[screams, grunts]
[Aviendha] I'm searching for the Car'a'carn.
[Bair] "He will come from the west, beyond the Spine of the World.
Of the blood but not raised by the blood."
[Aviendha] It is my duty to return Rand al'Thor to my home
so that he may save my people and destroy them.
-[all grunting] -[groans]
[Egwene] The Tuatha'an wouldn't hurt anyone.
[Rhuarc] Most of them didn't even run.
[Dreamwalker] The Tuatha'an follow the Way of the Leaf.
We forswear violence.
[person] In the last age, our people supposedly knew a song
that brought harmony to the world.
I know that protecting Rand, guiding him, that is the only thing that matters.
She's had you dancing on her strings this whole time.
[Verin] You can't control him.
[Moiraine] I did what I had to do to protect the Dragon Reborn.
You don't tell me what to do anymore.
[Lanfear] I told you I'd kill her.
-[grunts] -[Rand] Not if you want my help.
[Lanfear] I could escape my Dark Oaths.
There's a sa'angreal for women, the Sakarnen.
[Moiraine] And what happens when he is declared Car'a'carn?
[chuckles] You have not earned that title.
You haven't faced the Trial of Rhuidean.
[swords clanging]
[Rand pants]
[sighs]
What were you thinking of? That last pass?
[pants] Nothing.
[pants]
It takes a great deal of practice to think of nothing.
[sighs] Yeah, that's what my father showed me
when I was learning to use the bow.
To picture a flame in my mind and feed everything into it--
fear, hate, anger--
until my mind was empty.
Only the flame and the void.
He was a blademaster, your father.
There's a lot I don't know about him.
[stammers] I know he was a soldier when he was younger.
Before me. But our life was just the sheep and the mountains.
Following the rain, the grass.
Up mountain in the summer, down in the winter.
We knew every path through our woods.
Every meadow, every stream.
You can come to know this place too.
When a lamb's mother dies during childbirth, we cut the new mother,
and we put the blood on the lamb so she accepts it as her own.
I look like them.
I know their blood flows in my veins.
But I'm not one of them.
I never will be.
But do you want to be?
There's so many things I can't be.
It would be nice to find something I can.
Well…
[grunts] …you'll never be a blademaster if you keep taking breaks, being lazy.
[laughs]
Hold the sword how I showed you, sheepherder.
Think of your flame and void. And this time I'll actually try.
Come on.
[both grunting]
We had a saying in the Two Rivers about a watched pot never boiling.
If only it were that easy to stop a pot from boiling.
[swords clanging]
Here is water and shade, freely given.
All here are welcome as first-sisters are welcome.
Is it only the Wise Ones who have servants?
They are gai'shain, not servants.
In the dance of spears,
the most ji is given by touching an armed enemy
without killing or harming in any way.
Those who are touched become gai'shain.
You're very comfortable answering questions
we have no interest in the answers to.
What interests you, Aes Sedai?
How you knew we were coming.
Wise Ones see many paths.
What is happening or beginning is more easily seen than what will happen or may.
We did not see Egwene at all.
It was no more than an even chance
that the young man who calls himself Rand al'Thor would come.
If he did not, it was certain he would die,
and the Aiel too.
And yet he has come,
and if he survives Rhuidean, some of the Aiel at least will survive.
This we know.
[Melaine] If you had not come, you would have died.
If Aan'allein had not come, you would have died.
-If you do not go through Rhuidean… -[Dreamwalker] Shh.
You should not have been told.
It is possible for women to see some ways the future may be woven in Rhuidean.
No more than that.
Change comes like an avalanche, whether we want it or not.
I told you not to touch a sword.
Aiel don't touch swords.
So am I Aiel or not? You can't seem to decide.
[both grunt]
No one touches a sword this close to the city in the clouds.
That includes you.
[Aiel hoot]
Are you asking me to dance, Aan'allein?
[Aiel hoot]
[grunting]
[Aviendha, Lan grunt]
[grunts]
[Aiel hooting]
[Lan pants]
[Aiel hooting]
[grunting]
[Aviendha chuckles]
[Aiel hoot]
[Bair] It is time.
Stop this foolishness.
You have run with the spears as long as you can.
Longer than you should have.
I am a Maiden of the Spear.
I do not want to be a Wise One.
[Bair] You were called.
And instead, you went across the Dragonwall searching for the Car'a'carn.
You cannot run from what you must be.
I too refused when called.
I thought I was as strong and hard as a woman could be.
Eventually though, I… [breathes shakily]
…I learned my duty.
My obligation to the people.
The cadin'sor, Aviendha. Your new clothes will await your return.
[Aviendha sniffling]
I ask you leave to enter Rhuidean.
The question is asked. I answer yes.
I answer yes.
[Bair] If you do not return, your belongings will be given
to your family for remembrance.
A strong mind and a strong heart are your weapons now.
But you hold them as surely as you've ever held a spear.
They will see you through anything.
-Come back to us. -[Aviendha sniffles]
[sniffles]
I'll be back before you reach the slopes of Chaendaer.
You intend to enter Rhuidean tomorrow?
The Wise Ones tell me many men wait weeks on the slopes before they enter.
-I'm not them. -This arrogance will get you…
I know I have to go there.
What do you want?
I want you to tell me what you're going to do so I can help you.
[scoffs, chuckles]
You've never tried to help me, Moiraine.
That's all I've ever done.
Do you feel like you know all there is to know?
You want me to confide in you?
Tell me, whatever I decide to do, you won't try to stop me.
Say that you won't use me for the Tower's ends, or your own.
Say it plain so I know it's true.
I will do nothing to hinder you from fulfilling your destiny.
I've devoted my life to that.
But I will not promise to watch while you lay your head on a chopping block.
[sighs]
It's not good enough, Moiraine.
[clan chief] We approach Rhuidean now.
[Rand] So, you've been.
All clan chiefs must go.
[Rand] For the trial.
Chiefs can only speak of the city to others who have been.
If all clan chiefs and Wise Ones go to Rhuidean,
is there anything different for the Car'a'carn?
We are marked by Rhuidean.
The very few that make it out alive, every chief, on the left arm.
The People of the Dragon.
That's what they called us once.
The Car'a'carn, he who comes with the dawn, will be marked twice.
And that is how we will know him.
[dramatic music plays]
The city in the clouds.
[hooting]
Shaido.
The peace of Rhuidean be on you.
Who comes to Chaendaer may return to their holds in peace.
There shall be no blood on the ground.
You brought wetlanders to Rhuidean.
Where is your husband, Sevanna?
[groans] Dead.
My new husband, his son, Muradin,
has entered Rhuidean, and he is there still.
And should my brother fail, I will enter.
You have not asked, Couladin.
Should Muradin fail, ask then.
We are two, enough to say yes or no.
And why have you come to Rhuidean, Rhuarc?
-You've looked better… -[scoffs]
…but it appears the Taardad still have their chief.
I ask your leave to enter Rhuidean.
The question has been asked. I answer yes.
[Couladin] This man is no Aiel.
It's death for him to be on this ground.
My mother was Aiel.
Your father, yes, but your mother--
He presents himself like a woman!
Do you wish to be a Wise One, Couladin?
Put on a dress and come to me, and I will see if you can be trained.
Until then, be silent when Wise Ones speak.
Melaine?
It must be done. I answer yes.
[snarls, grunting]
[straining, grunts]
[breathes heavily]
You try to make this wetlander one of us?
He is soft.
Rhuidean will kill him.
Go back to your tents, Couladin.
You as well, Rhuarc.
And you, Aan'allein.
This is the business of Wise Ones
and no man other than he who has asked.
You too, Egwene.
I'm going with him.
If you ask, we will not allow it.
You must learn what you are, and he must learn what he is.
Your paths do not align.
-I ask your leave to enter Rhuidean. -Moiraine.
You should not have been told.
Does it make a difference that I've been told?
[Bair] Perhaps a great difference.
Perhaps none at all.
When we saw you go through the Rings, it was always you who asked.
And what did you see if I did not go?
[Melaine] We have told too much already.
Those who move with too much knowledge of the future find disaster,
whether from complacency at what they think must come
or in their efforts to change it.
The question has been asked…
I answer yes.
Yes.
[Bair] Moiraine Sedai, in Rhuidean you will find three rings.
Step through any one and you will see your future laid before you,
again and again in variation.
You will see a thousand thousand turns of the wheel,
and through this you will know, without doubt,
some things that must be for you and some that must not.
[Melaine] Rand al'Thor,
in the glass columns you will walk the footsteps of your blood ancestors.
Each step forward, a step backward through time.
Sometimes dozens of years, sometimes hundreds.
To lead is to know where you came from, to understand the blood in your veins.
You must go to Rhuidean unarmed to honor the last true Aiel.
If you have weapons you can leave them here.
They'll be waiting for you when you return…
if you return.
They are pledged to Rhuidean.
[Melaine] Rhuidean belongs to the dead.
They may not speak to the living again until they return.
[Bair] We do not see them until they stand among the living once more.
[Melaine] He is of the past.
[Bair] And she is of the future.
[Bair, Melaine] Begone from among the living
and do not haunt us with memories of what is lost.
Speak not of what the dead see.
Ready?
No.
[foreboding music plays]
It doesn't seem like Aiel work.
[Rand] No.
And this fog… this dry fog, it's so strange.
And when I look at it, it's…
it's as if I can see threads of One Power…
then they're gone.
Avendesora.
[Rand] The tree of life.
[Moiraine] We always knew the Aiel had it,
but we didn't know where.
It's said to be almost 3,000 years old.
[exhales deeply]
Feels…
peaceful.
Beneath it.
[Moiraine] We used to have one just like it where I grew up.
The Aiel entrusted a sapling of Avendesora to Cairhien hundreds of years ago.
A repayment of some debt even older.
We didn't see a tree like this in Cairhien.
No.
Because my uncle Laman,
when he became king, cut it down to build his throne.
He wanted a throne that could never be copied.
And we didn't know it at the time,
but that was why the Aiel came over the Spine,
why they left the Waste, why the whole Aiel War began.
To kill him for breaking his oath to protect the tree
and destroying the pledge of peace with it.
And they hunted him,
burning every city in the Westlands until finally they caught him…
on the slopes of Dragonmount…
and killed him there.
That's why my mother was in Dragonmount when she gave birth to me?
And that's why I fulfilled the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn?
Because your uncle cut down that tree?
We've been connected since before I was born.
Sometimes fate seems so strong.
Tide sweeping us along against our control.
And sometimes it's as fragile as gossamer.
You shouldn't have come here.
[moaning in distance]
[Rand breathing heavily]
Muradin?
Sevanna said you were here.
[distorted screaming]
[screaming continues]
[panting]
Janduin, what's wrong with you? Fight.
[warriors exclaiming, grunting]
[grunting]
[warrior 1 grunts]
[grunts]
[grunting]
[warrior 2] Janduin! Come. Quick!
[Janduin] Laman's soldiers shouldn't be this far up the mountain. Hurry.
[warrior 3] I found her.
Where?
No.
My love.
[breathes shakily] I f…
I found their king.
[whimpers] The oathbreaker.
[breathes shakily] I took his life with my own spear.
Shade of my heart…
w-we won.
[warrior 3] There is no sign of the baby.
[breathing shakily]
No!
-[screaming] -[distorted screaming]
[panting] My mother.
[panting]
My father. [panting]
[Melaine] Each step forward, a step backward through time.
[distorted screaming]
[Melaine] Each step forward, a step backward through time.
[straining, screaming]
[breathes heavily]
[Dreamwalker] Latra Sedai called you all here.
You must agree to whatever she asks, Mandein.
Will the others come?
Some. Most.
I've spoken to my sisters in the dream, and we all dreamed the same dream.
Those chiefs who do not come and those who do not agree,
their names will be lost.
If I don't come back, I hope our son and daughters still hold the sept.
I will, shade of my heart.
But remember, you must agree.
The Aes Sedai say no weapons can be taken to Rhuidean.
[grunts]
[ethereal music plays]
[chief] Latra Posae Decume.
Why did you call us here?
Because the last people who were truly Aiel, they are all dead now.
That is why you are here.
The people who built this city, who planted this tree.
-Why do you not carry swords? -It's forbidden.
But you do not know why.
There is too much you do not know.
The Wise One said you would ask something of us.
[Latra] Whoever would lead among you must come to Rhuidean,
chiefs and Wise Ones both,
and learn where your ancestors came from, and why you do not carry swords.
Who cannot learn will not live.
[chief] Just come to you.
Whichever of us comes will lead all the Aiel.
No.
The one who would lead all Aiel will come later,
of the blood but not raised by the blood.
The Car'a'carn will come from Rhuidean at dawn
and tie you with bonds you cannot break.
The Car'a'carn will take you back and destroy you.
What do you want from us?
[dramatic music plays]
You chiefs will go through these columns
and walk the footsteps of your blood ancestors.
See the world through their eyes, and know who you were and who you are.
Know why we Aes Sedai call you oathbreakers.
I will go.
I don't fear my past.
We are not oathbreakers.
[grunting]
[distorted murmuring]
[distorted scream]
[panting]
[murmuring continues]
[sighs]
The tree of life. The chora.
[friend] The chora Avendesora.
[chuckles] You've been smoking too much.
Hurry up. Old man Adan will catch us.
You know, it's from before the Breaking.
They say it makes you feel peaceful just to sit beneath its branches.
-[both chuckling] -I can feel it.
-[chuckling] -[knocking]
-Get away from that! -[all clamoring, chuckling]
That's more precious than any one of the three of you.
[all chuckling]
That tree will never get bigger in that little pot.
[Lewin] Come on, lads.
Old man Adan says we came to desert to build a city.
A city of peace, of Aiel, and that's where we plant it.
Yeah, yeah. Trees do famously well in the desert. [chuckles]
-[chuckles] -Mom.
[breathing shakily]
[Lewin] Mom.
What's wrong?
Your sister.
A group of bandits, they took her.
Doing the last of the washing in the stream.
They took Colline too.
-No. -No.
We have to get them back.
No, no. There will be no talk of that.
[grunts] All will be well.
Now, please… please go wagon, mmm?
Go now!
All will be well.
All will be well, and all manner of things will be well.
You heard her. They're still alive.
She said they took them.
We need to do something.
We can't.
They were down at the stream.
If we follow the tracks from there…
We'll wait until night, sneak in, and get them back.
No violence.
[Lewin] The girls are on the right side of the fire.
I'll wake them. Quietly.
We sneak them away while the men are still asleep.
And what if they wake up?
I'm not leaving Colline.
[stammers] Keep your dust veils up, so they don't see your faces.
-[Lewin] Maigran. -[gasps]
[shushes]
[Maigran whispers] Lewin,
-why are you here? -[metallic whooshing]
I'm gonna carve you like a pig, boy.
[both breathes shakily]
You gonna squeal like your sister?
-Or do you people just-- [grunting] -[exclaims]
[exclaims, grunts]
-[bandits grunting] -[pants] Maigran, get up.
-You have to get up. -We're scared.
-Come on. We have to get away. -[metallic whooshing]
-[exclaims, grunts] -[grunting]
No, Lewin! No!
-[grunting] -[gasps]
[panting]
[panting] Mercy of the Light, be with us.
[panting, whimpering]
[groans, sobs]
Charlin.
-[whimpering] -Charlin, are you all right? [sighs]
-No, no, no, no, no. -[exhales heavily]
No, no, no, no.
What have we done? [sobs]
[sniffling]
No. That's a weapon. It has no other use.
It's forbidden by the Way of the Leaf.
[pants]
[Lewin] A spear.
A spear can put food in the pots.
[panting, sobbing]
[villagers chattering in distance]
[emotional music plays]
What happened?
[Maigran] He killed them.
The men that hurt us.
Lewin came and killed them.
You mustn't say things like that, child. You mustn't.
Is it true?
Is it?
They tried to kill us.
They did kill Charlin.
You killed?
They took Maigran, Grandfather.
They hurt her.
What else could we do?
We bury our dead and we go on.
What else is there?
You…
are no longer Aiel.
-Strangers. Oathbreakers! -[whimpering]
Mother. Please.
[sighs]
Mother.
[pants] Mother.
[breathes shakily]
Please. [chuckles]
Who are you that calls me Mother?
Hide your face from me, stranger.
[whimpers] I had a son once with a face like that.
I don't want to see it on a killer.
[whimpers] Mum.
Hide your face.
[breathes heavily]
[sobs]
[sobbing]
Mum.
-[Maigran's mother sobs] -[crying]
What do we do now?
[Lewin] Protect them.
They can't do violence.
But we can.
[panting]
[wind howling]
[panting]
[screams]
[eerie music plays]
[inhales sharply]
[rustling, snapping]
[sighs]
[distant whispering]
[Bair, Melaine] Be gone from among the living.
[foreboding music plays]
[Bair] Some things that must be for you, and some that must not.
-Some things that must be for you… -[distorted screaming]
…and some that must not.
-Aviendha. -[screams]
[Bair] A thousand thousand turns of the wheel.
Thousand thousand turns of the wheel.
Thousand thousand turns of the--
[eerie music plays]
[dramatic music plays]
What's wrong, love?
-Attend you, all. She comes. -Moiraine.
-The Watcher of the Seals… -You're making a mistake.
-…the Flame of Tar Valon. -Please. Don't do this to me. Moiraine.
-The Amyrlin Seat. -[stammers] No, no! No! No!
Don't do this to me! Moiraine!
Al'Lan Mandragoran. I release you from your bond.
Rand al'Thor, do you accept the bond?
I do.
[exclaiming, groaning]
[screams]
The Dragon Reborn, I swear myself to you.
[screaming]
[villagers screaming, sobbing]
[Jonai] Adan.
Adan.
[villagers sobbing]
Adan.
-Adan. -Grandfather.
My boy.
Where's Mummy and Da?
My boy. Come here. Come here. Come here.
[villager 1] Jonai.
He's had enough, Jonai.
We've had enough, Jonai. We can't carry on.
[Jonai] What do you mean?
[speaks Old Tongue] We bury our dead and go on.
What else is there?
The others will come. They'll meet us across the spine.
My daughter dreamed that.
We're going south.
The Aes Sedai have killed the last man who can channel.
The earth is settling. We'll find someplace safe.
Someplace where we can sing the songs of harvest again.
You remember the song?
I remember it. [breathes heavily] Don't leave.
You can come with us, Adan.
Please.
I won't break my oaths.
Always will our fires welcome you.
Depart now in peace.
-The Way of the Leaf is peace. -[villager 1 sobbing]
What now, Grandfather?
We bury our dead and we go on.
What else is there?
[sobbing continues]
Your mother…
she saw great things in her dreams.
Like what?
A city.
In the desert.
A place we, Aiel, can go and be safe.
With no one to hurt us.
Where is it?
East.
Toward the dawn,
across the Spine.
[emotional music plays]
My grandfather taught me to look after this tree.
And some day, you will too.
[Adan] How will we get across the Spine?
Together.
[breathing heavily, groaning]
[Melaine] You will walk the footsteps
-of your blood ancestors. -[groans]
[Dreamwalker] Each step forward, a step backward through time.
A step backward through time.
Sometimes dozens of years, sometimes hundreds.
[explosion]
Latra Sedai.
[speaks Old Tongue] The wagons are ready.
Good.
And you have the cuttings from the chora?
A tree and pot for every wagon. 10,000.
All know peace who walk beneath their boughs.
There is something else…
I need you to take with you.
No.
It's too precious.
They can't even fight to defend it.
The Aiel have shown there is courage in peace.
Peace?
Our brothers lie dead at our feet,
by our own hand, and you speak of peace?
These same brothers still live.
Some of them, ripe with madness.
I fear what they could do if they found a woman who could work with them.
Do not forget it was our sister, Mierin Sedai.
Who tore open the Dark One's prison and took the name Lanfear.
This is the strongest sa'angreal in the world.
The Sakarnen. Made only for women.
Its male complement, sword Callandor
is hidden in a stone, in a fortress that cannot be breached.
Its safety trusted to war and fear.
I trust its safety.
To peace.
We will care for what you have given into our charge
until you want it again.
I swear it.
Of course.
But keep moving. Always moving.
Until you find a place of safety.
Where no one can harm you.
As you say Aes Sedai.
Keep these oaths.
And your children, your grandchildren, and all thereafter.
Keep the Way of the Leaf.
Swear it.
We swear this oath, Aes Sedai.
On our bones and our blood we swear it.
The Aiel will always follow the Way of the Leaf.
[all] On our bones and our blood we swear it.
It has been an honor to serve you.
An honor to us all.
[emotional music plays]
Are you afraid, love?
All will be well.
And all manner of things,
-will be well. -Will be well.
[clicks tongue, speaks Old Tongue]
[Aiel speaks Old Tongue]
[screaming]
[grunting]
[Bair, Melaine in English] Be gone from among the living.
[screaming]
[Bair, Melaine] Be gone from among the living.
To lead is to know where you came from, to understand the blood in your veins.
[ominous music plays]
[grunts]
Each step forward, a step backward through time.
[distorted screaming]
[Aiel servants singing in Old Tongue]
[in Old Tongue] It's a beautiful song.
Mierin Sedai.
You're from here, aren't you?
Yes, Aes Sedai.
My family still farms these fields.
They are bringing in the harvest now.
You should go visit them.
Today's too important for you, isn't it?
I can go tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
Tomorrow everything will be different.
I know it's not my place to ask…
But what is it?
That you've found?
The thinnest part of the pattern.
A place I think we can punch through… And find what's on the other side.
And what's there?
A power…
… that can be used by men or women…
The true power.
It will change everything.
Can you imagine?
Something anyone, anywhere can use.
Not just Lews Therin and the Aes Sedai.
Even you, your family.
They wouldn't have to bring in the harvest by hand.
[chuckles] Yes, but… it feels good to. I can't explain it.
To feel the wheat you grew in your hands.
The soil you tilled beneath your feet…
It feels good.
Go.
See your family.
Sing your song.
Are you sure?
There's nothing more important…
…than holding on to the people you love.
[Aiel servants singing in Old Tongue]
[screaming]
-[screaming] -[Melaine] Blood ancestors.
-[Aiel exclaiming] -The Way of the Leaf.
-[groans] -[singing continues]
-[exclaiming] -[grunts]
Oathbreakers.
[warriors screaming]
[Melaine] Blood ancestors.
[warriors grunting, screaming]
[panting]
[ominous music plays]
Aviendha…
[dramatic music plays]
I'm sorry.
I didn't understand.
-About the sword. [stammers] -And what, now you do?
I understand enough to know I'll never fully understand.
[sighs] Did you…
Did you see Moiraine?
She's, um…
She's still inside.
Wait. Wait. Where are you going?
Back.
To the tents?
Aren't you?
Not without her.
[scoffs]
As you wish, wetlander.
[chuckles, panting]
[distorted screaming]
[Bair, Melaine] Be gone from among the living.
[Lanfear] You can't fight us all.
[gasps, choking]
-[screams] -[Bair] Thousand thousand
turns of the wheel.
Thousand thousand turns of the wheel.
[screaming]
[panting, moaning]
[Rand] Moiraine…
[choking]
This tower will never bow to you-- [groaning]
[grunts, panting]
[choking]
[grunting]
[groans]
[chokes, screams]
[screaming]
[grunting, choking]
[screams]
It's been seven days.
Aviendha came back two days ago.
We should go in after them.
They wanted us to stay.
[sighs]
[emotional music plays]