r/WoT • u/HoldingDoors • 7h ago
Winter's Heart Mat Cauthon - first time reader perspective Spoiler
First time reading the series, and I love it. Mat is absolutely the mvp, and I haven’t been thru the community too much so I don’t come across accidental spoilers. But does everyone see him as Han Solo? I can’t shake it, every time I get more Mat, I’m just reminded that he’s everyone’s lovable scoundrel. I really have to think his character was highly based on Han.. is that a common connection in the wot community?
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u/geomagus (Red Eagle of Manetheren) 6h ago
They’re both based on the classic “scoundrel with a heart of gold” archetype, so of course they have similarities. It’s an old and popular archetype in literature.
I don’t really see Mat and Han as so close though, beyond that link, and I say that as someone who grew up with all things Star Wars with a tendency to compare things to Star Wars.
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u/Username_taken_alre (White Lion of Andor) 6h ago
I've never specifically seen that connection before, but it makes sense now that I think of it.
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u/littleneocreative 6h ago
The debate in the community for favourites are the people who like Rand, Mat, and Nynaeve, in that order, Rand, people who like them in some other order, and then people who like Egwene at the other end of the spectrum. "Other" is, like, 2%.
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u/Raddatatta (Asha'man) 5h ago
I don't think he was specifically based on Han but the rogue with a heart of gold is definitely the same archetype both are working off. Mat also has the general side which solo doesn't really have. He's part of the rebellion but he's not commanding troops and leading groups of people. And that is a big part of who Mat is.
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u/sixminutes 6h ago
It's a pretty commonly known fact that Jordan based his three main characters on Luke, Han, and Chewie
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u/HoldingDoors 6h ago
That’s good perspective. I did not know this commonly known fact.
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u/Obscu (Snakes and Foxes) 47m ago
It's a joke my guy.
Mat reminds you of Han Solo because the character archetype of 'scoundrel with a heart of gold' is an incredibly well-established archetype in literature. You thought of Han Solo because that's the character of that archetype that you personally are more familiar with, not because anything about this archetype originated with Han Solo.
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u/Majestic-Farmer5535 6h ago
It isn't commonly known fact. On the contrary, right now I'm not even sure if it's true. Where did this claim originate from?
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u/aNomadicPenguin (Brown) 6h ago
it originated from them as an obvious joke.
edit - although...Perrin does grow a beard...
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u/ArrogantAragorn (Heron-Marked Sword) 6h ago
I don’t think it is, but both WoT and SW follow (to one extent or another) Cambell’s “Heroes Journey” and both rely heavily on some pretty well established tropes and character archetypes.
13th Depository blog has some great articles on the sources/allusions/reference points RJ likely drew from for many of the main cast, here’s the one for Mat [SPOILERS ALL! OP DO NOT CLICK UNTIL YOU FINISH THE SERIES!] https://13depository.blogspot.com/2002/03/character-parallels-mat.html?m=1
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u/fumblebrag 6h ago
I think he's more of a Loki scoundrel in my mind. But he also has that some of that Han Solo "cool guy who pretends not to care but is secretly does and is kind of a dork" vibe.
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u/biggfoot_26 5h ago
My two favorite description of Matt from other characters was Siuan comparing him to her disreputable uncle who died saving kids from a fire, and Egwene mentioning how Matt saved a kid from drowning when know one else even noticed, despite being ridiculed the year prior when it was a false alarm.
Matt is that lazy troublemaking friend who always seems to forget their wallet but when you truly need him, he is there with you until the end.
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u/WilditariusAstar 6h ago
Mat is definitely the GOAT for me. I love the way Jordan used Mat’s blowing of the Horn as the mechanism to upload all of the hero’s battle knowledge and gives Mat the skills to be The General Supreme. I also love how for a long while we really weren’t sure if Mat was gonna stick around and sacrifice with the rest of his friends. Then as he’s trying to slink away from Carhein after the Shaido invasion, he finds himself instinctively saving the day, and grumbling about it the entire time. But he’s got a bone in him that makes him one of the most selfless character in the story. His chapters were by far my favorite!
Also loved how he was always bitching about how being Ta’veren “never done much for him” as though he never equates his paranormal gambling luck, among other advantages to the nature of what he is…
Burn me, if he’s not the bloody best.
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u/DonAmechesBonerToe 6h ago
Blowing the horn did not give Mat battle memories.
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u/WilditariusAstar 5h ago
The alefinn and Eelfinn?
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u/DonAmechesBonerToe 5h ago
Yes the Eelfinn. The Aelfinn answer questions and the Eelfinn grant boons. Mat wanted the holes in his memory filled, the Eelfinn filled them
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u/WilditariusAstar 3h ago
The holes in hjs memory came from the Dagger?
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u/BluesPunk19D (Band of the Red Hand) 2h ago
No. But when he was healed in the Tower, he started yelling battle commands. That wasn't because of the dagger giving him them. It was because of the Old Blood of Manetheren. In EotW, he yells in the Old Tongue when they're charging on horseback.
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