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 27: Gifts
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Egwene al’Vere
Egwene and Gawyn met on the streets and traveled to an inn called The Long Man, where they could talk, hold hands, and kiss. Egwene is overjoyed on her way back to the Aiel tents. Gawyn warns her that the Aes Sedai are looking for a channeler, if not Egwene by name. Rand has returned to Cairhien and will meet the Aes Sedai that afternoon. Egwene would like to talk to Elayne or Nynaeve, but she had a Dream that every time she tried to talk to them something bad happened. Egwene heads in to the city to do what she can to aid Rand.
Egwene warns him that the Aes Sedai are dangerous to him and that he should be careful. She tries to use reverse psychology on him by demanding that he be humble. To her consternation, Rand consents. The Aes Sedai arrive before Egwene can leave and she worries about how to avoid them. Rand uses saidin to make Egwene invisible, as long as she doesn’t move around. Rand lets the three Aes Sedai enter his chamber: Coiren, Nesune, and Galina.
A dozen women bring in two chests filled with treasure as a gift to Rand. Rand jumps down to inspect the other women to make sure they’re not able to channel. Satisfied that they are not Aes Sedai in disguise, Rand insists that the three Aes Sedai release saidar. They do nothing and Rand reiterates his demand. They release saidar and Rand thanks them for their compliance. The Aes Sedai invite Rand to return with them to the White Tower and receive Elaida‘s protection and influence with other nations. Rand seems to promise to go to the Tower with them, but not until he finishes up some other business here and in Andor. They offer to leave an adviser to replace Moiraine, but he declines. As they are leaving, he asks, “How is Alviarin?” Without thinking, Galina replies that Alviarin is well. After they are gone, Rand tells Egwene that they will eventually bow to him in fulfillment of the Karaethon Cycle. He also tells her that Galina must be part of Aliviarin’s faction in the White Tower.
Egwene asks Rand how he Travels. He tells her that he brings the two locations together and bores a hole. Egwene says the thinks that to do it with saidar she should make the two places the same.
Point of view: Nesune Bihara
The Aes Sedai are reluctant to discuss the meeting with Rand, since it didn’t go as expected at all. Nesune noticed the presence of a woman that could channel, but the others did not. They speculate on whether it was Moiraine, the mysterious Green sister they’ve been hearing rumors about, or an Aiel Wise One. Nesune plans to write a paper about Rand that will be her magnum opus.
REACTION:
Egwene is a week away from finally meeting with the Salidar Aes Sedai in the World of Dreams. So whatever is going on there will finally happen very soon. This plot arc of waiting on that meeting has dragged out a bit, to be honest.
I genuinely love the chapters wherein Egwene and Rand are together, though Eggy never really comes out looking great from those encounters. She obviously cares about him and is willing to put herself into incredible danger for his sake. She also has what appears to be a Two Rivers Woman cultural problem of refusing to believe that men are competent. And when Rand demonstrates his extreme competence, she just gets mad about it instead of letting it reframe her view of him. Rand saw through her manipulation (he knew she told him to be humble in an effort to make him the opposite) and he played the Aes Sedai, too. Her emotional reaction was to want to box his ears and unswell his head.
Imagine it: Your childhood rural-upbringing ex boyfriend is successfully ruling over the Aiel, Tear, and Cairhien, handling generals, nobles, and the like, and instead of being impressed, you continue to think of him as an in-over-his-head “woolhead.”
It is probably unfair to label this a Two Rivers Woman problem. It might just primarily be a Nynaeve and Egwene problem. Marin a’Vere (Egwene’s mom) appeared to be orders of magnitude wiser than her daughter on this front. We actually saw both Marin and Abell Cauthon giving good relationship advice to both Perrin and Faile in The Shadow Rising. It’s worth remembering, too, that Egwene left home at the moment she was technically considered fully grown and that Nynaeve grew up without a mother. Egwene has since spent nearly all of her time around unmarried women, or studying topics that have nothing to do with how to behave toward men. Egwene probably had/has a lot to learn from her mom and left before she was in the part of her life wherein she would be receiving that type of wisdom.
I have always found all of this (mostly) endearing with Egwene and Nynaeve, because we get plenty of time in their heads to know their intentions are good. But I also understand how this can be tiresome for some readers of the series, too. In any case, maybe this is a place where both have an opportunity for a character arc and character growth.
I do feel bad for Rand, pretty much constantly. He has nobody in his life that isn’t trying to control him for his own good or treating him as a ruler rather than a person. Moiraine finally got to that point, but he essentially had to force her into that role against her will. (Yes, she finally realized that helping Rand was like embracing saidar, and that she had to surrender to him, but she did *not* want to treat him that way.) Lan kind of occupied that role, but it was limited due to Moiraine at first, and then because he had to leave when she died. The Aiel aren’t really his friends, per se. Mat couldn’t get away from him fast enough. There has always been an uncomfortable tension between Rand and Perrin – and he is also gone. Elayne is a crazy person. She just is. Aviendha loves him, but has to pretend most of the time that she doesn’t (which usually takes the form of her talking to him like he’s incompetent.)
It’s no wonder he’s got a crazy voice in his head. Where is Min? She’s the answer to our problems.
My take on the meeting with the Aes Sedai: They appear to be planning to escort Rand to the White Tower – either willingly or unwillingly. This meeting probably confirmed to them that just grabbing him would be very difficult – especially with Nesune noticing that a woman who can channel was hiding in the room with them. The Salidar Aes Sedai, by contrast, appear to be after his support, but they don’t appear to be after his confinement. It’s worth remembering too that we found out recently that Mesaana is in the White Tower. They might be better able to just grab him than Rand realizes.
Should Rand station Wise Ones who can channel in his meetings? Probably. Will he? Unlikely. Would they do it if asked? Probably, but not in a way where they were hidden. Having them at the meetings makes sense, though. The Aiel deserve a voice in any “Rand to Tar Valon” escort discussions.
One final tidbit. Egwene appears to be thinking through how to Travel. I’m guessing she works that out soon.
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