We cold open on Ishamael entering a cave near Cairhien. He channels underneath a seal in the ceiling. A Ceiling Seal, if you will. He recites an incantation in the Old Tongue and the seal explodes, revealing a naked woman with long dark hair who is absolutely saturated in blood. She rises and Ishamael takes her outstretched hand.
Lady Anvaere awakens and prepares for her day of sitting by a window and drinking. A servant announces that her older sister has arrived. It’s Moiraine, looking ragged. She immediately walks in and starts ordering the servant around and Anvaere says it’s been decades since they’ve seen each other. Unfortunately, Moiraine has plans this morning, so maybe they can meet for lunch?
Rand is cleaning up the remnants of Selene’s inn. Selene doesn’t know that he’s the one who burned it down. She invites Rand to get away with her for a bit, to her family’s cabin in the mountains. He says no, but she’s not a big fan of no.
In the Tower, Nynaeve is sitting in her swanky new Accepted’s room alone, ruminating on her trauma. Egwene comes to check on her and is really excited to see her new ring. She tries to comfort Nynaeve but Nynaeve responds with the most uncomfortable hug, and things couldn’t be more awkward between them.
Alanna and her Warders, plus Lan, have stopped to spend some time with the Mosvani family on their way back to the Tower. There are many children running around, as well as many hens #HenNews. Alanna’s relatives tease her about her potential third Warder, but Lan has used a hair straightener and it’s all I can focus on. Later, Alanna walks up behind Lan peeing on a tree, and “urine trickling” is one of my new favorite closed captions. She tells him she knows he is not going to pull a Stepin, but what are his plans? Nynaeve might be looking for a Warder soon… huh? Huh? Lan’s not sure. Alanna tells him Moiraine changed about twenty years ago when something happened to her.
Moiraine looks through her old, dusty bedroom and reminisces about her life. She takes a bottle of Ghealdanin red and heads to the sanitarium, where she asks about Rand and then, confronts Logain, who blames her for everything that’s happened to him. Well, he’s right, because she literally had him sent here to meet up with and train Rand. Man, she’s good. Logain doesn’t want the wine but he does want Moiraine’s dagger. If Logain teaches Rand everything he knows about channeling, Moiraine will give Logain that dagger to… do what he wants with it.
Elayne and Egwene mop a hall in the Tower as Egwene laments about her relationship with Nynaeve. She wants to be there for her but doesn’t know how.
Nynaeve goes to the Warder’s Quarters but her friends aren’t there. Another Warder hits on her while Liandrin listens in. A woman hands Liandrin a letter about the Western Shore being under attack. When she confronts Leane about it, the Keeper tells her they already sent some Sisters to check it out, and to basically mind her own business. Liandrin leaves with a thinly veiled threat about both Siuan and Leane getting deposed.
Elyas and Perrin are traveling with a pack of wolves to find the caravan. Elyas explains they are wolf brothers, but don’t be stupid, Perrin, you won’t turn into an actual wolf. One second later, Elyas is chowing down on raw meat from a buck while Perrin awkwardly tries to cook his. Elyas tells him he and the wolves have been following Perrin a long time and they helped him escape the Whitecloaks. Perrin’s been sending them images of Laila in his sleep. One of the wolves, who also lost his mate, feels close to Perrin and shows him his name in a vision: Hopper.
Lan is reading the poem and it doesn’t look like it’s a very good one. Outside at the well, Maksim tells Lan Alanna masks their bond all the time, and they are still able to have a connection. If Lan wants to be with Moiraine, he should go to her.
Moiraine asks after Rand near the burned inn. The guard knows him, but doesn’t seem keen on helping her.
Rand and Selene are in the mountains on their little getaway. She talks to him again about the man she used to love and how they were so good when they were alone together. Rand wishes he could have just stayed in his peaceful home where nothing was wrong with the world. They kiss on the mountainside and this is truly a love story for the ages.
Mat and Min dice in an inn, but Mat is still terrible at this. Min tells the bartender that she is waiting for someone who will be meeting her in the attic.
Liandrin finds Nynaeve wallowing in the Testing Room. She talks to her about how hard it is to be Aes Sedai and watch everyone you love pass away around you. She really bonds with Nynaeve and gives her advice on how to deal with her pain, then drops a little nugget of info that Perrin and Loial have been captured and taken to Falme. But she doesn’t want Nynaeve to freak out or anything!
Lan tells Ihvon about how much it hurt when Moiraine said they were never equals. Ihvon laughs and says of course not, Warders are there to remind Aes Sedai they are not gods. While they’re outside, Maksim has gone into Lan’s things and shown Alanna the poem.
Moiraine arrives home where Anvaere is waiting in her room for a little chat. She says the family looked to Moiraine for help after their uncle ruined them, but Moiraine never came back. While she’s been away, Anvaere has been perfecting the game of Houses and now her son is engaged to the queen. She’s taken over all Moiraine’s eyes and ears and she knows exactly where Rand is because she is now the boss.
Elayne and Egwene are drinking again and I feel like we might have to keep an eye on this issue. Nynaeve busts in, throws the Daughter-Heir of Andor out of her own room (watch yourself, Nynaeve), then tells Egwene she is off to Falme with a hope and a dream to rescue Perrin and Loial. Of course Egwene is going with her. She already let Rand die, she can’t let them die, too.
The girls sneak through Liandrin’s secret passage and here comes Elayne behind them with my favorite line of the episode. “Yes, I’m following you, obviously.” Liandrin appears before them and calls Elayne a complication before knocking them all out against the wall with a blast of wind. Ruh Roh.
Min has a creepy dream about her two aunts forcing her to work as a fortune teller. Suddenly, Ishamael is seated across from her. He introduces himself and says he can take away her visions if she turns to the dark. She sincerely does not like this but her choices are extremely limited. Ishamael tells her to bring Mat to Cairhien.
Rand and Selene are sleeping outside, even though there’s a perfectly good cabin 100 feet away. Rand awakens to a Fade attack! He has no choice but to channel to save Selene. She is horrified at first and recoils from him but, when he says he loves her, she tells him he deserves someone who will love every part of him, even the channeling, and he shouldn’t hide it.
Alanna and her Warders discuss the poem. It’s a prophecy about Lanfear, the same thing Ishamael said when he set her free. Selene is tying Rand up in bed while we hear Ihvon and then Ishamael recite the prophecy. Selene says she’s a monster, too. She starts channeling while sitting atop Rand and then is run through by a sword from behind. Moiraine appears and slits her throat and this is really weird but it’s the second time we’ve seen a Rosamund Pike character slit someone’s throat during a sex scene. Rand immediately channels Moiraine against the wall and chokes her but thank the Light for the three oaths, so Rand believes her when she says that is goddamn Lanfear, so move your ass, al’Thor. On the ground, Selene… Lanfear… blinks and her eyes turn black as the other two race away into the night.
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