Chapter 11

[mike hunt's here]

what I'm not getting is...where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca? The suspense is gnawing at my pink ribbons....

[yoniy0]

where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca?

Oh, I only know one, and he's boycotting DM. Either way, this was hardly unexpected; Tuon promised to sponsor Luca, after all.

[sleepinghour]

I sure can't wait to read that 70K chapter in AMOL with upwards of 80 POVs

 

Maybe they're all really short.

 

"Wait," said Egwene.

-

Moiraine frowned. "Something..."

-

"...feels wrong," Nynaeve finished.

-

Perrin shrugged and emptied his cup of tea. It had been pleasantly minty. From Murandy, Roedran had said.

-

Demandred smiled.

[flinn]

Ok, there were alot of posts in this thread and I read them all to my chagrin.. gonna respond to some of the posts I remember.

 

Rand, as of the last book, now has fully merged with Lews Therin. If Lews Therin knows about dreamspikes and the other ways to block gateways, so does Rand.

 

Tuon doesnt sit as firmly on the throne as her mother did. Things are different on this side of the sea. There is no crystal throne. Galgan may very well make a play for the throne. The mighty Seanchan nation is no more, if he takes it, its his.

 

I thought Mat was terrible in the first Sanderson. The 2nd Sanderson Mat was much better but still not nailed. Close enough I could enjoy it though.

This chapter was good. You guys are busting on Jame not being Seanchan enough and maybe he isnt. I read it as him being more than he seemed. If he DOES (which it didnt say he did) have a heron mark blade and is a blademaster, then he is not door thumper. He may watch the door to his wife's Inn when he is not on duty and thats a self-elected duty, his wife didnt seem to happy with the job he was doing.

He didnt overreact to Mat using the name Tuon because it was easy to see there was more to Mat and was feeling it out.

 

As far as why he wasnt thinking about Camelyn, there could be many reasons for that. Personally I feel that Camelyn has already been resolved before chapter 11.

Camelyn is lost, Mat gets back to the Band just in time. They pull Olver (and Pips) out of there and head to the meeting.

At the meeting Rand says "what in the HECK did you do to Tuon? I tried to make peace and she claimed you KIDNAPPED her!"

Finds out they are married, sends Mat to work out what needs to be worked out.

 

Mat doesnt go in as Prince of the Ravens because he is Mat. Of course he is going to sneak in and get a feel of things before letting anyone know he was there. Thats what Mat does, he sneaks around.

 

His reaction to Tuon having assassins hired is absolutely Mat. Just like when he fought the battle against 10x his number to make sure Tuon got away. Thats his wife.

He isnt playing around. When he left that inn you better believe he is heading right to the palace, right through the front door (taveren) and right up Galgan's behind before he knows whats happening. Tuon will get mad, Mat wont care and anyone else in Tuon's court that was even considering making a power play will decide loyalty to the Empress, may she live forever, is the right thing to do.

 

One thing you have to give Sanderson credit for, he resolves issues quick. He also wrote Perrin the best I have seen Perrin yet. Perrin was great in the last book.

[TLHansum]

I laughed out loud in a room full of people when Mat got carried by the serving girls to Tylin's rooms

I'm not particularly objectional (made up word alert) to getting raped by an attractive rich kinky woman

I found this PoV to be choppy and getting things out of the way

Jame wasn't written like a Seanchan at all

I don't understand why Mat wants to avoid Kerade

I don't understand why Mat didn't just ask for someone at the gates like that Seanchan officer that helped him after Tuon left (Musenge?), or Kerade, or Hartha.

[JenniferL]

Jimmy does an enormous amount of work at JordanCon and DragonCon. He was the consultant on sword firms for the New Spring comics ages ago, because Jordan saw him demo them at DragonCon and said he had the most accurate presentation he'd seen. He also was an admin here for many years. Most people think of him as just my minion, but he's actually quite a bit more than that. He just doesn't really care if anyone knows about his accomplishments.

[yoniy0]

Oh, I guess -- not attending the Cons myself -- I only know Jimmy from back when he used to save the day whenever the boards decided to act out. If he's also involved with the Cons, that would be a perfect place for Brandon to meet him.

(I just shuddered at the thought of Brandon going through our admin list one by one; though I guess Verbal would've made a good DO)

[he who comes with a bong]

what I'm not getting is...where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca? The suspense is gnawing at my pink ribbons....

 

I kinda remember Petra saying somethign along the lines of being a carnival type person that they are always usually suspect...meanign that when they go into a town they are the odd people out, just as in the tinkers are the odd people out of all the people of randland no one really trusts them. So going over to the seanchan way of life would just be a means to an end. That they would feel safer and more secure with them over them makes sense.

[b3arz3rg3r]

what I'm not getting is...where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca? The suspense is gnawing at my pink ribbons....

 

There's no need to ask. Obviously, Luca has been raised to the High Blood and is now second in line to the crystal throne.

 

I'm not particularly objectional (made up word alert) to getting raped by an attractive rich kinky woman

 

I myself always had a thing for consensual sex. But if getting raped is your cup of tea...

Well, that's just too much information.

 

I found this PoV to be choppy and getting things out of the way

Jame wasn't written like a Seanchan at all

 

It's worse than that he wasn't written like a character who belongs into WOT at all. He doesn't fit RJ's universe.

 

I don't understand why Mat wants to avoid Kerade

I don't understand why Mat didn't just ask for someone at the gates like that Seanchan officer that helped him after Tuon left (Musenge?), or Kerade, or Hartha.

 

For some reason Mat doesn't want to get recognized by the authorities. It isn't said why so of course you don't understand. No one does.

[Alanna]

It makes perfect sense to me that Mat doesn't want to recognized, at least not right away. That's Mat. He has absolutely no idea what kind of situation he's walking into in Ebou Dar. It's only smart to sneak in and get the lay of the land first.

[F Horn of Valere]

Jimmy does an enormous amount of work at JordanCon and DragonCon. He was the consultant on sword firms for the New Spring comics ages ago, because Jordan saw him demo them at DragonCon and said he had the most accurate presentation he'd seen. He also was an admin here for many years. Most people think of him as just my minion, but he's actually quite a bit more than that. He just doesn't really care if anyone knows about his accomplishments.

 

Forget the cons... you two are awesome enough just for your drinks.

[Suttree]

where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca?

Oh, I only know one, and he's boycotting DM. Either way, this was hardly unexpected; Tuon promised to sponsor Luca, after all.

 

Classic. I remember Dida/Felix telling Luckers he was a bully so he would no longer post here. Doesn't stop him from twittering at DM all day long however....

[JenniferL]

I love you too, F.

 

And honestly, even lots if the folks who attend the cons don't realize how much Jimmy dies. Both of us agreed years ago that I work better as the public face if Team Liang, so I get most of the credit for what we do.

[Luckers]

I sure can't wait to read that 70K chapter in AMOL with upwards of 80 POVs

 

Maybe they're all really short.

 

"Wait," said Egwene.

-

Moiraine frowned. "Something..."

-

"...feels wrong," Nynaeve finished.

-

Perrin shrugged and emptied his cup of tea. It had been pleasantly minty. From Murandy, Roedran had said.

-

Demandred smiled.

 

 

Love you.

 

Rand, as of the last book, now has fully merged with Lews Therin. If Lews Therin knows about dreamspikes and the other ways to block gateways, so does Rand.

 

Yeah, the point I was making was merely that Rand didn't know a dreamspike in particular was being used, just that Travelling was being blocked. In any case it wasn't a huge point, I was just saying Perrin could provide him with the knowledge and give him a way to deal with it, which would suggest and lead to an equal division of labour amongst the three ta'veren. Perrin to deal with Caemlyn and the BT, Mat to deal with the Seanchan and Rand to go north.

[Gabriel Kross]

I love you too, F.

 

And honestly, even lots if the folks who attend the cons don't realize how much Jimmy dies. Both of us agreed years ago that I work better as the public face if Team Liang, so I get most of the credit for what we do.

 

JIMMY DIES AT THE CONS? So Jenn is married to a ghost? I'm so gonna get twapped with a rag for that...

[fionwe1987]

Well, read it in English then. There should be nothing funny about being led to a bed and your cloths peeled off under threat of a knife, and yet I'm sure most of us found that scene humorous. That, perhaps, is what RJ meant for us to think about (or, knowing his sense of humor, he truly did find it funny, and it had to be put to him a certain way for him to understand what's wrong with that).

Was this directed at me?

[NetSlider]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! LOVED IT AND BS DOES BETTER WRITING MAT. CANT WAIT!!!!!!?

[JenniferL]

I'm typing on my phone after four days of DragonCon. There will be typos.

[YourNewDragonAndGod]

The beginning felt a little bit weak to me but this definetly got better as it moved on. Mat wanted to stay away from the authorities because he didnt want Tuon to know he was there. Then the part at the end where he learned about Galgan was great. It was Mat as he has evolved over time. When its time to get work done he gets it done

[Rocky_Outcrop]

Wow, I never didn't think I'd spark a debate about sexual assault! The way I'm thinking about it is that the whole discussion is very complex. Who knows if Mat was scarred by it all and I for one am glad he looks back on those days with fondness and not bitterness.

 

I don't think that anyone would prefer his character to not think of it as all a bit of fun. Despite the question mark over the validity of this particular piece of writing by Sanderson I hope that the sentiment survives any future revisions and we can all just be happy for the Mat as he enters the Last Battle.

 

There was a few posts directed at me so I'll just respond quickly, sorry for the length of this post.

 

Putting that aside for now id like to mention that the story opens up a lot of possibilities. Maybe Mat will try and go through the beaurocratic process of booking a duel with Galgan. Maybe Galgan is Demandred and tries to use the power on Mat and fails, opening the door for a fatal blow etc.

 

Galgan appeared in KoD and ToM so no, he can't be Demandred.

 

Ah, to be honest it slipped my mind that Galgan had been on scene. I was mostly just flinging out mad speculation to provide more talking points which were about what was written rather than how it was written, cheers though.

 

Further there is not one single piece of preview material ever released that hasn't been broken down to excruciating detail here or at Theoryland.

 

Seriously? Pulling a published piece of literature down to the same standard as an online discussion forum.

 

Yes, I know this. I am a member of this forum and I occasionally read posts on Theoryland. Having said that I would be interested to know if Theorylanders concurrently theorise and critique the writing? I guess so, I don't read an awful lot there so I hadn't noticed that.

 

It is too much to expect a division in the discussion here - one for content and one for the ability of the author to create that content? We could have two threads. You might take what I'm saying as a personal slight, please don't. I don't doubt the validity of the discussion. I'd rather not have this one but I think you missed the point I was making earlier.

 

As humans we often repeat ourselves. It's a part of human nature. We have modes of thinking, phrases we regularly use, jokes we retell time and again. If we were not this way we would have a much more boring life, although you'll not find me telling you I like to be repetitive a lot, so you won't, so you won't. For instance I had to be told Galgan can't be Demandred again up there, I've no doubt told other people this myself in the past.

 

I was being flippant when I posted earlier on and I should not have been. I think you compounded things a little, possibly you were annoyed by how I'd spoken and as a result ignored the things I was saying, echoing the reason I made this post in the first place, as it happens.

 

I am disregarding every word of this.

 

Oh right, cool, no problem. Hey, let's talk about that, why not? ;-) pppffff you big rascal!

 

Oh no, just when we find something else to fixate about other than Brandon's performance... Well, we'll try to keep off that as well.

 

Ha, nice. This one wasn't at me but I'm such a renegade I'm actually going to try to associate myself with yoniy0 in a blatant attempt to curry favor from anyone who doesn't despise me for my over use of satire and for operating on the assumption no one would actually get any smoke up their chimneys from my posts earlier.

[Rocky_Outcrop]

It makes perfect sense to me that Mat doesn't want to recognized, at least not right away. That's Mat. He has absolutely no idea what kind of situation he's walking into in Ebou Dar. It's only smart to sneak in and get the lay of the land first.

 

I agree that this is probably his current thinking, but why is he even going about it this way at all?

 

1) he is on his own

2) he is travelling by horse (I suppose he could have skipped a chunk by gateway but hey)

3) he doesn't appear to have justice with him (as a bargaining chip or pressie-wessie for wifey)

4) he feels the need to risk showing his face in half the bars in the city to get some good info

5) he doesn't really actually get any good info...

6) whatever he is trying to do would not be helped by the presence of someone who could channel

7) he doesn't feel rushed to find lodgings, just a stable... That's a little unusual.

 

It seems as though he wanted to approach the city in disguise and blend in rather than directly beam to the bridge, which he could have done. He certainly would have had the opportunity to take a channeler along with him and has chosen to go it alone.

 

@yournewdragon

 

You think he doesn't want Tuon to know he is there... What the heck is he doing then?

[Alonin]

_{For all those who are upset about Mat having Pips and not really visiting anywhere when he heads to Ebou Dar, remember it was perrin and his asha'man that sent him to ToG. So, it is very possible that Perrin has Pips. Perrin also planned on having the ashaman open a gateway to the location every day. So, Perrin could have had an ashaman pick him up, get Pips from perrin's army, hear a little about what was going on with the FoM, and then decide/get sent to deal with the Seanchen to establish a peace. No Caemlyn involved.}

 

_{Edit: font size was really small.}

[Luckers]

So what do we think the chapter title will be? I'm thinking either 'A Good Tavern', from "No, a good tavern was worn and used, like good boots. It was also sturdy, again like good boots. So long as the ale did not taste like good boots, you would have a winner."

 

Or, in the follow up of Melissa Craib's cameo chapter, 'The Yearly Brawl' after "In a nearby alleyway, he saw a sign hanging from a wall. He stepped up to it, reading the words “The Yearly Brawl” in copper on its face. It had a picture of clapping people, and the sounds of dice mixed with the smells of wine and ale."

 

Although, I do keep thinking of the Doctor Who episode, and A Good Man Rides to War--though that brings up too many Wise Men's Fear ideas....

[csarmi]

where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca?

Oh, I only know one, and he's boycotting DM. Either way, this was hardly unexpected; Tuon promised to sponsor Luca, after all.

 

Classic. I remember Dida/Felix telling Luckers he was a bully so he would no longer post here. Doesn't stop him from twittering at DM all day long however....

 

Oh! So that's why he got this thing for Cads! They're bullies both.

[Suttree]

where are all the valen luca fans? If Petra is a now a Seachan guard...whats happened to valen luca?

Oh, I only know one, and he's boycotting DM. Either way, this was hardly unexpected; Tuon promised to sponsor Luca, after all.

 

Classic. I remember Dida/Felix telling Luckers he was a bully so he would no longer post here. Doesn't stop him from twittering at DM all day long however....

 

Oh! So that's why he got this thing for Cads! They're bullies both.

 

Lol classic.