“Light, I AM the Dragon Reborn! The breaker of nations, the Breaker of the
World. No, I will END the breaking, end
the killing! I will MAKE it end! He
raised Callandor above his head.
Silver lightning crackled from the blade, jagged streaksarching towards
the great dome above. “Stop!” he
shouted. The fighting ceased; men stared
at him in wonder, over black veils, from beneath the rims of round
helmets. “I am Rand al’Thor!” he called,
so his voice rang through the chamger.
“I am the Dragon Reborn!” Callandor shone in his grasp. One by one, veiled men and helmeted, the
knelt to him, crying. “The Dragon is
Reborn! The Dragon is Reborn!”” – The
Dragon Reborn, p. 666.
So here we are.
The end of The Dragon Reborn and the point where The Wheel of
Time shifts its focus right there in the last few chapters. While my original intent was to split it into
two discussions but then I realized how well the final six chapters work
together to give the Emond’s Field Five the first sequence of closure if taken
together. Each character does not
necessarily get an entire chapter to themselves (Mat gets over two whole chapters
to his point of view, Nynaeve and Perrin get one each, and Egwene and Rand
basically split points of view on a chapter) but they each have a part to play
in the climax. This is really the first
time Robert Jordan has excelled at bringing characters together for a climax
where everyone really has a part to play.
In The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt there are
battles but the focus of those climaxes were focused solely on Rand doing
things as primary point of view. Yes,
there are some pieces of The Great Hunt from Nynaeve and Min’s point of
view, but the climax itself is so centered on Rand and what Rand is doing and
now how the rest of the characters are playing their part. In The Dragon Reborn it is Rand who is
facing Be’lal, and later Ba’alzamon, but he’s not the one to win. The fight with Be’lal is actually quite
brief, as a character while we see some of the things he orders (mainly getting
Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve captured by Liandrin and her Black Ajah), but it’s
actually Moiraine who defeats him. “There
was an instant surprise on the Forsaken’s face, and he had time to scream “No!”
Then a bar of white fire hotter than the
sun shot from the Aes Sedai’s hands, a glaring rod that banished all shadows. Before it, Be’lal became a shape of
shimmering motes, specks dancing in the light for less than a heartbeat, flecks
consumed before his cries faded.” – The Dragon Reborn, p. 651-652. That is how one of the Forsaken are defeated,
and avoiding whimper and bang comparisons, but it shows just how much power
Moiraine has though a power foreshadowed throughout The Dragon Reborn,
this is balefire, taking someone directly out of the Pattern.
There are some interesting hints about Lews Therin and
the relationship he had with the Forsaken, Be’lal betrayed Lews Therin and what
is fascinating about this is that we don’t ever get explicit Age of Legends scenes
but we get ideas starting here. “The
Forsaken [Be’lal] laughed, amused, swinging his blade with flourishes to either
side of him; the black fire roared as if swift passage through the air
quickened itt. “You were a greater
swordsman, once, Lews Therin…Do you remember when we took that tame sport
called swords and learned to kill with it, as the old volumes said men once
held…Of course not. You remember
nothing, do you? This time you have no
learned enough. This time, Lews Therin,
I will kill you.”” – The Dragon Reborn, p. 650. There are hints presented at the end, as this
book ends with Rand wandering the Stone after the battle while the High Lords
(and Mat) have a meeting. This meeting
is quite important as it shows a new character, Berelain, coming to pledge
fealty and a message “’Lews Therin was and is mine, and he will be mine,
forever. I give him into your care to
keep for me until I come.’ It is signed Lanfear.” – The Dragon Reborn, p.
674. Lanfear is still managing things behind
the scenes, despite not technically appearing in this installment. There are also fascinating musings on the
rest of the Forsaken having plans that our heroes will eventually have to come
and solve.
Mat being put in situations that he isn’t necessarily
equipped for is a continual theme. He
discovers the capture of Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne and devises a route into
the Stone of Tear where he first gets to interact with the Aiel. Yes, the Aiel who have been travelling with Moiraine,
Lan, and Perrin allowing for another perspective on interacting with Aiel
culture in a humorous sequence as Mat is increasingly confused as to how many
people are on the rooftops of Tear.
There are typical cultural misunderstandings, Mat not understanding what
it means to dance in the context of an Aiel, as well as Juilin Sandar being
repentant for giving the girls up, under compulsion. This is also a sequence where it is quite sad
as Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne, while getting some focus, Egwene having an excellent
opportunity to discover what the Black Ajah are planning by entering their
dreams, are mainly terrified at the prospect of being turned to the Shadow by
force. They all converge for the final
battle, reflective of each group’s growth throughout this novel in
particular. Egwene has begun to understand
just how to work as an Aes Sedai despite only being Accepted, Nynaeve has
continued her quest of protection of the rest of the Emond’s Field Five, and
Elayne has gotten more establishment as a character. Mat has had his complete overhaul and putting
the final sequence from his perspective, after the battle is over, continues
the separation of the Emond’s Field Five above being simple farmfolk taken away
on a journey and towards heroes. Mat,
himself, has continuously gone against his better judgment and followed when
his friends are in danger, and while he affirms he’s going back home at the end
of the book, it is clear that he won’t actually do this in The Shadow Rising.
Jordan also continues his parallelism between Rand and
Perrin, adding in some parallels for Egwene as well. Ba’alzamon, revealed in the end to be the
Forsaken Ishamael, is defeated in the World of Dreams which Rand follows and physically
breaks the Stone of Tear by calling lightning in the quote from the top of this
essay. Egwene is able to learn what the
Black Ajah are planning by entering the World of Dreams, and dreaming that both
Mat and Perrin are coming before this discovery to be assured that she,
Nynaeve, and Elayne will be rescued shortly.
Egwene also keeps herself shielded, knowing in the dream she is still in
danger, compared to the two men (Rand especially) who are rash and rush through
the dreaming. On Perrin’s side of
things, the Black Ajah leave a trap for Moiraine that Faile springs by picking
up a carved hedgehog ter’angreal which sends her into a slumber which
sends Perrin into a rage. The emotions
here show the calm man break into terror, this woman whom he didn’t even
realize he was attracted to is in danger and he must save her. Perrin enters the Wolf Dream to rescue Faile,
to whom he refers to for the first time as Faile proper, using his hammer to
violently smash through to the woman he has started to care about. Hopper is there to guide him and calm the Young
Bull, but we get hints that his fierce protection of Faile as well as the rest
of his friends will cause issues for him.
Their love is also genuinely sweet here: ““My poor Perrin,” she said
softly, “My poor blacksmith. You are
hurt so badly.” With an effort that cost
more pain, he turned his head. This was
the private dining room in the Star, and near one leg of the table lay a wooden
carving of a hedgehog, broken in half. “Faile,”
he whispered to her, “My falcon.”” – The Dragon Reborn, p. 662.
The Dragon Reborn
began with a shift: Rand ran away recklessly towards his perceived responsibility,
Perrin had to follow until he could take matters in his own hands, Mat had a
complete rejuvenation, Nynaeve explored herself, her block, and her ability to
channel, and Egwene found herself cutting mental ties with Rand realizing she
is meant for so much more than that. We
have shifted from humble beginnings to characters each taking burgeoning
political power and their place as the Last Battle approaches. And this will only grow from here.
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