“As far as I’m concerned, you are worse than a
murderer, worse than a Darkfriend. I
can’t think of anything worse than you.
The fact that I have to wear this thing on my wrist, to be the same as
you for even an hour, sickens me. So if
you think there is anything I’ll balk at oing to you, think again. You don’t want to be seen? Good. Neither do we. No one really looks at a damane,
though. As long as you keep your head
down the way a Leashed dOne is supposed to, no one will even notice you. But you ha better do the best you can to make
sure the rest of us aren’t noticed, either.
If we are, you surely will be seen, and if that is not enough to hold
you, I promise you I’ll make you curse the first kiss your mother ever gave
your father.” – The Great Hunt, p. 627.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is perhaps why Nynaeve
al’Maera is one of the best characters in The Wheel of Time. Her sense of justice and passion in stopping
the Seanchan and rescuing Egwene is admirable and the sheer stubbornness and
will to do what must be done. Other
fantasy stories may have had Rand sweep in to save Egwene, and indeed Rand’s
party notices Egwene when they arrive, but it’s Nynaeve’s cunning plan which
actually ends up working. The important
revelation here is also the duplicity on which the Seanchan Empire is built
upon. You see, other than the slavery
the whole idea that the damane can only be those who can channel,
putting the collar on Seta, a sul’dam is supposed to kill her. It doesn’t, obviously, because like the damane,
the sul’dam can channel. It’s
Egwene who comes to this conclusion, realizing that the damane are just
those with the innate ability, but those that can be taught to channel, even
just a very little bit, can be leashed and they are the sul’dam. Egwene’s rage is also important as once she’s
free, she channels the power in retribution, not having taken the Oaths binding
an Aes Sedai (this would break the one about using the Power to harm others):
“Before anyone else could move, Egwene snatched the pitcher from her wasahstand
and smashed it into Renna’s midriff. The
pitcher shattered, and the sul’dam lost all her breath in a gurgling
gasp and doubled over. As she fell,
Egwene leaped on her with a snarl, shoving her flat, grabbing for the collar
she had worn where it still lay on the floor, snapping it around the other
woman’s neck.” – The Great Hunt, p. 647.
Egwene leaves Renna collared as well as Seta, causing an opportunity for
the Seanchan to realize just what their system of slavery can do, something
future books will have to address.
Now while this rescue is happening there are two
(technically three) plotlines going along.
The least important is Bayle Domon preparing to sail and waiting for
Nynaeve, Elayne, and Min to bring Egwene to get away, but that doesn’t do much
except show how honorable Domon is as a person.
When explosions rock the harbor Domon declares they will stay and
wait. The second plot is that of the
Whitecloaks. Now the Whitecloaks have
been on the edge of The Great Hunt, but there’s something here where the
events of The Eye of the World, mainly Perrin’s killing of Whitecloaks
in his rage at the death of a wolf is revealed to be here. Geofram Bornhold recognized Perrin and the
city so the Whitecloaks have an idea that he is there. The language here is important, it’s Perrin
who is the Darkfriend. They don’t
actually know Rand exists or can channel.
This is a grudge which is becoming more than personal. The Whitecloaks are preparing for
battle. Preparing for battle is
essentially what happens here.
Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Hurin have their plot
essentially looking and finding the Horn of Valere, but upon finding the Horn
and the dagger, Ingtar says this ““The Horn of Valere.” There was sheer aw in Ingtar’s voice. He touched the Horn hesitantly, tracing a
finger along the silver script inlaid around the bell and mouthing the
translation, then pulled his hand back with a shiver of excitement. “It is.
By the Light, it is! I am
saved!”” – The Great Hunt, p. 635.
Now this would be rather innocuous, but the idea of being saved reads
incredibly odd, because while the Horn is necessary for the Last Battle, it’s
never implied Ingtar’s life was tied to finding it. This is the exclamation of a man who was in
grave danger. That grave danger is
revealed when the party is overrun right at the end, kicking off the climax of The
Great Hunt, as Ingtar is a Darkfriend and he sacrifices himself so the
others. He wanted the Horn as a return
to the Light, and this is treated as a redemption, a noble sacrifice. His reasons for joining the Shadow and
becoming a Darkfriend are explained thusly “Humankind is being swept away
everywhere. Nations fail and vanish…We
fight to hold the Borderlands, to keep them safe in their houses, and every
year, despite all we do, the Blight advances…Why should we be destroyed for
them, when we could make our own peace?
Better the Shadow, I thought, then useless oblivion.” – The Great
Hunt, p. 653-654. Ingtar is a man
who fell to the despair of seeing the world crumbling around him, and the
earlier flicker sequence at the Portal Stones is what brought him back to
reality. The sacrifice is noble, but it
is interesting to note that while treated like a redemption, it isn’t
necessarily the best one. The reader
hasn’t had time in Ingtar’s head, nor much time with Ingtar, but this death is
important. It marks that Rand can be
betrayed by someone he grows to trust.
In The Eye of the World, when the Darkfriends were introduced as
just around any corner, Jordan intended that to be any and every corner. They are everywhere and while one ends in
noble sacrifice, they all won’t. The
possibility of redemption, however, is a major theme in The Wheel of Time
and Ingtar is the first one to attempt a redemption, through his own blood and
sacrifice.
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