Wheel Of Time Book Spoilers - Tumblr Posts

on one hand the design of Tar Valon is super cool with the island in the middle of the river and the bridges and everything. on the other hand I can't look at it without thinking Robert Jordan Absolutely Did That On Purpose

A guide to Rand al'Thor's love life, simplified:

Elayne Trakand: "I will have him for my throne." *giggles*

Aviendha: "I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I need him inside my guts right now! I hate him!"

Rand al'Thor: "Oh Min, you're the only normal woman in my life."

Min Farshaw: "I am a woman and I will have you beg for it like a dog, drooling into the carpet."

Rand al'Thor: "Why are all my relationships so terrible?"

Lews Therin Telamon: (sounding haunted) "Ilyena used to grip it with her feet like the teeth of a darkhound and leave me seeing stars. Oh light how I miss her."

Moridin: "I will see you dead." (Princess Bride narrator: "But what he meant was "I love you."")

kinda fucked up how egwene destroyed the confidence and social standing (between themselves) of a woman whom she trusted and respected, to the point that nynaeve has a massive crisis of self-confidence that may have contributed to her being beaten by moghedien, the whole deal with birgitte, and her decision to take the group to salidar and hand over her responsibilities and the threat of the forsaken in tel'aran'rhiod (though smart) in the hands of strange aei sedai who might not even support rand.

all so egwene can avoid punishment by the aiel for dreamwalking when she shouldn't be, because they would cease teaching her as per their threat, and rightly so. iirc she only ever decides that she needs to apologize for misleading them on being a full aei sedai (which is a pretty fucked up thing when everyone assumes everything you say is the whole truth, though the fact that egwene helped rand blow shit up at cairhien should've clued the aiel in that she's not bound by the three oaths like all tower trained aei sedai, and I am certain moraine must've brought that up at least once.) and only ever gets punished for her specific toh in that moment.

it is never reconciled, never apologized for, never explained, and egwene belittles nynaeve twice for almost revealing to the wise ones that she's dreamwalking. i don't think they see eachother again until egwene is in salidar and she is then raised to amyrlin seat, and then egwene places special emphasis on nynaeve not undermining her while she leads the rebel aei sedai.

worse still is how egwene's brow beating worked in preventing nynaeve from figuring out that egwene is hiding something from the aiel wise ones, especially after the blowup from egwene in front of amys, who egwene should really trust with anything said in tel'aran'rhiod, and nynaeve and elayne, who already know she's dreamwalking into elaida's study. its really emphasized a little later when nynaeve gets to salidar and shows that she's an incredibly smart person when she's not being rode over and bullied, and figures out the entire scheme between siuan and leane, something they're keeping from the salidar aei sedai so they can continue to manipulate them, practically instantly.

fucked up. sorry if anyone likes egwene particularly and is defensive regarding her, i like her too and she has many redeeming qualities and as many amazing accomplishments, but this is one of the many things that she's never apologized for. it shows more and more that her story is about a complete abandonment of emond's field to become the most aei sedai she can be, and she's certainly adopted bullying and brow beating to get her way in a topic she knew she shouldn't have gotten her way, but valued knowledge acquired through any means necessary over her personal relationships. the aiel aren't spared here either. she ferrets out their secrets, pushes dangerously far beyond what they've taught her and almost damages her relationship with them too when it becomes impossible to continue the lie.

she doesn't even reveal that she's an accepted until she's no longer going to be in the wise one's camp to learn from them, summoned to salidar, at which point there's no real punishment she can suffer from them, short of death, since she'll have learnt everything she can out of them and won't be able to learn anymore anyway, and despite all her talk of acting like an aiel and fulfilling her toh, I seriously doubt she would've calmly accepted death as her punishment if that was what the wise ones decided, even though any other aiel apprentice would have.

anyway, I know I'm not doing a liveblog, I'm just re-reading the wheel of time books and I'm almost finished with the fires of heaven (book 5). wanted to get this thought out there.

Lews Therin anytime Rand meets with Mazrim Taim:

I'm up to chapter 40 of book 6, and I've looked through the replies here a little. For clarification, yes, Egwene does indeed reveal that she was accepted, was dreamwalking when she wasn't supposed to after being injured by lanfear, and that she was intending to do some evil shit by entering the dream in the flesh. And even though her initial thought was that she'd be able to escape punishment by fleeing to Salidar at the first oppertunity, she does do the right thing and delays her trip through tel'aran'rhiod in the flesh so she can meet her toh to the wise ones. She even considers her toh towards Melaine and Rhuarc, and how she'll meet it with them.

However. She doesn't apologize to Nynaeve once for her actions in tel'aran'rhiod. The next time Nynaeve even sees Egwene, it's when Egwene has just been announced as Amyrlin.

Imagine you've been having this crisis of, lets call it authority. Crisis of authority, where you've been approaching your life since you left the two rivers as if you were still the Wisdom of your village. Falling back on that kind of knowledge and training. Egwene, not as your equal, but your eventual successor, suddenly treating you as if you're an empty headed girl of equal rank, if not lesser. You resolve to set this upset right, bare some vulnerabilities for lying to Egwene about something absolutely irrelevant, and she uses it as a tool to belittle and threaten you further, abusing your trust and honesty. You avoid her and tel'aran'rhiod, to the point that perhaps Nynaeve forgot some of the more essential aspects of the world of dreams, like being able to simply will yourself out of almost any trap someone else puts you in, like being bound up as a human pretzel. Not something easily done when you've had your willpower so shaken. After all of this that I won't retread, she's been bullied and insulted by the Salidar Aei Sedai (who aren't really helping with breaking her block tbh, it's not their fucking responsibility to pile on to it, or threaten to take control of her therapy.) even after all the discoveries and advancements she's made. Even discovering how to heal stilling/gentling/severing, something that was not even possible in the age of legends, something that instantly prompted skepticism and derision from the rest of the aei sedai in the room btw. They instantly started talking about how they could do something they thought was impossible better, and all after they had insulted and bullied her to force her to channel. Getting off topic, but it all contributes to a level of simmering rage and injuries to Nynaeve's ego that would honestly leave me ready to rip heads off of the next Aei Sedai to overstep around me.

And then Egwene shows up as Amyrlin. Crisis of Authority over, but not because it's resolved. It's over because Nynaeve completely loses all authority entirely. If she challenges Egwene on anything, or even remembered to ask her about why she was so cagey with dreamwalking, it would undermine her authority when she, Eleyne and Egwene are all relying on it to keep them alive and politically relevant, especially once they start getting near to Rand and the White Tower, and being able to set out and get the bowl of the winds.

I do love Egwene, but there are many things she never answers for.

kinda fucked up how egwene destroyed the confidence and social standing (between themselves) of a woman whom she trusted and respected, to the point that nynaeve has a massive crisis of self-confidence that may have contributed to her being beaten by moghedien, the whole deal with birgitte, and her decision to take the group to salidar and hand over her responsibilities and the threat of the forsaken in tel'aran'rhiod (though smart) in the hands of strange aei sedai who might not even support rand.

all so egwene can avoid punishment by the aiel for dreamwalking when she shouldn't be, because they would cease teaching her as per their threat, and rightly so. iirc she only ever decides that she needs to apologize for misleading them on being a full aei sedai (which is a pretty fucked up thing when everyone assumes everything you say is the whole truth, though the fact that egwene helped rand blow shit up at cairhien should've clued the aiel in that she's not bound by the three oaths like all tower trained aei sedai, and I am certain moraine must've brought that up at least once.) and only ever gets punished for her specific toh in that moment.

it is never reconciled, never apologized for, never explained, and egwene belittles nynaeve twice for almost revealing to the wise ones that she's dreamwalking. i don't think they see eachother again until egwene is in salidar and she is then raised to amyrlin seat, and then egwene places special emphasis on nynaeve not undermining her while she leads the rebel aei sedai.

worse still is how egwene's brow beating worked in preventing nynaeve from figuring out that egwene is hiding something from the aiel wise ones, especially after the blowup from egwene in front of amys, who egwene should really trust with anything said in tel'aran'rhiod, and nynaeve and elayne, who already know she's dreamwalking into elaida's study. its really emphasized a little later when nynaeve gets to salidar and shows that she's an incredibly smart person when she's not being rode over and bullied, and figures out the entire scheme between siuan and leane, something they're keeping from the salidar aei sedai so they can continue to manipulate them, practically instantly.

fucked up. sorry if anyone likes egwene particularly and is defensive regarding her, i like her too and she has many redeeming qualities and as many amazing accomplishments, but this is one of the many things that she's never apologized for. it shows more and more that her story is about a complete abandonment of emond's field to become the most aei sedai she can be, and she's certainly adopted bullying and brow beating to get her way in a topic she knew she shouldn't have gotten her way, but valued knowledge acquired through any means necessary over her personal relationships. the aiel aren't spared here either. she ferrets out their secrets, pushes dangerously far beyond what they've taught her and almost damages her relationship with them too when it becomes impossible to continue the lie.

she doesn't even reveal that she's an accepted until she's no longer going to be in the wise one's camp to learn from them, summoned to salidar, at which point there's no real punishment she can suffer from them, short of death, since she'll have learnt everything she can out of them and won't be able to learn anymore anyway, and despite all her talk of acting like an aiel and fulfilling her toh, I seriously doubt she would've calmly accepted death as her punishment if that was what the wise ones decided, even though any other aiel apprentice would have.

anyway, I know I'm not doing a liveblog, I'm just re-reading the wheel of time books and I'm almost finished with the fires of heaven (book 5). wanted to get this thought out there.

Rand is like Courage the Cowardly Dog in the way he laughs hopelessly anytime he gets hurt:

like "Oh I just lost a hand to a fireball. Hahaha. It doesn't matter." and Min is clinically in shock from the second hand pain, weeping that he's suffering and he doesn't care about himself. that it's just nothing to him.

Wormblr, he's so Taylor coded it's unreal. Protagonist going through some unbelievable pain for no reason. Wotblr, do I have a scrimblo I could introduce you to. She loses the same arm twice and gets cut in half once. She doesn't laugh when she gets hurt though so it evens out.

Drop an anvil on all three of them and they'll come back stronger.

I'm at the Box.

Ominous enough for people without context but I'll go ahead anyway.

I made a joke that Rand laughs every time something horrible happens to him, and I was thinking that was hyperbole, that he was in so much pain and trying so hard to avoid crying out that he wasn't laughing this time.

But here he is, laughing in his box. How fucking ominous must that feel if you're one of the Aei Sedai watching him and his box? You've just bundled him in there for six days of travel, only taking him out to give him water at dawn and dusk, he's delirious from the heat and sweat, he's just killed two warders in a fit of rage over Min's capture and has been beaten for that so severely that he lost his vision temporarily and appears to have completely disassociated from his body, and you've just shown him off to the aiel who you're almost entirely certain will try to steal him from you. He must be utterly hopeless. Nobody's coming to save him. After this he will only be taken out of that box to be beaten by the other aei sedai.

And he's chuckling like a loon in his little box.

I honestly don't remember how he comes back from madness during Dumai's Wells on this re-read. If it were me, no Aei Sedai would be allowed into the same room as me except to pledge their total obedience and fidelity to me. The fact that Cadsuane, the most Aei Sedai of Aei Sedai to ever Aei Sedai, is introduced AFTER Dumai's Wells feels insane to me. AFTER he has been magically violated by Alanna, after the Salidar Aei Sedai did their silly little pageantry and subsequently grew to 13 members by accident (admittedly this was a manipulation by the Black Ajah). And obviously after Dumai's Wells and the Box, caused by the Tower Aei Sedai. There is no way that Rand has a drop of trust or friendliness for Aei Sedai left in him after all that. Cadsuane barging in and demanding to be treated with respect should've had her thrown out by a gang of Ashaman and Aiel.

How the hell did we get back a Rand who went back to trying to scare off women by channeling around them so he can intimidate Cadsuane, instead of what would be more realistic, a Rand who surrounds himself with Ashaman and obedient Aei Sedai and threatens to kill Cadsuane if she ever comes near him without bending the knee to him. I think I need to keep reading a little more to puzzle it out, but I think Robert Jordan wrote himself into a corner with the last chapter of Lord of Chaos here and just decided to walk back a bit of his character development because he realized he'd need an old Aei Sedai to advise Rand. Rand should be downright hostile to any Aei Sedai who come near him without his permission. Murderous even.

Also after Lord of Chaos we get into the swing with Mat and Ebu Dar. I fucking hate the Ebu Dar arc. Hate it so much for so many reasons.

God I fucking forgot how absolutely insane Dumai's Wells is.

Imagine being a Shaido Aiel. You've got barely any honour, but fuck the other Aiel. You're conquering shit with the rest of your clan. Sure you don't have a clan chief after some gambler cut off his head, and the most influential wise one of your clan can't channel and hasn't been to Rhuidean, but that's fine. Nobody has the right to tell you that you have no honour or pride. They don't understand. You are the only true Aiel. The only ones who haven't sold themselves to a wetlander king.

And now we get to take the so-called Car'a'carn for ourselves. We just need to take him from the Aei Sedai. The wise ones can handle them.

Then the fucking grass explodes into wolves, arrows punch into your backs from 300 paces, a huge cavalry charge slams into your flanks and fresh lightning and fire suddenly surround you, people's skulls just explode like ripe melons or burst into flames with zero impact at all. This was supposed to be easy. Some mad bearded fucker is hacking through you all with an axe, and a tinker of all things is swinging a sword at you. Then the chest at the center of the copse of trees explodes violently. A woman is screaming her soul out at the epicenter. The Dragon Reborn is free. Then the man to your left is split in half by a string of light that widens into a doorway, and out of that doorway steps a man who turns your whole body into shredded meat as soon as he looks at you.

You don't even have time to scream in pain.

Wheel of Time Book Club Eye of the World Prologue: Dragonmount

Let’s start at the beginning! (A very good place to start)

Full disclosure: my first read I didn’t finish the series. I got through a good chunk (a little over halfway) and then a friend spoiled the rest for me... extensively. I started doing my own research afterwards so that we could have actual conversations, but starting around book 8 or 9, it’ll sort of be and not be new territory for me. It’s definitely gotten to the point where I’m a little unsure what I’ve read and what I’ve not, so I might suddenly (in those books) say “oh! I don’t remember this!”.

In the meantime, let’s talk the prologue to the Eye of the World. I think I’ve decided on spoilers, because I want to discuss the foreshadowing in the series so SPOILER WARNING.

I think I ended up reading the prologue about three times because it’s just so good. I think it definitely exemplifies what I enjoy about Jordan’s writing and gives the reader a taste of what is to come. Not only does it set the tone with the descriptions (a very visceral tone), but it also introduces us to two major characters: Lews Therin Telamon and ‘Elan Morin Tedronai’.

I absolutely love their interactions and how we can juxtapose them with their interactions later in the series (technically?). It definitely sets up Lews Therin’s madness, not to mention it works really well with Rand’s own issues later and his fear of killing those he cares about and when he almost does. 

One thing that I didn’t notice before was the implication from Elan (since that is what he is referred to as, that is what I will call him here) that Lews Therin was named Dragon and did not embrace it, so it wasn’t a celebrated title even then. Maybe it was addressed later in the series than I read and was never discussed or maybe I just don’t remember that plot point. Either way, he was probably named such by his enemies instead of it being a title to show admiration for his power. Naturally, Elan starts listing off all of Lews Therin’s titles and accomplishments, which I’ll admit struck me as a bit of weird exposition first time around, but it fits with what we know of Elan’s personality, so it doesn’t bother me on reread. He’s so grandiose.

I love the early glimpse we get of Elan’s morality and what lead him to the dark. “This war has not lasted ten years, but since the beginning of time. You and I have fought a thousand battles with the turning of the Wheel, a thousand times a thousand, and we will fight until time dies and the Shadow is triumphant!” It definitely sounds like an evil “you may have won this round, but I’ll get you eventually,” but upon reread it’s more like he’s explaining his logic. 

Also just “What hand slew Ilyena Sunhair, Kinslayer? Not mine. Not mine. What hand struck down every life that bore a drop of your blood, everyone who loved you, everyone you loved? Not mine, Kinslayer. Not mine. Remember, and know the price of opposing Shai’tan!” Just. My heart. Especially with the awful way he responds. Then we have the creation of Dragonmount and two excerpts from texts from the fourth age (which is the age AFTER the series and thus would also reflect the knowledge gained in that time) discussing what happened afterwards. The two are The Breaking of the World (alternate title Aleth nin Taerin alta Camora) and The Cycle of the Dragon (Charal Drianaan te Calamon). If anyone remembers what those languages are supposed to be, please let me know. I’m curious.

Please leave replies or comments so that we can discuss this chapter or anything I missed, be it foreshadowing or small details that interest you. I have a friend that’s read the books, but there’s only so often/much that I can inflict my hyperfixation on her.

I had a very long conversation last week with a couple of friends that I play Call of Cthulu with (there’s literally just the three of us). One has read all of the books and the other has never touched them, but we explained the basics of the ajahs without book spoilers (while also trying to make the reds sound reasonable). We argued the non-book reader would be Red if it was just evil channelers, but otherwise would 100% be green. My friend who has read all of them would be white, blue, or brown, but we settled on blue. She’s far too passionate about causes for her to be content with white and far too angry about injustice to just do nerd stuff. The real argument began on whether or not I would be yellow, grey, or brown (and I felt really proud that it was an actual debate). I also put in white, but they both said I didn’t argue enough for it. By the end of it, we settled on grey, but we’re putting it to a vote with the larger group (although I’m pretty sure at this point it’s just yellow or grey).

\I’d like to be brown ajah, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna lose this.

Also I am aware that you pick your Ajahs, but we’re treating this as a “which one best fits your personality” thing.

A Brief Overview of the Ajahs

One of the long-term entertainments of WOT fandom is deciding which Ajah you’d be in (long before Hogwarts Houses were a glint in anybody’s eye) so, for the benefit of new show people, here is a brief summary of the seven Ajahs Aes Sedai can belong to, sans any other plot or character spoilers. However I guess by definition these are worldbuilding spoilers since we haven’t heard of all of them in the show yet. (This is, in case it’s not obvious, somewhat satirical but I hope not inaccurate in terms of ~vibes~.) 

Keep reading

Sorry for being so absent the last couple of days, especially when I was so geared up to do that book club. Currently in the middle of finals and am working on catching up. The only reason I’m posting this is because I got too excited and needed to put it somewhere.

So... I watched the episode last night with a friend and we immediately got on the topic of Warder/Aes Sedai bonds (naturally) and how that affects people, especially since one of my favorite relationships in the series is Moiraine and Lan. We generally moved on to soul bonds of different kinds throughout the series and I started raving about that relationship and Moridin and Rand’s (another of my favorite relationships) and she looked me dead in the eyes and said, “This makes so much sense; you’re on your platonic soulmate thing.”

I felt so called out. Let’s get one thing straight: I have a very well-known (among my friends) hatred for the romantic soulmate trope as it is usually done. I have so many issues with it as a concept in general. I love when people do interesting things with it (which would take me all day to discuss). What I do enjoy is antagonistic and platonic soulmates (especially when the latter results in found family tropes, because I am weak). 

I have this whole thing about romantic relationships (as a whole, not individually) not being the pinnacle of human connection and treating nonromantic relationships as equally important and sometimes more important than romantic relationships which confuses my friends because I’ve definitely had a couple of friends ask my aromantic ass if I like them romantically, not understanding that I tend to put all of myself into friendships for personal history reasons. 

Which brings me back to why I like wheel of time so much as a series. The friendships and friendship dynamics are SO GOOD. The romantic relationships can tend to be poorly written, but I’d be hardpressed to find a friendship that I have trouble with. They also don’t tend to be typical or delineate along gender lines as so many series like this would do. I mean: Moiraine and Lan, Elayne and Mat, Rand and Nyneave, and Perrin and Egwene are a few of the ones I love pointing to. I’m just happy to see that the show is doing a good job of it to and even if the last episode broke me emotionally, the connection between Stepin and Verene was just so beautiful. “She gave me the honor of becoming her friend,” giving so much credence to “I had to become worthy of her” and it didn’t come across as some pining to me but seemed just as intimate and important all the same (plus their earlier interactions were just *chef’s kiss*).

The episode did tear me apart though, but I was happy about it. 

Another wheel of time post that is not a wheel of time book club post:

So once again my brain has caught the fanfiction bug while I’m trying to write other stories because screw me.

As I’ve been rereading the books and reading some fanfiction, I’ve thought more and more about writing my own time travel fanfic characters by close to the end of the series are sent back to try and fix something. After all, the series does have alternate worlds woven into the narrative so why not?

Honestly I’m just thinking of someone being forced to go back in time because a) Rand destroys the world and they need to prevent that from happening or b) they stumble on a world where there was no dragon because Tam was killed during the battle on dragonmount and Rand died. Basically just older characters suddenly having the responsibility of training and guiding and/or raising the fantasy equivalent of a nuke with knowledge of how it could go.

I have absolutely no clue which one I want OR who I want to send back in time (just not rand), so I figured I’d see if anyone has any suggestions.

As far as who I’d like to send back, I’ve got: Moiraine, Lan, Nyneave, Egwene, one of the Far Dareis Mar, Perrin, Mat, Loghain, Mazrim, Asmodean, and/or Moridin. (Look Mazrim and Moridin being forced to raise the dragon for whatever reason would be hilarious. I’d include demandred if I didn’t think he would kill Rand outright no matter the consequences to himself. Moridin only gets included because if he’s there any time Rand dies he’ll have to start over for whatever asinine reason I pick. Demandred is just spiteful enough to do that regardless)

I’m not including Aviendha, Elayne, and Min for obvious reasons (both romantic interest and I think it would actually be really easy for Min to do this right thanks to her emotional intelligence and powers). I think this could go from potentially hilarious to super depressing very easily but I’m gonna do it at some point, probably once the reread is done. I’m just trying to go past spark of amusement to an actual idea. I also may remove Nyneave from the list purely for half of the reason I kept Min off the list: she would be too good at it.

Rand is such an interesting character and I love reading his arcs in wheel of time. Especially at the beginning when Rand is struggling against destiny and people’s expectations and definitions of who he is meant to be.

One of his biggest conflicts comes from people trying to fit him into a neat little box.

Talmanes: You spent all your money on THIS??

Mat, putting tiny raincoats on baby badgers: They live outside. They need this.

SPOILERS FOR TV SHOW AND FOR THE BOOKS

Okay okay

So while I’m working on eating alone, Moiraine’s weird energy has taken me along for the ride. Forever ago I made a post about writing a Wheel of Time time travel fic, but since then the Wheel of Time tv show finished its season and I’m at a crossroads.

I decided that I wanted Moiraine to be the person to raise Rand in this fictional scenario, but I’m not sure how I want to go about this, because I need to decide on what flavor of Moiraine I want. So, my options are as follow (spoilers) and I am taking suggestions because all of these sound exceptionally fun. I also am debating about whether she goes alone or with others and who with

Fires of Heaven Moiraine that just tackled Lanfear and thinks she’s dead/dying

Shadows Raising/Fires of Heaven Moiraine that is so fucking lost about what to do next

TV finale Moiraine that suddenly finds herself in a place of raising the boy that she just figured out was the dragon reborn and can no longer channel

New Spring Moiraine as a newly minted Aes Sedai that suddenly has to raise prophecy child

EDIT: Note that there were two more on here, but I decided that they were less interesting. Pre and Post Last Battle Moiraine, while somewhat fun, makes her journey less interesting than the other four.

Two incredibly cursed things:

Today, I accidentally typed Rand Al’Thor as Rand Al’Thot and thought to myself “Well, it’s not exactly wrong.” Good for Rand.

My friend (who has only read the first three books bless her) apparently half jokingly/half seriously ships Rand and Gawyn. I.... don’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, just as much screen time as with Elayne and Gawyn does seem to have just as much immediate affection for Rand as Elayne. On the other, it’s Gawyn (my personal reread just brought be to THAT PART in Shadow Rising and ugh it begins).

Update: I am working (believe it or not) on my first book club thing. I think I have rewritten the first chapter notes about four or five times before I decided I wanted to do something a little different.  

I kept saying over and over that I would do a WoT read/reread. I’m not going to call it a book club, but I am going to do my first reread. I finished the series at the end of November and I will say that I enjoyed the series overall, despite its flaws (definitely not because of them). I am doing the reread for fanfic writing purposes, but also because I think it would be fun.

The reread will start with New Spring since that’s where the focus of the fan fic will be!

WoT Reread: New Spring Chapter 1

I suppose this is the first installment of the reread. The way I’m going to write it is I’ll have bullet points for anything I think of while the chapter is going, and if I have anything that occurs to me at the end, I’ll put it in a paragraph. Since this book specifically is involved with the fanfic that I’m writing, I’ll probably talk a little about that as I go. I am going to do this a chapter at a time, if only for my own sanity.

I love this series, but I will get salty. Just a warning.

Chapter 1: The Hook

· It may not have the traditional Wheel of Time opening, but it still starts with a wind.

· I originally read/listened to (I’m doing this on audiobook so I can write and I did it on audiobook the first time so I could listen while driving and at work) right after Fires of Heaven, so this was my first experience with Lan POV.

·Bukama

·I’ll admit this starts out with a lot of description and I zoned out for it

·Wow. It’s so strange to think of Lan having bought into the idea that Aiel were darkfriends. At least, he was raised by someone that thought that.

·Okay so Lan doesn’t think that and calls Bukama on it.

·A lot of this is Lan casting shade.

·There was an extensive conversation about borderlander etiquette which I found fascinating, but remember little of. What I did remember when I listened to it was that a lot of it seemed to be very conscious of the chain of command (which makes sense given what we learned about Sheinaran ranks) and to make sure that you are extremely aware of who you are talking to. This possibly could do with the idea that you could use the information to track them down to see if they’re lying, make connections if they aren’t but are a darkfriend, and make sure that the person is not a Fade.

·I remember that the first time I read this, I was convinced that Lan was being betrayed with the military maneuver. It was that or the other commander was so unaware of the intricacies of borderlander culture that he didn’t realize probably sending Lan to his death was a bad idea. I honestly don’t remember if I was right or not.

·I probably should not have started listening to this while in a brain fog. It’s been that kind of day.

·I love the addition that some of the army are cursing stubbed toes. I too would curse stubbed toes if I had to stay moving in formation.

·I could do without the extensive explanation of what a hammer and anvil is. My brain is not equipped for this.

·“Some men would die in their beds, but since boyhood Lan knew he would not.” Thanks Lan.

·I’m trying to imagine the moment being one of these people that are basically going “what the fuck” in their heads while Lan gets shouted at by the Aiel. It feels like it would be hilarious.

So this chapter felt like a lot of set up, probably because I’m pretty sure this is the first Lan chapter in the entire series (don’t quote me on that). It would make sense that RJ would try and get into Lan’s head so that people who were ecstatic for it would soak it in. I have two problems with it: it is heavy on the ‘beginning of a Jordan book’ isms where everything is described in excruciating detail and also I’m not as interested as I thought I would be. I remember not really enjoying Lan’s chapters in this book, and part of that is the non-consensual ‘relationship’ that shows up later. My limited experience in cultural anthropology will come into play later when I discuss that, because I have a lot of feelings.

The rest of my lack of paying attention comes specifically from the fact that the fanfiction I am writing neither starts at this point nor really features Lan. I’m actually at the point where I’m not sure I want him in it. Not to do with him as a character, but I’m having trouble putting him in somewhere. We’ll see.

WoT Reread: New Spring Chapter 2

Next installment! This chapter definitely had a lot more comments from me. I think I’ll also include a quick summary from now on in case someone comes across this and forgot what happened.

Chapter 2: A Wish Fulfilled

Moiraine and Siuan serve tea to Tamara and Gitara and end up hearing the prophecy of the Dragon’s rebirth. 

·My babies! Moiraine is on my top ten list (sorry Siuan) so it’s always exciting to see her and I also see so many parallels between baby Moiraine and baby Rand (my increasingly unapologetic fave) , so that’s always fun. The biggest trouble I’ve had is trying to grasp her voice and creating the right amount of slightly petulant and wisdom born of experience. Weirdly, the show is making that so much easier.

·Moiriane thinking about things in order to give us exposition about the Tower. Also I’m so amused that Moiraine wants to join the war just so she knows what is going on.

·Okay quick thing: When I was reading Gathering Storm I was on a server and we discussed the lack of experience that the head of the Green Ajah had and it bothered me that Egwene was showing so much more composure that the HEAD OF THE GREEN AJAH. Someone pointed out that in this book it was mentioned that the Green Ajah never saw war (I’ll wait until something reminds me). BUT! Moiraine just said that the Amyrlin and her Keeper did not seem to be bothered because “they had certainly seen the aftermath of more battles than any general”. While this does not mean that they fought in those battles, the implication seems to suggest as such. I’m super confused. What the hell Jordan?

·A lot of description given for two people that are not going to survive this book.

·Once again, we must know too much about women’s dresses and jewelry and their breasts. I love these books, but I will be giving a lot of eyerolling literally any time he brings up problematic gender dynamics, which is all of the time. I think someone in a discord server put it once that if he wrote these books today, he would have probably written that part differently, and I agree. That doesn’t make it less frustrating, especially since a lot of the more interesting parts of his writing (commentary on institutions and power) suffer greatly from the fact that many of these institutions are solely run by women. For instance, instead of making it a commentary of institutions (whether military, political, economic, or academic) in general, he unintentionally (and I think it was unintentional) made commentary on women-run institutions. Just getting this off my chest before we keep going, but I will be frustrated by it multiple times. Just know that I am frustrated out of love for these books and how much better I know they could/would be (also my reason for being super excited about the show, which has been doing a better job of this so far).

·Ha! It’s called a wish fulfilled because Moiraine wants to see a foretelling and she definitely will.

·Okay so it just explicitly said that no Aes Sedai have taken part in battle since the Trolloc Wars. What the hell Jorday?

·I do get it, since they are trying to be impartial and taking part in battle would be taking aside. At the same time, this goes back to the weird gendered stuff and also irritates me because now we have a Battle Ajah with no practical experience. Again, I get the idea of an institution resting on its laurels and being something in name only, but we once again run into the issue of what is meant by the narrative and what actually comes across given the nature of the world. RJ created a patriarchal society where women just happen to be in positions of power instead of matriarchal one and sometimes he likes to remind me of it. I promise I do get less salty and I do love these books, but weirdly this first iconic chapter is getting me in my feelings. At least I’m getting this out now so I have less to say later.

·As some who is 5’0” (152 cm), I feel the frustration with other people being irritatingly taller. I feel it strongly.

·Moiraine and Lan clearly both truly bonded over being horse girls. Hell yeah.

· Moiraine being uncomfortable with someone reading erotic fiction and then confronting her about why she can’t read it seems to hilarious. I feel like Moiraine later in the series wouldn’t have bothered or would have just said exactly why she shouldn’t.

·The foretelling! Only a few minutes on page and Gitara has by far one of the most dramatic moments in the series.

·I appreciate Moiraine being in shock in this moment. I can’t imagine being in a position where someone with authority over you that seems almost mystical in their own right (given the way Moiraine thinks about Gitara) just drops dead. The denial and disbelief are there in spades.

Be careful what you wish for indeed. Definitely some food for thought. We’re still not quite where I’m starting, but I feel like a lot of this chapter is helpful both to get Moiraine’s perspective and also because this moment is technically the inciting incident of the series. A prophecy about the end times is said and because of it our Gandalf goes out to see it fulfilled in a way that keeps the world going rather than end it. There was a LOT of discussion of the culture of the Tower which could be very helpful if someone chose to read this book first (although I would not personally recommend it; too many spoilers). I definitely like where my initial placement of it in the series was, because I feel like it was a good primer for the increase in Tower politics that would be coming in Lord of Chaos.  

WoT Reread: New Spring Chapter 3

Practice

A lot of exposition happens. We learn about the Tower, Siuan and Moiraine’s relationship, the Aes Sedai test, and Moiraine and Siuan’s new quest. A whole bunch of Aes Sedai are introduced and I remember only a couple of them.

This chapter was surprisingly long.

·RJ using Moiraine being in shock to give us more exposition. I actually find this rather interesting and a good way to choose to do it.

·Disregarding my issues with the way it is presented, Moiraine teaching classes is definitely giving me thoughts about how sometimes professors do less teaching than TAs. I was lucky in that didn’t happen often, but all of by labs were TA taught.

·Siuan is already sure she is going to be Aes Sedai ASAP.

·I do feel bad for Siuan here. She wants to travel and understand the world around her, but we know that she will be confined to the Tower while Moiraine sees the world instead.

·Moiraine has already pegged Siuan for leadership. She does have a certain bearing that lends itself well, but it does show that she has a good insight into people.

·I do like how much emphasis they are putting on Siuan actually being the ‘smarter’ of the two (although that is relative). There is a certain amount of elitism that still exists in the world where people who are poorer for some reason are not as traditionally intelligent or interested in academic learning and Siuan is wiping the floor with the other novices and accepted in the Tower. This stereotype is less prevalent in media today, but I still see it being rampant outside of that.

·Ah, the prophecy. Also when I started writing, I kept forgetting what exactly Moiraine kept referring to Rand as, only remembering that she called him something distinct that I hadn’t heard used at all elsewhere. The word is ‘boy child’. I will definitely be using that because I find it funny, unlike the word babes, which was used liberally by RJ and Sando and made me pull my hair out.

·Moiraine goes to Siuan’s room~

·Sorry if this seems like there isn’t a lot of commentary. It’s the beginning of a WoT book so there’s a LOT of description and exposition about world building. It’s not bad, just not great for commentary.

·Moiraine and Siuan have a connection and sense of each other even after most people would not have one.

·I love the fact that Moiraine and Siuan have a reputation for elaborate pranks that no one could prove they did, such as filling a water fountain with trout. I love the fact that the put itch-oak into Elaida’s clothes.

·Myrelle. Ugh.

·A lot of this chapter is more establishment of the way the chapter works. Siuan and Moiraine plot a little, but it is quickly interrupted by an Accepted whose name I can’t remember.

·I remember the Aes Sedai test being brutal later this book and the same went with Nyneave’s. There is a weird thing about trying to use the Aes Sedai test to punish Accepted that wronged you that I think is a little fucked up.

·I’ll admit that after a certain point, I zoned out on all of the Aes Sedai getting introduced. There were a lot and many of them don’t become important. I remember Myrelle, Alanna, and Verin. I’m sure there are more obvious ones (in fact I remember when I first read this I caught more), but I’m listening to this at almost midnight and after describing the breasts of another Aes Sedai, I kind of zoned out on the descriptions. We don’t see how the Tuatha’an handle channelers in the books, so it is interesting to see here that they cart them off to the Tower. We are aware of the fact that the Sea Folk send a few young women to the Tower (and if I recall they are usually the ones weaker in the power?) so that they can keep the rest of them. It leads me to wonder if the tuatha’an actually have a channeling culture and it just never comes up. I WANT TO KNOW!

·The answer is probably they don’t, but wouldn’t it be cool.

·Ah yes, the announcement. This feels like it should cause more suspicion with people other than Moiraine and Siuan. And by that I mean the Black Ajah. I know they get involved once she starts meeting with specific people in secret, but I also feel like if the Keeper just drops dead and then the Amyrlin decides to send out a bunch of money and take a census on new babies, they should have started earlier.

It’s funny. So we’re getting hints of the Vileness right now where Reds are gentling men left and right and/or killing them and not reporting it thanks to the Black Ajah specifically trying to get the Dragon, but not knowing how old baby Rand is. Siuan and Moiraine talk about how the Reds would handle the Dragon and it comes up that people think they are gentling men with permission. Here I am wondering when exactly Ishamael got involved. We know he sort of created the Black Ajah and that he had to be around for a few years before the start of the series because he was the one setting everything up, especially with Fain and otherwise coordinating darkfriends. We also know that he tends to come out every thousand years and it usually is for an extended period of time. Was he out by this point? If not, when did he get out? I dunno. As far as where the fanfiction starts, still not yet. Hopefully I’ll have more to say both about the chapter and the story as we go, we’re just still heavy in exposition land.