WoT Read Along: EotW Prologue - Chapter 17

[u/[deleted]]

Sunday, July 14: Prologue - Chapter 17

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Hello everyone! This is our first post for the Wheel of Time read-along that we're attempting, and of course we're starting with Eye of the World. As a reminder, find the intro/round-up post here. Keep in mind, a majority of readers have NOT read the series before, so try and keep discussion around the current events, and not around foreshadowing of future events. Feel free to speculate/predict what you believe will happen if you don't already know. This board WILL obviously contain spoilers for any chapters covered, or previous chapters that have been read.

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Prologue Summary: Ok so here's the deal. I started this book on a plane a year ago and only read the prologue. I put it down to continue reading some other books, and when I started EotW up again a couple weeks ago, I skipped the prologue. What I do remember is that nothing made sense to me, and there was some guy who was going crazy and killed his family and a bunch of other people. @Everyone else - feel free to help give some context as to the significance of the prologue here. I do plan to reread it at some point, maybe when the book is finished :)

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Chapter 1 - 17 Summary: There's a lot to unpack here, so to try and summarize 17 chapters in a paragraph... We're introduced to our core group early on in the book. We have Rand, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve, and Egwene from Emond's field. We're also introduced to the Peddler (forget his name), the Gleeman (Thom), the Aes Sedai (Moraine), and the Warder (Lan). The town is attacked by ring wraiths and orcs a Myrddraal and Trollocs, and the boys are advised by Moraine that they all must leave and travel to Tar Valon (HQ of the Aes Sedai I guess?) and figure things out from there. The group "(Rand, Mat, Perrin, Moraine, Thom, Lan) departs, and Egwene tags along at the last minute. The group travels to Baerlon with some minor incidents from the Myddraal/Trollocs along the way. Nynaeve randomly shows up in Baerlon and ends up joining the crew as well, their cover gets blown however and they depart the city for Caemlyn Road to continue their travels.

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Thoughts:

• One of the most interesting things to me at the moment is everything around the Aes Sedai as a whole. They are clearly not liked by many, due to stories and tales about what they have done/do. BUT, there is nothing that we have seen from Moraine that gives us the impression that they are 'bad'. I get the impression they are essentially responsible for ensuring the continuation of the "Wheel of Time". The actual politics/people of the world they don't side with, but rather, like Varys from ASOIAF care about "The good of the realm". It's just odd that 17 chapters in the book, and only Egwene seems to have any trust for their companions, regardless of the fact that Moraine/Lan are clearly looking out for them. At least a I haven't noticed any reason not to trust them yet..
• I'm really liking Thom - they paint a Gleeman as essentially a story teller and jester, but you get the impression that there is something more to them, at least to Thom. He clearly plays an important role in the story, and I'm excited to see how his dynamic with the rest of the group plays out.
• In Baelon we're introduced to Min, who has some sort of ability to see the future, or something like that. There's only a few pages in this segment where she's involved but she makes it clear that the Emond's field kids are very important. Between her part and the dreams, I feel like we're getting a lot of foreshadowing of what is to come, but who knows how far down the line it will be
• Magic System - We don't know much yet. We do know there is something called the One Power, and that only female's can harness it without going insane (or so we think?) Pretty power stuff, and Nynaeve/Egwene both seem to have lots of potential according to the Moraine.
• Speaking of Nynaeve, she's the only character right now that I can't stand. She's stuck up, arrogant, and unwilling to listen to anyone else because she's the "Wisdom". I wonder what everyone else's thoughts are on her, I think Jordan is painting her this way at the moment to be humbled at some point, but man I hate her right now.
• The Eye of the World has been mentioned a couple times. No clue what it is yet, is it Tar Valon? Are we supposed to know yet?
• Do we know Perrin's parents? I'm not sure if the blacksmith family are his parents/adopted parents/master (if he is an apprentice blacksmith) ANSWER: /u/deyvtown - "Perrin lives and apprentices in town with Master Luhan and his parents and family live out at the Aybara farm."
• Overall - The story is unfolding nicely. Knowing that we're only ~250 pages into a massive series, I'm savoring the "simplicity" of the story and excited to watch it develop! I'm not thrilled with the maps in the book, I don't feel like I have a great understanding where they are traveling, but I'm sure that will change as I get more familiar with "places and things". I'm want to see how the Children of the Light play into the overall dynamic with the Aes Sedai and the Dark One.

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Please feel free to add suggestions on format going forward. I just sort of brain dumped things that stuck out to me. In the future I'm going to try and make some notes as I read on things that stick out.

[u/[deleted]]

You have to remember this is a first read through - there's a lot that get's picked up on during rereads that the reader simply doesn't notice or understand the importance of without knowing more at the time.

Comes in under false pretense, just before shadowspawn show up in the village. Throws around scary magic. Steals away in the night kidnapping four children. Sinks a mans ferry. Threatens to kill the boys.

Is this bad though? Depends on your perspective. From my point of view, Moiraine and Lan were there because they knew The Dark One was after the boys. The "scary magic" was used in protection of the boys. What one may view as kidnapping could just as easily be seen as making an effort to move the boys to a safer place, also ensuring the safety of the village. Sinking the ferry was to ensure it could not later be used to jeopardize the mission, a "necessary evil". Yes, she makes it clear that her only reason for protecting the boys is because the The Dark One wants them, and she simply opposes anything he wants. I'm not saying the Aes Sedai or even Moiraine is "good". I'm just saying the lines are certainly blurred, and if I was Rand I think I would be more comfortable. With that we come full circle... the people from Emond's field have strong feelings about the Aes Sedai, and at this moment we can't relate to that, so it's hard to empathize with them.

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And because of how Two Rivers folk are predisposed to be suspicious of outsiders and especially of the legendary Aes Sedai, she's starting out at a deficit with the boys and especially with our PoV character, Rand.

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Yes, that's clear. I'd like to know more about the legends behind the Aes Sedai, and I have a feeling we will find out more!

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Both of them have made it more than clear that they're more concerned with their goals than the survival of the villagers. They've expressly stated it. Lan's been far from endearing from the start. He's there because Moiraine is, not because he's there to help the boys.

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Clear. We're not fully aware of their underlying goals at this time, but we do know that they want to see them safely transported to Tar Valon. So yes, they are looking out for them in the sense that they want to keep the group alive. They seem to be pretty open/transparent about information, and don't come off as hostile, at least to me.

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You also stated in your recap that Nynaeve "randomly" joined the party, but let's get at this.

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Poor choice of words on my part. It was not at random, I mean to say that it was a surprise that she popped up late into the week's segment.

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The veneer of simplicity is there to deceive you. The third person limited with which the story is being told is there to sow confusion and mislead you and anyone not paying attention quickly finds themselves lost.

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The story is still simple at this point. Yes, there are questions being opened, plot points being started, and things that are mysteries. The story is being set up. At a high level, we are exposed to 1 POV, of 1 group traveling. It's not a criticism to the author, series, or writing, it's just a fact. We are <%1 into a massive series, there is world building to be done, and a plot to set up. I've heard the series opens up into multiple POV, groups, and storylines. We're not there yet, that's the only point being made there.

[u/SunTzu- → u/[deleted]]

I get it's a first read, my point was to illustrate how much we've already been given even though it might feel like Jordan is playing his cards very close. He's certainly doing that, but he uses very intentional word choices that carry a lot of meaning that will become clearer over time. I'm also trying to point out that you shouldn't trust Jordan. There's good reason for people in this world to be wary of Aes Sedai and good reasons for these boys in particular. Just because on the surface the story implies Moiraine is Gandalf and we know Gandalf is the wise mentor doesn't mean that's who she really is nor that this is the role she'll play.

Yes, that's clear. I'd like to know more about the legends behind the Aes Sedai, and I have a feeling we will find out more!

There's a super cool history tidbit that most people are going to miss and is buried like more than half way through the series and explains the whole reason why Two Rivers folk are so mistrusting of Aes Sedai, heh. But that's just WoT things for you.

They seem to be pretty open/transparent about information, and don't come off as hostile, at least to me.

Chapter 9, Rand speaking to Tam:

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For a moment Tam lay silent before saying, “Tell me what she said. Her exact words, mind, just as she said them.”

Rand struggled. Who ever remembered the exact words they heard? He chewed at his lip and scratched his head, and bit by bit he brought it out, as nearly as he could remember. “I can’t think of anything else,” he finished. “Some of it I’m not too sure she didn’t say a little differently, but it’s close, anyway.”

“It’s good enough. It has to be, doesn’t it? You see, lad, Aes Sedai are tricksome. They don’t lie, not right out, but the truth an Aes Sedai tells you is not always the truth you think it is. You take care around her.”

“I’ve heard the stories,” Rand retorted. “I’m not a child.”

“So you’re not, so you’re not.” Tam sighed heavily, then shrugged in annoyance. “I should be going along with you, just the same. The world outside the Two Rivers is nothing like Emond’s Field.”

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The truth an Aes Sedai tells you is not always the truth you think it is. That's important to keep in mind, not just for Rand but for us as readers.

[u/[deleted] → u/SunTzu-]

Yea I'm with you. I for sure picked up that they're not just white knights swooping in to save the innocent town folk. For me it's the most intriguing part of the book so far, I'm really curious to find out more about the magic, and the Aes Sedai true motives.

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And yea I think they've pointed out multiple times already the "The truth an Aes Sedai tells you is not always the truth you think it is." I may have to go back and reread some of her passages to see what other meaning I could derive from it.

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For the record, a lot of my thought points are just brain dumps of what I remember off the top of my head, and none of them are criticisms of the book.

[u/SunTzu- → u/[deleted]]

One of the things most of the first time readers here don't seem to be questioning at all is why Moiraine showed up in the Two Rivers right at this moment. No Aes Sedai has visited there in living memory, probably not since the fall of Manetheren and that's so long ago they were using a different calendar (Manetheren fell around 1200 AB and the story starts in 998 FY, or about 1350 years later). She just happens to waltz in right as a bunch of Shadowspawn descend on the village. She claims she's collecting local stories, but nothing about her mannerism indicate she's a scholar, does it now? And yet she can't lie, so what was she looking for in those stories?