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 15: Stronger Than Written Law
NOTE: The following chapter summary comes from wot.fandom.com
Point of view: Egwene al’Vere
Egwene wakes from dreaming, recognizing some of them as significant but doesn’t have a useful interpretation.
- Rand wearing different masks, until suddenly one of those false faces was no longer a mask, but him
- Perrin and a Tinker hacking their way through brambles with axe and sword, unaware of the cliff that lay just ahead.
- Mat, weighing two Aes Sedai on a huge set of balance scales, with something vast depending on his decision
Outside Halima is trying to keep Siuan from waking Egwene but Siuan insists she must. The weather has turned very cold and snow blankets the ground. Siuan tells Egwene that Gareth Bryne is waiting to talk to Egwene in her study. When the first rain came after the Bowl of Winds was used, the Aes Sedai celebrated. Their joy did not last as the rain turned to tempests and then snow. There is an army to the north, mostly Andorans but some from Murandy. Egwene orders him to set up a meeting as soon as possible. Before he leaves Egwene asks him how long he would want to rest the soldiers before beginning a siege of Tar Valon and he replies a month would be enough.
After Bryne leaves Egwene mentions her objective to free Aes Sedai from the three oaths to which Siuan strenuously objects. Siuan believes the oaths are what hold the White Tower together instead of being a collection of women who can channel. Siuan says that Egwene can trust Bryne and let him know her plans. Egwene is shocked to realize that Siuan is in love with Bryne. Egwene tells Siuan to have Beonin, Anaiya and Myrelle to ride north to meet with Pelivar to make arrangements for an Aes Sedai visit.
REACTION:
Let’s have a talk about realism, fam. Before becoming Halima, Balthamel the Forsaken was a notorious pervert. He was something like the male counter-part to what we see from Graendal. Now this person is sleeping alone with Egwene in her tent, using the One Power against her to cause her headaches, and we just found Halima at the start of the chapter, barely wearing anything when Siuan walks in.
Is Egwene being sexually abused by one of the Forsaken off the page? It’s extremely naive to think that’s not happening. It would be easy for Halima to just tell Egwene to forget it happened and she absolutely would. She/he (?) could set up wards around the tent to give warning if anyone was coming. Even if they were caught, Halima could just make whoever walked in on them forget, too. Unless or until a male channeler arrives on site, or unless or until someone has a ter’angreal that detects saidin being channeled, Halima is free to act without any fear of being caught be anyone.
Jordan doesn’t tell us that this is happening. But the circumstances are screaming that it is. Eggy even has dreams about needing to escape. Her subconscious is trying to save her.
I have no idea what to make of her dreams about Perrin and Mat. It sounds like Perrin and Aram the Tinker are going to be doing a lot of killin’ pretty soon. Eggy’s dream about Rand makes sense, though. Rand is struggling with sanity, generally, and with a secondary personality more specifically. Eventually one of
Something about this meeting that Bryne covertly tells Egwene about / plans to set up is a signal to prepare for the siege of Tar Valon. The clue for that is her asking him about how long his men need to rest. I’ve wondered for a while why they don’t just Travel and surprise them, but I guess there’s something that needs to be set into motion first. I assume their army is large enough by now to do what they want to do. The longer they wait, the longer the risk one of the women in their camp (surely Elaida has Aes Sedai spies in Eggy’s camp if the Salidar group has them in Tar Valon) giving ‘Traveling’ to Elaida before they arrive.
Siuan wins the argument with Egwene about the Three Oaths, but I think she’s wrong. The Aiel Wise Ones are revered and respected. The Sea Folk Windfinders are prized and kept secret. The Aes Sedai are hated. Even their allies don’t like them much. It’s counter-intuitive but the Three Oaths breed more suspicion than the do away with.
Ultimately though, I think the Three Oaths are an attempt to mitigate the larger issue. Aes Sedai are not trusted because they subversively attempt to be the political power of the world. From the shadows, they manipulate and bully kings and queens to get what they want, often being wildly wrong and unwise as they do this. Aes Sedai introduced the corrosive and destructive ‘Game of Houses’ into the culture of the continent. By contrast, the Wise Ones have a more open partnership role with the Clan Chiefs. The Sea Folk Windfinders aren’t overtly political in their system, either. The Aes Sedai are authoritarian – just a passive aggressive, manipulative form of authoritarianism. I’d guess that everyone would rather they use their power overtly and thus more honestly, but that would crack the falsely-pious veneer they have embraced as part of their institutional culture. That would also make them a more legitimate target for violence and aggression.
I am not surprised that Siuan is wrong about this. Every Aes Sedai is wrong about this . Egwene is sharp, but she’s not experienced enough yet to see why they are all wrong. By the time she feels an inkling of the actual truth, she’ll be too far in to back out. She’ll convince herself that the wrong thing is right. Nynaeve is probably the best hope for calling all of this out.
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