Masema Written Out Like a Sitcom Character

[HighWiredSith]

TGS spoiler alert - in what has to be, thusfar, the most out of place and curious scene in all Wheel of time, Faile, for reasons I've yet to quite understand fully or even believe "a wife must do what a husband can't...seriously?", walks up to Masema "The Prophet" Dagar and knifes the poor SOB in the heart - Prophet and his story line erased like Chuck from the first season of Happy Days. Does anyone else get the impression that, like the Whitecloaks in general, the Prophet was an interesting idea that just never panned out the way RJ thought he might. Certainly there was an effort later in the series to deal with this floating and unresolved story arc but in the end, RJ or maybe BS decided a quick knife to the heart and a hope you didn't notice was best.

 

As mentioned, I get the same feeling about the Whitecloaks - an important and essential faction in the first couple of books, semi-important in the middle books and the Morgaise storyline, but largely sidelined for the bulk of the series.

[Bluedust9]

The series would never end otherwise.

[David Selig]

If only Masema had been killed in Book 5 during the riots in Samara or something. He was a complete waste of pages and one of the reasons the whole Perrin storyline after book 6 is so bad.

 

So I was glad he was killed in TGS, better late than never.

[herid]

I fully agree. I had the same exact feeling and expressed it a number of times here. Masema was dragged around for many books with Perrin stubbornly refusing to kill him. And then all of a sudden he is snuffed out without so much as raising his hand to defend himself. Moreover we had some rather mysterious Wise Ones dreams that he would be a danger to Rand if they meet. This is highly suggestive all by itself. Every potential threat to Rand that we've seen so far came to play out in the end. When Lan tells Rand that he might need to "sheath the sword in his body" we know that Rand had better start practicing.

When the domination band shows up we know that it will find its way to Rand's neck one way or the other.

yet, something as juicy as a Dream by several Wise Ones that Masema would be a threat to Rand if they meet fizzles out completely.

[capuga]

I loved Masema's death. He was put down like the rabid dog that he was. It needed to happen (should have been done months ago) but Perrin was unwilling to. So Faile took care of it. One of her best moments in the series. Plus Masema had served his purpose. Originally, Perrin was supposed to reign him in and bring his "army" to Rand. But his army was a useless ragtag band of poorly armed, untrained, murdurous halfwits. Instead, the chase of Masema leads Perrin to Maldon with his ever growing army, a strategic alliance and respect of a Seanchan general, and by the end of KoD a larger force of people from Maldon then Masema ever had. So Perrin got the army he needed and the group of Dragonsworn that had been given Rand a bad name by killing in his name have now been destroyed.

[Mats Spare Hat]

The point of the 'Masema' plot arc wasn't about Masema - it was about creating a situation where we see Perrin undergo character development & to get him to where he needed to be for other things to happen - like the other guy said, with the Seanchan, inadvertently gathering a following, so forth. RJ needed a reason/setting for which to have Perrin off on his onesies for all those things to happen - so bingo bango, he's off to root out the prophet.

 

The arc was written, and concluded exactly how, and serving the purpose(s) the author intended.

 

Masema, like the Whitecloaks, just aren't that important. What is important, is the situations those clearly bit players create that allow more central figures to advance.

 

...It's sort of like complaining about Tam not being featured enough?

 

 

Masema was written out like a bit player because HE IS A BIT PLAYER. That's all he ever was intended to be!

[PhoenixUK]

perrin couldn't handle killing masema in cold blood, so faile had to do it for him.

 

Remember when rand and Lan go after the traitorous asha'man in Far madding, and nynaeve says she was thinking about how it was this brave hunt for darkfriends, but then realises they are going to sneak in and murder them, and decides that is the best thing to do. Perrin prob wouldn't be able to do it. Having said that, if he HAD tried to kill masema, who knows how his dragonsworn army would have reacted. they might have rioted and split up into multiple groups of crazies. It would have been like having shaido all over the place, pockets of chaos everywhere. At least with masema alive, the mob was in one large and noticeable group.

 

Having said that, i did find the perrin-masema plotline boring.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

faile's best moment ever, for me. i wish it had happened much sooner. i disliked the prophet subplot even more than the chasing after faile subplot, and i found this scene to be a delightful send off for both. one of my favorite parts of that book, certainly.

[OptimusPrime]

See I wonder if RJ planned to have had Rands dark phase last longer than one book. Like maybe Perrin was supposed to deliver some bad news to evil Rand before VoG, with Rand getting angry at the Pattern for going against his will. Or something.

 

But I definitely feel a bit cheated with Masemas death, the guy had a fair bit of intrigue surrounding him and for FAILE of all people to kill him...

 

Oh man I hope she dies. For killing a far more interesting character.

[yoniy0]

First, let me say that I suspect @HighWiredSith's still working his way through TGS, so everyone please do your best not to spoil him (as one of you did above ).

 

Second, I completely agree with @Mat's Spare Hat. The prophet's role was to get Perrin where he needs to be. Part of that (the most important IMO) was failing Aram the way he did. The Whitecloacks have a very similar role, I think. If Perrin and Egwene hadn't met them back in TEotW, what would've changed? Also, we haven't seen the last of them, but enough of that (for now).

[herid]

First, let me say that I suspect @HighWiredSith's still working his way through TGS, so everyone please do your best not to spoil him (as one of you did above ).

 

sorry, my bad. I edited my post to hide the spoiler. Hopefully it wasn't too late.

[Muad Cheade]

And we're also given the implication that one of the Chosen were the reason for his madness.

[capuga]

And we're also given the implication that one of the Chosen were the reason for his madness.

 

I think they probably just used his already existing madness to their advantage. His downward spiral began pretty much as soon as he saw Rand in the sky at Falme.

[herid]

And we're also given the implication that one of the Chosen were the reason for his madness.

this is a natural assumption (I thought so too) but BS said in an interview that Masema was not controlled by a Forsaken from the start. He was only appropriated once they realized his potential usefulness. That means that he started loosing his marbles all by himself.

[UncleButcher1980]

I thought it was an absolutely brilliant moment; it's not necessary for every death to be an epic scene. This was just so simple and to the point. And ruthless. Brilliant. And even better it was Faile, the Wheel of Time's greatest female, who did the deed.

[Sleeper]

I thought it was an absolutely brilliant moment; it's not necessary for every death to be an epic scene. This was just so simple and to the point. And ruthless. Brilliant. And even better it was Faile, the Wheel of Time's greatest female, who did the deed.

Better get your flame-retardant suit on.

[IMeMin]

Basically I agree with High Wired Sith. I'm not mad at RJ or BS, I mean, generally speaking I'm not eagerly awaiting the resolution of subplots because there's so many I can't keep up with them, so I just read on and try not to get too hung up on predictions or specific anticipation. I wasn't eagerly awaiting anything uniquely about Masema either, but Masema was interesting, he was the ultimate "supporter you don't want", and while a minor character, a minor character is still more than a bit player. I really feel he should have gotten brought back to Rand, now that I know he's dead and that can't happen. It doesn't make TGS a bad book, TGS is actually one of my favorites, but that one I personally found disappointing.

[dholm]

Masema had served every possible function he could have (which have already been mentioned). There was no point in bringing him along, and there were potential problems in it as well, considering how Masema saw Perrin. The resolution was good.

[Luckers]

After KoD I thought Masema was going to make a play for the former gai'shain--demoralized, lost, they would have make perfect potential recruits for a pseudo-religious maniac. I had believed that it would be this which would force Perrin to accept upon himself the position of a leader--the whole issue of, 'if he doesn't someone else well, someone worse' forcing him to realise that as leaders go, he was a pretty good one.

 

Barring that a quick knife was a solid choice. *shrug*

[DonaldTheDude]

I felt that Masema's death was PERFECT. I mean, he was a crazy, out of control creature who had way too much power. It reminds me of Star Wars and how Mace Windu (Sp?) said that he had to kill the Emperor because he had too much power to go to court. Masema would have continued to be a thorn in Rands side and most likely would have eventually tried to kill Rand or something. I don't particularly like Faile but I felt that this was perfect for her. Let's face it, Rand and Mat are deadly but Perrin still has a lot of softness in him. He needed someone to do the dirty work.

[Thor]

I guess Charlie Sheen can take this part then!

[UncleButcher1980]

I thought it was an absolutely brilliant moment; it's not necessary for every death to be an epic scene. This was just so simple and to the point. And ruthless. Brilliant. And even better it was Faile, the Wheel of Time's greatest female, who did the deed.

Better get your flame-retardant suit on.

 

All quiet so far, the Darkfriends must be sleeping.

[yoniy0]

Stay still! I've used a Mirror of Mists to hide you, but it ripples if you move. And I can hear them; they're very close now. Don't worry, if anyone asks me, I haven't seen you.

[Barid Bel Medar]

I thought it was an absolutely brilliant moment; it's not necessary for every death to be an epic scene. This was just so simple and to the point. And ruthless. Brilliant. And even better it was Faile, the Wheel of Time's greatest female, who did the deed.

Better get your flame-retardant suit on.

 

All quiet so far, the Darkfriends must be sleeping.

 

I think you should be alright.

 

I wouldnt go so far as to say she was the BEST, but i think, in light of recent events, Faile has become much better for readers. and personally, I never actually hated her. The foolishness in earlier books, I believe, stems from the fact that she is 16 years old, which can sometimes be forgotten.

 

In any case, I thought the Masema death was perfectly logical in terms of plot. The whole thing about Masema was the fact that he needed to be put down, but Perrin wasnt willing to do it, even if it endangered the people around him. Having Faile come back and kill him fits perfectly. She does what Perrin cannot, saving him the conflict of doing it himself.

 

What I am trying to say is, even if you didnt like the scene personally, or the way it happened, I dont think that it was a plot shortcut. I think that this was always the way Masema was going to die.

[randsc]

Robert Jordan knew how this story would end. He didn't know, exactly, how he was going to get there.

 

I honestly think the Masema plotline, and for that matter, all of Perrin's plotline, got away from him.

 

Faile didn't just do Perrin a favor. She resolved an plot element that had extended well beyond its usefulness.