Re-Readalong: Path of Daggers To the End!

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Re: Re-Readalong: Path of Daggers Chapter 17-21

Ryu's battle plan for Rand (using the Asha'man and Aiel to devastate the Seanchan) is really quite good - I'm surprised that Jordan didn't have Rand do something like this, or at least have the idea presented then discarded for some reason. It just makes too much sense as a plan, I can't imagine Rand not having considered it.

The thing with Vandene assuming Adeleas' personality/clothes/etc. IS odd, but not completely unheard of. I think it fits very well for the type of characters they are and the relationship they had. Not that I think it is HEALTHY, just that it seems to FIT for me.

So, what IS the deal with the Power at this point in the story? I can't remember what exactly it is that is causing the damane to be sick and the Asha'man to feel that the power is fighting them.

 

[Ealandrelle Melyma]

Re: Re-Readalong: Path of Daggers Chapter 17-21

I reckon that the issues with saidin/saidar are due to Elayne's gateway exploding. I wonder if somehow it was also caught up in the use of the Bowl of the Winds? We know that use of the bowl sent streams of saidar/din scooting across the sky for hundreds of miles. Perhaps somehow the explosion of the gateway somehow interacted with the pre-existing flows and caused them to go... wild, somehow? Or it could just be the explosion itself, as it was pretty devastating.

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

Re: Re-Readalong: Path of Daggers Chapter 17-21

The issues with the Power relate to the Bowl of the Winds. It draws on both saidin and saidar, and it makes it go nutso in that area. (Companion confirms this.)

I think the gateway explosion was within the realm of normal for unweaving flows. It can be anything from a pop in your face to this giant explosion to stilling anyone in range.

 

[Megana Vallentin]

Re: Re-Readalong: Path of Daggers Chapter 17-21

Chapter 16

Side note: The Library Summary says Shieriam is bitten by someone who is not happy with her instead of beaten. That is the best thing.

:rofl

Egwene taking control of the Hall is definitely one of my favorite parts of this book. THIS is the event that made me sit back and go "WOW I love Egwene now!" The feeling had been slowly growing ever since she joined the Aiel, but this was the part that really drove it home.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Re: Re-Readalong: Path of Daggers Chapter 22-26

^ This. To both things.

 

[Ealandrelle Melyma]

Yeah I love Egwene from here until Gawyn shows up again Then I find her intensely irritating until she turns herself to... whatever it is she turns into

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

Crystal?

 

[Ealandrelle Melyma]

Crystallised Light? Crystallised anti-balefire? Crystal Flame of Tar Valon? Who knows

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

Well, she definitely became legend So lets go with that

 

[Ealandrelle Melyma]

About the only non-irritating thing she'd done for 3 books

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Prologue:
-Saldaean tempers are considered legendary. We certainly see that in Faile...
-Tenobia has specific and very Saldaean requirements in a husband.
-Aes Sedai advisors vanished when Elaida seized power, probably to return to Tar Valon.
-Thirteen Aes Sedai are joining the group of Borderlanders. The leaders there don’t understand the significant.
-Verin thinks that 71 years ago was the last time she had made a serious mistake. Could this be her joining the Black Ajah?
-The Wise Ones have learned linking from the Aes Sedai ‘apprentices’
-Verin always carries around a small angreal
-Verin has invented a weave for a slightly weakened form of compulsion from tidbits of various wilders’ invented weaves when they were younger. That’s super impressive.
-Sha’rah sounds like an interesting game. Also, the Fisher in the game is depicted as a man with bandaged eyes and a hand pressed to his side, with blood dripping from it. The latter wound at least sounds like Rand.

Chapter 1:
-They Amayar’s prophecies involve the hand attached to the Choedan Kal and the ‘end of illusions’ which, given their philosophy, means their death
-Teslyn belittles Nynaeve for her ‘wild fancies’ about the Forsaken, a storm that isn’t a storm, gholam, and the Black Ajah. It does sound a bit crazy if you’ve somehow kept in the dark for the past 8 books.
-Waiting to Travel to the farm, Aviendha is convinced blood will be spilled. She’s resolved to use the One Power as a weapon, since neither steel nor words won’t help.

Chapter 2:
-Elayne wants to figure out how to make angreal. I love how excited she gets.
-A ter’angreal is used to make the cloth for Warders’ cloaks
-The Aiel know about picking apart weaves and actually study it. Dangerous, but a good thing to practice.
-Even in the Age of Legends, they didn’t know how to Heal severing. They also didn’t have anything like the Warder bond. Moridin is also baffled by Elayne picking apart her weave.
-Gholam need fresh blood, preferably human

Chapter 4:
-One of Lini’s pieces of advice: You can do whatever you wish, child. So long as you’re willing to pay the price. Very similar to Aiel ideals.

Chapter 5:
-They use the Bowl and the Seanchan attack. I do like the description of the Bowl and how it draws in saidin, too. It’s interesting how some ter’angreal can draw the Power in without a personal channeling it.

Chapter 6:
-Nynaeve’s rivalry with Alise is kinda funny. “Where did my hat get to? Thinks she knows everything. I’ll wager she doesn’t know that!” :rofl
-And then of course Alise does find her hat.
-Elayne tells Aviendha she wants them to be first-sisters after the explosion at the gateway.
-The farm is completely destroyed after the explosion
-After the explosion, Chulein, a morat’raken decides that something needs to be done decisively against the Aes Sedai (like, for example, an assault on the White Tower) and wants to talk to Suroth about it. Foreshadowing!

Chapter 7:
-Perrin thinks that, if a visible amoung of saidin and saidar are used, it must be the Forsaken working on a large scale.
-Morgase is literally running from Tallanvor. Ookkkk…
-Perrin recognizes Basel Gil and… other guy. I forget his name. Could be ta’veren to bring them to him.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Chapter 8:
-Morgase is not great at hiding sometimes… she freaks out when Perrin mentions Rand ‘putting’ Elayne on the throne.
-Lini is smart and reminds her to act like a ‘simple country woman’
-Faile offers to take them all into her service. Faile thinks she’s being gracious by giving these people a job. Morgase is actually the first one to accept her offer.
-Morgase is freaked out that the Dragon Reborn has ‘plans’ for Elayne. Well… he does have plans for her… but so does she.
-The night seems a little cool, though after all the heat, Morgase assumes she’s just imagining it.
-Perrin’s words/actions are taken out of context (since Morgase et al haven’t been around for all the context) and Morgase thinks he’s a beast, threatening to hang anyone who looks at him the wrong way.


Chapter 9:
-Perrin finds Maighdin and Breane not curtsying a pleasant surprise.
-Faile hires Basel Gill as her Shambayan, following Borderlander traditions
-Seonid initially urged caution in regards to Masema and now she’s convinced Perrin needs to kill him. (of course, she never actually said not to kill him before, so she might’ve thought he needed to die all along) Still, it confuses Perin.
-Seonid wants to Heal Gharadin, a Shaido’s, wound, but he’s apparently been refusing.

Chapter 10:
-Perrin asks how Elyas can be worried about running into his Aes Sedai, since the bond should tell him where she is. This nudges something in Perrin’s memory…. What is he talking about? What does he almost remember?
-And Elyas finally gives Perrin advice on how to deal with Faile.
-Alliandre thinks Perrin is very skilled at Daes Dae’mar

Chapter 11:
-Sevanna thinks that soon, after she gets Rand, it won’t matter anymore that she can’t channel. The fact that she does think it matters shows how far she’s gotten from usual Aiel ideas.
-Galina thinks Sevanna almost sounds petulant, but is sure that she knows Sevanna better than that.
-The Aiel who came out of the Waste in the Aiel War told others about snow when they returned and Therava always thought it was a lie.

Chapter 12:
-Graendal’s plotting to sow chaos and sends a letter to Ituralde from ‘Alsalam’, something important enough that a Gray Man would try to stop it.
-Cyndane/Lanfear show up with Moghedien to intimidate Graendal
-Aginor thought that Myrddraal were ‘slightly out of phase with time and reality’
-When it starts raining, the Aiel are so distracted that a cutpurse can rob an Aiel without him even noticing.
-Alanna somehow thinks that Rand ‘belongs to’ her as her Warder :facepalm I don’t think he counts are your Warder, Alanna, if you forcibly bond him.
-Alanna tells Cadsuane that Rand was injured and then not, but that she doesn’t think he was Healed by a sister. That’s ‘cause he was Healed by an Asha’man.
-Cadsuane and Sorilea see eye-to-eye on Rand in some ways. They agree to work together to help him learn laughter and tears again. They swear a water oath.
-Sorilea shows Cadsuane how to Travel.

Chapter 13:
-The Illianers with Rand still refuse to call Brend Sammael. Fair enough. That’s pretty terrifying.
-“Despite being a farmer, Dashiva disliked being out-of-doors unless the skies were clear”
-Rand is baffled by the Shaido being strewn across the continent. Since the Shaido captured all talked about Aes Sedai, he wonders if the White Tower is involved.

Chapter 14:
-Rand threatens to visit the Black Tower if his commands aren’t obeyed. Torval is quick to assure him that’s not necessary. Torval’s in Taim’s camp.
-Taim is pushing the Black Tower recruits hard. 1/10 of the men there are destroyed and 1/50 go mad and have to be killed.
-The Seanchan patrol the streets and surrounding countryside so that they’re perfectly safe. Does this even include the Rahad???
-Saidin is messed up… to the point that it doesn’t always do what you want it to. So clearly using Callandor is the best option. :rolleyes (it’s not this chapter that he uses it, but still )
-Rand’s answer from the finn about cleansing saidin, according to Herid Fel states “sound principles, in both high philosophy and natural philosophy”.
-Rand sends Narishma off to get Callandor
-Lews Therin is insistent that Rand kill Torval… which kinda makes sense. Torval does try to kill Rand later.

Chapter 15:
-Egwene dreams of Rand wearing different masks until one of them becomes him. Rand and Moridin?
-She dreams of Perrin and Aram, killing people as they go toward a cliff
-Mat weighing two Aes Sedai on a balance. I assume this is Moiraine vs. Verin and his decision to save Moiraine, which ultimately helps save the world. Her dreams make it seem like Mat isn’t quite real. Something to do with the medallion? Or his memories?
-Halima’s fingers heal Egwene’s headaches like Healing never does. :desk
-Egwene tells Siuan that she wants to at least free Aes Sedai from the Three Oaths and Siuan freaks out.
-Egwene thinks that she wouldn’t be surprised if Elaida’s tried to kidnap Rand already. And then says “Well, maybe not kidnap, but she’d have done something. Likely Aes Sedai would be fighting Asha’man today.” Spot on, Egwene! Except for your backtracking about the kidnapping.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Chapter 16:
-I couldn’t find anything in the Companion about the Year of the Four Amyrlins
-Halima kills Anaiya. Why?
-Aes Sedai call controlling the weather Cloud Dancing
-Lelaine doesn’t think the Windfinders would know as much about working the weather as Aes Sedai. :facepalm
-Chesa thinks Halima’s a bad influence. Good instincts, Chesa.
-Egwene: Clearly rumors or Aes Sedai serving Rand are ridiculous. Nothing’s ridiculous when a ta’veren like Rand is involved.
-We hear more about Sitters chosen too young. No idea what this is about still.
-Lelaine flat-out tells Egwene that she has no power.

Chapter 17:
-Egwene begins her plan. I seriously love this part. I was so excited reading this and, even knowing what was going to happen, couldn’t wait for them to get back to camp so Egwene could put the Hall in its place.

Chapter 18:
-Even the Nobles realize Egwene isn’t seen as a ‘real’ Emyrlin. :rolleyes Preparing for the turn around that is to come.

Chapter 19:
-Egwene reasons that Elaida has sent sisters to the Black Tower, but knows she can’t do anything about it. She is a very capable Amyrlin and good at seeing past plots.

Siuan went on for some little time, growling what she would like to do about Gareth bloody Bryne. He would have enjoyed none of it. Some, he might not have survived.

:rofl
-Delana turns around to look at the people watching the Hall meet. Looking for Halima to make sure she doesn’t misstep?
-Aes Sedai vomit a lot when faced with shocking news.
-I love this chapter, but it’s a little weird that Takima doesn’t say anything before the vote. Not sure why.
-“In one month, we will begin the siege of Tar Valon.” :joy :joy

Chapter 20:
-Lan assumes Birgitte is Kandori and Birgitte just goes with it.
-Elayne hears a rumor of Rand being the King of Illian, of all things.
-The Sea Folk have interesting marriage customs.
-Elayne apparently did crazy things after studying a rod ter’angreal. No one will tell her what.
-The Kin continue to lose respect for Aes Sedai

Chapter 21:
-Rand wonders what Taim is up to in the Black Tower. He’s been creating new ranks and titles. He doesn’t worry too much about it, though, as long as he’s training the Asha’man well. If only he visited the Tower…
-Narishma insists that Rand didn’t tell him everything of the traps he set on Callandor and is understandably pissed. I wonder what happened there.
-Dashiva is insulted that Rand makes him weave a gateway.

Chapter 22:
-Rand wants to trust Flinn since he saved his life, but can’t really trust any Asha’man.
-Bakuun, a Seanchan Captain, compares a damane to his pet wolfhound. :mad
-The damane have been affected by the problems with saidar. The Seanchan consider it a sickness going through the damane and don’t really know what it is.
-Bakuun again sees damane as things to be used, such as for Sky Lights after a battle.
-The Seanchan’s message pole is a smart idea for flying message carriers.

Chapter 23:
-Dashiva can’t Heal
-“What you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts”. Words from our Age surviving to this Age?
-Nerith, a Sul’dam captured by Rand’s forces is pissed that they killed ‘her Gille’, and they assume Gille is a pet by the way Nerith speaks of her.
-People are chosen by special Choosers to be in the Deathwatch Guard.
-There are Ogier Gardeners in Seanchan and, unlike humans, they can’t be marked or owned.
-Rand’s baffled by damane wanting to keep the a’dam on.
-Dashiva is terrible with horses. He’s from an era where people didn’t need to ride horses to get around.
-Anaiyella and Ailil plot and figure out what to do with Rand once he’s shot. Anaiyella is holding her belt knife. Rand can’t react, but is noticing this all and is super suspicious. Ailil has a knife as well.
-Anaiyella is a Darkfriend and Ailil is not. Does Ailil mistrust Aniayella? Perhaps she drew her knife because she was worried for Rand and wanted to protect him from Anaiyella.
-Lews Therin: “I would not mind you in my head if you were not so clearly mad”

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

We hear more about Sitters chosen too young. No idea what this is about still.

Here's how I remember this working out, but I could be a bit fuzzy on the details:

The situation with the young Sitters has to do with the plotting back at the Tower to infiltrate Salidar. The existing Sitters in the Tower are working together (without anyone else's knowledge). They selected new Sitters to be sent to Salidar who would then be able to report back to the existing Sitters. The new Sitters that were selected were all chosen from the younger Sisters as they are more likely to be pliable and follow the orders of their elders.

Anyone else want to chime in with clarification on this?

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Oh, interesting. That'd make sense. How does that tie in to the weirdness (I forget what word they used) with the Sitters chosen in the Tower then? I forget what they said exactly, but there were recent comments in the Tower about how some of the Sitters chosen since Elaida was Raised have been unusual.

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

I think that the Heads in the Tower chose young Sitters because they wanted to control the Tower themselves. If the same is true among the rebels I don't know, but I think it likely

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Yeah, it could be the same reason, that's true. It just feels like it's built up as this huge conspiracy and then... it isn't.

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

Just one of many threads that Jordan didn't have time to tie up Another is Merililies flight with Talaan from Caemlyn, and the closing of the Waygates

 

[Kassina Tendar]

And Padan Fain. :grumble

 

[Al'Amar El'Haldir]

Wow, thanks for the summary!

- Halima kills Anaiya because she's one of Cabriana Mercedes (sp) friends; with potential to uncover Halima's cover in Salidar.
- Ajah Heads sent some sitters to Salidar and ordered them to get young puppets elected as sitters there. And they appointed young sitters in the Tower to be amenable to instructions. It was part of a plot to overcome Elaida's mess: secret rule by Ajah heads. In a way, it inadvertently helped the Shadow's scheme of further division and hostility in the Tower. A disaster that Egwene's tenacity helped avert.
- Elayne's unfortunate experience with one of the ter'angreal started with her sensing "heat." My hunch is that she walked around the inn totally naked, or at least in her shift!
- Elayne unraveling the gateway from Ebou Dar to Andor: as reckless, impulsive, and downright stupid as ever. She just saw Aviendha, fully trained, unravel a weave; and heard all Aes Sedai and Aviendha say how dangerous it is; then she does it under duress with weaving problems, with total disregard for the safety of the people around her. Total ignorance never stops Elayne from doing something dangerous!