The Road to A Memory of Light: the Dragon Reborn
The third book in the main body of the series continues to show the reader more of the world, as well as giving more information about its history and hints of what is to come, in the form of both prophecy and foreshadowing. Structurally, the book follows a similar format to the previous book, switching between several plotlines as they all head towards the same conclusion. Whereas THE GREAT HUNT primarily had two such plotlines, the girls and the boys, THE DRAGON REBORN has three: the girls, Mat and Thom, and Rand.
The book begins at the camp of the Dragon Reborn, where Rand spent the winter, uncertain of what to do next, while Verin took Elayne, Egwene, Nynaeve, and Mat to the White Tower. After he fails to do anything during a trolloc attack, Rand leaves on his own, which Masema takes as a sign that he should go out into the world and proclaim the Dragon Reborn to all, something which will have repercussions in later books. Moiraine selects a small group to follow Rand to Tear, as he has been dreaming about Callandor, the sword that is housed in that city.
In the White Tower, Mat is Healed and the girls are raised to Accepted. The girls are also punished for running away, partly to protect them, and partly to keep the secret of the Black Ajah. We also see more of the manipulative side of the Aes Sedai and their tendency to see people as pieces on a game board, in the way Siuan tries to control Mat and succeeds in setting the girls to hunt the Black Ajah for her. They again leave the Tower for a trap, this time hoping to spring it themselves, but fail and are eventually rescued by Mat, during the chaos when Rand and the Aiel take the Stone of Tear.
Though there is little of Rand in the book, he is one of the characters who shows the greatest development, finally accepting his role as the Dragon Reborn. The other character who changes most is probably Mat, who begins to take on new abilities. In particular, Mat has extreme runs of luck, following his Healing; though in terms of his personality, he changes little, refusing to see himself as ta'veren or of importance in the Last Battle. Of the three ta'veren. Perrin probably changes least in this book, but even he becomes more accepting of the wolf side of his nature, starts standing up to Moiraine and not letting himself be ordered around constantly, and finds himself in a new relationship.
These changes are one of the main strengths of the book for me, especially with Mat, who after two books of being either surly or sickening, starts to return to the personality he had before Shadar Logoth. Sandwiched between books that introduce the Black Ajah, the Seanchan, and the Shaido Aiel, all major plot points, THE DRAGON REBORN has, in my opinion, more of a focus on the interpersonal relations of the characters. These relationships are new enough at this stage to be interesting and not irritating to the reader.
At the end of the book, the Two Rivers folk are together for what is the last time in the series so far, Rand has accepted his nature as the Dragon Reborn and formed an uncertain alliance with the Aiel. Two more forsaken are dead, including Ishamael, who we learn survived the battle and Falme, and we know that at least two others, Rahvin and Sammael, have taken control of nations.
