#dice boy

In the first book, I feel that Mat, as a result of him not having his own POV, really only has one major… let's call it a "snare in the Pattern"… and that's his decision to take the ruby-hilted dagger from Shadar Logoth. Apart from that, he is arguably being carried along by the Pattern weaving around Rand in the first book.

In the first season of the show, however, real world circumstances forced the writers to create a second snare: Mat abandoning the group.

(Technically this led to a third snare as well, but we'll get to that later.)

Of all the Emond's Field, this version of Mat is arguably the only one for whom such a plot point could have worked (at least at that point). He's already been established as prone to selfishness and being unreliable, and he's spent over a month being mentally and emotionally scoured by an artefact of unfathomable evil. Even with the connection to the dagger severed by Moiraine, I feel that it makes sense for this version of Mat to pull away from the people he loves. And here we get to a really nice parallel with Rand.

By the end of season one, both Mat and Rand have been confronted by the reality of losing control of themselves and hurting the people they love. And they both make the same decision in response: get as far away from their loved ones as they could. While there may have been some selfishness in Mat's decision to leave, I choose to believe that it had more to do with fear of what he might – or might not – do. Better to cut ties before they find themselves in circumstances where someone is relying on him for something and he fails to come through for them.

Which brings us to the third snare in the Pattern: Moiraine, for fear of what the damage Mat could do if he is the Dragon Reborn, sends word to the Red Ajah to find him. Of course, we know that Mat cannot channel, but Moiraine doesn't. So as a result, Mat ends up Liandrin's prisoner. And boy does she do a number on him in that time.

Mat is still Mat, but we see in the first episode of season two how Liandrin is trying to break him down emotionally. I'm not 100% clear on how long he's been her prisoner, but I believe Alannah says that Egwene and Nynaeve have been at the Tower for five months, so probably a bit longer than that – let's say six months. Six months of being made to feel like nobody cares if he lives or dies. Six of being made to feel worthless. Some of it Mat has probably told himself at some point in his life, but that's still six months of concentrated emotional manipulation and abuse.

And then he makes a friend in Min. Min not only provides him the first decent human company he's had in quite some time, but she also is probably one of the best people to bring out the best parts of Mat's character. One might even go so far as to call that another snare in the Pattern. Ishamael might think he's the mastermind, but even he is subject to the will of the Pattern, and Mat is still a ta'veren in his own right.

By the time Min and Mat make it to Cairhien, Mat is almost back to his old self. I say almost, because we see how badly shaken he is when Min says that he'll kill Rand if he goes with him. I personally think the old Mat would have dismissed that kind of thing out of hand if he heard it; no way he would ever hurt one of his dearest friends. But this Mat has been turned into a vessel of paranoia by an evil dagger and used as an emotional chew toy by Liandrin. He doesn't trust himself anymore.

But you know who he does trust? Rand. When they reunited in Cairhien, even if only briefly, that love and trust was there as though they had never parted. Rand accepted Mat even though he abandoned them. Mat accepted Rand even though he's the Dragon Reborn, and a man who can channel.

At this time in the books, Mat was afraid of Rand, and trying to stay as far away from him as possible. But on the show, Mat has known from the start that either he, Rand, or Perrin are the Dragon Reborn, so it's an idea he's had plenty of time to get used to. And because they've been apart for so long, because Liandrin made him believe that none of his friends cared about him, and because Rand reached out for him with open arms and was just so glad to see him, Mat is able to put aside any worries about the One Power, and just be happy to be reunited with his friend.

And that is why I love show Mat. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.