Amyrlin Shamyrlin

Book; 11: Knife of Dreams

Chapter; 36: Under an Oak

Character Groups;

Somewhere, who knows where: Rand, Min, Nynaeve, Lan, Cadsuane, Verin, Alivia, Logain.

Altaran/Andoran border: Mat, Thom, Julin, Thera, Noal, Olver, Tuon, Selucia, Egeanin, Setaille, Aludra, 3 Aes Sedai, 3 sul'dam.

Malden: Perrin, Faile, Elyas, Morgase, Berelain, Alliandre, 'The Prophet', Two Rivers Army.   

Caemlyn: Elayne, Birgitte, Aviendha.

 

Outside Tar Valon: Siuan,  Rebel Aes Sedai, Rebel Aes Sedai Army.

 

Inside Tar Valon: Egwene, Leane.

 

Just in case anyone cares, !!SPOILER WARNING!! This post is going to discuss some major plot points and I don't want to be responsible for spoiling anyone's fun.

 

 

 

Are they gone? Good. 

 

So I would like to talk about a character that I think has had one of the most impressive arcs in the series, Egwene Al'Vere. Egwene has always been far from my favourite character but I cannot deny that she has turned from a silly, whiny little girl to a powerful and commanding woman and I'll be damned if I can see the join.

 

Egwene Al'Vere was one of the original four hobbitses that left the Two Rivers all the way back in book 1. Back then her purpose was basically to be a sounding board for Moiraine so that the we on this side of the fourth wall could learn about the Power, channeling, men going mad, all that stuff. She was also all but engaged to Rand at the time and so provided the love interest that these stories always seem to need. 

 

She wasn't too important until she went to Tar Valon and almost immediately fell afoul of an evil scheme that left her a captive of the Seanchan. She was rescued by Min, Nynaeve and Elayne but developed a phobia of captivity that made her do some very silly things on the slightest provocation. Things like causing an earthquake under a bunch of soldiers feet or threatening anyone who looked at her funny with a lightning bolt. This got very annoying. 

Pretty soon though Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne were embroiled in another, less evil, scheme that had them haring off to Tear where they were captured, again. After being rescued, by Mat this time, Egwene decided against returning to Tar Valon instead heading off to the Aiel Waste with Rand, Mat, Moiraine and Lan to learn about Dreams (with a capital D) from the Wise Ones. 

 

This is where the changes start to happen. The Wise Ones of the Aiel, as well as being masters of the dream world, are incredibly formidable women. They rule the Aiel in all but name with the shear force of their will as the fact that many of them are channelers is not generally broadcast. Egwene learned fast. While she was still impatient and slightly self-absorbed, she starts manipulating people with nothing more than the tone of her voice and a look. This has a particularly noticeable effect on Nynaeve who until than has simply stomped on anyone who opposed her. Egwene quickly becomes one of the increasing number of people who can call Nynaeve down and regularly does.

 

While Egwene is in the Waste, events take a turn for the worse in Tar Valon. Rebellion has broken out in the White Tower and a new Amyrlin has been elected. The rebels have fled and with a little persuasion from the former Amyrlin, Siuan, form a Tower in Exile. Who do they choose as their rebel Amyrlin? Why Egwene Al'Vere of course. 

Remember that none of the Aes Sedai had seen Egwene since her silly I'll-put-a-lightning-bolt-through-you phase and so they assume that she will be a weak and easily controlled figurehead that they can all hide behind if the rebellion fails. It takes a while but they eventually realise that they have in fact raised a highly skilled player of the Great Game (read, politics) and now they have to live with it.

Egwene has come a long way and my opinion of her is never higher that during the chapter 'Honey in the Tea' in Knife of Dreams. Egwene has been captured (bad habit) by the Aes Sedai in the White Tower. Instead of executing her they decide that she can't have been responsible for her actions and have sent her back to be a novice. She has no friends, she is guarded day and night and forced to drink a herbal concoction that stops her from channeling with any strength. All she has is her mind and her voice and she uses them to slowly pull the Tower down from the inside. I love this. I am one of those people that always thinks of something clever to say about five minutes after it would have been relevant and so nothing makes me happier than a good put-down. It's pure wish fulfilment, and what else is fantasy about?

Prophe-see, Propher-do

Book; 3: The Dragon Reborn

Chapter; 39: Threads in the Pattern

Character Groups;

Murandy    R. Manetherendrelle   R. Erinin    R. Erinin too  

Rand          Perrin                          Egwene      Mat  

                   Loial                           Elayne        Thom

                   Moiraine                     Nynaeve  

                   Lan

                   Faile

So, last time I made mention of the complexities of Seanchan society (pronounced SHAWN-chan, frustratingly) but I‘m not going to elaborate on that one until they rear their shaved heads again in a few book’s time.

Today, I want to talk about prophecy. And first I think I need to bend my first rule and fill in a little background.

Three and a half thousand years ago, the world was a peaceful and prosperous place. Channelers used their power (men using saidin and women using saidar) to perform great works and create an incredible quality of life for every level of society. Technologies were cheap and non-polluting, medicines were quick and effective and life expectancy, particularly for the channelers, was measured in centuries. Then, a researcher thought she had found the impossible, a brand new source of power, seemingly from outside the universe, which could be used by men and women equally without the divide between saidin and saidar. Of course it went horribly wrong and the Dark One was let loose on the world causing the collapse of society.

In the ensuing world war, one man rose to lead the forces of Light against the twisted mutant constructs of the Shadow. This man was Lews Therin Telamon, AKA the Dragon. The war culminated in the Dragon leading 100 of his most loyal men, all channelers, to seal the Dark One back outside the universe and save the world. They succeeded, sort of. On the plus side, along with the Dark One, they also trapped thirteen of his strongest followers in the seal. On the negative side, all 100 of the Dragon’s men went completely and violently mad, soon followed by every man who could channel in the whole world. Since then, any man who can touch saidin eventually succumbs to insanity and will destroy anything and everyone around him before he dies. Understandably, such men are feared and hated and an entire branch of the Aes Sedai spends their time seeking them out and ‘gentling’ them before they can do too much harm.

 To rub salt in the wound, in the years after the madness it was prophesied that the Dragon would be born again to both save and destroy the world again. The Dragon Reborn is Rand al’Thor and he is not overjoyed at the prospect.

There are lots of Dragon prophecies, and he has different names in different lands so no one has the full set. One of the best known ones in Randland is that the Stone of Tear (a fortress widely believed to be impenetrable) will never fall until the sword, Callandor, is in the Dragon’s hand. Just to complicate things, Callandor is kept inside the stone. (Yes, yes, I know, the chosen one is revealed by pulling the sword from the stone, it’s even a magic sword.) Anyway, in order to prove to himself that he really is the Dragon, Rand has gone AWOL and is heading for Tear with Perrin, Loial, Lan and a fuming Moiraine hot on his heels.

Hmm... I think I will turn this into a twofer. More prophecies next time folks!

ID please...

Book: 2; The Great Hunt


Chapter: 50; After. THE END!


Character Groups:
Mountains of Mist            Almoth Plain
Rand                                 Mat
Perrin                                Egwene
Loial                                 Nynaeve
Moiraine                           Elayne
Lan                                   Verin
Min                                   Hurin


Well, Mr. Jordan certainly crammed a lot into the last third of that book, like, a whole four months. But, as I have to keep reminding myself, I am not trying to summarise the plot here. 


While the ever expanding ensemble cast are taking a well deserved winter break, I would like to take a moment to go off on a bit of a tangent. You see, The Great Hunt took the scooby gang out into the wider world and one of the themes of the book was the apparent decline of humanity. As can be seen on the map of Randland (as the main continent has become lovingly known) huge swathes of land are unclaimed by any nation and most of the action in book 2 takes place in the spaces once occupied by the extinct nations of Hardon and Almoth. 

I should point out that this map was coloured in by my own fair hand after the analogue fashion because I don't own any picture type programmes more complex (or indeed other than) MS Paint. Anyway, it was quite fun, I should to more colouring in.


Sorry, back to the point. 


What I was struck by is that while the people of this continent (and, it is revealed, others) share a common language and religion (in the loosest sense of the word) each country has its own distinct appearance, mode of dress and cultural norms. Here are some that we have come across.


Cairhien (KEYE-ree-EHN): The nation of Moiraine's birth. Technically she is a noblewoman from the former royal house of Damodred but prefers to be known just as an Aes Sedai (House Damodred lost the throne in embarrassing and bloody circumstances). Cairhienin are described as short, fair skinned and dark haired. their soldiers shave and powder the front halves of their heads and the nobles wear dark clothes with slashes of bright colours across the front of their dresses or coats. the women wear huge skirts and tall powdered wigs. they speak in clipped tones with an almost musical accent. So Cairhienin look Chinese, dress like pre-revolutionary French nobility and sound Welsh.

Andor: Most of the Hobbits, sorry, Emond's Fielders were born in Andor as were Min and Elayne. I have always thought of Andor as Elizabethan England, especially since Queen Morgase is described as a beautiful and fierce woman with a mass of curling red-gold hair and a habit of sending people who upset her to the headsman.

Shienar: Shienar is the newest of the Borderlands, the chain of northern countries sworn to protect the world from the Dark One's Blight encroaching from the north. They are a warrior people who favour fighting from horseback and topknots. Shienar has only been a true borderland for about 50 years, since the still more northern kingdom of Malkier (which Lan happens to be technically king of) was swallowed by the Blight. 

Aside from that, we know that Taraboner women wear their hair in hundreds of braids with beads on the ends that clack whenever they move their heads, Domani women wear scandalous dresses and Aiel are tall, red-haired and deadly.

Of course all of this pales in comparison with the complexity of the Seanchan...