Contents
Chapter 55
Overview
Rand confronts Be'lal in the Heart of the Stone but Moiraine annihilates the Forsaken. Ba'alzamon arrives; Rand seizes Callandor, pursues him through reality-warping traps, and kills him. Meanwhile, Egwene disables Amico in Tel'aran'rhiod, enabling Mat and Juilin to free the prisoners. Perrin breaks Faile's hedgehog trap. Rand returns and declares himself the Dragon Reborn, halting the battle.
Summary
Rand reaches the Heart of the Stone, drawn to Callandor. Be'lal reveals himself, taunting Rand to take the sa'angreal and forcing a sword duel that drives Rand back toward the blade. As Be'lal moves to finish him, Moiraine strides in and obliterates the Forsaken with a bar of white fire. Immediately, Ba'alzamon descends, assailing Rand’s very soul. Rand leaps for Callandor, survives the rending attack, and channels an overwhelming torrent through the crystal blade.
Ba'alzamon flees by twisting reality; Rand follows by making a gateway with Callandor. In a parallel thread, Egwene enters Tel'aran'rhiod, locates drowsing Amico Nagoyin, and binds and shields her, then wakes to find the cell still barred and the women still shielded, though weakened. Determined, Egwene prepares to return to the dream despite exhaustion.
Mat and Juilin infiltrate the dungeons amid chaos. They find Amico inexplicably rigid at her post; Mat uses her key and opens the cell to Nynaeve, Elayne, and a battered Egwene. After a tense exchange—including Juilin’s confession—Nynaeve floors Amico, the women feel the shield on them loosen, and Nynaeve Heals Egwene and Elayne’s injuries. Despite Mat’s urgings to flee, the women insist on hunting the Black Ajah and depart into the fighting.
In Tel'aran'rhiod, Perrin, led by Hopper, breaks into a bronze-doored chamber marked by countless tiny falcons. Beset by stooping falcons, Perrin reaches a chained falcon and snaps its lock, waking bloodied in the Star to find Faile freed beside the broken hedgehog ter’angreal.
Rand’s chase resumes as Ba'alzamon warps elements, gravity, and reality to kill him. Balancing on the razor’s edge of the Power, Rand instinctively counters each trap and pursues back into the Heart. There, shadow-lines feed Ba'alzamon; Rand severs them with Callandor and drives the blazing blade through Ba'alzamon’s chest. Returned to the fighting Heart, a corpse with burned eye and mouth pits lies at his feet. Exultant, Rand raises Callandor, commands the battle to stop, declares himself the Dragon Reborn, and both Aiel and Defenders kneel.
Who Appears
- Rand al'ThorConfronts Be'lal, seizes Callandor, pursues and kills Ba'alzamon, then proclaims himself the Dragon Reborn.
- Ba'alzamonAssails Rand, flees through warped reality, is hunted down and slain by Callandor in the Heart of the Stone.
- Moiraine DamodredArrives amid the duel and destroys Be'lal with a bar of white fire, then is struck down by black lightning.
- Be'lalForsaken ruling in Tear; goads Rand to take Callandor but is annihilated by Moiraine.
- Egwene al'VereIn Tel'aran'rhiod, binds and shields Amico, weakening the cell shield; later freed and intent on hunting the Black Ajah.
- Matrim CauthonBreaks into the dungeons with Juilin, opens the cell, argues to flee, but follows as the women press on.
- Nynaeve al'MearaKnocks out Amico, senses the shield change, and Heals Egwene and Elayne; vows retribution on the Black Ajah.
- Elayne TrakandFreed from the cell; feels the weakening shield and joins the pursuit of the Black Ajah.
- Juilin SandarThiefcatcher aiding Mat; admits earlier betrayal under Liandrin’s compulsion and helps the rescue.
- Amico NagoyinBlack Ajah jailer; bound and shielded in the dream, left rigid and then knocked out, loosening the captives’ shield.
- Perrin AybaraIn Tel'aran'rhiod, endures attacks to break Faile’s falcon trap; wakes grievously wounded but successful.
- Faile (Zarine Bashere)Freed from the hedgehog ter’angreal trap; tends Perrin as he wakes in the Star.
- HopperWolf guide in the dream; warns Perrin of the danger and leads him to Faile’s prison.