“It has been quite a weight, hasn’t it?” Tam asked. The Maidens lifted their spears in salute. Not a large audience–only six men–but Rand had not noticed them. Nearby, standing near the lanterns, a handful of Warders began clapping. Sweating, Rand raised his practice sword to Tam… Tam stepped back, raising his own sword. As the fight ends, the scene drives home the point: He continues to realize that one hand may not be such a disadvantage in life and even uses his hand-less arm to block a bow. A Memory of Light eloquently deals with this issue in a scene which depicts Tam, Rand’s adoptive father, sparring with Rand and forcing him to “let go.” As they spar, Rand admires his father’s swordsmanship and his ability to fight with one hand. Rand lost a hand earlier in the series, and it leads him to wonder about his own sufficiency as a person. Embedded in this sorrowful tale, we learn that there are always “outsiders” always those in need, for whom we should be caring. How easily we dehumanize those who are in need, and how easily we ignore them or disregard their need. One wonders how often this kind of story plays out in our world. She lifted his small form and realized that he was no longer breathing… (1038-1039) They rolled down her cheeks as she undid her shirt to nurse Garlvan, though she had no suck for him. A family of Aiel are starving and they beg for food from some people passing through what used to be their land. In Towers of Midnight, there is a poignant vision of the future, one in which the Aiel have been downtrodden and their power broken. Refugees, those who have had their homes destroyed, the people who are not often even referenced in other works of fiction. The last several books of the Wheel of Time series highlight at points the plight of those who are not main characters. There are, of course major SPOILERS for the entire series in this post. Here, we’ll discuss Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light, the concluding volumes in the Wheel of Time. There are not enough superlatives for me to describe how much I enjoyed the series. It is a worth finish (well, there are no endings, nor beginnings in the Wheel of Time… but it was an ending) to the sprawling epic fantasy. The conclusion to the Wheel of Time series has arrived at long last.
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