The road trip's stop in the ruins of Aridhol takes a bit of a tangent here, though the tangent does lead to further worldbuilding, so I'm kind of okay with it, vague though it is. I didn't know what the significance of the name Shadar Logoth was when I finished the last chapter, and neither do Rand and the boys until they experience it firsthand for themselves.
But before that happens, there's more talking! Nynaeve's interaction with Moiraine continues on its natural course, with Nynaeve anxious to prove her herbal skills to the sorceress supreme. Moiraine graciously accepts her help in the form of a rejuvenating tea. Then Mat continues to angst about the war cry that forced itself out of his mouth, but after some cheering up, he's back to his normal, impulsive self again, and promptly suggests exploring the old city. Concerns about the safety of the endeavor are calmed when Mat tells them that Lan said the Trollocs would avoid Aridhol, having never thought to ask him why.
At first, their minds are blown by the sheer size of the place, and the grandeur of even the shell of what the city used to be makes them marvel, even though everything that isn't made of stone crumbles to dust at the slightest touch (Which I find hard to believe would actually happen. You're telling me that ancient, formerly organic items are like houses of cards?). But soon they get bored, and Mat wants to go looking for treasure in the city. That's when a man named Mordeth shows up out of nowhere. Since stranger danger doesn't exist in this world, the boys accept his offer to share with them a vast hoard of treasure that he found, and promptly follow the man whose name sounds like "more death" into a room with only one exit.
But Rand notices that Mordeth has no shadow, and he turns into a giant and tries to kill him. It took me a second reason to notice this, but they hide in the light of their torches to escape him, and run back to camp, feeling themselves being watched all the way.
Nynaeve is justifiably furious at them, of course, and when they tell Moiraine what happened, she tells them that Mordeth was the man who brought ruin to Aridhol, whispering dark suggestions into the king's ear, Grima Wormtongue style. At this point Moiraine gives only slight details of what happened afterward, both for the sake of brevity and because she claims not to know the full story herself.
This only serves to make things more vague, and I can't decide on whether I find that frustrating or intriguing. While I admit that hearing about a Trolloc horde vanishing into Shadow's Waiting, leaving only a collection of bloodstains for the human searchers to find the next day is really creepy and mysterious, the sudden lack of a concrete explanation in this book is kind of a jarring shift in tone, like the party stumbled into Silent Hill while running from the Trollocs.
Just like Baerlon, I know the party isn't going to stay here long, which exacerbates the problem. But we've got at least another chapter here, so maybe this is building up to it. Lan reports that the Trollocs will actually be forced into the city to search for them, so they'll be forced out of the safety of Moiraine's wards into a mad dash out of there. I can only hope for some sort of payoff next time.
Probably the most interesting thing I found in this chapter is Mat's behavior. His sudden interest in treasure really stuck out to me; he even tries to nab some more as Rand and Perrin urge him to run and escape from whatever's coming after them. He's made quite a few stupid, short-sighted decisions lately, and when I think back to all of the rather sinister-sounding omens Min saw connected to him, it convinces me that he's going to turn evil sooner or later. Let's see if I'm right or not.
NEXT TIME: The payoff.
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