Ravens - A Wheel of Time Prologue

By Robert Jordan

Published in January 2, 2002

Ravens is a prologue in the Wheel of Time series for Book One - The Eye of the World that is set about ten years prior to the events that start the series in chapter one. Ravens was first published in January 2002, eleven years after The Eye of the World was first published. The Eye of the World had already contained a prologue that deals with Lews Therin Telamon and how he went mad and broke the world. While this prologue does affect the events from the series and is good information to know, it takes place about 3000 years before the story starts in chapter one of The Eye of the World and I remember feeling confused reading that prologue and then going to the start of the story. (*Spoilers ahead.)

The good thing about this prologue of Ravens is closer in time to chapter one of The Eye of the World, and introduces the characters from the series when they are younger, I believe it’s a better prologue to the series. However, I still don’t understand why we need this prologue for the book. After several readings, I believe The Eye of the World needs no prologue and chapter one starts the series off just fine.

Ravens was written in an attempt to draw younger readers in to the series and I believe that is why we are introduced to and read about the main characters from Emond’s Field as young boys and girls. This prologue was first included in a reprint of the The Eye of the World that was split into two paperback books so as to not intimidate young readers, as the original published books are quite large in it’s paperback format. This new rebranding format didn’t work and was abandoned after Eye of the World and no other book in the series received this treatment.

What would the Dark One want with the Two Rivers?

Ravens follows Egwene al’Vere as she brings water to those that are working on shearing sheep. Every year the people who live in the village of Emond’s Field gather together at Widow Aynal’s Meadow to shear the sheep and gather the wool to trade and sell. This is quite the community event that everyone participates in and has a role. This year, Egwene’s role is provide water to the workers by filling a bucket of water and bringing them water to drink. This allows Egwene to go from person to person and provide water to everyone and in so doing the author provides descriptions of the people that Egwene is serving and gives us insight into who they are and what their role is in the village. It’s a clever way to fill in backstories and develop character in preparation for when we meet them ten years later in chapter one. During this event of shearing the sheep, we are introduced to Rand al’Thor, Matrim Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Wil al’Seen, Dannil Lewin, and all of the other boys their age. We meet the Wisdom, Doral Barran, and her apprentice, a young Nynaeve al’Mera, Along with some of the adults of the village who have positions of responsibility Tam al’Thor, Master Luhann, Cenn Buie, and Bran al’Vere.

At some point Bran al’Vere decides to give the children a break and invites them all over to tell them a story. Bran asks Tam to tell the story of the War of the Shadow and of the Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, and how he broke the world. Tam talks about how Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions went to seal the Bore and had to fight the army of the Dark One and the Forsaken to do so. They were eventually successful, but the Dark One reached out at the last moment and tainted the male half of the One Power, saidin, which caused Lews Therin and the remainder of the Hundred Companions to go mad instantly. Tam al’Thor sure knows a lot about the Dragon and is pretty accurate in his retelling of the events from 3000 years ago. This retelling reveals more of this event than the original prologue from The Eye of the World that is about Lews Therin going mad.

Ravens ends with Egwene trying to be the best water carrier she can be and noticing that a raven is watching her and staring at her. The raven flies away after she gives it the death stare leaving Egwene to think about the Dark One, The Dragon, the War of the Shadow and if the story she just heard from Tam al”Thor is true or not.

Another purpose of this prologue is to bring in this event of how The Dragon went mad and broke the world 3000 years ago. This format for the telling of how the Dragon broke the world is a little less jarring as it is couched in an event closer to the start of the story and includes characters we will read about in the next chapter. For some reason, Robert Jordan really wants the reader to know this story prior to the events of the story starting. I personally think that it would have been fine to retell the story of the Breaking of the World during the first few chapters of the Eye of the World, which actually happens anyway.

Another purpose of this prologue is to hint at how the armies of the Dark One found their way to the Two Rivers to attack Emond’s Field. The prologue is called Ravens and features ravens, spies of the Dark One, who are gathered at the sheep shearing watching the event as well. Egwene seems to notice that there are a lot of ravens there, more than what there normally are, and that some of them are acting different than usual as well. The ravens are there to spy on the children and report back to the Dark One.

When New Spring (a prequel to the series) ended we found out that the Dark One knew that the Dragon had been reborn, but that he and his servants didn’t know when and how old the Dragon was at that time in the story. This gave Moraine, Suian, and Lan an advantage over the forces of the Dark One. It would appear that in the events of this prologue that the Dark One has sent his spies, the ravens, to canvas the land to get a better idea of who the Dragon might be. Since these events are ten years prior to the Dark One attacking the village of Emond’s Field, it’s safe to say that the Dark One didn’t find out from these ravens that Rand al’Thor is the Dragon Reborn. Which is consistent with the series, as Rand himself didn’t realize it until the events of The Eye of the World unfolded ten years later.

This prologue takes place about nine years after the events of New Spring when Rand al’Thor was born on the slopes of Dragonmount, and nine or ten years before the events of chapter one of The Eye of the World. It took Moraine and Lan that long to find Rand al’Thor, and the same amount of time for the Dark One. However, it appears that the Dark One suspected it earlier than Moraine and Lan as he had started to send Padan Fain into the village of Emond’s Field for a couple of years prior to specifically watch the village and see if the Dragon Reborn was really in that village or not. When Moraine and Lan arrived at the village they had suspected that the Dragon Reborn was probably in that village, but the Dark One already knew and had made plans accordingly such as sending Padan Fain and the Trolloc Army in on Bel-Tine Eve to specifically target Rand, Mat, and Perrin. Moraine and Lan didn’t figure it out until after the Dark One’s attack on the village.

As a side note, my digital copy of The Eye of the World now has Ravens included in the book, and is found prior to the Prologue: Dragonmount, and is titled Earlier: Ravens. So it’s interesting that we read Ravens first and then go to Dragonmount and then to Chapter One: An Empty Road. That’s a lot of jumping around the timeline and for a first time reader is probably even more confusing.

Ultimately, I found that Ravens is a good addition to the Wheel of Time series, as it adds some fun character development and backstory to our beloved characters in a time of innocence and peace when things were simple for them.