FOH: Part 9(Chapters 52-End)

[Bill]

Part 9

Please keep all discussion and speculation to the events of Part 9 (Chapters 52-End).

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling this for your good read friends.

Please do not discuss events from later chapters/books. Referring back to events from a previous section/book is fine

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Some of this probably belongs in other sections, but I'm not sure where since I wasn't paying much attention to the chapter numbers while I was traveling.

I'm sure there is a lot of other stuff I would have discussed, but probably forgot. Overall I liked this book a lot more on reread than I seemed to have the first time.

My first read Perrin was my favorite character at this point, and his not being in this book was frustrating. I imagine we'll get a lot of him in the next book though.

Nyneave can be hard to like at times, especially in the early and middle books, but she was one of my favorite characters by the end of the series, so I think I'm a lot more tolerant of his braid tugging and other annoying behavior. It's also not nearly as bad as I recall it getting later in the series.

1) Mat's Aiel girlfriend was a dark friend and he has to kill her. That's OK, she knew nothing of the Nine Moons anyways.

2) I'm really bummed to see Moraine gone. I knew it was coming, and it maybe was a harder blow this second time. She learned she was going to face a major moment of crisis and sacrificed herself for the good of the world and Rand. Her change in behavior was important to her doing as much as possible to prepare Rand to go on without her. I'll miss her. The upside seems to be that Lanfear is out of the way.

2) Nyneave nearly gets captured by Moghedien. Again. Lucky for her, Brigitte shows up and distracts her just long enough for her to turn the tables. She creates the Sechan control device in the dream world and uses it to control Moghedien instead. She also figures out Moghedien must be with the Aes Sedai outcasts and puts her to sleep so she can find out who she's been pretending to be.

3) Jordan kills off three other major characters (Avienda, Mat & Asmodean) only to pull a "just kidding" and rewriting history with Balefire. When I got to that part, I had completely forgotten they died and I was like, OK this must be another Balefire moment. I kind of feel like that's a bit of a cheap plot device. Thankfully I don't think it's one he uses too often. This is the second time Mat's death was undone due to Balefire.

4) Despite getting a second chance thanks to Balefire, someone offed Asmodean in the end. I presume it's one of the other forsaken, but I forget who it was. The why would seem pretty obvious though with him helping Rand. I'm too impatient to wait until we find out (assuming we do) and I'll have to go look it up.

5) Rand fell into Rahvin's trap because he was mad at himself for not protecting Elaine's mother, only she's not really dead. We see her at the end with her new boyfriend (at least if Linny has her way), the Inn Keeper, and her old nanny. Plus two others I don't really remember well. Rand plans to "give" Andor back to Elaine. I wonder what will happen when it's discovered Morgase isn't dead. Rahvin's influence did a lot to ruin her reputation with Andoran supporters.

[Sumant]

Ya Morarine going in the blaze of glory literally was the high point of these chapters for me.

I did not notice Mat,Egwene & Aviendha getting killed vow!.

Also Moghdien is someone who was travelling with Elayne & Nynaeve I think.

Also when are we planning the next book i.e. Lord of Chaos

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

I'm kind of busy right now. Bill still hasn't made much progress in the book either. I probably need at least a month.