Matrim "Royal Thumping" Cauthon has a nice ring to it.
Last time on The Wheel of Time,
Elayne dealt with a family affair. Her mom, Morgase, her brothers Galad and
Gawyn, and her mother’s consort Gaebril arrived to demand she return to Andor.
Morgase was spooked by Elayne’s disappearance last season and wants her home
where she can be protected. This complicated Siuan’s plan to use Elayne and
Nynaeve to sus out any remaining Black Ajah sisters in the Tower. Eventually, Elayne
confronted her mother about staying and got Morgase to agree to leave her in
the Tower, though her brothers stayed to train as Warders and to keep an eye on
her. Her mother’s advisor Elida also decided to stay behind, much to Siuan’s
annoyance. Perrin made it back to the Two Rivers, only to learn that Whitecloaks
had taken over the area as they’re defending the townsfolk from Trolloc raids.
Alanna and Maksim were also there for reasons they refused to divulge. Mat
tried to distract himself in the Tower, it didn’t go well. He was approached and
convinced by Siuan to leave the Horn of Valere in her keeping, to hopefully dissuade
anyone from killing him to try to take the Horn for themselves. We also learn
that Min is back in the Tower, she’s working as a spy for Verin and her ability
to glimpse hints of the future suggest that even more death and destruction is coming
to the Tower. Rand and company made for the Aiel Waste. Rand trained with his
blade for a bit, much to Aviendha’s annoyance. Aiel have a thing about swords.
They’re eventually discovered by Aiel warriors, the woman leading the group
recognizing Rand as a candidate for Car’a’Carn. Enough recapping. Let’s get to
it, shall we?
Ep 19: Seeds of the Shadow
We open in the bowels of a castle
or so it’s seems. Lord Gaebril is looking about fretfully when he’s joined by…
Lanfear? Oh no! A third Forsaken joins them, a fellow named Sammael. Yes, I
said third. It’s revealed that Lord Gaebril is in fact Rahvin, another of the
Forsaken. Lanfear is impressed when she sees lipstick on his face and realizes
he’s already got a queen in his bed. Rahvin has a taste for the finer things in
life. It’s revealed that he’s used Compulsion, a forbidden weave that lets you
control other people’s minds, to convince Morgase and everyone around her that
they’ve been hopelessly in love for a decade, not a month. FYI, that’s why
everyone who saw him last episode had that over long pause when meeting him,
they were legit trying to figure out who he was until he forced the lie into
their minds. Sammael is less impressed by his dalliances and demands to know
where the Dragon is. Lanfear says they have more immediate problems than Rand al’Thor.
Sammael accuses her of falling into the same trap as last time, falling
hopelessly in love with the Dragon. He goes so far as to say she’d lay down at
his feet if he said rug. Rahvin scoffs and says that last time the Chosen
fought each other more than the Dragon, so can they please focus. Lanfear says
they need to talk about Moghedian. She says that Moghedian is a weak coward,
but she’s smart. She believes Moghedian will start by attacking either of them,
as she claims Rahvin and Sammael are the weakest Chosen on the field right now,
and then she’ll work her way up to Lanfear herself and be named Nae’blis. Nae’blis
is the title for the leader of the Forsaken. In the books it’s never said out
loud this was Ishamael’s place, but it’s heavily implied. Here its flat out
stated. Sammael asks why she isn’t Nae’blis already if she’s so confident and
why the Dark One isn’t talking to them through her. She says that maybe the
Dark One is still mourning Ishamael. Rahvin picks up that she’s looking to form
an alliance. He says he’ll pass it onto the others. When she ask what he means,
he reveals he contacted two other Chosen, Graendal and Semihrage, and that he’ll
pass the information onto them. Lanfear tells him to think about her offer and Gateways
away, Sammael following suit. Moghedian then reveals herself, she’d been hiding
in the shadows, and was affronted by being called a coward. They banter for a
minute before Moghedian says that Lanfear is falling into the same games as
last time, but she won’t be doing the same. She won’t be trapped in a cage for 3000
years again. They share a chuckle.
We cut to the prison cells at the
White Tower. Verin narrates that these two, Amico Nagoyin a ‘Yellow’ and Joiya
Byir a ‘Gray’ are both actually Black Ajah sisters that the Amyrlin captured
herself. She tells Nynaeve and Elayne that they’ve been Stilled, cut off from
the True Source forever, but they’re still not talking about the Black Ajah’s
plans. She wants them to try to make progress with them. Nynaeve says they’ll
work better on their own, Elayne elaborating that they can lie, which gives
them an advantage over the Aes Sedai. They go to talk to Joiya first. Joiya is
impressed to see Elayne as Accepted already, saying that Siuan must have shuffled
her through the Arches real quickly. No you didn’t miss that scene, they didn’t
show it. Joiya doesn’t give them anything so they move onto Amico. Amico is a
sobbing wreck after losing her powers. She does explain how the Black Ajah is
organized. They’re broken up into three women cells called Hearts. Each Sister
in a Heart knows each other, and then each knows one more sister outside of
their heart. Amico’s non-Heart contact was Liandrin, but she says Liandrin
found out about the rest somehow, hence why she called out to them for aide.
She claims to not know anything else. They pretend to contemplate killing Amico
and saying Joiya told them as much, and asks her to drop the act. Amico stops Sobbing
and says that Liandrin is headed to Tear to help a Forsaken get Callandor. Elayne
says only the Dragon can claim it, so Amico shrugs and says they’ve got nothing
to fear then. We jump back to their interrogation of Joiya, who claims that
Amico can’t be trusted because she spent years as a Yellow and lied to patience
faces about them living through their illnesses and laughing when they died.
She claims Liandrin is going after Mazrim Taim, another false Dragon. He’s from
Saldea in the north. Joiya uses her experience as a Gray, saying she
specialized in negotiations and reading people to get them to try to believe
her.
We jump up to Elaida in her rooms.
She seems to be having some kind of fit, her body shaking horribly. She calls
out for her servant Alice to help her as she knocks aside some knickknacks from
her shelf. Min comes in, saying that Alice left with Morgase and offers to help
her. Elaida agrees, saying today is an important day for her.
Elayne and Nynaeve try to figure
out if they should go to Tear or Saldea. Nynaeve says she doesn’t believe either
of them, and that Verin and Siuan were too focused on the two captured Blacks.
She is sure that Liandrin is the key. She leads Elayne to the room Liandrin had
been using to house her son. The room is empty and bare now, though. Elayne
asks if she liked Liandrin. Nynaeve admits that she did, saying that while
Liandrin was trying to turn her to the Shadow, she did seem to genuinely trying
to help her, and that she seemed to love her son. They see a symbol written in
chalk under the bed, they move the bed and have a look.
Back in the Tower, Elida finds Verin
and Leane talking and butts into their conversation. Joking that Verin must be
dealing with a fire in the library or a shortage of honeycakes in the kitchen.
She tries to speak with the Amyrlin but the two other sisters stone wall her. Verin
says that only a Sitter can ask for a private audience with the Amyrlin and Leane
suggesting she go find one before she’ll accept Elida’s petition. Elida tells
them both if they cross her now, she’ll never forget it before gliding away.
She goes to the Red Ajah and speaks with the Sitters. Tsutama, one of the Sitters
for the Red we saw earlier, is revealed to be the Highest, the unofficial head
of the Red Ajah. Elida hands her and another Sitter, Galina, bribes to earn
their favor. Did I say bribes? I meant gifts. Tsutama tells her to keep the
necklace Elida presented to her, saying it’s too gaudy for her. Tsutama asks what
she’s hoping to gain here, and Elida states that she wants to return the Red Ajah
to its proper place at the Heart of the Tower, like it was when she was the
Highest. Tsutama says this isn’t the time for them to be drawing attention to
themselves, not after Liandrin but Elida disagrees. The Dragon is Reborn and is
a man, and thus the Red Ajah need to be acting. She proposes sending eight
sisters to find Rand al’Thor and cage him. Tsutama tells her that they need to
work to regain their standing, a situation that Elida is making more difficult
and dismisses her. Elida goes, but not before pointing out that Tsutama not fighting
for her place in the hall during the incident with Liandrin falls squarely on
her head.
In the Waste, Lan asks Rhuarc, the
Clan Chief of the Tardaad Aiel, how they knew that they were coming. Rhuarc
says that’s Wise One business. When Moiraine asks what a Wise One is, he also
says that’s also Wise One business. Egwene and Rand are following behind them
and Egwene says she swears she saw the Wise One with them, Bair , in her dreams
the night before. Bair overhears them and says that no, Egwene was in her dream.
The Aiel finds water and spread out to try to claim the water source, Aviendha
saying that more blood has been spilled in the waste over water than gold. They
found a caravan of Tu’athuan (tinkers) that had been attacked and slaughtered. Egwene
asks if Aiel did this, but Rhuarc says it’s forbidden to even approach the ‘lost
ones.’ And Avi elaborates saying the only thing less honorable than refusing to
defend yourself is killing someone who won’t defend themselves. They examine
the bodies and find what they think is a sword, but Lan says that it’s from a
spear head shaped to look like a sword. They reason that he Shaido, another Aiel
clan that the Tardaad are in a blood feud with, might have done this. The
others hurry ahead, Rhuarc staying behind to bury the dead. Oh, and it’s
revealed that in this version Bair is Rhuarc’s wife. Rand holds back a bit to
ask Rhuarc about Rhuedean and the trial he needs to face there. Rhuarc tells
him he knows too much and too little about that.
In the Two Rivers, Perrin visits
his wife’s grave and buries his broken ring beside her. Alanna joins him and says
she never imagined he was a gardener. He says this is actually his family burial
plot, the Aybara’s having a tradition of burying their dead with apple seeds in
their hands, hence why there’s a grove of apple trees here. He tells Alanna this
is Leila’s grave and that he missed her burial due to them running from the
Trollocs. He admits that it both hurts and comforts him that her tree has
thrived since he left. Alanna says that in her culture, they mix the ashes of
the dead with clay to make a face paint that they wear until it fades away.
Hence why she and Maksim are wearing the gray face paint. Perrin asks when she’ll
start looking for another Warder. Alanna admits she’s buried a lot of Warders
through the years but her relationship with her Ihvon and Maksim is different.
She says that she and Maksim were the fire and Ihvon knew how to douse that
flame. Perrin says that at least she still has Maksim. She says that its
different with a trio, that when one of a pair dies there is only one to
grieve, but when two are left one of them dominates the grief.
Back in the village, Bain and Chiad
are bored and try to convince Loial to a game of Maiden’s Kiss. Something the
bashful Ogier isn’t super into. He says he must finish this chapter on
Maneatharan. The Aiel turn their attention to Maksim who is sharpening his
sword. He says no. They say they’ll go easy on him since it’s his first time.
Maksim chuckles and asks who said it was his first time? They try to get him to
stop playing with his dirty sword, but Maksim reveals it’s not dirt, but the
ashes of the only man he ever loved. Before they can continue, Perrin and Alanna
return, saying people are in the village that he didn’t recognize. They try to
run for the upstairs but a man and his entourage storms in. This is Lord Luc
and his second-in-command a woman in black, revealing to Marin al’Vere that
Natti Cauthon and her daughters were arrested by the Whitecloaks. The woman in
black notices Perrin and Perrin is introduced to them and Lord Luc to him.
Perrin asks where the Cauthons are. Luc tries to build up the drama but the
woman in black reveals that they’re at the Whitecloak camp at Watch Hill. She
asks if he knows the Whitecloaks because they say they know him.
We cut to the camp which is being
run by Dain Bornhald and Eamon Valda. Valda says they’re wasting good steel on
Dain’s cages and that he can just get the information about the Aybaras
directly from the Cauthons. Dain says that’s not necessary, the townsfolk saw
them arrest the Cauthons, so Perrin will come to them. Valda says there are
faster ways to get information but Dain refuses to put the villagers to the Question
(torture) as they’ve done nothing wrong. Valda insists that Perrin helped a
witch and murdered his father, the land itself has to be tainted to raise such
a creature. Dain reveals he sent to the Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks
for reinforcement. If they arrive before Perrin does, he’ll let Valda have his
way. He goes to examine the Cauthons and Natti Cauthon swears she’ll die before
she lets him touch her girls.
Back at Tar Valon, Mat is trying to
sleep but the sounds of death in his memories is keeping him up. It seems to be
causing him agony before he sits up and downs a bunch of water. Min barges into
his room and Mat asks to have a lock installed. He tries to brush Min off, but
she insists on talking to him. She tells him she gave up her reward from Ishamael
to protect him. Ishy had promised to take away her ability to see the future,
but she gave that up to protect him. Mat isn’t impressed and says he won’t
thank her for it. She storms off, but Mat does try to call her back, so he at
least feels bad talking to her like that.
Elayne and Nynaeve are looking up
the symbol in the library. They find out that the symbol is part of a death
ritual from the country of Tanchico. Ya draw the symbol where a person died and
where they were born to help ease their passing and speed up their rebirth.
They realize that Liandrin is from Tanchico and that she’ll be heading there
instead of Tear or Saldea. When Nynaeve says both Black Sisters were lying,
Elayne gets the idea that maybe they should focus on what the Black Sisters didn’t
talk about, namely the items stolen from the 13th Depository. Verin
had been cataloguing them and they look through the sketches. Nynaeve finds a
bracelet that looks a lot like the bracelet half of a Seanchan a’dam, the
device Sul’dam use to control Damane. Elayne realizes that Tanchico is near
Falme, Falme is where the Seanchan landed… and that maybe that’s where they
could find the collar that matches it. Someone shoots at the two of them, Elayne
throwing him back with the Power. They go to investigate and find a dead Gray
Man like from the inn. Elayne says she didn’t throw him hard enough to do that,
but Nynaeve notices a stab wound. Verin join them, smiling, but that disappears
when she sees the corpse. They fill her in on what happened and she explains
the Gray Man’s lore. They’re Darkfriends that sold their soul to the shadow in
exchange for an ability to go unnoticed. You can look right at them and barely
register that they’re there. Nynaeve asks what she’s doing up there, and Verin
counters that this is the Brown Ajah quarters, so she might ask her the same
thing. They ask to go to their rooms and Verin says they can but to lock there
doors and to not open them until the Amyrlin comes to debrief them. Nynaeve
tells Elayne they’re headed to Tanchico today, as it’s safer there than in the
Tower even if it’s a trap. When Elayne asks why, she points out how weird it is
that Verin never asked the obvious question. Who stabbed the Grey Man?
Liandrin arrives in Tanchico with
her crew. The locals are dressed in veils and masks. They interrupt a wedding
ceremony in the palace. The groom is a man named Jaq Lounalt. When Liandrin
hears that name, we get a bit of her backstory. She assumes Jaq is the great-grandson
of her ‘husband.’ Though, that probably isn’t the right word, as Lounalt Sr.
didn’t give her a wedding and kept her in a room under the keep as… well, a sex
slave. Until she found out she was pregnant at 13. She unveils Lounalt’s bride
and sees she’s another child. Jaq tells her not to touch his property. Liandrin
turns and channels his heart out of his chest. She tells the others to
slaughter the guests. Liandrin calls Nyomi over and has her use Compulsion on
the girl’s mind to make her forget what happened today. She has to take a bit
more too, but Liandrin thinks that might be for the best. Given the amount of
bodies behind them, ya, good call.
Back at the Tower, Min brings Elida
some dresses she wanted. Elida reveals that she knows Min is a seer and asks
her if seeing the future is a burden on her. She reveals she can also see into
the future. What Min does is unique to her, her visions are cryptic but always
100% accurate. The Foretelling that an Aes Sedai can do are less frequent and
more fickle. She does say every vision is a gift, though. Min asks why, since they
can’t change it. Elida reveals that knowing the answer isn’t the real power,
the real power is figuring out what leads to that future. She says that in the
past she had a vision that the queendom of Andor would be a key part in the
last battle, so she made sure she was installed as the advisor to the queen. Min
asks if the bracelet that Elida fingers is part of another Foretelling and
Elida says it is of a source. She has Min sit, and asks if what she’ll say next
can stay between them. Min says yes. Eliada reveals that the Reds will soon
call a vote in the Hall that Siuan will lose. This vote will set the Tower on it’s
original mission, to find and cage the Dragon Reborn.
In the Waste, Bair speaks with
Egwene, saying it’s been ages since the Tower produced a Dreamwalker. Dreamwalkers
are people who can enter the World of Dreams, Tel’alan’riod. Everyone who
sleeps can touch that place but only a few can enter it fully. She says she and
another Wise One named Melaine are the only two among the Taardad. She thinks Egwene
is one too. When Egwene mentions that she’s been stalked in her dream by a
woman that tortured her. It’s revealed that bruises on her neck are a side
effect of these dream attacks. Bair promises to show Egwene what she can of
defending herself in the dream after they reach Rhuidean.
In Rand’s dream, he’s meeting with
Lanfear in their room. He says that she needs to stop bringing him here and she
suggests he brought her here. She says that he was right not to go to Callandor
and apologizes for trying to push him there. She seems legitimately scared, and
Rand asks her why. She says that she may be able to escape her oaths, if the
Dark One was killed. Rand asks how they could even do that. She claims that
there’s a Sa’Angreal for Saidar, a twin to Callandor, called the Sakarnen. She
theorizes if used together, they could destroy the Dark One. Rand asks what it’d
mean for her if her oaths were gone and she implies they might be together.
Rand says they can’t and she teleports away.
We shift over to the Aiel Sweat
Tent. As water is precious in the Waste, to get clean the Aiel basically go
into a sweat lodge, scraping the dirt and grime off their bodies with stones. Moiraine
asks what the significance of Rhuidean is and the other Wise One, Melaine asks
if the White Tower doesn’t teach manners. Bair explains that it’s where Aiel go
to be declared either a Wise One or Clan Chief. If Rand is the Car’a’Carn, he’ll
need to go there. Moiraine asks what happens when he is made one, but no one
answers. They see an Aiel making eyes at Moiraine and Lan suggests maybe she
could use a night or an hour with someone to forget her troubles. Moiraine says
she hasn’t been with anyone beside Siuan in years, but Lan laughs and says she
didn’t forget how it works. The Aiel comes over and is introduced as Melindhra.
After asking Lan if he’d like to join her tonight. When she walks away, they
spy a tattoo of a crane on her back. Lan follows her and demands to know what
she has the Malkier Golden Crane on her back. Melindhra reveals that she’s
actually Malkieri, she ran when the country fell until she was found and
adopted by an Aiel Wise One. She says she’s Aiel, but she’d break her spears if
Lan asked her to help him take back Malkier. Lan says Malkier is dead, but
Melindhra insists it lives in any man that wears a hadori and any woman that
wears the kaizen. She says he carries his father’s sword and asks if he still
fights the war and he says he does.
Back at the Two Rivers, Perrin and
the townsfolk have a meeting. Perrin offers to turn himself over to the Whitecloaks
to free the Cauthons. Marin says that the whole town has known Perrin all his
life and they know he’s not a Darkfriend. Local angry old man Cenn Buie says he’s
something, given his eyes, but Daise Congar says to shut up. Perrin still will
turn himself in so they can focus on the real problem of the Trollocs. The
others won’t let him leave for fear that the Whitecloaks would abandon them to
the Trollocks if they have him. She says the Two Rivers defends its own and the
meeting disperses. Alanna goes up to talk with Maksim. They have a fight about the
bond, Maksim demanding that Alanna turn it off because he’s dying. Not from
Alanna’s grief but from her utter lack of grief for Ihvon. Alanna says that she’s
controlling her emotions because if she didn’t she’d drown in both of their
grief. He insists that if she really felt something they’d be hunting down
Liandrin. He wants to know why there in the Two Rivers instead of looking for
their lover’s murderer.
We jump to the common room of the
Winespring when the woman in black comes to speak to Perrin. She says that she’d
never seen someone try to turn themselves in and fail. He asks if she’s with
Lord Luc and she confirms it, though she says it’s by happenstance. She’s a
hunter for the Horn of Valere. She notices him chuckle when he hears that and
when she asks he says he’s ‘aware of it.” She says that there’s been much talk
about him in his absence. Perrin says that there’s been little talk of her, and
that he doesn’t know her name. She introduces herself as Mandarb, which makes Perrin
laugh because that’s Lan’s horse’s name. It means Blade in the old tongue. She
suggests trying to turn himself in again and storms off. Loial joins Perrin and
asks what now. Perrin says he’s going to free the Cauthons, since he promised
to protect them Mat.
At the Tower, Mat chases down Min
and does apologize to her for how he acted. He says he has had troubles of his
own lately and that made him act rudely. Min knows its about the memories. He
asks how she knew that and she says Mat’s told every Novice and half the Aes
Sedai about it, so of course she knows. She suggests that maybe they could use
their skills to their advantage, but cuts off when she has a vision. She sees
Mat hanging from a tree in a red stone doorway. Mat tries to pull her out of it
but tells her he doesn’t want to hear about the vision. Galad saw the commotion
and stepped in on Min’s behalf, asking if this lout has been bothering her. Min
tells him to piss off and walks off, and Mat calls him a prick. So the average
reaction to Galad.
Leana enters the Red Quarter to
meet with the Red Sitters and Eliada. She’s come to offer them a mission on behalf
of the Amyrlin. Siuan had heard the Reds were anxious to do their jobs and so
has ordered Tsutama to lead an expedition of 8 sisters to capture Mazrim Taim.
Elida says that the Highest can’t leave as an important vote is coming up, but
Leane asks if maybe the Reds want to leave their duties to another Ajah, the Blues
maybe. Tsutama agrees to go, following Leana so they can meet with the Amyrlin.
When alone, Elida asks Galina who will replace Tsutama while she’s gone, as
Saldea is on the other side of the world and while Tsutama is gone that means
they’d only have two votes in the Hall. Galina agrees they’ll need a temporary
replacement.
In the Two Rivers, Perrin tries to
stop his friend Wil al’Seen from going back to his farm in the night, for fear
of Trollocs. Wil isn’t scared, though, and insists they’ll be fine. Perrin is
accused of stirring up trouble, but Perrin insists that they need to remember
what happened at Bel Tine. The al’Seens ask what to do. Perrin suggests that
they all fortify the town to protect themselves from both the Trollocs and Whitecloaks.
Everyone agrees that’s a good idea.
Meanwhile, Mat is training in the Warder
Hall with a quarter staff. Galad and Gawyn arrive and try to intimidate him. They
mock his use of a staff and suggest maybe they can show him how to use a real
weapon. Mat says he’s fine and that he’ll stick to bows and staves. Nynaeve
comes in and says she’s been looking for Mat. She’s come to say goodbye as she
and Elayne are heading out. Mat shouts when he hears Liandrin’s name. He refuses
to stay behind, as he’s worried for them but rationalizes it as Nynaeve still
being the only one he trusts with fixing his head. She tries to leave but he
stops her, Galad tries to insert himself into the conversation again and Mat
yells at him to take a day off. They tell him to back off, and Mat decides he’s
had enough of this and bets them two marks each that he can beat them two on
one with his staff. They agree. Mat says his catchphrase from the books ‘dovie’andi
se tovya sagain’ It’s time to toss the dice. Mat then singlehandedly humbles
the Trakand brothers. His staff whirls around them, easily blocking their strikes
and hitting them at the same time, even when they attack together. He beats
Gawyn first and then Galad before reminding them they both owe him two marks.
The woman in black meets Perrin at
the forge, saying that the villagers are staying but she thinks he might not
be. She asks what the Cauthons mean to him, and he says they’re friends, family
even. She asks him if he has a plan or hope, as he’ll need a plan if he wants
to lead these people. Perrin says he doesn’t want to leave, he just wants to
save the Cauthons. She starts to walk off, but Perrin calls out to her and asks
for her name. She introduces herself as Faile. It means Falcon in the Old Tongue,
which means hunting is in her blood.
In Tar Valon, Nynaeve, Elayne and
Mat prepare to head out to Tanchico. Elayne half scolds Nynaeve for bringing
Mat along when she didn’t even mention it to her brothers, but they get underway
nonetheless. Not noticing at all that Min is following behind them.
In Tanchico, Liandrin completes her
son’s burial circle in the catacombs of the castle, sobbing as she remembers
his birth and death. She leaves and enters the area the others are working. Nyomi
confirms that the bracelet is similar to the a’dam, but older. Saidar weaves
don’t affect it, so they presume it’s to control a man. They’re going to look
for the collar that matches it so they can collar the Dragon Reborn. We see one
of the serving women is Moghedian, who smiles evilly hearing this. She whispers
“softly, softly from the Shadow” as she goes.
Well, the Black Ajah in control of
a small city-state and on the look out for the other half of a Saidin A’dam,
that can’t possibly be good. The show has already done a thorough job showing us
how much those things suck to have used on you. And that was just Egwene. Slap one
on Rand and you can kiss the Wheel goodbye. Oh, and one of the most powerful
nations in the world right now is under the control of the Forsaken. Yikes. I
already knew Lord Gaebril was Rahvin from the books, but I liked how the last
episode kind of hinted at that with everyone that met Gaebril staring at him
blankly for just a moment too long before talking to him like they’d known him
for years to be normal. In the books he’d had about six to eight months to
entrench himself and build a more natural background for himself, but mind
controlling those around him to just believe they’ve known him for years is in
Rahvin’s style. Of the Forsaken, Graendal uses that evil power the most but
Rahvin is a close second if I remember correctly. Obviously, he’s a problem
that will need to be handled at some point. The concept of the Nae’blis is
introduced a bit early here, but the Forsaken do spend a great deal of time fighting
over who gets the job until the Dark One names the new one. The power position
comes with unlimited access to the Dark One’s essence, the True Power as it’s
known, so they fight hard for the spot. Let the Lord of Chaos rule and all
that. I liked seeing the investigation play out, and how Nynaeve and Elayne
ultimately discovered where they were going. It is different from the books,
but I like how they expanded on the Tanchico culture by inventing this death
ritual that Liandrin was basically compelled to do despite it being the thing
that got her discovered. In case you were wondering, everything involving her
son and her background is show only. If I recall correctly, the most we get
about Liandrin’s past was that she was from Tanchico, well the country of
Tarabone but Tanchico is the capital so that spot is as likely as any, she grew
up in poverty and before she went to the tower she’d figured out a form of
Compulsion that is actually one of her go to weaves despite the fact mind
control is an Aes Sedai no-no. I think I like this backstory of her being the
escaped child bride of a nobleman a bit more, there’s more drama to it, and
makes her backstory a bit more complicated than ‘I hate people more powerful
than me because I grew up poor.” Perrin’s story is pretty good too. His
convincing the Two Rivers folk to fortify the town is from the books, but it
takes him significantly longer. There wasn’t a big town meeting for him to use
to get most of the people on board, he had to go house to house and convince
them one on one. The Cauthons being captured and Perrin’s dedication to save
them is also from the books. I like this introduction of Lord Luc and Faile as
well. Both are hunters of the Horn, but in the books Luc was in the Two Rivers
alone, and Faile actually came with Perrin. By this point in the novels, they
were attracted to each other but Perrin was being stubborn about actually pursuing
anything with her because he specifically came to the Two Rivers to turn himself
over to the Whitecloaks. She didn’t much care for this idea. I will say, her
name drop is much less significant here than in the books. In the books, Perrin
is warned before meeting her that Min had a viewing about him that involved two
birds, a Hawk and a Falcon, perching on his shoulders, that she somehow knows
are both female. So, you can imagine he’s somewhat spooked when a strange
Hunter of the Horn he met in his travels decided to dub herself Faile (falcon) right
in front of him. He insists on referring to her by her birthname of Zarene
despite her dislike of the name. Oh, and since Perrin’s wife is show only,
there wasn’t a feeling like he was betraying her memory by falling in love
again, which is obviously where this plot is going. Luc is going to be important
going forward me thinks. It was amazing to finally see Mat get to humble Elayne’s
brothers. In the books, he did it in front of a crowd of onlookers, but the
women were less than pleased that he bruised up their eye candy. He also beat
them two on one, with the Warder’s swordmaster adding the greatest blademaster in
history only ever lost one fight, and that was to a farm with a staff. He
let the fight go on to remind his students that a blademaster isn’t invincible.
Not much to say about Rand’s plot this time but tomorrow is literally all about
him so that balances out. Egwene learning and eventually being trained by Wise
Ones as a Dreamwalker is good. Though I feel the need to point out that Bair is
a composite character. Sort of. They basically took two Wise Ones, took one Wise
One named Amys, who was a former Maiden of the Spear, wed to Rhuarc, Wise One
of the Tardaad, and gave her Bair’s name. Bair is a Wise One of Shaarad Aiel,
and Amys' former mentor. They work together a lot and are the most prominent
Wise Ones for a while. I’m not sure why they gave Amys Bair’s name, except
maybe the felt the name was more Unique? No idea. Anyway, the Tardaad Wise One training
Egwene to be a Dreamwalker is good and accurate to this point in the story.
That’s about it for this one. Have a good night.
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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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