The Wheel of Time: What is the Horn of Valere and Why Is It So Important For The Second Season?
It is almost a minor detail within all the events and revelations of the end of season 1 of The Wheel of Time, but the discovery of the Horn of Valere is going to be one of the main threads of the following chapters. The main thread of the second book of The Wheel of Time is organized around it and, although the scriptwriters have denied that they will adapt the novels one by one, it will probably be what gives continuity to season 2 of the series. In the first season, events from other novels were also recast, but spinning the beginning and the end, the backbone of the first book was perfectly recognizable.
What is the Horn of Valere and Why Is It So Important For The Second Season?
For years the Horn of Valere has been hidden in Fal Dara, hidden under the throne room, but before the unequivocal signs that the Last Battle is coming Lord Agelmar has sent his men to retrieve it. As Lord Yakota explains: the Horn has the power to awaken “the greatest heroes of the Lattice of the Wheel of Time” to fight alongside whoever blows it. That is why it is believed that the Dragon Reborn will have to use it to win the Last Battle and, for that very reason, it has been kept hidden and protected from those who would misuse it. In the books of The Wheel of Time It is also explained that once the Horn has been blown by someone, it is inexorably bound to it and no other person will be able to blow it again until the previous owner dies. Now the Horn of Valere has been stolen and that could have fatal consequences.
Many people have believed that it was a myth created by legends, the reason for dozens of romantic adventures similar to the search for the Holy Grail, but its existence is as real in fiction as its powers. It is possible that when creating it Rober Jordan was inspired by Aragorn’s army of the Dead, who fought alongside Isildur’s heir in the “last battle” against the dark Sauron in The Lord of the Rings. By blowing the Horn of Valere, the heroes of the Ages momentarily walk the earth again, but only if they have not already reincarnated in a new body So don’t think about meeting Lews Therin Telamon, now that he’s reborn as Rand al’Thor. Yes, the mythical Artur Hawkwing, that Carlo Magno of the saga of whom the Seanchan is said to be his successors, will come to the call of the Horn; Jain the Galloper, the traveler whose adventures they read in Two Rivers as children; and new ones like Birgitte Arco de Plata, who may become a key character in the future of the series.
However, first of all the Horn will have to be recovered. Although the appearance of the Horn of Valere in the series is different from the books of The Wheel of Time (where it was hidden by the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legend in the Eye of the World), the result is the same again. While they are extracting the Horn of Valere from its hiding place, the Fal Dara soldiers are attacked by Padan Fain and two Fados who, apparently, kill Loial and the Shienarians without Perrin being able to do anything to prevent it.
The theft of the Horn of Valere is precisely the trigger with which the second book of The Wheel of Time begins, called not in valde ‘The great hunt’, in reference to the persecution of Padan Fain and the Shadow Spawn to recover the relics stolen. At this point, the plots of the protagonists are divided again: Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve and Egwene travel to Tar Valon where they are reunited with Min (and her visions) and with Elayne; While Rand, Mat, Perrin, Loial, and a company of Shienarian soldiers led by Lord Ingtar – later joined by Thom Merrillin – set out on the Great Hunt.
It is clear that things are not going to happen exactly the same in the series. Moiraine swore before Siuan Sanche to banish Tar Valon; still under the influence of Shadar Logoth’s dagger, Mat finds himself cut off from the rest; Rand has left alone for what appears to be the Aiel Wasteland; and Loial and Thom Merrillin could be dead (although they have been seen in the filming of the next episode) but the common thread will be the same as the Great Hunt.
And the pursuit of Padan Fain will lead the protagonists to the intriguing city of Cairhien first, and from there to the first great battle to come, the Battle of Falme, where an army of Children of Light will clash with the newcomers Seanchan. It will be then that the Horn of Valere is blown for the first time and it will not be precisely because of the Reborn Dragon.
