The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, and by this point the
voting public is quite tired of this damn introduction, so we'll just toss
out the window any pretension of being able to mimic anything even
resembling a literary style and merely start taking potshots at plot
points.
ALTARA
Mat, of course, is given special attention by the Seanchan, and spends the
book mired in Seanchan politics. He saves Tylin from execution, and she's
sent off to be a scullery maid. Thom, Vanin, and Julian make small
vigilante
trouble for the occupying army, and it becomes increasingly harder for the
Seanchan to maintain order. Word comes down that the DotNM will soon
arrive,
and Lady Suroth begins much plotting.
Demandred, (whose description is just specific enough for those who say
he's
Taim to think it's proof and vague enough for those who don't to dismiss
it)
picks up where Sammael left off in manipulating Bors. Unbeknownst to
Demandred however, some of Ishmael's old commands are beginning to come to
the surface. Moghidein makes a brief appearance gathering information on
Demandred and the Seanchan for Moridin.
Out at the farm, Elayne and Nynaeve realize that they cannot use the Bowl
of
the Winds without tipping off the Seanchan, and so are forced to remain
idle
while surreptitiously supplying Thom, Vanin and Julian's in their efforts
in
town. Setalle Anan reveals that she is a burnt-out Aes Sedai, but will not
say how it happened, although she shows considerable nervousness whenever
T'A'R is mentioned. Nynaeve continues to try to heal Lan, and the two keep
forcing orders upon one another, with Nynaeve in control in public, and Lan
in private, as the Sea Folk wedding vows dictate.
GHELDAN
Perrin again gets little mention in the book; his army waltzes into a
Whitecloak-Dragonsworn war, with neither side particularly thrilled to meet
him. A good number of his forces are captured by the Whitecloaks, leading
to
a contrived although unsurprising romance between Galad and Berelain.
Subtle
clues are dropped that Faile is pregnant, and she and Perrin bicker some
more. Their part of the book ends with the Seanchan beginning to invade.
THE SALIDAR AES SEDAI
Elyas Manchera makes his long awaited return when he's captured by a few
Wardens of the Salidar Aes Sedai. The Sitters want him to be immediately
put
to death, as he did kill a couple of Warders when he first began hearing
wolves. This is a small part of the oft-referred to unpleasantness that
followed the Aiel War, although the full story, especially the Red Ajah's
involvement, is not revealed yet. Egwene intervenes on behalf of Elyas, her
first truly independent action since Halima began influencing her. Egwene's
loyalty is repaid when Elyas reveals Halima to be Eeeevil. Halima escapes,
however.
TAR VALON
Under Alviarin's tutelage, Elaida regains her ironclad grip on the stole,
despite losing at the Black Tower, and has the city fortified against the
impending attack. The Ajahs continue to grow apart and vindictive towards
one another. Mesaana is revealed to the reader to be Danelle. Seaine
stumbles on to evidence that Alviarin is Black Ajah, but is killed by
Pevara
(also BA) before she can reveal it. Gawyn's desperate quest for a Clue goes
unfulfilled.
ILLIAN
Dashiva continues to lose his tenuous grip on sanity, as he succumbs to the
voice in his head. This, it will be revealed in much exposition by
Cadsuane,
is the nature of the Taint; the channeler's mind begins to be overcome by
that of a maddened channeler from the AoL, until his own personality ceases
to exist. It is, we are also told, inevitable, which means that Rand will
figure out a way to beat it in a later book. Until then, he keeps the fact
that he's receiving Radio LTT from everyone because, well, he's a woolhead.
Lanfear's chapter icon heads one of the Illian chapters, but the readers
can't find any evidence of her in the chapter. More importantly though, the
Easing the Badger makes a much awaited reappearance in the same chapter.
CAMELYN
Events happen in Camelyn that push the city to a near boiling point. The
Aes Sedai attack on the farm goes very badly for them, but it does draw
enough attention that soon various rumors spread that mad channellers and
Forsaken are just outside Camelyn, fostering a delicious atmosphere of
paranoia. In addition, the Black Ajah, led in Camelyn by Marillin
Gemalphin,
order Shaido Aiel stationed there to initiate random murders (at, we learn,
Mesanaa's discretion) which foster both Chaos and an increasing hatred for
Rand and his Aiel. One of the victims of this spree is Alanna, whose death
pretty much ends Rand's relationship with sanity (imagine Lan's current
social problems magnified).
Add to that the diminishing public appearances of the Dragon Reborn, who
now
splits his time with Illian as well as Cairhein, and the city is poised to
collapse into complete anarchy after Rand's disappearance at the end of the
book.
RAND'S DISAPPEARANCE:
After Alanna's death, Rand will become increasingly withdrawn and LTT's
voice will become increasingly maddening, until he goes out alone to crush
one of the bands of Shaido (others of which have been easily put down at
various points earlier in the book) only to be captured by Sevanna and her
Wise Ones, ending the book on a cliffhanger, so we can all wait with baited
breath for...
BOOK NINE
...where Rand escapes when Sevanna is killed by her underlings and he
wanders the countryside an addled beggar, possibly losing a hand. The Aes
Sedai Civil War begins, the Seanchan and the Whitecloaks meet, Mat gets
married, the rest of the free world tries to keep order without letting
word
get out that Rand is missing, and Perrin and Faile return to Saldaea.
Or not.
SIRS NOT-APPEARING-IN-THIS-BOOK:
Lanfear, Moiraine, Sammael, Hurin (dammit), Asmodean, Any one saying the
line "I killed Asmodean," Gholams, Slayer, Huan, the other Huan, the other
other Huan, (well, maybe _that_ Huan) Tam, Mistress Madwin, Semirhage, and
Loial.
AND A BONUS LOONY THEORY:
The Robert Jordan short story due out this fall will deal not only with Lan
and Moiraine beginning to seek Rand, but also their first meeting, and
Moiraine's initial visit to the Green Man, with a subtle mentioning of
Elyas' "troubles."