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Author: Atarah al'Norahn
Pronunciation: MAT-rihm CAW-thon
Matrim Cauthon was born in 978 NE, in Emond's Field, Andor, to Abell and Natti Cauthon. Other than his parents, his family consists of two younger sisters, Bodewhin and Eldrin.
His best friends from the village are Rand al'Thor and Perrin Aybara. In 998 NE Mat and his friends, along with a girl from their village Egwene al'Vere, left with Moiraine Sedai and her Warder after Trollocs attack and burn the village.
WARNING! The next sections contain spoilers for the Wheel of Time book series.
General
Appearance
Most women find him appealing, with a wiry body and brown hair and eyes. (TEotW, Ch. 1)
Personality
Dancing and flirting seem to be two of his favorite past times. He also has quite a bit of a gambling streak, and plays dice often. Many people who see him gambling declare that he seems to have the Dark One's own luck. While in Emond's Field his luck was average; he lost as much as he won. After the incident at Shadar Logoth, his luck became rather good. After he was Healed by the Aes Sedai in the White Tower, it became extraordinary (TDR, Ch. 30) .
Another major side to Mat is that of the prankster. In Emond's Field, he was well known for his escapades.
Condensed Timeline
- 978NE: Mat is born
- 998NE: Moiraine and Lan find Mat and his friends in the Two Rivers.
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- 998NE in the spring: Moiraine and Lan find Mat in the Two Rivers on the same day Ishamael directs a Trolloc attack. They flee, with Rand, Perrin, Egwene and Thom.
- 998NE: After they hide in the abandoned city of Shadar Logoth, Mat steals a dagger and takes it with him outside of the city walls.
- 998NE: Mat and his friends travel from Caemlyn, through the Ways to Fal Dara
- 998NE: Mat journeys to the Eye of the World, in the Blight meeting the Green Man and encountering Balthamel and Aginor, who are both killed.
- 998NE: After an attack on Fal Dara, Mat looses the dagger and journeys with Rand and Perrin and Shienaran soldiers to get it back
- 998NE late fall/winter: Mat gets the dagger back and also sounds the Horn of Valere
- 999NE spring: Mat is brought to Tar Valon to be Healed and the link to the dagger be broken
- 999NE: Mat travels to Tear to save Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve, where he goes through a redstone ter'angreal where the Aelfinn answer questions for him
- 999NE: Mat travels to Rhuidean, where he goes through a redstone ter'angreal where the Eelfinn almost kill him, give him memories of long died soldiers and also a fox head medalion and an ashandarei
Mat's Journey
The Eye of the World
Mat's journey, like Rand and Perrin's, begins the day before Bel Tine when he sees a Fade and discusses it with Rand. (TEotW, Ch. 1). Later on the same day, he meets Moiraine, the Aes Sedai who will take him and his friends away from Emond's Field. (TEotW, Ch. 2). That night, his house is one of the one's targeted when Trollocs attack Emond's Field. Luckily, he is not injured. (TEotW, Ch. 7). The next evening, Moiraine and her Warder, Lan, whisk Mat, Perrin, Rand and Egwene away from Emond's Field and towards a safer place (TEotW, Ch. 10).
After several days of traveling, Mat and company wind up in Baerlon, where they stay at an inn called The Stag and Lion. (TEotW, Ch. 13) His sleep that night is disturbed by dreams of Ba'alzamon, the Dark One, who is after the three boys for a reason that is unknown to them (TEotW, Ch. 14).
A few incidents occur while the group is in Baerlon; Mat plays pranks on a group of Whitecloaks, shares his dream with Rand (who, incidentally, had the same dream) and Thom, and is, along with the others, shocked by Nynaeve's arrival in Baerlon (TEotW, Ch. 15; Ch. 16). When a fade shows up in Baerlon, Mat and company flee, confronting the Whitecloaks in the process (TEotW, Ch. 17).
Three days later, they are attacked by Trollocs. The entire group has to fight in order to get away. During the battle, Mat shouts a phrase in the Old Tongue without knowing it. "Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!" ("For the honor of the Red Eagle. For the honor of the Rose of the Sun. The Rose of the Sun.") (TEotW, Ch. 18) They finally reach an abandoned city named Shadar Logoth (TEotW, Ch. 18).
Mat, along with Rand and Perrin, leaves the camp in Shadar Logoth to go exploring. They meet a man named Mordeth who asks for their help before attempting to kill them. As they flee, Mat grabs a dagger with a large ruby on the hilt. When they return to the camp, they are told that Lan is out looking for them and scouting the city. When he returns, they learn that there are Trollocs in Shadar Logoth (TEotW, Ch. 19).
The group decides to leave Shadar Logoth, but Mashadar, the evil mist of the city, is rising with the coming dark. They are all separated, but manage to get out of the city alive. Mat, Rand and Thom end up jumping aboard a boat named the Spray. The three of them are dropped off at Whitebridge. There, they encounter a Fade. Rand and Mat get away, while Thom stays to delay it.
Thinking that Thom is dead, Mat and Rand head off towards Caemlyn. Along the way, they meet a multitude of Darkfriends who either try to kill or capture them. During the trip, Mat begins to act strangely; he is often dark and brooding (TEotW, Ch. 32; Ch. 33).
Finally, Mat and Rand reach Caemlyn and proceed towards an inn named 'The Queen's Blessing,' the place that Thom had told them to go if the three of them got separated. Mat shuts himself away in his room and refuses to leave. (TEotW, Ch. 35);Ch. 36)
Mat is still in his room when Moiraine, Lan, Perrin, Egwene and Nynaeve finally arrive in Caemlyn. When Moiraine sees Mat, she is aghast. Although he tries to injure her with the ruby dagger when she touches him, she manages to partially Heal him, bringing him back to his usual self. The others are told that the reason Mat became sick was because the dagger is tainted. She was unable to Heal him enough so as to be able to take the dagger away from him; if he is separated from it before he is fully Healed at the Tower, he will die (TEotW, Ch. 41; Ch. 42).
Moiraine decides that they all need to go to the Eye of the World. After speaking with Loial, the Ogier that Rand met in Caemlyn, she decides that they will use the Ways. Before leaving Caemlyn, Mat is once again plagued by dreams of Ba'alzamon (TEotW, Ch. 43).
Mat and company proceed to travel through the Ways. Like everyone else, Mat is spooked out, especially when they are almost caught by Machin Shin. Never the less, they finally arrive in Fal Dara, Shienar (TEotW, Ch. 44; Ch. 45).
Their stay in Fal Dara is relatively short before they set off for the Blight, intent on finding the Eye of the World. (TEotW, Ch. 48) Finally, after an unpleasant trip through the Blight, they reach the Green Man's garden and are led to the Eye of the World. (TEotW, Ch. 49) There, the group is faced by two of the Forsaken, Aginor and Balthamel. After they are defeated, Mat, along with Loial, Lan and Perrin, enters the Eye of the World. There, they find the Dragon Banner, the Horn of Valere, and one of The Seals to the Dark One's prison. (TEotW, Ch. 50; Ch. 52).
After this long ordeal, Mat and the others go back to Fal Dara (TEotW, Ch. 53).
The Great Hunt
Back in Fal Dara, a few things of consequence happen. Mat discovers that, since obtaining the ruby dagger and being partially Healed, his luck has significantly increased. Later, Padan Fain, now a known Darkfriend, steals the Horn of Valere and Mat's ruby dagger (TGH, Ch. 3; Ch. 6). Without the dagger, the Aes Sedai won't be able to fully Heal him of its taint. For this reason, the Amyrlin Seat asks if he will accompany the party that will go to find the two stolen items (TGH, Ch. 7; TGH, Ch. 8). When they leave, Perrin and Rand accompany them (TGH, Ch. 9).
The Hunt for the Horn is relatively uneventful until Mat and Perrin find Rand with the Dragon Banner, which Moiraine had put into his saddlebags. It is then that they learn that Rand is the Dragon Reborn. After this revelation, they both avoid him ({{tgh|11})). When Rand, Loial and Hurin are found missing the next morning, Mat and company continue on without them (TGH, Ch. 14). Eventually, they end up in the city of Cairhien, where they are reunited with Rand, Loial and Hurin (TGH, Ch. 30)
When Hurin discovers that the Horn of Valere is in Lord Barthanes' manor, Mat, Rand and some of the others attend a party there (TGH, Ch. 21; Ch. 32). The Horn of Valere, however, is no longer there. Believing that Padan Fain has gone to Falme, they try to go through a Waygate, but encounter Machin Shin. Gathering everyone together, they all head for Stedding Tsofu. They arrive and gain permission from the Ogier Elders to use the Stedding Tsofu Waygate, only to encounter Machin Shin again (TGH, Ch. 33; Ch. 35; Ch. 36). As a last resort, Rand takes them to Toman Head with the use of a Portal Stone. They arrive to find that four months have passed (TGH, Ch. 37).
Mat, along with Rand, Perrin, Hurin and Ingtar, goes into Falme with the intent of recovering the Horn of Valere and the ruby dagger. They find both items in the house of the Seanchan Lord Turak, whom Rand kills (TGH, Ch. 45). As they leave the city, they are caught between the Seanchan army and the Whitecloaks, with no escape. Mat blows the Horn of Valere, and the Heroes of the Horn ride to their rescue (TGH, Ch. 47).
Once everything is finally over, Mat heads to the White Tower to be Healed (TGH, Ch. 49).
The Dragon Reborn
By the time Mat finally reaches the White Tower, he is very ill. It takes ten Aes Sedai and a powerful sa'angreal to Heal him (TDR, Ch. 11; Ch. 18).
When Mat awakens, he is thin and weak. He receives visits from Lanfear in the guise of Selene, who attempts to get him to join her, and then from Siuan and Leane. They inform him that he will be staying at the Tower for quite awhile (TDR, Ch. 19; Ch. 20).
Tired of being cooped up in his room, Mat goes out for a walk and ends up at the Warder practice field. There, he bets Gawyn and Galad that he can beat them both and wins (TDR, Ch. 24).
Later on, he is visited by Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve. They talk for a while and come to an agreement. They will give him one of the letters that Siuan gave them to get around easily if he will carry a letter to Morgase from Elayne. He agrees because it will get him out of Tar Valon (TDR, Ch. 28). He leaves the Tower and begins gambling at taverns in the city to make some money for his trip. He ends up making a fortune. After an attempt n his life by a gray man and Darkfriends, he runs into Thom at an inn named 'The Woman of Tanchico,' and convinces Thom to go to Caemlyn with him (TDR, Ch. 30; Ch. 31).
Mat is able to secure passage on a ship using the Amyrlin's letter, but that night he is once again attacked by Darkfriends. They finally arrive safely in Aringill. They decide to stay in the stable of an inn named 'The Good Queen' for the night. There, they save Aludra, an Illuminator, from some men. In return, Aludra gifts Mat with fireworks (TDR, Ch. 32; Ch. 40).
On the way to Caemlyn. Mat and Thom are once again attacked by Darkfriends. They kill them and continue on towards Caemlyn (TDR, Ch. 44). When they arrive, Mat attempts to deliver Elayne's letter, but the guards won't let him. Later, he remembers how Rand once got into the palace by climbing a wall. He decides to try it out and succeeds. On his way to Morgase, he hears a man telling someone to kill Elayne. After delivering Elayne's letter, he realizes that it was Morgase's lover, Lord Gaebril, and is glad that he didn't say anything (TDR, Ch. 45; Ch. 46). Mat and Thom decide to go to Tear to rescue Elayne (TDR, Ch. 47). When they reach Tear, Mat uses his luck to find Comar, Gaebril's lackey (TDR, Ch. 49).
Because Thom gets sick, Mat takes him to a Wise Woman, Mother Guenna, who is able to tell them about Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve. Mat heads off for the Stone of Tear, where he meets Juilin and some of the Aiel. Using the fireworks that Aludra gave him, he blasts a hole in the wall, and Mat and Juilin start looking for the three girls (TDR, Ch. 52; Ch. 54). They manage to free the girls; despite the fact that Mat and Juilin risked their lives among the Black Ajah, Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve do not thank them (TDR, Ch. 55).
The Shadow Rising
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The Stone of Tear is now secure, Mat is playing cards with some Tairen lords. Suddenly, his cards come to life and attack him. He manages to turn them all back into cards. After this, the Tairens all avoid him (TSR, Ch. 2).
Later, wanting to escape and not knowing what to do, he goes through the twisted red doorway ter'angreal that Egwene told him about. There, he meets the Aelfinn, who tell him four things.
1) If he doesn't go to Rhuidean, he will die.
2) He is destined to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
3) He will die and live again.
4) He will have to give up half the light of the world to save the world.
(TSR, Ch. 15)
When everyone is ready to leave for the Aiel Waste, Rand transports himself, Mat and the others using a Portal Stone (TSR, Ch. 22)) When Rand requests of the Aiel Wise Ones to go to Rhuidean, Mat asks if he can accompany him, and the Wise Ones concede (TSR, Ch. 23).
In Rhuidean, Mat finds another twisted red doorway ter'angreal. Little does he know that the Eelfinn, unlike the Aelfinn, do not answer questions, but grant wishes. When they don't answer his questions, he angrily begins demanding things of them. He tells them that he wants the holes in his memory to be filled, that he wants to be free of Aes Sedai channeling, and that he wants to go back to Rhuidean. When Rand finds him, Mat is hanging from Avendesora with a spear bearing a curved blade and a foxhead medallion. He has also gained fluency in the Old Tongue (TSR, Ch. 24; Ch. 26).
After returning from Rhuidean, Mat accompanies Rand and the Aiel to Imre Stand, and then to Cold Rocks Hold, participating in battles against Trollocs along the way (TSR, Ch. 36; Ch. 37; Ch. 48; Ch. 49; Ch. 50). He also accompanies Rand to Alcair Dal (TSR, Ch. 57; Ch. 58).
The Fires of Heaven
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Since Rhuidean is now open to everyone, Mat and the others, as well as the Aiel, have moved in. While Mat is out on the streets, he meets Melindhra, a Shaido Maiden of the Spear who has chosen to follow Rand (TFoH, Ch. 3). Later, when they are in bed together, Darkhounds attack; however, no one is killed (TFoH, Ch. 6).
They are soon on the move again. Mat accompanies Rand and the Aiel to Jangai Pass and the town of Taien, which has been destroyed. Later, when they are camped, they are attacked by Trollocs. Both Mat and Melindhra join the fight (TFoH, Ch. 20; Ch. 21; Ch. 22.
After reaching Cairhien, Mat decides that he is going to leave Rand and the others (TFoH, Ch. 23; Ch. 42). When he goes to tell Rand, he ends up discussing battle plans with Lan (TFoH, Ch. 42). However, despite his intentions to leave, the next day's planned battle against the Shaido prevents him from escaping. When he can't get away, he notices that the Shaido have set an unexpected trap. He goes to warn the Tairens and Cairhienin soldiers, and ends up leading them throughout the battle TFoH, Ch. 43; Ch. 44). During said battle, Mat encounters Couladin, the leader of the Shaido, and kills him (TFoH, Ch. 45). Talmanes and Nalesean, the Tairen and Cairhienin leaders of the soldiers that Mat led, end up swearing fealty to him (TFoH, Ch. 45).
After returning to Cairhien, Mat learns that Melindhra is really a Darkfriend when she tries to kill him, but he ends up killing her instead (TFoH, Ch. 51)The next morning, Mat is present when Lanfear attacks Rand, Egwene and Aviendha, but he is not injured (TFoH, Ch. 52). Later, however, he is killed during Rand's attack on Rahvin in Caemlyn, but is brought back to life when Rand balefires Rahvin (TFoH, Ch. 54); Ch. 55).
Lord of Chaos
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Some time later as Mat leads his newly found army, the Band of the Red Hand, towards Tear, there is another assassination attempt on his life, this time by a group of Aiel (LoC, Ch. 22). Later, Rand asks Mat to go to Salidar in order to find Elayne, who is now Queen of Andor as Morgase is presumed to be dead. Mat agrees, and Aviendha accompanies him (LoC, Ch. 23). When he arrives in Salidar with the Band of the Red Hand, he gets the shock of his life when he learns that Egwene is the rebel's Amyrlin. Several days later, he is enlisted to go to Ebou Dar with Elayne and Nynaeve (LoC, Ch. 38; Ch. 44). During the trip to Ebou Dar, Mat is pestered by Elayne, Nynaeve, and Vandene and Adeleas, the two Aes Sedai who are accompanying them (LoC, Ch. 23).
Once in Ebou Dar, Mat opts not to stay in the palace, but randomly chooses an inn named 'The Wandering Woman.' Over the next little while, he spends his time attempting to keep track of Elayne and Nynaeve, wandering around the city, and going to festivals with Beslan, Queen Tylin's son. Tylin seems to be interested in him (LoC, Ch. 52; ACoS, Ch. 14; Ch. 16).
A Crown of Swords
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Mat is attacked a couple more times in Ebou Dar, and meets Birgitte (ACoS, Ch. 17; Ch. 21).
After a long wait, Mat finally gets his thanks from Nynaeve and Elayne for rescuing them in Tear. They then enlist his help in finding the Bowl of the Winds, and he moves into the Tarasin Palace with them. Unfortunately for Mat, this brings him into Tylin's path, and she claims him for her own (ACoS, Ch. 22; Ch. 28; Ch. 29).
Mat finally finds the hiding place of the Bowl of the Winds, and accompanies Nynaeve, Elayne, Aviendha, Birgitte, Lan and the Kin into the Rahad to get it. There, two Black sisters and the gholam attack them (ACoS, Ch. 31; Ch. 37; Ch. 38). All the women leave Ebou Dar with the Bowl of the Winds and Mat, Thom, Juilin and Olver are accidentally left behind when the Seanchan attack Ebou Dar. He is injured when a wall topples onto him (ACoS, Ch. 39).
The Path of Daggers
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Mat spends the book recuperating.
Winter's Heart
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While still in Ebou Dar, Mat meets Aludra the Illuminator again, and spends quite a bit of time with her. He is also attacked by the gholam again. It is then that he meets Noal Charin, an old man, who helps him (WH, Ch. 15; Ch. 16). Upon returning to the Tarasin Palace, he meets Tuon, though he does not know that she is the Daughter of the Nine Moons (WH, Ch. 17).
By this time, Mat wants nothing more than to get away from Ebou Dar, Tylin and the Seanchan. With this in mind, he begins moving his belongings back to The Wandering Woman inn. On one of these trips, he gets himself into an even worse circumstance. Setalle Anan, the owner, has been aiding Joline Sedai so as not to let her be caught by the Seanchan. Mat ends up agreeing to help her get out of the city. Upon returning to the Tarasin Palace, Mat visits Teslyn Sedai in the damane quarters and adds both Teslyn and Edesina to the list of Aes Sedai escapees. Mat, Thom and Juilin begin to forming a plan, but are unable to get it to work without sul'dam. When Mat meets Egeanin and Bayle Domon, who want to hire the three men, their problems are solved. Egeanin pulls some strings to make the escape possible (WH, Ch. 18; Ch. 19; Ch. 29).
The next night, the plan is put into action. Mat goes up to the damane kennels and ends up freeing one of the Sea Folk Windfinders. When he returns to Tylin's room, he is surprised to find her there, as she was supposed to be away. He ends up, with her permission, tying her up and leaving her under the bed so that no one thinks that she helped him. As he reaches the stable yard, he runs into Tuon. It is then that he learns that she is the Daughter of the Nine Moons. Shocked, he says three times that she is his wife, not realizing that he has thus completed his half of the Seanchan marriage ceremony. They end up taking Tuon and Selucia, her maid, with them (WH, Ch. 30; Ch. 31).
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams
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The morning after Renna’s death, the dice begin rolling in Mat’s head. Mat attempts to convince Luca to leave Jurador, but Luca insists on staying for at least two more days. Mat goes into Jurador, where he visits various stables in the town before finally buying a razor for Tuon. When he returns to Luca’s show, he goes to Tuon’s wagon, where he finds Tuon with Selucia, Setalle, Noal, and Olver. He calls Tuon “Precious,” telling her that if she is to call him by a “pet name,” he will do the same to her. She decides to take it as a game, although Mat does not know what the rules are. While they are talking, Juilin arrives to let Mat know that Seanchan soldiers have come to Jurador (KoD, Ch. 6).
Mat sends Olver and Noal off to warn the others about the Seanchan, and when Tuon asks if he isn’t going to leave anyone to keep her from escaping, he reminds her that she has given her word not to escape; she graces him with a smile. He goes to the Aes Sedai’s wagon, and is angry when he can sense channeling inside. He enters and when he begins to question them about what they are doing, Joline smacks him. In return, Mat puts Joline over his knee and spanks her. The Aes Sedai all try to stop him, but his foxhead medallion protects him. He learns that the channeling was because of an altercation between the Aes Sedai and the former sul’dam. When he finally leaves the wagon, Blaeric and Fen question him over what happened, since they could sense something through their bond to Joline, but Mat tells them to ask her instead (KoD, Ch. 7).
Luca decides to leave Jurador early after all, and they depart the next morning. As they travel, Mat thinks about what to do regarding Tuon. In midafternoon, they reach the village of Runnien Crossing and Luca stops to set up his show. That night, Mat finds Aludra and tells her that he has figured out why she wants bellfounders: to make lofting tubes. Aludra tells him of her plans to make Dragons, a weapon that can launch explosives over two miles’ distance. Mat asks her to come with him when he eventually leaves Luca’s show, telling her that Rand will arrange to have her Dragons made—and that if Rand will not, Mat will himself. Aludra agrees. Mat thinks that the dice in his head are quieter, now, but he can still hear them (KoD, Ch. 8).
The next day, Domon and Leilwin get married, so Mat moves into a separate tent to give them privacy. Luca’s show progresses slowly across Altara, never moving more than four leagues in a day and often stopping at towns and villages. Mat dines with Tuon every day. She questions him about Rand and the Horn of Valere, although she does not know that Mat knows Rand or that Mat sounded the Horn (KoD, Ch. 8).
As they travel over the next several days, Joline and Edesina repeatedly try to learn more about Mat’s foxhead ter’angreal. They discover that while they cannot channel directly at him, they can throw things at him with the One Power. Setalle asks Mat privately if she can see the ter’angreal, and he allows her to. He guesses that she was once Aes Sedai, and Setalle as much as admits it. She tells Mat that if he will keep her secret, she will keep his secret that he is in love with Tuon; knowledge of this would give Tuon a great advantage over him. Mat agrees (KoD, Ch. 9).
Four days after leaving Jurador, Mat gives Tuon the razor, and suddenly the dice in his head are even quieter. He realizes that there had been multiple sets going: one stopped when Aludra agreed to go with him, and another when he gave Tuon the razor, but there is still at least one more set rattling around in his head. Mat then takes Tuon and Selucia out riding. At one point, Tuon and Selucia take off and Mat chases after them. They stop at some ruins that Mat has memories of dying near, and an unwelcome thought occurs to him: in order for him to remember dying so many times, the Eelfinn must create some link to the people they take memories from so that they can continue collecting memories throughout those peoples’ lives. He is disconcerted by the fact that the same might have been done to him. On their way back to Luca’s show, they stop briefly to speak with a group of Tuatha’an who want to make sure that Tuon and Selucia are okay (KoD, Ch. 8). Leilwin later tells him that for the Seanchan, to give an exotic courting gift is to acknowledge that one is courting someone of a higher station, meaning that giving the razor to Tuon acknowledges that Mat doesn’t “expect to be her equal.” Mat is horrified to learn what he has unknowingly done (KoD, Ch. 9).
The night after giving Tuon the razor, Mat is having dinner with her when the three Aes Sedai barge in and demand that the Seanchan leave the Westalnds. Tuon responds by placing a’dam on them, but Mat intervenes and releases them. That night he buries the a’dam so that they cannot be used again (KoD, Ch. 9).
The next day Mat and Tuon talk as they ride together. Luca instructs the show to stop at a village in the afternoon, but the village tugs at Mat’s memories and he suddenly realizes that it is a village from the past and all the inhabitants are dead. He shouts to warn a peddler who has just ridden into the village, but as the village begins “melting slowly into the ground,” the peddler is sucked in with it. Everyone with the show is incredibly spooked, and none of Luca’s people want to carry on and cross the field where the village once stood. Luca manages to inspire them with tales of all the cities they will visit, however, and the show continues to move onward. They ride late into the day before stopping again (KoD, Ch. 10).
Mat does not eat with Tuon that night, since she insists that it is a night for prayer: the dead walking means that Tarmon Gai’don is on its way. He eats alone, but Thom, Noal, Juilin, Amathera, Olver, Domon, and Egeanin all drop by that evening as no one wants to be alone. After Juilin, Amathera, Domon, and Egeanin have left, Mat notices Thom reading the worn letter that he often has with him, and asks about it. Thom offers the letter to Mat, and Mat discovers that it is from Moiraine. In the letter, Moiraine informs Thom that she is still alive and that he, Mat, and one other person might try to rescue her. Mat tells Thom, Noal, and Olver about his experiences with the Eelfinn and Aelfinn and then agrees to help Thom rescue Moiraine. In that moment, the final set of dice stop spinning in his head. (KoD, Ch. 10).
The next day, Luca’s show stops outside Maderin, although Luca intends for them to move on the next morning. Tuon decides that she wants to see the inside of a hell. Mat is apprehensive, but he and Thom bring Tuon and Selucia into the town and pass the common room at The White Ring off as a hell. While Thom goes off to find what he can learn in the town, Mat, Tuon, and Selucia have a drink. Tuon wants to see Mat’s luck in action, so Mat dices with some of the other patrons. He wins every toss, and people are growing suspicious until he suddenly loses his last toss. Tuon comments on his luck running out, but Mat replies that the loss was actually lucky because it allayed everyone’s suspicions (KoD, Ch. 11).
While Tuon and Selucia are visiting the toilet, Thom comes back with news that there is a Seanchan army on the Murandian border and that the Seanchan are searching for someone they claim is impersonating Tuon. According to Thom, orders are that she be killed upon being found. Mat begins making plans to leave Luca’s show before they reach the Murandian border. When Tuon and Selcuia return, Mat tells them what he has learned. Tuon thinks that one of her sisters might be trying to have her assassinated. As they are talking, they are attacked by a number of people. Mat shouts at Tuon to run; after the attackers have been dispatched, Tuon announces that she has won their game, as Mat was the first to break and use her real name. Mat recognizes one of the attackers as a merchant he was dicing with at The White Ring. He decides that they need to leave Luca’s show right away (KoD, Ch. 11).
Mat leaves Luca’s show along with the Redarms, Aludra, Thom, Noal, Olver, Juilin, Amathera, Domon, Leilwin, Tuon, Selucia, Setalle, the Aes Sedai, and the former sul’dam. They ride hard for the Damona Mountains, where Vanin knows a pass that will get them into Murandy. The first day, when they are stopped for lunch at midday, Mat stops Juilin from killing a poisonous snake that isn’t threatening them, and Tuon declares in front of everyone that he may kiss her. Mat suggests that they go for a stroll that evening instead, but Tuon tells him that “By tonight, I may have changed my mind.” He kisses her chastely, but when she challenges him to kiss her properly, he does so. Afterwards, she feels his face and determines that he is feverish from the wounds he sustained during the attack in Maderin. She insists on tending to him, but just then, Vanin rides up with Talmanes, who has brought half the Band to find Mat. Talmanes reveals that the Band has doubled in size, that he has seen many Seanchan camps, and also that the pass through the Damona Mountains has been taken out by a landslide. Mat will have to find another way through (KoD, Ch. 25).
Mat and the others ride with Talmanes to where he left the Band. The Band is delighted to be reunited with Mat and breaks into a round of “Jak o’ the Shadows.” In the camp, Mat pores over maps of the surrounding area and gathers information on where Seanchan camps are to be found (KoD, Ch. 26). Over the next several days, Mat plans and leads a series of raids and ambushes against nearby Seanchan camps. He intends to draw the Seanchan out of the Molvaine Gap so that his people can get through into Murandy (KoD, Ch. 27).
Furyk Karede, who has been searching for Tuon, finally tracks down Mat’s camp. Mat, who is concerned for Tuon’s safety, says that Tuon can go with Karede if she trusts him. In so freeing her to return to Ebou Dar, Mat fulfills a foretelling that Lidya once had regarding the man Tuon would marry. Tuon completes the marriage ceremony by declaring three times that Mat is her husband. Tuon states that while she does not love Mat, she is marrying to serve the Empire. Just as Tuon is preparing to leave with Karede, Vanin arrives to inform Mat that there are ten thousand Seanchan soldiers nearby; they are searching for Tuon in order to kill her. Mat tells Tuon and Karede to go, but asks Karede to leave him a dozen Deathwatch Guards and some Gardeners (KoD, Ch. 36).
Using the Deathwatch Guards and Gardeners Karede has left behind, Mat plans a decoy to allow Tuon to escape. They manage to defeat the Seanchan force that is after Tuon, and discover that it was sent by Suroth. Mat learns that he is now Prince of the Ravens through his marriage to Tuon and is not very pleased (KoD, Ch. 37).
The Gathering Storm
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This section contains spoilers relating to The Gathering Storm. Please expand to view.
Tuon reflects on Matrim Cauthon while she holds audience in Ebou Dar. When Lieutenant-General Tylee Khirgan has the actual heads of Trollocs delivered, Tuon realizes that, not only had she felt safe with Mat (or rather, Matrim), but she wonders what other things he had said which she mistakenly discounted, but which were true (TGS, Ch. 19).
While riding through the mountains of Murandy, down an old road, probably dating from before the Breaking, Mat rants to Talmanes about women. Talmanes is perceptive enough to know that Mat's bad temper is owing to his missing of and worry over Tuon, his new wife. Mat, Thom, Talmanes, and several thousand of Mat's usual entourage are riding on their way to Caemlyn, which is about two hundred leagues to the north. Between Vanin and the new maps, it is determined that they are nearing a village called Hinderstap. The Aes Sedai, predominantly Joline, approach Mat and make a demand for horses, so they can set off on their own. Mat refuses her terms. Mat gives the Band his directives for the town (TGS, Ch. 20).
Mat, Thom, Talmanes, the three Aes Sedai, two warders, and five of the Band's soldiers ride down the road to the village of Hinderstap. Mat notes that Thom is rereading the letter from Moiraine, and this launches Mat into his own reverie and dread about the Tower of Ghenjei and the upcoming attempted rescue. This all leads into Thom and Mat talking and reminiscing about past times, including Rand. Upon mention of Rand, Mat sees the colors swirl in his head, and he sees Rand and the missing hand, thinking of his shock a few weeks earlier when he had first seen the injury. Reciting the words of an ancient song, relating to the area in which they are currently riding, Thom begins discussing its history. Mat has an Eelfinn memory, and there is now no doubt that the ruby dagger still affects him. Olver and Noal are discussed, and how the boy intends to follow them to the Tower of Ghenjei. The town emerges in a green-pastured valley in the mountains, what appears to be a lovely, pastoral scene. Mat sends three of the soldiers with the Aes Sedai and warders, while Thom goes into one of the inns by himself to gather information. Mat notices that the villagers' clothing have been greatly mended. Barlden, the mayor of Hinderstap, approaches them, informing the visitors of the "Rules." There is a curfew mandating that all outsiders be out of the town by nightfall. Mat, Talmanes, and the remaining two soldiers locate the most decrepit of the three inns, The Tipsy Gelding. Mat engages the locals and begins gambling, desiring to lose, which he does, noting to himself again the torn and patched state of the clothing, as well as their evident exhaustion. Eventually the mayor enters, believing Mat to be cheating, conventionally cheating, and intervenes. The final stakes for the last throw of the dice are Mat's chest of gold for food and supplies from the villagers. They all go outside, the villagers gathering supplies onto a wagon. Meanwhile, the mayor and a group of men are talking, one of the men gesturing toward Mat, a sheet of paper in his hand. Nightfall is only minutes away. The mayor tosses the last throw of the dice. Mat wins. The mayor and betting villagers go back into The Tipsy Gelding. That is when the screaming begins (TGS, Ch. 27).
In raging, crazed frenzy, the villagers of Hinderstap try to kill everyone, each other as well as Mat and his crew. Corpses litter the street. Mat and his three companions mount and ride away from The Tipsy Gelding, fighting their way out of the fray. The entire town has gone mad, including women and children. One of Mat's soldiers is thrown from his saddle and mortally wounded by the villagers. While trying to save the fallen Red Arm, Mat becomes trapped, and Thom, throwing knives, rescues him. Making their way toward the inn where the Aes Sedai are staying, the five men seem to have left the slaughtering villagers behind. When they reach the nicest of the three inns, they see Aes Sedai fireballs being thrown from the upper story. Mat, Thom, and Talmanes make their way stealthily into the inn, using the servants' stairway and reaching the Aes Sedai. Joline, as usual, initially resists the rescue, Edesina heals Delarn (the wounded Red Arm), and all thirteen, in addition to two of the inn's serving girls, bound, escape out of the town. They camp north of the town, on the opposite side of Mat's main encampment. Mat sits on a rock outcropping, talking with Thom. Thom, extracting a folded paper he had taken from a drunken man in the inn he had patronized, shows Mat what is on the paper. It is a drawing of Mat's face, including hat and foxhead medallion. Apparently an outlander woman has been passing around multiple copies of Mat's likeness and offering a reward to anyone who can pinpoint his location. Mat pockets the paper. The bound serving girls suddenly and mysteriously disappear from under the warders' guard. Mat returns to Hinderstap, allowing only Thom to accompany him. As they enter the village, they notice that things, at first glance, appear to be normal--that cannot be normal under the circumstances. Then they begin seeing dead villagers from the night before, walking around. Also, the only blood that shows is Delarn's. The mayor is summoned, takes Mat and Thom to his house, and begins to tell his story. Several months previously villagers began noticing small things: an isolated broken door, ripped clothing, some shared nightmares. Some of the women started comparing notes and realized that everyone was having the nightmares and that almost no one remembered going to bed at night. Only those who retired early, before sunset, ever remembered going to bed. But oddly, everyone always woke up in their beds the next morning. Any traveler trapped in the village overnight and killed was trapped for good and woke up in one of the vacant beds in the town. Barlden relays that none of them know what happens at night, and when Mat begins to tell him, the mayor forestalls Mat, telling him that they do not want to know. Barlden reiterates the "Rules," no fires and no outsiders after sunset. The villagers cannot leave, nor can they commit suicide. Mat asks about the picture of himself. Barlden tells that the pictures have been spread around nearby villages, by someone in a village about twenty leagues to the northeast, in a town called Trustair. The individual can be found in an inn called The Shaken Fist. There is another picture, one depicting a burly fellow with a beard, and a note says that he has golden eyes. Mat and Thom ride out with the chest of gold and the wagon of supplies. Mat leaves the amount of gold for what he thinks would be a fair price and some added silver (TGS, Ch. 28).
Striving to evade the mysterious woman who is looking for him, Mat concocts an elaborate and convoluted scheme involving scripts for various members of the Band. Talmanes refuses to take any of it seriously. Mat checks on various aspects of the camp: the horses, the crossbowmen, and finally Aludra and her work. Aludra has been calculating her stores and expected requirements for making her "dragons" and "dragons' eggs." Bayle Domon and Egeanin (now calling herself "Leilwin") are there as well. Mat feels Rand's ta'veren pull on him, knowing the time for the Last Battle is growing near. Olver barges into the tent to tell Mat of a woman in camp possessing papers with Mat's picture on them and that he is supposed to tell Mat that she has a "distinctive" face. Mat contemplates Olver's ugliness while going to meet this woman. The woman is the Aes Sedai, Verin Mathwin. Mat grasps that she is the one who has been passing around likenesses of him and Perrin, and that she has Traveling (TGS, Ch. 34).
Rand, arriving in Falme, remembers when he was last on Toman Head and thinks of Mat and the ruby dagger. While Rand meets with Tuon, she mentions "Matrim Cauthon." Rand and Nynaeve are more than a little surprised. Tuon tells of kidnapping, and Rand defends Mat. Tuon wonders at such loyalty. Surprisingly, Nynaeve defends Mat, and more fiercely than Rand had. Rand speaks of seeing Tuon with Mat, referring to the color-swirling visions that he and Mat and Perrin have of each other. Tuon believes this is merely a manifestation of the Dragon Reborn's madness (TGS, Ch. 35).
Verin, her warder, Tomas, Mat, Mandevwin, Talmanes and Thom meet in Mat's audience tent. Verin begins her tale. She had started out from the manor house in Tear (City), intending to Travel directly to Tar Valon. She asserts that Mat's ta'veren nature kept diverting her off course. Mat detects that Verin uses preconceptions concerning Brown Sisters to deceive people regarding her craftiness, the entire time letting Mat in on the scam. They discuss Rand, his insanity, and that it is not mainly due to the One Power. Mat is shocked to learn that saidin has been cleansed. Verin then resumes her story of how she landed in Trustair. Mat is disconcerted at Verin insisting that, short of Rand, he is the most strongly ta'veren person in centuries. Verin warns Mat that he and Perrin are in grave danger. Verin begins her sly negotiations with Mat. She gives him a sealed letter and specific instructions. At this Mat and Verin sit down to strike a deal. After some initial haggling, they settle on a compromise: Verin will Travel, taking Mat and everyone with him to Caemlyn, and in return Mat will either wait thirty days and discard the letter and be about his business, or he will wait till the tenth day after Verin departs, open her letter and do what it says. He notices that she has more sealed letters in her satchel. Verin uses a ter'angreal, in the form of a translucent, stone lily, to take everyone to Caemlyn (TGS, Ch. 36).
Towers of Midnight
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Mat, now in Caemlyn and going by the alias of Lord Crimson, sits in a tavern named the Seven-striped Lass stewing over Verin’s letter. After leaving this tavern, he visits two more. In the first tavern, Mat hears of a man whose throat has been ripped out, the blood drained from his body. Mat knows this has to be the gholam, and the dice begin clattering in his head. As he begins to leave, Mat sees a paper being shown, a paper with, he is sure, his picture on it. At the next tavern Thom is performing. Mat tells Thom of the gholam attack. They discuss plans for the Tower of Ghenjei as they walk back to camp. Teslyn detains him before he can retire for the night; she informs him that she and the other Aes Sedai will be departing for Tar Valon. Surprisingly, perhaps, she thanks him for her rescue. Even more surprisingly, Mat voluntarily offers her horses for the trip. As soon as he enters his tent, he smells it—blood! (ToM, Ch. 8).
At the scent of the blood, Mat ducks and is immediately attacked. Screaming, “Bloody Murder,” he gathers his ashandarei, slashes the tent, and leaps out, wrenching the foxhead medallion from his neck. Mat goes on the offensive, swinging the foxhead. It is the gholam, and he tells Mat that he has been ordered to kill Thom, Noal, and Tuon if he does not kill Mat tonight. Teslyn enters the fight, using Air to hurl objects at the gholam since she cannot touch the creature directly with the Power. Terrified that the blood is Olver’s, Mat rushes into the tent finding Lopin, his serving man and a couple of Red Arms dead. Olver has been with Noal, playing Snakes and Foxes. Mat warns Thom and Noal. Joline barges in and asks for horses for the trip to Tar Valon. Mat agrees (ToM, Ch. 9).
Mat sends Elayne a very irreverent letter which she loves (ToM, Ch. 11).
The Aes Sedai, warders, former sul’dam, Juilin, Thera, Bayle Domon, and Egeanin leave for Tar Valon. Seta refers to Mat as “Highness.” He tries to reassure them that maybe he can convince Tuon of the validity of channeling. The sul’dam seem to take his words as a promise to remedy the problem for certain. Mat tells Teslyn to inform the Amyrlin that the White Tower has something of his and that he will be coming to claim it soon. He is referring to the Horn of Valere. Setalle Anan is not departing; she and Mat discuss her former status as an Aes Sedai and concerning her taking care of Olver (ToM, Ch. 17).
Mat and Thom meet with Elayne in the Palace. Elayne gives Thom official papers absolving him from any crimes and making him court bard of Caemlyn. She and Mat haggle over making the dragons. As part of the bargain, Mat agrees to let Elayne study the foxhead medallion (ToM, Ch. 19).
Mat is joined in an inn by Noal and Thom to discuss the Tower of Ghenjei. Rumors about Mat abound in Caemlyn. He knows they make him more vulnerable to attack and is proven correct when he is attacked in an alley. The attacker, whom Mat is forced to kill, bears a paper with Mat’s picture on it and gold coin. Mat meets with Birgitte in a tavern to question her about the Tower of Ghenjei. She unsuccessfully tries to dissuade him to abandon this venture (ToM, Ch. 22).
Mat and Birgitte appear in the dungeon just after Elayne has been injured and healed. Later Mat materializes, peeking around the door of Elayne’s bedroom as she recovers from the dungeon attack, wanting to know if Elayne is decent (ToM, Ch. 23; Ch. 24).
Aludra gives a demonstration of the prototype dragon for Elayne. Mat is, of course, present (ToM, Ch. 29).
Mat, playing dice in The Dusty Wheel, knows he is winning without actually being familiar with the game. Once he is recognized, he leaves the tavern. The instant he steps outside, the dice stop. He prepares for what he is sure to come, affixing the foxhead medallion to the ashandarei. Men of the Band help when thugs approach; they hang back when the gholam appears. Mat and the gholam engage in combat until Mat lures the creature into a building where one of the Kinswomen has a skimming platform ready. Mat, using medallion copies which Elayne has made, forces the gholam over the edge and into the void (ToM, Ch. 31).
Perrin has arrived in Caemlyn by gateway. Mat accosts him with a bagged badger, also warning his friend of their constantly endangered state (ToM, Ch. 44).
Mat, Perrin, and Thom meet in a tavern, each relaying their stories since they have been parted then discussing the Tower of Ghenjei. Perrin, especially, is fairly stunned by what he hears from the other two (ToM, Ch. 47).
Perrin has Grady open a gateway from the Traveling ground, depositing Mat, Thom, and Noal near the River Arinelle, the Tower of Ghenjei in view. The three men make their way through the forest to the tower. Thom uses a bronze knife to open a triangular doorway into the tower. The tower has transported them to the realm of the Eelfinn and the Aelfinn. The interior is a maze-like network of shifting rooms and corridors in which they would be thoroughly lost without Mat’s luck and dice (ToM, Ch. 53).
The three have a number of unpleasant encounters with the Eelfinn, where the men use dice, music, fire, fireworks, and iron, fending off the fox-like creatures as best they can. They enter a room with a black lump in the middle of the floor. Mat recognizes it as the Eelfinn side of the melted stone doorway from Rhuidean. Here they must escape numerous of the creatures until they reach Moiraine in the Chamber of Bonds. She is floating in the air, clothed in mist or steam. Thom is burned as he rescues her. She is unconscious and wearing an odd bracelet. Here Mat must bargain with the Eelfinn—the price has been set: half the light of the world—to save the world. Mat’s left eye. In his bargain, Mat has neglected to include the Aelfinn in the requirement to let them leave the tower. Down one of the corridors, the snake-like Aelfinn appear and begin chase (ToM, Ch. 54).
After they attempt futilely to escape, Noal chooses to sacrifice himself to save the others. He positions himself in a narrow corridor with the remaining fireworks. Before Mat, Thom and Moiraine leave the old man, he reveals that he is Jain Farstrider. They run and finally reach the room holding the archway leading into the red stone doorway in the Stone of Tear. It has been smashed. They are trapped, and as the Aelfinn move in for the kill, Mat realizes that the ashandarei is the key to escape this sinister realm. He cuts an inverted triangular opening in the wall, then he and Thom, who is carrying Moiraine, run out of the tower in a flash of white light (ToM, Ch. 55).
Mat, Thom, and Moiraine sit below the Tower of Ghenjei talking. Mat is shocked when he discovers that Thom and Moiraine have feelings for each other. He leaves them alone, hoping to find Grady’s gateway. While at the Arinelle, he makes a cairn for Noal, kills a rabbit, and finds a nearly new cook pot at the river’s edge, thinking of his luck (ToM, Ch. 57).
Back in Caemlyn Olver plays Snakes and Foxes with Talmanes. At the final play, Olver wins! There is question about the exact timeline at this moment, but there is some speculation that Olver wins the board game at the exact moment that Mat beats the Snakes and Foxes in real life. Afterward, Olver opens Verin’s letter. It is a warning that Caemlyn is going to be attacked by the Shadow’s forces entering through the abandoned Waygate. Verin thought Mat’s curiosity would have provoked him to open it earlier. She had apparently known nothing about Moiraine and the Tower of Ghenjei. Olver and Talmanes see that Caemlyn is on fire (ToM, Epilogue).
A Memory of Light
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After rescuing Moiraine, Mat travels to Ebou Dar. He manages to get into the city without being recognized, although it is a close call, as Petra is now in the employ of the Seanchan and is one of the guards at the gate. Once inside Ebou Dar, Mat looks for a tavern. He finally enters The Yearly Brawl where he learns that Galgan has hired assassins to kill Tuon. He also learns that all of the soldiers in the city have been instructed to keep an eye out for him (AMoL, Ch. 11). He proceeds to break into the Tarasin Palace, climbing up the outside all the way to Tylin's old rooms. He intends to tell Tuon about Galgan's assassins and then take off to hide from Rand and the Last Battle. When he reaches Tylin’s balcony, he is attacked by Selucia, who has been sleeping in the room as a decoy for Tuon and thinks that Mat might be an assassin. Selucia tells Mat he doesn’t need to worry about Galgan’s assassins, but rather about Krisa’s, as they are from Seanchan while Galgan’s are not. Mat convinces Selucia to tell him that Tuon is in the gardens. Selucia directs him to a secret passageway that will help him get there (AMoL, Ch. 15).
Mat locates Tuon in the gardens, where she is practicing fighting stances. He hides and watches her, pondering whether or not he loves her. A Gray Man arrives to assassinate Tuon, and Mat is able to notice it just in time. He raises a knife to throw at the Gray Man, and Tuon notices Mat at the very same moment. Instinctively trusting him, she looks over her shoulder to see what Mat is aiming his knife at. Mat manages to hit the Gray Man, but the Gray Man still escapes. Still not having noticed the Gray Man, and thinking that Mat is trying to kill Tuon, her Deathwatch Guards tackle him. Tuon orders them to let Mat up and to search for the real assassin. While the Deathwatch Guards search for the Gray Man, Mat and Tuon speak. Tuon approves of his missing eye, claiming that it suits him and that previously he was “too pretty.” She guesses rightly that he lost it trying to rescue someone, and declares she will not be jealous of whomever it was. Tuon commands Mat to teach the Deathwatch Guards how to spot a Gray Man. Tuon then orders the Deathwatch Guards, who have not been able to locate the Gray Man, to “clear out and secure the perimeter” so that she and Mat may spend some time alone. He kisses her and then tells her that he won't be her toy, and she replies that she has “no use for a toy” (AMoL, Ch. 15).
Mat and Tuon sleep together in the gardens and fall asleep there. When Mat wakes up, Musenge is reporting to Tuon that they Grey Man has still not been caught. Mat is aghast because both he and Tuon are naked, but Tuon tells him that she is always guarded by Deathwatch Guards. Musicar approaches them to inform Tuon that they have potentially caught another assassin trying to sneak onto the palace grounds. It turns out to be Rand. Mat is not particularly pleased, especially when Rand reveals that Mat has inadvertently led him to Tuon. Tuon’s damane proceeds to capture both Mat and Rand in flows of air, with Tuon revealing that she stole Mat’s medallion from him while he slept. Mat and Rand bicker a little, both trying to one-up the other with the things they’ve achieved since they last saw each other. Rand then manages to talk Tuon into agreeing to sign the Dragon’s Peace and fight alongside his forces in the Last Battle. Mat backs Rand up, insisting to Tuon that she can trust Rand and that they have to help him. Rand promises that she can keep the lands and damane she’s already captured, but nothing else beyond her borders. Tuon tells Selucia to take the treaty so that she can review and sign it, and then orders Mat to accompany her as they must begin to prepare for the Last Battle. As Mat follows her, he offers one last parting shot at Rand, telling him: “By the way, I saved Moiraine. Chew on that as you try to decide which of the two of us is winning” (AMoL, Ch. 17).
Mat’s new tailor, Nata, arrives and fits him out for new clothing. Mat insists that he only be given military clothing, but the ceremonial warrior garb for those of the Imperial Family is still ostentatious and difficult to maneuver in. Nata tries to have Mat’s old clothing burned, but he balks at this and insists on wearing his old hat with his new ceremonial clothing, even though Nata tells him it looks ridiculous. Mat realizes as they begin to put jewelry on him just how rich he now is. He’s a bit disappointed at this as it will take the fun out of gambling, since he now already has everything he could ever want or need (AMoL, Ch. 19).
Although technically he is not in charge of the Seanchan army, Mat works to get them ready to leave Ebou Dar for the Last Battle. Tuon and General Galgan are both curious to see what he will do. Tuon summons Mat to her and renames him Knotai, which he declares he kind of likes. She also names him Rodbearer of the Seanchan army, meaning that if Galgan falls Mat will succeed him (AMoL, Ch. 24).
Shortly after receiving his new name from Tuon, Mat receives word about Egwene’s army of Aes Sedai being attacked. Tuon wavers for a moment between following the terms of the treaty she has signed and swooping in to claim the Aes Sedai as damane while they are weak. Mat expresses faith that Tuon won’t break her word, and in the end she doesn’t and agrees to go to Egwene’s aid. Mat returns to assembling the army (AMoL, Ch. 24). Tuon and Egwene hold a meeting, and Mat accompanies Tuon. When Egwene reveals to Tuon that she was once captured and trained as a damane, Tuon demands to know why Mat didn’t tell her and is very displeased. Egwene is astounded to find Mat there, and immediately begins to think of ways she can manage to save him from the Seanchan. She bursts out laughing, however, when she learns that Mat and Tuon are married, gloating to Tuon that she has been caught up in a ta’veren’s web. When Egwene and Tuon’s arguing begins to escalate, Mat steps between them and convinces them that they need each other. When Tuon leaves after promising to send some sul’dam and damane to help Egwene, Mat follows her. Before he leaves, Egwene promises to help him get free of the Seanchan after the Last Battle, but Mat says that he doesn’t need her help (AMoL, Ch. 26).
When Min arrives at the Seanchan camp to request that they send cavalry to aid Bryne, she is led to speak to Mat, who is surprised to see her. Mat commands Tylee Khirgan to take her legion to help Bryne, and Galgan approves the order. Mat asks Min if she sees any other viewings around him, and she doesn’t, but she does see one around Galgan: “A dagger rammed through the heart of a raven.” Min assures Mat that it isn’t about him, but Mat is still worried since he is the Prince of Ravens. When Tuon appears shortly afterward, Min slips and reveals to Mat that she sees “A death lily” for Tuon; she speaks too loudly, and the Deathwatch Guards seize her. Mat tells Tuon about Min’s ability, and Tuon names Min her new Soe’feia. Tuon is exceedingly pleased with Mat for the “great gift” he has given her (AMoL, Ch. 27).
Mat gets tired of trying to figure out the battle from maps and decides he’s going to actually go take a look. He pulls out his old clothing, which he had previously bribed some guards to bring him, changes, and prepares to leave. Tuon arrives before he can leave for the battlefield; when Banner-General Courtani acidly tells her where Mat is going, Tuon supports Mat’s decision and pointedly asks why Courtani is waiting around instead of helping Mat. She decides to go with Mat to see the battlefield” (AMoL, Ch. 28). Mat and Tuon are accompanied by many others, including Min and Galgan, when they go to view the battlefield. When Mat spies Tylee Khirgan and her force waiting near the eastern edge of the camp, he asks Tuon and the others to give him 5 minutes. He wants to know why Tylee isn’t engaging in the battle, and she tells him that Bryne ordered them to to wait as a reserve force. Mat can’t see the sense in this, as the battle is not going well. He gives orders for the Seanchan soldiers to deploy against the Sharans, taking command of the First Banner himself. During the fighting, Mat captures one of the Ayyad. After Mat and his troops come out victorious, the Seanchan soldiers are in awe, with one of officers leading a cheer for Mat. Mat accidentally raises him to the low Blood by biting off a broken nail and dropping it at his feet. When Mat returns to Tuon, she is at first displeased, wanting to know why he has endangered himself; Mat insists that he “had to feel the pulse of the battle.” Mat thinks about everything he has seen of the battle and thinks that Bryne must be a Darkfriend, because he seems to be actively trying to lose. He demands full control of the Seanchan forces, and that Min be sent to warn Egwene. Everyone is shocked, but Tuon approves the orders, surprising them even further (AMoL, Ch. 29).
Egwene initially wants to refuse Mat’s request that he be placed in charge of the White Tower army as well. However, when she realizes that the Great Captains are being compulsed, she knows that Mat is the only option because his medallion will keep him safe from compulsion (AMoL, Ch. 31). Now in charge of both the Seanchan and White Tower armies, Mat uses gateways to survey the battle. Demandred has been testing Mat, and Mat has been loosing soldiers. Galgan, however, is exceedingly impressed with how Mat has nonetheless managed to rescue the White Tower army. Mat is concerned about the Sharans sneaking Ayyad into the camp, and so puts a moratorium on channeling so that they’ll be able to sense it if the Ayyad are about to attack (AMoL, Ch. 32).
Mat thinks that they should move their position, and arranges a meeting with Egwene and the Sitters, which is held through an open gateway so that neither Tuon nor Egwene has to visit the other. Mat learns from the Aes Sedai that Bashere and Agelmar were also compulsed, that Ituralde has disappeared, and that the Borderlanders lost the majority of their army. Mat gets the Aes Sedai to bring Elayne in by gateway, and he proposes to her and the others that they all join together for a last stand in an optimal location, as continuing to fight on 4 battlefronts has become unfeasible. They decide on Merrilor, and when Elayne okays the plan, the dice start up in Mat’s head (AMoL, Ch. 32).
All of the armies except the one at Shayol Gul are now at Merrilor preparing for their last stand. They have about a week to prepare. At the end of that week, Mat moves amongst groups of men, showing them how to sharpen stakes for a palisade or how to use a quarterstaff. As he does so, he is actively trying to avoid a group of Deathwatch Guards who are looking for him. He runs into Egwene and at first she thinks he is trying to escape Tuon and the Seanchan; in reality, he is just trying to avoid Tuon because she wants him to judge a trial and has sent the Deathwatch Guards to bring him to her. He doesn’t want to have someone executed. Mat and Egwene discuss the fact that the Horn of Valere is missing; Egwene has people searching for it. Mat asks Egwene to make him a gateway to the Knob, a large rise from which he and the other commanders will be watching the battle. He surveys the battlefield, and he can feel Rand tugging at him; he knows he will have to go north to join Rand soon. Mat and Egwene discuss the battle. Mat says that they can’t win a protracted battle. Egwene says that they just need to to hold their ground until Rand wins, but Mat thinks that even if Rand wins, they’ll still have to destroy the Trolloc army and that they thus need a win on the battlefield as well. The Deathwatch Guards finally catch up to Mat at the Knob, but he doesn’t care, because just then he senses that the Trollocs have arrived sooner than expected. Mat orders that Elayne be told that Mat is about to change the battle plan. He sends everyone running off to deliver messages and tells Egwene to get ready (AMoL, Ch. 36).
Mat doesn’t tell anyone his new battle plan, afraid that the Shadow might use compulsion to discover it. He coordinates all the forces, sending reinforcements to where he needs them. He uses raken to send messages, writing letters that are then attached to lead balls with streamers and dropped to the appropriate spots. Polov Heights is lost early on in the battle. Bryne makes a guess that Mat is trying to bait a trap, and that he wants to throw everything he has at the Trollocs in a battle that will be over in days or hours (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Mat knows there is a spy at the command post because the Shadow’s forces are responding to his moves even before his forces have received their orders. He makes sure to send messages in code, using past incidents and in-jokes to relay orders to Talmanes. He knows he is losing the battle, but is trying to draw Demandred in and is carefully watching for the right time to make his move. He thinks to himself that it is as if he “and Demandred were composing a grand painting,” with each “respond[ing] to the other’s moves with subtle care.” Galad thinks to himself, shortly afterwards, that it is as if he is “watching the Game of Houses on the battlefield itself,” and is impressed by Mat. Demandred thinks that Rand/Lews Therin is disguised as Mat, because Mat is too skilled for someone of this Age (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Elayne tries to persuade Mat to tell her his battle plan in case something happens to him; she weaves a ward against eavesdropping and he tells her about the spy and that he plans to use the spy. He tells her that he is waiting “for that last bet, the one that could win it all,” and that he wants her away from the command post. He sends her and the Andoran troops to the ford to stop the Trollocs from crossing the riverbed (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Mat sends a message to Galad, along with one of the copies Elayne made of his foxhead medallion, and instructs him to kill as many of the Ayyad as he can (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Mat finds himself completely engrossed by the ongoing battle as he tries to out-gamble Demandred. Logain arrives to speak with Mat, wanting to fight Demandred. Mat decides to allow it, although he is not optimistic, because Demandred will need to be dealt with eventually (AMoL, Ch. 37).
The command post is attacked by several Gray Men and a group of Sharan soldiers and Ayyad. The Gray Men attack Mat, and Tuon runs to help him. Tuon is badly injured in the fight. Mat and Min manage to kill all of the Grey Men and Mat gets Tuon out. After the attack on the command post, Mat and Tuon stage a fight in order to trick the spy. He is hoping that Demandred will ignore the Seanchan and thus give Mat an advantage. Tuon accuses him of failing to protect the command post and blames him for the fact that they are losing the battle. They both declare that they are finished with each other, and Tuon commands that her troops withdraw to return to Ebou Dar, where they will prepare for their own battle against the Shadow. After she has left, Mat is worried because Tuon had seemed truly angry; he hopes that he can count on her to come back. He sends Min to watch over her, and she hugs him goodbye and goes. Mat speaks to Karede and a group of Deathwatch Guards; they have been ordered by Tuon to fight the Ayyad as punishment for allowing another assassin to get close to her. He wants Karede and the Deathwatch Guards to join him, since he is going to the front lines anyway. Karede agrees, as long as Mat will stop using Tuon’s old name, since it will be a bad omen. Mat concedes and calls her Fortuona out loud, although he still refers to her as “Tuon” in his head. Mat and the Deathwatch Guards come across Davram and Deira Bashere on the battlefield, and Mat asks if he’s heard anything about Faile. They have not, and Mat is worried about how he can possibly win the Last Battle without the Horn of Valere (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Rand is tugging strongly at Mat, but he resists (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Although he had abandoned them early in the battle, Mat now plans to retake Polov Heights so that he can attack the Shadow’s armies from behind. However, Demandred refuses to abandon the Heights (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Mat has Talmanes, Aludra, and some of the Band hidden away in a cave that can only be reached via gateway. They are repairing the damaged dragons (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Mat is shaken by Egwene’s death, and again shortly after by false reports of Elayne’s death. He gathers together the rest of his forces for one final, desperate stand. He digs out one of Rand’s banners with the ancient Aes Sedai symbol, ordering that it be flown since they are fighting in Rand’s name. Mat knows they can’t win, but he refuses to give up before he’s tried everything. He sends to Mayene for any Healed soldiers who can return to the battle; asks for the remaining Aes Sedai to join him, even though they’re too tired to channel; gives the order for Tuon to come back; and sends a message to Talmanes (AMoL, Ch. 37).
Loial brings news to Mat that Lan has fallen but managed to kill Demandred. Mat feels grief, but tries to force it down as he starts a cry of “Tai’shar Malkier” and leads his troops against the Shadow (AMoL, Ch. 38). As he fights, he suddenly hears Rand’s voice in his head, telling the Dark One that he is wrong. Then Rand’s voice is heard out loud on the battlefield, announcing that Lan is alive. The Horn of Valere sounds, and Mat is astounded, as he had thought he was still the Hornblower. He thinks that his death in Rhuidean must have broken the link. Followed by what is left of the Borderlander army, Mat manages to push through the surrounding Trollocs. He reaches Lan and, with Narishma’s help, manages to get him out from behind the Shadow’s lines. The Heroes of the Horn appear, and Mat learns from Hawkwing that it wasn’t his death at Rhuidean that severed his link to the Horn, but another death (when he was killed by Rahvin, although Hawkwing does not tell Mat this part) (AMoL, Ch. 39).
Mat leads a charge as his plans begin to come together. The Seanchan arrive. Talmanes and Aludra begin firing dragons from their hidden cave, with Neald opening gateways to where they want to strike. Jur Grady releases the river, which had been dammed earlier by the Shadow. And finally, Mat has one more tricks up his sleeve: the people of Hinderstap and a group of soldiers from the Band who have allowed themselves to be caught in the snag in the pattern there and thus cannot die (AMoL, Ch. 40; AMoL, Ch. 41).
Mat fights alongside the Heroes of the Horn. He nervously inquires if he is tied to the Horn of Valere as a Hero, and is relieved when Hend the Striker assures him that he is not. The forces of the Light overwhelm the remaining Trollocs and Sharans (AMoL, Ch. 43).
When the fighting is finally done, Mat can still feel Rand tugging at him. Mat knows he has to go to Rand because the Last Battle isn’t over. Before he leaves for Shayol Ghul, he asks Hawkwing if he can speak with Tuon and let her know that Mat sent him (AMoL, Ch. 43). He finds Grady with Olver and Neal and asks Grady for a gateway to Shayol Ghul. Grady tells him that gateways to Shayol Ghul don’t work anymore, but that he can take him to a Seanchan patrol camp about a day’s hike away from Shayol Ghul. Olver and Neal go with him, as the Heroes of the Horn will be needed for the fight in the Blight (AMoL, Ch. 45). Once at the Seanchan patrol camp, Mat and Olver are taken by to’raken to Shayol Ghul. Mat sees that there is still fighting going on between Rand’s forces and the Trollocs, and that there are Darkhounds attacking as well. He can sense the presence of both Mashadar and Fain. An arrow from one of the red-veiled Aiel kills Sulaan, the morat’to’raken, and Mat has to land the to’raken himself (AMoL, Ch. 45).
Mat finds Perrin fighting alongside the spirit wolves who have been called by the Horn of Valere. He can see Mashadar making its way towards where Rand still fights the Dark One. Suddenly, a small sliver of Mashadar spears Mat through the chest, and Mat falls off his horse (AMoL, Ch. 46). However, it does not kill him, because Mat is now immune to Mashadar due to his earlier infection by it. Mat kills Fain by stabbing him with the ruby dagger (AMoL, Ch. 47). When the Last Battle is done, the dice stop rolling in his head (AMoL, Epilogue).
With the Last Battle now over, Mat finds Tuon at Merrilor. Everyone in the Seanchan camp is astounded to see him, except for Tuon, who wants to know where he’s been. He has arranged for Aludra to put on a victory fireworks show. Tuon then tells Mat that she is pregnant, and both of them pretend to be relieved and say that they can be done with each other now that Tuon will have an heir (AMoL, Epilogue).
Strengths and Talents
Mat's Memories
- Main article: Mat's Memories
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Mat gained memories from around a 1500 year period in history of soldiers who had passed through the redstone doorway located in the Stone of Tear. This was confirmed in an interview with Robert Jordan, currently hosted on Theoryland.
The Dice
Mat hears dice in his head when an important event is about to occur
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"He could feel the dice tumbling in his head" - After deciding to rescue the girls from the Stone (TDR, Ch. 51).
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"He had no idea why he had not simply ignored them. Except that his step was lighter and he felt full of vinegar. No wonder, really, leaving tomorrow at last. The dice seemed to be spinning in his head, and there was no knowing what pips would show when they landed. Odd, that. It must be Melindhra worrying him. Yes. He would definitely leave early, and as quietly as a mouse tiptoeing on feathers" (TFoH, Ch. 42).
"That should bring the Shaido in right enough, especially if Couladin was leading. If Couladin really was leading, if he thought Rand was with the pikes, if the pikes could hold until the horse arrived... A lot of ifs. Mat could hear those dice rolling in his head again. This was the biggest gamble he had ever taken in his life. He wondered how long it was until nightfall; a man should be able to make his way out in the night. He wished those dice would get out of his head, or else fall so he knew what they showed. Scowling into the rain, he booted Pips on down the hillside." (TFoH, Ch. 44).
Reducing the platform by one outer ring of square stones, he turned. Bael was waiting out there in what seemed a huge square doorway into daylight with the steps beyond. At his side, Pevin looked no more perturbed by what he saw than the Aiel chief, which was to say not at all. Pevin would carry that banner wherever Rand went, even the Pit of Doom, and never blink. Mat shoved back his hat to scratch his head, then jerked it low again, muttering something about dice in his head. (On the way to face Rahvin; TFoH, Ch. 54).
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"The largest palace he had seen yet filled one entire side of the square, all domes and spires and colonnades three and four stories above the ground. The other three sides mixed great houses with inns and shops, each as white as the next. A statue of a woman in flowing robes, taller than an Ogier, stood on an even taller pedestal in the middle of the square, one arm raised to point south toward the sea. There were only a handful of people walking across the pale paving stones, and no wonder in that heat. A few were eating their midday meal on the lowest step of the pedestal, and pigeons and seagulls flocked about fighting for scraps. It was a picture of tranquility. Mat did not understand why he suddenly felt the dice rolling in his head." (LoC, Ch. 47).
The stately innkeeper introduced herself as Setalle Anan, though her hazel eyes had never been born in Ebou Dar. "Good my Lords... " Large gold hoops in her ears swayed as she bowed her head equally to Mat and Nalesean. "... may The Wandering Woman offer you her humble accommodation?"
She was pretty despite a touch of gray in her hair, but Mat watched her eyes. She wore a marriage knife hanging from a close-fitting necklace, the hilt set with red and white stones nestling in her generous cleavage, and she also had one of those curving knives in her belt. Still, he could not help grinning. "Mistress Anan, I feel like I've come home."
The odd thing was, the dice had stopped rolling in his head (LoC, Ch. 47).
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"Thank you ... " Mat gave a start. The fellow was gone, swallowed up in the crowd. Strange, but he had looked familiar. Maybe another long-dead acquaintance drifting out of those old memories. Maybe... It hit him like an Illuminator's nightflower exploding inside his head. A white-haired man with a hooked nose. That old man had been at the Silver Circuit, standing not far from the woman who had just gone into Carridin's rented palace. Turning his hat in his hands, he frowned uneasily at the palace. The Mire never held a bog like this one. He could feel the dice tumbling in his head suddenly, and that was always a bad sign (ACoS, Ch. 14).
Normally, displays of wealth made Mat feel comfortable. For one thing, where there was money, some might stick to his fingers. This time he felt impatient, more so by the step. And anxious. The last time he had felt the dice rolling so hard in his head was just before he found himself with three hundred of the Band, a thousand of Gaebril's White Lions on a ridge to his front and another thousand coming hard up the road behind him, when all he had been trying to do was ride away from the entire mess. That time he had avoided the chop by the grace of other men's memories and more luck than he had a right to. The dice almost always meant danger, and something else he had not figured out yet. The prospect of having his skull cracked was not enough, and once or twice there had been no possibility of such, yet the upcoming likelihood of Mat Cauthon dead in some spectacular fashion seemed the most usual cause. Unlikely, maybe, in the Tarasin Palace, but unlikely did not make the dice go away. He was going to leave his message, grab Nynaeve and Elayne by the scruff of the neck if he had an opportunity, give them a talking-to that made their ears glow, and then get out (ACoS, Ch. 16).
Mat wanted to back away; even Teslyn stood close enough to be almost touching him. Instead he put on his most insolent grin. It had always landed him in trouble back home, but it seemed appropriate. Those dice in his head could have nothing to do with this pair, or they would have stopped spinning. And he did have the medallion. "They see pretty well, I'd say." Nynaeve badly needed to be snatched down a peg or six, and Elayne even more, but he was not about to stand by and listen to this woman talk Nynaeve down. If that meant defending Elayne too, so be it "Maybe you should abandon your nonsense." Joline's smile vanished, but Teslyn replaced it with one of her own, a razored smile (ACoS, Ch. 16).
"Majesty," he said, sweeping his hat wide in a bow and flourishing an imaginary cloak, "by your summons do I come." Imposing or not, it was hard to keep his eyes away from the not small lace-trimmed oval where her white-sheathed marriage-knife hung. A very nicely rounded sight indeed, yet the more bosom a woman displayed, the less she wanted you to look. Openly, at least. White-sheathed; but he already knew she was a widow. Not that it mattered. He would as soon tangle himself with that fox-faced Darkfriend as with a queen. Not looking at all was difficult, but he managed. Most likely she would call guards rather than draw the gem-encrusted dagger thrust behind a woven-gold belt to match the collar her marriage knife hung from. Maybe that was why the dice were still rolling in his head. The possibility of an encounter with the headsman would set them spinning if anything did (ACoS, Ch. 16).
Tall triple-arched windows opening onto a wrought-iron balcony admitted a sea breeze that was surprisingly pleasant, if not exactly cool, yet Mat felt hotter than in the street, and it had nothing to do with her stare. Deyeniye, dyu ninte concion ca'lyet ye. That was what he had said. The bloody Old Tongue popping out of his mouth again without him knowing it. He had thought he had that little bother under control. No telling when those bloody dice would stop or for what. Best to keep his eyes to himself and his mouth shut as much as possible. "I thank you, Majesty." He made very sure of those words (ACoS, Ch. 16).
"You are Lord Mat Cauthon?" There was just a hint of question in the title. Her eyes minded him more than ever of an eagle's. A queen could not like someone coming to her pretending to be a lord.
"Just Mat Cauthon." Something told him she would hear a lie. Besides, letting people think he was a lord was just a ruse, one he would rather have managed without. In Ebou Dar you could find a duel any time you turned around, but few challenged lords except other lords. As it was, in the last month he had cracked a number of heads, bloodied four men and run half a mile to escape a woman. Tylin's stare made him nervous. And those dice still rattled about in his skull. He wanted out of there. "If you'll tell me where to leave the letter, Majesty...?" (ACoS, Ch. 16).
She nodded calmly, hazel eyes serene. Men knifed in her inn did not ruffle her feathers. "They insisted on carrying it up themselves. Their stock, so they claimed. They took the room just before you came in. For a few hours, they said, to sleep before traveling on toward Nor Chasen." That was a small village on the coast to the east, but it was unlikely they would have told the truth. Her tone implied as much. She frowned at the dead men as though wishing she could shake them alive to answer questions. "They were picky about the room, though. The pale-haired man was in charge. He turned down the first three he was offered, then accepted this, that was meant for a single servant. I thought he was being stingy with a coin."
"Even a thief can be tightfisted," Mat said absently. This could have qualified to start those dice rolling in his head ... a head that would have been cracked open for sure without the luck of that fellow stepping on the one board in the whole inn that would squeak ... but the bloody things were still tumbling. He did not like it (ACoS, Ch. 17).
Mat frowned after her. A gilded woman? In his room? The chest of gold rested now in a small hollow beneath the kitchen floor, in front of one of the stoves, but the dice in his head drummed like thunder suddenly (ACoS, Ch. 21).
He nodded before he thought Other men's memories told him Tovans were a stark and disapproving people, abstemious to the point of pain; at least they had been, a thousand years gone and more. He was not sure whether to laugh or groan. On the one hand, a chance to talk with Birgitte ... Birgitte! he doubted he would ever get over the shock ... but on the other, he doubted he would be able to hear the music downstairs for the noise of those dice rattling in his skull. She must be a key to it, somehow. A man with any brains would climb out the window right now. "A pitcher or two sounds fine to me," he told her (ACoS, Ch. 21).
"I won't shout at you," Nynaeve shouted. "And all the rest, too. I promise, you... you...!" She gobbled on the edge of swallowing her tongue as she realized she could not call him one of the names he warranted without breaking the promise already. And yet, the effect of her shout was most gratifying.
With a cry, he shuddered and dropped the cloth, clutched his head with both hands. His eyes bulged. "Flaming dice," he whimpered, or something very like. It suddenly struck Elayne that he would be a very good source of pithy language. Stablemen and the like always seemed to scrape their tongues clean the moment they saw her. Of course, she had promised herself to civilize him, to make him useful to Rand, but that need not interfere too much with his language. In fact, she realized there was a good deal she had not promised not to do. Pointing that out should settle Nynaeve considerably (ACoS, Ch. 21).
Mat knew he was in trouble from the day he moved into the Tarasin Palace. He could have refused. Just because the flaming dice started or stopped did not mean he had to do anything; usually when they stopped spinning, it was too late not to do something. The problem was, he wanted to know why. Before very many days, he wished he had taken his curiosity by the throat and throttled it (ACoS, Ch. 28).
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Nobody slipped a note under his door that night. Nobody rattled the lock. He began to think things might turn for the better. Tomorrow was the Festival of Birds. From what he had heard of the costumes some people wore, men and women both, it might be possible Tylin would find herself a new duckling to chase after. Somebody might come out of that bloody house across from the Rose of the Eldar and hand him the bloody Bowl of the Winds. Things just had to turn for the better.
When he woke for his third morning in the Tarasin Palace, the dice were rolling in his head (ACoS, Ch. 28).
Waking to the dice, Mat considered going back to sleep until they went away, but at last he got up feeling grumpy. As if he did not have more than enough on his plate already. He chased Nerim away and dressed himself, eating the last of the bread and cheese from the night before while he did, then went to check on Olver. The boy flashed between bursts of yanking on his clothes in a hurry to be out and stopping entirely with boot or shirt in hand to spout dozens of questions that Mat answered with half a mind. No, they would not go racing today, and never mind the rich races at the Circuit of Heaven, north of the city. Maybe they could go see the menagerie. Yes, Mat would buy him a feathered mask for the festival. If he ever got dressed. That sent him into a flurry.
What really occupied Mat's thoughts were those bloody dice. Why had they started up again? He still did not know why they had before! (ACoS, Ch. 29).
It was too much. The woman hounded him, tried to starve him; now she locked them in together like... like he did not know what. Lambkin! Those bloody dice were bouncing around in his skull. Besides, he had important business to see to. The dice had never had anything to do with finding something, but... He reached her in two long strides, seized her arm, and began fumbling in her belt for the keys. "I don't have bloody time for ... " His breath froze as the sharp point of her dagger beneath his chin shut his mouth and drove him right up onto his toes (ACoS, Ch. 29).
"If I'm not back by tomorrow," Mat shouted back absently over his shoulder, "tell them they'll have to find it for themselves!" He walked on after the woman in a daze, not hearing if Nalesean or Beslan shouted again. The man knew! He remembered once thinking that Beslan and his mother were both mad. They were worse! All of Ebou Dar was mad! He was hardly aware of the dice still spinning inside his skull (ACoS, Ch. 29).
Snatching off his hat, Mat considered throwing it down and jumping on it. Women! He should have known better than to expect sympathy. He would like to throttle the bloody Daughter-Heir. And Nynaeve, too, on general principle. Except, of course, that he could not. He had made promises. And those dice were still using his skull for a dice cup. And one of the Forsaken might be around somewhere. Settling the hat squarely back on his head, he marched down the landing, brushed past the Wise Women and caught up to Elayne. She was still trying to fight down giggles, but every time she cut her eyes his way, the color in her cheeks renewed itself and so did the giggles (ACoS, Ch. 38).
Her tone was so mild that Elayne must have passed on the truth about Tylin, but if anything, that only soured his mood further. He did not want anyone to know. Bloody useless! But those dice were still rattling around in his head. "Maybe Moghedien likes back doors," he said dryly. Something cluttered in the dark end of the hall, and one of the men with Harnan cursed loudly about rats(ACoS, Ch. 38).
"We are bloody well getting out of here now," Mat said again later, and this time there was argument. There had been argument for the past half-hour, near enough. Outside, the sun was past its noon peak. The trade winds cut the heat a little; stiff yellow curtains fastened over the tall windows bulged and snapped at gusts. Three hours back in the Tarasin Palace, the dice still bouncing in his head, and he wanted to kick something. Or somebody. He tugged at the scarf tied around his neck; it felt as though the rope that had given him the scar under that scarf was back and tightening slowly. "Love of the Light, are you all blind? Or just deaf?" (ACoS, Ch. 39).
The sul'dam apparently was not satisfied. The foxhead went cool again, and from behind another roar hammered him to the pavement, pavement that jumped up to meet him. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard masonry groan. Above him, the white-plastered brick wall began leaning outward.
"What happened to my bloody luck?" he shouted. He had time for that. And just time to realize, as brick and timbers crashed down on him, that the dice in his head had just stopped dead (ACoS, Ch. 39).
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Mat groaned. It was not his leg, this time, or the fact that every man in Ebou Dar seemed to be choosing the bosom they rested their heads on except for Mat Cauthon. Those bloody dice had just started tumbling in his head again. Something bad was coming his way. Something very bad (WH, Ch. 15).
"I think I can do better for you than that," Mat told him, but the rest of what he had been going to say died on his tongue. The dice were still spinning in his head, he realized. He had managed to forget them with the gholam trying to kill him, but they were still bouncing, still waiting to land. If they were warning of something worse than the gholam, he did not want to know. Only, he would. There was no doubt of that. He would, when it was too late (WH, Ch. 16).
Light, he wished those bloody dice in his head would just stop and get it over with! No, that was a lie. Since he had finally realized what they meant, he had never wanted the dice to stop (WH, Ch. 17).
Flinging open the doors of Tylin's apartments, Mat strode in, sailed his hat across the width of the room and stopped dead, his mouth hanging open and everything he had planned to say frozen on his tongue. His hat hit the carpets and rolled, he did not see where. A gust of wind rattled the tall triple-arched windows that led out onto a long, screened balcony overlooking the Mol Hara.
Tylin turned in a chair carved to look like gilded bamboo and stared at him over her golden wine cup. Waves of glossy black hair touched with gray at the temples framed a beautiful face with the eyes of a bird of prey, and not one best pleased at the moment. Inconsequential things seemed to leap at him. She kicked her crossed leg slightly, rippling layered green and white petticoats. Pale green lace trimmed the oval opening in her gown that half exposed her full breasts, where the jeweled hilt of her marriage knife dangled. She was not alone. Suroth sat facing her, frowning into her winecup and tapping long fingernails on the arm of her chair, a pretty enough woman despite her hair being shaved to that long crest, except that she made Tylin seem a rabbit by comparison. Two of those fingernails on each hand were lacquered blue. Seated at her side was a little girl, of all things, also in an elaborately flowered robe over pleated white skirts, but with a sheer veil covering her entire head - it seemed to be shaved completely! - and wearing a fortune in rubies. Even in a state of shock, he noticed rubies and gold. A slender woman, nearly as dark as her stark black gown and tall even had she been Aiel, stood behind the girl's chair with her arms folded and ill-concealed impatience. Her wavy back hair was short, but not shaved at all, so she was neither of the Blood nor so'jhin. Imperiously beautiful, she put Tylin and Suroth both in the shade. He noticed beautiful women, too, even when he did feel hit in the head with a hammer.
It was not the presence of Suroth or the strangers that jerked him to a halt, though. The dice had stopped, landing with a thunder that made his skull ring. That had never happened before. He stood there waiting for one of the Forsaken to leap out of the flames in the marble fireplace, or the earth to swallow the palace beneath him.
"You aren't listening to me, pigeon," Tylin cooed in dangerous tones. "I said, take yourself down to the kitchens and have a pastry until I have time for you. Have a bath while you're about it." Her dark eyes glittered. "We will discuss your mud later."
In a daze, he ran it through again in his head. He had walked into the room, the dice had stopped, and nothing had happened. Nothing!
"This man has been set upon," the tiny, veiled figure said, rising. Her tone turned cold as the wind outside. "You told me the streets were safe, Suroth! I am displeased."
Something had to happen! It already should have! Something always happened when the dice stopped (WH, Ch. 17).
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The Dice stop rolling when Tuon promises not to escape as long as he keeps his promises (CoT, Ch. 3).
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There are three sets of dice rolling around in Mat's head at the same time around the morning after Renna's death. The first stops Aludra agrees to accompany him when he leaves Luca's show (KoD, Ch. 8); the second stops when he gives Tuon the razor as a courting gift (KoD, Ch. 8); and the third stops when he agrees to help Thom rescue Moiraine (KoD, Ch. 10).
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As the mayor of Hinderstap leaves Mat and his group, and after apprising them of the "Rules," he is joined by some burly men casually carrying axes. They fall into step with the mayor, and all walk together in the same direction as though nothing is untoward. It is then that the dice start rattling in Mat's head. He decides to ignore them (TGS, Ch. 27).
Moments before the sun sets behind the clouds, while Mat gambles with the villagers, he tells Talmanes that they are staying. At this the dice stop rattling in his head (TGS, Ch. 27).
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The dice begin rattling in the Dead Man's Breath when Mat hears of a man drained of blood (ToM, Ch. 8).
Later on, during Mat's stay in Caemlyn, the dice stop when Mat leaves The Dusty Wheel. The gholam appears shortly afterward (ToM, Ch. 31).
Relationships with Other Characters
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The relationship between Mat and Rand starts off as that of best friends. During their early years, Mat and Rand pulled a lot of pranks on people in Emond's Field and just generally had a good time together. Once Mat learns that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, he becomes very cautious and uncomfortable, and tries to avoid him. He eventually accepts the fact and maintains his friendship with Rand. Rand considers Mat one of the few people that he can still trust.
As with Rand, Mat and Perrin were good friends back when they lived in the Two Rivers. As the series progresses, they understandably become a bit distant as their paths don't cross all that much; however, they are still bound by the bonds of friendship and the fact that they both came from the Two Rivers. Either one would most likely help the other any way possible.
Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne often treat Mat as if he is a foolish child. Nonetheless, he comes through for them time and time again, displaying a great deal of loyalty to all three.
Mat doesn't have the best of relationships with Aes Sedai, mainly because he has a hard time trusting them. A lot of this comes from his memories of past lives. He appears to think well of Aes Sedai such as Moiraine and Teslyn, though he does seem to put a limit to the extent to which he will trust even them.
Throughout the series, Thom and Juilin become friends of Mat's. He meets Thom in 'The Eye of the World' in Emond's Field, and Juilin in 'The Dragon Reborn' when he goes to rescue Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve from the Stone of Tear. Later, they are with him in Ebou Dar and help him plan to get Joline, Teslyn and Edesina out of the city. In 'The Eye of the World,' Thom fights a Fade to buy Rand and Mat time to escape; he often tries to protect all three of the Emond's Field boys since he wasn't able to save his own nephew from Aes Sedai.
Mat's relationship with Tuon gets off to a very rocky start. The first time that they meet, Tuon wishes to buy him. She calls him 'Toy', even though he tries many times to get her to call him by his real name. In Winter's Heart, he learns that she is the Daughter of the Nine Moons, his fated wife, and accidentally performs his half of the Seanchan marriage ceremony. In Crossroads of Twilight, he begins to court her. Mat thinks that Tuon is pretty, if on the thin side. In A Knife of Dreams, Tuon performs her half of the marriage ceremony. Mat is in love with Tuon, and although Tuon claims not to be in love with him, she is both fond and possessive of him.
Talmanes is fond of Mat and respects him a great deal, considering his commander to be inspiring. Mat has made Talmanes consider common folk in a different light. When he thinks he is going to die during the battle for Caemlyn, Talmanes wishes he had spent more time taunting Mat (AMoL, Prologue). Egwene thinks that Talmanes appears to be "precisely the type of man" Mat needs to have around him (AMoL, Ch. 1).
Viewings and Dreams
"And the other one ... a red eagle, an eye on a balance scale, a dagger with a ruby, a horn, and a laughing face." (Min's viewing of Mat; TEotW, Ch. 15).
"You know I've read you, Egwene. I don't understand most of it - I almost never do - but I see things I am sure link you to Rand, and Perrin, and Mat, and - yes, even Galad, the light help you for a fool. How can any of that happen if the Seanchan take you off across the ocean?" (Min to Egwene; TGH, Ch. 42).
"Mat, placing his own left eye on a balance scale. Mat, hanging by his neck from a tree limb. There had been a dream of Mat and Seanchan, too, but she was willing to dismiss that as a nightmare. It had to have been just a nightmare. Just like the one about Mat speaking the Old Tongue. That had to come from what she had heard during his Healing." (Egwene's Dream; TDR, Ch. 25).
"There had been dreams of Mat, too. Of Mat with dice spinning 'round him - she felt she knew where that one came from - of Mat being followed by a man who was not there - she still did not understand that; there was a man following, or maybe more than one, but in some way there was no one there - of Mat riding desperately toward something unseen in the distance that he had to reach, and Mat with a woman who seemed to be tossing fireworks about. An Illuminator, she assumed, but that made no more sense than anything else." (Egwene's dream; TDR, Ch. 37).
"Mat, rattling a dice cup. His opponent stared at Mat with eyes of fire. Mat did not seem to see the man, but Perrin knew him." (Perrin's Dream; TDR, Ch. 43).
"What did it mean that Mat was dicing with the Dark One, and why did he keep shouting, "I am coming!" and why did she think in the dream that he was shouting at her?" (Egwene's dream; TDR, Ch. 48).
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"Mat wrestling with a Seanchan woman who tied an invisible leash to him." (Egwene's dream; (TSR, Ch. 11).
"Mat, standing where a road forked ahead of him. He flipped a coin, started down one branch, and suddenly was wearing a wide brimmed hat and walking with a staff bearing a short sword blade." (Perrin's Dream; (TSR, Ch. 28).
"Mat stood naked and bound, snarling; an odd spear with a black shaft had been thrust across his back behind his elbows, and a silver medallion, a foxhead, hung on his chest." (Perrin's dream; (TSR, Ch. 53).
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"Mat throwing dice with blood streaming down his face, the wide brim of his hat pulled low so she could not see his wound, while Thom Merrilin put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine's forehead." (Egwene's Dream; TFoH, Ch. 15).
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"Mat spoke strange words she almost understood ... the Old Tongue, she thought ... and two ravens alighted on his shoulders, claws sinking through his coat into the flesh beneath. He seemed no more aware of them than Perrin had been of the hawk and falcon, yet defiance passed across his face, and then grim acceptance. In another a woman, face shrouded in shadow, beckoned him toward great danger; Egwene did not know what, only that it was monstrous." (Egwene's Dream; LoC, Ch. 15).
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"Mat sat on a night-shrouded hilltop, watching a grand Illuminator's display of fireworks, and suddenly his hand shot up, seized one of those bursting lights in the sky. Arrows of fire flashed from his clenched fist, and a sense of dread filled her. Men would die because of this. The world would change. But the world was changing; it always changed." (Egwene's Dream; ACoS, Ch. 10).
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"Mat, weighing two Aes Sedai on a huge set of balance scales, and on his decision depended¦.She could not say what; something vast; the world, perhaps. There had been other dreams, most tinged with suffering. Recently, all of her dreams about Mat were pale and full of pain, like shadows cast by nightmares, almost as though Mat himself were not quite real. That made her afraid for him, left behind in Ebou Dar, and gave her agonies of grief for sending him there, not to mention poor old Thom Merrilin." (Egwene's Dream; TPoD, Ch. 15).
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"Mat stood on a village green, playing at bowls. The thatch-roofed houses were vague, in the manner of dreams - sometimes the roofs were slate; sometimes the houses seemed of stone, sometimes wood - but he was sharp and clear, dressed in a fine green coat and that wide-brimmed hat, just as he had been the day he rode into Salidar. There was not another human being in sight. Rubbing the ball between his hands, he took a short run and casually rolled it across the smooth grass. All nine pins fell, scattered as if they had been kicked. Mat turned and picked up another ball, and the pins were back upright. No, there was a fresh set of pins. The old still lay where they had fallen. He hurled the ball again, a lazy underhanded bowl. And Egwene wanted to scream. The pins were not turned pieces of wood. They were men, standing there watching the ball roll toward them. None moved until the ball sent them flying. Mat turned to pick up another ball, and there were more new pins, new men, standing in orderly formation among the men lying sprawled on the ground as if dead. No, they were dead. Unconcerned, Mat bowled." (Egwene's dream; CoT, Ch. 20)
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"Beware the fox that makes the ravens fly, for he will marry you and carry you away. Beware the man who remembers Hawkwing's face, for he will marry you and set you free. Beware the man of the red hand, for him you will marry and none other." (Lidya's Foretelling to Tuon; KoD, Ch. 36)
Mat's Escapades
Most of his life, Mat has been a big prankster, playing all kinds of jokes and often dragging Rand along with him. Mat's mother used to tell him that the Forsaken would come for him if he didn't mend his ways. (TEotW, Ch. 1)
When Mat and Rand are ten years old, Cenn Buie caught them in his apple trees (TEotW, Ch. 3)
Once, when Mat was ten years old, he tried to cut a firework open to see what was inside, causing an uproar; Bran al'Vere cuffed him, Doral Barran, the then Wisdom had switched him and his father strapped him. For a month, no one in Emond's Field would talk to him with the exception of Rand and Perrin (TDR, Ch. 40).
Soon after turning thirteen, Mat talked Rand into stealing a jar of apple brandy. Nynaeve found them asleep at Bran al'Vere's table. Their heads were hurting so badly that they didn't even feel the switches she gave them (TSR, Ch. 7).
On the day before Bel Tine, Mat covered two of Haral Luhhan's dogs with flour. Having told Adan al'Caar, Ewin Finngar and Dag Coplin that some farms had seen ghost hounds, he set them loose near Dag's house, but they ran straight home. Alsbet Luhhan had left her door open, so they ran inside and got flour all over the house. (TEotW, Ch. 2)
On the day before Bel Tine, Mat and Dav caught a badger and planned to let it loose on the Green so that they could watch the girls run. (TEotW, Ch. 1)
Quotes
Quotes about Mat
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“Time he’d spent with Mat made him wish there were more he could offer these people. It was downright strange, the effect Matrim Cauthon had on a person. Talmanes looked at common folk in a very different light now. Perhaps it was because he still didn’t rightly know whether to think of Mat as a lord or not (Talmanes; AMoL, Prologue)
"If Mat were here, he would probably curse a lot, complain as much, then proceed to save them all with some battlefield miracle.” (Talmanes; AMoL, Prologue)
Quotes by Mat
"It has to be there at the Last Battle. Nothing says it can't be used before then. Nothing says it can't. (Mat about the Horn of Valere; The Great Hunt, Chapter 47)
"Swords aren't the be-all and end-all, you know. I could do fairly well against either of you, I think, if you had a sword and I had my quarterstaff." (Mat to Gawyn and Galad; The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 24)
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"I have no intention of marrying. And I have no intention of dying, either, whether I am supposed to live again or not. I walk around with holes in my memory, holes in my life, and you stare at me like idiots. If I had my way, I would want those holes filled, but at least answers to my questions might fill some in my future. You have to answer - !) (Mat to the Eelfinn; The Shadow Rising, Chapter 24)
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"Now. When the poor blind fool they've chosen out for their Amyrlin gets here, I will do the talking. She can't be very bright, or they'd never have been able to shove her into the job. Amyrlin Seat for a bloody village in the middle of bloody nowhere. You keep your mouth shut and curtsey for all you're worth, and I'll pull your bacon off the coals again." (Mat to Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve; Lord of Chaos, Chapter 38)
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"Women are like...goats..." (Mat to Talmanes on broken road; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 20)
"I'm not giving up gambling," Mat muttered. "Or drinking." (Mat to Talmanes; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 20)
"The trouble with you, Mat, is that you're actually good at lying, unlike those other two boys." (Thom to Mat on broken road to Hinderstap; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 27)
"Marriage, I guess. Burn me, but I'm not going to stop drinking or gambling." (Mat to Thom, and in the hearing of Talmanes, concerning being married to Tuon; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 27)
"She's not a woman, Talmanes...she's an Aes Sedai. Don't think of her as a woman." (Mat to Talmanes about Joline; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 28)
"You're Aes Sedai. . .I figured you . . . you know, saidared it." (Mat to Verin regarding the pictures of him and Perrin; The Gathering Storm, Chapter 36)
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"He was a married man, and could not afford to charm her, but he could keep an eye out for his friends." (Mat in the taverns of Caemlyn; Towers of Midnight, Chapter 8)
"'Of course I am. . .How else is she going to trust that it’s really from me?'" (Mat to Joline about swearing in his letter to Elayne; Towers of Midnight, Chapter 17)
"'Just because a man marries someone doesn’t mean he suddenly becomes bloody nobility.'" (Mat on not being a nobleman; Towers of Midnight, Chapter 19)
"'Al dival, al kiserai, al mashi!' For light, glory, and love!"
"'Tai’daishar!' True Blood of Battle!"
"'Carai manshimaya Tylin. Carai an manshimaya Nalesean. Carai an manshimaya ayend’an!' Honor of my blade for Tylin. Honor of my blade for Nalesean. Honor of my blade for the fallen." (Mat’s Old Tongue litany for the fallen dead when fighting the gholam: Towers of Midnight, Chapter 31)
"'Courage to strengthen, Fire to blind. Music to dazzle. Iron to bind.'" "'And Matrim Cauthon to bloody even the odds.'" (Noal with the rhyme and Mat to finish, as they enter the Tower of Ghenjei; Towers of Midnight, Chapter 53)
"'But to be bonded to a woman? Isn’t going to happen to Matrim Cauthon.'" (Mat to Thom and Moiraine on being a Warder; Towers of Midnight, Chapter 57)
