Live Blogs The Liveblog of Time: The Eye of the World

Eegah2012-03-21 15:54:04

Perrin’s group is pushed harder than ever after his dream, though Elyas has no actual idea what they’re running from. Until they see a huge flock of ravens, or Crebain from Dunland if you prefer. But this time I can let it go, because the concept is soon far expanded. These birds don’t just spy and report back, they kill anyone working against the Dark One, plus several animals just to be creepy.

This results in pure High Octane Nightmare Fuel, and Daylight Horror to boot, as they’re forced to scamper from one hiding place to another, only for the ravens to always find them again. Egwene gets a Crowning Moment Of Awesome shooting one down before Perrin can get his sling ready, but then he gets flashes of the wolves being attacked, and only being spared because the ravens figure it’s too much trouble when they have bigger targets.

Finally they’re hemmed in, and there’s a quite Tearjerker passage where Perrin tries to prepare himself to give Egwene a quick death, but then they reach an area called a stedding where the ravens can’t enter. All we learn about these things now is that they have something to do with the Ogier (whoever they are, still), and the One Power doesn’t work in them.

Because Elyas has other exposition to dish out: they’re in a spot where the ancient king Artur Hawkwing (Jordan took out the H and thought we wouldn’t notice) had a statue built, but he died when it was finished, leading to a civil war that wiped the family out, except for a few that escaped across the ocean. There a Chekhov's Gunman for you, and I’ll try not to think of them as the Targaryens, seeing as this series predates that one. Also, this gives me a spot on the map, showing that they are indeed east of Whitebridge, so Moiraine should run into them soon.

Leaving the Tinkers behind was really good for these guys. First we get the utterly terrifying sequence of them being hunted by ravens, and then a great piece of backstory with hints of future plot complications. Though I do hope we actually meet the Ogier soon, as these oblique references could become irritating fast.

Comments

montagohalcyon Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 21st 2012 at 4:30:04 PM

You do meet an Ogier in this book, can't remember if it's soon though.

Lots of Arthurian naming throughout. Mostly Andoran characters and locations for some reason. Which strikes me as odd because Tar Valon — Avalon was the first I noticed.

Actually, speaking of that you already met one, Thom Merrilin...hmm...I just realized some foreshadowing. I notice new things every time I reread/observe someone else reading this series.

Anyway, IMO it's less ripping off, more evidence for the "Earth is Wo T world in the far future/distant past" fan theory.

Arilou Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 21st 2012 at 5:11:10 PM

Basically, there's this underlying theory that the WOT world is our world/a reflection of our world/will become our world (since time is cyclical it doesen't really matter) Artur Paendrag is only the most obvious examples, there are others.

An obvious arthurian reference is of course, the Sword In The Stone. (which has already come up) there's a bunch of legends too.

Jackalyn Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 21st 2012 at 6:20:07 PM

Hawkwing is King Arthur, or at least his reincarnation. As far as I can tell Andor's Arthurian themed because Camelyn = Camelot.

If you want more evidence on the Our world is the First Age theory, go back to chapter 4 and look at the stories that Thom is bringing up and see if you can recognize any of them.

Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 21st 2012 at 11:57:41 PM

I don't think the Ages work like that, Jackalyn. I've always seen it as The Breaking being the start of the First Age, the end of the Trolloc Wars being the start of the second, the fall of Hawkwing being the start of the third, and the Last Battle to be the start of the fourth. Each other set of ages would have different markers for the start of the second & third ages, but the other two would be the same.

Jackalyn Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 22nd 2012 at 1:24:37 AM

Everywhere else, I've seen it as First Age = Age of Myths, Second Age = Age of Legends and the Breaking starting the Third Age. I think the Guide spells this out.

Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 22nd 2012 at 1:48:13 AM

It's been a while since I've even seen the guide, so you'll have to forgive my general ignorance of it. That said, I've always gotten the feeling that "The Third Age" is a misnomer, and that there has actually already been many more than just three.

Jackalyn Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 22nd 2012 at 2:06:24 AM

It's supposed to be the Third Age of this turning of the Wheel, and that it's happened thousands of times, Eternal Recurrence being what it is. I'm sure that if we had more information we could call it the Fifth or Seventh age as easily as the Third, or use the other names it's given. But the Third Age is how it's referred to in universe, and defined as spanning from the Breaking to current day.