Moiraine: Bae or Bum
Moiraine Damodred
“The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills”
This Blog will be spoiler-free. How do I sing praises or cry foul without spoiling the story? Only the Dark One knows.
I picked up The Wheel of Time early in 2020, not realising what I had stumbled into. The confusing prologue made me hesitant to continue. The unoriginal opening chapter made me hesitant, too. But in that opening, I found a nugget to note down as a writing tip. Several nuggets, in fact. If you’re a member of my Discord or Patreon, you know I’m crazy about taking notes (seriously, I even have a note in the Discord about how to take good notes). So, on I read, if not for the story, then for the lesson in writing. But within a few pages, I started sniffing hints of the prologue, suspicious links that built connections and sparked theories, which progressively turned my confusion into intrigue.
This confusion-to-intrigue pattern occurs again soon, when a seemingly minor character, Moiraine, interacts with our MC, Rand al’Thor. She’s obviously not from around there, but our characters were at an inn. There’s nothing strange about a stranger at an inn. Until we start getting hints that she’s up to more than it seems. We progress from there learning with every page just how inappropriate the term ‘minor character’ is in describing Moiraine Damodred. She remains mysterious throughout the book and story—and we never truly understand everything about her—but we get to witness the story of a woman of perseverance and dedication. Someone who would sacrifice every fibre of her being, give up everything dear to her, for the greater good. Even if that means guiding a fool boy to greatness despite his petulance.
No, I’m not talking about my mother and me.
Moiraine (I say mooi-rain, but most say mwah-rain) is the spine of The Wheel of Time. She pushes the phrase, ‘The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills’, but it really should be ‘The Wheel weaves as Moiraine wills’. She is a force unto herself. She’s often compared to Gandalf as the story’s ‘mentor’ figure. While that is true, she’s not a wizard of wonder and power like Gandalf. The main characters quickly surpass her in strength. She’s human, like us. And still, Moiraine remains as vital to the story as blood. When she’s away, the characters feel her absence like a gaping hole. I did, too. When she’s there, it feels like everything is going to be okay, even if the world is quite literally ending around us!
That is why Moiraine is Bae. When I started this series in 2020, I thought I had stumbled into an unoriginal slog of confusion. Instead, I found my favourite character in all of fiction, and learned a ton about writing in the process. Do I think the upcoming TV series (19 Nov ‘21) is going to do it justice? Will Rosemond Pike do Moiraine justice? I don’t know yet. Only time will tell. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, friends. Let me know your thoughts on Discord.
Cheers
Reece
