Re-Reading "The Dragon Reborn": "Chapter 9: Wolf Dreams," "Chapter 10: Secrets," and "Chapter 11: Tar Valon"

Both Perrin and Egwene learn the dangers of dreams and the peril that awaits both of them as their world grows ever more perilous around them.

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Here at Omnivorous we’re charging full-speed ahead into The Dragon Reborn, and this week we focus on a trio of chapters that focus both on Perrin and on Egwene. While the former continues to contend with the reality of his dreams and what they might portend with his future with the wolves, the latter has to deal with the consequences of having run away from the White Tower without permission. As they both find out, there’s a very long, long road ahead of them. 

Let’s begin, as we have for the last few weeks, with Perrin. As if it wasn’t bad enough that he has to deal with the presence of the wolves during his waking hours, we also find out that they are in his dreams and, sadly, Moiraine is unwilling to simply offer him the kind of comfort and reassurance that he so desperately desires. Say what you will about Moiraine, but she is never going to be falsely hopeful. She could have simply told Perrin that there was a great likelihood that he would be able to master his gift and that he wouldn’t go the way of Noam. That’s not her way, though. She’d ultimately rather have Perrin face the truth head-on and, love her or hate her for it, you can’t help but admire her. 

For Perrin’s part, the dreams end up being even more terrifying than any he’s yet encountered. There’s a man who has his skin ripped off by some unseen assailant–and I shudder to think about how that manifested in the real world–and there’s also a brief encounter with Lanfear. It’s all enough to drive a man mad, and it’s to Perrin’s credit that he manages to cling onto the fragments of his own sanity. It’s also a little bittersweet to see Hopper (or hear him, any rate), given his unfortunate fate. 

This whole dream sequence is an indication of how much the World of Dreams is starting to play a more prominent role in the narrative. By this time we’ve already seen how Ishamael has already sought to use this space to manipulate Rand and the others from Emond’s Field, but for Perrin it has an extra danger, since it’s also a place where his own consciousness might be influenced by the wolves. When it comes right down to it, it’s pretty terrifying to think about one’s dreams being as real as the waking world, and as dangerous. 

Speaking of dreams, these chapters also give us more insight into Egwene and her own struggles, both when it comes to her troubled dreams and her continuing attempts to recover from what her time among the Seanchan did to her.  Given the extent to which we were sutured into Egwene’s perspective during many of the pivotal events of The Great Hunt, it’s easy for us to forget that by all of the standards of the Aes Sedai what she and the others have done is grounds for expulsion or stilling. After all, it’s not as if anyone else knows of Liandrin’s part in the whole affair (not that we as readers know, anyway), so it makes sense that Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve are nervous even if, on the other hand, Egwene continues to show herself someone of both great power and stubborn will. 

The exchange with the Whitecloaks in particular prefigures the type of person that Egwene will become in later books. She’s headstrong and confident and prone to leaping before she looks, and this obviously leads her into no small amount of trouble. I mean, the fact that Verin of all people–arguably one of the most unflappable of all of the Aes Sedai in the entire series–gets quite wrathful is a testament to just how badly Egwene has messed up in this little encounter. Nevertheless, one can hardly blame her for her actions, and I actually think this whole sequence is a fascinating exploration of the power of trauma to distort a person’s sense of reality and cause them to do things they might not otherwise think of doing.

And then there’s the description of Tar Valon. The city that the Aes Sedai call home has always struck me as one of the most fantastical of all of Jordan’s creations. It’s truly one of those spaces that can only exist within the context of the page and, while I like much of what the Amazon series has done with the books, I’m not sure that any production, no matter how skillful or how well-financed, could ever truly capture the marvel that is this particular city. So rich are Jordan’s descriptions of it–from the buildings to the people walking its streets–that you truly do feel as if you are right there with our beloved trio of heroines as they begin their journey back into the heart of the Aes Sedai. 

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that we also get one brief glance into Rand’s state of mind in these chapters. The poor guy is now being pursued by Darkhounds but, at the very least, he seems to have mastered saidin just enough so that he can use it to destroy them before they do the same to him. Jordan once again viscerally captures just how contradictory the One Power is for men. On the one hand it gives life and makes the world feel truly alive while, on the other, also being a source of revulsion and contamination. Poor Rand, as always, finds himself caught in the middle.

As I’ve written before–and will probably write again and again and again–The Dragon Reborn definitely takes its time when it comes to finding its plot and figuring out just what it is that it’s actually about. Oh, sure, on paper it’s all quite simple: it’s about Rand’s journey toward acceptance of the reality that he is indeed the Dragon Reborn and that he’d better get to Tear to claim Callandor. But this is The Wheel of Time we’re talking about here, and that means that nothing is ever quite as it seems, particularly not when it comes to plot or narrative. 

But, as we all know, I’m still very much here for the ride. 

Until next week!