So this one time I wrote a feminist interpretation of the Wheel of Time, keying in on—SPOILER?—the Dragon Reborn's madness as toxic masculinity and the Amyrlin's foil to this. If I can dust this off ... https://t.co/lpv63jLAVt
@attphc@maiden_of_spear There's a strong case that the 4th Age isn't a happy time. Mat & Aludra invent guns. Aiel are probably exterminated. The Dragon's Peace is really a cold war btwn the Seanchan and the White & Black Towers. Tuon remaining doggedly committed to her slave empire is just part of that.
@LondonCRiver Yeah I always thought one of the small good things to come from the pandemic might be the normalization of wearing masks when you're sick or at risk.
@RayRichardsWOT Spanking a victim for aggression against her enslavers while gently soothing the enslavers is more black & white for me. I overall do like the courtship. It's interesting Mat actively develops feelings for Tuon bc he thinks it's inevitable. This could've been a sharper conflict.
I'm in Knife of Dreams of my WoT reread and I usually like Mat but I have been *disgusted* this book. I had entirely forgotten that he *spanks* Joline (wtf?). For accidentally striking him but really because she was assaulting the sul'dam. Just ... gross.
Helluva contrast when a bit later Tuon collars the Aes Sedai. If ever there was a time to resort to violence! Instead he calmly talks her down while he unlatches the a'dam. The courtship of Tuon is pretty fun and compelling, but on the first read you think Mat will change her.
It's fair he may not have thought about that possibility in the moment. There was shock, etc. But he'd think of it later, when she was still in the city. And it's well within Rand's LoC character to threaten Alanna and force her to release the bond.
So ... plot hole?
Just saw a tweet from a WoT First Timer about Alanna forcibly bonding Rand in LoC and it reminded me I've always thought this was a plot hole.
Bonding a channeler breaks the compulsion possibilities, right? So why didn't Rand just demand she remove the bond?