“The
Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become
legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long
forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age
yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Dhoom. The wind was not the beginning. There are no beginnings nor endings to the turning
of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.” – The Great
Hunt, p. 1.
There is a tendency in
long series to spend a decent amount of time recapping previous installments before
moving on and for the second installment in The Wheel of Time, The Great
Hunt much of the first five chapters is one such recap of the events of The
Eye of the World. Jordan, however, importantly
uses a lot of this to reflect on the final revelations of the previous novel in
some key ways as well as giving the readers an idea into just what is going on
inside the characters heads. This sequence
is incredibly important for setting up where Rand is going in this book and the
first steps from Robert Jordan to expand the world to the incredibly broad and
deep world that fans fell in love with. The
Eye of the World may have had several towns and cities across the world
given some time, but none of the cultures or supporting characters were really
important enough to make the most lasting of an impact. The Fal Dara sequence is the closest to
cultural exploration as it takes place in Sheinar, but that is a culture which
is put under the microscope here. The
plot here is essentially two beats: Rand is trying to run away before the Aes
Sedai come to gentle him for being able to channel the One Power, and a party
of Aes Sedai arrive with their leader, the Amyrlin Seat. The rest are simply character interactions which
are where the brilliance of this opening really ends up shining. It’s the first real time there is a sequence
from Moiraine’s point of view.
But before the
character interactions, The Great Hunt opens with a prologue which acts
differently from “Dragonmount” in The Eye of the World. “Dragonmount” was set in the past with a
point of view character who is dead by the end of the prologue and reincarnated
into our main character while “In the Shadow” gives us our first look at the
Darkfriends. The setting of the prologue
is an odd one, it’s essentially a party where Darkfriends receive a number of
orders and two things are established.
First, Ba’alzamon is still alive to give them orders despite The Eye
of the World implying he was killed (something which will become a
recurring element of The Wheel of Time until at least The Shadow
Rising), and second, that the narrator, a man who calls himself Bors is a
Darkfriend and a Child of the Light.
There are also Aes Sedai present, putting into perspective just how deep
the Dark One has infiltrated the world and just how uphill the battle this will
be. Rand, Mat, and Perrin are all on the
list for the Darkfriends to find and eliminate before the Last Battle, setting
this book up as another one running away from the Darkfriends once the inciting
incident occurs. Like “Dragonmount”, “In
the Shadow” is one all about intrigue, though telling us more about Bors as he
will be a recurring antagonist, once his identity is revealed in a future book:
“The man who called himself Bors shivered in spite of himself. Hastily he undid the seals and buckles of his
saddlebags and pulled out his usual cloak…For that much power, I would praise
the Great Lord of the Dark under the Dome of Truth. Remembering the commands given to him by Ba’alzamon,
he fingered the golden, flaring sun worked on the breast of the white cloak,
and the red shepherd’s crook behind the sun, symbol of his office in the world of
men, and he almost laughed. Here was
work, great work, to be done in Tarabon, and on Almoth Plain.” – The Great
Hunt, p. xxviii. He fully believes
in the ideals of the Children of the Light, even if he is a Darkfriend and
clearly trusted to do secret things for the Dark One.
Rand’s progression to
this point is still in that reactionary phase to the end of the previous
book. His opening scene is one where he
and Lan are training with the heron-marked blade where he can reflect thusly: “He’s
acting like nothing happened!...It
was still a little odd to him that he had a sword. Any sword, much less one with a blademaster’s
mark. He was a farmer from the Two
Rivers, so far away, now. Maybe far away
forever, now. He was a shepherd like his
father – I as a shepherd. What
am I now? – and his father had given him a heron-marked sword. Tam is my father, no matter what anybody
sys. He wished his own thoughts did not sound as if he was trying to
convince himself.” – The Great Hunt, p. 4. The sword itself is mentioned for the first
time here to be forged with the One Power, meaning it is more powerful than a
normal sword, but the important aspect of this scene is the reaction to the Aes
Sedai and Amyrlin Seat. Lan, while still
training him tells him he should be a week gone by now, and Rand feels that
pain, ““I didn’t mean to channel the Power…It was an accident! Light, I don’t
want anything to do with it. I swear I’ll
never touch it again! I swear it!” With a start, he realized that the Aes Sedai party
was entering the city gates. The wind
swirled up fiercely, chilling his sweat like droplets of ice, making the
trumpets sound like sly laughter; he thought he could smell an opened grave,
strong in the air. My grave, if I keep
standing here. Grabbing his shirt,
he scrambled down the ladder and began to run.” – The Great Hunt, p. 11. The fear which underpinned the final chapters
of The Eye of the World haven’t actually left him. He tries to run but is immediately told that
he cannot leave the city on orders of Agelmar.
Rand’s reaction to Mat
and Perrin is actually quite interesting as they know he can channel, though
Moiraine is the only one who knows he is the Dragon Reborn. He pushes them away. Mat insists on going with him: ““But if the
gates are barred,” Mat said, “how do we get out?” Rand stared at him. “We?”
He had to go alone. It would be
dangerous for anyone near him, eventually.
He would be dangerous, and even Moiraine could not tell him how long he
had.” – The Great Hunt, p. 34.
Rand tries to use the dagger as an excuse, but it’s the classic example
of the hero isolating himself from his friends, and while he thinks that Mat
and Perrin are terrified of him. He
forgets, however, that Mat is currently under the influence of the cursed
dagger and Perrin has made a connection with the wolves already. Rand’s reaction breaks both Perrin and Mat,
Perrin reacting quietly and subtly and Mat being the drama queen that he is,
and it’s actually Egwene who is able to calm him down. Egwene takes him down to see Padan Fain, who’s
purpose here is to show how evil he is and rant about how they are all doomed
(more on that next time). There is still
the point of implying the romance between Egwene and Rand, Egwene is the one
whom Rand thinks she could come away with him, though he does not propose it to
her as she is to go with him. Of course even
at this point it is clearly something which is not to be as she is going to
become an Aes Sedai.
Speaking of the Aes
Sedai, this is the first point where there is any interaction between Aes Sedai
characters, the fourth and fifth chapters mostly being from Moiraine’s
perspective and seeing both her sisters and the Amyrlin Seat. Robert Jordan immediately gives the reader
some scope of the political machinations that the Aes Sedai and their internal
Ajahs, there are seven all colors (Blue, White, Brown, Gray, Red, Green, and
Yellow). The conversation between
Moiraine and Liandrin (of the Red) and Anaiya (of Moiraine’s own Blue), both
sisters being scheming, with Liandrin being the most obviously scheming. She is introduced as this “Liandrin’s mouth
tightened, and she gave her shawl a twitch.
“The Amyrlin Seat requires your presence, Sister.” Her voice was petulant, too, and cold-edged. Not for Moiraine’s sake, or not solely;
Liandrin always sounded dissatisfied with something.” – The Great Hunt,
p. 47. Moiraine’s thoughts are that
Liandrin is planning something and is on the other side of her thoughts of
Anaiya, whom she immediately tells ““My heart is lighter for your presence,
Anaiya.” That was certainly true; it was
good to know she had at least one Aes Sedai who had come to Fal Dara.” – The
Great Hunt, p. 47. Liandrin is
clearly the Aes Sedai Jordan wishes the reader to be paying attention to as she
is the one Moiraine sees as a threat.
Moiraine is also not giving away any of her plans to Liandin or Anaiya,
even if she trusts Anaiya. There is also
a small point from Liandrin’s point of view at the end of this section where it
is heavily implied she is evil, outright mentioning the Black Ajah and
questioning talk of Darkfriends.
The initial audience
with the Amyrlin, another sister originally from the Blue, Siuan Sanche, while
the other sisters are present is clinical and following a protocol to the
letter, with the news that Elaida has gone back to Tar Valon with Elayne, but
once the conversation gets going and they are alone, they reveal their plans. They are clearly close friends, revealing
that they were novices together, and those plans involve Rand as the Dragon Reborn:
“The Amyrlin shuddered. “Rand al’Thor. IT does sound like a name to inspire fear and
set the world on fire.” She gave another
shiver and rubbed her arms briskly, but her eyes suddenly shone with a
purposeful light. “If he is the one, then
we truly may have time enough. But is he
here?...“He is safe, for the moment…I have purposely let him think I no longer
have interest in him, that he may go where he pleases for all of me…It was
necessary, Siuan. Rand al’Thor was
raised in the Two Rivers, where Manetheren’s stubborn blood flows in every
veing, and his own blood is like rock beside clay compared to Manetheren’s. He must be handled gently, or he will bolt in
any direction but the one we want.”” – The Great Hunt, p. 68-69. They may be manipulating him, but not for any
evil reasons. They are both
compassionate towards Rand, and genuinely want to see the world saved. The section ends with the aforementioned
Liandrin section, one from Geofram Bornhold (the leader of the Whitecloaks seen
in the previous novel), and one small one from Padan Fain essentially building
up that like The Eye of the World’s inciting incident happening over
five chapters into the book, The Great Hunt is about to really get
started.
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