I found the shout out to the Two Rivers a bit strange. The Queen and all nobles ignore this backwater region, and suddenly he remembers TR and thinks he might recruit there? Maybe Baerlon, but TR?

Loved the melted metal element of the story. That definitely had a BS feel to it. A new weirdness to add to the long list of things already going wrong.

"There had been a shadow on Bayrd, and the rest of the camp, lately. As if...as if he couldn’t stand in the light no matter how he tried. The darkness was always there, weighing him down. He woke each morning feeling as if someone he’d loved had died the day before."

Is this supposed to tell us that Jared was a Darkfriend?

"The stones were in his blood, and his blood in the stones of this Andor."

I think it's a coincidence, or at least not deliberate, but it made me think about the blood-on-rocks prophecy.

Any other thoughts?

(And please, if you are just going to say "It sucks", than please stay away from this thread, or preferably Board.)