Elayne and Nynaeve arrive in Tanchico, where they quickly run into Domon and smooth things over with him. He agrees to have his men search for the Blacks, and then Elayne gets plastered at dinner, giving her courage to confront Thom about the memories of him that have returned. He admits everything, and then Nynaeve has to help her through her throwing up before looking for Egwene.
In the dream world, Nynaeve is almost killed by someone, presumably Fain, and in the morning she takes charge of searching for the Blacks by getting disguises for herself and Elayne, in concert with Sandar arranging contacts among the city lowlifes.
Elayne drunk is unexpectedly hilarious, and Jordan’s descriptions of what she’s feeling are quite evocative. The very different tones of each scene, going from Elayne’s powerful confrontation with Thom, to the comic relief of her and Nynaeve, to the scary dream sequence, flows very well. And it’s also quite a relief that they’re finally here, and all the storylines are now down to business.
