Siuan’s letter works, and Mat and Thom convince the dockmaster to let them on a ship. That’s when Mat takes a turn further toward Crazy Awesome, when he first insists on jumping aboard a ship that’s already leaving, and then uses his winnings to pay the captain Huan Mallia enough to take over his own cabin and food.
That night, Mallia’s ranting about the world lets us know more about Tear. It’s ruled democratically on paper, but one member of the council named Samon (which I like to think is pronounced “salmon,” given their apparent obsession with fish analogies) is the one everyone takes their cues from. And he wants to wipe out both Illian and Tar Valon, so there’s some future book plot.
And then the ship is attacked by the same people Mat fought before. They’re not Gray Men, but they are assassins, and Mat and Thom make quick work of them. And finally we randomly cut back to Rand, who’s doing nothing much as he wonders again if he’s losing his mind. Wake me up when he gets somewhere.
Mat keeps getting better, and is now almost at the level of Tavi from Codex Alera with Crazy Awesome and Refuge in Audacity. Plus he’s still pretty good with his quarterstaff, and Thom is right back to his Knife Nut self. These two may just now be the best part of the book, now that the girls have left the cesspool of Tar Valon for a more straightforward stopping the bad guys plot.
