Towers of Midnight: Chapter 53
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Author: Bryce al'Mara
Chapter Icon: Wheel and Serpent
Points of View: Pevara, Perrin, Mat
Outline
Pevara grows suspicious of Taim and is unable to leave. Perrin sends Mat off and then takes his army to the Field of Merrilor to wait for Rand.
Summary
Pevara's Point of View:
Location: Black Tower
Characters: Pevara, Javindhra, Taim, Tarna
Pevara walks with Taim and Javindhra in the walls of the Black Tower and Taim shows her the guards they have on the walls. Pevara sees the men doing everything with Saidin. She brings up bonding full Asha'man but Taim quickly shoots down that idea telling them Dedicated and Soldiers only. Pevara thinks about how the men are beaten for making mistakes and are not allowed Healing. Taim walks off and she and Javindhra start to talk about leaving. Pevara wants to leave but Javindhra wants to stay which Pevara finds very weird. Thinking to herself that Javindhra didn't even want to come and that she's been acting weird lately and has been making reasons to stay. Pevara returns to her tent and to Tarna who rooms with her. She tells Tarna that she thinks it's time they bond Dedicated and leave but Tarna has had a change of heart and when she looks up Pevara sees something different in her eyes, something cold. Pevara tells Tarna she will think on it then walks off terrified. She decides to make a gateway and get out but when she makes the weave it falls apart. Her other weaves work fine but Gateways won't appear.
Perrin's Point of View:
Setting: Jehannah Road and then the Field of Merrilor
Characters: Perrin, Mat, Thom, Noal, Grady
Perrin talks with Mat and Noal asking them if he can send more help but Mat tells him no, there is only supposed to be three people going. Grady opens a Gateway for them. Grady says he will open a Gateway every day at noon until Mat returns. Perrin thinks about telling Rand that they are going to rescue Moiraine but decides it's a bad idea until he is sure she is alive. As he thinks about Rand an image of Rand appears talking toBorderlanders. He meets back up with Faile and a half an hour later Grady, Neald, and the Aes Sedai, and Edarra link together to make a Gateway to the Field of Merrilor. There they already see a huge coalition noting people from Tear, Illian, and Cairhien. Faile asks Perrin if this will be enough to stop Rand from breaking the seals but Perrin says he is not here to stop Rand but to help him, that he trusts Rand. Perrin tells Aravine to make sure no one fights over where to make camp and to make sure no one interacts with any of the other forces. An image of Mat then appears in his head and he was looking up at a long golden spire.
Mat's Point of View:
Location: Tower of Ghenjei
Characters: Mat, Thom, Noal
Mat, Thom, and Noal arrive at the Tower of Ghenjei. Thom takes out a bronze knife and draws a triangle with a squiggly line on the Tower. A little opening appeared where the triangle was drawn. Thom draws another triangle but bigger this time so they can walk through it. They step in and find themselves in a chamber with different sized walls. They light torches and start talking about if they can use the entrance they made to get out. Noal tries it and returns a minute later saying he had to cut a new door to get back in. Mat randomly chooses a hallway and starts walking down it. They see a window and look out of it and see an unfamiliar area. Realizing they are in a different world. Mat realizes he is in one of he spires he saw in the distance on his first journey. They follow the hallway until they come to another chamber the same as the first but minus the doorway. It splits off in four directions so they choose one and go down it. Noal makes a map of the path they are taking and eventually Mat decides to turn back. They follow the path they came from and when they get to where the room they started in should have been it is not there and they hear laughing. An Eelfinn character appears telling them they have broken the bargain. The Eelfinn creature tries to convince them to leave their iron and music behind and it will give them what they want but Mat doesn't fall for it he tells Thom to play something. Mat tells the creature it will leave the fire if the creature promises to lead them to the central chamber and give Moiraine back but the creature says it does not have the authority. The creature says it will lead them halfway to the Chamber of Bonds if they leave their fire. Mat starts singing to Thom's playing and the creature falls asleep. Mat pulls out his dice and decides to use his luck. Mat rolls the dice gets a one and goes straight into the next room. When he gets there he rolls the dice again and rolls a nine which means they are to go back to the chamber they came from. When they got to the room the sleeping Eelfinn was not there. Mat rolls another nine and heads back in the other towards the room they just came from and arrives in a room that had a white floor with black columns rising toward an unseen ceiling far above. Mat tells them he has been here before and Moiraine isn't that far off.
Notes
This section contains Notes on this Chapter which may contain spoilers. Please expand to view.
Mysteries
- Why are Javindhra and Tarna acting weird? Could it be compulsion or the 13x13 turn finally being used?
- How many people at the Field of Merrilor are going to support Rand and how many are going to support Egwene?
- Why is the Finn's chamber called the Chamber of Bonds?
Mysteries Resolved
- The Second Dreamspike
Pevara's inability to Travel is almost certainly due to the second Dreamspike.