The Wheel of Time: Book Thirteen, Towers of Midnight – Summary

/ Media Response /

Hi! I’m Luke and today we’re talking about Towers of Midnight, book thirteen of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. You know, with Rand’s arc mostly complete, I wasn’t expecting Towers of Midnight to be this thrilling, but I’m glad to say that I was completely wrong there! The conclusions to Mat and Perrin’s major story arcs were incredible and the numinous scenes of Rand following his awakening really a lot of fun!

As always, I want to warn everyone that I’m about to thoroughly spoil this book. The Wheel of Time is a fantastic series, so if you somehow stumbled upon this video without having read Towers of Midnight, I strongly recommend that you stop watching and go read it first. It’s fine if you haven’t read A Memory of Light yet – I haven’t either – but everything else in the series is fair for spoilers here. Please also continue to keep spoilers from later in the series – just A Memory of Light now – out of the comments. Next video, you can go all out!

As you can see, I have a new office now – I’m finally moved into the new house. Thanks for bearing with me during the delay between videos. I’m also trying something different with the microphone, so hopefully the quality will be a bit higher this time.

Summary

Alright, we have a lot to talk about today, so let’s jump right into the summary. It’s starting to become a trend that each summary is much longer than the previous one. Frankly, I was a bit worried that it was too long, but I sent it out for some early feedback and the response was positive, so hopefully this will be helpful. If you don’t need a summary, feel free to use the chapter markers to skip ahead to the analysis section, which is really what I’m here for.

  • Everyone
    • Note that the timelines for each perspective in Towers of Midnight aren’t synchronized at the start of the book. By paying close attention to Mat and Perrin’s visions, as well as any mentions of time, we can anchor each perspective, but I don’t think that getting this perfectly right is important. What matters here is that Mat and Perrin’s stories in Towers of Midnight begin well before Rand’s awakening at the end of The Gathering Storm but Egwene’s perspective begins at the same time as Rand’s. If you feel lost, remember that Rand sets the date for the meeting on the Field of Merrilor one month after he talks to Egwene at the start of the book, which is shortly after his awakening on Dragonmount. As everyone is done with their other business by then, you can count backwards to figure out when something is happened. I’ll also point out some of the key moments that anchor the parallel perspectives to one another in the relevant sections.
    • It’s strongly implied by the snippet from The Dragon Reborn, by Loial, that Loial’s plea to the Ogier worked and convinced the Ogier not to open the Book of Translation and leave humanity to its fate, but I imagine that we’ll see this more directly in A Memory of Light.
    • The wind rises above Imfaral, northwest of Seandar and home to the Towers of Midnight. Egwene also has a dream of thirteen black towers – which must refer to the Towers of Midnight – falling one-by-one. One collapses but then grows the tallest. In the end, six remain. Still, the Towers of Midnight don’t play much of a role in this book, so I think the title is more in reference to the Tower of Ghenjei and the darkness gathering in both the White and Black Towers.
    • Fortifications across the Borderlands fall to Shadowspawn. We see a tragic scene of the men at Heeth Tower, which also shows us that the attack has been specifically orchestrated to delay news from spreading. There will be little warning when the Trolloc armies reach less-defended lands.
  • Lan
    • Throughout the book, Lan makes his journey across the Borderlands and arrives at Tarwin’s Gap. Recall that Tarwin’s Gap is where Rand burned the Trolloc armies with The Eye of the World. Along the way, Lan continually struggles with accepting his destiny. His intent is to commit suicide by running into the Trolloc hordes unaided. Yet, due to Nynaeve’s maneuvering and Lan’s begrudging acceptance of duty (you know, that’s it’s heavier than a mountain whereas a meaningless death would be as light as a feather), his followers gradually increase. He’s first joined by Bulen, who we last saw in New Spring as a lanky young man gawking at Lan’s armor. Others, mostly Malkieri, join him along the way. Finally, in the Silverwall Keeps guarding Firchon Pass on the border between Kandor and Arafel, Mandarb – Lan’s horse – is recognized and Lan gives in, declaring – with a sigh – that “The Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don. Let any man or woman who wishes to follow join it and fight.”
    • Shortly before reaching the Silverwall Keeps, Lan feels that Nynaeve has taken his bond.
    • In the epilogue we see Lan begin the charge into Tarwin’s Gap. Nynaeve’s scheme worked and Lan travels with a force twelve thousand strong, likely every remaining Malkieri man strong enough to hold a sword but also many other Borderlanders. Yet, the Trollocs already assembled there number at least one hundred and fifty thousand by Lan’s rough count. Reasonable tactics would recommend picking defensive positions in the fortifications at the Gap and praying the enemy didn’t bring any channelers, but Lan came to ride for Malkier, so he orders the charge. Though… Tarwin’s Gap was once part of Malkier, so this seems pretty dumb. I suppose we’ll see next book whether anyone intervenes to save Lan and his forces, or if he’ll merely ensure that the Trollocs are well-fed when the Last Battle begins in earnest.
  • The Chosen
    • Surprise, Graendal didn’t die! It’s almost as if every single time a character dies without leaving a visible corpse we should wonder whether they’re actually dead: Thom, Moiraine, Shai’tan (recall that Rand totally killed him in The Eye of the World), Ba’alzamon, Lanfear, Graendal… Sammael. In the prologue we see the scene in Natrin’s Barrow from Graendal’s perspective. When Ramshalan came in, Graendal knew that Rand was up to something and had Delana and Aran’gar weave Compulsion on Ramshalan to throw Rand off. Graendal used a dove to spy on Rand and saw that he had the Choedan Kal and was standing nearby which is how she figured out that he was planning to destroy the palace in balefire and use the Compulsion on Ramshalan to check whether Graendal was caught in the blast. With only seconds of warning, Graendal left Aran’gar and Delana to their fate so Rand would think she was dead.
    • Graendal is called to explain herself to Moridin. She pretends that she had Rand destroy her palace intentionally to torment him with the guilt of killing innocents. Privately, Graendal wonders whether Moridin is even capable of understanding this and she reflects on how there was a time before she became Chosen when she had a conscience and would have been devastated by such an act.. Moridin seems unconvinced, but Shai’tan speaks directly to him and he grants Graendal one more chance to serve by killing Perrin, who the Prophecies of the Shadow claim will be killed by the Shadow. He gives Graendal a dreamspike, which we later learn is an item that can be placed in Tel’aran’rhiod to project a dome into both the dream and the waking world preventing Traveling beyond its borders. Moridin also lends Graendal the services of Isam/Luc, “the man with two souls.” Graendal notes, throughout this scene, that Moridin seems changed: not only does Shai’tan now speak to him directly even when he’s not at Shayol Ghul but he also seems to crave heat.
    • Graendal understands that Perrin is very strongly ta’veren, so she weaves a chaotic plan of many parts to overcome the warping of probability. She aims to trap Perrin with the Whitecloaks using the dreamspike, presumably with Byar supporting her plan from within. If Perrin tries to move the dreamspike, he’ll be killed by Slayer. If the Whitecloaks can’t finish the job, an army of Trollocs will. However, she underestimates Perrin’s strength as ta’veren, and her entire scheme serves only to force Perrin to confront his own insecurities, becoming a master of the Wolf Dream and a leader to his people; gather the Whitecloaks to his cause; and inadvertently trap Mesaana in the White Tower, allowing Egwene to subdue her. In the end, Shaidar Haran comes for Graendal to punish her for losing three of the Chosen without accomplishing anything.
  • Padan Fain
    • Gollum is in Mordor, I mean, Fain is in the Blight. He can manifest a mist that kills and seemingly reanimates his victims as zombie slaves. He has no trouble killing even the Blight worms with his dagger. His madness might be even stronger than it was the last time we saw him, if that’s possible. His identity seems to continually change between Fain, Mordeth, and the other things that he’s been. His mere touch is enough to kill Myrddraal: he would wear gloves to prevent this so he could torture them, but that would stop him from continually cutting his hands with his dagger. Fain goes to where he knows Rand must go (Shayol Ghul, presumably) so he can finally kill him. After that, he thinks he might kill the Dark One as well.
  • Aviendha
    • Aviendha’s perspective in Towers of Midnight is separate from everything else that happens, as she spends the book visiting Rhuidean. Along the way, she encounters a mysterious woman named Nakomi who asks Aviendha about the Three-fold Land and the Aiel. The Three-fold Land is so named because of the three things it did to the Aiel: it punished them for sin, tested their courage, and formed an anvil to shape them. It prepared them to meet their toh for having broken the Way of the Leaf by fighting in the Last Battle. So, once the battle is over, why would the Aiel return to the Waste? Should they continue to become strong, just for the sake of being strong? Nakomi vanishes, leaving Aviendha with these questions.
    • Aviendha reaches Rhuidean and thinks on the role of tradition and how things must sometimes change. She takes the trial and finds that it’s become unnecessary, as it merely reveals what Rand already revealed to all of the Aiel. She uses her Talent to read ter’angreal on the glass pillars and finds that they’re far beyond her, but her attempt reveals new visions. She goes through the trial a second time and is given visions of the future through the eyes of her descendants. To her horror, she finds that her own line will be responsible for destroying the Aiel. Over generations of decisions that feel sensible in the moment, they slowly lose their sense of honor and forget about the toh in ji’e’toh. They will abandon the peace Rand will create, supporting war with the Seanchan. They will use underhanded means to trick the other countries into joining the war as their allies. They will forget about the purpose of gai’shain and use swords when necessary. The Aiel will be driven back to the Waste and their last remnants will scavenge for food, completely devoid of honor. Aviendha can’t know whether these visions are inevitable, but she’ll try to stop them regardless.
  • Galad
    • Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light, Galad, begins the book leading the roughly seven thousand men who joined him through swampland on the border of Ghealdan and Altara, making their way toward Andor. As they break clear of the swamp, Galad finds that one of his scouts betrayed him: Asunawa is there waiting with ten thousand Children (who aren’t exhausted from traveling through swampland.) Galad understands that, while Asunawa is a villain, the men who follow him are doing so for reasons that Galad can understand. Though Galad would have fought a losing battle if the cause was just, he cannot see righteousness in allowing so many good men to die in a meaningless conflict when only Asunawa is at fault, so Galad negotiates terms wherein Galad’s men are spared without being subject to Questioning with Galad himself going willingly into Asunawa’s custody. Through it all, Galad insists that he is not a Darkfriend and he braces himself for denying this charge through the coming torture.
    • Galad is quickly rescued, not by his own men but by the other Lords Captain, who heard the exchange between Galad and Asunawa and decided that Galad was right and should lead them. They killed about a third of the Inquisitors and beheaded Asunawa. Galad frees the prisoners and accepts the allegiance of those who support him, becoming Lord Captain Commander of all remaining Children of the Light.
    • Byar captures a bunch of wagons: they’re the supplies Perrin sent with Basel Gill. They discover that they’re followers of Perrin Goldeneyes, who Bornhald still blames for the death of his father and the Children believe to be a Darkfriend who brought Trollocs down on the Two Rivers just to win the loyalty of the people there by leading the defense. They decide to keep the prisoners to use against Perrin. The rest of Galad’s perspective fits into Perrin and Faile’s section.
  • Perrin and Faile
    • Perrin begins the book conflicted and anxious about his identity as both a leader and as a Wolfbrother. In his dreams, he’s trying to forge something but he doesn’t know what and the result is misshapen. He’s also made agonized figures for each person who’s died for him, which has a parallel with Rand’s list. Though Perrin has thrown away his axe, he’s found that killing with the hammer is no different.
    • Perrin’s perspective begins about a month after Malden. His soldiers and refugees are just reaching the Jehannah road, getting closer to Andor but still within Ghealdan. The channelers, in particular the Asha’man, were struck with a sickness caused by snakes created by a bubble of evil, which delayed the journey. Perrin’s forces continue to grow as people head towards the stability and food that Perrin brings; mercenaries are happy to join up just for the promise of a meal.
    • As they move on, Perrin finds the Blight growing along the Jehannah road. Disturbingly, the Blighted plants are much healthier than the rest. In the center of the pocket of Blight is an abandoned village with architecture unlike anything else in the region. Perrin orders the Blighted area burned with the One Power. Both the time spent burning the Blight and the difficult terrain between them and Caemlyn further delay Perrin’s forces.
    • Hopper meets Perrin in the Wolf Dream. Hopper wants to teach Perrin before the Last Hunt, so he invites Perrin on a hunt. While struggling to run in the dream, Perrin has a series of prophetic dreams: a vision of Mat fighting a dozen men while a shadowy figure sneaks up on him, a vision of wolves chasing a herd of sheep toward a wood where a terrible beast hides, and a vision of Faile, Grady, Elyas, Gaul, etc. walking toward a cliff followed by thousands of others. Perrin finally focuses and joins Hopper and a pack of wolves. They hunt a great twenty-six point stag and the wolves allow Perrin to lead. He realizes that he’s slowing them down running as a man so he runs as a wolf. As he catches the stag, Perrin gets too wrapped up in the moment and Hopper stops him from giving the stag a final death. Perrin is still confused and anxious that he’ll lose himself to the wolf just as Noam – the crazed man Perrin met in The Dragon Reborn – did. Yet, Perrin knows that he must confront this eventually and that he must learn more of the wolf dream, so he accepts further training from Hopper.
    • Perrin sends a few people to scout Cairhien and gather news. The Wise Ones begin training with the Asha’man to form circles so they can create larger Gateways (they figure it out by the end of the book.) Perrin orders the remaining Wolf banners burned, reasserting that he plans to send the refugees home and hand the soldiers over to Rand as he isn’t cut out to be a leader. Everyone thinks he’s being a fool. Even Maighdin, who sees Perrin as a rebel within Andor, thinks that, with the world in the state it’s in, it would be better if he took command. Perrin tells Maighdin and Tallanvor that they’re getting married and gives Maighdin an hour to get ready and she properly chastises him for being so obtuse.
    • Sulin and some other Maidens return from scouting to inform Perrin that a Whitecloak army is approaching from ahead of them on the road. Their scouts also discover that the supply caravan led by Gill has been taken prisoner. Note that, by this point, it starts to become clear for anyone reading both Perrin and Galad’s sections that strange things keep happening to force a confrontation between them, though it’s ambiguous whether this is due to Graendal’s scheming or Perrin’s ta’veren warping of the Pattern.
    • Bornhald rides into Perrin’s camp to announce that the Lord Captain Commander will receive him at a position outside the camp. Though this feels like a trap, Perrin rides out to meet him (note that he doesn’t take Faile with him.) At seeing Perrin’s eyes and the look of guilt at hearing the charge of murdering two Children of the Light, Galad decides that he is a Darkfriend and sets his terms: he will release the prisoners if Perrin’s forces meet him in a battle.
    • Faile plans a date night for her and Perrin to celebrate their first anniversary, a holiday called shanna’har in Saldaea. Though the Saldaean tradition is for days of gift giving and the Two Rivers has no formal version of the event, she asks Tam what he did with his wife to celebrate their marriage and plans something similar for Perrin: a private picnic outside at night. Before the meeting, Faile thinks about how her life has gone recently and finds that she’s grateful for her mother’s teachings and feels foolish for her rebellious behavior when she ran off to become a hunter of the horn. During their feast, Perrin opens up to Faile, telling her about the night after Shadar Logoth, when he killed the Whitecloaks, how he loses himself in battle, and his anxiety that he’ll lose himself to the wolf within. Finally, he tells her about Hopper. Faile tells him about Malden, though Perrin knows that she’s leaving out something about the Mera’din that he killed and correctly guesses that she had some positive feelings for him, but he doesn’t mind, either that she keeps her secrets or that he killed him: he was, after all, an enemy combatant who had killed Perrin’s men. Most of all, Perrin is touched that Faile recognizes how much she expects him to learn her ways and is trying to learn some of his by having this simple picnic. The awkwardness between them is broken and they both feel as though things are right again; Perrin, especially, feels as though he finally has Faile back, completely.
    • That very night, asleep with Faile on the hill, Hopper begins giving Perrin lessons in manipulating the Wolf Dream, starting with the balance of being present in the dream strongly enough to be solid but without losing himself completely. Whenever Perrin starts to forget himself, he reminds himself of home: Faile. While running and training, they discover a violet wall in the sky that Hopper hates instinctually. The wall vanishes while they’re looking at it.
    • Faile finally confronts Berelain directly about the rumors she started, via her proxies, while Faile was taken by the Shaido. Faile is a little surprised to find that, for all her experience with men, Berelain really doesn’t understand Perrin all that well, or the feelings of people from the Two Rivers. Berelain seems to honestly believe that the rumors will just blow over with Perrin’s people and that Perrin himself will be a stronger leader for it. Faile tells Berelain that she has no choice: they must duel, in proper Saldaean tradition. It’s a bluff, but it works. Faile realized that she really knew no way to resolve the situation peacefully, but if anyone could figure something out, it’s Berelain. Properly motivated by fear of death, Berelain proposes that the two of them pretend to be friends when in public which, combined with an official repudiation of the rumors, should put a stop to it. For good measure, Berelain will try to find a new man to harass.
    • The scouts return from Cairhien. They learned that Elayne is the queen of Andor and that Rand is in Arad Doman. The Aiel assert that, as the Seanchan have Wise One prisoners, they have a year and a day to release them before the Aiel will go to war with the Seanchan: “the Car’a’carn cannot demand any more from us.”
    • Maighdin overhears that Gabril was Rahvin and rumors say that he bewitched Morgase before eventually killing her. Now aware that she was used by Rahvin, Morgase walks to a pool outside the camp, meditating on how hateful it is to be used. In this melodramatic moment, Tallanvor appears, and he’s also bitter, frustrated at how long he held out hope that Morgase would finally see him, but realizing now that she’s still full of thoughts for Gaebril, despite everything that he did to her. He plans to go to Tear and join the men there in the Last Battle. Morgase explains that she’s never had someone dedicate themselves to her as completely as Tallanvor has. She admits that she can’t stop thinking of Gaebril, but her thoughts of him are nothing but hate: hate for him and hate for herself for what she let him do. Most of all, she hates that if he appeared here now, she knows that she’d do anything he asked. Morgase asks Tallanvor to stay and he agrees, as he would do anything for her. We’ll… we’ll talk about this scene more later.
    • In the Wolf Dream, Perrin continues to worry that he’ll lose himself to the wolf, but Hopper explains that, during the hunt, only Perrin had to be stopped, implying that Perrin’s singlemindedness is his own, not something from the wolves. Perrin realizes that it’s possible that he isn’t like the wolves because he’s a Wolfbrother, but rather, he’s a Wolfbrother because he was like the wolves. If this is so, then he doesn’t need to control the wolf, he needs to control himself.
    • Hopper teaches Perrin more about the Wolf Dream; Perrin learns to teleport and manipulate the world around him. The lesson comes just in time as Slayer appears, killing Morninglight. Perrin fights with Slayer and surprises him with his new abilities, but Slayer is still much stronger and Perrin needs to flee the dream.
    • On the day Perrin must battle the Whitecloaks, the Asha’man find that they cannot make Gateways within several miles of the camp. Seemingly left with no choice other than to battle the Whitecloaks, Perrin realizes that, though he can kill with the hammer, there was meaning in throwing away the axe, as the hammer can be used for both creation and destruction. (Note that this is similar to how the Aiel use spears, which can be used to gather food, but don’t touch swords, as swords can only be used against humans.) At the battle, Perrin has the channelers blow a trench just in front of the Whitecloaks, which would have destroyed a cavalry charge if he had wanted it. Then, he has the Two Rivers men shoot volleys of arrows into the trench, further proving that he could have utterly destroyed the Whitecloaks if he had wanted to. Perrin speaks with Galad and openly states that this was never about armies, but about him, Byar, and Bornhald. He explains that he did kill the two Whitecloaks, but only in defense, as they had already killed a friend of his: Hopper. They consider having a trial to potentially avoid a battle, but no suitable judge can be found. As Galad is leaving, he sees Maighdin; she sheds the disguise and reveals herself as Morgase. Everyone is stunned; Alliandre and Faile feel betrayed and embarrassed. Perrin suggests Morgase as the judge and Galad agrees: there will be a trial in three days. Perrin won’t necessarily agree to submit to punishment, but he’ll either be proven innocent, avoiding the need for a battle, or Galad will have justification to pursue him legally. Morgase goes with Galad to catch up. Also, Galad and Berelain fall in love at first sight. Of course they do.
    • In the dream, Perrin finds that the violet wall is back, only it’s not a wall but a dome: a dome surrounding his camp. Hopper can walk through the dome, but it’s difficult, and they can’t teleport through it. Slayer hunts wolves within the dome but Perrin still isn’t ready to face him.
    • A bubble of evil hits Perrin’s camp, causing their own weapons to attack them. They learn that the weapons stop when they touch dirt, but many are wounded. Perrin asks for a delay for the trial. In Galad’s camp, Morgase explains to Galad that the world isn’t as black and white as he would like it to be. She tells him about a time when she executed a murderer only to find, years later, that he was innocent, as the murderer struck again. Though she had no ill intent, she did evil by killing an innocent man. She asks whether it was best for her to learn from the experience or if she should have been punished for murder herself. Galad recognizes that this is similar to how he killed Valda for murdering Morgase… though, Valda did rape her, so it’s not the same. Still, he’s conflicted, honestly considering that his worldview may be incorrect. Note that this is also the day when Tam is called away to help with Rand.
    • Perrin continues his training with Hopper. To prepare for Slayer, Perrin starts looking for nightmares in cities so he can enter them and dispel them. While training, Perrin sees that the wolves are all gathering around Dragonmount, where the storm is worst. Hopper explains that this is the moment that will decide whether there will be a Last Hunt, or if the world will simply end. Perrin feels compelled to climb the mountain, fighting against the vicious storm. At the top, he’s not surprised to see Rand standing in the heart of the storm. He sees darkness converge on Rand until there’s nothing left but evil. Perrin can only watch and pray as Rand is consumed. Then, when all seems lost, a sliver of light splits the darkness. The light grows and shines up to the sky until the storm vanishes. The wolves celebrate: “The Last Hunt begins, Young Bull! We live. We live!” Perrin cheers and celebrates with the wolves.
    • Afterwards, the wolves head north for the Last Hunt but Hopper stays with Perrin to help him train.
    • On the day of the trial, Perrin talks with Faile. He needs to put this behind him which means going through with the trial and facing the judgement, but he decides that he will not submit to punishment if it comes to that: he has more important responsibilities now. It’s clear that the time Perrin has spent training in the dream has made Perrin more confident in the waking world as well. At the trial, Perrin speaks openly, explaining his connection to wolves and plainly admitting that nobody was really in control of what happened that night: both sides were terrified. Bornhald and Byar accuse Perrin, who explains that he and Geofrom were on the same side at Falme and that Byar always wanted to kill Perrin; Byar even tried to convince Perrin to run from the Whitecloaks so he would have an excuse to run them down In the end, Morgase rules that Perrin is guilty, but lessens the charge from murder to unlawful killing between two mercenary groups. The charge may still be death, but it could be less. Perrin agrees that he will submit to the sentence, but only after the Last Battle. Morgase gives the duty of selecting the punishment to Galad, who withholds his ruling for the time being. With the trial over, both the prisoners and Morgase return to Perrin’s camp; Galad also returns the supplies. Morale in the camp is hurt by the ruling, but Perrin considers it a victory, as he successfully avoided a battle, which will preserve the Whitecloaks so they can fight in the Last Battle. With the trial over, Perrin turns his attention to the trap he feels will snap shut on them, as he expects that whoever is stopping the Asha’man from creating Gateways will attack soon, now that the battle has been averted.
    • Perrin enters the Wolf Dream to deal with the violet dome, which he realizes is what’s preventing the Asha’man from creating Gateways. Oak Dancer’s pack helps Perrin fight Slayer, but Slayer is still too strong and Oak Dancer is killed. Perrin does, however, manage to grab the dreamspike and start carrying it away. Unknown to Perrin, this is happening at the same time as Egwene’s ploy to lure out Mesaana. Perrin needs to get the dreamspike away and, by chance, he takes it to Tar Valon, preventing anyone there from Traveling away and trapping Mesaana and the Black Ajah. While fighting Slayer, Perrin briefly runs into Egwene, who tries to trap him but fails as Perrin has grown beyond Egwene’s abilities in the dream. Egwene is shocked to find that Perrin can even stop balefire, which is, after all, nothing but a weave in the dream. Slayer manages to shoot an arrow through Hopper and into Perrin’s leg. Wounded and alone, Perrin moves the fight into a nightmare. Slayer isn’t as familiar with nightmares as Perrin is and Perrin is able to disguise himself within it. The nightmare is of Tarmon Gai’don, and Perrin manages to destroy the dreamspike in lava from Dragonmount. Seeing that Perrin has grown greatly, Hopper tells him that he’s found the question and must seek out Boundless to find the answer, then Hopper dies from Slayer’s arrow. In anguish, Perrin flees the dream to escape Slayer, hating himself for being a coward.
    • Perrin awakens crying, surrounded by Faile and the Wise Ones. He tells Faile that he lost an important friend for the second time and she understands that he’s talking about Hopper. Yet, the plan worked, and the Gateways are already open. Unknown to Perrin, Graendal is still in the area, furious that Slayer failed her and swearing that this isn’t over.
    • Filled with a cold fury, Perrin walks through the camp silently, his followers close behind. He needs something to work on so he can think, so he takes over making horse shoes for the farrier. He’s inspired to create something greater, so he starts working on whatever it is that he’s been trying to figure out throughout the book. As he works, Neald channels to help heat the metal and realizes the method for creating power-wrought weapons; a circle joins him to give him the strength. As Perrin works, he thinks on his singlemindedness and the way the wolves can see the past, present, and future but remain rooted to the moment. He thinks on the choice Hopper made to sacrifice more than any human could know in defense of the light and considers that he has a choice too. He knows what he’s making: a great hammer. He realizes that, though he didn’t ask to become a leader, the choice is his, and he finds that he wants to lead. He always thought he was a simple man who wanted a simple life, but why, then, did he fall in love with a complicated woman? A woman who certainly wouldn’t be happy living as a blacksmith’s simple wife. He decides that, if someone will lead the people of the Two Rivers, he wants it to be him: doing it yourself is the only way to ensure that something is done right. He completes the hammer, imprinting a leaping wolf on the side. He names it Mah’alleinir: “he who soars.” He calls out to Wil and asks him to fetch the last wolfhead banner. Then, he announces to the people of his camp that, though he has failings and will make mistakes, if they want him to lead, then he will accept their oaths. The camp cheers for Perrin Goldeneyes and the Last Battle. The wolfhead banner will stay up until the Last Battle has been won.
    • That same night, Perrin readies his soldiers. He brings them near the Whitecloak camp, causing some of his followers to fear that he means to attack them, but Perrin understands that the trap is about to snap shut, and it will catch the Whitecloaks, not him. In position near the Whitecloak camp, Perrin is in the ideal place to battle Graendal’s Trolloc army that ambushes the Whitecloaks. Galad mounts the best defense he can, but they’re caught completely by surprise, and Galad is horrified to see that the Light does not defend them and the Whitecloaks are no different from any other men and wholly unprepared to battle Trollocs. Perrin intervenes, forfeiting the high ground to ride into the Whitecloak camp and save Galad. Thanks to Perrin, much of the Whitecloak camp is saved and the Trollocs are defeated. In the chaos, Byar tries to murder Perrin but Bornhald kills Byar, saving Perrin. While talking with Perrin, Galad sees him save a Whitecloak from a pile of bodies and sees the sincere compassion and worry in Perrin’s voice, which finally convinces him that Perrin is a good man. He gives Perrin his sentence: weregild for the families of the two men he killed and Perrin must take part in the Last Battle. That done, Perrin convinces Galad to swear the Whitecloaks to accept Perrin as their commander for the Last Battle, as Rand wouldn’t trust them to act independently and Perrin can use Gateways to get them to the battle. Perrin realizes that this confrontation with the Whitecloaks is something he needed, something forced on them by his being ta’veren.
    • Morgase and Tallanvor get married. Their vows are great, but Perrin’s a bit too terse as the officiant. Granted, Morgase asked Perrin to oversee the wedding in a really backhanded way, as she still doesn’t like supporting him as a rebel lord witin Elayne’s kingdom. Things with Berelain appear to be wholly done as well, as the Two Rivers people apologize for ever spreading false rumors and Berelain is now preoccupied with Galad. Perrin’s forces are now nearly seventy thousand strong and the way to Caemlyn appears to be open. Mat surprises Perrin with a caught badger and a warning of assassins; the two will talk more in Caemlyn.
    • Perrin and Faile meet with Elayne, who is extremely hostile towards them, she seems to honestly consider just executing Perrin for rebellion. Perrin and Faile point out that Andor hasn’t sent any aid or invested in the Two Rivers’ infrastructure in a very long time: there are reasons other than taxes why people want the attention of their queen. Morgase cautions Elayne, reminding her that she’s dealing with a ta’veren. They briefly consider making Perrin High Lord of the Two Rivers, beholden only to Elayne, but then Elayne manages to haggle Perrin down, granting the Two Rivers to Rand and making Perrin his steward, with rights to use Rand’s tax revenue to invest in the Two Rivers. It seemed ambiguous to me whether this arrangement would allow Elayne’s children to claim the Two Rivers from Perrin or his children. Elayne also wants one of Perrin and Faile’s children to marry into her line, but Perrin asserts that the Two Rivers isn’t going to force anyone to get married for political reasons. They move on to discuss Rand’s plan to destroy the seals and Perrin says that he could help, though he doesn’t reveal that he actually agrees with Rand.
    • Perrin meets with Mat and Thom to catch up before Mat heads off to the Tower of Ghenjei. Perrin actually knows about the Tower, but Moiraine letter warned against taking more than three.
    • In the Wolf Dream, Perrin finds Boundless and learns that he’s actually Noam, the man who lost himself to the wolf. Perrin learns that Noam’s life as a man was horrifying: he didn’t lose himself to the wolf, he chose it willingly. Perrin sees that he doesn’t need to fear losing himself as the choice has always been his. He projects an image of himself as both Young Bull and Perrin standing beside one another with the same scent as powerfully as he can and expresses his gratitude to Boundless and the rest of the wolves.
  • Ituralde
    • Ituralde’s forces begin the book holding a fortification along the River Arinelle that defends Maradon, in Saldaea, from the Blight. Trolloc armies have been hitting them hard; so many Trollocs are dead that they’re starting to clog the river and allow passage. Though Maradon is close by, the Saldaeans haven’t sent any reinforcement, as they consider Ituralde’s forces to be invaders. The Shadowspawn use trebuchet to launch bloated corpses and hidden Draghkar into the fortification, causing severe damage. Ituralde is being pressed hard. Also, seriously, I try not to add too much commentary into the summary, but the scene with Ituralde screaming himself hoarse while cutting down Draghkar was just incredibly badass. I have to imagine that we’ll have even bigger battles in A Memory of Light, but Ituralde’s scenes in Towers of Midnight are fantastic.
    • Ituralde’s forces are eventually pushed back from the hill. He makes a slow, careful retreat that probably would have worked, except that one of the men gives in to despair and charges ahead of the line, opening a gap. Ituralde rides in to plug the gap but then one of the trumpeters signals an early retreat, which throws the line into chaos. Just when it seems that all is lost, a force of Saldaeans from Maradon, led by a man named Yoeli, rushes out to save them.
    • Inside Maradon, Yoeli has the rightful commander of the city – Vram Torkumen, a distant cousin of the queen – confined to his room and Yoeli’s men carry a triangular black and yellow pendant that the Saldaeans in the city refer to as the “Traitor’s Banner.” Yoeli expects to be executed for treason when this is done, in fact, he plans on demanding it to preserve his honor. Ituralde sees through Vram immediately: no Saldaean would allow others to die to Trollocs just outside their walls without helping, so Vram is clearly a Darkfriend. Ituralde assures Yoeli that when Tenobia returns she’ll see the truth of things and commend Yoeli for his decision – assuming they survive. Other than soldiers, Maradon is already evacuated, and Ituralde meant to retreat further south, abandoning the city, but he sees that Yoeli will not leave his post and Ituralde cannot abandon a man who risked so much to rescue his forces. They will make their stand in Maradon.
    • Men channeling among the Trolloc armies attack the walls of the city, blasting a hole large enough for Trollocs to pour through. Ituralde is wounded, only able to stay in the fight due to an unhealthy weave that allows him to ignore his fatigue (the men’s version of this is more effective but also more dangerous than the women’s version, which might be the most stereotypical difference between saidin and saidar we’ve seen.) Ituralde turns the city into a giant trap for the Trollocs, hiding archers in buildings made to look as though they’re destroyed and empty and using debris to channel the Trollocs into kill zones. Fighting through the streets, sacrificing buildings as they go, Ituralde makes a heroic defense, forcing the Trollocs and Myrddraal to pay dearly for every gain, but they all know that the battle is a losing one. The only distant hope is that Rand will send help.
    • Just when all seems truly lost, Bashere’s forces arrive in the city, saving the last of Ituralde’s men. Ituralde himself survived, but Yoeli fell defending the city. Though the surviving men are saved, they see that a new army of Trollocs – many times larger than what they’ve already fought – is approaching. After everything they did, the city will still be lost. Rand, now awakened, apologizes to Ituralde for leaving him stranded, and turns his wrath on the approaching armies. He Travels out to meet the army with only a few Maidens for protection. There, Rand enacts a display of power we haven’t seen since he held the Eye of the World, single-handedly destroying tens of thousands of Trollocs in a storm of fire, earth, ice, and wind that lasts only about an hour. Vram Torkumen and his wife are driven mad by the storm of light: the Lady throws herself from a window and Vram puts out his eyes. “It killed me. That light killed me.” That done, Rand’s forces Travel to Tear to find Healing for the wounded soldiers and rest for Rand, exhausted by the attack. He explains that he shouldn’t have done that, as it came too close to a direct confrontation with Shai’tan, which must only happen at the proper time and place, but he just couldn’t let Shai’tan take anything more from his people. Min tells Rand what she’s learned of Callandor: she fears that using it will make him weak, open to attack. He’s willing to accept that perhaps this is how he’ll die, but Min asserts that she’s going to ensure that he lives. Rand comments that perhaps the Pattern bends around Min, not him. Though Ituralde is exhausted, Rand takes him to see Cadsuane… who has the King of Arad Doman with her. He was never captured by Graendal, he was just waylaid by snow. Ituralde weeps with joy at seeing that his king is safe.
  • Rand
    • Rand walks down from Dragonmount awakened to his life as Lews Therin and complete as an individual. His personality is no longer split between Rand and Lews Therin: he is both people, with the full memories of both, more himself now as Rand al’Thor than in any previous life and awakened to the reality reincarnation. The dark aura is gone, replaced by an aura of light. The sun shines for him alone: I won’t mention it in each section, but everywhere he goes, the clouds break and sunlight shines down in a perfect, unnatural circle. The sun also shines on Elayne, who bears his children, illuminating Caemlyn. Rand’s presence wards off Shai’tan’s evil, returning the flavor to food and reversing some of the damage caused by spoilage. His eyes and controlled expression look like that of an Aes Sedai, which is only natural, as Rand is now the only male Aes Sedai not lost to the Shadow.
    • Rand visits the White Tower, seemingly unafraid of walking alone among so many Aes Sedai. Everyone in attendance is struck by his presence, unable to interfere, except for Egwene, who still sees him – at least in part – as Rand al’Thor, rather than the Dragon Reborn. Egwene wants to have him examined for signs of madness, but Rand politely refuses, as he doesn’t have the time. Rand tells Egwene of his plans: in one month he will travel to Shayol Ghul and he will destroy the remaining seals on Shai’tan’s prison. He explains that last time he sealed Shai’tan he did so without the help of any women and he believes that both saidar and saidin will be needed. Rand requests a great meeting in the Field of Merrilor just before Traveling to Shayol Ghul. There, he will deliver his terms to the monarchs of the world. Based on Aviendha’s visions of the future, it seems that this will likely be the Dragon’s Peace, but Egwene has no idea what he’s talking about here; she’s focused solely on stopping him from destroying the seals (to be fair, “Watcher of the Seals” is the first part of her formal title as Amyrlin Seat.)
    • Rand returns to Tear. Min already has some idea of what’s happened to Rand from the bond. Alanna recently vanished, along with her belongings, leaving an envelope with a seal (possibly from Verin.) Cadsuane fears that Alanna has been taken by the Shadow to use against Rand, though Rand’s position is hardly a secret now that the sky opens above him wherever he goes.
    • At seeing Rand, Min notes the change in his eyes, as though he’s aged considerably, and she fears that the Rand she fell in love with is gone. Rand assures her that Lews Therin was always a part of him and he’s more himself now, as Rand, than he ever was in a previous life. He has hundreds of years of memories that he didn’t have when they met, but he’s still the same man Min knows. The greatest difference between Rand and Lews Therin is that Rand was raised better. She feels through the bond that this is so.
    • Rand asks Min to focus her research on the role Callandor will play, as Rand has become convinced that it will be critical somehow.
    • Rand goes about fixing things with the people he’s wronged. He meets the Aiel and admits that he has toh and things will be different now; to start, he’ll stop running off without giving the Maidens opportunity to guard him (which we see him demonstrate in the scene at Maradon, as he allows the Maidens time to come with even though he’s angry.) He admits to Nynaeve that he’s been a fool and promises that he’ll support Lan when the time comes. He pardons Cadsuane and apologizes to her. He spreads word that Egwene is the Amyrlin Seat. Rand summons the High Lords and Ladies and looks each in the eye. Weiramon and Anaiyella cannot meet his gaze: it seems that Darkfriends can no longer hide from Rand’s gaze. He doesn’t execute them, he simply tells them to leave and deliver the message that hiding from him is no longer possible. Finally, Rand meets with Tam and apologizes, weeping openly. With that taken care of, Rand finally introduces Min to his father.
    • A bubble of evil petrifies a large area of Tear, which turns to dust at the lightest touch. Nynaeve and Naeff, a half-mad Asha’man who sees Myrddraal in every shadow, channel wind to search for survivors in the dust but find none. Nynaeve feels a profound frustration and sadness at seeing so much wrong with the world that she cannot Heal. In this moment, she delves Naeff and learns to sense the madness on his mind, similar to Compulsion. She successfully Heals Naeff of his madness without harming him. Moments later, Rand arrives and explains his plan to destroy the seals and confront Shai’tan soon, to prevent any more tragedies like this. Nynaeve believes him. She delves Rand for madness and finds that his mind is completely covered in it, but it’s also covered in light, which seems to combat the darkness in his mind. It’s far too much for her to Heal, yet when she explains that his madness is too deep to Heal, he’s ecstatic that she’s discovered how to Heal madness at all: this will be a great help to the Asha’man. Nynaeve tells Rand that she’s going to take the oaths and the trial to be raised as Aes Sedai and Rand tells her not to let the Aes Sedai ruin her. Like the other Aes Sedai of this age, Nynaeve believes that to be Aes Sedai is to be calm, but Rand asserts that “to be Aes Sedai is to be what you decide it is.” “The best Aes Sedai I’ve known are the ones who others complain aren’t what an Aes Sedai should be.”
    • Rand and Min return to Bandar Eban. Min has a new vision of Rand, surrounded by sunlight with a brilliant white sword in hand, wielded against one of black, held by a faceless darkness. The crops are healthy and the Dragon’s Fang has become a symbol of victory and hope. Looking around, she sees visions above the heads of everyone in Bandar Eban: though they are starving, frustrated, and sick, her visions are of glory won fighting in the Last Battle. A beggar approaches Rand. In a scene like something from a myth, Rand sets about appointing roles for the beggars, who quickly regain a sense of duty and dignity and start restoring order to the city. Rand goes to the docks, where the Dockmaster has been keeping the poisoned food away from the desperate people. Rand tells him that only the opened bags are spoilt: every unopened bag is full of good food. In only a day, Bandar Eban is set right and its people are mobilized to fight in the Last Battle. Rand appoints the dockmaster, Iralin, to the Merchant Council and names him steward of the city, and the first beggar that approached, Durnham, is made commander.
    • Rand has a conversation with Min in which he expresses his fear that she only sees a murderer with his hands around her neck when she looks at him and sure assures him that this isn’t the case. He tells her that she’s the most important of his supporters and could be a queen if she wished it. This seems a minor scene, but I think it illustrates how, though Rand has changed, he still has insecurities and needs support. The difference is that now, when he needs reassuring, he just asks for it.
    • Much later in the book, Rand notes that he needs to do something about the Black Tower, but he can’t risk going there himself at the moment. He sends Naeff to infiltrate.
    • Rand goes to Far Madding to meet with the Borderland leaders. He asks Cadsuane to prepare a Gateway and she tries to pretend that she can’t, but Rand recognizes most of the ter’angreal she wears. Rand also confronts her about continuing to call him “boy,” given that he’s well over four hundred years old, decades older than her. In Far Madding, the rulers each strike him, hard enough to draw blood. Then, Paitar asks Rand how Tellindal Tirraso died. Rand is shocked that they know the name, as that’s a person he killed while battling Demandred as Lews Therin. Paitar reveals that there was a Foretelling in his family about the Dragon Reborn. They would bloody him and note his restraint. They would ask him about Tellindal Tirraso and he would recognize the name. If not, then Paitar would kill him to prevent the Dragon Reborn from giving in to the Shadow. Rand notes, with horror, that if he had met with him before his awakening then he wouldn’t have recognized the name and he would have met their blows with balefire. Cadsuane notes that he couldn’t use balefire in range of the guardian and Rand cryptically hints that he would have had access to a power different from the One Power, referring how he channeled Shai’tan, but Cadsuane doesn’t necessarily know what this means. But, it worked out, and the Foretelling also states that he will break what he must break. The Borderland monarchs accept Rand as the Dragon Reborn. Rand sends for Hurin so he can apologize to him directly and tells the Borderlanders that they must swear to him if they want him to take their armies to the Last Battle.
    • The day before Traveling to the Field of Merrilor, Rand thinks on how he’s going to break the seals regardless of what Egwene says or does – they’re not the point of the meeting. He plans to give his terms for him going to fight the Last Battle.
    • In his dreams – his personal dreams – Rand sees Mierin – Lanfear – held by the Shadow and begging for help.
  • Egwene
    • Egwene dreams of a great crystal sphere sparkling in the light but held together by ropes. Rand walks up to it and chops the ropes, letting the globe fall to pieces. After Rand’s visit to the White Tower, which I described in Rand’s section, Egwene sees that this is a dream of Rand breaking the remaining seals on Shai’tan’s prison. She immediately begins conspiring to stop Rand by gathering forces who agree with her for the meeting at the Field of Merrilor. It would seem that Egwene is prepared to stop Rand by force if necessary.
    • Egwene also has a dream of a snake eating oblivious fledglings, which she takes as evidence that Mesaana is still in the Tower and is still preying upon the Aes Sedai (even though the Aes Sedai aren’t oblivious to the Black Ajah or even Mesaana herself, so this interpretation really seems kind of dumb, but Egwene isn’t the first Amyrlin to just decide that she knows the proper interpretation for a prophecy without really thinking it through.) Four Aes Sedai have been murdered already. Gawyn has taken it upon himself to protect Egwene and investigate the murders. He makes peace with Chubain, the head of the Tower Guard, by admitting that he’s only doing this so he can become Egwene’s Warder: he’s not trying to usurp Chubain’s position. They find evidence that a door was forced and Gawyn believes that the assassin is not a channeler, despite Egwene’s insistence that it’s Mesaana. Gawyn’s interference is frustrating for Egwene as he isn’t obeying her commands and doesn’t truly see her as the Amyrlin. She orders him to stop watching her door so she can lure Mesaana out in to the open… and because she has trouble sleeping knowing that he’s just a few feet away. Gawyn notes that the murdered Aes Sedai didn’t have Warders and recommends that Egwene mandate that the Aes Sedai take more Warders to keep themselves safe. He actually makes a pretty good case for this: Egwene asserts that the decision to take a Warder is an intimate one and Gawyn reminds her that the decision (or lack thereof) to go to war is pretty intimate too, and each dead Aes Sedai now will mean greater casualties during the Last Battle. Of course, Egwene won’t mandate it – she really doesn’t have that authority – but she will encourage it.
    • Following Rand’s visit, multiple stores of unspoiled grain are found in Tar Valon.
    • Egwene meets with the Wise Ones to recruit them to her effort to stop Rand from destroying the seals. She’s surprised to find that they have a new respect for Rand following his awakening, but they are concerned when they hear that he plans to destroy the seals. It’s ambiguous whether they will side with Rand or Egwene on this. Egwene also starts laying the foundation for her plan to build an alliance between Tar Valon, the Wise Ones, and the Windfinders.
    • Nynaeve has been avoiding Egwene for some time now but finally responds to her summons in Tel’aran’rhiod. Egwene asserts that if even her friends cannot respect her as Amyrlin then the other Aes Sedai won’t either. Empathizing with Egwene for being in a similar situation to when Nynaeve was made Wisdom, Nynaeve acquiesces, supporting Egwene. Egwene tells Nynaeve and Elayne that they must take the three oaths but Elayne wants to delay this until after she gives birth. Egwene feels that, like herself, they should be exempt from the trial, but Nynaeve is determined to take it and already knows all the weaves. While talking to Nynaeve and Elayne, Egwene’s wards are tripped and she finds Talva – of the Black Ajah – captured. Alviarin appears as well but Egwene easily outmaneuvers her, though Talva is killed in the crossfire. Alviarin escapes and Egwene chastises herself for trying to capture her with channeling rather than using her powers as a Dreamer, which are much faster.
    • Egwene discusses Mesaana with Saerin, Yukiri, and Seaine. From what they’ve learned, it seems that Mesaana is essentially the Shadow’s Amyrlin: “an administrator who hates being relegated to that position.” Egwene plans to use herself as bait to capture Mesaana.
    • Nynaeve returns to the Tower to be tested. She’s surprised to find that the Yellow Ajah has been treating her well and seem to be looking forward to accepting her once she is properly raised. Everyone in attendance for Nynaeve’s trial is a Sitter. Nynaeve’s test is unusually brutal, repeatedly forcing her to abandon sick and dying children and forcing her into far more challenging situations than anyone present has ever seen before. There doesn’t seem to be any conspiracy, it’s just common Aes Sedai jealousy turned to cruelty. During the trial Nynaeve eventually makes the decision that, even though she understands that breaking her composure by running or channeling before reaching the next star will mean not becoming Aes Sedai, allowing people to suffer and die for selfish gain isn’t something she’s willing to do: she starts breaking the rules to save more people. In the last test, she’s meant to abandon Lan to Darkhounds, but instead she weaves balefire to destroy them and manages to pull Lan through, finally exiting the ter’angreal. Everyone involved is exhausted and Nynaeve is severely wounded (even her braid is mostly burned off.) Though Nynaeve technically failed the trial, the decision is complicated by the fact that Nynaeve should have been prevented from breaking the rules as she did by the ter’angreal. Egwene explains that the experience really proves that Nynaeve was already beyond the trial: her experience in Tel’aran’rhiod prepared her for the dreamlike test too well and she was able to retain too much control. They narrowly decide to raise Nynaeve. In a way, Nynaeve is grateful for the test with Lan, as it taught her that, although she’s come to truly want to be Aes Sedai, it doesn’t define her, not as much as her love for Lan or her unwillingness to abandon him. That night, when she’s supposed to be in quiet contemplation, Nynaeve Travels to Myrelle and demands Lan’s bond. Myrelle initially pushes back, but then Nynaeve threatens her – she’s not bound by the oaths yet, after all – and Myrelle caves: Nynaeve finally has Lan’s bond.
    • Gawyn is frustrated that Egwene doesn’t seem to want his protection even though he’s certain that she needs him. He talks to Bryne, who tells him that, much like Morgase, Gawyn is often dominated by his passions, which can be a good thing when his instincts are correct, but once in a while he should actually try thinking. “If I have advice for you, it’s this: Find out who you would be without Egwene, and then figure out how to fit her into that.” Gawyn responds by going straight to Egwene’s door even though she just told him not to, but in his defense, he actually does find an extremely fast and strong assassin who can hide in shadows and is hard to look at directly. We know that this must be a Seanchan bloodknife, but all Gawyn knows is that, although it isn’t a normal assassin, they didn’t seem like Black Ajah. Having narrowly survived the attack, he rushes into Egwene’s room to check on her… and is caught in her wards, which Egwene had set up specifically to capture the murderer. Egwene and Gawyn have an argument and Gawyn leaves for Caemlyn, which sounds really sulky, but he really has been putting off visiting Elayne for too long; he was, after all, raised specifically to be Elayne’s First Prince of the Sword, whose duties are being covered by Birgitte.
    • The Hall meets in secret in an attempt to curtail Egwene’s power to conduct war against the Shadow, but she learns of it in time to join. Egwene manipulates the Hall into taking responsibility for managing the armies, which is mostly just a drain on Egwene’s time at this point, allowing Egwene sole authority to deal with monarchs… which includes Rand. Egwene takes this moment to propose a new law stating that the Hall can no longer have these rushed, secret meetings: each Sitter must have a chance to either attend or send a proxy and the Amyrlin must be informed with enough time to attend if she wishes. The proposal passes. Egwene continues to gather monarchs to her side. She’s also notified that Gawyn left for Caemlyn and she sends a message asking him to return (though she lets Silviana write it, not considering that Silviana would be rude.) Along with the message, she also sends Nicola and Nissa to collect the dream ter’angreal that Elayne has been making. Egwene’s scheme to catch Mesaana is to spread rumors that she’s going to hold a big, important meeting in Tel’aran’rhiod, which should draw Mesaana out.
    • Gawyn meets with Elayne in Caemlyn and they talk. Elayne tells Gawyn that Rand really didn’t kill Morgase and that he’s the father of her children. Elayne finally gets Gawyn to confront the fact that he only hates Rand because he’s jealous: just a couple of years ago Gawyn was an important person and Rand was just a sheepherder, but now Rand is the Dragon Reborn and Gawyn is stuck in a rut. Gawyn will probably never like Rand, but he finally lets go of his hate for him. By chance, a former damane notices that Gawyn has a bloodknife’s bloodknife on him and she explains what the bloodknives are. Gawyn receives Egwene’s message, rudely telling him to return, and he stubbornly refuses to go, but he does send back what he’s learned about the bloodknives.
    • Egwene enacts her plan to catch Mesaana: she has Nynaeve and several Aes Sedai hold a fake meeting in Tel’aran’rhiod to lure out Mesaana while Egwene meets with the Wise Ones and Windfinders elsewhere. Egwene proposes that they form an alliance, exchanging apprentices with one another to share knowledge and culture. The Windfinders and Wise Ones are wary of Tar Valon trying to bind them, but see the wisdom in Egwene’s suggestion. The Age is ending and times must change with it, it seems that they will likely accept Egwene’s proposal, sending a couple of apprentices to train with the Tower for a period of time, taking them back for at least a year to share what they learned, then allowing them to go back if they choose. This way, they can share their unique strengths: the leadership of the Wise Ones and the unique weaves of the Windfinders and Aes Sedai.
    • The real meeting with the Wise Ones and Windfinders complete, Siuan arrives – frazzled and singed – to tell Egwene that the Black Ajah’s attack began almost immediately. The Wise Ones stay to help fight. Battling throughout the Tower, Egwene briefly runs into Perrin. Being Egwene, she tries to tie Perrin up and is shocked to find that Perrin easily sheds the ropes. Moreover, Perrin is able to block balefire from the Black Ajah easily, as thoughts are more powerful than weaves in the dream. This lesson in hand, Egwene confronts Mesaana. Though Mesaana is powerful, Egwene feels as though Mesaana is not merely challenging Egwene, the woman, but the Amyrlin Seat itself and the thousands of years that it’s stood. Mesaana’s mind shatters itself against Egwene, leaving Mesaana in a permanent childlike stupor. Unknown to Egwene, the plan only worked because Mesaana was trapped by the dreamspike that Perrin brought. Seeing that Egwene broke one of the Forsaken, the Wise Ones note that she is no longer a child.
    • While Egwene was enacting her plan, Gawyn tried to speak with Elayne – still conflicted about Egwene but gradually coming to accept that he can live a fulfilling life defending an important person’s life without being an important person himself – and Birgitte let it slip that the women were having a meeting in Tel’aran’rhiod. Gawyn realized that this would leave Egwene vulnerable and the bloodknives would strike, so he rushed back to Tar Valon, arriving just in time to save Egwene. Gawyn manages to defeat a room full of bloodknives by putting out the candles, leveling the playing field by negating their invisibility. Still, Gawyn is left severely wounded. When Egwene awakens, she finds that she’s only alive because of Gawyn and he’s on the verge of death. She swears to Gawyn that she loves him and wants him as both a Warder and as a husband, then bonds him. Gawyn secretly slips the three rings the bloodknives wore into his pocket.
    • Egwene and Gawyn Travel to the Field of Merrilor and wait to confront Rand about breaking the seals. Egwene is certain that Rand knows, on some level, that he shouldn’t break them.
  • Mat and Elayne
    • Mat begins the book stuck in Caemlyn, as he’s unwilling to open Verin’s letter or break his promise to her. The Band of the Red Hand is whole once more, as Mat’s group caught up with Estean and the others that had gone to Andor. The Band is camped a league out of the city on unused land, which is the rule for all mercenary bands in the area. Mat has tried to contact Elayne to set up a meeting to discuss production of the dragons but he hasn’t received any response yet. Stuck waiting until his promise to Verin is satisfied so he can leave Caemlyn and help Thom rescue Moiraine from the Tower of Ghenjei, Mat spends his time drinking and dicing… until he hears a rumor that a murdered body was found drained of blood, indicating that the gholam is in Caemlyn, which sets the dice tumbling in his head.
    • While saying farewell to the Aes Sedai, the gholam attacks. With the foxhead medallion and Teslyn’s help, Mat’s able to drive it off, but not before it murders four Redarms and Mat’s servant, Lopin. Olver was only spared because he wasn’t in Mat’s tent during the attack. Mat understands that the gholam only left because it must have orders not to draw too much attention, as it seems capable of simply killing the entire Band if it wanted.
    • The day after the gholam attack, the Aes Sedai, Juilin, Thera, Leilwin, and Domon leave for Tar Valon. Mat loans them some horses and soldiers to get them there safely. Setalle still intends to find her husband in Illian; Mat will ensure that she gets a Gateway to Illian in exchange for Setalle watching over Olver while Mat deals with the gholam and the Tower of Ghenjei.
    • Ellorien has formally asked Elayne to release her political prisoners, which is frustrating as Elayne had already intended to release them, putting them in her debt, but if she releases them now then they’ll feel indebted to Ellorien instead. Norry’s information shows that Duhara has been meeting with Ellorien… and wanted to be caught, likely as a threat due to Elayne’s refusal to meet with Duhara. Elayne schemes to both solidify her hold on Andor and claim Cairhien.
    • Elayne discovers that Mat has been in the area for a while now but his letters were blocked by Norry, who thought Mat was lying about knowing Elayne.
    • Mat and Thom to meet with Elayne. Mat’s surprised to find that Elayne is actually less condescending towards him now that she’s queen: she greets both Mat and Thom warmly. Mat asks Elayne for the resources necessary to start constructing the dragons, which Elayne initially balks at, but when he explains what they can do, Birgitte immediately understands that dragons will fundamentally change how war is fought. Mat doesn’t really seem to understand the situation he’s in here: of course Elayne is more than happy to begin production, but she won’t build them for Rand, she’ll build them for Andor… and, of course, they can also be used during the Last Battle. Elayne also tries to make the Band an officially commissioned part of Andor’s military, but Mat refuses. They haggle and eventually land on an arrangement: Andor will own the dragons, but only the Band can use them. If the Band leaves, they keep a quarter of the dragons. The Band can leave whenever they want, but members must be given the option to join Caemlyn instead. As a sweetener, Elayne will find Mat a new servant and Mat will loan the foxhead medallion to Elayne for three days to study. For some strange reason Elayne explicitly tells Mat that, if he had agreed to the commission, she may have forced him to attack the rebels from the Two Rivers.
    • Elayne meets with Alise and Sumeko to discuss the future of the Kin. Some will return to the Tower, but Elayne is prepared to let any who wish to stay in Caemlyn do so. In exchange, they would serve Andor by working a free clinic, which will triage in order of severity with no regard for title. The Kin would also provide Gateways and be paid half of anything charged. Elayne urges allowing the Kin to marry as an additional incentive and as an additional tie to the world. Privately, Elayne hopes that the Kin will help Andor hold against the Seanchan after the Last Battle. She’s also considering an arrangement with the Black Tower to secure channelers unfettered by the oaths to match the damane.
    • Mat is frustrated to find that rumors about him are alive in taverns throughout the city and most of them are exaggerated at least a bit (though not by much.) Noal commiserates with the headache of being known in every tavern, which he understands… because he heard about it from Jain Charin, who is a totally different person. Mat, Thom, and Noal prepare to rescue Moiraine: Mat will bring the fire to blind in the form of fireworks, Thom will bring music to dazzle with his instruments, and Noal will bring iron to bind in iron throwing knives and shortswords. Mat saves a man from footpads on the street… but when the man sees his face, he tries to kill him, obviously recognizing him from one of the Darkfriend pictures. Remembering that Birgitte has encountered the Aelfinn and Eelfinn, Mat gets himself caught by the guards to lure out Birgitte to ask her how to beat them. Birgitte tells him her story with the Aelfinn and Eelfinn: Gaidal was tragically injured so she took him to the Tower of Ghenjei to get him Healed. She prepared, just as Mat’s group is preparing, and she managed to find her way into the Tower, which is really a nexus of portals. She explains that they feed off the emotions of humanity, with a particular taste for Aes Sedai. If Mat can reach the Chamber of Bonds then he can make a deal with them. Mat asks how she managed to escape… after two months of wandering, she and Gaidal died there, leaving nothing but the story behind. Suddenly, Birgitte feels a jolt of anger, fury, and pain from Elayne and the two rush to her aid.
    • While Mat and Birgitte was talking, Elayne was sitting, bored, watching the play, which she only attended as part of her strategy to handle Ellorien. Elayne has been attempting to copy Mat’s foxhead ter’angreal with limited success: she has created a copy that stops weaker weaves but it also prevents the holder from channeling. After the play, Elayne has a spark of inspiration on how to interrogate the captured Black Ajah: she uses the Mirror of Mists to disguise herself intimidatingly, like one of the Forsaken might when speaking to a lesser, and she Travels into Chesmal’s cell to question her as one of the Chosen. The plan works and she learns that Chesmal has been in recent contact with other Darkfriends. Chesmal also lets it slip that the Shadow wants Mat and Perrin dead desperately and that they know that Mat is in the city. Just then, Sylvase’s secretary walks in with Temaile and Eldrith at his side. Eldrith sees through Elayne’s disguise. Foxhead in hand, Elayne is able to subdue them, but then Doilin Mellar appears. He stabs Elayne and takes the foxhead and one of the copies. Elayne manages to kill Chesmal and chase off Mellar, retrieving the foxhead in the process, but Doilin kills Eldrith and Temaile before escaping. Birgitte and Mat arrive in time to get Elayne help, but not soon enough to catch Doilin, who also freed Mili Skane, Merillin, and Falion. Melfane, Elayne’s midwife, orders Elayne to bedrest.
    • Elayne has her bed carried out to the first demonstration of the dragons. Though Aludra is still working to train the Band on their aim, the dragon works as expected. Elayne is thrilled, seeing that the dragons may be as effective as damane. Birgitte is worried, recognizing that this invention will change the world, and it’s likely only the beginning.
    • Mat finally needs to deal with the gholam. He plans with Elayne and the Band to lure it out and throw it into a Gateway, where it will fall forever. The fight is brutal, but the plan works perfectly: Mat is free of the gholam.
    • After her wedding to Tallanvor, Morgase visits Elayne with Galad. They catch up and decide that Elayne will grant Morgase a position of some importance, but one that takes her away from Caemlyn so she doesn’t overshadow Elayne’s rule.
    • As described in Perrin’s section, Elayne meets with Perrin and makes him steward of the Two Rivers.
    • Elayne makes her move on Cairhien from Caemlyn. She carefully times an event to display the power of the dragons to some of Cairhien’s nobility (in particular, the most influential among them who supported Rand publicly but not privately) and arranges for them to walk in just as she’s passing her sentence on her political prisoners. She strips Sarand, Marne, and Arawn of their titles and estates, which is an extremely brutal sentence, even worse for their houses than execution and all but ensuring that they’ll commit suicide as soon as possible (recall that Rand did this to Colavaere as an attempt at mercy and it backfired.) However, rather than seizing their estates for herself, which would by tyrannical, Elayne proposes granting the estates to Cairhienin nobles… which would be very strange if they were foreigners, but less so if the two kingdoms were unified. This also sets up Lorstrum and Bertome, as Cairhienin nobles with holdings in both countries, to make their own play for the crown of the unified kingdom, which encourages them to support Elayne now. It’s a dangerous play, but it works, winning Elayne their enthusiastic support, and she expects that they’ll wait about a decade for the unification to settle before making any open move against her, giving her plenty of time to solidify her gains. She’ll also grant her political prisoners land in Cairhien, having the crown assume their debt and showing them mercy, but also further unifying the countries. Morgase praises the scheme while Dyelin fears that Elayne may be being too reckless.
    • Elayne goes to Cairhien to take the throne. Birgitte saves her from a poisoned needle in the throne itself, but Elayne does successfully claim the throne. She quickly mobilizes the people to prepare them to Travel to the Field of Merrilor to meet the Dragon Reborn.
    • Mat, Thom, and Noal go to the Tower of Ghenjei. They use a bronze knife to draw the inverted triangle with a wavy line through it, which is how you begin a game of Snakes and Foxes, on the Tower, which opens into a doorway. Inside, the Tower is as alien as we saw before, with onyx walls and white mist, strange angles, an alien landscape outside the windows, and passageways that don’t make any sense. They find that they can leave and re-enter in the same room, but they also find that leaving a room and returning to it doesn’t lead back to the same room as before. After what really felt like too long, Mat realizes that he can use his dice to choose a direction, which allows them to find their way. Then, the Eelfinn confront them. As they didn’t use the twisted door ter’angreal, they are not protected, so the Eelfinn attack. Thom’s music buys them some time, as do the fireworks and the iron they brought, but they’re hard pressed. They start stealing Mat’s dice, so he resorts to closing his eyes and spinning around to point the way… which also works. They eventually find Moiraine, suspended and unconscious, wearing only a powerful angreal on one wrist. Mat makes a deal to take Moiraine and leave, without interference from the Eelfinn. He already knows the price: half the light of the world. The Eelfinn take one of his eyes and pass out from the ecstasy of consuming fate itself. Mat’s group leaves, thinking that they’ve won, until Noal realizes that Mat didn’t include the Aelfinn in the deal. The Aelfinn come at them and Noal sacrifices himself to buy them time, finally revealing that – surprise – he’s actually Jain Charin, which only surprises Mat. They finally find the way out, but the ter’angreal is gone, so they’re trapped. Mat can’t remember how he got out last time, but he realizes that his ashandarei wasn’t anything that he wished for… unless it’s also the way out. He uses it to carve a doorway in the wall and they escape.
    • Moiraine wakes up and reveals that the Aelfinn and Eelfinn consumed much of her ability to channel, leaving her weak, but the angreal she carries is so powerful that, with it, she’s stronger than she was before. They catch up a bit, then Moiraine proposes to Thom, who agrees to be her Warder too. Mat notes that, although he can’t fight as well with only one eye, luck works better when you can’t see.
    • Unknown to Mat, Olver opens Verin’s letter and shows it to Talmanes. They’re horrified to see that Verin’s letter contained a warning that the waygate in Caemlyn is not closed and it’s not guarded and a large force of Trollocs is going to attack the city. She gave Mat the letter expecting that he would open it quickly, not expecting him to show such restraint. Talmanes looks toward Caemlyn and sees that it’s burning.
  • The Black Tower
    • Taim continues to warp the Black Tower and there are few followers of Logain left to oppose him. It hasn’t been revealed for certain, but it sure seems like he’s using Myrddraal to turn people to the Shadow, as both the Aes Sedai and Logain’s followers find that their friends seem different, as though they’re filled with the Shadow. Androl, a supporter of Logain, tries to keep the remaining holdouts safe. He goes to Pevara asking for an alliance and, having seen that the other Aes Sedai are being turned, Pevara accepts. None of them can escape, as the walls are watched and the second dreamspike is preventing Travel. Grady notices this and tells Perrin, who plans to look into it.
  • The Seanchan
    • Fortuona considers the attack on the White Tower to have gone “extremely well.” Elaida, now “Suffa,” teaches the Seanchan Traveling, which Fortuona intends to use to re-conquer the Seanchan Empire, which has fractured across the ocean. But, first, she intends to make a second, more committed attack on the White Tower with the goal of leashing every remaining marath’damane.

Alright, that’s the summary! Next up is the good part – analysis – but, the post is already over 13,000 words, so I’m going to split it into two posts so my browser doesn’t crash.