The Gathering Storm - Chapters 40-42

In this intense section, Egwene saves the White Tower, while Rand doesn’t save Arad Doman

Two more intense scenes take place. Egwene’s defense of the White Tower is action-packed, but more importantly is filled with intense emotion. It is the emotions felt by Egwene, Adelorna, and the reader which give the scene such intensity.  Similarly, but almost a polar opposite, Rand’s scene is filled with a very different intense emotion, one which comes from a complete lack of action and Rand’s cold frustration about it.

Through 70 pages set in and near the White Tower, Egwene rises from the despairing depths described in her cell, to regain her place as a Novice. Novice quarters seem opulent compared to where she was, and might have constituted a victory, but her meteoric rise continues. She leads a group of Novices, which lets her channel more of the One Power, which lets her acquire a sa’angreal, which lets her save Aes Sedai, even the head of the Green Ajah, which leads to her standing at the forefront of the Tower’s defense.

Her quick ascendance is not simply a matter of having it handed to her. She was released from her cell because Elaida decided Egwene was the wrong recipient of her ire. Elaida acknowledged that Egwene was undeserving of her imprisonment. Verin’s diary was given out of respect for what Egwene had accomplished so far. The Novices turned to her because no one else looked out for them, and Egwene did, giving them courage, direction, and entrusting them with secret knowledge. Each step upward is a logical outcome of Egwene’s behaviour, not her abilities, making her victory one of character, not plot. Every sufferance she has endured pays its dividends now, and they accumulate rapidly, until she is wielding more power than anyone in the Tower ever has.

Once Egwene is backed by a circle, the Seanchan cannot shield her since the a’dam prevents them from forming circles strong enough. Each and every damane literally needs someone looking over their shoulder to control their behaviour. This mechanism is a blatant metaphor for the ability of a group of people standing united overcoming difficult obstacles, and the inability of strictly controlled people to stand against a united group. Robert Jordan first knew what messages he intended to convey in his story, and then developed the mechanics of using the One Power to directly represent them. It’s a clever and powerful way to make sure your story doesn’t go off track with some unintended metaphor or message.

Throughout the Battle, Egwene must overcome her dire fear of being retaken by sul’dam and made to serve. The progression of emotions Egwene feels is impressed on the reader with language which uses strong emotion bearing words. Her initial fear and panic is replaced by hope, then certitude, then righteous fury:

And she couldn’t channel enough Power to light a candle, let alone fight back.

Soldiers and sul’dam. With those leashes. Egwene shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. The cool, seamless metal. The nausea, the degradation, the panic, despair, and – shamefully – guilt at not serving her mistress to the best of her abilities. She remembered the haunted look of an Aes Sedai as she was broken. Most of all, she remembered her own terror. The terror of realizing that she would be just like the others, eventually. Just another slave, happy to serve.

She wouldn’t let them leash her again. She had to run! She had to hide, flee, escape… No! She pushed herself upright. No, she would not flee. She was Amyrlin.

“Come,” she said, striding forward, holding to her tiny bit of the Power like a drowning woman clinging to a rescue rope.

She smiled at the thrill of it. She could feel Nicola, sense her fear, her emotions bubbling over. Egwene had been part of enough circles to know how to separate herself from Nicola, but Egwene remembered the first time, how she had felt swept into something far larger than herself.

She held it reverently for a moment, then reached and pulled the One Power through it. An awesome, almost overpowering, torrent of power flooded through her.

The White Tower would not fall while she was Amyrlin! Not without a fight to rival the Last Battle itself.

Adelorna is head of the Green Ajah, and to represent that only Egwene can save the Tower, the logical person to show in a state of unreadiness is Adelorna. Had more space been available, the author might have shown a progression of more and more powerful Aes Sedai being collared, or fleeing, ending with Adelorna.

She teetered on the exposed ledge, looking out upon a sky filled with terrible monsters and lines of fire. She stumbled back with a cry, turning away from the hole.

Adelorna screamed in denial, pushing at the shield. The third woman calmly knelt and snapped a silver collar on Adelorna’s neck.

Adelorna turned hesitantly. A woman in white stood atop the rubble a short distance away, a massive halo of power surrounding her, her arm outstretched toward toward the fleeing soldiers, her eyes intense. The woman stood like vengeance itself, the power of saidar like a storm around her.

“What if they’re carrying captives?” Adelorna asked, watching one of the beasts fall amid Egwene’s flames. “Then those captives are better dead,” Egwene said, turning to her. “Trust me, I know this.”

Those eyes were so calm, so in control.

“If I left, it wouldn’t have been fleeing you, Adelorna, it would have been abandoning you. I am the Amyrlin Seat. My place is here.”

Saerin leads the Tower’s defense, poorly in her estimation. As a figure of authority, she too has to be shown falling second to Egwene in order to complete her ascension to the pinnacle of power. Her calm demeanor is eventually shaken by understanding that Egwene is beating back the Seanchan.

“I told them we were organizing a formal command center here. Most seemed to think that was a good idea, though many were too tired, too shocked or too dazed to respond with much else besides a nod.”

“A pity,” Saerin said. “They like to call themselves the Battle Ajah, after all. Well that leaves me to organize the fighting.”

What she didn’t mention was how embarrassed she was. The Aes Sedai had spent centuries guiding kings and influencing wars, but now – with their sanctuary assaulted – they had proven woefully inadequate in defending it.

“This is a disaster!” an angry voice shouted.

“The novices’ quarters?” Saerin said. That seemed even more ridiculous. “How in the world…” She trailed off, eyes widening slightly. “Egwene.”

At last we see Egwene in full vengeful radiance, having laid claim to her position through strength of character, overcoming her fears, and sheer force of will.

Each faceless Seanchan that Egwene struck down seemed to be Renna in her mind’s eye.

The attack below was breaking off, the entire raid focusing on Egwene.

Egwene was part of the fires that burned in the Tower, bloodying the sky with their flames, painting the air with their smoke. She almost seemed not a being of flesh, but one of pure Power, sending judgment to those who had dared bring war on the Tower itself. Blasts of lightning stormed from the sky, the clouds churning above. Fire sprouted from her hands.

Siuan leads Egwene’s rescue, fulfilling Min’s Viewing. She and Bryne both wrongfully assume that some inconsistency exists because Bryne could not have fulfilled the Viewing unless he had come along, but it is obvious that death would have awaited him at some imminent later moment without Siuan in the revel camp to protect him.

Completing Egwene’s ascension, her rival Elaida is captured, vacating the Amyrlin Seat and leaving only Egwene standing. Elaida’s bullying and stern rule have irked readers and characters alike since the earliest parts of the series. It may be as Egwene later declares that no one deserves collaring by the Seanchan, but Elaida certainly comes closest. Readers can’t help but feel that events have worked out for the best with her unhappy captivity and a new name that sounds suspiciously like Suffer.

Ironically, for things to work out for the best in the long run, Elaida will have to be inspired by Egwene to keep Traveling out of the Seanchan’s hands. She just may have the requisite stubbornness, and could redeem herself by following in Egwene’s footsteps.

Rand’s cold detachment is made evident with words that have no emotional weight to them, even in situations where the circumstances are heavily emotional. This is epitomized with “It is not my problem, Rand thought, not looking at the people. I did everything I could.” His mood and the futility of his efforts are mirrored by the spoilage of food, as every last grain in Arad Doman is fouled. “What Arad Doman needs, nobody can give.”

Futility is also prominent in Lews Therin’s concern that the names of women in Graendal’s fortress will never be known, and the list of women killed by him and Rand will remain incomplete. His concern is so trivial, so preposterous, but Rand can’t see that his own intentions for Arad Doman and the world were equally far-fetched.

Writing Lessons:

Use emotion to create intensity.

Knife of Dreams - Chapters 8-10

In this section, Mat unites his followers.

In other posts I’ve pointed out how the books are most entertaining when they follow a character for a few chapters, then jump to another locale for a few more chapters, and so on, so that each locale is seen three or more times, and enough time is spent in each locale to advance the story. This section takes us to the fifth consecutive chapter from Mat’s point of view, with one more to come after. That’s a significant chunk of the book, and a sign that either some characters will be cut out, or have abridged sections. Nonetheless, Mat’s uniquely funny voice and a sense of advancement in the relationships among his followers make these chapters entertaining and flow smoothly.

A number of other ongoing plots are advanced: Mat and Aludra make a deal regarding her cannons, Bayle and Egeanin get married, the sul’dam begin to learn how to channel from the Aes Sedai, more of the Prophecies concerning the Last Battle are revealed, and continual references to the Snakes and Foxes keep cropping up.

Tuon educates Mat about the finer points of reading omens. Most omens are related to animals’ behaviour. The Pattern could have a wonderful control mechanism for the Seanchan Empire with the fervent belief in these superstitions. The Empress and High Blood take them very seriously and appear to alter plans based on seemingly random events. I wonder if Robert Jordan was detail-oriented enough to have known some of these omens when he wrote the earlier books and insert them before readers had any context to interpret them. Even he wouldn’t have. Right? Funnily, things that Mat knows to be true, she derides as superstition.

Mat finally gets Tuon to take a horseback ride with him, and while visiting some ruins he makes a startling realization: the Aelfinn and Eelfinn have established a lasting connection to him and may know exactly what he is doing.

Egeanin tells Mat more about Tuon and what she knows of life in the Imperial Family. Mat has slowly been falling for Tuon, despite starting out as him simply trying to learn more about his fated wife. Setalle Anan is also helping him as much as she can, and trying to correct his roguish ways.

All in all, Mat leaps from misadventure to another, slowly getting to know Tuon, slowly gaining the confidence of followers, and slowly letting other followers get out of hand. Amongst these, Joline loses her temper against Tuon, and then finds an a’dam clapped around her neck. Tuon provides a taste of her effective training methods. Then Mat steps into the fray, unlocking the a’dam despite Tuon controlling the Aes Sedai to weave flows of air around Mat. The Aes Sedai and Tuon had already seen the foxhead medallion in action, so this is the second time Mat is able to do what no man should be able to do, earning the respect of everyone involved. It has taken a while, but Mat’s ragtag band is forging links of trust, dependence, and mutual respect.

A bubble of evil or breakdown in the Pattern has an ancient village materialize, then vanish, taking a peddler with it. Once again, this stands out as a little contrived, seeming to serve no direct purpose other than to provide another example of the signs heralding the Last Battle. It does serve an incidental purpose as a motivating factor for Egeanin and Juilin to make peace between them, and vacate the tent, leaving Thom, Noal, Olver and Mat alone.

Thom has been reading a letter over and over, subtly making Mat curious about the letter, hoping he will ask about it, as Moiraine insisted he must before he can show it to him. Mat, oblivious as always, has taken months to finally ask Thom about it, and at last we get confirmation that Moiraine is not dead. Mat agrees to undertake a perilous journey back to the realm of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn to rescue her, with Thom and Noal in tow. This gives some satisfaction that a long-awaited plot will be resolved, but its resolution is yet several books away.

Writing Lessons:

Create suspense and tension by telling what must happen, then dragging out its resolution.

Winter's Heart - Chapters 20-22

In this section, confusion stems from new point of view characters and missing details from a new location.

Bethamin and Egeanin provide new viewpoints from the Seanchan perspective, which when added to Tuon’s makes 3 chapters from three different Seanchan. The author is clearly pointing to the Seanchan as a major part of the ongoing story with this attention to their citizens, and so many new points of view in this book serves as a signal that the story has reached a turning point. While this is useful to establish the background of the various players, jumping from character to character carries risks. In this instance, unfamiliarity with new characters means the reader may be confused, angry that her favorite characters are absent, or simply too impatient to care about these newcomers.   

The two Seanchan characters are particularly unlikely to have the reader’s acceptance because the Seanchan have been depicted as villains up until now. Their culture is evil by all the standards of our heroes, and it also alien to them, which makes embracing a character from there very difficult.

Bethamin is the Wheel of Time’s equivalent of a slave driver, using an a’dam instead of a whip. This is a behaviour that is particularly unlikeable, but the author uses a few techniques to try to overcome that.

First, Bethamin is performing an inspection, which is a simple duty anyone can identify with. The author is trying to establish common traits with the readers. She cares for the health of her damane, which is slightly admirable given that she is talking about humans. She bullies Renna, who had tried to break Egwene to the a’dam. Anyone who bullies Egwene’s enemies can’t be that bad. She doles out candies. Maybe not all sul’dam are bad.  Maybe Bethamin could switch sides.

Before sympathies develop too much, a reminder of Bethamin’s cruelty is given: how she takes away her charges names and gives them new ones. Three gentle strokes, one slap.

Then it’s back to nice Bethamin. She takes special care of damane having problems; she refuses to lose a damane, even that ugly old Tessi. It’s no accident that Teslyn is used an example. Teslyn stood for Elaida, deposed Siuan, is Red Ajah, and has no compelling physical traits, so Bethamin stands in opposition to all that Teslyn represents. Bethamin distrusts Aes Sedai, as do all the readers by now. She makes a note to be more diligent about breaking Tessi. Three gentle strokes, one slap.

Other things which align the reader’s sympathies with Bethamin: she enjoys shopping, she has a healthy sense of self-preservation, and she knows secrets that could be useful to our heroes. Except for her current station in life, which is at risk, she is incredibly normal.

When someone alien is introduced, you want to highlight the differences. But you also need to establish commonalities, with the reader more than with the other characters.

The Seeker exemplifies the highly paranoid nature of the alien Seanchan culture. He has knitted together moonbeams and happenstance into a strangling cord for Egeanin’s neck. He is recognizable as a police officer, a common character type, but the paranoia and limitless power make him ineffectual. Only by blundering into clues does he make any headway, and that in the wrong direction.

Egeanin continues to be the bridge between cultures, with her potential husband and so’jhin Bayle Domon. She is resigned to the fact that she will never fully induct him into Seanchan culture, and with this danger before her, she realizes it is she who might have to embrace his culture instead.

Egeanin’s loyalties would obviously seem to lie with the mainlanders under the circumstances, and readers would accept her since she has been helpful to the heroines in past books. But to place doubt in the reader’s mind, a crucial action she took, handing the male a’dam over to Suroth herself, will taint that association with goodness. At best she was caught with no way out, at worst she betrayed Rand and Nynaeve. When she says she will stay free “whatever it took”, the example of her quick surrender of the male a’dam should come to mind as an example of how quickly she would throw allies overboard.

Rand has an entire chapter set on Far Madding, and we are told that he can safely confront the Asha’man here, but not how. He has a swordfight with one, but we are not told why neither is using the One Power.   The explanation will come a chapter later, which allows readers to enjoy a fight, an assassination, and a second assassination without the context. Keeping the explanation back from readers is meant to convey a sense of secrecy and frustration, just as Rand is experiencing. Similarly, Kisman is lacking information despite giving much insight to readers. Isam also doesn’t know the whole story, but again reveals exciting details. Assassinations of Kisman and the couple staying in Rand’s old room symbolize that what Rand doesn’t know could kill him. Rand really is lost morally and spiritually, but everything he needs will soon be coming in with Cadsuane, which is symbolized by her readers finally learning about the city when she strolls into town.

Writing Lessons:

When someone alien is introduced, you want to highlight the differences. But you also need to establish commonalities, with the reader more than with the other characters.

Lord of Chaos - Chapters 8-10

In this section, trickery abounds, and Rand is the victim!

Nynaeve’s weather sense is playing tricks on her. She thinks the weather should be one thing, but it just stays hot. Is she sensing the weather that the Pattern is calling for but can’t deliver due to the Dark One’s touch? There has been little detailed discussion of her weather sense in the series up until now, though in my post on The Eye of the World – chapters 35-39 I pondered whether this ability was related to Foretelling in some way. Note that what she is sensing is still not yet her ability to sense storms of a different type related to conflict.

Moghedien is giving up secrets grudgingly, and offering no more aid than she absolutely has to, correctly sensing that Nynaeve and Elayne are held hostage by the secret of her captivity as much as she is. She tricks Nynaeve into trying a weave that will give her blinding headaches, accepting the pain that the a’dam reflects back upon her as a worthwhile cost to see her captor brought down a peg. She even tells Nynaeve that the ability to not feel the heat or cold comes from years of using the Power, even as Rand learned it has nothing to do with the Power.

Sightings in Tel’aran’rhiod of Rand, or Lan begin. Slayer is back.

Myrelle is pushing hard for Nynaeve’s block to be broken. She wants Nynaeve to be ready to accept Lan’s bond, as per Moiraine’s instructions. Nynaeve has no idea that the wringer she will be put through will bring her closer to gaining Lan’s bond. A fine joke. It took a trick to break Theodrin’s block.

Logain has prepared his lies well, and Lelaine has gobbled it up as eagerly as the nobles she trots before him. If she were to suddenly have doubts as to whether Siuan was no longer held by the three Oaths, would she still be able to say that it was told to her by one who cannot lie? Would she need proof before she could utter the words, or would those doubts prevent her from ever saying them again?

The rebel Aes Sedai have not yet publicly committed to backing Rand or opposing Elaida, though Sheriam’s council is privately committed, having already made plans for… we won’t be told what just yet. The arrival of Elaida’s envoy is a catalyst, but everyone will have different ideas about what it will bring about.

Pedron Niall is a sly one, with a false spymaster working for him while the true spymaster is hidden under everyone’s nose. Are there any parallels with other hidden spies with Rand, or in Salidar? Or is this a false trail? Readers’ heads should be spinning with questions and suspicions by now.

Niall’s rumours will help maintain the rift in the Tower, just as the rumours of Logain’s Red Ajah benefactors spurred him to create them in the first place. Who is misleading who? What Niall thinks he is making up is so close to the truth, for all that it went through two cycles of the rumour mill.

Balwer himself has no apparent interest in the Children of the Light, he is simply employed by Niall because… he likes the job? He is eager to press Morgase, is that because he has an axe to grind, an old score to settle?

Following The Fires of Heaven, Rand is maintaining his decision to avoid the women he loves, and not to trust any others.

Rand finds Verin and Alanna in an inn with several Two Rivers girls on their way to become Aes Sedai. He lets his guard down, enjoys being Rand al’Thor for a few minutes, hears about his friends, and then stupidly lets Alanna bond him. This is about as big a surprise as can be, for Elayne was foreshadowed to be the one who bonds Rand, and Alanna is hardly even a second-tier character in the series so far. How was this surprise carried out?

First, both Rand’s and the readers’ guard is down. There are two pages of reminiscing, trading stories, and good times. There is no threat at all. Verin and Alanna helped Perrin after all, they are good guys. There is a strong element of humour as well, with Verin and Alanna acting as though they are in control while Rand wryly plans how to overturn their expectations. There is no doubt in the reader’s mind that Rand has the upper hand. His men can handle the warders, while he handles the Aes Sedai. When he says he wants to be alone with them, Sulin cracks a maiden joke that is surely about what men and women do when they are alone. Rand chortles as he wonders whether they notice his lack of sweat, matching theirs. Up until they discuss the rebels, Rand is presented as thoroughly in charge, unfazed, unmenaced.

Their lack of willingness to help reminds him of Moraine’s advice about trusting Aes Sedai. This is a last nagging thought before his guard is well and truly down. Alanna asks about Mat, Rand mirrors their response, refusing to tell, full of himself for having scored a point against the mighty Aes Sedai.

To pull off the surprise, it must be carried out rather quickly. Alanna immediately responds by implying they are not enemies, and makes a peace offering as she glides over to perhaps delve or heal him. Since she says straight out she will not harm him, he accepts her offer. She delves him, as expected.

Then, she bonds him. The choice of words implies the speed: flash of heat, for a heartbeat. The surprise is augmented by the next action, which is attempting to shield him. Creating suspense, Rand twice asks what they did to him before they tell him.

Writing Lessons:

Create surprise by reversing expectations in the mood you have built up.