The Final Battle at the Eye of the World

[Caelan Arendor]

Aginor and Balthamel perish in battle in one of the final chapters of The Eye of the World. Balthamel is slain in single combat by the Green Man, a struggle that seems to symbolize the eternal contest between the creative force of nature and the destructive powers of death and darkness. Both forces cancel each other out, leading to the downfall of both combatants—though in the Green Man we witness one last act of creation.

 

Rand’s confrontation with Aginor appears to be a purely spiritual duel, a contest for the power of saidin drawn from the Eye of the World. Aginor overreaches himself and loses his life.

 

Yet both Forsaken are later resurrected by the Dark One; as so often, Jordan seems reluctant to remove his principal figures too early from the stage. Why does Jordan let so many of the principal antagonists in his work die? As readers, we constantly draw new hope that the number of villains is finally diminishing—only to see them resurrected in the end. Perhaps the author seeks to heighten the reader’s suspense, continually deferring catharsis so that events unfold more slowly and with less predictability. Perhaps Jordan is unwilling to dispense too lightly—or too early—with the carefully conceived characters, with all their rivalries, passions, and ambitions, and so he places these chess pieces back upon the board.

 

Questions upon questions—perhaps there are none, or perhaps far too many answers.

 

Greetings and as always best 73 from

 

Calean, --.../...--