This is a summary of what happens in the 13th book of the wheel of time series, which will be released on November the 2nd.
Read this if you wish, but don't yell at me after!
I have split the progression of the story into characters, so if there is just something you really want to know ahead of time, jump to that paraghrap.
There is also a prophecy from the Shadow at the end.
Personally, the most disconcerting read in this book, was about the future of the Aiel.
Rand
- Rand meets Egwene as Amyrlin in the White tower, alone. He tells them he will break the DO's seals at Shayol Gul in one month, Egwene does not agree, but they will meet in one month before Rand goes to Shayol Gul. Everyone but Egwene was so strongly influenced by his ta'veren nature they couldn't even speak, much less try to keep him there. Rand leaves.
- He is now truly reborn and remembers LT's life as his own, but still is him. They were always the same person. He admits he is different now because of his upbringing, and that is why he can win while LT couldn't
- His madness is held at bay by the light (in his brain), and he is not sick anymore. He keeps the DO's influence at bay, and where he walks the light shines and food don't spoil, actually it grows/restores.
- The first thing we see is him rescuing Ituralde in Shienar as he singlehandedly destroys around a hundred thousand trollocs/fades/draghkar. He fights for about an hour spinning more webs than the ashaman can follow.
- In this fight a darkfriend sticks his own eyes out because of Rand's presence, claiming the light is too strong.
- He is calmer now and at peace with himself, stronger. He recognize Weiramon and another Tairen high lord as darkfriends, simply by looking. He tells them to leave Tear.
- Rand embraces Tam and calls him father, crying for all to see, saying he was wrong before. Rand promises the maidens he will never dissapoint them again, and that he has toh.
- He comes back to Arad Doman, restores foodstocks thought lost in the seafolk ships, and starts restoring order there.
- Rand finally meets the Borderland armies. Each monarch strikes him, and one of the kings asks a question from the age of legends to see if Rand can answer, an answer only Lews Therin would know. Rand answers, and the monarchs sees him as the Dragon Reborn. This was part of a secret prophecy/test which Rand passed, else the borderlanders would try to kill him as all would be lost as the Dragon Reborn had failed and would consume all light. Rand demands on oath from the boarderlanders, and prepare for the meeting with the Amyrling before going to Shayol Gul.
- Rand also promises to help Lan. At the end of the book, we see how he plans to make all the monarchs of the world make certain promises to him, in exchange for the blood he will shed at Shayol Gul, probably ensuring works toward peace and rebuilding.
- At the very end Rand finds while dreaming, Lanfear, but does not recognize her at first. She is trapped in a very deep place, and she cries out for Rand to save him, since she is tortured by the DO each day. He tries to pull her out but can't as she is pulled away for more torture. He recognizes her first as Mierin.
Lan
- He travels and try to avoid being noticed, but he ends up with 12000 Malkier attacking the shadow at Tarwin's Gap, trying to reclaim Malkier.
- Lan is happy that Nynaeve took over his bond
Nynaeve
- She discovers how to heal madness. She heals the Asha'man in Rand's company (3 at least). The madness is as a web over the brain with small dark thorns sticking into the barin. She had to remove all of these thorns, keeping them away and then before they could reattach lay a counter-weave to the darkness. She looks at Rand's brain, and see an uncountable number of black thorns, but also at each of these points white light (Rand gained this at the end of book 12). She say's sorry she can't heal him.
- Nynaeve goes to the tower and takes the testing to pass as Aes Sedai. She is very strong, but defies the test in a manner which shouldn't be possible, channeling where she shouldn't be allowed to, using balefire inside the ter'angreal. She passes with 4 to 3 votes for/against.
Egwene / Gawyn
- Gawyn ends up protecting Egwene from murder by 3 Super-Seanchan assassins, like the one who tried killing Siuan/Garreth. Realistically one should be impossible, let alone 3.
- Egwene meets the wise ones and the windfinders in the dream world. She starts the arrangements where each will send apprentices to each other, strong ones, to be trained. They will think more of it. Then they are attacked in the dreamworld ->
- At this time Egwene fights the black ajah and Mesaana in the dreamworld, together with the wise ones and nynaeve/siuan/leane. They kill most black ajah, and Egwene breaks Mesaana's mind in a one on one battle. They find Mesaana, her mind broken as an Aes Sedai (don't remember the name) in the white tower.
- Egwene has raised support from armies/rulers, and most armies have gathered at the place where Rand said. All of tear, Illianers, Perrin's army, the tower army etc, the book ends here, when Rand comes and the talks will begin before the final battle.
- Egwene bonds Gawyn, and promises to marry him.
Elayne
- Some skirmish with black sisters, where she is almost killed, and a black sister speaks of the invasion of Caemlyn soon being ready. At the end of the book, while Elayne is absent (at the meeting place where Rand would be), Caemlyn is attacked by the shadow. Olver and the band sees this.
- Elayne starts production of the Dragons (cannons)
- Elayne produces incomplete copies of Mat's foxhead medallion, after borrowing it
- Elayne claims the Sun throne, getting two nobles to side with her for that, in exchange of giving them lands and titles in Andor.
- Elayne reunited with her mother
- Elayne talks with Perrin about his lordship, not being happy about that. She promises him stewardness over the Two Rivers, giving the lands to the Dragon Reborn.
Graendal
- She survived the attack at the end of book 12, sacrificing Aran'gar in the proccess.
- She must kill Perrin in order to not lose the Shadow's faith in her.
- She fails and is punished toward the end (killed? worse?) by Shaidar Haran, for having been responsible for three forsaken's defeat (Mesaana's as well because of the dreamspike, see Perrin)
Perrin / Galad
- Learns the wolf dream from Hopper, eventually getting very strong there.
- Galad triumphs over Asunawa, gaining the loyalty of other Lord Captains. Byar goads Galad into thinking Perrin is a darkfriend (Byar is one actually)
- Perrin let's Galad give him a trial for the murder of two whitecloaks in book 1. Perrin is found guilty, the sentence to be proclaimed by Galad after the final battle.
- Perrin senses Graendal's trap. Graendal uses a "dreamspike" a ter'angreal which makes a globe in the dream world, where in the real world no gateways can be opened. Perrin's Asha'man have trouble with this, and Perrin enters the dreamworld discovering that Slayer is controlling this dreamspike. Perrin manages to steal the dreamspike and flees to Tal Valon with it, Slayer following. Right into Egwene's battle with Mesaana. Egwene sees Perrin and is astonished by his strength. Perrin easilly turns away a black ajah's balefire. Perrin eventually wins the battle with Slayer, and destroys the ter'angreal, but slayer is not killed/defeated
- Perrin moves his army away from the whitecloacks by gateways now working again. Perrin realizes the trap, and moves back rescuing Galad's whitecloaks from Trollocs. Child bornhald, hating Perrin, but not thinking him darkfriend, saves Perrin by Killing Byar. Galad trusts Perrin somewhat, and swears fealty of the whitecloaks until the end of the last battle.
- Perrin moves to Andor, and speaks with Elayne, and also Mat, which is there with his army.
- Perrin with the help of Asha'man Neald, crafts a power-wraught battlehammer. He accepts responsibility as a leader, and finds a balance with the wolf inside of him, after speaking to Noam in the wolfdream. Noam is a complete wolf there. Hopper also died in the fight with Slayer.
- Perrin moves his army to the final meeting before Rand goes to Shayol Gul, ready to support Rand in breaking the seals.
- Berelain also gives up on Perrin, she falls in love with Galad. Galad falls in love with her.
Mat / Thom / Jain Farstrider / Moiraine
- Mat makes a contract with Elayne and Andor to fight for them as a mercanary band, but he can leave the contract if he wishes, keeping 1/4th of the dragons. These are at the band's disposal as long as Mat is in Andor's service. He had to do this to get the resources to produce them.
- Mat finally beats the Gholam, after pushing it into a skimming-gateway produced by one of the kin.
- Mat does not open Verin's letter
- Mat speaks with Birgitte, her telling of how she once went into the tower of genjej, not being able to beat the foxes and snakes, even with cheating. She was in there for two months with iron, music and fire to save her love (Gaidal), before dying.
- They enter the tower. Iron weapons can kill the snakes/foxes, music can soothe/slow them and fire/light can kill/blind them. The foxes want them to follow the original treaty, but they don't have to as they didn't enter the twisted gateways.
- Mat uses dice to find the way, and fight along the way, and eventually reach the central chamber of bonds where they can make a binding bargain.
- In the center was Moiraine, which Thom pulled out, she still lives but unconscious.
- Mat demands Moiraine back, and a straight way back out of the tower, with neither of the foxes trying to hurt/delay/kill them. In return he offers half the light of the world. A fox takes his eye out, and they feed on his agony
- They move to leave, but on the way back the snakes (Aelfinn) moves to kill them running them off the straight path. Mat curses for not making the bargain strong enough.
- Noal (Jain) sacrificises himself, so the others can escape, asking Mat if he ever sees a Malkier to tell him of Jain Farstrider's last breaths for the light.
- Mat uses his Ashandarei to carve a portal in the wall to escape, as he discovers that was the thing he was granted from the foxes the last time to escape.
- Mat is glad to see Moiraine again, and he understands he had to save here, as that was part of "give half the light of the world to save the world". He refuses healing for his eye.
- Moiraine and Thom promises to marry.
- Moiraine is much weaker in the power, barely enough to be raised accepted, as the Eelfinn had fed off her ability to channel. She possesses a powerful angreal making her more powerful than she was before howerer. This was one of the three things she asked of the Eelfinn. She didn't ask for a way to escape as she somehow knew that wouldn't help.
The black tower
- Someone has made it impossible to weave gateways here, obviously a dreamspike. This makes me believe Mazrim Taim may be Moridin, though not in any way confirmed. Reason is that Moridin talking to Graendal lent her one of the two dream spikes he possessed. These were very rare items. If not, Taim can be allied with him, but I would say most probably not. He may be Demandred, being told what to do by Moridin as well.
- There is a division in the camp, Logain vs Taim. Logain hasn't returned for weeks, and some of Logain's loyal are worried. They are only Soldiers/Dedicated, as Taim favors the one on "his" side.
- An Asha'man loyal to Logain returns, but it just the husk and his memories. His former friends notices something weird with him, and his eyes are lifeless, and there is a shadow there.
- The red sisters sent from Elaida are not allowed to leave. Tarna has been "messed" with just as the Asha'man
- Rand worries about the black tower, and walking into a trap, but he realizes he have to deal with it. He sent Nealf in disguise.
Aviendha / The Aiel / The next age
- Aviendha walks into Rhuidean, passing the rings. However she somehow alters the ter'angreal, passing the rings again, this time not witnessing the past of the Aiel, but the future of the Aiel.
- She sees a girl of 18, living in refugee in the waste, alone, hungry, scared, no honor. She goes to the "lightmen" and steals food from the garbage. She is killed by a gun, and her last thoughts was that it wasn't unexpected, she had expected to die for almost 18 years. "Bloody Aiel" her killer said as she faded away.
- A family on the run, having spent the last weeks gathering ore in the waste, to trade for food. It would pay for food, but the men wouldn't trade with the man of the family, saying that trade or compassion for the Aiel wasn't allowed by the Raven empire. They were sent away, hungry, their little son died that night. That was the fourth.
- A girl of 14, her hold being attacked. A warrior kills a man on raken, saying they had to move deeper into the waste. But the others had given up hope
- A wise one of the Dragon's lineage, they were fighting a losing war, not like in her mother's or greathmother's day.
- A maiden of the Dragon lineage, tricking the Andoran queen, also of the Dragon lineage, but from a different greath mother, into attacking the Seanchan. No honor
- Padra, daughter of the Dragon Reborn, on of four siblings (quadripplings), after a longer peace, the Seanchan not returning wise ones captive, they decide to go to war against the Raven empire. She was a maiden but the power was strong in her and her siblings, she always were opened to the source, since birth. There were three lineages from the Dragon Reborn, obviously Min, Elayne, Aviendha.
- Aviendha is crushed and disgusted but what she sees. but in the end she goes out strong determined to fight it, change it for the better somehow. Most of all she was disgusted by how the Aiel eventually lost their way, their honor.
From the Prophecies of the Shadow
Lo, it shall come upon the world that the prison of the Greatest One, shall grow weak, like the limbs of those who crafted it. Once again, His glorious cloak shall smother the Pattern of all things, and the Great Lord shall strecth forth His hand to claim what is His. The rebellious nations shall be laid barren, their children caused to weep. There shall be none but Him, and those who have turned their eyes to His majesty.
In that day, when the One-Eyed Fool travels the halls of mourning, and the First Among Vermin lifts his hand to bring freedom to Him who will Destroy, the last days of the Fallen Blacksmiths's pride shall come. Yea, and the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known, shall fall and be consumed by the Midnight Towers. And his destruction shall bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men, and shall shake their very will itself.
And then, shall the Lord of the Evening come. And he shall take our eyes, for our souls shall bow before Him, and He shall take our skin, for our flesh shall serve Him, andand He shall take our lips,for only Him will we praise. And the Lord of the Evening shall face the Broken Champion, and shall spill his blood and bring us the Darkness so beautiful. Let the screams begin, O followers of the Shadow. Beg for your destruction!
This post was edited by Dragon_Reborn on Oct 25 2010 06:58pm