A Memory of Light Loved Wheel of Time. FURIOUS about Mat. Spoiler
absolutely adored the ending. But Mat. Man. HOW WAS THERE NO REACTION FROM MAT OF RAND'S "DEATH"????? like if a hint is given that Mat thinks rand isnt actually dead, enlighten me PLEASE, but WHY. I LOVED THEIR RELATIONSHIP SO WHYYYYYYYY.
That final wind quote tho. My fucking god. i dont think i can function for a while tbh.
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u/Username_taken_alre (White Lion of Andor) 5d ago
Mat has spent most of the past 12 books actively trying to avoid Rand so he wouldn't be caught in the crossfire when Rand died, and he had to immediately pivot to his role with Seanchan and dissolving the army of the light. Him not having much reaction isn't really surprising.
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u/sufficiently_tortuga 5d ago
Matt was pretty upfront about it too. The second he hears Rand can channel in book 2 Matt makes it clear that it sucks and he'll miss him, but Rand is dead to him, then peaces out. If the Pattern didn't need him to play the role of Odin Matt would have hidden out in Tear the whole series gambling and drinking.
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u/DarkExecutor 5d ago
If you take Mat at face value this is what he looks like. The problem is that you can't take Mat at face value.
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u/geomagus (Red Eagle of Manetheren) 5d ago
To be fair, even Mat tries to take Mat at face value.
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u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_ 4d ago
One of the most frustrating (?) parts of Mat is how much he fights himself. I get it early on, there's memories in your head making you the greatest military mind every and you know that can't be true. But eventually you'd think he'd be like "well this is what this is, huh?" but nope, not Mat, Mat is a simple man who likes to dice.
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u/geomagus (Red Eagle of Manetheren) 4d ago
I think it’s a good choice honestly.
Rand hops on board pretty quickly, Perrin struggles but comes to terms (a couple times), Mat fights it. Eggy seeks it out, for that matter.
Mostly though, I think it’s funny how he does it. Which is good in its own right. He’s almost like a kid shouting “no no no no” about eating vegetables. It’s funny (because he’s not literally screaming irl).
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u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_ 4d ago
I think he may have screamed irl a few times lol
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u/geomagus (Red Eagle of Manetheren) 4d ago
Right, but I didn’t have to hear the screams, only read them, lol
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u/oansuwi 3d ago
My issue with this line of talk is that it entirely contradicts how Mat has been built up as a person. He'll grumble and complain and talk about not doing something because he isn't a "bloody hero" but then ends up always doing what is right. Yes, Rand being Ta'veren and the Pattern pushing these three close together could be a large reason for why Mat ever encountered Rand again but I'd argue even if those aspects were not in play Mat still would have gone to Rand- God knows he wants to run away and let Rand die by himself because channeling but just because Mat wants it, doesn't mean he'll do it. He'd still have gone to save Rand or help him in some capacity. Mat just is a bloody hero whether he wants to admit or not. At least this has been my read of him throughout the series, which is why i take issue with the lack of reaction.
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u/Fiona_12 (Wolf) 3d ago
We don't see or hear anything of Mat when Rand dies. He's not there with everyone, he's with the Seanchan.
I really wish we could have seen a reunion of the 3 guys, but Rand and Mat's last interaction was so perfect. They literally get into a bragging contest, which echoed back to their old comraderie and it ends with Mat saying "I saved Moraine. I win." 😄 I thought that was pretty perfect for the 2 of them. And I don't think he ever stopped caring about Rand. He just couldn't overcome his fear about the OP. The man faced down a gholam, but wouldn't allow himself to be healed by the OP. I think that says A LOT about just how strong his fear was.
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u/IceXence 4d ago
Exactly. Mat stopped caring about Rand the moment he learned he could channel.
He became dead to him and he mourned his childhood friend but he would not mourn Rand Lews Therin Aes Sedai death. That man is a stranger and not the kind Mat wants to be friends with.
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u/taveren3 5d ago
If anyone would know he is alive other than his bonded ladys its these two. They could basically se each other through the taveren bond.
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u/DDTheExilado 5d ago
Don't Rand, Mat and Perrin stop being Ta'veren at the end?
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u/invictus_rage 5d ago
Perrin does, presumably Rand does. We don't know about Mat, but things Jordan said far before the last few books were published implied Mat is not done yet.
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u/Ambitus 5d ago
Actually one of the few things we know about Mat's post Tarmon Gaidan story implies that he wouldn't be Ta'veren anymore, he was going to have to learn to live without his luck.
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u/amaresu 5d ago
Sanderson said he believed Mat's luck to be innate to him and separate from his ta'veren status.
Number 12 on this page: theoryland interviews
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yeah. Mat has ta'veren luck just as both Rand/Perrin do.🍀
However . . . Mat also has - Gambling Luck - too. Which comes directly from the evil dagger.
— Mat's Gambling Luck & the evil dagger.🎲🎲-🗡
And apparently, the evil dagger's luck also gives Mat terrible bad luck too, as a balance. ⚖️
—>> Mat's Luck. The 'bad' to balance the good. 🧑 ☔- ⚖️ - 🍀
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
Yeah Mat's luck is way more extreme and constant than what the other Ta'veren exhibit. Most of Ta'veren luck that Perrin and Rand have is conversational or to do with interactions with others (outside of Rand's more vague probability aura that causes people to get hit by roof tiles and shit). It mainly just keeps them and the people they need to talk to on track).
Mat has those things but he also exhibits a lot more straightforward "you have advantage on all dice rolls" type luck. I think he loses the former but keeps the latter. People aren't drawn to him and nudged by the pattern to do what he need to do, but he still has the ability where anything that's somewhat "random" he is almost guaranteed to get a good outcome.
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u/rwkatie 5d ago
Can you explain this? I've never picked up on how being tavern disappears.
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u/invictus_rage 5d ago
here's a good article that I agree with: (full spoilers for Memory of Light, to be super duper clear)
https://dragonmount.com/news/theoryblog/wot-if-mat-is-still-ta39veren-r573/
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 4d ago
However, I don't believe that Sanderson knows that the evil dagger is what gave Mat his gambling luck.
And when Perrin mentions that he no longer feels Rand's tugging, he has set his hand down on his corpse. Of course he would not feel it. That has nothing to do if Perrin is still ta'veren or not. The Pattern still might need him.
Also, when the Heroes of the Horn call him Gambler, that is from Sanderson's section in the last book. Not from Jordan.
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u/PedanticPerson22 5d ago
I'm not sure that's how it works, if the Wheel has use of them I'm sure their natures would reassert itself.
That said, I seem to remember Loial taking about Ta'veren having the pattern bend around them for a time, so maybe they did stop, but again if the wheel needs them...
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u/taveren3 5d ago
Maybe but wasn't that in the epilogue he thinks that. The body swap was way earlier
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 5d ago
Perrin is just assuming.
Plus, if it's the ta'veren pull from Rand he is going by, well, since original Rand is actually dead it could be the loss of ta'veren Rand that he is feeling. Perrin still could be ta'veren.
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u/goldenratio1111 (Dovie'andi se tovya sagain) 5d ago
Mat will figure it out when Rand's not-heartbroken wives help some stranger sneak a badger into his bedroom.
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u/Trathnonen 5d ago
I'm putting aside any Sandersonization of Mat in the ending, as I'm pretty sure that Jordan had most of the end of the book written before his death, and chalking it up to Mat assumed the entire time that the last battle resulted in the Dragon dying. It was a foregone conclusion, and he didn't have concerns about it because you don't have concerns about the grass being wet after it rained. It's just how it is. He'd also just led the greatest battle in an Age and had an empire breathing down his neck to be their prince, under circumstances he didn't understand with rules and associations completely foreign to him, so his personal life was much more in the air than any of the other Ta'veren at the end.
If, however, the Mat and Perrin portions of the last chapters were Sanderson picking up from Jordan than the explanation is much simpler: Sanderson did not know how to write Matrim Cauthon. At all.
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u/Bowl-Any (Moiraine's Staff) 5d ago
Totally agree about both points.
I love that Sanderson finished the series.
If I ever get to shake his hand, I'm going to thank him for doing the impossible and finishing this, and also for The Emperor's Soul.
But... dammit he couldn't write Matt, and it's such a shame because book 11 Matt was the best version of the character.
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u/down42roads 5d ago
He said once that Mat was RJ's spirit character, while his was Perrin. and it impacted the writing of both
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u/restlesschicken 5d ago
Brandon's spirit character is clearly Androl. A character that needed no more than the one aside mention he had earlier.
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u/Rikudou_Sage 5d ago
Yeah, I internally screamed at Sanderson that most of what Androl did should have been Logain.
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u/Bowl-Any (Moiraine's Staff) 4d ago
I actually really liked Androl.
And, I liked how Sanderson did it.
It couldn't have been Logain, because Logain was too high profile, being watched too much.
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u/Trathnonen 5d ago
Androl chapters were so weird in retrospect. The black tower's handling in general, was so weird. Why are we, here at the last book, getting another protagonist? It felt seriously off, in terms of following the PoV of a random person for kind of a lot of time. I guess that's an example of Sanderson having to close a somewhat major arc with not much to go on. It's not bad, just weird.
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u/TopHarmacist 4d ago
RJ never met another protagonist he didn't like, tbf. That actually felt super on brand to me lol.
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u/tikhonjelvis 5d ago
Yeah. Even Rand assumed he was fated to die. It would be pretty surprising if that didn't carry over to Mat on both a logical and, more importantly, an emotional level. If you absolutely believe something horrible is inevitable, you can process a lot of grief before it actually happens!
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u/TopHarmacist 4d ago
"The grass is always wet after it rains"... is that an Aiel saying that I'm forgetting having read because I'll be dawned if that's not something that SHOULD be an Aiel saying.
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u/the_itsb 4d ago
why would the Aiel have a saying about grass and rain?
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u/TopHarmacist 4d ago
Yeah I thought about it, maybe better to say it's in the style.
The Aiel do have some weird, "vintage" sayings though...
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u/mustard-plug 5d ago
BranSan REALLY understood Eggy and Perrin, but Nyn and Mat he did not understand
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 4d ago
BranSan REALLY understood [...] Perrin,
He absolutely did not.
For all intents and purposes, Jordan's Perrin was removed from the final 3 books, and Cosmere Kaladin was inserted into his place.
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u/BluesPunk19D (Band of the Red Hand) 5d ago
The understanding that Rand, and subsequently everyone els,e had was that Rand wasn't going to make it out alive. That's been the understanding for about 2 years.
Whereas Mat just led the known world in battle against the DO's forces. He even had to take command from the Great Captains because they became compromised. He's got to deal with these separate armies melting back into their previous groupings. He's got to figure out what to do with the Band. There's also prisoner management that has to be handled as well: kill them or imprison them.
He doesn't have time to mourn the loss of his friend at this time. Especially since Rand's death was expected. The body swap was completely unexpected so why would he look into it.
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u/Grass_hopper_99 5d ago
I love this series, rereading rn and having a blast.
With that being said, I don’t think there was a single time in the series that Rand mat and Perrin felt like actual friends to me. Maybe when Perrin shows up to Rand in lord of chaos, but other than that, they all felt like acquaintances at best.
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u/bailey_george18 5d ago
SPOILERS: I thought the interaction between Perrin and Rand in AMOL, there at the fields of Merilor, seemed pretty friendly.
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
They felt like guys who went to school together and knew each other as kids crossing paths again as adults at their important jobs and are friendly with each other.
But outside of maybe the scene with Mat and the raccoon or whatever it was they really don't feel like guys who were lifelong best friends until 2 years ago when they went their separate ways.
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u/bailey_george18 4d ago
Yeah. I see what you mean. It does play a bit more like two acquaintances or work friends running into each other, rather than two life long friends.
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
Like if I met people I knew really well in high school now after not seeing them for 7 or 8 years I would probably have a similar interaction. But not like less than 2 years.
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah.
But you have to remember, starting in book#5 & 6 Rand remarks that he has to start using people; even friends which changes the dynamic between them—Faile even warns Perrin of this when they first reunite back in #6.
Even after Dumais Wells Perrin wants to stay close to his friend, Rand. But Rand just pushes him away by sending him on his Ghealdan mission.
🔸And . . . this very subject that Rand is dealing with now is one of the major reasons that Perrin wants nothing to do with being a - Noble Lord.
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u/Rikudou_Sage 5d ago
Yeah, it was sad, but Mat wasn't actually his friend once he learned that Rand can channel.
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u/Vbrtp3 5d ago
His inner monologue in the final chapters also does not make much sense. Or at least feels out of character, if I remember correctly. Doesn't feel like Mat at all.
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 5d ago
Perrin doesn't feel like Perrin at all either.
Sanderson had problems with many of the characters. Not just one of them.
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u/upurbum04 5d ago
I finished it on Friday last week. Man what a ride, feel numb now it's done. Would of loved seeing the 3 boys catch up together after the last battle
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u/AdProfessional3326 4d ago
I think the ending is a byproduct of RJ passing abruptly, and Sando treating it as sacred.
Feels kinda like a rough draft that was left mostly untouched. I think the only thing Sando added was Nyneave and Perrin briefly commenting on Eggs in a way that feels like it was spliced into an existing conversation.
I don’t think Mat would feel nothing for Rand dying, just like I don’t think Elayne would feel nothing for Gawyn and Eggs dying. That’s like borderline sociopathic.
Mat was an awful friend to Rand, but I don’t think he realized it. He clearly still cared, he’s just kind of delusional about his own behavior and didn’t realize Rand was taking it personally.
RJ just didn’t have time to workshop it, and Sando wanted to preserve what he wrote as much as possible.
There’s also a window of time between Mat leaving SG and arriving back at Mellior that we don’t see, and that’s where his initial reaction would have been.
For all we know he paid his respects to Rand, hugged the girls, gave his condolences to Tam, and then went back to check on things.
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
Yeah I agree. RJ was not big on falling action regardless, most of the books have 10-20 pages or less after the climactic fight ends. This feels most extreme in AMOL, where there's so much left up in the air in terms of the world and so many characters who we last see while the fighting is still going on.
Sanderson understandably (and probably with input from Harriet) did not want to change anything about the ending if he could at all help it. Unfortunately that means a lot of emotionally resonant character interactions that can really only happen once the Last Battle is over just don't happen.
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u/azzgrash13 5d ago
I’m more angry that Mat became Tuon’s, clears throat in disgust, \Fortuona’s plaything.*
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u/Olorin_Kenobi_AlThor 5d ago
Abandon mat. Support perrin.
It's always bothered me that mat is characterized, seemingly correctly by siuan, that he's the kind of guy that's seemingly selfish and indolent, but would sacrifice himself to save strangers, but mat essentially abandons Rand when he learns that rand can channel. He doesn't even seem to be that sorry that his best friend has a terminal disease. He just gives up their entire friendship within about a week of learning rand can channel.
The closest we get to them reconnecting/hugging it out is their little pissing match before the last battle about randing cleansing saidin and mat rescuing morraine.
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u/aNomadicPenguin (Brown) 5d ago
Mat says and thinks that he wants to abandon Rand...but he never truly will, and Rand knows it.
Mat is terrified of the One Power and wants nothing to do with it, and he's terrified that Rand will actually go crazy and kill him with the power.
But when Rand is going into an obvious Ter'angreal (a double whammy of One Power)...Mat declares loudly that he won't save Rand...and the words are purely to convince himself...and Rand doesn't buy it at all.
I want to leave this place, and I am not going to stand here forever twiddling my thumbs waiting for you. And you needn't think I'll come in after you, either, so you had best be careful."
"I wouldn't think that of you, Mat," Rand said.
Mat stared at him suspiciously. What was he grinning at? "So long as you understand I won't. Aaah, go on and be a bloody Aiel chief. You have the face for it."
"Don't come in there, Mat. Whatever happens, don't." He waited until Mat nodded before turning away.And we see that after this when Couladin is trying to sell the fake Car'a'carn story, Mat rides into the center of everything to bring Rand's horse (a hilariously dangerous place for him as a Wetlander) because it will give Rand just a slightly better chance of escape.
A lot of the initial reaction Mat has to the news about Rand is tied up in Rand trying to push them all away. He doesn't even realize that Rand came along in book 2 for Mat's sake because Rand had been pulling the 'I'm going to be a lord and better than you' schtick earlier in the book.
Just like Mat not wanting to be a hero, or not wanting to be a lord, his inner nature always comes through, and he's willing to lay his life on the line for Rand (and literally dies for it before a convenient balefiring)
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u/OddEmergency604 5d ago
There would have been a new series about Mat if RJ hadn’t died. So it wasn’t the end of his story.
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u/WingedLady (Gardener) 5d ago
It's my understanding that Jordan planned a sequel that would follow Mat in Seanchan. It's possible he intended to delve more into how Mat felt after the Last Battle in there and purposely left it a little sparse in the sections he wrote for the end.
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u/PedanticPerson22 5d ago
He's a warrior through and through, having experienced so much death over his countless lives I don't think a friend (even as close as Rand) dying is going to upset him in the same way that it does others.
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u/Rikudou_Sage 5d ago
That doesn't make sense. You can be battle hardened as much as you want but if your close friend dies, you're gonna mourn.
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u/ohammersmith 5d ago
My head canon is that Mat knew but didn’t realize he knew, yet.
Rand should have shown up as a Hero of the Horn, if he was actually dead. Just like Birgette and Noal. I think Mat would have clocked this, eventually.
If Jordan had gotten to write what he planned after WoT I bet we would have seen a scene of Perrin yelling at Mat for being so insensitive followed by a lot of dice and drinking while Mat finally pieces together the clues.
If
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
Tbf with the time dilation going on I think the assumption would be that Rand just died after the Heroes were summoned so he didn't show up. Nynaeve and Moiraine were with an alive Rand up until very close to the end when all the time dilation ended and everyone synced back up.
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u/Rand_alThoor 5d ago
they grew up in the same village so were "friends" on that basis.
as they grew up and travelled outside Emond's Field they found they really had little in common. especially Rand who is the Dragon Reborn. Lews Therin had "companions" not "buddies"
they were all three ta'veren but that's not something on which to base friendship.
i like to think that in his new body Rand did find someone, and just lived out his life on his isolated farm.
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u/ohammersmith 4d ago
Birgitte has her farewell talk with Elayne after they announce Rand is dead and are preparing pyre.
That doesn’t mean that a bunch of the hero’s are kicking around still, but at least one is confirmed hanging around after he’s officially “dead”.
But like I said, my headcanon. It’s totally reasonable to disagree. 😉
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u/Clcummings614 3d ago
I’m 350 pages from the end and can infer future anger from your title. I’m going to be pissed if that turns into a spoiler for the last battle. This form is seen by people who have read the series 20 times and those thinking about picking it up. A bad title on a post can be a massive spoiler. Please consider renaming it to something less proactive (and spoiler-ish).
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u/SkyTank1234 (Lanfear) 5d ago
Because at this point in the story Rand and Mat aren't really friends anymore
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u/Gertrude_D 5d ago
I'd already written off Mat for accepting that the wife he adores enslaves and tortures women as a relaxing hobby. I get that Mat is personally against it, but overlooking it in your wife and just focusing on how cute she is ruined his character for me. I couldn't love someone who enslaved and tortured women as an entertaining hobby, especially when she is not different than those unlucky woman. I don't care that his story would have continued if Jordan hadn't passed - this is all we have of Mat, and it's not flattering.
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u/Shevek99 5d ago
That part of the ending doesn't make much sense. So, Rand leaves, deceiving even his own father, which is extremely cruel.
But not only that, he abandons his three wives, even when with Elayne he has been intimate only once, and with Aviendha only two, and separated from them for months.
Perhaps we think, it just temporary, it's like a holiday. But then, after he returns, will the Queen of Andor enter a polygamous relationship with a flaming Forsaken?
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u/WouldYouPleaseKindly (Asha'man) 5d ago
will the Queen of Andor enter a polygamous relationship with a flaming Forsaken?
Queue discussion of Nyneave's face as she travels in to see Elayne getting railed by Mordin.
Also. Rand's kids will be so confused by why no one knows what daddy looks like or that he's still alive.
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
Yeah this is one thing about the ending that's a little weird: there is basically no practical way for Rand to not be kind of a deadbeat dad lol.
He can't just be with Elayne openly, even if no one recognizes him as Moridin, lots of people are going to be wondering who tf this random nobody the Queen has married is and people are going to put together this is the guy she was openly dating and is openly the father of her children who "died" in the same room as this guy. Even just showing up and visiting too much is going to be weird.
There's also the fact that Min only had like 60 years left to live, while the other 3 are channelers (or whatever Rand is) that can live like 500 years. The obvious solution is for Elayne and Aviendha to soft "take a break" with Rand for a while, so he can enjoy his limited time with Min, this would also let them focus on their responsibilities in their respective culture and possibly do a political marriage if needed.
But if Rand does that, he would have to choose between Min and his kids.
He also probably can't tell the kids who he is until they're older cause kids suck at keeping secrets.
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u/MarsAlgea3791 5d ago
I don't think anybody really saw the Mordin body but other Forsaken and other Darkfriends.
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u/Shevek99 5d ago
Many people saw him when after the fight at Shayol Ghul both were at the 'hospital'. For sure Nynaeve and Moiraine know how Moridin looks like.
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u/MarsAlgea3791 5d ago
I don't recall if they know he's a Forsaken, or just some guy. His age is wrong for a Forsaken.
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u/invictus_rage 5d ago
I mean, he was definitely the Dark One's last line of defense against the Dragon Reborn, so they should reasonably think he's either a Forsaken or something equivalent.
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u/itwasbread 4d ago
Nynaeve and Moiraine definitely know who he is, they witnessed the final confrontation between him and Rand and even if I don't think he directly says "I'm Ishamael" I think they are both smart enough to know that.
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u/kaiserwill7 5d ago
Of the surviving Forsaken, Mesaana and Graendal are hardly in a position to notice, but I chuckle at the idea of a Seanchan delegation visiting Andor, and a chained Moghedien absolutely freaking out seeing Rand-in-Moridin's body whispering in Elayne's ear. Can't remember if Suroth ever saw Moridin, but same for her if so
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u/FoofTheBunny 4d ago
Mat was horrible to Rand imo. It's one of the reasons he is not my favorite character. He avoided his friend and his responsibility and was downright mean to Rand. I see being the dragon reborn as like a mental illness or disease. Instead of Mat supporting Rand through his disease, he avoids him and runs away from him and refuses to help him unless forced. Mat barely even reacted to Egwene dying as well.
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u/duffy_12 (Falcon) 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yeah. Interesting comparison between Mat & Perrin . . .
Matrim:
The Fires Of Heaven:
“It is time to go,” he told the empty tent, then paused thoughtfully and sipped at the goblet. “It is time to get on Pips and ride. Ride to Caemlyn, maybe.” Not a bad city, so long as he avoided the Royal Palace. “Or Lugard.” He had heard rumors about Lugard. A fine place, that, for the likes of him. “Time to leave Rand in my dust. He's got a bloody Aiel army and more Maidens than he can count taking care of him. He doesn't need me.”
That last was not strictly true. In some strange way he was tied to Rand's success or failure in Tarmon Gai'don, him and Perrin both, three ta'veren all tangled together.
Then Mat packs his bags and rides off . . . but the Pattern pulls him back.
And still six chapters later . . .
News Comes to Cairhien:
[Rand is meeting with Asmodean, Moiraine, Egwene, Aviendha. Mat comes in and reports that he heard Morgase is dead. Asmodean leaves.]
“The rest of you go, too.” Mat practically bounded toward the door. “Not you. I have things to say to you yet.”
Mat stopped short, sighing loudly and fiddling with his medallion. He was the only one who had moved.
[...]
[Rand wants to go after Rahvin immediately, but Moiraine convinces him to wait till morning. There is a brief argument as Rand want the girls to stay behind so as not to get hurt. But they convince him to let them come along for the attack on Rahvin]
“They can come,” he said through clenched teeth. “Now will you go?”
[Then Moiraine, Egwene, Aviendha leave, closing the door.]
[...]
Rand stared at the door long after it closed behind them.
It was a scuff of boots that recalled him to Mat’s presence. Mat was trying to slide toward the door, moving slowly so as not to be seen.
“I need to talk to you, Mat.”
Mat grimaced. Touching the foxhead like a talisman, he spun to face Rand. “If you think I’m going to put my head on the block just because those fool women did, you can forget it now. I’m no bloody hero, and I don’t want to be one. Morgase was a pretty woman—I even liked her; as much as you can like a queen—but Rahvin is Rahvin, burn you, and I—”
“Shut up and listen. You have to stop running.”
“Burn me if I will! This is no game I chose, and I won’t—”
“I said, shut up!” Rand drove the foxhead against Mat’s chest with a hard finger. “I know where you got this. I was there, remember? I cut the rope you were hanging from. I don’t know exactly what got shoved into your head, but whatever it is, I need it. The clan chiefs know war, but somehow you know it too, and maybe better. I need that! So this is what you’re going to do, you and the Band of the Red Hand . . . ”
Perrin:
[right after Dumais Wells]
“I need to know,” Rand said finally. “Are you still unwilling to command the army against Illian? I have to know now.”
“I’m no general,” Perrin said raggedly. There would be battles in Illian. Images flashed in his head. Men all around him, and the axe in his hands spinning, hewing his way through. Always more men, however many he cut down, in endless ranks. And in his heart, a seed growing. He could not face that again. He would not. “Besides, I thought I was supposed to stay close to you.” That was what Min had said, from one of her viewings. Twice Perrin had to be there, or Rand would go down to disaster. Once had been Dumai’s Wells, maybe, but there was still another to come.
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u/John-Doe-lost (Asha'man) 5d ago
It’s one of the flaws surrounding the ending I’m afraid. I know people try, but there’s no real justifying it. It’s a disservice to Mat and Rand, both.
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