The Wheel Of Time Books - Tumblr Posts

on one hand the design of Tar Valon is super cool with the island in the middle of the river and the bridges and everything. on the other hand I can't look at it without thinking Robert Jordan Absolutely Did That On Purpose

I'm at the Box.

Ominous enough for people without context but I'll go ahead anyway.

I made a joke that Rand laughs every time something horrible happens to him, and I was thinking that was hyperbole, that he was in so much pain and trying so hard to avoid crying out that he wasn't laughing this time.

But here he is, laughing in his box. How fucking ominous must that feel if you're one of the Aei Sedai watching him and his box? You've just bundled him in there for six days of travel, only taking him out to give him water at dawn and dusk, he's delirious from the heat and sweat, he's just killed two warders in a fit of rage over Min's capture and has been beaten for that so severely that he lost his vision temporarily and appears to have completely disassociated from his body, and you've just shown him off to the aiel who you're almost entirely certain will try to steal him from you. He must be utterly hopeless. Nobody's coming to save him. After this he will only be taken out of that box to be beaten by the other aei sedai.

And he's chuckling like a loon in his little box.

I honestly don't remember how he comes back from madness during Dumai's Wells on this re-read. If it were me, no Aei Sedai would be allowed into the same room as me except to pledge their total obedience and fidelity to me. The fact that Cadsuane, the most Aei Sedai of Aei Sedai to ever Aei Sedai, is introduced AFTER Dumai's Wells feels insane to me. AFTER he has been magically violated by Alanna, after the Salidar Aei Sedai did their silly little pageantry and subsequently grew to 13 members by accident (admittedly this was a manipulation by the Black Ajah). And obviously after Dumai's Wells and the Box, caused by the Tower Aei Sedai. There is no way that Rand has a drop of trust or friendliness for Aei Sedai left in him after all that. Cadsuane barging in and demanding to be treated with respect should've had her thrown out by a gang of Ashaman and Aiel.

How the hell did we get back a Rand who went back to trying to scare off women by channeling around them so he can intimidate Cadsuane, instead of what would be more realistic, a Rand who surrounds himself with Ashaman and obedient Aei Sedai and threatens to kill Cadsuane if she ever comes near him without bending the knee to him. I think I need to keep reading a little more to puzzle it out, but I think Robert Jordan wrote himself into a corner with the last chapter of Lord of Chaos here and just decided to walk back a bit of his character development because he realized he'd need an old Aei Sedai to advise Rand. Rand should be downright hostile to any Aei Sedai who come near him without his permission. Murderous even.

Also after Lord of Chaos we get into the swing with Mat and Ebu Dar. I fucking hate the Ebu Dar arc. Hate it so much for so many reasons.