The Golden Hawk

A golden hawk stretched out its wing and touched her, and she and the hawk were tied together somehow; all she knew was that the hawk was female.

The above is Egwene’s dream; and from the infamous Guide, we know that the banner of imperial Seanchan is a golden hawk in flight. So, a member of the Seanchan imperial family - a female member of the imperial family -

Only two members of the Empress’s family have been named. One is the High Lord Turak, who, besides being male, is most definitely dead. And the other, named by Turak in The Great Hunt, is Tuon, the second daughter of the Empress, and heir-apparent to the throne.

It seems a reasonable guess that the golden hawk refers to Tuon. And for the same reasons, it seems likely to me that Tuon is the Daughter of the Nine Moons. The Court of the Nine Moons in Seanchan is the court of the Empress - so, like the golden hawk, the nine moons are a symbol of the imperial family. Since Tuon is the only named female member of the family, using Occam’s Razor suggests that she, rather than some as yet unnamed Seanchan noble, is the Daughter.

But what does the title ‘Daughter of the Nine Moons’ mean?

In Lord of Chaos, a Seanchan scout - possibly a Seeker - thinks to himself “Perhaps the Return would come soon, and the Daughter of the Nine Moons with it. Surely that would be the greatest omen of victory.”

My interpretation of this is that the Daughter of the Nine Moons is the title for the heir, if female, to the Crystal Throne. The presence of, not just a member of the Empress’ family, but the future Empress, would surely be considered great good luck for the troops bringing the Return. So, my (first) theory is that Tuon is in command of the Return, and that she is, or will be, the official heir to the throne. Since at some point she has to meet Mat, chances are the command headquarters will be in Ebou Dar.

Now that we have (hopefully) established who the ‘golden hawk’ in Egwene’s dream is, let’s look at the rest of the dream. Egwene and the hawk are tied together - their futures will be somehow linked. Which raises the question of how the Amyrlin Seat, leader of the Aes Sedai - who also happens to loathe Seanchan - and the Daughter of the Nine Moons, leader of the Seanchan forces in Randland, could ever meet, let alone be tied together.

My second theory, then: Tuon is a dreamwalker.

Admittedly, there’s very little evidence for this theory, but it’s not as wild as it sounds. Dreaming has no constraint on distance; two women half a world apart could touch one another’s dreams. And where, save for Tel’aran’rhiod or Egwene’s ‘ocean of dreams’ could these two meet?

There are several theories that Tuon is a channeler. But even if she isn’t, it’s possible to be a dreamwalker and not be able to channel. She may have been taught, or more likely read about it or learned by herself. Seanchan is bigger than Randland and the Aiel Waste put together; what are the chances that there are no dreamwalkers in it?

So. If Egwene has dreamed (Dreamed) of Tuon, perhaps Tuon has also Dreamed of Egwene. And perhaps one of them will touch the other’s dream by accident, thus alerting both that there is another dreamwalker around. Now suppose that Tuon decides to get a look at the White Tower in Tel’aran’rhiod, or investigate for herself the stories of an Aes Sedai army in Salidar. Or suppose that Egwene decides to look around Ebou Dar for herself after hearing the Seanchan are back. Some way, somewhere, these two dreamwalkers are going to meet.

The immediate reaction from Egwene, of course, would be fury. A Seanchan noble is very difficult to mistake for anything but Seanchan. The lack of hair, and the long fingernails, tend to give it away. And Egwene herself, wearing a Great Serpent ring, is clearly an Aes Sedai. Not knowing Tuon, I have no idea what her reaction would be, but I doubt it would be friendly.

But let’s assume that, for the moment at least, neither tries to kill the other. After rage, one of the most probable reactions is likely to be curiosity. After all, Egwene has never met another dreamwalker besides the Wise Ones, and quite possibly Tuon has never met any. Even if they don’t immediately start talking - even if they both vanish from the Dream the minute they realize who the other is - they’ll stumble into one another more than once, and at some point one of them is going to start a conversation.

If Tuon is in the Tower or the Salidar camp, or Egwene is in the Seanchan headquarters, then - well, “How dare you come here!” may lack subtlety as a conversational gambit, but it’s a fairly likely one.

Now, as it happens, I have no idea how that conversation might continue. Anyone who can think of a plausible answer is welcome to try - email me at raina13@geocities.com with your continuation of the conversation. If you don’t, email me anyway and tell me what you think of my theory.

Raina's Hold / Raina's Library / Raina's Library - Essays

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