Five Thoughts on The Wheel of Time‘s “Eyes Without Pity”

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 six of season 2, “Eyes Without Pity.”

Warning: This episode has depictions of slavery and torture.

1. The Breaking of a Novice

In the previous episode, we talked a bit about the Seanchan policy with channelers. Here, we see that in far more depth (odd, considering the previous episode was named for the concept), particularly through the brutal treatment of Egwene by Renna Emain, her most notable sul’dam who seems to be the eponymous pitiless eyes of this episode.

The Seanchan make use of their female channelers by way of slavery, breaking them and forcing them to do as a sul’dam woman commands, with them unable to resist without intense pain. It seems this connection is more potent with the magical “leash” connecting the bracer and the collar, but the way that the sul’dam seems able to call the leash out with mental commands makes it seem they are not so different from their slaves, though apparently blind to this fact.

In general, damane are seen as a status symbol as well as being da’covale (“person who is property”) to be bought and sold. They are commonly given short, often two-syllable names to dehumanize them, akin to a pet rather than a human being. Renna alludes to this fact when saying she will let Egwene “keep” her name for the time being, as if it is a great boon not to change her identity, and it is showcased with the gagged damane in various scenes named Miri.

There is intense prejudice against un-leashed channelers, including White Tower Aes Sedai and more, with them routinely called the slur “marath’damane” (“those who must be leashed”). While some instances of slavery in Seanchan culture may have a degree of power over the free, the channelers are not afforded the same station. As Renna shows, Seanchan do not even consider damane to be human beings.

The instrument that allows for this practice is a ter’angreal called an a’dam, effectively a metallic leash that enables one person to control another’s use of the One Power, including forcing the damane to embrace the True Source at will, with Renna even noting her ability to sense Egwene’s sheer power through it (odd, if she is not a channeler). The control is seemingly as unbreakable as the Three Oaths when the a’dam is attached to the damane. Said control follows a set of ingrained commands:

1. It allows for additional emotional sensations to the damane worldview, most commonly used to punish wearers immediately and unavoidably for disobedience of other transgressions.
2. Any pain inflicted on the sul’dam is felt by the damane twice as severely, promoting instincts of not attacking, and in fact defending the former from harm.
3. A damane cannot pick up a weapon, nor any object she intends to use as a weapon. The only way such an object can be picked up is if the idea of it being a weapon, or of using it as one, is expunged from her mind for the time being. Egwene learns this when, after imagining beating Renna with her bare hands and a pail of water before she can put back on the bracer, she cannot actually do it.
4. When the bracer/bracelet of the piece is not worn by a sul’dam, the a’dam causes incapacitating pain and nausea to the damane if it is moved, preventing escape even if she is unattended. By a similar token, the damane cannot remove the a’dam, though she can touch the mechanism used to unlock or remove it if she has no thought of actually taking it off.

The creation of the a’dam dates back to the time of Luthair. When he traveled across the sea to the Seanchan continent, he saw that their female channelers, despite all calling themselves Aes Sedai, were far less disciplined than those of the White Tower, using the One Power readily as a weapon and turning on each other as readily as on anyone else. This fact is perhaps unsurprising, as his father Artur had only forced the adoption of the Three Oaths in the Westlands, with word possibly not reaching that far. In order to ingratiate herself to the conqueror, a local “Aes Sedai” named Deain taught him of the a’dam so that one woman could control another, presumably hoping it would help to finally instill order in the channelers. Ultimately, she was herself leashed under uncertain circumstances, to her horror and despair. In the series, it seems the creator was an actual White Tower Aes Sedai, probably to simplify things.

Renna seems almost reasonable at first, seemingly kind in her own culture, and trying to ease Egwene into her “proper” role while also showing how powerful she can be while linked together by an a’dam (much like how the link worked at Fal Dara, but limited to two people only). By her word, she feels it is better if she and her slave are friends, despite the horrific limitations at work. However, when Egwene consistently sees her as an enemy and wants to hurt her no matter what she does or shows to her, Renna demonstrates her true, monstrous colors, kicking the novice in the stomach repeatedly and rushing away in anger, later hanging her by her collar from a hook as further punishment.

After that hanging is cut short of suffocating her, Egwene is more broken, to the point of no longer seeing the items in her cell as weapons, or at least as ones that could feasibly be used at all. As a demonstration, she is able to pick up the pitcher and pour water without pain. Once Renna leaves, having poured the water she poured into the cup onto the floor, Egwene can only grab the pitcher and drink from it directly out of desperation, and then break down screaming and crying in utter despair at how she knows she is falling.

A floor below her, Maigan Sedai (last seen in episode six of season one) is in her own cell. She notes Egwene lasted longer resisting than she did, and she was once a Sitter of the Blue Ajah. Her role is vastly expanded from the source material, where she barely had any presence, only mentioned in The Great Hunt and only appearing in person in a single chapter many books down the line.

2. Humiliations in Falme

Suroth seems to be in good spirits, bragging about having more damane than Turak, and tells Loial, one of her da’covale, to sing as he would to the trees for her and her companions. Such a demand is rather sacrilegious, and he tries to deny her, but she demands it anyway. He sings a small plant to grow, but the Seanchan just laugh at him as Ingtar watches. As Loial retreats in anger, she considers how to give “it” (him) to Turak as a gift as a joke.

Alone with Ingtar, Loial talks about stealing the Horn (which is barely even guarded due to the reliance on the Seanchan honor code) and trying to rescue Egwene. Ingtar is focused on the Horn, but Loial wants to rescue the new damane from the so-called “kennels” on the city outskirts.

Meanwhile, Nynaeve and Elaine are refusing to leave Falme without Egwene to tell the Amyrlin about the emergence of the Black Ajah as shown by Liandrin’s behavior. Due to their refusal, Ryma Sedai has Basan show them an a’dam they had secured. The goal is for them to find a way to open it, and in the process find a way to rescue a damane. As a bit of an issue, the other damane, like all female channelers, can feel when someone is embracing the Source in near to them, so they need to limit their channeling, especially when others are nearby. In their investigations, Nynaeve learns that the a’dam “needs to be healed,” and is only “complete” when put on a woman. Therefore, it seems impossible to break.

Ryma was sent to Falme to investigate the rumors of “strange beasts” and enslaved channelers. What these “strange beasts” are is yet unseen, though if they come up we will go into them as well. In her mission, two Aes Sedai were killed along with their Warders, and one was taken as a damane, the latter being a Sitter of the Blue Ajah, one of the Ajah’s three highest ranking members. Judging from the rings, the two that died were of the Green and Gray Ajahs. Notably, there is no evidence of a Sitter being taken in this way in the books. Maigan, who is revealed to be that Sitter, was not actually a Sitter at all in the source material, nor was she collared, so it seems to be an original plotline.

Nynaeve confronts Elayne about her decision not to leave without Egwene. Despite barely knowing Egwene, as Nynaeve addresses, Elayne refuses to leave because she has never had a friend before the other woman.

Unfortunately, in the process of trying to find out how to open the a’dam, Nynaeve channels too much, alerting the Seanchan. While Nynaeve and Elayne escape due to Ryma’s defense, the latter is captured as a damane herself. She did put up a decent fight, brutally killing Miri the damane and her sul’dam by breaking their bones horrifically in rage at the Seanchan murdering Basan (who had been about to kill Ryma herself to save her).

3. Woman of His Nightmares, Man of Her Dreams

In Tel’aran’rhiod, Lanfear tries to convince Rand to join her. When he notes that, with her having bound him to a great wheel (perhaps a metaphor?), he had little reason to do so, she releases his bindings as a show of good faith. According to her, she is the reason Ishamael has not assailed his dreams of late, with her protecting him. She proves as much later, when she banishes “Ishy” from a dream to speak with Rand, and even gives him some pointers, such as the fact he could die in the dreams, or that he could travel to faraway lands to communicate or watch others.

However, it quickly becomes clear that she still sees him as Lews Therin Telamon, even still using the first two parts of his former life’s name as her form of address, along with just the first name (a form of familiarity and intimacy in their time). She may seem stable, at least on the surface, but her vindictiveness and jealousy are quite clear, not wanting any woman to have any influence over her former lover’s reincarnation but herself.

Her commentary on his actions and motivations holds weight. He may have thought he was protecting his loved ones by having Moiraine help him to take his death at the Eye, but he neglected to think about how, even without his channeling, he is not the only ta’veren active. Without his involvement, Ishamael is free to get close to Perrin, Mat, Egwene, and Nynaeve, and to possibly turn them to the Dark against the Dragon.

Rand seems open to working together, but only if Lanfear actually did something to earn his trust in her. In return, she has one condition: if she sees Rand with Moiraine again, she will kill the latter. It is implied that the hatred is not just due to attacking her, but due to the sheer fact that Moiraine is a woman who is close to Rand, even if not romantically or sexually in any way.

That said, she also admits to him later that he is right, and she gave no reason to trust her, so she tells him she will give “the gift of a dream” to see anyone he wants, with him choosing Egwene. After a brief meeting where she sees him as well in her sleep, Lanfear pulls them back to where he sleeps (likely out of jealousy again), and he admits he will do “anything” to know where she is so he can save her. Considering he quickly disappeared and she has no knowledge of Tel’aran’rhiod, the meeting ends up being dismissed as a delusional dream by Egwene upon awakening, as Lanfear likely intended to keep them apart.

Lanfear is seen again talking to Liandrin about her loyalty to Ishamael in spite of hating men… with the exception of Liandrin’s son, Aludran, in the room with her. Lanfear herself does not seem to have a high opinion of most men, saying that women love them despite men “hurt[ing them]” and “betray[ing them].” By her assessment, to which Liandrin agrees, Aludran is not actually living a life, just not being dead, and is the last link to Liandrin Sedai’s life before she swore her oaths to the Shadow. According to Lanfear, Liandrin “was beaten and starved, and forced to marry before she bled,” which may explain her misandry and decision to join the Red Ajah before the Black. To sever that tie, Lanfear uses a slow, consistent Weave of Spirit to draw the air from Aludran’s lungs, letting him pass away relatively peacefully.

After, she reminds Liandrin, crying over her late son, that she swore her oaths to the Dark, not to Ishamael, and that there are many ways to serve that do not necessarily involve that member of the Chosen, implicitly asking Liandrin to work for her instead. It seems she either is underestimating Liandrin’s vengefulness or otherwise not paying much attention to her own words, as while Liandrin never swore any oaths to Ishamael, she also did not swear those unbreakable promises to Lanfear, either, and so is just as liable to go her own way and try for some semblance of revenge against her superior for the euthanasia of Aludran.

4. Out-Of-Tower Aes Sedai Machinations

Lan has been traveling with Alanna Sedai, Maksim, and Ihvon. They stop for shelter in a temple to the Forsaken, and discus the Forsaken having likely used Weaves that were since forgotten. Though Ihvon says it was just due to being the Dark One’s generals, Alanna notes that it is likely also a matter of what they were faced with, implying the Light likely had nastier Weaves left forgotten as well.

Lan tries to leave in the night, making the awardees suspicious and believing he is on league with Lanfear. However, everything calms down when he tells them and Alanna why he wants to find the Amyrlin Seat: they had found the Dragon Reborn, and he worries about Moiraine. Thereafter, he leads them to the route of Siuan Sanche so as to explain all that has been going on with his former charge, stopping her carriage en route to its next location to do so.

Speaking of Moiraine, she is trying to write a letter to Siuan about having been stilled (the word for a woman being cut off from the One Power, as opposed to a man being “gentled”). She is distant from her family, with her sister demanding she leave the next day, only to be told that as the eldest, Moiraine is the heir to the family, and so the house is hers. It seems she is going through grief over her stilling, particularly the “anger” stage at this point. She does seem to realize it, eventually apologizing to Barthanes for her rudeness.

Meanwhile, Siuan Sanche has arrived in Cairhien with a retinue of fourteen Aes Sedai (including Liandrin, Yacissa of the Brown, and Verin) and summons Moiraine for a personal audience after hearing of Moiraine’s actions of late. As Liandrin notes, the last time this kind of appearance happened, they were installing a new king in Cairhien on their “Sun Throne,” though which king this was is uncertain. As a note, it is implied that it is possible that the White Tower was intending for Moiraine to succeed her uncle Laman as monarch of the kingdom once she was raised to fill Aes Sedai, but Galldrian took the role first, and she had been avoiding it anyway.

5. Reunions and Reluctance

After he learns from Moiraine that she had Logain moved to Cairhien in the first place to get him to go there (though she says it was so he could be trained, it is also the one country where she still has influence), he seems to at least somewhat wash his hands of her altogether. As such, he leaves Moiraine, having gleaned that Egwene is in Falme as part of the partnership (see above).

Rand later returns to Logain, asking that the false Dragon teach him battle Weaves. Despite Logain initially refusing to teach what he learned on his own, he is convinced by the idea of having his life matter by helping the true Dragon learn to fight. Oddly, he tells Rand to “embrace” the Source, rather than seize it, which is more the terminology of women channeling. Beyond that, he tends to use his different terminology, to “grab” rather than “surrender to” the One Power. He also warns about burning out (the phenomenon of taking so much power in that it becomes impossible to do so again), and the bright light of Rand’s channeling surrounds his entire body until he forcibly releases it, vomiting on the ground. Logain, rather than angry or jealous, seems truly proud and impressed, saying the sheer amount of power Rand wields could do “anything”.

Meanwhile, Mat and Min are in Cairhien. Ishamael appears to Min in another dream, saying she is to make sure Mat leaves with Rand, who is also in the city, and he will remove her “curse”. It is highly likely he would just move the goalposts again if she does do this, but he does not say what would happen if she refuses, though it seems he is aware of the viewing she had of Mat stabbing Rand (meaning he wants that to happen sooner rather than later).

Rand finds Mat gambling in the Foregate, and approaches him, receiving an overjoyed, relieved hug once the shock of Rand’s survival sinks in. Mat apparently had no idea what was really going on, as he asks after the whereabouts of each of their friends, unaware that Rand had separated himself from them and faked his death.

When Rand finally tells him how he feels everyone would be better off and safer without the Dragon Reborn, or at least a male channeler, with them, Mat calmly disagrees, much more calmly than past disagreements. In return, Rand says the same of Mat, likely referring to his issues with the dagger. Once Rand says Egwene is in danger in Falme, Mat doesn’t even question or argue, just saying he is coming and that he needs to “break a lady’s heart,” likely meaning the decidedly un-ladylike Min. Mat’s agreeability and friendship is a refreshing change of pace from recent goings on, and their time together seems very heartwarming.

Sadly, it is not to be. When Mat goes to Min, she seems to be quite drunk, likely out of guilt for considering working with the Dark. She tells him of her viewing, and how he was likely to try to kill Rand with the cursed dagger. Despite her desire to be rid of her ability/curse, Min also does not want to hurt anyone, so she rejects her deal. Out of his friendship and desire to keep from hurting those closest to him, Mat decides to go back on his comment that he would meet Rand at the gate in an hour, not going with him after all. Still, it seems all trust he had in Min is gone, as he feels manipulated in the name of Rand.

As Rand is leaving, having decided that Mat is not going to show up, Lan steps in his way alongside Alanna, saying that he cannot allow the Two Rivers man to leave the city, as the Amyrlin wants to meet him in person.

Until next the Wheel wills.