Rage Reads The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time #4)

Hey! It’s been a while. It took me almost two months to finish reading this book! Not because it was boring or that I thought it was a slog, I just didn’t have enough time for leisure reading the past couple months because of work and life stuff.

But I’m here and I’m ready to talk about The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan! As always: there will be spoilers in this post. Look away before you regret it. But if you’ve read the book: come yap with me.

The Way of the Leaf was a fine belief, like a dream of peace, but like the dream it could not last where there was violence. He did not know a place without that. A dream for some other man, some other time.

A collection of ta’veren

In matters of ta’veren: we saw what it was like for Perrin to be ta’veren outside of Rand, Rand is still pulling Mat into his ta’veren orbit, and I am now more sure than ever that Moiraine is also ta’veren.

For Perrin: when he was away from Rand for a huge chunk of time, his ta’veren-ness finally came out. Verin and Alanna also noted this. He was very adamant that he had no leadership qualities (and maybe he did not) but somehow the people of Emond’s Field treated him like a leader and he led them to victory against many, many hordes of Trollocs.

I personally did not think Perrin displayed great leadership skills in this book—he was more a reluctant leader—but I do believe he knew what he wanted to do and he knew what he wanted to happen, and his ta’veren-ness took care of the rest. It is a convenient little tool, when the character doesn’t have to work too hard to be heard, or respected, or followed, or to do anything substantial in general.

For Rand and Mat: either the Dragon Reborn is too strong of a ta’veren that he is pulling Mat towards his web, or he and Mat are supposed to be moving through the same path. For the most part, Rand played the politician in this book. He’s been reading and scheming and formulating plans and making his moves. He is almost unrecognizable from the Rand we first met, apart from the fact that he still does value his friendships with the Emond’s Fielders, especially Egwene.

There’s no argument that Rand is ta’veren, he very much is and strongly so. A lot of Aiel traditions were broken to make room for him, and by the end of the book the Aiel as they knew them will never be the same again. I think he could make any prophecy come true if he put his mind to it. It’s an interesting little brain puzzle—were the prophecies made with knowledge of his ta’veren-ness? That whatever he chose to do would certainly, irrevocably happen? Was it just a matter of erasing the wrong prophecies so the right ones could fall into Rand’s lap? (Is that what Moiraine is doing? Making sure his interpretations of the prophecy are correct, because ultimately however he interprets it is the way it will unfold?)

Mat, on the other hand, has been much the same but in a louder volume. He is a playboy and a gambler, he drinks a lot and flirts even more. He has the tendency to treat every woman around him as a conquest. He is certainly not one of the characters I like in the series so far, despite being one of the most well-liked characters in the Wheel of Time. Things sort of just happen around Mat, and the only thing he really had control over in this book is whether to go through the red door or not—and he did, twice. And now even though he wants so bad to get out of the Waste and run away, there is the thought of the Daughter of the Nine Moons and the ancient tongue and the spear looming over his head.

For Moiraine: it makes sense that she’s ta’veren. Suian has the Talent to know whether a person is ta’veren, and she must have seen that Moiraine would be a useful pawn in the game. It would give them the edge they needed to fulfill whatever end it is they are planning to achieve. Moiraine seems to be scarily effective in carrying out their plans, despite us readers not knowing what that plan is. The point is, things seem to be mostly going Moiraine’s (and Suian’s) way with respect to their plans about the Dragon. (At the very least, Moiraine isn’t super concerned. Maybe a little annoyed she can no longer pull on Rand’s strings and she’s no longer privy to his plans.)

Besides that, Rand and the Emond’s Fielders still seem to see Moiraine as someone who can make things happen—like a ta’veren. They hate her for bringing them into this mess, but at the same time they would not want her gone. When there are gaps in what they know, they assume Moiraine has the answer. At the moment, Moiraine feels like a big blackbox with a Schrodinger’s plot point hidden inside it. She has spies, she knows things she won’t tell anybody else, she places pawns where she thinks they’re most useful, she’s still pulling strings—but for what? How? When?

I didn’t really give the concept of being ta’veren much thought before—initially, it just seemed like a convenient tool to make things happen when they can’t just happen—but I realize that ta’veren are very powerful pawns in the game, and whoever controls them gains a significant advantage. In a way, this is a game between whoever can collect the most ta’veren to use as pawns to control the board.

My rainbow-colored glasses and the one thing this book got right

Okay so the thing about me: I wear rainbow-colored glasses. It means I try to see the gay in everything, because gayer is better (of course). And this book was such a treat, let me tell you.

We got to see more of Aviendha in this book, and in my very humble opinion: the girl is gay (or bisexual). She liked being around Egwene at first, to the point they were inseparable. Then at one point in the Waste when she chose to “watch over Rand” for Elayne, she describes Elayne:

“Is she not beautiful? Her back is straight, her limbs supple and strong, her lips like plump loveapples. Her hair is spun gold, her eyes blue sapphires. Her skin is smoother than the finest silk, her bosom fine and well-rounded.”

Granted, she is describing Elayne to remind Rand that Elayne is all that, but also who would describe somebody that way? In my head, she has a little crush on Elayne. Let me have this.

And then there is also Egeanin. I thought she had really good chemistry with Nynaeve, despite the latter hating her for being Seanchan. Nynaeve and Elayne basically fell for her pretty much immediately, but then the girls saw her in a different light when it was revealed that she is Seanchan.

Even so, Nynaeve and Elayne can’t help but like her still (“Light, how do you stop liking someone?” / “She made me like her, and I cannot stop, and I hate her for it!”). And, oh no, they have to keep her captive now and she has to sleep in the same room so they could keep an eye on her. Oh and also she should undress to make sure she has no weapons on her. The fanfic writes itself.

Anyway, there was a point when Egeanin was described as someone who fought like a Warder! She certainly seemed eager to accompany Nynaeve and Elayne to the Panarch’s Palace to act as their bodyguard. It would be one hell of a letdown—for me, personally—if she doesn’t get to be Warder to any of the women. PLEASE give me my woman Warder, Mr. Jordan.

(Okay, spoiler: I know someone will be Warder to one of the women. I haven’t read the whole series yet to know whether Egeanin will be one or not.)

All that aside though, I’m always happy to see genuine, wholesome female friendships in any form of media. And even though Jordan had many interesting choices (like naked women: the Sea Folk seafarers, women going to Rhuidean, Aiel customs of bathing naked in a tent sauna together, Seanchan slaves, Berelain—for my sanity’s sake I will choose to think these choices are satiric in nature), one thing he got right is the connection between the female characters in the book.

I like that Aviendha has taken a liking to Egwene and Elayne. Even the connection between the original three women: Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve—their friendship and solidarity with each other stands out to me and makes me feel warm inside. Despite Egwene and Nynaeve always clashing, their friendship still takes the spotlight. Like when Egwene said she would choose not to go to the Aiel Waste to learn about Dreaming (which she really wanted to learn about) if it meant that the other two felt that she was running out on them. Or when Elayne said she won’t give up becoming an Aes Sedai or hunting the Black Ajah with Egwene and Nynaeve even if Rand asked her to.

The bond between these women is a very strong contrast against the fraying and straying loyalties within the Tower. Where the Aes Sedai are scheming and spying against each other, our girls instead choose to lean on each other in face of hardship and difficult times.

The Reborn One, marked and bleeding, dances the sword in dreams and mist, chains the Shadowsworn to his will, from the city, lost and forsaken, leads the spears to war once more, breaks the spears and makes them see, truth long hidden in the ancient dream.

Unpacking the Forsaken

The Shadow Rising has seen the most action with Forsaken in the series so far.

Selene has finally revealed herself as Lanfear to Rand. She is not actively killing Rand every time she sees him, and at one point even helped him (and the others) with the Trolloc attack in the Stone. In a conversation between the two, I think she alluded to being in big trouble if the other Forsaken (Chosen, as they call themselves) discover what her plans are.

This tells me at least one thing: the Forsaken are acting for themselves. It seems like they all have separate plans to achieve their own selfish goals. We know that Lanfear used to be Lews Therin’s lover, and it seems she wants to reignite that connection with Rand and become the most powerful couple in all of the land. I don’t know what this means for her—is it part of her plan to usurp the Dark Lord? Or does she mean to turn Rand to the Dark side?

But for Rand to be strong enough in the One Power, Lanfear advised him to seek for a teacher who knows how to wield the male source of the Power. Among the many things going through Rand’s head, he also spent his time ruminating on this fact. Later, Rand defeated Asmodean in a fight in Rhuidean and turned him into his captive. Rand planned for Asmodean to be his teacher in the One Power.

Asmodean then revealed that his connection to the Dark Lord is the thing preventing him from going mad. This is new information for us. There is a way to avoid going mad, but it includes surrendering yourself to the Dark Lord and turning your back from the Light. I wonder if that is a tempting enough deal for Rand? But he seems to have accepted that he has to die one way or another. The only way I see him accepting that deal is if it meant he gets to keep his friendships and relationships (which he won’t get to keep if he became a Darkfriend, of course).

Another big thing that happened is Nynaeve besting Moghedien in a one-to-one fight. She shielded Moghedien and then held her down, all while being hurled at with balefire. Before that, she was able to resist Moghedien’s mind control (how?!). This could be confirmation that Nynaeve is as strong as the Forsaken, that or the Forsaken are not as strong as they used to (yet). Because she’s Nynaeve, it could also be that Nynaeve just managed to (almost unconsciously) learn something she’s seen only once before.

There is still a lot we don’t know about the Forsaken. For one, how did they become Forsaken? Why were they initially called Chosen? In a flashback from Rhuidean, an Aiel named Charn claimed that Lanfear wasn’t always evil. I’m sure these are questions that will soon be answered as the story moves forward, but it’s an interesting piece of lore to ruminate on in the meantime.

Other notes

“I’ll thump you so you think you’ve had an adventure!”

— Nynaeve to Birgitte, famous hero of a hundred tales.

Egwene and Tel’aran’rhiod

There is still very much the Egwene that we met in the prologue of The Eye of the World. Egwene has always been an achiever. Her next goalpost? Become the Tower’s first Dreamer since Corianin Sedai.

I got the impression that Egwene is both scared and protective (or possessive) of Tel’aran’rhiod. She did not want Elayne and Nynaeve to explore it the way she did, but it felt a mix of fear and possessiveness. I think she wants the knowledge for herself, but at the same time I believe she is concerned for both of the girls’ safety within the world of dreams.

I realize Egwene is not very well-liked in general (at least from forums and discussions I’ve read), and that is baffling to me. I love her thirst for knowledge. She keeps moving the plot forward, even when the thing that is currently happening is not centered around her at all. She’s always in some complicated, scary, amazing, weird stuff and I appreciate that.

The distant hypothetical future of the Tower

Okay, I know there are some current happenings within the Tower that makes sense to talk about, but this is not about that.

As I read through the Wheel of Time, I have taken note of the progress and development with Nynaeve and Egwene (and it is not a secret that I like them both the most out of all characters so far). The contrast between the two has been mostly obvious, with Nynaeve being a stubborn, hot-headed prodigy where Egwene is a persevering, diligent student. I cannot help but imagine what a future White Tower would be like with these women at the head.

Nynaeve has a very strong inclination to stick to her own idea of justice. Twice now she has refrained from inflicting harm on a person in favor of her stronger desire to see them face justice (once when faced with Egwene’s sul’dam, then again when faced with Moghedien). Despite her hot-headedness and tendency to be quite rude, she is very much a good, responsible person at the core.

Egwene meanwhile is a very empathic person and has always shown kindness especially towards her friends. There is a soft side to Egwene that to most Aes Sedai would translate as naive. I think there is potential for Egwene to be one of the more level-headed characters in the book, she isn’t too blinded by her goals to disregard other people’s feelings and emotions.

Given how strong both of these women are with channeling, their goals and motivations could very much sway the story in directions we don’t expect. We definitely don’t want either of them to be on the opposite side of the battle field.

When the sun shines on you, it is my smile. When you hear the breeze stir through the apple blossoms, it is my whisper that I love you. My love is yours forever.

No spoilers beyond The Shadow Rising in the comments please! Tip jar.