A Memory of Light - Chapter 37 - Part 3

In this section, Mat commits all his resources to his plan.

Tam fires arrows at Trollocs. Throughout the battle, it has been regularly shown that Tam and the other Two Rivers archers hardly ever miss. Having enjoyed some amount of success with their bows, the archers abandon them for lack of arrows. They enter the fray in wedges, trying to split up Trolloc armies assaulting the Whitecloaks.

Making an example, Fortuona dispatches Karede, a beloved guardian, and others of her Deathwatch guards to the front lines as punishment for letting her be put in danger. Then she publicly turns her ire on Mat. While safety is presented as the foremost reason for their rift, the final nail in the coffin is, as always, one of personality. She deftly diverts the attention from the strategy and its results to the man behind them. “This entire battle has been a disaster. You lose ground each moment. You talk lightly and joke, refusing proper protocol; I do not think you approach this with the solemnity befitting your station.”  For readers and Seanchan nobles, it is clear Mat will never abide by her rule. Readers know Mat better than they know tactics. The author marries the irrefutable reason of Mat’s behaviour to a debatable reason in the form of his tactics.

The Dark One spins a new reality for Rand, one in which there is no value to human life. Children are murdered callously, might makes right, and the very concept of compassion is absent. The Dark One’s words are chilling: MEN WHO THINK THEY ARE OPPRESSED WILL SOMEDAY FIGHT. I WILL REMOVE FROM THEM NOT JUST THEIR WILL TO RESIST, BUT THE VERY SUSPICION THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG. COMPASSION IS NOT NEEDED. WHAT I SHOWED BEFORE IS WHAT MEN EXPECT. IT IS THE EVIL THEY THINK THEY FIGHT. BUT I WILL MAKE A WORLD WHERE THERE IS NOT GOOD OR EVIL. THERE IS ONLY ME. Rand responds by beginning to spin a world without the Dark One.

Mat sends Min to follow Fortuona, but keeps Karede and the other exiled Deathwatch Guards. Surprisingly, the Seanchan only comprise a quarter of his forces.

Tam fights Trollocs. He wins. Lan meets him and salutes him. Both of Rand’s father figures are solid, unchangeable, and are able to stand against anything. No reed practiced how to bend in the wind. It simply did. Tam watches children and elderly take to the field of battle, to collect arrows and identify the wounded. As in the Two Rivers back in The Shadow Rising, the battle is not just the men’s battle, it is everyone’s battle. This depth of involvement, down to the least trained and least able indicates the level of desperation. It proves to be an effective way to raise the stakes without resorting to a contrived battle scene putting heroes in danger. In fact, it works despite Tam’s victory over the Trollocs only minutes earlier.

Elayne lays Bryne to rest. Adding to the desperation, Elayne hears a summary of the bad news: “The camp at Dashar Knob has been abandoned,” Birgitte said. “I don’t know where Cauthon is. The Seanchan have forsaken us.” Elayne responds by raising her banner, to offer some point of hope to the troops. Nonetheless, she concludes that humankind did not have days remaining, but hours.  Demandred begins sending balefire into Elayne’s troops trying to kill her, so Birgitte pulls her from the field.

Galad attacks Demandred, announcing his identity. Everything feels right to him. The right thing had always seemed clear to Galad before, but never had it felt as right as this. With Mat’s medallion in hand and an introduction like that which ties his very identity to the action he is about to take, readers are easily led to believe Galad is going to pull this off.

Nynaeve sews to save Alanna’s life. The most mundane of skills and Nynaeve’s creativity and stubbornness may be all that keeps Alanna alive long enough to save Rand. Of all the scenes of courage in this book, I don’t think any stole my breath as much as this one. For all her power, Nynaeve’s ability to care and to try save lives, her desire to heal is what makes the difference. Her brief scenes packed a strong emotional punch.

Mat orders Bashere to carry his orders. “I don’t care if you’ve bloody been touched by the Shadow!” Mat said. “Every man has had the Dark One’s fingers on his heart, and that’s the bloody truth. You can fight through it.”  He then gathers his remaining forces to keep Demandred pinned on the plateau. A ta’veren twist brings Teslyn at an opportune moment.

Egwene feels the absence of Gawyn deeply. She needs something to fill the void, someone to watch her back when she goes back to the battle.  Leilwin is the only potential warder available who has loyally served and saved her. Egwene finally embraces her former enemy and completes her character arc, making peace with the decision to bond Leilwin, bringing the representative of her most hated opponents as close as her beloved Gawyn was.

Demandred wounds Galad, and is wounded in turn. Then Demandred lops off Galad’s arm, and seemingly kills Galad. Despite that Demandred was worried and is wounded, Galad did everything the heroes are supposed to do, using a ter’angreal, being one of the world’s best swordsmen, and never giving in, even going so far as to spit at Demandred in defiance as an Aiel would. If Galad can’t beat Demandred, can anyone?

Androl approaches Taim in disguise and manages to steal the seals. It would have been easy and simple to use a Gateway to sever Taim’s hand off and drop it into another Gateway to send the Seals directly elsewhere. More believable too. Echoing the reader’s thoughts often works to suspend their disbelief, but seems to fall short on this occasion. “You’re not going to believe this, but…”

Arganda’s battle with a Trolloc plays off of Demandred’s taunts, with him falling to a Trolloc. He faced just the one, and lost. Only wounded, he is later revived and concludes they are doomed. “To win… Light, to win we’d need to break these Sharans, rescue the pikemen – they will soon be surrounded by the Trollocs – and each man of ours would need to kill at least five of those beasts! That’s not even counting Demandred.”

Rand weaves a reality which is too good, and demonstrates that removing the Shadow would change those he loves as surely as the Dark One would remake them. IN KILLING ME, I WOULD WIN. NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, I WILL WIN. YOU CANNOT SAVE THEM.

I am thrilled with the way Mat contrasts the battle to a game of cards, how I recognize that it is playing out like a game of cards, and that one of Robert Jordan’s hobbies was playing cards. It feels right. Mat and Demandred have been slowly adding chips to the pot, neither one committing all their forces. Keeping the Seanchan in reserve with their damane has kept Demandred from committing too strongly, lest Mat use them to gain some advantage. Demandred holds the advantage of both time and numbers. Mat can hold him off for only so long. With no reserves after the Seanchan departure, Mat’s armies look more vulnerable. Demandred poses a problem to Mat’s attempt to contain him until an attack from Egwene begins drawing channelers away.

Olver and Faile’s caravan infiltrates a Shadow supply line, and get brought to the fighting at Merrilor. Aravine has been a Darkfriend all along, but the traitor’s identity is not as important as her story. She had hoped to leave that life behind and return to the Light, but even a small step in the Shadow is one too many. There is no return. Despite this warning, the earlier attempts to cast Lanfear in an uncertain light are too effective, and readers may retain some hope for at least one Forsaken to be redeemed.

Events seem set in stone now. Mat is committed, Rand is losing hope, Perrin is still wounded. The few bright spots shown by Elayne and Tam have been quickly overturned. Only Egwene and Androl offer a glimmer of hope. And Olver.

With the Horn taken by Darkfriends and his friends captured, pitiful Olver has been ignored. Knowing that all is lost, he still makes a desperate attempt to kill the Dreadlord holding Faile captive. The moment when the meekest of characters tried to win in the face of impossible odds felt like a turning point, when once again, momentum can begin building for the heroes.

Writing Lessons:

Use character to motivate actions, rather than strategy or logic.

A Memory of Light - Chapter 37 - Part 2

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.

A Memory of Light - Chapter 37 - Part 1

In this section, the Last Battle begins!

Lan offers the first point of view in this epic nearly 200 page chapter, the significance of which won’t be understood until the chapter ends. New Spring made Lan the central character of the series by starting with his point of view as the first window onto this world. With Rand as the central character through the main body of the series, it has long been assumed the Last Battle was all about him facing the Dark One. It is not at all obvious to readers that the Last Battle applies to Lan as well.

Elayne fights Draghkar and gets healed by a damane. Then Mat explains his strategy to her, by telling her he can’t tell her the plan. Uno escapes the destruction of the Dragons by Demandred. Logain prioritizes Rand’s orders over anyone else’s: Find the Seals. Gawyn is losing steam, but feels better when he puts the bloodknife rings back on. Tam and Galad fight Trollocs. Egwene splits up Siuan and Bryne, sending one to watch the command tent, the other to fetch Gawyn.

Tacticians’ comments, such as Bryne’s and Galad’s, explain to readers what the troop movements mean in terms of the overall strategy. By darting from one person to the next, the author allows the battle to progress at a steady pace, telling the reader more from the varied points of view than any one character could know. Similarly, interest is heightened when more than one character wonders what is happening on the heights, driving the reader’s interest as well.

Pevara and Androl take advantage of their unique bonds to use one as bait while the other kills anyone tempted to strike. Their telepathy provides a unique advantage for this tactic, allowing the quickest possible reaction time. They are hit by lightning, lose control, and merge in a new way where they are fully bonded. Now they have fewer limits or rules on their use of the power, as each is able to channel while within a circle, and is able to use the other’s Talents.

This new channeling ability appears to come out of nowhere, yet it closely mirrors other developments earlier in the series where character development drives plot. Pevara has just finished overcoming her last Red Ajah prejudices against Androl, seeing him as a potential husband or lover. This change of character, and her acknowledgement and acceptance of it, are what leads to the new link between them later on that same page. These two are complete opposites, yet in finding common ground in their admiration and respect and growing love for each other, they have smashed down any barriers that restrained them from working together more fully than any two people ever have.

 Mat orders Galad to stay at the ruins. He learns that Demandred has a spy in his tent. He gives a bit of insight to Elayne, and now must prepare to manipulate Tuon.

At the ruins, Galad realizes Mat does know what he is doing. New orders confuse him as he gathers 12 men and goes to the ford to meet with Elayne.

The Dark One scours Rand with his power, but Rand’s self-assurance allows him to resist. Rand seems to abandon his plan to destroy the Dark One, or even defeat him, since he can just barely hold on to his identity. As always, it is self-knowledge that empowers Rand against his adversaries.

“That is all you have?” Rand growled.

I WILL WIN.

“You made me strong,” Rand said, voice ragged. “Each time you or your minions tried to destroy me, your failure was like the blacksmith’s hammer beating against metal. This attempt…” Rand took a deep breath. “This attempt of yours is nothing. I will not break.”

YOU MISTAKE. THIS IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO DESTROY YOU. THIS IS PREPARATION.

“For what?”

TO SHOW YOU TRUTH.

The Dark One’s overbearing smugness, his blunt assurances that all is over, his condescending gloating over knowledge that he has gives readers the terrible feeling that he is in fact going to win. There is no doubt, no gambit, no challenge, the Dark One’s victory is inevitable, his power absolute.  Villains don’t get any more confident than this.

AND SO I WIN.

I WIN. AGAIN.

THE FIGHT IS OVER.

“IT HAS NOT YET BEGUN!” Rand screamed.

Use of the weaving metaphor established early in the series works to great effect, and is a natural fit. When the Dark One weaves reality to create Dark Emond’s Field, readers understand the stakes are higher than ever imagined, that everything they know can be remade. Dark Emond’s Field is designed to goad Rand into emotional instinctive action, putting himself in danger. Rand shatters the false reality, and promises to show the Dark One what is going to happen, giving readers hope and optimism, just in time for Gawyn to enter the fray.

Riding the emotional high off of Rand’s challenge to the Dark One, readers have every expectation that Gawyn will at least wound or disable Demandred, evening the odds. Gawyn faces Demandred armed with powerful magic and skill and still loses handily. Demandred is unnaturally skilled at sword fighting, and uses a burst of strength to drive his sword through Gawyn’s armor, while his eyes were closed. Hope turns to horror, because no matter how a reader feels about Gawyn, it is insinuated that Demandred can’t be stopped by anyone less than a powerful channeler who can also swordfight. In other words, Rand. And since he isn’t bound to show up any time soon, the other heroes are in a real spot of trouble.

Writing Lessons:

To lessen info-dumping, spread insight you are giving the reader across several different characters’ perspectives.

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 33-35

In this section, Perrin, Egwene, and Gawyn begin their greatest battles.

Egwene plans to lure Mesaana into attacking her in Tel’aran’rhiod and springing her own trap.

Perrin practices defeating nightmares, learning the skills he’ll use in his later battle with Slayer.

Gawyn and Elayne talk about Gawyn’s conflicted choices and his jealousy of Rand. He resents that Rand has acquired all the things that have been promised to him since birth, and finds him undeserving of it. Encountering a sul’dam captive in the Palace, Gawyn learns that the assassins stalking the White Tower are Seanchan Bloodknives, a foe which Egwene does not know about and has not prepared for. When he receives a terse letter from Egwene, he cuts off his nose to spite his face, sending her a letter instead of coming as she asks and as he originally intended to. Some people just can’t stand being told what to do.

Trials are often the climax of a story, and do not always succeed in sustaining the reader’s interest. The use of Perrin’s trial as a delaying tactic in a larger plot allows it to be condensed into one chapter, showing how the law fits into the larger world of The Wheel of Time, then getting back to the more familiar elements of the world.  

Perrin realizes the trial is part of a larger trap, but nothing else he says or does augments the excitement and anticipation as much as his blunt plan:

“We ride to this trial,” Perrin said. “And do whatever we can to keep from going to battle with the Whitecloaks. Then tonight, I see if I can stop the thing that is preventing the gateways. We can’t just ride far enough away to escape it; the thing can be moved. I saw it in two places. I’ll have to destroy it somehow.  After that, we escape.”

Perrin’s trial alternates between testimony and Perrin’s memories, giving the reader, but not the judge, both sides of the story. Perrin’s memories serve to remind the reader of these long ago events which give his testimony more weight in the reader’s mind, although it all sounds like it must be crazy talk when he testifies about wolves and the Horn of Valere.

Why don’t Bornhald and Byar just lie if they are under some Compulsion? Byar’s scent and Perrin’s earlier reasoning about the trap implies Graendal has been at Byar’s mind, so why not just compel him to implicate Perrin more directly if the trial turns in Perrin’s favour? The answer must be that Graendal’s subtle methods and desire to avoid detection require less intrusive Compulsion.

Morgase rules that Perrin is guilty of killing the two Children of the Light but lets Galad decide on the sentence. Galad’s decision will dictate the identity of the Children of the Light, and effectively allows them to choose who they will be and what they will represent, defining their own reality.

Egwene and Perrin both go to sleep with clear objectives in mind. Battles are imminent.

Perrin encounters Slayer first. Perrin feels a small tremble in the ground, which somehow foretells that Slayer has fired an arrow at him. There are enough special abilities and well-defined rules to give characters the insight they need to escape dangers. It is irritating when it stems from some peculiar feeling of no discernible origin. Mat’s dice and Nynaeve’s storm sense are ill-explained, yet oft-used so that readers forget how contrived they are. Readers accept them because they offer no usable information to the characters to help them escape danger.

Perrin’s practice pays off, and his affirmation that he is a wolf and this is his place helps his mental projections take on more force, as well as providing inspirational tension-building for the reader. The wolves are able to combat Slayer and draw him away while one of them sneaks away to find the dreamspike.

The dreamspike affects the waking world despite existing only in Tel’aran’rhiod. There has been some criticism about this ter’angreal’s abilities, but I find it provides a vital clue for the Last Battle, showing that this realm of willpower over reality can in fact affect the waking world. Tel’aran’rhiod was pivotal in early books, then vanished so readers would stop thinking about it, before reintroducing it in time for the Last Battle.  It fits the theme presented above with Galad, repeated several times over in recent books, which is that people shape their own reality.

Writing Lessons:

Don’t let your characters have unexplained or contrived ‘funny feelings’ that save their skins.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 29-32

In this section, the Heroes perfect their abilities.

In the early books of the series, the heroes discovered new and unusual abilities, which they subsequently used and improved upon over the rest of the series, and now they have reached a point where they are perfecting those abilities.

Perrin is being trained to use the Wolf Dream and resist its many pitfalls. Rand can singlehandedly destroy vast armies of Shadowspawn and the sight of him wielding the One Power caused Darkfriends to go mad, which isn’t a specific ability, but seems associated with his recent change of heart. Rand is also visible to Perrin in Tel’aran’rhiod, which should not be possible for a waking being. If this isn’t a vision of the window-type he used long ago, or a Dream prophecy of the kind that Egwene regularly has, then it implies that Rand is somehow in both worlds at once. This is plausible, given that Rand’s ability to change the health of the apple orchard seemed to alter reality in much the same way that one can alter reality in Tel’aran’rhiod. The True Power works in a similar fashion, allowing the user to reshape the Pattern in small ways.

My earlier theory titled The Bore is in Tel’aran’rhiod touched on this, one of its conclusions being that the Last Battle would focus on a battle of wills in Tel’aran’rhiod, with the outcome shaping reality. I further expect Tel’aran’rhiod and the waking world will become more entwined, and the ability to shape reality by thought will be made available to more people, fulfilling some of the metaphorical examples where characters have accepted or resisted their fates, shaping their own realities.   

Rand tired himself out destroying the Shadowspawn army, and tells his followers that future fighting is up to them, he will be facing the Dark One himself. This has a nifty effect on the reader. There is awe that Rand can singlehandedly do what he did, followed by concern that Rand’s battle will be even greater, while the generals will be facing a foe which can overpower them.  The scale and scope of the Last Battle are thus made known, to gleeful anticipation.

The order in which events are presented here is organized to maximize uncertainty, with Berelain and Faile worried about the outcome of Perrin’s trial, with Faile feeling betrayed by Morgase who she considers the highest ranking noble anywhere, with Galad being told that doing what is just and lawful isn’t always right, with weapons rising up to attack their owners, with Tam leaving Perrin’s side, which finally resolves the timeline lag in Perrin’s locale even as it continues to confuse readers, and finally with Elayne and Birgitte feeling queasy over the change which Aludra’s cannons will bring to the world.

All that leads up to Rand on Dragonmount, which Perrin sees as a cloud of evil seeping out of Rand, which he overcomes. The reader already knows what happens next in Rand’s timeline, but the next few chapters give truth to the wolves’ call that the decision has been made, and the Last Battle is coming.

Immediately upon that call to battle, Mat dispenses with the Gholam, then Rand easily slaughters the Shadowspawn hordes in Maradon.

I am missing something about the importance of the cannons. Birgitte’s reaction is overblown, even knowing about the various Dreams and Viewings about their invention. How can cannons change the world so much, when channelers should as easily be able to defend against cannon fire as a streak of lightning or rolling wave of earth and fire? It must simply be that the ability to kill as easily as a channeler will now be in every man’s hands, another metaphor for the ability to assert one’s reality, to resist the place one is given by the existing hierarchy.

Rand’s battle in Maradon is short and to the point, effectively demonstrating that mere Shadowspawn no longer threaten him in any way. The author uses strong visual imagery to portray Rand’s victory, with short summary phrases punctuating the battle, telling the reader what is happening from a more authoritative omniscient narrator’s voice, even though it is Ituralde’s viewpoint. Here’s a closer look:

Rand apologizes, salutes Ituralde’s troops, applauds their efforts, acknowledges their losses, and decides that the Dark One wants to break men’s spirits by forcing them to abandon the city. He refuses to allow that to happen, echoing Ituralde’s earlier recriminations about fleeing the city.

Outside the city, Rand raises a hand towards the Shadowspawn, And they started to die.

This sentence summarizes the entire battle. A few detailed events are described, then,

Light and Power exploded from the Dragon Reborn. He was like an entire army of channelers. Thousands of Shadowspawn died.

The first two sentences aren’t entirely within Ituralde’s ability to know. He could feasibly imagine Light and Power exploding from Rand, or what an army of channelers could do based on his experience with a few channelers. A few detailed events are described, then,

I’ve never seen so many weaves at once. I can’t track them all. He’s a storm. A storm of Light and streams of Power!

Using the Asha’man’s ability to describe what he is seeing is far more convincing than when Ituralde did the same moments earlier. His closing statement veers towards the omniscient narrator again. A few detailed events are described, then,

The man himself seemed to be glowing…Al’Thor seemed brighter than them all.

With the destruction and hyperbole running thick, the word seemed is inappropriate, yet is used twice. At this point, committing to the observation of his radiance is appropriate. This is the sort of weasel words that caused me to stumble over Sanderson’s early Wheel of Time chapters, although I later attributed them to Siuan’s point of view. Using them makes descriptions weaker although they sometimes add a sense of mystery or wonder. For example, throughout this blog, I consciously tried to avoid them, and simply call things as I see them, without hedging my bets with careful wording. A few detailed events are described, then

It was a masterwork. A terrible, destructive, wonderful, masterwork.

Ituralde is no craftsman, no collector of fine art, nothing more than a general and soldier so far as we know. What would he consider a masterwork? A complete rout of enemy forces? Is masterwork the most appropriate word he could have used? Once again, the narrator briefly slides in. A few detailed events are described, then

Al’Thor closed his hand into a fist, and it all ended.

The author likes these dramatic short sentences.

Writing Lessons:

Be conscious of slipping out of your narrative voice, even briefly, for it changes the context and feel of the story.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 26-28

In this section, lengthy setups payoff!

Perrin makes a show of force to gain a second opportunity to talk with Galad and stave off a battle. Both men want to make sure they haven’t misjudged the other, even though they admit to themselves they are unlikely to change their minds. Galad’s reversal is shown in a more present tense than many past scenes on the series, and is tenser for it. Galad considers Perrin’s display of the One Power, argues with his subordinates, then in one short paragraph the scene skips ahead to his meeting with Perrin. Often, to limit the sudden surges ahead in time, Robert Jordan would begin the scene with the characters reflecting on how they came to this moment, with soft flashbacks or explanations. This scene carries more immediacy and tension since readers don’t know whether Perrin’s gambit will work, but it also makes it feel more plot driven than character driven, despite that Galad’s reaction would be the same no matter how the scene is presented.

Galad meets Perrin’s entourage. And though Alliandre is a queen, and Berelain shares a mutual attraction with him, he can’t trust any of them enough to judge Perrin in a trial. Discovering Morgase among Perrin’s people changes that, and he accepts Morgase as judge. At last, the convoluted series of events leading Morgase here is understood. Morgase often served as the best choice of character in her location to show the reader what was happening, given her links to the heroes. All of that helped disguise that the goal was to bring her here, to serve as Perrin’s judge, to allow him to complete his personal journey and discover whether he is exonerated or as guilty as he sometimes feels.

Traveling doesn’t work, which readers and Perrin are beginning to relate to the purple barrier in Tel’aran’rhiod. Hopper knows the barrier is man-made, and finding Slayer pursuing wolves on the other side of it implies he understands its workings well enough to exploit it, if he isn’t the one who created it in the first place. This time, using his recent training, Perrin is able to achieve a victory of sorts by denying Slayer his prize. Perrin escapes to Dragonmount where wolves have begun to gather.

Egwene is writing letters to world leaders, seeking help in dissuading Rand from breaking the seals. When she catches the Hall attempting to circumvent her authority, she allows the Hall to take over the War if she gets to deal with world leaders, as she was just shown doing.  The proposal to give Egwene this sole jurisdiction comes from Lelaine, which makes it instantly suspicious and undesirable to readers, given her past behaviour. There is only one indication that this might be what Egwene wants, which is her thought before intruding on the Hall that they are still reacting to what she did months ago, and don’t see what she’s doing next. Egwene, as Amyrlin, now has sole discretion about how to deal with Rand, who is King of Illian. This is the big payoff to Egwene’s rise to power, the fact that when Rand tries to rally the world to his cause, it will be his childhood friend and love interest who will either stand with him or against him.

Egwene also starts a rumour that she is meeting in Tel’aran’rhiod, hoping to draw Mesaana out.

In Maradon, Ituralde gets blasted from the top of the wall, giving proof to one Ashaman’s detection of male channelers among the Trolloc army. It was rather foolish to allow an Asha’man to make a visible signal from where they were standing. The wall itself collapses, and the city’s defenses have been breached. As with many insurmountable attacks in history, from Malkier to Manetheren, Ituralde will hold the city as long as he can, waiting for help to arrive. His instincts say flee, but he is staying on faith and a promise. Readers wait for the payoff: will Rand repeat mistakes of the past, or arrive in time to save Ituralde? Ituralde himself is fulfilling the promise to help his neighbours that has figured so frequently in the downfall of the nations of men.

Writing Lessons:

Flashbacks or inner thoughts showing very recent events change the tempo and feel of the story. Use them to provide the mood and feelings you want, not to maintain chronology.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 10-14

In this section, the past catches up to the heroes.

Perrin learns the taint has been cleansed from saidin. He could have learned this at any time over the last few weeks, but he learns it now, because it reflects his current situation. Cleansing the taint is a metaphor for wiping the slate clean, casting off past sins. It is relevant because Perrin’s sin of killing other men is coming back to haunt him.

Neald is making circles with Wise Ones, and he is the first to explain that he can use saidar to strengthen his weaves of saidin. He feels more complete, as he feels saidar, and can increase the Power and size of his weaves. The sensations are reflected back to the women, who have disparate feelings about what they sense.

Perrin opts to keep Grady away from the Black Tower for rational and practical reasons, but it reminds readers that the Black Tower hasn’t been seen in a long time, since Pevara arrived and an ominous revelation had just taken place.

Galad decides to fight Perrin now so he won’t have to face him at the Last Battle, mirroring Rand’s decision to break the seals.

Elayne’s council expresses vastly different advice regarding her political prisoners. Birgitte is all practicality and hardness, while Dyelin thinks this is the moment when releasing the captives will earn Elayne the most credit. Birgitte is emotion, Dyelin is reason. Elayne decides this is an opportune time to claim Cairhien.

Mat’s letter to Elayne, with its spelling mistakes, is funny. It once again feels out of place with what has come before due to modern touches like the postscripts, but succeeds because it defies expectations. Mat never writes, foiling one expectation and providing a surprise. Postscripts don’t belong in this world, so Mat uses three of them. Mat is a trickster and it is always correct to write him defying expectations. Thom is laffing so hard at me that I want to be done.

Min gives only readers the only insight into Rand’s head since he descended from Dragonmount. Rand’s earlier behaviour with Egwene and Almen Bunt revealed a changed man, but it is Min’s insight that gives part of the reason.

Alanna vanished, leaving no clue where she is going. The likeliest explanation involves no abduction, simply a decision to leave and accomplish something. Rand could have contacted her and set her a task, weaving a Gateway that she could use without others detecting it. The change in Rand’s behaviour is the only impetus she likely received to make her do anything at all.

Cadsuane declares that Alanna, and by extension everyone, is a tool. This is an odd statement for her to make publicly, but is nonetheless consistent with her focus on Rand. Rand asks her to find someone who is missing in the Caralain Grass, someone who has been abducted by well-meaning allies in the White Tower. Assuming she succeeds, Cadsuane can then act as a bridge, or mediator between Rand and Egwene.  

Rand has insight into the Last Battle, how it will be fought, what he needs, and what must be done. He is decisive, apologetic, self-assured.  He knows secrets and has new abilities, such as his ability to pick Darkfriends out of a line-up. Somehow he picked up the fact that Mattin Stepaneos is being held in the White Tower, though that could have been learned through a ta’veren effect when he was in Tar Valon. Rand makes amends with the Aiel, Cadsuane, Nynaeve, Tam, everyone he let down previously. If he realized on Dragonmount that every one wants a second chance, he is getting every second chance possible.

“I’m not a weapon. I never have been,” he says. Cadsuane says that “Of all people, you cannot afford to let the pressure of life drive you.” Rand has understood some of what Cadsuane had to teach, but it is unclear whether this is the entirety of it, since the Asha’man haven’t yet learned their part.

Finally, Rand is forgiven by his father, and reclaims his role as a son. At the same time, Tam’s acceptance allows Rand to be a man, an equal, to his father. Nynaeve said that he needed to grow up, but feared the man he became. That judgment has been reversed.

Egwene meets with the Wise Ones, seeking their help with Rand. The two sides are polarizing quickly, setting up the final confrontation long awaited, when the heroes must confront, then accept those who differ from them in fundamental ways.

Egwene sees a strange reflection in Tel’aran’rhiod, a window that doesn’t exist in the real world. Verin’s words are repeated, and her newfound credibility combined with the fact that this is being repeated for the reader’s benefit strikingly points to its importance:  There is a third constant besides the Creator and the Dark One. There is a world that lies within each of these others, inside all of them at the same time. Or perhaps surrounding them Writers in the Age of Legends called it Tel’aran’rhiod.

Egwene tricks Nynaeve by appealing for advice from her past as a Wisdom, then reversing their roles in the next example she presents. It’s startlingly effective and convincing as a technique to make an inflexible character bend. Nynaeve could hold out for months otherwise.

Writing Lessons:

Repetition infers importance. Use repetition to lead or mislead readers.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 6-9

In this section, Mat, Lan, and Perrin are moved in directions they did not foresee.

Morgase serves tea, her perspective that of an outsider looking in. When Perrin tries to marry her off to Tallanvor, she protests, telling him he has no right to decide what is right for other people. Since she is another of the elder mentor characters, a former queen no less, her philosophy is meant to be correct thematically, and give Perrin yet another clue about how to win his conflicts.

Morgase has links with both Perrin and Galad, which is relevant enough to be of significance later, so this is the first opportunity to re-establish who and what she is, so that any role she plays in the later conflict between them will not confuse or surprise readers.

Lan gets three more followers, and like Perrin learns the futility of trying to tell people what to do. The humourous circumstances surrounding his grim march to the Blight feel natural, since Lan’s intense behaviour can’t help but be ridiculous when it isn’t venerated.

Perrin and Galad scenes are shuffled together in a single chapter, leading towards their confrontation. Cutting down on all but the dialogue was used foremost as a means of giving more intensity to the imminent collision between the two forces, but the reduced descriptive text in the Galad scenes has an additional result:

Galad is convinced of Perrin’s evil by Byar. At first, some description sets the location inside Galad’s tent, and shows Galad’s perspective on things. Once the author moves into dialogue, the descriptive text is trimmed down, yet there are two obviously distinct people conversing. The dialogue continues in the next page-long section with only four pieces of description allowing the reader to distinguish whose perspective it is: Byar said, lowering his voice and Galad said flatly, recalling a particularly embarrassing lesson he’d once been given and A coincidence, or something more? and Byar was obviously thinking along the same lines. In the next section, there are only two pieces of text to say whose perspective it is: Byar leaned in close, sunken eyes alight with zeal and Byar smiled, looking eager. From then on, there is just ‘Galad said’ and ‘Byar said’, if that. All of the inner thought has been moved into the dialogue.

The effect is to make Byar’s and Galad’s thoughts more similar, less distinguishable, such that Galad becomes an extension of Byar’s will, meshing his follower’s thoughts with his own and arriving at a conclusion that is a fusion of the two, without confirming that we are still following Galad’s perspective: “We have no choice. The Light has delivered him into our hands.”

To a lesser extent, the same technique is used between Perrin and Gaul in the scenes shuffled between Galad’s, though Perrin’s voice is more obvious.

Mat has received a letter from Verin, and is held hostage by his promise to do what it says if he opens it. The letter is used as motivation, providing incentive to keep Mat away from his stated goal of saving Moiraine for a time.  

The gholam has returned, kills two of Mat’s oldest followers, and threatens his closest allies. The threat is used as motivation, providing more incentive to keep Mat away from his stated goal of saving Moiraine for a time.  

Teslyn promises future help to Mat. Her role as a former damane will give her a unique voice in the White Tower, and common ground with Egwene.

Writing Lessons:

To show a character being convinced of something, associate them with other elements of the person convincing them.

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 3-5

In this section, the penultimate confrontation is set up

Rand visits the White Tower, and sets a date for the beginning of the Last Battle. Establishing a firm time and date for an important action to be carried out has some benefits and drawbacks. It solidifies readers’ expectations more forcefully than simply laying out the order of future events. The obvious way to introduce tension is to throw off the date with some external pressure. In this case, Egwene’s reservations act as that pressure. By cementing her opposition to breaking the seals, there is an expectation that her opposition is the main pressure, and other possible ways of derailing the meeting between her and Rand in a month will not take place. Possible examples could have been Rand failing to show up, or the seals going missing, or some distraction such as the Black Tower throwing the schedule off. By making clear Egwene’s opposition to Rand’s plan, readers are more likely to believe that the plan will be carried out exactly as described. There’s some evidence this technique was successful based on the focus on the meeting at Merrilor in the numerous theories bounced around Theoryland in the last year.

From here on, Rand’s perspectives stop showing up, and we only see other characters’ perspective of Rand, which effectively keeps the details of his plan mysterious.  

Egwene’s dreams are prophetic, and the one touching on the book’s title, Towers of Midnight, is obviously describing the Forsaken. Thirteen towers stand, several crumble, one begins to fall, then rises higher than the others, the Nae’blis. In the end, six stand, representing Demandred, Graendal, Moridin, Cyndane, Moghedien, and Mesaana.

The Pattern is being reworked even further, with entire villages now being cut from their location and pasted elsewhere. Is this symbolic of Rand’s personalities and past lives being integrated into one? It will certainly pose some difficulties for battle and travel later, when existing maps are no longer useful and there is no certainty about the path forward.

Perrin and Galad continue to share chapters, and a link between the plotlines is established when Byar tells Galad about Perrin’s past actions involving the Children of the Light. Byar’s biased view of Perrin acts as an effective dread inducing element, which the reader hopes will be overcome by Galad’s unswerving desire to do the right thing. Galad is a mirror image to Mordeth, each uncaring of the cost to others when they take actions to prevent their own moral discomfort.

Perrin agrees to learn how to navigate the wolf dream properly. His motivations are nebulous, resting on his discomfort with Faile since her rescue, his need to learn the tools at his disposal, his avoidance of the darker sides of his personality. These fuzzy rationales are easily overlooked by readers because of relief that they will finally learn more about this interesting ability. Let’s just get on with the wolfing already!

Egwene has become too powerful, and has a position where none question her authority, so she has a new weakness introduced in the form of her love for Gawyn. Actions she takes to pursue romance can undermine her authority, and actions to maintain her authority could cost her a romantic relationship. Take away Gawyn, and Egwene becomes a purely political entity. Using Gawyn to keep Egwene rooted in normal relationships is a good concept, particularly as it centers on them feeling out how to interact with each other given the imbalance in their rank.

Graendal reads the Dark Prophecies, and is amazed, as are readers. There is an entire book of Foretellings which only the villains have access to. Moridin also has a collection of ter’angreal which he has disregards for the most part since he has the True Power as a crutch. I could never help imagining a storyline in A Memory of Light where the heroes raid Moridin’s base. A direct confrontation between a handful of heroes and a handful of Forsaken is very appealing.

A ter’angreal, the dreamspike, is introduced. Graendal is given one, and another is already in use. Out of all the items Moridin has collected, and Graendal’s elation at being loaned this one, readers ought to be salivating at the prospect of finding out what it does. The advertised confrontation between Perrin and Graendal appears dire, since she has the element of surprise and he cannot muster enough channelers to confront her directly. Good thing she is so cautious.

Writing Lessons:

Make an event more anticipated by creating expectations of the consequences to that event.

Towers of Midnight - Prologue to Chapter 2

In this section, old and new characters give meaning and emotion to the story.

The prologue has three sections which are truly prologue material, involving Graendal, Fain, and some new Kandori characters. The other three sections involve main characters who figure prominently throughout this book. Lan gains his first follower, while Perrin and Galad share the first of several chapters in which they are inexorably drawn into conflict, though for now they are simply moving towards each other, though even that is not yet clear. Placing their perspectives in the same chapter, or in back-to-back chapters, creates the feeling that their stories are intertwined early on, which will allow later chapters to increase the tension as they draw ever closer to opposing each other.

Graendal survives Rand’s balefire attack by a narrow margin. One flaw I had identified in the balefiring of her palace was that none of the food her servants prepared for the last several hours or days ever made it to her plate, since the servants were balefired too. For all intents and purposes, Graendal was sitting in a forest for some time, imagining that she was in a castle surrounded by her pets. It may be that the balefire simply didn’t undo events very far back.

But once again, balefire has been used, and readers have yet another opportunity to have its properties explained, heavily implying that it will feature in the Last Battle, either as a tool of Demandred’s as suggested when the Dark One asked if he would unleash balefire, or in the hands of the heroes. Balefire’s most important property, revealed long ago, and only recently discovered by Rand, is that the Dark One cannot step outside of time any more than the heroes can. So what can Rand balefire to make use of this property in defeating the Dark One? The obvious answer is that the seals can be balefired. The Dark One’s prison can be broken open using balefire without him knowing that he was free to leave it. Rand can prepare his new seals, and while he balefires the seals, his allies can place the new ones at the instant he does so, cutting off any opportunity for the Dark One to take advantage of the gaping hole in his prison.

Fain enters the Blight, and readers are reminded that he has a role to play. His powers have increased immensely. He represents both the Shadow and intense opposition to the Shadow. He also represents a side of the heroes that they have turned away from, a dedication to a cause at all costs. His final role in A Memory of Light should play off of the heroes’ dedication to their causes, such as Perrin’s protectiveness of Faile, Rand’s desire to win, or Egwene’s pride. There have been two examples of how his evil can counteract the Dark One’s evil, with Rand’s wound and the cleansing of saidin. Fain is a trickster, so the third and final example where he counteracts the Dark One himself is not a foregone outcome.

Rand has had an epiphany of sorts, and where his immediate surroundings used to have all manner of bad things happen, such as spoiling of food or fatal accidents, now his presence makes things grow and provide sustenance. This change reinforces the idea that the spreading bubbles of evil and bad ta’veren effects were a result of his mental state, following the prophetic words that the Dragon is one with the land.  

It stands out as odd when new characters are introduced so late in a story, or when peripheral characters not seen since the first book make a return to the story. In Almen Bunt’s case, Rand is able to return a favour given long ago, and this is a second chance for him to treat people correctly, since he realized everyone should have a second chance during his epiphany atop Dragonmount.

Let’s take a quick look at how a scene of disposable characters, meant to introduce the dire forces massing against the heroes, is presented:

Malenarin expresses frustration, and has never accustomed himself to having the Blight nearby, yet he exhibits a casual ability to overcome difficulty by taking matters into his own hands, all presented with a short scene in which he latches a window to stop a hot breeze.

More detail of the sort of difficulty he must overcome is given in the form of the talents of his recruits, a memento of battles past, and the necessity to trick men into joining the ranks.

Malenarin’s son Keemlin is turning fourteen, and will be presented an heirloom sword. As he surveys the fortress, providing more details on the difficulties its men may face, the author forges a link between Keemlin, the fortress, and the difficulties, by talking about duty and burden, and how Malenarin’s philosophy encompasses them. In only two pages, the reader gains a strong understanding of Malenarin’s motivation, setting, and character.

A problem is introduced, Jargen says that another tower has signaled trouble. The author brings attention to Jargen joining the ranks of soldiers on his fourteenth birthday, further establishing the idea that Keemlin will do the same. Malenarin quickly decides to treat the event as though it represents the most serious possibility. Riders are to be sent south in case the flashes prove ineffective, and Keemlin thankfully happens to be on the list.

Malenarin’s worst fears are realized when the other tower southward does not respond. The hopes of the kingdom now ride with Keemlin. Malenarin orders the fortress made ready for a siege, and is dismayed to find Keemlin before him!

Keemlin explains that he let another younger rider take his place, out of concern for a friend’s family, and for the slight advantage that a few less pounds may have on the horse’s endurance and speed. Malenarin realizes that his son needn’t wait until his birthday to be raised to manhood. He has acted selflessly, and responsibly, choosing the least worst of his available options, even though it means his own death. He is thus able to stand with his fellow soldiers, having adopted behaviour that fits solidly within the philosophy presented earlier.

These few pages introduce new characters whose ideals are explained, challenged and met. The author accomplishes this rapidly by presenting several concepts and then linking them under a common idea, so that it stands in for all the subordinate concepts.

Writing Lessons:

Link ideas under a larger common idea to efficiently represent them all at once.