The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 7 had a very deceptive scene up at Fal Dara.
The argument.
Rand was rude to Egwene, and he was even ruder to Perrin.
It made Rand seem like a total mouthbreather.
But that scene may have been more complex than that.
When they got to Fal Dara, they went to an inn, and the kids saw Moiraine speaking to
Min.
Nynaeve did not trust Moiraine, so she wondered who Moiraine was talking to and why.
Later on, Rand asked Moiraine who the bartender was.
Moiraine told them that she had known Min since Min was young.
That Min was a Seer.
That she could see glimpses of the Pattern, the future, and Moiraine had hoped that Min
would tell her which of them was the Dragon.
Moiraine believed that whoever went to the Eye of the World would die.
That the only person who would survive was the Dragon.
So she had asked Min who the Dragon was so that she could save the rest of them.
Egwene was frightened, so she asked the key question.
“Which one of us is it?”
Unfortunately, Min did not know who the Dragon was.
Moiraine went on to say that she would take all of them to the Eye the next day, knowing
that three of them would not return.
This is Rand’s face when she said that.
We will get back to this.
Nynaeve is very, very protective of the younger kids from the Two Rivers.
So her response to Moiraine was this: “You’ve made your choice.
But we’ll make our own.”
Moiraine told them that neither running nor hiding would save them from the weaving of
the Pattern.
She told them to make their decisions, and they would leave for the Eye of the World
at dawn.
So Moiraine left, and it was just the four kids from the Two Rivers.
Although Egwene was scared, she told them that they had left the Two Rivers to protect
the people whom they loved.
Their families.
And that’s what they were still doing.
No matter the cost.
Egwene said that she was not doing it because Moiraine said that they should or because
she was convinced that Moiraine even knew exactly what she was talking about.
Egwene wanted to go to the Eye of the World for one simple reason.
“I want to go to the Eye of the World, because if there's even a chance she's right...
then it's worth it.”
Look at Rand’s facial response, and listen to what he said next.
“We've lost too many people already.
I can't lose anyone else in this room.”
At this time, Rand had already heard his father elude to finding Rand as a baby.
Rand had already used the One Power to bust down a door.
When Rand saw Dragonmount, he had felt as if he had seen it before.
And in the Ways, it hand’t been Egwene who had used the One Power.
It had been Rand.
So Moiraine told the kids that everyone except for the Dragon was going to die.
Then she left, and Egwene said that she was going to go to the Eye of the World regardless.
Because it was the right thing to do.
So Rand had to do something to stop that.
“anything about that.”
“He left us!”
“Well, I guess you're the expert on that, aren't you?”
“The day you proposed to Laila, that was the day Egwene and I got together.”
“The only woman I've ever loved was my wife.”
One way to interpret this scene is that Rand was scared, and he took out his fear on his
friends.
In fact, later on, he said as much to Egwene.
“I was... scared.
I still am.”
But, without getting into details from the books, there are reasons to believe that Rand
got into a fight with Egwene and Perrin so as to push them away.
So that they would not follow him to the Eye of the World.
It’s certainly open to interpretation, especially since Rand apologized to Egwene and slept
with her after their fight.
But Rand hasn’t spoke to Perrin yet.
So we may get more color in Season 2.
For now, let me know what you think in the comment section.
Was it entirely an immature fight?
Or did Rand say those mean things because he loves them.
“We’ve lost too many people already.
I can't lose anyone else in this room.”
“I don't want to lose you.”
“You are the Dragon Reborn.”
“We’re closed.”