The Road to A Memory of Light: the Great Hunt
The second book of the Wheel of Time series, THE GREAT HUNT is really the first book in which we get a good hard look at the White Tower, and how Aes Sedai interact both with the outside world and with one another. A great deal of this is seen when Egwene and Nynaeve begin their training there. Additionally, not inconsiderable information is given very early on when the Amyrlin Seat visits Fal Dara, where the group of core characters have gathered following the conflict at The Eye of the World, in The Blight.
- The Great Hunt
Rand and Lan are practicing sword play when they witness the arrival of Siuan Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat of the White Tower. Up to this point, none of the youth from the Two Rivers have met or interacted with any Aes Sedai other than Moiraine Damodred. As has been noted in our previous summaries, the young people from the Two Rivers have grown up with very negative ideas about Aes Sedai, as well as considerable misinformation about what it is they do, and very little information about how the Aes Sedai are organized. We see our first examples of the Aes Sedai shawls being worn, and are informed that they are rarely worn outside of formal occasions.
In this second book we see many details for the first time that longtime readers have so strongly come to associate with Aes Sedai and the Tower, including objects such as the Amyrlin’s stole and the Keeper’s Staff. We begin to get a greater sense of the differing philosophies belonging to the individual ajahs. In the dungeons after Padan Fain’s escape, we see Browns cataloging the writing on the walls, and calmly discussing what appears to be dark prophecy. Greens are taking an uncomfortable (at least for them) amount of interest in the three young men. Through the Amyrlin’s interview of Rand we get a picture of the Blues and their interest in world causes. And, of course, we see our first Reds, and the fear and distrust they hold for a young man who can channel.
As the story progresses, the young women are taken to the White Tower to begin their training. During THE EYE OF THE WORLD, Moiraine gave hints of what novice training is like, but we get a look at it firsthand on the boat journey from Shienar, and in more detail through the girls’ first few months at Tar Valon. We find out later that they are intentionally being pushed and trained harder than is normal, but we don’t know this as we see their training at first. Without this information it seems almost brutal at times, with Egwene mentioning the nights she’s spent crying in her small Novice’s cell, and at times hears her next door neighbor, Elayne, doing the same. Nyneave is given the test for Accepted, and we get a glimpse of what is looked for in prospective Aes Sedai.
We also get a sense of the propensity of Aes Sedai to meddle in the affairs of the world at large through the experiences of Min, who was sent there by Moiraine, and is being studied by those Aes Sedai who know of her gift, and is sometimes consulted by The Amyrlin herself. Min wishes to believe she is a free woman, who can leave at any time, but at the same time we are aware that she does not especially trust that belief.
Finally, of note, we get our first view of the Black Ajah, when Liandrin, through a tidy bit of subterfuge, lures the three young women (four, if you count Min) out of the Tower and through the Ways to Toman Head, then promptly hands Egwene over to the Seanchan, knowing full well that she will become a slave with fewer rights than livestock. We are not necessarily fully aware that she is Black, but the pieces of that puzzle click together when we eventually do find out.
THE GREAT HUNT gives us a good footing on which to build our picture of the White Tower and Aes Sedai as the series progresses. Bits and pieces of things we see in this second book of the series are expanded upon as we go along in the series, and these first bits and pieces serve as the foundation for all of that future information. Personally, this has always been my favorite book of the series, because the character development is so strong, and the story is so compelling. There is a magic artifact that can save or destroy the world, and it’s been stolen by the bad guys. What’s not to love?
