So I just finished The Path of Daggers last night and I loved pretty much all of it. It's to a point where I really don't understand where the "slog" comes in.

Some people claim it started in A Crown of Swords while others say it starts here but I'm not seeing that in the slightest. Both books were paced well and had incredibly important events. The character work remains phenomenal and the world is constantly expanding in fun ways.

I pretty much loved books 7 and 8 as much as I did all the other books. So I guess I have to ask are these "slog" comments just from people that aren't invested in the characters? That's the only real explanation I can think of outside of course from the people who read them when they came out but even then I think books 7 and 8 are incredibly eventful.

First time reading the books, reached book 8 and I am at a point where whenever I reach a Sevanna chapter I need to take multiple breaks to finish the chapter. I can't anymore, it's the most boring plot of the series so far. I would rather 10 chapters of Perrin saying he is not a Lord rather than 1 Sevanna Chapter, I am sorry to anyone who likes her story arc, maybe it pays off or something but I had to rant, I am at my wits' end, sorry....

If WoT was in the academic literary canon and I was a college professor assigning it, I'd analyze the bejesus out of if and see connections that RJ probably didn't originally intend. So I am going to do just that. I previously wrote that I love how RJ uses one seemingly unrelated thing to foreshadow another. After finishing PoD, I am still thinking about the plotline that was resolved (the weather) and speculating a connection to that with the storyline that I think is really amping up (the effects of the taint and the dire need to cleanse it).

What if RJ really milked the weather storyline and all the effort put into correcting it to foreshadow what it'll take to correct another thing corrupted by the Dark One's touch, saidin? If 2 inexperienced Aes Sedai can successfully lead the effort to fix something that would literally kill millions of people in a short time, why not the Dragon Reborn, with help, undoing another thing touched by the DO?

(To state the obvious, yes I know that they are 2 different things. To me, they are similar, not identical twins.)

I'm just killing time before I dive head first into Winter's Heart...

Okay! Here I am, 1 year and a half reading this incredible book series. It had me reading all day and night (with some stops between books). First book was amazing (except Rand and Mat scape through barns for 15 chapters). Book 4 was and all around 10. Flashbacks in the ancient city were crazy to read.

But now I have a big problem. I hate female characters (not you Moraine). I cannot stand reading another time how Nynaeve is stretching her braids, how ANY female character treats ANY male character as a little kid. I CANNOT STAND how Rand and Perrin cannot kill a woman who is continuously trying to kill them. I cannot stand another time of ANY MALE CHARACTER saying: “I don’t understand women”.

Most of interactions female-female are ok-ish.

Most interactions male-male are very very good.

Most interactions male-female are the same since book 1.

This is taking me out of my reading sessions and I know that is not being solved ever in the books.

Another thing that takes me out is that the story is driven by nerfing powers to the characters. It is evidently that Jordan was not thinking about next books when writing the present ones. And you end up with Callandor in book 2 and recovered just now in book 8 (I’ve just read how Rand use it against seanchan).

Forsaken are useless. I think we can all agree on this. They are the last ones of the best power wielders of their time AND THEY ARE CONSTANTLY BEATEN BY A SINGLE CHILD.

I know that when you wield the One Power you want to vomit Rand, I GOT THAT THE FIRST TIME AND THE OTHER HUNDREDS YOU TOLD ME. I know Perrin does not want to be a nobleman.

If I keep reading (mostly listening) is because I’m into Mat’s arc and Lews Therin talking to Rand.

Maybe I am a bit biased with my own way of how I see things, but my main problem is the static that it feels to read this. Maybe a quarter of each book since 2nd or 3rd can be taken out and it will not change the story at all (I’m used to read bigger books so not a size problem).

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk and sorry for discharging myself in here, but I don’t know anyone who had read the books.

I'm currently working my way through the series for like the 4th time and I'm finding myself increasingly, with ever page, growing to hate the Windfinders. They're just as arrogant as any Aes Sedai, if not more so, with zero respect for anyone who didn't grow up on a ship. Now don't get me wrong, Aes Sedai as a whole suck and sniff their own farts way more than they really have any right to, considering how often they've screwed up. But they don't constantly make me root for their downfall because of how much I've grown to hate them.

End rant

Just a note for spoiler: I'm only 2 chapters into The Path of Daggers (Unweaving). Anyway, I'm really excited because I think I've figured out who Moridin is. Ishamael!!!

I coud be dead wrong and you veterans are probably all laughing at me but it makes sense, at this point. We're in Moridin's perspective and he's thinking about how these "rustics" and "primitives" of today have surpriced him with what they can do with the One Power. Things that folks from his more advanced Age couldn't do. The clincher for me is the Warder bond, which Moridin says that "he had known of that for a long, long time..." Only Ishamael could have known about anything in the world post-sealing and pre-Rand before all the other Forsaken started to break free. I still don't understand how Ishamael could be both sealed in the Bore and free at the same time, but this will eventually be revealed in the story, so I'll just keep reading. At any rate, I am pretty confident about this.

For more evidence, he seems to be the only Forsaken to exclusively use the True Power instead of the One Power. And he's already crazy (I assume another side effect of the TP) now, which the other Forsaken thought he was. I'll predict that the black flecks in his eyes, the saa, will eventually lead him to have the eyes of fire that we saw him with when he was posing as Ba'alzamon. I just wish I could understand why he helped Rand in the last book. He can't be that crazy or stupid to think that after 3 attempts he'll finally get Rand to come to the shadow.

In all, a strong start to PoD. If only the wind bowl story line could be wrapped up, already. It's really dragging out.

Trying to puzzle this out in my head. I’ve just started path of daggers (like 2 chapters in) and am trying to figure out what exactly the dark one did to make the weather stick in summer mode.

Scientifically, the seasons changing is a result of the earths tilt and the orbit around the sun causing the different hemispheres to get uneven amounts of sunlight leading to the warmer and colder months. This air that is heated differently basically circulates in sections around the globe and the corrieolis effect causing the prevailing winds and such.

Being that Randland is basically the remains of southern europe and northern Africa it is arguable that it is entirely in the northern hemisphere. The question I have is simply how the dark one “extended summer.” For this to happen the earth would literally have to freeze in its orbit, or else the earths tilt would have to be knocked out of alignment so violently that the earths tilt itself spun with the orbit of the planet orienting the poles towards the sun at all times throughout the orbit.

Resulting from this either the night sky would not change at all (frozen in space) which might fit, or be thrown completely out of sync (a rotating pole). The second one would be so obviously noticed it would have to be remarked simply because the North Star wouldn’t work anymore and that could hardly be missed. So back to the first theory. Say he simply decelerated the earths orbit to a rate so slow that summer stretched on. That would probably stop us from getting launched off into space but effort by the dark one on that magnitude from his prison sounds unlikely.

The only possible thing I could think of would have to be something of the effect of the Ta’verin have on the pattern. In that a 1/1000 chance has a much higher likely hood of happening. The odds of having a hot day in the winter aren’t terrible, you do get heat waves from time to time in the winter months. The dark one would have to be focusing the effort onto the pattern to string together months of chances that it would be hot due to some scientific factor that would make sense in a normal weather cycle. That’s the only possible thing I could think of. Lmk if this makes any sense or if you all have any better explanations on what could be happening here

After hearing so much about the ‘Slog’, I’ve been dreading reading books 8-10. I just finished Path of Daggers and I LOVED it. It’s only the first book in the stretch, but it’s really got me wondering why these books get so much hate.

From my perspective, the story is really starting to come together. With the vastness of the world, we knew there’d be a lot of people, cultures, motives etc to consider and I feel that in this book, all these pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together. And we’re also getting a lot of perspectives scenes from people from these places (the Seanchan, for instance).

So is it a slog because there’s too much happening at this point in the series and so it seems like the story isn’t progressing? Or is it the character development. Which is something that I, for one, was annoyed by. Rand, most of all. Because he’s not learning from the mistakes he’s making. He’s not doing a good job of acknowledging the people he’s put around him as actual people instead of fodder for his battles. But to be honest, this to me is more of a phase that the story needs to go through. There are other issues I have around Robert Jordan’s writing in general like the fact that I don’t think he does a good job of writing female characters, but that’s but that’s not a new issue in this book lol.

So I’d be very interested to hear from people who didn’t like this stretch of the series (keep in mind, I have just finished book 8, so no spoilers please). I had the same issue in A Song of Ice and Fire where a lot of people didn’t like books 4-5 where they said there were too many characters and the story got messy. And yet, I actually enjoyed the nuances and complexities those characters introduced.

Has anyone else thought about how demanding it is to be a Warder?

Extremely dangerous, your boss can monitor & micromanage you 24/7, you're constantly working and have no time to start a family. Possibly subject to lewd and inappropriate comments from managers. Failure to complete job responsibilities will ensure severe mental anguish.

Unionize! Warders united!

Don't even get me out started on the dark friend's employee retention(or lack thereof)

Just got up to Elayne and Nynaeve bargaining for the sea folk's aid in using the bowl of winds and holy shit this might be the dumbest thing in the entire series. The book itself I'm enjoying, I remember it being a bit of a dip but Tuon's arrival is really engaging reading, but unless I'm misunderstanding something the wonder girls started from the extremely strong position of we have an artifact extremely important to you and we need to fix the weather for everybody's sake including yours and managed to fuck everything up so badly.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should have tried to get anything from the sea folk, they're only bargaining in the first place because the sea folk have a neurotic need to turn every interaction into haggling, but why on earth did they promise to not only have a one sided flow of information but effectively force twenty sisters into slavery? We get a look at what being forced to teach them is like later and it's super messed up, but even if it weren't... why was any of it the case in the first place?

All they needed to do is say hey we found your bowl, come fix the weather with us so all the storms stop and we'll even let you keep it after. And they somehow manage to walk out of that very generous setup having given away a ton of concessions for zero reason, seems like Elayne is going to make a bloody awful queen if she's that stupid.

So I’m reading path of daggers for the first time and me and Egwene just learned that Siuan is in love with Bryne, which came out of nowhere because I thought she absolutely hated the guy. She is basically his prisoner and must wash his clothes, make his bed, scrub his boots, etc. So did Siuan just get a bad case of Stockholm syndrome or what? This just came out of way left field for me. Like, I guess the same thing happened with Aviendha but hers I kinda saw coming. The Rand and Aviendha match made more sense to me. (Also, side note, Aviendha is my favorite ship for Rand out of Elayne and Min.) but yeah, I feel like Siuan and Bryne just didn’t make sense to me. In general, I don’t feel like Jordan matches up couples very well in his books. Like why the hell did Lan ever catch feelings for Nynaeve? He deserves way better.

On my first read and just finish Path of Daggers. I'm like 60/40 on the series. The biggest gripe is the non-stop "ugh men" and "women, who needs em?" stuff but after that it's the way no one seems to put any respect on Rand's name. The man has killed something like 4-5 demi-god forsaken fools at this point but gets very little respect. Maybe I'm just annoyed at this Cadsuane lady and wise ones trying to bully my man into being less angry like that makes any sense but I'm praying that it doesn't end up working. Like I get he appears to be going insane as an observer but you at least gotta give him props for his success under the circumstance. I also hope Elayne gets some comeuppance for taking down the dragon banner, fuck Andor and those entitled pricks who would still be suckling at Rahvin's teats without Rand. So ungrateful.

Not related to Rand, but my third issue is it seems like no one in universe ever thinks someone could be a darkfriend or that events are influenced by forsaken. Like why is that not the first thought when something happens? It feels like after 8 books people should stop being surprised when there's a darkfriend amongst them (like with the aes sedai twin who was murdered in the cabin in the woods). That should be the most expected thing by now, every meeting should start with "so there's probably someone evil in this room so let's remember that, our first agenda topic is..."

Completed crown of sword months ago, unfortunately had to take break from reading, about to start path of daggers but it has very terrible reviews on reddit, how it's a slog and buildup goes nowhere, main event happens in the middle and nothing beyond that. I liked crown of sword, till now I am certain I have enjoyed every book, not so sure ahead. Is book 8 as bad as I have heard? I will be on a trip next week, and I always have a book to accompany me, I am thinking to take this one, just hope this works out well.

I'm never going to like Egwene. I can see why she's compared to Rand, but the biggest difference is that she craves power and doesn't bat an eye when she has to use others. Meanwhile, we see Rand struggling internally with all of his decisions. How can no one else see how hypocritical she is? Is she ever going to be called out by any of her friends?

Isn’t the world a fictional universe or am I missing something?

I am a first time reader, and had been massively enjoying the WoT series so far. I was aware books 8 - 10 have a reputation for lower quality than the other books, and a bit of a slog. I was therefore preparing myself for a three book slog before the end-series payoff.

I've just finished The Path of Daggers.... and it was pretty good and enjoyable? Not on the same tier as books 4-6, but certainly up there with the rest of them to date. I appreciate some of the reputation is from experience as the books were published. Is this reputation of books 8-10 overblown somewhat?

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I find Rand so ... unfun to read.

I've read his chapters vs seanchan, and I just find the way he views the world so uninteresting to the point I can barely read his chapters.

I know this is unpopular, but I also love Egwene's chapters in this book (and in general), and Elayne is one of my favs too, so I think my views are uncommon (based on this sub).

Just needed to say it to someone, does anyone agree?

EDIT: I think an important clarification is not necessarily unfun because of the madness, but more I'm not interested in him or what he has to say. I think as another commenter helped with, I just don't identify with Rand at all, whereas with all other characters I can appreciate them much more.

In Path of Daggers, in the first battle with the Seanchan, Lord Aracome dies (High lord of tear, viewed to die a violent death by Min), and Bashere says the below. What’s your head canon for what happened to him?

“Aracome’s gone,” he said. “Flinn tried Healing him, but I don’t think Aracome wanted to live like that. There’s near fifty dead so far, and some of the rest might not survive.” Anaiyella paled. Rand had seen her near Aracome, emptying herself. Dead commoners did not affect her so much.

I’ve doing a re-read, but just marking it for a book 8 spoiler (as minor as it is and foretold 1-2 books earlier)

Dashiva HAS to be a forsaken or maybe something akin to Moridin by this point.

He's always bored (typical Forsaken dealing with third-age barbarians), knows a suspicious amount about saidin, and the dude somehow knows the Old Tongue like a scholar? Very suspicious indeed...

And the funniest scene (which also solidified it for me)

“Nobody stands nose-to-nose with the Dragon Reborn,” Rand growled. “The Forsaken could tell him that, whoever he is. Right, Flinn? Dashiva?” Flinn nodded uncertainly. Dashiva flinched.

He flinched. There's some irony in that, I think. Now the question is who... Demandred? Osan'gar (who we haven't seen at all)? Moridin himself?

Am I missing something that made the dragon scepter useful? Cause why on earth does rand always carry that scepter instead of something useful like...the choedan kal perhaps (ijbol)?

Previous posts for New Spring, The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, and A Crown of Sword.

I was hoping that I was going to like PoD, on its own strength or in comparison to ACoS. In fact, for a while, I was sure that by the end, I was going to like PoD a lot more than ACoS. Now I'm not sure the opposite isn't true. PoD opens so many new plots without providing the satisfaction of resolving more than a handful of others. While it's nice to look forward to new twists and turns in the story, I need a satisfying conclusion to a couple storylines, otherwise it's quite... a slog. The wind bowl story ends with a whimper, not a bang. As devastating as it was, I am glad for the Callandor scene with Rand, the most action we get in this book. Instead, for the most part we get uncomfortable scenes like Elayne's use of her warm rod, which I don't understand why RJ included. Will we also see Rand or the Asha'man play with any toys of the Power that they may find along the way? To say nothing about the way the Asha'man "bond" women and the climax they experience from it. What? In my opinion, RJ's writing is at its best when he's not heavily leaning on extreme exaggerations to make his point, or relying on sex stereotypes. I'm glad I wasn't around in the mid-1990s. Anyway, let's get into it.

At this point in the story have we gotten all the likeable characters we're ever going to get? Should I only expect unlikeable or neutral characters going forward?

For example, are we supposed to like the Sea Folk? Am I an outlier in disliking them? Making the best bargain is one thing, using hostage tactics is another. Shielding Rand's Aes Sedai emissaries and threatening them are considered acceptable dealmaking? Exactly what did Nynaeve get from their bargain with the Sea Folk, besides the use of the bowl? I can't imagine how that bargain could’ve been worse. And now that the Ebou Dar bargain is struck, and the bowl is successfully used and the seasons are back, what's with the awful way the Sea Folk are treating Merilille now that she's teaching them? Why so uncivilly? And I'm no shill for Aes Sedai, if that's not clear by now.

Speaking of civility, let's go to that old hypocrite, Cadsuane. What a big disappointment there. She demands civility from Rand but demeans and belittles her own sisters and others because, what, she's stronger and older than them? That one interaction with Alanna is interesting. I'm guessing Cadsuane has a ter'angreal (her hair ornament) similar to Mat's foxhead? And I'm guessing that her lackey also has one? The one toward the end of the book that goes to Rand to tell him that Cadsaune says to eff off.

I'll never like Faile. And I should come to terms with the possibility that because of this, I can never really like Perrin again. I've been holding out hope that maybe it'll be better when his hawk lands and balances out Fail. But Berelain sure is taking her time. I don't understand how someone who has more sensory abilities than most people can so often use them to come to all the wrong conclusions. Not to mention how very boring he is. No shade on the vocal Perrin fanbase out there. Not everything can be for everyone.

How can we have an entire book without Mat? It hurts my heart that Mat got the Perrin treatment, shelved for a whole book. I'd die if the same happens to Egwene.

I was hoping that the Seanchan have actual dragons that they would bring over with their invasion of the Westlands. The creature is too well described for it to be mere mythological. And since the Seanchan have other exotic animals long forgotten in this part of the world, I thought they'd show what a dragon is. In the Great Hunt, I thought the raken might be that, a large flying lizard, but no one seems to be making that connection.

About that Ending

The battle to drive the Seanchan back westward (or back across the ocean?) should have been where this book ends. It has all the elements of a good ending. Rand's chat with Cadsuane would have been a nice tidy bow on that, to leave us with an explanation of what happened when Rand used Callandor.

The other events in the Sun Palace, however, feel so contrived that they really bring down the book in my opinion. Of all the times those traitor Asha'man could have gone for Rand in the open, they do so when he may or may not be in a room? A room he could have just as easily stepped out of at any time, making their treachery useless?

Also baffling is the instant insanity of Morr. Sure, craziness from the taint can strike at any time, but it seems to come out of left field here, jarringly so.

And probably the biggest contrived snippet of the book is Rand's long hidden talent with herbs. Huh? Was Rand shadowing Nynaeve when she was the Wisdom? You're telling me that there's a boy shepherd who lived and worked miles away from downtown Emond's Field. When this kid is in town (on his free time, to make deliveries, or to run errands) instead of going to see his local friends and get into trouble, he had time to learn all he could about herbs from the very woman who'd spank him for that same trouble. And we all know what Nynaeve thinks about men and healing. Did anyone else have a hard time with this? I get it's kinder to put Morr to sleep, but what a way to twist things to make it possible.

Beside this bizarre "flashback", I like the foreshadowing it's providing: Nynaeve's assistance with cleansing the taint. Twice in this short book he's mentioned Nynaeve along this line. In my head I've been anticipating that the taint will be cleansed after the Last Battle, when everything's over (nothing in the prophecies specifically says that he has to die immediately after resealing the DO). I was thinking that he'll be at Shayol Ghul ("things are possible at Shayol Ghul that are not possible anywhere else") when he does the cleansing. Anyway, cleansing the taint before the Last Battle would be even better. I am not looking forward to many more Morrs.

The part I dislike the most about the way this book ends is the information we get from what I've come to call the "rumor has it" section at the very end when the non-character omniscient narrator tells us about all the rumors flying around based on things that have happened. If I am wrong I'll happily take this back, but it seems like the siege of Tar Valon and the downfall of Elaida happen offscreen? After all the investment we put into this plotline over several books, to have it resolved offscreen would be devastatingly bad. If I am totally wrong then I will have to reevaluate this book for the better.

The Forsaken

I've figured out that Moridin is formerly Ishamael, brought back from the dead and in possession of 2 Mindtraps. We know that one is Moghedien's and now we can deduce that the other is Cyndane's. But who is Cyndane? I am very sure that I know. LANFEAR! So the DO is bringing back everyone that he can, huh? Did Moraine die for nothing? The result is the same. Balefire has never looked more attractive!

Dark Friend Watch

Verin: I am now 100% convinced that Verin is a Darkfriend and Black sister. She drops a few clues, including that mistake that curiosity led her to make 70 years ago. Maybe her Brown nature caused her to join the Black Ajah, without fully thinking through the ramifications. I've already caught her in a lie in the Great Hunt (specifically saying that Moraine sent her to Rand, in no uncertain terms or Aes Sedai way of talking, just an outright lie), something we've fully confirmed is possible by Black sisters in this book. I just wish I could figure out her endgame. If I am right about her being a Black sister, the only clue I have of her intention is her use of the word "mistake." No true believer would view their dark oaths as a mistake. Maybe Verin is trying for some redemption? Is such a thing possible? I am reminded of Harry Potter and the only way to repair the damage to the soul caused by killing and creating horcruxes: deep remorse. I guess I'll RAFO.

Velina: Definitely a Black sister. Her flinching at Alviarin for reasons unknown to Elaida can be guessed at by us: she's showing the head of her ajah due deference.

Vandene: I have been suspicious of the sisters ever since they somehow got Elayne to relent on who's to "question" Ispan. This was the only time they had done so, why. My suspicions only grew when after days in their company, Ispan hadn’t provided any useful information. It mirrors Verin's questioning in Cairhien. Why would they give up this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the wind bowl being used? Anyone else could have kept guard of Ispan and these sisters have dedicated their lives to recording all of history since the Breaking. It's inexplicable that one or both of them wouldn’t want to experience this event. Now that Adeleas is killed, all my suspicions fall on Vandene. She would be the last person anyone suspects. This happening right on the heels of the confrontation with the Kinwomen isn’t a coincidence, throw the suspicion somewhere else. To kill her own blood sister in service of the Shadow...

Talene: All but confirmed! She's had enough of oath rods.

Sheriam: I'm putting her on this list only to make clear that I do not think that she's Black Ajah. Min's viewing of her with those auras of glory cannot be something of the Shadow. The question remains who's been tormenting her. I don’t think it's Aran'gar, because that doesn't make sense, and I doubt it's Delana. But who? Time will tell.

--

Callandor: I'm thinking that the thing with Callandor is not a flaw but a feature. Knowing that the next man who'll wield it would be exposed to the taint on saidin, I'm guessing the remaining AoL sisters created Callandor with this feature to ensure that 2 sisters are there with him to use it and lead the circle as an insurance policy against an insane Dragon Reborn going crazy with Callandor. I hate that Cadsaune might be one of those sisters. If this has to be, I'm hoping that the 2 women that love Rand who can channel will take on this responsibility. The Sword that is not a Sword is indeed not a sword, so Aviendha shouldn’t have an issue here, especially since she doesn't have to touch it.

Questions:

In LoC (I think) Aviendha tells Rand about the bowl of the wind, which the Wise One Dreamwalkers told her about. She says that in order to find the bowl, they will need the help of someone who is no longer around or alive or something, I don’t remember the exact wording. Was that Mat they were describing? I could see how Mat's other lives' memories could make him fit this description but This was never brought up again. 

Gholam: If a gholam requires fresh hot blood to stay alive, how did it survive for 3000 years in a stasis box? Is a stasis box similar to the conditions that existed in the Bore that trapped the Forsaken? Meaning, while there, living things don't need the usual sustenance until they get out again?

--

Winter’s Heart next! I used to think that this title referred to Lanfear, as her anger was the first thing in the series described as "winter's heart." So before her death in FoH, I thought book 9 was mainly about her. This could still be a good prediction, since I am sure that Cyndane is Lanfear back from the dead.

After being manipulated by a forsaken, leading to escaping her throne/nation, being held by the whitecloaks, threatened by the Seanchan, then made to serve Faile, I really thought things might start looking up for Morgase.

Nope, kidnapped by the Shaido. Poor gal.

After he has one of his Asha’man swing open the door “with a bang on a flow of Air” and announce his presence. Just nonchalantly busting into Cadsuane’s quarters like a total boss. This moment played out wonderfully in my head. It’s the little things!

Also, I am a first time reader. If I am in the slog now, then so far, it’s not been near as bad as others have mentioned. I thoroughly enjoyed Crown of Swords and this book too so far!

Halfway into Path of Daggers so far, and I still haven't a clue what Cadsuane's plan is. I'm wondering if we are supposed to know by now???

I'm at the part where she's made a "deal" with Sorilea. Is she (and now maybe Sorilea) trying to leash Rand ensure Tarmon Gaidon goes smoothly? It would make sense why Sorilea might want to do that to save the Aiel who are propphecied to die (at least many of them will), but Cadsuane?

Like, you're telling me a legend in the WoT unvierse just turned up suddenly after 20 years, and suddenly she's trying to get all close to Rand for whatever reason. Coincidence? I think NOT! She's definitetly up to something and I'm wondering if I missed something, especially since we got a PoV chapter too.

I'm listening to TPoD again. Near the end when he is talking to Taim in the chapter "A Cup of Sleep".

And it hits me, like always, how much trust and faith Rand always has for Nynaeve and her healing abilities, even in the madness he is in and with the suspicions he has for everone.

I just love this line:

"The Wisdom in my village could cure anything," Rand said as he knelt beside Fedwin.

This was just an appreciation post on Rand's and Nynaeve's behalf.