It was sort of against the Aiel's advice. Gaul said it would be easier to take out the Trollocs while they sleep that night, but Perrin didn't want to wait.

“As you say,” he said reluctantly. “We will care for what you have given into our charge until you want them again.” “Of course. The things we gave you.” She smiled at him and loosened her grip, smoothing his hair once more before folding her hands. “You will carry the . . . things . . . to safety, Jonai. Keep moving, always moving, until you find a place of safety, where no one can harm you.” This is my umpteenth time reading TSR and I JUST realized the Aes Sedai didn't care about the ter'angreal at all, only about preserving the Aiel! Sensational. Makes me wonder how many other little tidbits I've missed.

Adan stepped back. “You . . . killed? Killed men? What of the Covenant? We harm no one. No one! There is no reason good enough to justify killing another human being. None!” “They took Maigran, greatfather,” Lewin said. “They took Maigran and Colline, and hurt them. They - ” “There is no reason!” Adan roared, shaking with rage. “We must accept what comes. Our sufferings are sent to test our faithfulness. We accept and endure! We do not murder! You have not strayed from the Way, you have abandoned it. You are Da’shain no longer. You are corrupt, and I will not have the Aiel corrupted by you. Leave us, strangers. Killers! You are not welcome in the wagons of the Aiel.” He turned his back and strode away as if they no longer existed. Saralin and Nerrine started after him, guiding the girls. “Mother?” Lewin said, and flinched when she looked back at him with cold eyes. “Mother, please - ” “Who are you that addresses me so? Hide your face from me, stranger. I had a son, once, with a face like that. I do not wish to see it on a killer.” And she led Maigran after the others. “I am still Aiel,” Lewin shouted, but they did not look back. He thought he heard Luca crying. The wind rose, picking up dust, and he veiled his face. “I am Aiel!”

Considering emotional doesn't just mean "sad," I had a very positive and awesome emotional reaction to the scene where Elayne and Egwene try to teach Rand to control Saidin in the Stone of Tear in TSR. Specifically, when Elayne and Egwene - who RJ has hammered into us for 4 books are insanely powerful - realize that Rand can control them like kittens, it's a great moment because you start to realize just how powerful Rand really is. Very cool stuff.

A few people mentioned Rand trying to resurrect the girl after the battle in the stone of tear, I just read it and thought it deserved a post for people who might have forgotten how excellent that passage truly is: Rand pulled his gaze away from her, and it fell on the body of a dark-haired girl, little more than a child. She lay sprawled on her back, eyes wide and fixed on the ceiling, blood blackening the bosom of her dress. Sadly, he bent to brush strands of hair from her face. Light, she is only a child. I was too late. Why didn’t I do it sooner. A child! “I will see that someone takes care of her, Rand,” Moiraine said gently. “You cannot help her now.” His hand shook so hard on Callandor that he could barely hold on. “With this, I can do anything.” His voice was harsh in his own ears. “Anything!” “Rand!” Moiraine said urgently. He would not listen. The Power was in him. Callandor blazed, and he was the Power. He channeled, directing flows into the child’s body, searching, trying, fumbling; she lurched to her feet, arms and legs unnaturally rigid and jerky. “Rand, you cannot do this. Not this!” Breathe. She has to breathe. The girl’s chest rose and fell. Heart. Has to beat. Blood already thick and dark oozed from the wound in her chest. Live. Live, burn you! I didn’t mean to be too late. Her eyes stared at him, filmed. Lifeless. Tears trickled unheeded down his cheeks. “She has to live! Heal her, Moiraine. I don’t know how. Heal her!” “Death cannot be Healed, Rand. You are not the Creator.” Staring into those dead eyes, Rand slowly withdrew the flows. The body fell stiffly. The body. He threw back his head and howled, as wild as any Trolloc. Braided fire sizzled into walls and ceiling as he lashed out in frustration and pain. Sagging, he released saidin, pushed it away; it was like pushing away a boulder, like pushing away life. Strength drained out of him with the Power. The taint remained, though, a stain weighing him down with darkness. He had to ground Callandor on the floor tiles and lean on it to stay on his feet. “The others.” It was hard to speak; his throat hurt. “Elayne, Perrin, the rest? Was I too late for them, too?” “You were not too late,” Moiraine said calmly. But she had come no closer, and Lan looked ready to dart between her and Rand. “You must not - ” “Are they still alive?” Rand shouted. “They are,” she assured him. He nodded in weary relief. He

When the blacksmith in Tear gives Perrin the hammer, to help him toward that "one day." So moving.

And on that same topic, how when Birgitte is like "How could you not have thanked him?" and then they mention a Foresaken was involved and Birgitte's like, "What!!! He didn't even tell that part" and Nyn and Elayne are just like, "God. Damn. Him."

Oh yeah that guilty grin is great, it was actually Anaiya (I only know because I read it about 10 minutes ago). And great quote, Suttree, that is classic and exactly what I'm talking about. My other favorite I didn't put in my initial post is in book 7, how worked up Nyn and Elayne get to thank Mat for rescuing them from the Stone (in book 3), and then Mat's just drunkenly like, "Oh yeah totes no worries", that makes me laugh so hard.

I know it might not be trendy or hip, but Mat Cauthon is far and away my favorite character. I was just wondering what moments of his made you laugh the most. I think RJ did an absolutely genius-level job inserting casual and nuanced humor into Mat's passages - such as this, the moment he jumps onto a ship leaving from Tar Valon in Book 3: "Mat waved the Amyrlin’s paper toward the bearded man - the captain, he supposed – with one hand, and fished a gold crown out of his pouch with the other, taking care even in his haste that the fellow saw there were more where that came from. Tossing the heavy coin to the man, he spoke quickly, still waving the paper. “For the inconvenience of our boarding as we did, Captain. More to come for passage. On business of the White Tower. Personal command of the Amyrlin Seat. Imperative we sail immediately. To Aringill, in Andor. Utmost urgency. The blessings of the White Tower on all who aid us; the Tower’s wrath on any who impede us.” That last line is totally improvised by Mat and is such a great example of something he would say that Rand or Perrin most likely would not; Mat loves adding a little flourish of his wit into everything. I'd love to hear other choices for Mat's antics that made you laugh?

I thought of another one that really got to me: when Rand takes Elder Haman (or whatever his name was) and Loial's mother to the edge of the Two Rivers, and just stares at it knowing that's as close as he'll ever get to it again.

Oh for sure, I completely agree with the fact that there ARE bookisms. I just am not willing to put this magical capital letter voice down as one until I finish the next book, that's all. Additionally, Lanfear appears to Min at the end of TGH and just *poof* disappears like LTT in the prologue to EoTW; and there are others I'm sure. Either way, I intend to RaFO!

Wow didn't expect all these theories, this is great, thanks everyone. I am not sold that this is an early bookism, RJ always said that he thought of the final scene very early on and this might just be a seed for something we don't necessarily see coming. I'll trust RJ until I finish MoL.

I'm currently doing a read-through leading up to MoL and just got to Ingtar's last stand toward the end of Book 2, when he admits to Rand that he was a Darkfriend and Rand wishes that "The last embrace of the Mother welcome you home." Man. RJ really had a god given gift for getting to the heart of the matter. My eyes are glistening and I am so happy I am reading these through again. Just wondering which moments in the series bring tears to your eyes or make you sigh or have an emotional reaction? Another that springs to mind are some of those memories that Rand sees of his ancestors in Rhuidean.

Hey doing a readthrough in preparation for MoL. At the end of EotW, Rand has just found out he can channel at Tarwin's Gap, and after he kills that Fade and Trolloc army.... The wind died. The screams died. The earth was still. Dust and smoke swirled back down the pass to surround him. "The Light blind you, Ba'alzamon! This has to end!" IT IS NOT HERE. It was not Rand's thought, making his skull vibrate. I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL. "Where?" He did not want to say it, but he could not stop himself. "Where?" The haze surrounding him parted, leaving a dome of clear, clean air ten spans high, walled by billowing smoke and dust. Steps rose before him, each standing alone and unsupported, stretching up into the murk that obscured the sun. NOT HERE. Through the mist, as from the far end of the earth, came a cry. "The Light wills it!" The ground rumbled with the thunder of hooves as the forces of humankind launched their last charge. Who's voice is that in his head??? Lews Therin? Dark One? Creator? I'm totally lost.

Thank you both, hi. I'm from Chicago, Illinois, (a lot of my passwords used to include both Robert and Michael Jordans' names) but now I'm in Los Angeles, California. I am so excited to finish the series but I've been doing my latest and most likely final read through at a leisurely pace, trying to pay as much attention as I did the first time through. I imagine I'll be ready for book 12 in June.