The Eye of the World: Chapter 30
<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>
Author: Val a'Shain
Chapter Icon: Sunburst
Point of View: Perrin
Setting: A deserted stedding in Andor
Characters: Elyas, Perrin, Egwene, Hopper, Geofram Bornhald, Byar
Contents
Outline
Whitecloaks attack them in the stedding. They fight, but are captured.
Summary
After their dinner Perrin goes back to the pool where Elyas joins him a short while later. Elyas wants to know what is bothering Perrin. Perrin tells him about the axe and the way he detests this symbol of violence. He is about to throw the axe into the pool but Elyas stops him. He tells Perrin not yet. Keep the axe a while longer and throw it away when the hate for it disappears. Before Perrin can consider this, the wolves send an urgent messages. Many horsemen are on the way.
Elyas and Perrin rush to the camp and douse the fire. There is no time to hide the traces, Elyas tells them to hide instead. He goes to join the wolves and says he will find them later. After he disappears into the twilight Egwene demands to know what is going on. Perrin tells her what the wolves told him as they look for a place to hide.
It is totally dark when they find a suitable place to hide. Perrin notices for the first time his eyesight has improved greatly. He can still see fine. He feels the wolves being chased by the horsemen. Still not recovered from their encounter with the ravens the wolves and Elyas try to drive the men back to their camp. The men keep on searching though. Getting ever closer to Perrin and Egwene.
At last they are discovered. Egwene and Perrin are about to surrender when Hopper comes charging out of the bushes and attacks one of the men. The men kill Hopper while Perrin, who feels the wolf die, jumps into the battle. Moments later he is knocked unconscious.
When Perrin wakes up he and Egwene are tied up in a tent in the company of a Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light. He is going through their things when one of his men, Child Byar, enters the tent to report. He overestimates the number of wolves and men that attacked the Children to hide the fact that he failed in finding any besides Perrin and Egwene. The Lord Captain Commander is not that easily fooled though.
He now introduces himself as Geofram Bornhald and starts to ask Perrin questions. Bornhald gets ever more convinced Perrin and Egwene are Darkfriends. Perrin decides to tell an edited version of the truth but Bornhald does not buy it. He tells the prisoners they will be taken to Amador for interrogation. This triggers loud protests of Child Byar who has been hostile to Perrin and Egwene from the beginning. He claims they will slow the Children down on their way to Caemlyn and that there is only one penalty for Darkfriends. Death.
Bornhald tells Byar not to be overzealous. He advises Egwene to think of a better story, preferably the truth, if she wants to escape being handed over to the Hand of the Light. He also makes it clear that a gibbet waits for Perrin for killing two Children of the Light.
Notes
Common Themes
- Overconfidence in their own knowledge/Acting on poor information
- Bornhald believes that because some trollocs have wolves muzzles, wolves are creatures of the Dark One. By this logic, he should think the same of hawks, sheep and goats. It is also another example of someone fervently believing something, and acting on it despite not having good reasons for doing so.
Plotlines
- The Whitecloaks
- Byar already hates Perrin, but killing Whitecloaks here helps fuel that
Character Development
- Perrin
- Perrin sees what the wolves see
- Elyas tells Perrin to throw the axe away if he ever stops hating it
Mysteries
- Why were the Whitecloaks so set on hunting wolves
- How did Harral Luhhan know how to make such an expert axe
Miscellaneous
Hopper sacrifices himself to save Perrin. Only a few chapters earlier, we were told he cared nothing for humans.
Characters
- First Mention
Geoffram Bornhald, Jaret Byar, Master Aydaer
- First Appearance
Geoffram Bornhald, Jaret Byar
Spoilers
This section contains Notes on this Chapter which may contain spoilers. Please expand to view.
- Perrin
- Perrin does eventually take Elyas's advice about throwing the axe away, replacing it with a hammer.
