Contents
Chapter 25
Overview
Inside Rhuidean’s glass columns, Rand relives Aiel history through ancestral eyes. Jenn Aiel and Aes Sedai establish Rhuidean and decree that leaders must learn the truth. A prophecy foretells a coming figure who will unite and destroy the Aiel. Successive visions reveal the Aiel’s migration, the birth of spear-warfare, and their break from the Way of the Leaf, while Muradin buckles under the same trial.
Summary
Rand enters the glass columns of Rhuidean and immediately inhabits the life of Mandein, a young sept chief. Mandein and other chiefs meet the Jenn Aiel at Rhuidean, where aged Aes Sedai and Jenn leaders demand that any who would lead must come to Rhuidean to learn the Aiel’s past, or die. A dark-eyed Aes Sedai prophesies one who will come at dawn from Rhuidean, of the blood but not raised by it, to bind the Aiel and destroy them. Accepting the charge, Mandein casts down his weapons and enters Rhuidean.
Snapped back to the columns, Rand advances and becomes Rhodric, a young Aiel guarding the Jenn as they follow the Spine of the World. With Jeordam, Rhodric hears from a townsman, Garam, that the Jenn will cross the Dragonwall and that Aes Sedai plan a great city. The Aiel reaffirm their duty to guard the Jenn while eyeing the impassable mountains now called the Dragonwall, a name that secretly echoes their title, People of the Dragon.
Moving deeper, Rand next becomes Jeordam, who receives desperate Jenn refugees seeking aid. When Morin insists on rescuing her kidnapped daughter, Jeordam shortens a spear for her and teaches quick, stabbing techniques, foreshadowing Aiel spear-warfare and the first woman to take the spear. The Aiel prepare to raid a log-walled village to retrieve captives.
Further in, Rand becomes Lewin, a Da’shain youth who, with friends, attempts to rescue abducted women. When the abductors attack, Lewin kills for the first time with a fallen spear. The girls are saved, but Charlin dies. Returning to the wagons, Lewin is denounced by Adan; the Way of the Leaf forbids killing, and Lewin and his companions are cast out, marking the Aiel’s break from the Jenn and the Covenant.
Throughout, Rand glimpses Muradin nearby, snarling and trembling as the same revelations batter him. The visions expose the Aiel’s true past—duty to the Jenn, the founding of Rhuidean, prophecy, migration, and the painful shift from peace to the spear—reshaping Rand’s understanding of the Aiel and foreshadowing his role among them.
Who Appears
- Rand al'ThorProtagonist entering Rhuidean’s glass columns; relives Aiel ancestral memories and witnesses their true history.
- MuradinShaido Aiel in the columns alongside Rand; visibly struggles and snarls as the visions overwhelm him.
- MandeinYoung sept chief who meets the Jenn and Aes Sedai; agrees to Rhuidean’s terms and enters unarmed.
- SealdreMandein’s wife; Wise One who dreams true and urges him to agree to the Jenn’s demands.
- DermonJenn leader at Rhuidean; declares chiefs must learn their origins in Rhuidean or die.
- MordaineJenn spokeswoman; emphasizes dwindling Jenn and the need for Aiel to remember.
- NarisseJenn spokeswoman; insists the Aiel must know why they do not carry swords.
- CharendinSept chief rival; protests Jenn control but remains due to Wise Ones’ dreams.
- Dark-eyed Aes SedaiProphesies the leader who will come from Rhuidean, unite the Aiel, and destroy them.
- RhodricYoung Aiel guarding the Jenn; witnesses plans to cross the Dragonwall and Ogier-built city rumors.
- JeordamAiel who aids Jenn refugees; adapts spear use and arms Morin to rescue her daughter.
- GaramTownsman who warns of Jenn movement east and voices fear of Aes Sedai influence.
- MorinJenn woman whose daughter is taken; takes up a shortened spear to join the rescue.
- LewinDa’shain youth who kills to save captives; is cast out for breaking the Way of the Leaf.
- AdanElder of the Da’shain; denounces Lewin and exiles the killers to preserve the Covenant.
- GearanLewin’s companion in the rescue; shocked participant in the killing.
- LucaLewin’s companion; helps carry Charlin’s body back to the wagons.
- AlijhaLewin’s companion; considers taking a sword but leaves it as forbidden.
- CharlinLewin’s friend; mortally wounded during the rescue and dies.
- CollineRescued captive; traumatized but returns to the wagons with her mother.
- SaralinLewin’s mother; rejects him after he kills, upholding the Way of the Leaf.
- NerrineColline’s mother; comforts her daughter upon return to the wagons.