Laurien's Journey through EotW

[Toral Delvar]

There’s no real reason for a lot of the things Moiraie keeps secret, other than she likes knowing more than other people, even when telling them would actually help her.

 

[Nadezhda al'Lanahrin]

The White Bridge sort of made me think of the Moonbridge located in Silverymoon in the Forgotten Realms D&D setting. Granted, the Moonbridge was simply made of magical force and was invisible by day and silvery and translucent by night, and it was well known who had made it and how, but I imagine it would be similarly impressive to a newcomer from the countryside. That said, I bet most Third Age people in the Wheel of Time would be super uneasy about an invisible bridge, Age of Legends or not.

The matter of the blue flash is a very good question! I have my thoughts, but I'd love to hear yours!

As for Perrin's aversion to the wolves, I've often wondered whether it has to do with that ingrained folk belief among some people in the setting that wolves serve the Shadow. Perrin has evidence right in front of him that they don't, but even in the face of that kind of proof, it's hard to uproot beliefs you're raised with. That and his connection to the wolves is mysterious, frightening, and un-asked-for. It's just sort of thrust upon him, much like this whole "adventure" has been, and I suspect he's frightened and resentful of it.

Also, just as Egwene's been trying to fall back on past comforts to cope with everything, I wonder if Perrin might be attempting to cope through denial. The connection's there, Elyas and the wolves have confirmed it, and it's right in front of him, but it's one more thing he doesn't want, one more thing that changes his world forever and proves he can't ever quite go back to the way things were, so he fights it.

I entirely agree that I think it’s that sometimes wolves are seen to be agents of the Shadow, kinda like rats and ravens. And there’s always the village-type belief of not liking wolves because they can threaten small villages or homesteads.

 

[Alora Sionn]

Wolves are the enemy when your friends are sheep lol

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 29: Eyes Without Pity

- Elyas is as thorough as Lan in covering his tracks and then some.
- In fact, Elyas reminds me a lot of Lan, but grumpier and more vocal about it. I bet Perrin and Egwene would prefer Lan right about now.
- Okay, the prologue set up ravens as bad...but what these ones do to the animals - and could do to the humans - is horrific.
- Oooo, nice shot, Egwene!
- A stedding! I'm very curious to learn more about the steddings, why the One Power doesn't work within them and such.
- I can't help but think of the poem Ozymandias when Elyas tells them the story of Artur Hawking and why there's an eye in the Boulder.

 

[Satara al'Caelahn]

- A stedding! I'm very curious to learn more about the steddings, why the One Power doesn't work within them and such.

As far as I know, they don't actually explain that in the books, but it tells you a bit about them in the WoT companion, I think.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

As far as I know, they don't actually explain that in the books, but it tells you a bit about them in the WoT companion, I think.

Awww. Guess I'll have to make sure I get the WoT Companion at some point, too!

 

[Toral Delvar]

It’s also interesting how Egwene doesn’t like the steddingu

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 30: Children of Shadow

- Oh, Perrin. May that be a choice you never have to make.
- Men that smell wrong " the way a rabid dog smells wrong?" Gotta be Whitecloaks.
- There's Perrin's wolf eyesight coming into play.
- ...Elyas can't have learned to use his knife the way he does just by hunting. What was he before wandering in his own?
- No, Hopper! :cry
- I already want Child Byar to get taken out. Sociopathic creep.
- So the Whitecloaks think anyone they don't like is a Darkfriend, and the only thing to do with a Darkfriend is kill them. Blind me if that isn't eerily like some mindsets I've come across too frequently in the past handful of years...
- Did Perrin kill two of the Whitecloaks, or was that Elyas, whom they're mistaking for Perrin? (Not that it seems like it would matter all that much to them.) I feel like I missed something again.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

It’s also interesting how Egwene doesn’t like the steddingu

Well, she said when they went in that she felt like she'd lost something. Since her connection to the One Power is in its nascent stages, I imagine she would be super uncomfortable with it suddenly disappearing.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 31: Play For Your Supper

- I wonder if Rand would be doing as much hiding if it weren't for Mat and his paranoia. That bloody dagger...
- And the thing is costing them room and board! Poor boys.
- Awww. At least kids can soften Mat up a bit through its influence.
- All Thom's lessons on the boat were good for something! At least they get to fill their bellies and sleep inside for a little while.

 

[Viktara Fen]

Ahh, I remember being so mad at the Whitecloaks and so upset about Hopper when I was younger. That much has not changed at all, and I am still 100% Not A Fan of Whitecloaks. I agree that their way of thinking about the world has an eerie amount of resonance with the real world. IIRC, when I had to read Arthur Miller's The Crucible in English class as a teenager, I couldn't help but be reminded of them.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Ahh, I remember being so mad at the Whitecloaks and so upset about Hopper when I was younger. That much has not changed at all, and I am still 100% Not A Fan of Whitecloaks. I agree that their way of thinking about the world has an eerie amount of resonance with the real world. IIRC, when I had to read Arthur Miller's The Crucible in English class as a teenager, I couldn't help but be reminded of them.

Oooo, yes. I remember The Crucible well, and I can definitely see how some of that is evoked by the Whitecloaks.

 

[Toral Delvar]

Yeah, it's because she can't sense saidar any more, but I think it is about 25 days that she has even known she could channel, so it does seem that even though she has only been channeling a few weeks, and that she has probably only held saidar a dozen or so times, it has become a fundamental part of her identity.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 32: Four Kings in Shadow

- One page in and I am really uncomfortable with this town.
- Ooo. Yeah, Hake needs to get his nose broken at the very least.
- The points about the songs having different names in different places makes my music history-loving facet happy. That's how it goes with folk music, and while it's not a major point (except to point up how far from home they are), it gives the world even more layers.
- Well, at least Hake is obvious in what he intends to do.
- Ooookay. The random merchant is as shady as Hake, maybe even more so.
- Good on Rand for standing up to Hake and being insistent about the food.
- So one of the merchants from Whitebridge tracked them all the way to this place...why? A Darkfriend with a lead from one of the Fades, maybe?
- Oof. Come on, Mat, don't blow this.
- What a perfect little trap of a room for Hake to corral them into. Thank goodness for convenient splitting wedges, though.
- So yes, Gode is a Darkfriend. Interesting that he thinks Mat and Rand are Dreadlords thought and that he claims he can "feel" them.
- ...That was either a very lucky lightning strike, or Rand channeled again to make it hit just there. I'm thinking the latter.

Chapter 33: The Dark Waits

- Whaaaat is going on with Rand here all of a sudden?
- And Mat's eyes are doing better. It's been at least a few days, it seems like.
- Definitely a few days, if Rand is thinking about how quickly he's gotten over being sick.
- That dagger has Mat bad. He might be a twit without the dagger, but I don't think he would've jumped on the good man who just gave them a ride that way.
- A flashback chapter? What an interesting way to go about it, especially when it hasn't happened elsewhere in the book thus far. It's effective enough; I just wonder why RJ decided to do it. Impact, I'm guessing.
- Good grief. Darkfriends coming out of the woodwork now. I wonder if there's something on the boys that they're tracking. Maybe Mat's dagger, since it's of the dark?
- Ohhhh, Rand is sick because of touching the One Power. What he's dealing with sounds almost just like what Nynaeve told Moiraine she went through. Confirmation that the lighting was his then, and no wonder it made him sick; that was no small feat!
- Aaaand another one, this time trying to kill Rand. Hopefully they can lose these velvet-clad shadows soon!
- I almost feel like there's an allegory for the insidiousness of capitalism in the Darkfriend merchants... Maybe I'm reading too much into things

 

[Viktara Fen]

Ohhhh, Rand is sick because of touching the One Power. What he's dealing with sounds almost just like what Nynaeve told Moiraine she went through. Confirmation that the lighting was his then, and no wonder it made him sick; that was no small feat!

Somehow I missed this back in the day and was completely astounded when Rand turned out to be able to Do The Thing later on. This time when on my reread, I absolutely picked up on the foreshadowing via Moiraine and Nynaeve. Made me then go back and check earlier events to see if other evidence is there.

 

[Alexr al'Petros]

I really enjoy the quick pacing and intense character development going on in these chapters. I mean that is lot of transformation in all four of them in such a short time.

 

[Toral Delvar]

I really disliked the flashbacks. Back when I first read it, I worked out the chronological order and wrote “go to page …” each time it jumped so I could read it properly.
I thought it was really badly done

 

[Nadezhda al'Lanahrin]

I agree with Toral Gaidin. The flashback chapters made me more confused than anything.

 

[Toral Delvar]

I’m still. It sure if we saw Rand do anything that caused his odd behaviour/sickness on the Spray - the Baerlon incident with the Whitecloaks was from Healing Bela

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 34: The Last Village

- This chapter is so full of suspicion and paranoia that it sets me on edge
- Even with all the rucking I did in basic training and AIT, I can't imagine all the trekking these poor boys have done.
- What is it that Bunt expects the Queen to do about all that's going on exactly? I suppose it's an illustration of our own tendency to demand a solution to problems we can't see all the fine details of from a leader who has very human limits.
- First mention of Tigraine! Who was a Daughter-Heir of Andor? Now I really want to know the rest of her story.
- Oh geez, a dream within a dream. Poor Rand. That concept always freaks me out if I think about it too much.