Welcome back to my re-read, recap, and reaction to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. This post will only have spoilers through the current chapter.
You can find my previous chapter recaps HERE.
Chapter 16: An Unexpected Offer
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Nynaeve al’Meara
Nynaeve wakes in the morning and reviews the numerous bad dreams she had during the night. She and Elayne are in agreement that they should now head to Tear since the White Tower is controlled by Elaida. They are not in agreement on how to go, overland or by ship. They go down to the common room to eat breakfast and are spotted by Galad, who has become a Whitecloak. He wants to escort them to Caemlyn where they will be safe from White Tower plots. Elayne says she needs time to think before she can accept his offer. As soon as Galad leaves the inn, Elayne begins making preparations to leave. She does not trust that Galad will not turn them in for being White Tower-trained witches, which are illegal in Amadicia.
When Thom and Juilin arrive she explains and accidentally lets Thom know she remembers him from when she was a child. They finally decide to sneak out of the inn and town and meet up with Valan Luca and his menagerie. There they can be his patron and hide from the Whitecloaks and Galad. Nynaeve questions Elayne on where she knew Thom before. She admits that he was court-bard when she was little as well as her mother’s lover.
REACTION:
Does it make it better or worse that Elayne has been flirting with Thom so much AFTER learning that he was formerly her mother’s lover? I feel like it makes it worse. I’ll defer to others on whether this type of thing is common. My inclination is to think mother-daughter competitiveness probably happens a lot, over things like cooking, hosting family gatherings, etc., but probably less often with respect to flirting with the same man. It’s just another check mark in the “Elayne is very immature” column. She doesn’t have the redeeming qualities that our other immature heroes possess.
I liked being in Nynaeve’s head for that revelation, too. She’s always pulling from her Two Rivers experiences when confronting current challenges. She has that in common with Rand to some extent. (That’s probably why I always liked the Nynaeve and Rand relationship, too.) That reminds me of her nightmare about Rand at the start of the chapter. Say whatever else you want about the Wisdom, but she is LOYAL. There’s nobody else in this series that you’d rather have on your team.
As a sign of how much I like Nynaeve (on the page) I laughed at her pulling on Thom’s mustache. I don’t know if I’d like her as much in real life, where I wasn’t privy to her inner monologue, and wherein I might be subject to her bullying instead of an observer of it.
Galad as a Whitecloak fits what we know about him… and it also doesn’t fit. It definitely plays into his idealism, but it’s hard to imagine he’d join them knowing Morgase’s feelings about their Order. He’s kind of aligning himself against Andor. On the other hand, he was present when the Queen visited Tar Valon looking for Elayne and this move might have fit well with her mood when she left.
The group returns to the circus where they’ll all apparently be both patrons and performers. You knew once the story introduced a circus that we’d be circling back to it… and now here we are. Nynaeve at the circus has a lot of potential for comedy.
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