The Dragon Reborn meets the Amyrlin Seat.
Last time on The Wheel of Time,
Egwene began her time as a Damane. The channeling slaves of the Seanchan are
taught by their Sul’dam handlers to think of themselves as tools or weapons or
dogs, not as people. Her Sul’dam, a woman named Renna, attempts to break Egwene
using a water jug. Damane can’t touch an object they think of as a weapon
without feeling pain, so basically, she tells Egwene to pour water and then
watches as Egwene basically has a seizure induced by the collar. Nynaeve and
Elayne help a Yellow Sister named Ryma try to figure out how to undo the a’dam
collar to free Egwene. Ryma coaches Nynaeve into tapping into the Source
without Anger, which works, but she draws too much and draws the Seanchan’s
attention. Ryma sacrifices herself and is captured by the Seanchan to let the
other two escape. Rand gets some sleep and meets with Lanfear. She seems to
know he’s trying to play her, but it’s willing to play along for a bit and give
him some tips. The big one being that Egwene is being held in Falme. Rand
nearly runs off right there but runs into Mat in the Foregate. The two friends’
bond and catch up with each other, Mat being the one to say they need to go
save Egwene within the hour. He’s only put off helping when he learns from Min
that she’d had a vision that if he goes to Falme with Rand, he’ll stab him with
the ruby dagger. Mat bails on Rand. Rand tries to set off on his own but is
cornered by Lan, Alana, and her Warders, saying they can’t let him leave. The
Amyrlin arrives in Cairhien, having been told by Lan what was going on with
Moiraine. Lanfear visits Liandrin with her son, kills the old man to “free”
Liandrin from who she used to be and gives her a… department transfer offer.
Egwene finally breaks and pours Renna her water. She starts sobbing immediately
after, but the woman in the room next to hers, Maigan, a sitter from the Blue
Ajah, tells her not to, as Egwene lasted longer than her. Enough recap let’s
get to it.
Ep 15: Daes Dae’Mar
In the Old Tongue, that means the
Game of Houses, and Robert Jordan wrote that 6 years before the first Game of
Thrones book came out, so I want to hear no complaining about that.
We open on a flashback to the White
Tower 20 years ago. Moiraine is excitedly telling Siuan about taking her to
meet her dad and Anvaere. Siaun seems hesitant to go, despite it clearly
meaning a lot to Moiraine to see her family again after the Aiel War. She says
that it’s not that she doesn’t want to go but that she’s having trouble
processing making plans post war plans. They plan to go do whatever their Blue
assigned duties will be for a few years or decades and then retire out into the
bamboo hut that Siuan so wants to return to. They kiss and then go to the rooms
of Gitara Sedai. They tell the old, blind Aes Sedai that the war is over and
the Aiel are retreating. Before she can respond, Gitara has vision. She sees
Rand’s mother being stabbed as she fights on Dragonmount and then preparing to
give birth. She announces that the Dragon is born again, as baby soon to be
named Rand is birthed. She tells them not to tell anyone and then dies right on
the spot. Damn.
In the present, Siuan is standing
in the Cairhien palace and Moiraine is brought to her. When they are alone,
Siuan asks why she wasn’t told Moiraine was stilled. And that Lan told her
she’d threatened to pass his bond without his consent and that they’d found the
Dragon Reborn. Siuan tells Moraine that she’s shouldered the most burdens since
their quest began and that it’s time for her to do some of the rowing too. It’s
time for her to meet Rand Tamlyn al’Thor.
… Yes, that is my head canon for
his full name.
Rand, meanwhile, is pacing outside
the chamber, Lan trying to give him tips on how to present himself. Rand asks
if this is going to be a trial, as he knows what happened to the last man who
claimed to be the Dragon. Lan asks him if that’s why he ran after the Eye of
the World. Rand says that he left to protect the people he loves, and Lan
chastises him for being selfish. He was born to defend all, not just the people
he loves. He tells Rand that the Amyrlin is smart and comes from humbler
beginnings that him, and that there’s one rule above all to being a man,
whatever comes, you face it on your feet. He grabs a coat for Rand and tells
Rand to give him his sword, but Rand parries him. Lan recognizes the form, Heron
Dips the Wing, and says Rand is learning sword forms. Rand says he’s learned a
lot. Lan tells him to keep the sword, as the Amyrlin won’t be afraid of that.
He advices Rand to use the form “Cat crosses the Courtyard,’ back straight,
body loose, to present himself to the Amyrlin. Rand meets the Amyrlin. She
recognized Rand’s form and said that Lan must have prepared him. She has
questions for Rand, and she tells him to answer truthfully.
In the Foregate, Mat is loitering
around, clearly trying to figure out what to do next when he’s jumped by a thug
and knocked out. He wakes up on the floor of a house. Lanfear welcomes him to Falme.
He asks how he got there, and Lanfear says that’s her little secret and that
she thought Mat would be more impressive. Mat gets up and goes out to the
balcony, where he sees Falme and the Seanchan ships in dock. Damn.
Nynaeve and Elayne are dodging
Seanchan on the streets. Elayne is shocked to see how well the Falmens have
assimilated to the occupation and wonders why they don’t fight back. Nynaeve
points out that the standing army might have something to do with it. Nynaeve
wants to try to invade the palace directly, but Elayne puts her foot down and
says that they’re doing it her way this time. She confirms that an Ogier is in
the palace, one that traveled with Nynaeve’s friend and tells Nynaeve to do
exactly as she says.
We jump to a field outside Falme,
where Egwene’s been taken out for training with other new Damane. She’s been
outfitted with the muzzle pacifier as well. Th leader of this training
exercise, Mulaen, tells them that today they’ll test the Damane’s strength.
Renna informs Egwene that if she embarrasses her today, she’ll regret it.
Back in Cairhien, Verin and Tomas
meet with Yasicca, who brought Verin a document from the Royal Library. Yasicca
asks why she needs an Ogier map of the city, but we don’t hear her answer.
Ihvon wants to follow Tomas when he leaves but Alana keeps him back, she
doesn’t want them separating if there’s a Forsaken in the city. Maksim agrees
with Ihvon and he heads out. Maksim says that he’s more concerned about
Liandrin and asks where she went.
Liandrin is, in fact, at House
Damodred. She patently ignores Anvaere when she greets her, staring instead at
an oil painting of Moiraine.
Lan and Moiraine meet. She says
she’s not sure what he hoped to gain from all this and he says hopefully
everything they lost. Lan asks Moiraine a question, prefacing before that he
hopes she’ll one day forgive him for even asking, if after being Stilled she
considered killing herself. Moiraine gives him a look, and he points out that
in the Tower records only two women who lost their powers didn’t try to commit
suicide, the rest at least tried within a year. Moiraine rather angrily says
no, she didn’t, because she knew Rand needed her, that protecting him and
guiding him was more important than anyone. She says that telling Siuan puts
everything in jeopardy and wants to know what Siuan isn’t telling her. Lan says
she’ll need to trust someone, and if not him, then he thought she’d at least
trust Siuan.
I mean, yeah, betting on your
friend’s secret wife sounds like a good play.
Siuan asks how many times Rand has
channeled, he says not much or at least not intentionally. Siuan tells him that
he will keep channeling, it’s his nature, and that he needs to learn to control
it, or he’ll die. Rand says that’s not much of a choice, dying or going mad,
and asks “What if I’m tired of being a spoke in the wheel?” Siaun counters by
saying he’s not spoke, but the water that turns the wheel or breaks it. She
tells Rand that by Tower law, she is supposed to cage Rang and keep him from
channeling except when they want him too. She says that at the Last Battle,
he’ll be the greatest weapon in their arsenal, but not their general. Rand
realizes that this isn’t a conversation, and that Siuan had made her decision
already. Rand channels, wrapping himself in weaves, but Siuan shields him with
a flick of her wrist and yells at him for learning nothing in six months. Siuan
says they’d have been better off if he’d been a girl.
Back in the field, Renna takes
Egwene out to show her strength. As they walk to the center of their training
area, Renna tells her that her light will be brighter than the last girl’s and
that all of Falme’s channelers will see her power. Renna makes Egwene Channel
and fire off a shockwave, the power is so strong it knocks the others from
their feet and Loial feels the breeze of it all the way back in the city.
Loial, meanwhile, is walking around
Falme on an errand when Nynaeve grabs him. He tells her Perrin escaped, before
kneeling to Elayne. He tells them what has been happening to Egwene and that
only Sul’dam are allowed within a hundred feet of it. Nynaeve tells him to go
before anyone notices and when alone Elayne points out that they have
everything they need.
Over with Mat, he’s in the room
with Ishamael, who is whittling something and not talking to him. Eventually,
Ishamael asks Mat if he’s ever had trouble sleeping. Ishamael says that he
does, that he lays up thinking about the pain of everyone. Mat asks if this is
a sex or murder thing, and either way he’d prefer to skip the talking. Ishamael
says neither. He says that the world has forgotten much since his time, and not
just technology. Ishamael claims that this tea he’s prepared will show Mat all
his past lives, all the people he used to be. Ishamael sets an hourglass timer,
saying that Mat should take the tea in fifteen minutes. One cup and he’ll know
all. Mt asks why he thinks he’ll touch anything Ishamael prepared. Ishy tells
him that he thinks Mat has always wanted to know and it was only after drinking
that tea that Ishamael got a good night’s sleep.
Perrin, Hopper, and Aviendha are
traveling in the wasteland when Perrin sees a woman hiding in the desert.
Aviendha compliments Perrin, saying that he has good eyes for a wetlander.
Aviendha asks her to take her to Jolien. They’re taken to another woman and a
grave. One of the women tells her that she took a deep wound and died of
infection. Aviendha sign something to the other two. They disarm themselves,
take a few steps away and then the two new Aiel pummel Aviendha. They beat her
until she drops with a bloodied face.
Back at Mat’s room, he’s watching
the sand run out of the timer. When it does, he pours the tea and doddles a
little before downing the whole cup. When nothing happens right away, he says
it’s a load of shit and tries to stand up, but his head starts swimming. He
sees his mother, telling him he’s a damn prick. Mat stumbles over to his mirror
and sees he hung himself and in other panes are images of him killing his
friends. He drops to the ground, turns into his mother, and then a doppelganger
of himself appears, lifts them up and says they’re just like him. Damn, trippy.
Rand is still kneeling before Siuan
when Moiraine and Lan come in. She tells Siuan to release him, but she says no.
She says that they tried their way, and they nearly lost everything, so now
they’ll follow Tower law. Moiraine says the Reds will Gentle Rand, Siuan says
not while she’s in power, and Moiraine counters by saying that the Tower is
FULL of her enemies and asks if she’s really so confident in her power.
Moiraine says that they both had jobs, Moiraine was to find the Dragon Reborn
and Siuan was to prepare the Tower. Siuan says she can’t do that now that she’s
been stilled and that he’s no more ready than from before Moiraine found him.
Siuan says that when Queen Galldrian returns, they’ll announce him as the
Dragon Reborn, with 14 sisters to show that he’s under their control. Rand is
brought to a dungeon and left with Moiraine and Leane. Rand asks what is
happening and Moiraine explains that he’s being Shielded, but when Leane’s
shield drops he’ll feel like himself again. Moiraine heard from Siuan that he
was leaving and wants to know where he was going. Rand tells her he was going
to Falme to free Egwene. When asked, he confirms that’s what Lanfear showed him
in the dream. He wants to know why everyone wants him in Falme. Moiraine tells
him that that’s where the Dragon Reborn is supposed to proclaim himself,
bannered across the sky in fire. Rand realizes that, if the Forsaken want him
in Falme, they won’t want him imprisoned in Cairhien.
Back at the house, Anvaere tells
Liandrin that she’s not sure when Moiraine will return. Liandrin says she’s not
here for Moiraine and that she’s tired of waiting. Barthanes asks and then
orders his mother to go upstairs. When alone, it’s revealed that Barthanes is a
Darkfriend and that their Master ordered him to remove Moiraine from the board.
Barthanes says that she’s his aunt, but Liandrin says that’s why she’ll never
see it coming. She tells him to do it tonight, that she’s being held at the
palace and to kill his mother if she suspects anything. We get a close up of a
vent and then the reveal that Anvaere heard everything from a hidden room.
Ishamael is cupping Mat’s head in
his arms and comforting him. He tells Mat that we relive these lives over and
over again and repeat these stories, these mistakes. Even in death they
reincarnate and go on suffering. Ishamael says that all he wants is to close
his eyes and never open them again. Mat asks how.
Rand meets Lanfear in the world of
Dreams. He asks for her help to free him. Lanfear says that Moiraine is with
her and asks why she’s not doing anything. Rand says she might and that she
might not need her. When she plays coy, Rand asks if she can get her out or
not. WE then cut to Lanfear walking through the Foregate and causing explosions
left and right.
We find Maksim looking at himself
in a dagger as Alana and Lan join him. He tells Lan that he’s in there. He
tells Alana that, what with Forsaken running around, he misses the farm and
even her cousins. Alana does her best to comfort him. Lan meets with Logain. He
tells Lan that he’s still waiting for his master to fulfil her promise. Or that
Lan can run him through now and save her the trouble. Lan puts down a key on
the table and says that Logain can see Male Weaves and asks what he sees when
he looks at Moiraine. He says she’s a desperate, lonely woman that swore
herself to a cause she couldn’t fully comprehend. Lan says that half a year in
a madhouse and he’s still a madman, and Logain counters that madness is
expecting a straight answer from a man that you helped lock up. Lan grabs the
coin and walks away, but Logain says there are weaves on her, from a man. The
weaves are there, thousands, but no one is channeling anything into them. Alana
comes in and tells Lan about the fires in the Foregate. Logain asks about the
key and Lan says he’ll get the key when he’s transferred back to the Tower, as
there are two Browns there that want to study him. Damn.
What Logain described is a weave
that is tied off. In the books, this was a very common tactic, you can set up a
weave and tie it off, no longer exerting your own strength to maintain it. This
can be dangerous for things like Shields, but a sometime necessary tactic.
Looks like that’s something that was lost to time in this turning.
Lanfear reaches the gate and sees a
bunch of Foregaters trying to get into the city. She mutters that it’s been
3000 years and yet she’s back to this. She explodes the door and walks in.
Perrin and company, now including
the new Aiel, Bain and Chiad, are walking again. Perrin asks what the hell that
was about and Aviendha tells him that was about Ji’e’toh. It’s old tongue for
Honor and obligation. Aviendha had ‘toh’ to Joline that she failed to meet with
her death, which lowered her “Ji.” The most acceptable way to reduce or
eliminate the lowering of one’s Ji is to get the crap kicked out of you. The
Aiel are a weird culture. Aviendha asks about Perrin’s ring, saying that she
thinks it means that he’s “owned” by a wetlander woman and that means he can’t
lie with anyone else. Perrin says “kinda” and Aviendha shrugs, saying that Bain
will be disappointed, but Chiad won’t care. The group comes across the ocean
and the Aiel are flummoxed by all that water. In the Waster, a stream you can’t
step across is all but unheard of, so yeah, I get them being mind-blown.
Nynaeve and Elayne ambush a Sul’dam
named Seta, Nynaeve showing her the bracelet on her wrist and asking if it looks
good on her before slamming the collar on her. Once the shield forms across her
chest, Elayne runs up and knocks her out.
At the Kennels, Egwene is braiding
her hair. No doubt trying to remind herself of home and of the fact she’s never
alone because of that braid. See Nynaeve’s speech from the first episode. Renna
comes in and tells her to pull up her sleeves. She takes Egwene’s hand and
washes it with a sponge. Renna says that she realized why Egwene fights her,
that she doesn’t know why she’s here. She says that the Empress, may she live
forever, has one charge, to unite the world under one banner to fight the Last
Battle. Egwene tells Renna that she will kill her and Renna storms off.
Barthanes is led to Moiraine’s room
by a servant. He assures Barthanes that Moiraine is inside and that she drank a
sedative in her tea. Barthanes goes inside to find an empty cell. Anvaere
appears and says she was sure he wouldn’t do it before slamming the door on
him. She asks him why he’d become a Darkfriend and he says he did it for them,
or did she really not question how they rose so far so fast. He’s going to be
king, and he asks her will she really throw that away. For Moiraine? He says
she will leave this place and never think of them again. Anvaere says that she
knows, but she also knows two things about Moiraine. That she knows the
difference between right and wrong, and about how much harder it is sometimes
to do what is right. Barthanes begs her to not tell anyone, but she says he
already has. Barthanes screams at his mother, and she’s led away.
Verin comes into Rand’s cell and
tells Leane she has been ordered to help protect Cairhien. They swap shield
duties and Leane tells her to not let Moiraine get close to her. When alone,
Verin drops the Shield and she says the Dragon Reborn has been in Cairhien long
enough. They and Tomas run from the city, Verin saying there’s a Waygate in the
city that they can use. Moiraine says that’s just a rumor but they reveal
there’s definitely a Stedding there and that the city is built over it. Lan and
Alana’s crew arrive, saying they’ll take Rand and Moiraine the rest of the way,
Alana saying she’s not alone anymore. Siuan leads a circle and the other Aes
Sedai link with her to make a thunderstorm to put out the fires. Leane joins
them, and Siuan asks her who’ shielding Rand. She says Verin is, that she told
her to come. Siuan orders her to lead with the healing and says Rand cannot be
allowed to leave.
They reach the Waygate and Moiraine
tells Rand to open. Lan says that she’s going to do it and tells Rand to look
at Moiraine with the One Power. Moiraine tells him not to, but Rand does. He
sees a sphere of glowing light surrounding her chest, saying it’s like a bunch
of weaves tied off in a knot. Moiraine says that’s impossible, but Lan says
that that is a skill from the Age of Legends that he’d read about since they
parted. Lan says that the way Moiraine had been acting had never sat right with
him, and that even a Forsaken shouldn’t be strong enough to Still someone alone.
It’s a Shield that he tied off. Remember, women can’t see weaves of Saidin, so
this was effectively the same thing in a world where there are no Aes Sedai men.
Lan tells him to cut the knot, as he doesn’t have the skill to untie it.
Moiraine says she trusts him. Rand channels Earth and Fire and reaches out to
Moiraine with it. He cuts through it and Moiraine’s powers are back. Lan
apologizes that it took him so long to do his duty. Moiraine steps up to the
Waygate and opens it. Rand is suddenly grabbed by weaves and shielded, and Lan
is tossed aside. Siuan tells her to close the Waygate and accuses her of
failing at the Eye of the World. She orders Moiraine to closes the Waygate,
using Moiraine’s oath to her to do it. The gate closes, and Moiraine looks at
Siuan with utter betrayal. Lanfear joins them. Siuan channels Earth and
prepares to attack her but Lanfear knocks her aside. Lanfear goes to kill Moiraine,
but Rand stops her, saying if she wants his help, she’ll leave her be. Lanfear
agrees, saying Rand is becoming more like Lews every day and that they’re lucky
a broken Amyrlin is more useful than a dead one. Siuan wakes up and begs
Moiraine to help her, but Moiraine leaves her behind. Damn.
That’s a hell of a penultimate
episode. We got to see a little bit more of Aiel culture, seeing how seriously
they take Ji’e’toh and what is necessary to meet toh. We’re shown that Mat is very
much struggling with his identity if he’s maybe preordained to be a screw up
and betrayer. I liked hearing a bit from Ishamael about his past, and how he
desires the world to stop entirely. That’s a motivation that isn’t revealed
until well into the books, I’m thinking around 10 or 11. So getting it this
early I think is a good call. The Barthanes reveal was a brilliant reworking of
the character. In the books, Barthanes is Moiraine’s cousin who is of age with
her, is a Darkfriend and seems to be planning to take the throne via a murder.
Turning him into a young man that seems to be doing it only to restore his
family for his mother is just a such a better motivation. His screaming for his
mother as he’s left in his cell just sent a chill up my spine. I love that,
while Egwene is capitulating to Renna and the Sul’dam as much as she has to
survive, that she’s not broken-broken yet. She told her captor to her face that
Egwene is going to kill her, so she still has that fire in her. Renna is
clearly being frustrated by all this, which is perfect. Nynaeve and Elayne have
their way in, and they’re going to rock the foundation of the Seanchan empire
with how. Seeing Siuan and Moiraine’s relationship start to break down because
of their relative positions was depressing. I see the logic, Siuan is scared
after learning her love has lost her powers and lied about it for months and
the fate of the world is in the balance. I can kind of understand falling back
on the Tower tradition when it seems like everything else failed. It especially
hurt after seeing the prologue when they used to be so happy before stumbling
upon a secret that would change the damn world. Rand using Lanfear to finally
get free of Siuan and the Aes Sedai was brilliant. Especially seeing how bored
Lanfear was while doing it. Really highlights the strength gap between the Forsaken
and the modern Channelers. And I’m glad that Moiraine finally got her powers
back. The idea that she’d been Shielded, not Stilled, has been floating around
since the season 1 finale dropped and I’m glad that they confirmed it. It puts
a lot of things into context, not the least of all why she wasn’t cripplingly
depressed like she should be. Strength of will is one thing, but the
universality of the suicidal depression that comes from being Stilled/Gentled
or burnt out was a thing that seemed to transfer over from the books, and it
felt weird we didn’t see that in Moiraine if she was Stilled. So, she’s got her
powers back and it only cost her marriage, wonderful. Heavy Sarcasm. Alright,
quick summary of the situation. Rand is in Falme, with a repowered Moiraine and
Lan. Mat is possibly being tempted by Ishamael to join him, and Egwene is being
held by the Seanchan. Perrin is on his way to the city with Aiel, Loial and the
Sheinarans are enslaved but I think that situation will be quickly rectified,
and Nynaeve and Elayne are going to bust Egwene out. So not an ideal situation
but he’ll see worse. We’ll see you in October for the thrilling conclusion.
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