A Memory of Light - Chapters 38-43

In this section, in the most critical scene of the book, Rand can’t win by himself

Rand sees Lan fall, reinforcing the fact of his apparent death. Through Egwene’s voice, he is reminded that the responsibility was not his, it belonged to Lan himself. Rand could easily have imagined Egwene’s voice in his head, but her recent death adds some doubt as to its nature. Rand changes the purpose of his list of names, from one of victims, to one of heroes, who died for causes they believed to be noble. Relieved of guilt, he finds his strength returned.

Just as Rand is no longer pridefully taking responsibility for the actions of others, the author flips back to the battlefield as the Sharan princess shrieks that Bao the Wyld is dead. The six line interjection reveals little, its main purpose is in the symbolism of Rand’s pride being removed, since Demandred embodied pride. 

Refusing to give in, ever, Rand begins to see the Dark One for what he really is. The Dark One’s attacks lost meaning. If they could not make him yield, if they could not make him relent, then what were they? The author breaks Rand’s confrontation into very short sections, shuffling them between other perspectives which ever so slowly reveal what is happening. Rapid flashes between characters works well to slow down the action at this critical juncture, and may not have worked so well with the traditional Robert Jordan long section in a single point of view. Could the traditional Robert Jordan long section approach even have been used for the Last Battle? Or would he have opted for breaks as shown here, mimicking the breakdown of the Pattern itself?

With Demandred dead, Mat raises a cheer for Malkier, which the soldiers eagerly take up. The Sharans are stunned by the news, and the heroes have a resurgence of hope.

Rand’s voice switches to all caps, an indication that he is now on even footing with the Dark One. Adding in a few explanatory details to tie up loose ends, he states that even though the story has centered on him, it is really about all of his friends and acquaintances, about everyone. It is about their common desire to fight on no matter the circumstances, to stand when they should be broken. The Dark One taunts Rand with Lan’s death. Rand holds the whole world in his hands as his conflict magnifies its focus on Merrilor.

Mat strains to gain an upper hand, and hears the Dark One in his head. The Dark One’s titles for the heroes attempt to diminish them, and continue to show the overriding pessimism in his every thought and action. Arganda mirrors that pessimism with his perpetual negative outlook. Mat has never had a better chance to win this, he just needs an opening to give him some momentum.

Rand tells the Dark One he is wrong…

Olver raises the Horn to his lips…

Mat hears Rand’s voice now too. Everyone can hear it. Three critical and emotionally resounding elements combine: Rand shouts “That man still fights!”, Lan rises with Demandred’s severed head, and  the Horn Of Valere resounds across the battlefield. It is a potent combination and is likely the core scene that everything else was built to support during the writing of the book.

For a brief moment, Elayne remains in peril, until Birgitte returns to save her. Her perfectly timed arrival is heralded by an arrow to Mellar’s chest followed by another to the head. She announces the arrival of the Heroes, and it feels awesome.

Mat takes advantage of any superstitious or cowardly hesitation on the part of the Shadow to lead a charge. The contrast between humanity’s desire to fight even unto death and the Trollocs’ instinctive desire to avoid death helps explain away much of the battle’s details. Any parts which get skipped over can be explained by a stereotyping statement which the reader is all too eager to embrace, as they are riding high on a wave of relief and excitement. Mat meets Hawkwing, swears at him, laments women like Nynaeve, and leers at a female Hero, all in keeping with his character even as the inner workings of Horn sounding are explained.

Noal comes back for Olver, providing a warm response to all the loss and death. He had lost so many people, but one of them… one… had come back for him. This links directly back to the idea that when both Manetheren and Malkier fell, no one had come to their aid. Olver’s salvation shows that this time, help came, and that made all the difference.

Elayne joins the fight against the Darkfriends, and following a brief attempt to keep her out of the larger battle, she and Birgitte go to battle, together. Birgitte is overjoyed her memories have returned.

Aviendha meets Elyas as the Wild Hunt streams into the valley. Before she can gather channelers to repel the Darkhounds, she senses Graendal and summons Cadsuane and Amys. Outnumbered and outmatched by Graendal’s circle, it is Aviendha’s original ability to stalk silently that protects her until her allies arrive.

Elayne joins the fight waving a sword to little effect other than the inspiration it offers her soldiers. By putting herself in danger and taking up the battle directly, as one of them, her soldiers feel they have no choice but to return to the fray.

Demandred’s death is the card upon which Mat is ready to bet everything. He still faces ten to one odds in numbers, but the enemy is in disarray. Mat faces a desperate fight to push the Sharans off the heights into the Trollocs below, and just as he most needs them, the Seanchan join the fight, flying through Gateways in the air to assault the Shadow below and marching in rhythm onto the Heights. Having Mat imagine and predict the Seanchan movements once gain saves the author from having to explain or show it in any detail.  A mysterious detail is presented, leaving the reader to wonder what other trick Mat has in store.

Grady follows Mat’s orders without understanding them. His Gateway to Hinderstap allows the same people, cursed by a bubble of evil, to make use of that very curse to surprise their foes. With the Dreadlords down, Grady bursts the dam, releasing the river Mora.

Androl wants to hunt the Dreadlords instead of pursuing Logain’s quest for sa’angreal. He and Pevara concoct a plan.

Moghedien impersonates Demandred to rally the Sharans, having apparently practiced impersonating each of the other Forsaken, which explains several peculiar orders from Forsaken throughout the series. Moghedien now has full access to the True Power, and uses her advantage by ordering the death of the meekest and weakest on the field of battle.  A gateway opens and Dragons fire on her.

Talmanes enjoys firing dragons to kill the Trollocs from a hidden location.

At Shayol Ghul, the storm is out of control, unleashing lightning on friend and foe alike. The fabric of reality is breaking down as a grand bubble of evil envelops the valley. Aviendha notices Trollocs fighting each other and an odd mist which heralds Padan Fain. The clouds above form the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, and other impossible signs portend Rand’s conquest of his foe. As she creeps towards Graendal, she is attacked and kills her foe Rhuarc, seeming to contradict her earlier belief that any of her former allies would rather die than be used by the Shadow.

Dreadlords bicker amongst themselves and are tricked into following Androl’s imitation of Rand into a stedding. Mishraile expresses the only overt sexism that I can recall in the series, scoffing at the notion that a woman could be placed above him when the entire world is rife with examples of women leading men.

The Ogier will attempt a few decades of stedding-derived therapy to rehabilitate their new captives. Returning to the battlefield,  Androl and his friends find Trollocs slaughtering refugees and wounded.

Aviendha recovers from the shock of killing her former clan chief. Aviendha is wounded as she leaps into the air and plunges her spear into Graendal’s side, disappearing along with her as she Travels.

Logain feels threatened and seeks a sa’angreal to keep him powerful, and feels intense paranoia that others are trying to tear him down. Androl tells him of the Trollocs slaughtering the weak. Logain must choose between gaining strength or protecting the weak.

Mat watches the Trolloc horde get split by the river, then decimated by Seanchan and resurgent armies, as he battles alongside the Heroes of the Horn. For about a page, the text feels like an omniscient narrator describing the entire field of battle, no matter where Mat was standing at the moment. Because the focus is exclusively on military matters and takes place in a Mat perspective, it is a little easier to accept. Had it been written from any other perspective than Mat’s or Rand’s, it would stand out even more as a large deviation from the accepted form of third person limited narrator.

Mat asks Artur Hawkwing to speak with Tuon on his behalf while he goes to Rand’s aid. Perfectly placed punchline at the end of the section.

Rand speaks in all caps, like the Dark One, and reveals that nobility will always beat him, that death is no threat, and that he has never inspired love in any one. The Dark One sputters in response. Rand hurls himself into the blackness to bring Shai’tan’s death.

Aviendha can barely fend off Graendal. Isolated from her allies, she is able to open a Gateway before Graendal takes control of the situation, cutting off Aviendha’s possible attempt to kill herself before being enthralled by Compulsion. Graendal isn’t in great shape, but Aviendha can’t even keep hold of her belt knife.

Writing Lessons:

Design your story around the most important scenes.

A Crown of Swords - Chapters 29-32

In this section, followers become leaders, and the wishes of several characters come true

Elayne has finally had enough of being ignored by the other Aes Sedai. No one has truly accepted that she is Aes Sedai, and so she has not been taught what most women learn upon gaining the shawl, including the secret of the Kin’s existence. She challenges the Aes Sedai to either deny that she is Aes Sedai which would imply they deny Egwene and the rebels as well, or to accept her as Aes Sedai which means that her strength in the Power would place her at the top rank of the rebel Aes Sedai in the Palace, other than Nynaeve.

Alviarin brings news of Rand’s escape to Elaida. The revelation of this failure could be enough to topple Elaida, so she finds herself blackmailed to protect this secret a while longer. Further disasters loom ahead, yet she is more concerned with maintaining her position than in the fate of the Aes Sedai sent after Rand or to the Black Tower. Her Foretelling about the Royal Line of Andor has convinced her that only she can lead the Aes Sedai during this tumultuous time, and she lets that supersede other concerns. Alviarin is able to exploit this and put herself in a position of unquestioned authority over Elaida. Her first priority is undermining the Ajahs’ willingness to cooperate on any venture.

Elaida then seeks out an Aes Sedai she can trust. Her criteria to determine trustworthiness is whether that person supported her when they had incentive not to. Seaine is given the task of hunting out traitors, which she mistakenly interprets as seeking out the Black Ajah. She in turn seeks out a trustworthy helper. Her criteria to determine trustworthiness is to find the person with the most incentive to hunt down the Black Ajah. As with Siuan and Moiraine’s secret hunt, Seaine almost makes the mistake of bringing a friend into the hunt, not knowing that the friend has already joined the Black Ajah.

Moghedien proves the mindtrap’s effectiveness by recklessly following an impulse to kill Nynaeve in a narrow window of opportunity. The chance to act of her own free will is limited by the chance of discovery by Moridin. She acts in a way almost opposite of what she normally would have, lashing out with no thought of danger to herself, exposed to the world instead of her normally cautious method of slow and sure steps to success. She is in effect no longer herself, the mindtrap has fundamentally changed who she is and how she acts.

This scene provides even further explanation for the mechanics of balefire. The Fires of Heaven had the most detailed explanations to date, yet it is apparent that the author wants readers to think about it some more, implying that further balefire scenes are yet to come, and comprehension will improve understanding and acceptance of the strange outcomes of those scenes.

Mat is raped by Queen Tylin. Typical rape scenes in stories are representations of a loss of control and a violation of that person. Readers may feel sympathy for the victim, or pity. It has been argued that scenes in which a man is raped effectively neuter the character in the reader’s mind. He will be perceived as less powerful and worthy of scorn or pity. In this instance the author decided to play for a humourous angle to maintain the man’s stature. First, the rape is portrayed as a bit of role reversal; this is not a man being treated unfairly, it is portrayed as a man getting the treatment he dishes out to others. However, Mat never treats women the way he is treated, he abides by the multicultural rule in the series that the woman is always in charge of deciding whether sex takes place or not. We saw a similar situation with Lan in New Spring when he had no choice but to have sex since he would not let the woman appear to be a liar. In these cultures women have the only say, whether strongly in favour of or against having sex. Second, Mat is not entirely an unwilling victim. He doesn’t mind the sex, only the manner it which it is exacted from him. There is therefore no loss of stature and no sympathy is generated as result of the rape. Lastly, the humour comes from Mat’s own lack of comprehension as to how this could be happening to him. The situation in his obtuse view is plainly ridiculous, which carries some inference that it is therefore somewhat reasonable to the reader. Every added layer of ridiculousness, from a gaggle of serving women helping in the endeavour, to the Prince’s open encouragement, only serves to increase the humour of the situation. Switch the genders of the participants, and the scenes would be unpalatable to virtually any reader.

A similar sort of situation plays out when Lan marries Nynaeve against his wishes. She plows through any resistance he offers, but his Malkieri culture compels him to marry her. He almost got roped into a marriage in New Spring simply because Edeyn declared it should happen. Fortunately, he is not unwilling to wed this particular woman, and the reader is rooting for this wedding to take place.

The marriage to Lan is Nynaeve’s reward for finally overcoming her block. Nynaeve has been working towards surrendering to circumstance, having recently learned to apologize, for example. When she finally surrenders to saidar, it represents a change in her behaviour. As soon as she does learn to surrender, the thing she wants most lands in her lap; a physical representation of how to control saidar. Tying the resolution of this romance to one of the major personality-related obstacles makes the moment when she scores all these victories rewarding for the reader.

Writing Lessons:

Consider how the scenes you write will affect the reader’s perception of the character.  

The Fires of Heaven - Summary

The Fires of Heaven introduces the almost insurmountable obstacle that the male and female heroes cannot work together.

In the series as a whole, the middle act is where a variety of obstacles are encountered. There are always external threats like villains and monsters which can be vanquished. In the previous book The Shadow Rising the heroes overcame a lack of resources to accomplish their goals, ending with Rand acquiring a teacher and an army. More insidious, and far more difficult to overcome is an obstacle that comes from within, where the Heroes very character traits work against them.

To establish the danger, there have been frequent mentions of how men and women working together in the Age of Legends performed tasks that neither could have done on their own. Since the series follows the heroines as much as the heroes, readers reasonably expect the ultimate victory over the villains to be the result of cooperation between men and women.

The Fires of Heaven effectively drives a wedge between the sexes, firming their misgivings into mistrust. Whereas differences between the sexes may have been remarked upon in a candid or humourous manner in previous books, now the criticisms are biting, intended to show chasms between them that are far greater than those between any cultures. Tension between the sexes reaches its climax when Lanfear’s jealousy exposes Rand’s unyielding patronizing sexism.

Rand can’t let women be what they want to be. Rand can’t understand the motivations of women. Rand can’t trust the powerful women in the White Tower or amongst the Wise Ones. Following Lanfear’s attack, Rand decides the only way to free himself of the burdens that he feels women place on him is to drive them away. He does this even though Nynaeve just showed him that separately they will be beaten, but together they defeated his enemies.

Several other characters also exemplify this rift. Elayne takes a female warder when they have always been male.  Siuan proves that women can’t be trusted to keep their word to men in authority. Gareth Bryne puts a metaphorical noose around his neck because he pursued a woman. Leane actively sets out to play with men’s expectations.  Poor communication between Nynaeve and various men leads to riots in Samara. Mat’s lover was hiding a dark secret. Lews Therin makes his first appearance and reminds Rand that he killed the woman he loved. Perrin is not in this book because the cooperative behaviour of the Two Rivers folk does not fit the theme of poor relations between the sexes.

The other big shift in the series is the deliberate move to mystify events, motivations, and objects. Secrets have always been present in the story, but in The Fires of Heaven the tone is different. In the previous book, readers were introduced to a host of new fantastic places and enemies. In this book, the revelations are more mundane, less magical, and are given up grudgingly. For example, Rand wonders about Aviendha’s necklace several times, even though readers know it is a friendship gift from Egwene. Asmodean’s existence is kept from everyone, and what he reveals mostly happens off-page, with hardly any emotional importance. Lews Therin’s brief appearances offered better insight than Asmodean’s. Asmodean’s murder would set off a decade of internet speculation, but the author could just as easily have named the killer on the spot since it was a detail of little plot significance. It shows a change in the tenor of the series, where information is now compartmentalized, and the author has a stronger desire to keep the reader wondering and frustrated by the lack of answers, for plotlines both big and small, relevant to the plot or not, perhaps to mirror the characters’ own emotions.

Writing Lessons:

Subtly or blatantly, every detail and event in the story can be made to fit the theme.

The Fires of Heaven - Chapters 50-52

In this section, it’s the big payoff to the pent up tension in the battle of the sexes.

The animosity between the sexes isn’t as strong here, but Elayne still gets angry at Gareth and considers the reason is something to do with his scornful treatment at Morgase’s hands. Nynaeve deals with other women, so has no men to complain about, except for when her followers all frustrate her one last time before taking jobs with Bryne’s army. Mat is set upon by Melindhra who tries to drive a knife through his heart, because some oaths are stronger than others. Min and Elayne decide they are willing to share Rand’s affection. This decision somehow convinced some fans of the sordid minds of male authors. The point of the young women’s attitude is to show they freely choose to find a solution to their relationships, and to contrast it with someone who can’t or won’t do that.

Sharing Rand is a big deal, because the emotional payoff of the book, and the battle between the sexes, comes about when Lanfear dramatically refuses to share him. Lanfear had fully intended to be the one who took his virginity, to become his carneira as the Malkieri say. Rand’s shy and honorable demeanor implied she could trust that he wouldn’t tumble any woman into a bed, and she was right. Rand believed his duty was to marry Aviendha. Lanfear wanted him to say that to her, and tie him to her forever. She really blew it.

In the end, it might not have mattered if Aviendha had in fact slept with Rand, because sharing a room and cavorting before him naked should have started sufficient rumours to reach Lanfear’s ears in any case. Given Kadere’s methods, it is likely that he correctly recognized the meaningful subtle hints between Rand and Aviendha, but there is enough circumstantial evidence he could just as easily convinced himself of it even if it weren’t true.

All of the grudging remarks on the opposite sex, all of the spiteful comments, and jokes at each other’s expense, so much more strongly displayed in this book than in any of the previous ones, is designed to lead up to this incident. Lanfear is a woman scorned, and she will kill the other woman who laid a hand on her man. This is as fierce and furious a rift between a man and a woman as is possible. Since Lanfear couldn’t be around stalking Rand through the whole book, other means had to be used to build up the expectation for the reader that men and women just can’t get along. Men will perceive Lanfear as a crazy stalker bitch, women will see her as a poacher trying to claim a man who is taken, but may sympathize with the emotions caused by infidelity.

It is the most memorable scene of the book, because it has a greater emotional punch than the later battle with Rahvin. It plays on the emotions of Rand, Aviendha, Elayne and Lanfear. Adding extra gravity to the scene, Moiraine dies to do what Rand could not, and causes Lan to be lost as well. Rand has fully matured now: he has led men, he has no mentors left, and he has had a lover.

A lot of setup for the next book is established; a new status quo: Nynaeve and Siuan are blackmailing each other, the Tower in Exile has begun preparations to resist Elaida, emissaries are on their way to meet Rand, and Rand is a ruler of nations. It is a far cry from the status quo at the beginning of this book where everyone was slowly marching somewhere.

The process of teaching people to use Tel’aran’rhiod has begun. First it was Nynaeve and Elayne, now Siuan and the Salidar rebel leaders. The Aes Sedai hardly believe the World of Dreams exists, but they are eager to exploit its possibilities.

With foreknowledge of later events, the entire question of why the rebels even exist comes to mind. In a panic, many Aes Sedai fled the Tower, and the Blues let it be known that they would gather in Salidar. Once any sister from another Ajah learned this, if they weren’t actually told outright, the word would have spread through the networks of eyes and ears. The Ajah heads hatch a plan to let the rebels enough time to cool their emotions. They send ‘Sitters’ to guide the rebels to a reunification within a few months while they guide Elaida. Elaida learns of Salidar through the Reds’ own network of spies, or from an ambitious ass-kisser, or from the Blacks who are aiming for the opposite of the Ajah Heads, which is to keep the division deep and lasting. Elaida sends her own agents to bend the rebels into submission, one of whom is in the small council overseeing Salidar. Thom and Juilin describe pulling down Elaida as madness, so how does the rebellion get off the ground?

Into the seemingly sensible Ajah head plans entered Siuan, with her own plan to overthrow Elaida. The Blacks in Salidar latch onto her claims, hoping to keep the rebels rebellious. Readers know next to none of any of this, and will learn most of it in 4-6 books from now. Yet it was conceived and planned by the author at about this time. First, he had to establish a familiar structure, so he introduced the council, with one member from each Ajah, and Sheriam who is the link to the deposed regime, and currently has no Ajah of her own since she is Mistress of Novices. This is the only important detail to convey to readers: it is a mirror of the White Tower, with all the same structure and relationships.

The question of how to break cuendillar is raised again, and even though I have the answer, I am saving it for an epic theory, coming soon.

Writing Lessons:

Guide the reader into an unfamiliar situation by establishing some familiar touchstones they can use as reference points.

The Fires of Heaven - Chapters 43-46

In this section, Rand and Mat go through the biggest battle since Hawkwing’s time, from beginning to end.

The section continues the alternating points of view, from Rand to Mat and back to Rand again. Although Egwene is involved in the battle, the intent was to keep the focus tight on the battle leaders, not the soldiers, which is the role Egwene plays in the battle. As the battle progresses, we get to see the different emotional phases of a battle leader displayed by one or the other of the heroes or their followers:

Rand: Grim preparedness and resolve. Everyone finds their place, including Rand.

Mat: Resignation. Eagerness

Rand: Changing circumstances as battle develops. Difficulty. See the battle as a personal one.

Mat: Surprising circumstances. Take a big gamble.

Rand: Confusion. Exhaustion.

Mat. Celebration. Relief. Recovery. Desire to claim glory.

Rand: Recriminations. Blame. Learn the outcome. Distribution of rewards and spoils. Taking stock of cost. Learn that the battle is larger than you, you are only human.

This was the first major battle fully described not with such a focus on the scale of the battle. Tarwin’s Gap lasted a page or two; the large scale battle in Falme was over in a few pages; The Stone of Tear was taken in a chapter; Perrin’s skirmishes in the Two Rivers ended with a ten-page battle. For the biggest battle since Hawkwing’s time, the author felt that a proportional amount of time should be spent building up to and describing this battle.

 While Rand contrives to meet Couladin in battle, Mat is eventually the one who faces him, and makes it a personal battle even though he never sought it out. Lan points out that he is not the Dragon Reborn, the world does not rest on his shoulders, so he can act with machismo and go into battle and take risks. How can Rand acknowledge that yet still feel he has the respect of men with so much bravado? He is caught in a mental trap of his own making. Elaida, even Moiraine would keep him as far from danger as possible, while Rand is sure the Aiel and Lan will only follow if he puts himself in danger.

Mat’s battle with Couladin is described in a brief one-paragraph flashback. The first time I read it, I felt cheated. Why would this pivotal and exciting battle not be shown? The answer is that it is not pivotal. The outcome of the battle did not turn on Couladin living or dying. The point was to show the scope, drama, and emotion of a large-scale battle. Couladin symbolized nothing of that. His head hanging from a pole does symbolize some sort of futility, the unimportance of one man in such a large conflict, which is more in line with the author’s intent.

The Maidens want the freedom to die in the way they choose. Rand still gets all soft-hearted about women, and maintains his sexism that women should be protected from danger. He cannot even order a woman to her death. It is as realistic a weakness as is possible, and as dangerous to him as can be, since some of the people trying to kill him are women. Mat shares this affliction and he’d prefer to face hordes of Shaido than one disgruntled Melindhra. At least he can fight back against another man.

As Rand changes customs, and breaks bonds, and ‘brings change to everything’, it seems he is giving freedom to everyone. Initially discomfiting, once people give up their former ways of life, they can grow accustomed to new ones, such as when the Aiel join their societies but leave their clans. I’ve pointed out that in several ‘bad’ cultures (Darkfriends, Whitecloaks, Aridhol, and Seanchan), strict adherence to rank or ideals reduces freedom to nothing. The Dragon represents freedom to choose. Ishamael’s philosophical bent reinforced the idea that choice of who to serve is an important theme. In order for people to choose freely in the Last Battle, Rand first has to destroy whatever constrains their choices now.

Mat says something with far greater meaning than his current situation. ‘Each step had seemed so small, so necessary.’ Keeping in mind the constraints characters both good and evil are under, this line covers so many situations. For example, it describes a Darkfriend’s mentality. No one becomes pure evil overnight, it is a process of tiny steps that seem insignificant, but accumulate until there is no way back, and you are trapped, just as Mat is trapped in his new role as general.

A simple sentence explains how Mat acquired a peculiar item, and explains some character traits of him and another: ‘Kin Tovere liked the dice’. Such an elegant explanation for Mat suddenly whipping a spyglass out of his pouch.

Mat feels the dice rolling on his head again, indicating a battle coming, or a gamble to be taken, for he is waiting to see which pips are showing, and whether he will win. This removes a lot of earlier interest in the question of whether his dicing with the Dark One had a more sinister explanation than that revealed in The Dragon Reborn. The dice in his head are merely symbolic of an impending battle or luck-related choice.

If Rand was so exhausted from his use of the Power in battle, did Sammael exhaust himself as well with his strike in the log tower? He had to be within range of Rand’s strikes, right? Similarly, Egwene and Aviendha are very powerful channelers compared to the other Aes Sedai. Moiraine used an angreal against Trolloc hordes but quickly exhausted herself. How useful are channelers likely to be in a battle anyway if they are so weak?  

Writing Lessons:

Is the scene you are building up to the right one? Does it need to be built up to at all? Will it work best as detailed action, or a quick summary?