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 54: To Caemlyn
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Rand al’Thor
Several thousand Aiel, including five hundred Maidens are gathered in a courtyard in Cairhien. Pevin, Rand’s standard bearer, is the only non-Aiel going to Caemlyn for the fight against the Forsaken Rahvin. Rand makes a Skimming Gateway, steps through, then creates a platform for the Aiel to stand on. He makes it as large as he can, but it is not large enough to hold everyone that wants to come. Aviendha joins Rand on the platform as do Bael, Pevin, Mat, Asmodean, and Sulin, followed by a large stream of Aiel. Rand closes the Gateway and the platform begins to move toward Caemlyn. Along the way someone falls and Rand worries that it was one of the Maidens. They arrive and Rand opens a Gateway so they can exit the platform below the wall he climbed when he met Elayne for the first time.
As the Aiel spread out Rand notices that only the Aiel are visible; no people are around even though there should be at this time of day. The wall next to him topples outward and Trollocs pour out. Then lightning is channeled on his group and his shield to block it is too slow. Rand makes his shield huge, then ties it off and looks around. Mat’s body lies nearby next to Asmodean…and Aviendha. The death of his friends sends Rand into a rage and he goes directly after Rahvin. He opens a different type of Gateway and steps through into the palace where Rahvin sits on the Lion Throne.
Point of view: Nynaeve al’Meara
Nynaeve is trying to teach Siuan about Tel’aran’rhiod. They are doing this during the day to keep it secret from the other Aes Sedai. Theodrin has been assigned to help Nynaeve break down the block she has that only lets her channel when angry. Nynaeve and Siuan begin prodding each other with the unpleasant things going on in each other’s situation. Finally Siuan slaps Nynaeve and they begin fighting and rolling around on the ground. Siuan finally begins laughing and they agree that there are better ways to settle their differences.
Nynaeve thinks she saw a face in a window and decides it would be best if they leave Tel’aran’rhiod. Siuan argues against it, so Nynaeve rips away the twisted stone ring ter’angreal to force her out. Nynaeve doesn’t leave though, but moves somewhere else. She is afraid she will have to confess to Sheriam what she knows about Moghedien and about seeing her in tel’aran’rhiod which will mean more punishments and chores for having kept it a secret.
Moghedien finds her and begins taunting her again, planning how to collect her. Because Nynaeve is using the amber plaque, she only has access to a trickle of the One Power. Moghedien senses this and, not feeling threatened, is taking her time. Birgitte shows up so she can find out why Nynaeve forced Siuan out of the World of Dreams but Moghedien captures her, making her a child. Nynaeve begins to beg for mercy as she walks toward Moghedien. When she gets close she imagines an a’dam linking them, with Moghedien wearing the collar. Once Nynaeve is in charge, she presses Moghedien for information on the other Forsaken. Moghedien tells of a plot to have Rand attack Sammael while other Forsaken wait to help capture him. She then reveals that Rand plans to attack Rahvin in Caemlyn today and that Rahvin is prepared. Nynaeve resolves to go to Caemlyn with Moghedien, even though she might not be able to do anything from Tel’aran’rhiod.
REACTION:
The next-to-penultimate chapter of this book is another super-long one… but an excellent one.
It’s pretty funny that Rand finds out that Aviendha is part of a Wise One plot and still cannot figure out what that plot actually is. He suspected her as a spy initially but now rejects theory – with good reason. He was a lot closer to the bullseye on her purpose, when he mused over her being like one of Colavaere’s women. He just dismissed it though. It’s actually a sign of really good writing when a character misses the obvious, but for reasons that are easy for the readers to understand. This “assignment” is also undoubtedly a big part of the competing emotions Aviendha feels for Rand – emotions that sometimes come across as hatred. It probably even makes her more angry that she’s starting to love the assignment she didn’t want to take.
The Wheel of Time Gateways seem like they exist outside of reality itself. So it’s crazy that an Aiel fell off the platform of Rand’s gateway. Imagine falling until you die of thirst or starvation. Your body continues falling forever even after you died and are subsequently reborn. Maybe you even live your entire next lifetime and die while your old body continues falling in that space outside of reality. Perhaps at some point the falling body decays to dust?
Notes:
- It was nice of Rahvin to evacuate the city before Rand & Co. arrived. Why did he do this? It had to be him. The regular folk of Caemlyn wouldn’t know that Rand was coming.
- Maybe the city voluntarily evacuated when Rahvin brought in shadowspawn as his local defense force? Why would Rahvin do that when he already had human darkfriends doing that job? This doesn’t make sense.
- MAT, ASMODEAN, and AVIENDHA are DEAD.
- Mat’s anti- One Power necklace only works against women, I guess?
I think its unlikely that those three stay dead, so it’ll be interesting to see how they come back. Mat – for example – hasn’t married the Daughter of the Nine Moons yet.
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The Nynaeve section has a huge moment, but before we get there, it had a hilarious moment first. For the ___th time in this book, Nynaeve ended up in a fist fight. This time, it was with Siuan – who is probably more like her in temperament than any other character in the book.
“Kicking was not fighting fair!” – Nynaeve
I loved that Siuan found the humor in it eventually, but not before rolling around on the street for a while first. It was a great and endearing character moment for her. She has seen enough of life to know how absurd they looked. The reaction seemed to have taught Nynaeve, too, as it led her to reflect on how she would have reacted if she’d seen two women from the Two Rivers acting that way while she was Wisdom. Maybe this sets up Siuan as more of a mentor figure for Nynaeve going forward.
Speaking of fighting… Nynaeve wins Round 3 against Moghedien!!! YES! That fight was extremely enjoyable and very well-written. I did not see the twist coming. It definitely lived up to the book-long buildup. The Wisdom out-thought the Spider. She won round 1 largely with the self-realization of her own strength. She lost round 2 because of her ignorance (she let herself get spied on and caught.) In this chapter, she overcame her own weakness, her own pride, and just tricked Moghedien on the Spider’s turf – in the the World of Dreams.
It was fantastic that Birgitte got to be part of the fight, too. That helped to complete the mirror of the fight from earlier in the book. So Birgitte got her own “round 2” with the Forsaken who ruined her afterlife. She didn’t do much except distract the Spider, but that was enough.
Why don’t Nynaeve and Elayne, at least, use Birgitte to teach them how to navigate the World of Dreams? It should have occurred to them. Birgitte probably knows more about that place than the Wise Ones do. I’ll be disappointed if she isn’t used in that capacity in the next book (or if there isn’t a *very* good reason given for why she is not being used in that way.)
The chapter ends with Nynaeve – and a captive Forsaken forced to do her biding – on their way to Caemlyn – help Rand from inside the World of Dreams. EXCELLENT cliffhanger. As a series reader, I am highly aware of how often the Forsaken flee to the World of Dreams during a fight. It seems reasonable to believe that Rahvin will do that also.
Anyway… on to the the final chapter!
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