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 45: After the Storm
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Matrim Cauthon
Mat is bruised and wounded from the fighting and tired from lack of sleep. He is still pondering how he managed to get in to so many battles when he was trying to avoid them completely. A drunken victory celebration is going on around him. Mat regrets teaching the men a song from his memories because they won’t stop singing Dance with Jak o’ the Shadows. Just as he is considering getting away, Melindhra shows up, greeting him as a hero. She is proud of him for seeking out and killing Couladin, although of course Mat did not do any seeking out.
Nalesean and Talmanes come over to encourage him to get the accolades they deserve for defeating Couladin. They regard Mat as their leader, which he tries to avoid but fails. They start competing with each other on who can assist Mat the most.
Point of view: Rand al’Thor
Rand awakes in his tent after being healed by Moiraine. Aviendha is sitting nearby and Natael is there also. A large force of Shaido escaped to the north and destroyed the bridges to prevent pursuit. The Tairen lords are in charge of the city and attempted to visit Rand while he was resting. They were sent away, very angry that they did not get to meet with Rand. Rand finally sends Natael off to get his horse so he can make his entrance into Cairhien sooner than expected and hopefully take them by surprise.
REACTION:
Robert Jordan’s best POV character is Mat. (For the record, I rank Nynaeve second.) It’s not a coincidence that the character went from unlikable to a fan favorite once he *finally* started getting POV chapters. Incredibly he had none until The Dragon Reborn. He’s like an inverse of the old Batman Begins adage. In Mat’s case, it *is* who he is underneath, and not just what he does, that defines him.
While I certainly would have preferred to read the fight with Couladin in the present tense, the recap was good. Mat’s efforts to free himself from his destiny continue to drive him directly toward it. Now due to his escape attempt, everyone knows he’s a legitimate elite military general, he has multiple nobles pledged to him – giving him his own army, he has his own banner to accompany that army, and to top it off, he killed Couladin personally. He’s famous. He’s powerful. He’ll never be truly free.
Jordan delivers another fantastic line in this chapter:
“Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today.”
Rand gets upbraided for nearly channeling himself to death and doesn’t actually believe that he did much at all. He’s defining “did too much” as outcome, rather than an effort exerted toward outcome. This is a pretty common failure of mental distinction though.
On the plus side, Rand has added multiple Aiel Clans to his army. He now controls the strongest military – by far – on the entire continent. (We’ll see what happens if/when the Seanchan return.) The Shaido, though defeated, largely survive and have escaped.
Rand’s incredulity that Mat killed Couladin was perfect. I mean, Rand has to know/remember that Mat was *really* good at quarterstaffs from growing up together in the Two Rivers. However, sometimes you underestimate the most the people with whom you are most familiar. You forget that they can grow, change, evolve, etc., beyond where they were when you knew them. For Rand, this is like finding out that someone he went to High School with became CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Of course, another part of Rand’s incredulity was that Mat had tried to escape the fight before it started, told Rand he was leaving, and then ended up in the middle of it anyway.
I think Rand’s observation about fighting the Pattern is pretty wise. Running in its direction, instead of against it, is how you maximize your choices.
Rand shows more overlap with Lews Therin’s memories, knowing Sammael’s real name from said overlap, and also being aware that no scrap of the Forsaken’s real name survived the Breaking. He nevertheless knows it’s true and can confirm via Asmodean. It’s interesting that his madness is telling him factual information. As Rand grows crazier, he has more access to the knowledge of the most powerful channeler who ever lived. So it’s a huge advantage within the huge disadvantage. Balance.
The High Lords offer a “gift” of Cairhien to Rand – as though he didn’t just free the city from the onslaught himself. Rand responds to that with another great Jordan line:
“The louder a man tells you he’s honest, the harder you must hold on to your purse.”
That reminds me of another famous quote, pointing toward the same idea. People who are lying tend to give away the fact that they are lying, by over-selling. Maybe they have to drown out their own sense of guilt.
‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’
The lesson to learn for any would-be liars is to not lie, because people will probably be able to tell, but if you feel you must lie, hold back your instinct to oversell. Anyway.. Rand’s about to go meet the nobles. Should be fun!
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