Perrin's Unseen Enemy

[Millon]

I think the unseen foe isn't something tangible at all like an actual entity or person or group. More along the angle of something has to give with his inner tension turmoil and consequent evolution. He needs to straighten himself out internally before he loses his humanity.

[Cirin]

Well, the fact that this unseen foe is "slowly tightening the noose" seems to indicate that whoever this foe is, their attempt to destroy Perrin is very deliberate and planned out.  If it was some random danger to look out for, it would likely say something different.

 

That being said, however, here's an interesting quote from Crossroads of Twilight:

 

This dream was fading quickly, in the manner of dreams, yet he remembered being a wolf and smelling...What? Something wolves hated more than they did Myrddraal. Something a wolf knew would kill him. The knowledge he had had in the dream was gone; only vague impressions remained. He had not been in the wolf dream, that reflection of this world where dead wolves lived on and the living could go to consult them. The wolf dream always remained clear in his head after he left, whether he had gone there consciously or not. Yet this dream still seemed real, and somehow urgent.

Lying motionless on his back, he sent his mind questing, feeling for wolves. He had tried using wolves to help his hunt, to no avail. Convincing them to take an interest in the doings of two-legs was difficult, to say the least. They avoided large parties of men, and for them, half a dozen was large enough to stay clear of. Men chased away game, and most men tried to kill a wolf on sight. His thoughts found nothing, but then, after a time, he touched wolves, at a distance. How far, he could not be sure, but it was like catching a whisper almost on the edge of hearing. A long way. That was strange. Despite scattered villages and manors and even the occasional town, this was prime country for wolves, untouched forest for the most part, with plenty of deer and smaller game.

There was always a formality to speaking with a pack you were not part of. Politely, he sent his name among wolves, Young Bull, shared his scent, and received theirs in reply, Leafhunter and Tall Bear, White Tail and Feather and Thunder Mist, a cascade of others. It was a sizable pack, and Leafhunter, a female with a feel of quiet certainty, was their leader. Feather, clever and in his prime, was her mate. They had heard of Young Bull, were eager to speak with the friend of the fabled Long Tooth, the first two-legs who had learned to speak with wolves after a gap of time that carried the feel of Ages vanished into the mists of the past. It was all a torrent of images and memories of scents that his mind turned into words, as the words he thought somehow became images and scents they could understand.

There is something I want to learn, he thought, once the greetings were done. What would a wolf hate more than the Neverborn? He tried to recall the scent from the dream, to add that, but it was gone from his memory. Something that a wolf knows means death.

Silence answered him, and a thread of fear blended with hatred and determination and reluctance. He had felt fear from wolves before -- above all things they feared the wildfire that raced through a forest, or so he would have said -- but this was the prickling sort of fear that made a man's skin crawl, made him shiver and jump at things unseen. Laced with the resolution to go on no matter what, it felt close to terror. Wolves never experienced that kind of dread. Except that these did.

One by one they faded from his consciousness, a deliberate act of shutting him out, until only Leafhunter remained. The Last Hunt is coming, she said at last, and then she also was gone.

 

Might be talking about the Darkhounds, and whoever sent them.  Might also be talking about something else, but I think it's interesting.  This is an interesting speculation as well:

 

Perrin reined in, though he itched to keep moving. Shadowbrothers. The wolves' name for Darkhounds had taken on a new grimness. "Can they eat a man's soul, Elyas? Say a man who can talk to wolves?" Elyas shrugged. Only a handful of people could do what they did, as far as either man knew. An answer to that question might come only at the point of death. More importantly right then, if they had been wolves, once, they must be intelligent enough to report what they found. Masuri had implied as much. Foolishness to hope otherwise. How long before they did? How long did he have to free Faile?

 

Now, we don't know quite what the importance of those Darkhounds are, but it might be related to Perrin's unseen foe.

 

I know this is a long-shot, too, but I wonder about Elyas sometimes.  He hasn't done anything that really exposes him as a Darkfriend or the like, but I might read through again sometime and see if he ever really helps Perrin master the Wolfbond, or if he hinders him in it?  I don't recall much about it.

[Millon]

DOing a re-read right now and just getting into the Elyas parts. With the traveling people now. Never even thought of it before like that. I'll pay closer attention to it now though. He never really does give ANY real substantial help in how he stays "huma" at all. If I see anything I'll comment on it.

[Jakobus]

I think the unseen foe isn't something tangible at all like an actual entity or person or group. More along the angle of something has to give with his inner tension turmoil and consequent evolution. He needs to straighten himself out internally before he loses his humanity.

I think this is a good idea. Perhaps it's his inner wolf wanting out?

[Impressive Bosom]

Luckers, I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and particularly for the amount of work you've done on this topic...

 

...but I just don't buy it. Your conclusions and suppositions are well thought out and well supported and I know this is going to sound like I'm just taking the easy way out, but from the first I've always thought that that 'sensation' in tWoD was just its alien nature, just the way that people - particularly those unused to it - felt. Do we have any sort of POV from one of the Chosen who are admittedly far more knowledgable and comfortable in its ether ever mentioning feeling those 'unseen eyes'?

 

For me its just the nature of the place, the 'feel of it... but I'll be the first to pat you on your back if you turn out to be right.

[Luckers]

That's cool. It's not like I ain't been wrong in the past.

 

[Millon]

I always thought the unseen eyes were the heroes of the wheel or in a more extreme, (especially after the explanation of TWOD by Verin that it reflects ALL worlds,) to be the feeling of the Creator watching over ALL the worlds that ever were. Most often the heroes theory though.

[Impressive Bosom]

I always thought the unseen eyes were the heroes of the wheel or in a more extreme, (especially after the explanation of TWOD by Verin that it reflects ALL worlds,) to be the feeling of the Creator watching over ALL the worlds that ever were. Most often the heroes theory though.

 

This is a little closer to my interpretation of it... like you were in the place where everyone in the entire world - perhaps in many worlds - had their subconsciousness made manifest. Like being in a giant arena filled with millions of people looking at you but not really registering what it was they were looking at. Perhaps the sensation is furthered by the fact that almost everyone's initial exposure to tWoD was as a spy clandestinely looking in on conversations they shouldn't have been privy to. Perhaps it was the Heroes silently awaiting their call - we know that Birgitte was spying on events and its alluded to that she wasn't alone in doing so, only alone in interfering. Maybe it is the Finns scrying into the Realm, maybe its the Dark One or the Creator himself...

 

Regardless, my interpretation is that its a part of the alien nature of the place and very much a part of how people new to it just ~feel~. The term is used to describe it over and over because I don't think there's really another way of expressing that unique sensation. I'm rooting for Luckers, though. It'd be good to see him get the credit for calling it... but I'm afraid he's become so focused on this possibility that he's starting to miss some others, and we'll all suffer from his keen and probing intellect being diverted.

[Tommatt]

The problem with the unseen eyes being Heroes of the Horn is that Briggete feels them and questions them also.

[Val Mickey]

TDR Chapter 9 Wolf Dreams - A black Mashadar like thing kills a man in a strangely cut yellow coat in a place with no doors and hallways at strange angles. It chases Perrin, while Hopper tries to warn him of 'Danger. Great Danger. Worse than all the Neverborn.'

 

I have no idea what the thing is, and only a slight idea of where, but it smacks of 'Unseen Eyes' behaviour.

 

You may all thank me now.;)

[Millon]

Free roaming nightmare or one created by Perrin himself from his feer of TWOD. Thank you come again

[Val Mickey]

But Millon, what about Hopper's warning?

[Millon]

Imminent warnings of the last hunt. He jumped at Perrin's throat to keep him from being killed by a nightmare before it happened.

[Jong]

I really like the idea that the unseen eyes are the BUT.

 

"...she became aware of being watched by unseen eyes. That sensation was always present in Tel'aran'rhiod, and not even the Wise Ones knew why..."

 

This would seem to indicate that the eyes are not a recent phenomena and have been consistently present for a long time.

 

I certainly can't recall an instance where either Rand or Perrin mentioned the eyes. So perhaps they are only apparent to women.

 

As far as the unseen foe... the imagery is that of a noose slowly tightening. This implies a threat that is acting a methodical way to trap or kill.  After Faile was taken Perrin forgot all about his mission -- to get Masema-- and led his party on what could reasonably be described as a suicide mission after the Shaido. Obviously it turned out "OK" but it seems to me his mental state has been in steady decline since winter's heart. Right now Perrin seems to be his own worst enemy. I sort of wonder what really happened to Noam. And how was Elayas able to maintain his humanity. I think this may be internal demons, rather than a forsaken lurking in the shadows.

 

 

[Durinax]

I am perrins unseen enemy, I will smite him from beyond his world. JK

 

his unseen enemies are probably his own demons, right now he struggling with a sense a purpose.

[Val Mickey]

Free roaming nightmare or one created by Perrin himself from his feer of TWOD. Thank you come again

 

But something similar aids Ishamael in his last dance with Rand (He called it to aid him, and it drifted into his hands) which was in the Unseen World.

 

I guess you're right though.

[Millon]

Forgot about the Ishy thing. I had just assumed that it was like the darkness 'personified' for lack of a better word. Ya know, like the black tendrils connecting forsaken to the DO. There not really there but they're there type thing. I'm slow today and can't think on how to type. Hopefully you get what I mean. I don't recall who mentioned it before (and honestly don't have the time to go back and look) but they mentioned the darkhounds that showed up and circled Perrin's camp. Has the reason for them been revealed at all? When it happened it seemed awfully random and I can't recall any closure. Could that be a threat to Perrin or more like they're lookin for the horn?

[RedEagle]

It seems like the Unseen Eyes could have something to do with Fain because the first time any unseen eyes are encountered in the story is in Shadar Logoth. If someone already brought this up up I'm sorry I did not read all 6 pages.

[Val Mickey]

It seems like the Unseen Eyes could have something to do with Fain because the first time any unseen eyes are encountered in the story is in Shadar Logoth.

 

Now if only we could get Fain into T'AR :)

[Millon]

The unseen in SHadar Logoth is Mashadar and the evil the people there created. I think. Don't think the same would carry over to the WoD.

[FarShainMael]

It seems like the Unseen Eyes could have something to do with Fain because the first time any unseen eyes are encountered in the story is in Shadar Logoth.

 

Now if only we could get Fain into T'AR :)

 

Sure he isn't the Unseen Eyes..?

 

[wipe]

It seems like the Unseen Eyes could have something to do with Fain because the first time any unseen eyes are encountered in the story is in Shadar Logoth.

 

Now if only we could get Fain into T'AR :)

 

Sure he isn't the Unseen Eyes..?

 

The wise ones sey it'sallways been there....

[FarShainMael]

Good point, and that suggests it's not the Forsaken either, or the evil of Shadar Logoth. It has to be something that's been around as long as humanity, at least the last few Ages of it.

 

[Millon]

The heroes tied to the wheel.

[FarShainMael]

Or the wolves. Or both.