Tel'aran'rhiod, or the Unseen World, is the World of Dreams in Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time. With the Talent of Dreaming, which is closely linked to Foretelling, one can predict future events from their reflections in dreams. In this blog, we attempt to sift through the mists to find the true Pattern of the Wheel.
For the past several books, the three ta’veren see swirling colors whenever they think about each other – the earliest instance I have found with some quick research on Encyclopaedia WoT is Ch. 1 of WH when Perrin sees color swirls when he thinks of Rand. The swirls finally escalate to full blown images at the culmination of the cleansing of saidin, when both Mat and Perrin know from the swirls that Rand is causing the surge in the OP – at that time, Perrin even sees Rand and Nynaeve sitting facing each other as they cleanse the True Source (CoT Ch. 8 – Whirlpools of Color).
While Mat and Perrin have been trying to suppress these images, in tGS Rand finally puts them to use. He uses the vision he has of Perrin to help him figure out where Perrin is when Nynaeve asks him. I believe this is some foreshadowing of the color whirls greater relevance to come in the finale of the series. If the ta’veren quit ignoring the color swirls (as Rand has by the end of tGS – in Ch. 47 he is even able to see both Mat and Perrin simultaneously) they should be able to use it advantageously to coordinate their actions and this could be crucial to winning the Last Battle.
Tarmon Gai'don could take place at several different locations over a span of hundreds of miles – we will probably see Rand at Shayol Ghul, someone with armies at Tarwin’s Gap, and maybe other places along the Blightborder or even scattered throughout Randland. If the ta’veren are able to see each other in their minds via the color swirls, they could carefully coordinate events simultaneously at all of these locations. This could be a key advantage in holding back the Dark One’s forces at the Last Battle.
One thing that should also be interesting is what will happen when any of the ta’veren are actually in a room together. On directly seeing each other, will they also simultaneously see color swirl images? This sounds like it would be a very dizzying effect, to say the least. Perhaps they will be completely aware of each other, almost as if they were bonded. In any case, it is unlikely all three will be together any time soon, with Mat off to rescue Moiraine from the Tower of Ghenjei and Perrin doing who knows what.
So what is causing these color swirls? It seems to be a completely unique phenomenon. TheTwo Rivers boys seem to be hiding it from everyone around them, so we haven’t been able to get any third party opinion on the matter to let us know if this has ever happened historically, but I’m inclined to say it has not. For one thing, no one had ever heard of having three people be this strongly ta’veren at the same time, much less three tied together in the way that these are. And in that lies the key to their cause. The color swirls are likely a result of the interaction of the three’s ta’veren pulls on each other. Each is a main thread pulling the entire shape of the pattern, and in turn these three main threads pull on each other. Perhaps their threads are twisting them closer and closer together and the swirls are a side effect of this – they are literally able to see each other through the pattern. Could this be related to the Karaethon prophecy: “He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one”?
Quote of the Day:
“As the Seanchan reached out the hand, Mat slashed it with the ruby-hilted dagger … Every bit of his exposed flesh was black as putrid pitch and looked ready to burst at a touch. Mat licked his lips and swallowed. Even Turak stared, openmouthed. ‘You see,’ Ingtar said softly. ‘We are no easy meat.’” tGH Ch. 45
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)
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
Having finished my complete series reread, I feel ready to address one of the most pressing issues of the later books – who is Mesaana pretending to be in the White Tower?
First off, what do we know about Mesaana?
In the Age of Legends, she was an academic, a scholar who wanted to perform research. She went to the Shadow after failing to get a job as a researcher at the Collam Daan. Her most distinctive physical attributes are her big blue eyes, which have been mentioned fairly often in her descriptions. We know that Mesaana is in the White Tower itself relatively early in the series (likely she took up her position there soon after escaping the Bore).
We have four main options for Mesaana in the White Tower:
1.She is disguised as an Aes Sedai
2.She is disguised as a Novice or Accepted
3.She is disguised as a Tower servant or other worker
4.She is disguised as some sort of Tower visitor (unlikely due to the duration of her stay)
The first time that Alviarin gets a little glimpse of Mesaana’s clothing is when she grabs the hem of her dress in tPoD Ch. 25. She sees that Mesaana is wearing a bronze silk dress with black scrollwork. This immediately rules out options 2 and 3 – a Novice or Accepted would not be wearing silk, and neither would a servant of any sort. Beneath her Illusion Mesaana is probably wearing whatever she is wearing in the Tower that day – it would be far too much work for her to change just to see Alviarin, and she cannot simply be wearing silk under an Illusion of a Novice, Accepted, or serving-woman’s dress because with the movement of the dress it would be imperfect – that is how Alviarin sees flashes of the hem of her dress in the first place.
As for reasons why Mesaana must be an Aes Sedai, that information is also provided by Alviarin - she sees Mesaana completely revealed when Shaidar Haran comes to punish her in this scene in CoT Ch. 21:
“Startled, Alviarin found herself with her begging hands stretched up toward a blue-eyed woman of flesh and blood, garbed in bronze-embroidered green. A tantalizingly familiar woman who looked just short of her middle years."
Alviarin seems to vaguely recognize Mesaana, but not enough to put her finger on exactly who she has been disguising herself as. This seems to indicate that Mesaana is only very slightly altering her appearance while in the Tower. Further, this is exactly the kind of reaction people have to Siuan and Leane after they are stilled and lose their ageless appearance – people feel like they look familiar, but they cannot recognize them for who they are. Therefore Mesaana is likely posing as an Aes Sedai and only adding the ageless look via Mask of Mirrors, and partially shielding her ability to channel (if Mesaana is a strong enough channeler that she would stand out, which is likely since she is one of the Forsaken). Making only small modifications to her appearance (e.g. just adding the agelessness) makes the disguise easy to maintain. Finally, in the prologue of tGS Graendal muses to herself about Mesaana:
“Mesaana was in the White Tower, pretending to be one of what passed for an Aes Sedai in this Age. She was obvious and easy to read; Graendal’s agents in the White Tower kept her well apprised of Mesaana’s activities.”
So if we trust Graendal to be well-informed (which I do, as she is one of the most subtle and cunning of the Forsaken), on top of our other evidence from Alviarin, then it is certain that Mesaana is disguised as an Aes Sedai.
In addition, note that both earlier dress descriptions feature a bronze color – the first dress was bronze silk while the second had bronze embroidery. This could be evidence that Mesaana is disguised as one of the Brown Ajah. The Brown Ajah would certainly fit with Mesaana’s personality as a scholar, which would make it easier for her to pretend to be one of their number. Pretending to be a stereotypically dreamy Brown is also an easy way to operate behind the scenes and be taken for granted, as Verin knew very well.
So Mesaana is disguised as an Aes Sedai, she is keeping her own face and just adding the agelessness (and therefore has big blue eyes), and she is likely pretending to be Brown Ajah. The most likely candidate that fits all of these categories is Danelle, a very dreamy Brown sister who has no friends and whose big blue eyes are frequently mentioned.
As I stated before, the dreaminess provides an easy cover to maintain, and the friendlessness allowed Danelle to be very easily replaced. Further, Danelle frequently shows up just before Alviarin’s meetings with Mesaana. In the Prologue to ACoS she is one of the first people that Alviarin passes after exiting Elaida’s study. We know that Mesaana often listened in on Alviarin and Elaida’s meetings, so this is evidence that Danelle was hanging around near Elaida's office so she could eavesdrop with either some inverted weaves or a ter'angreal.
The most damning evidence for Danelle, though, are her actions regarding the deposing of Siuan Sanche and the inception of the White Tower divide. In tSR Ch. 47, we learn that Danelle had two hundred soldiers brought into the White Tower disguised as masons. This sounds like a recipe for bloodshed – most sisters would not have believed soldiers necessary for a deposition or have expected actual fighting to go on in the Tower. Bringing outside soldiers into the Tower itself probably only made the fighting worse, and they may even have started the fighting if they were led by a Darkfriend – after all, Siuan’s warder was murdered without a trial before Siuan is even taken into custody, against all law and custom.
The best proof of Mesaana being Danelle comes from the entire deposition scene, where Siuan is taken into custody:
“The door crashed open, and she straightened furiously as more than a dozen women strode into her study, led by Elaida … Danelle, her big blue eyes not dreamy at all … Her cold rage should have sent them scurrying, but though a few shifted uneasily, none made a move toward the door. Little Danelle actually smirked at her.” tSR, Ch. 47
Danelle is acting quite out of character for a dreamy Brown, and while the other sisters seem nervous or determined she actually smirks at Siuan. This is quite suspicious. Even more suspicious is what happens next:
“In a rage she reached for saidar – and suffered her second shock. A barrier lay between her and the True Source, like a wall of thick glass. She stared at Elaida in disbelief. As if to mock her, the radiance of saidar sprang up around Elaida.” tSR, Ch. 47
Siuan never felt the shield be woven and never saw the glow of saidar around any of the women until Elaida embraces the Source – after Siuan was already shielded! This means that the shield was inverted, which, at this point in the story, modern Aes Sedai do not even know is possible. Therefore Mesaana must have done it, so she must be one of the sisters in the group that comes to capture Siuan. The only sister in the list of those that come to capture Siuan that matches Mesaana’s blue eyes and who cannot be ruled out by other means (being Black Ajah, being out of the Tower later, or having the story told from their Point of View at some point in the series) is Danelle.
Quote of the Day:
“My followers infest the Tower like an unseen plague, festering inside of a healthy-looking man at market. More and more join our cause. Some intentionally, others unwittingly. It is the same either way.” – Mesaana, Prologue, tGS
In tGS Ch. 36, Verin gives Mat a letter and sets some very peculiar rules about when he can open it. So just what could be in this letter and why does she set all of these rules? Answering the second question provides a good hint for the first, and knowing that Verin was a double agent is a valuable clue.
Let’s look at the exact rules Verin lays out for Mat:
He can’t open the letter until the tenth day after she leaves him in Caemlyn. On that day he must follow the instructions. She explains that he can’t open it yet because she might not need him to go through with the instructions, rather, that she hopes to return and take the letter back.
If he chooses not to open the letter, he must remain in Caemlyn for at least thirty days (compromised down from fifty days originally).
Importantly, the next time we see Verin after this scene is when she reveals herself to Egwene, and has poisoned herself because she could not lay hands on the Oath Rod to remove her Black Ajah oaths as she had hoped. This indicates that Verin hoped to use the Oath Rod to remove her oaths, then return and take the letter back from Mat without him ever reading it. Having Mat open the letter and follow its instructions must be a backup plan only to be carried out if Verin cannot do it herself because she is dead. It also indicates that Verin could not carry out her plan while her dark oaths were still in place. Therefore, the letter must constitute a betrayal of the Shadow, breaking her dark oath "I swear not to betray the Great Lord, to keep my secrets until the hour of my death." This is also why she had to make Mat promise that he wouldn’t open the letter for ten days – it ensures that she will be dead by the time he opens it (if it comes to that) and therefore is not breaking her oath by leaving him with the letter.
So knowing this, what is in the letter - what are the Shadow's plans that she is betraying? First off, Verin says that she doesn't think that Mat will find her instructions harsh. Now, of course Verin can lie because she's not under the truth oath, but she does usually tell the truth (probably to avoid being found out as BA), instead just using typical AS word twisting. So it probably isn't something that Mat wouldn't want to do - it could well reveal a Darkfriend plan to kill Mat, and Mat of course would not find it egregious to be required to foil a Darkfriend plot against his own life (which could well be being orchestrated by one of the Forsaken, likely Cyndane or Moghedien following Moridin’s orders based on Graendal’s thoughts about their activities in the tGS Prologue). This idea is supported earlier in the same scene in tGS Ch. 36. She tells Mat that he and Perrin are in grave danger, to which Mat replies – big deal, he’s been in danger since he left the Two Rivers. Verin next makes an interesting statement:
“This is different,” Verin said, growing stern. “The level of danger you are in … I … Well, let us simply agree that you are in great, great danger. I suggest that you be very careful during the next few weeks.” -tGS, Ch. 36
Verin does not usually get tongue-tied, so why does she seem to have trouble getting this sentence out? Because she is trying to warn Mat, but cannot tell him exactly the danger he is in because it conflicts with her oath. It seems she may know exactly what danger he is in. This would also explain her second stipulation, that if he does not open the letter he must wait in Caemlyn. Why would Verin want Mat to wait around in Caemlyn if she dies and he decides not to open the letter? For it cannot be the reason she gives (that it may take her longer to return than she expects) because if he’s waiting more than ten days and she has not returned for the letter it means that she died. Waiting in Caemlyn must be a way to try and protect Mat. She knows that if he goes to Caemlyn he will be the personal guest of Queen Elayne and therefore be surrounded by a huge army as well as a set of channelers that have been purged of BA (due to their capture in KoD after they tried to kidnap Elayne). What better place for Mat to lay low as Verin suggested?
But it seems likely that Mat will go ahead and open the letter after ten days, based on his personality. Verin even seems confident that he would with a knowing little smile near the end of the scene. Despite all he said about not getting tied up in Aes Sedai plans, he did take the letter. Mat’s too curious for his own good, and she knows it.
We can infer that Verin’s other letters are betraying various other Black Ajah and Darkfriend plots that must be taken care of by others if she dies. She may have given a similar letter to Perrin (since she mentioned Perrin being in grave danger along with Mat). In Towers of Midnight, we will find that Verin left even more of a legacy than the Black Ajah purge – the foiling of some of the Shadow’s most important plans.
Quote of the Day:
“That, among all things, is the most sacred duty of the Brown – to arm the world with knowledge. I’m still one of them. Please see that they know, although the word Black may brand my name forever, my soul is Brown. Tell them…”
Early in the series Rand has access to some knowledge from his past life as Lews Therin Telamon (LTT), but he does not yet hear the voice. However, every time he catches himself knowing something or remembering something, he freaks out a bit thinking that he must be going mad, and he refuses to accept it as a part of him. His mind can't wrap itself around the fact that he is LTT reborn and that he can remember these things - because that is something that would be hard for anyone to grasp. Not to mention that he just doesn't want to accept that he is the same man that killed everyone he loved and broke the world.
As he channels more his insanity starts to develop into a voice and personality (which are in fact based on Rand's memories of his past life as LTT) so that Rand can still see himself as a separate person from LTT. This is because he doesn't want to be LTT - he's developing multiple personality disorder from his madness. As he suffers torture in the box during his captivity in LoC the voice gets much worse and he starts talking to it more - this supports that he keeps using it as a coping mechanism and his condition progresses.
Eventually he sees this personality as so real that he sees LTT as actually being able to seize and weave saidin in KoD Ch. 19. The weaves Rand uses while thinking it is LTT in control are simply weaves coming from the memories of LTT that Rand has. This is the same as he did early in the series (before the voice) when he remembered weaves out of nowhere and used them but now he uses his coping mechanism of his "LTT" personality so that he doesn't have to admit he is the same man (and also because at this point he really is mad from the taint on saidin).
As long as he had the LTT voice he could see himself as a separate person from LTT, but in tGS Ch. 50 “Veins of Gold” he finally confronts the fact that he is the same man. He remembers the day that he killed his family, seeing their bodies, seeing Ilyena. He even remembers killing himself. And because he finally accepts that that was him, not some other guy, that did those things, the voice finally goes away.
"For they were not two men, and never had been."
Quote of the Day:
“I seem to remember dying, Lews Therin murmured. I remember how I did it. He drew deeper still, and small pains grew in Rand’s temples.”
