11-27-2021, 07:13 PM
Great episode. Big fan all around. This is not criticizing, just a few thoughts.
Logain is a little too righteous savior at the beginning. The hair, long robes, and the overwhelming piousness made him a little too Jesus and less False Dragon that everyone feared. Perhaps if they'd shown him actually conquering, or his army actually fighting the army of Ghealdan, it would have helped dispel the softness of his presence. Keep in mind. Logain is one of my favorites in the series. Not criticizing. Just my opinion. I've read that Rafe and co don't and usually can't bring in actors for a short episode only to have them disappear for an entire season. It's bad on the contracts and can't guarantee you'll get them back when you really need them. That's been the explanation behind why we haven't seen Elyas yet. He has a cameo early on then gone for ages. Hopefully this suggests Logain will feature throughout the rest of the season. Watching him go from holy man savior figure to depressed and hopeless to a loyal follower of Rand and badass Asha'man will be a good arc.
I don't think Logain was talking to past Dragons. The male and female taint-heads were made of taint-threads, suggesting they are manifestations of the taint not actual threads in the pattern talking to him. Even LTT talking to Rand ended up being madness and not the real LTT. I don't think they are whispers of the Dark One either. I think it's actual madness that he made up. The Elusha thing could be what he imagines to be a previous female dragon just as the male head could be some former male Dragon, but I think they're the manifestations of what he thinks are previous Dragons. The male channeler that Liandrin gentled had an imaginary friend too. I don't think they are Forsaken fucking with him either.
There were 7 full Aes Sedai in the camp. Not sure if the 7 includes Moirane or if she makes the 8th, but regardless, that's a shit ton of Sisters that it took to capture Logain. Liandrin and Alanna snuck into his tent and shielded him while he slept. It's definitely plausible that two strong Sisters can shield Logain, who at this point is probably not at his full strength. It's far easier to shield a superior channeler if they are not actively fighting it or actively holding onto the source. Keeping them shielded is also easier that way. I think it's plausible the two sisters were able to hold onto the shield despite his strength.
His escape seemed to me due to a disruption in the shielding when the Sisters were distracted. His smile was to me an indicator that he was waiting for them to be distracted. It only takes a small fluctuation in the shield to bust through, especially for a strong channeler like him. That's why they had to concentrate so hard, sitting in chairs staring at him and barely talking. Once the army attacked, the Sisters were shocked and distracted just long enough that he busted through. Not sure if the attack by Kerene's warder impacted any of that, but it's possible.
Once busted through, he's actively channeling. That's why even 3 Sisters couldn't re-shield him. It took a circle of Sisters linking with Liandrin to give her the strength to overcome him.
Moiraine was wobbly when she was first healed, but by the time she made it to the cave, she stated she'd regained enough of her strength to help, but there was a nasty scar on her shoulder. Kerene used the battlefield healing common to the Aes Sedai. Nynaeve healed with Restoration. She simultaneously healed everyone and they popped up fresh as daisies ready to full on channel. No nasty throat scars.
Nynaeve's brightness to me was not the light of a Ta'veren. It was the light of Saidar. Moiraine glowed with that same white backlight when fighting trollops in EF. Liandrin glowed a little but when she strained, her cheeks looked like they were burning from within. She was close to burning herself out. Nyn's brightness was the backlit glow of Saidar. That was her using her strength. Even Moiraine says Egwene and Elayne are candles compared to Nynaeve. Nice nod to that sentence when she said it too Logain.
I think we are going to get the show equivalent of RAFO about Mat and the Grinwells, who killed who. Course, it could be that Mat killed nobody and the blackness had started to seep through the farm and it killed the family. The little girl could have run away. Parents told her to run. Who knows why she was outside. But I am with ck. Don't think it was Mat. The dagger was clean and he was probably occupied with either chasing, hunting, or finding the Fade.
The fade emerged only after Mat transitioned out of zombie Mat and back into normal Mat. The Fade was afraid of the dagger/blackness. Could be what the Fade tracked to find Mat also. The Dark One's followers can sense the Shadar Logoth evil and vice versa. Although, in the books, the Fade drives the trollocs into Shadar Logoth, so it clearly isn't too afraid to confront it. Not sure what happened there. But I think it's a RAFO (or never find out).
All in all. Two big thumbs up.
Logain is a little too righteous savior at the beginning. The hair, long robes, and the overwhelming piousness made him a little too Jesus and less False Dragon that everyone feared. Perhaps if they'd shown him actually conquering, or his army actually fighting the army of Ghealdan, it would have helped dispel the softness of his presence. Keep in mind. Logain is one of my favorites in the series. Not criticizing. Just my opinion. I've read that Rafe and co don't and usually can't bring in actors for a short episode only to have them disappear for an entire season. It's bad on the contracts and can't guarantee you'll get them back when you really need them. That's been the explanation behind why we haven't seen Elyas yet. He has a cameo early on then gone for ages. Hopefully this suggests Logain will feature throughout the rest of the season. Watching him go from holy man savior figure to depressed and hopeless to a loyal follower of Rand and badass Asha'man will be a good arc.
I don't think Logain was talking to past Dragons. The male and female taint-heads were made of taint-threads, suggesting they are manifestations of the taint not actual threads in the pattern talking to him. Even LTT talking to Rand ended up being madness and not the real LTT. I don't think they are whispers of the Dark One either. I think it's actual madness that he made up. The Elusha thing could be what he imagines to be a previous female dragon just as the male head could be some former male Dragon, but I think they're the manifestations of what he thinks are previous Dragons. The male channeler that Liandrin gentled had an imaginary friend too. I don't think they are Forsaken fucking with him either.
There were 7 full Aes Sedai in the camp. Not sure if the 7 includes Moirane or if she makes the 8th, but regardless, that's a shit ton of Sisters that it took to capture Logain. Liandrin and Alanna snuck into his tent and shielded him while he slept. It's definitely plausible that two strong Sisters can shield Logain, who at this point is probably not at his full strength. It's far easier to shield a superior channeler if they are not actively fighting it or actively holding onto the source. Keeping them shielded is also easier that way. I think it's plausible the two sisters were able to hold onto the shield despite his strength.
His escape seemed to me due to a disruption in the shielding when the Sisters were distracted. His smile was to me an indicator that he was waiting for them to be distracted. It only takes a small fluctuation in the shield to bust through, especially for a strong channeler like him. That's why they had to concentrate so hard, sitting in chairs staring at him and barely talking. Once the army attacked, the Sisters were shocked and distracted just long enough that he busted through. Not sure if the attack by Kerene's warder impacted any of that, but it's possible.
Once busted through, he's actively channeling. That's why even 3 Sisters couldn't re-shield him. It took a circle of Sisters linking with Liandrin to give her the strength to overcome him.
Moiraine was wobbly when she was first healed, but by the time she made it to the cave, she stated she'd regained enough of her strength to help, but there was a nasty scar on her shoulder. Kerene used the battlefield healing common to the Aes Sedai. Nynaeve healed with Restoration. She simultaneously healed everyone and they popped up fresh as daisies ready to full on channel. No nasty throat scars.
Nynaeve's brightness to me was not the light of a Ta'veren. It was the light of Saidar. Moiraine glowed with that same white backlight when fighting trollops in EF. Liandrin glowed a little but when she strained, her cheeks looked like they were burning from within. She was close to burning herself out. Nyn's brightness was the backlit glow of Saidar. That was her using her strength. Even Moiraine says Egwene and Elayne are candles compared to Nynaeve. Nice nod to that sentence when she said it too Logain.
I think we are going to get the show equivalent of RAFO about Mat and the Grinwells, who killed who. Course, it could be that Mat killed nobody and the blackness had started to seep through the farm and it killed the family. The little girl could have run away. Parents told her to run. Who knows why she was outside. But I am with ck. Don't think it was Mat. The dagger was clean and he was probably occupied with either chasing, hunting, or finding the Fade.
The fade emerged only after Mat transitioned out of zombie Mat and back into normal Mat. The Fade was afraid of the dagger/blackness. Could be what the Fade tracked to find Mat also. The Dark One's followers can sense the Shadar Logoth evil and vice versa. Although, in the books, the Fade drives the trollocs into Shadar Logoth, so it clearly isn't too afraid to confront it. Not sure what happened there. But I think it's a RAFO (or never find out).
All in all. Two big thumbs up.
Only darkness shows you the light.