Re-Reading "The Eye of the World": "Chapter 46: Fal Dara" "Chapter 47: More Tales of the Wheel"

In a pair of pivotal chapters, readers learn more about not just Lan but also the peddler Padan Fain, both of whom are more than they appear on the surface.

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The action of The Eye of the World continues to pick up once Rand and company manage to escape the Ways and make their way to Fal Dara, where they are welcomed by Lord Agelmar. However, while this is a temporary respite, it’s very clear to everyone that things are even more dire than they thought, with Trollocs massing and the Dark One’s power undeniably growing. As if all of that wasn’t enough, they also have a fateful encounter with Padan Fain, the peddler that everyone thought had been killed during the attack on Emond’s Field. 

As I’ve noted for the past couple of weeks, things are moving quite quickly in terms of the narrative. While the threat of the Dark One and his sinister legions has loomed large ever since that fateful night in the Two Rivers, it’s only grown ever more insistent, particularly now that they are poised right on the threshold of the Blight. You can almost feel its presence, brooding and dark and deadly, for all that the men of Fal Dara stand ready to fight back against it in any way that they can, no matter how doomed their efforts might be.

These chapters are also important for the insight they give us into Lan’s character. From the moment that we caught sight of him in Emond’s Field it’s been clear that there was far more to this enigmatic warrior than met the eye, and now at last we see just how much more. As I’ve written before, history weighs heavily on the various characters of this novel, perhaps on Lan most of all. His entire life has been spent in exile from his homeland, which has now been thoroughly taken over by the Blight and the Dark One’s pestilential influence. There’s more than a bit of tragedy involved in his story, this man who has devoted his entire life to becoming a weapon, no matter how much of his heart he has had to sacrifice in the process. 

Indeed, there are a few subtle hints that Nynaeve, for one, is quite interested in the history of this Malkieri heir. I’m sure I’m not alone in seeing their romance as one of the best in the series, and it certainly feels the most authentic and organic. Though it won’t be explicitly articulated until later in the series, it’s very clear that Nynaeve has more than a casual interest in the Warder. Though she is obviously trying to be circumspect, this is something Nynaeve is not particularly good at, since even someone as dense as Rand manages to pick up the fact that she is very interested in his story.

Some, I’m sure, find this info dump to be a bit of a distraction from the main narrative, but for me that’s always been one of the best parts about fantasy. Maybe it’s the historian in me, but I love when characters take a few minutes away from the main story to give us insight into something, whether it’s a character biography or a history of the world. It gives texture and heft to what we’re reading, reminding us that the author has gone to a great deal of trouble to build up the details of this fictional world and those who live in it. 

It’s also worth pointing out that this whole sequence also creates a potent parallel between Lan and his Lord of the Rings counterpart, Aragorn. Unlike Aragorn (or at least the novel version of the character, as opposed to how he appears in the Jackson films), Lan has no desire to take up the banner of his former nation, let alone to sit on the vacated throne. Instead, his driving purpose has been to be a Warder and, having sworn his allegiance to Moiraine, there is nothing, not even the desperate imploring of those who remain in the Borderlands, that is going to change his mind or move him from his oath. 

Lastly, this whole sequence is also a reminder of how easy it is for even those who are inveterately opposed to the Dark One to fall into folly and self-destruction. The entire reason that Malkier was overrun was because there were members of its most powerful families who couldn’t see past their own ambitions and their own fall into darkness. The fact that the kingdoms and lands of the Borderlands are right next to the Blight means that, though they are the first line of defense, they are uniquely vulnerable to the blandishments of the Dark One and his minions (as time will show to the regret of many in the subsequent book). 

Just as interesting, in his own twisted way, is Padan Fain, who has managed to follow Rand over long distances and even through the darkness and menace of the Ways. It’s not hard to see shadows of Gollum in Fain’s persona and actions, particularly his ability to follow Rand wherever he might journey. Also like his Tolkien counterpart, he seems capable of taking on a different guise when it suits him, though in this case it’s hard to tell just what kind of person he might have been before his service to the Dark One turned him into a ruined shell of a man. 

Unlike Gollum, then, Fain seems to be quite far beyond the pale of redemption. Readers of The Lord of the Rings know that, for all that he has committed terrible deeds, there’s still a seed of the old Sméagol lurking beneath the twisted exterior, but with Fain it really does seem as if there is nothing left of him but what the Dark One has made him. Even if there is some human spirit left beneath all of the corruption, it’s highly unlikely that he’s going to show even a crumb of human compassion to Rand or anyone who aids him. As Moiraine says, he may not be beyond all hope of redemption, but the tone of her voice suggests that he probably is. Say what you will about Moiraine, but she is honest to a fault, and she is not one to dabble or purvey false hope. 

That’s all for my analysis of The Eye of the World this week. We’re almost finished with the first volume of The Wheel of Time, and then it will be on to The Great Hunt!