#nonreader

[evilphrog]

Watching Wheel of Time without reading the books: Season 2 Episode 3

Rand gets Pretty Womaned. Perrin has to once again make a choice between the hammer and the axe, and once again lets someone else make that choice for him. Nynaeve is missing, presumed dead, until she literally breaks the laws of physics to get back home because nobody tells her what she can and cannot do, not even reality. Egwene never stops believing in her. Mat escapes with the psychic bartender, but it was actually all orchestrated by the biggest bitch on the wheel.

Rand is the personal attendant to the False Dragon, who is now more of a lizard. He desperately begs to be taught how to control his powers before he suffers the same fate, but Lizard was never all that empathetic to begin with, and now he is actively suicidal. He agrees to teach Rand everything he knows, at the price of some fancy wine. Rand knows exactly how to earn that, and turns on the charm for his landlady. Selene really skeeves me out, for more reasons than just the predatory relationship with a barely legal guy who is clearly very mentally ill. I think it is the way she keeps trying to pretend this is more than a transactional relationship? The way she plays at romance, while still reminding Rand at every turn that she holds all the power? The way she pouts at him when he refuses to play along? I don't know, maybe she just has a sinister personality.

She gets him the wine, and an invitation to a dinner. He makes friends with some older lady who looks like Moiraine in disguise, who snarks at him about how much rich people suck. Okay, Not!Moiraine, way to hypocrite all over the place. Anyways, Rand is incredibly upset to realize the lady that has been preying on him is also preying on other desperate souls, so he runs off to Lizard. Lizard approves of the wine, and delivers the entirety of his advice: accept the madness and eventual death, because there is no way to avoid it. He then returns home where his landlady assaults him, and then they bang. Or maybe he just fell asleep and had a sex dream/hallucination. Either way, he accidentally Mannels, and burns down her inn. She rushes from the flames to find him, and I still get the feeling she's just Off.

Perrin and his friends have all been captured, except his Wolf Buddy who looks like Discount Heimdal. These are apparently the Seachan I have heard so much about. I now realize it is pronounced Shaun John, not See Chan. If there are no special effects from here on out, at least the rest of the budget was well spent on the Shaun John costumes. They are creepy as hell. Nancy Reagan is with them for reasons yet to be explained, and he keeps checking out Perrin. They take the Eyepatch guy up to force him to swear fealty to their throne, and immediately kill him when he refuses. Everyone else submits without question, though Perrin is still angry about it.

At some point he must have been knocked unconscious, because he wakes up alone, chained up in a carriage with Nancy Reagan. This dude is playing jumprope with the line between sweet grandfather and sexual predator. He wolf-baits Perrin, and comes out as the Dark One, which is still a lie. Perrin asks what he wants with him, and Nancy leans in like he is about to kiss him, and says he wants Perrin to be his. GAAAAAAYYYYYY. Heimdal and the wolves break Perrin out, and Perrin wants to rescue the others. Heimdal has another plan. Run away. Perrin follows along, but I sense some complaining in his future. He hates the choices other people make for him, but goes along with them because he still can't handle the thought of being responsible for another major mistake after his last one. Someone should tell him that choosing to follow orders is still a choice, and he is still responsible for the consequences of his choice. I fear he is going to find that out the hard way.

So onto Nynaeve, the heavy hitter of the episode. She is presented with an opportunity to walk through the swamp three arches, where she will face her greatest fears without even the force one power to protect her. If she succeeds, she will become a true Jedi master Accepted Aes Sedai. Her three greatest fears are really all the same fear. Watching people she loves suffer and die and choosing to leave them to their fate rather than fighting to save them. First up is her parents, then the Two Rivers folk, and finally, a brief flash of visions that end with her covered in blood. That last one haunts her so badly that she chooses to leave the tower, run away with Lan, and PSYCH! She was in the arches the entire time. She didn't even notice the archway return for her.

When the arch lit up and faded, the head Aes Sedai all realize she has been lost forever. The Principal of Novice School wallows in guilt, but has enough left over to remind JK Rowling that her self-righteousness won't actually wash away the blood on her hands. JK actually seems to feel shame, which I wasn't sure she was capable of before. She is suddenly more complex than the cardboard cutout lunch room bully she has been up until now. No more likeable, but painfully realistic with her ability to justify any and all actions as a defense against the deep self-loathing she can't afford to face. We all know someone like this. Someone so dedicated to their cause that they can't see the fact that they have become the exact thing they claim to fight against. In this case, She Woman Man Hater, Protector of Girls Everywhere has manipulated and murdered a young woman by treating her as a tool to power, rather than a person. But she doesn't have a penis, so she must still be Good. Right? Right? Her shields are failing. I wonder if she thought she loved Nynaeve, in whatever way her shriveled husk of a soul could comprehend love.

Egwene has recovered from her self-pity sleepover with Elayne, and is committed to appreciating Nynaeve a lot more. She goes to wake her up for school, but finds the Principal there instead. Principal stiffly and woodenly informs Egwene of Nynaeve's death and then walks out, in a way that seems cold to Egwene, but like she is inches from breaking down sobbing to the audience who saw her earlier performance. Elayne tries to comfort Egwene in her sincere, awkward way, but Egwene has just lost her final tie to home, and is not ready to pour her heart out to someone she met yesterday. Read the room, Elayne. Not that you have ever had this skill. Aren't princesses supposed to get etiquette training? She must have failed that class.

JK Rowling does find a way to blame a man after all. She WOULD have prepared Nynaeve properly, if only she hadn't been stuck tormenting Mat for no real reason except that she likes manipulating people. It is really all his fault, for being so manipulable. She releases him, after delivering a scathing rant about her own insecurities projected onto him. Someone in that room is certainly an insidious coward who mistakes their own moral failings for cunning and wallows in self pity. He and Min make a run for it, but Min goes back for a quick chat that serves no purpose except to let us the viewer know she's been working with JK all along.

Egwene goes to the arches, and pours everything she has into opening the archway for Nynaeve, but it just isn't enough. Elayne comes by for a second attempt at comfort. She is able to convince Egwene to stop trying to kill herself by overchanneling at the arches, but promises to sit with her until she's ready to leave. Maybe she CAN learn how humans work after all.

Nynaeve, meanwhile, has been living peacefully in a fantasy similar to Rand's. She and Lan are happily married, with a rambunctious daughter. They live in the Two Rivers with Mat and Perrin, and get letters from the Powerful and Amazing Egwene Sedai. After many happy years, however, her home is invaded by trollocs. She has to hide her daughter in a cellar, while she tries to fight, in a clear parallel to her own memories of losing her parents. The adults do their best, but Mat, Perrin, and Lan all die brutally within seconds of each other. Nynaeve rages so hard that she channels inside the arches. Okay, I understand. Her biggest fear is that being an Aes Sedai will keep her from protecting her loved ones because her duty will come first. She has overcome it by realizing that her power is the one thing that could have saved them all. But now for the final test. Her daughter comes upstairs for a hug, just as the archway appears. Nynaeve knows she must walk through, but she can't abandon her child to her fate. So she gathers up the girl and rushes through, only to emerge empty-handed and covered in blood to a shocked Egwene, who hugs her as she cries. Was that life ever actually real? Is there a world out there where a little girl closed her eyes and trusted her mother to carry her to safety, only to end up helpless and alone against a horde of monsters and the corpses of her family? Nynaeve will never know. Congratulations on becoming an Accepted, and on never knowing peace again.

Other episode reviews

[fieriframes]

[A man wearing a suit and tie, caption: Only the nonreader fears books.]

[fierifiction]

Only the nonreader fears books. When a book is reviewed, it's read aloud. As a matter of fact it might be a real story. As a matter of fact an author could do a big press-release about something that doesn't exist. But, as we'll see, even a little bit of reality could be just enough. This concept applies to many books and their reviews. An author has a book review, or review, which is a form of content for the reader.

[dairyorangeugligrapelemonya-blog]

Illiterate Immortals

Hey, buddy.  I hear you're immortal.  Have you read any good books lately?

Nah, who has time for that? -- Illiterate Immortals quote.

[defendersofspaceandtime]

OK HERES MY PROMPT Pidge getting severely injured in an explosion. Lance is carrying her to the blue lion and picks Green up to get her back to the castle. Before they can get to the castle he glue lion in shot and the power shuts off. They slip out of the wormhole and fall into the remains of a broken planet. No connection to the castle. A paladin struggling. And two down lions.

Oooh~ I’m digging it~

I hope you enjoy!

(dark)

——————————

“Do…Do you…r-remember th-the uni-universe be…being th-this big?”

  Lance, slightly relieved at the sound his friend speaking, merely replied with a shake of his head, his hands inspecting the gaping, open wound that sat in Pidge’s abdomen. Pidge winced, sucking in more air as Lance’s nimble, steady hands continued to prod- Pidge had paid it no mind, however, even though continued to whisper and mutter apologies. 

   He tried not pay attention to the fact that his friend’s blood was all over his hands. Shards of metal, shrapnel, bits and pieces all over...

   It wasn’t working. 

   The young man worked with his hands so expertly, he could rival that of any practitioner of medicine for ages to come. It was a boon…

“Youch!”

…and a bane.

“L-Look at it…at it all, L-lance…” Pidge whispers softly, their face paling with every given moment, “It’s…” Their voice was getting softer, “…p…pretty…”

   The blue paladin kicked himself into action, his heart practically stopping with fear, “H-hey, Pidge…come on, don’t fall a…asleep on me now, okay?” 

   It took a few terrifying, heart-stopping moments before the wounded warrior opened their eyes- but just slightly. 

   And Lance took those words that were to grace Pidge’s lips as a promise for that dark, and dreary night:

“…Okay.” 

-

  The glow of the fire was the only thing that kept his friend warm. 

  His hands were red and raw, warm and stinging; it took many failed attempts at starting a fire, but he got it to work in the end. 

   Orange light danced across the cliff’s edges. The grey-blues of the abandoned world were met face to face with its complement.

   The fire popped, crackled, smoke drifted steadily through the air, dissipating into the night sky, in all of its bluish hues. Lance sat with his knees up, his arms at his sides, and a thoughtful frown with a gaze in the fire. 

   Pidge coughed, hacking up the bile that had placed itself in her throat, 

“G-God…fucking dammit-”

“Are you alright?” Lance says quickly, he bit his lip from quivering, “Pidge?”

   Pidge laughed ruefully, though it came out as more of a strained cry, 

“I’m…I’m tired, Lance,” 

“Yeah? Me too,” Lance doesn’t think twice about the sorrow that lay hidden in their words, for his mind was on other matters, “I’m thinking that if he head up that cliff in the morning, we could see what’s up there-”

“N-no,” 

    The tired, drained Lance was slightly startled, taken aback by Pidge’s words, 

“What?”

    And then the tears fell. 

   Slowly rolling down Pidge’s face, the cries of one such child were being well heard now, 

“I’m...tired. I...I don’t want this anymore...” Pidge hiccuped as they sobbed, grasping their sides in pain, 

“WHAT IS THIS?!” They screeched, their voices raspy, and raw, “WHY, LANCE?! WHY?!” 

   Jumping back, Lance was shocked by Pidge’s sudden, unexpected outbursts- his heart practically bursting with sympathy and melancholy. He licked his lips, calming and himself and attempting to reason with them, 

“Pidge-”

“MY NAME IS KATIE!” She screamed, though her sobs were directed at the stars, 

“My name...My name is Katie! A-a-and I-I-I...”

   Katie stuck her scratched up face into her bloodied hands, 

“...I don’t know...what to ...do a-a-anymore.”

   And then swiftly, gracefully, she slumped over. Her body no longer moving, her face still red and blotchy from crying. 

  The panic set in swiftly, as Lance practically jumped through the fire to get to her, 

“Katie? Katie?!” 

   Lance’s voice was cracking, his hands shaking, as he picked up the small, fragile girl in his arms, 

“K-Katie...please...please don’t do this...”

    He couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead. 

    His throat felt constricted, his mind ceasing all thought. 

    His mouth, however, continued to plea,

“K-K-Katie...? Pl...please...”

“Do...don’t...-eave...”

“I...-n’t...alone.”

The glow of the fire that night was the only thing that kept him warm.

[evilphrog]

Watching Wheel of Time without reading the books: Season 2, episode 2

I am going to have to post this as half a review again. I had a lot of feelings, and I am never going to get around to watching the rest of the episodes if I don't just post what I have. I still haven't covered the Moiraine or Perrin plotlines, but believe me when I say I adore them also. You can read about the rest of them below.

We finally get to see what Rand has been up to all this time: having nightmares about hurting everyone he loves, and whoring himself out for room and board. It’s like he got separated from the group and immediately thought “What would Mat do in this situation?” He is also working as an orderly in a mental hospital. Ah yes, I see. He needs to prove the intrusive thoughts wrong, by being extra caring and kind. Someone should let him know that command hallucinations are not a predictor of violence on their own, and one of the best protective factors is having a robust support network that keeps you grounded in reality. In other words, he should be doing the opposite of what he has done. But that’s Rand. His head has never contained any thoughts except “Gee I sure love my friends and family” so it was the perfect place for Nancy Reagan to move right in. Just a big house with five bedrooms, cathedral ceilings, and only two cardboard boxes stuffed in one corner of the garage. The first was labeled “willingness to do anything for my loved ones” and the other was labeled “nuance.” The second box was empty. This will not go well for him.

He’s been caring for a man who survived the Aiel wars, and got some serious PTSD from it. He’s a sword master, and has been teaching Rand some proper forms. Too bad some absolute caricature of a douchebag working at the hospital likes to pick on him for no reason. Rand responds in the way every mental health worker witnessing an abusive staff member dreams of. He calms the patient, finishes out his shift, then follows him home and beats the shit out of him. But whoops, he underestimated his Manneler strength and maybe killed the guy instead. It’s hard to know for sure, since Rand has some major hallucinations going on most of the time. I feel for him here. In Rand’s mind, he was standing up to a bully as his equal. But Rand has no equals. He is quickly realizing that no fight involving him will ever be fair.

Douchebag fails to show up for work, so Rand gets promoted to the garden, where all the famous patients hang out. And his first patient of the day is Logain, the false dragon. Dun dun DUN!

Meanwhile, at the White Tower, Nynaeve is busy being wooed by an increasingly desperate JK Rowling. Unfortunately, her main selling points are gender supremacy and pre-crime. The fascism isn’t even thinly veiled, she just comes out and says it. Nynaeve isn’t interested. JK needs to change her sales pitch. To cope with the rejection, she goes and torments her pet Mat for a bit. He tolerates it, and as soon as she is gone, continues his Shawshank Redemption plan. He eventually succeeds in tunneling through his wall, only to discover another cell. At least this one comes with company in the form of Min, the psychic who bailed on the final battle. Once in the presence of another human, Mat’s charm immediately returns. Thank the Light. I like New Mat after all. He wants to know how Min ended up in Aes Sedai Jail (because she’s a girl), but Min has no clear answers for him. She does have wine, though, so now he has a drinking buddy. He offers to also be an orgasm buddy, but she has a vision of him stabbing Rand with the cursed dagger, which is a major lady boner killer. The rags and prison smell are probably also a factor.

A new girl has moved in to Novice school. Obnoxiously, with all her furniture blocking the hall. Egwene goes up to yell at her, and I get to meet Elayne, the girl everyone has been screaming about since the promo photos dropped. First impressions of Elayne: I want to hate her, but I just can’t. She is naive, but earnest. She’s very excited to be “just like everyone else” but can’t help mentioning that she’s the princess three times per conversation. I have to hand it to the actor. This character could very easily be played as condescending and out of touch. But instead, her sincerity bursts out of her with such force that I can’t help but like her. She latches onto Egwene like a lovestruck koala and never lets go. She propositions her in the first conversation, and says she hopes they become soulmates. Egwene is redheaded channeler catnip.

JK’s new sales pitch is apparently accidentally-on-purpose getting caught caring for her son, who is dying of old age. Or maybe it was a genuine accident. It is hard to tell with her. Nynaeve shows concern in the only way she can, by helpfully pointing out a mistake JK made, and telling her how to fix it. That earns her a slap in the face, which was pretty much what she expected, but JK does take her advice.

Meanwhile, Egwene figures out that Elayne is making up excuses to spend time with her. Good. She really needed this, because she has finally fallen into Gifted Kid burnout. She cries to Elayne about how Nynaeve gets all the praise without even trying, and meanwhile, she struggles to even get noticed. Elayne tells her jealousy isn’t a good look on her, in a voice that strongly implies she thinks nearly anything at all would be a good look on Egwene. I told Husband that Elayne is going to leave her morning whippings and run straight to Egwene to rub soothing lotion all over her. He said that’s actually canon.

Sadly, Nynaeve overheard this conversation. The thing that upset her wasn’t any kind of insult or character assassination. She is hurt that Egwene feels abandoned. She pretty clearly only joined Novice school so she could watch over Egwene and protect her. She is being harangued every day by the people she hates most, and now she’s being accused of ENJOYING it? Oh no! I hate miscommunication as a plot device, but I like this show’s spin on it. Another show might have Nynaeve walk away with the impression that Egwene has upgraded her best friend to the princess of the kingdom, and no longer needs the peasant from the two rivers. That was what I was worried would happen. But once again, the soul of the show is the way these five all love each other so much and know each other so well. I now have more hope that Mat isn’t as fooled by JK’s cursed dagger behavior as he is pretending.

JK interrupts Nynaeve’s angst to come extremely close to apologizing, and even closer to saying thank you. But her evil plan to force Nynaeve into an acceptance speedrun has already started, so there’s no turning back now. Nynaeve must walk through the arches and face her biggest fears, in order to become a full Jedi master Aes Sedai. Dun dun DUN!

Other episode reviews

[evilphrog]

Watching Wheel of Time without reading the books: Episode 6

I really liked this episode, but my husband hated it. He said that he couldn’t tell me why without major spoilers, but he was very Unhappy. We did spend some time laughing though, because his coworker has been sad that there was “no nudity” in the show (apparently Lan’s entire ass didn’t count) and now he got shadowy boobs in the background of the communal bathing scene. Thank you to this show for letting boobs obey the laws of physics instead of taping them up underneath to look like perfect globes at all times. Gravity exists. My only personal complaint about this episode was that there was too much Mean Girls reenactment and not nearly enough Perrin.

Aes Sedai High:

We started out on the little girl sleeping, and I said to my husband “yes, I am going to love this kid. I know nothing about her, but she’s my new favorite.” Then her dad called her Suian and I realized this is the girl you all have been obsessed with seeing. You are all correct, I fully get the hype now. Her dad is a lot like every good dad I’ve ever met, where he sees his kid do something dangerous, and he immediately lectures her but can’t quite resist telling her she’s also Super Impressive. Poor kid. I can’t tell if someone saw her right then, or if they had just suspected her for a while, but it must have made her feel some intense guilt to be a normal kid playing and then come home to her house burned down intentionally. Not sure why her dad couldn’t have gone with her on her journey. I am torn between being mad at him for making her go alone and impressed that he didn’t underestimate her just because she was his precious little baby. But yes, I love her, and love her even more as an adult.

The Aes Sedai lunch table is really heating up. Most of the politics stuff I kind of zoned out for. I have a lot of trouble following it all, but from what I can tell, it is forbidden for Suian to be in a relationship since she’s the queen, and JK Rowling was basically putting the two of them in a situation where they would be forced to either end it or be outed, because she wanted Moiriane out of her hair. Gosh she’s so the worst. Props to the actor who plays her for portraying such an intensely dislikeable character, but still making her three dimensional. Fucking “gold star lesbian” with a secret boyfriend she can’t admit to because she’s head of the Biphobic Misandry Club.

Had to laugh at Lan feeling their connection close for five seconds and immediately coming in like “Hey do you really have to mute our telepathic groupchat to go bang right now when everyone is plotting our deaths? Bros before hos, Moiraine!” And she’s just like “Lan, I haven’t had sex in two years, just do me a solid and babysit for a few hours, jfc.” Then she walks into the secret sex room and Suian tries to scold her but Moiraine is just like “I’m sorry, mommy, I’ve been a bad girl.” NDLRAI (Aes Sedai keysmash) guess I was wrong about Moiraine being asexual, but good for her. The fish-based pet names are further cementing my belief that the blues are the mathletes of this high school. Fucking nerds in love. I now have more context for her and Lan crying last episode. They are intentionally walking into a situation that has been prophesied to result in the death of all non-dragons. And both of them are exactly self-sacrificing enough to not step out when they have the option. Suian knows it too, and their scenes were so heartbreaking. I can’t believe we have a canon same-sex forbidden lovers plotline where the tension has absolutely nothing to do with them both being women. This fucking show means so damn much to me

Did Moiraine and Suian get married when they had their weird Spirit Stick ritual? It did not escape my notice that Suian told her to swear fidelity to the Seat, but Moiraine changed the words and swore fidelity directly to Suian. If they think their relationship is actually a secret, they are showing exactly the level of social awareness I have come to expect from Moiraine, because that was some X rated finger contact.

Village Polycule of Chaos:

Looks like my “the dragon is all 5 of them” theory is coming together after all. I mean, they have shared dreams, they can sense if the other is still alive, they all have nebulous magic powers, it just Makes Sense.

Glad Loial told Moiraine about where Mat and Rand were hidden (presumably) and I had to laugh when she told Nynaeve off for not coming for help sooner. She might be the only one who could get away with talking to Nynaeve like that, and only because they’re both in Worried Mom mode at the moment. This was the most Malcolm Reynolds move Moiraine has made so far. She could have easily just told Rand what she was going to do, but instead she just got annoyed that people weren’t doing the thing she told them to do. Rand being overpowered by Lan seemed a bit unlikely to me, unless he knew deep down that he needed to trust them. I mean, if the boy can bust down ironwood to protect Mat, there’s no way he couldn’t push Lan off him. That shit is dense as fuck. I guess leverage could be at play a bit, but that door was a minimum 5 times heavier than Lan. To me, it seemed more like he knew that whatever Moiraine did to Mat wouldn’t be worse than what he would have to deal with if she didn’t step in. He was just scared. Props to him for thanking her later on, and props to her for telling Rand how pure-hearted Mat actually must have been in order to fight off possession for so long.

This is Rand’s thing. He has very strong opinions, and makes snap judgments, but he’s quick to acknowledge when they were incorrect or unfair. I don’t know how anyone could dislike him. He just wants to protect the people he loves, and he doesn’t understand anything that lies outside that world view. He has an ego, sure, but that is how he can go through so much and not break down. He is able to rush into action without stopping to doubt himself because he is free from the burden of complex thought in the moment. Afterwards, he does take the time to stop and think about everything. Probably Perrin’s influence. He’s a sheltered kid who has only ever known love, safety, support, and community. He dedicated his life to showing that to all his friends. When he got thrust into the seedy underbelly of society, he only became more pure of heart. His default setting is Undying Loyalty, and there is no off switch. He trusts quickly, easily, and forever. He genuinely does not comprehend that anyone else would ever feel differently.

In contrast, Mat has always been in the seedy underbelly of society. He’s widely considered to be the irresponsible one of the group (at least by the rest of them) but I think he’s the most responsible one besides Nynaeve. He’s had a really terrible life, but most of the rest of the group seem entirely unaware of 90% of the struggles he’s faced beyond “Mat is poor.” They see him making self-destructive choices all the time, but he does that because he spends all his energy taking care of others and has none left to make sure he’s okay too. He consciously made a choice a long time ago to sacrifice his own morality and reputation so his sisters could have a shot at a normal life. Perrin and Rand clearly always try to help him, but they don’t seem to understand what he really needs. And he doesn’t know how to explain it to them, because their worlds are so different. Mat never grew up feeling a sense of community. He grew up being seen as the delinquent son of the town boozers, who was tolerated but not accepted, except for his body (RIP to whichever person on the show is responsible for making so many realistic references to this that apparently fly right over most people’s heads, I hope the success of this show means you can now afford therapy). So he loves his friends, but he doesn’t trust them. He can’t ask for help, because he’s never had the experience of being able to count on someone. He feels inherently less valuable than everyone around him, and even his closest friends constantly call him selfish and unreliable.

The show framed it like we were supposed to be shocked that Mat stayed behind, but it was the only choice his character could have made. He has been clear from the start that his priority is his sisters, and that he thinks he’s a weight around the rest of the group’s neck. He doesn’t believe he’s the dragon, so why would he jump through a magic portal to die alongside at least 3 of his best friends and the woman who just saved his life? No, he’s going to try his damndest to get home. Wonder if he might meet up with a certain gleeman who will be able to convince him to get to the eye of the world…perhaps through the power of love? Perhaps by being the first person who Mat has ever been able to count on to show him kindness without judgment, and to follow through on his promises? (No, I don’t think there’s even a passing chance that Thom is actually dead.)

Egwene was just waiting to make that badass bitch entrance. Oh, I happened to get something for you *mic drops fallen sisters’ rings* and btw I totally killed that guy. You’re welcome. I think she was hoping for a bit more praise than she got. She has an unrealistically positive view of the Aes Sedai, contrasting nicely with Nynaeve’s unrealistically negative one. Moiraine has to try to convince them both to dial it back a few notches, without accidentally reinforcing the other one’s beliefs. That is not an easy feat, especially for someone who struggles so much with conversations involving multiple people.

Egwene and Nynaeve had a fantastic dynamic when talking to Suian. Nynaeve thought they were gonna do a solidarity rejection and Egwene kept trying to get her to shut up because she’s focused on her career. This was an interesting break from what 90% of media would do, having Rand try and talk Egwene out of being an Aes Sedai. Instead, he was basically like “Yep, my best girl left me for a big city job but I love and support her through my heartbreak” and Egwene had the “Don’t treat me like a fragile little flower” conflict with Nynaeve. This show has a continued dedication to subverting gendered tropes and I scream every single time it happens. The difference in their views probably has a lot to do with the fact that Egwene chose her path as a Wisdom, while Nynaeve never had an option. She was raised into the life of a Wisdom from the moment she was adopted. I am actually now forming a backstory wherein the old Wisdom realized Egwene had power after that story about her fever, and wanted to bring her on as an apprentice. But Nynaeve fought hard to give Egwene a chance at a normal life, and to not start training her unless she freely chose it as an adult. I could see Nynaeve being frustrated that she worked so hard for the past 10 years to protect Egwene from being forced into a Grand Destiny, only to have her jump at the first chance to throw away her Normal Life.

Other episode reviews

[evilphrog]

Watching Wheel of Time without reading the books: Episode 8 part 1

Since I ended up making an entire thesis paper just on this episode, I am splitting my review up to make it more readable. Read on for the mother/son camping trip to Hell

Looks like Rand finally decided Moiraine is trustworthy enough to add to his “People I will unquestioningly risk my life for” collection. I think it is interesting that here, Moiraine explains the least she has ever tried to explain. And here, Rand trusts her the most. He isn’t stupid, all appearances to the contrary. He is very aware of when someone isn’t telling the truth. His perspective on life is far too narrow for him to discern the actual truth from the subterfuge, and I get the impression that is something he relies on Mat and Perrin for, but his initial bullshit detector is off the charts. It’s just that he isn’t nearly as concerned with factual honesty as he is with emotional honesty.

He was initially skeptical of Thom, because Thom hid his reason for helping them so much (and also probably a bit out of jealousy, but that’s another story). Once Thom confided about how he was unable to protect his nephew, Rand realized that the thing Thom was trying to hide was grief. He trusted Dana, because she was very emotionally honest. She genuinely did like them, and genuinely believed she was helping them and the world.

He trusts Moiraine, now, because she is finally allowing herself to be EMOTIONALLY honest. She openly displays the affection she has for him, for Lan, for the rest of the group. She expresses fear, discomfort, doubt. He still knows she is keeping things from him, but he now trusts her motivation enough to feel comforted by her, rather than suspicious.

He would have felt horribly betrayed if he realized ahead of time that she was actually there in case emergency murder was needed, but afterwards I think he understood and was grateful. He had underestimated the effect manneling would have on him, and she did not. He appreciates and respects that.

I believe this unique insight Rand has is what gave him such an easy time distinguishing dreams from reality. It takes a remarkable amount of self-confidence to stab yourself in the stomach. He didn’t even hesitate. Sexy Voldemort was being all cryptic and elusive, and Rand was just like “I would literally rather die than listen to you talk any more” and he fucking did it! He knew immediately that the world with Egwene was fake. He just wasn’t sure if she was actually fake or not. Same with the baby.

I do believe he was initially trying to mannel to make Joiya real. From his perspective, not doing so had to feel pretty similar to just letting his baby die, since she would stop existing if he didn’t act. But, ultimately, he knew himself well enough and knew he could never live in a world that wasn’t emotionally honest. Sexy Voldemort knew what Rand wanted most in the world, but he fundamentally misunderstood WHY Rand wanted it because he could not understand loving someone as they are more than as they could be. It’s like when my friend tries to cheer me up by buying store made hummus. It isn’t good, it’s not what I want, it’s just a sad imitation of what hummus could be. But he has no frame of reference with which to judge hummus, so to him it is the exact same thing as the kind I make.

Moiraine, for her part, has learned a lot about how to better connect with people like Rand. She is very used to hiding her inner thoughts, emotions, and values so they can’t be used against her. But that is precisely why Rand was wary of her. She had to learn to give up control, and put some faith in him to not take advantage of her trust. It sort of mimicked the very opening scene with Egwene and the river, where she had to stop trying to fight against the current, and just surrender to the flow and wait for her opportunity. Moiraine is learning how to follow the flow of human behavior, and wait for her moment, rather than try and force situations to go how she pictured.

She refused to teach Rand how to mannel ahead of time. After her story, it seems like she was more unwilling to do what she thought it might take to get Rand to channel, than that she was afraid of him going mad ahead of time. Killing someone to stop them from doing something you know they couldn't live with is a lot different than intentionally torturing them. She is so protective, and feeling a lot of guilt over her mission. Faith is not something that comes easily to her, so that final battle was just…amazing. She had no idea what Rand was going to choose, and she had a very limited window to intervene if he chose poorly. There was a point where she clearly thought she SHOULD kill him, and did not. I can’t tell whether her hesitation was because she believed he would choose correctly, or because she simply couldn’t bring herself to kill him after everything. Either way, she finally put faith in someone and does not regret it.

As far as her losing her powers, Husband explained to me the basic difference between being shielded and being stilled, and she was very clearly just shielded. Evidence:

Sexy Voldemort’s weaves fall over her like a net

The power flows into her, rather than away

He ties a small knot with his fingers right at the end

He mocked Moiraine for being able to feel the power but not touch it. If she was stilled, she shouldn’t be able to even feel it, based on what Thom described his nephew going through.

Still must be an awful experience for her, but it should be something she can heal from. And it will require her trusting someone else to know that she has no powers, and to free her. That is a big ask, given how many of the Aes Sedai genuinely hate her and how many of her supporters are unwilling to go against JK Rowling in order to help her. But that seems to be her major character arc: learning to trust people without trying to control them through fear/authority.

Rand being able to imprison Sexy Voldemort with Moiraine at his side is a good parallel to Lewis Theremin (yes I know it’s spelled wrong, no I will not look it up, this is his name now) being unable to succeed after his friend refused to help him. Who knows whether he would have succeeded before if he had help? But I do think it makes a very interesting point about needing both sides of the One Power. That feeds into the wider themes of gender equality that exist throughout the show. I was worried at the start that this would be some kind of “women hold all the real power” incel fantasy, but they have done a really good job of handling sexism and gender politics in a way that makes sense for both the world the characters live in and the world we live in. Apparently this is an improvement from the books, based on what I see a lot of people saying.

One final note: if Moiraine really thought the Dragon was Egwene, why would she be carrying a figurine that increases the power of mannelers? Nah, she was doing her Moiraine “Stay silent and let people draw their own conclusions” thing. It is pretty clever. When she actually doesn’t know an answer, staying silent makes her appear competent and secretive rather than confused. And then, no matter what the actual answer is, people will assume she knew it all along. Very clever of her. She just had all her bases covered, and probably had a similar figurine that amplified power for women also.

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