The Wheel of Time Episode 4 was fantastic. Fantasy at its best. And just to be clear,
I wasn’t crying at the end of this episode. You were crying. Ok, fine. I cried. We will
get to that, but since the main characters are split up into three groups, this video
is broken up into four sections. I encourage you to watch it until the end as I will give
you extra color into the incredible writing and importance of these scenes without spoiling
future subplots in detail. First, let’s discuss Perrin and Egwene
Perrin and Egwene are with the Tuatha’an also known as the Traveling People or the
Tinkers. Perrin told Egwene that he didn’t trust
them, but Aram came over and he is such a nice guy. So Perrin and Egwene joined the
Tinkers as they began traveling East to Tar Valon.
Perrin got to work fixing a wheel. And that’s good because Perrin finds peace in doing work.
That is why he was a smithy. Perrin found peace in forging tools. Of course, Perrin
is struggling with the fact that he used a weapon to accidentally kill his wife Laila.
And Ila noticed this. So she pulled Perrin aside and told him about the Way of the Leaf.
The Tinkers foreswear violence and all instruments of violence. They are pacifists. They see
themselves as leafs. In its time, a leaf falls to the dirt that nourishes the tree that,
in its time, grows the leaf again. Ila told Perrin that her daughter was killed, so she
and Raen have raised their grandson, Aram. Meanwhile, Egwene danced with Aram and asked
him about the Song, to which Aram said it is a song that his people believe will bring
harmony. Aram doubts that they will ever find it, but Egwene looked around at the life and
the love and she wondered whether they had already found the Song.
Later, Aram told Egwene that when Tinkers turn 20, they leave for a year so as to see
if the Way of the Leaf is right for them. Most return to the Tuatha’an, but not all.
Aram never said his age, but he appears to be around 20 years old. So there’s that.
Egwene and Perrin are now traveling East to Tar Valon with the Traveling folk, which is
good. Because that is where everyone else is also heading as well.
Let’s now look at Rand and Mat. First off, Rand and Mat discussed how Dana
had said that one of the five of them was the Dragon Reborn. That confused them since
they don’t realize that Nynaeve is still alive. And the show tried to misdirect the
viewer by cutting to a scene of Logain as if he was one of the five that Dana was speaking
about. But he was not. Logain is not one of the five, but yes, Logain is special. Very
special. The three of them got to a farm and planned
on sneaking into the barn at night, but the father caught them on his property. Rand managed
to defuse the situation, which was good since somehow, the mother and son had also snuck
up on the group. So they got a place to sleep for the night
and a few things happened. First off, Rand began doing work, but Mat had to take a break.
He is beginning to get very sick. As you can see, there is a black mist coming out of his
mouth. No one realizes it, but Mat took a dagger from Shadar Logoth. And that dagger
is taking a toll on Mat physically, emotionally, psychologically … So if you noticed that
Mat seemed different after Shadar Logoth, if you noticed that he seemed more annoying,
this is why. The dagger. The farmer’s daughter brought Mat food, and this reminded him of
his own sisters. So Mat is still Mat, at least, part of the time. And it’s also worth noting
that she gave him a doll named Birgitte. The name of a legendary heroic archer – Birgitte
Silverbow. Remember that name. Birgitte Silverbow. Thom told Rand some of his backstory. How
he had a nephew named Owyn who could Channel. How Aes Sedai found his nephew and gentled
him. Not long after, his nephew Owyn took his own life. So as you can imagine, just
like Rand, Thom does not like Aes Sedai. Thom said that they need to keep Matt away from
the Aes Sedai, so obviously Thom has planted more seeds of doubt in Rand about the Aes
Sedai. That night, Rand assured Mat that he was there
for him no matter what happened. Then he blew out the candle, which was a nice nod to the
Flame and the Void. The Flame and the Void is a tactic of meditation and focus that Tam
had taught Rand to use with the bow and arrow. Rand then had yet another dream of Ba’alzamon,
after which, he woke and found Mat inside the farmer’s home. The famer and his wife
were dead, and Mat held the dagger in his hand, suggesting that Mat killed them. But
Mat was not alone. He pointed up, and a Fade came forth. Thom yelled for the boys to run.
And they did just so. Look at how the Fade glides backwards here. Awesome stuff. Thom
then threw a knife, and the Fade caught it. Fades are badass. But in poetic fashion, Thom
was able to protect Rand and Mat from the Fade as a nod back to his inability to protect
his nephew, Owyn, from the Aes Sedai. Shout out to the Gleeman – Thom Merrilin.
As they rode off, Mat wondered whether the Fade killed the little girl, or if he killed
the little girl … tragic either way. She was adorable. And unfortunately, Mat left
behind the Birgitte doll. Okay, next up, two of the best characters
in the entire story: Nynaeve and Lan. Over the course of the episode, Nynaeve grew
fond of Lan. And the same could be said of Lan’s feeling towards Nynaeve. Since Moiraine
is bonded to Lan, she could sense his emotions. Towards the end of the episode, Nynaeve found
Lan doing a ritual of his people – the Malkieri. Nynaeve then said some words in the Old Tongue.
She did not know what they meant, but they were the last thing that her parents had said
to her when they hid her in a cellar during an attack on her village. Lan translated.
Those words were the last thing that the King of Manetheren said to his wife before the
battle they knew they’d lose. Quote: “We shall go into the land so our children can
always hold us and will never be alone.” Place your bets now. Odds are: we will hear
those words again. The showrunner Rafe Judkins said that he fought
to get a Lan and Nynaeve scene into the show, and this has got to be it.
At the end of this scene, Nynaeve said that Lan is not exactly who she thought he was.
He was not just a lapdog with two legs. Little does she know, there are still many layers
about al’Lan Mandragoran’s onion to pull back. He is a very complex man. My guess is
that there will be more to come in episode 6. Lan countered that Nynaeve was exactly
what he thought she was, but he never got to finish that thought because they were attacked.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. This episode spoke to power levels. Logain is very
powerful, or rather, he was very powerful. Lan asked Moiraine if Logain was more powerful
than Egwene, and Moiraine said she doesn’t know. But she doesn’t think so. True or
not, that is the first clue that Egwene’s potential with the One Power is massive. And
Egwene is not the only one. Allana and Liandrin Sedai are strong. Moiraine
Sedai is very strong. And Kerene Nagashi, who was the Captain General of the Green Ajah
– the Battle Ajah – is even stronger than Moiraine. Kerene has held off armies by herself,
so Moiraine was confused why she seemed so exhausted after healing Moiraine. The reason
was Logain. Logain was incredibly powerful. It required two sisters at a time to shield
him from the One Power as they traveled to Tar Valon. And it was taking a toll on them.
Liandrin is of the Red Ajah so she tried to convince Kerene that they should gentle Logain.
But the head sister known as the Amyrlin Seat instructed them to bring Logain to her at
Tar Valon. So they tried to do that. But then Logain’s followers attacked. And
Logain freed himself from the shields. Logain then burnt down his cage and claimed himself
as the Dragon Reborn. He would not be caged. But then, Moiraine walked in. And instead
of fighting him, she spoke to him. She seduced him, not with sex, but with conversation.
Keep in mind, she knew he wasn’t the Dragon Reborn because he was too old to be. She was
just distracting him and buying time for her sisters to recover.
Logain told Moiraine how he had conquered the kingdom of Ghealdon. And how he could
hear the voices of thousands of Dragons before him, telling him what to do. Moiraine told
Logain that he was mistaken. That the Wheel doesn’t want anything. It is people that
want. A very, very important concept at the heart of this story. Moiraine also said that
the voices that he hears in his head are the whispers of madness. And that as strong as
he is, his power a trickle. A pinprick of candlelight against the raging sun that will
be the Dragon Reborn. Shots fired! Kerene then blasted him with a weave of wind,
and the three of them attempted to shield Logain. But it is very difficult to shield
someone when they are already touching the One Power, especially someone as strong as
Logain. So he was able to shoot out what look to be three spears of Spirit. Kerene Sedai
shielded both Moiraine and Liandrin at her own expense. What a sacrifice!
Outside, Kerene’s Warder named Stepin felt her die. It crushed him, and almost cost him
his life. Similarly, Liandrin began to channel so much of the One Power that Moiraine warned
her that she might burn herself out, which is another way of saying that if one draws
more of the One Power than they can handle, they will lose the ability to channel. Or
even worse, they may die. When Stepin got inside, he went after Logain
in what MMA fans would refer to as a double-axed superman attack of rage and his axes partially
breached the shield, which allowed Logain to touch them. The axes exploded into the
room, wounding everyone, except for Nynaeve. As we already mentioned, over the course of
the episode, Nynaeve bonded with al’Lan Mandragoran. Not like a Warder bond. But like
a friend, or rather, like a lover. Nynaeve loves Lan. And Logain nearly killed him. Nynaeve
could not have that. So in a moment of rage, Nynaeve exploded like the radiant sun that
Moiraine had told Logain about in terms of the Dragon Reborn. Nynaeve is powerful. Very
powerful. She healed everyone. After all, Nynaeve is
actually one of the best healers in the world. So it begs the question: why couldn’t Nynaeve
heal Moiraine in the first place? Well, she actually did, a little bit. As I pointed out
in the last video, there was a magical sound and Moiraine opened her eyes. Why? Because
Nynaeve had unknowingly healed Moiraine just a little bit with the One Power. The show
will expand on this, most likely in the next episode, but I’ll throw this out there now
without being too spoilery. Unlike Aes Sedai, Nynaeve was never taught
to use the One Power. But Nynaeve had the spark. And unlike most girls, she learned
to control the One Power without going to the White Tower and being trained as an Aes
Sedai. But the thing is, Nynaeve has a lot to learn. For now, she unknowingly taps into
the One Power when she gets mad. So in terms of episode 3, Nynaeve is a loving person.
So she got mad that she could not heal Moiraine’s wound. And because of her anger, she unknowingly
touched the One Power and healed Moiraine a little bit, which again, is why we heard
that magical sound and saw Moiraine open her eyes.
And in episode 4, Lan was dying. Once again, that made Nynaeve mad. Very mad. So she exploded
with light and healed everybody. Afterwards, Logain walked forward in awe. He even began
to tear up, which allowed the Aes Sedai to link with Liandrin so that she could gentle
him. Logain then laid there, crying due to the loss of the One Power. And yes, I cried,
too because Nynaeve was my favorite character from the beginning, and Zoe Robins has brought
her to life better than I could have imagined. I feel very lucky to be seeing her and everyone
else on screen. That was what I was thankful for this Thanksgiving. Everyone involved in
the production of this show, especially Zoe Robins. Thank you. And Happy Thanksgiving.