2015 Re-Readalong: Eye of the World and The Great Hunt

[Imzadi Hopewind]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: EoTW, 49-53; TGH Pro & 1

Yeah, I wonder excatly the same as you Lan's or Rand's sword?

 

[Murun]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: EoTW, 49-53; TGH Pro & 1

I think I'm missing something. What exactly is so dangerous about the names of the false Dragons?

Knowing them indicates a suspicious interest in unwholesome things.

@Mat: She was pretty, but she must be nearly as old as Nynaeve.

Really, Mat? :arch I thought Nynaeve was young since there was that whole thing about her being young for a Wisdom.

For a boy of 19 a woman of 25 (Nyn's age) is beyond the horizon - she would usually be married and have one or more children.

I'd forgotten how early the Nynaeve/Lan relationship begins. For some reason, I'd always thought it was later in the series. I'd somehow forgotten that Nynaeve basically proposes to Lan in the first book. Poor Nynaeve.

All's well that ends well - and if the Arthurian parallel holds true, she'll take good care of him and he will die old in bed.

I love how Lan still treats Rand the same even after events at the Eye.

Yes, me too.

We get foreshadowing of Rand's Andoran blood.

Andoran? Where? The Green Man is just one more person to name him Child of the Dragon, i.e. Aiel.

-What was the voice talking to Rand while he was channeling???? That part really confused me. :scratch I know the whole Chapter was a bit confusing, but I really didn't know who that voice was supposed to be.

Most theories say it's the Creator speaking. Umh. As I wrote earlier, I could well do without that.

-When Lan's talking about power-wrought weapons, he says "One of those swords, a plain soldier's sword, became something more." Is he talking about his own blade?

He is talking about his own sword, the sword of the Malkieri kings - which is power-wrought but not heron-marked.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: EoTW, 49-53; TGH Pro & 1

Andoran? Where? The Green Man is just one more person to name him Child of the Dragon, i.e. Aiel.

In the Great Hunt prologue. Bors is looking at the images of the three boys:

Blue eyes could mean the nobility of Andor-unlikely in those clothes-and there were Borderlanders with light eyes, as well as some Tairens, not to mention a few from Ghealdan, and, of course.... No, no help there.

Sooo... very light foreshadowing since he mentions three others places he could've gotten those light eyes, but I thought of it as such since he mentions Andor as a possibility first and then specifically dismisses it as unlikely.

 

[Toral Delvar]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: EoTW, 49-53; TGH Pro & 1

We know the Aes Sedai were Liandrin and Verin, the Shienaran was Ingtar, and the Tairen High Lord was likely Weiramon.

how do we know this? Weiramon is the only High Lord Darkfriend we know, and Ingtar might mention it later, but why Liandrin and Verin?

 

[Iria Saronin]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Just finished ch 3, few very quick comments:

What are those invisible eyes Rand feels following him? I don't remember them getting any explanation ever. Just his imagination?

Ha! Is that early Lews Therin talking in Rand's head, although it's represented as a normal "voice" in characters mind?

The blabbering of Fain makes so much more sense now...

 

[Megana Vallentin]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I was also wondering about those eyes. Maybe it has something to do with Fain always knowing where Rand is? Though I don't know why Rand would be able to sense Fain staring at him through layers of stone.

 

[Murun]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

@ Toral Delvar: I classified Liandrin as "highly likely" because of her later activities: at one point it is said she had very speciic commands. Verin? I don't know - just because she was on the spot? THat remains a guess.

@ Irian Saronin, re unseen eyes: No, no explanations whatever.

 

[Ashlyn Sindal]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I think the unseen eyes may be the first signs of Rand's madness. It's definitely something we see later in the series with Asha'man who are starting to lose it.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I was wondering about the eyes, too. The only conclusion I could come up with was paranoia on Rand's part.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I was thinking it was Fain, but early onset of madness makes a lot of sense too.

 

[Wil Cambrae]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Oh, Oh, Oh! I found proof that Sheinarians are the Canadian Borderlanders.

The gamblers were looking at him, he realized. All of them, still kneeling against the wall, had turned to stare at him. Shienarans of any class were almost always polite and correct, even to blood enemies, and Ogier were never any enemies of Shienar. Shock filled the gamblers’ eyes. Their faces were blank, but their eyes said what he had done was wrong. Part of him thought they were right, and that drove their silent accusation deep. They only looked at him, but he stumbled out of the storeroom as if they were chasing him.

Also of note somewhere in chapter 4 I found at that it has been a month since the end of Eye of the World. So Randhas had several weeks worth of training under Lan. Not enough to go to advanced tactics, but with Tam's teaching and Lan's additions, I don't think Rand's mastery of the sword is too much of a reach. Once he knows the Forms, and has even the ability to call up the Void, I believe he is a match for most people. Most of being a Blademaster can be put down to experience and the ability to learn your opponents. Also Rand might have gotten lucky with Turak's being a bit overconfident.

 

[Ryu Shadowborn]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Oh, Oh, Oh! I found proof that Sheinarians are the Canadian Borderlanders.





Also of note somewhere in chapter 4 I found at that it has been a month since the end of Eye of the World. So Randhas had several weeks worth of training under Lan. Not enough to go to advanced tactics, but with Tam's teaching and Lan's additions, I don't think Rand's mastery of the sword is too much of a reach. Once he knows the Forms, and has even the ability to call up the Void, I believe he is a match for most people. Most of being a Blademaster can be put down to experience and the ability to learn your opponents. Also Rand might have gotten lucky with Turak's being a bit overconfident.

I would like to note that Lan's training seemed to be "Beat the snot out of Rand till he learned"

 

[Wil Cambrae]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I would like to note that Lan's training seemed to be "Beat the snot out of Rand till he learned"

Wasn't that Patches O'Houlihan's technique? If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!

 

[Ryu Shadowborn]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Wasn't that Patches O'Houlihan's technique? If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!

Tis the best way to learn, ingrain the muscle memory so you do not need to think to react.

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I think the "unseen eyes" are Fain "looking" at him.

 

[Toral Delvar]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I think Rand has only channeled a few times at this point, so madness seems unlikely - I don't recall him showing any more signs of feeling eyes on him while they chase after the horn

When does Moiraine learn about the Fain/Mordeth merger? Given the talk that they have with Verin about how the Shadar Logoth taint can spread, if she had even suspected, it would have been extremely negligent of her to not keep Fain isolated and leave the same two guards around him all the time, and especially to allow visitors

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Another thing I didn't catch at first is just how many people Fain ends up influencing... I mean, he gets close to Whitecloacks, even Niall himself, Elaida, and several rebel nobles...

 

[Iria Saronin]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Another thing I didn't catch at first is just how many people Fain ends up influencing... I mean, he gets close to Whitecloacks, even Niall himself, Elaida, and several rebel nobles...

That's true, he's everywhere and that's quite awful. I wonder if Elaida's reign would have been different had she not been exposed to Fain. I think it certainly made some difference, although Elaida was not pleasant person even in the first place.

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

Oh, that's an interesting question, Iria. Plus Elaida had the influence of Alviarin and the Black Ajah behind her.

Something else I'll be watching for on this re-read.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Re: 2015 Re-Readalong: TGH Chapters 2-9

I wonder if Elaida's reign would have been different had she not been exposed to Fain. I think it certainly made some difference, although Elaida was not pleasant person even in the first place.

Oh, that's an interesting question, Iria. Plus Elaida had the influence of Alviarin and the Black Ajah behind her.

It's almost enough to make me feel sorry for Elaida. ALMOST. But not quite. :P