12-08-2021, 10:34 PM
I’ve been thinking about Rand and if there’s any other reason they might have underplayed him so far (other than trying to hide him as the dragon). It’s at the point now that he’s noticeable precisely because the others all have something going on, and in that sense the camouflage no longer works anyway. If they really wanted to obscure it as a “surprise” then surely all the E5 would be presented as a likely possibility?
I was thinking about how the majority of Mat’s character-work was done in the early episodes, particularly in the changes they made to his background. Once he’s corrupted by the dagger, his character is essentially on ice. He can’t grow, he can’t do anything really, until he’s free of that curse. They had to get that stuff in early for us to care about Mat and what he goes through; he spends a long time sick under the dagger's influence.
Are they just trying to do the opposite with Rand?
Are they sticking with the tenacious, stubborn, loyal farm-boy for so long on purpose, not to disguise him as the dragon, but because that IS the point of his arc in the show? Stick with me, I know I ramble haha.
We’re shown Rand's always wanted the white picket fence. He was content in Emond’s Field. He was the ONLY one of the kids content in Emond’s Field. Mat had family problems, Perrin had a tense marriage, and Egwene dreamed of bigger things (I’m not including Nynaeve here because she’s the only one of the E5 who leaves by choice).
He left because, like the others, he had to. But he fought back against Moiraine (the only one), and since the Shadar Logoth split his sole focus is on finding Egwene, the last bit of normal in his life (and, of course, it’s the right thing to do). But that’s it. Because he wants to go home still, I think, and probably still thinks he will. Or needs to think he will, given what book-readers know Tam said. He needs to hold onto something.
Book-readers know his sense of identity must be reeling right now, and he’s chosen not to confide in the others (or the viewers) but there are some small signs that he’s struggling. Do you remember what he told Dana about how he viewed life?
“You know what’s funny? I…I never gave much thought to the Wheel before all this. I just always done what I thought was right, then moved on to the next thing and tried to do right again. But now…I don’t know. I don’t know what’s right. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know shit, really.”
He’s clearly thinking about what Tam said. But it also sums up Rand pretty well; focusing on one thing, doing what he thinks is right, then moving on to the next thing: that’s pretty much his approach to being the dragon. And it’s what we’ve been watching him do in the show. Right now he’s focusing on that one thing, in this case finding Egwene, and just hoping for the best; hoping that once he accomplishes that task, the next step will be clearer. He still WANTS to go home afterwards. He still wants to be the farmboy who marries his childhood sweetheart and watches his kids grow. At the moment maybe it’s actually important that we feel Rand CAN go back. He’s the everyman in this, swept up against his will and just wanting a return to normal life.
It makes his being the dragon more tragic, because any of the others could have coped better with at least that part of the burden; they have things to escape, or reasons to grow. Rand really doesn’t. He’s the one who most clearly doesn’t want it, and what he does want is the farthest removed from what being the dragon will force on him.
If you look at it like that, it makes sense that they’ve withheld the Tam scene. We aren’t getting those little clues that there’s more going on, because Rand himself doesn’t want to acknowledge them. If we knew he was a channeler (or knew the life he thought he had as Tam’s son was now a suspected lie), we lose that sense that maybe Rand can escape and have the life he’s always wanted. The moment he discovers saidin is the moment he has no choice but to accept his life really will never be what he planned, and that can’t be yet: not until he’s found Egwene.
Rand has an immediate dilemma next episode, because once he does find Egwene, he has to decide what that next step is going to be for him. What is the next right thing to do? He’ll know she’s safe soon, and he already knows she will intend to stay at the Tower. Three of his friends are channelers, and Perrin has his wolf thing; from Rand’s perspective he’s very unlikely to be the dragon. So what does he do now? How does he react now all his friends are changing? How does he try to cling on? He seems so desperate for connection right now; he’s tried to reach out to Mat several times. I imagine he feels a little like he’s slowly losing everything (and everyone) that matters to him.
I wonder if we’ll see more evidence of him struggling when the kids reunite, because I do think they need to make this more obvious now. He’s been in silent crisis, and we need not only to see it now, but feel it (that’s what’s going to make the DR reveal an impact, and ep 5 makes me think they really could make a great job). They need to fill in more of the character work like they did for Mat at the beginning, so we can understand why he has been stagnating, even if we don’t know all the why of it yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have another big outburst from him. Especially when he realises how little control he has here; that Egwene really isn’t coming back. I also really hope we see more obvious signs of him dwelling on Tam, outwardly longing for the time before any of this happened, and trying to figure out what all of this means he is now -- so that when we do find out about Tam, we understand him more.
This is the emotional crunch point for him, I think. Having Rand revealed as a channeler already would have been a dilution of this conflict -- it seals his fate too early, not as the dragon, but as a man who can’t ever have an ordinary life. In delaying it, and if they play it right, his discovering he’s a channeler could potentially be very devastating for him; not because of the threat of madness, but because it’s the nail in the coffin: he’s never going home
That's his story.
I’m not sure if I’ve explained any of that very well (and sorry it’s waffly, haha), but I think they could pull it out the bag and make the dragon reveal very impactful for Rand. It hasn’t got to have the feel of a surprise, but it should feel like an emotional ride. I’m curious how they’ll handle it. I might be completely on the wrong track, but personally, I want the emotional gut punch of it being Rand, and I think something like this is how they could do it.
I was thinking about how the majority of Mat’s character-work was done in the early episodes, particularly in the changes they made to his background. Once he’s corrupted by the dagger, his character is essentially on ice. He can’t grow, he can’t do anything really, until he’s free of that curse. They had to get that stuff in early for us to care about Mat and what he goes through; he spends a long time sick under the dagger's influence.
Are they just trying to do the opposite with Rand?
Are they sticking with the tenacious, stubborn, loyal farm-boy for so long on purpose, not to disguise him as the dragon, but because that IS the point of his arc in the show? Stick with me, I know I ramble haha.
We’re shown Rand's always wanted the white picket fence. He was content in Emond’s Field. He was the ONLY one of the kids content in Emond’s Field. Mat had family problems, Perrin had a tense marriage, and Egwene dreamed of bigger things (I’m not including Nynaeve here because she’s the only one of the E5 who leaves by choice).
He left because, like the others, he had to. But he fought back against Moiraine (the only one), and since the Shadar Logoth split his sole focus is on finding Egwene, the last bit of normal in his life (and, of course, it’s the right thing to do). But that’s it. Because he wants to go home still, I think, and probably still thinks he will. Or needs to think he will, given what book-readers know Tam said. He needs to hold onto something.
Book-readers know his sense of identity must be reeling right now, and he’s chosen not to confide in the others (or the viewers) but there are some small signs that he’s struggling. Do you remember what he told Dana about how he viewed life?
“You know what’s funny? I…I never gave much thought to the Wheel before all this. I just always done what I thought was right, then moved on to the next thing and tried to do right again. But now…I don’t know. I don’t know what’s right. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know shit, really.”
He’s clearly thinking about what Tam said. But it also sums up Rand pretty well; focusing on one thing, doing what he thinks is right, then moving on to the next thing: that’s pretty much his approach to being the dragon. And it’s what we’ve been watching him do in the show. Right now he’s focusing on that one thing, in this case finding Egwene, and just hoping for the best; hoping that once he accomplishes that task, the next step will be clearer. He still WANTS to go home afterwards. He still wants to be the farmboy who marries his childhood sweetheart and watches his kids grow. At the moment maybe it’s actually important that we feel Rand CAN go back. He’s the everyman in this, swept up against his will and just wanting a return to normal life.
It makes his being the dragon more tragic, because any of the others could have coped better with at least that part of the burden; they have things to escape, or reasons to grow. Rand really doesn’t. He’s the one who most clearly doesn’t want it, and what he does want is the farthest removed from what being the dragon will force on him.
If you look at it like that, it makes sense that they’ve withheld the Tam scene. We aren’t getting those little clues that there’s more going on, because Rand himself doesn’t want to acknowledge them. If we knew he was a channeler (or knew the life he thought he had as Tam’s son was now a suspected lie), we lose that sense that maybe Rand can escape and have the life he’s always wanted. The moment he discovers saidin is the moment he has no choice but to accept his life really will never be what he planned, and that can’t be yet: not until he’s found Egwene.
Rand has an immediate dilemma next episode, because once he does find Egwene, he has to decide what that next step is going to be for him. What is the next right thing to do? He’ll know she’s safe soon, and he already knows she will intend to stay at the Tower. Three of his friends are channelers, and Perrin has his wolf thing; from Rand’s perspective he’s very unlikely to be the dragon. So what does he do now? How does he react now all his friends are changing? How does he try to cling on? He seems so desperate for connection right now; he’s tried to reach out to Mat several times. I imagine he feels a little like he’s slowly losing everything (and everyone) that matters to him.
I wonder if we’ll see more evidence of him struggling when the kids reunite, because I do think they need to make this more obvious now. He’s been in silent crisis, and we need not only to see it now, but feel it (that’s what’s going to make the DR reveal an impact, and ep 5 makes me think they really could make a great job). They need to fill in more of the character work like they did for Mat at the beginning, so we can understand why he has been stagnating, even if we don’t know all the why of it yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have another big outburst from him. Especially when he realises how little control he has here; that Egwene really isn’t coming back. I also really hope we see more obvious signs of him dwelling on Tam, outwardly longing for the time before any of this happened, and trying to figure out what all of this means he is now -- so that when we do find out about Tam, we understand him more.
This is the emotional crunch point for him, I think. Having Rand revealed as a channeler already would have been a dilution of this conflict -- it seals his fate too early, not as the dragon, but as a man who can’t ever have an ordinary life. In delaying it, and if they play it right, his discovering he’s a channeler could potentially be very devastating for him; not because of the threat of madness, but because it’s the nail in the coffin: he’s never going home
That's his story.
I’m not sure if I’ve explained any of that very well (and sorry it’s waffly, haha), but I think they could pull it out the bag and make the dragon reveal very impactful for Rand. It hasn’t got to have the feel of a surprise, but it should feel like an emotional ride. I’m curious how they’ll handle it. I might be completely on the wrong track, but personally, I want the emotional gut punch of it being Rand, and I think something like this is how they could do it.
![[Image: thal-banner-scaled.jpg]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/thal-banner-scaled.jpg)