Contents
Chapter 50
Overview
Perrin’s party reaches Tear, finding a cowed city under the Stone’s shadow. Perrin reconnects with his blacksmith identity and accepts a gifted hammer.
Moiraine reveals High Lord Samon is Be’lal, plans to confront him inside the Stone with Lan, and learns Aiel are secretly in the city.
Summary
Perrin, Moiraine, Lan, Loial, and Zarine arrive in Tear and sense the city’s beaten mood beneath the looming Stone. Moiraine conceals her Aes Sedai identity and warns the group to stay close to the inn as she and Lan quietly search for information.
Restless, Perrin visits the adjacent smithy, slipping naturally into the work. He crafts tools with practiced efficiency, reminding himself of who he was and hopes to be again. The smith, Dermid Ajala, praises Perrin’s skill and gifts him a heavy hammer, which Perrin accepts with mixed yearning and sadness.
Back in his room, Perrin weighs the hammer against his axe, feeling the axe far heavier in spirit. Lan summons him to a meeting where Moiraine reveals that the High Lord Samon is the Forsaken Be’lal. She believes Be’lal intends to let Rand take Callandor, then seize it and kill him with it.
Moiraine declares they will not run; she intends to use balefire if she can reach Be’lal, though any warding would expose them. She questions Loial, whose long memory names Be’lal the Envious and the Netweaver, a cunning planner and master swordsman, confirming Moiraine’s fears about Callandor.
Lan reports Aiel moving unseen across rooftops. Perrin recalls an Aiel prophecy about the Stone’s fall and Aiel leaving the Waste, deepening the urgency. Moiraine and Lan decide only they will attempt entry into the Stone, while the rest keep to ground. Zarine, afraid but resolute, commits to stay. Perrin resolves to eat—and to think about the hammer and what it means for him.
Who Appears
- Perrin AybaraLeads the group into Tear, reconnects with smithing, accepts a gifted hammer, and struggles between hammer and axe.
- Moiraine DamodredConceals her Aes Sedai identity, reveals Samon is Be’lal, vows to fight using balefire, and plans to enter the Stone with Lan.
- Lan MandragoranScouts Tear, reports hidden Aiel, insists on accompanying Moiraine into the Stone, and seeks a secret entry.
- Zarine Bashere (Faile)Questions and spars verbally; fearful yet resolves to stay with the group despite the Forsaken threat.
- LoialProvides lore on Be’lal—‘the Netweaver,’ envious and a planner—bolstering Moiraine’s assessment; chooses to remain.
- Jurah HaretInnkeeper of the Star, weary and resigned, assigns rooms and treats Moiraine as a lady in disguise.
- Dermid AjalaLocal smith who recognizes Perrin’s skill, offers work, and gifts him a smith’s hammer.