Warning: This post contains significant spoilers up through and including Towers of Midnight.

We all remember the moment we discovered Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. I started reading the series in seventh grade, after I stumbled across a copy of From the Two Rivers: Part One of The Eye of the World in the young adult section of Barnes & Noble. I picked it up on a whim because I liked the cover art, which just goes to show that some things never change.

Still, just about everything else has changed since then. I'm married and in grad school. That old book is still on my shelf, but the pages have turned yellow and it smells like my version of heaven. And whether you started reading the series a year ago or in 1990, I'm willing to bet you've changed since then too.

The greatest thing is that the characters have changed right along with us. By the end of the thirteenth book, the three ta'veren are virtually unrecognizable as the country boys Moiraine convinced to run away from home. In hindsight, Egwene's characterization of the three in the prologue of From the Two Rivers ("Ravens") is brimming with sad irony:

Let's see how far the boys have come. The art on the left is from my copy of From the Two Rivers (illustrations by Sally Wern Comport and Wizards of the Coast, Inc.). On the right (scroll! -->) are recent fan interpretations of the characters.

Rand al'Thor: From shepherd to Dragon Reborn (and, as an afterthought, King of Illian). Not quite as mild-mannered as he used to be. Art on the right by Astriex.

Mat Cauthon: From the son of a horse trader to the Prince of the Ravens, commander of the Shen an Calhar, and sounder of the Horn of Valere. At this point, he may have saved one too many Aes Sedai for his own good. Art on the right by Swedish artist G-a-t-i-n-h-a.

Perrin Aybara: From blacksmith's apprentice to Wolfbrother and Steward of the Two Rivers. Art on the right by Bulgarian artist Lims-Kraghma.