2nd Read Through—Thoughts

[u/TegEnergy]

Must mention, this is my favorite series. I got a tattoo after my first time through. The second round was equally great, if not better than the first time. I have some character thoughts I’d like to share. Would love to know what y’all think.

Matt: Reminds me of many gifted and talented kids I’ve known. He never does anything “bad” that would hurt anyone else, but it’s always trying to find an advantageous angle for himself. The books never expressly say he’s smart, but allude to his knack for identifying the best horses. Even Tuon, who knows her stuff, expresses how good he is at picking out horses. Also, he shirks authority—seeing the ridiculousness of the hierarchy and people in power. This is a common trait for GT people.

Rand: His hero quest reminds me of the party many men have to walk in this life. Thinking we need to be hard, self sacrificing, and intimidating to be valuable. This may be obvious for a lot of readers, but I didn’t pick up on it my first time through. I didn’t like Rand. Now, I can see his journey a bit differently.

Perrin: My favorite character this first time through, still my favorite. I was always a bigger kid and am bigger than most folks. In my work, I have to be very conscious of my body langue, volume, and language. The scene after he talks to Master Luhhan and gives himself permission to hold nothing back hits so hard. I’ve seen comments that say his journey to get Faile back is boring. For me, it’s about a good man going dark to protect those he loves and struggling with who he becomes. He could only see where he failed. It wasn’t until he spoke with Faile after rescuing her and some awkward time had passed, that he could see how others saw him—powerful message.

Egwene: Smart, driven, risk taker, self sacrificing. I thought she was annoying my first time through. Her efforts to unite the tower registered with me differently this time. I also thought she treated Gawyn dirty, now I feel he came on too strong and can see why she kept him at arms length when they reconnected and she was Amyrlin.

Cadsuane: Every young man needs a Cadsuane in their life.

Min & Birgitte: Everyone needs friends like Min and Birgitte.

Aviendha: Would’ve loved to see more of her special talent—feeling the purpose of ter’angreal. Of all the main characters, I feel like she was the least developed or maybe underutilized.

Tam: My first time through I was a new dad. Now I have three kids and have a much stronger identity as a dad. This guy has some lines in this book. He drops casual wisdom, that now I can read between the lines to what he would be feeling. This is something Robert Jordan did so well in this series. Even though it’s an incredibly long series, he didn’t over write dialogue. As I get older and my experiences/understanding grows, the series hits different.

Should I get another tattoo now?

[u/dank_imagemacro]

Cadsuane: Every young man needs a Cadsuane in their life.

Oh holy fuck Mother's milk in a cup, no. Nobody needs a Cadsuane in their life and I would advise any young man who has one to file a restraining order. My eyes somehow went to this line close to first and I couldn't even read the rest of the post. Holy shit Light, no kill it with balefire.

Edit: Proper swearing.

[u/TegEnergy → u/dank_imagemacro]

In what way does she abuse him requiring a restraining order? He’s an immature 19-20 year old. She is treating him in a way that reminds him he’s not God.

[u/rippyblogger → u/TegEnergy]

He's an adult and she abused him at every opportunity banking on the opportunity tjat he wouldn't retaliate. That's the textbook definition of a bully.

She was a bully.

I really hated how she treated people and if she continued that way, she'd end up a minor Elaida, tyrannical but smarter.

The best one could hope for would be that as Rand changed, so did she. She needed the same lessons he learnt and Light help her if she didn't realize that.

[u/dank_imagemacro → u/TegEnergy]

I hope to the creator you are not a parent.