“Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made.
Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades.
What was asked is given. The price is paid.” – Ashanderei inscription
Despite cheating, the rescue attempt will be extremely dangerous. In her letter Moiraine explains that she saw in Rhuidean that while they may succeed in rescuing her, there are many paths where some or all of them will die; she even said they could all be captured for the rest of their lives. From the sheer number of stipulations she put on the size of the rescue party and even on when Mat could see her letter, we know there is maybe just one path where they succeed and down all of the rest they fail. Clearly, it is a treacherous mission. But just exactly what dangers will our heroes face?
First, let us recall one of Egwene’s dreams:
“Mat throwing dice with blood streaming down his face, the wide brim of his hat pulled low so she could not see his wound, while Thom Merrilin put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine’s forehead.” tFoH, Ch. 15
This vision is pretty clearly about the rescue since it features Mat, Thom, and Moiraine all tied together.Thom may be hurt – Egwene’s dream of him putting his hand into fire indicates that much, but I suspect he will survive so Moiraine will be reunited with her “dearest Thom.” Noal, on the other hand, may not be so lucky. Noal is a strange character – it is widely believed in fandom that he is actually Jain Farstrider rather than merely Jain’s cousin. When he speaks so harshly about Jain, it seems a bit too warm for merely a cousin’s concern. Rather, it smacks of guilt and regret. I could see him dying in the rescue attempt – a tragic figure, finding redemption by dying for a noble cause.
Then, there is the question of paying a price in order to have your requests granted. When Mat goes through the doorway ter’angreal in Rhuidean and encounters the Eelfinn, this happens:
“Fool,” a woman said in a whispered growl, and others repeated it. Fool. Fool. Fool.“Wise to ask leavetaking, when you set no price, no terms.”“Yet fool not to first agree on price.”“We will set the price.”They spokes so quickly he could not tell which said what.“What was asked will be given.”“The price will be paid.” tSR, Ch. 24
Now, why does this matter for the rescue, if they’re going to be trying to avoid the Finns? Because several of Egwene’s dreams, and even something the Aelfinn said, indicate that Mat is going to pay a high price indeed to rescue Moiraine.
Let’s look at Egwene’s dream again:
“Mat throwing dice with blood streaming down his face, the wide brim of his hat pulled low so she could not see his wound, while Thom Merrilin put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine’s forehead.” tFoH, Ch. 15
Note the blood streaming down Mat’s face – the wound causing this is likely found in this earlier dream:
“Those about Mat had been even nastier. Mat, placing his own left eye on a balance scale. Mat, hanging by his neck from a tree limb.” tDR, Ch. 25
Mat placing his own eye on a scale seems to indicate Mat weighing it out as a price, perhaps paying to have Moiraine released – the fact that the price has to do with the Finns is strongly indicated by it being immediately followed by a vision of the first price he paid the Finns – his hanging. Further, it would fit quite nicely with this statement about Mat’s fate made by the Aelfinn on their first encounter:
“To give up half the light of the world to save the world!” tSR, Ch. 15
Giving up his eye in order to save Moiraine (whom Min has seen that Rand will surely fail without) would literally be giving up half the light of the world to save the world. Quite a cleverly worded prophecy on Jordan’s part, for at face value this seems more like Mat will do something that gives up half the good of the world as Light in WoT lingo instantly makes you think of the overall good in the world/the Creator.
And so, in giving up his own eye, Mat completes his transformation into the Odinic wanderer of Norse mythology – carrying a staff, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and having only one eye, the father of victory shall summon the dead heroes to fight once more.
In case you missed them:
Quote of the day:
"In the last, lorn fight
'gainst the fall of long night,
the mountains stand guard,
and the dead shall be ward,
for the grave is no bar to my call."
'gainst the fall of long night,
the mountains stand guard,
and the dead shall be ward,
for the grave is no bar to my call."
What if, in this case, Mat decides to give up the BattleMaster knowledge, in order to ensure success? I'm not sure if that is what is meant but it seems to me a possibility.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting idea. However, if he is making a sacrifice that would ensure his success, I'd be more inclined to think that he may get rid of his eye because hypothetically it was the way the Finns could spy on him (if you'll remember he is pretty considered that they are spying, and he may be right). But part of why I suggest this is because I'm fairly set on the idea that Mat is going to willingly give up an eye based on the dreams/prophecies/Finn answers that we have.
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