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 53: The Feast of Lights
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Perrin Aybara
The Cairhienin are enjoying the Feast of Lights with abandon, very different from their usual prim ways. Everyone is kissing and most of the women don’t have their shirts on. Rand has been gone for six days and the Aes Sedai left three days ago. Faile is still jealous and Perrin can’t figure out how to resolve things between them. Dobraine arrives to inform Perrin that Lord Maringil was found poisoned while Lord Meilan was stabbed, apparently by a footpad. Also, Colavaere has been meeting with some of the Cairhien houses to push for her right to the Sun Throne. Berelain enters, angering Perrin because she has been stalking him. He shouts at her to leave him alone. Startled, she drops her bundle―Rand’s sword, which he would not likely have left behind. Sulin realizes that the Aes Sedai have taken Rand and begins to wail. Sulin tells Luaine to bring her some cadin’sor and to fetch Rhuarc and Nandera immediately.
Aiel begin arriving as different pieces of the situation are brought to light. Colavaere would only be trying for the throne if she was sure Rand would not be back. The Shaido are moving out of Kinslayer’s Dagger, so Rhuarc can not bring as many Aiel as he would like. Also, the only Aiel who will be willing to fight against Aes Sedai are the Maidens and the Siswai’aman. Dobraine will bring his men and the Wise Ones will come to counter the Aes Sedai. Perrin also plans to call the wolves to aid him. Perrin shouts at Berelain, again, and for some reason Faile is hurt by this.
Point of view: Galina Casban
Galina is pressuring Min for information. She doesn’t understand why Siuan was so interested in her. Rand killed two of Erian‘s warders when he saw Min had been captured also. Since then, he has been trying to break the shield, even though he is punished when he tries. There are thirty-three Aes Sedai in the camp. Galina wants to gentle Rand immediately, but that would be against her orders.
Point of view: Rand al’Thor
Rand is pulled out of the box they have him in. Erian begins to beat him with channeled flows. After he finally recovers from the beating, he notices that there are Wise Ones in the camp, including Sevanna. He is put back in the box where he competes with Lews Therin for access to saidin. Finally he tells Lews they should work together and gets a response. Lews tells Rand he can unravel the shield if they tie it off, but not so long as they actively maintain it.
Point of view: Galina Casban
Galina plans to use the Aiel to get rid of Gawyn and his Younglings. She isn’t worried at all that the Aiel savages have Wise Ones that can channel. She plans to punish Rand twice a day until they reach Tar Valon, probably in twenty days.
Point of view: Sevanna
The Wise Ones learned the weaves to shield and hold Rand, so Sevanna can proceed with her plan to take Rand from them. She is supposed to use the call box to call Caddar, but she decides to discard it, instead. Sevanna plans to marry the Car’a’carn and keep him shielded and on a leash. The Wise Ones kill Desaine, one of Sevanna’s rivals, using the One Power to make it appear that she was killed by Aes Sedai. Sevanna will use this as an excuse to attack the Aes Sedai.
REACTION:
There’s something kind of funny about ‘Cairhien Gone Wild’ during The Feast of Lights – which seems like a winter solstice holiday. Is this something like the wild way some Christian (or post-Christian) cultures celebrate Mardis Gras? That’s the closest real world example of which I can think to compare it. I suppose we should re-think what we think we know about Moiraine. We never met her during one of these feasts.
The Perrin – Faile – Berelaine love triangle is entirely unenjoyable reading – even if the characterizations feel realistic given the premise. The problem is that there is no “will they or won’t they” to it. I know… I KNOW… that at some point things will just be smooth between Perrin and Faile and that Berelaine will move on. Min already told us about a viewing of her with a “man in white.” Berelaine trying to steal a married woman’s husband makes her entirely unlikeable. So what’s the point of this for the reader? Character growth. Perrin and Faile have an obstacle that they must overcome. Maybe Berelaine will grow as well. But am I torn about how I want things to go? Absolutely not. Do I see any situation (yet) wherein Perrin might end up with the hawk instead of the falcon? No. So all of this is just frustrating.
From a character-growth standpoint, Perrin misreading how to handle Berelaine is realistic, but frustrating. Faile might have the least blame of the three, but her innocent and wrong belief that Perrin should know how to handle this is silly, too. Most of all though, Perrin should just tell Faile that he can smell her emotions. It would completely change her behavior toward him, I think, and to his benefit. He seems too eager to hang onto the wife cheat code.
The big thing in this chapter is everyone learns now that Rand was kidnapped. He wouldn’t have left his sword behind. Jordan set this scene up for chapters upon chapters and then executed it perfectly.
“They have taken him!” Sulin wailed suddenly, shockingly. Head thrown back, eyes squeezed shut, she moaned at the ceiling. The sound of her voice was enough to make Perrin shiver. “The Aes Sedai have taken my first brother!”
Those lines (and credit to Michael Kramer’s audiobook reading of it, too) were so satisfying. Her love of Rand – and her fear for him that he’s in danger – finally overcomes her pride. The toh is met. I would not want to be the Aes Sedai facing down the Maidens of the Spear.
As great as Sulin’s moment was – AND IT WAS – Jordan follows that up with another one just as good if not better.
Even Sorilea’s cackle was leathery. “Do not fear the Aes Sedai, Treekiller.” Suddenly, shockingly, a tiny flame danced in the air before her. She could channel. She let the flame vanish as they began planning, but it remained in Perrin’s thoughts. Small, flickering weakly, somehow it had seemed a declaration of war stronger than trumpets – war to the knife.
I apologize for mixing my movie gifs here, but this was me while going through that scene.
The Aes Sedai (some of them) vs. the Aiel (some of them.) This fight is three books in the making and I am HERE for it. Not for nothing, they get Perrin, Loial, and some troops, too. And Perrin is already planning on calling THE WOLVES into the battle, too. Heck yeah.
We learn in the latter section of the chapter just what they’re up against. The good Aiel think – for now – that they’re chasing six Aes Sedai. We learn via the Galina POV that there are thirty-three Aes Sedai. That’s a massive number. We also know that they have Gawyn’s troops and some Shaido in their vicinity (who they are apparently working with to some degree.) That’s a MUCH taller task for the rescue troops.
Things aren’t going well for Rand. He’s being tortured and kept in a box. The torture is a function of him going berserk after finding out that Min was there and killing two Warders. Given what we know about Warders, this informs the reader that Rand is one of the most dangerous men alive, with or without the One Power. The Aes Sedai who lost two Warders is… upset… and she’s taking it out on Rand.
Rand and Eggy now have something else in common (surviving lengthy torture). Two youths, from the same backwater village, both barely two years out of that backwater village, both immensely magical, and both suffering from torture-caused PTSD. These are the two most politically powerful people on the entire continent, too. What could go wrong?
Torture and captivity now has Lews Therin talking to Rand and answering him. That’s either a positive development, a terrible one, or both. Does it make you less insane if the disembodied voice talking to you gives accurate information? Either way, Rand and the voice decide to work together. Lews Therin tells him that he can break through the shield if the Aes Sedai ever tie it off, rather than hold it. He says he can’t do anything if they continue holding it. So what we need is an “all hands on deck” situation to arise for the Aes Sedai in the camp that convinces them tying the shield off is necessary.
Rand is planning to fake being cowed, or broken, to cause them to put their guard down. We’ll see if that works but I doubt it. They seem terrified of him – as they should be. Those who aren’t hate him on general principle. Terrified people will continue breaking him, even after he seems broken. There’s no downside in doing so given that either A) they work for the Dark One, or B) they’re too dumb to understand that Rand has to be free to fulfill prophecy in order to defeat the Dark One.
The Shaido are giving every appearance of people who intend to betray their alliance with the White Tower Aes Sedai sometime very soon. They also appear to be ready to go back on a promise to Sammael (they don’t know it’s Sammael) to call him with a ter’angreal once Rand is captured. Sevanna hilariously instead plans to collar and then marry Rand. I mean, it’s not actually hilarious. But it’s ludicrous.
Okay. So let’s tally this up. Rand is captured and is being severely tortured. Min is with him and is taking beatings but not as severe as those Rand is getting. Lews Therin is conversing and sharing knowledge with Rand now. 33 Aes Sedai have Rand captured and the Aes Sedai have a small number of loyal troops led by Gawyn. The Aes Sedai plan to betray Gawyn and those loyal troops by having the Shaido kill them. The Shaido plan to betray the Aes Sedai (which may mean doing what the Aes Sedai want with Gawyn and his men.) The Shaido are also unknowingly betraying Sammael by not calling him. The Wise Ones, the Maidens, the Aiel in the Headbands, Perrin, 500 Cairhien troops, and the wolves are coming to Rand’s rescue.
There’s a big fight coming and it will be messy.
In the big picture, this looks like a plan hatched by Sammael, but one that might not be unfolding exactly as he expected. We’ll see if he’s smart enough to have spies close enough to feed him real time intel. It’s possible / likely that he doesn’t want to just come get Rand if most of the Aes Sedai aren’t Black Ajah. He might end up in a box, too, if he did so. So he needs the Aiel to pull Rand aside before he shows up and exposes himself. He’d have no way to know this, but if the torture part of the plan is causing Rand to have better access to Lews Therin’s memory… this whole thing was a bad idea.
Either way… I am ready to see the Aiel fighting the Aes Sedai. Let’s go!