If you haven't read the book, or the whole series,
why not join in and read along with the rest of us? This week the links to the
other posts can be found at the bottom
of this post.
This week we read through to the end of the Chapter
20.
1. Egwene
gets Nynaeve and Elayne to agree to obey her as Amyrlin. Then she slays a
member of the Black Ajah and catches a glimpse of Alviarin. What do you think
Alviarin is up to these days. How big a part will she continue to play? How
will this turn of events change the relationship between our girls?
I have to assume that Alviarin is desperately
trying to gain approval from Mesaana by killing Egwene. At the very least her
spying will gain useful information, but only so long as she is unnoticed. I
presume that her exposure this time will make it very unlikely that she will be
able to do very much productive from now on. I suspect that her days of being
an influential player are behind her, but one good shot in Tel’aran’rhiod could be all that she needs to regain her status.
Hopefully this incident will finally convince both
Elayne and Nynaeve that Egwene is the Amyrlin in more than name. They have not
witnessed her remarkable transformation over the last few months, so it is
probably quite good that they have had the chance to see her in action. They
are the ones most likely to find it difficult to accept her status, so their
compliance is vital.
2. Nynaeve
heals madness. Will she be able to heal Rand? Does she even need to?
I am beginning to wonder if there is anything that Nynaeve
cannot Heal if she decides to, although it seems that Rand’s madness would
defeat her if she tried. It is rather fortunate that the Light has somehow
formed a barrier between it and his mind so that she can leave him alone
without worrying.
Removing the madness from the Asha’man could be a
very significant step in the preparations for the Last Battle. However, I
wonder if Taim and his supporters will be cooperative . . . they have been far
too quiet recently.
3. Sounds
like Egwene wants to use herself as bait to capture Mesaana. Do you think this
is wise? Will it work? Will she and Gawyn ever be married?
Yes and yes! :D
Mesaana is a formidable opponent and so Egwene has
to outwit and outpower the Forsaken. Somehow or other she has managed to
circumvent the Oath Rod test, although that could be something as simple as her
not thinking of herself as a Darkfriend. We know that the Aes Sedai all seem to
be able to bend the truth without breaking their oaths by being very selective
about their wording, so there may have been no convoluted trick to Mesaana’s
ability to pass the test.
Of course Egwene is going to trap Mesaana and burn
her into a crispy crisp: at the moment she seems all powerful and becoming even
more awesome every time we meet her! She will also marry Gawyn eventually, but
I suspect that it will be a much longer road and more difficult that killing
one of the Forsaken.
4. Ituralde
seems to be in big trouble in the Borderlands. Do you think Rand will come
through for him and keep his promise?
I sincerely hope so, as I like the Little Wolf. I
am not sure that Rand will get there in time, but I am very disappointed that
the Saldaeans in Maradon are sitting on their hands at the moment. You would
think that they might be enclined to assist someone who is fighting off the massive
waves of Shadowspawn heading towards their city, but obviously I am not
Saldaean enough! Hopefully they will finally decide to help out and defend
themselves by helping Ituralde’s forces before they are completely minced.
5. Berelain
and Faile have a heart to heart. Do you think their plan will work to dispel
the rumors? Can they pull it off when they hate one another so much?
As they discussed all the alternatives that I could
think of and showed how none of them would work, I hope that this one will help
the situation. Whilst I can understand Faile’s desire to tear off Berelain’s
head and then use it as a football, it would certainly not stop the rumors from
circulating. I also agree with her that the First allowed this stupidity to go
on for far too long in the face of complete disinterest from her ‘prize’. I am
afraid that I cannot have any sympathy for someone who decides to steal another
woman’s husband just because it seems like a good idea at the time. It is very
obvious that Berelain has no real romantic interest in Perrin, and her
motivation for trying to tear him away from Faile is beyond me.
I know that I could never succeed in hiding my
intense dislike of Berelain if I were Faile, so I hope that she is a much
better actor than I am. Perhaps she will be able to give herself hope by
searching for a nice gullible man to divert Berelain’s attention from Perrin.
However, I am not sure where she will find a suitable candidate as nobody has
proved an obvious choice in Perrin’s merry band. Perhaps she will swoon when
she meets Galad . . . although the prospect of the world’s two most beautiful
people falling for each other makes me want to vomit! :D
6. What do
you think of Mat and Elayne's contract about Aludra's dragons. Will this work?
Cause contention?
This seems like a very sensible compromise. It
gives them both what the want and need so it is likely to work out quite well.
I suspect that Mat will eventually become Elayne’s general once she leads the
forces of both Andor and Cairhien into the Last Battle, but he will not be
happy about the responsibility.
I have to say that I am really enjoying Mr
Sanderson’s Mat chapters: he gives the lad a much funnier voice than the one
supplied by Mr Jordan. I particularly like Mat’s constant mental womanizing: I
wonder if that will continue once Tuon returns to his immediate are.
7. Share
your thoughts--anything that stood out to you--on Nynaeve's testing and her
finally obtaining Lan's bond.
Good grief: they really do not want much from
Nynaeve do they? We already had some idea of what would happen in the testing
because of New Spring, but their determination to push her harder than any other
candidate proves how stupid this is as a method for testing competence. If
those administering the test can alter it so dramatically then it is massively
unfair and open to corruption. I was not overly surprised that Lelaine tried to
prove her power by voting against Nynaeve because she did not stick strictly to
the rules. Good grief: she destroyed their shield blocking her ability to
channel when not in position on the symbols and then gave them a demonstration
of superior weave handling. I can only assume that their negative votes are
based mostly upon anger and jealousy.
I was actually expecting that Nynaeve would punch
Myrelle in the face: it is ironic that she controlled her anger so well in this
situation after the testing debacle. She truly is Aes Sedai and I am glad that
she finally has her link to Lan. They deserve it and have waited long enough
for it to become a reality.
Yeah, Taim and his followers are being very quiet. You're on the right track there. (Be afraid, be very afraid!) I like Sanderson's Mat as well. Some people like what he did, some don't. But because I'm constantly laughing (that letter to Elayne!) I can't help but like it. :D And I kind of wish Nynaeve had punched Myrelle, Aes Sedai or no. It would have been nice. :D My WoT Post
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