Road to Tar Valon : The Wheel of Time Podcast

She comes, she comes!  It’s another Westlands 101, friends, and this time we went straight for the top with the Amyrlin Seat of the White Tower. First half of the show is spoiler free, second half is where the spoilers come out to play. Thanks for joining us! Find our social media pages, Patreon information, and Threadless shop here: https://roadtotarvalonawheeloftimepodcast.wordpress.com

This mythical artifact has been the catalyst for legend upon legend in the Wheel of Time series, shared by gleemen across the Westlands, but is it a legend based on fact or fantasy?  Not much is known of its origins so we were forced to wildly speculate in some areas.  More speculation is always welcome! First half of the show is spoiler free, second half is where the spoilers come out t...

After reading the full 750 pages of the Eye of the World we know one thing for certain; these were just baby steps into Robert Jordan’s expansive tale.  We're looking forward to toddling our way into The Great Hunt as soon as we quench our thirst for creating new 101 episodes.  This episode the first half is spoiler free and in the second half, expect theories and spoilers.  As alwa...

Robert Jordan cleverly left hints of a more technologically advanced society that existed before  the one we find in the series, making items that are science based seem like magic.  We pull apart some of the places where sci-fi meets fantasy in the Wheel of Time with our good friends Rob from Malkier Talks and Felicia from Call Me Nakomi .  This episode the first half is spoiler fr...

The news Moiraine extracts from Padan Fain makes a rapid departure to the Eye of the World an imperative; Moiraine fears she may already be too late.  These chapters take us to the most dangerous location known to humankind, but our small group rides with hope.  Our general format applies: the first half is spoiler free and in the second half, spoilers.  As always, thanks for joinin...

Loial left us hanging last time when he declared that stepping into The Ways would mean death for them all and now it’s time to find out what he meant. No history lesson is going to stop Moiraine from shepherding this crew along the most dangerous path they have faced yet.  What perils will they face in The Ways and is their haste leading them to a trap that may darken the world forever? Poss...

Rand is carried through Caemlyn by the crowds to see the false Dragon, Logain, while Mat remains huddled in their room, rarely leaving and his trust dwindles by the day.  Strange circumstances force Rand to choose a precarious seat to watch the procession and ends with him running back to the Queen’s Blessing with a story he can hardly believe himself.  Enemies threaten the inn, but stou...

Mat and Rand have reached Caemlyn and have been able to find refuge of sorts at the Queen’s Blessing with Thom’s friend, Master Basel Gill.  Rand faces hopelessness in Mat’s furthering withdrawal into himself, but has it rekindled through the help of a new and unusual friend.  Moiraine has led Lan and Nyneave to the place of rescue while shadows of death swarm about them and the question is, are t...

SPOILER WARNING: In order to avoid any spoilers regarding our favorite gleeman, you should have read up to Chapter 26 in Eye of the World. Did you really think now that we are past Whitebridge we wouldn’t have a few words to say about our beloved Thom?  We dig into what it meant to be a gleeman in the Westlands and why Thom was so exceptional. As usual, the first half is spoiler free and the secon...

Rand and Mat are on the run, on their own, and there is literally danger waiting to pounce from every direction.  Sleep deprivation and paranoia take hold, but Rand is determined to hold on to the hope that the others are still alive...maybe even Thom.  On the road this week Rand squirms under the attention of a Miss Else Grinwell, Mat angry juggles, the boys are saved by lightning, and...

We laugh AND cry in this episode.  This is a Road to Tar Valon first and it happens in the spoiler free section.  These four chapters feel particularly pivotal to the direction our main characters are taking, the choices they are facing, the decisions that are made for them. There is hope, always, but chapter 30 ends with a death and a death sentence.  We have questions. It gets deep.  But never f...

Egwene and Perrin gain some unusual traveling companions while Rand, Mat, and Thom survive their journey down the Arinelle (mutiny free, right Thom?) to arrive in Whitebridge where a familiar threat to their party has been waiting for them.  Our adventure is branching out along paths unknown, and a further loss to the group, increases their vulnerabilities while depleting their resources. &nb...

We are a wee bit heavy on the spoiler free front “half” of our episode this week, and we are not sorry for it.  There was just so much to digest from these four chapters as our group is split up and we begin to see the story from more than just Rand’s point of view.  Perhaps there is a lull in the danger at this point, but we all know never to trust a momentary sense of safety.  As...

That’s right!  It’s 101 time!  Hopefully you are as excited as we are about taking a topic and pulling it apart for our mutual amusement and edification.  This week we are focusing on some of the sentient creatures we have met in the Eye of the World as well as a couple that will be making their appearance by the end of Eye of the World.  Our breakdown includes Myrddraal, Troll...

At this point in the series our intrepid travelers have a growing list of people and things to be afraid of: trollocs, myrddraal, draghkar, maybe the Dark One, definitely Nyneave.  The wisdom has indeed made her way from Emond’s Field and tracked them to Baerlon.  She is set on bringing these runaways back, but the path they are taking proves to be every bit as dangerous as Moiraine has tried to e...

It’s a mad cap dash out of the Two Rivers, a week’s worth of hard bread and cheese, topped off by the grandest welcome you could ask for at the Stag and Lion in the first “city” our down country folk have ever seen.  There’s a special musical moment towards the end of the first half that we are pretty darn tickled over and we hope you like it as much as we do.  The format is the same as...

Moiraine is already an imposing figure, but when she adds pyrotechnics into her storytelling, she’s straight up mesmerizing.  Not to mention an excellent diversion for the real main event happening in the shadows. This episode was straight up fun, and more than just a little ridiculous which is even more reason to listen to it, we’ve got Moiraine the distraction tactic, Lessons with Lan, and...

Frankly, we can’t believe that we find this cranky little thatcher making sense either, but somehow that’s where we are.  This week we meet the peddler and the gleeman, and Winternight is filled with a lot more nightmare fuel and a lot fewer honeycakes. For the episode, the routine is the same as per usual: spoiler free first half, spoilers second half.  We had a great time on both sides...

The time has arrived! We are really excited to be jumping into our own re-read of The Eye of the World.  This episode we cover the chapter Ravens, the prologue and the first two chapters.  Our general format remains the same; spoiler free in the first half, and spoilers in the second half. We each read this series at different times in our lives and with different ideas that have adapted to what w...

For anyone who may have missed it, we have a bone to pick with the White Tower so this week we are putting it under a microscope and pulling out some of the main shortcomings of this centuries old institution.  It’s not that we hate the White Tower, it’s just we think some of the stuff they do is...questionable.  Join us if you’re down for a cynic’s approach to the manuevering’s of the A...

Tai’shar Manetheren! The true blood of Manetheren flows strong in the Two Rivers; but what does that mean? This week’s 101 is going to focus on the history of this great nation that formed after the Breaking of the World, as well as its crucial role in the series as a whole.  The first half will be spoiler free for new readers, and after the break, proceed at your own risk! There will be spoi...

Just a quick heads up, we did have a moment where a conversation started to take a bit of a spoilery turn in the first half and we found a...more creative way to “bleep” out what shouldn’t be heard.  One word: sandwiches.  We continue our exploration into the bare bones of the Wheel of Time series with another Westlands 101 episode and will be focused on ta’veren ; what it is, who’s got...

There are two momentous occasions we are celebrating today: Traci, after starting the series 29 years ago, was finally able to finish reading A Memory of Light AND it’s our six month anniversary!  There’s no way these two achievements could not be celebrated in some way, and this seemed the most fitting way to do it. We also have a HUGE thank you to the absolutely wonderful, constantly welcom...

There are some characters in the WoT world who are written so well, you don’t realize what role they have played until the very end.  This could indeed be said of today’s 101 subject, Verin Mathwin. Our first half is recorded spoiler free for our pals who are still in their early days of the series, while the second half is where we get to let loose and discuss Verin's role, and our appreciat...

Our topic today was inspired by my dear friend Tim who has just started reading through the series for the first time.  He’s been sending me a flurry of text messages as he races through the books with his ideas and theories and I have just loved it, but there was one in particular where I just was like “yes! That needs to be a topic for us!” and the message was this, “Boy.  Them White C...