It's awesome doing this re-reading, and starting conversations with my husband. Reading the Wheel of Time was one of the things we had in common when we met, but there's quite a disparity between how much we've read the series. My husband has been reading Jordan since practically the beginning and has read the series countless times. I can give him a hardback book with a bookmarker in it and say "okay, where am I in the book" and he'll tell me what's going on in the story. My husband knows the stories backwards and forwards, knows all the theories, wrong and right and knows what Jordan has said is canon and what is only possible and what is RAFO. On the other hand, this is only my third, maybe fourth time through, and while I love the story I've never tried to pick it apart before. So I have a "fresher" look on the series still, and I love bouncing things off of him. As I was reading the first paragraphs of chapter nine this time, I knew right away that Rand was dreaming. I wonder if I knew that the first time I read through the chapter or if I had to go back and read the first paragraphs again. I would think though on some visceral level, I knew. Also, now, I can immediately connect that Moraine has already asked about his dreams, but this time I'm paying more attention to details and reading a lot more slowly.
In the dream itself - am I wrong or is it popularly believed or even confirmed that the first mountain is Shayol Ghul? Like quicksilver the memory of the mountain is suppressed when he tries to think of it, the memory flees. Whose voice is familiar to Rand here telling him to "serve me"?
Note that lying on the ground, Rand finds anger. I wonder if he holds onto the memory and comes back to it later, in the times when he is filled with it. When the anger motivates him to flee, he ends up at Dragonmount and Tar Valon.
In Tar Valon everyone is friendly until he turns away from the Tower - then they look "betrayed" their "hope shattered." Who are these people and why is their hope shattered? Hope for what? And to me, still thinking about Elan Morin, it sounds almost like "betrayer of hope."
Then when he can avoid the Tower no longer and turns towards his "destiny" the people start singing and dancing - is this foreshadowing? Even Rand dances with the tune. I'm holding my vote on this one, still unsure, I'll get back to you.
Was it Rand's subconscious or something else that brought this dream on? For the Myrddraal that awaited Rand in the Tower would be a frightening thought if it were true.
Not trying to go line for line here, I just found so much in this dream to be interesting. When Rand woke up there are a couple things here I'd like to focus on. Tam was also awake and Rand told his father everything - despite being told to say nothing. What a father/son bond that Tam didn't question him leaving, just gave him some advice "Aes Sedai don't lie, not outright, but the truth they tell you is not always the truth you think it is." Tam also told Rand to take the sword. Tam wasn't a typical villager, nor was he a typical father. Struggling to write this paragraph I had a discussion with my husband - should Tam have revealed the circumstances of Rand's birth without having to risk it coming from a stranger? Could he have? But then, he also thought he would be following him in days, weeks at the most. Still I wonder…
The story of Manetheren, while useful here and serves to enthrall the villagers, does have a much deeper purpose than I could have ever predicted on my first read. It's great world-building and even a partial info dump that does not feel like one at all. "The sword that could not be broken was shattered."
Onwards to the next chapters!
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