Rand asks about the Ways, not the Eye — so it’s lore dump o’clock. Turns out the Ways are broken, haunted, and lethal, but hey — Moiraine says full speed ahead.
Rand — bless his heart — decides to ask what the Ways are instead of what the Eye of the World is. Cue massive lore drop.
Loial explains that during the time of the Breaking, the Ogier offered sanctuary to the male Aes Sedai. In a stedding, Aes Sedai are completely cut off from the One Power, so it was a way for male channelers to remain safe from the tainted saidin. Despite this, they chose to leave. This might seem illogical, but then again, have you ever seen a heroin addict who could be cured by appealing to reason? Trying to deny an Aes Sedai from touching the True Source is like trying to deny an addict their fix. And so, the male Aes Sedai left the stedding, but in thanks, they gave the Ogier the Ways — a mystical realm where great distances in the real world can be traveled in short time.
But since the Ways were created by men wielding Power fouled by the Dark One, the Ways gradually lost their light. Now it is dark and dangerous in the Ways, and an evil presence known as Machin Shin — the Black Wind — wanders the realm, driving those it touches insane. Why risk everyone’s necks in the Ways? Oh, you’ll love this one:
MOIRAINE: If we bring ta’veren to the Eye of the World, we might — somehow, some way — be able to stop the Dark One from using the Eye of the World for himself.
Gosh, sounds like a good time to ask what the fuck the Eye of the World is, right? Nope!
RAND, MAT, PERRIN, EGWENE, NYNAEVE: Ok, let’s go.
They jot down a supply list, Gill works his ass off, and before dawn the gang heads out — still not asking the one question that matters.