Hello again, Wheel of Time fans! The wheel has woven as the wheel willed and now I’m ⅔ through Lord of Chaos, the sixth book in the series. My thoughts are, as always, ever-changing, so here we are with a little update. Yes, I’m still reading it with Todd, and yes, I’m still enjoying it. Here are my latest observations.

Also, a note of apology to everyone who’s commented on my previous Wheel of Time posts and not received a response from me! The fan community is so vast, and I’m happy some of you found me and chimed in with your thoughts on the series. I’m going to try and be better in future updates about responding to comments and interacting. I really want to discuss things with the fan community, but I’m also very afraid of spoilers for this series.

But now, without further preamble, here are some things I’m noticing as I read Lord of Chaos. (Some spoilers for the series up through Lord of Chaos to follow.)

1. Wow, the Aes Sedai are in a pickle.

I don’t think that I initially anticipated the Aes Sedai developing such a complex relationship with both the people around them and themselves. With Elaida ruling in the White Tower and Salidar acting as a base for Aes Sedai who oppose her, they’re kind of at a standstill politically. Part of what makes the Aes Sedai so imposing to other rulers, I imagine, is their sheer force as a united front. Yes, they wield saidar, which is scary to most people. Magic is simultaneously everywhere in the series, yet only controlled by a few—and that’s scary for your normal folks. If I was just a fishmonger in a marketplace, I might think twice before interacting with Aes Sedai that could kill me instantly with the One Power. But with the Tower split in two, the Aes Sedai don’t present the united front that they once did. I’m really excited to see how this all shakes out.

2. Nynaeve did what?!

Nynaeve has been personally questing to learn more about Healing since she found out Aes Sedai have a whole Ajah dedicated to the art. Part of what interests me about Nynaeve is her dedication to helping others, even as she remains very prickly herself. Nynaeve doesn’t necessarily love people, but she does want to fix them, and that presents an interesting juxtaposition in her character. Nynaeve isn’t a nice person per se, but man she wants to do good. That’s compelling! In Lord of Chaos, Nynaeve does the unthinkable by Healing Logain, then Siuan and Leane, allowing them all to use the Power again, allowing them to tap back into saidar and saidin even though they’d all been cut off from it previously. I called this earlier in the series, questioning if Logain would serve a bigger role in the series, then wondering if he’d be Healed. It makes sense that Nynaeve was the one to discover how to do this; her desire to help others—and maybe more so her desire to fix problems—outweighs her personal blocks to the power. Despite her weird stereotypes (She hates men! She’s suspicious of everyone!), Nynaeve is one of my favorite characters. Underneath all that abrasiveness, she’s very good.

3. Morgase is on an adventure with Lini, and it’s the side plot we didn’t know we needed.

Everyone believes Morgase to be dead except for the select few who’ve seen her, but in reality, she’s out adventuring with Lini, Elayne’s old nurse, and trying to save Andor from certain doom. While we don’t see much of Morgase and Lini or their travels, it’s good to know another plot is being set into motion, and I’m curious to see how it develops. After hearing so much about Lini from Elayne in previous novels, it’s refreshing to see that her perception of Lini is actually pretty accurate. Yes, Lini is full of small wisdoms and stories that teach lessons about life. Yes, Lini is kind of mean. Morgase is queen, but Lini still puts her in her place when need be. Long live Lini. I need more of this plot line.

4. I’m still perplexed by the hordes of women waiting to jump on Rand.

Early on in the series, it became apparent that Rand was going to marry multiple women—namely Elayne, Aviendha, and Min—but I wasn’t prepared for how many women would want to bed Rand throughout the series. Honestly, even those first three confuse me. Rand is immature, and he acts rashly. I guess it’s attractive that he’s the Dragon Reborn, that he has some huge cosmic fate woven into the tapestry, but like...he’s really annoying, isn’t he? I’m not sure what makes everyone want to be with him. Because this is Robert Jordan (chaste, wholesome author of my dreams), we don’t actually see a lot of sex scenes in the novel. While you might think that means everyone would keep those sexual feelings hidden, it actually results in a very horny series. And I have to be honest, I’m here for it. Rand knows he shouldn’t be thinking of Aviendha sexually, but hey, he does. And he has to wrestle with those feelings. For me, the struggle of knowing who you should love and who you want to love is compelling—especially since for Rand it’s a fairly high stakes decision. What bothers me about this plot is that I know all three women are going to end up with Rand, and I’m not sure how they’ll all feel about it. Elayne and Aviendha love each other as sisters, and for Aviendha multiple marriages are not a huge deal—the Aiel embrace marriages with multiple wives who boss around their husband. But have Elayne and Aviendha contemplated both being tied to Rand? I guess they haven’t really had time to, but it’s an issue they’re going to have to face, likely sooner rather than later. Jordan seems awfully hung up on marriage as a key component of his romances.

5. Where is everyone?

I’m feeling let down that it’s been two books since I’ve gotten much of Perrin and Mat. They’ve been around, discussed briefly, but I really want to spend some time with them, as I find them way more interesting than Rand (although who Rand has chosen to surround himself with has ultimately made him a bit more interesting). I’m particularly curious to see what happens to Mat as he continues to have intrusive thoughts echoing out from the past, voices from Manetheren crowding into his head. In Dungeons & Dragons campaigns I’ve played in, the concept of multiple voices within one person has interested me, and Mat’s easing down that path. Sure, Rand is, too, but Lews Therin’s voice always comes off as more comical than tortured. We get it, Lews, you killed your lover. We. Get. It.

6. I miss Moraine, but I love Siuan and Liane.

Moraine might be gone in Lord of Chaos, but her influence lives on. Rand is a much more calculated and thoughtful individual because of her teaching, but he still has a long way to go before he can be a real leader. We took a break between Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos to read New Spring, a novel Jordan wrote much later, but that takes place when Moiraine and Siuan were just ascending into their full roles as Aes Sedai. It felt like a gut punch to read New Spring, to see Moiraine so sassy and full of life, after just reading about how she was killed in Fires of Heaven. Her loss is palpable in Lord of Chaos, not because anyone mentions her that often, but because now Rand is fully unleashed. He doesn’t feel beholden to anyone, and rarely listens to anyone who offers him advice. I miss Moiraine’s guidance, and her ability to put Rand in his place in the slyest way possible. That being said, seeing more of Siuan and Leane is a treat. Even without their powers for a large part of the novel, they manage to maneuver their way through Aes Sedai society, finding out information and investigating on their own terms. They don’t give up when everything is turned against them.

Another update that is related, but unrelated: Todd and I are getting married in June, almost two years after we started this series together. Pages from the mass market paperbacks I’ve destroyed (from reading too roughly) are going to be fashioned into paper flowers that are going into my bouquet. Yes, we are nerdy nerds and I love it.

You can read my other Wheel of Time updates here and here. Is anyone else rereading the series? Let us know! You can write in, leave a comment, or DM us!