Yet again we have a travel chapter here, but this one does manage to be more exciting and suspenseful than the last ones. It's also a bit too familiar, if you know what I mean. Oh well, they can't all be winners.
It starts with a description of the titular road. All we really need to know about it is that it curves to the south, toward a city called Whitebridge, where the gang can cross another river. Out of curiosity, I checked the map, and this is far from the straightest path they can take to Tar Valon. Tar Valon is northeast of Baerlon and yet they're going east by southeast instead.
The reason is never directly stated, but it's probably so that they can stick to the road and preserve the horses' condition. It's been brought to my attention that the way they've been weaving through the woods isn't that great for their horses, and they should probably stick to the roads a lot more. It's a decent point, but it makes me wonder what made them decide to change their mind so drastically about how they traveled. Consistency in a story is important, and if a rule or detail changes, there has to be a reason for it.
But whatever. Before the chase begins, Egwene wistfully recalls a time when they didn't eat the exact same meals every day. I'm currently in a position where I eat from a limited set of meals, and I've kind of gotten used to it, and given that Egwene lives in a small country town, I would think that she'd be even more used to it. She also reminisces about tea, which causes Nynaeve to talk about her herbal remedies with Moiraine. Do I detect a hint of jealousy coming from the Wisdom?
Then they ride, and things start to get a little worrying. It turns out that the Trollocs following behind the party is actually blowing horns to let them know they're coming, and Rand can tell from those horns that they're getting closer and closer. Lan scouts ahead and reports that there's another group coming from the other end of the road.
- "If you were close enough to be seen," Egwene said worriedly, "they could have seen you. They could be right on your heels."
"He was not seen." Nynaeve drew herself up as everyone looked at her. "I have followed his trail, remember."
More points for Nynaeve in giving credit where it's due. But all of this just leads to more concerns, as the team realizes that the "fists" of Trollocs (or, to be more accurate, the Myrddraal commanding them) are trying to spook them into making a mistake. Moiraine also wonders where they got these numbers, and why there weren't anywhere near this many at Emond's field.
All this leads to a battle in the woods against a Myrddraal and his squad of Trollocs (or as Jordan calls them here, "beast-muzzled almost-men"), which begins with most of the men (Thom excluded) giving some sort of battle cry. Lan uses the Seven Towers, which Moiraine let slip earlier in the chapter that he was the last lord of, whatever that means. Rand and Perrin both use Manetheren, eagerly repeating the grand story Moiraine told them way back before they left Emond's Field. But Mat, bizarrely enough, uses a phrase in a foreign fantasy language, which confused me to no end.
Being this early in the series, the bar for battle scenes is still relatively low. Lan and Moiraine end up carrying most of the weight by themselves, with Lan engaging the Myrddraal in single combat and Moiraine using magic to turn the tide. Rand's problem horse spooks and results in him getting unseated. Of course, the Trollocs collapse in pain just in the nick of time because Lan cut off their master's head.
The fact that this can happen at all intrigues me and makes me curious as to how the Dark One's forces work, exactly. Have you ever heard of an army that shuts down when their commander dies, except the psychic Replica soldiers in F.E.A.R.? I assume that this is a design flaw in the Trolloc replication process or something, but right now it kind of sees like another convenience. Please bring this up again, Jordan.
Of course, no sooner do the gang escape one Trolloc fist then they encounter another three at once. That's when Moiraine decides to bust out the big guns, using the mysterious angreal to make the ground ripple and erupt magical fire. The rank and file immediately run, but the Myrddraal in command just treat it as a distraction, which is enough to get the gang out of there. Even with the angreal, manipulating the male elements of earth and fire takes a lot out of Moiraine, but leaves her with just enough strength to cast a spell that redirects their scents to a false trail.
Right now Moiraine is coming off as a cross between Gandalf and Arwen, except that even Gandalf didn't actually use this much magic. I also think that this sets up Moiraine as the most likely member of the protagonist party to die, since they would all be dead ten times over without her and the plot can't (or at least shouldn't) make them dependent on her forever.
Once the coast is clear, Egwene asks Rand just what the hell was up with them all yelling battle cries as if they were Klingons:
- "What about them?" Rand asked. He felt a little awkward - warcries were all right for Warders; Two Rivers folk did not do things like that, whatever Moiraine said - but if [Egwene] made fun of him over it... "Mat must have repeated that story ten times."
"And badly," Thom put in. Mat grunted in protest.
"However he told it," Rand said," we've all heard it any number of times. Besides, we had to shout something. I mean, that's what you do at a time like that. You heard Lan."
For once, I don't care if the whole thing about the characters naively applying tropes from stories to real-life conflicts has been done before, because it always makes me chuckle unironically.
Then Egwene asks the question that's been on my mind: Where did Mat learn that foreign phrase? He doesn't have a clue, of course, but Moiraine does. Turns out it was an old Manetheren battle cry, which Moiraine says confirms that Mat is descended from the high-born of this ancient land. Mat looks guilty at the possibility that this is why the Dark One is targeting them all, while I wonder how it is that phrases in dead languages can be transmitted through genetics from generation to generation.
Having been forced into a detour by the enemy, the party ducks into a forest and finds the ruins of an ancient city. The place was called Aridhol, an ally to Manetheren, but then it got another name.
- "What name?" Mat asked again.
Moiraine answered as they rode into the city. "Shadar Logoth," she said. "It is called Shadar Logoth."
Oh crap! Not Shadar Logoth! That's the place where... um, with... well, I don't know, but maybe the book will tell us next time.
NEXT TIME: We cross into horror territory.
I thought the reason why they rode another way was explained? If not, it's because it sucks riding there, and taking the road is faster.
ReplyDeleteI really like reading this, you've done a great job :) I don't know if you'll ever read all my nonsense, but you should know that I appreciate all this :)