Laurien's Journey through EotW

[Laurien Achaur]

I love this thread! You have an amazing way to write, just knitting in your own experiences, and some fun comments here and there lol..sometimes I just nod and remember, I thought or felt the exactly same way about it, other times you give a whole new way of looking at it (which I always appreciate, cause I like learning to be more open minded and see things from other perspectives). Is it allowed to hope you will continue this into the next book? mg

Thank you, Chiema! And yes, I intend to keep this going through my entire read of the series 3

 

[Viktara Fen]

- I'm with Loial. I hate that cities end up just covering right over and destroying what's beautiful and amazing in the world.

Agreed! Surviving Ogier groves, where they're described, make me think of some Shinto shrines I visited in Japan years ago that were right in the heart of Tokyo. Just a few hundred feet in any direction, there was the loud and never-sleeping city, with its glass and concrete. Inside the shrine grounds, there were trees and ponds and other growing green things, and a sense of sacred quiet prevailed such that you might not even know you were just yards from the heart of the city. Meiji Jingu in particular struck me that way.

Spoiler: Not my picture, but I do remember this location.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

That is gorgeous <3

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 45: What Follows In Shadow

- Yeah...best not to think too hard about the way things work in the Ways, I'd say. It's liking thinking too hard about how infinitesimally small we are in relation to the size of the universe as a whole - headache-inducing at best.
- Oh, to always have the wonder and satisfaction that Loial has at finding the truth (positive truth) about something.
- So Moiraine believes Thom is alive because of what Min saw about him! I'm very curious to know what happened, in that case.
- Ooooo, nice burn to Egwene, Perrin She completely deserved it.
- Naturally, Mat has to turn around and be an ass directly afterward.
- Something's following them? I'm reminded of Gollum following the Fellowship through Moria Seriously, though...what - or who - could have gotten in to follow them? Machin Shin would be more obvious.
- Signs of Trollocs and Fades in the Ways now? Craaaaap.
- Oof. Grisly. I'm guessing that's some of what Machin Shin does (petrified half-melted Trollocs).
- And here it comes.
- Thank goodness for Moiraine's Aes Sedai plasma torch!
- Huzzah for Lan and Mandarb! Forcing a Waygate, hm? Interesting that that can be done at all.
- Show comparison: All in all, I think the show did Machin Shin justice. The voices were probably more distinct than it indicates they are in the book, but otherwise, a dark cloud of terror? I think it worked.
- Those last "words" that Rand heard from Machin Shin as they waited outside the gate... *shudder* It's like a summation of the madness of saidin itself.

 

[Imzadi Hopewind]

After all, book 1 is inspired by LoTR

And love your summaries :joy

 

[Atane Valthon]

I love your summaries, Laurien! Definitely reminds me of my rereads and why I love this series.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 46: Fal Dara

- The suddenly abandoned farms are just eerie...and so is Perrin's wolf-vision, a little bit
- Clear Far Eastern influence for the culture of Fal Dara, which the show portrayed well, if I remember correctly. (There's a rewatch coming!)
- I think it's sad that Fal Dara is so spartan, but at the same time, I know it's a fortress. The less unnecessary clutter there is, the fewer shadows there are for Fades to hide in, and the more freedom of movement there is for its defenders.
- I'm definitely curious about Moiraine's history with Agelmar, given their rapport.
- Why in the world would Agelmar think that a few weeks of delay would make no difference in any circumstance? His statement there confuses me; he seems savvy enough otherwise.
- Oh. Lan crushing the goblet gave me a chill and made my heart hurt for him at the same time
- This part of the chapter makes me picture the Avengers Tony vs. Loki meme between Agelmar and Moiraine. "I have an army." "We have ta'veren."
- Light, the Dark One turned Padan Fain into such a wretch.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 47: More Tales of the Wheel

- Lan's story in full, at last. At least to a point; I'm looking forward to seeing how he met Moiraine and became her Warder, too. I really hope it isn't true that he's truly the last of the Malkieri.
- Oh, Light. I can't bring myself to actually feel bad for Padan Fain because he chose to be a Darkfriend even before he met the Fade that summoned him. But all the things the Dark One did to turn Fain into his hound...I can only imagine, and what's implied absolutely makes my skin crawl. And then not being able to escape the compulsion even when he wanted to? So, so terrible.

Chapter 48: The Blight

- Poor Ingtar. Guy just wants to kill Trollocs and he'll probably be late to the party
- Ugh. The Blight is disgusting. As it's depicted in the book, I really don't think it could've been done in the show without a bigger time frame and budget, plus more than one episode to make it all the way through.
- The end of the chapter makes me appreciate how the romance between Lan and Nynaeve was handled in the show all the more. In the book, there's so little for the reader to connect the dots with - moments of admiration at best. So the exchange at the end of the chapter, while filled with memorable lines and poignancy, seems to come nearly out of left field.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 49: The Dark One Stirs

- Talk about the bad thing, and of course the bad thing happens...
- Nice shot, Mat!
- Yeesh. Blades and fireballs and flailing trees and gibbering creatures - it's the most chaos yet!
- I really don't want to see what Worms are...
- Ah. Guess I won't have to!
- The Green Man is a bit mind-blowing. He welcomes Loial as a little brother, recognizes exactly what Perrin is, calls Rand Child of the Dragon...and then can't remember why. Who or what scarred him?

Chapter 50: Meetings at the Eye

- If things are this bright at the start of the chapter, I'm wary of just how dark I'm sure it's about to get.
- I really hope that the way the Eye was made and how it came to be under the watch of the Green Man gets explained at some point. He has a little bit of a deus ex machina feel at the moment, even without it being time for the main conflict of the book.
- Well, the Eye is a lot prettier than it was in the show! And also functions much differently, I'm sure.
- It's "the pure essence of saidin?" Untainted saidin? Or does it still bear the taint? I need to know hooooooow.
- So does Loial, apparently.
- Ohhhh. Untainted, then...but at great cost.
- ...Damn that dagger. I'm guessing these are two of the Forsaken.
- Lan!! :eek
- You did not just go there with Nynaeve, you creepy, shriveled-up ancient cow pie...
- And that is how you go down in a blaze of glory. Farewell, Green Man. :cry
- Egwene, hon, just...no. Time to leave.
- Nooooo, Moiraine! D:

 

[Alexr al'Petros]

You are moving quickly!!

 

[Laurien Achaur]

You are moving quickly!!

Stuff is happening and I need to see how it ends!

 

[Alexr al'Petros]

Stuff is happening and I need to see how it ends!

Hey my friend, I feels ya!! First time through, I picked up the pace like this and then wham...I was reading Book Eight and forgot to sleep for a couple days. LOL.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 51: Against the Shadow

- ...It's Rand's first dream. Craaaap.
- What is this that Rand is seeing? Aginor's thread in the Pattern? His tie to saidin? He does scream about it being his...
- Did Rand just Travel? Whaaaat is going on exactly?
- He's in Tarwin's Gap! His power as the Dragon is awake and he has no control. Yet he's wiped out a major portion of the Dark One's forces by causing an earth tsunami, so that's something. If Rand can do that, I can only imagine how the Breaking of the World looked when all male channelers went mad. What he's doing is scary enough on its own.
- What is that voice all about? And those steps?
- It seems like he's dreaming again. Maybe he passed out, and now he's having to face Ba'alzamon in his head?
- Ugh. Psychological warfare at its finest. I wouldn't expect anything less from Ba'alzamon.
- The sword of Light seems like a bit of foreshadowing, even if it's being literally wielded at the moment.

Chapter 52: There Is Neither Beginning Nor End

- At least Aginor is gone. And we know Rand was fighting in dreamland. But how did he get from Tarwin's Gap back to the hilltop?
- Yeah, I bet Rand is scatterbrained after all that. I think it would be hard not to be.
- Everyone is alive and well(ish). Thank the Light.
- Ah, no. Rand, you did not kill the Dark One himself; that was way too easy. Even if it wasn't easy.
- So the Eye sort of acted like an angreal for Rand; he channeled it and used everything in the pool. Is it part of him now, or did he spend it and now the floodgates are just permanently open?
- A seal of the Dark One's prison, the Horn of Valere, and the banner of Lews Therin Telamon, all guarded by the Eye, and Moiraine is perplexed. There has to be more to the Eye. And again, I need to know!

Chapter 53: The Wheel Turns

- Sorry, Rand. :\ You won a battle, not the war.
- Loial singing to the Green Man's tree made me cry. :cry
- I wonder if, when he's looking at the Seven Towers, Rand is glimpsing them through the eyes of one of his past lives.
- Ahhh, now spring gets to come back! :joy
- Of course Ingtar is sulking
- Well, there's proof that the Tarwin's Gap part wasn't a dream.
- I waiting to see explained why the Horn needs to go to Illian. It seems like Agelmar might have been too eager for battle to be the one to keep it, but what's so special about Illian?
- What's with the avoidance of Rand from Moiraine? I don't understand why she would do that after everything...unless it's part of some scheme she has going.
- Not ever home. Oh, Rand :cry
- Moiraine is eavesdropping. I think. It seems on par for her.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Aaaaand I've finished! There was a lot of stuff packed into that last handful of chapters. Weird stuff. Even with hints of channeling from Rand having been built up, his manifestation of the Dragon's abilities seemed pretty sudden. There are so many unanswered questions and things I only have guesses about, so I'm going to dive right into The Great Hunt. Thank you for coming along with me, those who have followed! If you want to ask me for more in-depth thoughts on anything I commented on from Eye of the World, feel free to ask. I hope you'll keep going with me as a start a new thread for Book 2! 3

 

[Viktara Fen]

Heck yeah! I am glad to be along for the ride on Book 2!

And yeah, the ending gets a little weird and wacky. To me it had the feel of Jordan needing to tie up loose threads within certain space limitations. I feel like he hits his stride with pacing by the end of TGH and by TDR for sure. I'll be excited to see what you think!

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

Stuff is happening and I need to see how it ends!

I think many of us feels this way when we near the end of a book

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Yay! One book down, on to book 2! :joy

 

[Laurien Achaur]

I honestly don't know. My guess is that it's something the Fade did; Thom was screaming after it happened, after all. But I definitely feel like I'm missing something. I'll be revisiting the chapter again soon, though so I'll see if anything new jumps out at me when I do!

And I do agree that Perrin is trying to cope through denial; it's a common thread with all the EF5. I just find it baffling that he still wants to fight against it when it protects him from Ba'alzamon, who is so much worse! But when you're overwhelmed with your circumstances, I suppose that can be more difficult to see.

Waaaaait, wait, wait. Going back through chapters to update the Clothing Reference, I came across mention of a blue flash when Lan and the Mydraal crossed blades outside of Baerlon. I'm now guessing the blue flash is caused by the black blade clashing with something that can resist it...but if that's the case, Thom would have had to have had something like that. Curiouser and curiouser...

 

[Laurien Achaur]

You may be right, Toral Gaidin. I think the reason I thought that the stedding had blocked it is because I had assumed Moiraine could sense the coin regardless of where it was. But if there was something of the One Power in it, it might have seemed to just disappear once they crossed the border into the stedding, then reappear when they emerged.

Maybe her sensing the coins is contingent upon them being on their persons? But she didn't say quite the same thing when Mat and Rand parted with their coins; she said they no longer had them, but she would still be able to sense them (the boys), if I remember correctly. In this instance, Moiraine seemed shocked because the coin just seemed to vanish. Going back and reviewing, it seems like the timing could have worked for either instance, though it's difficult to say for sure.

From Chapter 21: Listen to the Wind - Moiraine: "I gave each of the boys a token. It created a bond of sorts between them and me. So long as they are alive and have these coins in their possession, I will be able to find them."

A more concrete answer. Clearly I'm going to have to read these books more than once

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Chapter 38: Rescue

- There is no way Perrin is coming out of this the same after all that Byar's done to him.
- ...Giving them a way to go free? I don't see why Byar would be doing this if it didn't benefit him in some way.
- Oh good! Elyas is alright (so to speak).
- Lan was really about to run after Nynaeve and defy Moiraine to do it, hm?
- The difference just waiting a few minutes can make
- Poor Perrin He's had some trauma that's not going to be easy to shake.
- I wonder if Perrin's eye-color change is the result of maybe starting to accept the connection to the wolves, or just having communicated with them. Perhaps it's something else entirely. I'm just curious about what the exact catalyst was.
- I feel like Lan has said more in the last few chapters that anywhere else in the book combined

I'm not sure how I completely missed the reveal that Elyas was a Warder!! No wonder he reminded me of Lan at times. I certainly don't blame him for escaping the Tower after what the Red Ajah tried to do.