Luckers
05-12-2010, 01:14 PM
As some of you know I have called the Big Unnoticed Thing as the Unseen Eyes of Tel'aran'rhiod.
The Unseen Watchers of Tel’aran’rhiod
The first citing of the girls feeling eyes on them in Tel'aran'rhiod occurs in book four...
Studying the columns herself, Egwene shrugged uncomfortably. It did feel as if, they were being watched. No doubt it was just because they were the only people in the Stone. No one who had access to Tel'aran'rhiod could expect to find anyone to watch, here. [tSR;35, Sharp Lessons]
It gets referenced frequently, however. Here are some of the quotes.
"...She had the sensation of being watched from the dimnesses between the columns..."
"...The emptiness of the vast chamber oppressed her, all those great polished columns and that sense of being watched from the dimness between..."
”... there was often a feel of unseen eyes in the World of Dreams…”
"...that sensation of being watched that was so common in Tel’aran ‘rhiod. It was all Nynaeve could do not to flee..."
“…Suddenly very much aware of feeling unseen eyes…”
“…She had almost grown accustomed to the feel of unseen eyes in this vast chamber…”
“…Even the feel of unseen eyes could not touch her through her anger this morning…”
“…often she had the feeling of eyes watching…”
"...calling [Egwene] did nothing except increase that uneasy feeling of being watched..."
"...she became aware of being watched by unseen eyes. That sensation was always present in Tel'aran'rhiod, and not even the Wise Ones knew why..."
"...The ever-present sensation of unseen eyes watching was not dreamlike..."
"...That no longer seemed any odder to her than the feel of unseen eyes watching..."
The Ongoing Principal: Brandon stated that: “It’s been going for a long time.” And that entries in books 4-6 are “not the only time it’s ever mentioned. It is…hints about this hidden thing appear in pretty much…in several of the books.”
This implies several things—first and clearest is that the BUT is referenced outside books 4-6. Second, that the BUT is an event, action or effect. It has been ‘going on’ for some time, not ‘existing’ for some time. This does not wholly rule out it being an object, but it does require that if it is an object that it is doing something, or something is occurring due to it. It may even be as simple as the way characters are reacting or not reacting to it, but it has to be more than it’s existence which is significant.
The Ongoing Principal; The Unseen Eyes: First mentioned in book 4, with heavy mention in through books four and five, slows down a bit in book 6, and then has one mention each in books 7, 9 &10. This fits neatly with Brandon's comments on who the BUT appears and plays out in the books.
The Discussion Factor: Brandon said that he has never seen anyone discussing this point in his lurking on the Forums. That being said he reiterated several times that that does not mean that it hadn’t been discussed, a point which I came to appreciate recently when I made a passing reference to the Sylvase Theory—which I would have said was heavily discussed—and everyone in the thread stared at me blankly.
As such I didn’t really bother to investigate whether an idea had been discussed and am just putting down the degree to which I recall it being discussed, and am instructing you all to take the discussion factor with a grain of salt.
The Discussion Factor; The Unseen Eyes: I cannot recall it being discussed once on DM, though Terez stated that it had been on Theoryland. If I missed that, Brandon easily could have.
Revelation Requirements: Brandon said that: “it's something we should have picked up on when it appeared.”
This of course is on par with Asmodean’s killer being intuitively obvious. It does help in some ways—if the suggested BUT does not have significance except when looked at with knowledge gained in the later books it most probably isn’t the actual BUT.
Revelation Requirements; The Unseen Eyes The eyes are an oddity that is brought up often and never explained. We indeed should have taken notice the second they appeared. This fits Brandon's comments about how we should have noticed this perfectly.
Potential Impact: Uncertain. The eyes have a dire feel to them, but we have no specific indication of what may come from them should this be the BUT--note I now have a theory on them relating to the evil that created Shadar Logoth--for the short, look to the connection between the Unseen Eyes of TAR and those of Shadar Logoth and Fain
Terez thinks that picking one theory from the multitude is meaningless unless I can explain the impact of the Unseen Eyes. I think that's silly. Nothing in Brandon's comments indicates that we should predict the impact of the Unnoticed Thing, just that we should have noticed it in itself. This directly parallel's the way the Big Unnoticed Thing in the Mistborn series played out--we had hints that something weird was going on, but no clue as to its impact or reality. For those interested in exploring this point further check out my post on the Mistborn Spoiler which can be found here (http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,57075.msg1633535.html#msg1633535). I do strongly suggest you actually read the series, however. It is good and this will spoile a great deal for you.
But alright, I've been called out, and I've never been one to back away from a challenge. Here is my first theory on the Unseen Eyes--I'm developing another dealing with the Ways which I think is less likely, but I'll post it anyway in a few days--after all god forbid we not predict the BUT's impact..
The Evil That Twisted Mordeth and Gave Birth to Shadar Logoth
Brandon has told us that Mordeth, in searching for ways to combat the Shadow, encountered an entirely different evil which changed him into what he is, and is currently driving him.
Matt: Ok. You mentioned that Mordeth was a man that had "power". You are reported as saying that his power was that "which he got by seeking out all of the evil things that weren’t related to the Shadow"…
Brandon: ...he was seeking things that were related to the Shadow. I think that that might be a misquote. He was looking into the power of the Shadow in order to defeat it, was his goal. He was looking into everything. He was looking into things that were not necessarily related to the Dark One as well. He was looking for everything that he could get…
Matt: ...previous to him arriving to Aridhol?
Brandon: ...Yeah...
Matt: ...before he went to the King and became the counselor, Mordeth was this guy that went around searching for Power?
Brandon: Yeah, he wanted to defeat the Dark One and he felt that he could find other ways to do it […] He originally was good. He did not…he wasn’t this terrible person to begin with but he was looking to defeat the Dark One, to find a way to defeat the Shadow. And he looked into a lot of things he shouldn’t have looked into. There are evils that are not necessarily directly related to the Dark One, though everything evil kind of has…just as there are goods that are not related necessarily to the One Power…we are talking much as Perrin runs with wolves. This is a thing older than…there are other evils things that are old in a similar way…
Matt: ...is the assumption then that he found one of these?
Brandon: He did.
Matt: He found one or multiple?
Brandon: He found many things of darkness. There is one in specific that is driving him but he knew too much. He found things he should not have gotten into and that is what turned him into…when he got there he was already corrupt. He still thought he was doing a good work. He still thought we are going to raise this Kingdom up and it is going to become this bastion against the Shadow, but he was already by then corrupted.
[Hah - Maybe I should have asked if Mordeth was under the influence of the Finns...or at the very least if they were one of the powers he found in his quest... ]
Matt: Is this same corrupting influence what corrupts everyone through the dagger itself?
Brandon: Yeah. Through him. yes. And even through his presence.
So, this evil exists seperate of him, is driving him (or perhaps was before Fain's introduction and the presence of DO evil--it has been stated Fain is unique), and is the source of all the corruption related to Shadar Logoth.
The Unseen Eyes of Shadar Logoth
It must be noted that a direct parallel exists between the Unseen Eyes of TAR, and those of Shadar Logoth.
The back of his neck prickled. Something was watching them from the darkness in the columns. He spun around, staring at the buildings across the way. He could feel eyes on him from there, too. His grip tightened on his sword hut, though he wondered what good it would be. Watching eyes seemed to be everywhere. The others looked around warily; he
knew they could feel it, too.
[tEotW; 19, Shadow's Waiting]
The watchers followed them. Or else there were lots of watchers, lots of eyes staring out of almost every building. Rand could not see anything move, hard as he tried, but he could feel the eyes, eager, hungry. He did not know which would be worse. Thousands of eyes, or just a few, following them.
[tEotW; 19, Shadow's Waiting]
At last, with twilight falling, they came in sight of the white stone building they had left what seemed like days ago. Suddenly the watching eyes departed. Between one step and the next, they vanished in a blink. Without a word Rand broke into a trot, followed by his friends, then a full run that only ended when they hared through the doorway and collapsed, panting.
[tEotW; 19, Shadow's Waiting]
Disturbingly similar descriptions. Of course this cannot be the BUT--it's mentioned in book one, after all. More on that in a second, though I would point out that these eyes are noted to have grown worse in LoC.
Rand turned slowly where he stood, staring up at windows like empty eye sockets, the eyes gouged out. With the sun climbing high he could feel unseen watchers. When he had been here before, that feeling had not come this strongly until the sun began to go down.
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
Rand hesitated. Well short of midafternoon yet, and he could feel the eyes again. As strong as they had been with the sun setting his first time here.
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
The invisible watchers filled every window, every opening, thousands of them, waiting, anticipating.
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
So yes, Shadar Logoth was destroyed, yet it can be clearly noted that the evil was somehow growing stronger.
The Unseen Eyes of Padan Fain
The next interesting point is that these Watchers aren't just in Shadar Logoth. Fain seems to carry the same sense with him. In tGH Rand experiences the sensation of Unseen Watchers.
In the woodyard, the presence returned, the sense of someone there. The feel of eyes peering at him around tall piles of split firewood under the long sheds, darting glances over the stacks of seasoned planks and timbers waiting on the other side of the yard for the carpenter's shop, now closed up tight. He refused to look around, refused to think of how one set of eyes could move from place to place so fast, could cross the open yard from the firewood shed to the lumbershed without even a flicker of movement that he could see. He was sure it was one set of eyes. Imagination. Or maybe I'm going crazy already. He shivered. Not yet. Light, please not yet. Stiff-backed, he stalked across the woodyard, and the unseen watcher followed.
Down deep corridors lit only by a few rush torches, in storerooms filled with sacks of dried peas or beans, crowded with slatted racks heaped with wrinkled turnips and beets, or stacked with barrels of wine and casks of salted beef and kegs of ale, the eyes were always there, sometimes following him, sometimes waiting when he entered. He never heard a footstep but his own, never heard a door creak except when he opened and closed it, but the eyes were there. Light, I am going crazy.
[tGH; 2, The Flame of Tar Valon]
Now many assume this to be the Grey Man that later attempts to kill Rand during the Leavetaking. However, Liandrin also experiences the Eyes. Consider.
Pulling the door shut behind her, Liandrin suddenly felt a prickling across her skin. Breath catching, she whirled about, looking up and down the dimly lit hall. Empty. It was full night beyond the arrowslits. The hall was empty, yet she was sure there had been eyes on her. The vacant corridor, shadowy between the lamps on the walls, mocked her. She shrugged uneasily, then started down the hall determinedly. Fancies take me. Nothing more.
[tGH; 5, The Shadow in Shienar]
Why would the Grey Man watch Liandrin--more to the point on the same page we switch to Fain's POV.
As a lamp came into the cell chamber, Fain raised his head, grinning at something, unseen yet felt, beyond the dungeon's stone ceiling. "It isn't over yet," he whispered. "The battle's never over."
[tGH; 5, The Shadow in Shienar]
Furthermore in chapter 3 Fain keeps looking towards where the woman's apartments are, where Liandrin is.
He let his arm fall, and his eyes rose to stare intently at an angle up into the darkness. A crooked grin twisting his mouth, he chuckled deep in his throat as if whatever he saw was amusing. "Mordeth knows more than all of you. Mordeth knows."
Egwene backed away from the cell until she reached Rand, and only the edge of the light touched the bars of Fain's cell. Darkness hid the peddler, but they could still hear his chuckles. Even unable to see him, Rand was sure Fain was still peering off at nothing. With a shiver, he pried his fingers off his sword hilt. "Light!" he said hoarsely. "This is what you call being like he used to be?"
"Sometimes he's better, and sometimes worse." Egwene's voice was unsteady. "This is worse-much worse than usual."
"What is he seeing, I wonder. He's mad, staring at a stone ceiling in the dark." If the stone weren't there, he'd he looking straight at the women's apartments. Where Moiraine is, and the Amyrlin Seat. He shivered again. "He's mad."
[tGH; 3, Friends and Enemies]
Of course this raises the question of why would he be looking at Liandrin. LoC gives us something of an answer.
It was the most remarkable thing about Darkfriends. There should be nothing to single out a Darkfriend from anyone else, but of late he found he could tell one at a glance, even someone who had only thought of swearing to the Shadow, as if they had a sooty mark on their foreheads.
[LoC; 28, Letters]
Obviously he has only just gained mastery of this skill, but much like the flies situation in tGH was an early manifestation of his illusion skills, this awareness of Liandrin (and likely Alviarin) was an early manifestation of his awareness of Darkfriends. At least, that is what I suggest.
What Is The Relevence? These Things Occur Before Book Four, So They Ain't The BUT
Shadar Logoth and Fain are both results of the touch of the same evil thing, as shown by Brandon's comments. Both of these evils manifest with the feel of unseen eyes, unseen watchers. They themselves cannot be the BUT, but what I am suggesting is that the source of their evil may be.
Consider, Fain and Shadar Logoth have a linked source, but TAR has no links to either. So, if neither Shadar Logoth or Fain are the source of the TAR eyes--what if the TAR eyes are the source of Shadar Logoth and Fain?
The final thing I would address is that many have asked why the Eyes haven't done anything till now--what indication we have that that is to change. Little, in truth, but I do have this one quote which I think frames the response to such a question nicely.
"Whatever watches us is waiting for nightfall, I think," Sulin said. "I have looked into windows where something was looking back at me, but there was nothing there. Dancing the spears with something we cannot see will not be easy."
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
Whatever watches waits till nightfall. The Shadow darkens the world, the next book is to be called the Towers of Midnight. The time the watchers wait for, perhaps?
The Unseen Watchers of Tel’aran’rhiod
The first citing of the girls feeling eyes on them in Tel'aran'rhiod occurs in book four...
Studying the columns herself, Egwene shrugged uncomfortably. It did feel as if, they were being watched. No doubt it was just because they were the only people in the Stone. No one who had access to Tel'aran'rhiod could expect to find anyone to watch, here. [tSR;35, Sharp Lessons]
It gets referenced frequently, however. Here are some of the quotes.
"...She had the sensation of being watched from the dimnesses between the columns..."
"...The emptiness of the vast chamber oppressed her, all those great polished columns and that sense of being watched from the dimness between..."
”... there was often a feel of unseen eyes in the World of Dreams…”
"...that sensation of being watched that was so common in Tel’aran ‘rhiod. It was all Nynaeve could do not to flee..."
“…Suddenly very much aware of feeling unseen eyes…”
“…She had almost grown accustomed to the feel of unseen eyes in this vast chamber…”
“…Even the feel of unseen eyes could not touch her through her anger this morning…”
“…often she had the feeling of eyes watching…”
"...calling [Egwene] did nothing except increase that uneasy feeling of being watched..."
"...she became aware of being watched by unseen eyes. That sensation was always present in Tel'aran'rhiod, and not even the Wise Ones knew why..."
"...The ever-present sensation of unseen eyes watching was not dreamlike..."
"...That no longer seemed any odder to her than the feel of unseen eyes watching..."
The Ongoing Principal: Brandon stated that: “It’s been going for a long time.” And that entries in books 4-6 are “not the only time it’s ever mentioned. It is…hints about this hidden thing appear in pretty much…in several of the books.”
This implies several things—first and clearest is that the BUT is referenced outside books 4-6. Second, that the BUT is an event, action or effect. It has been ‘going on’ for some time, not ‘existing’ for some time. This does not wholly rule out it being an object, but it does require that if it is an object that it is doing something, or something is occurring due to it. It may even be as simple as the way characters are reacting or not reacting to it, but it has to be more than it’s existence which is significant.
The Ongoing Principal; The Unseen Eyes: First mentioned in book 4, with heavy mention in through books four and five, slows down a bit in book 6, and then has one mention each in books 7, 9 &10. This fits neatly with Brandon's comments on who the BUT appears and plays out in the books.
The Discussion Factor: Brandon said that he has never seen anyone discussing this point in his lurking on the Forums. That being said he reiterated several times that that does not mean that it hadn’t been discussed, a point which I came to appreciate recently when I made a passing reference to the Sylvase Theory—which I would have said was heavily discussed—and everyone in the thread stared at me blankly.
As such I didn’t really bother to investigate whether an idea had been discussed and am just putting down the degree to which I recall it being discussed, and am instructing you all to take the discussion factor with a grain of salt.
The Discussion Factor; The Unseen Eyes: I cannot recall it being discussed once on DM, though Terez stated that it had been on Theoryland. If I missed that, Brandon easily could have.
Revelation Requirements: Brandon said that: “it's something we should have picked up on when it appeared.”
This of course is on par with Asmodean’s killer being intuitively obvious. It does help in some ways—if the suggested BUT does not have significance except when looked at with knowledge gained in the later books it most probably isn’t the actual BUT.
Revelation Requirements; The Unseen Eyes The eyes are an oddity that is brought up often and never explained. We indeed should have taken notice the second they appeared. This fits Brandon's comments about how we should have noticed this perfectly.
Potential Impact: Uncertain. The eyes have a dire feel to them, but we have no specific indication of what may come from them should this be the BUT--note I now have a theory on them relating to the evil that created Shadar Logoth--for the short, look to the connection between the Unseen Eyes of TAR and those of Shadar Logoth and Fain
Terez thinks that picking one theory from the multitude is meaningless unless I can explain the impact of the Unseen Eyes. I think that's silly. Nothing in Brandon's comments indicates that we should predict the impact of the Unnoticed Thing, just that we should have noticed it in itself. This directly parallel's the way the Big Unnoticed Thing in the Mistborn series played out--we had hints that something weird was going on, but no clue as to its impact or reality. For those interested in exploring this point further check out my post on the Mistborn Spoiler which can be found here (http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,57075.msg1633535.html#msg1633535). I do strongly suggest you actually read the series, however. It is good and this will spoile a great deal for you.
But alright, I've been called out, and I've never been one to back away from a challenge. Here is my first theory on the Unseen Eyes--I'm developing another dealing with the Ways which I think is less likely, but I'll post it anyway in a few days--after all god forbid we not predict the BUT's impact..
The Evil That Twisted Mordeth and Gave Birth to Shadar Logoth
Brandon has told us that Mordeth, in searching for ways to combat the Shadow, encountered an entirely different evil which changed him into what he is, and is currently driving him.
Matt: Ok. You mentioned that Mordeth was a man that had "power". You are reported as saying that his power was that "which he got by seeking out all of the evil things that weren’t related to the Shadow"…
Brandon: ...he was seeking things that were related to the Shadow. I think that that might be a misquote. He was looking into the power of the Shadow in order to defeat it, was his goal. He was looking into everything. He was looking into things that were not necessarily related to the Dark One as well. He was looking for everything that he could get…
Matt: ...previous to him arriving to Aridhol?
Brandon: ...Yeah...
Matt: ...before he went to the King and became the counselor, Mordeth was this guy that went around searching for Power?
Brandon: Yeah, he wanted to defeat the Dark One and he felt that he could find other ways to do it […] He originally was good. He did not…he wasn’t this terrible person to begin with but he was looking to defeat the Dark One, to find a way to defeat the Shadow. And he looked into a lot of things he shouldn’t have looked into. There are evils that are not necessarily directly related to the Dark One, though everything evil kind of has…just as there are goods that are not related necessarily to the One Power…we are talking much as Perrin runs with wolves. This is a thing older than…there are other evils things that are old in a similar way…
Matt: ...is the assumption then that he found one of these?
Brandon: He did.
Matt: He found one or multiple?
Brandon: He found many things of darkness. There is one in specific that is driving him but he knew too much. He found things he should not have gotten into and that is what turned him into…when he got there he was already corrupt. He still thought he was doing a good work. He still thought we are going to raise this Kingdom up and it is going to become this bastion against the Shadow, but he was already by then corrupted.
[Hah - Maybe I should have asked if Mordeth was under the influence of the Finns...or at the very least if they were one of the powers he found in his quest... ]
Matt: Is this same corrupting influence what corrupts everyone through the dagger itself?
Brandon: Yeah. Through him. yes. And even through his presence.
So, this evil exists seperate of him, is driving him (or perhaps was before Fain's introduction and the presence of DO evil--it has been stated Fain is unique), and is the source of all the corruption related to Shadar Logoth.
The Unseen Eyes of Shadar Logoth
It must be noted that a direct parallel exists between the Unseen Eyes of TAR, and those of Shadar Logoth.
The back of his neck prickled. Something was watching them from the darkness in the columns. He spun around, staring at the buildings across the way. He could feel eyes on him from there, too. His grip tightened on his sword hut, though he wondered what good it would be. Watching eyes seemed to be everywhere. The others looked around warily; he
knew they could feel it, too.
[tEotW; 19, Shadow's Waiting]
The watchers followed them. Or else there were lots of watchers, lots of eyes staring out of almost every building. Rand could not see anything move, hard as he tried, but he could feel the eyes, eager, hungry. He did not know which would be worse. Thousands of eyes, or just a few, following them.
[tEotW; 19, Shadow's Waiting]
At last, with twilight falling, they came in sight of the white stone building they had left what seemed like days ago. Suddenly the watching eyes departed. Between one step and the next, they vanished in a blink. Without a word Rand broke into a trot, followed by his friends, then a full run that only ended when they hared through the doorway and collapsed, panting.
[tEotW; 19, Shadow's Waiting]
Disturbingly similar descriptions. Of course this cannot be the BUT--it's mentioned in book one, after all. More on that in a second, though I would point out that these eyes are noted to have grown worse in LoC.
Rand turned slowly where he stood, staring up at windows like empty eye sockets, the eyes gouged out. With the sun climbing high he could feel unseen watchers. When he had been here before, that feeling had not come this strongly until the sun began to go down.
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
Rand hesitated. Well short of midafternoon yet, and he could feel the eyes again. As strong as they had been with the sun setting his first time here.
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
The invisible watchers filled every window, every opening, thousands of them, waiting, anticipating.
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
So yes, Shadar Logoth was destroyed, yet it can be clearly noted that the evil was somehow growing stronger.
The Unseen Eyes of Padan Fain
The next interesting point is that these Watchers aren't just in Shadar Logoth. Fain seems to carry the same sense with him. In tGH Rand experiences the sensation of Unseen Watchers.
In the woodyard, the presence returned, the sense of someone there. The feel of eyes peering at him around tall piles of split firewood under the long sheds, darting glances over the stacks of seasoned planks and timbers waiting on the other side of the yard for the carpenter's shop, now closed up tight. He refused to look around, refused to think of how one set of eyes could move from place to place so fast, could cross the open yard from the firewood shed to the lumbershed without even a flicker of movement that he could see. He was sure it was one set of eyes. Imagination. Or maybe I'm going crazy already. He shivered. Not yet. Light, please not yet. Stiff-backed, he stalked across the woodyard, and the unseen watcher followed.
Down deep corridors lit only by a few rush torches, in storerooms filled with sacks of dried peas or beans, crowded with slatted racks heaped with wrinkled turnips and beets, or stacked with barrels of wine and casks of salted beef and kegs of ale, the eyes were always there, sometimes following him, sometimes waiting when he entered. He never heard a footstep but his own, never heard a door creak except when he opened and closed it, but the eyes were there. Light, I am going crazy.
[tGH; 2, The Flame of Tar Valon]
Now many assume this to be the Grey Man that later attempts to kill Rand during the Leavetaking. However, Liandrin also experiences the Eyes. Consider.
Pulling the door shut behind her, Liandrin suddenly felt a prickling across her skin. Breath catching, she whirled about, looking up and down the dimly lit hall. Empty. It was full night beyond the arrowslits. The hall was empty, yet she was sure there had been eyes on her. The vacant corridor, shadowy between the lamps on the walls, mocked her. She shrugged uneasily, then started down the hall determinedly. Fancies take me. Nothing more.
[tGH; 5, The Shadow in Shienar]
Why would the Grey Man watch Liandrin--more to the point on the same page we switch to Fain's POV.
As a lamp came into the cell chamber, Fain raised his head, grinning at something, unseen yet felt, beyond the dungeon's stone ceiling. "It isn't over yet," he whispered. "The battle's never over."
[tGH; 5, The Shadow in Shienar]
Furthermore in chapter 3 Fain keeps looking towards where the woman's apartments are, where Liandrin is.
He let his arm fall, and his eyes rose to stare intently at an angle up into the darkness. A crooked grin twisting his mouth, he chuckled deep in his throat as if whatever he saw was amusing. "Mordeth knows more than all of you. Mordeth knows."
Egwene backed away from the cell until she reached Rand, and only the edge of the light touched the bars of Fain's cell. Darkness hid the peddler, but they could still hear his chuckles. Even unable to see him, Rand was sure Fain was still peering off at nothing. With a shiver, he pried his fingers off his sword hilt. "Light!" he said hoarsely. "This is what you call being like he used to be?"
"Sometimes he's better, and sometimes worse." Egwene's voice was unsteady. "This is worse-much worse than usual."
"What is he seeing, I wonder. He's mad, staring at a stone ceiling in the dark." If the stone weren't there, he'd he looking straight at the women's apartments. Where Moiraine is, and the Amyrlin Seat. He shivered again. "He's mad."
[tGH; 3, Friends and Enemies]
Of course this raises the question of why would he be looking at Liandrin. LoC gives us something of an answer.
It was the most remarkable thing about Darkfriends. There should be nothing to single out a Darkfriend from anyone else, but of late he found he could tell one at a glance, even someone who had only thought of swearing to the Shadow, as if they had a sooty mark on their foreheads.
[LoC; 28, Letters]
Obviously he has only just gained mastery of this skill, but much like the flies situation in tGH was an early manifestation of his illusion skills, this awareness of Liandrin (and likely Alviarin) was an early manifestation of his awareness of Darkfriends. At least, that is what I suggest.
What Is The Relevence? These Things Occur Before Book Four, So They Ain't The BUT
Shadar Logoth and Fain are both results of the touch of the same evil thing, as shown by Brandon's comments. Both of these evils manifest with the feel of unseen eyes, unseen watchers. They themselves cannot be the BUT, but what I am suggesting is that the source of their evil may be.
Consider, Fain and Shadar Logoth have a linked source, but TAR has no links to either. So, if neither Shadar Logoth or Fain are the source of the TAR eyes--what if the TAR eyes are the source of Shadar Logoth and Fain?
The final thing I would address is that many have asked why the Eyes haven't done anything till now--what indication we have that that is to change. Little, in truth, but I do have this one quote which I think frames the response to such a question nicely.
"Whatever watches us is waiting for nightfall, I think," Sulin said. "I have looked into windows where something was looking back at me, but there was nothing there. Dancing the spears with something we cannot see will not be easy."
[LoC; 21, To Shadar Logoth]
Whatever watches waits till nightfall. The Shadow darkens the world, the next book is to be called the Towers of Midnight. The time the watchers wait for, perhaps?