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 44: The Color of Trust
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Matrim Cauthon
Mat is rebuffed in his attempt to meet with Egwene. Elayne and Aviendha have disappeared, Nynaeve runs away every time she sees him, and Thom and Juilin are nowhere to be found, either. So Mat just enjoys himself by dancing in the celebration for the new Amyrlin. He dances with Halima, who flaunts her bosom and watches to see if Matt looks at it. She isn’t a very good dancer; partly because she tries to lead most of the time. She makes Mat a little uncomfortable, so he takes leave of her. As he walks away from her, his medallion goes cold, an indication of channeling. When Mat turns around, Halima is looking at him with a shocked expression. Myrelle approaches Mat about becoming her Warder, which he declines. He asks Siuan to dance before realizing who she is and she tells him to get lost. Leane swoops him up and dances with him. She not like the Keeper he remembers. When the dance is over, she kisses him and tells him that he’s a good dancer.
The next morning Vanin is back and Olver has come along, too. That day Mat receives five offers to become a Warder. The next day he is finally summoned to meet with Egwene, again. He is told that either he can go with Elayne and Nynaeve to Ebou Dar or be on his way with his army. He decides Ebou Dar is his only choice because of the promise he made to Rand. Before he leaves he tells Talmanes to shadow the Aes Sedai if they decide to start moving, and if Egwene ever comes to them, they are to grab her, carve their way through Gareth Bryne‘s army, and deliver her to Caemlyn.
The next morning Mat meets up with the Ebou Dar party consisting of Elayne, Nynaeve, Birgitte, Aviendha, Vandene, Adeleas, and a warder. Thom and Juilin also show up. Egwene arrives to see them off. Mat notices the other Aes Sedai pretty much ignoring Egwene. He decides that is intolerable and gives Egwene an elaborate bow, which startles the other Aes Sedai. Mat’s men follow suit, and Egwene thanks him for the show of support. Elayne then opens a Gateway to a location several days away from Ebou Dar. Elayne seems pretty pleased with herself, but Mat is irritated that the Gateway is too small to ride through, so everyone must dismount.
Point of view: Egwene al’Vere
Egwene wonders what orders Mat gave to Talmanes, but expects they were to follow her. The Aes Sedai have already started preparing to move toward Tar Valon and she plans to use the Band.
REACTION:
One of my favorite things about Robert Jordan is how much EVERYONE loves to dance in his series. It’s unrealistic bu tit’s humorous. When he wasn’t writing epic fiction, he wrote dance criticism under the pen name Chang Lung. Fascinating guy.
Continuity error: Mat thinks in this chapter that he’s dance with the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen in his life – Halima. Is that description possible? He’s seen and spoken with Lanfear. Being the most beautiful woman of all time is one of her defining traits. Lanfear would probably kill Halima, Forsaken or not, if she knew that their physical attractiveness was allegedly comparable.
Mat has been in Salidar about 2 minutes and he has figured out more, regarding Halima, than any of the Aes Sedai. He has a great instinct for “this person feels off” and I like the way that Jordan writes their interaction – with Mat noticing details that kind of give away that she’s play-acting as a she. Or at least that she’s new to it. He also knows that she can channel. Well, kind of. He gets talked out of it, almost immediately, but I think deep down he knows.
On the topic of Mat and attention to detail, he’s the first character who recognized Siuan for who she is, immediately after hearing her voice.
I really like the song that Jordan quotes throughout the early part of the chapter, so I’ll quote it here. It creates a really ominous feel over everything.
Give me your trust, said the Aes Sedai.
On my shoulders I support the sky.
Trust me to know and to do what is best,
And I will take care of the rest.
But trust is the color of a dark seed growing.
Trust is the color of a heart’s blood flowing.
Trust is the color of a soul’s last breath.
Trust is the color of death.Give me your trust, said the queen on her throne,
For I must bear the burden all alone.
Trust me to lead and to judge and to rule,
And no man will think you a fool.
But trust is the sound of the grave-dog’s bark.
Trust is the sound of betrayal in the dark.
Trust is the sound of a soul’s last breath.
Trust is the sound of death.
Mat wonders to himself if he can trust Egwene and Nynaeve. He’s trying to figure out who channeled at him and he’s grasping at straws. He should realize – and probably does – that if anyone had done that, all the other women who can channel would have noticed. It’s just that he cannot father any other option. If these characters would talk to each other, and trust each other, they’d figure this out. But there is that whole issue of trust – as the chapter title and the song implies. Mat has every reason not to entirely trust his friends from back home.
Other interesting notes: Halima obviously sent Delana to Mat, to try to get her to bond him. Hence she all but bullied him, though he refused. I wonder if even one of the Forsaken has seen a ter’angreal like the one Mat is wearing. He’d be wise to get out of Salidar ASAP at this point. Even Mat can’t want one of the Forsaken to be keenly interested in him.
It’s worth noting that Mat – with all of his military genius – still things that the Salidar Rebels attacking the White Tower is foolish. Maybe he just hasn’t put his mind to it yet, but if the Rebels have traveling, and Elaida doesn’t, and the Rebels have an *elite* general, and the White Tower does not… why is their rebellion so foolish? I wish we’d gotten more on that from his POV.
This chapter sets us up with the Ebou Dar traveling party. Mat, a few of his men, Olver, Nynaeve, Elayne, Avi, Birgitte, Thom, Juilin, Vandene, and Adeleas, and their warders. I guess we’ll be getting to know each other better soon. Nynaeve knows she wronged Mat and his hiding from him. Mat and Elayne just rub together in a way that would be “hatred to lovers” in a lot of stories, but since Elayne is taken… maybe just hatred to respect? Hopefully? My least favorite parts of this series, so far, include traveling with Elayne.
Mat figures everything out quickly. He’d be great at the Game of Houses if he cared to play it. He’s just got an eye for details. He notices Eggy walking alone as Amyrlin, and he knows her well enough to know she’s trying to be what they named her – even while they aren’t respecting her – and… it infuriates him.
“To the pit of doom with them, if they think they can treat a Two Rivers woman that way,” he thought grimly.
He then bows to her, kisses her ring, and makes it clear to the Aes Sedai in the camp that he (and by extension Rand) know who the Amyrlin Seat is. This will help her with the others. This is why we love Mat. Even though she and Nynaeve and Elayne constantly disrespect him, fail to show gratitude, etc., he always comes through for them when it matters.
Should they love him for that? Yes. Do they? Not really. They can’t control him, so he’s an irritant. Maybe a beloved irritant, but an irritant. Even Eggy’s POV after they leave doesn’t demonstrate any gratitude for Mat at all. No respect at all. She’s just focused on how she’s using him, not what he’s doing for her voluntarily. She thinks he’s a fool. Sigh. He literally traveled the continent, fought and killed a person trying to kill her, rescued her from a bunch of the Black Ajah, and stormed The Stone of Tear – an impregnable fortress that had stood for 3,000 years. She thinks he’s a fool. SIGH.
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