The Wheel of Time

I'm searching for the Car'a'carn .

" He will come from the west, beyond the Spine of the World.

Of the blood but not raised by the blood."

It is my duty to return Rand al'Thor to my home

so that he may save my people and destroy them.

The Tuatha'an wouldn't hurt anyone.

Most of them didn't even run.

The Tuatha'an follow the Way of the Leaf.

We forswear violence.

In the last age, our people supposedly knew a song

that brought harmony to the world.

I know that protecting Rand, guiding him, that is the only thing that matters.

She's had you dancing on her strings this whole time.

You can't control him.

I did what I had to do to protect the Dragon Reborn.

You don't tell me what to do anymore.

I told you I'd kill her.

Not if you want my help.

I could escape my Dark Oaths.

There's a sa'angreal for women, the Sakarnen.

And what happens when he is declared Car'a'carn ?

You have not earned that title.

You haven't faced the Trial of Rhuidean.

What were you thinking of? That last pass?

Nothing.

It takes a great deal of practice to think of nothing.

Yeah, that's what my father showed me

when I was learning to use the bow.

To picture a flame in my mind and feed everything into it...

fear, hate, anger...

until my mind was empty.

Only the flame and the void.

He was a blademaster, your father.

There's a lot I don't know about him.

I know he was a soldier when he was younger.

Before me. But our life was just the sheep and the mountains.

Following the rain, the grass.

Up mountain in the summer, down in the winter.

We knew every path through our woods.

Every meadow, every stream.

You can come to know this place too.

When a lamb's mother dies during childbirth, we cut the new mother,

and we put the blood on the lamb so she accepts it as her own.

I look like them.

I know their blood flows in my veins.

But I'm not one of them.

I never will be.

But do you want to be?

There's so many things I can't be.

It would be nice to find something I can.

Well...

...you'll never be a blademaster if you keep taking breaks, being lazy.

Hold the sword how I showed you, sheepherder.

Think of your flame and void. And this time I'll actually try.

Come on.

We had a saying in the Two Rivers about a watched pot never boiling.

If only it were that easy to stop a pot from boiling.

Here is water and shade, freely given.

All here are welcome as first-sisters are welcome.

Is it only the Wise Ones who have servants?

They are gai'shain , not servants.

In the dance of spears,

the most ji is given by touching an armed enemy

without killing or harming in any way.

Those who are touched become gai'shain .

You're very comfortable answering questions

we have no interest in the answers to.

What interests you, Aes Sedai?

How you knew we were coming.

Wise Ones see many paths.

What is happening or beginning is more easily seen than what will happen or may.

We did not see Egwene at all.

It was no more than an even chance

that the young man who calls himself Rand al'Thor would come.

If he did not, it was certain he would die,

and the Aiel too.

And yet he has come,

and if he survives Rhuidean, some of the Aiel at least will survive.

This we know.

If you had not come, you would have died.

If Aan'allein had not come, you would have died.

- If you do not go through Rhuidean... - Shh.

You should not have been told.

It is possible for women to see some ways the future may be woven in Rhuidean.

No more than that.

Change comes like an avalanche, whether we want it or not.

I told you not to touch a sword.

Aiel don't touch swords.

So am I Aiel or not? You can't seem to decide.

No one touches a sword this close to the city in the clouds.

That includes you.

Are you asking me to dance, Aan'allein ?

It is time.

Stop this foolishness.

You have run with the spears as long as you can.

Longer than you should have.

I am a Maiden of the Spear.

I do not want to be a Wise One.

You were called.

And instead, you went across the Dragonwall searching for the Car'a'carn .

You cannot run from what you must be.

I too refused when called.

I thought I was as strong and hard as a woman could be.

Eventually though, I...

...I learned my duty.

My obligation to the people.

The cadin'sor , Aviendha. Your new clothes will await your return.

I ask you leave to enter Rhuidean.

The question is asked. I answer yes.

I answer yes.

If you do not return, your belongings will be given

to your family for remembrance.

A strong mind and a strong heart are your weapons now.

But you hold them as surely as you've ever held a spear.

They will see you through anything.

Come back to us.

I'll be back before you reach the slopes of Chaendaer.

You intend to enter Rhuidean tomorrow?

The Wise Ones tell me many men wait weeks on the slopes before they enter.

- I'm not them. - This arrogance will get you...

I know I have to go there.

What do you want?

I want you to tell me what you're going to do so I can help you.

You've never tried to help me, Moiraine.

That's all I've ever done.

Do you feel like you know all there is to know?

You want me to confide in you?

Tell me, whatever I decide to do, you won't try to stop me.

Say that you won't use me for the Tower's ends, or your own.

Say it plain so I know it's true.

I will do nothing to hinder you from fulfilling your destiny.

I've devoted my life to that.

But I will not promise to watch while you lay your head on a chopping block.

It's not good enough, Moiraine.

We approach Rhuidean now.

So, you've been.

All clan chiefs must go.

For the trial.

Chiefs can only speak of the city to others who have been.

If all clan chiefs and Wise Ones go to Rhuidean,

is there anything different for the Car'a'carn ?

We are marked by Rhuidean.

The very few that make it out alive, every chief, on the left arm.

The People of the Dragon.

That's what they called us once.

The Car'a'carn , he who comes with the dawn, will be marked twice.

And that is how we will know him.

The city in the clouds.

Shaido.

The peace of Rhuidean be on you.

Who comes to Chaendaer may return to their holds in peace.

There shall be no blood on the ground.

You brought wetlanders to Rhuidean.

Where is your husband, Sevanna?

Dead.

My new husband, his son, Muradin,

has entered Rhuidean, and he is there still.

And should my brother fail, I will enter.

You have not asked, Couladin.

Should Muradin fail, ask then.

We are two, enough to say yes or no.

And why have you come to Rhuidean, Rhuarc?

You've looked better...

...but it appears the Taardad still have their chief.

I ask your leave to enter Rhuidean.

The question has been asked. I answer yes.

This man is no Aiel.

It's death for him to be on this ground.

My mother was Aiel.

Your father, yes, but your mother...

He presents himself like a woman!

Do you wish to be a Wise One, Couladin?

Put on a dress and come to me, and I will see if you can be trained.

Until then, be silent when Wise Ones speak.

Melaine?

It must be done. I answer yes.

You try to make this wetlander one of us?

He is soft.

Rhuidean will kill him.

Go back to your tents, Couladin.

You as well, Rhuarc.

And you, Aan'allein .

This is the business of Wise Ones

and no man other than he who has asked.

You too, Egwene.

I'm going with him.

If you ask, we will not allow it.

You must learn what you are, and he must learn what he is.

Your paths do not align.

- I ask your leave to enter Rhuidean. - Moiraine.

You should not have been told.

Does it make a difference that I've been told?

Perhaps a great difference.

Perhaps none at all.

When we saw you go through the Rings, it was always you who asked.

And what did you see if I did not go?

We have told too much already.

Those who move with too much knowledge of the future find disaster,

whether from complacency at what they think must come

or in their efforts to change it.