Book #11: The Dragon Reborn (re-read)
Jun. 3rd, 2010 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
corrielle11. The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Re-reading this book, it is very strange to me that in a book called The Dragon Reborn, whose entire length is leading up to events in Tear so that Rand can get his hands on Callandor and show the world once and for all that he really is the Dragon Reborn, we get very little about Rand in the 700-some-odd pages of its length. He causes the earthquake at the beginning of the book when he's camping up in the mountains with Moiraine, Perrin, and the Shienarans, and we get the really disturbing scene of him killing that merchant woman and her guards because he thinks they're after him and then messing with their bodies with saidin... Probably one of the creepiest things in the whole series, and let me tell you, it is up against some STIFF competition. Now, a bit of research on the internet says that Rand was right and they were after him (one of the members of her entourage was a Grey Man), but this is only hinted at in a subtle way, and though I think we're supposed to assume that the rest of them were Darkfriends too, but that is never explained. So basically, all we get in this book is that Rand, who is supposed to be the world's best hope against the Dark One, is kind of going REALLY crazy. Other people see him in their dreams, and he gets his big confrontation with Be'lal and then Ishamael/Ba'alzamon at the end, but we don't get to know much about what's going on this that sheepherder brain of his. And given the few times we do get it... I'm not terribly sorry about that. (Besides, less Rand means more time for Mat and the trio of Black Ajah hunters.)
Speaking of Mat, my goodness does he get a lot of time in this book! Up until now, Mat has mostly been that kind of pesky kid who stole the dagger and went a little crazy and got sick and blew the Horn of Valere. He's shown some loyalty and some abnormally good luck in the process, but this is the book where he really starts showing that Rand's not the only awesome ta'varen who can have strange things going on around him. Some of the scenes that really make Mat who he is happen here. The healing in Tar Valon, the night where his luck goes crazy, delivering the letter to Morgase, meeting Aludra, and "rescuing" Elayne, Nynaeve, and Egwene from the super-impenetrable Stone of Tear. We also get to see him beating up on Galad and Gawyn with a quarterstaff, which is highly amusing. I... just love Mat to death. He's in the middle of one of the "safest" places in the world, has a ton of servants willing to feed him as much as his just-Healed appetite demands, and what does he want to do? Sneak out, of course. Not that I blame him... he has good reasons for not trusting Aes Sedai. I had forgotten how easy it would have been for the Tower to have let him die so that someone more tractable could have blown the Horn. I also really like the scene where his luck really kicks in for the first time. It's got a kind of manic excitement to it that's just right for a night like that. While I do love Mat for his cockiness, I also love him because he is loyal. He's a good friend to the girls, even though he complains, and his friendship with Thom is very sweet. I had to chuckle a little at poor Mat getting yelled at for buying Thom some wine when he didn't realize Thom was drunk already... and I believe him when he says he wouldn't have done it if he knew. And then, there's the matter of sticking his neck out not once, but TWO times, just to help Elayne and Co. out. First, with the delivering the letter to Morgase, which Mat knew was dangerous, but was even MORE dangerous than he'd know for a long time because no one frickin knew that Rahvin is Gaebril yet... And then, of course, breaking the girls out of the cells in the Stone because he heard people plotting to kill them... for all the thanks it got him. (All right, all right, Nynaeve DID thank him... I have some bias here, it seems.)
Oh, and did I mention Aludra? Mat meets her here, saves her from getting attacked by the Illuminators' thugs because he can't not help a pretty woman in trouble, and in return, she gives him some fireworks, which he then uses to blow a hole in the frickin' Stone of Tear. On accident, of course. He just meant for it to go "bang" and cause a disturbance so he and Juilin could slip in undetected. That's Mat Cauthon for you, ladies and gents. Discovering military/destructive uses of gun powder without meaning to.
The other major plot thread of this book is Nynaeve, Elayne, and Egwene hunting the Black Ajah. I was delighted that we got to see as much of Siuan as we did, with her Tarien street jargon that's mostly about fish none of them have ever heard of. After Egwene's really rough test for Accepted and getting the stone ring that lets her enter the World of Dreams, they figure out that the Black Ajah is headed for Tear. And so they go too... and proceed to bicker a lot because... let's face it, we've got a princess, a Wisdom, and... Egwene, who is super powerful and equally stubborn. They're going to fight. They all get their little moments to shine, though... Nynaeve and Egwene especially. We get to see Nynaeve heal the Maiden of the Spear, which is super neat, and Egwene grows by leaps and bounds as a Dreamer, getting two of their Black Ajah captors shielded in Tel'aran'rhiod even before Mat shows up to rescue them... and all three of them balefire the Fades that are there to buy them from their captors... I had forgotten that last one. Those are three kick ass women. I had also forgotten how close all three of them got to being turned to the Shadow. Be'lal was planning on doing it... he had the thirteen Aes Sedai and thirteen Fades... *shivers* not a good thought. It's a good thing Egwene is smart, Nynaeve is angry, and Mat is lucky.
On that worrisome note, this world seems to have fewer safe places in it than it used to. The White Tower, bastion of strength and Aes Sedai power, might have Black Ajah in it still, and Lanfear waltzes in and out of rooms and takes on other people's forms like it's easy. Three great cities have Forsaken in places of power... Brend/Sammael in Illian, Samon/Be'lal in Tear, and Gaebril/Rahvin in Caemlyn. And this was back when Forsaken were a Big Fat Hairy Deal, not people who could be cut down to size like everyone else. In fact, I think that Moiraine killing Be'lal is the first example of an "ordinary" person (meaning a human who is from this time and isn't Rand) really taking on one of the Forsaken. I have to hand it to RJ here... he really did a good job of weaving the threads of the Forsaken spreading chaos... there's the hints and unrest and deep hatred between Illian and Tear that we get when Mat is on the river boat with the Illianers, and then there's the listless, defeated way that people act in Tear... (though from what I remember of Tarian society, Be'lal didn't have to work too hard there.. it was already terribly stratified and unjust.)
Um... what else? First, we get to learn much more about the Aiel here then we ever did before in preparation for our trip to the Waste next book. The girls learn about Maidens and First Sisters, and I had to read Bain and Chiad's explanation of their ceremony twice because I thought when it mentioned wedding vows it meant to each other, and I was fairly sure that if the Aiel had same-sex marriage, I would have remembered that. But they were talking about their vows as a Maiden... "wedded to the spear" and all that. Hrmph. I still think Bain/Chiad/Gaul is a brilliant idea, and eventually he will too. And speaking of couples with men who have very little idea about what's about to fall into their laps... Perrin meets Faile here. I think they're little courtship is sweet, but what I really like is the sequence where Perrin gets to work in the forge next to the inn for a little while and gets a hold of the hammer the eventually chooses over the ax. I always liked these scenes because they let us see that Perrin is good at what he used to do in the Two Rivers. He really is a good, careful craftsman, and it was nice to see him get to return to that part of himself in between the wolf dream and Faile and Forsaken chasing them. (And.... I like seeing Perrin happy. He deserves it.)
The book ends with the Aiel taking the Stone, Rand taking the sword and killing Ba'alzamon for real this time (until the Dark Lord resurrects him...) Berelain coming into the picture for the first time with a message from Lanfear, or all things, and Mat fervently wishing that all of the unwanted excitement would just be over all ready. No such luck, my dear Prince of the Ravens... the Pattern hasn't even started having fun with you yet.
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to point people to the awesome Wheel of Time Re-read blog on Tor's site. The author, Leigh Butler, is thorough and really insightful, even if she does dislike Faile. Her blog is where I looked first for definitive information about what exactly happened with Rand and the Most Disturbing Scene Ever, and she agreed with me that it deserves the title. It's always fun to read what she has to say about my favorite scenes, and she's got a great sense of humor. At the end of the post I read today, there was something about Lan being the Tom Cruise of Randland without the crazy couch jumping and Scientology. Which of course made me giggle for about ten minutes straight at the image of Lan on Oprah.
Re-reading this book, it is very strange to me that in a book called The Dragon Reborn, whose entire length is leading up to events in Tear so that Rand can get his hands on Callandor and show the world once and for all that he really is the Dragon Reborn, we get very little about Rand in the 700-some-odd pages of its length. He causes the earthquake at the beginning of the book when he's camping up in the mountains with Moiraine, Perrin, and the Shienarans, and we get the really disturbing scene of him killing that merchant woman and her guards because he thinks they're after him and then messing with their bodies with saidin... Probably one of the creepiest things in the whole series, and let me tell you, it is up against some STIFF competition. Now, a bit of research on the internet says that Rand was right and they were after him (one of the members of her entourage was a Grey Man), but this is only hinted at in a subtle way, and though I think we're supposed to assume that the rest of them were Darkfriends too, but that is never explained. So basically, all we get in this book is that Rand, who is supposed to be the world's best hope against the Dark One, is kind of going REALLY crazy. Other people see him in their dreams, and he gets his big confrontation with Be'lal and then Ishamael/Ba'alzamon at the end, but we don't get to know much about what's going on this that sheepherder brain of his. And given the few times we do get it... I'm not terribly sorry about that. (Besides, less Rand means more time for Mat and the trio of Black Ajah hunters.)
Speaking of Mat, my goodness does he get a lot of time in this book! Up until now, Mat has mostly been that kind of pesky kid who stole the dagger and went a little crazy and got sick and blew the Horn of Valere. He's shown some loyalty and some abnormally good luck in the process, but this is the book where he really starts showing that Rand's not the only awesome ta'varen who can have strange things going on around him. Some of the scenes that really make Mat who he is happen here. The healing in Tar Valon, the night where his luck goes crazy, delivering the letter to Morgase, meeting Aludra, and "rescuing" Elayne, Nynaeve, and Egwene from the super-impenetrable Stone of Tear. We also get to see him beating up on Galad and Gawyn with a quarterstaff, which is highly amusing. I... just love Mat to death. He's in the middle of one of the "safest" places in the world, has a ton of servants willing to feed him as much as his just-Healed appetite demands, and what does he want to do? Sneak out, of course. Not that I blame him... he has good reasons for not trusting Aes Sedai. I had forgotten how easy it would have been for the Tower to have let him die so that someone more tractable could have blown the Horn. I also really like the scene where his luck really kicks in for the first time. It's got a kind of manic excitement to it that's just right for a night like that. While I do love Mat for his cockiness, I also love him because he is loyal. He's a good friend to the girls, even though he complains, and his friendship with Thom is very sweet. I had to chuckle a little at poor Mat getting yelled at for buying Thom some wine when he didn't realize Thom was drunk already... and I believe him when he says he wouldn't have done it if he knew. And then, there's the matter of sticking his neck out not once, but TWO times, just to help Elayne and Co. out. First, with the delivering the letter to Morgase, which Mat knew was dangerous, but was even MORE dangerous than he'd know for a long time because no one frickin knew that Rahvin is Gaebril yet... And then, of course, breaking the girls out of the cells in the Stone because he heard people plotting to kill them... for all the thanks it got him. (All right, all right, Nynaeve DID thank him... I have some bias here, it seems.)
Oh, and did I mention Aludra? Mat meets her here, saves her from getting attacked by the Illuminators' thugs because he can't not help a pretty woman in trouble, and in return, she gives him some fireworks, which he then uses to blow a hole in the frickin' Stone of Tear. On accident, of course. He just meant for it to go "bang" and cause a disturbance so he and Juilin could slip in undetected. That's Mat Cauthon for you, ladies and gents. Discovering military/destructive uses of gun powder without meaning to.
The other major plot thread of this book is Nynaeve, Elayne, and Egwene hunting the Black Ajah. I was delighted that we got to see as much of Siuan as we did, with her Tarien street jargon that's mostly about fish none of them have ever heard of. After Egwene's really rough test for Accepted and getting the stone ring that lets her enter the World of Dreams, they figure out that the Black Ajah is headed for Tear. And so they go too... and proceed to bicker a lot because... let's face it, we've got a princess, a Wisdom, and... Egwene, who is super powerful and equally stubborn. They're going to fight. They all get their little moments to shine, though... Nynaeve and Egwene especially. We get to see Nynaeve heal the Maiden of the Spear, which is super neat, and Egwene grows by leaps and bounds as a Dreamer, getting two of their Black Ajah captors shielded in Tel'aran'rhiod even before Mat shows up to rescue them... and all three of them balefire the Fades that are there to buy them from their captors... I had forgotten that last one. Those are three kick ass women. I had also forgotten how close all three of them got to being turned to the Shadow. Be'lal was planning on doing it... he had the thirteen Aes Sedai and thirteen Fades... *shivers* not a good thought. It's a good thing Egwene is smart, Nynaeve is angry, and Mat is lucky.
On that worrisome note, this world seems to have fewer safe places in it than it used to. The White Tower, bastion of strength and Aes Sedai power, might have Black Ajah in it still, and Lanfear waltzes in and out of rooms and takes on other people's forms like it's easy. Three great cities have Forsaken in places of power... Brend/Sammael in Illian, Samon/Be'lal in Tear, and Gaebril/Rahvin in Caemlyn. And this was back when Forsaken were a Big Fat Hairy Deal, not people who could be cut down to size like everyone else. In fact, I think that Moiraine killing Be'lal is the first example of an "ordinary" person (meaning a human who is from this time and isn't Rand) really taking on one of the Forsaken. I have to hand it to RJ here... he really did a good job of weaving the threads of the Forsaken spreading chaos... there's the hints and unrest and deep hatred between Illian and Tear that we get when Mat is on the river boat with the Illianers, and then there's the listless, defeated way that people act in Tear... (though from what I remember of Tarian society, Be'lal didn't have to work too hard there.. it was already terribly stratified and unjust.)
Um... what else? First, we get to learn much more about the Aiel here then we ever did before in preparation for our trip to the Waste next book. The girls learn about Maidens and First Sisters, and I had to read Bain and Chiad's explanation of their ceremony twice because I thought when it mentioned wedding vows it meant to each other, and I was fairly sure that if the Aiel had same-sex marriage, I would have remembered that. But they were talking about their vows as a Maiden... "wedded to the spear" and all that. Hrmph. I still think Bain/Chiad/Gaul is a brilliant idea, and eventually he will too. And speaking of couples with men who have very little idea about what's about to fall into their laps... Perrin meets Faile here. I think they're little courtship is sweet, but what I really like is the sequence where Perrin gets to work in the forge next to the inn for a little while and gets a hold of the hammer the eventually chooses over the ax. I always liked these scenes because they let us see that Perrin is good at what he used to do in the Two Rivers. He really is a good, careful craftsman, and it was nice to see him get to return to that part of himself in between the wolf dream and Faile and Forsaken chasing them. (And.... I like seeing Perrin happy. He deserves it.)
The book ends with the Aiel taking the Stone, Rand taking the sword and killing Ba'alzamon for real this time (until the Dark Lord resurrects him...) Berelain coming into the picture for the first time with a message from Lanfear, or all things, and Mat fervently wishing that all of the unwanted excitement would just be over all ready. No such luck, my dear Prince of the Ravens... the Pattern hasn't even started having fun with you yet.
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to point people to the awesome Wheel of Time Re-read blog on Tor's site. The author, Leigh Butler, is thorough and really insightful, even if she does dislike Faile. Her blog is where I looked first for definitive information about what exactly happened with Rand and the Most Disturbing Scene Ever, and she agreed with me that it deserves the title. It's always fun to read what she has to say about my favorite scenes, and she's got a great sense of humor. At the end of the post I read today, there was something about Lan being the Tom Cruise of Randland without the crazy couch jumping and Scientology. Which of course made me giggle for about ten minutes straight at the image of Lan on Oprah.