No. Before his epiphany, Rand would have been catastrophied
Is that a thing?Elayne, Min and Aviendha have done the wise thing to keep this secret from Rand.
Actually, they don't seem to have deliberately done so. Aviendha has not spoken with him since before the pregnancy was initiated, Min appears to have forgotten her viewing and Elayne has not been in contact with him. I can't see Aviendha or Min making that decision to deliberately withhold the news from him for any reason other than feeling it's Elayne's place to tell him. Aviendha lacks the full awareness of his condition or experience of his reactions even if she is still aware of his general emotional state through their bond. Min would not have kept the news to herself by the end of tGS - she would have seized at any straw she thought might help, regardless of whether or not it was prudent. Actually, Cadsuane wanted Rand to realize in how much emotional pain he was over what's he lost, because he had managed to build a wall between the Dragon and Rand al'Thor, and Cadsuane feared (rightly) that if this wall came apart at a bad time (during TG), Rand might irretrievably shatter. She wanted the Dragon to free the frightened 20 y.o. he hid inside his armor - the part of him that's still human, and who needs to be made strong to bear the burden of TG. Moiraine had to shape Rand into the Dragon, and after she was gone Rand went to far that way, and Cadsuane's task was to remind the Dragon he was Rand al'Thor, and it's Rand who would fight Shai'tan. So, she intended to destroy the wall while Rand could still come back from this shattering (and when it did, it was far more violent than she feared, and the world really hanged in the balance for a minute... imagine if Cadsuane didn't do that and the shattering of his emotional armor happened during TG, through the death of one of his lovers for instancce... Rand would likely have destroyed the world then, or give up). She wanted to break his heart by bringing him Tam, wanted him to shatter and hit the bottom of the barrel, then with Tam's help come back. She thought that meeting with something he's repressed (his past, his loved ones) could shatter the armor he had built around his emotions. She had not done that before, because it was an extreme and dangerous measure. It's probably the fact even nearly killing Min didn't shatter him but made him only harder which convince her she had no other alternative left but to risk this tactic.
Rand himself asserts the very principle under which Cadsuane acts in this matter in LoC, when he thinks on his policy of spreading the word that the Forsaken are free, in contradistinction with the Tower's efforts to keep that detail secret. He has the exact same rationale you attribute to Cadsuane - better to get the panic out of the way ASAP to give people time to get used to the knowledge and fortify themselves to deal with it, rather than be shocked and paniced when confronted with the truth face-to-face or at a crucial time. Cadsuane's plan went wrong not because she caused pain to Rand, that was not really her goal but certainly her mean to an end (to feel pain before he breaks down and can accept to feel emotions again). It went wrong because Nynaeve and her didn't tell Tam Rand didn't trust them anymore, trusted no one anymore in fact Everything broke apart because Tam wasn't forewarned of this and let slip the AS were the ones who fetched him, and in his paranoia about being manipulated Rand totally lost it.
Actually, warning Tam ahead of time would have been coutner-indicated. Tam is not some expert therapist, and they were not looking for his sage counsel or fatherly wisdom to get Rand back on his feet. Cadsuane could have had no idea of who Tam was or what he was like. Tam himself was irrelevant - the plan was based on Rand's feelings and nature, and they brought Tam in to confront the Dragon with a person he had no way of relating to, except as the farmboy. Just about everyone else important to the farmboy (fellow Two Rivers expatriates, lovers) had a relationship with the Dragon too. Perrin is his ambassador-at-large, Mat is his general, Nynaeve is his Aes Sedai advisor, Egwene is his political adversary, and Aviendha, Min & Elayne are arguably more connected to the Dragon than the farmboy. Tam had nothing to do with the Dragon, and last said good-bye to the farmboy. He might as well have been a favorite memento of childhood for the all importance Tam himself had to play - the point was to break through that barrier and force the Dragon to confront his own humanity.Not then, no. He would have seen this very negatively.
Now after his epiphany about love it's completely different. Now it's the time to tell him he's gonna leave the future children of his own, that is personal life will have produce something concrete, new life. Now this is gonna motivate him to fight the LB for the future of his children and all children, careful every step of the way to leave as much of a world behind as possible. Now he's gonna derive strength from this knowledge and these feelings. Strength to go on, and do what he must. Before DM, he would have seen this as an additional weakness he must keep secret from the Shadow.
After his epiphany, Rand has turned things around. What he saw as weakness and fears he coud cope with but had to earlier he'll very likely see as one of his greatest strengths. Rand's feelings for his loved ones will also very likely reconcile Rand's with humanity as whole. It will make him feel "part of it" again, not apart and isolated.
Yes. Bleah. Happy-baby-news ahead. It gets tiresome in real life, let alone in a book where the story was supposed to be about fighting evil and so forth.
Now after his epiphany about love it's completely different. Now it's the time to tell him he's gonna leave the future children of his own, that is personal life will have produce something concrete, new life. Now this is gonna motivate him to fight the LB for the future of his children and all children, careful every step of the way to leave as much of a world behind as possible. Now he's gonna derive strength from this knowledge and these feelings. Strength to go on, and do what he must. Before DM, he would have seen this as an additional weakness he must keep secret from the Shadow.
After his epiphany, Rand has turned things around. What he saw as weakness and fears he coud cope with but had to earlier he'll very likely see as one of his greatest strengths. Rand's feelings for his loved ones will also very likely reconcile Rand's with humanity as whole. It will make him feel "part of it" again, not apart and isolated.
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
What if Rand had known he was going to be a dad?
- 20/07/2010 01:58:55 AM
864 Views
Rand wasn't ready for this before DM in TGS
- 20/07/2010 05:27:32 AM
1176 Views
Do you think Cadsuanes lesson has been learned now?
- 20/07/2010 06:44:36 AM
704 Views
I see what you're saying
- 20/07/2010 07:14:47 AM
474 Views
Dead on balls accurrate
- 20/07/2010 09:07:34 AM
517 Views
Even if that were true, Elayne still should have told Rand.
- 21/07/2010 04:33:50 AM
930 Views
How should she have tried? Nynaeve was avoiding dream contact, and she has months to go yet.
- 22/07/2010 01:02:28 AM
1139 Views