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 39: Possibilities
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Egwene al’Vere
Egwene tries to work out how she can use Mat to further her plans to lead the Salidar Aes Sedai rather than be a puppet for one of the factions. Mat has accepted that Egwene is the Amyrlin, but still tries to tell her what actions would be best to follow. Egwene tells him she will make her own decisions on how to deal with Rand and with Elaida. After Mat leaves, Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve decide how to manage him. They settle on sending him to Ebou Dar with Nynaeve and Elayne.
Sheriam arrives to speak with Egwene and to make sure she didn’t make any promises to Mat that she shouldn’t have. Egwene distracts Sheriam by suggesting they move everyone to Ebou Dar to get away from Mat and his army. Since going south is such a bad idea, and they can’t go west (because of the Whitecloaks) or east (because of Mat’s army), Egwene is able to say the only option left is to start moving north, towards Tar Valon. Sheriam is forced to agree.
REACTION:
Nynaeve kicks Mat’s rear end… hard. Jordan needs to pay this off at some point, with her either getting something in return from Mat, or apologizing in some real way. That’s just like, the law, when you’re writing two characters that are supposed to be fan favorites. If one of them is in the wrong, it needs to be evened out, or made up for, in some way. She already owed him a huge apology for how she treated him in the Stone of Tear, and now she’s done this. Sigh. Elayne is almost just as bad. She’s gone from the person who tried to keep the peace between Eggy and Nynaeve to a person who laughs when Mat is unjustly kicked. Nyn at least does other amazing stuff to make up for her bad interpersonal skills. Elayne better fight and beat one of the Forsaken at some point. She’s piling up a debt to the Readers and isn’t paying it off at all. I don’t care that she has dimples.
Egwene then intervenes on Nynaeve’s behalf by mislabeling Mat and his army as “dragonsworn” (it’s a mislabel at least in the way she uses it.) Comparing Mat’s army – sent by Rand – to the rabble mob in the countryside is such an absurd claim that Mat gets distracted. And it’s a claim he has to take seriously because she’s Amyrlin. Egwene admits internally that what he’s telling her about their situation is right and she thinks that she wants to box his ears because he’s using the wrong tone while being right. Sigh.
Just to be clear… Egwene and the Salidar Aes Sedai need Rand more than he needs them. They cannot afford to alienate Rand by doing anything to Mat or The Band of the Red Hand. It will be a thousand times worse for Rand if his friends from home are the ones who do the “anything.” The threat of calling Mat “dragonsworn” is either empty or insane. Mat knows this. So does Egwene.
Elayne – who enjoyed the way Mat was just mistreated – asks after he leaves how Rand can have such a low insufferable lout for a friend. Sigh.
After he leaves, Nynaeve speculates openly about having Warders take Mat’s ter’angreal by force. Sigh.
Accountability is in very short supply. Jordan sometimes makes it very difficult to actually like his female characters (excepting Min and Faile.)
The three women then plot to have Mat accompany them to Ebou Dar, guessing that Mat promised Rand to accompany Elayne to Caemlyn. They do this instead of having any of this conversation, you know, with Mat. They again plot to get his ter’angreal away from him for study on the journey. They decide to instruct Mat on how to act while traveling with him. Egwene doesn’t even push back when Nynaeve acts as though Mat shouldn’t be leading troops. Eggy *knows* he’s considered a brilliant general. Sigh.
No accountability for their own actions. No credit to others where it’s due.
Eggy’s plan – thanks to Mat – is to use his army as pretext for needing to move her own army. The argument is that there’s too big a chance that a fight will come abut by accident if they sit still. IMO… that’s a pretty flimsy argument. But maybe the argument that sitting next to Mat’s army, and tolerating its presence, will convince the public that they are dragonsworn themselves is a better one? The thing is, though, aligning with Rand is exactly what they allegedly want to do. This is why they sent an Embassy to meet with Rand in Caemlyn. Why would they pass on an opportunity to negotiate that end goal via his village friend / trusted general? Even an inaccurate public impression that they are aligned with Rand helps them. Moving away from The Band is actually counter-productive to their alleged goal. Uniting with Rand is the best/fastest way to bring down Elaida. Seriously, leave the Band where they are, and send Mat back to Cairhien with a message and a meeting place. Rand would show up. The Rebels win.
In this context, Egwene’s plan is actually pretty dumb.
Egwene: “Stay out of the way and let us win first, then recognize us.”
Rand: “But wouldn’t my recognizing you right now mean that you win much sooner? A declaration of support from me would crater Elaida’s support both within the Tower and with most of the nations on the continent, too.”
Egwene: ::realizes he’s right:: “You’re a woolhead, Rand al’Thor!”
I reiterate…. Egwene’s plan is very dumb.
However, let’s assume Sheriam is Black Ajah. What if her goal is to keep the Tower split? If that’s the case, then she needs to keep the situation with Elaida at a stalemate. She can’t afford to actually succeed in the Rebellion. Thus, they need to move to keep the Rebellion from winning. Tthe only reason Egwene’s plan here gets implemented is because Sheriam is Black Ajah and doesn’t want her own side to win. Sheriam did the quick math – realizing Eggy is dumb in the process – in their short conversation. The Pattern is trying to hand Egwene a win and she’s resisting it for dramatic effect. Seriously… if Siuan doesn’t bring this up in a “what are you thinking?” kind of way, I will be disappointed. Then again, I haven’t seen a lot of evidence that Siuan is a political genius.
Note: Chesa – Eggy’ maid – has seen her bruises and thus gives her cushions. This makes sense. I do wonder though why none of the Aes Sedai commented on them after seeing Egwene half naked.