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.

Knife of Dreams - Chapters 20-21

In this section Lan resumes his quest, and Rand checks in on old allies.

Lan’s quest in the Blight has been paused since the end of The Eye of the World. In truth he set aside his suicidal need to avenge his homeland when he agreed to be bonded by Moiraine in order to fight the Shadow in a more constructive fashion. Twenty years of chasing down obscure leads in two-street villages and cities must have seemed so opposite to how he intended to live. But a Malkieri’s word is his bond, and he held to his task for two decades, finally rescuing a handful of Emond’s Fielders from the Shadow, leading them to the Blight, where he finally got another taste of the destiny that awaited him, a man vs. Blight showdown to the death.  Lan’s quest mirrored Rand’s own in The Eye of the World, and the tales of Malkier and Manetheren formed Rand into the man he needed to be to defeat Ba’alzamon. As I have postulated before, while Lan’s mentorship enhanced Rand’s manhood and battle prowess, he also led Rand astray, forming an idea in Rand’s mind that he alone could face the Dark One, and that he must do it alone, with as little help as possible. Rand still isn’t completely over that attitude, and neither is Lan.

Since leaving the Eye of the World, Lan has given cursory advice to the boys, but has had no character to speak of. Moiraine passed his bond as though he were a tool, not a man. Moiraine’s death compelled him to seek out Myrelle, who was able to save him from death by despair. Sent to Ebou Dar to help Nynaeve, he represented no more than her just reward for finally breaking her block by surrendering. He has been part of the décor, acting out his role, but had little say in anything, including the choice of where he goes. Lan recognizes that he is of little use when a hundred thousand Trollocs tear across the fields. He can’t advise Rand, he can’t fight Rand’s enemies. Rand has outgrown his need for Lan.

So, Lan grumbles that someone should be doing something in the Borderlands to prepare for the Last Battle. Nynaeve says that is his duty, while hers lies with protecting Rand from Alivia. She unselfishly grants him his long-standing wish to march into the Blight, to fight the Shadow. But, she selfishly dumps him as far from his ultimate destination as she can, to give him a chance to gather allies. Free from all past restrictions, Lan is his own man for the first time since New Spring, twenty years earlier. His quest parallels Rand’s, and there is a good chance that events surrounding Lan in A Memory of Light will be written to show what doesn’t work, to raise tension, to give examples foreshadowing Rand’s potential fate.

Verin’s letter sets a precedent for Lan’s departure. The rationale that she can serve Rand better elsewhere could easily have come from Lan, and saves a lengthier explanation on his part. The idea that followers can pick up and leave has been established, so it is natural that any other followers who can serve better elsewhere will also go, and readers will immediately understand why without having to explain it all over again. Placing these two departures in the same chapter highlights the utility of this technique.

Rand has seriously started talking about the Last Battle, making last-ditch attempts to reach terms with the Seanchan so he can focus on his ultimate task. The hundred-thousand strong hordes of Trollocs he fought at Algarin’s manor heralds the Last Battle. Aside from a handful of Saldaean soldiers, Rand’s meager forces took no losses in a battle greater than any seen in centuries. They were dispatched as though a mere nuisance. The scale of conflict has been magnified, yet it was treated as a minor skirmish, like the regular Shadowspawn attacks that used to peck at Rand in the Aiel Waste. Treating an epic event in a decidedly un-epic fashion leaves plenty of room to ramp up the emotion for the real Last Battle.

Rand saw obstreperous drunks being thrown out of inns and taverns in the early morning, in Tear. Obstreperous means noisy, boisterous and unruly. The word itself feels unruly, reflecting its meaning. Authors must feel happy to use a word so poetically.

Rand’s ta’veren aura ends the rebellion in Tear within an hour of his arrival. The various rebellions in the kingdoms he rules have served the purpose of showing that people always try to wriggle out of complete obedience, even though Rand attempts to have it from his followers. Guards who protect an empty room because Rand wasn’t precise that it was Callandor they were guarding, not the room itself, demonstrate the flaws in Rand’s ideal servants. Weiramon once again shows that if Rand tries to do everything himself, he won’t get anything done for want of continually having to place everyone back where he wants them.  Those examples are done now, the focus is moving to Arad Doman, a chaotic place where no law exists, where Rand will try to stamp out lawlessness with an enormous influx of manpower. The battle with Lews Therin over Rand’s mind and body, the willful attitudes Rand is displaying, the chaos in Arad Doman, and the imminent Last Battle all mirror and represent each other to some extent. As in the early books, Robert Jordan is back to having the locale serve the character’s story.

Writing Lessons:

Treat events with the emotional intensity you want the story to have at that point, not because they happen to be pivotal or grandiose.

The Wheel of Time - Act 2 - Books 4-9

Treating The Wheel of Time as one long novel, the Books from The Shadow Rising to Winter’s Heart make up Act 2. This is the middle of the story, where we expect to find conflict and a growing problem that the heroes can’t solve, leading into the conclusion of the story in which victory is achieved.

The Shadow Rising picks up with Rand having accepted that he is mankind’s saviour. He sets out determined to act out his role, only if he can do it without guidance or prodding. He rejects help from Moiraine, preferring to set out where his parentage leads: to the Aiel waste. With the help of Lanfear, he gains leadership over the Aiel and captures a Forsaken to teach him. Lanfear later strikes out at Rand in jealousy, and he loses his mentors.

Rand becomes a leader, and builds an army of soldiers and male channelers. He learns that followers have more say over the leader than the other way around. His arrogance leads him to make a mistake that gets him kidnapped. His treatment hardens him, and he grows ever more protective of his emotions. He resolves to firmly impose his will over both enemies and followers. For a time he appears to succeed, leaving dead Forsaken and wrecked armies wherever he goes. Eventually, the people he constrains wiggle free or fight back, reinforcing his attitude. Rand is well on his way to becoming a tyrant.

At this late juncture new potential mentors appear, Cadsuane and Sorilea, who see that a saviour who imposes his will is not much better than the Dark One. Their challenge is to save Rand from himself, before it is too late. At the last, Rand stumbles into a trap of his own making, yet recovers enough to gain Cadsuane’s help. He cleanses the taint, metaphorically erasing his past mistakes, but the question remains what path will he follow?

The villain Ishamael has returned in a new body, naming himself Moridin. He reveals his plan to be not to try control Rand yet. A board game serves as a metaphor for controlling Rand. It can be as dangerous to hold Rand as to let your opponent hold him. Moridin has cast doubt in Rand’s mind, now he plans to sit back while the heroes fulfill those doubts and set Rand’s path towards the Shadow. The only hitch so far is Rand’s cleansing of saidin, a danger so great to the Dark One that all the Forsaken were commanded to stop it even if Rand is killed in the doing.

The cleansing of the taint is the single most important event to happen in the world, opening up the possibility of men and women working together to defeat the Dark One, and acting as the opening blow of the Last Battle. As a pivotal moment, it makes a logical place to end Act 2.

Robert Jordan deftly creates obstacles of character, making the heroes’ choices directly responsible for how events play out. Nowhere is this clearer than with the battle for Rand’s identity, where his most personal defining choices dictate the fate of the world.

Supporting characters have been propelled into positions of leadership throughout Act 2. Elayne, Egwene, Mat and Perrin have assumed the responsibilities of leadership without going through the difficulties that Rand has created for himself. Notably absent is Nynaeve, who acts as Rand’s protector and conscience, disposing of threats to him, and she therefore has no leadership duties to assume.

All of the characters have had romantic interests identified and the majority have cemented them. Where stories frequently are resolved by acquiring the romantic interest, the fact that this story has tied most of them up this early may signify that the most important role of the relationship is to make men and women work together, like saidar and saidin. Resolving the romance at the end of the story would be counterproductive in achieving this goal.

The World of Dreams, Tel’aran’rhiod, is a place where identity and force of will shape reality. The early part of Act 2 had a heavy focus on this realm which was conspicuously absent in later books. This is distraction on the author’s part, diverting the reader’s attention from the possibilities of its powers until their eventual use in the final act.

Several of the books made use of a magical item or spell in the climax of a plotline, such as the Bowl of the Winds, balefire, a’dam, or the Choedan Kal, but these are far less obvious quests than in the earlier books of the series.

The broadened cast of characters and more frequent use of minor characters’ viewpoints greatly expand the world. Readers understand that the whole world is at stake, because they are exposed to the entire world and its myriad cultures. This wider tapestry has the side effect of bogging down the story a bit; most often when the readers can’t see how a scene affects the characters they have been following for so long.

The story carries the best pacing and enjoyment when readers are treated to several chapters in a row featuring the same locale before jumping to a different one.

Continuing the theme of American fantasy, the books of Act 2 reflect a far less certain time, reminiscent of the Vietnam era and its outcome, and the internal conflict it created.  Rand and America have stepped forward to claim the privileges of adulthood, and then made an apparent bungle of things with hardened arrogance and ego, the type of errors in judgment such as any young man might make. These events are part of the modern American mythology, along with the self-questioning that comes with it. These books are about the search not only for what outcomes are right, but what actions are right to reach them.

A Crown of Swords - Chapters 18-20

In this section major new characters are introduced.

There is always a difficulty when introducing major characters late in the story. It can appear they come out of nowhere, that they haven’t earned the reader’s respect as the beloved heroes have who were there from the beginning. Cadsuane is such a character.

Over the next several books, Cadsuane will constantly be at Rand’s side, alternately aiding or destabilizing him. She is established as a mentor character, keeper of knowledge that Rand may need to deal with his madness. This is revealed by way of describing the number of men she has gentled and her familiarity with Rand’s darkest secret. She knows of what she speaks. Rand has been without a mentor since Asmodean’s and Moiraine’s deaths and his foray into leadership on his own ended with his kidnapping.

Cadsuane’s introduction is sudden and awkward.

“An Aes Sedai has come to see the Car’a’carn.” She managed to sound cold and uncertain at the same time. “Her name is Cadsuane Melaidhrin.” A strikingly handsome woman swept in right behind her, iron-gray hair gathered in a bun atop her head and decorated with dangling golden ornaments, and it seemed everything happened at once.

Several legendary Aes Sedai have been mentioned in scenes with Egwene and Siuan. There was plenty of opportunity to tell the reader that Cadsuane is a person of power and repute, and to tell why. New Spring had not yet been published at this time, but following a chronological reading as I’ve done with this blog, readers may remember her, and they may even remember that Moiraine thought she must be Black Ajah.  By bringing her into the story with no prior introduction, the intent is to leave the reader as uncertain as Rand as to her identity and motives.

 “I thought you were dead,” Annoura gasped, eyes nearly staring out of her head.

With this line, the author conveys that Cadsuane is an oddity, and remarkable enough to shock the normally unflappable Annoura.

Merana darted through the ward, hands outstretched. “No, Cadsuane!” she screamed. “You mustn’t harm him! You must not!”

Merana perceives the threat to Rand to be sufficiently great that she disobeys his orders, which she should only be able to do if the need to serve him by keeping him alive clearly outweighs the need to stand in the corner. She knows what Rand is capable of and still sees Cadsuane as a threat to him. The immediacy of the danger is disorienting to the reader.

Having established that Cadsuane is a match for Rand and his Asha’man, we are also shown that she is completely calm and in control of the situation. The male channelers hold no fear for her, since she has been hunting male channelers so long she has captured more of them than any handful of Red Ajah combined. We soon learn from her own point of view that centuries have passed since she last encountered a task she could not perform.  No, the Asha’man truly do not worry her. She is probably the most powerful woman in the world in terms of ability and rank, and only her respect for an Amyrlin might make her follow that woman. She’s rumoured to have publicly disagreed with even Amyrlins on occasion.

She refers to the vileness after the Aiel War – the context infers it is probably the illegal gentling of men by the Red Ajah that has been hidden for twenty years. Alviarin and Elaida discussed this topic in the prologue. This and a few other clues tell us that Cadsuane has a moderate respect for the law, but she would toss aside law and custom to get what she wants.

What she wants is to stop him from being influenced or upset in the wrong way, the epitome of which was Elaida’s kidnapping attempt. This is the first overt discussion of Rand’s mood and mindset as a plot point, although Egwene has made reference to it as well. Once again, the physical obstacles of Tarmon Gai’don have become less important than the personality and character-related obstacles, and the true battlefield will be fought over Rand’s heart.

Elsewhere, Sevanna has realized she can’t get at Rand without help. What the Aes Sedai cannot provide, Sammael might. Sammael is playing a trick on the Shaido, and they are falling for it. Sammael is playing a trick on Graendal, and she has fallen for it. This trickery was a theme for Lord of Chaos, and the theme of this book –the relationships between leaders and followers- somewhat overlaps with it. The unresolved plotlines of Lord of Chaos make these two books halves of a whole.

A second mystery character shows up. Like Cadsuane, this watcher in the woods seems to be more powerful than his counterparts among the Forsaken, having abilities beyond even theirs. He fears a pair of Forsaken no more than Cadsuane feared the Asha’man. Because Cadsuane has already made her appearance, the watcher’s sudden arrival seems less disruptive and more natural. This despite the fact that there has been no prior indication of a new super-villain walking the world. Shaidar Haran was as close as it came. The resurrection of dead villains is a fine trick for the Dark One to play on his enemies, touching on the twin themes of trickery and the question of who the leader really is.

Writing Lessons:

Prepare the reader when you are introducing major new characters who will figure prominently, unless you have a good reason not to.

The Shadow Rising - Chapters 8-12

In this section, the Heroes make plans.

Rand’s plan is coming together. This time he is the one who points out the books he has been studying. Two references to the titles and Rand’s plan is like a hammer over the reader’s head. The reader is told ‘these are the clues’ but must still guess their significance on their own. A deeper mystery would not announce the clues so blatantly. The author may draw attention to a small mystery in order to focus attention away from another one that he does not want the reader to focus on yet.  

Lanfear begins the process of telling Rand about the Forsaken, saidin, and the past. Since there are no modern characters which can easily fill the role of knowledgeable mentor on these topics, Lanfear and Ba’alzamon have filled this role. Rand gives an indication of having another source of information, when he seems to know something about Lanfear from the past. Given that he seems able to pull weaves out of thin air, it may not be surprising that he can pull facts out of thin air as well. By setting precedents, a new ability that appears to be a slight modification of existing ones seems more plausible. This recollection of a long past event will serve as a precedent for more detailed memories that Rand will remember later in the story. The author drags out the development of this ability as slowly as possible.

Rand gets two insights from Lanfear: Callandor must be kept safe, and he needs a teacher.

Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne must make their own plan, settling on Tanchico and the rumour of an object that is dangerous to Rand. The sense of evil pervading the city might be an indication of the Black Ajah’s presence. This only seems likely if it is due to the actions the Panarch is carrying out under the Black Ajah’s influence. If you could sense evil in tel’aran’rhiod based on the presence of Black Ajah, then the White Tower itself would suffer the same miasma from the hordes of Blacks walking its halls.

Elayne’s plan is to spend as much time with Rand as possible. She succeeds brilliantly, with some help from Aiel who find helping them find private moments a fun way to spend their time. Many readers complain about the unlikely romance, but it feels right to me. At first sight, they find each other attractive, spend some time apart, and when opportunity knocks they seize it, like typical teenagers. The unlikely part is that Elayne would have found the second opportunity to meet Rand. The fact that he is the Dragon Reborn, and leader of a nation now makes the romance possible, and much more palatable than whatever other arranged marriage might have come her way. Despite being a teenager, Elayne recognizes a good political marriage when she sees it. She’s in love at first sight, but she’s already lining it up so that the romance has a chance in the upscale world her mother controls, and Morgase is a master at the Game of Houses. Deciding that she is willing to risk her mother’s wrath is a significant commitment on Elayne’s part, one she would not undertake if it had no hope of success.

Egwene’s plan is to seek out a teacher. Amys invites her to the Aiel Waste to become a pupil, and Egwene’s thirst for knowledge and desire to get away from Nynaeve and follow her own path coincide with this opportunity nicely. There is a brilliant one sentence summary of everything Egwene knows about tel’aran’rhiod so far: A woman could be killed there, or stilled. Any other rules have, to the best of my knowledge, been followed consistently up until this point in the story. Some other readers will dispute this and point to the ‘new’ rules being introduced. It is only now that the impermanence of everyday objects is brought to the reader’s attention. In past visits, either the environment was established by a villain, or the visit was in a locale where not much ever moved, such as in the dungeons of the Stone of Tear, where doors are always shut and locked.

Mat’s plan is to fill the holes in his memory, and escape the dangers he sees so he can enjoy a life of carousing. Those who know him best see through his guile. He very nearly finds the redstone doorway, but simply in searching for it readers are reminded of it. Someone is going to walk through it.

Perrin’s plan is to get Faile away from danger. Like Rand, he dislikes others he cares about being in danger simply from being around him, as though they didn’t freely choose to take that risk. The idea that someone is free to decide what risks they will take and to apply this in a relationship of equals recurs often in the story. It’s how Elayne views her relationship with Rand, it’s how Egwene wants her relationship with Nynaeve to be.

We will later learn who killed Joiya and Amico. The observation that the Shadow has resources beyond what they know is meant to serve as a fearsome introduction to that resource, when he appears later in the book. Perhaps it is simply that no more than a throwaway line was spent on this, which explains why this tactic did not work. It will take a direct admission to their murder 4 books from now to make the link. I never understood why it had to be an unknown resource, when any old Myrddraal could have appeared in their cell and killed them. The mystery and concern would have been better served with an additional line or two about why it couldn’t be any of the known Shadowspawn, or even a Forsaken for that matter.

We will also later learn who was behind the Trollocs and Myrddraal aiding Rand in the Stone of Tear. This event served to remind readers that the Forsaken all follow slightly different objectives. Some may aid Rand just to prevent other Forsaken from getting the upper hand. In this case, orders to protect Rand and end the Trolloc threat came from the Dark One himself, though it will be books later that this is learned.

For each of these scenes, an element of mystery is added, and they serve to remind or tell readers something important.

Writing Lessons:  

Placing an element of immediate interest can distract the reader from another story element you don’t want them to pay too close attention to.

The Dragon Reborn - Chapters 44-48

In this section, Perrin evades great danger, Mat sets out to rescue the Black Ajah hunters, and an argument has Egwene and Nynaeve at loggerheads.

Perrin mentions that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, tying Faile to his side even tighter. Were it not for Moiraine’s urgent need to flee and save their own skins, Nieda and Faile might have been disposed of to keep that secret. Darkhounds cannot be outrun, so Moiraine uses balefire to undo them before their abilities are revealed. It is important that Moiraine use balefire now, so that its later use won’t seem contrived. She says balefire hasn’t been used in two thousand years, which is a millennium after the voluntary cease-balefire called in the War of Power. Was it last used against the Shadowspawn that overran Manetheren?

Moiraine also determined that the Gray Men trying to kill Perrin were not sent by Sammael, so responsibility falls back to Be’lal or Ba’alzamon. Ba’alzamon is the one who knows who all Rand’s allies are and wants to distance them from his side. Mat is just as much of a problem, so the assassins pursuing him are determined, if not up to the challenge.

Mat finds all the same cues as the others regarding the presence of a Forsaken, but lacks the means to figure it out. He makes up for it by luckily stumbling upon a plot to kill Elayne, rather than let her fall into Be’lal’s hands. Egwene’s dreams also tell that the Forsaken are all focused on their own plots, some pushing Rand, some trying to stop him, some consolidating power. Gaebril is one of those ignoring Rand for now, but his path to power is made easier with Elayne’s death, and complicated if she is held by another Forsaken. Somehow, Mat’s acting ability never works on his friends, yet Gaebril swallows Mat’s tale, publicly. Just to be safe, he would have put Mat to the question, but Morgase’s intervention delays it long enough for Mat to make a trademark run for the hills before anyone realizes he’s gone.

In Egwene’s dream, Mat is dicing with the Dark One, not simply Ba’alzamon, but the wager he makes is with Gaebril, the alias adopted by Rahvin. The dream must therefore be about Mat’s evasion of the assassins, implying they were sent by Ba’alzamon, or refer to a larger scale game he is unwittingly playing against Ba’alzamon.

Morgase is supposed to be one of the greatest players of the Game of Houses, yet now, and later, the Compulsion she has suffered at Rahvin’s hands will quash her confidence or her talent, or both.

Most of the interactions between characters so far in the series have centered on themes of trust. Who can be trusted, and how much. There have been frequent mentor relationships between the experienced characters and the newlings. Now Egwene’s building frustration with Nynaeve’s dominance is driving a wedge between the Black Ajah hunters. To complete her story arc, she will have to escape from under Nynaeve’s guidance and set her own path.

Elayne, caught in the middle, has been intelligent enough to solve several puzzles, compassionate towards both her friends, favored the best suggestions put forth by either of the girls, and kept her composure through it all since the hunt began. Egwene’s snippiness finally irritates her enough that she slaps Egwene across the face. Her reasonable explanation, since she always has one, is that Egwene’s selfish actions may expose them to unwanted risks.

The story can be developed by character as well as by plot. Each of the three women has distinctive traits that must be adhered to. Nynaeve is courageous, quick to anger, and a bully. She has needed to be completely independent her entire life. Elayne has had the advantages of an incredibly full education, is accustomed to having her decisions heeded, and has never had to strive for anything but her mother’s happiness. Egwene has had a warm upbringing, but is tired of living in the shadow of others, which is the source of her great determination. By finding the natural ways in which these traits are incompatible, story possibilities are opened up. The Wheel of Time’s attention to this sort of interaction, particularly with regard to its female characters, helped it stand out from other fantasy novels, which have the sad reputation of being very boy-oriented.

Writing lessons:

 It’s not all plot! Look for ways to play each character’s traits off each other.

The Great Hunt - Chapters 10-12

In this section, the quest, the Great Hunt, gets underway.

With no friends speaking to Rand, his mentors gone in a different direction, and his love interest perhaps never to be seen again, the stakes seem particularly high for Rand as he undertakes this quest. The dual quests, one for friendship, the other for glory, will be undertaken together, even as success in one may oppose the other. I particularly like the way these two motives leave Rand no choice but to chase after the villains, it is a powerful setup, a classic heroic quest.

Little clues indicate that retrieving the Horn is the greater of the quests. The description of humankind’s fate to be swept away by darkness without something to rally around provides a deeper understanding of the fractures between the nations of men, and gives a strong rationale for Ingtar’s drive and insistence.

Mat realizes Rand is not as stuck up as believed, and is determined to help heal him. Despite Rand’s apparent benevolence, Perrin and Mat give Rand similar advice: run away. Perrin adds, maybe he should also consider what to do if he can’t run. Rand’s options for running get fewer as Moiraine sneaks the Dragon Banner in his saddlebags and contrives for Rand to earn some leadership experience to prepare him for becoming king of Illian.

Moiraine, Fain, and Lanfear all seek to herd Rand in the direction they want. If Moiraine and Fain have the most control as the Hunt begins, Lanfear soon finds a way to get Rand on his own to offer him her own incentives. She spends some time tracking the party, and weaves a small trap to test Rand’s ability to channel saidin. Merely touching saidin is enough to break free.

Unlike the previous book, where Rand was unable to form the void properly, Lan’s training helps him perfect the ability, an ability that will help him touch saidin more easily. The Amyrlin showed some alarm about the void, or the Oneness, as the Gaidin call this common focusing technique, perhaps because she understood it might facilitate his channeling. The void has an added benefit: it masks Rand from Fain’s senses. Nothing else Rand was doing can explain his vanishing from the bloodhound senses Ba’alzamon bestowed on him. It also gives a clue as to how Fain can be eluded. Within the void, Rand feels no emotion. Does emotion play a special role in the battle between Light and Dark? Does the Oneness represent anything beyond centeredness and self-knowledge?

Fain’s struggle for control of himself, and the resulting battle for control with the Myrddraal, left a jagged trail across the countryside. Even if the Myrddraal was placed in command, Fain quickly overthrew its authority. The spirit of Mordeth gives him vast knowledge, great charisma, and apparent immunity to Shadowspawn powers, such that the Myrddraal managed only short periods of control over the Darkfriends and Trollocs. Fain is the ‘something worse’ that should have been evident to the reader before the increasingly disturbing clues are found. Since we already knew that Fain was as bad as they come, and gave clues about Mordeth’s cohabitation of his body, the payoff for this suspense had to come quickly. The sycophantic bleatings of the Darkfriends blend in well with the sounds of Trolloc slaughter of innocents, which might tell readers what the author thinks of self-preservation over duty and honour.

In a similar fashion as in the Eye of the World, learning about saidar provides clues, perhaps the only ones possible given the cast of characters, as to what the reader can expect Rand to go through as he too learns to channel the One Power.

In another similarity to the Eye of the World, three characters act as potential mentors, each with different degrees of trustworthiness: Moiraine, acting with too much secrecy and sneakiness to maintain the trust of the Emond’s Fielders; Verin, whose mannerisms and quirks may make her more appealing to those who have come to mistrust Moiraine; and Liandrin, untrustworthy but cloaked in the same veil of authority as the other two Aes Sedai.

There have been more Aiel references already than in the entire last book. The reader now expects Rand to get confirmation he is Aiel, and to learn more about these born killers. How close is the Waste from here?

Many of the channeling sections in this book and the previous one left readers confused, partly because we have no frame of reference to know this is channeling, partly because they are written to portray the confusion of the characters. I’ll analyze the infamous House of Flies scene:

We’ve already had one abandoned village where a woman in white mysteriously disappeared. They say Uno is jumping at curtains. A second abandoned village is entered. Curtains beat in an open window. The curtains are a cue to the reader to make the association with the previous village, to note that the situation is exactly the same, so they should expect… a woman in white who can’t be found. Instead, when Rand enters the dining room…

He blinks, and sees a scene from the recent past.

He blinks, and is in the present, cold, with louder flies on the table.

He blinks, and the scene from the past repeats.

He blinks, and is in the present, colder, with a lot more flies on the table. He seeks the void.

He blinks, and the scene from the past repeats.

He blinks, and is freezing, flies crawl into his mouth. He touches saidin.

The weave is destroyed.

It won’t be until Egwene dreams of the Woman in White a chapter later that the reader can confirm any suspicion that she was involved in the House of Flies scene.

This technique of gradual revelation builds suspense. It allows for a quick build-up as seen here, or a camouflaged longer term build-up as when Rand gradually began to channel in the Eye of the World. First, a danger is mentioned; second, a strong reminder; third, an immediate threat. A similar example is the unseen eyes on Rand, then Liandrin, and finally a fleeting image of the owner of those eyes. It’s like a variant of a joke in which you repeat the principal situation twice, and the listener knows that the third time you say it will be the time something funny happens. The material between each bit of revelation is less important than the space it provides between them, so that it is not as obvious as in the joke that there will be a third time, when the third time will be, and that a noteworthy event will take place on the third time.

Writing Lessons:

Some techniques to use for building suspense or laying groundwork for a future payoff are: repetition, gradual revelation, distraction using surrounding material, and spacing.