Top 5 Greatest Chapters

Per JakeBarnes request on Dragonmount.com, I’ve created a list of my top 5 chapters in the series (as of tGS):

5. tGS Ch. 50 – Veins of Gold. After descending into insanity and despair Rand finally hits rock bottom and actually thinks about not just committing suicide, but essentially choosing suicide for the entire world. He has forgotten love, laughter, joy, and all the good things that life brings, rather being convinced that existence is suffering. But just on the edge of the Dark One’s final victory, Rand realizes that life is worth living for love and at the end of the darkest book in the series we are ultimately left with a feeling of pure joy.

4. tGS Ch. 39 – A Visit From Verin Sedai. I don’t have to say much about this chapter to explain why it is so great. It contains a great twist that was not widely predicted (while many suspected Verin was Black Ajah, the fact that she was a double agent was pretty unexpected). And we get a nice redemption scene too. But most importantly, we finally get an explanation of the most complex character in the series that completely changes our interpretations of all of Verin’s actions and all scenes containing Verin when we reread the previous books in the series. For its ramifications on the reader’s perceptions of all previous books, this truly is one of the greatest chapters.

3.WH Ch. 35 - With the Choeden Kal. We get a linking of two of the strongest channelers on earth (who are also characters we’ve followed from the beginning) using the two most powerful sa’angreal ever created to accomplish something impossible. We finally get to see the amazing power of men and women working together for a common cause. And we get a chapter with more PoVs (Point-of-Views, for those who don’t know the lingo) than any other in the series, including most of the Forsaken. Forsaken that are pretty perturbed by what is happening.

2. tEotW Prologue. The epic nature and sheer scale of the series is immediately established as Ishamael expounds on how they have been fighting a never-ending battle of good and evil. Even though we’ve just met Lews Therin and are trying to figure out this world and what is going on, the sheer emotional power of the moment that Lews Therin realizes what he has done is enthralling. Simply epic.

1. tGS Ch. 22 - The Last That Could be Done. This is the single greatest chapter in the series so far for a few reasons. First, there is the buildup in tension throughout the first half of the chapter through dramatic irony. We know that Semirhage has been released and is going to come for Rand with the Domination Band, wondering when it will happen, creating tension in the background while we read Rand and Min muse on some crucial issues regarding the Last Battle. Then Semirhage finally strikes, clicking the Domination Band around Rand’s neck and we learn that it gives absolute control over the body as well as channeling – a horrifying prospect. As the chapter continues Semirhage finds the one thing that could still hurt Rand – forcing him to strangle the woman he loves. The quick pacing in this section emphasizes the urgency of the situation as Min struggles, and the parallel of Ilyena’s death at Lews Therin’s hand makes the situation all the more painful. The reason this part of the chapter is so emotionally gripping is that the reader is truly unsure whether Min will live or die – it is a complete unknown. On the one hand, if Min dies, there is no way Rand is ever going to be the same and no foreseeable way for him to ever recover emotionally to be in a fit state for the Last Battle. On the other, there is no foreseeable way for Min to survive – Rand is utterly trapped with no hope of outside help and no control over his own body. And then we get the greatest twist in the series – Rand channels the True Power to escape, something completely unexpected. To sum up, The Last That Could be Done is the best chapter in the series because it completely plays the reader’s emotions, inspiring true fear with no assurance that – oh, there will be some way out of it because the good guys have to win. Then while the reader is in this emotional turmoil, just when all hope seems lost, the situation is resolved with the least predicted twist in the entire series.

Runners-up: tFoH Ch. 52 – Choices (because Moiraine goes out in epic fashion); tFoH Ch. 31 – The Far Snows; LoC Ch. 55 – Dumai’s Wells; ACoS Ch. 38 - Six Stories; KoD Ch. 19 – Vows; KoD Ch. 26 – As if the World Were Fog (solely because I love the Tuon PoV – it is hilarious that she even thinks of Mat as “Toy” in her head)

…and far too many others.

The Dark One - A Necessary Evil?

Here is an interesting thought I had recently while rereading Rand and Moridin's fireside chat in tGS (Ch. 15). Can we be sure that it is saidin and saidar that work with and against each other to turn the Wheel, and not the One Power and the True Power? Everyone in Randland believes that it is just the two halves of the One Power turning the Wheel, and it's been said by many characters, but how can they know for sure?

In a series about balance, the True Power seems like the balance to the One Power (the balance of destruction and creation), and it seems like these two could go together to turn the Wheel as they are exact opposites. Further, one could argue that for the world to exist there must be both good and evil - that both are necessary and that both always exist. Even in the Age of Legends when the Dark One was locked away from directly touching the world there still was some evil in the world - Semirhage did truly evil things even before the creation of the Bore. And just because the Dark One didn't directly touch the world at that point it doesn't mean he couldn't be part of the turning even while locked away.

While I was reading this is what jumped out at me to trigger this idea:

"There is a way to win Moridin," Rand said. "I mean to kill him. Slay the Dark One. Let the Wheel turn without his constant taint."

Moridin gave no reaction. He was still staring at the flames. "We are connected," Moridin finally said. "That is how you came here, I suspect, though I do not understand our bond myself. I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement." - tGS Ch. 15

So, Moridin could just be saying that Rand is an idiot for even thinking it would be possible to kill the Dark One, or he could just be posturing and calling Rand a fool for being on the side of the Light. But just maybe he's actually saying that Rand's last statement is actually paradoxical - Wouldn't it be ironic if the Dark One is a necessary part of turning the Wheel, that his constant struggle to break free and to destroy the pattern is actually an integral part of keeping the wheel turning? This would certainly mean that Rand had said something stupid indeed, as there would be no way to "Let the Wheel turn without his constant taint," because then the Wheel wouldn't turn at all. And Moridin is someone who might actually know this, since as Elan Morin Tedronai he was a great philosopher and as Nae'blis he seems to be the only one who knows exactly what the Dark One is after.


This could have interesting implications - is the Dark One wanting to destroy the pattern to stop his endless part in turning the wheel? Is it just some Sysiphean task he's had, turning the wheel, and he wants out?

Quote of the Day:
"THE CHOSEN DWINDLE, DEMANDRED. THE WEAK FALL AWAY. WHO BETRAYS ME SHALL DIE THE FINAL DEATH ... EVEN I CANNOT STEP OUTSIDE OF TIME." - The Dark One, LoC Prologue