessity. The scene is perhaps most successful in how it sets up later expectations. Lan does not consider a final stand to fulfill his long-awaiting destiny to fall fighting the Shadow. He instead tries to save as many lives as he can with a hurried withdrawal, carrying on in the way he promised his Malkieri followers.

Mat scouts the battle with Tuon in tow. In true ta’veren fashion, he learns what he must do to save humanity, capturing a new damane and other followers in the process. The Seanchan captain won’t work out in the end though, if this paragraph follows the same type of symbolism used in earlier books: The Seanchan captain reminded him a little too much of Talmanes, and Mat had enough people following him about. I wonder if he plays dice, Mat thought idly, stepping into the water. His boots were good, but all boots eventually leaked, and his feet squished inside his stocking as he walked across the ford with Pips. The way the author leaps forward with the action throughout the book makes it harder to tell if this set-up was intentional, but the section is so introspective I think it must be.  

The following sentences both succeed and fail to capture Mat’s personality: Any man who wanted to wield the One Power was already crazy, so far as Mat considered it. Adding more crazy to them would be like pouring tea into an already full cup. The physical analogy of an overflowing cup is common enough that readers easily identify it with a man who yearns for the simple life. His disdain for the men who channel saidin is equally well captured, consistent with his previous thoughts on the subject. Where the analogy fails, is that Mat rarely drinks tea, and tea has no association with erratic behaviour. A better choice to bring out Mat’s personality even more could have been to make the analogy with an alcoholic beverage, such as a cup of wine or a mug of beer. He speaks about his bedtime mug of ale only two pages later!

Perrin enlists Elyas to help stop Ituralde from sabotaging his own army in the waking world.

Rand’s leg slipped backward, and brushed the darkness behind, which waited like a pool of ink. A light brush is more effective than a plunge or other motion in conveying the danger.

Elayne’s army almost wins, having overcome Bashere’s treachery too late. She fires a final ball of flame to protect the Dragons, the symbol of human innovation. Almost as if summoned by her gesture, Logain’s Asha’man rally her forces and quickly devastate the Trolloc horde in a particularly inventive fashion. Androl leads the first ever circle of male and female channelers cooperating on a large scale. Differences are set aside in desperation, here as has happened elsewhere. Once control has been established, Elayne asserts that the Trollocs will be slaughtered down to the last one standing, lest they get up to havoc while she helps elsewhere.

Egwene has the hardest time of everyone accepting that her trusted general is a traitor. She finds that she trusts Mat more than even Bryne, despite his carefree ways. This is justified by her memories of his past actions, newly minted to reinforce that she knows his true heart despite staying an arm’s length from him for years. A couple of plot-driven reasons to trust also are invoked: he broke Bryne’s orders to the Seanchan cavalry to save many men, and he is the only one who they can be sure is under no Compulsion.

Assessing the situation, Mat decides to assemble all the Light’s forces in one location, close enough to the Shadow’s two main forces to draw them irresistibly into battle, before they can ravage elsewhere, or return to Thakan’dar. Displaying weakness should work, after all it was the Shadow who launched the initial attacks against humanity, putting them on the defensive. Rand used their desperate plight as cover for his own daring raid on Shayol Ghul, yet the Shadow must not be worried, as only a handful of Dreadlords and Graendal have intervened there. Perhaps keeping the good guys penned up just trying to survive is the minimum objective, as they would be powerless to help Rand. Who would benefit most of everyone just Traveled to Shayol Ghul?

Galad’s perspective is well-suited to state the blunt awful truth about how bad things are, and how much worse they are about to get. Tam and Elayne counter grim reality with hope, spreading the message that all must focus on what has been won, not what has been lost.

Writing Lessons:

Analogies must fit the character making them as well as the situation they describe. 

A Memory of Light - Chapters 14-16

(Sorry for the long delay, life intervened... how did I ever maintain this pace last year?)

In this section, the Black Tower plotline is resolved!

Contrary to established rules, it is now possible to enter Tel’aran’rhiod from the Blight, which is explained with the mild observation that barriers are weakening between worlds. Importantly, it will allow Perrin, Lanfear, and Slayer to later interact with Rand at Shayol Ghul while they are in Tel’aran’rhiod. While the story is rife with examples of impossible things becoming reality, when the author starts tweaking rules which remove well established restrictions, there is a chance that readers will find it too convenient to be believable. This is overcome to some degree by simply establishing that a change in rules has taken place, with no commitment towards it being of benefit or detriment to the heroes.

Perrin not only feels he has to stay near Rand, but also needs to investigate dangers to Rand, appointing himself as a sort of bodyguard.  While it was expected that Perrin might take on this role, it was both thrilling and surprising to see Gaul join him. So they set off to the Black Tower where Lanfear makes an appearance. Two opposing ideas are now associated with her. The first is her obsessive thirst for power and prestige, which Perrin recalls quite well, and is wary of. The second is the recent idea of her coming back to the Light, as introduced through her dialogue with Rand. Due to the elements of Eve and Pandora I identified in her mythical roots, I am predisposed to her seeking or gaining redemption. The nearly equal weighting of these ideas adds to the mystery around her goals, indicating she could go either way and no one would be surprised. “I chose my master. This is my price – unless I can find a way free of it.” Whatever she is after, she achieves it by helping Perrin, allowing him to remove a dreamspike at a very opportune moment.

The coincidental timing of Perrin’s actions is a little hard to accept, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and that logic-defying clause allows the author to push the limits of coincidence in a manner that is explainable, if not entirely satisfactory.

Androl’s Talent for Gateways allowed him to make a miniscule Gateway over a very short distance even when the dreamspike was activated. The small Gateway he uses to catch Taim’s balefire presumably also only carried it a very short distance. Perrin’s deactivation of the dreamspike then frees Androl to make Gateways of any size, and he uses some exciting techniques to devastate Taim’s cronies and send two Forsaken running. After such an intense build-up, the resolution is nothing but satisfaction. Importantly, Androl and the other Asha’man have claimed their own freedom, usurping control from Taim with no observable outside help.

Androl isn’t the only character whose desperate actions amazingly bear fruit. Rand did the same on several occasions, notably at the end of The Eye of the World, when he thrice appealed to the Light to intercede and save him, and then was able to regain control of the situation. Androl makes no such appeal for deliverance, instead drawing on his defiance and will to displace the barrier which prevents his Gateways from forming. Why does this work?

The simple explanation is that time runs differently in Tel’aran’rhiod, and Perrin’s deactivation of the dreamspike is mirrored over a longer time frame in the waking world.

A different explanation requires delving into Androl’s character and the reason for his Talent. Androl is a dreamer and a searcher, and has traveled far and wide across the world trying to find the elusive conditions that will give him closure and peace. He may have traveled to more places and tried more paths in life than almost every other character. He knows himself as much as he knows the places he has been. Androl’s Talent and lack of ability in other areas is therefore a metaphor for his inner quest and lack of satisfaction with what he has found so far. Knowing himself is equated with knowing where he is, a condition required to form Gateways. When Androl finally succeeds in crafting his tiny Gateway, he has dug deep within himself and found that which he always sought elsewhere: the will to make part of the world fit his needs, to take his place as the heart and soul of the Black Tower, to defy Taim with his last breath and create the place he has long searched for. With this understanding comes his salvation, just as the dreamspike is deactivated.

The Black Tower itself has been a metaphor for Rand’s inner turmoil over the last several books. As he allowed his humanity to wither away, the Black Tower festered. At first the Black Tower represented a cherished dream for Rand, a safe place for men like him. By failing to nurture this dream, it could not sustain itself, and eventually went bad, until it grew to the point where it threatened his life and the world itself. Androl demonstrated that a powerful dream will draw others to it, others who can share in keeping it vibrant and secure. Rand’s naive hope that his project would be successful simply by establishing initial conditions, and then walking away, was proven to be foolish. The failed Black Tower experiment serves as a precedent for the upcoming conflict with the Dark One, where Rand will again try quick and easy solutions that will predictably fail.

With the Black Tower plotline resolved, it isn’t long before Taim shows up in the Borderlands to disrupt the desperate tactics of the Borderlanders. Lan can survive a duel with two Myrddraal at once, and repeated sorties on the field lancing Trollocs, but must flee before the Dreadlords’ siege engine. There is some entertainment in comparing how Byrne’s later use of Gateways as windows provides immensely more advantage than simply elevating channelers on a siege engine to have a better view of the battlefield. But for now, the edge goes to the Shadow.

In Ebou Dar, Mat once again entertains readers with his banter with Selucia. Mat is either thinking out of character or subconsciously adopting Seanchan ways of thinking: She had shaved her head again properly, now that she was no longer hiding. Tuon’s adoption of Mat’s ways is much more in character, and funny: “Are you bloody insane?” Mat asked. “Are you bloody stupid?” she asked.

The Heroes’ ability to spot Gray Men is uncanny. Even when wounded, a Gray Man is unnoticed by the keenest eyes in the Seanchan Empire. I attribute the Heroes’ success versus Gray Men to the ta’veren effect, increasing the dim likelihood of noticing them into a certainty. I think channelers and Warders were the only others to ever notice a Gray Man. There’s been some debate as to why the Shadow didn’t use more of these assassins. I reason that there was simply a lack of good targets, with most potential targets either unfindable or able to notice and kill them. I also suspect they are not very numerous, since their creation requires a sacrifice on par with Padan Fain’s, a dedication that is decidedly rare.

Rand has a swordfight with Tam, allowing him to learn how the loss of his hand has affected his perception of himself.  The missing hand has been more of an inconvenience than an obstacle in terms of Rand’s abilities to confront opponents, since he can channel even without it. By showing an example of weakness, the author is able to better showcase the inner turmoil Rand feels in the face of the Last Battle. Rand regularly tries to express certainty about his plan to kill the Dark One, but just as with his sword prowess, there are deep-seated doubts and weaknesses he worries about. Aviendha previously suggested taking the Dark One gai’shain might be a better path, and Moiraine now tries to dissuade him from his chosen course of action even as she urges him to commence his assault now.

Moiraine gets good tasting tea from Rand, a symbol that he does indeed have the right balance that so many of his motherly mentors have sought. Each of them has correctly foreseen that  as with so many of the obstacles faced by the characters, it is not Rand’s battle training or ability to channel that will lead to victory, but a matter of his character.

Galad and his Whitecloaks are perturbed by the Ogier’s violence. Their first instinct upon witnessing their savagery is to consider them Shadowspawn.  Galad understands that evil does not reside in the act of chopping down opponents, but the reasons for that act can be good or evil. If the Ogier’s violence is startling in its intensity and rivals the murderous actions of Trollocs, it is because once riled and forced to actions the Ogier would rather not have contemplated, their resolve to carry them out is unwavering. They embrace violence as the tool that will best allow them to continue their peaceful lifestyle.

Writing Lessons:

Do not break your daily writing habit. Once missed, writing time is lost forever.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 44-46

In this section, characters reunite!

With the Last Battle impending, and no other identity to resume, Morgase finally allows herself to love Tallanvor and gets married. Didn’t take much.

Mat has a badger for Perrin. There is no build-up toward this reunion, as is appropriate for Mat where everything must be unanticipated. The author cleverly uses the word children just before revealing Mat’s presence, which is as good as saying someone immature is behind the acorn tossing.

Elayne discusses the politics of Cairhien with Dyelin, fresh back from a scouting expedition. It’s confusing that on the one hand I don’t want to go through yet another political plotline with gaggles of nobles angling for the throne, yet I also find it disconcerting how Elayne dictates the simplicity with which she’ll take the throne, moving Mat’s band where it needs to go, and using her new cannons.

Galad enters and reveals Morgase. Mother and daughter happily reunite. Any awkwardness in the dialogue is excused by drawing attention to it through Birgitte’s comment: “It’s good to see you two acting like mother and child, or at least woman and woman, rather than staring at each other like two posts.” Attention is drawn to the next conflict, resolving Perrin’s rebellion in the Two Rivers.

Aviendha contemplates Rhuidean, the future of the Aiel, and both her and her people’s relationship with Rand. The offhand way in which she reflects on Nakomi’s words before reaching the exact same conclusions on her own reinforces that Nakomi was no one special, just a scene added to make Aviendha’s reflections on these matters seem more believable to readers.

Since the end of Knife of Dreams, there has been no sight of Mazrim Taim or the Black Tower. Even Logain made only a short appearance. The point of view showing readers the current state of affairs belongs to Androl, the weakest of the Dedicated, remarkable only for his talent with Gateways. Immediately, it is assumed Androl will play the role of kingmaker, predictably demonstrating that men can make a difference in many ways, even when they appear weak. Despite being a regular and standard plot device to evoke sympathy, it rarely fails, because the character is usually wise on some way. Androl is perceptive, and recognizes the value of waiting for the right time before taking action. Cementing sympathy is often done by showing the character being bullied, which in this case also illustrates that the head bully is so highly ranked, all the bullying is delegated to his acolytes. Any one who joins Taim’s faction gets promoted above those he left, while those who won’t join, languish.

None of Taim’s acolytes have Aes Sedai bonded, which is unsurprising when you consider that men and women working with the One Power together is even more fulfilling than using either half on its own. Bonding is deep and profound sharing, and has been suggested as a key element of how Rand can defeat the Dark One, while strife between the sexes has always been a goal of the Dark One.

Androl’s visions of shadows creeping toward him remind readers that the male channelers who began their training before the cleansing of saidin are still afflicted with madness. This is representative of all who have trained at the Black Tower under Taim, and lingering madness and distrust can still undermine the fragile alliances being built. Building an alliance with Taim’s men looks next to impossible, even if Taim were to be removed.

Writing Lessons:

Draw attention to a weakness in the story to make it appear intentional.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 15-17

In this section, possible future plots are laid, both good and dreadful.

Nynaeve heals madness, a feat considered impossible by three millennia of Aes Sedai, who simply took the easy path of gentling men rather than study them. Once the easy path was institutionalized, deviating from it was not well looked upon. As has been done in earlier books, before Nynaeve does her Healing, it is established that she first Delves a person, telling her what is wrong with them.

Nynaeve healed gentling and stilling by building a bridge across a gap in the afflicted person. She can heal Compulsion by weaving its reverse pattern. She helped cleanse saidin by funneling the immensity of the taint through a filter. She heals madness by meticulously pulling one barb at a time and healing the spot where it penetrated the brain. Could stopping the Dark One and sealing the Bore again be done similarly to any of these, or as a combination of all four?

A bubble of evil once again represents the situation at hand. Everyone in a several block radius of a neighbourhood in Tear has been turned into a fine powder. When Nynaeve and Naeff pile it up, and she adds fire, the spark sets it all off in a fiery flash. A mad Asha’man acts similarly, having his very essence ground away, until something sets him off, and he is caught in irrationally mad behaviour, destroying everything around him.

Nynaeve feels insignificant in the face of such monumental forces of evil, but she realizes it is important to feel the little victories, for futility is what the Dark One wants her to feel. This is in line with Rand’s realization that it is not the big epic things that matter most, it is the immediate, local things that matter in the long run, that when repeated in the thousands across the land, create the fabric that the Dark One seeks to unravel.

Nynaeve is invited to Shayol Ghul, to accompany Rand at the Last Battle. Rand had decided this prior to seeing Nynaeve and learning of her feat, yet it is presented as a natural consequence of Nynaeve’s ongoing dedication to her community. Rand hands out compliments and takes criticism gracefully. He has taken on a role similar to his father, and is seen as such by Nynaeve, further cementing the fact that he has fully matured and is ready for the Last Battle.

Egwene learns the Oath Rod can be beaten, and rather easily at that. The weave allowing sounds to be heard differently is simply a means of doing what most Aes Sedai do anyway, which is to twist the truth. Egwene has the Aes Sedai researching Mesaana’s character traits, looking for clues to understand her and eventually defeat her. Egwene’s intense personal focus on Mesaana builds up interest in their eventual confrontation. That focus stems from the comparison of Mesaana being the Shadow’s Amyrlin, a direct and personal comparison to Egwene. The realization that she is the target, and the decision to use herself as bait adds to the personal nature of their conflict. Without these elements, there would be nothing but plot driving this storyline forward.

Perrin and Faile celebrate an anniversary, coming mostly clean with secrets they held back previously. As cathartic as it is talking about captivity and running with wolves, they both avoid the topic of infidelity. Perrin guesses why Faile won’t talk about Rolan, but now ascribes it to fondness, nothing more. Faile won’t let Perrin talk about Berelain, reserving the duty of dealing with her and the rumours for herself. On the surface, no cheating took place for either of them, but I still have nagging doubts that this is a case of willingly unreliable narrators, convincing themselves and each other of the truth they want to believe.

Perrin has a weakness: Faile, and he is told that he must accept that weakness, since it is a part of him that he cannot change, and makes him who he is.

Perrin contrasts his unforgiving attitude towards Rolan with the Whitecloaks’ attitude towards him. Empathy is something readers should identify with, since it is hoped they feel empathy towards the main characters. Showing empathetic characters who can see from someone else’s point of view makes them likeable, while unempathetic characters may feel readers with dislike, disgust, horror, or dread.

Mat’s followers are parting from his company, and will almost certainly be seen with Egwene next. I just noticed Olver shares a name with the author. Did he include a young version of himself in the story?

Elayne continues to believe Min’s Viewing makes her safe, then considers doing the very thing Rand warned Nynaeve not to: approach the Black Tower. No matter which order these two elements are presented in, the end result is dread.

Writing Lessons:

Show empathy to make characters likeable, and do not show it to make readers uncertain or negative towards the characters.

Knife of Dreams - Chapters 22-23

In this section, secondary characters make the story their own.

One thing that stands out in The Wheel of Time is that no matter that the central conflict is centered around Rand, every character believes the story is about themselves. We get two examples of this, with Harine and Romanda getting full chapters from their point of view.

We last saw Harine up close entering Far Madding, in a point of view from her sister Shalon. At that time, Shalon’s own conflict seemed to end, as she found the acceptance of her sister. Now Harine is looking for the resolution to her own story. Despite Min’s Viewing, Harine has not become the Mistress of the Ships, and Harine is certain the Viewing is simply off in its timing, rather than wrong. When Elayne is putting so much faith in Min’s Viewing, this situation serves to undercut the reader’s confidence in Viewings and prophecies, and induce them to think of ways in which the Viewing may have been misinterpreted. Just like the words and Aes Sedai speaks, the Viewings are supposed to be true, but what is left unsaid may have an entirely different meaning.  

Harine and the other women of the First Twelve are gathering to meet with an envoy from the Dragon Reborn: Logain. As with most of the shorebound, Logain fails to understand the dignity and respect due to the Mistress of the Ships, since he cannot interpret the medallions representing her rank, and he simply wouldn’t care if he did know, since his orders from Rand take precedence over all else. Logain’s words reflect Rand’s hardening stance on all matters; “Mourn if you must, but mourn on the march for Tarmon Gai’don.”

Logain’s attitude towards the ritual suicide of a culture of pacifists is coarse and heartless. Like Rand, he is aimed at his task alone, and all other considerations are distractions to be swatted away. The Amayar took their lives in reaction to the cleansing of saidin, as foretold by their prophecies. As discussed in posts on Winter’s Heart, the cleansing represented forgiveness for Rand’s murders of several men. The deaths of the Amayar represent a price paid for that forgiveness, a price beyond the time Rand spent incarcerated. Although not causally related to the cleansing, giving up their lives is a symbolic action foreshadowing the Last Battle when Rand will do the same to save the world. If Rand was supposed to learn anything from the news, it is lost on him, as shown by Logain’s reaction.

Harine is accepted back as Rand’s ambassador from the Sea Folk, a decision the Mistress of the Ships has no choice but to accept. Rand has thus delivered Harine a second chance to atone for her past mistakes in making a poor bargain. To do so, she will have to endure Rand’s harsher attitude, as well as Cadsuane’s expectations. We should expect A Memory of Light to present a situation in which Harine can conclude her story, and complete a task that redeems her, and it will likely involve telling Rand more about the Amayar.

Romanda is perturbed by all the futility and failure she sees, and chooses to lose herself in pleasant tales of romance and adventure. This guilty pleasure stands out starkly against her personality, which is very pragmatic and prideful. She not only abides by custom, it is a central tenet of her beliefs. All of the new things Egwene or Nynaeve has come up with are frowned upon, and her reluctance to see possibility instead of actuality left her unable to see that Egwene was more than a novice until it was too late for her. Even as the Last Battle approaches, she sees change as an obstacle to be overturned and adherence to the old ways as the path to victory. A victory she will be central figure in, if Elaida and Egwene can be thrown out.

Nisao reveals her secret hunt for the assassin amongst the rebels, having come up against an obstacle that she cannot overcome. Egwene’s orders to carry out the search and to keep it secret now conflict with each other, and Nisao can decide which one takes precedence and act upon it. Since Lelaine already figured out that a search was underway, revealing as much to Romanda is easily rationalized.

An encounter with Sharina and the Mistress of Novices has Romanda recognize that some of the changes being effected are very practical and useful, which makes undoing them all the more unlikely, which in turn grates on her sense of how things are supposed to be. She started the chapter firmly against all things new, and now she has twice had to grudgingly admit that some of the changes constitute progress.

The third encounter that pierces her mindset is the arrival of Merise and her Asha’man warder. Here is something that definitely should not be, although if it must exist, the relationship correctly involves an Aes Sedai with a subjugated male. The Asha’man Narishma tells the Hall that someone tried to pierce the warding against eavesdropping using saidar, at which point Delana abruptly leaves. Narishma offers the Dragon Reborn’s Asha’man to be bonded, which the Hall hastily accepts. Further questioning reveals Asha’man have already bonded nearly fifty Aes Sedai, which puts all other ugly realities out of Romanda’s head; this is an abomination! Equality is intolerable, even if the bonded Aes Sedai are Elaida’s followers. The exact count gives Narishma another opportunity to talk about Hopwil’s death at the hands of a woman who could extraordinarily use saidin.

It is highly doubtful Romanda’s unchanging view of the world could have made the leap of logic to link Narishma’s tale with Nisao’s hidden assassin, without being repeatedly hammered with events that defy her structured world view. Her insight that Delana must be arrested would have been even more believable if she had left the Hall after another sister demonstrated that she could detect saidin, instead of just before this new weave was tested. As it is, Delana made her own early leap of logic, simply worrying that an Asha’man in the camp might unveil Halima.

Siuan might have been a logical character to have used for this chapter instead of Romanda, since she is Blue Ajah, and should have known something of the dead sisters and Cabriana. She also is within the group of loyal Egwene followers, and might have made a better first stop for Nisao than Romanda. However, Siuan could not have been in the Hall, so one of the Sitters had to have the point of view instead. Once Siuan was disqualified, the author had to find the character best suited to be told all of the relevant pieces of information and who also had access to the locations where each would be revealed. Once Romanda was selected, the events had to be structured to affect her such that she could reach the desired conclusions. Having now conceived of the inconceivable, Romanda is ready to accept Egwene as Amyrlin.

Writing Lessons:

Treat every character as though they are the hero of their own story within your story.

Crossroads of Twilight - Chapters 23-26

In this section, Rand reappears and makes the first of several fateful decisions to come

The title of the book, Crossroads of Twilight, implies a choice of roads, either of which could be leading toward darkness or light. Rand is the first character faced with a decision that involves major concessions on his part. Readers have already been warmed up for this since the Rebel Sitters voted to enter talks with the Black Tower, and Tarna has proposed a course of action that is anathema to other Red Ajah.

Cadsuane’s introductory paragraph describes a dividing line “The air in the room was just sufficiently warmer than outside…”, and uncertain outcomes “…to put a mist on the glass panes set in the red-painted casements, and the glass contained bubbles besides, but Cadsuane stood peering out as if she could see the dreary landscape clearly.” Descriptions of the farmers outside and the weather also act as metaphors for the situation she and Rand are in. It’s one of the more obvious uses of this technique in this book, which has had subtler than usual metaphors worked into the descriptive text. So subtle I often can’t tell if one is even there.

Cadsuane ponders everything she sees, perceptively picking up on many subtleties, and continuing to represent the Light itself. She still can’t figure Verin out completely, another clue that the Brown has some Shadowy motivations. Cadsuane tells Merise that however she decides to handle her Warder is probably right, implying that such matters are not affairs the Light mixes in. Cadsuane judges Nynaeve, who acts as Rand’s conscience, as a frivolous girl, full of passions, who only rarely demonstrated that she had a brain. Nynaeve is still wearing her angreal and ter’angreal, either to protect Rand or out of wariness of him. Cadsuane remains uncertain about whether saidin has been cleansed of the Dark One’s taint, trusting more to Merise’s bond with Narishma than to either of their own observations from linking with one of the men. She would have more faith if she had that bond herself, leading her to reflect once again on the wilder in the Black Hills who taught her that what must be endured, can be endured, and who may have given Cadsuane her collection of ter’angreal. Is that the same lesson Cadsuane must teach Rand? Since this reminder has come up, it seems likely to be so. She wonders at the affinity between Rand and Alivia, not knowing of Min’s viewing regarding her helping Rand to die. Rand himself is in a poor place, hardened, tired, and nearly disabled from the sickness caused by the taint.

As has so often been the case, Robert Jordan uses the sun to describe a character’s mood and situation: Midafternoon sunlight should have been slanting through the windows of Rand’s bedchamber, but a hard rain was falling outside, and all the lamps were lit to hold off a twilight darkness.

Rand too can almost see visions of his fellow ta’veren when he thinks of them. Other times an almost familiar face appears, accompanied by dizziness. Rand grasps saidin and we get the first description of clean saidin, for once not accompanied by a description of the taint. He has begun thinking of his weaves as webs, as Lews Therin does.

Logain has traveled to Rand’s hiding place, accompanied by several warders, Asha’man, Bashere’s men and Loial. Logain’s aura still speaks of glory to come.

Loial managed to have the majority of Waygates closed and guarded. This isn’t quite attacking the Shadow’s supply lines, but it is the only defense humanity has put up as of yet.

Rand and Cadsuane learn about the bonded Aes Sedai with Logain. It was a very nice and unexpected twist to have the Aes Sedai become the Warder. Rand worries that the Tower will want to balance things by asking to bond Asha’man, a suggestion Tarna has already brought up and Cadsuane has independently decided should be done.

Logain warns about Taim’s influence on the Asha’man, and the orders he gives which supposedly come from Rand. Rand is irritated that Logain isn’t thankful for the cleansing he performed. Rand gets philosophical about the Creator, thinking “A gardener did not weep for each blossom that fell.” He is trying to convince himself that is true.

Rand puts the Black Tower to the side, and broods upon the attempts to acquire the seals on the Dark One’s prison. He can’t fight the Shadow and Seanchan at the same time, so he sends Logain, Bashere and Loial to arrange a truce with the Seanchan.

His decision is based on recent conversations with Alivia, but also on his failed attempt to stop the Seanchan from invading Illian. He set them back for a few months, but their way is to learn and adapt and overcome. A useful trait to have on his side, if he can get it. Making a truce with an enemy to fight a greater enemy is the choice that each character will have to make in the lead-up to the Last Battle.

Perrin needs food for his troops, so he is setting off to the walled town of So Habor. While this is a realistic problem a commander might face, it is also mundane, making it likely readers will find it uninteresting as a focal point of the story. As it happens, the town of So Habor is one of the most interesting locales in the book, which is unfortunately a poor reflection on the rest of the book.

His first view of the area is abandoned fields and seemingly uninhabited houses. Empty. Men manning the town’s walls are filthy and unkempt. They ask how they can tell whether Perrin is alive. It seems a foolish question but it points to the moral turmoil from which he is suffering. We don’t get an immediate answer to what happened in the town, but the consequences are plain enough. Fear, living in filth, distrust. Perrin sees that the clean grain samples are kept in sealed jars, with well-cut threaded lids.  Their best is kept hidden away unless they need to show it off to someone. He demands to see the rest of the grain. It is heavily contaminated with vermin, crawling with weevils. Each sack is almost half weevil, half grain. The grain can only be cleaned by sifting through it carefully, winnowing out the insects. It is a metaphor for Perrin’s fate. He is at the halfway point, like a sack of grain, teetering towards being devoured by the weevils, needing to be winnowed to preserve the grain. He judges that ghosts and weevils don’t explain all that is wrong with the people of So Habor; they have simply given up, and in doing so the badness has been allowed to fester and grow inside them as it has consumed their warehouses. It’s all explained away as the Dark One’s touch, but the scene was placed here to show a possible fate for Perrin. So Habor serves a similar purpose as Shadar Logoth did in The Eye of the World.

Writing Lessons:

Location, weather, events, behaviour: anything can be used as a metaphor.

Mundane problems make a mundane story.

Crossroads of Twilight - Chapters 20-22

In this section, there is harsh reaction to failures.

Tel’aran’rhiod makes its first appearance in some time. Egwene meets with Aviendha, and finally discuss Rand’s cleansing of saidin from their perspectives. Egwene shares the view that it was the Forsaken, and how that has driven the rebels to commence talks with the Black Tower. Aviendha doesn’t think the Wise Ones would have taken such a radical course of action. She manages to be evasive about what she knows, while probing Egwene’s reasoning. Even if the Forsaken didn’t scoop Shadar Logoth out of the earth’s crust, the Asha’man still must be dealt with, so Egwene will proceed with the Hall’s decision, but recognizes the danger Mazrim Taim poses.

Egwene has a number of prophetic dreams, and catalogues them. This is blatant foreshadowing, and is of course of interest to the reader who has the means to decipher some of them. Mat will kill men with an Illuminator’s help; Egwene will be saved by a Seanchan; the Seanchan will attack the White Tower. These give readers something to look forward to, and create expectations that can either be fulfilled or foiled, depending on the author’s desire.

Anaiya is killed, along with her warder, obviously by Aran’gar who is looking to reinvigorate the distrust between Aes Sedai and Asha’man that seems to have fallen to the side with the recent vote to open talks between them. Nisao may uncover the killer, but it’s more likely Anaiya was simply killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, for any Aes Sedai killed with saidin will do.

In the White Tower, Alviarin returns from Tremalking. There is no clue why Mesaana sent her there for a month, though perhaps she went to other places as well, giving orders to Darkfriends? She doesn’t even reveal exactly what is happening there after the use of the Choedan Kal fulfilled an Amayar prophecy. She notes wards are failing in the White Tower, similar to how Egwene noted rotting food that had been preserved using the One Power. Was it Rand’s use of so much of the One Power that did it, or is this a new result of the Dark One’s touch?

The three Sea Folk Aes Sedai manage the most secret records of the White Tower. It would be funny if they had been passing the most privileged information to the Sea Folk all these years.

Alviarin gets anxious about some rumour that every one has heard but her. The other Aes Sedai watch her in a way that indicates they know something she doesn’t. She soon learns Elaida has replaced her, and becomes certain that she is in danger of being revealed. In her panic she summons Mesaana, bringing her into the open for the first time since saidin was cleansed, and into the clutches of Shaidar Haran. Her failure to follow orders merits a punishment even Alviarin doesn’t want to see. Alviarin is set a task to deliver the Black Ajah Hunters to Shaidar Haran. Obviously, she does not intend to fail.

Elaida treats the negotiations the same way as Egwene, not taking them seriously at all unless her all but impossible conditions are met.

Pevara, one of the Hunters, has received a message from Toveine, revealing they have been bonded by Asha’man. Tarna, the new Keeper, thinks this news is inconsequential to her plan to bond Asha’man. Pevara disagrees, implying it is too late to bond Asha’man, they might instead be bonded by them.

The happenstance that both Rebels and Tar Valon Aes Sedai are entertaining the idea of joining with the Black Tower in some fashion provides both a question of who will get there first and implies that one way or another, there will be some treaty between the two forces before the Last Battle.

Alviarin’s evil isn’t depicted directly here, but she has enough peculiar characteristics and behaviours to give readers a queasy feeling about her:

Her pride is to the point where any rumour of weakness is avoided, but more so if others are aware of it: To have anyone hear such things said, and to her face!

She considers inconveniencing others for no reason but to spare her own inconvenience: Today, though, by the time Alviarin had climbed close to eighty spans, she was seriously considering making Elaida move back down.

She strives to act in a manner which is aloof from the general population: She prided herself on her icy detachment, always presenting a cool unruffled surface.

She is mean: She almost wanted to tell Zemaille what was happening on Tremalking, just to see whether the other woman would flinch.

She lacks common human emotions: Mercy was for those afraid to be strong.

Writing Lessons:  

You don’t need evil actions to make a character villainous; their unconventional thoughts can give effective and subtle feelings of wrong-doing.

Crossroads of Twilight - Chapters 18-19

In this section Egwene is plunged into the deepest depths of Aes Sedai intrigue…

The final part of this Egwene section is a study in Aes Sedai politics that makes your head spin. There have been several mentions of the too-young Sitters, and Siuan has discovered that Elaida has the same problem. In Tar Valon there are at least three, maybe four Sitters who are too young by custom. Egwene has another eight. It would have stood out as strange in either place, but together they point to somebody who has a hand in all Ajahs and is directing their decision-making. Once the Black Ajah has been ruled out, Siuan and Egwene can’t even conceive that the Ajah Heads not only know each other but may be communicating secretly with each other.

This is the behaviour Talene was investigating, which led to her capture by the Black Ajah hunters. Some of the Sitters had been meeting secretly, but Talene and the Black Ajah and Mesaana herself did not know their purpose. Interestingly, the Ajah heads meeting and the too-young Sitter mysteries solve each other, so we know who is behind it, and some of what they have done, but their motive is still lacking. Some readers may have the intuition to look at the unknowns and wonder how they may fit together to get this far, but I think most often they remain categorized as two separate mysteries.

Egwene’s meeting with the Hall goes on for pages, with every mannerism and action potentially laden with meaning. The author convincingly shows how much noise there is covering the true signal. One tool to help simplify our understanding of this mess is a grid showing common stances on certain issues.

Rebel Aes Sedai Young Sitters Chart

Now we can more easily see the pattern that Siuan was getting at. When those five Sitters started pressing for negotiations, Egwene should have wondered whether it meant that Romanda and Lelaine were supportive of it, given the affiliations those five shared. It is much easier to see that long-time Sitters outside the Blue Ajah viscerally oppose talks with the Black Tower and favour all reunification measures, including refusal to declare war on Elaida.  

The question is why didn’t the author make this plainer to the reader? He could easily have had Egwene notice this pattern and comment on it, or summarized the votes as “the newly raised Sitters were amenable to change, the ones raised before the split would die before agreeing to this proposal.” Instead, he spread one vote over six entire pages, challenging readers to cobble together clues from this section as well as from several other books to even have a clear idea of who is in the Hall and what the factions may be. He wanted readers to work for the answer and to have a life-like representation of the political complexities the Amyrlin faces with every proposal. I wonder how much of the time it took to write Crossroads of Twilight is as a result of this decision to present this vote in such a detailed way. So many characters, so many details.

Egwene’s migraine headaches are an original disability. They don’t affect her ability to channel, but they do give an opportunity for Halima to get close to her. It’s debatable whether Halima could in some way be causing the headaches, but there is a grave risk of discovery if someone discovers a saidin resonance centered on Egwene’s tent. The metaphor works better if headaches are a natural outgrowth of Egwene’s difficulties with the Sitters and Halima’s touch offers to make the problems go away, which Egwene won’t accept, preferring to slog it out in the Hall.

To reinforce Egwene’s stance about Halima staying in her tent, one chapter opens with Egwene considering the rumours about her in the camp. The novices compare her to the stern Sereille Bagand, and Egwene recognizes that there is often little truth to rumours about her. This is soon contrasted to rumours about Halima breaking a man’s arm and being too free with her favours. If Egwene rejects gossip for personal reasons, because she knows it to be false, she now has a personal stake in not accepting gossip about Halima. That decision made, she becomes steadfast in the woman’s defense. She also has a personal need for Halima’s presence, since she is the only woman with whom she can stop being the Amyrlin for a few minutes. Ironically, this relationship helps Egwene remain grounded and not become a typical Aes Sedai.

The seed planted back in New Spring takes root, as Siuan reveals her suspicion that Cadsuane is Black Ajah. Just when we had started to trust her a bit.

Egwene proves she will do anything to reunite the Tower, holding her nose at having to use Rand’s apparent Compulsion of Aes Sedai to prove that he must not have submitted to Elaida. A foul-tasting tea acts as the metaphor throughout the discussion.

Writing Lessons:

Clues and solutions to mysteries can be hidden in noise, but the amount of noise can also be a deterrent to readers.

Winter's Heart - Prologue

In this section, multiple plots are laid out clearly, and reader’s expectations are set.

Perhaps recognizing the previous book’s weak ending, the author immediately sets up several storylines with expectations to be met before the book ends.

In the White Tower, the Black Ajah Hunters get Talene to re-swear the Three Oaths. Talene is a tool that can be used now, but the Hunters decide to proceed with caution, bringing in the ten rebel ferrets to swear obedience first. That will bring their number to sixteen. Seaine also has her first doubts about what task Elaida actually assigned her. We expect this quest to net a second Black sister soon.

Elayne’s section reveals a little about Egwene, which is all we’ll see of the Amyrlin in this book. A simple primer about Elayne’s major competitors for the throne means we should see some of them interfering before the book is over. A number of reasonable contrivances explain why Elayne won’t be receiving any outside help. No allies are available, and in any case would unintentionally cost Elayne the throne because they are foreigners. The Sea Folk remain stuck in Caemlyn by their own mistrust that Elayne will break the Bargain. This character-driven obstacle is more powerful than a physical one could be. Renaile will not leave until she gets what was agreed to, which will keep her at Elayne’s side for a long time.

The confrontation between Taim and Elayne ends with him acquiescing to her requests to visit the Black Tower under supervision. When she later carries out her first visit and Toveine sees her, we then expect some interaction between the two.

After Taim, a Wise One enters, the third uninvited interruption in the last twenty minutes. Dyelin provides a comment which is likely echoing the reader’s thoughts, and is therefore meant to restore the plausibility of the scene: “Blood and ashes!” Dyelin muttered. “ Is the whole world just going to walk in here?” She uses exaggeration to make the current situation seem normal in comparison. Humour is another tactic which causes the reader to overlook the obvious by pointing out the abnormal situation. A reader who knows that the author has recognized their complaint will be satisfied and move on with the story feeling the problem has been resolved.

The first-sister ceremony provides a glimpse of a healthy relationship by Aiel standards. It amounts to knowledge, faith, and forgiveness of the first-sister. Elayne has already shown this behaviour is the basis for her romance with Rand, so now this example will allow Aviendha to learn how to love him as well, and maybe they will teach and remind Rand how to behave.

Toveine is crafty, and seems to have a secret plan to pull down Elaida, even as she agrees to publicly give leadership of the Black Tower prisoners to another sister. Readers expect this plan to bear some fruit by the end of the book. Logain’s unwanted presence at the Black Tower and the faction he is heading create interest in seeing matters advance or get resolved. The Asha’man voice concerns that Rand doesn’t care about them, that Taim is giving preferred treatment to certain Asha’man, and that Taim’s cronies have turned bad. The implication is that Taim is creating a private army and Logain will be the main obstacle he has to overcome.

Rand has decided he can’t wait to move forward with his plan to make his Asha’man into reliable tools again. As soon as he can lure his would-be assassins to him and dispatch them, he plans to cleanse saidin. This sets the reader’s expectations. There had better be an attempt to cleanse saidin before the book is done! He even describes how it will go down: everyone within a thousand miles will feel him channeling, and come to put an end to it, so he needs to whittle down the number of detractors he will face before he starts cleansing. That and get over the sickness that has begun to affect him whenever he channels.

Each of these points of view has created expectations that readers will want resolved.

Writing Lessons:

Set expectations purposefully, or your readers will set them for you.

Use humour and exaggeration and acknowledgement to have readers overlook the contrived scenarios you devise.

The Path of Daggers - Chapters 28-31

(Yay! 6000 views! 125 posts! Thanks everyone!)

In this section, hidden enemies strike.

Both Rand’s and Elayne’s sections end unspectacularly, which ends the book rather unspectacularly. Both make the same point, which is that the opponents hidden in their midst can pose a sudden threat.

In Elayne’s case, the sudden attack takes place at the end of an otherwise bland series of interactions with her party. Reading through this recital of ordinary events is meant to emphasize the hidden nature of the threat, and show how the Black Ajah behave as normally as anyone else, using their normalcy as cover. The revelation of the Black Ajah is described as just another part of an otherwise ordinary week, provoking no excitement.

The ‘explosion’ Elayne was disturbed by turned out to be simply a runaway Accepted hiding among the Kinswomen. The manner in which she is concealed among the Kin is similar to how the Black Ajah hide among trusted friends, but with much less dire consequences. The author builds up this supposed ‘explosion’ and then offhandedly describes discovery of the double murder in an emotionless and logical fashion. This is done to continue disarming the reader’s suspicions so that the attack on Rand in the next chapter can be played for maximum effect.

Dyelin is introduced, and with the events just revealed, Elayne and the reader now can’t help wonder if she is as truthful and loyal as she claims, or whether she is a secret threat.

A long-time foil for the heroes, Carridin, is replaced by Hanlon, just as the captive Black Ajah Ispan has been replaced by the Black sister traveling with Elayne. The advantage gained by knowing who was a Darkfriend has been erased, and the heroes are back where they started with unknown villains in their midst and no clues as to their identity.

The attack on Rand is handled differently than the one on Elayne. The chapter begins with a set-up meant to remind us that everyone serves Rand loyally. The Asha’man have been elevated to Rand’s most trusted guardians now that the Maidens’ complaint has them letting anyone in to see Rand. Sorilea brings five Aes Sedai from Elaida’s embassy who have decided to swear fealty to Rand. It is implied that everyone serves Rand. There are no problems apparent, so now he decides to deal with Cadsuane.

Just as he leaves, a subtle reminder that all is not well is given in the form of a single paragraph of the Maidens outside his door. They still disapprove of his actions. And then from out of nowhere, Rand is attacked!

The attack is sudden, violent and abnormal from any previous threat he has faced. There was no warning, no challenge, no duel, just an immense hammer of Power meant to flatten him. He manages to identify his attackers, and defends himself against Dashiva’s next weave with a globe of Power that serves as a metaphor for his situation. The globe will keep out everything than can harm him, but also the things which sustain him. He cannot live that way. Moments later, his attackers have fled, leaving Rand to wander aimlessly through the wreckage looking for someone to fight.

Finally, he finds Morr, an Asha’man who has spontaneously gone mad while guarding Min. In his final encounter with Taim, Rand adds several names to the list of deserters, all men who had been raised and appointed to serve Rand by Taim. When he euthanizes Morr, Rand refuses to cry, saying he has no time for tears, already hardening himself to the perceived weakness of emotion. If he can’t trust those near him, he won’t allow himself  to feel anything for them.

Bizarrely, a few other short points of view end the book. Perrin recruits the prophet to follow him back to Cairhien, but his refusal to Travel using the One Power means long delays. Faile’s kidnapping implies the same. The Pattern offers at least these two reasons to delay Perrin’s return, in case one or the other should fail to keep him in Ghealdan. Lastly, an undetermined number of days in the future, Egwene leads her army to the shores of the Erinin to lay siege to Tar Valon. By including this scene, there is no need to discuss Egwene or the rebels in the next book.

Writing Lessons:

Build up a single paragraph, or pages at a time, to evoke the mood or emotions you want the reader to have.

The Path of Daggers - Chapters 25-27

In this section, Rand has been momentarily humbled, and a variety of bit players advance plots elsewhere in the world.

Elaida is trying to rule by decree as Rand just did in his War with the Seanchan. She too is finding it difficult to achieve absolute control over her followers. Whatever success she has in getting them to obey without question is reversed when Alviarin imposes her own decrees in Elaida’s name. Elaida’s decrees are so unimportant we don’t even get to see what they are, Alviarin simply tosses them out. The point is that their contents are irrelevant, all that matters is that they please the master. Alviarin faces the same dilemma with her limited ability to act beyond exactly what Mesaana commands her to do.

Messana, and therefore Alviarin also, wants to learn what Ajah heads are up to, and it is reasonable to expect some of the Sitters may be in on the secret, so the Black Sitter Talene prods a group of other Sitters to find out what Seaine and Pevara are up to in the basement of the Tower. Her plan backfires and she finds herself in the clutches of the expanded group of Black Ajah Hunters.

The revelation of this previously unsuspected Black Ajah attempts to convince the reader that hidden secrets are being exposed. We now know several of the highest-ranking Black Ajah and where they are hidden: Sheriam, Alviarin, Talene, Delana, Galina. A reader might rightfully assume that other Black Ajah remain hidden but are unlikely to be a threat to the heroes until they receive orders from one of these superiors.

The means by which the author created sympathy for the Black Ajah Hunters is common. Seaine herself is not standard hero material, nor is Pevara. But their quest is a heroic one, and that rubs off on them. When three new Sitters join the group by accidentally finding them and figuring out why they have closeted themselves with the Oath Rod, none of their personalities matter. Yukiri, Saerin, and Doesine have simple tags given to them, but they are forgettable. All that matters is that they take up the quest too, and all the reader’s sympathies encompass them as well. The only one of the group who stands out is Pevara, the ‘Good’ Red Ajah whose family was slaughtered by Darkfriends, such that both her and the reader’s desire for justice are also shared with the rest of the group. This technique may work with secondary characters such as this group, but would be much harder to pull off with your main heroes. Then again maybe not, there are plenty of stories with forgettable heroes who undertook memorable quests, where only one or two character traits matter.

More secrets are exposed as we learn that the Rebels’ ferrets in the Tower are discovered, and are also forcefully joined to the hunt for Black Ajah. We also learn that Logain made it to the Black Tower, when we see his group of Asha’man quickly disarm Toveine’s raiding party. There was no need to drag out this scene since its outcome had been ordained. Toveine’s failure is no surprise, since her approach to the Black Tower was no surprise either. The surprise comes from the fact the Aes Sedai are not merely captured, but also bonded to their captors.

Rand’s humbling experience against the Seanchan has him letting go of his anger over the Bargain his Aes Sedai made with the Sea Folk. He is also able to set aside his pride and need for control long enough to ask Cadsuane to be his advisor. His new humbler behaviour is instantly rewarded with pertinent advice about Callandor. This is similar to the scenes in Ebou Dar when Nynaeve put aside her attitude about Mat and almost immediately learned to control saidar and marry the man of her dreams. Juxtaposing the good behaviour with the reward links the two in the reader’s mind, and allows the lesson to become the expected outcome for other situations that arise. Cadsuane has managed to place herself near Rand to correct his attitude before the Last Battle. The imagery is like that presented by Moridin’s game of sha’rah. The Light holds the Fisher for now, but there is great danger if Cadsuane fails to make Rand feel something other than contempt towards his followers.

I found a few excellent sentences coloured with Robert Jordan’s unmistakable mark. Why use a word when a sentence will do? Each of these showed up in a familiar type of internal monologue, the kind where your mind wanders off-topic for a moment. The use of imagery instead of adjectives leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

No, she thought wryly, you’re not fluff-brained. Fluff has its wits about it compared to you!

If no longer exactly dewy-eyed, they were still young enough to leave their razors dry as many days as wet.

When a man decided to be stubborn, he would sit bare in a nettle patch and deny to your face that they made his bottom sting!

Writing Lessons:

Imagery is memorable. Use imagery to present concepts you want the reader to remember.

The Path of Daggers - Chapters 23-24

In this section Rand and the Seanchan engage in warfare.

Robert Jordan gained a strong reputation for capturing the mood of battles. We’ll now dissect the first large scale battle since The Fires of Heaven.

Rand’s strategy has been shown, and with the advantage of surprise and Traveling, he should be unstoppable. The body count is very high, Bashere will compare it to the Blood Snows, the battle near Tar Valon during which Rand was born. Most of Rand’s followers are in some form of shock at the devastation. Rand’s losses have been limited. Unless they face damane, the Asha’man tear every opponent apart meeting little resistance.

Rand encounters a problem with prisoners. He can’t afford to guard prisoners so he leaves them behind, except for damane and sul’dam, who he keeps in order to weaken the Seanchan. Rand’s unfailing memory of every woman who has died as a result of his actions gets more unbelievable every time he adds a name, there are simply too many. That is one of the points being made: trying to take responsibility for every person you meet is an impossibility.

So far, Rand is winning.

More Seanchan with names and personalities are met. Furyk Karede has been appointed to lead the Seanchan towards Rand. He notices that raken returning from the front lines are anxious. He dispatches a man under his command for actions that have squandered lives. Furyk will luckily live through this battle thanks to his wise decision to retreat. What else could he do with no sul’dam to fight back against the lightnings?

Rand is still winning.

An Asha’man tells Rand about saidin’s strange behaviour, which he dismisses. Rand proves particularly reluctant to take advice or information that has not been solicited. He is not someone you would want to have to serve. Rand continues to lose few men in battle. A group of Seanchan slip past Weiramon and manage to hit Rand directly. Yet the nobles he has been so reluctant to trust come to his aid, charging the Seanchan to protect Rand, coming to his side to treat his wound. Morr is surprised to receive thanks, given that Rand has done such a good job of expecting obedience without question or reward. The Darkfriends in his party plant the idea of continuing the march against the retreating Seanchan, all the way to Ebou Dar. His staunchest supporters, the ones he trusts the most, advise ending the campaign. Lews Therin sagely says “I would not mind having you in my head, if you were not so clearly mad.”

Rand is winning, but we sense he’s about to make a mistake.

A third Seanchan, the short-lived Kennar Miraj, continues to humanize the enemy. Suroth pays him a visit with information she has gleaned from the network of Darkfriends around Rand. This is a fine opportunity to quickly tie off some loose ends by showing the current fate of Alwhin and Liandrin without wasting much page space on it. In mid-battle, the author wants to keep the focus on the battle. These Seanchan perspectives also are a great place to lay groundwork for future Seanchan-related plots such as the Crystal Throne. We are left with the conviction that the Seanchan are quite proficient in war, and also obedient to the point of a death which can be easily avoided. The damane are about to be reintroduced to the fighting, though they may still be ill. The author creates sympathy for the enemy by showing how they are not being given what they need to succeed, and by continually reminding us that the bulk of the forces Rand is killing so far are from Tarabon, who are technically his own people.

This is the Seanchan counter thrust.

Rand directs five columns to attack an assembled force of Seanchan. When the lengthy list of nobles is given for each of the five columns, it serves to place the actors for the next few scenes, as well as to humanize Rand’s forces. Lews Therin makes the same observation about saidin’s behaviour, and now Rand is willing to pay a little attention. Only a little, because he rejects Dashiva’s concerns and carries on with the attack. Yet he can’t help noticing little changes among the Asha’man.

The reader should be worried that the Seanchan counterthrust will succeed.

Miraj has planned for how to meet Rand in battle. But the question of how the sul’dam will do is still up in the air.

Now the reader suspects the battle could go either way.

Bertome Saighan overhears the Darkfriends plotting and disagreeing. They are two of the closest to Rand. The words they use are as confusing as the battle itself. Either their words are being misinterpreted, as other nobles were earlier when Rand fell during an attack, or it is strongly implied that Gedwyn will try kill Rand.

The rapid shifts from character to character represent the confusion and back-and forth nature of the battle. We can’t tell who is winning.

Varek is a Seanchan underling forced to take command and order a retreat. The damane had a difficult time controlling their weaves, and accidentally killed some of their own soldiers.

Bashere has taken heavy losses, and his Asha’man are tired and having trouble using saidin. Extreme caution is keeping Bashere alive. Bashere is alarmed about what would happen if Asha’man began deserting and walking the world.

The battle is still a draw, unknowable except for continued losses.

Adley has also slipped and killed some of his own men. Rand has taken him out of battle, concerned he might have begun turning irreversibly mad. When Bashere appears and tells Rand about orders he sent, we remember how Furyk killed an underling who did the same. Rand seems poised to copy that action in a fury. Bashere is able to direct his ire at the Seanchan, and Rand decides to prove how devoted he is to repelling the Seanchan invasion. Bashere points out the folly, and how good the Seanchan generals are. Rand’s ego prompts him to unveil Callandor.

As with Adley and the damane, Rand cannot control the torrents of lightning he unleashes. Bashere physically topples Rand and wrests Callandor from his grip. The damage is done, Rand has done as much damage to his own forces as the week of fighting has.

Rand has lost.

Yulan orders the final Seanchan retreat, given that Miraj has been killed by Rand’s final outburst.

The Seanchan have lost.

The entire battle has been a metaphor for the futility of war. Both sides retreat, the border hasn’t moved, neither Rand nor the Seanchan have given anything up. Rand can’t win because participating means he loses. The Tinkers may not have been in this book, but their saying that violence harms the axe as well as the tree it chops is apt here. Even as he routed the Seanchan, it was Rand’s own actions that caused the deaths of his men. Humanizing both the nobles and the Seanchan allows the reader to feel their loss. Meanwhile Rand is emotionless as a stone, unmoved by the tragedy of the wasted lives. The end result is that he and the Asha’man are even closer to going mad, as much from the horror of the battle as from the Dark One’s taint.

Writing Lessons:

Give your battles ebb and flow, and meaning beyond the immediate result.

The Path of Daggers - Chapters 20-22

In this section, Elayne and Rand lead multinational groups and prepare for confrontations

Elayne spends an interlude chapter discovering that none of the women traveling with her will behave as expected. The Sea Folk finally declare their end of the bargain complete and begin drilling Merilille for all she can teach. The Kin see this as well as a Black Ajah being treated like a prisoner and begin to conclude that Aes Sedai are not that far above them after all. The people of Andor are not providing the expected support for the Daughter-Heir and Elayne realizes she has her work cut out for her.  When they run into money problems, Aviendha casually pulls out a handful of gemstones, which would seem contrived if she didn’t also subtly remind us how she acquired them from the scabbard she tried to give Rand.  By deflecting attention to their romantic relationship instead of Aviendha’s wealth, the sudden appearance of the jewels is amusing and interesting instead of unbelievable.

Elayne receives a warning to stay away from the rebels while Egwene deflects unwanted questions about how the bowl was used and the poor bargain made with the Sea Folk. This problem provides all the impetus needed to allow Elayne to focus on gaining the throne in the next few books, as well as keeping Nynaeve with other groups instead of amongst the rebels where she was of little value and of insufficient rank to be part of the action among the rebels.

As the battle against the Seanchan ramps up, I remember an earlier post where I discussed the reasons why using the Bowl of the Winds was included in this book, instead of chronologically in A Crown of Swords. It is obvious that in order to build up towards this battle, it is necessary to build up the opponent. By having a dire battle against the Seanchan to open the book, a lot of emotion and interest has been generated which benefits this battle immensely.

A key element of the battle is that Rand is leading men he cares nothing for, and there are some he actually hopes might meet their end. They are no more than tools for him to use. Nobles are too conspiratorial, Asha’man too dangerous, to be anything else. Rand knows the Shadow’s spies watch him closely, another reason to mistrust everyone close to him. A great deal of time is spent introducing the nobility, to humanize them before Rand begins making them pay his butcher’s bill. His logic to risk those who love him the least is darkly sound from his twisted point of view, but dangerous to his long-term goals.

The mood intensifies. We are eager to see the battle, eager to see Rand score a victory against his Seanchan opponents, and cognizant that even if things go poorly Rand is still not losing anyone but those who might have undermined him or betrayed him. To underscore that point, the man he pardoned a few hundred pages ago attempts to assassinate Rand. He not only provides justification for Rand’s actions, his actions imply that he is an agent Moridin was referring to, and the natural assumption a reader will make is that the assassination attempt has failed, that plot is over.

Lews Therin has several witty comments on Rand’s internal monologue, continuing to demonstrate that the voice in his head is more reliable than the people around him. Rand continually worries about when madness will take him or the Asha’man, and how he will be able to know. Rand’s predicament is neatly bundled in a contradictory sentence: “Mistrust of Gedwyn and Rochaid was simple sense, but was he coming down with what Nynaeve called the dreads? A kind of madness, a crippling suspicion of everyone and everything?”

Rand marches into battle, and we switch to a Seanchan point of view. This is an effort to humanize the enemy. Up until now the Seanchan we have met are either deliriously fervent in their loyalty, or are outright Darkfriends, with the exception of Egeanin. We don’t have a strong reaction to Bakuun, Nerith, or Tiras, other than awareness of their competence, which means Rand’s visions of an easy victory may be wrong. The illness affecting the damane adds uncertainty to the upcoming conflict. This should work to Rand’s advantage, but his lack of knowledge about it may also induce him to make mistakes.

Writing lessons:

Use strong personal reasons for your characters to choose where they are going, who they are going with and why they are doing it.   

Humanizing and dehumanizing people affects how readers view events and characters.