Re-Reading "The Eye of the World": "Chapter 13: Choices" and "Chapter 14: The Stag and the Lion"

As Rand and his companions continue their journey, they find that there are many perils they must face and many difficult choices they must make.

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Hello, fellow Wheel of Time fans! I’m sorry it’s been almost a month since I shared my thoughts on The Eye of the World, but I’ve just been watching and reading and writing so many things that it’s taken me a while to get back into Jordan’s marvelous world. In any case I’m back, and I’m vowing here and now to make these little chapter readings a weekly occurrence. Consistency is always best! 

In any case, this week we’ll be discussing a cluster of chapters that follow Rand and company as they continue to make their flight from Emond’s Field into an uncertain future. Having left Taren Ferry behind, they now begin to make their way toward the city of Baerlon. Once there, however, they find a whole new set of difficulties, particularly once Rand and the other two boys start to find themselves visited by a sinister stranger in their dreams. 

These chapters mark a key turning point for Rand and the other young people from Emond’s Field. One of the first signs that things have changed irrevocably is Rand’s discovery that Egwene has not only decided to wear her hair unbound; she has also decided that she wants to go to Tar Valon to train as an Aes Sedai. It’s a relatively short exchange, but it reveals much about their characters. While Rand still finds it difficult to think of Aes Sedai–even Moiraine–outside of the Darkfriend framework, for Egwene they represent an opportunity to think beyond the limitations of her upbringing. Unlike Rand, she proves quite willing to let go of their past. As we all know, hair plays a very significant part in Jordan’s conceptions of characters, and here it comes to bear extra weight as a sign of Egwene’s new life. 

While it is true that Rand can be very frustrating as a character, and while it can be a bit of a drag to be stuck in his head for several chapters, it’s also easy to sympathize with his plight. Like the others who fled from their home, he doesn’t quite know who he is, what he’s doing, or where he’s going. Everything he thought he knew about the world has been cast into doubt, and is left to rely on Moiraine for guidance, even though, like so many Aes Sedai, she is not very willing to give any information away that she doesn’t have to, no matter how frustrating this might be for her charges.  

And there’s no doubt that Moiraine reveals herself to be a terrifying character in her own right. She might not be a Darkfriend (or, at least, we’ve been given no evidence that she is), but she is just as dangerous. When she informs the three young men that she would rather destroy them than see them fall into the hands of the Dark One, there is no doubt at all that she means it. She is the type of person who is resolutely committed to her mission, and there is nothing that will stand in her way. This aspect of her character is one of the things that I think Rosamund Pike captures particularly well in the Amazon adaption. 

Once the characters finally reach Baerlon, it’s clear that things are about to get even more real. To begin with there is the fact that this is the biggest city that any of the Emond’s Fielders have ever seen, though at this point they have only encountered the inn. It’s already clear, though, that the danger to them is only going to grow. In a city it’s easier to be anonymous, but it’s also much easier to draw attention to oneself when there are eyes everywhere just looking for more information. Moreover, this chapter also serves as a moment of respite for the characters, a chance for them, and for the reader, to find their footing before charging headfirst into more danger. 

There’s no question that the most disturbing part of these chapters, though, is the moment in which Rand meets Ba’alzamon himself in a dream. Everything about this sequence is designed to evoke horror and unease, from the way that the stones of the fireplace resemble faces screaming in agony to the way that the man’s eyes seem to open into deep caverns of fire. Even though it won’t become clear for some time yet, the man who calls himself Ba’alzamon is playing a very deep game, it’s still clear from this entire exchange that Rand is immersed in something far more sinister than he had ever imagined. Because we’ve been so thoroughly sutured into Rand’s point of view–with all of the limitations that it imposes–we only know the barest bits of what he’s talking about.

Of course, we also know something more than Rand, because we’ve read the Prologue, so we’re already getting an inkling that poor Rand is doomed to become the Dragon Reborn. It turns out that his ignorance is his best weapon. Because he doesn’t know just what Rand and the other Aes Sedai have planned for him, he can’t reveal too much to Ba’alzamon and thus put himself into more danger. Even at this early stage, however, it’s clear how much difficulty Rand is going to have wrapping his head around the idea that the Dark One is even able to touch the world, let alone that he will be the one responsible for fighting against him. 

As Tolkien did with similar effect, Jordan intertwines this moment of rest with specters of ever-growing danger. This little interlude in Baerlon is one of the last moments that Moiraine and her charges will be able to have shelter, for the world outside grows increasingly dangerous. After all, it’s not just the Dark One that they have to fear, but also the sinister Whitecloaks. Theirs is a world poised on the brink of cataclysmic destruction, and Jordan excels at planting the seeds of later events right here at the beginning.

Next up, we’ll journey with Rand and company as they attempt to escape from Baerlon and the Trollocs on their trail.