Chapter 29 (Eyes Without Pity)

I'm not sure that anywhere else in the series do you find someone who handles Egwene as aptly as Elyas. Here's another quote from him that I love, "You expecting to make that mare crawl?" As Egwene hops down to try to join Elyas and Perrin scouting ahead.

Ever since they left the Tinkers, they've been traveling quickly and taking the long way 'round everything. I expect the readers are supposed to trust intuition as previously Elyas has not seen a reason to rush and his reasons here he still does not explain.

We learn a couple different things in this chapter up to and including "It's the stedding makes the Ogier, not the Ogier make the stedding." As well as several titles for Artur Hawking, Artur Hawking High King, Artur Paendragon Tanreal (any relation to King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot?) "All stood equal before the law and no man raised his hand against another." Also that he and the Aes Sedai didn't exactly see eye to eye, so much so Hawking had a bounty of 1,000 gold crowns on the head of every Aes Sedai. And hey - he even sent armies to the other side of the Aryth Ocean (plan much, Jordan?) Ending with a comment by Egwene "First you sound as if you despise him, and now you sound as if you admire him."

Now I'm trying to segue into explaining why I think this chapter holds one of the (if not the) darkest scene in the series. Off screen rapes, mind rapes, slavery aside, I believe this is the scene. Later, people die, reader's favorite characters have bad things happen to them - no one dies in this chapter, yet the possibilities in this scene left an indelible impression on me. I think I must liken it to the ending of Stephen King's The Mist, the movie version. Most of the other darker scenes that happen, in my mind, are somehow "easier" to talk about. Black and White, right and wrong. Hard to read but hardly a quandary (the Seanchan aside, more on them when they come up in the series), yet every time I read this scene the possibilities play through my mind. There was no answer, at least no right answer, so what would have been answer been? Had I been Perrin would the thought have even crossed my mind? Had I been Egwene which would I have preferred?

Not quite an hour till dark. If not for the stedding all of you would be dead now. Would you have saved her? Would you have cut her down like so many bushes? Bushes don't bleed do they? Or scream, and look at you in the eyes and ask, why?

What are some of the darkest scenes for you in the series?