Over the next week they keep heading north, avoiding all contact with people while Lan acts as The Obi-Wan for Rand, Mat, and Perrin, and Moiraine for Egwene. And now her wanting to be an Aes Sedai is really getting weird; she’s acting like she’s wanted it all her life, when there’s been no indication of that before, and it kind of makes me suspicious that Moiraine’s manipulating her into it.
Rand gets just as confused by it, and eventually follows Egwene and Moiraine when they go off to have their girl talk. There’s a bit about how the male Aes Sedai tried to access the Dark One’s power, resulting in the world the way it is now, and I guess that’s what Therin was a part of. Then Moiraine says there’s another potential Aes Sedai in Emond’s Field, and there’s this weird thing where Jordan tries to make this person’s identity seem like a mystery, when she’d already said that people with the potential tend to become Wisdoms.
They reach the next town, Bree…er, Baerlon. Rand’s thoughts keep making a huge deal over how big it is, though this doesn’t come off as bad as some of the other padding as I can easily buy he would keep going back to that no matter what other topics come up. They get news that the guy saying he’s the Dragon is now heading to a place called Tear, with a fortress called the Stone of Tear that holds inside it the Sword That Cannot Be Held, which is prophecied to keep the castle standing until the Dragon holds it. Thankfully, Rand immediately spots the problem, though I’m calling now that this Prophecy Twist will be that the Dragon sneaks into the Stone of Tear rather than taking it by force. Come on, challenge me!
There’s also a religious group called the Children of the Light in town who hate the Aes Sedai, so that should be fun. With that they head to an inn where the owner Fitch knows Moiraine and Lan. And I’m guessing here’s where it starts getting complicated.
Another chapter with a very slow and uneventful first half, that makes up for it by stuffing the second half full of good information and plot development. You can just feel the various forces in Baerlon being set up like dominoes that will soon be sent crashing down, and I really look forward to it.
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