The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose above the great recap pages of Multiversity Comics. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
Today, we will look into episode four, “The Dragon Reborn.”
1. A Taste of Male Channeling
While the premiere had hints of it, this episode shows the first true taste of men channeling, along with explaining why such a thing is a danger to them and not to women.
Logain Ablar’s assault on the nation of Ghealdan in the cold open shows some visual differences, such as his weaves being visualized as black rather than white of women. Women cannot see the weaves of men, and the same is likely the case vice versa, as well as, given the lack of reaction to hallucinations from a captive of Logain, any non-channeling man to a man who can channel. Further, rather than using the dance-like style of Aes Sedai, men seem to have much more of a “forceful” nature to their channeling, not even moving much at all. Their hallucinations, and other forms of madness, seem to come from the binding of the Dark One near the end of the Age of Legends, where he touched the element of the One Power used by men, and that touch, that taint, seems to be what drives them to irreversible madness. Of course, this still does not explain why a woman being the Dragon Reborn may be a problem, as they do not suffer the same madness.
However, Logain himself is not inherently evil, as he does not want to destroy the world at all. Instead, he seems to want to bind it together and save it, even opting to recruit his own enemies to fight in his army. That said, he is not inherently good, as he is still effectively declaring war on the world. As for his background, he seems to have been “betrayed” (likely by telling others he can channel, or trying to kill him) by his mother, father, and sister. He believes he is the Dragon Reborn because the whispers he hears tell him how to “do better” this time, but Moiraine notes that they are naught but the madness of the taint.
Though he may not be the rule, Logain is still extremely powerful, to the point that it seems he can push back against a shield to the point of tiring two Aes Sedai without breaking a sweat, and seems to barely be trying when he does, only breaking the shield on his own and melting his cage once his army has caught up with him. Such is his strength that Liandrin, Alanna, and Kerene (the latter of whom, along with her Warder Stepin, are brought forward from the prequel novel New Spring) had to capture and shield him in his sleep and bring him away in the night.
2. Of Weaves and Ajahs
While hinted at in the series premiere, this episode finally shows bit more about how the One Power works. For one, it seems that the “Weaves” of the One Power are based around the classical elements of Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit, and Water. But for purpose of teaching, the most prominently examined element of the One Power utilized in this episode is that of cutting another channeler off from the One Power, be it temporarily (known as “shielding,” and sometimes requiring multiple channelers to maintain) or permanently (known as “gentling” for men at least, but perhaps better understood as “severing” in a more gender-neutral sense). The former, which can be broken with enough force, seems to manifest as a “net” of Spirit that closes in to hold the channeler.
Another element of channeling shown is that of “linking,” which allows at least five Aes Sedai to link their ability to channel to that of the person holding the link. However, the others must willingly link to them, and may not control how their use of the One Power is utilized after permission is given.
Continued belowAs explained by Thom to Rand, being severed from the One Power is a fate worse than death. Life with connection to the One Power is so vivid, so vibrant, that once someone is cut off, it is no longer actually a life at all, with them often “slipping away” over time until they kill themselves.
Liandrin of the Red Ajah seems, as the misandrist she is, to believe that all male channelers deserve the latter as punishment, regardless of what the Amyrlin Seat (the leader of the Aes Sedai) may sentence for male channelers. In fact, her vigilante gentling across the countryside (roughly equivalent to a kind of nonlethal vigilante execution) has not been sanctioned by the Seat, and most do not even seem to know it is happening. In fact, she is so in favor of it that she tries to convince others, and when Kerene is unable to stop her, she immediately steps to do so extrajudicially as not justice, but an act of revenge. The act is akin to either execution or even physical violation, given Logain is reduced to crying upon being severed.
We also learn more about the different Ajahs. The Green Ajah, which includes Kerene and Alanna Sedai, is known as the “Battle Ajah,” composed of warriors trained to defend humanity from the Dark One at “the Last Battle.” Apparently Green Ajah Aes Sedai are known to take more than one Warder, while Blues (such as Moiraine) tend to take only one. Red Ajah Aes Sedai like Liandrin are apparently notorious for seeking out and gentling others, possibly making them all as bad as she is (or at least having such a reputation), but could be considered, to a degree, to be effectively “police” of the world of channelers who believe they are protecting the world from those who would misuse the One Power (despite being more interested in exercising their own power over such people). According to the (admittedly biased) word of Liandrin herself, the Blues are known as “spies” who exaggerate their own importance, but by reading between the lines they may be understood as an intelligence branch of the Aes Sedai as a whole.
3. The Way of the Leaf
In the calmest part of the episode, Perrin and Egwene continue to follow the Tuatha’an, learning their ways as they travel toward Tar Valon (more about that location when we reach it in the story).
According to Ila, the grandmother of Aram and one of the two leaders of this group of the Traveling People, they follow the “Way of the Leaf,” which dictates absolute pacifism, with escaping violence if it does not work, and acceptance of death if running fails as well.
In her mind, the only true revenge against violence is peace and nonviolence. Perrin nearly agrees, given she asks if his life has been better or worse since taking up an axe in the name of a form of violence (which in his opinion, was worse, in part due to the accidental killing), but her insistence that violence must only be met with peace goes a bit too far into being virtually suicidal in the face of things like Shadowspawn. On the other hand, Perrin seems to, while disliking violence, see it as a necessity for survival and not worth the cost of fully abandoning it in cases of self-defense.
Meanwhile, Aram seems to fancy Egwene. He asks about the person she loves, and talks about what it is like for the Traveling People when they turn of age, leaving the caravan and going out on their own to see the world. Given his clear differences from many others of his family and his people as a whole, including his irreverence for things like the song for which the People search that is allegedly meant to end all violence everywhere, it seems he is in favor of leaving them forever, and may even want to be with Egwene.
4. The Grinwells
Mat and Rand’s stay with Thom at the barn of the Grinwell family seems relatively uneventful at times, but it has a host of revelations, especially toward its end.
Thom explains his title of “gleeman” is not meant to show others should not be afraid, but rather it is designed so as for people not to be scared of those who know the past. In his opinion, those who have such knowledge are the most dangerous people of all.
Continued belowThe gleeman had a nephew by the name of Owen who fell to the madness of male channelers. Eventually gentled by Aes Sedai, he lived a bit longer, only to slit his throat at the dinner table without any reaction several weeks later out of feeling no will to live without that overwhelming power. In Mat, he sees the same signs of madness that he saw in Owen, and he is worried that Mat is channeling and has yet to tell Rand. It seems unlikely, given he does not have the same black threads of the One Power that Logain shows, but perhaps the dagger is influencing him in a similar way to that of the taint?
While Mat is still irritable, it seems that he is still nice to children, especially little girls who remind him of his sisters. He also seems driven to fight the Shadowspawn, including Fades, but not consciously, and seems almost in a trance when he is facing them down. Given the origins of the dagger and Shadar Logoth, perhaps the desire to fight the agents of the Shadow has been imprinted upon the weapon itself.
We do finally see a Fade fighting with a dark sword, up against Thom, who is rather good with a blade himself. However, as he has Mat and Rand run away, we have no clarification on whether or not he survives the encounter, given the speed at which the creature moves.
5. Loosening Restraint
There is an overall sense of losing restraints throughout the episode’s Logain storyline. First, there is the literal restraint, which happens when Logain breaks his shield and melts his cage with a weave of fire. Other examples are more metaphorical.
Lan shows a far more relaxed side of himself with Nynaeve and other Warders, telling an approximation of jokes and drinking (which Moiraine feels, leading to her being more emotional through partial intoxication). Judging from their behavior, his stoicism is not about being a Warder, but is something of himself. Some Warders even seem to be romantically or otherwise sexually involved with their Aes Sedai (or at least Green Ajah Aes Sedai sometimes do so), who are, in turn, servants of everyone (with the term Aes Sedai actually meaning “Servant of All”). Lan also shows lessened restraint in explaining about his past to some degree when talking to Nynaeve (who he calls by her title Wisdom al’Meara), explaining how he comes from the fallen Borderland nation of Malkier and its seven towers.
Meanwhile, Stepin feels Kerene’s death when the second shield breaks, showing another loss of restraint. He finds her body after defeating the army’s remnants with the other Warders, and seems to lose all sense of self-preservation, breaking into a rage and trying to kill the re-shielded Logain. Will his despair be as deep as that of the Queen of Manetheren, or worse? After all, Warder bonds are stated to be closer than husband and wife, siblings, or parent and child.
In one last segment of restraint loss, the fatal wounding of Lan, with a male Weave slitting his throat, causes Nynaeve to “surrender” in a similar way to Egwene before her, revealing she, like Egwene, has the ability to channel, which she uses to heal him. While Egwene struggled to even light a fire, Nynaeve is so strong from the outset that everyone in the area can feel it, even Logain, who, as a man, could not see the female Weaves, but could feel it “like a radiant sun.” The light of her channeling is blinding, and she manages to keep Lan from dying, showing her ability to heal (or rather, to Heal) is exceptionally strong.
Until next the Wheel wills. Do you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns? Feel free to leave comments below. See you next week!
