Saddest moments in the book

[Hadilmir]

"I left . . . to save you," Nynaeve whispered. "I only came along to protect you."

[WhiskyJack]

Bela! A mare with no voice.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Only two parts got me sad. 

 

-Birgitte's death and Mellar/Elayne. When Mat was told Elayne was dead, I momentarily forgot everything and thought Mellar had already killed her. I was devistated and angry, mostly because I predicted that Elayne would die during childbirth. Having the children cut out and her dying seemed very real to me. So I momentarily forgot that they had the fake Queen dead. 

 

- Surprisingly, Gawyn. But it was more for Galad than Gawyn. Gawyn getting smacked by Demandred had me kind of relieved. I was dreading that Demandred would be taken down by that fool. And so him being cut down had me relieved and I was too busy thinking he was an idiot and what it would do to Egwene to care. But his talk to Galad got me. Telling Galad he had a brother in Rand, and not to hate him. Really got me. 

 

- Egwene's death should have made me sad, but mostly I was angry that Gawyn led her to it. And really, I was happy for her. She died holding the Pattern together. I felt a sense of peace and triumph rather than sadness. Egwene went willingly and for the greater good. Good show. 

[Rufae]

Demandred's girlfriend's reaction to his death actually got to me some. To her, he was a good guy.

[Mr. Micawber]

The saddest part?

 

Virtually no one stayed dead.

 

For millionth time since ACOS, I have felt no urgency, even during the Last Battle.

 

Verin's death, Moiraine's rescue, those were scenes that stand out in the exquels.

 

Oh, and Rand's reintegration. For me, and pretty honestly for the Big Guy, that's where He lost the Last Battle. The rest was mopping up.

 

If Rand had annihilated existence, that, after all, was the Big Guy's real plan all along. Not "remaking the world" - as both Verin and Élan Morin pointed out at various times.

 

"The others look for grand rewards in the eternities. But there will be no eternities. Only now, the last days"

[Mr. Micawber]

The only thing that made me feel a bit sad was when it looked like old warhorse Lan was going down.

 

Spoiler alert: he got better

[Aesleyan]

When the refugees came to help, that really got me--I'm a sucker for "regular people are basically good" stories, and for people working together to make a better world.

 

And every time we saw Lan retreating when he didn't want to, and especially that scene where he "abandoned Malkier for the second time"... I love Lan, but I'd never really taken the loss of his status as king as one that was *real* to him. The loss of his parents, sure, but the loss of a culture, a homeland, and the sense of obligation not to "the Light" but to Malkier--that all felt so much clearer in this book than it had been.

 

I cried like a baby when Noal showed up for Olver. I've never liked Olver--not a fan of somewhat manipulative and extremely misogynistic boys, even troubled orphaned ones--but that *Noal* had taken his rightful place as a hero, that felt amazingly good. I also cried in one of Rand's "good future" visions when he walked into the school in the Two Rivers and there were portraits of great storytellers, and one was Thom Merrillin--and he saw the statue built for those who'd died at the Last Battle.

 

That statue made the parallels between Egwene and Eldrene, at the fall of Manetheren, clearer to me. "Eldrene felt Aemon die, and her heart died with him. And where her heart had been was left only a thirst for vengeance, vengeance for her love, vengeance for her people and her land..." Egwene's feeling was less nationalistic, but it worked the same way and to roughly the same end. And that she would be remembered--another legacy of Manetheren to "sing of". Just the idea of that statue breaks my heart a little. While I was reading, I wished it existed so I could visit it and lay some flowers there.

[peasant007]

There were four things that moved me to chills and/or tears:

 

-When Talmanes was going to die in the Prologue.  Granted, seeing as I didn't do a mega re-read of the series beforehand,  I spent most of the prologue going, "Who are these people again?  The Band...those are Whitecloaks...right?  Oops!  Nope.  Okay, I remember now."  But his sheer grit and determination made me like the guy even if I couldn't remember exactly who he was.

 

-Another Talmanes scene when he was underground with the Dragons (which I had to keep reminding myself that, no, this isn't ASoIaF-which I'm in the process of reading-but cannons) and he was with the other members of the Band and stuff.  There they are, prreeeety convinced that they are going to die, and what do they do?  Well these are Mat's guys.  So they start singing the Jack 'o Shadows song.  That was brilliant.

 

-The very last line of the book.  "It wasn't the ending, but it was an ending."  It was just so fitting.

 

-But.  BUT.  The one scene that truly made me cry was Olver blowing the horn.  I'm getting chills and all choked up thinking about it right now.  Here is this kid who is lonely, terrified, huddling in a hole, and there are Trollocs and Myrddraal clawing at him.  Tearing his skin.  Ripping his clothes.  War was NOT as awesome as he had been hoping.  And there he is, crying.  And with a shaking hand, in a moment of pure desperation, he blows the horn knowing, KNOWING, that it wasn't going to do anything.  But it did.  He was the new hornblower because of Mat becoming unlinked.  I read that paragraph a few times, and even when I see it mentioned on the boards here, I get this, "Aw, man!  That was so awesome!" wobbly smile on my face.  P.S.  Am I alone in thinking that Olver is Gaidal Cain reborn?  He'd be about the right age and he is described as rather ugly...

 

Everything else...well, it was all very Harry Potter/Hunger Games final battle with a lot of anti-climactic deaths that mostly happened off camera.  Egwene's death was done very well, but with how fast paced that chapter, heck the whole BOOK, was, it felt very rushed and by the time I could process what had happened, it was the next character's PoV.

 

I will say, for the record, that I never, ever worried about Min, Elayne, or Aviendha dying.  Never.  Min saw the three of them standing over Rand's funeral pyre.  It was always assumed it was after he fought the DO.  So I knew they'd survive.

 

So there you go.  A 909 page book and the scenes that made me cry didn't even involve the death of a character.

[adrian_chinnor]

 

In the entire series, when Hopper died was the worst. Damn Slayer! Damn Perrin!

This, and Verin's death are two saddest moment in WoT for me.

 

Totally agree - every time I re-read this I cry - 

 

"Please see that they know, although the word Black may brand my name forever, my soul is Brown. Tell them...."

"I will, Verin," Egwene promised. "But your soul is not Brown*. I can see it"

.....

"Your soul is a pure White, Verin," Egwene said softly. "Like the Light itself."

 

* weeping starts about here!

[thom_merrilin]

Bela that made put the book down and swear. Hurin, I liked him. Noal rescuing Olver, that made me cry. Also Rand, when he saw Moiraine again. I got the tissues out for that.

Lan, when I thought he'd been killed, I swore horribly at Brandon/RJ for that. But the killer, in the end was Tam lighting the pyre. I actually couldn't finish the book for a while, I was sobbing

[pmtang]

Too bad Talmanes hadn't died saving The Dragons.

[Noname]

I wasnt to sad when Egwene died, but over the books she was moving towards spending a long time as Amyrlin, then BAM, gone...kinda annoying.

 

I was actually happy that many more didnt die, annoying when main's are killed just for the sake of it.

 

Saddest part....quite alot of touching moments...but cant pick one just yet

[CTGryffindor]

Tam 'al Thor's final point of view when he asks his presumably dead son whether the new life growing at Shayol Guhl was his final gift to the world, tells him that he did well---so very well---and then lights Ishy's pier with the consolation that in death Rand is finally able to rest in peace after all he went through. It was a short sequence, but the only true acknowledgment we get to see from someone about how much Rand sacrificed and how much he gave. I also always loved Tam, so it was sad to see him mourn his son.

[dicenslice]

Two moments made me tear up although I'm not necessarily sure that they were sad:

 

1) Lan being saved in Tarwin's Gap by the arrival of the borderlanders through gateways. Oh the relief I felt.

 

2) Tam lighting Rand's funeral pyre

 

I must be one of the few who couldn't care less about Bela. Her appearance in this book was complete fanservice, moreso than a lot of other elements.

[MarkDiLillo]

It's kind of funny that so many people hated Egwene and were glad she died or entirely indifferent to the event, but then were sad that Bela died.  Bela dying was a parallel to Egwene's death and they pretty much represented the same thing.  Basically, if you were sad that Bela died but indifferent to Egwene then you need to re-examine the reasons you hate Egwene IMO.

 

Though I will admit, I wasn't too impressed or touched by Egwene's death scene itself.  It was a little too cheesie to inspire much emotion in me and I clearly saw where things were headed when Gawyn died and she charged back onto the battlefield.

[Smittyphi]

Rhuarc getting turned.  I was hoping Graendal would have gotten balefired to undo the compulsion and his death but it didn't happen.  Others included Egwene and Elayne's babies.  I was really sad that Verin did not come back as a hero of the horn.  It was kind of a longshot but the sheer brilliance of what she did and giving Egwene a fighting chance against Mesaana made me hope.

 

The damane issue not getting worked out made me sad as well.  I know everything couldn't be neat and tidy but I was hoping on that point.

[stgermaine]

1) Tam at pyre

2) Lan killing Taimandred (is that theory gone now?)

3) Rand touching Elayne's belly

4) Bela's death

5) Suian/Gareth death

6) Stubbing my toe

7) Running out of Skittles

8) Egwene's death?

[Sam Giroux]

My cries were not always for sad moments, but moments of modest heroism.  The first happened on pg 802 with Tam seeing Lan basically riding to his death.  Tam has the Two Rivers men to basically "plow the road" for him.  This got me on multiple levels, the first being the new connection between Lan and Tam, the Two Rivers men come just 2 years earlier from being the least likely people to find in a war to have one of the greatest impact on the greatest war.  The scene made me bawl.

 

The next was the scene with Noal rescuing Oliver.  I think I was so overcome that Noal was accepted as a Hero and then we would come back and think of Oliver.  Very moving to me.

 

The next was Tam lighting the funeral Pyre.  I cried at Tam's line, "You did well.  My boy...you did so well." 

 

Finally, I cried with Perrin seeing the Falcon in the T'A'R.  In fact, it was such a beautiful scene that I almost would have rather Faile been dead and Perrin could visit "her" in T'A'R.  

[Razor]

1. When Avienda realized she had killed Ruark

2. Tam saying you did well my son.  I realized then that Rand would live on but Tam would never know.  That was sad to me.

[Sam Giroux]

I think that none of the deaths hit me that hard is because for 13 books, we were prepared for an ugly, take no prisoners war between the Shadow and the Light.  I was fully prepared for ANYONE to die and that was O.K.  I was prepared like Rand became to let it go.  People needed to die for their cause and that is O.K., it was their right to do so.  I almost would have like it more is some characters stayed dead because of the emotion for the personal sacrifice (Talmanes, Lan, Faile, etc).  

 

It was the passionate and heroic moments that made this book and made me cry (as described below), not the deaths.  Death is light as a feather and they finally awaken from the dream.

[Finnssss22]

 no Suian just died without any significance at all .

 

Wrong on so many levels.

 

First think back to a certain conversation that she had with Mat long ago. Remember the story she told him and the question she put to him.

Now recall what led to her death.

 

In the end she had one of the most ironic and richest literal deaths of any character.

[Mr. Micawber]

Yeah, no, Siuan's death had nothing to do with going back into the building to pull more people. It was a joke.

[Finnssss22]

Yeah, no, Siuan's death had nothing to do with going back into the building to pull more people. It was a joke.

 

It was not!

 

Her question was would Mat be like her uncle. To be the one that dies rescuing people from a burning building.

In the end, she died rescuing Mat from a burning building.

And yes, she DID save Mat there!

 

The "joke" is you missing the extreme irony of it.

[Mr. Micawber]

That whole scene was cringe inducing. The fact they didn't hit the Light's command and control at the immediate start of the battle, hell, before the Trollocs showed up, made me realize how crappy the whole battle would be. Demandred's from an era that actually approximated or even exceeded modern technology, and certainly Second World War technology. The idea he would fight a battle like he did was ludicrous

[Haddion]

There was so many moments in the books where I had to put the book down and take a breather.

 

In no order of importance.

 

1. Bela did her part.

2. Oliver story was surprisingly moving.

3. I thought Lan really would die

4. Siuan had always been a favorite. I hate what she had been relegated too.

5. Egwene. I have never really been a fan of her till the last three books. Her story was good from start to finish. I just wish other people had learned her weave before she sacrificied herself.

6. Brigitte went down in two sentences. I had to reread that 5 times to make sure my mind had not decieved me. The way she died, instantly telegraphed what was to come. I went from instant sadness to happiness for Brigitte. She would be able to be reborn.

7. Rand's funeral was very touching. I wish he could of rode out on top, and lived out the rest of his days with his families. I am so torn with mixed emotions about that last POV of his. I imagine Tam will find him working on the farm one day. I imagine him sneaking trips to visit each of them. It just isn't the same.

8. The death of WoT with the last paragraph. The "it was a beginning" lines always gave me chills. This one simply made a grown man cry.