Hero Profile: Rand al'Thor

And so, our adventure begins. 

Alright, so we covered the universe, the magic, history, and monsters of the Wheel of Time series. Now that we’ve gotten those out of the way, we should probably get to the actual heroes of the story. And the most logical one to go with is Rand al’Thor. Once again, I should give ya a spoiler warning. If you want to go into this series more or less blind, you should stop reading now and come back after you’ve seen the show. I’m only going to cover the story of the first book, so I’m not going to spoil the whole thing, but there are a few big revelations in those early stories. Just so you know. We good? Ya, we’re good, let’s get to it.

 

Before his hero’s journey, Rand was a simple farmer growing up in the isolated rural district of the Two Rivers in the far west of the nation of Andor. He lived on his family farm with his parents, Tam and Kari al’Thor. That was until his mother’s untimely death when he was around five. After that first tragedy, the next decade and a half was uneventful. He did chores, occasionally went into town to see his friends Mat and Perrin, and occasionally went on adventures with them. The highlight being traveling to the mysterious Mountains of Mist a few miles from their town of Emond’s Field. This changed on Winternight when he was 20.

 

He has no idea what is coming for him. 

The winter had been long that year, so even though Winternight and the follow celebration of Bel Tine are celebrating the start of spring, there is still snow on the ground. On the walk into town from their farm, Rand saw a mysterious man in black on the road looking at him with absolute hatred before vanishing without a trace when he looks away. In town, he hears Mat and Perrin have also seen the man in black, and a peddler named Padan Fain came into town bringing rumors of war with a self-proclaimed Dragon Reborn, Logain Ablar, in the nearby country of Ghealdan. They also meet Moiraine and Lan, a mysterious woman and her bodyguard that had come to town. Moiraine was nice to them, even giving the boys silver coins as a pre-payment for a task she may have for them. Shortly after Fain is pulled away, Mat tells the boys about a story he heard from a wagon guard that told him a story that the Dragon would be reborn in the world’s greatest time of need. This causes Nynaeve the town Wisdom, a combination hedge doctor, weather predictor and spokesperson for the Women’s Circle, to come up and call him an idiot. She is both a bit abrasive and also the neighborhood big sister, so this isn’t the first time she’s done so. When she goes in to also interview Fain, she leaves behind Egwene. Egwene is Rand’s kind of girlfriend. They’re extremely awkward around each other, though, as Egwene just hit marriageable age, which is scary for Rand, but is also considering becoming Wisdom for another town, which is also scary. Their chat is interrupted by Thom Merralin, a traveling entertainer called a Gleeman, coming out to show off a bit. After, Tam comes out and the al’Thor’s return to their house. He’d heard enough stories from the other Village Council members of their son’s seeing a man in black that he doesn’t want the house left alone for a full day.

 

Toasting to the future with old friends.
The fools.

They have the start of a quite night at home, aside from Tam bring out a sword Rand didn’t know he owned, that is interrupted by an attacked by Trollocs. They escape, but Tam gets a scratch that quickly turns septic. Rand is forced to drag Tam to town, as their horse Bella also ran off. Rand grabs supplies, but has to kill a Trolloc that waited for him back in the house with Tam’s sword. Rand drags his father back to town. During the drag, Tam tells Rand in a fever induced hallucination that he actually found Rand after a battle on the famous Dragonmount mountain. Rand is forced to process this information while also worrying his dad is going to die. They make it to town, but things aren’t good there either. Trollocs also attacked, killing dozens and burning homes in the village. To make matters worse, Tam is too far gone for Nynaeve to help him. Hearing how Moiraine and Lan saved the town with their powers, she’s an Aes Sedai, a magic user, and he’s a Warder, a magically enhanced warrior, Rand goes to her and begs for his father’s life. She agrees to help, despite her own weariness, but warns Rand that the Trollocs might attack again t o get him and or his friends Mat and Perrin. She offers to take them to the Aes Sedai capital of Tar Valon to protect them. Rand agrees to go with. A barely recovered Tam gives his blessing, and his sword to Rand, and promises that he’ll follow once he’s recovered.

 

Rand, Mat and Perrin all agree to go. There’s a brief hiccup when a group of anxious towns folk try to drive Lan and Moiraine out, but Moiraine mesmerizes them with local ancient history. Apparently the Two Rivers are the last remnant of the ancient kingdom of Manetheran. In the stable, they’re joined by Thom Merrilin, who thinks the town won’t need his services and he’d like to travel in a group, and Egwene who’ll be damned if her friends leave without her.

 

The group ride out and spend the entire night riding, Moiraine using her powers to take away the fatigue from the riders and all but one of the horses, Rand’s family’s stout mare Bella that Egwene is riding. Weirdly, Bella is the least exhausted of all the horses. They make it across the river Taren, with Moiraine sinking the ferry to try to buy them more time. Trollocs and their Myrddraal leaders (the man in black from earlier) can’t swim. The group spend the next few days traveling cross country. The boys get training with their weapons, Rand with Tam’s sword, Perrin with an Axe his blacksmith Master gave him, and Mat’s bow, from Lan. And Egwene is given beginning training on how to be an Aes Sedai by Moiraine. They make it to Baerlon, the first “big city” any of the young people have ever seen and get set up at an inn called the Stag and Lion. They get settled, but in the night, Rand has a nightmare where he’s confronted by a man in black with burning eyes and mouth who calls himself Ba’alzamon. Ba’alzamon is one of the nicknames for the Dark One, this universe’s Satan. He offers Rand power and glory if he serves, and warns the White Tower will use him as a False Dragon if he doesn’t. To show his power, Ba’alzamon kills a rat by breaking its spine and the next day, Rand hears about dozens of dead rats being found. He also finds out that Perrin had similar nightmares all night, and is feeling ill because of them. On the way out, he meets a slim woman who dresses in men’s clothes named Min who gives him cryptic comments about his future, implying she can see some of it, and that he and his friends will be part of a battle to save the world. He runs off, thinking she’s crazy.

Shadows hunting Ta'Veren.

 

He explores the city, looking for Mat, but instead runs into the peddler, Padan Fain. Everyone back home thought he was dead, and he looks like he’d been run ragged since the attack. Fain makes Rand promise to not tell Moiraine where he is, but also to tell him what inn he’s at before running off. He runs into Mat, and the two look for Fain for a bit, but get distracted by Children of the Light, aka Whitecloaks. They’re a foreign private army that tries to force people to follow their strict adherence to “the Light” whether they have the legal authority to do so or otherwise. Mat, wanting to take them down a peg, hits a barrel with a sling shot, causing mud to hit the Whitecloaks. Rand starts laughing hysterically, drawing their attention. A fight almost breaks out when they see Rand’s sword has heron on it. It’s the sign of a Blademaster, and pretty much anyone who notices wants to fight this kid who clearly shouldn’t have one. Thankfully, the city watch shows up and the Whitecloaks leave. Mat and Rand find Thom, tell him their story and he advices them to keep the nightmare under their hats for now. Back at the inn, they find out Nynaeve just showed but from Perrin.

 

They go to see Nynaeve and Moiraine, but Min pulls Rand to the side and warns him that Nynaeve I part of her vision of great importance before he goes in. They try to convince Nynaeve they need to keep going, but she doesn’t see the urgency or believe Moiraine. She plans to take them back to the Two Rivers the next day. Nynaeve has a private meeting with Moiraine, which Rand asks about after. She claims that Moiraine was just trying to justify her claims that something is after the boys, asking if any of them were born outside of the Two Rivers. She does confirm when Rand asks that, yes, he was born outside of the Two Rivers, but insists that Kari al’Thor looked at that baby with all the love she only associates with biological mothers. This doesn’t comfort Rand. They have a nice night dancing, Rand spinning Moiraine and Nynaeve around at one point or another, but it’s ruined when a Myrddraal appears and tries to kill Rand. Lan scares it off, but they have to bid a hasty retreat. The group, plus Nynaeve, leave town, but are briefly held up by the same Whitecloaks. Moiraine scares them off by using her powers to appear to grow giant. They ride for a while, but end up being chased by an impossibly huge army of Trollocs. Like, Lan is certain there’s no way that many could leave the Blight in the north without the four Borderland nations raising an alarm. With few options and after they’re nearly killed by a group of outriders, Moiraine leads them to an abandoned city called Aridhol.

 

While Moiraine recovers from using her powers to distract the Myrddraal for a bit, and Egwene Lan, Thom, and Nynaeve are also distracted, the boys run off to explore. They meet a man in the supposedly abandoned city named Mordeth that wants their help getting some treasure to his horses. Being idiots, they follow him. He does lead them to a treasure, but freaks out when they mention traveling with Aes Sedai. And by that, I mean he grows huge before disappearing in a wall screaming, they’re dead!!!! They return to the group, and Nynaeve brow beats them for leaving and Moiraine gives them important context. Namely, the city was Aridhol, and it was an ally of Manetheran, until a man named Mordeth came and convinced the king to start using the tactics of the Shadow to fight said shadow. Aridhol drew in on itself, becoming crazier and more xenophobic until, one day, everyone was just… gone. Later, a Trolloc army camped in the ruins but disappeared the next day, leaving only prayers written in blood to the Dark One to save them. After that, the city became known as Shadar Logoth, Shadow’s Waiting in the old tongue. They’re interrupted by Lan’s return, he’d left to look for them, telling them Trollocs are in the city. Apparently, they want the boys badly enough to risk death. The group run, but get separated by Mashadar, a killing mist that rises in the night in Shadar Logoth. Moiraine had wards to drive it off, which was the only reason she felt comfortable camping there.

 

He rarely looks this happy.

Rand, Mat and Thom end up by the river Arinelle, and are picked up by a passing boat called the Spray. The boat takes them to Whitebridge. The boys do work for the Captain, Bayle Doman, and get Gleeman lessons from Thom, it’s part of their cover story. On the way, Rand learns that Mat stole a dagger from the horde. He thinks it’s fine, despite Moiraine’s warnings about taking stuff from Shadar Logoth, because he stole it, it wasn’t given to him by Mordeth. Again, idiot. Rand acts strangely for a bit, again, this time doing a dangerous acrobatic trick from the crow’s nest, but otherwise the trip to Whitebridge is uneventful. Once there, an innkeeper fills them in on local gossip, that Logain had been captured, he’s being brought to the Tower for trial via the Andor capital of Camelyn, and the nation of Illian has called the Great Hunt for the Horn. It’s a sort of contest where people gather to get a blessing before heading out to find the legendary Horn of Valere, a magic horn that is said to bring dead heroes back from beyond the grave. They also learn a homeless man came through begging for information about people that match their description and the description off their friends. They decide to leave town. Oh, and we learn part of why Thom is helping the boys. He’d had a nephew named Owyn who could channel. He kept it hidden for a few years, but the Red Ajah, a group of Aes Sedai that specialize in hunting Male Channelers, found him, gentled (cut him off from his powers) him, and he committed suicide in the resulting depression. He’s helping the boys so much to try to make up for not helping Owyn. On the way out, they’re cornered by a Myrddraal. Thom gives the boys his instruments, tells them to run and he’ll meet them on the road or at an inn called the Queens Blessing in Camelyn. He then rushes the Myrddraal, hurling knives at it as they run.

 

Rand and Mat spend the next several weeks on the road. They have a hard time of it, not having much money, Rand occasionally getting sick, and Mat having ever increasing bouts of Paranoia. They try earning their way by performing at inns, which works for a while, until they end up at an inn called the Four Kings. A darkfriend, a human servant of the Dark One, named Gode followed them and used a greedy innkeeper named Hake to try to trap them. Rand and Mat end up stuck in a storeroom where they were going to sleep before things got suspicious. They try to escape out the barred window, but only draw Gode’s attention. He tries to get them to come to his master willingly, and warns them they’ll die and serve him from beyond the grave if they don’t. Desperate for Escape, Rand mentally frantic for a way out, an improbably lightning strike hits the bars, blowing the wall open, and killing Gode. They beat a hasty retreat. They run into several Darkfriends as they go, including one kid that just walks up to them and tries to talk to them about our lord and master, Shaitan. Super weird. Oh, and Rand is continually hunted in his dreams by Ba’alzamon, who keeps demanding Rand serve him, warn that the White Tower will use him, and scoffing at the idea that the titular Eye of the World will serve him.  Oh, and he claims that every major historical event, the Trolloc Wars 2000 years ago, the fall of Artur Hawkwing’s empire 1000 years ago, and all the other major calamities of their age were his doing. These dreams obviously make the long days walking on the road with little to no food and an obviously sick friend worse.

 

This one image says a lot and it breaks my damn
heart.

They eventually make it to Camelyn, though. The city seems to be going through some kind of protest, with citizens wearing white or red cord or hats to show support. Rand buys some white cord because its’ cheapest and uses it to cover his swords Herons. They make it to the Queen’s Blessing and meet the innkeeper, Master Basil Gil. He’s a friend of Thoms and owed him a favor so he’s willing to put the boys up for a bit while they figure things out. He advises against going to see Queen Morgase’s Aes Sedai advisor, Elida a’Roihan, as she’s Red Ajah and not particularly well liked. Rand also meets Loial, an Ogier that is staying at the inn. Ogier are large humanoid creatures with long tuffed ears and an immense love of nature. They’re famous for their stonework, as their masons build the most beautiful cities in the world. Loial is a young Ogier, 90 but that’s like 17 for his people, who left his Stedding to see the Ogier Groves. They’re large forests planted to help the Ogier feel at home and not feel the “longing” while they worked on cities. He’s disappointed that most of the Groves he’d heard of were cut down centuries ago. He and Rand become fast friends and they often hang out at the inn’s library together.

 

A few days later, Rand goes alone to see Logain be brought through the city. Mat’s paranoia and depression has left him bedridden and Loial is tired of being called a Trolloc when he’s outside. Rand gets chased through town by a beggar and almost misses Logain. He ends up climbing a wall and perching on the top to see the False Dragon brought in. He sees Logain laugh hysterically as he’s brought into the palace. He wonders aloud why so many Aes Sedai were watching him, and a girl’s voice tells him that “it’s to keep him from touching the True Source, silly.” Surprised, Rand falls backward into a garden, where he meets three of the four members of the Andoran Royal Family. The girl that climbed up and spoke to him is Elayne, Daughter-Heir of Andor (Princess), and on the ground he meets her full older brother Gawyn, and their eldest half-brother Galad. Elayne tries to fix Rand up from the cuts and bruises he got falling and sending him on his way, but Galad is a rule lover and tattletale so he gets the guards. And just like that, Rand is brought before the freaking Queen of Andor.

 

In the presence of Queen Morgase Trakand, her advisor Elida do Avriny a’Roihan and her Captain General Garyth Bryn, Rand seems pretty screwed. Elayne goes to bat for him, saying that he fell into the garden by accident and by speaking to him, he helped her learn about her people more than by reading a book. Morgase isn’t buying it, though, as The Two Rivers is so far removed from the rest of Andor most people don’t know it is part of Andor. They also don’t quite believe that he could be a shepherd from the Two Rivers, with a Heron Marked sword, his coloring and height. And they also don’t buy that he’s a queen’s man just because he wrapped his Heron marked sword in white. Bryne and Elida both advice holding him at least until the royal kids leave town with the Aes Sedai for Tar Valon.  Tradition in Andor has the Daughter-Heir train at the White Tower and the princes to train under Warders. Elida also has a Foretelling, a prediction of the future, claiming that Andor will be headed towards division and strife from this day forward and Rand is at the heart of it. Morgase does agree to let Rand go, though, reasoning that a six-six man with the red hair and color of an Aiel warrior wouldn’t claim to be from the Two Rivers if it wasn’t true. It’s too insane to believe as a lie. And she can’t hold someone for what they haven’t done yet. Elida demands to know where Rand is staying, and he thinks quickly and lies telling her to go to the other side of the city. Elayne and Gawyn show Rand out, with guards. Rand thanks them for their help, and admits he didn’t think he was helping Elayne learn about the Two Rivers when talking to her. She admits that was BS and that if her mother actually knew she helped him because she has a thing for tall gingers, he’d have been arrested on the spot. Gawyn also says goodbye, and asks just one more time if Rand is sure he’s not Aiel. Apparently, all he’d need would be to wear one off their black head scarves, a shoufa, and he’d be a dead ringer for one. Rand says no, and once again has to deal with the memory that his father DID say he found a baby on a mountain beside the corpse of his Aiel warrior woman mother. Kid has got issues.

 

He returns to The Queens Blessing, but before he can act about getting away before Elida gets there, he’s told a “lady” is looking for him in the kitchen. He’s scared at first, but then intuits the truth, he runs and meets his friends. They’re travel weary, sore, and Perrin doesn’t look people in the eye anymore, his eyes have turned gold, but otherwise fine.  He tells Moiraine about Mat, and she rushes to help him. Using her own powers and an Angreal, an object that lets her draw more of the power than she could safely, Moiraine is able to restore Mat to normal, but it’s only a temporary fix until she can get enough sisters to sever the connection he has to the evil infected dagger. When they regroup, Loial, Perrin, Mat and Rand all ask about the Eye of the World. Loial had heard a rumor from another stedding about an injured man being brought into the Ogier home saying the Darkone is going to destroy it, the boys all had dream of Ba’alzamon saying the same thing, and Perrin also heard from a group of Traveling People who heard it from a group of Aiel warrior women. Multiple sources, plus confirmation from Loial that Rand, Mat and Perrin are “Ta’Veren” make Moiraine take this warning very seriously. Ta’Veren are focal points in the Pattern, their mere presence can throw chance out the window and make weird things happen. In this case, give them constant warnings that an artifact of great power is in danger. Moiraine decides they need to get to the Eye, but it’s up in the Blight, so they’ll need Loial.

 

Threads of the pattern twist and snare him.

Brief history lesson. 3000 years ago, during the Breaking, the Ogier gave sanctuary and shelter to Male Channelers, men who were being driven mad by the Dark One’s corruption on their power source Saidin. In the Stedding, you see, the Source vanishes. It’s not like when a person is Shielded, where they can still feel the power but not touch it, it’s just gone. And in the Stedding, the men didn’t go mad. Eventually, they left, in the vain hope the corruption was temporary, and because channelers get antsy if they’re kept from their Source indefinitely. In thanks for their help, they created the Ways, an extradimensional highway that let the Ogier travel quickly from one gate entrance to another. This was useful as during the heigh of the Breaking, Maps were redrawn daily. The Ogier used a tool the Aes Sedai gave them to grow gates at each Stedding they found and to their groves.  Unfortunately, the Ways were made with corrupted Saidin, so they grew corrupted too, and are haunted by an evil soul eating wind, so no one with sense uses them. But, lacking options, they go.

 

They find a Waygate in a cellar, the Grove was chopped down ages ago, travel through the Ways. The place is a pitch-dark labyrinth of impossibly suspended bridges, but it’s largely an uneventful trip. The three exceptions being when they discover Trolloc writing on the guide posts, confirming the Shadow used Waygates to move massive amounts of troops undetected, they detect someone following them at a distance, and when the Black Wind, Machin Shin, the soul eating wind, arrives at the very end. They escape and arrive in Fal Dara in the Borderland country of Shienar. A several hundred-mile-trip covered in two days. Neat. They go to Fal Dara keep and meet Lord Agelmar, the keeps commander, nephew to the King of Shienar and Moiraine and Lan’s friend. He hoped their arrival meant that the Tower was sending backup to fight off a massive Trolloc offensive forming in Tarwin’s Gap, a mountain pass, but no such luck. And Moiraine can’t help, because, ya know, Eye. They also learn that the soldiers caught the man who’d been following them, and it’s Fain again. Moiraine agrees to stay a night for them to recuperate and for her to interrogate him. Turns out, Fain had been a darkfriend for years, and he’d had spent the last three years looking for the boys. After each trip through the Two Rivers, he had something done to him, black rites that let him seek his target more and more precisely until he could follow the boys anywhere. He was used as a tracking animal by multiple Myrddraal and treated like garbage, and even when he got away, he was compelled to keep searching. Agelmar agrees to hold him, and the group sets out.

 

They cross into the Blight, it is an awful place, with bugs that can kill you with a bite, carnivorous trees, Trollocs, and God Damned Dune Sandworms. Okay, maybe not that sized sandworms, but the comparison feels valid. They’re called Worms and they scare Fades. They travel through the Blight for a few days, resting in the ruins of Malkier. It used to be a lovely place, but it’s seven towers are broken, and their glittering lakes have a… kraken in them. In the night, Rand while pretending to sleep sees Nynaeve try to express her feelings to Lan, but the big Warder claims that he has nothing to offer her as his war with the Shadow and vengeance is all that matters to him. 

 

They travel a few more days until they enter a pass and enter the Green Man’s grove. The Grove travels around outside of normal reality, usually, and the only way to find it is to have great need. The Green Man, a colossal man made of foliage, greets them. The Green Man’s grove is a lush forest in the heart of the deadest land in all the world. Trees grow tall, flowers bloom beautifully, and the Green Man helps them along the whole way. He leads them to a cave where the Eye is stored. Inside is the Eye of the World, and it turns out to be a container full of what appears to be water, but is in fact untainted Saidin. Moiraine explains that during the breaking, a group of Aes Sedai got together and worked themselves to death to make this patch of sealed off, untainted power, in the hopes that the Dragon Reborn in the next age could use it to repair the seals on the Dark One’s prison. It unfortunately could also break him out, which is why the Shadow wants it. The group leave the cave to prepare some kind of defense but are almost immediately attacked by a pair of walking corpses.

 

All roads lead to Shayol Ghul.

They aren’t corpses, they’re much worse. They are two of the Dark One’s most powerful minions, the Forsaken, Aginor and Balthamel. Aginor looks like he’s a mummy without bandages and Balthamel probably looks worse but he hides his face behind a black mask. It’s explained that when the Dragon Lews Therin sealed them in the Dark One’s prison, Aginor and Balthamel were somehow closest to the edge of the seal. They existed in a dreamless sleep like their fellows, but their bodies were close enough to reality to wither and decay but not die. They want the Eye and will kill to get it. The Green Man tries to help but is grievously wounded by them, his body being badly burned. But, the Green Man takes out Balthamel first, by using his power to seed the corpse man with spores and seeds of plants that love the dark and decayed things and turn him into a pile of greenery. The Green Man dies, and an oak magically grows up and from his corpse.

 

Moiraine tries to fight Aginor but the power difference is too great. She tells the kids to run, and they do. Rand ends up on a hillside looking down, and Aginor chases after him. Aginor has orders to take Rand back to Shayol Ghul, but has decided to ignore them and kill Rand. Rand sees a glowing line coming from Aginor back toward the Eye’s cave, and Aginor starts to regenerate, growing healthier and fleshier with each moment. Suddenly, a strand of the line breaks from Aginor and connects to Rand. They have a struggle of wills, with Rand coming up the victor and Aginor burning up. Rand wants be away from the hill, and somehow ends up on a mountain pass. This is Tarwin’s Gap, and the Shienar Forces are about to be overwhelmed by Shadow Spawn. Rand unleashes his power, obliterating a large number of Trollocs, Fades and Draghkar before being called forward. He’s taken to Ba’alzamon’s chamber and confronts the being that claims to be the Dark One. The two battle, with the Dark One claiming he has other forces hunting Rand, The Black Ajah, a group of evil Aes Sedai, minions in the dark, and tries to use illusionary cries of a tortured Nynaeve, Egwene and Kari al’Thor to break Rand. Rand summons a sword of pure light and stabs Ba’alzamon. Ba’alzamon and the chamber around them blackens and burns to ash and Rand gets knocked out.

 

He awakens on the hill. It takes him a few minutes to remember who he is, where he is and who he’s supposed to be with before he gets up and regroups with the others. Everyone is alive, thank the Light, except the Green Man. Nynaeve is in not great shape but Moiraine is healing her. Rand tells the women how he battled and defeated Ba’alzamon, only realizing after the fact that he admitted to channeling.  Egwene reflexively backs away at hearing he can channel but hugs him tight after a moment. A few moments later, Lan and the others come out of the cavern. In the Eye was a chest, and inside the chest were fragments of a seal of the Dark One’s prison, a flag with an Eastern style dragon on it, and the Horn of Freaking Valere! The flag is also the personal banner of Lews Therin Telamon, the Dragon.

 

The group spend the night in the grove, and on the morrow see that forest is already dying. Loial, not one to let the Blight claim this place in full, Treesings to the Oak that marks the Green Man’s grave. Ogier have strong connection to nature, and some like Loial can sing to trees to make them stronger and grow faster. The song Loial sings makes the oak heartier and he claims will keep the Blight from corrupting it and some of the plants around it. The group returns to Fal Dara, where they learn that “something” caused a great explosion that weakened the Shadowspawns forces and drove them back. It was a great victory for the Shienarans. At the keep, Moiraine makes sure Fain is kept under guard and shows Lord Agelmar the Horn of Valere, asking for escort to take it to Tar Valon.

 

A few days later, Rand finishes practicing the sword with Lan. He has a conversation with Egwene. She asks him to come to Tar Valon with her. He refuses, saying he won’t go there, won’t go home, and that he’ll never channel again. He claims he’ll leave soon and find somewhere where he won’t harm anyone. Moiraine, who is using her powers to eavesdrop, announces that the prophecies will be fulfilled and that the Dragon is indeed reborn.

 

Rand al’Thor is, during the first story, more or less just an unusually tall farm boy. He’s got bright red hair and fairer skin that most Two Rivers Folk, with grey-blue eyes. He’s got a natural talent for the sword, but needs a lot of work before he can claim the Heron mark blade he received from his father as his own. His father taught him a mediation technique, the flame and the void, that lets him fight in near perfect calm, greatly improving his precision and grace. You imagine a flame in your head and fill it with all of your emotions, burning them away until you’re in a perfect calm. Unfortunately for Rand, he’s also a Channeler. He has “the spark” which means that unlike men who have the potential to channel but won’t without a guide, he’ll eventually channel regardless. The book has Moiraine foreshadow this by having Moiraine explain how channeling manifests in girls and women, I cut it for time but will explain further in Egwene’s profile, and infer from what Rand does that it’s happening to him. The first time a person channels, it’s instinctive, usually to get something that they want or need. Rand’s first time? He unconsciously took Egwene’s mount Bella’s fatigue from her. After that, about a week later, he had a bout of giddiness which is part of what drew the Whitecloaks to him in Baerlon. He kept having these little coincidences happen, some subtle, some not so, like the lightning strike, which were then followed a few days later by the giddiness and impulsive behavior. That’s how channeling first manifests, action, then giddiness, closer and closer until they happen simultaneously. Rand’s power is great, but unfortunately, he’s on a ticking clock. Male channelers from the first time they draw on the power onwards are constantly exposing themselves to the Dark One’s Taint on Saidin. It causes mental health problems, including auditory hallucinations, extreme paranoia, brain damage, psychosis and intense bouts of extreme anger. It also acts as a wasting sickness on his body, if he lasts long enough his toes, fingers, ears and so on will start to rot and break off. So… not good. Rand is also the Dragon Reborn, the one hero in all the ages of man whose rebirth is foretold before it occurs. As such, he’s going to be a massively powerful channeler, once he gets the hang of it, and he will need to face against the Dark One at Tarmon Gai’den, the Last Battle, if the human race is to survive annihilation. The prophecies don’t say he WILL win, but that the Light WILL lose if he’s not there. So… no pressure.

 

Rand al’Thor is set to appear on Amazon’s Wheel of Time adaptation that will premier November 19, 2021, played by Dutch actor Josha Stradowki. He’s obviously a Dutch actor, having appeared Just Friends, Caged, and I Can Fly, amongst other films.

 

Rand al’Thor is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. He’s a tragic figure, a young man that dreamed of adventures, but was wholly unprepared for this one. He in very short order learns that his parents aren’t his biological parents, that he has to leave home and possibly never see it again, and by the end that he’s destined to go mad and die. Also, he is SUPER resistant to the idea of being the Dragon Reborn, for some reason trusting the word for that dude who haunted his nightmares for far longer than he should. As the story progresses, he begins to accept his destiny, but resigns himself to his fate. He often quotes a line from Lan, that “Death is lighter than a feather, duty is heavier than a mountain.” It’s a line that drives him, far more than it probably should. As his story progresses, though, he’ll meet people that help him shoulder his burden. He’ll fight against impossible odds, fulfill prophecy and be there at the last Battle to face off against the Dark One. It’s a hell of a ride, and I can’t wait to see it played out visually. I’ve got high hopes for the Amazon Adaptation, and I hope my gushing about it for nine pages got you hyped too. FYI, the original draft was going to be about 12, so I did reign myself in. I’ll talk about Perrin next, and hopefully his section will be more manageable. Have a good night, everyone. 

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Wheel of Time, Shadowspawn

 Servants of the Shadow come in many forms, and each is deadly in their own way. 

Alright, so we’ve covered the basics of the universe and history of the Wheel of time. I thought about going right into character profiles, but decided that I wanted to talk about monsters. Mild Spoilers through out. Shadowspawn are the monsters and the backbone of the Forces of the Shadow army. Created by a combination of magic and science in the Age of Legends by a group of Forsaken scientists, these nightmarish creatures live and breed in the Great Blight, a massive expanse of corrupted land in the far north. They come in a variety of forms, some more common than others. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Yes, this goat man eats people.

The most common form of Shadowspawn are Trollocs. They are hulking monsters that are carnivorous, with a preference for human flesh. They’re also natural sadists that don’t always kill their victims before they start cooking them. A common metaphor for being totally screwed in the Third Age is to be “in the Trolloc’s cook pot.” They were created during the War of the Shadow by the Forsaken Aginor, whom was attempting to make Super Soldiers. I’m sure there were others working on the project, but shock of shock, Aginor is one to take all the credit. Using advanced science and the One Power (possibly also the True Power, the name given to the Dark One’s personal energy source), he combined human genetic material with that of several different animal species. They used boars, bears, eagles, goats and wolves, to name a few, focusing on animals with high levels of aggression. They eventually created the Trollocs, hulking Chimeric monsters in the shape of men but with various animal characteristics. Trollocs look human, vaguely, but are on average 8 to 10 feet tall. They’re bodies are marked by different animal traits, some have the muzzles of dogs, bears or boars; curling rams’ horns and hooves; and eagle’s beaks and feathers being the most often remarked upon features. They have excellent night vision, some can track by sound or scent, and are universally sadistic. These things kill for fun as often, if not more so, for food.

 

Now, with an army of these monster’s you might be wondering how the Forces of the Light survived. Well, they caught a lucky break, in the beginning at least. See, while Aginor focused on making warriors superior to humans, he actually screwed up royally at making Super SOLDIERS. Trollocs are incredibly lazy, often giving up things like watch posts or chases because they’re bored, and will give up fighting any force unless they have an overwhelming majority. They’re also really freaking stupid, relying on overwhelming force more than on tactics when left to their own devices. So, while their strength and fearsome appearance won them early fights, once you get used to them, they’re pretty easy to out maneuver. But, then, it seemed biology helped them out.

 

Would you believe me if I said some people
are into this?

When Trollocs breed, about 90 percent of their children are born Trollocs, but that remaining ten percent is where things get weird. Most likely due to the unnatural process that gave them life and combined human DNA with animal, there are occasional throwbacks to the stock that made Trollocs. If the offspring is born more animal than man, they always die within the first few hours, their bodies unable to function as partially human boar or bear. If they’re a throwback to human stock… well, that’s when you get Myrddraal.

 

 Myrddraal, Fades, Halfmen, Lurks, Fetches, the Eyeless, Nightrunners, Neverborn, these are all names for these twisted offspring of Trollocs. Myrddraal are more human in shape than their Trolloc forebears, but if the human stock is stronger in them, so is the shadow. Myrddraal with their hoods up resemble incredibly pale men, albeit tall men. But they are far from just that. They are literally eyeless, having smooth skin over where they’re eyes should be. They aren’t blind, though, and actually have greater “vision” than normal humans. Their gaze can induce fear in any person they lock… lack of eyes with. The wind doesn’t disturb their cloaks, and they can vanish into any shadow they reach. Their blood is acidic and will etch steel if left for too long. They’re inhumanly strong, able to lift a person from the ground with a single hand. Extremely sadistic, the Fade like causing pain even more than their Trolloc kin. Aginor himself was admittedly uneasy by these creatures, considering them to be an unfortunate side effect of his great work. Oh, and they’re all identical. Hundreds, if not thousands of the same, maggot white skin, inky black cloaks, and cruel sadistic snarling faces. Disturbing.

A black rider similar to but distinct from
Ringwraiths.

 

Fades are equipped in black armor made up of overlapping scales and black cloaks. Their swords are made in Thakan’dar, the slopes of Shayol Ghul. The swords are somehow made by sacrificing multiple humans in their forging. The swords can match swords made by the Power, and can give grievous wounds with but a scratch, inducing an intense fever that can kill in hours.

 

Halfmen are incredibly hard to kill. The fastest way to kill one is to behead it, but even then, it will thrash around wildly like a chicken with its head cut off until sunset. Yes, that means if you kill one after dark, they can potentially kill people until sunset the next day. They can be dropped with arrows or less grievous wounds, but you have to really pile them on. We’re talking so many arrows that they resemble a pincushion. They’re as vulnerable to channeling as their Trolloc kin, so you better hope an Aes Sedai is near when one starts hunting you.

 

The reason why Lurks were such a huge win for the Shadow is because they made the Trollocs actually useful. Serving as the Shadow’s field commanders, Trollocs fear Myrddraal and obey their commands without question. If they need greater control, Fades can link their minds with their Fist (a group of about 50 Trollocs) and control them with incredible precision. The downside is that if you kill a Myrddraal when it’s linked to its Trollocs, they die too. Another, even crazier ability the have is tied to channeling.  Channelers have an incredibly power to alter the world as they see fit with their weaves. But, for reasons no one could puzzle out, that connection left them vulnerable to being forcibly turned evil. When 13 Black Sisters unite their power and channel it through 13 Myrddral, they can forcibly turn a non-Black channeler to the shadow. It’s said for however staunchly the victim supported the Light, that is how fervently they serve the dark. The process is incredibly slow, however, and it leaves the victim less intelligent and more violent than they were before. And those with enough will and stubbornness can resist the change, at least for a while. Truly a terrifying power for these monsters to have.  

Cover your ears!!

 

Another of the Shadow’s forces is the Draghkar. Appearing to be pale men with unusually large eyes, unhealthily pale skin, oh, and the huge freaking bat wings. They serve as scouts and assassins for the Shadow. They have the power to hypnotize people with their mesmerizing songs, and if someone gets to close, they will capture and devour the victim’s soul. Yes, they are pretty much vampires.

 

A powerful, but limited, servant of the Shadow are Darkhounds. These creatures resemble massive wolves, we’re talking 300+ pounds. Created by taking and corrupting the soul of a wolf, transforming it into unholy beasts of destruction. They hunt in large packs. Their paws leave no print in mud, clay or soft ground, but will burn their prints into stone. Their saliva is acidic and poisonous. A small amount can kill, and even a few drops can basically cause chemical burns on a person. They’re virtually unkillable, their bodies regenerate from most injuries. The only way to destroy the strongest of them is to use powerful weaves like Balefire that obliterates them, or Power-wrought weapons can grievously wound them. Wolves hate Darkhound with a passion. Thankfully, they’re less intelligent than wolves, can be out run, and their numbers appear to be small enough that the Forsaken and other forces of the Shadow don’t like risking large numbers of them.

Shadowbrothers are hunting you.

 

Our next type of Shadowspawn is technically not Shadowspawn. These are the Gray Man. Gray Men are people whom have sacrificed their souls to the Shadow through some unexplained dark rite. Without a soul, the person is still technically alive, but now can go unnoticed by the most observant guards. They can slip through a heavily guarded palace, stab their victim and walk out again without anyone seeing them. Gray Men aren’t invisible, but something about lacking a soul causes them to fade into the background, so even when your eyes may go over them and even register that they have a weapon, your brain doesn’t always detect danger until after the knife is in your guts. With luck, someone can see a Gray Man, which is their big weakness. They’re basically just normal people when you get through this unnatural camouflage of theirs, and can be easily dispatched. Despite the name, Gray Men can be women as well, they’re just much less common than male Gray Men.

 

You'd only be safe in a completely 
sealed box.

The final Shadowspawn we’ll mention is the most dangerous. At the height of the War of Power, the Shadow created the Gholam. The Six Gholam, three female and three male, look like humans but are anything but. They have no bones, and are immensely strong. They use their rubbery form to slide through cracks in doors, or through a mouse hole, they slip into anywhere and kill with ease. They’re strong enough to rip the throats out with their bare hands. All of that is terrifying, but it’s not what made the Gholam true horrors. No, the reason they were so feared is due to an immunity. They’re actually immune to channeling, attack weaves sluff right off them. Throw fire or lightning at them, and the weaves just bounce off, break down or miss all together. Even Balefire, one of the most powerful weaves that can destroy anything else I listed here today so much that it can undo resent actions in time, just sluffs off. I’ll explain balefire later. This immunity is why they were made, to hunt and assassinate channelers. They can sense channelers at fifty paces and can track them for miles. They feed on fresh blood, and often completely dismember victims and suck up their blood. Thankfully, because the Forsaken feared these things about as much as anyone, they only made the six and used them sparingly.

 

So, there you have it, the most ionic of the Shadowspawn. There are other monsters and creatures of the Shadow that I skipped simply because they weren’t really in the story, or were so minimal that they may has well have not been. If you noted similarities to creatures for our own mythology and lore, that is kind of the idea. Time is a Wheel, and while we are the myths and legends of their age, they are the myths and legends of ours. The memory of the Shadowspawn sticks in mortal minds through the generations until we get back to our era, where we may have forgotten the details of Draghkar, the memory remains in the Vampire. We may have forgotten the details of the Trollocs, the name survives as Troll. That sort of thing. While not as iconic as the Orcs of the Lord of the Rings, for now, I think you can see why I love these beasts. Also, speaking of LotR, yes, the Myrddraal are very similar to the Ring Wraiths. They are at least both black cloaked figures that ride black horses and hunt people for their dark master. But, I think the details I mentioned here does make it clear that they’re more an homage to them than a rip off in any way. Now that we’ve covered the world, and the monsters, next time, we’ll get into our heroes. And we’ll start with Rand al’Thor, I’ll see you then. 

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Wheel of Time, Magic and History

 Let's get this wheel rolling!

So, on November 19, 2021, the Wheel of Time is set to premier on Amazon Prime. The series is the adaptation of the Wheel of Time books, written by the late, great, James Rigney Jr., better known by his pen name, Robert Jordan. This series is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve been excited for this adaptation since it was announced back in 2019. It’s a story about fate, good facing and overcoming evil, of grand places, of ancient mysteries and curses, of heroes, villains and those everyday people they meet and influence on the way. It’s brilliant stuff. But the lore can be a bit… dense. Jordan created a massive world with a lot of history, most of it fed piecemeal throughout the books, and I think making the story a little less approachable to people who aren’t okay with being confused when they start a story. So, I figured I could feed my own hype by giving a brief history of the history of the world and doing character profiles for the five main protagonists, to give those people a peek at the world awaiting them. Oh, and talking about the monsters, the Shadowspawn, because they’re really neat monsters. I’ll be getting into spoiler territory, so if you want to go into this completely blind, feel free to skip my post this month and come back in November when the show premiers. Let’s get to it.

 

The classic cover, start of a 
grand adventure.

The Wheel of Time was written by Robert Jordan between 1990-2007, completing 11 main novels and one prequel. He unfortunately passed due to a cardiac amyloidosis in September 2007. Thankfully, Robert Jordan had taken an insane number of notes, and his editor and wife Harriet McDougal hired Brandon Sanderson (writer of the Mistborn, and Elantris, then, and later the Stormlight Archive novels to name a few) to finish the series. He took Robert Jordan’s planned final novel, A Memory of Light and broke it down into three novels, a Gathering Storm, The Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light. McDougal and Jordan’s other editors believe they’d have convinced Jordan to go this route eventually, as even when split into 1/3rds it’s a beefy story. In total, the Wheel of Time is composed of fourteen novels and one prequel, and is longer than the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, Harry Potter series, War and Peace, the King James Bible, and all 5 published A Song of Ice and Fire novels combined. Yeah, WoT is 4,900,036 words, and all those other series are 4,897,222 words. I have a degree in English and even for me that’s a whole lot of words. Final fun fact, the first two novels, The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt were published in January and November of 1990, and yours truly came into this world in December of that year. Yes, the fact the books have hit their 31^st anniversary hurts me.

 

So… let’s talk about the universe of the Wheel of Time. WoT takes place on Earth, in the far future… but it’s also in the ancient past. See, as the name implies, time in this universe is cyclical. Move far enough down the line of history in the Wheel of Time, and you’ll end up right back where you started. Jordan explains in additional material and in interviews that in his universe, Earth has seven distinct Ages. It’s said that the different “spokes” of the Wheel vary in length, some being hundreds or thousands of years, others longer. The series takes place in what some would call the Third Age, the nearly forgotten but often lauded Age of Legends is considered the Second Age, and we’re living in what they’d call the First. Each of the novels start with this line “The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become Legend. Legend becomes myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again,” which I think sums up the concept best. It’s a very interesting concept, as Jordan has it set up that the myths and legends of our time are the almost completely forgotten recollections of the events of the story, and the stories myths and legends are the almost completely forgotten of the events of our time. For example, the story makes several references to Lenn, a man who traveled to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire. Now, Jordan stated that this was a reference to a real-world event. Namely, astronaut John Glenn, who traveled to space and was the first American to orbit the earth in the Lunar Module aka Eagle. Bonkers, right? Also, the story goes that Glenn had a copy of the Eye of the World, with a signature and note from Jordan that he kept until his death. It is really sweet, to me, anyway. But yeah, there are a lot of stories like that, stories that convey some idea of the past but get sooo many things wrong.

 

Ancient Symbol of Aes Sedai. Yes, it is just a 
yin-yang without the smaller black and white
circles.

The Magic system of the Wheel of Time is really important. Magic users are called Channelers, they tap into the True Source, a metaphysical energy source that is said to turn the very Wheel of Time, and use the One Power to “weave” magic. The One Power is broken up into two parts, split into a gender binary. Which isn’t great, but I think I’ll go into detail about the problems and possible solutions to this system in another post. Anyway, True Source, One Power, which is then split into two parts. These parts are called Saidin, a raging power that men need to seize and dominate to use, and Saidar, a great power that women need to embrace and succumb to, to use. Yes, gender stereotyped too, and that is also not good. The two powers can also be broken down further into five parts, Wind/Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Spirit. Tapping into the power has some fringe benefits, extending the lives of Channelers for hundreds of years, enhancing their senses while connected to it, and obviously giving them magic powers. The magic has a ton of uses, from making fireballs, creating complex illusions, eavesdropping and blocking said eavesdropping. Channelers can enhance their powers with objects called Angreal, and Sa’Angreal. These are devices that allow them to draw in and channel more of the power than they could unadded. Angreal are the more common variety and boost the channeler’s strength a moderate amount, Sa’Angreal are rarer and more powerful. There are also ter’angreal, devices that use the Power for various effects and tasks. Example, there is eventually revealed to be a statue of a bearded man (modeled after Robert Jordan’s himself) that, when channeled into, has entire library of information stored in it. Get it? Got it? Good.

 

So now that you know about the cosmology and the magic system, let’s talk history. While the story takes place in the Third Age, the Second Age aka the Age of Legends is very important to how events in the Third unfolded. Not much is known about the AoL, but details are sprinkled into the novels to give us an idea. And here that idea is. The Age of Legends was a paradise by both our current and the Third Age standard. The world was united in a single government, humans lived long, happy lives, and the Channelers, called the Aes Sedai, Old Tongue for Servants of All, used their powers to make wonders for the average citizen. It’s also implied at one point that we were colonizing space, but that’s not really fully explained. And while things were undeniably good, there were a few problems, like rising crime, and a building energy crisis. A group of researchers, though, had potentially found a solution to the energy crisis. Lead by a researcher named Mierin Eronaile, they discovered an alternative energy source. It exists outside the Pattern, their term for the Fabric of Reality, but tests suggested that men and women could channel it equally and with as much precision as the One Power. They developed the Bore, a device that let them punch a hole in reality. Unfortunately, the power they detected wasn’t the only thing out there.

 

Topographical map of the Westlands.

As it turns out, the power they detected was the energy of a being of pure evil, Shai’tan, the Dark One. His power was indeed potent, but the Dark One didn’t hand out this power to just ANYONE, he only parcels it out to those who serve him well and best. Also, believe it or not, releasing a sentient, personified force of evil led to a global war. Well, it did eventually. Immediately after the Bore was opened, the only difference was that the building in which it was set up was destroyed. But for the next century or so afterwards, tension and anger began to build and build, pain and suffering increased until people were openly declaring themselves as servants of the Dark One. And so, the battle began. On one side were the humans that served the Dark One, and the Aes Sedai that followed him, later dubbed the Chosen by the followers of the Dark one and the Forsaken by everyone else. The Forsaken also created genetic monstrosities, terrors to bolster their forces. Trollocs, giant chimeric mixes of human and animals, Myrddraal, sickly white, eyeless horrors that lead the Trollocs, and Drahgkar, enormous humanoid bats that can eat souls, were the most prominent of the Shadowspawn. On the other side were the Forces of the Light, made up of humans, their giant humanoid allies the Ogier, the good Aes Sedai, and were led by the most celebrated man of the age, Lews Therin Telamon, he who they dubbed The Dragon.

 

The War of the Shadow (or War of Power) as it was dubbed raged for ten years. While Lews and his allies put up a valiant effort, they were suffering heavy losses to the forces of the Shadow. But the forces of the Shadow also suffered losses. The Forsaken, a group that once numbered in the dozens if not hundreds were whittled down to just thirteen. Some of this was the cost of war, though it’s implied a large percentage were also killed by other Forsaken. The Dark One embraced a “survival of the fittest” mentality with its followers. Unfortunately, these were the thirteen most dangerous. There were (the men) Aginor, Balthamel, Bel’al, Demandred, Sammael, Asmodean, Ravhin, (the women) Moghedian, Graendal, Mesaana, Lanfear, and Semirhage. And they were led by Ishammael, a former friend of Lews and once beloved philosopher. Ishammael was said to be nearly equal in power to Lews himself, and that was before the Dark One began channeling its own power through him. Demandred, Sammael, and Bel’al were also former friends of Lews that betrayed the force of the Light, and Lanfear was Lews ex-girlfriend. The other eight members didn’t have a personal beef with Lews, but joined the forces of evil for their own personal benefit and a belief that they might rule the new world. So, a weird mix of frenemies and just regular enemies.

 

Nation map of Westlands.

The war raging, the forces of Light had two plans to finally stop the Forces of the Shadow. One side wished to complete the Choedan Kal, a pair of massive Sa’Angreal, that the Aes Sedai hoped could overwhelm the force of the Shadow. The other, backed by Lews, was to use seven seals to force the Dark One back out of the pattern. The Seals would use seven disks made of the nigh unbreakable Cuendillar metal as focal points for the seals. Cuendillar, also called heartstone, is a magically created metal that is unbreakable by conventional means, and channeling at it only makes it stronger. While time was running out, the two sides continued to buttheads over what would be the correct course of action. Lews decided he was tired of waiting, so took his 100 Companions and launched a full attack on the heart of the forces of the Shadow, Shayol Ghul. Lews thankfully caught the Forsaken during a meeting with their master, and trapped them all behind his seals. Unfortunately, there were consequences.

 

As Lews used the Power to seal the leaders of the Shadow away, the Dark One reached out, touching Saidin through Lews. The Dark One’s touch tainted Saidin, fouling the male half of the True Source. This had several side effects, but the important one right now, is that it drove all male channelers insane.

 

The first novel actually begins with a mad Lews, wandering around his destroyed home, surrounded by the corpses of his friends, children and grandchildren; calling out for his wife. His wife, Ilyena, lay dead at his feet. A man in black joins him in his broken home, looking to gloat. Unfortunately for the man in black, it’s just not fun gloating to a guy that has no idea what is going on. Using the power of the Dark One, he heals Lews mind enough to gloat. After a painful purging of the taint from his mind, Lews sees Ilyena at his feet and howls with the unimaginable sorrow of one who had lost everything. After finding his beloved dead and their family slaughtered, and learning that he was the one that did it, Lews made a Gateway and Traveled to a nearby plain. There, he drew on more of the Power than he could channel safely, killing himself and causing a volcano to raise to mark his grave. It also caused a nearby river to divert, forming an island in the middle of the rivers flow.

 

Over the next several years, Male Channelers, driven mad by the taint, used their power to reshape the land. Sinking continents, leveling mountains, raising new mountains up, and generally throwing the world into tumult. Eventually, the female Aes Sedai were able to stop their male counterparts… that or they died from a wasting sickness the Taint creates. With the help of Ogier stonemasons, the Aes Sedai built a new headquarters on that island that Lews created by accident. The White Tower, the symbol of Aes Sedai power built beneath the Shadow of Lews volcano, dubbed Dragonmount, on the island of Tar Valon.

 

Gateway to Adventure!

As time marched on, nations rose and fell. As humanity tried to rebuild, a thousand years after “the Breaking” as it was dubbed, an army of Trollocs, lead by their human Dreadlord masters, ravaged across the world for a hundred years, killing countless people before being forced back to the Great Blight in the North. A thousand years after that, came the rise of Artur Paendrag Tanreall, Artur Hawkwing. Hawkwing conquered almost the entirety of the known world, known as the Westlands at this point. All save the White Tower and the nation the city state that formed around it, Tar Valon. Hawkwing waged a two-decade siege on Tar Valon, trying to bring the Aes Sedai to heel beneath him. He also sent a large army and two of his sons across the Aryth Ocean, believed to be an impassable ocean, to conquer the lands that might exist beyond. A year after, though, Hawkwing died, with no designated heir. He could have been saved by a Aes Sedai healer, but he refused, and had the advisors that suggest he get one executed. Dude had some issues with Aes Sedai. His death led to civil war, the fracturing on his united land and the creation of many smaller nations.

 

Between the Breaking and the start of series, a set of prophecies called the Kareathon Cycle, or the Cycle of the Dragon, were written. These prophecies foretold the rebirth and rise of Lews Therin’s reincarnation, the Dragon Reborn. These prophecies, often vague and metaphoric, have a few concrete signs. One, was that the nation of Tear’s great fortress, the Stone, would never fall until the Dragon Reborn came and claimed the magic sword Callendor held at its heart. Callendor being the personal sa’Angreal of Lews Therin Telamon and one of the most powerful ever created. Others claim he will break all ties and oaths, and break the world again with his coming. The first prophecy, and weirdly the one no one seems to consider, claims that he will be born again on Dragonmount, to a maiden wedded to no man. So, unless your mama told you you’re born on a mountain, odds seem small you’re actually the Dragon Reborn. But guys keep claim it. One of the things that sets the Cycle apart from other prophecies, I should point out, is that Nowhere in it does it say the Dragon Reborn will win. Or who he will fight for. All it says is that he will be there, and heavily implies he will die in the battle.

 

Over the millennia, many men rose up, believing themselves to be the Dragon Reborn and tried to fulfill the prophecies, but they were all smacked down by the Aes Sedai and dubbed False Dragons. Channelers can cut off or block a person from touching the True Source, the number needed varies but 13 Sisters together can hold anyone, and also permanently cut people off from it. For men, this severing is called Gentling, and for women, it’s called Stilling. This is arguably a fate worse than death, as being unable to touch the True Source but still being able to sense it, inevitably makes the gentled or stilled person fall into a deep depression and die. So, the Aes Sedai capture, gentle, and then hold the False Dragon’s as their prisoners to serve as examples until they die of their magically induced depression. It’s a rough process.

 

Twenty years before the start of the series, a war raged. King Laman Damodred of Cairhien, in his arrogance and pride, chopped down Avendoraldera, a cutting from the legendary chora tree Avendasor, to make himself a grand throne. Why was this dumb? Couple reasons. First, the tree doesn’t make seeds, the only way to make more is to take a cutting and hope it survives long enough to grow. So, it’s immensely rare. Second, and more importantly, the tree was a gift from the mysterious desert dwelling Aiel. It was a gift to the nation of Cairhien for reasons only known to them. With the tree came the privilege to cross their great desert, the Waste or Three-Fold Land, to trade with the nation beyond them. Cairhien had made its wealth from this trade. And dummy-dumb Laman gave his blank check up for a chair! When the Aiel heard of this, four of the Aiel’s twelve clans gathered, crossed the Spine of the World mountains and began ravaging the lands looking for Laman. This was the first time the Aiel crossed the Spine of the World in mass since they went to the Waste the first time. Fourteen nations of the world faced off against four clans, and got smacked back, hard. After two years, the Aiel found Laman, killed him and immediately ended their campaign. They also sacked the city and burned the famed Topless Towers of Cairhien, but they did start pulling back. The last battle of the war was just outside the shining walls of Tar Valon, the Aiel being forced back by the combined forces of the Westlands.

 

The nation of Tar Valon, magic capital of the world.

While the Aiel left, something strange happened in the White Tower. In the offices of the leader of the Aes Sedai, the Amyrlin Seat, her VP, the Keeper of the Chronicle, Gitara Moroso had a “foretelling” a vision of the future. Typically, Foretellings are of far future events, but in this case, Gitara seems to be having a vision of the now or of only a few minutes in the future. “He is Born AGAIN! I feel him! The Dragon takes his first breaths on the slope of Dragonmount! He is coming! He is coming! Light Help us! Light help the World! He lies in the snow and cries like Thunder! He burns like the sun” and she promptly fell over, dead. This last prediction was only heard by the Amyrlin, Tamra Ospenya, and two second level students of the Tower, the Accepted, Siuan Sanche and Moiraine Damodred.  The Amyrlin swore them to secrecy and sent them on their way.

 

Both women, Siuan, a fisherman’s daughter, and Moiraine, the niece of a king, were best friends (and occasional lovers, but that’s kinda glossed over) and were both shocked by the prospect that the Dragon had been Reborn. They tried to put it out of their minds, focusing on practicing for their test to be advanced to full Aes Sedai, for a night, anyway. The following day, the Amyrlin gathered all the Accepted and gave them a task to complete. To celebrate the Aiel’s ‘retreat,’ and to thank the soldiers and their families, she’s sending the Accepted out to the nearby army camps to write down the names of all babies born in the last week or so, and will be given a bounty of 100 gold coins. Most of the Accepted think it’s just a weird reward, but the duo knows this is an attempt at finding THE baby.

 

Moiraine and Siuan gather a camp’s worth of names on the first day, but spend the following 9 days recopying the lists of other Accepted whom have poor penmanship. This was on the insistence of the Mistress of Novices, whom thought Moiraine needed time to grieve, as she’d just heard her uncle, King Laman, and his two other brothers were killed by the Aiel. Moiraine didn’t really need it, as her father was something of the black sheep of the Damodred family and his three brothers were absolute bastards, but there’s no arguing with the Mistress of Novices. Making Lemonade out of lemons, Suian and Moiraine spend those nine days copying down the names of boys born in the right timeframe and close enough to Dragonmount to count. They also take note of several Sisters being brought to the Amyrlin and deduce that each is being told about the Dragon’s Rebirth and are being sent out to find the baby. Not to be deterred, they continued copying names, thinking it’s better to help find the boy rather than just believe the other Sisters will. Their complying was interrupted by the two being called in for their test for the Shawl of Aes Sedai.

 

Moiraine and Siuan both pass the test, but that’s when things get complicated. They both join the Blue Ajah, the Ajah that focuses on championing Causes and Justice. Moiraine is almost immediately assigned to distributing the bounty for the baby births, and Siuan is roped in to apprenticing under the Aes Sedai in charge of their spy network. They call them “Eyes and Ears,” but… they’re totally spies, or at least informants. Moiraine’s job, which amounts to signing papers to make sure funds are being sent, she’s 99% certain is only to keep her in the White Tower until the Hall of the Tower decides to make her put herself forward as a candidate for Queen of Cairhien. No Aes Sedai had openly ruled as a Queen in centuries, and Moiraine is petrified at the thought of being the one to break that streak. She stays in the tower for a few weeks, signing papers, learning new Weaves and protocols, and watching friends be raise, until the Amyrlin, Tamra Ospenya, is announced to have died in the night. When Tamra’s successor, Sierin Vayu made it clear that the Tower was getting close to enacting it’s plan to make Moiraine a queen, she quickly gathered her belongings and cheesed it out of the Tower, via a ship. Moiraine knew she’d be punished for leaving the Tower without permission, but that felt like a small price to pay to avoid being made a Queen, and was on her way to find the boy child, the Dragon Reborn.

 

Moiraine spent three months basically wandering about looking for a sign of where to look. She looked through her list of names, but keeps coming up with nothing. She ended up in the Borderlands, specifically Candor. She is briefly reunited with Suian, who made a special trip to find her to let her know that all of Tamra’s searchers are dead. The two women are forced to accept a reality the Aes Sedai have denied for centuries, that there is a cabal of Aes Sedai Darkfriends, a Black Ajah.  They’re hopeful that because they weren’t mentioned as being part of the search or witnesses to the Foretelling as they… ya know… weren’t Sisters at the time. They split up again, hoping to check off two names on their list on the road to Chachin.

 

A bond that will shake the world. 

She makes her way to Chachin, the capital of Kandor, dodging other Sisters that want to return her to the Tower, and meets al’Lan Mandragoran, the uncrowned king of the dead country of Malkier.  He ends up throwing her into a pond when she tries to sneak up on and disarm him. She pays back by Channeling the whole thing at him. She travels with him and his companions, Bukama and Ryne, to Chachin. On the way, she searches for one of the women on her list, Alvene Sahera, only to discover that her boy was born too soon and too far from Dragonmount to count. In Chachin, she’s reunited with Siuan and things come to a head. There, they discover that a fellow sister and the former Mistress of Novices that raised them named Merean Redhill is in fact Black Ajah and attempts to kill them and Lan along with several others. She is killed, along with Iselle Arrel, daughter to the of a Malkieri noblewoman named Edeyn Arrel, as well as the Prince Consort of Kandor and his son Diryk. This foil a plot Edeyn had to force Lan to marry Iselle as part of a bid to revive Malkier, and he ends up being bound to Moiraine as her Warder. This is a magically enhanced bodyguard that most sisters have one of, Greens tend to take 2 or more, and Reds none at all.

 

In the aftermath, Moiraine and Siuan puzzle out that the Black Ajah know that the Dragon is Reborn, but not WHEN it happened. The fact that Merean prioritized killing the “lucky” Diryk and his father over anyone else, and a string of rumored deaths of other lucky men. So, knowing that the Dragon has been Reborn but not his age, the Black Ajah began hunting down any man that has been said to be unusually lucky. Why? Well, when people begin channeling on their own, it’s often to save themselves or others from harm. They unconsciously weave air to save themselves from falls, or water to save themselves from drowning and so on. So, extreme “luck” is a possible clue to a male channeler, and it’d be easier to kill the Dragon Reborn after his first or second instance of channeling than to weight for him to possibly get a grip on his powers.

 

Moiraine and Lan spend the next 20 years searching the continent for the child of Gitara’s prophecy. While their search was urgent, the belief that the Black Ajah don’t know how old their quarry is, coupled with the fact Male channelers don’t begin to channel until anywhere from 18 to 30 gave them time. Eventually, their search led them to an all but forgotten district of Andor, The Two Rivers, and a sleepy village called Emond’s Field. But more on that later.

 

Okay, so that’s the long and short of it, a brief history of the Wheel of Time, it’s magic system and cosmology. And you might think that seven pages is hardly short, but trust me, it is. You can search Wheel of Time on google or YouTube and you’ll find thousands of pages of theories and hours of video on the history and other content of the world. I slimmed this WAY down to just give you an idea of the universe you’re stepping into when you start on this series. The world of the Wheel is vast, with a deep well of lore and history to play around with. I hope that me gushing for a few pages helped you learn something and maybe, just maybe, got you as jazzed for this series as much as I am. I can’t imagine that all of what was described here will make it into the show, and I have to believe that a great many things will be shifted and changed to fit the new medium it’s being presented in. Still, I’m super excited for it and hope that it’ll be as grand as experience as Game of Thrones was back in the day. Grand dream, I know, but I truly believe the Wheel of Time show can not only be as big, but bigger. But only Time will tell. Next time, we’ll talk about the monsters of the Wheel of Time. I want to gush about Shadowspawn, like sooo much. See you then.

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