Contents
Chapter 36
Overview
Perrin, aboard the Snow Goose, enters the wolf dream, witnessing Ba’alzamon punish Darkfriends and confront Lanfear. Hopper warns Perrin of the dream’s dangers. Perrin’s link to Rand singes him when Rand lashes out in a dream. Perrin reports to Moiraine, who confirms the risk and withholds Healing.
Separately, Rand, increasingly volatile, slays a merchant and her guards with the Power and rides relentlessly toward Tear, signaling his worsening state and the escalating stakes around Callandor.
Summary
On the riverboat Snow Goose, Perrin seeks solitude and sleep. In the wolf dream, Hopper leads Perrin to a strange place of mirrors where Ba’alzamon summons Darkfriends, kills one within the dream, and declares failures unforgivable. Lanfear appears, claiming dreams as her domain and asserting designs on Lews Therin, defying yet still serving the Shadow. Hopper warns Perrin the place is real and perilous.
The dream shifts: Perrin sees Rand surrounded by Myrddraal and dream-figures; Rand annihilates them with fire, lightning, and bars of light. When Perrin shouts a warning, Rand, enraged and disoriented, blasts him, leaving a small burn on Perrin’s chest in waking.
Perrin tells Moiraine everything, including the burn and Lanfear’s name. Moiraine cautions that others might try to gentle him by mistake, affirms some Forsaken may be free, refuses to Heal the minor burn to ensure his caution, and focuses on tracking Rand toward Illian and Tear. Perrin also asks about the name Zarine; Moiraine explains its Saldaean connotations, hinting Perrin should be wary.
On deck, Lan tends Mandarb while Zarine watches Perrin, underscoring growing tensions aboard. Meanwhile, in the Murandian hills, Rand wakes near his fire as a merchant and her guards approach. Determined to avoid errors and driven by paranoia and the One Power, he conjures a flaming heronmarked blade, decapitates the merchant, and kills her guards with practiced forms.
Drunk on saidin yet fearful of madness, Rand arranges the corpses kneeling before him with the Power, notices an extra, dagger-armed man among them, and dismisses him as having chosen poorly. He mounts the merchant’s gelding and drives himself toward Tear, fixated on ending the taunting by claiming Callandor.
Who Appears
- Perrin AybaraAboard the Snow Goose; enters the wolf dream, witnesses Ba’alzamon and Lanfear; is burned by Rand’s dream-strike; reports to Moiraine.
- Rand al'ThorUnstable and paranoid; kills a merchant and guards with a flaming blade; manipulates corpses; rides hard toward Tear and Callandor.
- Moiraine DamodredAnalyzes Perrin’s dream, confirms risks, refuses to Heal his minor burn, and focuses on pursuing Rand via Illian toward Tear.
- HopperDead wolf guiding Perrin in the wolf dream; warns of its dangers and demonstrates soaring freedom.
- Ba’alzamonIn the dream, punishes Darkfriends and challenges Lanfear, asserting the Great Lord’s demands.
- LanfearAppears in the dream, claims dominion over dreams, asserts claim on Lews Therin while professing service to the Shadow.
- Lan MandragoranPresent aboard the Snow Goose, tending Mandarb; urges the group’s continued flight toward Illian and Tear.
- Zarine (Faile)Passenger on the Snow Goose; watches Perrin closely; her Saldaean name hints at beauty and trouble.
- LoialSeen writing notes aboard ship, eager to discuss the day’s events; minor presence.