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Eegah2012-04-01 13:22:43

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Chapter 40: The Web Tightens

Rand wakes up on the other side of the wall, and realizes he fell into the palace garden. The girl was Elayne, and Gawyn is also there. We learn about Elayne’s character more than Gawyn; she’s very pushy and expects everyone to obey her, but she also competently sees to Rand’s injuries just like Gawyn says she does for people and animals all the time.

Their half-brother Galad shows up, with an amusing sort of Even the Guys Want Him reaction from Rand, and seems like a reasonable guy; he’s suspicious of Rand, but that’s perfectly natural under the circumstances. Still, Elayne hates him for some reason. He calls the guards on Rand, and Elayne has a little power struggle with Lieutenant Tallanvor which is clearly a regular thing for them. It ends with them all being taken to Morgase, though Elayne manages to let Rand keep his sword.

So we meet Morgase, plus Gareth and Elaida. And I can’t help but hear all her lines in Kate Mulgrew’s voice for some reason. There’s a bunch of stuff about how they’re about to leave for Tar Valon, and Elayne’s always been a rebellious child, before things turn to Rand. Elaida proves herself to be much more of the Bene Gesserit type I was expecting from the Aes Sedai, implying that they should kill Rand out of hand rather than let whatever he’ll do in the future happen. She also freaks everyone out by pointing out the heron mark on his sword, though there’s still nothing on what that actually means.

Morgase quickly endears herself to me by telling Elaida to speak clearly for once, and proceeds to a Crowning Moment Of Awesome as she makes a big speech about how they can’t go around killing people just because of something they may do in the future, plus the bits of Rand’s story that he’s told are so hard to believe that no one who was actually lying would try to pass them off. As he’s escorted out of the palace, Gawyn confirms that he looks like an Aielman, making me think that the battle Tam found him at was part of the same war against the Aiel that the king died in.

A big chapter, with several character introductions. Elayne is definitely the most striking one, with intriguing contradictions of character that leave it vague which side she’ll be on (and the way it’s all in one chapter makes it seem less likely to just be a writing inconsistency). Morgase is also promising, and Elaida offers yet another future complication, who I can only hope will have as awesome a comeuppance as the similar character Gaius Helen Mohiam.

Comments

Arilou Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 1st 2012 at 1:31:25 PM
Supergirl #3 acquired.

Also Haremette #2, but that's a different matter.
Arilou Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 1st 2012 at 1:32:05 PM
Also why the hell doesen't the damn spoiler tags work?
montagohalcyon Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 1st 2012 at 6:38:19 PM
Let's see if I can get it.

Nope. Huh.
Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 5:19:36 AM
You might want to go edit your comments then, Arilou. I don't like that spoilertags don't work either (they also don't work for the people actually writing the liveblogs, I should add), but I don't exactly see a solution. :/

On a completely different matter it's finally time for me to ask what I was wanting to ask Eegah: Of all the characters introduced thus far, what do you predict their order of international importance - from most important to least - will be by the point of the series at which we currently stand (ie. the end of book 13)? I would say "political importance", but there are a number of characters who are important albeit not within a political nature.
Eegah Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 6:32:19 AM
Elayne's definitely at the top of the list, as she'll undoubtedly use the trip to tag along with the heroes. Maybe with Gawyn joining her, though he's pretty much a cypher so far, only existing to react to his sister. Morgase will stay put for a while, until Elaida makes her inevitable attempt to kill everyone.

Once the rest of the group catches up to Rand and Mat, they'll probably overrule Rand's objections to Loial joining them, and Elyas is definitely coming back later. After that, everyone sort of blends together into minor annoyances, though a few will probably become something more. Especially Fain, if that's who it is, with the buildup he's gotten.
Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 7:22:30 AM
You misunderstand me. As a comparison, of the characters introduced thus far, the order of "importance" is something like this right now: Morgase, Elayne, Byrne(sp?), Gawyn, Galad, Elaida & Moraine, Bornhald & Tallanvor (I think...), Lan, Nyneave, and then everybody else is around equal... except for a couple of characters who I feel it would be a spoiler to tell you where they fit... and also which characters those are, of course.
Eegah Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 8:39:21 AM
Ah. The Whitecloaks are probably going to become a much bigger deal later on, given the hints that they're sliding into Complete Monster territory with Byar's descriptions of the tortures they do. And Elaida is going to strike out on her own once it becomes clear that her control over Morgase has slipped too far, maybe to the ruler of some other territory we haven't seen. This will mean Elayne and Gawyn, plus all the guards, will find themselves much lower on the totem pole, giving them a more rootable underdog status.
Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 1:49:31 PM
And any thoughts on the rest of the characters? I may have waited until now to ask the question, but that was because I was waiting for the rest of the characters introduced in this book to be introduced. (Actually, there are four other named characters who get introduced later, but only one of them lasts beyond this book as they are.)
Eegah Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 4:57:40 PM
Like I said, the rest are basically a blur; the only ones that really stand out are the multitudes of people everyone has been pissing off that will probably come back one by one and get smacked down.
Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 2nd 2012 at 9:18:29 PM
If you say so. I bet you'd have a more detailed answer by the end of this first book, however. :P
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