“With all of that, it was the man in the cage who
caught and held Rand’s eyes. He was not
close enough to see Logain’s face, as he wanted to, but suddenly he thought he
was as clos as he cared for. The false
Dragon was a tall man, with long, dark hair curling around his broad
shoulders. He held himself upright
against the sway of the wagon with one hand on the bars over his head. His clothes seemed ordinary, a cloak and coat
and breeches that would not have caused comment in any farming village. But the way he wore them. He way he held himself. Logain was a king in every inch of him. The cage might as well not have been
there…And wherever his gaze swept, there the people fell silent, staring back
in awe.” – The Eye of the World, p. 592.
Characters giving off an air of royalty is something
that The Wheel of Time will eventually develop into much further than
this, however Caemlyn as a city represents opulence and royalty
throughout. Logain gets no dialogue
here: he is stoic in a cage surrounded by people jeering and those who can kill
him. Rand notes this about Logain, “He
was defeated, wasn’t he? Light, he
wouldn’t be in a bloody cage if he wasn’t defeated.” – The Eye of the World,
p. 593. Logain may be defeated, but he
isn’t broken in that defeat. He still
commands a presence of authority that drags people together to just see what
he’s doing. Rand sees Logain among the
crowd and to see him he climbs a wall.
The idea is presented as needing to get a better view, but an earlier
thread implies the Pattern sometimes weaves itself around others. It becomes even more apparent when Rand falls
off the wall and into the garden of the royal palace, right where the heir to
the throne Elayne and her brother Gawyn are also watching the procession from
over the wall. This also leads to the
first appearance of an Aes Sedai who is not Moiraine and the Queen of Andor,
Morgase.
The trio of what is essentially the next generation of
royals, Elayne, Gawyn, and their half-brother Galad as introduced here are
another example of how royalty is seen.
Elayne as introduced here is described by Gawyn as essentially the archetypal
Disney princess from the Disney Renaissance, nursing injured birds back to health
and having an incredible stubborn streak.
There is also a slight sense of rebellion, suggesting that her mother should
get married to a Gareth Bryne, one of her guard and trusted advisors, who would
marry her if ordered to. The reader gets
to see the stubborn streak in action here: she’s the one who forces Rand to
stay when he just wants to climb back up the wall and onto the street, not causing
any trouble in a world that really isn’t his. Gawyn is also essentially the
older brother archetype, and hesitantly incurring the possibility of earning ire
of the fanbase, his introduction is actually a really good look into what he
will become as a character and what makes Gawyn work as a character. He is the one who gets wrapped around other’s
plans, especially Elayne’s, yet still has that sibling attitude of superiority. He is the one to mention multiple times that
Rand could be the spitting image of an Aielman, he’s the one who is ready to
protect Elayne and believe Rand to having fallen as an attempt to get at the
family. However, of the royals, it is
Morgase who remains the most level headed.
She is the one to tell Elaida off and let Rand go with his freedom
simply because his story is too ridiculous to actually be a lie, while acknowledging
there are people who would love nothing more than access to kill her.
Elaida is perhaps the character who comes across as
the least level headed. “In one week…you
will be wanting to come home to your mother.
In a month you will be wanting to run away to the Traveling People” – The
Eye of the World, p. 610 Elaida
essentially uses her power as an advisor to the Queen and as an Aes Sedai, and while
it is not ever outright stated, she does not believe Rand’s truthful story
about where he came from and what he is doing in Caemlyn. Though when he actually does lie about which inn
he’s staying at, she is oddly silent. This
establishment of making very specific mistakes on things that may seem insignificant,
but will have far reaching consequences.
Elaida’s snap judgments is in contrast to the other character introduced
in this section. Loial is an Ogier, a
species that looks similarly to Trollocs, but are intelligent, master builders,
and as old as the world itself. They
were the ones who built Caemlyn. He is
also as perceptive of Gawyn, saying Rand looks like and Aiel and hadn’t heard
of what became the Two Rivers. He represents
the first friend Rand really has made since leaving the Two Rivers. Loial makes Mat jealous, Mat who even with the
safety of Caemlyn finds himself becoming more morose with fear.
This is also the point where a reunion can actually
occur. The middle of this section is the
rescue of Perrin and Egwene from the Whitecloaks by Moiraine and Lan. Now the rescue itself is mostly seen from Perrin’s
perspective. The aftermath also is shocking
as Perrin has to confront the fact that he killed two Whitecloaks for the death
of Hopper. He doesn’t actually tell
Moiraine, something that is becoming a recurrence with all of the characters,
and is something which does not bode well for the future. Yet, there is at least some relief in the fact
that they too are on the road to Caemlyn.
Rand and Mat have found their own safety, Rand royalty, and the others
are on the way to regroup. Hope is something
that inches ever closer while the actual Eye of the World is looming to be revealed
in the several dreams which have littered the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment