Re-Reading "The Great Hunt": "Chapter 20: Saidin," "Chapter 21: The Nine Rings," and "Chapter 22: Watchers"
In this suite of chapters, Rand contends with a powerful rush of saidin, while Moiraine tries to find out more about the Dragon's fate and faces a sinister creature of the Dark One.
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Say what you will about Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time, but the man did know how to keep a reader’s interest even when not a great deal happens in the plot. In the three chapters under discussion today, for example, not a lot happens in terms of moving the action forward. Rand, after all, is still making his slow way to Cairhien, though he does part ways with Selene/Lanfear along the way and has a powerful and disconcerting encounter with a giant sa’angreal. Meanwhile, Moiraine is visiting a pair of elderly Aes Sedai who she hopes have in their possession knowledge she can use to figure out what happens next.
By now we know that Rand has little to no control over saidin, whether it comes to reaching out to it or actually wielding it. Nothing illustrates this more than the moment in which he finds himself drawn into the orbit of that enormous statue, one half of the Choedan Kal. It’s clear to the reader at least that he’s being drawn in by a sa’angreal, and it’s probably a good thing that he has other people with him or else it’s entirely possible he would have lost himself altogether. It’s a startling moment, precisely because it reminds us of how dangerous saidin is in even small amounts, let alone the vast amount of it that Rand would be able to access with such a device.
It’s also becoming increasingly clear that Selene–who, it bears repeating, is actually Lanfear, even though the novel doesn’t explicitly tell us this–is growing very impatient with the young man she’s tried to take under her wing. It’s hard to blame the Forsaken in this regard. Rand is a well-meaning and noble young man, but one thing he is not is ambitious. For a woman like Lanfear, who has harbored a millennia-long obsession with Lews Therin in whatever guise he may appear, it must be particularly galling to see his spirit lodged in such a humble vessel. It’s thus no wonder that she leaves him behind to pursue her own goals (even if those remain unseen and unrevealed at this moment).
One gets the sense that Rand is slowly but surely coming to terms with the fact that he can channel and that he’s going to have to find some way of dealing with that. As we’ve already seen time and time again, Rand is nothing if not stubborn, and he’ll only really accept something once he has no other choice. However, even he can’t quite deny that the One Power is starting to exert a powerful hold on him and that, no matter how hard he might want to resist his call, there are going to be times when he is going to be unable to do so.
Arguably the most important thing about these two Rand chapters, however, is the mention of the Game of Houses, which will come to be such an important part of the plot. For a poor sheepherder like Rand, it’s really quite bewildering to have to sort through people’s motivations. After all, for all of his internal turmoil, Rand does tend to be one of those people who is scrupulously honest, particularly when they want to keep something from him. As he continues down the path of becoming the Dragon Reborn–fated to be a political figure as well as a salvific one–he’s going to find that learning how to play the Game is an essential piece of taking the battle to the Dark One.
There’s also something almost meta about Jordan’s invocation of the Game of Houses. As the series goes on, we as readers are always encouraged to pore over the things that people say and the actions they take, never quite sure whether such things should be taken at face value or whether there’s something more sinister going on (Verin’s affiliation is a case in point). Readers never quite know whether they should believe anything they’re being told, and Jordan proves to be a master of misdirection.
Unsurprisingly, the best chapter for me was the one focusing on Moiraine, who continues her quest to find out more about what will happen now that the Dragon has truly been reborn and set loose on the world. Adeleas and Vandene are, to me, two of the most enjoyable of the many (many) Aes Sedai that make an appearance throughout The Wheel of Time, even if they are always on the edge of the story. Moiraine proves remarkably adept at asking just the right questions to get what he wants without revealing too much of her real intentions.
The real highlight, however, is the emotionally fraught conversation that takes place between Moiraine and Lan. Not only do we discover just how it is that they came to be paired up–and it’s quite amusing to think about Lan throwing Moiraine into a pond–but also how much remains unsaid between them. Moiraine is not shy about manipulating others when she thinks that it’s useful for her own purposes or their own good, and in Lan’s case she chooses to needle him even more forcefully than ever before. She knows full well that he’s already begun to fall in love with Nynaeve but, rather than being moved by this, she intends to use it as another means by which she can keep Lan alive to continue the fight against the Dark One. You can’t help but admire her tenacity, even as you’re also a little terrified at just how implacable her will remains.
We also once again get a bit of horror with Moiraine’s confrontation with the Draghkar, which comes perilously close to luring her right into its deadly embrace. I love these moments, because they help to viscerally ground the action in real-world threat. Thankfully Moiraine is saved thanks to the Warders, but it’s a close thing. Even a powerful Aes Sedai can fall victim to the agents of the Dark One, as many characters in The Wheel of Time will find to their cost.