“Siuan Sanche had been poor in Tear, and had worked on
her father’s fishing boat, one just like the boats in the drawing, in the delta
called the Fingers of the dragon, before ever she dreamed of coming to Tar
Valon. Even the nearly ten years since
she had been raised to the Seat had not made her comfortable with too much
luxury. Her bedchamber was more simple
still. Ten years with the stole, he
thought. Nearly twenty since I decided to sail these dangerous waters. And if I slip now, I’ll wish I were back
hauling nets.” – The Dragon Reborn, p. 158.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the importance
of Robert Jordan’s use of alternate points of view throughout The Wheel of
Time. From the final point of view
in The Eye of the World being from Moiraine to each of the prologues
being from minor characters or even villains, Jordan already began hints that
the perspective would be expanding as the series would progress. The Dragon Reborn is the last of the
books to keep the points of view insular to the Emond’s Field Five, but it’s already
an indication of things to come with Chapter 12 “The Amyrlin Seat” being from Suian
Sanche’s perspective coming after two chapters dedicated to reintroducing
Egwene, Nynaeve, and the White Tower in general (and don’t worry we will be
discussing that), but going to Siuan allows the reader a peak into what has
happened in their absence. There is
this idea that the there is something slipping in the tower, there are cracks. Siuan has been the Amyrlin for a decade but
now that the Dragon has declared himself Reborn there is an increased danger in
fracturing the White Tower. There are
two False Dragons, one captured and executed, the other captured. There’s already a crack in Suian and Moiraine’s
plan coming to light here with Mat Cauthon’s blowing of the Horn of Valere at
the end of The Great Hunt, and implication that they could let him die
because it’s believed the Dragon will be the one to blow it at the Last
Battle. It’s Verin whom she meets with
at this point to be filled in with goings on in the world, not Moiraine who is
still with Perrin following Rand at this point.
There’s also the problem of the Seanchan and their mastery of the One
Power without the Three Oaths. This is
recap but it is important to note that there are dangers coming from within and
without.
The previous chapters, from Egwene’s perspective, is also
an important piece in creating this idea of danger. The section opens with a chapter before the
party arrives at Tar Valon and an encounter with the Whitecloaks. Egwene’s focus is on getting Mat to the Tower
due to his worsening condition, here implying that it may only take a few hours
before he is killed, and their attempts to Heal him, something Verin has
explicitly forbade due to Egwene and Elayne being Novices. There is, however, lasting trauma here, which
wouldn’t be present in the hands of lesser writers. “There’s no more time to wait, Egwene
thought. I will not be chained again! She opened herself to the One Power. It was a simple exercise, and after long
practice, it went much more swiftly than the first time she had tried…It was
like being filled with light, with the Light, like being one with the Light, a
glorious ecstasy, she fought to keep from being overwhelmed, and focused on the
ground in front of the Whitecloak officer’s horse. A small patch of ground’ she did not want to
kill anyone. You will not take me.
The man’s hand was still going up. With
a roar the ground in front of him erupted in a narrow fountain of dirt and rocks
higher than his head. Screaming, his
horse reared, and he rolled out of his saddle like a sack.” – The Dragon
Reborn, p. 140. Egwene is damaged, something
that Verin doesn’t have time for, immediately calling what she did an abomination
“you will be bound to obey the Three Oaths, but even novices are expected to do
their best to live as if already bound.” – The Dragon Reborn, p. 142. Verin doesn’t actually do the full force of
punishing the girls, or even Egwene, she has her own motives, but just puts
them under guard in their own rooms so they will be dealt with later. There are other things occurring, they are
guarded by three Accepted Nynaeve observes are bound for the Red Ajah due to the
way they revel in the power over the three novices who fled. The cracks are there, they may be hairline,
but it’s only seen by those on the inside something that will continue with
this plotline and this installment.
No comments:
Post a Comment