wot else to do

girlfriEND

boyfriEND

everything has an end except for

Egwene my beloved........ i knew her Amrylin arc would slap but the whole sequence of her gaining control of the rebel Hall through manipulation of some archaic laws of war that no one knew was incredibly cool and well earned and built up. i mourn the show being cancelled for a lot of reasons but primarily because seeing Egwene's arc onscreen paralleling Rand would have slapped so hard. very much looking forward to seeing how the battle for Tar Valon is going to go. also... Siuan <3 that's all.

on the subject of Egwene, i really like how the narrative paired her gaining absolute power with Elaida losing absolute power despite Egwene never actively wanting to be Amrylin and Elaida clawing so hard for that power. i genuinely almost feel bad for Elaida (and then i remember everything she's done and nah she's had it coming).

i was surprised how much i liked the Black Ajah Hunter scenes! one of Jordan's best talents in these books is being able to have each character have their own moral framework and nuanced opinions that make each character feel entirely fleshed out despite being at odds with the main characters. like. obviously i don't support the Tower loyalist position, but the characters still manage to be sympathetic and acting in line with their own beliefs to the point where i'm nodding along agreeing and then they start talking about unmasking and punishing all the rebel traitors they've found in the Tower.

i'm liking Elayne much more now that she's getting more povs, she always read as a little childish to me before (definitely filtered through Nynaeve's eyes...) so i'm very happy to see her taking more of an active role in politics/leading the Aes Sedai/being a mad scientist. her gal pal thing with Aviendha is wonderful and i really love the absolute adoration Elayne has for her. i can't wait for the gay wedding Aiel first-sister ceremony. also i'm incredibly endeared to Birgitte. girl really wandered in from the dream world with everyone knowing her stories and has made zero (0) attempt to disguise herself and then gasps in shock when people start to suspect her of something.

Rand's sections were pretty good. i'm a little tired of keeping track of all the different nobles in Tear, Cairhien, and Illian, and i think the battle against the Seanchan dragged a bit for me but the worsening divides between the Asha'man and the eventual attempted assassination of Rand was very very good. and while the narrative has never really shied away from showing Rand's flaws, this book was definitely a shift from "he's well meaning but harsh" to "....oh this guy is losing it and i kind of hate him". his hubris-filled temper tantrum against the Seanchan almost destroying his own army with Callandor when it was built up to be a grand heroic moment was wonderful. and i do think his pov is interesting bc you really can't tell what's his madness and what's people actually plotting against him (cough cough Taim).

idk if this is an unpopular take or not but.... i don't dislike Perrin and Faile. i think they're good characters and they have a necessary role in the story, but i just generally find the two of them to be the least interesting of the main pov characters. i don't find their relationship all that interesting, and for all that Perrin's changed since the beginning of the story, i find him a rather static character compared to the others. i'm curious as to how Morgase's story will play out paired up with Perrin's party, but i'm just not all that excited about the upcoming kidnapping/rescue plotline. it's fine. i don't find it bad. i just... don't care that much in comparison to the rest of the story. similarly, i think the Prophet is a necessary plot device and i'm happy to explore those themes of what's basically religious extremism, but i find Masema extremely tiring in any scene he's in. so. at least i have all the uninteresting plotlines tied up together.

anything else? uhhhh i miss Nynaeve's povs. i know they're pretty light for the rest of the books but :( she's my favorite character to read from.

OH shout out to Adeleas and Vandene. Vandene's reaction to seeing Adeleas murdered was crushing. i hope she fucks up the murderer big time.

because as far as we know, the only constraints were that she couldn’t tell anyone where she going and couldn’t return to andor, so if she just. never told galad where they were going and just took him with her. technically, it would be within the bounds of gitara’s fortelling.

galad as we know him would take to be being raised to follow ji’e’toh like a fish to water. one of the main things elayne has to say about him is that his honour and drive to do the right thing is almost always at the forefront of his mind, even at the expense of himself and others. it would genuinely be perfect for him. he may not have the look of the aiel but he would certainly have the conviction of one.

plus, being able to see him and rand develop a real brotherly relationship while they are both with the aiel would make his fight against demandred in tarmon gai’don — He is not here, but his brother is! — even more compelling. the siblings he didn’t grow up with need him, and he will be loyal to them to the end because not only is that how he was raised but, aeil or damodred or trakand, that is simply who he is.

furthermore a galad who didn’t have to suffer through taringail for longer than he absolutely had to would probably have a healthier childhood. janduin would have been able to have a pseudo/second?-son he would have adored. (though i doubt tigraine would have been able to directly raise galad after becoming a maiden, she would have still been in his life. he wasn’t born when she was a maiden so there would probably be some arguing but a compromise could be made i think)

post-rhuidean reveal galad would have jumped at the idea of a free first-brother and two free second-siblings. and maybe a even near-brother in mat, who would be a little freaked out but honestly has bigger problems at the minute so kind of just goes with it. galad and aviendha would have been bickering about the best ways to teach rand about aiel culture and poor rand would just be stuck in the middle of it. galad having a little sulk about the winespring brother’s shelter and not being able to go be with his baby first-brother.