Books Reading The Wheel of Time Reading The Wheel of Time: Mat Grins at Fate in Robert Jordan’s Crossroads of Twilight (Part 19) This week’s chapters have it all: romance, gifts, revelations about the Seanchan, and even a stabbing! By Sylas K Barrett | Published on December 17, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Welcome back to Reading the Wheel of Time! It’s been a very rainy December here in my neck of the woods, which hasn’t been fun for me or my new puppy, but has been perfect for the atmosphere of the end of Crossroads of Twilight, and especially this week as we rejoin Valan Luca’s Grand Traveling Show and Magnificent Display of Marvels and Wonders on the road out of Ebou Dar and towards Lugard. Unfortunately for Mat, no one seems to share his sense of urgency, and he has to do his best to manage Aes Sedai and sul’dam, Juilin and Thera, Eganin, Domon, Olver and… oh yeah. The heir of the Seanchan Empress and his future wife. Chapters 28 and 29 have just about everything—romance, worry, gifts, games, revelations about the Seanchan, and even a stabbing! Mat might not be ready for what’s coming, but I certainly am! Despite their eagerness to leave the dangers of Ebou Dar behind, Luca and his people soon lose their urgency, and they make little progress on the road, especially since Luca won’t pass up the chance to stop in any village where they might make some money. Mat frets over the slow pace, mostly made through winter rain, and over the groups of Seanchan settlers and soldiers they sometimes pass. But that isn’t the worst of his troubles. One night, he catches the Aes Sedai sneaking back into camp, and the sul’dam sneaking after them. Mat confronts the women, but while the Aes Sedai express their gratefulness for his rescue and the sul’dam are obsequious in their offers to control “the girls” and to serve Mat, neither group follows his request to stay in the wagons and out of the towns, though both groups do inform him of whatever they learn about the movements of the Seanchan armies. Mat is at least relieved to learn that all signs—and the sul’dam’s own knowledge—point to the Seanchan turning their attentions towards Illian, which means that the road to Lugard should become increasingly clear. Mat is more comfortable relying on Thom and Juilin for information, although Thom has been increasingly moody lately and Juilin keeps taking Amathera everywhere with him. Mat sees Amathera as a much bigger liability than the Aes Sedai and sul’dam put together, and sets Noal to follow them whenever they leave the camp. Mat convinces Egeanin to come visit Tuon with him, telling her it’s because he wants her guidance as a Seanchan noble, but really so that he can give Tuon someone else to focus her ire upon. He also brings Tuon a Seanchan necklace he bought off of one of the performers, but his plan backfires spectacularly. Tuon and Selucia both regard the necklace with distaste. Selucia declares that it is a piece for a shea dancer to wear and throws it at Egeanin, ordering her to put it on. Mat is surprised when Egeanin obeys, and confused when Tuon and Selucia give Egeanin a new name, “Leilwin Shipless.” Egeanin takes their words like blows before asking permission to leave—she asks three times with increasing humility, finally dropping to her knees and kissing the floor before she is finally dismissed. Mat is also dismissed before he can make a tactical withdrawal. Outside, he demands to know what that was all about, and why Egeanin would jump for a lady’s maid that way. Egeanin replies that even one of the High Blood might not dare meet the eyes of the Tuon’s so’jin, and that she isn’t of any blood anymore. She throws the necklace away into the darkness, leaving Mat baffled. Mat decides to learn more about his enemy, and to find a different way to win. He starts coming to visit Tuon to play stones—he’s so busy trying to figure out whether Tuon would prefer to win or lose that he is beaten easily on the first game, and Tuon remarks that he doesn’t play very well. But the next day he comes back for another game, and with a gift of a beautiful paper flower which he presents to Selucia. Everyone seems startled by this move, but Tuon lets Selucia keep the flower, and Mat gets another game. He discovers that Tuon is a great player, and that he and she are about evenly matched.  On the forth night Mat brings a cluster of silk rosebuds, and this time instead of presenting them to Selucia, he leaves the flowers beside the stones board. “I’ve changed my mind, Toy,” [Tuon] murmured, placing the white stone carefully on the intersection of two lines near the center of the board. “You play very well.” Tuon tells him that she is feeling confined in the windowless wagon. Since she has kept her word not to try to escape or give the alarm, she asks to be allowed to go for walks after dark, and adds that he can accompany her. Mat decides that it’s safe enough, provided Tuon keeps her hood up. He tries to learn more about Tuon, but finds her adept at turning the conversation away from herself. He does learn that she trains horses and damane in her free time, which alarms him. Later, Egeanin asks Mat if he really believes that Tuon will complete the ceremony. She’s startled, then shocked, when he doesn’t know what she’s talking about, and explains that the main part of a Seanchan marriage ceremony is that a woman says three times that a man is her husband, and he says three times that she is his wife. Saying this in front of witnesses is what makes a marriage. Dumbfounded, Mat points out that Tuon never said anything in return, but Egenian explains that for the Blood, who usually have arranged marriages, participants don’t even have to be in the same place, and as long as the words are said in front of witnesses within the same year of each other, then the marriage is legal. Sure was sure, but the stones still spilled from his hand onto the board, bouncing everywhere. The bloody girl knew. Maybe she thought this whole thing was an adventure, or a game. Maybe she thought being kidnapped was as much fun as training horses or bloody damane! But he knew he was a trout waiting for her to set the hook. When Tuon makes a request of him, a reminder of a promise, Mat holds out a few days just so that she won’t think she can get anything she wants from him, then agrees to take her into the salt town of Jurador. When he wakes that morning he can feel the dice rolling in his head. Selucia accompanies them. When they reach the road, there are a lot of people on it, all moving purposefully and staring straight ahead. Mat has to dodge and weave around them. But a moment later Tuon asks him if he is practicing a dance and when he looks around he can’t see anyone else on the road. When he touches his medallion it feels normal, so he knows there was no channeling. Had any of those people cast shadows before they vanished? He could not recall any of them breathing a mist, either. It hardly seemed to matter. They were gone, and he was not going to think about where they had come from or where they had gone. Probably something to do with being ta’veren. He was going to put it out of his head. He was. The dice rattling away left room for nothing else. Mat follows Tuon and Selucia from shop to shop, but despite the fact that Jurador is a wealthy town, nothing seems to meet with their approval. As he follows the women around, he spots other members of the traveling group, including Aludra and Thom, then spots Edesina with her hood fallen off for a moment. She doesn’t seem in any great hurry to put it back up, he notes, and turns around looking for the other Aes Sedai, and the sul’dam. It’s then that he realizes he’s lost sight of Tuon and Selucia. They might have turned a corner or gone into one of the shops, so Mat decides to trust to his luck. He closes his eyes, turns in a circle, and takes a step at random. Finding himself facing one of the shops he hurries inside, and finds Tuon and Selucia there. Tuon proceeds to spend a lot of Mat’s money, and then Mat has to carry the heavy bundle back to camp, despite wearing his best clothes. When the reach the tents and wagons, Julin comes running up to him to tell him that Egeanin has been badly hurt. They find a group of people, including Latelle and Luca, gathered around Mat’s wagon. Egeanin is lying underneath it, cradled in Domon’s arms, and the dice are rolling louder than ever in Mat’s head. Domon tells him that Egeanin was stabbed in the back by Renna, who has run off. Teslyn arrives a moment later, crawling under the wagon despite the mud and her claims that Joline is better at healing. Mat feels the medallion go cold, and Egeanin convulses before collapsing back into Domon’s arms. Teslyn assures them that Egeanin will be alright. Mat expresses disbelief that Renna, who was always ready to lick his wrist, would do such a thing, but Egeanin is awake now, and she explains that she is the only one who knows the sul’dam’s secret—that Renna, Seta, and Bethamin were all leashed once. The a’dam worked on them, and it’s possible that it might work on all sul’dam. Luca and his wife exchanged puzzled glances, plainly not understanding a word. Teslyn’s mouth hung open, Aes Sedai serenity washed away in shock. Selucia made an angry sound, though, blue eyes blazing, and dropped the bundle of cloth from her back as she took a step toward Domon. A quick flash of Tuon’s fingers stopped her in her tracks, though it was a quivering halt. Tuon’s face was a dark mask, unreadable. She did not like what she had heard, though. Come to think, she had said she trained damane. Oh, burn him, on top of everything else, he was going to marry a woman who could channel? Harnan arrives to tell Mat that Renna stole a horse, and that she could be back in the ferry town of Coramen—where there had been many Seanchan soldiers stationed—by nightfall. Mat issues hasty orders for Luca to take the money Mat promised and to move his show as quickly as he can, while Mat’s own people are to take to the forest and hide until Mat can find them. Juilin suggests leaving Tuon and Selucia in Jurador to be found by the Seanchan, but Mat refuses. Mat and Harnon ride as fast as they can without hurting the horses, and eventually catch up with Vanin, who reports that Renna is pushing harder than expected. They can probably catch up to her around nightfall, but unless her horse founders, she’ll reach the town about the same time. His prediction proves perfectly accurate—as they approach the last ridge before Coramen, they spot Renna, who has abandoned the road for a straighter path cross-country. She was maybe two hundred paces from them, and she might as well have been miles. Her mount was on the point of collapsing, but she could get down and run within sight of the garrisons before they could reach her. All she had to do was reach the crest, another fifty feet.“My Lord?” Harnan said. He had an arrow nocked and his bow half raised. Gorderan held the heavy crossbow to his shoulder, a thick pointed bolt in place.Mat felt something flicker and die inside him. He did not know what. Something. The dice rolled like thunder. “Shoot,” he said. Mat watches the bolts hit Renna and take her down—her body tumbles down the slope and into a stream, which carries it away. He wonders if it will reach the sea. The dice have stopped, but all Mat can think about is that he has now been the cause of three women’s deaths, and promises himself that it will never happen again. When they return to Jurador they find the show camped right where they left it. But when they enter Luca’s wagon the find Tuon there,  sitting in a gilded chair with Selucia at her back, while Latelle offers her a plate of pastries. Tuon asks if Renna is captured or dead, and Mat replies that she is dead before trying to ask Luca what is going on. “I forbid it, Toy!” Tuon snapped, pointing a finger at him sharply. “I forbid you to mourn a traitor!” Her voice softened, slightly, but it remained firm. “She earned death by betraying the Empire, and she would have betrayed you as easily. She was trying to betray you. What you did was justice, and I name it so.” Her tone said that if she named a thing, then it was well and truly named. Luca tells Mat that Tuon convinced everyone to stay, including Juilin and Thom and Mat’s men. Then he shows Mat a warrant, signed by Tuon herself, putting his show under her personal protection. He’s tremendously excited about it, calling Tuon High Lady and seemingly ready to kiss the floor at her feet. Mat feels a sudden sense of despair. Tuon tells Mat that she made specific mention in the warrant of who is not under her protection, and asks him if he knows which name heads that list. He realizes suddenly that her smile is not malicious—it’s another of those secret smiles that holds amusement or delight in something he can’t see. And then he notices the cluster of silk rosebuds, the ones he gave her, pinned to her shoulder. He realizes that despite all his efforts he doesn’t know Tuon one bit, and begins to laugh. What’s most interesting about this section, I think, is that we only have Mat’s perspective throughout it, which means that the reader’s sympathy is naturally going to turn in his direction. But as I went through the chapters, I found myself considering how different the events would look from other characters’ perspectives. The Aes Sedai had no choice but to trust Mat during the escape from Ebou Dar, and it was no small amount of trust, either, to let themselves be collared and controlled by the sul’dam. Yes, he came through for them in the escape, but while Mat may trust Thom and Juilin’s reports much more than he trusts the Aes Sedai’s information, the Aes Sedai have no real reason to trust his judgement over their own. They barely know him, after all, and they know even less about the other people traveling with the show. Teslyn, Joline, and Edesina are women who are accustomed to having not only more power than most of the people they interact with but also to having more knowledge, and it’s hardly surprising they want to see things and judge situations for themselves—for all they know, Mat could be lying to them about where they are headed, or how near the Seanchan are. Granted, it would seem to be a better plan to send the Warders to look around and report back to the Aes Sedai, but only Joline has Warders, and Teslyn is a Red. Even if she and Joline didn’t have such a fraught history, Teslyn might not be ready to trust the judgments of two men, even Warders. Come to think of it, trust between the three Aes Sedai might be pretty strained at this point—we don’t know if Joline has come around to the idea that Teslyn slipping her forkroot was what saved her from the Seanchan attack, and even if she has, that was hardly Teslyn’s intent in poisoning her fellow sister. It would also seem that they aren’t always sticking together, since it appears Edesina was in Jurador and Teslyn wasn’t—though we can’t be sure, since if Mat and Tuon and Selucia had time to get back to the show, so did anyone else who was in town around the time that they were. But it at least seems more likely that they weren’t together. Mat tells the three Aes Sedai and three sul’dam that staying with the wagons isn’t so much to ask, but it kind of is. He has cooped the Aes Sedai up with three women who not only view them as animals, rather than people, but who are fully prepared to imprison them as animals at the very first opportunity. In the meantime, the sul’dam miss no chance to remind the Aes Sedai of how they view them, and to encourage Mat to see the Ae Sedai in the same way. Mat is even using the sul’dam as leverage against the Aes Sedai, which, whether necessary or not, is hardly a way to ingratiate himself or make them feel comfortable with his decisions.  I have very little sympathy for the sul’dam, however. It’s easy to see why they are so obsequious to Mat— even without Mat knowing their secret, they are well aware that they committed treason in helping him steal (as they would see it) two damane and one marath’damane and secret them out of Seanchan-controlled territory. Given how the sul’dam are accustomed to having a certain level of prestige and power in Senchan society, it makes sense that they would hope to gain a position under Mat that is similar to a position they might have held under one of the Blood. However, they have no guarantee he will see them that way, and nothing to offer besides their knowledge of the Seanchan plans (which is probably pretty limited) and their ability to use the a’dam. So of course they would want to convince him that collaring and controlling Teslyn, Joline, and Edesina is necessary. That they, the sul’dam, are necessary. But there is even more to their continual insistence that the Aes Sedai are shifty and untrustworthy and should be collared and controlled than a desire to be useful to Mat. These three women have all been collared themselves—they know, whether they can admit it to themselves or not, that they can be controlled by the a’dam, that they themselves are marath’damane, or at least something very close to that. Every time they refer to the three Aes Sedai as “the girls,” every time they suggest that they should be using the a’dam to control Teslyn and Edesina and Joline, they are drawing a metaphorical line between themselves and the Aes Sedai, attempting to reinforce the idea that they are sul’dam, not damane. That the Aes Sedai are animals meant to be collared and they, Seta and Renna and Bethamin, are not. Their discomfort certainly makes sense, but it is also undeniable that they were offered the opportunity to see channelers, to see damane, in a different light, but chose to double down in their prejudice instead. They are desperate to save their own skins, ready even to betray their Empire if that’s what it takes. Not that I don’t understand that part—I’d say the Seanchan deserve to be betrayed by those they would enslave, and those they would enslave deserve to escape. However, it is very interesting how quickly the sul’dam changed their beliefs. If they truly believed that collaring women who can channel is the right thing to do, that being collared is the best thing for the damane themselves, then they should have turned themselves in as marath’damne, right? But that belief didn’t hold up for Seta, Bethamin, and Renna. Not when it was their own necks on the line. Because of this, I felt much closer to Tuon’s opinion than Mat’s about Renna’s death. Not for the same reason as Tuon, of course—I’m not loyal to the Crystal Throne—but I agree with her order to Mat that he shouldn’t beat himself up over doing what he had to do. He tried to spare Renna and the other sul’dam, and if Renna had succeeded in reaching the Seanchan it would have spelled doom for many of the other people who put their trust in Mat, those he is helping and those who have helped him. Like Rand and Perrin, Mat was never taught to be a leader, never learned how to carry the responsibility of being in charge of other people’s lives, and, sometimes, their deaths. Just like Faile does for Perrin and Elayne and Aviendha do for Rand (Min plays a slightly different role, I think), Tuon will have to teach Mat how to be a leader, especially if he is going to be husband to a woman who will one day be an Empress. I wonder what title he’ll have—will he be the Fox Emperor, or is the Empress’s husband called something else, like “Consort” or “Husband of the Nine Moons?” And indeed, I’d say Mat’s relationship with Tuon feels a lot like Rand’s. Min’s viewing told her that she, Elayne, and Aviendha would all be with Rand, which affected how the women approached their relationship with him as well as with each other. Mat and Tuon also have each been told their future—Tuon by a damane with an ability similar to Foretelling, and Mat by some extra-dimensional beings he tangled with on the other side of a ter’angreal doorway—and as a result, they are approaching the question of a relationship as a matter of when, rather than if. And I’ll admit, I tangled up my brain quite a bit trying to decide what, if anything, would be different if one or both of them hadn’t been given this foreknowledge. On one hand, the “Foretellings” were only readings of the Pattern, so Mat and Tuon would ostensibly have ended up together regardless of what they learned or when they learned it, even if they would have interacted with each other differently. On the other hand, Tuon would probably not have been willing to be captured, and that could have spelled doom for everyone Mat was helping, even if he himself would eventually have come out of it as her husband. Perhaps having both of them encounter these “Foretellings” before they even met was the Pattern’s way of spinning their lives in the right direction, making sure they not only met at the right time but that they made the choices the Pattern needed them to make. A true self-fulfilling prophecy, as it were. Anyway, it’s interesting to see how Tuon compliments Mat’s personality. One thing that he really needs in life is someone who will challenge and push him, balancing out the selfish part of him that would rather have fun and shirk duty, the part of him that would run from danger rather than assume responsibility in the face of it. It’s enjoyable to see Mat pushed this way, I must say, just as it is enjoyable to see his frustration over Olver being taught certain things—like macking on girls—by his uncles. I really love that Mat has an adopted son who is just as clever, adventurous, and mischievous as he is. It’s like when parents enjoy seeing their adult children have children of their own, and watch them go through the same struggles that those adult children put their parents through when they were small. What Mat brings to Tuon is yet to be seen, but at the least his perspective is very different from hers—he was born a commoner and outside of Seanchan, and she will need to understand and adapt to the world she has come to reclaim, even if she isn’t able to conquer it all in the way the Seanchan actually intend. And of course, the biggest asset here will be Mat’s ability to connect the (future) ruler of the Seanchan to the Dragon Reborn. Rand already intends to try for a truce between himself and the Seanchan, and though the Seanchan are a pretty horrible society in a lot of ways, they do believe they have an important role to play in the Last Battle. I’m sure they will, and I think that the Seanchan prophecy that the Dragon will kneel before the Crystal Throne looks very different when you consider it might be Mat and Tuon, not the Empress, that he will probably be negotiating with. The fact that the Pattern has brought Tuon and Mat together makes a lot of sense, in this regard, and the alliance may be one of the most important keys in readying the side of the Light for Tarmon Gai’don. I really wish we could see some of the courtship from Tuon’s point of view, though. It’s fascinating that she and Mat both have foreknowledge that they will eventually get married, but while we get to see how he is viewing the problem, we have no idea what she thinks about all of it. I suspect that some of her disdain for him is a show, but it’s hard to tell if her performance is just to make sure puts in work to court her properly, or if it’s because she wants to train him into certain behaviors, or if it’s for some other reason entirely. Watching Mat wonder about her motives and intentions is fun, but this feels like the perfect moment for some of that excellent Robert Jordan dramatic irony, and I’d love to be able to see both of them trying to figure out the other one. However, Jordan probably intended the reader to be a little frustrated this way, just as Mat is frustrated, and I have to respect that. If I had to guess, the necklace that Mat got was probably exactly what Selucia said it was—a piece of jewelry made for a dancer. After all, a soldier gave it to one of Luca’s performers. Mat couldn’t have known that, I suppose, but he might have considered that the caliber and type of jewelry that a soldier could buy and bestow upon a woman he was courting might not be considered worthy of a future Empress, even if the piece was expensive and beautiful. And just because the necklace looked expensive to Mat, and just because the woman he bought it from valued it at a high price doesn’t mean it actually was expensive. I’m not exactly shocked that Tuon managed to take over authority in Luca’s show—that woman clearly can’t be fazed by anything, and is accustomed to using the combination of fear and favor to control people. Even without the backing of her nobles and guards, even with people who have no loyalty to Seanchan or the Crystal Throne, she is able to figure out exactly what leverage to apply to Luca to have him eating out of her hand in a matter of hours. Poor Egeanin, though. Unlike the sul’dam, she was faced with the truth about the sul’dam and also made friends with Aes Sedai, and as a result she has had her faith in her country shaken. She isn’t perfect by any means—she’s still struggling with the idea that Domon was, from the Seanchan point of view, her property, and her flight from Seanchan was motivated by self-preservation as much as anything else. But we can see she’s working on it, and that while Domon is loyal to her, he will not actually allow himself to be confined by Seanchan rules, which means that she will continually be pushed to adjust her perspective, and to grow. I remember when we learned that Tuon trains damane, but I’d sort of forgotten about the fact that she can actually use the a’dam, and is therefore capable of learning how to channel. The irony of Mat ending up with a woman who can channel is obvious, but if the future Empress herself is revealed to be a channeler, or at least a potential channeler, that could have some incredible repercussions for the state of the Seanchan Empire and the way that damane are handled. Which would be very good, not only for the sake of the damane themselves but also for the potential of the Seanchan Empire and culture existing alongside the other nations.  Also, does this mean that Tuon will outlive Mat by quite a bit? Or at least that she could, if she chose to learn to channel? And what the heck is up with Noal? The fact that he just so happened to recite part of the Prophecies of the Dragon to Tuon right as Mat was showing up to see her feels like more than coincidence, as does his offer to assassinate Amathera for Mat, as does the way he appears and disappears so apparently randomly. He seems to know a lot more than he lets on, and I wonder if he isn’t hiding behind the image of an old, forgetful man the way Brown Aes Sedai hide behind the identity of scholarly scatter-brains who only care about books. He doesn’t quite feel like a bad guy, but if he isn’t one of the Forsaken in disguise or a spy for them, I can’t think of what else his secret might be. Mat recognizes the verse as being about himself, but it’s clearly a reference to Tuon as well, given that ravens are symbols of the Seanchan and that she is called the Daughter of the Nine Moons. Fortune rides like the sun on high/ with the fox that makes the ravens fly.Luck his soul, the lightning his eye/ He snatches the moons from out of the sky. Fortune? Tuon? Definitely seems that there’s something there. And while I don’t know if Mat has caught on to that part of the verse, surely Noal didn’t pick it at random. Does Tuon suspect its significance? Did Mat’s ta’veren powers summon the verse to Noal’s mind? That’s more the way Rand’s powers work than Mat’s, it seems, but you never know. I’m also curious about Setalle, who seems more judgemental of Mat than she is of Tuon and Selucia. This surprises me, considering Setalle’s reaction to the leashing of Aes Sedai and the fact that she is probably a former sister who was burned out and had to leave the Tower as a result. Surely a former Aes Sedai wouldn’t look kindly on the leader of the Seanchan, but Mat at least perceives that she is more on Tuon’s side than his when it comes to their personal interactions, and he thinks that Selucia and Setalle have grown rather close. I’m curious to see what comes of this, but perhaps Setalle will be another influence on Tuon to change her mind about channeling. There are a lot of interesting moments in these chapters, and even as I write I’m sure I’m forgetting some. But one is that Juilin mentions rumors that Suroth has allied with a king or some other strong ally, which is probably Masema. There is also the mention of Tuon’s father being a gambler, who died of a bad wager. My read on that is that he was a general like Mat, who died in battle, and I’ll be interested to see if that turns out to be true. We have one more chapter, plus the Epilogue, to cover in the next post, which will have to wait until the New Year. But I am very excited to cover it, and there are some dramatic moments yet to be had before we close out Crossroads of Twilight. I hope every one of you has an enjoyable and restful holiday season, and I will see you all in 2025![end-mark] The post Reading The Wheel of Time: Mat Grins at Fate in Robert Jordan’s <i>Crossroads of Twilight</i> (Part 19) appeared first on Reactor.

The United States Witness Protection Program (WITSEC) is managed by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service. Their job is to ensure the protection of threatened witnesses before, during, and after they testify at trial. Originally created in the mid-1960s by Gerald Shur as the Federal Witness Protection Program, it eventually grew into what it is... Source

Stunning! Brave! Climate Defiance Protestors Tackle the Department of Energy

"We knew right away this was a big, unprecedented die-off. We just didn’t know how big.”

The word "laser" was first used in 1960, to describe the new invention.

Researchers have found the remains of the most ancient animal that lived on the planet before the dinosaurs. During the age of dinosaurs, about 200 million years ago, the first mammals appeared. But their lineage goes back even further, to an ancient group called therapsids. Many ancient therapsids looked very vaguely like modern mammals, but they shared key features. For example, they had openings in the sides of their skulls where jaw muscles attached, and they had jaw bones that later evolved into the distinctive middle ear bones of modern mammals. Researchers have recently discovered the oldest known fossils of a therapsid. The ancient predator resembled a dog with sabre-like teeth and stands at the origins of mammal evolution. The fossil found is a member of a group called gorgonopsians. “Gorgonopsians are much more closely related to mammals than to any other living animals. Although gorgonopsians are not our direct ancestors, they are related to species that were our direct ancestors,” says co-author Ken Angielczyk. This figure from the paper shows the fossil bones that were found in the new gorgonopsian. Credit: Matamales-Andreu et al, illustration by Eudald Mujal / SMNS Until recently, remains of gorgonopsians were found that lived approximately 265 million years ago. The new fossil dates back to 270-280 million years ago. “We think this is likely the oldest gorgonops on the planet,” said senior author Josep Fortuny. The ancient fossil was discovered on Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea. During the time of the Gorgonopsians, the island was part of the supercontinent Pangaea. “The number of preserved Gorgonops bones is impressive. We found everything from skull fragments, vertebrae and ribs, to a preserved femur. We couldn’t even hope to find such a quantity of remains when we started excavating in this region,” admits ICP researcher and first author of the paper Rafel Matamales. Such a rich find allowed scientists to reconstruct the animal’s appearance, as well as learn some details about its life. “If you saw this animal on the street, it might remind you of a medium-sized dog, but that’s where the similarities would end. This animal would not have fur, nor would it have ears like dogs. This is the oldest animal on Earth ever found, and it had long, blade-like fangs,” Angielczyk adds. The saber-shaped teeth indicate that gorgonopsians were apex predators in their time. The post Remains of an Ancient Animal That Lived Before the Dinosaurs Found appeared first on Anomalien.com.

A passenger on a flight from Chicago (ORD) to Newark (EWR) captured footage (see below) of objects appearing far above the cloud line—at altitudes commercial planes typically cruise. While authorities have attributed these sightings to “drones,” public skepticism is mounting, as commercially available drones are not capable of reaching such extraordinary heights. The eyewitness, posting under the username “EasilyAmusedEE,” documented these mysterious objects on December 16, 2024, aboard United Airlines flight UA2359. Armed with an iPhone 16 Pro Max, they began recording roughly 20 minutes into the flight and continued to spot the objects intermittently throughout their journey. 12/16 UA2359 ORD to EWR byu/EasilyAmusedEE inUFOs What stood out was not only the unusual appearance of the objects but also their movement, visibility, and the flashing blue lights—features the eyewitness noted were not discernible with the naked eye. Commercial planes typically fly between 30,000 and 35,000 feet, far above the clouds, which themselves top out around 12,000 feet. Drones available on the consumer market are constrained by both technical limitations and legal altitude caps. For example, most drones struggle to exceed 400 feet, as per FAA regulations, and even high-end models face challenges around 12,000 feet due to thin air and limited battery life. Yet, the video evidence seemingly captures objects well above the clouds, moving in ways inconsistent with known aircraft or conventional drones. If confirmed, this would place these “drones” at altitudes exceeding 40,000 to 50,000 feet, prompting obvious questions: How did they get there, and who controls them? Many observers are unconvinced by the government’s “drone” explanation, with one commenter sarcastically noting: “I love flying drones at 50,000 feet, above commercial aviation. You wouldn’t believe the science behind the propellers on these things.” Unlike stars or distant planes, the objects in the video appear to move and shift position relative to the flight path—sometimes perpendicular to the horizon. While the government’s official narrative maintains that these are “drones,” the absence of more detailed explanations has fueled doubt. Given the altitude, duration, and visibility of the objects, questions linger: Are these truly drones, and if so, who is operating technology capable of such feats? The narrative of “just drones” is a difficult pill to swallow for many who’ve viewed the evidence. The post Mysterious Objects Filmed Above Clouds Raise Doubts Over ‘Drone’ Explanation appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Mysterious drones have been spotted flying over the United States, and a recent video purports to show a drone firing tracers over New Jersey. New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew told Fox News that “Iran launched a mothership probably about a month ago that contains these drones” and that “we know it’s not our own government.” While the government continues to deny and claim ignorance, Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” doesn’t believe for a second that it's giving us the whole story. “He’s like, ‘Well it’s not our own government, because then we’d know,’” Gonzales tells Eric July. “No you wouldn’t. How many times has the Biden regime gone rogue on so many different things?” “Oh, you think they’re not going to keep that from you?” She continues, adding, “I just don’t buy that to begin with.” “I think when things like this happen, a lot of people’s minds just go in the complete opposite direction, where they assume that it could be, let’s say, some foreign country or something of that nature. I think it’s very dangerous, especially when you start looking at these government officials who go out on a limb and are like, ‘Oh, I think it was that person or that group,’” July says. “We’ve seen war started for less,” he says, noting that meanwhile, drone technology is only escalating. “They’re advancing quick, man. These things are able to do some really, really, I’d argue, cool things. But yeah, when I see something just sitting there floating and it’s spraying something, I’ll be like, ‘Is it mosquitoes? Or are you doing something else?’” He continues, adding, “And I think any person that’s going to see something floating in the air is going to be kind of turned off by that.” Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

CNN finally confirmed the real identity of the man in its emotional alleged rescue video shared last week.On Monday, the news outlet published an article acknowledging that the man who presented himself as Adel Gharbal in a video by chief correspondent Clarissa Ward was, in fact, Salama Mohammad Salama, also known as Abu Hamza, a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence under Bashar al-Assad.However, neither CNN nor Ward acknowledged any fault or offered an explanation regarding their failure to verify the man's identity in the initial report. Instead, they appeared to present the information as a new discovery.'We can confirm the real identity of the man from our story last Wednesday as Salama Mohammed Salama.'Last Wednesday, the news outlet aired an alleged rescue video of a man who claimed to be a Syrian civilian who had been locked in a secret prison for three months. After a Syrian rebel guard reportedly shot off the cell's padlock, Ward and her news crew discovered the man inside, hiding underneath a blanket.The man stated that he had not consumed any food or water in several days and had not seen sunlight in months. However, viewers raised questions about the man's clean, well-groomed appearance.Verify-Sy published a report on Sunday stating that it had uncovered the man's true identity. It claimed he was not a Syrian civilian as he had presented but an officer for Assad.Locals told the news outlet that Hamza was "involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming informants." He had reportedly been incarcerated "due to a dispute over profit-sharing from extorted funds with a higher-ranking officer."In response to the bombshell report, CNN stated, "We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity.""No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day. The events transpired as they appear in our film," CNN continued. "The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard — a Syrian rebel."CNN published an article on Monday confirming Verify-Sy's reporting."A man who was filmed by CNN being released by rebels from a Damascus jail was a former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime, according to local residents, and not an ordinary citizen who had been imprisoned, as he had claimed," the article read.CNN stated that it obtained a photograph that "points to the man's real identity — said to be a lieutenant in the Assad regime's Air Force Intelligence Directorate, Salama Mohammad Salama."The outlet said it could not verify why the man was detained in the prison, but Verify-Sy reported he had been incarcerated for less than a month."Rebel guards handed him over to the Syrian Red Crescent. The medical relief organization later posted a picture of him on social media, saying they had returned a freed prisoner to relatives in Damascus," CNN stated. "Salama's current whereabouts are unknown."Ward provided a short statement on X linking to CNN's article."We can confirm the real identity of the man from our story last Wednesday as Salama Mohammed Salama," she wrote.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas suggested that Hispanic Americans who voted for President-elect Donald Trump did so because they have a "slave mentality." Trump's landslide victory was aided by the historic turnout for the Republican candidate from minority voters who have historically voted blue. Although voters across the board said they preferred Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris because of economic and immigration policy, Crockett chalked it up to minorities' "slave mentality" and "misogyny." 'It almost reminds me of what people would talk about when they would talk about kind of like "slave mentality" and the hate that some slaves would have for themselves.'In 2016, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won by 50 points among college-educated minority voters and by 56 points among minorities without a college degree. President Joe Biden's numbers were slightly worse in 2020, winning among college-educated minorities by 43 points and non-college-educated minorities by 46 points. This trend came to a head in 2024 with Harris, who managed to secure the college-educated minority vote by only 35 points and the non-college-educated minority vote by only 32 points. "That is my distilled summary of what happens within the Latino community," Crockett said in a Friday interview with Vanity Fair. "I've not run into that with the Asian community. I've not run into that with the African community. I've not run into that with the Caribbean community. I've only run into it with Hispanics.""It almost reminds me of what people would talk about when they would talk about kind of like 'slave mentality' and the hate that some slaves would have for themselves," Crockett continued. "It's almost like a slave mentality that they have. It is wild to me when I hear how anti-immigrant they are as immigrants, many of them. I'm talking about people that literally just got here and can barely vote that are having this kind of attitude." Crockett also attributed Harris' loss among black male voters to misogyny, not policy. “I will tell you that black people historically have been fiercely loyal," Crockett said. "That’s why you still see the [turnout] numbers that you see coming out for black folks, even though there was a bit of flaking. And that bit of flaking came from black men, which I’m going to chalk up to misogyny." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!