Rand leads Mat, Egwene, Lan, Moiraine, and the Aiel to a Portal Stone. It’s a risky way to get to Rhuidean quickly, but Rand has his reasons.
Rand rides east, accompanied by Mat, Egwene, Lan, Moiraine, and the Aiel. They are bound for Rhuidean. He tries to take a moment to enjoy a ride through the countryside, but it soon becomes clear that his female traveling companions can’t stand to see a man enjoying himself. Let the mind games begin. Egwene is up first:
EGWENE: Why did you let Elayne go like that?
RAND: Like what? She’s safer away from me and the Dark One’s flatulence.
EGWENE: You could have tried to stop her.
RAND: Isn’t she on an important mission?
Before Egwene can insist that he’s missing the point, Moiraine swoops in to take her shot:
MOIRAINE: Are you ready to tell me the next secret? It has been clear you were keeping something from me. At least I might be able to tell you if you are leading us over a cliff.
Ah yes, I almost forgot that Moiraine “Knower of All Things” Damodred has graced us wretched plebeians with her holy presence. If only all of these idiots would do as she says, the world would be as good as saved! Rand sagely ignores her and asks Mat if he really wants to come with. But Moiraine isn’t done nagging:
MOIRAINE: Be glad Mat is here. You made a grave error letting Perrin run off, hiding his going from me.
Moiraine’s Spirit Animal
Wait a second… Rand let Perrin run off? Did I miss something? Because again I have to ask, isn’t Perrin a grown man capable of making his own decisions? Why the fuck do people keep treating him like he’s a child who needs permission to make life decisions?
Moiraine isn’t done digging, and she goads Rand into revealing that he intends to reach Rhuidean by using a Portal Stone. This is slightly upsetting to those in the group who know what happened the last time Rand tried to use a Portal Stone. Moiraine wasn’t there, but that doesn’t stop her from delivering a lecture about it:
MOIRAINE: Verin told me what happened. None of it turned out as expected, and you nearly killed everyone.
Gosh, thanks for the warning, Mom. We don’t really know why Rand needs to go to Rhuidean, or why he needs to get there so quickly. But presumably he has his reasons, and amusingly, Rand enjoys having a secret or two of his own. He even echoes the exact sentiments I expressed at the end of my last post:
[Moiraine] had kept too many secrets herself, made him follow her on blind trust too often. Let it be her turn.
Translation: “I don’t have to tell you everything, bitch.”
When the group locates the Portal Stone, Rand locates the rune he believes represents Rhuidean and uses an angreal to channel the massive amount of Power needed to transport the group.