A Memory of Light - Chapters 44-49

In this section, Rand defeats the Dark One.

Perrin awakens after the battle is done. He argues with Chiad about why she won’t bend the rules for gai’shain, given that it is the Last Battle. “What good is honor if the Dark One wins the Last Battle?” Perrin snapped, pulling up his trousers. “It is everything,” Chiad said softly. “It is worth death, it is worth risking the world itself. If we have no honor, better that we lose.”

Perrin’s surrogate father Master Luhhan comes to check on Perrin’s health, and formally acknowledges that Perrin has grown into a man, one he is quite proud of.  Upon learning of Fain’s role in the murder of Perrin’s family, Luhhan says “What? Are you certain?” Questioning the truth of Perrin’s statement is odd on the heels of everything else Luhhan said. The author could easily have substituted other incredulous statements such as “The Peddler? How did you learn this?” or “Fain? How could he?” Either of these would have supported Luhhan’s faith in Perrin and allowed further discussion of the Whitecloaks, or even segued into Fain’s nature, which would surely have been useful since Fain’s appearance is imminent.

Masuri offers to Heal Perrin, but she must first confess and receive Perrin’s absolution for her actions with the Prophet. This again presents Perrin as a fully grown man of power and moral character, standing in judgment of high-ranking figures. His character arc is now complete.  

Thom protects the entrance to Shayol Ghul, sitting in for the author since they have the same concerns about how to describe the events unfolding around them. These pages offer a peek directly into the author’s mind as he wrote this final chapter of the Wheel of Time. ‘Epic’, ‘momentous’, ‘climactic’, ‘perilous’ and ‘terrifying’ aren’t right, but he eventually settles on ‘exquisite’. That’s a wonderful word to describe completing this epic.

Mat gets a Gateway opened to bring him near Shayol Ghul. Bringing Olver is part of the tugging he feels, but there is more, some greater role he must play.

Shaisam is a new name for Padan Fain, which means Destroyer of the Shadow. Shaisam is a creature vaster and far more powerful than before, living in every tendril of mist. And no wonder, for Rand’s intent to destroy the Shadow is greater than ever before. Shaisam kills friend and foe indiscriminately, for only one thing matters to him. As much as killing Rand and the Dark One balance each other as goals, he can accomplish both by rooting himself deep in Rand’s breast, in a host which can destroy one enemy and be destroyed in the process. Even now as the end approaches, there is a vagueness to Shaisam’s motivations, since the author has never, even now, come right out and explained them directly. This deliberate sidestepping of a key fact that provides context has been used throughout the series, and has provided the most fertile ground for fan theorizing, for both good and ill.

Gaul and the wolves defend the entrance to the Pit of Doom against Slayer in Tel’aran’rhiod. Perrin arrives, then Slayer monologues to fill in plot and character gaps. Seeing the look in his friend’s eyes,  Gaul senses it’s time to skedaddle.

Mat flies a to’raken into the valley of Thakan’dar, and senses Fain in the mist below. He crashes, and Olver blows the Horn. The clouds above form the ancient sign of the Aes Sedai, reflecting that Rand stands even with the Dark One at the moment.

Rand re-enters the Pattern, and swipes Callandor at Moridin. He tells Moridin that he doesn’t matter any more. Moridin responds by flinging a knife at Alanna.

Nynaeve’s herbs gave Alanna enough awareness to release the bond. This is a symbol of Rand being free of what Alanna represents. Since she bonded him forcefully, it simply means Rand is free of influence, and is free to choose his path. His ploy foiled, Moridin stabs his own hand causing Rand pain through the bond they share, and Rand drops Callandor, losing access to the torrents of the One Power it provides.

Perrin and Slayer battle, flipping between worlds. Perrin recently became a full-fledged adult in Luhhan’s eyes, and is therefore more confident and more sure of his identity than ever before. He has the confidence to truly unleash his fury on Slayer, and also has superior control over Tel’aran’rhiod. The killing blow sends Perrin spinning through Mirror Worlds. Unlike his past experience with the Portal Stones, when he saw variations of himself, in this instance all versions of Perrin act the same, and achieve the same victory as a result. All possibilities collapsed into one, the one where Perrin knows exactly who he is. Perrin brings survivors of the battle to the cave entrance to defend against the Darkhounds. Even as they face certain death, hope springs about them in the form of growing plants. The Horn summons wolf Heroes as well as human to fill out their ranks, and the odds are no longer so grim.

Mat approaches Perrin, who is concerned about Faile. Mat lies and offers Perrin hope, for what else could he say? As he reveals Fain’s presence, Mat is stabbed through the chest by Fain’s tendril. Mat’s death is so sudden in comparison to Egwene’s, and the manner of it so final based on all prior evidence, that readers are likely to be shocked out of the complacency that has been building since the Shadow was routed at Merrilor.

Aviendha holds off Graendal’s shield. She takes a chance, unraveling her Gateway despite that the effects are unpredictable, and may not help her at all. Graendal casts her Compulsion just as the Gateway explodes. Aviendha actually made a mistake in her haste, picking the wrong thread, which is a poor turn of phrase since she would have to botch the unweaving deliberately in order to have a chance of achieving the effect she is looking for. The threat of Compulsion is terrifying, and enthralls the reader with the horrible story possibilities that may come about if it succeeds.

Fain comes across Mat, who is not dead after all. Mat grabs Fain by the throat and stabs him with the dagger. Fain and Mordeth die, and not coincidentally, this embodiment of the all-consuming desire to achieve the end goal at any cost meets its demise just before Rand makes his decision on how to defeat the Dark One for good. Mat’s explanation that if you catch a disease you cannot catch it a second time is an awkward introduction of modern medical knowledge into the story in an attempt to have the reader accept this unforeseen immunity. Perhaps Mat is merely paraphrasing what the Amyrlin told him after he was healed of the dagger’s influence, or what Nynaeve has told him at some point, but the wording used suggests a strong level of in-world familiarity with disease that just hasn’t been featured before. Taking out the word ‘disease’ and having Mat speak in terms of his own immunity rather than a general statement about illnesses would have been more believable.

Perrin abandoned Mat on a gut feeling from the look Mat gave him. ‘Look’ may not have been the best word, given that Mat only has one eye, but the meaning is understood. Interestingly, Perrin had no angst about leaving Mat whereas he has wrung his hands over many of his friends and followers throughout the series. It is partly his newfound maturity, partly that he is more concerned with Rand here and now than he can allow himself to be for anyone else, even Faile. Perrin finds Gaul and returns him to Merrilor to rest. Then, acting against his desire to seek out Faile, he returns to guard Rand’s back yet again.

Moridin picks up Callandor and attempts to channel with it, falling into Rand’s trap. Moiraine and Nynaeve, duty and conscience, take control of Moridin, then link with Rand. Rand is shielded from any taint by combining the powers and using Moridin’s link to touch the True Power. The three powers are combined and wielded against the Dark One, turning the Dark One’s own power on himself. Rand holds him fast in a gauntlet of Power. In terms of Rand’s identity, he is turning doubt and negativity against his own doubt and negativity, looking at them with scorn and dismissal.

The following sections together show how Rand’s final victory and assertion of his identity affect the world. Rand’s past, present and future all figure, as well as his chronicler, and his successor.

Elayne surveys the carnage. The nearby plateau collapses, like the foundation of Rand’s old identity.  The bond lets her sense Rand’s strength, control and domination. She sees a beam of light far to the north, marking the end.

Thom sees the light up close. If Thom still represents the author, then he is in awe of the ending.

Min sees a brilliant lance of light, clearing the clouds. The wounded shield their eyes from the bright future Rand is making.

Aviendha sees the light and senses Rand winning, and it revives her. Graendal has been self-compelled by the unraveling gateway and begs to serve Aviendha. Since Aviendha represents the past, this is an indication that reverence for tradition and memory of this light and what it means are part of what the future holds.

Logain lost his prize in the collapse of the Heights, but saved the refugees, and they accept and welcome him, aspire to have their children join him. The Asha’man are no longer cursed for Lews Therin’s sins, but are seen as talented for Rand’s redemption of those sins. The light reminds Logain of his duty. He breaks the seals, another symbol of the old making way for the new.

Perrin sees the light in Tel’aran’rhiod, and observes the World of Dreams disintegrating and collapsing. Dragonmount is being drawn towards Shayol Ghul, all points coalescing into one, and then this realm of possibility will be gone. This was an unexpected development, which pertains to Rand’s transformation.

Perrin encounters Lanfear in the cavern. Her words still carry a sense of wonder that leads us to think she’s on the good side. “It is the end. Something amazing just happened. This might be the most important moment for humankind since we opened the Bore.” Perrin is compelled by Lanfear to help her kill Nynaeve and Moiraine, yet he resists. Lanfear has been working towards her true objective all along, at whatever cost. This is a trait shared by all of the Forsaken, the Mordeth-like motivation to do anything at all to achieve their heart’s desire.  Focusing on Faile, a far more powerful motivation than any dislike of Moiraine, Perrin’s will is stronger than Lanfear’s mere Compulsion weave. In Tel’aran’rhiod, this means he is able to reassert his identity and change himself back to the way he should be. He kills Lanfear, yet still loves her, she who represents the thirst for glory and power. Perrin may still want those things in some fashion, but not at the expense of the one he loves most.

The Dark One is freed yet cannot escape as Rand has him clutched tightly. He sees the Dark One as pitiful, tiny, insignificant, and above all, a liar. Rand pulls the Dark One into the Pattern, where he can be killed. But before he can kill him, Rand remembers that the vision he created with no Dark One was no better. Realizing his error, he thrusts the Dark One back outside of the Pattern and reforges the prison using braided saidar and saidin in a pure form and the True Power to keep the Dark One’s touch at bay by shielding the Bore.

He understood, finally, that the Dark One was not the enemy. It never had been. Rand’s own heart was the only enemy that could harm him, for as all the heroes have learned, ultimately, whatever befalls them is by their own choice.

Moiraine pulls Nynaeve out of the cavern. Looking back, she sees silhouettes of Rand and Moridin, Light and Shadow, vanish in the all consuming light. The last thing she sees, the last words which end the book, is the Bore being closed, a metaphor for Rand locking away in his heart the Dark One and the dark desires and ambitions he promotes, never to torment him again.

Writing Lessons:

End your story on a high note, right after the critical moment. 

A Crown of Swords - Chapters 25-28

In this section, old villains return

Moghedien’s escape is shown for a third time as a flashback in her own point of view. This time, it is short and to the point, serving only as introduction for what happens to her later. Moghedien is being punished inside a vacuole, which I can only conceive as being like a drop of condensation on the surface of the Pattern. It is attached to the Pattern, but not truly part of it, and the laws of space and time inside it can vary considerably. Sometimes the vacuole can detach from the Pattern. This is the third strange world we’ve seen where time runs at a different speed, the others being Mirror Worlds and the world of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn. I wonder if vacuoles might be parts of the Pattern no longer needed, which slowly wither before falling off, or maybe new buds which form new Mirror Worlds.

Her punishment consists of reliving the same dream over and over. The dream is being dictated to her, she has no control over it, as though she had entered the Dark One’s dreams and had become a player in it, much as we’ve seen in other examples of being stuck in someone else’s dream, even to the point of not truly realizing it is a dream.

Moghedien’s journey to Shayol Ghul is altered, as her Skimming platform arrives instantly instead of taking the expected several minutes or hour. The Dark One has a little effort left over to bend reality despite fixing the seasons at the height of summer. This ability is strongly implied to come from the True Power; a Power first introduced a few chapters ago by the mysterious watcher in the woods. Moghedien thinks that reality was clay to the Great Lord at Shayol Ghul, and then describes how she can bathe in the radiant glory of the Great Lord, the True Power washing around her, so strong here that attempting to channel it would fry her to a cinder. The True Power is thus linked with the ability to reshape reality, which is as much as the author wants to say on the subject until several books later. It is noteworthy that he waited this long before explaining the major tool at the villains’ disposal, and that he waits much longer before bringing it up again. The reader needs to know it so later chapters will work, but the author doesn’t want them thinking about it too much.

A third mystery character is introduced: Moridin is a man set above the Forsaken, whom even Shaidar Haran seems to serve. This is a new and unexpected development. Shaidar Haran has two resurrected Forsaken serving him, while Moghedien and one other serve Moridin. That makes up to five Forsaken in this secret group, while five others still roam the world. There are no blatant personality traits linking Moridin to Ishamael, the reader has to get there through logic, reasoning, and counting. It is left to the reader to decipher Moridin’s plans, and there is little to go on. The intent is to destabilize the reader, much as was done with Cadsuane’s introduction, showing a powerful new character to balance Cadsuane’s arrival. How does Moridin have the will to resist the True Power now that the saa have appeared in his eyes?

The mindtrap is a device which embodies the Dark One’s morals. The evil societies and characters all crave obedience, and the master’s desires are all that matters, the servant exists only to serve. The mindtrap forces voluntary obedience using the threat of eternal obedience. The one mindtrapped can only hope to escape or live for the moments of freedom when the master’s attention is directed elsewhere.

In Amador, Morgase’s master has changed several times. Niall wanted her to come to serve him willingly which she gave, then Valda exacted her capitulation under threat of pain, which she gave, and now Suroth demands an Oath under threat of enslavement as a damane. Having started by giving a little promise, the demands have grown into a promise of complete servility to the Seanchan. She now realizes her poor choices have led her to the point where anything else she does only serves to give more to her enemies and take more away from Andor. Amathera and Pura demonstrate what the Oath may entail. Giving up leadership is her only path to being a true leader to her people, something Rand will later repeat.

Balwer, a servant with no master, comes to Morgase’s aid. His motivation was to steal Valda’s prize to repay his poor treatment, but Suroth will do just as well. The Seanchan’s return is at the end of a series of introductions and reappearances of powerful enemies. There is a feeling that the Dark One’s forces are gathering which overwhelms the small victories the heroes have made in Salidar and Ebou Dar.

The grim mood continues with Perrin leaving Cairhien after a very public argument with Rand about his behaviour concerning the Aes Sedai prisoners. A potent flashback cuts down the amount of exposition needed. The chapter opens with a paragraph on Perrin’s regrets, a second paragraph on Rand promoting fear amongst his servants, and then the introduction to the flashback. By placing the flashback early in the chapter, the order of events is maintained without having to describe what happened before and immediately after their confrontation. The decision not to play up their argument stems from wanting to continue setting the mood of insurmountable obstacles and the fact that the argument is a sham, a ploy to divert attention away from Perrin while he carries out Rand’s orders. Knowing of the plot beforehand reduces an emotional impact that can be wrung out of it, this simply isn’t a powerful enough scene to warrant much attention.

The chapter also serves to list Perrin’s followers, describe his mission, and the likely obstacle she will face. As with the tail end of Lord of Chaos when Elayne and Nynaeve begin their search in Ebou Dar, this is just the beginning of the new quest, which will carry over several books. Since his battle in the Two Rivers, Perrin has only shown up briefly in the prologue of Lord of Chaos, briefly again later in that book, and for several chapters at the beginning of this one. Having been mostly absent for a long time, Perrin is about to become a steady player, much to the chagrin of many readers.

Mat has had dice rolling in his head, then not, several times in Ebou Dar. The dice first stop when he stays in the randomly selected inn that Setalle Anan owns. This is because he has acquired the link to the people needed for the Bowl of the Winds to be found. The dice start again, then stop when he agrees to stay in the Palace, because he can now form a relationship with Tylin. The dice start a third time before Beslan’s approval of Mat’s relationship with his mother disturbs him at the right moment to follow a random Kinswoman to a house on the Rahad. The dice are still spinning…

Writing Lessons:

The location of a flashback within a chapter will affect mood and comprehension.  A flashback’s length and placement can serve you as much as it’s content.

New Theory - The Bore is in Tel'aran'rhiod

A small part of the reason my posting is sporadic of late is that I’ve been working on a theory. I’ll send it to Theoryland shortly, but as loyal readers of this blog, you get the first look. I think this is a winner!

The Bore is in Tel’aran’rhiod

The importance of Tel’aran’rhiod to the story is such that I believe it is pivotal to the Last Battle. I have concluded that the Bore which Rand must seal is in Tel’aran’rhiod.

The Bore is not in the real world

Demandred stands in the Pit of Doom and thinks: Physically, this place was no closer to the Bore than any other in the world, but here there was a thinness in the Pattern that allowed it to be sensed. 

The Bore is equally distant from every place in the world.

Where else the Bore could be

Verin explains the structure of the Pattern to Egwene: Let these [parallel lines] represent worlds that might exist if different choices had been made, if major turning points in the Pattern had gone another way: The Worlds reached by the Portal Stones. Some in the Age of Legends apparently believe that there were still other worlds – even harder to reach than the worlds of the Portal Stones, if that can be believed – lying like this [cross-hatching the first set of lines]. In all of these worlds, whatever their other variations, a few things are constant. One is that the Dark One is imprisoned in all of them.

In all of them? How can that be? Are you saying there is a Father of Lies for each world?

No, child. There is one Creator, who exists everywhere at once for all of these worlds. In the same way, there is only one Dark One, who also exists in all of these worlds at once. If he is freed from the prison the Creator made in one world, he is freed on all. So long as he is kept prisoner in one, he remains imprisoned on all.

The point is that there is a third constant besides the Creator and the Dark One. There is a world that lies within all 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.

There is a simple way to remove the supposed paradox from Verin’s explanation. Place the Bore in the world that surrounds all the others; in Tel’aran’rhiod. One Dark One, in one Bore, for one Tel’aran’rhiod, in one Pattern.

This placement also explains how the Dark One can win in various Mirror worlds yet still be imprisoned. He is taking them down, one by one, until there is only Rand’s world left. No paradox!

I drew a map! (hyperlink included in case of image posting problems)

Simplified Cosmological Map of the Pattern in the Wheel of Time

How the Bore was drilled in Tel’aran’rhiod

In the Age of Legends, two researchers, Mierin Eronaile and Beidomon, found a new source of Power that was not split like the One Power, but could be used by either sex. They drilled a hole in the Pattern to be able to touch this Power, and released the Dark One. Mierin later chose the name Lanfear. She claimed dominion over Tel’aran’rhiod because she was the pre-eminent Tel’aran’rhiod researcher of her time. The fact that it was Lanfear who drilled the Bore infers its connection to Tel’aran’rhiod.

In Tel’aran’rhiod, things can be done through sheer force of will. Things such as finding an elusive power source, and boring a hole to a place outside the Pattern. The Bore was drilled using the properties of Tel’aran’rhiod itself.

How to seal the Bore

Lews Therin was able to seal the Bore by precisely placing seven seals over it. Each seal had a real-world focal point made of cuendillar. The seals were not completely effective because they were only powered by the will of men; no women helped.

Cuendillar is unbreakable. But it could be broken in Tel’aran’rhiod, with enough will. Altering the nature of cuendillar is impossible without some reality-altering power. If the true seals are placed in Tel’aran’rhiod, over the Bore, and are subject to its rules, then any degradation in them caused by the Dark One’s force of will (or humanity’s lack of it) can affect the seals in the real world, causing unbreakable cuendillar to weaken and become brittle. The very name cuendillar, or heartstone, implies that its ability to resist damage comes from the heart, or from force of will.

Herid Fel gives Rand two pieces of advice to explain how to make effective seals. First, belief and order give strength. Have to clear rubble before you can build, meaning Lews Therin’s seals must be removed. Second, the Dark One’s prison must be whole again, not simply sealed. The One Power cannot do this alone, it must be done with force of will in Tel’aran’rhiod, and made permanent. It is known that this will take place at Shayol Ghul itself.

Shayol Ghul, the epicenter of the Dark One’s presence in the waking world, is a place where unreal weather exists and caverns can change shape; where reality is malleable in the Dark One’s hands. The unnatural Blight radiates outward from it. Just as if this place had the features of Tel’aran’rhiod and was an extension of it. The closer to Shayol Ghul, the more it is like Tel’aran’rhiod, and the more the immediate environment is under the Dark One’s command. Things can be done there that cannot be done anywhere else. Things could happen there that could happen nowhere else. Shayol Ghul has these properties and has a thinness in the Pattern because it is a place where a permanent similarity between the real world and its reflection in Tel’aran’rhiod was created, making a place where it is possible to simply step from one to the other. It is a place that has the malleability of Tel’aran’rhiod, and the permanence of the waking world. Tel’aran’rhiod spills over into the real world from this spot, altering reality outwardly as the Dark One desires, increasing the size of the Blight, for example, or giving Shayol Ghul and the Pit of Doom their unique properties.

From this spot where they overlap, this threshold between worlds where they are one and the same, the reality of the waking world can be shaped, and perhaps the Bore in Tel’aran’rhiod itself can be permanently sealed. Here, it is possible to will the Bore not to exist at all, as it was before, if done with sufficient willpower.

The nature of the Dark One’s powers

With the Bore in Tel’aran’rhiod, it makes sense to consider if the Dark One’s powers can be explained by comparing them with what can be done in Tel’aran’rhiod. The Dark One alters reality, which is also a property of Tel’aran’rhiod.

Rand saw the drilling of the Bore in the glass columns of Rhuidean, and the destruction of the Sharom floating above the blue and silver domes of the Collam Daan, a prestigious research facility.

The drilling of this Bore had several symptoms. First, the ground and air rippled. A similar effect happens in Knife of Dreams from a bubble of evil, and again from the balescream in The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight. These are events where reality is being altered. Second, the Sharom burst apart in gouts of black fire. It broke apart like an egg and began to drift down, falling, an obsidian inferno. Third, darkness spread across the sky, swallowing the sun in unnatural light, as if the light of those flames was blackness. Unnatural events can be created in Tel’aran’rhiod or by the Dark One. The only known way to alter the reality of an environment is when it is done in Tel’aran’rhiod.

Bubbles of evil stemming from the Dark One can alter the reality of random places in the world, just as nightmares do in Tel’aran’rhiod. The effects of a bubble of evil would not be odd in Tel’aran’rhiod. All examples of bubbles of evil can be explained by the Dark One doing what is considered to be impossible; using Tel’aran’rhiod to affect the waking world.

Using the True Power granted by the Dark One allows one to create weaves with the same effects as those of the One Power, but which are undetectable. All True Power effects could be attributed to being able to use Tel’aran’rhiod properties, for example, to tear a hole in the Pattern for Traveling or creating balefire.

The Dark One’s luck, if it truly exists, can be explained by altering reality. Mat’s luck would come second in a contest where the results are not dependent on random chance but on the force of will of the participant.

Upon her release from the vacuole, Moghedien believes Moridin’s base of operations is near by Shayol Ghul, since the only other possibility she sees is that it lays in Tel’aran’rhiod. The strange ‘castle’ in which Moridin convenes the Forsaken has certain properties that are like Tel’aran’rhiod: They could as soon make shocklances or sho-wings as view-walls outside of this place, so close to Shayol Ghul. It was far from anywhere, in any way that most humans would understand.

When the Forsaken flee to escape Rand or trap him, even those with no apparent facility in Tel’aran’rhiod choose to go there. It is a place of ultimate safety for these cowards. They always take minimal risks, so when faced with destruction, they seek shelter in a place close by their lord and master, where his power and ability to aid them is strongest: Tel’aran’rhiod.

Transmigration of dead souls, who wait in Tel’aran’rhiod until their rebirth, is that much simpler to explain if the layer of the Pattern closest to the Dark One is Tel’aran’rhiod.

Entering Tel’aran’rhiod in the flesh is evil, but it is never explained why. The risk stems from the danger of being unmade or altered, such as Moghedien does to turn Birgitte into a child. The evil stems from getting used to having reality bend to your will, from beginning to believe that your desire is sufficient reason for a thing to exist in the way you imagine it.

Conclusion

Tel’aran’rhiod did not feature prominently as the setting for the final confrontation of the first 5 books, or in the most recent books, and in various other significant places throughout the series, only to be ignored in the Last Battle. All of the characteristics of Tel’aran’rhiod have been patiently held back so as not to give away the means by which Rand will defeat the Dark One. The Last Battle will not simply involve using powers and abilities, but can only be won by Rand choosing an identity and embracing it with all his will, in a place where thought becomes reality. When he stands at Shayol Ghul on the precipice between worlds, his sheer force of will, bolstered by humanity’s collective will, can repair the Dark One’s prison such that you would never know it had ever been drilled.

The Shadow Rising - Chapters 19-23

In this section, plans and secrets are revealed, and the Heroes try to take charge of their destinies.

Rand hatches a plan to acquire his own army by entering Rhuidean and winning the hearts of the Aiel. Through shrewd deductions, he determines he can travel from Tear to Rhuidean in a day using Portal Stones. He holds onto this secret means of travel until the last possible moment. The author does the same, showing Rand think repeatedly to himself that he can hold out just a little longer before telling. This small mystery is solved, but a few more are introduced: Rand’s father, not mother, was Aiel, contradicting what has been insinuated previously; who are the Jenn Aiel?; what will they find in Rhuidean?

Rand also made plans for Tear, trying to elevate the peasantry out of their grinding poverty, trying to shape the nation into something in line with his ideals. With Thom’s help he has disposed of several threats to his rule from the nobility. He is trying to treat the Tairens as his flock, sparing a care for even the High Lords he is threatening to execute. This behaviour is contrary to Moiraine’s, who puts achieving her goals and winning the Last Battle ahead of everything else. Over time, Rand will embrace Moiraine’s ideals, becoming cold and driven, even as his allies try to reintroduce the concepts of mercy and love to him. Moiraine and Lan may have had the important task of finding Rand, but their influence on his behavior has overall been negative and sets him down a path of self-destruction.

Moiraine’s thoughts regarding Rand involve frequent use of the puppet on a string metaphor.  She ties strings, she deliberately seeks to control and manipulate him just as Thom feared. The author could have chosen a number of metaphors to express this Aes Sedai need for control, but he deliberately chose the one which Ba’alzamon had used, which has appeared in certain dreams, which has very negative connotations. The goal is to make the reader see Moiraine as plainly untrustworthy, as someone that Rand cannot confide in, so as to increase the sense of desperation he feels. Even noting how Lan, who is a very likeable character, is contemplating leaving Moiraine’s side, adds to the feeling that there is something wrong with Moiraine, and justifiable in stymieing her plans. Every one of Rand or Mat’s insolent grins at her also undermines her standing. There is never just one technique used to affect reader’s perceptions, there are several, subtly working together.

It seems one of Moiraine’s questions to the Aelfinn involved the list of Red Ajah she promises to Thom, for the expedient purpose of getting him out of the way, unless the story of the rogue gentling was well known among the Aes Sedai.

The Portal Stones and discussion of tel’aran’rhiod remind me to examine the geography of the universe. Each mirror world is represented by a horizontal line, other worlds which are even harder to reach, such as the Aelfinn world or worlds that might be reached with an Ogier Book of Translation, are represented by vertical lines crossing the horizontal lines. These are the warp and woof of Verin’s Pattern. And accessible from all of them is the World of Dreams. Some places do not have accessible reflections in tel’aran’rhiod, such as stedding and Rhuidean. What a strange weave to cut off access from tel’aran’rhiod! Useful however, to close the unguarded back door into every fortress. The World of Dreams must also have reflections of the Mirror Worlds and the ‘vertical’ worlds as well! Is the strange realm of spires and ramps that Rand evaded Forsaken in simply a tel’aran’rhiod reflection of the Ways? The property of laying across mirror worlds is that a number of different outcomes of the past or future can be observed. This may explain the Aelfinn ability to give true answers, or a Dreamer’s ability to gain insight about the future. Mirror Worlds are faded if the decisions leading to them are improbable. A probability density function can be used to interpret the ‘realness’ of Mirror Worlds and see what has happened or may happen. Is this why the Wise Ones speak about future events in an odds-based vocabulary? Parts of Tel’aran’rhiod itself shift in relation to the probability that an object is in a given location or not. The more likely it keeps a fixed location in the real world, the more stability its reflection has in tel’aran’rhiod. One should be able to travel to reflections of the other worlds, somehow. What keeps our heroes anchored in the reflection of their own World? Simple probability, or lack of awareness that other reflections exist? Do the Mirror People also have souls? Can they somehow also be represented at the Last Battle, the battle for all creation? I can’t help but feel they will be there.

Egwene’s lessons haven’t even started yet, but we’ve learned much about what can be done in tel’aran’rhiod, if not how. The Wise Ones are being set up as mentor characters, supplanting Moiraine and Lan.

A technique used frequently in this book, probably due to the number of characters being juggled, is that important events concerning a character may be told from a different character’s point of view. Some examples were Aviendha being sent to Rhuidean as seen by Egwene, Rand’s gathering of the High Lords as seen by Moiraine, Lan and Nynaeve’s romance as seen by Elayne. The advantage is that it requires fewer switches back and forth between character points of view. A disadvantage is that a long-awaited or compelling scene lacks a direct report of the emotions felt by the character, it is only seen from the outside looking in. An author could selectively time these scenes and the way they are presented to affect the tempo of the book. Not showing a scene from the concerned character’s perspective also allows the reader to imagine and imprint their own ideas about what is going through the character’s head, creating mystery or tension. There could be several reasons to select or avoid a given character’s point of view.  

The Aiel and Sea Folk have larger cultural differences with the Heroes than any previously encountered people. In earlier books, Robert Jordan would have one culture lead into the other, or have them play off each other. Here, both cultures endure certain hardships particular to their home, have prophecies foretelling massive change to their way of life, have lived in seclusion from the centre of the continent, hiding their channelers. They are meant to express the same idea, that every person in every place in the world has as take in the events unfolding.  

Next time: My favorite chapters ever!

Writing Lessons:

Use an old idea in a new place to associate the reaction to the old idea to the new place.

The Dragon Reborn - Chapters 21-24

In this section, Egwene learns about the World of Dreams and passes the test for Accepted.

Dreams have played a significant role in the series so far, and their prevalence will only increase, as indicated by Perrin’s and Egwene’s newfound abilities. Despite having seen the World of Dreams several times, in climatic battles at the end of each of the first two books, and in short bursts elsewhere, little has been revealed about how the World of Dreams works. Verin provides the first real insight.

Along with the Creator and the Dark One, the World of Dreams is a constant, permeating all other worlds, whether a Mirror World or some stranger world that runs (metaphorically) perpendicular to them. The Ways and the World of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn may be examples of such worlds. There is only one World of Dreams for all existence. Mastery over it would be extremely advantageous, so it is little surprise that the Forsaken have made use of it to overcome real world obstacles, mainly by communicating with human minions through it. The Forsaken are a cautious bunch, else they would not still be alive, and they would rather meet in the World of Dreams where escape is quicker and they hold the advantage of knowledge and power, than in the real world where unforeseen circumstances may trap them.

Verin explains the paradox of the Dark One’s imprisonment. So long as he is trapped in one World, he is trapped in all of them. If he is freed in one world, he is freed in all of them. But this needn’t be a paradox, if the Dark One’s prison is in the World of Dreams. A single prison, accessible from a single place, in tel’aran’rhiod, which itself can be reached from anywhere in reality. Readers will later be told that Shayol Ghul is a place where the thinness can be sensed more than anywhere else in the World, but is no closer to the Bore than any other, which implies the thinness permeates the world, just as the World of Dreams does. There is circumstantial evidence in later books and chapters to support this, notably Lanfear’s expertise in tel’aran’rhiod and other Worlds, how strength of will creates the reality in the World of Dreams, Herid Fel’s study of the Seals and the metaphysical aspects of how they work, and ter’angreal that have effects in both waking world and the World of Dreams. I’ll delve into those more as they come up, for now I’ll end with noting all this emphasis on the World of Dreams is for more than simply to advance the plot and provide easy outs for characters, it is a cornerstone of the story and should figure prominently in A Memory of Light.

Mistrust and paranoia continue to worm their way into Egwene’s heart. She can’t even trust the Aes Sedai she has to. Given the options presented, readers might guess that one of the named Aes Sedai, Siuan, Verin, Sheriam, Alanna, Elaida, Alviarin, Leane, might be Black Ajah. Probably not two. Or three. Or all. To emphasize the mistrust, a short passage from Verin’s point of view is given, and it is deliberately vague as to her motivations. When she outlines her options for Corianin’s notes, the reader is given no reference points to determine which of the options is good or bad. Everything is presented in a neutral moral haze. Such an effort could only work when used on a character who is or who skirts close to being a villain, and is not simply absent-minded.

Egwene’s testing reveals possible elements of the future, and gives insight into her current dilemma. She learns, and Sheriam confirms, that channelers can be turned to the Dark. Much later in the series, readers learn that Black Ajah swear a Fourth Oath, in a ‘distinctive’ process. Is it different from the process Egwene learns of through the testing? My gut feeling is that they are one and the same, that you not only swear the Black Ajah oath on the Oath Rod, but that you do so guided by the circle of thirteen channelers and thirteen Myrddraal, to make the Oath irrevocable. The only difference is whether the swearing of the Oath was done voluntarily. There is no evidence that being turned transforms one into a cackling madwoman wreaking havoc, and Black Ajah should have concern about whether someone turned stands higher than themselves. Alternately, being turned could be a form of compulsion, but a circle is needed to channel that much power. Since Compulsion leaves signs, turning women would introduce a strong risk of discovery, so it could only be used sparingly, with great need.

The resonance between the Dream Ring and the testing ter’angreal shows the link between the World of Dreams and the visions in the test. Were they real? Yes, and the Pattern can use them to feed information to the women who use them, just as it does with Dreams and Viewings. Egwene learned some possible advantages that might come her way, and is now warned of possible dangers.

Wounds taken in the World of Dreams do not heal like other wounds, which explains Rand’s never-healing wound on his side. Ba’alzamon’s burns and stab through the heart should be equally difficult to recover from.

Mat has another encounter with a Forsaken, though neither he nor readers know it at the time. Else Grinwell insists he step aside and not come near her, probably for fear of ruining her Mask of Mirrors, possibly from concern over his Shadar Logoth taint. Mat’s encounter with Galad and Gawyn is used to establish his fighting ability, which he has no good reason for having. Combined with his speaking Old Tongue and memories, Mat is going through the same disorienting changes that his friends did, struggling to understand and adapt to new powers thrust upon him.

An editorial mistake? A deliberate pairing of similar passages, one to end a chapter, the other to begin one? Read the end of Chapter 22 and the Beginning of Chapter 23 for a nifty look at two different ways of conveying the same information. I think chapters may have been reordered, with these two originally intended to be separated. Normally an author might do this to remind the reader what had happened during that cliffhanger, which this book has more of than earlier books. Does the slight rewording change it much? Do you find one better?

Chapter 22 - ends

Light plucked her apart fiber by fiber, sliced the fibers to hairs, split the hairs to wisps of nothing. All drifted apart on the light. Forever.

Chapter 23 - begins

Light pulled her apart fiber by fiber, sliced the fibers to hairs that drifted apart, burning. Drifting and burning, forever. Forever.

Writing Lessons:

Substituting one word for a more meaningful one can change reader perception. Try to be accurate. Every word has its purpose.

The Great Hunt - Chapters 35-39

Misery is not reading or blogging for more than 1 day in a row.

In this section, the Heroes discover the scope of the menace is far greater than they guessed.

After getting a taste of two cultures entrenched in subterfuge and suspicion, Stedding Tsofu offers the opposite:  harmony, trust, openness, truthfulness. The Ogier hide nothing from their visitors, and allow them to take extreme personal risks, and do not try to stop them with force or persuasion. Once the heroes have the facts, the Ogier accept the decision they have made. Ogier society is similar to that of the tuatha’an, and the way it is introduced with a point-point-counterpoint is reminiscent of how we saw two societies rife with suspicion (Children of the Light and Shadar Logoth) before discovering the Traveling People and their trusting ways. When an Ogier spends too long away from the stedding, away from the qualities it offers, they begin to Long for it. Are any of us any different? The Ogier are an idealized society, a remnant of the Age of Legends when discord and conflict were all but unknown. There are some strong implications about what a society in the Light should be like, and what a society touched by the Shadow would be like. Yes, even as relates to their chivalric customs of marriage. I’ll remember to contrast with other marriage customs in later books.

Rand and Perrin both consider the virtues of staying in a stedding. They could be free of their new abilities; they could live out their lives in peace. Yet they quickly acknowledge that they are willing to pay a personal price and face great danger to do what they feel is right for their friend. Their sense of duty to their fellow man is forging chains that will shackle them to the destiny they are trying to avoid. Rand’s promise to safeguard Loial only adds to his duties.

The Black Wind blocking the Waygate, Machin Shin, forces Rand to instead attempt use of a Portal Stone to reach Toman Head before Mat dies, even if he has to use the One Power again. Rand can already channel enough to use the Portal Stone, but Verin, at full power, would be destroyed by that much saidar. Verin explains enough about the Mirror Worlds as alternate realities, the Worlds That Might Be, to allow the reader to understand the next few pages.  This explanation is what was missing from the House of Flies scene earlier in the book. As with the scene in the House of Flies, repetition with slight variations are used to illustrate that events are out of Rand’s control.

Three alternate realities are shown in full where past events occurred differently. Then more follow, only a sentence long, since the reader has grasped the concept. Rand is shown dying young, growing old, going mad, knowing he was born to fight the Shadow, battling Seanchan invaders, or Trollocs, marrying, living a hundred lives and more, variation on variation, each one different. A lot of thrills are packed into these few pages. Each scene also has a similarity. One phrase, powerful and meaningful, that reveals the epic scope of the story. In each world, when Rand finally dies, he hears a voice whisper: I have won again, Lews Therin.

In every other world that might have been had events unfolded differently, the Shadow is triumphant. The Mirror World Rand visited with Selene introduced this idea. The surprising revelation isn’t that it was a strange and unique world, nor was it a typical world, no, it was a stereotypical world where the Shadow won.  The implication is that no matter the circumstances, the Shadow always wins. After the Shadow wins, life is extinguished, as seen in Selene’s Mirror World. The concept will later get expanded upon, but for now, it elevates the stakes of the broader series-long quest to a multiverse-spanning battle against evil, while maintaining an intensely personal aspect since each of the Shadow’s victory is achieved by the Dragon’s demise.

I have won again, Lews Therin.

The ability to play with the flow of time using Mirror Worlds allows for several plot elements to join up in ways that might have seemed forced otherwise. With time travel, anything is possible. Tracking Fain from the future before he reached a spot would be a bit too convenient without Lanfear’s guidance. Egwene and Nynaeve needed time to begin their training and gain useful abilities and strong friendships, time that would have killed Mat. Time travel provides the answer, introducing a world of story possibilities. Assuming we’re following the three examples pattern: the first time travel was subtle and solved a small problem, the second brings the elements together for this book’s conclusion, and the third should come into play in A Memory of Light. What role could the best theoretical quantum physicist of the Age of Legends play?  How could Portal Stones be used to make a day dawn twice?

Egwene finally writes Rand off as a love interest, all while rushing to his rescue. The girls’ matchmaking deliberations are entertaining. Between Min’s viewings, Elayne’s interest, Rand’s Mirror World marriages, and the fact that Rand seems poised to see these girls again in Toman Head, enough hints have been placed to expect that love is in the air.

Writing Lessons:

Keeping the stakes personal keeps your readers emotionally involved in the story.

The Great Hunt - Chapters 13-17

In this section, Rand encounters an old enemy, and a new love interest.

Introducing a love interest, whether as the main squeeze, as a foil, or as the third in a love triangle, can be tricky. The reader may find it obvious what the author’s intent regarding the love interest is. You should be aware of how you want the reader to perceive the character. To date, only a few random encounters have seriously threatened the Rand-Egwene relationship. The main obstacle the relationship faces is their incompatible destinies. But now, Selene enters the picture, and the author’s intent is clear. Selene offers an adult relationship far from the platonic love that Egwene represents. From the onset, Selene is portrayed as a temptress. Her behavior, added to the Dark Prophecy and the odd scenes with the elusive woman in white, allow the reader to easily deduce her motives and identity. She is playing a stereotype; there is no need for subtlety. She is Bad News.

If Ba’alzamon represented doubt, Lanfear is temptation. Her breathy whispers of power and glory, her impossibly perfect beauty, her willingness, her vague promises, are all designed to bring Rand to the Dark One. She and Ba’alzamon have abducted Rand, removed him from outside influences, and offered him a choice where either option leads to the Dark One.

With all these possible motivations foisted on him by Moiraine, Lanfear, Ingtar, and his friends, Rand’s quest will no longer be to find the Horn, but to find his reason for finding the Horn.

Touching saidin is depicted in a very sexual way, that feeling of being truly alive, of being able to do anything, of always wanting more.  This association is a strength of the world’s mythology. People’s feelings about sexuality can be very different, but having feelings about it is a universal human experience.  The more universal an experience, the wider an audience can identify with it. Rand’s ability to touch saidin is coincident with his discovery of sexuality in these chapters. The language giving this imagery is not confined to saidin, such as when he pictures Selene naked, or rubs his hand along the Portal Stone column, or when Selene describes her desire to touch the Horn. Enough nouns are replaced by ‘it’ to make many sentences have dual meanings, suggestive and funny. Selene urges him to touch saidin, and to learn to control it. Rand is afraid of what will happen if he uses saidin, is worried about the taint on it. These feelings of uncertainty, fear, and excitement feel like they could happen to any young man who is coming of age, and resonate with readers. If it’s a bit icky to some readers, well, that’s the taint on saidin.

Lanfear really is the total package, combining an Age of Legends equivalent of a Ph. D. in astrophysics with beauty and grace. Only a few of the ancient Aes Sedai studied the Mirror Worlds, and understood how to use their properties as elegantly as Lanfear has done, to move Rand in space-time ahead of Fain’s Trollocs. I wish Loial hadn’t dropped his sungwood quarterstaff before leaving the Mirror World, so that we’d see whether it survived the trip back to this one. Exploring the mechanics of Mirror Worlds is best saved for after we learn more about the World of Dreams.

Perrin’s storyline parallels Rand’s, as he too seeks to avoid the new abilities he has discovered. Perrin’s interview with the Amyrlin seems not to have involved discussion of his abilities, since he believes that no one beyond Egwene and Moiraine knows about it. Verin should soon be able to add herself to that short list with her curiosity and interest in ta’veren.

Robert Jordan had a wonderful way of crafting a sentence. I’ve pulled one in particular out, to see just how and why he has made it twist so wonderfully.

There across his palm was branded a heron.

This way of phrasing it is poetic, drags out the revelation, emphasizes the symbol. A number of possible variations could have been direct, or emphasized the pain, or sparked confusion, or been a lesser part of the paragraph instead of its central idea, or a number of other things. The order of words helps strengthen the idea, and the emphasis put on it.

There was a heron on his palm, branded.

A heron was branded across his palm.

His palm had a heron branded across it.

The brand there across his palm was a heron.

A heron, there, across his palm, branded.

Writing Lessons:

The order of words in a sentence, and of sentences in a paragraph, has an impact on the reader.