Welcome back to another edition of "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  We are continuing our reread of The Eye of the World, with only chapter 28 this time. 

Synopsis:

Chapter 28, "Footprints in Air"

Nynaeve, Lan, and Moiraine arrive in Whitebridge.  Nynaeve remembers the trip with the Aes Sedai and the Warder up to this point.  The Wisdom has no good thoughts of the Aes Sedai, and is kept out of the planning discussions altogether.  For a brief moment, Nynaeve thinks that Lan would be better without Moiraine, and blushes at the thought.  Still, Lan makes Nynaeve even angrier that the Aes Sedai.

Nynaeve is awed by the White Bridge, and fails to notice the smell of smoke on the air until they see the charred buildings in the square.  There are a dozen different tales about what happened in town—including Darkfriends, or a man using the One Power—but they can confirm that a Gleeman went downriver on one of the boats. 

They stop at an inn—the same one Rand, Mat, and Thom stayed at—and Moiraine announces that two of the boys where here a day or so before.  They will go find the one who is north of them, and still in possession of his coin, since the other two will undoubtedly be heading towards Caemlyn.  Nynaeve says that's good for the boys, but demands what the Aes Sedai means to do to find Egwene.  Moiraine gets angry and tells Nynaeve that she doesn't want to give up on Egwene, but it will be as the Wheel wills.

My take:

The next two chapters (29 and 30) go together, so I want to focus only on chapter 28 this time.  Plus, there is a lot to look at here.  Namely, the relationship between Nynaeve and Moiraine.

So, here's my first question: Moiraine's handling of Nynaeve; is it the right way?  I'll admit that Moiraine is the Aes Sedai and the one in charge, and Nynaeve has a bit of a problem relinquishing her authority, but sometimes I think Moiraine mishandles the situation.  She's manipulating Nynaeve, getting her to feel like a fool.  But think how much more powerful they would have been at the Eye if Nynaeve was a willing ally at that point!  Why would an Aes Sedai want distance between her and anyone who could offer aid?  In normal circumstances, an Aes Sedai would be unlikely to admit they needed aid, but Moiraine knows they are fighting the Dark One, that the world is at stake, that she will need powerful allies. 

To me, it feels so wrong for Moiraine to do this. Why would she spend so much time alienating the Wisdom?  It's something that only a power-hungry person would do, and we know Moiraine isn't power-hungry—or else she wouldn't have worked so hard to avoid being the Queen of Cairhien.  So why do this?  It's petty, even on Moiraine's part.  Why withhold information?  Why treat Nynaeve like she's a pest and beneath her.  And don't spout all that drivel about Aes Sedai thinking they are above everyone.  Moiraine is one of the most worldly Aes Sedai we've met (besides Cadsuane), and she is not that kind of person.  Could it already be the hints of jealousy that she finally admits in The Great Hunt?  She can feel Lan's bond, and must know that those feelings are blooming in there somewhere.  Can this be as simple as a love triangle?

Why else would Lan insist Nynaeve go back home?  He's already concerned for her and her safety.  And his suggestions go against what Moiraine wants—"'She's part of the Pattern, Lan' Moiraine said chidingly."  Lan doesn't do anything contrary to what Moiraine wants unless it's in regard to his love for Nynaeve in the later books.

If women dislike each other from their first meeting, it's most likely that a man is involved.  Moiraine says in The Great Hunt (Chapter 22, "Watchers") that she never had any concerns when Lan took lovers, but that Nynaeve was making him feel again, and for Moiraine, that's a bad thing.  We also know that Lan is very good at fuzzing the bond between him and Moiraine, but some of it might be leaking through—or perhaps Moiraine has learned to read him in other ways since they've been working together for twenty years.  Either way, it seems like Moiriane's acting like a scorned lover to me.

And leading into that, this is also on par to Moiraine's dealings with Rand.  She behaves so badly in regards to him.  She does almost the exact opposite of the right thing when dealing with him.  He's wary of her, and for a reason!  Look at how she handles him—obviously handling him.  Moiraine doesn't have that stupid Aes Sedai arrogance—well, not as much as some—and she should know that different cultures have different ways.  So why treat Rand, so Two-Rivers-stubborn, the way she does?  I can't understand her logic.

Moving on, another interesting thing happens in this chapter with Nynaeve.  She feels something that is similar to her Listening to the Wind Talent: "Something of it tickled the corners of her mind, as when she listened to the wind, but now she knew that that had to do with the One Power, and she could not bring herself to embrace those ripples at the edge of thought."  Later in the series, she can feel the storms gathering, but the emotional storms instead of physical.  Could this be the start of that Talent she acquired?  However, right after that, Moiraine says it is the Dark One that Nynaeve is feeling.  What exactly is it she is able to sense, and how is it similar to her ability to channel?  What would have happened if she had embraced those ripples? 

The Dark One's gaze is strong right now—which is why they're having an abnormally long winter—so how close is he to escaping at this point?  He's messing with the weather and making it so people who can touch the Power can feel him.  That's a pretty strong grasp on the world, I'd say.  However, when Rand uses the Eye of the World, the weather goes back to normal, for a while.  The Dark One's hold on the world loosens up a bit.  How?  Now probably isn't the time to talk about this, but I just wanted to bring it up.  Keep it in the back of your minds, because we'll explore it more when we get to the end of this book.

That's all that I found in this chapter; though it's a lot for only one chapter.  We'll look at the next two chapters—and I'll gush about how much I love Perrin some more—later.  Although this is Rand's story, and he's obviously the main character of this book, I think Perrin is the one who grows the most.  More on that next time.  Thanks for reading!