“Kneel and swear to the Lord Dragon, or you will be knelt”. Lord have mercy, did that really just happen? My heart can’t take any more of this. I got ten types of jacked up after finishing the book. I don’t know how I’ll begin to describe it all but here goes nothing.

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. Was a little busy the last couple days and didn’t want to rush this blog at all. It deserved to be a good one.

Chapter 51: The Taking

Luckily I didn’t really take into account what this chapter might mean; otherwise I doubt you would have gotten any of those blogs the other night. Ok, so Rand wakes up the next day and prepares for his meeting with the Aes Sedai. Min was supposed to be back, did she get captured on the way back, or was it afterwards that they found her? Anyway the Aes Sedai enter and shield Rand almost immediately! What’s worse, the severing girls are really Aes Sedai, so Rand has 0 chance of breaking or fighting against the shield. They proceed to stuff him in a chest. I had to put the book down for a second at this point and try to comprehend what just happened. My mouth dropped even farther than when I found out Egwene was to be Amyrlin.

It gets even worse. As much as I was shocked over the taking, I figured the Aiel would just come beat the crap out of them, but the Aes Sedai are smart. All that channeling they’ve been doing was in preparation for this, and anyone walking past the house doesn’t feel anything new. Rand also kind of screwed himself here with all his sudden departures. The two Aiel guards can’t find Rand, and go and tell everyone, but no one exactly freaks out just yet. Perrin is slightly worried, but again the Aiel say he does this sometimes. Meanwhile, Rand is now in a small cage, and constantly shielded. I’m guessing he is still at the house, why haven’t they left yet? I would have taken off and ran as soon as I had him.

Chapter 52: Weaves of the Power

Common RJ, you really can’t do this to me. As soon as I saw the dice, and Mat’s name, I almost skipped this chapter. You can’t have me focus on this just as Rand is captured!!! Anyway Mat is gambling in the Wandering Woman. Some blue-eyed man chokes when Mat mentions the Daughter of the Nine Moons. I didn’t really think of anything at first, but there is a point to mentioning him again as he leaves Ebou Dar in the Epilogue. Reminds me of those Seakers the Seanchan use and the rider clearly thinks about the return. I guess the Daughter of the Nine Moons Seanchan? Anyway Mat gets word that the girls have left the palace again, and he sets out to try and find them.

We find out the girls have been using weaves to disguise themselves, and are in the Rahad. No wonder Mat can never find them. Another interesting discovery is that these Ebou Dar healers of sorts can channel! They have also been here like ten days already; clearly the search isn’t going as well as they would have hoped.

Egwene also has a conversation with Logain. She asks him what he thinks of Rand’s amnesty and he obviously gets upset, saying he should be with him now. That night in TAR, she meets with Nynaeve and Elayne and report on their lack of success. Apparently the use of Need does not work twice, and they are stuck keeping with the randomly searching of the Rahad. She meets with the Wise Ones after, and they exchange some news there. It’s really hard to write about this chapter because I’m torn between wanting to get onto the parts with Rand, at the same time some major stuff goes on here.

Two major points left to point out. First, Egwene lets Logain escape! It sounds like she put forkroot into the tea of those who were guarding him. Regardless of how it happens, Siuan makes sure he gets out of there without hurting anyone. Looking forward to him meeting Rand soon. The second point is Lan’s arrival! I really like the writing talking about his journey to Myrelle, and what he’s gone through. You really feel his pain, and it’s really not clear as to if Myrelle can even keep him alive. Of course since it wasn’t exactly the right thing to do in passing his bond, she has to keep quiet about it. Ironic how he arrives just as Nynaeve leaves. Alright, now back to Rand

Chapter 53: The Feast of Lights

Finally, after 6 DAYS, people start to seriously get worried. Perrin is starting to put all the pieces together, when surprisingly it’s Berelain who snaps them all in place. Dobraine is talking with Perrin about how Meilan and Maringil were both killed, and Colavaere is making moves forming alliances. You really start to respect Dobraine here, as he sounds like he stuck with Rand through it all, and didn’t let the Aes Sedai sway him to plot against him. This recent news along with Berelain showing up with Rand’s sword and belt cause all hell to break loose. The maidens, especially Sulin (thank God she finally decides her toh is done) freak out about losing Rand, and begin making preparations to rescue him. Dobraine offers himself as well as 500 soldiers to go, and you also have the Two Rivers men along the way. Although at the time, I think Perrin counts them out of the fight since they aren’t there yet. Rhuarc shows up and reports that the Shaido are moving, and that all the spears cannot move out to be part of the rescue. This is partly because they are needed to defend Cairhien, and partly because many of them will not fight Aes Sedai. Definitely a sticky situation to be in, but it sounds like at least the Wise Ones who can channel will also join the fight.

We jump to Galina as she just finished questioning Min. It’s crazy to see just how dangerous Rand is, even while being shielded. Apparently he saw Min the previous night as a Warder was careless with where he let her walk, and Rand goes crazy killing to Warders with his hands before being subdued. Unfortunately this only makes his life a living hell, as he is begun to be beaten. Part of it is punishment, and part is to make sure he is well in hand when he arrives in Tar Valon.

Rand is being kept inside the box, what a terrible way to travel! This part dealing with him is just so emotionally crazy. Really hard to explain, but I would definitely crack and go insane myself if I was forced to be in this cramped box all day. We see as Rand is taken out and presented in front of Sevanna. We also see what seems like the first real conversation between Rand and Lews Therin, and they basically agree to work together to escape. He can’t break through the shield if it’s being held, but if it is tied off than Rand may be able to break through!

Lastly, we see some dissention between the Aes Sedai and the Shaido. Galina plans to have the shaido kill the younglings, why? She also means to have Rand beaten at sunrise and sundown. We also see Sevanna as it sounds like they plan to take Rand away from the Aes Sedai. So much plotting! You could just feel the calm before the storm here. No, that’s not even the right phrase. More like the tornado that’s going around just before the 5 hurricanes hit land. Not sure why Sevanna killed one of the Wise Ones, but it seems like it was the only one who defied her. She appears to be the ruler of the Shaido now.

Chapter 54: The Sending

Perrin has now left with the rescue party. He managed to get Faile to stay, and from his POV he believes he is on another type of suicide mission. Perrin has some guts. As they travel along Perrin makes contacts with the wolves and tries to get a location on the Aes Sedai. It sounds like the wolves respect Rand in a way, and once they know his situation, every wolf in the area starts heading that way. After a couple days of chasing, we also get word of another group approaching. Perrin rides out to meet them and it turns out to be the 9 Aes Sedai from Salidar, as well as the Two Rivers men! Alanna has been leading the way through her bond. I figured between all these groups of people, plus the wolves, it would easily overwhelm the Aes Sedai. Boy oh boy was I wrong.

Chapter 55: Dumai’s Wells

I’ll probably never forget this name. This battle is epic beyond imagination, but of course you guys all know that already. It starts off with Gawyn as he is leading the group. He is thinking of rescuing Min when a scout returns and dies after reporting Aiel are near. Galina comes up all mad for the halt, but quickly realizes the danger they may be in and begin the defense preparations. Rand is still going crazy in the chest, but can feel Alanna getting closer. You can almost feel his pain and frustration and agony at not being let out of that small chest.

Perrin finally looks over the rise, and sees over 40 thousand Shaido surrounding the wagons! Not to mention 300 or so women channeling. That puts this little rescue party to shame. Perrin still leads the charge into this chaotic mess, and calls the wolves to join in. Although they are cutting their way through the Aiel, thinks aren’t looking good until the Asha’man arrive. More on that later.

So Rand is still in the box while this whole battle rages on around him. It seems every Aes Sedai is needed for the fight so the ones guarding him tie off the shield, which was the worst thing they could have done. Rand manages to break through the “points” and blows up the box. Min is near, and seemingly unhurt. Rand can’t make a gateway yet so he begins to take out the Aes Sedai one by one without them knowing. Gawyn rides up and I thought we might see the end of him, but he lives with nothing more than some harsh words towards each other. He really needs to figure out his mom and sister is alive.

We then see the brutality and efficiency that these Asha’man have grown into. They create this dome of air at first that keeps them safe inside. Unfortunately it means Perrin and that whole rescue party will die while also trapped on the outside. Rand forces Taim to rescue them still, and the meat blender begins. These guys literally just tear wave after wave of shaido up until the run away in terror. Anything that makes the Aiel run has got to be the worst of the worst. I now give the White Tower like 0% chance if it came to a confrontation between these two.

Eventually Perrin and company join them, and I don’t blame their hesitancy at first. They will most likely have nightmares about what they just had to witness. I have a feeling it didn’t help the male channeler image either. As if people weren’t afraid of them before. Anyway Rand looks over the prisoners and we find out Galina is not among them. The 9 Aes Sedai who came to help rescue him come forward and Rand goes off on them for bringing 9 when he said 6. He continues to basically say they have to swear fealty to him. I said this at the beginning but this whole conversation is just epic. Beginning with Rand saying “They are on their knees, Aes Sedai. Kneel!”. Followed up by Taim’s quote. Just pure awesomeness. I’m thinking we are going to start seeing some major changes.

Epilogue: The Answer

We see a bunch of different people here, none of them have anything positive for the good guys. First up is Falion, and we find out more of the plans Moghedien left with her. She is in Ebou Dar as well, and is keeping tabs on Elayne and Nynaeve. Next, we see poor Herid Fel get torn apart by a gholam. What exactly is a gholam? Looks like a human but it can’t be. After that, we see that Seanchan guy again as he rides away from Ebou Dar. Seems like an attack may be heading that way soon.

The bad news just keeps piling up as Moghedien is freed by Halima! Egwene feels it happen, but nothing she can do about it. At least Moghedien is forced to go to Shayol Ghul, but she has to be plotting revenge now that she is free.

Lastly we see Demandred as he is in the Pit of Doom. He says “Have I not done well, Great Lord?” What exactly is he doing!

The End

Well, another one bites the dust! Hard to believe I’m already on book 7. I hope you guys are still enjoying them. I was actually messing around with the settings and just saw that there have been almost 13,000 views! Granted, I probably account for half the views, but it's still good to know that they are read fairly often.

Another awesome book, and one hell of an ending. I'd rank it up there as at least in my top 3 scenes. It's hard to compare it to scene at the end of The Great Hunt when Mat blows the Horn and that charge down the hill with the heroes. Each scene hits you on a different emotional level, but both are pure gold.