Let the Healing ceremonies commence! Sheriam brings the three young women down, down, down to the chilly depths beneath the tower. The depths were the angreal, sa’angreal, and ter’angreal are kept. The depths where Accepted complete their final trials. *shudder*

In a room, Mat lies close to death atop a stone table. He is surrounded by half a dozen Aes Sedai who are all going to combine their powers to Heal the wretched Mat-with-One-T. Siuan brings out an object that looks like a white wand — a sa’angreal — to aid in the Healing. She warns her fellow Aes Sedai Sisters that the amount of the One Power that is needed will be very close to the amount of Power that will kill him, so, uh, be careful! Heh heh.

When the Aes Sedai team starts their Healing process, the room is filled with so much orgasmic light that Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are all compelled to pitch in themselves — and it takes everything in them to hold back. Mat starts thrashing on the table, flipping and flopping like a Shadar Logoth fish. In the midst of Healing, Mat starts shouting words in the Old Tongue. Before long, the dagger gets lifted in the air sparking and shimmering. Eventually, they are able to contain it in a box and officially break its bond with Mat. Mat is cured. The women are exhausted.

Sort of. He still looks like complete dogshit, but it least he’s no longer Daggered. Finally. Only took two books. Whether or not the cure will hold is tough to know at this point, but we’ll give him some aspirin and see how he looks in the morning.

Some of the Old Tongue was recognizable as battle cries and orders to soldiers, but Nynaeve knows that there was more to it than that. Siuan admits that during his thrashing Mat had said “I am a free man, Aes Sedai. I am no Aes Sedai meat”, which mirrors what Rand had said earlier in the woods about being no one’s easy meat.

We’re all meat in the end, though. Truth.