The Spikes in Shayol ghul

[NitroS]

The overhead spikes in the path to shayol ghul is referenced alot throughout the book but i never noticed until now in my last reread before AMOL. In LOC Demandred describes the spikes of being higher up before he could barely touch them but now they were far above his head. Then a few chapters later messana is doing the journey and describes the spikes to be scarping her hair and she is much shorter then Demandred. Do you think this has any significance?

[Jonas]

I always read that to mean teeth. Stalagmites can resemble perhaps the maw of a beast closing down on people as the Dark One gets nearer and nearer. It could be a sign of his impending arrival, and TG. Or perhaps his displeasure?

 

Obviously that's my personal take. I haven't read any actual lore or official commentary on it.

[skyfirex]

It's clearly spelled out in LOC Prologue:

 

Jagged spikes jutted from

the ceiling, stony teeth ready to snap shut, the Great Lord's teeth to rend the unfaithful or the traitor. Not natural, of

course, but effective.

Abruptly, he noticed something. Every time he had made this journey, those spikes had all but brushed the top of

his head. Now they cleared the Myrddraal's by two hands or more. That surprised him. Not that the height of the

tunnel changed— the strange was ordinary here— but the extra space the Halfman was given. The Great Lord gave

his reminders to Myrddraal as well as men. That extra space was a fact to be remembered.

[Lisa Campbell]

Displeasure. Demandred had done well at something and Shadar Haran was with him, can't remember about Mesanna off the top of my head, but Moghedean barely made it through having to crawl on her belly with the "teeth" ripping her dress when she was about to be mind trapped.

[bsmnt23]

The DO is always most creative when showing his displeasure to his lieutenants. Even above the mind trap with Mogie, just having the gaping maw of the entrance to shayol ghul snap shut on her is a simple and elegant psychological torture.

[bigdoug1971]

Agreed. They are used to show displeasure with someone who has done poorly. Everything is about intimidation with the DO.

[Sid]

She gave a start as one of the stone fangs brushed her hair, then gathered herself as best she could. Those spikes and blades still cleared the strange, too-tall Myrddraal easily, but though it overtopped her by head and shoulders and more, she was forced to move her head around their points now. Reality was clay to the Great Lord here, and he often made his displeasure known so. A stone tooth struck her shoulder, and she ducked to go under another. There was no longer enough height in the tunnel for her to straighten as she walked. She bent lower, scurrying crouched in the Myrddraal's wake, trying to get closer. Its stride never changed, but no matter how quickly she scuttled, the interval between them did no lessen. The ceiling descending, the Great Lord's fangs to rend traitors and fools, and Moghedien dropped to hands and knees, crawling, then flattened to elbows and knees. Light flared and flickered in the tunnel, cast from the entrance to the Pit itself, just ahead, and Moghedien slithered on her belly, pulled herself along with her hands, pushed with her feet. Stone points dug at her flesh, caught at her dress. Panting, she wriggled the last distance to the sound of ripping wool.

Staring back over her shoulder, she shivered convulsively. Where the tunnel mouth should have been stood a smooth stone wall. Perhaps the Great Lord had timed it all exactly, and perhaps, had she been slower....

ACoS ch 25: Mindtrap

[Zewe]

How did you manage to miss that, even if this is your first and only readthrough?

[NitroS]

i listen to audio books and the first time ive noticed the spikes of shayol ghul being even mentioned. havent read acos in ages. i bet uve missed things in the 10 million words that are in wot too.

[Lisa Campbell]

Nitro, I miss things in stuff I've read 10 minutes ago.

 

Don't worry, I fall asleep when I put the audio books on at bedtime, I miss heaps because I've read them so many times that I don't rewind far enough to catch up properly.