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Recapping my thoughts on: Book I – The Eye of the World

Tag for previous posts or to block: #WoT first time read

Chapters 40-47: Caemlyn & Fal Dara

I didn’t expect to meet Elayne in this book, having met her in the Amazon series only in season 2 I think. I get why they left her out of season 1 though, it’s really a brief introduction here. But I was glad to see that she’s very likable in this first introduction as well, having liked her before in the series already. 

Chapter 40 is actually filled with lots of introductions: Elayne, her brothers, her mother Morgase, Elaida… I know Elaida is a dangerous woman, and that’s exactly the impression she gives here. Meanwhile, Morgase impressed me by granting Rand the benefit of the doubt. He really behaved like a bit of a fool here, though perhaps that was simply his ta’veren-ness being at work (not auto-correct trying to change “ta’veren” to “tavern”…).

After Rand is let go we get a lovely reunion, everyone is happy that everyone is alive, and Mat gets healed by Moraine more or less. It’s a bit regretful that he barely remembers his journey with Rand. They had a lot of bonding moments there I think, and for Mat it’s mostly forgotten now? I never like when that happens, but I guess Rand still remembers it, and it was a good reading experience either way. Just nothing to further Mat’s character growth I guess?

What follows then is lots of exposition: everyone throws in some bits and pieces of knowledge, plans are made, plans are updated, and since the plot, pardon, the Wheel gave them an Ogir as a guide for the Ways, that’s where they are going. 

This together with the way through the Ways, followed by the short stop in Fal Dara, was where the book slowed a bit down for me. I suppose this is all setup in a way and necessary for the story to move on, but it’s not my favourite part of the book. 

It was interesting to get more information on Lan’s background though – although as already teased, it wasn’t all that surprising, given his resemblance to Aragorn. There is a huge tragedy in his backstory, when there is literally a whole kingdom wiped from the map by the Blight, and there’s basically nothing left of Lan’s home and people. Yet in a way I feel this is too huge a tragedy for Lan here – it’s barely imaginable, really, how terrible that must have been, how terrible it must still be, and yet through Lan’s coldness and distance this tragedy, too, remains distant in a way. Maybe that’s necessary for the character because otherwise he would simply break, and maybe it’s necessary for the reader as well, because otherwise that tragedy would eclipse the present looming danger? Maybe that’s it. It still feels weird to kind of skip over this, considering how huge a deal this is for Lan and how massively it has affected him. 

Padan Fain’s appearance irritated me a bit. How and why is he still around? Is this the Gollum of Wheels of Time, following the fellowship through Moria/the Ways? He’s a creepy character, and at first I didn’t get why he turned up at that time.

Chapters 48-53: The Eye of the World

The end of the book isn’t the strongest part of the story. It’s a bit all over the place, describes some events and actions in a bit confusing way where it’s not all that clear what actually happens, and it randomly introduces the Green Man only to get rid of him shortly after.

If the Green Man was hinted at early in the books, I don’t think I remember any of it, and maybe that’s my bad. I know Loial mentioned him but aside from that he is introduced really late as a player in this game, and his main purpose seems to be a sort-of backup in the fight against the Forsaken so that he can be sacrificed in the fight in order to avoid that the good side comes out victorious without any loss. After all, the main characters can’t die at this moment, right? And why is both the Horn of Valere and the Dragon banner here? It feels like getting to loot a chest with quest items for the next chapter, only that in games it’s less awkward if the loot isn’t necessarily connected to the place it’s found in. I mean, maybe there is a reason for all of this being here, and I just didn’t get it? Maybe it’s going to be revealed later? At the moment, it mostly feels a bit too convenient. All in all these aren’t particularly elegant writing choices.

The fight of Rand vs Aginor and eventually Ba’alzamon was hard to understand because I didn’t get a good grasp at what the Eye of the World was doing, what the One Power can do, and what was happening with Rand and Ba’alzamon. I suppose this is particularly on me, because when I reached that part of the story I was a bit disconnected with the story due to losing interest a bit in the previous chapters. But how the fight is written, jumping from this to that, makes it difficult to determine where the characters are and what truly happens and what’s only visions. After all the dreams where it wasn’t reality, now there is a fight between the army of Shienar and the Trollocs, and Rand intervenes, but what this actually connects to is easily missed. So is the moment with Rand’s mother – was that real, or just a vision? It works either way, but it causes more confusion. I hope to get more clarity out of the end in a re-read, because first going through it was a strange experience. 

Robert Jordan’s story is the strongest, I feel, when he examines what the events that have happened actually mean for the affected characters. I think Rand’s realisation of what he has done and what it means for him: that he can wield the One Power – that turns the last chapters around again. The action before that is necessary to get to this point, but this point is what brings the story full circle. This is why Moraine had come to the Two Rivers, this is what Ba’alzamon had been looking for as well all this time. The tragedy is in that moment when Rand realises and Egwene turns away from him for a moment, before hugging him. It’s such a vulnerable and raw emotional moment.

Perhaps it’s not a new trope: the idea of turning into a “monster” that parents tell their children about at night has been used in many stories, but if done well it’s a very fascinating story to tell. It has the potential for many interesting and also emotional stories: the exploration of the nature of the “monster”, the confrontation with the origin of the “monsters” as well as the fight against the truly monstrous aspects of this transformation. And of course all the emotional turmoil that brings both for the person in question and every relationship he has with anyone, past, present and future. Jordan positioned Rand perfectly in this scenario, and that continues to make him an incredibly fascinating protagonist. 

One note on this comment from Moraine though: “A tool made for a purpose is not demeaned by being used for that purpose.” – Dear Moraine, reducing any human to a tool is indeed dehumanising and therefore demeaning. It may be part of the Pattern or the Wheel or whatever, yet there is still a human being there no matter what the person’s purpose for the fate of the world is. If anything, showing some compassion surely can’t hurt? You may have had years to figure out your role in all of this, but the boy in question here is pretty young and pretty new to all of this.

Rand’s last words in the last chapter are pretty sad, all in all: “I’m going away, but not home. Not ever home.” He never wanted to leave his home, he wished to go back home all the time. Now it’s closed to him, and at best he is now hoping to find a place where he can be alone so that he won’t hurt anyone. This hurts me, and that’s how I know I want to continue reading.