Eye of the World Meme Reread: Part One
Author: Chalisea t'Venatrix, January 2018
So, it's been a hot minute since I've read the Wheel of Time, and when I say "hot minute," I mean it's been a couple of years. I remember doing the speediest of re-reads when A Memory of Light was released way back in 2013, but I haven't really picked up the series since. It's a shame really, since I claim this is one of my absolute favorite book series. I bet it's been a while since you've read them as well. Well, have no fear! We shall embark on this epic re-read together, and I'll do aaaalll the heavy lifting for you. Since I am a product of my internet generation, these columns will be filled with funny gifs and memes relevant to the story, because we all know it's boring to read just giant blocks of text. This is an article, not a textbook. So grab a snack, sit back, and enjoy the meme-ry of the first installment of this The Eye of the World re-read!
- PROLOGUE
We start off with the ruined remains of a palace. It's actually sunny outside, which a pleasant departure from the usual "it was a dark and stormy night." When I say ruins, I mean this place is absolutely TRASHED. Ripped wall hangings, scorch marks all over the place. It's like a frat house the morning after Homecoming. We have a man, named Lews Therin Telamon, wandering the ruins looking for his wife, and apparently the floor is littered with corpses?? I guess it's housekeeping's day off. Suddenly, we get another man, all clad in black and looking like a general edgelord, just popping up all uninvited and saying "Lord of the Morning, I have come for you!"
GIF
(my face)
Poor addled Lews Therin hasn't the foggiest what's going on right now, so he just happily greets this guy and continues wandering, calling for Ilyena, still unaware that she is one of the many corpses on the floor. Edgelord reveals himself to be Elan Morin Tendronai, which Lews Therin recognizes by the moniker "Betrayer of Hope." He just sounds so lovely, doesn't he? He gives us a laundry list of Lews Therin's accomplishments; sounds like someone has been a busy boy. He's pretty salty about whatever's happened to Lews Therin and doesn't much care for his amnesiac state, so he "heals" him. It's so painful that it's quite literally a bad touch. Everything hits Lews Therin like a ton of bricks, and finally sees Ilyena's body on the floor. Every body, every person dead, bore a drop of Lews Therin's blood, and he murdered them, earning the name Kinslayer.
Image
Here's an actual picture I found of Elan Morin.
In a fit of grief and rage, Lews Therin reached out to the male half of the One Power, saidin, and Traveled away, far away. We can tell that he's human because he does what most humans do best, and that's running away from their problems. He goes to a barren someplace, and then proceeds to draw so much of saidin that he basically evaporates himself. The earth is rioting, stones cracking, the very air liquefiying under the sheer power. Everything is literally on fire. This is then known forever as the Breaking of the World.
- CHAPTER ONE
It's a gray and blustery day on Quarry Road. You know those gray days where that's practically made for bad things to happen? Yeah, it's one of those. It's here we meet Rand, our main man. He's a tall drink of water with gray eyes and red hair, and remember that. Those details are important. He's walking along with his father, Tam, on their way to Emond's Field for the annual delivery of apple brandy and apple cider to the Winespring Inn for Bel Tine, the big spring festival that the entire village was already psyched up for. Rand starts to get that buggy feeling that someone is watching him, and he's right; he's being watched by one of the creepiest black riders since we saw the Nazgul in the Lord of the Rings, and those things gave my kiddie self the WORST nightmares.
Rand tells Tam that they are being followed, but lo and behold, he's gone! Rand now looks like a crazy, but Tam is too polite to tell him that. They eventually make it to Emond's Field, where it's also gray and gloomy. There's a general discontent about the lack of spring, and a good lot of blame going to the village Wisdom, Nynaeve.
Tam gets pulled into a discussion outside the Winespring Inn with Bran al'Vere, the Mayor and owner of the inn, and Cenn Buie, the town thatcher and general Johnny Raincloud. Rand feels a tug on his sleeve, and who is it but his close friend and resident prankster, Mat Cauthon. He and someone named Dav caught a grumpy old badger and are going to let it loose on the Green to scare the girls. Ain't he a stinker?
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Artist link: https://water-wing.deviantart.com/art/take-this-212006654
Turns out, Mat has also seen the aforementioned dark rider, and he and Rand try to convince themselves that it was thief from another town looking to snatch some sheep. Mat is caught by the adults and gets voluntold to help Rand get the brandy barrels into the inn, but not before they find there is a colorful stranger in town; a gleeman, a traveler performer brought in specially from one of the major cities just for Bel Tine.
That's the end of our first installment. Join us next time while we cover chapters 2 through 10, and as always, stay memey my friends!
