Homage to Golden Eyes

[Wandering Channeler]

So the mighty blacksmith usually gets some hate due to his not so exciting PLOD (plot line of doom), but it seems a lot of people fail to remember how BA he is in some parts. To start off Perrin has the coolest ability in WoT. Yeah yeah Rand being the almight master of the OP is pretty cool and Mat having the DO's own luck and memories galore to help him in various situation is fricken awesome, but Perrin being able to talk and interact with wolves is just so sweet. The way the wolves instantly treat him as one of them and help him in almost every situation possible is just so great. They put their lives on the line and many die just to help Perrin. They take down trollocs and myrddraal and iirc maybe even dark hounds just to help him. Some of the very best parts of the series are when Perrin is calling on the wolves for help in battle and then fighting with them. Everyone should either remember or go reread the beginning of the Dumei's Wells battle: "Come." Then on top of just the pure awesomeness that he can interact with wolves, he takes up for them any time a human fails to see their greatness. In TDR when the camp gets jumped by trollocs and myrddraal, the wolves warn Perrin and jump in and fight with the humans. Several of the wolves are killed but they make a major impact, even hunting down an escaping Myrddraal. Uno makes the mistake of saying well at least we'll have wolf pelts and Perrin snaps on him and says that each wolf will get the respect of a fallen ally, then stares him down until he agrees. I do not recall the exact timing but sometime at Dumei's Wells Perrin warns everyone that no wolf is to be harmed, the wolves fight on their side. Even though Perrin is afraid of his ability to interact with the wolves (especially in the beginning) he still cares for and respects them and everyone else will either do so as well or answer to him.

 

This probably hits home to me harder than some others because I'm a dog lover. I just wanted to put that out there to remind everyone that yeah the wolf brother loses us in a big part of his plot line, but he still has some really awesome schenes that top most others.

[thisguy]

I'm rereading and just over a hundred pages into book 5. I thought Perrin's going back to the Two Rivers was great in Book 4. I think he started out as one of the stronger characters. Far stronger than Mat - I'm not just talking about powers, I mean he was more interesting. I think a big problem, aside from so much of his plot line moving to him and his relationship with Faile, is that his big spiel ends up having to do with T'l'Rond and the Wolf Dream. I'm fine with that but until the last scene I remember (when Egwene sees Perrin just dismiss balefire like it was nothing) the Dreams aren't all that exciting.

Anyway, I always liked the character. I'm not one of the haters.

[Vardar]

Some of us hate Perrin not because of his powers (Which are amazing btw, I too am a dog lover, and I cringe everytime a wolf dies, even though I know they live on) but because of his refusal to accept his powers and responsibilities. That's what I have against him.

 

I wonder why they stopped focusing as much on his super strength. I mean it was badass at first, and they just stopped talking about it.

 

Oh see that guy over there? He's as strong as multiple men, stronger than a trolloc, but we'll never talk about it or use it in good situations.

 

The wolves never took on any Darkhounds for him however, I think they may have warned him of some. Perrin in the first two books was awesome. Perrin in the begining of the Dragon Reborn was amazing. I reread the scene when he howls all the time. That was epic Perrin. True Young Bull.

[Pinzarn]

The only thing that I hate about Perring is how much page time the whole Faile captivity and rescue received. There was just too much plodding along. Yes, Jordan gave some fantastic detail on various items during that time, but in the grand scheme of things, I feel that the page time could have been used elsewhere. I would have gladly traded Faile pages for:

 

- Halima manipulations of the Rebel AS.

- Meseena's actions in the Tower.

- More stories about the Dark invasion of the north.

- More battles/skirmishes that Mat's armies did.

[roocifer]

I think Perrin gets hated a lot on because Faile clashes with some readers. Also, of the 3 Ta'veren, his story is probably the slowest moving and least foreshadowed. (It still progresses and has foreshadowing, but just not quite as much as Rand or Mat). I like the Perrin storyline, but I do feel like there were times in the books where I was wishing RJ would cut back to Rand or Mat already.

 

I do love ol' Goldeneyes though, because I think I am most like him out of the 3 Ta'veren. I probably often wish I was like Mat (lovable scoundrel, womanizer, things always just luckily work out). However, I don't like to be forced into quick decisions, I'm a good guy who thinks about women similar to how Perrin does, and I'm in a relationship with a strong-willed woman who likes arguing a lot

So yes, Perrin and I have a lot in common and that's why I love his character

[bcspeer]

I love Perrin but what I didn't like was that he spent like 4 or 5 books trying to get Faile away from the Shaido. He's still a badass but his story did move painfully slow. In the time he was hunting the Shaido and dealing with Masema, the other main characters did so much

[rand4747]

well to be fair Mat spent a long time heading to Caemlyn from Ebou Dar, that dragged out a bit too.

[Vardar]

I think Perrin gets hated a lot on because Faile clashes with some readers. Also, of the 3 Ta'veren, his story is probably the slowest moving and least foreshadowed. (It still progresses and has foreshadowing, but just not quite as much as Rand or Mat). I like the Perrin storyline, but I do feel like there were times in the books where I was wishing RJ would cut back to Rand or Mat already.

 

I do love ol' Goldeneyes though, because I think I am most like him out of the 3 Ta'veren. I probably often wish I was like Mat (lovable scoundrel, womanizer, things always just luckily work out). However, I don't like to be forced into quick decisions, I'm a good guy who thinks about women similar to how Perrin does, and I'm in a relationship with a strong-willed woman who likes arguing a lot

So yes, Perrin and I have a lot in common and that's why I love his character

 

It's hard being Mat! Lol.

[Alanna]

Perrin used to annoy me, but I like him - and even his long, dragged out plot - a lot better after TOM, because I like how he finally came to terms with everything. I still think it was dragged out too long, but his storyline wasn't the only one (Elayne's succession war, for instance?). Knowing that it's coming to a good resolution actually helps me to enjoy it better on a reread, actually. I'm finding I'm a lot more sympathetic to him now than I used to be.

[shortkut]

as i mentioned before, i think RJ ran out of things for him to do. while mat and rand had plot lines between faile's capture and rescue, rj had nothing for perrin. in order to not leave him out of books or have a giant timeline snafu, he had perrin stall for time by whining and not accepting his duties.

[fuzz1717]

as i mentioned before, i think RJ ran out of things for him to do. while mat and rand had plot lines between faile's capture and rescue, rj had nothing for perrin. in order to not leave him out of books or have a giant timeline snafu, he had perrin stall for time by whining and not accepting his duties.

 

I agree, although I think it may have been slightly more interesting to show more of the dealings between Masema and Perrin rather than the PLOD that was the Faile rescue. Regardless, though, he is a very interesting character, and I have to say in ToM he redeems himself with the forging of his super-hammer and the whole Whitecloak resolution.

[thisguy]

I think Perrin is going to be one of the most important characters in the last book. I believe he'll be a superman in T'L'Rond and lead wolves to kill a bazillion assorted monsters and have something important to do with finding the song and/or chanting to regrow the plant life in the land.

[seattle]

I'm re-reading through these, and I have to say Perrin really pisses me off. In fact, all the Two Rivers people tick me off. I'm almost through The Great Hunt, and they never talk to each other about what's going on unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

I mean, if I had friends I cared about, and I started talking to WOLVES, wouldn't you want to bloody TALK ABOUT IT with someone? And look them in the eye, instead of at the ground like some giant wuss-bag? And Rand getting more and more inward bugs me.

 

If they'd just talk to each other, and be FRIENDS, and TRUST, they'd have far fewer problems.

 

/rant

[TootThatHorn]

I'm like a lot of people, certain books I could be close to the end of a chapter, and quickly flip to the next to see who's name I saw next first; if it was Perrin I would internally scream "MO%$e*%$CK#R." However how he dealt with and saved Gawyn, and his epiphany with Morgase, was a way of knowing "Alright, done with the bs and now it's on." Also his making of his hammer was one of my favorite things to read. Simply amazing.

[YourNewDragonAndGod]

I like Perrin as a character, but the hunt for Faile was too long. The only other problem I had with him was at the end of ToM when he put down Manetheren once and for all. I know it was him staying true to his character, but I can't help to think that in ToM he was building up into something super BA for the time period, and then he just agrees with Elayne. Maybe its because Elayne really pisses me off that I wish something else had happened. But that poses the question of would Perrin's army have been able to defeat Elayne's and would take its own discussion thread to talk about.

[thisguy]

Yeah, the drawn out hunt for Faile was... well, drawn out. But, through book 6 at least, Perrin's an excellent character. He was far more interesting than Mat before Mat got himself fixed up at the White Tower.

[Master of the Anvil]

^{I also really like Perrin! And I definitely agree with the comment that the story is better on re-reads. I thought the same thing. Perrin has some of the most epic scenes. Most have been mentioned I think. Some of the others, maybe a little more minor are when he fights and leads the Two Rivers against Fain and then especially when he tells the White Cloacks to suck it because even the tinkers had more honor(bigger balls) than the white cloaks. Another was when he went crazy on the shaido aiel that they captured. And then doesn’t he launch a flag or something into the air like an insane distance when he’s first meeting with the Seanchan?}

^{On another note, and this may be just because I like perrin a lot. I think a point that hasn’t been made about the Faile storyline is that this is one of the few story lines in WoT that shows true love. Yes I know, that sounds lame. But think about it. Rand has 3 girls, we know he loves them because of the gold veins, but true love? We don’t see that with Rand. We definitely don’t see true love with Mat no need for explanation there. We get it a little with Ny and Lan, when Ny breaks to save lan, but they spend most of the story apart so we don’t get a lot of this. But with Perrin RJ really showed true love, a man who was willing to do anything to save his love. I know a lot of people have trouble with this because they’re annoyed Perrin would throw everything away for Faile, but that’s what True love is. You’d give up everything. I know if someone took some of the people I truly love I’d tear anything/anyone that got in my way apart, not even a second thought, to get that person back.}

^{So yes, it does get a little boring, but it’s something we don’t see anywhere else in WoT to this extent.}

[rand4747]

it is drawn out and i thought it terribly long and boring originally when i was waiting X amount of time for the next book to just continue his story still :P, a full re read it seemed less drawn out. there is still alot of detail to his plotline which is partly why it gets so far behind the others, well over a month or so, but i think i said elsewhere Mat has just as long and as boring a journey with Tuon escaping Ebou Dar. and Rand with his not doing anything of note after the cleansing for a long time.

[fuzz1717]

it is drawn out and i thought it terribly long and boring originally when i was waiting X amount of time for the next book to just continue his story still :P, a full re read it seemed less drawn out. there is still alot of detail to his plotline which is partly why it gets so far behind the others, well over a month or so, but i think i said elsewhere Mat has just as long and as boring a journey with Tuon escaping Ebou Dar. and Rand with his not doing anything of note after the cleansing for a long time.

 

At least reading about Mat and Tuon had a part in furthering the plot. Perrin mindlessly chasing after Faile didn't really accomplish much that i can think of. It is the PLOD after all.

[Woolheaded]

I agree the ability is awesome. But he never embraces the ability really. He uses it when he needs it, yes, but never really makes an effort to really learn how powerful it can be. That's why Rand's channeling and Mat's luck are more appealing to the readers, I think. They see them as awesome abilities and see the characters using them to their fullest extent. Perrin just shuts the wolves out. :/

 

That being said, I'm really looking forward to his parts in aMoL, as he seems to have finally gotten over the same problems he had back in book 3 (wolves, axe vs. hammer, how to treat Faile...).