Y’all ever remember Fedwin and just become deeply sad?
If you don’t remember Fedwin was the young Ashaman that was with Min and Rand when the other Ashaman went rogue and attacked Rand.
The way his madness manifested was quite literally the most devastating thing. He became so childlike that he was a danger to himself and others. Rand being the one to kill him and how Rand went about doing so broke my heart. The fact that if he held out a little longer Saidine was cleansed, a few more months and Nynaeve discovered how to reverse the process of their already manifested madness. Just the fact that even when his madness took hold completely he was still Good, all he wanted was to protect Min, he wanted to help Rand, but he couldn’t understand the consequences and dangers of using the one power. He nearly killed both him and Min in the process of trying to protect her.
However, his death and the way his madness manifested was incredibly important narratively. It forced Rand to really think about what he had done to the Ashaman. Fedwin’s death and madness forced Rand to confront the fact that the Ashaman are not only human but many of them are barely adults, just like he was when he first started channeling, when he learned he was the dragon reborn. Rand being the one to poison Fedwin despite Taim offering to take care of it, the kindness and compassion that he showed while killing Fedwin was him finally taking responsibility for what he had done to the Ashaman. Fedwin, the rogue Ashaman, and the Ashaman that he killed fighting the Seanchen are what push Rand to take so many risks to cleanse Saidine, beyond his own madness Rand was forced to confront that he had a responsibility to the Ashaman as their creator. As well as showing us that Rand still had that kindness, showing that despite everything he was still Rand Al’thor of the Two Rivers and cared about others.
