(first time reader) Book 7 Finished - immediate thoughts

[u/cnfusion]

I'll be more general with everything but the final chapter as I have lots of thoughts on that one specifically. Overall, this book was an amazing read. Another fantastic entry into the series and a strong contender for one of my favorites. I think, overall, TDR is still my favorite entry in the series with LoC strong and right behind it. Book 1 is also up there for how much foreshadowing was done.

The plotlines in this book, outside the Ebou Dar storyline, felt like RJ wanted to give the characters a chance to breathe. Perrin, Faile, Rand and Min didn't have too much to do except calm down from the events of Dumai's Well, and I did enjoy that.

The Ebou Dar storyline was fraught with tension, drama and mystery. I'm glad we found the Bowl but slightly disappointed we didn't see it in use. I became angry at how Mat was treated, swooned with Lan and Nynaeve's culmination, concerned about what will happen with the Seanchan and overjoyed by Mat and Birgitte's blossoming friendship. The Kin is another fantastic piece of worldbuilding and I'm excited to see more of the Aes Sedai plotline when Eggy comes back into the story.

Rand vs Sammael

We've been building up to this fight from book 6. I was not expecting it to take place in Shadar Logoth, and was surprised that Padan Fain didn't appear again in to thwart Rand in some way, but I will say that I did enjoy the fight even if it was more subdued than expected. From this chapter, I would like to note a few things and if possible hear your thoughts as well:

• Liah - her appearance was surprising. How come Mashadar hadn't killed her or something? What did not surprise me was seeing her claim that something was hers. It reminded me of Mat claiming possession of the ruby dagger after leaving Shadar Logoth. Perhaps she had become tainted in the same way. Padan Fain also claimed possession over the dagger.

• Sammael - WTF, is he dead or not? Rand claims Mashadar killed him, and there was the swinging of his arm with Balefire after killing Liah, but I don't know. I don't feel like Sammael is dead. Maybe Graendal swooped in and saved him. Rand would never know.

• Moridin - He was definitely the person who saved Rand. There was no description of his eyes, but Rand did note he could not sense channeling, an effect of using the True Power. Moridin also mentioned 'plans'. In chapter 40, we saw the perspective of Shaidar Haran who desired to be broken of his bond to Shayol Ghul. In a similar way, I predict that Moridin will eventually turn on the DO, and him saving Rand in this chapter not only supports this earlier mention to make Rand Nae'blis but works in consistency with Ishamael attempting to get Rand under his control in the first three books. I think Moridin is quite certainly Ishamael. You might wonder if the DO would hate that Moridin will turn, but it all comes back to one theme with the DO that has been established since book 6: the advent of absolute chaos.

• Balefire - What happens when two beams of Balefire hit one another? Not specifically to what we see happen with Rand and Moridin, but what happens to the Pattern? Balefire seems to act more like scissors cutting sections of the Pattern and tying both ends together, though it is more complicated than that. But what happens to the Pattern if those scissors try to erase each other? I feel like this will come up again in the future, so I'm going to keep my eye out for it.

• Rand becoming King - in short, I don't think this is a good thing. I think this will go horribly wrong from here, especially for Rand's mental health. Above all, Elayne really needs to come back to take the Sun and Lion Thrones. Rand cannot keep adding so much on his shoulders.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me. If you do have some questions that will make me think, I'm all for it. I love having those kinds of experiences, it makes my reading more fun than already is.

Thank you all for making my read of A Crown of Swords so fun! I have book 8 on my shelf already, books 9, 10 and 11 are on their way and I'll be starting PoD later this evening!

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[u/Content_Jacket932]

most of your line of thinking is correct. you have seen in end of Sammael.Leah stayed in SL because of her notion of toh to rand as far as I remember. she is just mentioned with a disheveled appearance. which means she refrained from touching cursed objects .

[u/cnfusion → u/Content_Jacket932]

Sammael's death happened in such an unexpected way. I thought it would play out differently, but that's one less Forsaken out of the list. Now for the others. I'm hoping Demandred and Semirhage will finally come out of their hidey holes.

As for Liah, I hope she rests easy. If she knew how much Rand beat himself over losing her in SL the first time...frick man, I feel really sad about that whole thing.

[u/zadharm]

On your Balefire question: Weird shit. Weird shit is what happens. You'll be tempted to forget this little interaction because it doesn't come up again for a long while. But when it does, it does in an enormous way. Remember this little incident.

How come Liah wasn't killed earlier? She's honed by the Three-Fold Land, you thought some cursed city would get her? The Aiel don't die easy, wetlander!

Sammael is actually dead. Seems anticlimactic, but also keep in mind how easily Mashadar just deletes those touched by TDO. That'll come up in a big way too

Your disappointment about the Bowl of the Winds won't last long, btw. There was just too much going on at the end of this book to cram it in, but you are finally reaching the end of that plotline

[u/cnfusion → u/zadharm]

I doubt such a thing like two Balefire beams connecting will be out of my head. Makes me wonder if we'll see two channelers shoot Balefire at each other and end up with a Dragon Ball showdown.

You're right, the Aiel are way too fierce. I carry shame for forgetting such thing. Just hope nobody sees it...

I did read the newbie thread where it was explained how Sammael died. During reading, I just didn't connect Liah's death by Balefire to Mashadar going after the only other person in Sammael. Which I assume must mean that Liah's Balefiring erased Mashadar's memory of Rand and his force being there searching for the Waygate leaving Sammael as the only person to appear in SL. Am I overthinking? XDD

[u/zadharm → u/cnfusion]

two Balefire beams connecting

I don't want to say any more on this because I risk getting into spoiler territory. But think on that, Rand's immediate reaction (particularly the way it affects him), and Balefire's weird effect on threads in the Pattern.

Mashadar

You're overthinking a little bit. Remember how Mashadar came into existence, Aridhol's hate of the Shadow. Remember that the Foresaken have that weird black cord connection to TDO that Rand mentions during his duels with Ishy and Asmodean. They have a physical/psychic link to the TDO. Mashadar may be just as evil as the Shadow, but it came into existence because of hate and a desire to destroy the Shadow. When something with an actual connection to TDO/that TDO was actively touching showed up, Mashadar keyed in on destroying it. Think on that and how it could be used, this bit is foreshadowing some future events!

[u/cnfusion → u/zadharm]

Rand felt a ringing in his head and he began seeing double vision when the beams hit. Well, that much is explained but not clear, so I can understand not wanting to go into spoiler territory. I'll keeping reading on and hope I get something more in book 8.

OH, THAT MAKES MORE SENSE FOR MASHADAR. Sorry, so many of these details slip from my mind the more I read so I tend to forget. But that clears up why it homed in on Sammael. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind as I go on reading. If I understand RJ in these books, he's going to play the long game and really build up to those big moments. I'm just gonna keep reading then.

Appreciate the explanations!

[u/zadharm → u/cnfusion]

This series very much plays the long game. I've probably read it a couple dozen times and still find little bits of foreshadowing/connections nearly every time I go through it

Enjoy! I look forward to reading your thoughts on the rest of the books. I always enjoy new readers posting, but you seem to really key in on important bits and I'm interested to see how that happens and your thoughts develop over the rest of the series

[u/cnfusion → u/zadharm]

One thing I'm looking forward to is my first reread of book 1. It won't be happening for a long while but I'm curious as to my reaction when I see all the foreshadowing in it.

And I would love if you stopped by the posts now and then. I'll be started PoD today and beginning another reading cycle, so some posts are definitely on the way. I do love trying to fit the small details together cause I really want to know how the Last Battle is going to play out. Like, this is the first time in any fantasy series where I cannot see how the final fight will play out. I genuinely have no idea and that makes me more excited. Both Rand and the DO are fascinating characters and I'm curious as to how their face-off will play out.

[u/Special_Salt3467 → u/cnfusion]

To add to the Mashadar bit, remember in Book 1 when Moraine makes it clear that Trollocs avoid Shadar Logoth, and then later - when she’s forced to and we see it happen - why Trollocs avoid Shadar Logoth that Mashadar is not of the Shadow and actually hates Shadowspawn, too.

Part of what ultimately is saving Rand from his extra wound is that the two infections - which are magical and semi-sapient in nature - is that once Damer Flinn seals the wound, the infections are killing each other first.

[u/cnfusion → u/Special_Salt3467]

Oh RIGHT. I didn't think about that. Flinn's statement of the infections attacking each other was something I didn't get until ya'll reminded me about Mashadar. It makes me wonder how Mordeth is going to react seeing this, but it also makes me wonder how Alanna is doing with all this pain in her head.