The group enters the Blight, which sounds a lot like the Pit of Eternal Stench from Labyrinth. Nynaeve makes a bold romantic move on Lan, and he deflects like a pro.
Why is it that the portion of a fantasy world that has been subsumed by evil always resembles an ecological disaster? Middle Earth’s Mordor looks like the surface of Io. The Lands of Always Winter in Westeros are eternally frozen. And the Blight? The Blight is like an alien jungle planet where every plant is poisonous and the wildlife is just waiting to lay eggs in your stomach.
Moiraine keeps talking about “finding” the Eye of the World, as though it isn’t always in the same place. Loial confirms that the Eye isn’t pinned to a specific point on the map — you find it when you need it, which sounds suspiciously like how you get into Narnia. Maybe they should’ve checked the back of Agelmar’s wardrobe before setting out.
After a day’s journey, Moiraine sets up a nifty weave that makes their campsite invisible to anyone standing outside of it. Egwene does her best to annoy everyone by yammering about how they’ll all go to Tar Valon after this and live happily ever after. But the real star of the show is Nynaeve:
NYNAEVE: I should have known you would be a king.
LAN: I’m not a king. I’m just a man.
NYNAEVE: Some women just want the man.
LAN: You deserve more than that.
NYNAEVE: You know, a Wisdom seldom weds. Looks like I’m not gonna be a Wisdom.
What the actual fuck? Is Nynaeve in heat or something? If this goes any farther, these two are going to have to get a room. She comes within an inch of proposing marriage. Where did that even come from?!?
Um — hey Nynaeve, you do know that Lan is already pretty attached to this Aes Sedai you hate, right? Unless you’re into that sort of thing! Anyway, not to worry, because in his next breath Lan shoots her down and leaves her in tears as he goes to check on the horses. It’s probably for the best — we really don’t have time for weird throuple drama when we’re trying to save the fucking world.