““It has to be there at the Last Battle,” Mat said,
licking his lips. “Nothing says it can’t
be used before then.” He pulled the Horn
free of its lashings and looked at them anxiously. “Nothing says it can’t.”…Mat’s hand shook as
he raised the Horn of Valere to his lips.
It was a clear note, golden as the Horn was golden. The trees around them seemed to resonate with
it, and the ground under their feet, the sky overhead. That one long sound encompassed everything. Out of nowhere, a fog began to rise.” – The
Great Hunt, p. 658-659.
Mat Cauthon has been one of the characters who hasn’t
gotten his time to shine, being sidelined with the curse of the ruby dagger
infecting him early enough in The Eye of the World that he hasn’t
actually done much except represent the superstition of Rand being able to
channel. It’s always been Mat who is
resistant to Rand throughout The Great Hunt (and the one who comes to
the conclusion he could actually be the Dragon Reborn) and the one who outside
of Rand is most suspicious of Aes Sedai.
He’s the one Perrin has to hide the Wolfbrother nature from, and the one
who gives the most pushback anytime anything magical happens. So him being the one to take the Horn of
Valere and actually blow it is the first sign of any actual growth. Now, there will be much more of that and more
discussion of Mat when I get to The Dragon Reborn, but this is an
immediate step in the right direction for Mat and his character. This ties him to the Horn of Valere, meaning
that he will have to be the one to blow it at the Last Battle. He calls upon the heroes of ages past, mythic
figures who actually existed and have been mentioned throughout the previous two
novels.
The heroes actually have to rally behind the Dragon as
the Dragon is tied to the Horn, as well as Mat being now bound to blowing it at
the Last Battle: “I have fought by your side times beyond number, Lews Therin,
and faced you as many more. The Wheel
spins us out for its purposes, not ours, to serve the Pattern. I know you, if you do not know yourself. We will drive these invaders out for you…Have
you the banner?” – The Great Hunt, p. 661. This is what gets Rand to take out the Dragon
Banner and fly it for the first time in the series, making it clear that Rand
is the Dragon Reborn, once again. While
Jordan’s prose makes it clear throughout The Great Hunt that Rand is the
Dragon Reborn, as a character he has plausible deniability that it might be
somebody else and the idea is that he could be used. Perrin is the one to actually carry the
Dragon Banner here, and once the battle is over is the only one left with Rand
and Moiraine (who comes right after the battle is over). He is the one who still shares the burden
with Rand, not Mat. Mat is in pain and
off to be healed, but Perrin is the one actually wrapped in the Pattern. He’s the one who the Whitecloaks fear (and
are sending to word that he is the Darkfriend that put the Dark One’s face in the
sky) and communicates with wolves. There
is a small fight with Ba’alzamon which leaves Rand injured. He is healed but this happens when he awakens
“He raised his hands to run them over his face, and stopped, staring at his
palms in shcok. There was a heron
branded across his left palm, too, now, to match the one on his right, every
line, clean and true. Once the heron
to mark his path; Twice the heron to name him true. “No!”” – The Great
Hunt, p. 674. This is the moment
where Rand can no longer deny his fate. Verin and Moiraine neither can heal the herons
so it is something which further cements the fact that Rand is destined to do
this. ““You must choose, Rand,” Moiraine
said. “The world will be broken whether you break it or not. Tarmon Gai’don will come, and that alone will
tear the world apart. Will you still try
to hide from what you are, and leave the world to the Last Battle undefended? Choose.”
They were all watching him, all waiting.
Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain. He made his choice.” – The Great Hunt,
p. 679.
Duplicity ends up being a theme of this ending. Ba’alzamon who has been claiming to be the
Dark One is revealed not to be the Dark One here, Moiraine convincing Rand that
it won’t be that easy. Ba’alzamon, while
a sufficient threat, does not match the world ending threat of the Dark One who
remains completely off-page at this point.
He’s really Ishamael, the Forsaken seen in the prologue of The Eye of
the World so there is that deep connection to the Dragon. There is also the matter of either Moiraine or
Verin lying. When she first appeared Verin
claimed Moiraine sent her, but here Moiraine claims she did nothing, starting
off the question of which Aes Sedai do we trust. One of them is clearly of the Black Ajah due to
the Oaths that Aes Sedai cannot lie except the evil ones and one of them is
lying. And finally there’s the question
of who found and healed Rand, something neither Moiraine or Verin know. In between the battle and Rand awakening,
there is a chapter from Min’s perspective, where she and the others find the
injured Rand and are confronted by a woman, ““Not Rand al’ Thor,” saida musical voice from the door. “Lews Therin Telamon. The Dragon Reborn.” Min stared. She was the most beautiful woman Min had ever
seen, with pale, smooth skin, and long, black hair, and eyes as dark as
night. Her dress was a white that would
make snow seem dingy, belted in silver.
All her jewelry was silver.” – The Great Hunt, p. 670-671. From this description it is clear she is
Selene who has been following and tempting Rand throughout the novel, but here’s
where we get the reveal where she states “I am called Lanfear, girl…Lews Therin
was and is mine, girl. Tend him well for
me until I come for him” – The Great Hunt, p. 671. This duplicity begins something very odd
about Selene/Lanfear, and that’s her motives.
She is motivated by love for Lews Therin (and by extension Rand, whom
she sees as Lews Therin), so much so that she has turned to the Dark One as a
Forsaken. As a character she is
motivated by getting her man to love her which at least here is oddly
regressive, though there is just as much manipulation and seeking of power implied
here. She’s essentially in the role of
Lady Macbeth, though at least for now, without the breakdown of the later half
of Macbeth.
But with those reveals, The Great Hunt comes to
a close. I called The Eye of the
World as a book all about death and rebirth, while The Great Hunt follows more standard hero’s journey segment, that of
ignoring the call. It’s all about Rand attempting
to deny that he is the Dragon Reborn and only accepts it tentatively right at
the end of the book. It’s also about
Nynaeve finding her own acceptance among the Aes Sedai, using the Tower as a
means to an end to help protect Rand while Egwene has to accept that she is
still a child. Mat is confronted with a
world that’s bigger than he is and Perrin accepts that he can actually use
fantastic powers. This is still setting
the stage for the point where the acceptance of those roles are meant to be
taken up.
No comments:
Post a Comment