An Enemy Spy Reads The Wheel of Time III: Something's Fishy in the White Tower

[Traab]

Chapter 25: Questions

Team Magikarp are hanging out in their room reading and rereading the list of names that Verin gave them. Egwene reflects on some bad prophetic dreams she's had. In one, the Seanchan bring their damanes to the White Tower and blasted it with lightning, and in another the Whitecloaks are putting her father in chains. There were dreams about Rand as well, him searching for a crystal sword as he unwittingly is trapped by a net, him kneeling in a chamber while wind blows and tiny dragons land on his skin, one where he walks into a tunnel under a fiery mountain, and one where he's fighting the Seanchan.

For Perrin she sees a falcon on one of his shoulders and a hawk on the other. Both birds are female and the hawk is holding a leash in its talons and is trying to fit it around his neck. Then she sees him with a beard leading a pack of wolves so large that it stretches farther than the eye can see. For Mat she sees him weighing one of his eyes on a scale and hanging himself from a tree.

For those of you unfamiliar with Norse mythology, this is imagery lifted straight out the Poetic Edda, in which Odin travels to Yggdrasil the World Tree in search of wisdom and must pay the price of an eye to drink from the mystic well beneath the tree's roots and then hang himself for nine days.

I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes, screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there.

I really hope Mat gets a spear at some point in this series, because that would really complete the picture of Odin.

She also sees a very vaguely described dream of Mat and the Seanchan, and from the way it disturbs her and makes her think of how he railed against the Aes Sedai on the Healing table and how he clearly saw himself being evil in the scene where everybody saw all their horrible alternate futures, I am positive that Egwene saw him on the side of the Seanchan. I told you that Mat was no good! Oh, she also dreamed of him speaking the Old Tongue, seemingly forgetting that she and him both did that all the way back in Book 1.

They talk about the names on the list and the items stolen and the narration gives special significance to a hedgehog statuette than can make you fall asleep and since Egwene has dream powers expect that one to be important by the end of this book. Egwene also points out a set of dice that alters probability and apparently will always land the way you want them to. Expect Mat to get his hands on those in the future. Or here's a thought, maybe he already has them and doesn't know it. He had the dice in his pocket when he called on luck to help him win the sparring match, and Selene was in his room earlier. Who's to say she didn't swap out his dice for the magical ones? Ooh, I love it when I stumble on a theory in the middle of doing a recap!

On top of everyone else, they suspect Verin now, which is finally a suspect that makes sense. Way more than Alanna. I guess when you put everyone you know on the list of suspects, eventually you'll land one that merits suspicion, just like how if Magikarp uses Splash enough times it will eventually start doing damage with Struggle. One person not even they thought to suspect is Else Grinwell, who she notices standing there. In the open doorway. As they discuss their super secret plans. The doorway IS OPEN. Else has been standing in the OPEN DOORWAY listening to their plans and not one of the THREE girls in the room noticed her until right now.



Else has a message from the Amyrlin telling them what storeroom the items left behind by Liandrin are in. So now that idiot Else is in on the plan, Nynaeve complains. She'll blab our secrets to everyone, she says, presumably shouting loudly enough for everyone on the floor to hear through the open doorway. They run after Else but the girl is gone without a trace. Where did she go, they ask to a beautiful woman with white skin dressed in silk who is absolutely not Selene who had absolutely not just pretended to be Else a moment ago. Selene hasn't seen Else anywhere, she says, probably struggling not to laugh. She tells them to turn around and go back with some magical suggestion and when Egwene has the wherewithal to look back, the woman has vanished.

Our heroes, Ladies and Gents.

Wow. Hey, you remember that line you stated about how you basically toss everyones name on a list of suspects one of them is going to be a good guess? That applies to theories too. But yeah, its honestly appalling how BAD these three gals are at this conspiracy thing. I mean geez, they might as well be yelling back and forth to each other from their own rooms. Its why my working theory at the time was siuan is literally using them as bait. They are just SO BAD YOU GUYS! They cant help but draw all of the attention and its a super thin theory as to why siuan would be actually relying on them to help solve the mystery. Its more like sherlock holmes, hiring the scooby gang, to solve a conspiracy. While they are "ZOINKS!"ing their way through chase sequences and making everyone just stare at the absurdity, he is busy solving the actual case.

[Douglas]

For those of you unfamiliar with Norse mythology, this is imagery lifted straight out the Poetic Edda, in which Odin travels to Yggdrasil the World Tree in search of wisdom and must pay the price of an eye to drink from the mystic well beneath the tree's roots and then hang himself for nine days.

I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes, screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there.

I really hope Mat gets a spear at some point in this series, because that would really complete the picture of Odin.

Perhaps this is a good time to remind you that the present day real world is the First Age in Wheel of Time land, the Ages are a cycle, and the stories in Norse mythology are very very old. Details have, of course, been changed as the tales were retold over and over again from generation to generation, so not everything is "historically accurate," but there is an in-setting reason why Mat resembles Odin so much.

Else has a message from the Amyrlin telling them what storeroom the items left behind by Liandrin are in. So now that idiot Else is in on the plan, Nynaeve complains. She'll blab our secrets to everyone, she says, presumably shouting loudly enough for everyone on the floor to hear through the open doorway. They run after Else but the girl is gone without a trace. Where did she go, they ask to a beautiful woman with white skin dressed in silk who is absolutely not Selene who had absolutely not just pretended to be Else a moment ago. Selene hasn't seen Else anywhere, she says, probably struggling not to laugh. She tells them to turn around and go back with some magical suggestion and when Egwene has the wherewithal to look back, the woman has vanished.

Our heroes, Ladies and Gents.

This is not suspicious at all. Everything is definitely exactly what it appears to be.

Any guesses on when Team Magikarp will evolve into Team Gyarados?

[An Enemy Spy]

Will Mat be played by Anthony Hopkins in the movie?

[Anteros]

For all the obvious comparisons to Odin, I'd view Mat as more of a Loki.

[GrayDeath]

Chapter 25: Questions

Team Magikarp are hanging out in their room reading and rereading the list of names that Verin gave them. Egwene reflects on some bad prophetic dreams she's had. In one, the Seanchan bring their damanes to the White Tower and blasted it with lightning, and in another the Whitecloaks are putting her father in chains. There were dreams about Rand as well, him searching for a crystal sword as he unwittingly is trapped by a net, him kneeling in a chamber while wind blows and tiny dragons land on his skin, one where he walks into a tunnel under a fiery mountain, and one where he's fighting the Seanchan.

For Perrin she sees a falcon on one of his shoulders and a hawk on the other. Both birds are female and the hawk is holding a leash in its talons and is trying to fit it around his neck. Then she sees him with a beard leading a pack of wolves so large that it stretches farther than the eye can see. For Mat she sees him weighing one of his eyes on a scale and hanging himself from a tree.

For those of you unfamiliar with Norse mythology, this is imagery lifted straight out the Poetic Edda, in which Odin travels to Yggdrasil the World Tree in search of wisdom and must pay the price of an eye to drink from the mystic well beneath the tree's roots and then hang himself for nine days.

I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes, screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there.

I really hope Mat gets a spear at some point in this series, because that would really complete the picture of Odin.

She also sees a very vaguely described dream of Mat and the Seanchan, and from the way it disturbs her and makes her think of how he railed against the Aes Sedai on the Healing table and how he clearly saw himself being evil in the scene where everybody saw all their horrible alternate futures, I am positive that Egwene saw him on the side of the Seanchan. I told you that Mat was no good! Oh, she also dreamed of him speaking the Old Tongue, seemingly forgetting that she and him both did that all the way back in Book 1.

They talk about the names on the list and the items stolen and the narration gives special significance to a hedgehog statuette than can make you fall asleep and since Egwene has dream powers expect that one to be important by the end of this book. Egwene also points out a set of dice that alters probability and apparently will always land the way you want them to. Expect Mat to get his hands on those in the future. Or here's a thought, maybe he already has them and doesn't know it. He had the dice in his pocket when he called on luck to help him win the sparring match, and Selene was in his room earlier. Who's to say she didn't swap out his dice for the magical ones? Ooh, I love it when I stumble on a theory in the middle of doing a recap!

On top of everyone else, they suspect Verin now, which is finally a suspect that makes sense. Way more than Alanna. I guess when you put everyone you know on the list of suspects, eventually you'll land one that merits suspicion, just like how if Magikarp uses Splash enough times it will eventually start doing damage with Struggle. One person not even they thought to suspect is Else Grinwell, who she notices standing there. In the open doorway. As they discuss their super secret plans. The doorway IS OPEN. Else has been standing in the OPEN DOORWAY listening to their plans and not one of the THREE girls in the room noticed her until right now.



Else has a message from the Amyrlin telling them what storeroom the items left behind by Liandrin are in. So now that idiot Else is in on the plan, Nynaeve complains. She'll blab our secrets to everyone, she says, presumably shouting loudly enough for everyone on the floor to hear through the open doorway. They run after Else but the girl is gone without a trace. Where did she go, they ask to a beautiful woman with white skin dressed in silk who is absolutely not Selene who had absolutely not just pretended to be Else a moment ago. Selene hasn't seen Else anywhere, she says, probably struggling not to laugh. She tells them to turn around and go back with some magical suggestion and when Egwene has the wherewithal to look back, the woman has vanished.

Our heroes, Ladies and Gents.

Agreed. The three are so immensely frustrating (from being dumb to being ... well bitchy) that it hurts at times. I usually skip a lot of the Team Magikarp Chapters, except where obvious plot is going on.

As for your Assumptions: lets jsut say that some come to pass, and some do not, as the wheel turns. ;)

For all the obvious comparisons to Odin, I'd view Mat as more of a Loki.

Well,d epending on the source, early Odinw as rather roguish....^^

[lord_khaine]

Spoiler

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No, Lan has explicitly been training all three of the boys. He just spends the most time with Rand by far. Mat was only bedridden very recently.

He only taught Mat archery though. Mat very clearly had no interest in learning to use a sword or an axe.

Personally, I think Jordan originally intended Mat and Perrin to be reborn heroes but changed his mind about it as he went on. That's why we have the scene with Perrin in the Wolf Dream where he remembers his countless past lives and how he's always used the axe.

Well i think they are pretty clearly reborn heroes. Its just not all heroes who are bound to the horn. Hawkwing told him he was newer one for being tied down. In other words Hawkwing recognised him from earlier.

Well,d epending on the source, early Odinw as rather roguish....^^

Yeah.. Odin had his share of trickery. I do actually think he is a better fit in a broad view.

[Sivarias]

I'm SOOO glad AES finally got to my second favorite chapter in the entire series. While he didn't have his usual dramatic flair, that chapter is the beginning of Mat's awesome and it's the start of when he becomes MANY peoples favorite character.

That being said, while luck was involved in the fight, a LOT of that was Mat's own skill. IIRC correctly it's actullly mentioned in that specific chapter that Mat's dad takes first place at EVERY quarterstaff competition they have, much like Rand's father takes first in every archery competition.

Actually now that I think about it, doesn't Tam usually get 2nd or 3rd in quarterstaff and Abell usually take 2nd or 3rd in Archery?

Bottom line, Edmond's field is home to a LOT of Badass Normals, and the boys have the benefit of being raised by such.

[The New Bruceski]

Yeah. Emond's Fielders may not (mostly) know their way around a sword, but give them a bow, a staff, or a sneaking mission and they're basically elves.

Also, the theme of the Warder goading the brothers into the fight was "stop underestimating people because of their weapon/class" so Matt had some advantage there; a lesson stated is not the same as a lesson learned.

[Anteros]

Yeah. Emond's Fielders may not (mostly) know their way around a sword, but give them a bow, a staff, or a sneaking mission and they're basically elves.

Also, the theme of the Warder goading the brothers into the fight was "stop underestimating people because of their weapon/class" so Matt had some advantage there; a lesson stated is not the same as a lesson learned.

It does make you wonder why he would think that some random bumpkin with a stick who can barely stand is a match for his two best students at the same time. I guess he knew Mat was a main character as well.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I guess he knew Mat was a main character as well.

Spoiler: I don't think this is actually a spoiler any more, but

Show

Well, that is a legit power that several people in this setting are known to possess, so...

[Sapphire Guard]

Spoiler

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Given Else's powers, it might have been impossible to notice her before she wanted them too.

The advantage of an open door is that eavesdroppers can't hide behind it. Although really they shouldn't be talking about this in their rooms at all.

It does make you wonder why he would think that some random bumpkin with a stick who can barely stand is a match for his two best students at the same time

There's a legend in universe about how the best swordsman in the world was defeated by a farmer with a staff. He could probably see from Matt's build that he knew how to fight and wanted to teach the Andorans humility on purpose, banking on Matt being able to put up more of a fight than the Royals expected even if he lost.

[The New Bruceski]

It does make you wonder why he would think that some random bumpkin with a stick who can barely stand is a match for his two best students at the same time. I guess he knew Mat was a main character as well.

Nah, he knew Gawyn and Galad were putzes.

[Traab]

I'm SOOO glad AES finally got to my second favorite chapter in the entire series. While he didn't have his usual dramatic flair, that chapter is the beginning of Mat's awesome and it's the start of when he becomes MANY peoples favorite character.

That being said, while luck was involved in the fight, a LOT of that was Mat's own skill. IIRC correctly it's actullly mentioned in that specific chapter that Mat's dad takes first place at EVERY quarterstaff competition they have, much like Rand's father takes first in every archery competition.

Actually now that I think about it, doesn't Tam usually get 2nd or 3rd in quarterstaff and Abell usually take 2nd or 3rd in Archery?

Bottom line, Edmond's field is home to a LOT of Badass Normals, and the boys have the benefit of being raised by such.

Doesnt a lot of that come down to the manatheran thing? They are like the rangers in lotr. Descendants of the old blood when men were men (who lived like 3x as long as they do now) and had all sorts of stat boosts naturally. Basically, they didnt mix with the other races much in that part of the world, so they are still fairly buffed compared to the average andoran.

Spoiler

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Its also why it seems like 50% of the women are channelers, potential channelers or too old to be trained but totally could have been taught to be channelers.

Wasnt sure if that needed to be spoilered or not.

[Sivarias]

Spoiler

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Its also why it seems like 50% of the women are channelers, potential channelers or too old to be trained but totally could have been taught to be channelers.

Wasnt sure if that needed to be spoilered or not.

It did, but it's due to a fancy named literary effect that essentially boiled down to every character we are presented with in a novel is the exceptional (or just flat exception) because that's what makes them interesting. If we just looked at the "normal" characters as defined by the series, it would make for a very boring series. No one wants to read 200 pages of Farmer Joe taking care of his crops and then dying to a random asshat with a sword.

[Ashen Lilies]

Doesnt a lot of that come down to the manatheran thing? They are like the rangers in lotr. Descendants of the old blood when men were men (who lived like 3x as long as they do now) and had all sorts of stat boosts naturally. Basically, they didnt mix with the other races much in that part of the world, so they are still fairly buffed compared to the average andoran.

Spoiler

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Its also why it seems like 50% of the women are channelers, potential channelers or too old to be trained but totally could have been taught to be channelers.

Wasnt sure if that needed to be spoilered or not.

Well,

Spoiler

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It's only partially due to the fact that the 'old blood' is strong in Manetheren, but also partially due to the fact that the Two Rivers is really in the ass end of nowhere,
and hasn't had any Aes Sedai visit in generations. Much is made of the fact that the White Tower may have been unintentionally culling the Westlands of channeling talent by pickup up every girl with the capability of channeling, and cloistering them away, basically removing the ability for channeling bloodlines to continue. Also gentling (killing) all the men contributing the same thing.

[Anteros]

Well,

Spoiler

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It's only partially due to the fact that the 'old blood' is strong in Manetheren, but also partially due to the fact that the Two Rivers is really in the ass end of nowhere,
and hasn't had any Aes Sedai visit in generations. Much is made of the fact that the White Tower may have been unintentionally culling the Westlands of channeling talent by pickup up every girl with the capability of channeling, and cloistering them away, basically removing the ability for channeling bloodlines to continue. Also gentling (killing) all the men contributing the same thing.

Spoiler

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I know a few Aes Sedai in the books espouse that theory, but I don't think it's right. I don't think the ability to channel is genetic. Jordan said in an interview that it is linked to the soul. Since we know souls are recycled in the setting, it doesn't make sense that channelling is something that could be bred for or against.

Plus, an Aes Sedai is the one who had the theory in the first place, so you just know it's almost guaranteed to be wrong on at least some level.

[tonberrian]

Spoiler

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I know a few Aes Sedai in the books espouse that theory, but I don't think it's right. I don't think the ability to channel is genetic. Jordan said in an interview that it is linked to the soul. Since we know souls are recycled in the setting, it doesn't make sense that channelling is something that could be bred for or against.

Plus, an Aes Sedai is the one who had the theory in the first place, so you just know it's almost guaranteed to be wrong on at least some level.

Spoiler

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I dunno. All Rand's kids end up super channellers. I think there's some genetic aspect to it.

On the other hand, it turns out that the Aes Sedai are really bad at finding channellers. The Sea Folk hide the majority of theirs, the Kin have a bunch of runaways the Aes Sedai couldn't be bothered to track down, and they just don't visit backwaters like Two Rivers where a bunch of them can pop up among the wise women. Not to mention that they don't have access to the Aiel or the people on the other side of the waste or even among the Seanchan.
Really the Seanchan's method for testing everyone is the best at finding them.

[snowblizz]

Spoiler

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I know a few Aes Sedai in the books espouse that theory, but I don't think it's right. I don't think the ability to channel is genetic. Jordan said in an interview that it is linked to the soul. Since we know souls are recycled in the setting, it doesn't make sense that channelling is something that could be bred for or against.

Plus, an Aes Sedai is the one who had the theory in the first place, so you just know it's almost guaranteed to be wrong on at least some level.

Spoiler

Show

In Shara it seems they keep track of bloodline powers and suhc and breed specifically for it. AFAICT genetics seems to be impacting it or every channeler everywhere is ridiculously lucky randomly, because channelers tend to spawn channelers and be related to channeles. I know Jordan once at least said about the soul thing because there was the question how a female could channel saidin, ie was due to being a male soul. But maybe he said it in other circumstances as well. It's just that it being solely tied to the soul has implication the series don't support in-universe. Not in the least the question where all the souls for a growing population comes from.

[Ashen Lilies]

Spoiler

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I dunno. All Rand's kids end up super channellers. I think there's some genetic aspect to it.

On the other hand, it turns out that the Aes Sedai are really bad at finding channellers. The Sea Folk hide the majority of theirs, the Kin have a bunch of runaways the Aes Sedai couldn't be bothered to track down, and they just don't visit backwaters like Two Rivers where a bunch of them can pop up among the wise women. Not to mention that they don't have access to the Aiel or the people on the other side of the waste or even among the Seanchan.
Really the Seanchan's method for testing everyone is the best at finding them.

Spoiler

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tbf, I think the Seanchan must be pretty bad at it too. Or at least, their method only works for finding women with the 'spark', those who were going to inevitably end up channeling on their own anyway. If the Seanchan had at all a decent method for picking up all women who can channel, they wouldn't have any sul'dam, on account of all of the eligible candidates being in leashes.

[georgie_leech]

Spoiler

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tbf, I think the Seanchan must be pretty bad at it too. Or at least, their method only works for finding women with the 'spark', those who were going to inevitably end up channeling on their own anyway. If the Seanchan had at all a decent method for picking up all women who can channel, they wouldn't have any sul'dam, on account of all of the eligible candidates being in leashes.

Spoiler

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I mean, by all accounts their test found 100% of the woman who could learn to channel. They just didn't know That's what it was doing.

[Anteros]

Spoiler

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I suppose I stand corrected on there being a genetic aspect to channeling. I still don't believe that it's something that can be bred out of the race though.

[Sivarias]

I wonder if AES will make it to my favorite scene. Odds of this making it to Fires of Heaven?

Spoiler: That scene

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I mean, everyone knows what I'm hinting at right? I STILL get chills just REMEMBERING the scene. I really need to just crack FoH open again to get through that slow building up to such an EXPLOSIVE climax. *shudders*

[Wookieetank]

Finally got a hold of (and around to) starting Towers of Midnight.

Spoiler: Initial Thoughts

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Egewne is still terrible.
Rand, "I have a plan, yes its risky, but should work"
Egwene, I'm the Amyrlian and therefore always right, "lolnope, end of discussion".

Starting to like totally not a Ta'veren, Galad. Guy has a lot of common sense and admirable diplomatic skills. Anyone who can get most of the Children of Light's inquisitors wiped out from one conversation is pretty awesome in my book.

Perrin, I'm an Emo teen not a lord, is also still terrible. I'm not one for skimming, but I'm seriously considering taking it up for his chapters.

Only 86 pages in so not much else to comment on yet.

[Anteros]

Finally got a hold of (and around to) starting Towers of Midnight.

Spoiler: Initial Thoughts

Show

Egewne is still terrible.
Rand, "I have a plan, yes its risky, but should work"
Egwene, I'm the Amyrlian and therefore always right, "lolnope, end of discussion".

Starting to like totally not a Ta'veren, Galad. Guy has a lot of common sense and admirable diplomatic skills. Anyone who can get most of the Children of Light's inquisitors wiped out from one conversation is pretty awesome in my book.

Perrin, I'm an Emo teen not a lord, is also still terrible. I'm not one for skimming, but I'm seriously considering taking it up for his chapters.

Only 86 pages in so not much else to comment on yet.

Spoiler

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I wouldn't skip his chapters if you've suffered through them this long. This is the book where he finally becomes less awful.

[Wookieetank]

Spoiler

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I wouldn't skip his chapters if you've suffered through them this long. This is the book where he finally becomes less awful.

I couldn't even bring myself to skim my textbooks when in school. I've always had to read every damn word regardless of the material. XD

Edit:

Spoiler: Continued Thoughts

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Nynaeve's trolling of Lan is as epic as it is hilarious. I'm really hoping I get to see at least a handful more chapters of him "not" gathering an army, they're coming in a close second to Mat's. Also quite impressed with Nynaeve's, "If they're not dead I can fix it", stubbornness towards healing. Was not expecting to see a cure for Asha'man madness within the series.


Perrin, I'm not a lord, but boy am I sure acting like a one, Golden eyes is much better when not angsting. He could give Darth Emo lessons on how to properly angst, true story. Ordering someone to get married and not expecting one or the other of the two to push back was pretty funny, especially when one of the two was once a queen.

Galad lost all his good favor already. Lets put thousands of people's lives at risk to prove who has the bigger d... the most righteous cause. Dude knows the last battle is at hand, knows the good guys need every able body they can get, and still gets hung up on dogma enough to pull this stunt. Seriously hoping for some Asha'man sniping once the battle starts.

Elanye and Egwene are having a competition on who can be the most awful character.
Elayne:
Taking over another kingdom while having tenuous control of your own seems like a terrible idea. Lets add More nobles to the mix when the ones you already have are being contrary, I'm sure that'll just work out fine... Could just be my experience playing Crusader Kings, but more nobles is never the answer.
Egwene:
There's a forsaken on the lose in the white tower, lets use myself as bait and not tell any of my most trusted allies what the plan is so I can forego having backup in cause things go south. Lets see, number of people who've got toe-to-toe solo with a forsaken and survived, survey says: Rand. Sadly this will most likely not turn out as spectacularly deadly as I'm hoping.

Mat is still wonderfully Mat, and I had rather forgotten about the whole gholam bit (that's what I get for taking some 20 years to work through this series I suppose). His letter to Elayne was the best thing ever.

[Sivarias]

I couldn't even bring myself to skim my textbooks when in school. I've always had to read every damn word regardless of the material. XD

Edit:

Spoiler: Continued Thoughts

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Nynaeve's trolling of Lan is as epic as it is hilarious. I'm really hoping I get to see at least a handful more chapters of him "not" gathering an army, they're coming in a close second to Mat's. Also quite impressed with Nynaeve's, "If they're not dead I can fix it", stubbornness towards healing. Was not expecting to see a cure for Asha'man madness within the series.


Perrin, I'm not a lord, but boy am I sure acting like a one, Golden eyes is much better when not angsting. He could give Darth Emo lessons on how to properly angst, true story. Ordering someone to get married and not expecting one or the other of the two to push back was pretty funny, especially when one of the two was once a queen.

Galad lost all his good favor already. Lets put thousands of people's lives at risk to prove who has the bigger d... the most righteous cause. Dude knows the last battle is at hand, knows the good guys need every able body they can get, and still gets hung up on dogma enough to pull this stunt. Seriously hoping for some Asha'man sniping once the battle starts.

Elanye and Egwene are having a competition on who can be the most awful character.
Elayne:
Taking over another kingdom while having tenuous control of your own seems like a terrible idea. Lets add More nobles to the mix when the ones you already have are being contrary, I'm sure that'll just work out fine... Could just be my experience playing Crusader Kings, but more nobles is never the answer.
Egwene:
There's a forsaken on the lose in the white tower, lets use myself as bait and not tell any of my most trusted allies what the plan is so I can forego having backup in cause things go south. Lets see, number of people who've got toe-to-toe solo with a forsaken and survived, survey says: Rand. Sadly this will most likely not turn out as spectacularly deadly as I'm hoping.

Mat is still wonderfully Mat, and I had rather forgotten about the whole gholam bit (that's what I get for taking some 20 years to work through this series I suppose). His letter to Elayne was the best thing ever.

Spoiler: Forsaken

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Your forgetting Nyneave, but for the most part, yah. Egwene lost her last chance at Gyrados status with how she handles this and some other things. Elayne never had a shot IMO, and while Nyneave probably earned it, I just hate her character.

[Douglas]

Spoiler: Continued Thoughts

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His letter to Elayne was the best thing ever.

Spoiler

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Yes, that thing was hilarious. And oh so perfectly Mat.

I'm tempted to unspoiler this post, I think it would be more perplexing than spoiling without context.

[An Enemy Spy]

Chapter 26: Behind a Lock

Team Magikarp searches for Else to no avail, mainly because there is no Else to search for. Actual line from Nynaeve here: "We will have to find her later, and make sure she knows how to keep her mouth shut. How could the Amyrlin trust that girl?" The sheer audacity of that statement coming from the people who just discussed secret plans with the door open. They're idiots. I know I like to have fun making fun of these characters but Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are Grade-A morons, and that fact is compounded by the fact that they are so smug and superior at all times. I genuinely loathe these three, which is good because Mat is starting to win me over so I need a new hate sink. For all their talk of how much smarter and more reasonable they are than the boys, what positive contribution have they actually made in the last two and half books? Let's see, in Book One they essentially did nothing at all, just sort of invited themselves into the quest and did nothing of real note. In Book Two they blundered into Liandrin's obvious trap and Egwene got captured, so even with Nynaeve and Elayne rescuing her that's still just making up for a mistake to get back to zero, and then Egwene goes and ruins what would have been a clean getaway for the actual heroes so make that a minus point again. In this book they have been allowed into a scheme by a desperate woman for no other reason than that those three pawns are the only pieces she has on the board, and have already given themselves away to the enemy before discovering a single clue on their own. And these appalling idiots have the temerity to act better than other people?

I bet they blunder right into the Black Ajah, get captured, and need the boys to save them. And they won't even say thank you.

They give up the search and head down into the bowels of the Tower to find the storeroom on the paper "Else" gave them. They come to a locked door and Nynaeve naturally throws an angry fit because she is an emotionally stunted toddler with anger issues. Putting valuable evidence for an ongoing investigation under lock and key? What an outrage! Well, Egwene manages to break the lock with magic, so its no big deal anyway. Inside is basically just some bags of clothes and trash that was left in the Black Ajah's rooms. The only clues of any note are the torn off corner of a map that shows the city of Tear, a book about the city of Tear, a list of ships going to Tear, and a sketched map of the Stone of Tear. There's a common thread in all these clues. Let's see if our heroes can spot it!

To their credit, they actually do figure out that the evidence is so obvious that it must have been left on purpose, which leaves the question of whether or not the Black Ajah are in Tear waiting to spring a trap on anyone who follows them, or are trying to make them think they went to Tear but actually went somewhere else. Or maybe they made it so obvious they were going to Tear that anyone looking for them would assume they weren't actually going to Tear?

Of course the cover of the book shows Rand getting Callandor in Tear so naturally that's where the plot is headed, but I'm just glad they actually demonstrated some basic common sense before they inevitably blunder into a trap.

[Sivarias]

Chapter 26: Behind a Lock

Team Magikarp searches for Else to no avail, mainly because there is no Else to search for. Actual line from Nynaeve here: "We will have to find her later, and make sure she knows how to keep her mouth shut. How could the Amyrlin trust that girl?" The sheer audacity of that statement coming from the people who just discussed secret plans with the door open. They're idiots. I know I like to have fun making fun of these characters but Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are Grade-A morons, and that fact is compounded by the fact that they are so smug and superior at all times. I genuinely loathe these three, which is good because Mat is starting to win me over so I need a new hate sink. For all their talk of how much smarter and more reasonable they are than the boys, what positive contribution have they actually made in the last two and half books? Let's see, in Book One they essentially did nothing at all, just sort of invited themselves into the quest and did nothing of real note. In Book Two they blundered into Liandrin's obvious trap and Egwene got captured, so even with Nynaeve and Elayne rescuing her that's still just making up for a mistake to get back to zero, and then Egwene goes and ruins what would have been a clean getaway for the actual heroes so make that a minus point again. In this book they have been allowed into a scheme by a desperate woman for no other reason than that those three pawns are the only pieces she has on the board, and have already given themselves away to the enemy before discovering a single clue on their own. And these appalling idiots have the temerity to act better than other people?

I bet they blunder right into the Black Ajah, get captured, and need the boys to save them. And they won't even say thank you.

They give up the search and head down into the bowels of the Tower to find the storeroom on the paper "Else" gave them. They come to a locked door and Nynaeve naturally throws an angry fit because she is an emotionally stunted toddler with anger issues. Putting valuable evidence for an ongoing investigation under lock and key? What an outrage! Well, Egwene manages to break the lock with magic, so its no big deal anyway. Inside is basically just some bags of clothes and trash that was left in the Black Ajah's rooms. The only clues of any note are the torn off corner of a map that shows the city of Tear, a book about the city of Tear, a list of ships going to Tear, and a sketched map of the Stone of Tear. There's a common thread in all these clues. Let's see if our heroes can spot it!

To their credit, they actually do figure out that the evidence is so obvious that it must have been left on purpose, which leaves the question of whether or not the Black Ajah are in Tear waiting to spring a trap on anyone who follows them, or are trying to make them think they went to Tear but actually went somewhere else. Or maybe they made it so obvious they were going to Tear that anyone looking for them would assume they weren't actually going to Tear?

Of course the cover of the book shows Rand getting Callandor in Tear so naturally that's where the plot is headed, but I'm just glad they actually demonstrated some basic common sense before they inevitably blunder into a trap.

It's am amused that your impression reading this as far as how much you like various characters so closely mirrors my own.

[Seerow]

Spoiler

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I bet they blunder right into the Black Ajah, get captured, and need the boys to save them. And they won't even say thank you.

The prescience is strong in this one.

On the bright side, this particular upcoming plot point leads directly to another favorite scene later on.