Chapter Twelve (Across the Taren)

My hat off to Jordan in this chapter.  It's a basic chapter, but there was plenty of intuitively obvious things packed into these paragraphs.  Before we get there - yes, my memory and intuitive served me correct in that Master Hightower was a bit shady.  The timing of his rousing his thugs and meeting Rand and company at the ferry is a bit off, I would think Rand would have to wait at least a bit, but I'll forgive it.

The show that the group puts on is neat, and first time the reader sees Thom with his daggers.  I love how Rand actually questions Lan too - would Hightower really have robbed them?  Rand's been pushed to open up his view of reality with what "exists" in the world e.g. Trollocs exist, but now he's being pushed to adjust his overall attitude towards his fellow man as well.  Love Lan's comment here "And the quickest to harm a stranger are the soonest to think a stranger will harm them."  When Lan warns Rand to not mention Trollocs, Dark friends or the Father of Lies, is this the first mention of Darkfriends?

Now for something I definitely did not catch the first time.  When they reach the other side - Lan pays Master Hightower, but he doesn't put the purse away.  On first read (and only in that first paragraph - later you basically know) but on first read you're wondering if she sank the ferry, unless you're paying attention to that one tiny detail.  Lan knew Moraine well enough that they were not quite done.  Here, more than ever, I'm glad I've been taking notes as I read, or I wouldn't have caught that.  No, it's not an important piece to any over-arching theme, yet it's one more minor detail that stands out.  Jordan wrote Lan and Moraine as knowing each other without even words, he used such a small sentence, the reader could easily overlook it, to confirm what the reader infers later, she destroyed the ferry. 

Twice in this chapter Moraine has acted out of character - or rather out of the character that I remember her being.  She first snaps at Mat when he tries to question her - and a bit later she snaps at Egwene when Egwene asks about the "blue gem on a gold chain" snapping "Of course not…things do not have the Power, child…"  I don't remember Moraine being so short tempered, but then, too, my memory leans more towards more recent events than these far in the past. 

Here is where my hat goes off to Jordan.  Foreshadowing and character clues.  To sum it up - Thom growls when the Red Ajah is mentioned and Moraine's comments at the end to Egwene…"you may go far…"  Did Jordan think the whole story through backwards and forwards and then start writing it?  The intricacies of the entire world; people, prophesies and all are just amazing.  I can't wait to watch them unfold and actually pay attention to everything this time around. 

As I close, I leave with a few thoughts.  There are a multitude of Wheel of Time re-read blogs out there and many people have more knowledge than I can ever hope to have of the Wheel of Time and Randland itself.  These Thoughts I have on the chapters are the simple observations of a girl that fell in love with a Wheel of Time, right before Knife of Dreams came out.  I'm also very excited to be watching Brandon Sanderson, an author I've liked since his own beginning, finish this series.  And to top it off, I love sharing my observations with my husband, whose anniversary present was a tattoo, half sleeve, inspired by the Wheel of Time.  Next Chapter: Choices.  I'm going to finish reading now.