Something is coming, and we're not ready for it.
Egwene is stronger than most.
But you have ten times that power, Nynaeve.
I want to see you become so powerful that no man
will ever be able to take that away from you.
I haven't touched that dagger in six months.
I am not a threat to you.
Naivety doesn't suit you.
I know about the man you meet in Northharbor.
Walk away, or I will tell your Red Sisters where he lives.
I know very little about this sniffer
Lord Ingtar's hired.
There's a rage inside of me.
The whole dial was covered in a poem
when they found it, written in blood.
The bond made things easier.
It was like a friend chatting away so we never had to,
and now, silence.
What aren't you telling me?
What do you see now?
The Eye of the World?
Wish I didn't.
It's true, isn't it... what they say
about men who can channel?
That eventually, they go so mad,
they kill everyone they've ever loved?
It is.
Tell them I died here.
Tell them I didn't make it back.
No!
Rand?
Another nightmare?
No. I should get to work.
You still owe me room and board for this month.
Don't be late. I'll have to charge you interest.
I won't be.
Your rates are too steep for me.
All these nights together, and it's always the same ending.
Here, son.
Hey, here, friend.
Do you hear me?
You are mine, Rand al'Thor.
Ah. Lan.
You sure you don't need more Healing?
I'm fine.
I'll get you some water.
You're in luck.
My Sister and I have decided to accompany you.
I assume you'll head to the White Tower first?
I have been exiled from the Tower.
I know.
Wait.
We need to leave if I'm to make it to the docks before sunset.
I've lost too much time already.
Where exactly are we headed?
The White Tower.
- You can't... - Have Tomas ready my horse.
You're still weak from the Healing.
And I don't want my saddle to slip.
We certainly won't bloody well catch 'em
if that idiot refuses to ride a horse.
Tracking's not easy to do from horseback.
He's just sniffing the bloody air. It's not proper tracking.
Well, he's kept us on Fain's trail.
Quiet.
They crossed here.
Something doesn't feel right.
Let's go over.
Wherever we can find a crossing.
Builder, you stay with the horses.
- As you wish. - Oh.
Split up, search the grounds.
This could be a Darkfriend safe house.
There's a woman. In that house.
Sorry. We were worried that you might...
This is where it happened.
- Light. - Perrin? Perrin, you all right?
There's nobody in here.
Let's go.
Useful...
to know the difference between vision and reality.
You don't get lost so easily.
Whatever you're doing to me,
I want no part of it.
Doesn't work that way.
Seems Fain and his friends left in a hurry.
Probably felt us breathing down their necks.
Whatever scared them away, it wasn't us.
There's something you need to see.
He was alive when they did this.
When they started, at least.
What could do this to a Fade?
I don't know.
You think it was Padan Fain?
Back to the horses.
We'll stay in that village by the river tonight.
No! No!
Aielman!
My blade. Where is it?
Hurry, someone!
The Aiel have breached the wall!
- It's just me, Errol. - How do you know my name?
How did you get past the guards?
The guards let me in, like they do every day.
The Aiel War is over, my friend.
Twenty years now.
Want to go for a walk?
We've met before, eh?
We have.
This isn't some dirty trick?
No. I wouldn't dream of it.
Never thought I'd see the day.
Aielmen among us.
Nobody bats a bloody eyelash in the whole place.
Coming to take me for a walk.
We get to start fresh every day.
But we always manage.
Don't we?
Vicious fighters, you lot.
I saw one cut down a whole brigade on his own.
- And your women... - Even fiercer?
- Even fiercer. - Oh.
I'm amazed you survived.
Don't test me, boy.
Once a blademaster, always a blademaster.
Even if I have misplaced my heron-mark sword.
I'll try to sneak my sword in again sometime.
You can teach me a few more forms, right?
Take your pick.
Cutting the Clouds,
Kissing the Adder...
Just like the glory days, right, old man?
- Get out of here. - Now, come on.
He's easy to wind up, that one.
Always good for a laugh.
You're going to wind up the wrong person one of these days.
Who? You?
You clean up old man shite all day every day.
At least in the garden here,
I get to see some of the more famous residents.
Well, and the sun.
Hey.
That jerk.
He caught us by surprise.
Next time, we'll be ready for him.
Now, what'll you hit him with first?
Parting the Silk
to put him off balance.
Then Reaping the Barley, before he can right himself.
Straight to the heart.
Pretty vicious yourself, old man.
Where's Nynaeve?
Liandrin Sedai herself came in and took her.
Took her where?
Breakbone fever.
Begging your pardon, Aes Sedai. Would you?
Oh, proceed, child. We wish only to observe.
Crimsonthorn root.
- You aren't going to... - Of course she's not.
Breakbone may be a death sentence where you come from,
but here, it's easily healed.
We dilute the crimsonthorn. Takes the edge off the pain.
But the Healing is still quite uncomfortable.
Maybe you could hold her hand while I do this?
That was incredible.
Took a lot of practice.
Come.
When you become Accepted, like that young woman,
you learn from each of the Ajahs
about their speciality, their purpose:
exploring our Great Library with the Browns,
learning statecraft and diplomacy
from the... from the Grays.
And when you come here, the Yellow Sisters teach you
that Healing... it's a response
to the symptoms and disease you are presented with.
But my Ajah?
We stop the disease taking root in the first place.
Men who can channel are not a disease.
I grew up in a small village, too.
When I came here, it took a long time
for me to wrap my head around the idea
that saving one girl's life, great that may be... it pales
in comparison to what I actually could do.
Using the One Power... it slows the aging process,
lets Aes Sedai live for hundreds of years.
We can do more than just react.
We can change the course of history itself.
I could make sure that countless girls
I'll never even meet don't need to be saved in the first place.
I've asked the Mistress of Novices
to turn your studies over to me.
I heard you're not allowed to teach novices.
You've heard of the Arches?
The trial novices go through to become Accepted?
When my Sisters ask you if you're ready,
I suggest you say "yes."
Then our work can begin.
I'm allowed to teach Accepted.
Sweetcakes, Aes Sedai?
Thank you.
You should at least knock.
I might have been naked.
Oh, my heart flutters at the thought.
Are those for me?
Sweetcakes. I'm feeling generous.
- Are they... poisoned? - If I wanted you dead, boy,
I could think of far more creative options.
What do you want from me, then?
We're merely observing to make sure the effects of the dagger
from Shadar Logoth have fully passed from your system.
That why you locked that door behind you?
Enjoy the sweetcakes, Mat.
Oh, you can leave those right there. Thank you so much.
Would you mind not blocking my door?
Oh, are you a novice, too?
I was starting to think they'd put me
in a different section of the Tower.
I haven't seen another soul here since I arrived.
The day starts early around here.
And, yes, I am, but I would appreciate it if you...
Will you show me how you've done your room, will you?
It's just, with this tiny space, it's just impossible.
I've seen closets that are bigger.
- Oh, so you've just moved in, too. - Uh...
Oh, I'm so grateful I'm not the only one starting today.
You really think they'd do a better job
at cleaning up before we arrive, don't you think?
Mine was full of rubbish, too.
Oh.
No. I see. Um,
you didn't just move in.
I did not.
This is lovely stitching.
- Um... - It's Western Andoran, isn't it?
The Two Rivers?
Um...
Why are you smiling like that?
Um, it's just, um,
I'm so pleased.
I-I never thought that the Tower would let me live
with the rest of the novices.
Why wouldn't you live with the rest of us?
Oh, you know, the whole "Daughter-Heir" thing.
I'm Elayne Trakand...
Daughter-Heir of... Andor?
You're my, uh... subject.
I'm Egwene al'Vere.
Well, it's lovely to meet you, Egwene.
You know, they say
that some of the greatest pairings
in the history of the world were formed
between novices in adjacent rooms.
Cadsuane Melaidhrin and Elena Katab met just like this.
Don't you wonder what the future might hold for us?
Arinvar couldn't join you?
Uh...
There are some things best left between Sisters.
What Liandrin's proposing is just too dangerous.
Last week, she wasn't even allowed near a novice.
And now she wants Nynaeve to go through the Arches?
Nynaeve is the most powerful channeler this Tower
- has seen in... - A thousand years. Yes.
Everyone keeps saying that.
She still can't embrace the Source unless
she's angry or afraid,
- and barely even then. - She could die
in the Arches. Many have before her.
Oh, perhaps.
- Doubtful, with her power. - Do you know why
these women and men are being born now, Sister?
With so much more power than we've ever seen?
Not just Nynaeve, but Egwene and the Daughter-Heir, too.
And the false Dragons. Logain, Mazrim Taim.
The Pattern's giving us weapons.
To fight against him.
The Last Battle is near, Sister.
And would you not have Nynaeve at our side... fighting it?
You're the Mistress of Novices.
You're responsible for these girls.
Liandrin's little cabal have called for a vote, Alanna.
And, unfortunately, in the Hall,
you speak as one, not three.
That is, if you intend to be here to speak at all.
Do you want to stay?
No. Moiraine...
She needs us.
Ah, good. Did you come to help?
No. Liandrin had told me I could come by.
Is she...?
Liandrin Sedai just left.
If you hurry, perhaps you can catch her.
We'll spend the night here.
Find out if anyone's seen Fain, or whatever killed that Fade.
Light, the smell.
Tastes better than it smells.
Go in.
The first plate's on the house.
- Go, go, go, go! Go in! - Mm.
We need drink,
not some rank devil fish.
I actually quite like lionfish.
There's a certain depth of flavor to the fermentation
that makes it quite delicious.
Why am I not surprised?
Aren't you coming?
I prefer to sleep under the stars.
Suit yourself.
They're not your pack, you know.
The Shienarans.
Incredible that you can see
the Tower from here, isn't it?
Adeleas and I promised each other
we wouldn't return there until our...
"History of the World Since the Breaking" was complete.
- And yet here you are. - Yeah.
History needn't be written when it's being wrought.
Three Fades hunting a single Aes Sedai?
The eye of the Dark One is upon you, Sister.
Did you not think we would ask why?
I assume it's one of the boys you brought back
to Tar Valon last autumn?
The Dragon?
Who else knows?
Adeleas?
Tomas?
That's close enough.
Good.
I wanted to know how far you'd go for the Dragon
if you're to lead him to victory.
Our Sisters wish to cage the Dragon, to clip his wings.
Their fear that he will break the world again blinds them
to the truth:
that after all these years, our world is still broken,
and that what we need is to make it whole once more.
Well, what's broken cannot always be healed.
I need an oath of allegiance, Sister.
An oath declaring what?
That I will never betray you?
That I will never betray him?
Neither of us knows what the future may bring.
Either of those things may one day be necessary.
And even oaths have loopholes one can exploit.
Hmm. For now, you will simply have to trust me,
and I, you.
There are books in the Tower that might prove useful.
Prophecies that speak of Toman Head,
of battles in the sky, of a sword of flame
and the branded hand that wields it.
I will find them.
Come.
Come back to the fire, sit beside us, hmm?
Yah!
No. No. N...
Selene.
Listen, I don't think tonight is...
I have to be alone.
That's the funny thing about people.
When things get bad, we want to be alone.
And the gardens lead out to the city,
but we're not allowed outside the Tower without permission.
I've barely spent a few hours in Tar Valon itself.
Daughter-Heir.
Farina Sedai.
You didn't really need me
to show you around the Tower, did you?
Well, no.
Six summers here as a girl and you'd know it
- like the back of your hand, too. - Hmm.
But I didn't want to miss the chance
to get to know you better.
Take them to my room immediately.
Ah, Sheriam Sedai, I...
Who let your maids into the novice quarters
with all of this nonsense?
Oh, I...
You may be destined
for the Lion Throne of Caemlyn, child,
but here
you are a novice,
just the same as any other.
Give me the woman's name.
Now.
She only did it as a favor to my mother.
Her name.
If what she did demands punishment,
then I will take it.
Then you will be in my office
every morning for the next three months,
feeling the switch on your shoulders.
Of course, Sheriam Sedai.
Before breakfast or after?
Before.
As you wish.
And you.
Where's Nynaeve al'Meara gone off to?
I-I'm sorry, I don't know, Sheriam Sedai.
Have her come to my study
straightaway when she's back.
Of course.
I'm sorry you had to see that.
At least they pay attention to you.
The only time an Aes Sedai ever talks to me
is to ask where my friend is.
Your room.
Well...
you wanted them to clean it out.
My love.
My darling,
you wake up.
I'm with you now.
I'm here.
Now, you must try and get some of this down.
It'll take the edge off the pain.
There, there, there.
Yes. Shh.
That's better, this is better.
Shh.
What are you doing here?
The crimsonthorn, I...
I thought you were trying to kill him.
I thought he was a man who could channel.
- I... - Walk away from this place
before I do something we both regret.
He's in pain.
You think I don't know that?
I can't heal him.
His hand.
It's spasming.
Means the pain is in his heart, too.
The crimsonthorn won't help with that.
He'll still be hurting when you go.
You need turmeric milk to help smooth the inflammation.
Get out!
Before I kill you, you get out!
Get out, you stupid girl!
Get out, get out!
Oh, no. I'm sorry.
Oh...
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't know
it would hurt you.
I didn't mean to leave you here in pain.
I'm so sorry, my... my boy,
my beautiful boy.
I'm sorry.
Shit.
Come on.
Another cell.
Shit.
What?
So, you're the possum
that's been scratching at my wall.
So, what did you do to piss off the blonde?
- Nothing. - Ah.
Is it a sex thing, then?
Yeah, she looks like she'd be into domination.
Those cheekbones.
Nah. Luckily, I'm not her type.
I think she prefers her men dead.
Who are you?
And why do they have you in here?
You got any more of those?
I'm Min.
Mat Cauthon.
No, no, no, no, no.
Do not underestimate him.
Tomas, oh, he was delicious
back in the day.
But he chose our dear, sweet Verin.
And that was the end of his sex life.
How about you two?
You've never told us the story of how you met.
Come, Sister. It's late, we should, um...
Mm.
It was in the Borderlands,
wasn't it? Hmm?
You probably saw him
prancing across the desert on a black steed,
sword out, hair whipping in the wind...
It was outside Chachin.
I'd been following him on the road all day.
He kept throwing glances back at me.
I thought he was a Darkfriend.
I thought she was a mercenary
sent to kill me by my carneira.
Carneira?
Oh, in-in Malkier,
older women take young men's virginity
to, um, show them the ways of love.
Mmm.
This is getting good.
I found him by a pond,
meditating.
His face was still, but so much
raged beneath the surface.
Meditation's never come easy for me.
Especially not when you're planning on
killing an Aes Sedai.
I didn't believe you were an Aes Sedai.
I'd always heard that they were old...
...cold and sour.
He'd left his sword
sitting on a rock nearby.
But the moment my hand touched the scabbard,
he'd crossed the ten yards...
...grabbed me by the scruff of the neck
and tossed me in the water.
You threw Moiraine Sedai in a pond?
It's unwise to try separating a man from his sword.
Ah.
And that's when you knew, huh?
Any old Warder can protect you from a Trolloc.
But the right one,
he can protect you from yourself.
So...
Mm-hmm.
Think you can fit?
Yeah, let me just, uh...
A bottle of wine?
They usually let me work through one a week.
It's been a while since I could have a drink with someone.
Sorry, are you coming on to me?
Oh, please. Move.
Move, move, move. Come on.
Feels like home.
Mmm.
They really pick a color and run with it, don't they?
So, are you gonna tell me why you're in here?
I usually avoid Tar Valon.
The riverboat I was on changed course in the storm,
so I thought, "Why not?
Plenty of bar work in a big city."
Just my luck,
a Red who loves a drink recognized me.
So here I am.
But why did they want you?
I see things.
If I keep drinking this,
I'll see things, too.
What kind of things?
Glimpses of the pattern.
Like the future?
Mm.
Wow.
That is way less interesting
than I expected, to be honest.
I'd hoped for at least a murder,
or a secret affair with an Aes Sedai.
What, seeing the future isn't interesting to you?
Hmm.
You really don't want to know what I see when I look at you?
Unless it's how I get out of here...
Absolutely not.
No, I would rather
not know the shit that's headed my way.
Better head back.
They usually check while we're sleeping.
Yeah, um...
will you visit again?
I'll check my social calendar, possum,
but...
I think it's pretty open.
Min, are you all right?
I present to you
my secret weapon.
The flavor's much better
when I can brew it in small amounts.
The air weaves that increase the pressure
and speed up the fermentation,
they're just much more manageable that way.
It packs a punch.
Sorry.
You worked this out on your own?
I like to tinker with things.
Plus, when one has no friends
and isn't allowed to have fun,
one must fill the hours somehow.
Speaking of friends,
was Sheriam Sedai
asking you about Nynaeve al'Meara earlier?
Do you know her?
I take it you do.
It's just...
people say that she's quite powerful.
Egwene, are you there?
We came here together.
She's my best friend.
Light! How exciting...
Exhausting.
No, uh, no, no, it's...
it's-it's not that.
Egwene?
She's not doing anything exactly.
But I guess that's the problem.
All I do
is study,
work myself to the bone following the rules,
while she skips classes,
claiming she doesn't even want to be here.
The hardest thing is,
she says she came here for me,
to protect me.
Like she's always done.
Whether I want it or not.
But where is she when I actually need her?
She's off sparring with Warders
or becoming Liandrin's bloody protégé.
I just feel like...
...the harder I try,
the more I fall behind.
And the less she tries...
...the more she gets ahead.
Egwene.
Hmm?
I know we're only just getting to know each other,
so I hope you'll forgive me when I say...
...jealousy...
...it's not the best look on you.
I'm-I'm not jealous.
Egwene.
I am Daughter-Heir
to the most powerful nation in the world.
I know what jealousy looks like.
Egwene, I have nothing to say to you.
Liandrin Sedai.
- If this is about earlier... - If I could take back
what is about to be offered to you, I would,
but I've already set the wheels in motion,
so here we are.
Follow me.
Just tell me where we're going.
Whom do you bring with you, Sister?
One who comes as a candidate for Acceptance, Sister.
Is she ready
to face the Arches?
She is ready
to leave behind what she was,
and alone,
passing through her fears,
gain Acceptance.
Does she know what she fears?
She has never faced them
but now is willing.
Then let her face what she fears.
The hour waits for no woman.
I should have sensed the Fades were coming.
I should have...
I'm sorry.
Do you know when I actually decided you'd be my Warder?
It was after Chachin.
We were on our way back to the Tower
and we stopped at this little village.
I can't remember the name, but...
But there were three Trolloc heads
staked on spears outside the town.
A warning.
But it didn't faze you.
You'd faced so many in the Blight,
and I couldn't imagine the courage it took
to face the Shadow with...
nothing but a sword.
That's when I knew.
Because I knew that when the time came,
you'd be able to survive on your own.
You'll go to the Tower
and I'll continue alone.
I'm not leaving you.
I was wrong, Lan.
I was wrong about everything.
The Last Battle's coming,
and we're already losing it.
The cuendillar that broke at the Eye of the World,
that was the Seal keeping Ishamael imprisoned.
Ishamael?
The Forsaken?
We didn't defeat the Dark One,
we set his strongest lieutenant free.
The Forsaken are 3,000 years old.
They're the strongest channelers that ever lived,
and Ishamael may be waking the others.
What they can do with the One Power
make the Aes Sedai look like tavern magicians
conjuring birds from their sleeves.
I mean, he cut me off with a flick of his wrist.
But it takes eight Aes Sedai to cut someone off.
Alone, he couldn't, no matter how...
You have no conception of the power they wield.
Well, then tell me.
You and I walk this path together.
Every step of it.
Every choice, every sacrifice...
We've never walked this path together.
You've never seen the forest
for the trees because
I have never shown it to you.
I know what you're trying to do.
You can't push me away.
Rand's alive.
No.
You said he was dead.
You assumed.
I did what I had to do to protect
the Dragon Reborn because my loyalty
is to him
and him alone.
I took an oath to defend you.
To give my life for yours.
And without the bond,
you're unable to fulfill that oath.
- I'm still your Warder. - No, you failed me.
Without Verin and Adeleas, I would be dead.
I am not letting you walk away from me again.
I know.
Alanna will see you to the Tower.
I'll have her take your bond by force
if I must.
I swore myself to you because I trusted you.
Because I thought that we were in this together.
Equals.
That was never true, was it, Moiraine?
An Aes Sedai cannot lie.
So tell me the truth.
We were never equals.
Light protect you...
al'Lan Mandragoran.
Come on! Pull!
Hold your ground!
Rescue him!
Loial!
Shienarans, with me, at my side!
Take cover!
Stay back!
Come on.
Don't move.
What are you doing?
Get back here.
Are they ready?
They'll have to be, won't they?
Yann was attacked in the Foregate
last night, so we needed to fill the position.
It won't be much different
than what you've been doing already.
Your charges just have richer families
or a special patron, is all.
And you get some fresh air.
Your usual orderly had a terrible accident last night,
so I'll be taking care of you for the next few months.
I have a feeling you and I have a lot more in common.