Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along!

Kassina Tendar

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Re: Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along! Chapters 33-39

Chapter 33;
-Egwene says she dreamed that if they don’t defeat Mesaana here, all could be lost.
-Gawyn thinks Elayne is being silly saying that Rand can make flowers bloom and that she’s just being all lovey dovey. :facepalm
-Elayne explains to Gawyn what it’s like to be in power and the need Egwene has for people she can trust.
-Elayne confronts Gawyn with his attitude toward Rand.
-Marille, the former damane, is there to tell Gawyn that the knife is a Bloodknife. Very ‘lucky’ that he happened to meet someone who could tell him that.
-Gawyn is, understandably, terrified of Kaisea. A former sul’dam, not bound by the Three Oaths, who is determined to show everyone how dangerous she is because of the One Power.
-Gawyn assumes the bloodknives are sent to target Egwene specifically. Is that true? Or were they just sent to kill as many channelers as possible?
-Gawyn uses the Bloodknife as a letter opener. :rofl :rofl
-Gawyn throws a fit and refuses to go back to the White Tower because it would look like he’s obeying Egwene. :desk :desk

Chapter 34:
-Perrin realizes that the dreamspike is what’s causing the Traveling problems for the Asha’man.
-Perrin sees a big conspiracy in the Forsaken fooling the Shaido, the distribution of pictures of Perrin and Mat, and the dreamspike. Really, Perrin, the Forsaken are not that organized. :p
-Bain, Chiad, and Gaul :rofl Love that subplot.
-Perrin tells Faile about the visions he has of Rand and Mat.
-Galad asks Byar for evidence and realizes that he has none.
-Perrin reveals that Byar told Perrin to run so that he could kill him, further implicating Byar and showing how crazy he is. Making Galad question what really happened and Byar’s motivations.
-I really like Morgase’s judgment here. Galad hasn’t decided (or at least doesn’t want to reveal yet) what Perrin’s punishment will be.

Chapter 35:
-Tel’aran’rhiod is starting to smell weird, smells all blending together. Why is that?? :scratch Just weirdness caused by the Dark One?
-The Dreamspike is in Tel’aran’rhiod ‘in the flesh’, so it can’t be changed it anything else. It doesn’t exist in the real world. If Perrin’s initial thought was to throw the Dreamspike in the ocean, why did he initially start by running north? :arch

Chapter 36:
-Egwene expertly leads the conversation with the Windfinders and Wise Ones to show everyone the benefits of having women train with the other groups. I really like her plan. I like to think it continues even after Egwene’s death.
-Seaine is deeply concerned by the idea of Elayne making a ton of ter’angreal and wants Egwene to ‘keep her in line’ so they can keep track of them all. :laugh: Aes Sedai really are used to controlling everything remotely One Power-related.
-Perrin, in avoiding Slayer, turns to the east and, when he notices Tar Valon, thinks of it has a convenient place to hide (since it’s a city), messing with the impending battle in the White Tower.

Chapter 37:
-Gawyn realizes how stupid he’d been before, drawing his sword on everyone he met. :p
-Egwene and Mesaana both assume that the other person set the Dreamspike there. The timing is certainly uncanny. (i.e. ta’veren)
-Gawyn’s timing is also perfect.
-The Wise Ones are having fun fighting in tel’aran’rhiod. :laugh:
-Egwene’s combo of weaves and Dreaming is very potent and lets her attack faster than her enemies, even before her mini revelation after meeting Perrin.
-The Wise Ones are awesome, disguising themselves as parts of the wall or shadows.
-Perrin thinks the rumbling inside the Tower is another of the ‘oddities’ like the strange scent.
-So I usually like Egwene, but why does she think it’s a good idea to tie Perrin up and leave him when she sees him in tel’aran’rhiod? :brown-blink: I mean, they’re in the middle of a battle!
-Perrin helps Egwene see a blindspot she’d had in regard to weaves. She was so used to using them in the real world that their existence and, especially, the danger of balefire were so ingrained in her that it was hard for her to imagine them as unreal.
-Gawyn plunges the room into darkness and defeats 3 bloodknives. :brown-blink: Seriously, the ridiculous sword skill of the main characters can just be silly sometimes. Still, putting out the lanterns was clever.
-More ‘luck’ in Celark happening to fall in such a way as to block the light from under the door.
-We learn a little more about the Dreamspike-apparently you can set it to allow only certain people to enter it via gateway.
-While parts of Perrin’s plot is annoying to me, I love how his training in the nightmares pays off here! :D Perrin jumping into the nightmare with Slayer is super exciting.

Chapter 38:
-Mesaana was using a decoy, showing how incredibly skilled she is in tel’aran’rhiod.
-Does she know that Egwene’s weakness is the a’dam or is it just coincidence? Sounds like it’s just coincidence.
-Mesaana also fell into the trap of believing that some things can be more real in te’aran’rhiod than others, assuming that the a’dam will hold Egwene.
-Egwene’s force in the Dream is so strong that she breaks Mesaana’s mind… with an audible snap. :brown-blink:
-Perrin’s plan works an Slayer gets sucked into the nightmare! :D This chapter is awesome. And throwing the Dreamspike into lava, very cool.
-Hopper! :( :cry :cry
-Why didn’t Gawyn’s messenger reach Egwene? Do we ever learn that?
-I like Perrin trying to will his sweat away in the real world. :laugh: I do things like this when I play too many video games. :p
-I admit I teared up a bit at Perrin’s sorrow after Hopper’s death. :(
-The ‘wrongness’ isn’t gone. What’s causing it?? :scratch I at first just assumed it was the Last Battle approaching, but it’s not present in Whitebridge when they go there.

Chapter 39:
-Nakomi! :D “I am far from my roof, yet not far at all. Perhaps it is far from me.”
-Aviendha resolves that the Aiel’s toh for betraying the Aes Sedai will be met at the Last Battle by following Rand. Her logic makes a lot of sense here.
-Nakomi makes her question everything, asking her what the point would be of returning to the Waste if their toh is met.
-On top of being super magical and mysterious, Nakomi also makes really good seasoned shellback. :rofl
 

Kassina Tendar

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Re: Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along! Chapters 33-39

Chapter 40:
-I like that, when Neald offers to help Perrin by heating up the metal, Perrin just nods and goes along with it, rather than worrying about saidin. :)
-Grady’s super confused by what Neald’s doing, and Neald can’t remember what he did after the fact.
-It’s insane how much Power the forging requires.
-Perrin can actually feel something of himself entering the hammer.
-So happy Perrin’s big plot is finally over! :D
-Making Power-forged weapons is considered a Talent, at least by Berelain.
-Berelain assumed that Rand wanted her to marry Perrin. :laugh:
-I like how Berelain thinks she’s being subtle about her infatuation with Galad. :p
-Perrin’s followers can finally be proud of Perrin, now that they know the specifics of his relationship with the wolves and don’t have to be afraid of the unknown. :)

Chapter 41:
-Galad realizes that the Whitecloaks are just people.
-Perrin’s hammer is not only super strong, but also burns shadowspawn. :D
-Galad finally reveals his punishment for Perrin. I rather like Galad (most of the time). :)
-We see the beginning of redemption for the Whitecloaks and Bornhald, despite his hatred toward Perrin, saves his life from Byar.

Chapter 42:
-The messenger sent to Egwene by Gawyn was killed. By whom? One of the Bloodknives?
-Gawyn steals the Bloodknife rings. :scratch
-Nynaeve told people to recognize Lan by Mandarb. :giggle
-“The Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don.” :joy :joy

Chapter 43:
-Galad appreciates the use of Aes Sedai for Healing, realizing that it can save people who would die otherwise, though he’s allowing Children to refuse Healing (and most of them do :\)
-Galad accepts Perrin as his commander in the Last Battle. That really is a big thing to ask of Galad, but ta’veren power strikes again! :D

Chapter 44:
-Morgase is apparently salty about Faile ‘so graciously granting her back her servants’. Come on, Morgase. :indifferent: Don’t be so petty. She was being nice.
-Neald’s making lots of power-wrought weapons for the Last Battle! :D Aiel with Power-wrought spears are super scary.
-Perrin’s beginning to think that the quartermaster may not be honest. :look:
-Does Faile actually want to resurrect Manetheren?
-Mat actually caught a badger. :rofl
-Apparently the colors in Perrin’s, Mat’s, and Rand’s heads only happen when they’re not together and are part of the tugging of the Pattern to force them together. Things feel right when they’re together.
-Mat warns Perrin about assassins… that’s friendly at least.
-Perrin’s releasing the poor, scared badger in the sack. :)

Chapter 45:
-Elayne and her mother reunite! :joy
-Elayne about Galad being a Whitecloak: “Oh, that’s right. I almost forgot that. Intentionally.” :rofl
-There are now Aiel living in Rhuidean.

Chapter 46:
-Androl! :joy Using tiny gateways to cut leather. :D
-Men who can channel are becoming normal now. With the taint gone, there’s no longer any need to be afraid and the families at the Black Tower are used to it, raising children who will see it as normal. :)
-Androl sees shadows when he holds Saidin for too long. :( Lingering madness from the taint.
-The Black Tower is being constructed carefully, both the tower itself and the village. It won’t be a haphazard city, built piece-by-piece with no concern for the way things connect.
-The Black Tower’s fractures and the White Tower’s fractures under Elaida are similar, with people from different factions splitting off and not even wanting to stand together.


Chapter 47:
-Taim’s somehow stopped gateways into the Black Tower.
-Elayne and Alliandre are giving away Perrin and Faile’s imaginary children. :laugh: One to the Two Rivers, one to Saldaea, one to Caemlyn… how do you even know they’ll have 3 children? :p
-Tuon has an annoying habit of, once I’m starting to kind of like her, thinking about how much she likes breaking people. :facepalm And how it soothes her to watch people getting worked or broken. Ok then, Tuon…
-Mat apparently taught Tuon that not everyone is constantly trying to assassinate people to move up. :laugh: And wonders about having a husband that isn’t trying to murder her.
-And the Seanchan have traveling…
 
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Re: Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along! Chapters 48-55

Just a few quick thoughts ...

I LOVE the scene where Perrin forges the hammer. It gives me chills and makes me teary every time.

I'm also thrilled that we finally meet Androl, and see what a good man he is. His partnership with Pevara is just beginning at the end of this book, and their partnership is one of my favorite subplots of the entire series.
 

Ryu Shadowborn

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Re: Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along! Chapters 48-55

Towers of Midnight 40 – OH My god I love this part, it is probably one of my favorite parts of the entire series. You can feel everything Perrin has went through coming to a culmination her, and while the Malden plot drug on way too many books, it was really needed to bring Perrin to this point.

And we say Goodbye to Elyas, which is sad because we never get to see him meet his Aes Sedai again.

“GRADY NEALD! LIGHT!” is also one of my favorite moments in the entire series.

Towers of Midnight 41 – Whitecloaks Recruited. Huzzah!
 

Kassina Tendar

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Re: Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along! Chapters 48-55

Chapter 48:
-Aviendha realizes that Rhuidean won’t be challenging apprentice Wise Ones anymore, since they’ll be challenged to confront information they already know.
-She somehow activates the glass pillars without being inside them.
-In the future Aviendha sees, the Seanchan call themselves ‘Illuminated Ones’. :rolleyes
-The Seanchan are actively trying to wipe the Aiel out and kill every trace of them, forcing those who do remain to abandon everything that makes them Aiel just to survive. :mad :(
-The old rule against swords still remains in a way even far into the future, but only as a vague idea that ‘some people say swords are bad luck’.
-The Seanchan even recruited the Sharans to help kill the Aiel. :eek I guess it makes some sense. They both deal with Channelers in horrible ways. :cheeseeni:

Chapter 49:
-The Seanchan began their extermination by capturing or killing any Aiel who could use the One Power, so they couldn’t protect themselves.
-“The White Tower has fallen.” :cry
-The Aiel feel like they have to atone for their sins of breaking the Dragon’s Peace for their feud with the Seanchan.
-Gai’shain has come to mean ‘one without honor’.
-We learn that only one of the lines of Aviendha’s children survive long. The other lines have all died off.
-The Seanchan have cannons.
-Aviendha’s children are creepily in-tune with the One Power and have just used it continually since they were babies.
-Tuon was seen as a reasonable Empress to the Aiel, one they might have been able to work with.
-Steam vehicles and cannons become commonplace in the future.

Chapter 50:
-Morgase makes use of her newfound tea-pouring skills. :p

Chapter 51:
-Rand tells Cadsuane, she can call him Rand Sedai. :giggle
-Rand no longer gets sick when uses saidin anymore. The Light is protecting him from his madness now.
-Found a mistake in the Companion. It says ‘he’ in referring to Tellindal Tirraso, but in the book it says “She fell in the fighting”
-The Borderlanders’ prophecy was meant to kill Rand if he would be too dangerous to the Light. It also mentions him breaking what he must break. The seals? That’s how he interprets it at least.
-Rand references that he could use the True Power even while within Far Madding, since the Guardian only blocks the One Power.
-Rand wants to apologize to Hurin. :)

Chapter 52:
-Mat thinks that a military camp at evening is one of the most comfortable places in the world. :arch Ummmm…. I feel like you’re exaggerating.
-Ughh… Mat, just open Verin’s letter. :facepalm :facepalm

Chapter 53:
-The Aes Sedai at the Black Tower are slowly being turned… leading to the awesome Pevara/Androl plotline! :D
-Faile wonders in passing why Aravine is still there. (psst, Faile, it’s ‘cause she’s evil :shifty)
-Tower of Ghenjei time! :D :joy”
-The Eelfinn try to persuade Mat by saying they’ll lead Mat ‘half of the way’. Umm, in this place ‘half of the way’ means nothing. :p
-It turns out the tale of Birgitte in the Tower of Ghenjei did survive, just under different names. How did that information get out, though? Did someone ask after Birgitte for one of their questions?

Chapter 54:
-The Aelfinn call themselves “the near ancient, the warriors of final regret, the knowers of secrets”.

Chapter 55:
-Noal! :( :cry :cry
-"If you ever meet a Malkieri, you tell him Jain Farstrider died clean." :cry :cry
-The Alefinn/Eelfinn destroyed the Eelfinn doorway so they couldn’t leave that way.
-Mat realizes that his Ashandarei was his ‘way out’. Love this part! :D
 

Ryu Shadowborn

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Re: Towers of Midnight Re-Read-along! Chapters 48-55

Towers of Midnight 42 - OH YEAH The Golden Crane Flies for Tarmon Gaiden! It is OOOOONNNNNNN

Towers of Midnight 43 – Not much to talk about here, cleaning up after the battle both in story and in writing terms.

Towers of Midnight 44 – Mat and Perrin get to talk, I really wish we had gotten a full scene of all of the core characters talking before the last battle, we see bits and pieces of it but nothing with the whole large group.

“Hey Perrin..I caught a badger” makes me snicker every time.

Towers of Midnight 45 – I love Galad's line here. “I found some truth..as well as something I did not expect.” I wonder what Galad and The Children did after the story ended. I can't imagine they didn't end up in Mayen in some way.

Towers of Midnight 46 – Poor Androl, he gets all of this dumped on him very suddenly. I however find it hard to believe that Logain wouldn't take Androl with him when he left the Black Tower. A talent in gateways would be incredibly useful when traveling the world and it seems to be a large oversight to not take the guy with you.

Towers of Midnight 47 - *sigh* this was the most convoluted solution to a problem you could come up with. The simple solution is to have Perrin tell his story infront of the court and have Bornhald give witness to it. He was there. Saving a district of your nation from an attack by an evil army of darkness is a legitimate reason to raise someone lord. You have two powerful witnesses in Bornhald and Tam who was a member of Illian's elite forces, and heck Tam is Tam nobody will think he is full of crap.

Towers of Midnight 48 – Here is something odd, it isn't until the pre-returning to the waste visions that we any mention of Damane or Channelers, which is just after the Hissing Staves show up as primary weapons among the Seanchan.

Once what is ostensibly a Gun is invented based on Canons...did the Seanchan just start a complete genocide against all channelers?

Towers of Midnight 49 – There are lots of interesting bits here. What happened to Tuon and Mat? Don't Tuon and Egwene come to some sort of strange treaty during the next book, where women who want to be free of the leash can be freed to Aes Sedai lands, and women who want the collar can be sent to the Seanchan for collering?

I wonder exactly how much is changed in this timeline.

Towers of Midnight 50 – Elyane handles this far better than she does the issues in the Two Rivers. Setting the various nobility against each other in the way that she does is fantastic foresight.

Towers of Midnight 51 – I find Jordan's choice of who leads the Borderlanders to be a little strange. The idea of a hidden fortelling that the borderlanders use to test Rand is quite compelling, but One would think that King Easar would be at the forefront as. “The man who believed in Rand from the start.” He is the one who would have heard about Rand from Lord Agglemar who has personal experience with Rand.
 

Rhed al'Tere

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I just read the chapter where Perrin forges the hammer. YAS. YASYASYAS.

And the battle in the White Tower against Mesaana. And against Slayer. And poor Hopper. :( And Gawyn finally deciding to support Egwene instead of trying to lead.

I love this book. :pleased-1:
 

Ryu Shadowborn

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Towers of Midnight 52 – Oh Mat, you are at the same time utterly braindead and an absolute genius. Never change Mat, never change.

Towers of Midnight 53 - Into the Tower. I wish we learned more of the Snakes and Foxes at this point.

Towers of Midnight 54 – Mat uses his Tav'eren luck to find the way, and we have half the light of the world given, to save the world. As well as one of Egwene's dreams according to the Library, one from book 5. It is amazing how many things were foreshadowed and set up from the start.


Towers of Midnight 55 – Goodbye Noal, it is sad that the “If you ever see a Malkieri tell him I died clean” never got to be a thing in the next book. Seeing Mat tell Lan (obviously it would be Lan) how Jain died would have been interesting.

Towers of Midnight 56 – The Black Tower is officially split, and we see the effects of Turning.

Towers of Midnight 57 – Moraine is not at all surprised that Rand cleansed the Taint, and Thom/Moraine is a pairing..one which while sensible comes out of freaking nowhere in many ways. I suppose this makes Thom an in-law of Elayne now since Elayne's Father was a family member of Moraine's.

The Damedred Family tree is strange.

Towers of Midnight Epilogue: Not much of value here, Perrin's wolf brother plot comes to a complete end with Boundless, it comes a bit out of nowhere to me we have seen boundless show up several times over the book..but there is no real sign that he is Noam.
 

Kassina Tendar

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Chapter 56:
-Gawyn won’t tell anyone what the Bloodknife rings are that he carries around. That is a super creepy thing to carry around, Gawyn. (even if it ends up being useful)
-Egwene had hear rumors that Morgase was alive, but didn’t want to give Gawyn false hope or confuse him too much by telling him about them until she was sure.
-Is Taim using a Dreamspike to keep Gateways from forming in the Black Tower?
-Androl asks Pevara to hear him out and work together, like male and female Aes Sedai used to do. :joy :joy Huzzah!

Chapter 57:
-The Aelfinn/Eelfinn not only feed off of emotions, but can actively drain someone’s ability to channel.
-A man came to the Tower of Ghenjei (Moridin?) to free Lanfear.
-Moiraine learns that saidin’s been cleansed. :D
-And Moiraine and Thom get married… one of the weirdest plotlines in this series. :scratch :cheeseeni:
-I wish I knew what Moiraine asked to Aelfinn. :grumble

Epilogue:
-Shaidar Haran blames Graendal for Mesaana being trapped in the White Tower during the fight, causing her death.
-Perrin realizes that Noam didn’t accidentally lose himself.
-Olver has figured out tha the needs to talk to the Aelfinn to find out who killed his parents. :( :cry
-Olver wins Snakes & Foxes. :pleased-1:
-Verin figures that Mat will open her letter immediately. :\ Verin unfortunately miscalculated a bit there.
-We meet the red-veiled Aiel. So creepy.
 

Aduiavas Ida

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Yeah, Gawyn keeping the rings are one of the worst things he did :indifferent: He KNOWS it will kill him, but does not even stop to consider what his death would do to Egwene :indifferent:
 

Ryu Shadowborn

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Yeah, Gawyn keeping the rings are one of the worst things he did :indifferent: He KNOWS it will kill him, but does not even stop to consider what his death would do to Egwene :indifferent:

On one hand..kinda stupid. On the other..it does literally save Egwene's life.

Edit : Can we just for a moment stop and think..exactly how insane it would have been in the last battle to give those rings to Warder's whose Aes Sedai had died and just let them go completely nuts? >.> I am just saying.
 
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Aduiavas Ida

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See? That would have been a good idea. And I know that it does save Egwenes life, but I am not sure how much that was needed. She could have sneaked away on her own, or Gawyn could have sneaked around using the Warder cloak or a variety of other means..

Or he could just have told her, and they could have seen if it could be Healed, or she could have at least released the Bond... Or you know, something :tug But of course, then it would not have been the Wheel of No Communication :p
 

Ryu Shadowborn

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She could have sneaked away on her own,

She was trying to sneak away in a Warder Cloak and still almost got caught.

she could have at least released the Bond.

It is not like..she couldn't feel him dying after he got stomped by Damedred. She had ample time to release the bond and didn't.
 

Ilverin Matriam

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I just finished ToM last night. The last few chapters with Mat gave me the chills.... I knew what would happen, but I was still scared and creeped out by the Aelfin and Eelfin. And the scene, where Thom played the harp and sang, while Mat was figuring out a way out.... serious goosebumps. (I was listening to the audio book btw)

I did not remember the Epilogue at all (from the previous time I read this book) What does Rand have to do with how Lanfear is treated... I dont remember if they say anything about this in the next book. Anyway, I liked the ending way more than the beginning. All the Perrin chapters were a bit boring :P
 

Aduiavas Ida

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Yeah, the Perrin parts of this book can be a bit tedious :look: And I was almost sad when I realized that Perrin would fight with Slayer in the world of dreams AGAIN in the next book :look:
 
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