#basel gill

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 36: Web of the Pattern

Pictured, me left, you right. If you don't like spoilers for the whole Wheel of Time series, there's no need to threaten to stab me or whatever. You can just... go somewhere else. Read the books. Watch the show. Get spoiled on a completely different website because boy howdy will the wiki do that to anyone who is even a little behind. If you do like spoilers, also maybe please put the sword down.

This chapter gives us the leaves on the vine chapter icon. As I said back when it was introduced, it's an icon that's often associated with the Ogier, and guess who's being introduced in this chapter? That's right. Hooray!

He kept the story simple, and he kept Trollocs and Fades out of it. When somebody offered help, it would not do to tell them it was all about fables. But he did not think it was fair to understate the danger, either, not fair to pull someone in when they had no idea what they were getting into.

I'm sure that Rand's making the right call here because fate and all, but I do wonder if Gill wouldn't have believed him about Trollocs and Fades all the same. If anything, his connections to Thom and general good-natured practicality might lead him to figuring out the details well before Rand does in the main timeline.

They say she has a way of feeling things, what’s happened, what’s going to happen. They say she can cut right through to what a man wants to hide.

Either this is entirely undeserved reputation and more of the general theme of falsehoods spreading about in place of the truth (her Foretelling being morphed into being a lie detector), or she actually was this canny once and Fain warps it right out of her during his visit. Either way, it's a shame she wasn't actually all she was cracked up to be, she could have been really good.

“All these people, and any of them could be Darkfriends. Master Gill promised to help us awfully quick. What kind of man just shrugs off Aes Sedai and Darkfriends? It isn’t natural. Any decent person would tell us to get out, or . . . or . . . or something.”

Finally, some delightful paranoia from Mat. Dagger's kicking in properly. Maybe it's strengthened by all the people around? Maybe not, but either way, it's very good work on the dagger's part. As soon as someone offers their approval, they're a bad guy because no good person could approve. Thank goodness Moiraine's gonna cure him soon.

The dark-eyed girl had a tendency to twist her skirt and giggle whenever she looked at Rand. She was pretty, but he knew if he said anything to her he would just make a fool of himself. She made him wish he had Perrin’s way with girls; he was glad when she left.

Rand keeps coming back to Perrin as the lady killer and I'm sure that most of it is just that Mat's right there and therefore too obviously not good with girls for Rand's delusions, but I do so wonder what evidence Rand has for his assumption. Did Perrin and Alexandra DeWit- I mean, Laila Dearn get a little flirty once before they decided not to date? Did they almost hold hands or something? What is Rand's standard of measurement here?

Rand hung his things up, watching Mat’s back. He thought Mat had his hand under his coat, clutching that dagger again.

"Dammit man, wait until I'm out of the room or asleep or something!"

Only a few had wooden covers. His eyes gobbled up the titles, picking out old favorites. The Travels of Jain Farstrider. The Essays of Willim of Maneches. His breath caught at the sight of a leatherbound copy of Voyages Among the Sea Folk.Tam had always wanted to read that.

It's so sweet that even here and now Rand is thinking about his dad's interests and hobbies.

It's very nice that we only meet one of these authors, though Willim of Maneches sounds like an interesting guy maybe. He's a philosopher who probably wasn't a Darkfriend, at least! I feel like he might be a reference to some real life guy, but I'm not sure who.

I would not be at all surprised if every detail in Voyages was a complete lie.

“So few of you remember us. It’s our own fault, I suppose. Not many of us have gone out among men since the Shadow fell on the Ways. That’s . . . oh, six generations, now. Right after the War of the Hundred Years, it was.”

Loial! Loial! LOIAL!

Also, if his use of "generations" is anything like how modern humans use the term (to refer to a cohort of people born within 20 years of each other), then Ogier live just slightly longer than the most powerful channelers do.

But anyway, fuck Gill I have a new favorite now! Loial!

My first day in Caemlyn, I could not believe the uproar. Children cried, and women screamed, and a mob chased me all the way across the city, waving clubs and knives and torches, and shouting, ‘Trolloc!’ I’m afraid I was almost beginning to get a little upset. There’s no telling what would have happened if a party of the Queen’s Guards hadn’t come along.

And this folks is why the people of Caemlyn deserve everything that's coming for them, including the unnatural winter that's already here.

“Well, as to that, now. You see, the Stump had not been meeting very long, not even a year, but I could tell from what I heard that by the time they reached a decision I would be old enough to go without their permission. I am afraid they’ll say I put a long handle on my axe, but I just . . . left. The Elders always said I was too hotheaded, and I fear I’ve proven them right. I wonder if they have realized I’m gone, yet? But I had to go.”

I love how Loial is having his own heroic adventure that has nothing to do with all of the major drama in the world. So many characters in this series absolutely could carry their own book and with Loial being in the POV spotlight so consistently we can get a good feel for how it would all play out from his own perspective in a way that's harder for some like Bayle Domon who are awesome but dip in and out more frequently. It's this aspect that I live for in epic fantasy.

You cannot make the land go against itself. Not for long; the land will rebel. You must shape the vision to the land, not the land to the vision. In every grove was planted every tree that would grow and thrive in that place, each balanced against the next, each placed to complement the others, for the best growing, of course, but also so that the balance would sing in the eye and the heart.

Points to Jordan for so effortlessly critiquing everything about modern agriculture and environmental policies so succinctly. I know that his vision of the end of the First Age was nuclear warfare (which was not so unrealistic when he got started on the series), but I can't help but wonder if climate change would have been a better aspect to focus on - both as a cause, and as something the AoL had to build itself to be so strongly against. The arrival of the Ogier being the miracle that spared humankind from complete extinction at the dawn of the second age would be quite appropriate and it's not even like the canonical AoL isn't pretty greenpunky...

Try as you will—and I have read that the Ogier who built those cities truly did try—you cannot make stone live.

With history becoming legend and all that, is it terrible of me to imagine the historical Ogier desperately trying to make robots as a last ditch effort to forestall the technological collapse of the Breaking? The image is hilarious.

But I must go back, eventually. This world is yours, yours and your kind’s. The stedding are mine.

Okay now that I've talked about my own brand of crazy, let's all appreciate how Jordan told us outright here that Ogiers are aliens. There's no metaphor here, the Ogier are from a whole extra dimension and the stedding are the places where they've made their world overlap with ours (and overwrite? or perhaps in Ogierhome there's a bunch of awful regions that any natives left behind avoid because there's just something weird about them?).

“Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day.”

I recommend everyone adapt this as their personal mantra, it's very empowering.

And good for you for being so multicultural Loial. Shame that it's falling on deaf ears.

Rand opened his mouth to say that they had come to see the false Dragon—and he could not say it. Perhaps it was because Loial acted as if he were no older than Rand, ninety years old or no ninety years old. Maybe for an Ogier ninety years was not any older than he was.

Loial is such an adorable and wonderful person that when he's in a room with the strongest ta'veren of all time, it's the ta'veren who finds himself saying things he never thought he'd say.

Rand nodded. “I could live on the farm or in Emond’s Field, and that would be a small change. If I wanted to be a king, though. . . .”

Poor dumb Rand has got it completely backwards.

Artur Hawkwing was ta’veren. So was Lews Therin Kinslayer, for that matter, I suppose.

You know, Mr. Jordan, this would have been a perfect opportunity to mention Mabriam en Shereed, the fifth ta'veren we know about (since Lews and Rand shouldn't count as separate) and the only woman. There's a lot we could say about whether or not Egwene or Nynaeve should have been ta'veren as well and it's really one of the least shocking changes the TV show made, but it's very noticeable that in a world that should be gender equal it's mostly the dudes we hear about being special. Ah well, maybe Birgitte is normally a ta'veren when she incarnates and just wasn't this time around because of how weird circumstances were.

“Will you at least talk with me sometimes?” Loial sighed, a bass rumble. “And perhaps play a game of stones? I have not had anyone to talk to in days, except good Master Gill, and he is busy most of the time. The cook seems to run him unmercifully. Perhaps she really owns the inn?”

Jordan really likes this trope too, of the men theoretically being in charge but the women really being in charge. He does at least subvert it a little later on with Lan and Nynaeve's marriage, which is the same dynamic but different, but I feel like his upbringing led him to internalize a very unstable and unlikely dynamic as some sort of universal.

Oh well, at least we have a reference to the game of stones, which is the real life game Go (or very close to it) and has been mentioned before but not by Loial so who cares? Loial is the sweetest boy and all of his interests are way cooler than Rand's road trip drama.

Sadly, instead of spending the next two chapters analyzing them in detail, we'll be cutting to some other POVs as we resolve the situation that the other non-Loials are in. See you then!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #basel gill #mat cauthon #loial

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 41 - Old Friends and New Threats

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one!)

(Staff icon) In which the gang's back together, huzzah!

Rand runs all the way back to the inn. He asks a bouncer where Master Gill is, and is told he's in the library. Gill was worried Rand got into some trouble with the white-wearing faction, but Rand says that he saw the Queen and Elaida, and that's where the real trouble lies. Gill jokes about Gareth Bryne being in the common room an hour ago, and Rand grumbles that everyone thinks he's lying today. He tells Gill and Loial everything, and Gill says there's no more time to wait for their friends, Rand and Mat will have to leave the city before the guards can find them, and it takes two days to search every inn in the city.

Rand says he can probably get Mat on his feet, and Gill offers to lend them two horses. Loial asks again to go with them, saying he still wants to see the Tar Valon grove, and...

"You truly are ta’veren, Rand. The Pattern weaves itself around you, and you stand in the heart of it.”(1) This man stands at the heart of it. Rand felt a chill.

Rand snaps that he's not at the heart of anything, and awkwardness ensues. He finds the flame and void, and says Loial can come with them, he'll be glad of the company, if he can put up with Mat. Then a serving girl interrupts to tell Gill that there are Whitecloaks in the common room. Rand follows him down, though Loial stays in the library.(2)

There are five of them, and one says they're looking for Darkfriends, from the Two Rivers.(3) Gill snaps that there are no Darkfriends in his inn, they're all good Queen's men, and the Whitecloak says yes, the Queen and her Tar Valon witch . He threatens the inn with having the Dragon's Fang marked on its door, might not get much business, might have trouble with fire...

“You get out of here now,” Master Gill said quietly, “or I’ll send for the Queen’s Guards to cart what’s left of you to the middens.” Lamgwin’s sword rasped out of its sheath, and the coarse scrape of steel on leather was repeated throughout the room as swords and daggers filled hands. Serving maids scurried for the doors. The under-officer looked around in scornful disbelief. “The Dragon’s Fang—” “Won’t help you five,” Master Gill finished for him. He held up a clenched fist and raised his forefinger. “One.” “You must be mad, innkeeper, threatening the Children of the Light.” “Whitecloaks hold no writ in Caemlyn. Two.” “Can you really believe this will end here?” “Three.” “We’ll be back,” the under-officer snapped, and then he was hastily turning his men around, trying to pretend he was leaving in good order and in his own time. He was hampered in this by the eagerness his men showed for the door, not running, but not making secret that they wanted to be outside.

Everyone in the inn takes a seat, laughing. Some clap Gill on the back for his bravado, though he plays it down.(4) Gill tells Rand they'll have to stay out of sight until he can get them out of the city. Rand says there's no reason for them to be after him, but Gill points out they were clearly looking for boys from the Two Rivers, they're after them for sure, reason or not. Rand asks if he's worried about them coming back, and Gill says nah, he pities the man who tries to put a mark on his door.

Another serving maid comes to tell them there's a lady in the kitchens, asking for Rand and Mat by name. Gill says if he's managed to bring Elayne down to his inn, they'll all be facing the Headsman, then dismisses the maid, regretting his words. By nightfall the whole city will believe he's a prince in disguise.

Rand realizes he never told Elayne about Mat, then grins and runs for the kitchen, and there they all are. After some greetings, Gill offers Moiraine his best room, though surely she'll prefer the palace with Elaida Sedai. Moiraine, instead, comments on all the cats in the kitchen, and Gill says the whole city is a rat den, but the cats are taking care of it. She insists on paying for accommodations here, and Nynaeve asks after Mat. Moiraine suggests they all go up to see him, to get out of the kitchen, and she'll join them shortly, once she takes care of the rat problem with some magic.(5)

Rand leads them up, Egwene asks what the "red or white?" question means, they were asked it so many times in the streets. He says it doesn't matter. Perrin asks where Thom is, and Rand says he's dead, or he thinks he's dead, there was a Fade... Then he says that Mat's not sick exactly, but they'll see what he means. Mat's first question when he sees them is how Rand knows they're who they look like, and how Mat can know that any of them are who they look like.

Nynaeve feels Mat's face and asks Rand and Perrin to fetch cloths and cool water, but they can't move before Mat taunts them all with what he knows, on some level, will upset them the most. Moiraine arrives and says the Dark One can't see them for now, but... then her eyes fall on Mat and she drags Nynaeve away from him like a sack of potatoes. She tells them all to stay away from him and be quiet, watching him like you would a viper.

She approaches slowly until suddenly he pulls the dagger, and Lan is there, catching Mat's wrist. Moiraine asks how he got it. Rand says he took it from Shadar Logoth, he didn't know until after they were separated. Moiraine only knew when she saw him, but a Fade can sense the evil for miles, and will seek it out. Even Darkfriends who have truly lost their souls would feel compelled to seek it out.

Rand says there were Darkfriends on the road, but they managed to escape them, though there are rumours of other things in the night that could be Trollocs. Lan confirms Trollocs and Fades, he's seen signs of them coming toward the city. The Emond's Fielders have evaded them too long, the city wall won't stop them. They'll do anything to acquire their master's prize, including attack one of the major cities and bring half the armies of the world down on the Borderlands to fight another Trolloc War.

Moiraine says if they can find a way out of the city, the Myrddraal will have no cause to attack there. Perrin says they'd all be better off dead, echoing Rand's thoughts. She asks what he thinks to gain by dying, they can stop nothing in death. Perrin argues, but Moiraine says right now she needs to deal with Mat, who's still snarling in Lan's grip.

“What’s wrong with him?” Egwene asked, and Nynaeve added, “Is it catching? I can still treat him. I don’t seem to catch sick, no matter what it is.” “Oh, it is catching,” Moiraine said, “and your . . . protection would not save you.”(6) She pointed to the ruby-hilted dagger, careful not to let her finger touch it. The blade trembled as Mat strained to reach her with it. “This is from Shadar Logoth. There is not a pebble of that city that is not tainted and dangerous to bring outside the walls, and this is far more than a pebble. The evil that killed Shadar Logoth is in it, and in Mat, too, now. Suspicion and hatred so strong that even those closest are seen as enemies, rooted so deep in the bone that eventually the only thought left is to kill. By carrying the dagger beyond the walls of Shadar Logoth he freed it, this seed of it, from what bound it to that place. It will have waxed and waned in him, what he is in the heart of him fighting what the contagion of Mashadar sought to make him, but now the battle inside him is almost done, and he almost defeated. Soon, if it does not kill him first, he will spread that evil like a plague wherever he goes. Just as one scratch from that blade is enough to infect and destroy, so, soon, a few minutes with Mat will be just as deadly.” Nynaeve’s face had gone white. “Can you do anything?” she whispered. “I hope so.” Moiraine sighed. “For the sake of the world, I hope I am not too late.” Her hand delved into the pouch at her belt and came out with the silk-shrouded angreal. “Leave me. Stay together, and find somewhere you will not be seen, but leave me. I will do what I can for him.”(7)

=====

(1) Rand just can't catch a break, huh? (2) I'm leaving out the bit with Gill and Loial's game of stones for time, but I want it known I think it's adorable that Gill is no match for Loial's intellect. (3) He only gets as far as "a boy from the Two Rivers", but that much makes it clear, they're looking for Perrin and Egg. (4) How much was his natural bravery, and how much was the Pattern protecting Rand and Mat from attention, even though the Whitecloaks weren't looking for them? I know, I know, this is the sort of question that could drive one to self-medicate if you think about it too hard every time something happens in the story, but I've been here 15 years, you'll have to forgive me for, well, thinking about it too hard. (5) Rats being another one of the Dark One's eyes, it would do them very well to deter the rats from seeing what's going on in that inn for a bit. (6) A known effect of the One Power? Nynaeve's been channeling, if unconsciously, for years, and Moiraine's probably been somewhat careful not to scare her off with too much reference to her abilities on this little trip. (7) Which makes quite a long summary for a chapter that only brought everyone back together and started to bring them up to speed with each other's plotlines. Though, the bit about Darkfriends sensing the dagger if they've truly sold their souls is interesting.

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw #teotw #wot staff icon #rand al'thor #basel gill #loial #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran

[necarion]

One of the characterization complaints I've had of the WoT TV show is "everyone is more of an asshole, except for Nynaeve". Just, everyone has had their edges hardened in ways that make for Storytelling Drama, but do damage to some of the things that made the characters great.

This is perhaps biggest in the case of Moiraine.

In the books (especially EOTW), Moiraine is almost always cool and composed, but she's also just...kind? She's nice to everyone (in a "I'm a noble and better than you" way, to be sure). She's welcome everywhere she goes as Mistress Alys. She tips exceptionally well. She's inspiring to the Two Rivers folks after they started being afraid of her, and before then everyone was super excited to see a nice lady. She goes out of her way to reassure people that she's there to help, and then just does (thinking about how she rid Basel Gill's inn of rats).

When she does get angry, she's quick to water-under-the-bridge it. There are a couple times she gets legitimately mad at the kids: with Mat and the Dagger (at Rand, who she forgives for ignorance, and for Mat) and then promptly goes out of her way to help Mat; and when the boys tell her about dreams they'd been having. And in both cases, she just lets it pass while making it clear the same doesn't have to happen again.

--

In the show, Moiraine shows her Aes Sedai ring immediately in the TR, and gets them to do what she wants out of intimidation. She blackmails Liandrin. She bullies her sister in Caihrean and is a dick to her nephew. She's an asshole in Fal Dara (although the show made sure to turn the awesome Amalisa and Algalmar into assholes as well). She spends S2 being a dick to Lan.

I think Rafe misremembered her "cool and aloof and uncommunicative" as "is an asshole". But also, in a lot of modern film, "is an out-of-character asshole" seems to be the type of Drama that film critics prefer.

Book Moiraine is beloved throughout the Westlands (see also the number of world leaders who come up to say hello at Merrilor!). I just cannot imagine RP's Moiraine being adored like that, by anyone.

It is possible to have a character who is kind, while also possessing deep complexity as well as major character flaws, but it's somewhat seldom pulled off.

#wheel of time #TV show #drama #moiraine #Strange New World's Pike is Kind #and I love him for it

[deeplyridiculouslyinlove]

Just got to Caemlyn in my EOTW reread and I’m thinking about how Rand suggests to Basel Gill that he could go to Elaida about the Darkfriends, and I’m *cackling* at the idea of Moiraine getting to Caemlyn only to find Rand with Elaida of all people.

Elaida, who is able to sense Rand is important but doesn’t know exactly what his deal is at this point, suddenly being *very* invested in lording it over Moiraine that Moiraine’s little pet came to *her.* Moiraine gritting her teeth to try and be nice to Elaida despite wanting to slap her because she needs her to get to Rand. Rand just totally clueless to the fact he chose the absolute worst Aes Sedai for Moiraine to have to deal with. Like the one sister with whom she has decades-long animosity.

#dril reads wot #(again) #wheel of time #rand al'thor #moiraine damodred #elaida do avriny a'roihan #I may actually have to write a little fic about this just for fun #if I ever finish the ten chapters I’m currently writing #I’m really on my new spring bullshit all I can think about is moiraine #wot book spoilers

[butterflydm]

structural overhaul for TGS-AMoL

spoilers through a memory of light (all the way to the ending)

Instead of doing the same sort of evaluation that I did with the Jordan books, I am going to propose a different structure for the final three books, one that I've been working on as I've been going through my reread.

There are a couple of big changes to fix things that felt like plot holes/character issues but I tried to keep all the major milestone points. The bulk of the changes that I would suggest are in ToM but there are a handful of significant elements for both TGS & AMoL. This post is only covering the Sanderson books, taking off from the end of KoD.

The Gathering Storm

Rand's storyline in TGS stops after the aftermath of Natrin's Barrow, holding the rest for ToM.

Parts of Perrin's plotline from ToM get moved to here, including some of his wolf-dream training so that it feels a bit more spread out. Maybe end his storyline here with him going into the 'fear dreams' of other sleepers for the first time. Cut out all the Whitecloak infighting and etc. that we had at the beginning of ToM, though. Begin Galad's part of the story with him running into Basel Gill.

Cut out Hinderstap entirely, starting Mat's storyline with him searching out the mystery woman who ends up being Verin (this will save us a tiny bit of page space in AMoL as well).

Include Mat's ToM chapter where he encounters the gholam again in Caemlyn and then have Mat and Elayne reunite in this book, holding the rest for ToM.

Pretty much all of Egwene's TGS plotline stays intact, except for not having her epilogue where she sees the light from Dragonmount.

Everything else basically as written.

Towers of Midnight

Start with ruthless!Rand meeting with Egwene, as opposed to zen!Rand. Ruthless!Rand still has all the same motivations about wanting to succeed at the Last Battle, and this means that they can have more genuine friction, because Rand really will be Not Doing Well.

The remaining parts of Perrin's storyline stay in ToM (though the bit where he and the wolves watch Rand on Dragonmount is either cut or placed as part of the epilogue to the book), so that would be the results of the trial, making his new weapon, facing Slayer, accidentally helping Egwene.

Have Mat give into his curiosity and open the letter from Verin. Mat leading the charge to prevent Caemlyn from being invaded would be an excellent reason for everyone to trust him with the armies in AMoL and not having Caemlyn be invaded would save us some page time in AMoL, leaving room for more character moments. And it can still be turned into a frantic series of events that requires tactical knowledge, since there would still be a Darkfriend betrayal of the guards, etc.

Egwene is gathering forces to potentially face either the Last Battle or ruthless!Rand. Because Rand is Not Doing Well, she isn't having everyone and their cousin reassure her about Rand's state of mind.

If Rand isn't involved in cleaning up the Black Tower anyway, then it's fine for it to happen while he's still ruthless!Rand, so give this storyline to Nynaeve. Suggestion: the trigger is Nynaeve going to Myrelle to get Lan's bond, since Myrelle is literally right outside the Black Tower. This way Nynaeve gets to be involved in the Black Tower clean-up, and is one of the primary PoVs about the events there, which would help it feel more connected to the rest of the story.

Then we move into the Rand & Tam scene, Rand nearly kills his dad and then runs away.

Mat goes to the Tower of Ghenjei and saves Moiraine, placed in-between Rand's lowest moment and his epiphany.

Rand on Dragonmount. The original "Apples" chapter from the start of this book is the epilogue, maybe also including Egwene looking out and seeing the light on the mountain.

Everything else basically as written.

A Memory of Light

The important zen!Rand scenes (telling the Aiel he's ready to meet his toh, weeding out the Darkfriends, apologizing to his dad; saving Ituralde; meeting with the Borderlanders) take place early on in AMoL. This is mostly a single chapter in ToM, so it won't take up too much page time, lol. I would also strongly suggest some or most of these scenes being in Rand's PoV rather than Min's. It was a huge mistake to have the readers shut out of post-epiphany Rand's thoughts.

Mat goes with Moiraine to Merrilor; Moiraine is the key to getting Egwene to believe that Rand has really changed from ruthless!Rand to zen!Rand, because of how Rand reacts to seeing that she's alive. It's hard to believe that Rand is hard as a stone when he's weeping all over Moiraine's shoulder.

Mat finds out how worried everyone is about the Seanchan attacking them from behind while they go after the Dark One and volunteers to go to Fortuona to bring her another potential peace treaty (this is when he tells them about the marriage). This is the biggest actual 'plot' change. Reasoning as follows:

While I understand that Sanderson needed an excuse to get Mat to Ebou Dar to impregnate Tuon as per the Jordan-written epilogue, I am not impressed by the way he chose to handle it. And my way solves the problem of: when would the Emond's Field Five get to reunite. Because 'never' is actually a terrible answer.

This also means that when Mat goes back to Ebou Dar, he's not being a deserter from the Last Battle (which is completely counter to Mat's characterization! His main heroic character trait is "grumbles about it but does the right thing anyway" -- abandoning your friends and the fate of the world to go hang out with the slavers who have invaded your continent isn't 'the right thing' in any circumstances). He'll genuinely be trying to help both sides in a good way and not a slaver-apologist way. It doesn't fix Mat's face-heel turn in CoT & KoD but it helps it make a bit more sense, I think, especially if Mat actually tries to stand up against Tuon demanding everything and bargains her down to the terms the Westlands have agreed they're willing to live with. Just... giving their marriage an actual narrative purpose would be nice and make their subplot feel like more than just a distraction from the main storyline.

It also would actually make logistical sense and Mat wouldn't magically teleport down to Ebou Dar while managing to magically summon his horse from Merrilor. Two things that he cannot actually do.

And then we continue on with AMoL mostly as written. Because of earlier cuts, we can cut the Hinterstap & Caemlyn assault sections, which should free up some time to find in the Rand stuff as suggested above, as well as accommodating Mat being at Merrilor. In general, I would say cutting down on some of the battle portions of the Last Battle would be fine; like @markantonys mentioned to me in my reread posts -- do we really need three separate duels between Demandred and A Great Swordsman?

Minor characterization fixes that I would also suggest:

Fortuona: the main suggestion that I have about her isn't actually 'for' her but for Mat (and Min) -- maintain the complicated way that Mat was thinking about her in ToM rather than cutting Mat off from his past loyalties at the start of the book. This would be easier once he's going there as a negotiator rather than a defector, as per the suggested changes above. For Fortuona herself, I do think that it's too late to try to shoehorn any significant character development in (it needed to begin in CoT & KoD, when she was away from her powerbase, if it was going to happen), so I think Sanderson made the right call there, but not taking Mat backwards at the start of AMoL would be good, as would not having Min just instantly give Fortuona the same exact kind of special treatment that she gives to the savior of the world and the man she says that she loves (Rand). It is, frankly, just weird how quickly Min folds herself into the Seanchan hierarchy and even when Mat starts questioning the slavery system again (finally), we never see Min doing that in her own PoV -- she has unspecific criticisms about the Seanchan Empire but never thinks about them clearly even in her own thoughts.

Nynaeve: Beside the big Black Tower plotline shift, she should not find out that Elayne is pregnant in ToM. It adds nothing to the story except bafflement when she proceeds to say goodbye to Rand very soon after and not only doesn't say anything to him but doesn't even think about it. After her thoughts of horror about how Min and Rand are shacking up without being married, she should have SOME big feelings about how Rand is having kids with Elayne without being married to her.

Tam: should already know about Elayne when he reunites with Rand and meets Min, since Perrin talked about how Elayne was planning to marry Rand while Tam was still with his people, so Tam should mention her to Rand and/or Min. Minor comedy element to serve as a moment of breaking the tension of prepping for the Last Battle! Explaining Min's viewings and/or Aiel relationship customs to the dad! Also, have Tam get 'introduced' to Elayne & Aviendha as well. It's so weird in AMoL when Tam and Elayne treat each other incredibly formally even though Elayne has announced that she's pregnant with Rand's kids. Basically, actually deal with people finding out that Rand has multiple girlfriends, rather than everyone acting like a memo was sent out that read: "Dragon Reborn dating three women: be cool about it and please don't have any emotional scenes".

Aviendha: have her leave for Rhuidean BEFORE the Semirhage attack in TGS. Her distance before that is explainable, if frustrating, but having her still stay away from Rand after that happens just feels bizarre and infuriating. This also means that her Rhuidean chapters can happen earlier in continuity, and she can come back to the main storyline sooner.

Unfortunately, the issues with both Perrin and Mat's characters are deeply embedded by this time, since they were focused on so much in CoT & KoD, but I would suggest, as mentioned above, that having Mat personally take an active role in protecting Caemlyn from invasion and then leveraging his marriage to actually be useful in AMoL would both work wonders, because as it is, the only person who gets anything useful out of the Mat-Tuon marriage is Fortuona, while Mat just gets weighed down with liabilities.

Though a lot of that goes back to one of my core issues with the Seanchan, which is at play in both the Jordan and Sanderson eras -- the only reason they are as effective as they are is because the narrative and our protagonists keep helping them (ex. the Wondergirls not telling all their allies the sul'dam secret and not making it public knowledge -- especially egregious with Elayne, who knows what she wants to do to undermine the Seanchan and has plenty of motivation to do it but just... doesn't bother???; Mat just aimlessly bumbling around with Tuon for two books; Perrin choosing to reach out to the Seanchan for help when Faile is kidnapped instead of sending one of the Asha'man back to Rand to see if he can help, since at that point Perrin has actually completed his secret mission for Rand and technically has Masema with him, etc). So when the narrative then goes "ah Our Heroes have no choice but to ally with the slavers", I immediately go, "yes, you did have choices, you just inexplicably chose not to do those things". The narrative never successfully sold me on the lack of choice for our protagonists, because it was just too easy to see the Hand of the Author(s) protecting and shielding the Seanchan from the natural narrative consequences of their actions.

So, that would help with Mat. IDK how to help with Perrin's characterization. That's a mess. It's possible that it might feel less like Perrin did a pay-to-play instant upgrade of his wolf abilities if it's spread out over both TGS and ToM, though. With the Whitecloak stuff... it's just so hard for me to care about Perrin getting ~closure~ for killing two Whitecloaks knowing that he gets away with selling two hundred women into slavery. Perrin and Mat are the two characters who were most broken by the Slog, but Mat is much easier to rehabilitate than Perrin (and tbh Sanderson was mostly doing a good job with it until Mat's off-the-page face-heel turn in AMoL) because the puzzle pieces are all there for Mat to have a good story; while Perrin was basically just an empty frame that had to be filled in from scratch. I do think (again agreeing with @markantonys) that instead of him napping for a large portion of the Last Battle, that he should have had Elyas's place in rallying the wolves for the fighting (and maybe delegate some of the TAR stuff to the Wise One Dreamwalkers, who get pretty underused here).

Egwene should be fine once we've adjusted Rand's structure to have ruthless!Rand last longer. There's nothing wrong with the majority of her plotline in these books; it's just that her behavior would make more sense if we were still dealing with ruthless!Rand.

Min: having her and Mat be instantly familiar with each other was definitely a shortcut to shift her into the Seanchan plotline but it is such a glaring plothole. They barely know each other! They have maybe met once, back at the very end of book 2, when Mat was desperately sick from the dagger. Her memories about him should be the same as Uno's ("always snapping at people, eyes sunken in his head. Half-dead, half-spoiled"). The only things they would really know about each other are the things that Rand has told them about each other. Yet Min is able to instantly 'recognize' Mat's 'signature hat' despite him not getting it until book 4 (I guess Rand must have really been obsessed with Mat's fashion and explained it to Min in detail!).

Basically, Mat and Min treat each other with the familiarity that Min and Perrin should have with each other (from the winter they spent together between 2 & 3). Fixing Mat's storyline would definitely help this, as he and Min would get to 'reunite'/meet with all Mat's friends present to vouch for him.

Min also immediately being all about Fortuona is a story beat that feels like it dismisses Min's personal experiences with the Seanchan, having helped rescue Egwene from slavery back in Falme. So… write that differently, lol.

Otherwise, I would put some of the skipped reunions and emotional moments actually on the page: Mat's reunion with the rest of the EF5 I covered above (aka, it should have happened), but Sanderson should also have kept the cut scene about Aviendha, Elayne, & Min making bridal wreaths for Rand or another scene where we actually get to see them (or ideally them plus Rand) all together; we should have actually seen Elayne & Gawyn reunite (they have not seen each other since... book 3? I'm pretty sure not since book 3); we should have had Rand's ACTUAL reaction to finding out that Elayne is pregnant and not having it happen off-screen and just referenced in his narration (we see both Nynaeve's and Mat's reactions to Elayne's pregnancy but not Rand's? wtf!); seeing Egwene & Gawyn's marriage seems like it would have been more relevant than seeing Morgase & Tallanvor's, etc.

Overall, fewer battles, more character moments.

Yes, it's the Last Battle but it's also the last book with these characters and they deserve their emotional send-off as much as just a narrative/plot one. That's my general feeling. There's a lot in the last three books that I like, but there are also some very strange choices and while "we were trying to preserve Jordan's bits of completed writing as much as possible" can probably explain some of the odd beats, I doubt it explains all of them.

#wot #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers #the gathering storm #towers of midnight #a memory of light #mat cauthon #rand al'thor #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #perrin aybara #wot reread #because it all came out of thoughts as I did my reread #i was originally going to post this wednesday #but then we got the news that the trailer will be coming out #so that's where my brain will be tomorrow

[uwmspeccoll]

A Valentine's Day Wood Engraving Wednesday

REBECCA GILBERT

We mark this especially romantic Wood Engraving Wednesday with this wood engraving by Philadelphia-based artist and printmaker Rebecca Gilbert from the 2020 calendar of the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN). Here, Gilbert reinterprets Hans Holbein's (1497–1543) woodcut "The Lady" from his well-known series The Dance of Death (Basel, 1523–26), with an English translation of the French quatrain by Gilles Corrozet (1510–1568) paired with the image in the 1538 Lyon edition, reminding us that love is only temporal, so we should rejoice while we have it. Of her work in wood, Gilbert's website notes:

These processes allow the integration of a high level of detail and the ability to work both very large (woodcut) and very small (wood engraving) simultaneously. The contrast in scale directly relates to the ways she explores ideas of perception, space, and seeing.

Our copy of the calendar is a donation of WEN member and Wisconsin resident Tony Drehfal.

View posts from Valentine’s Days past.

View more posts from the 2020 WEN Calendar.

View more work by women wood engravers.

View more posts with wood engravings!

#Wood Engraving Wednesday #St. Valentine's Day #Valentine's Day #love #death #wood engravers #women wood engravers #Rebecca Gilbert #The Dance of Death #Hans Holbein #Gilles Corrozet #Wood Engravers' Network #WEN #WEN Calendar #Tony Drehfal

[thunderstruck9]

Gilles Aillaud (French, 1928-2005), Singes de Bâle [Basel Monkeys], 1975. Oil on canvas, 130 x 195 cm.

#gilles aillaud #french art #monkey #monkeys

[gunkreads]

Send me asks naming a WoT character and what ingredients you think would be in the cocktail Basel Gill names after them 10 years after the story ends

#wheel of time #wot #i was gonna say I'll invent the cocktails #but I'll crowdsource this one

[oaresearchpaper]

Sustainable Solutions: Addressing E-Waste Pollution and Ensuring Food Security

Abstract

Electronic waste is currently the largest growing waste stream in the world. It is hazardous, complex and expensive to treat in an environmentally sound manner. Unsustainable electronic waste management of has led to pollution of rivers, which has negatively affected the environment, agriculture activities and food security. The research sought to investigate the waste management of electronic waste, its impact on environment, agriculture and food security in the rural communities. To recommend sustainable waste management strategy for the country and reduce the adverse effects on environment and agriculture to enhance food security. Zimbabwe has become an electronic waste hazard as waste pile up at backyard and in houses. A research survey was conducted in Mutare urban and peri-urban rural communities involving a sample of 1250 participants revealed that 29% of waste was electronic effluent, 29% of waste in backyard, 22% of waste in storerooms. The peri-urban rural communities are heavily affected downstream as the Sakubva River and its streams are polluted, either poisoned or drying up. Methods of disposal were landfilling, burning, backyard and storeroom storage. Food security as a state where the availability, accessibility, utilization and stability of food are ensured and food production is enough to cover the food demand of the people has been heavily affected as water for gardening and field crop irrigation is polluted. It was revealed that in some areas farmers have totally stopped gardening as the source of water has dried up due to both soil and water pollution.

Introduction

The United Nations (2008) defines food security as a state where the availability, accessibility, utilization and stability of food are ensured and food production is enough to cover the food demand of the people. FAO (2010) reviewed that despite the fact that more than enough food was being produced per capita to adequately feed the global population, about 925 million people remained food insecure in 2010. Abalansa et al. (2021) indicated that electronic waste is a rapidly developing environmental problem particularly for the most developed countries that has negatively affected the sustainable agriculture practices for food security. Electronic waste are various forms of electric and electronic equipment that have ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfy their original purpose (Gill, 2021). The electronic waste products have exhausted their utility value through either redundancy, replacement, or breakage and this include both “white goods” such as refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves and “brown goods” such as televisions, radios, computers, and cell phones (Gill, 2021). Electronic waste is considered the "fastest-growing waste stream in the world” (WEF, 2019) with 44.7 million tonnes generated in 2016- equivalent to 4500 Eiffel towers Balde et al. (2017). In 2018, an estimated 50 million tonnes of electronic waste was reported, thus the name ‘tsunami of electronic waste’ given by the United Nations (WEF, 2019). Its value is at least $62.5 billion annually (WEF, 2019).

The world currently has a variety of environmental problems resulting from manufacturing activities, including plastic pollution and electronic waste. Plastic pollution can be traced back to the beginning of the commercial production of plastics in the 1950s (Barnes et al., 2009), but more recently, electronic waste is considered an emerging environmental problem (Saldana-Duran et al., 2020). The sources of the majority of these can be traced to major developed countries, although there is an increasing contribution from rapidly developing countries like China and India. The Basel Convention was formulated to ensure that environmental problems are not exported across boundaries (Choksi, 2001; Ogunseitan, 2013; Kummer, 1992). Developed countries have state-of-the-art facilities, finances and technology to handle waste (Forti et al., 2020). However, much of the electronic waste is not recycled but exported to developing countries (Illes and Geeraerts, 2016), which are already struggling with economic problems such as poverty. Many factors contribute to this surge in electronic waste. These include the short lifecycle of equipment, low recycling (Rabani and Thakur, 2020), and the continuous upgrading of electronic equipment (Wang et al., 2019) as affluent societies demand the latest technology. Electronic waste has been described as one of most difficult classes of waste to manage due to a constant change in its features and specificities (Borthakur and Singh, 2020). Recently, Zimbabwe has also been become an electronic waste hazard as electronic equipment are piling up very fast in company offices and in houses. Electronic scrap components, such as central processing units, contain potentially harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, or brominated flame-retardants. Recycling and disposal of electronic waste may involve significant risk to health of workers and their communities (Sakar, 2016). According to the Basel Convention (1989) on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal of 1989, Art. 2(1), "'Wastes' are substance or objects, which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law" (Basel Convention, 1989). Under the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC, Art. 3(1), the European Union defines waste as "an object the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard."(EPC, 2008).

In 2000, Zimbabwe moved a gear up to introduce use of high electronic technology mainly computers. The country received several donations of digital electronic equipment including computers, printers and digital instruments. However, as the old type writers, calculators and till machines and banking machine were replaced with the new electronic equipment, waste management became a challenge. Electronic waste was created as the old electronic products were discarded along the years, as it was believed that they had attained end of their useful life. The rapid expansion of technology and the consumption driven society results in the creation of a very large amount of electronic waste in the back yard, storerooms and in the spare rooms at homes. There are several pieces of legislation in place pertaining to litter and waste management. Electronic waste management in Zimbabwe is guided by the EMA, Chapter 20:27. Section 70 (1) of the EMA Act which stipulates that ‘No person shall discharge or dispose any waste in a manner that causes environmental pollution or ill health to any person’ (EMA, 2002). Thus, it follows that according to the EMA Act, any person whose activities generate waste is mandated to use measures to minimise the waste through treatment, reclamation and recycling, among others. Mihaela (2014) revealed that there is an interdependence, between sustainable agriculture practice concepts and food security. The downstream communities in the peri urban of Muatre require water for agricultural activities, which has been heavily affected by pollution upstream, hence, food security is also heavily affected downstream. Hamid, (2019) indicated that the main outcome of sustainable agriculture practices is food security.

Nevertheless, about half of the global population is affected by food insecurity and malnutrition, a symptom of the dysfunctions of the current food system (Hamid, 2019) as the land, soil, water and air are polluted by waste. Therefore, since Zimbabwe moved a gear up to introduce use of high electronic technology mainly computers. The improper management and disposal of the electronic waste from the old electronic products along the years as resulted into pollution of the dumping sites, rivers and streams. The pollution has heavily affected the agriculture activities and the communities downstream is now food insecure. The research sought to investigate the waste management of electronic waste, the impact of the electronic pollution on agriculture and food security in the study area. This was done to recommend sustainable waste management strategy for the country and reduce the effects of pollution on environment and agriculture in order to enhance food security.

Source : Need for sustainable solution: Environment, rural agriculture and food security affected by electronic waste pollution of streams and Sakubva River

#Electronic waste #Pollution #agriculture #Food security #Waste management #Environmental management.

[cannoli-reader]

My Notes from Watching the Wheel of Time Show, season 1, episode 6

Originally posted on 12/10/2021. Possible spoilers for any or all WoT novels.

I skipped watching this when I went to Prime Video for that purpose, because an episode of "The Expanse" had dropped. This might have been the first time since 1992 that I have ever prioritized other media over new WoT content.

1:30 - Is this a Belter in the world of WoT? The hammock and hut suggest poverty, but those are some fancy tattoos for a child.

1:48 - Li’l Siuan is from a primitive fishing tribe, rather than an urban dock district

2:31 - Okay, that looked like a city in the background, so maybe their hut is in the Fingers of the Dragon. Probably not an important distinction, but it’s a thing about Tear that the High Lords exercise tight control over the area, and would not likely allow people to settle in the Fingers, for no other reason than to prevent anyone getting an navigational advantage over their own pilots.

3:15 - “A wise woman knows the breaking point of her line,” is a very interesting comment, given that’s a lesson that Book-Siuan utterly failed to learn her entire life.

4:14 - Always with the tragic backstories.

5:20 - I guess this is a cheap way of having her sent to the Tower, without having to hire an actor to play the authority figure or a group of extras to play a mob who compel her departure.

8:27 - Liandrin’s actual braids make an appearance!

8:41 - I can’t but notice they have yellow-washed the canonically Arabic, Leane Sharif, and at best are subbing in the background character with a hijab and no lines.

9:45 - I wonder if those are Accepted uniforms, or if this is supposed to be some sort of female guard force.

11:33 - This is a good way, I guess, of expositing the Tower’s grasp on the world is slipping, and they even found a natural way for someone like Logain to demonstrate that knowledge, without compromising too much the concept of proprietary channeling information or Tower secrets. And the fact that outsiders generally don’t make much, if any, distinction between Ajahs is already undermined by their propensity for color-coded garb.

11:36 - I wondered in the trailer why Leane looked so pissed. That explains it.

11:59 - “I am not so easily fooled” says Siuan, commenting on Logain’s factual statement (I assume it is; why bring it up otherwise, unless you’re looking to shit on the books just because). Do they realize this is not making her actually smart?

Also, that silly wing thing on the front of her ridiculous dress looks like it might be the Amyrlin’s stole.

12:35 - Logain is to be kept captive until he “lose(s him)self entirely to the madness”. Gentling stops you from going mad. That’s the justification for doing it, as opposed to just killing them on sight.

14:00 - Not for nothing, but Liandrin has a point. That it is what she wanted to do anyway does not change that fact.

14:09 - Siuan’s reference to the rules of engagement doesn’t make much sense here either, since killing is on the list and Liandrin has already pointed out that they managed not to resort to the last extreme. This just looks like a bureaucrat passing judgment on actions taken in the exigencies of combat. And considering we spent a whole episode on the tragic response to the consequences of Logain’s breaking free, we really should be considering Logain lucky to be alive.

But having the normally smooth and cool Liandrin’s voice breaking and sounding stressed and panicky seems like the show is trying to say she’s wrong and Siuan is this supreme font of wisdom and fair-mindedness

17:00 - Liandrin is really coming across as speaking truth to power, even if she is being portrayed as a troublemaker.

18:58 - My general motto with regard to the Tower ITB is Voltaire’s ecrasez l’infame. Siuan’s tirade suggests the show version won’t be much better despite the girl-power vibes I get from everything else about it.

21:20 - The subtitles call the innkeeper in Tar Valon “Basel Gill”. A character defined in the book by his devotion to the Queen of Andor and his loyalty to friends, including charity to a couple of friends of friends, has been repurposed as a Tar Valon innkeeper who charges high prices to the same kids Book-Gill took in and fed for the sake of a mutual friend.

21:53 - “It’s nice to see you, too” snarks the guy who has done nothing to make contact with Rand and Mat for a whole episode while he was preoccupied by personal bullshit instead of the candidates for savior of the world.

22:00 - I suspect Barney Harris is being replaced, because his moans of sickness sound more like there should be another person in the bed with him.

23:30 - So much better done ITB. No reason I can see for the changes, aside from Moiraine being the clear authorial favorite. They give her the lightning reflexes to stop Mat’s attack, and made Rand an encumbrance who distracted Lan from being the one to catch Mat.

25:16 - So Mat has to be watched lest he touch the dagger again, says Moiraine, after leaving the room to the person who followed her out. Even if the dagger is on Lan’s person, they still left it in the room with Mat, and we can’t really say this version of Lan is as good as a safe for holding objects secure, given how differently he has been portrayed from the Book version.

25:36 - Moiraine would absolutely say something like this. The problem is, the show seems to be on her side, when ITB (and on the show) she has given them little reason to trust her. How are the Two Rivers people supposed to trust she would not have treated Mat as an impediment to her mission and offed him like the ferry?

26:45 - Okay, Maigan’s agreeing with me about Siuan, but on the other hand, she’s also denouncing a Green for speaking on behalf of a Red, just because they had fought together and she believed the Red to be in the right. So it’s a crazy whacky world, when Aes Sedai display integrity? Sisters choosing the truth over factional rivalries is the equivalent of dogs and cats living together?

27:15 - One of the pseudo-feminists’ greatest whines criticisms about the book series is the frequency of nudity. Now, we are not subjected to descriptions of the women’s bodies, and it is seldom in a sexual context or with gratuitous sexual connotations for ordinary nudity, but, fair enough. Women get undressed a lot. But on a TV show, with a female writer and director, where actual human beings have to get undressed and partially display their bodies in context that encourages the viewer to see them as naked, we get an inserted bathhouse scene (not to mention an inserted sex scene and a prior bathing scene with similar display of female bodies, in the pilot), where women are striking poses & lit so as to draw attention to their uncovered skin. ‘Rules for thee and not for me’ feminism.

28:33 - Okay, why is she keeping their survival a secret? That’s pointless even for Book Moiraine.

29:05 - Please don’t give us more melting scenes for these rings.

29:15 - That angle, for a second, made the crease of Perrin’s shoulder look like Egwene’s buttcrack.

29:22 - How did they get Perrin here if the damage is so bad?

29:57 - They are doing a good job of keeping the camera on Egwene’s right profile and the other side in shadow to conceal Madeline Madden’s nosewart.

31:00 - Moiraine is leaving the kids alone, in two separate establishments, with no trustworthy supervision.

31:42 - ITB Moiraine does not think of the Two Rivers folk as friends, no matter how benevolent her actions, because she knows she might have to do something horrible to them for the greater good. She never even indicates any care for, or affection toward, them in her stream of consciousness. Show-Moiraine, whose treatment and behavior toward them has been considerably less benevolent and friendly, on a mere month’s acquaintance, most of it spent apart from all but Nynaeve, has even less reason to use that term.

32:04 - Okay, Lan’s going to stand watch, but over whom? They are in two different places and neither group knows the other is alive.

32:16 - She’s leaving them unattended to get laid?! I am just assuming. As I may have said previously, the sector of the fandom toward whom this show appears to be pandering tends to ship Moiraine and Siuan, so that's how I take the "give her my love." Only now the shippers are going to whine that we are deprived of the implied poly relationship with Lan and presumably Siuan's warder, too.

33:12 - Oh, so they have Traveling. What’s the nonsense limitation they are going to claim for why they have not used whatever this is for something more important than secret-sexy-times meetings?

33:24 - I bet Siuan’s dad could have afforded a second rowboat for the price of all those tattoos. Edit: 'kay, she got some as an adult.

34:05 - And now celibacy is a thing for the Amyrlin? And Moiraine’s “when have we ever followed the rules” in this context is not about going around petty restrictions or thinking outside the box or doing what must be done, so much as “rules don’t apply to us, because we’re all we care about.” While I might not agree with a rule of celibacy in this case, the point is generally to demonstrate the priority one places on the institution that requires it. So being Amyrlin is important, but Siuan & Moiraine hold themselves and their feelings more important. Which is super hypocritical considering the level of supremacy she is declaring in the Hall.

36:20 - Okay, the Dragon’s soul being split up is dumb, because it makes them all partial people. A soul IS a person. Bodies are just like clothes. This is the reality, even if you don’t believe in souls and use the word merely to mean the essential component of a person or concept or object. So, best case scenario, what they are saying is that the most important thing about the Dragon is his power and status. What he is, not who he is. And never mind that’s 180 degrees in opposition to the message of the books, for every character.

And if they are not actually doing this, and there is only the one Dragon Reborn, this is a stupid diversionary speculation.

36:33 - “You think I’ve forgotten that?” Moiraine asks in response to Siuan’s admonition that they will be stilled if anyone else discovers what they are up to. Um, yeah, Moiraine. It looks very much like you forgot that, since your immediately prior line of dialogue was suggesting that you tell lots of people what they are up to, and create the conditions for that to happen!

Moiraine: We should tell lots of people Siuan: If anyone finds out, we will be punished. Moiraine: Did you think I had forgotten that? Me: Well, since you don't seem to remember your own immediately previous statement, that's a fair guess.

36:37 - Is it weird that their post-coital garments are different than what they were wearing to bed before Moiraine came to Siuan’s room? Especially since Moiraine is wearing something more revealing than what she had on when she approached her sexual partner?

38:50 - Sacrificing a bunch of people for a stupid plan to beat the Dark One through a loophole is pretty in-character for Siuan.

39:41 - Why does Liandrin keep describing things wrong? “Nursed back to health” is not remotely an accurate way to describe Healing.

40:02 - I don’t know what’s dumber in this fan-fiction adaptational change: the Reds doing horrible things to men suspected of fooling around with their Ajah sisters, and the implication that the Red Ajah has explicit anti-male policies (nearly every non-Darkfriend PoV Red ITB has male sexual partners), or Moiraine overlooking a Darkfriend meeting place by underestimating Liandrin. Or worst of all, the Reds would not do anything to a mere trysting partner, therefore Liandrin’s association with him is a serious crime (such as treason or Darkfriend stuff) and Moiraine is in sole possession of this knowledge of Liandrin, but is letting it go unreported for blackmail purposes.

40:18 - Loial’s shoes are clearly just to make him look taller. With little success.

40:45 - Moiraine is as giddy as a YouTube fan reviewer at her encounter with Loial. Why?

41:22 - Nosewart! Fitting it gets a moment in the spotlight as the show is doing a bit of metatextual snarking. It’s not clever to bring that sort of thing up without a good answer, because it just looks like you are mocking the work you needed to crib from in order to get a job yourself. See, no one would pay for a show entirely from the mind of the Coffee Fetcher for the Good Seasons of Game of Thrones, so Rafe needs a best-selling fantasy novel series to get that level of attention. It’s not clever of him to use his show to criticize much more successful writers.

And the obvious answer to the issue of the throne and office holding the same name is that the point is the woman is subsumed into the office, that in her official capacity she is acting as the institution, not the person. Furthermore, it’s only confusing to morons, as a person and an inanimate object will almost never be discussed in the same practical context. Telling a servant to clean the Amyrlin Seat is unlikely to result in a feather duster being applied to Siuan, and describing the actions or policies of the Amyrlin Seat are unlikely to cause one to confusedly assume the chair has become animate. Unless nosewarts are a symptom of some sort of brain disease.

41:30 - One unfortunate consequence of the loss of royalty and whatnot is that people keep trying to make up stories of it without having any idea how it works. The Amyrlin Seat would not request an audience with a peasant girl still in her fake-Scottish skirt. All they had to do was copy the book dialogue where people receive a summons to an audience with the Amyrlin, not a request for an audience. And if the point of the change is to show the Tower as somehow egalitarian, the entire rest of the episode has epically failed in that regard.

41:40 - Nosewart.

41:40 - Also, Nynaeve’s question of Lan is really really dumb. I’ll just write it off as an honest attempt to show Nynaeve’s attitude of constantly questioning and refusing to be dictated to and charitably just assume the writers are simply incompetent to execute that depiction through dialogue.

41:57 - Is it possible for TV women to describe their actions without humble-bragging?

42:08 - Stating that Siuan waits for only one woman, when the Amyrlin is, by her own words, the highest ranking person in the world, just invites speculation as to whom she waits for, and how Moiraine is so certain of that fact. For someone keeping so many pointless secrets, Moiraine sucks at intrigue.

42:48 - A het man demanding that the two attractive young women come closer would be seen as creepy. So why not the equally gynosexual Siuan?

42:45 - Nynaeve does not bow. Actually, ITB, Nynaeve would make a half-hearted effort but get it wrong, because she could not care less about crap like that. But this is okay.

43:02 - If that was an allusion to Egwene��s nosewart, it was extremely rude, Siuan! And stop trying to steal my joke across the fourth wall!

43:16 - Egwene visibly deflating when Siuan names Nynaeve is the best thing ever to appear on a screen!

43:20 - And they immediately ruin it with Nynaeve’s stupid response. How is that even an insult, let alone a burn? Nynaeve would not expect people to be impressed with her strength, but she would also not mock the Tower for being weak, because she cares about the person, not their strength. Her “comeback” demonstrates exactly the reverse.

43:54 - Nynaeve does not use bad words! Not “ass” in the real world or “smoke” in WoT! And she’s not deliberately rude. She thinks “Go away, we don’t want your help” is being polite, but she doesn’t try to offend people for shits and giggles, especially powerful people who could make trouble for her or her companions.

44:53 - Egwene silently turning to go in support of a friend from back home, especially turning away from a person of power who is tacitly offering power or the chance to effect significant events, is even more OoC than the Nynaeve & Siuan stuff.

45:03 - In my headcanon, that reaction shot of Moiraine, as Siuan saying “The Wheel does not care…” is her biting back the comment that the Wheel can’t care anymore than it can want.

45:42 - Nosewart! It’s like she’s leading with it!

45:46 - Egwene: “…what do we need to do?” Siuan: glances at Moiraine Me: I hope she’s not proposing a foursome.

46:03 - Please, not another ring-melting, please.

46:30 - Last episode, Moiraine said Tar Valon and/or the Tower is not her home. So what’s with the waterworks, especially when her imminent sentencing in the Hall has been prearranged? If Siuan is the great love of her life it hurts so much to leave, instead of a Friends With Benefits deal, why’d she say that last episode?

47:28 - More than ¾ of the way through 1/8 of the season and we’ve got nothing from this episode except a sex scene. It makes me extremely suspicious of the intent in the slow, lingering close-up shot of Moiraine kissing the Amyrlin’s ring.

48:09 - Siuan is saying a lot of stuff everyone in the room should know already. And if this is a sacred object, why use it so casually? If she is already bound to speak only the truth, why not simply make her promise to do what she’s told? If that Oath was not binding on her, why bother with another go-round?

I’m not even going to bother with the colossal deviation from the books of using the Oath Rod for an ordinary punishment.

49:38 - Why is her ear gilded?

And what is the point of all these compliments? Not the time or place, especially if the whole point of her sentencing is to conceal their relationship and collusion from everyone, especially the Hall. Siuan’s fall is going to literally be Moiraine’s fault, with this pointless shipper-fan-service dialogue.

53:06 - Are Moiraine’s tears blinding her to the giant samurai hiding behind the hill?

53:50 - Ordinary Shienarans call Loial “Builder” out of respect for his people having built their lost city. Moiraine calls him Loial and treats him like a kid because A. he is and B. it keeps him in line. And IIRC, it was made very clear ITB why he is called that. I feel like a WoT Novice will be expecting him to finish whatever that structure is behind Moiraine.

54:02 - Why are Perrin & Egwene accompanying Loial with whom they are onscreen for the first time? Why is the group not together, instead traveling so far apart Moiraine cannot see the different elements of the group across this wide stretch of clear ground?

54:09 - Why is Perrin smiling? What or how does Perrin feel about anything, when he has had no dialogue in this episode, and before it, was last seen lurching out of the Children's camp?

54:27 - Rand & Egwene’s reaction suggests they have not actually been in contact offscreen this whole time, so again, why is Loial with her and not him?

55:09 - Even if the horses can’t go into the Ways, you could take the luggage off, in case you need it, or at the least, take off their tack. That’s not a good way to leave horses unattended.

55:16 - Is there a point to changing it so horses can’t survive the Ways, besides saving on the horse budget?

56:21 - The fandom defense of Moiraine’s secrecy, that she could not trust the Two Rivers folk is exceedingly stupid and not in keeping with her other actions and behavior toward them. Having her claim that she was keeping secrets because she could not trust them, but now has come to know them after a month+ apart (and being unconscious before and throughout Shadar Logoth) is even dumber.

57:07 - Egwene would never for a moment entertain the idea that the Dragon is anyone but her. And in the face of her own apotheosis, she would not have much thought to spare for the fates or cost of others. Not necessarily out of malice, just considerations of power, status and advancement take up a disproportionate share of her attention.

57:26 - Loial’s expression is like “Um, have I just agreed to help a psychopath plug the Bore with teenage bodies?”

57:50 - If you need to channel to use the Ways, isn’t that largely defeating their point in the story?

58:24 - Why did we need three different reaction shots of people who can’t see what Moiraine is doing?

58:49 - “It’s too late to turn back. Whatever happens is beyond our control…” Does that include the choice to turn back? Because that kind of feels like a dumb answer to the half-facetious question about changing one’s mind.

59:02 - “The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills” says the person who pedantically denied any such agency to the Wheel a few episodes ago.

1:00:10 - Can’t wait to see how this latest “improvement” is going to play out. It’s funny because just the other day, a browser feed had an article saying how the show has improved on the books by not keeping the cast separated for so long.

#wot on prime #season 1 #timestamp annotations #books vs show

[lisaschittulli]

Under the title We are so many here, the artists of the association board of the Basler Kunstverein exceptionally curate this year’s Regionale at Kunsthalle Basel. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Kunsthalle Basel, more than 50 artists will be brought together in a polyphonic, colorful, and resonant presentation. Kunsthalle Basel was founded in 1872 by artists for artists, among others, as a place of exchange, critical debate, and friendship, to “establish a site for visual arts,” as declared when its foundation stone was laid. In addition to its legendary exhibition spaces, Kunsthalle Basel also houses other cultural institutions under its roof, as well as the renowned Restaurant Kunsthalle. To mark its 150th birthday, Kunsthalle Basel is to be experienced in all its facets and taken over by artists in a playful and celebratory way—not to look at the past nostalgically, but to continue writing history afresh.

With Benjamin Tiberius Adler, Urs Aeschbach, Karin Borer, Raffaela Boss, Oliver-Selim Boualam, Hsuan-wei Chen, Kilian Dellers, Brendhan Dickerson, Baptiste Filippi and Loïc Urbaniak, Marcel Freymond and Michael Stulz, Lea Fröhlicher, Jean-Pierre Gigli, Daniel Göttin, Pascale Grau, Alice Guérin, Gilles Jacot, Hae Young Ji, Ana Jikia, Anas Kahal, Judith Kakon, Stefan Karrer, Aida Kidane, Lysann König, Vincent Kriste, Daniel Kurth, Doris Lasch, Heinrich Lüber, Céline Manz, Anina Müller, Mariana Murcia, Sinai Mutzner, Dawn Nilo, Jacob Ott, Parvez, Anastasia Pavlou, Noemi Pfister, Nina Rieben, Marion Ritzmann, Lea Rüegg, Dorothee Sauter, R. Sebastian Schachinger, Lilli Schaugg, Lisa Schittulli, Benoît Schmidt, Markus Schwander, Kathrin Siegrist, SOLAND ANGEL, Gregory Stäuble, Jürg Stäuble, Raphael Stucky, Katarina Sylvan, Inka ter Haar, Ilja Zaharov, Vital Z’Brun, Meng Zhang

We are so many here is part of the Regionale 23 and is curated on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Kunsthalle Basel by Rut Himmelsbach, Cécile Hummel, Sophie Jung, Edit Oderbolz, Hannah Weinberger, and Johannes Willi, current and former artist members of the association board of the Basler Kunstverein. 

#lisa schittulli #kunsthalle basel #dessin contemporain #contemporary drawing

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 43: Decisions and Apparitions

This picture shows the fate of all those who attempt to view WoT spoilers before they're ready! You don't want to end up with a forehead like that, do you (I know you Tumblr sickos would totally go for the eyes and mouth - I would too!)? If you don't want spoilers, this post covers everything for the whole Wheel of Time series and you'd prefer to be elsewhere.

For everyone else, this chapter has the Dragon's Fang icon. We're moving into Rand actually being ready to have these dream battles, so their nature and purpose is being hinted at here.

“During the Time of Madness, while the world was still being broken, the earth was in upheaval, and humankind was being scattered like dust on the wind. We Ogier were scattered, too, driven from the stedding,into the Exile and the Long Wandering, when the Longing was graven on our hearts.”

Presumably the Ogier will finally be cured of the Longing when they use the Book of Translation and go home again, as the circumstances that lead to it will no longer be present. But we don't know that for certain, and it is interesting to consider other possibilities - perhaps the Seanchan Ogier, who never developed the condition, might cure it before all the Ogier go home.

“Some in Tar Valon,” Moiraine said quietly, “claim that Ogier sanctuary prolonged the Breaking and made it worse. Others say that if all of those men had been allowed to go mad at once, there would have been nothing left of the world. I am of the Blue Ajah, Loial; unlike the Red Ajah, we hold to the second view. Sanctuary helped to save what could be saved. Continue, please.”

We're all predisposed to take Moiraine's side in this debate because we like her and hate the Reds, but since I invite you all to consider for a moment that we don't know. The Reds might be absolutely correct here that the prolonging of the Breaking led to further damage; the fact that it seems to have lasted for three hundred years means most non-channelers would have lost what institutional knowledge was left over. The creation of the Ways was still necessary from the Pattern's perspective, so the Ogier's kindness wasn't wasted, but it may not have immediately saved the world.

“How did they make them?” Egwene asked. Her puzzled look took in Moiraine and Loial both.

Points to Egwene. She isn't the political natural like Rand is, but she's very clever in working out the One Power.

“One thing we can do. We can try. What seems like chance is often the Pattern. Three threads have come together here, each giving a warning: the Eye. It cannot be chance; it is the Pattern. You three did not choose; you were chosen by the Pattern. And you are here, where the danger is known. You can step aside, and perhaps doom the world. Running, hiding, will not save you from the weaving of the Pattern. Or you can try. You can go to the Eye of the World, three ta’veren, three centerpoints of the Web, placed where the danger lies. Let the Pattern be woven around you there, and you may save the world from the Shadow. The choice is yours. I cannot make you go.”

While technically speaking of course Winternight was the Call to Adventure of the Hero's Journey archetype, Moiraine here is giving them a second Call that's an actual choice. With the aftermath of a personal attack, they had no reason not to try and reach Tar Valon, but now the trio is given an actual choice to step up and be heroes. Egwene and Nyaneve, who technically did make have free choice, are still given a chance to reaffirm that choice now that the stakes are absolutely clear. Thus all five are now worthy of the destiny being thrust upon them.

Rand wished he could be as matter-of-fact as the Wisdom. He could not stop pacing up and down, as if he had energy to burn or burst from it.

It's a common fandom meme that the boys are always wishing they could be as good with girls as the other boys, and it's circulating on Tumblr these days that the girls are always wishing that they could be as brave as the other girls. Here we see Rand breaking the script altogether.

He waited for her to tell him she had as much right to go where she wanted as he did, that he had no right to tell her what to do. To his surprise, she smiled and touched his cheek.

Egwene is much more forgiving about this attempt to make her turn back because Rand has grown up. He's no longer just bitching that she's there and resenting her for it but is only saying this out of genuine concern for her well-being. He also says "you could" instead of "you should", which shows that he's not being controlling.

Her eyes seemed to catch fire. “If you can’t be serious for more than a minute, Rand al’Thor, I do not want to talk to you.”

Sadly, I feel like Egwene's regressed at this point. It's really frustrating that we don't get into her head to see where this jealousy is coming from and how she might try to explain it in light of her own (totally fine except in the context of this current behavior!) flirtations. I'm glad that once the next book comes around they're both very over their fledgling romance because an Egwene that kept this up would not be anywhere near as cool an Egwene as the one we get.

The golden-sheathed tip of the dagger from Shadar Logoth peeked from under the edge of Mat’s neatly folded coat. Lan glanced at it from time to time, too. Rand wondered if it was really as safe to have around as Moiraine claimed.

Not exactly, but in fairness to Moiraine, she had absolutely no reason to think that Padan Fain existed. In unfairness to Rand, it's entirely his own fault.

Beside one stood a wolf, its clear detail emphasized by the crudeness of the man-shape, and another clutched a tiny dagger, a point of red on the hilt glittering in the light. The last held a sword. The hair stirring on the back of his neck, he moved close enough to see the heron in exquisite detail on that small blade.

Once the heron, to set his path...

“I deny you,” Rand said hoarsely. “I deny that you hold any power over me. I deny that you are.”

Sadly, Ba'alzamon doesn't respect the classics and refuses to follow in Bowie's footsteps.

“You always do. In the beginning. This contest between us has taken place countless times before. Each time your face is different, and your name, but each time it is you.”

It's important to remember as we encounter Ishamael's silly philosophy: he doesn't actually know this. He can infer from the cyclical nature of time that Lews and Rand or people like them are born again and again and that they face the Dark One but he can't actually be sure it's the Rand spirit every time. Jordan's even confirmed that there are times around when there's a woman in LTT and Rand's role instead, so Ishamael is definitively wrong. So can we be sure Ishamael is there every time, even when Rand is?

“Is that what they told you? Two thousand years ago I took my Trollocs across the world, and even among Aes Sedai I found those who knew despair, who knew the world could not stand before Shai’tan. For two thousand years the Black Ajah has dwelt among the others, unseen in the shadows. Perhaps even those who claim to help you.”

It's really unfortunate that the people who swear not to lie are so untrustworthy while the guy who pretends to be the Father of Lies is actually quite truthful. It doesn't leave Rand with much to work with from his supposed allies.

“I did, and he laughed. He kept talking about some eternal war, and saying we’d met like that a thousand times before, and. . . . Light, Rand, the Dark One knows me.” “He said the same thing to me. I don’t think he does,” he added slowly. “I don’t think he knows which of us. . . .” Which of us what?

Rand's denial about the Dragon Reborn is one thing, but it's a shame that they don't clue into the how strange it is that the Dark One can't easily tell them apart. Jordan absolutely places hints for even a first time reader to be suspicious about (though of course a first time reader can't be expected to get the right answer), but they fly right over the farm boys' heads.

The Aes Sedai stepped forward and grasped his upheld hand, her thumb across his palm covering the wound. Cold pierced him to the bone, so chill that his fingers cramped and he had to fight to keep them open. When she took her fingers away, the chill went, too.

Here again we see the double-edged sword of Moiraine's approach: she is unquestionably helpful and trying to keep the boys in as good a condition as the situation allows. But she doesn't tell Rand she's going to heal him nor to expect the chill of healing, so it doesn't seem good-spirited. The boys are so exhausted and paranoid at this point that their refusal to trust her is quite predictable.

But there's no more time for that. Next chapter, we'll be diving into the Backro- the Ways! But since tomorrow's my birthday (well, my tomorrow, your today), I'll be taking the time to myself and I won't be getting to this until the day after.

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #moiraine damodred #loial #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #mat cauthon #perrin aybara #lan mandragoran #basel gill

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 39 - Weaving of the Web

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one!)

(White Lion of Andor icon) In which hey, that guy looks familiar...

Rand looked down on the crowds from the high window of his room in The Queen’s Blessing. They ran shouting along the street, all streaming in the same direction, waving pennants and banners, the white lion standing guard on a thousand fields of red. Caemlyners and outlanders, they ran together, and for a change no one appeared to want to bash anyone else’s head. Today, maybe, there was only one faction. He turned from the window grinning. Next to the day when Egwene and Perrin walked in, alive and laughing over what they had seen, this was the day he had been waiting for most.(1)

Rand tries to convince Mat to come with him, but Mat hasn't left the room since they arrived, and he keeps calling Loial a Trolloc, refusing to believe that Ogier look so much like them. Rand considers seeking out a healer nearby that Gill told him about, but healers are all laying low these days, with so many people confusing magic for Dark power.

As he's leaving, Gill says that a beggar has been asking after Rand and all his friends. Rand asks if it could be a Darkfriend, and Gill dismisses the thought. Not everyone is a Darkfriend. There's a rumour that there are strange shapes creeping in the shadows at night, too, how ridiculous. Anyway, Rand had better leave by the alley, two of those traitors are watching the door.

As he leaves, the guard on the alley, Lamgwin, tells him to watch himself. When trouble hits, it would be handy to have Rand in the fighting here at the inn. He's not the only one of Gill's men who thinks Rand will be good in a fight, though Rand can't think why.(2) As he goes, he spots the two men Gill referred to. White-wrapped swords, with armbands AND cockades on their hats, all in white.

Rand learned not long after arriving that the red wrappings indicate loyalty to the Queen and her decisions. White indicates that someone blames the Queen and her association with Aes Sedai for everything that's gone wrong, the weather, the failed crops, maybe even the false Dragon. Rand has no interest in local politics, but he'd chosen, by accident but he chose, and it's too late now.(3)

For today, though, all of that might be set aside. Might. There are ten in white for every one in red. There's some antagonism, as in the excitement some people do things they'd never think of any other day.

Rand gets swept along with the crowd until they round a last bend and see the Palace. The main streets all spiral in toward it, making it hard to miss. Unfortunately, he won't get any closer than this, but he tries to find a place where he can use his height to advantage, as almost everyone is shorter than him. Eventually he finds a place with a good view of the road, three people in front of him who he can see over.

On the other side of the road, there's a disturbance in the crowd. Eventually it parts and a ragged figure gets spat out of it. Rand knows at once that it's the beggar who's been asking after him,(4) and that he wants nothing to do with him, especially here, with so many people on the edge of violence. He makes his way back through the crowd, away from the road, and when he's free of the crowd, he runs, as much to get away as to be out of sight before a group of white-clad folk take the chance to chase someone with red on his sword.

He has no idea where he is when he stops, but he can tell he's still in the inner city. He spends an hour trying to find another place to watch the road. Eventually, he finds a slope, free of buildings. Nearby, he sees some of the palace spires. It's not meant to be climbed, but he scrambles up the slope with some effort, as he heard trumpet blasts so close he knows Logain must be in sight just beyond, and he finds that it's not a hill, but a wall, built to look like a natural slope.

As he gets to the top, he can see down to the road, and the expectant crowd. He made it, before Logain passed by. Trumpets peal victory, as the procession starts. First the soldiers pass, and then comes a huge wagon, pulled by sixteen horses. In the center is a huge cage of iron, with two Aes Sedai at each corner, watching the cage as if the crowd doesn't exist. Outside of them stand twelve Warders, watching the crowd as if they're the only ones guarding the wagon.

With all of that, it was the man in the cage who caught and held Rand’s eyes.(5) He was not close enough to see Logain’s face, as he had wanted to, but suddenly he thought he was as close as he cared for. The false Dragon was a tall man, with long, dark hair curling around his broad shoulders. He held himself upright against the sway of the wagon with one hand on the bars over his head. His clothes seemed ordinary, a cloak and coat and breeches that would not have caused comment in any farming village. But the way he wore them. The way he held himself. Logain was a king in every inch of him. The cage might as well not have been there. He held himself erect, head high, and looked over the crowd as if they had come to do him honor. And wherever his gaze swept, there the people fell silent, staring back in awe. When Logain’s eyes left them, they screamed with redoubled fury as if to make up for their silence, but it made no difference in the way the man stood, or in the silence that passed along with him. As the wagon rolled through the Palace gates, he turned to look back at the assembled masses. They howled at him, beyond words, a wave of sheer animal hate and fear, and Logain threw back his head and laughed as the Palace swallowed him.

Other contingents pass after Logain, but they're all anticlimactic. Rand leans out over the wall a little further, trying to catch another glimpse of the false Dragon.

Overbalanced, he slipped and grabbed at the top of the wall, pulled himself back to a somewhat safer seat. With Logain gone, he became aware of the burning in his hands, where the stone had scraped his palms and fingers. Yet he could not shake free of the images. The cage and the Aes Sedai. Logain, undefeated. No matter the cage, that had not been a defeated man. He shivered and rubbed his stinging hands on his thighs. “Why were the Aes Sedai watching him?” he wondered aloud. “They’re keeping him from touching the True Source, silly.” He jerked to look up, toward the girl’s voice,(6) and suddenly his precarious seat was gone. He had only time to realize that he was toppling backward, falling, when something struck his head and a laughing Logain chased him into spinning darkness.

=====

(1) Awkwardly phrased, but this isn't more timeline shenanigans. Rand's thoughts are still perhaps a little jumbled, but Perrin and Egwene's arrival obviously hasn't happened yet, he's just looking forward to it even more than he's been looking forward to potentially seeing this false Dragon Logain. (2) Even if they haven't seen the herons on his sword, because it's been wrapped up since he got to the city, Rand is our ta'veren hero. Chances are, he's carrying himself with a warrior's confidence because it'll keep him safer. (3) So, ta'veren at work again, leading Rand to choose red instead of white wrappings for his sword, and by trading the heron-marks for red, he's just drawn a different kind of attention to himself. (4) The beggar… wonder who that could be. Rand didn't recognize him but he was across a crowded city street. But it must be someone who knows them all, and the only beggar we've seen was Fain, who disappeared from Baerlon… If Fain has fallen so far as to this, would Rand recognize him at all? Or is this someone else, some Darkfriend like those who met him and Mat on the road? (5) And of course, Logain himself. I couldn't try to summarize that paragraph, the only things I would've cut are his clothes, but even that goes to emphasize how Rand sees that he's made to be a King, somehow. (6) And then of course, ta'veren at work again, bringing him up to that slope-wall. He saw palace spires nearby. I wonder where on earth he could be, and who that is startling him into that fall.

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw #teotw #wot white lion icon #rand al'thor #mat cauthon #basel gill #lamgwin (wot) #logain ablar

[wot-tidbits]

WoT characters by juliacarl_art

#wheel of time #talmanes #basel gill #setalle anan #rodel ituralde #fanart #artwork

[spectrum-color]

DID MY SUBTITLES JUST SAY BASEL GILL?!?!

#wheel of time #wot #wot on prime #basel gill #I wonder if that’s just an Easter egg #or if it means something

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch 1x6: the flame of tar valon

spoilers for season one of WoT and for the trailer for s2 and book spoilers through The Shadow Rising.

Baby Siuan! And Tear! I loved this flashback a lot (I mean, common theme for me with the cold opens in general, lol. But this is sweet and sad and tells us so much about the way that Siuan approaches the world.

"When can I come home?" "When it's safe in Tear for girls like you." Makes me tear up. Also, actually judging by how young baby!Siuan is, we might get Bode Cauthon being able to channel by the time we get to s3, since we're doing some time skips.

Also, an on-screen example of the world not being kind to little girls, as Liandrin mentioned in the last episode.

This is definitely the big "Aes Sedai politics" episode and I really enjoy it. It has great re-watchability, especially because of how much more viewers know about Moiraine and Siuan's relationship on rewatch, which reframes this scene entirely.

"Gentled as he is... he poses no threat." Very traumatic words for Logain to hear, considering. He's helpless now. No threat to anyone (so he tries to use his words to goad Siuan into ordering him killed).

I love the variety of the Aes Sedai outfits in the Hall!

The implication here that the madness continues to advance even after a man is gentled is really interesting and has some intriguing implications (as are Siuan's words about him being studied -- it seems like the White Tower is less... avoidant about unpleasant things than in the books).

Maigan, the head of the Blue Ajah is Very Concerned about Alanna backing up Liandrin. (also I'm very sad for her that she's going west to investigate the reports of ships -- still guessing she's going to end up being 'Pura').

Liandrin successfully derails everything to focus punishment on Moiraine and get people to stop thinking about Liandrin's choice to enact 'battlefield justice'. If Liandrin is already Black Ajah, then she knows that Nynaeve is a suspected Dragon via Ishamael's dream messages and so she must now suspect that Moiraine has been spending her last twenty years hunting the Dragon. Probably also why she spills about Nynaeve being able to channel, as she wants to lock her up tight as a novice for now.

"Sis" still cracks me up.

It does appear (to me) that Liandrin is fooled by Moiraine and Siuan's rift and believes that she's taking advantage of a real issue between the two of them.

I love the choice for Alanna to always be eating. She's peckish!

Ah! This was my splitting point for Voice -- instead of Moiraine finding Rand & Mat here and healing Mat (for now), I had Liandrin discover them; and, in his desperation to escape her, Rand was able to create a Gateway to Tear for the two of them & Nynaeve.

Which makes a lot of sense because this was the scene that made me ship Cauthor! Rand's protectiveness, even in the face of an Aes Sedai and her Warder, when he knows that he doesn't really have a chance against them, just hit all my buttons. And then he managed to continue to be protective even after he and Mat separated and it basically made me feral. And then I did my reread and found a surprising (to me) amount of material in the books for the pairing!

I do think Basel Gill being here means that Morgase's subplot from the books is going to get cut or at least heavily pared down.

"The world doesn't need a Dragon like me." Moiraine and Mat being heavily in agreement on that point, lol. Mat becomes Moiraine's Least Favorite Child in two seconds flat.

Anyway, my current assumption re: the dagger is that it went from here to the White Tower, then Liandrin got it from storage and gave it to Fain, and Fain took it with him to Fal Dara. This makes me suspect (due to what we saw in the trailer) that Fain then went back to Tar Valon after Fal Dara, through the Ways, with both the Horn and the dagger. So, question... does that mean that Perrin and co are going to visit Tar Valon this season or will they maybe run across a prophecy or something that points them in the direction of Falme and they go there through the Ways? (alternatively, the dagger isn't actually in Tar Valon and Mat is having an Ishy-influenced dream about it in the s2 preview)

Local Woman Can't Take Appreciation. lol, let Rand thank you, Moiraine. You just won yourself a ton of credit with him but if you don't accept it, then you might not get to keep it. Don't talk him out of appreciating what you just did in there!

19. Rand also realizing that what Thom had pointed out as 'obvious signs' that Mat could channel are not, in fact, signs that Mat could channel. Uh-oh, that's real unhealthy for his denial about himself.

20. Rand just awkwardly standing there after Moiraine's burn against Nynaeve ("If Wisdom is the title you claim, I suggest you start showing some).

21. People who know Something Is Up with Perrin and the wolves: Perrin, Egwene, Moiraine, and Valda and the Whitecloaks in the camp I guess lol. Egwene, who trusts Moiraine more than the others do, also shares more with her than anyone else does.

22. I really loved the way they did the reveal of the Siuan and Moiraine relationship. First we have the outside shell, what they've convinced the rest of the Tower to believe about their relationship. Then this sweet scene of Lan telling Moiraine "give her my love" and then the reveal that she's going to Siuan. And their scene together is teasing and romantic and serious and sexy all at the same time. It's good. <3

23. I love the post-sex conversation between Siuan and Moiraine as well -- Siuan being firm in her belief in the prophecies, but Moiraine has been out in the world and heard so many different beliefs, and it's made her doubt. "little pufferfish" is such a cute endearment because it's so specific to them and their relationship.

24. I do think it was... smart of Moiraine to save saying "I'd kill the Dragon to stop him from joining the Dark One" to Siuan rather than directly to the kids. Like... sure, she's being honest but what a way to get them not to trust you! "Well, can't be honest with Moiraine about my fears and worries because she'll stab me!"

25. Ishy has been in Siuan's dreams but she thinks they're real dreams. She must have had true prophetic dreams in the past to trust these ones.

26. That Liandrin knows Mat and Rand's names also implies to me that she's already Black Ajah and learned them from Ishamael. Both Moiraine and Liandrin think that they know each other's deepest secrets, unaware that there's another secret underneath.

27. Given how much care was put into the reunions in this episode, makes me hopeful that we'll get some good reunions in the back half of s2 as well.

28. lol, Moiraine being smug about her relationship with Siuan, lol good for her.

29. Love this whole scene with Nynaeve & Egwene meeting Siuan. It's just perfect in all the little details. Egwene bowing and Nynaeve not. Poor Egwene's reaction to learning that Nynave is much more powerful than she is. Nynaeve just being needlessly hostile, lol. Siuan's speech to them is very good. But this is another example of Egwene (and now Nynaeve) getting an explanation that the boys don't really get. Which does match the books -- Egwene and Nynaeve both get training (not as much as most Aes Sedai, but some amount of training) while Rand and Mat mostly get thrown into the deep end and told to swim. Perrin is... kinda in the middle? He does get a consistent teacher in the form of Hopper but he also tries to avoid actually learning anything as much as possible.

30. Lan goes off to wrangle the kids to the Waygate while Moiraine says goodbye to the White Tower, the other Aes Sedai, and, most importantly, to Siuan. I think the Oath Rod scene both showed us a lot of lore things but also was a great emotional scene.

31. I know other people have pointed this out, but it really is weird to have a White Ajah when the novices and Accepted also have a white theme. I feel like Jordan made an odd choice there. Am I thinking about other things to avoid thinking about how sad this scene is? Maybe.

32. So I'm guessing that Loial is the one who told Perrin and Egwene about Mat and the evil dagger? Anyway, hugs for everyone!

33. "When we left the Two Rivers, I told you nothing because I couldn't trust you. But now I know you and I..." also still cracks me up. She can't say it! She literally can't force herself to say that she trusts them now because it would be a lie! So she has to continue on to the disaster that would happen if the Dark One breaks free.

33. And then our first big covid-damage shows up when Mat stays behind at the Waygate. I do think that they did a good job of working it into the story but I wonder what Perrin's storyline would have been in episode 8 if we'd gotten to keep Mat, because it seems pretty clear that Perrin got a lot of Mat's story there.

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