History TearJerker / TheWheelOfTime

* The history of the Aiel certainly counts. It takes up chapters 25 and 26 of the book, and it is ''heartbreaking''.

* Rand's MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment when he stops short of ''killing his father'' and nearly repeating the mistakes of his previous incarnation as he gets ready to destroy the entire world rather than continue fighting in a never-ending war against the Shadow. Luckily this turns into a TearsOfJoy moment after he heals his mind, he and "Lews Therin" become one again.

* Rand's MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment when he stops short of ''killing his father'' and nearly repeating the mistakes of his previous incarnation as he gets ready to destroy the entire world rather than continue fighting in a never-ending war against the Shadow.

[[folder:Complete Series]]
!0 - ''New Spring''

!1 - ''The Eye of the World''

!2 - ''The Great Hunt''

!3 - ''The Dragon Reborn''

!4 - ''The Shadow Rising''

!5 - ''The Fires of Heaven''

!6 - ''Lord of Chaos''

!7 - ''A Crown of Swords''

!8 - ''The Path of Daggers''

!9 - ''Winter's Heart''

!11 - ''Knife of Dreams''

!12 - ''The Gathering Storm''

!13 - ''Towers of Midnight''

!14 - ''A Memory of Light''

* The funeral. Faile and her retainers coming together one night to remember the Mera'din Aiel who watched over and protected each of them in Malden, ultimately at the cost of their own lives.

* Rand having to give a MercyKill to Fedwin Morr, a one of the first Asha'man to join the Black Tower, who succumbed to the taint on ''saidin'' while guarding Min and whose mind reverted to a child's. Rand gave him a poison that allowed him to die in his sleep. While it had been brought up that Taim had had to do the same to others, this was the first time Rand had to.

** This doesn't sound like much until you remember what Aviendha is feeling. She ''is'' in love with him, but her BFF Elayne also loves him, and she promised Elayne she would safeguard him from the claws of other women. Now she ''is'' the other woman. Poor thing probably hates herself--and that's ''before'' we factor in the whole ProudWarriorRace thing.

** And Vandene's long-awaited vengeance a few books later, doubling as a DyingMomentOfAwesome:
-->'''Vandene:''' ''[As she stabs the murderer.]'' A gift from Adeleas!

!11 - ''A Knife of Dreams''

*** FridgeHorror also sets in when taking into account everything Perrin did to rescue Faile from the Shaido over the course of several earlier books to prove his devotion to her were all to prepare him for this moment. If he had abandoned the rescue mission, would he have been able to break the Compulsion?

** The moment when Logain gives up searching for [[spoiler:the other male sa'angreal]] in order to help save the refugees from Caemlyn and their children from the Shadowspawn, and thus fulfills Min's viewing of "glory of men to come":

-->'''Vandene''', as she stabs the murderer: A gift from Adeleas!

* Rand having to give a MercyKill to Fedwin Morr, a Dedicated who succumbed to the taint on ''saidin'' while guarding Min and whose mind reverted to a child's. Rand gave him a poison that allowed him to die in his sleep.

* Nynaeve getting a ''massive'' BreakTheHaughty and HeroicBSOD moment when Birgitte is pulled into the real world in ''The Fires of Heaven'' and Birgitte herself having a brief HeroicBSOD and breaking down upon realizing that her soulmate may never find her again.

!8 - ''The Path of Daggers''

!7 - ''A Crown of Swords''

* When Elder Haman is marking all the Waygates for Rand and begins crying on the map for all of the Ogier-built cities and groves lost.

* [[spoiler: Ingtar]]'s HeroicSacrifice at the end of ''The Great Hunt''. Especially poignant because up until that point, [[spoiler: he was a Darkfriend]] who was [[TheAtoner desperately seeking some way to atone for his crimes]], and believed that [[spoiler: recovering the Horn of Valere would lead to his salvation if he could lead the Heroes of the Horn against the Shadow]], and then finally decided that he would seek his salvation instead by [[YouShallNotPass giving Rand and his friends the time to escape with the Horn.]]
* When Elder Haman is marking all the waygates for Rand and begins crying on the map for all of the Ogier-built cities and groves lost.
* [[spoiler: Aram's]] death in ''Knife of Dreams''.
* [[spoiler: Verin's death]] in ''The Gathering Storm''. Similarly, [[spoiler:her warder, Tomas]], who opts to spend his final hour with his family.
* [[spoiler: Aviendha's vision of the future Aiel]] in ''Towers of Midnight''. A supremely epic vision of the degradation and fall of your honorable people, all fated to happen and caused by your descendents. The reader cannot help but feel for her and weep. [[spoiler: However, Sorilea advices Avienda to ScrewDestiny by changing her future children's names. So maybe it can work.]]

* The funeral in ''Towers of Midnight''. Faile and her retainers coming together one night to remember the Mera'din Aiel who watched over and protected each of them [[spoiler:in Malden, ultimately at the cost of their own lives]].
* [[spoiler: A Memory of Light, the deaths of a good chunk of the main cast, including Siuan, Gawyn, and Egwene, along with plenty of lesser named characters.]]
** The moment when Logain gives up searching for [[spoiler:the other male sa'angreal]] in order to help save the refugees from Caemlyn and their children from the Shadowspawn, and thus fulfills Min's viewing of "glory of men to come":
-->''He had abandoned that power for what? To save these refugees? People who would spurn him and hate him for what he was. People who...''
-->''... who looked at him with awe.''
-->''Logain watched with wonder as the people flocked around his Asha'man,'' ''[[MeaningfulEcho weeping for their salvation]]''. ''Elderly men took Asha'man by the hands, overcome, praising them.''
-->''Nearby, a youth looked at Logain with admiration. A dozen youths. Light, a hundred. Not a hint of fear in their eyes.''
-->''"Thank you," the young mother said again. "Thank you."''
-->''"The Black Tower protects," Logain heard himself say. "Always."''
-->''"I will send him to you to be tested when he is of age," the woman promised, holding her son. "I would have him join you, if he has the talent."''
-->''The talent. Not the curse. The talent.''
** The entirety of Rand's RousingSpeech to the Dark One, particularly when he overcomes TheDeadHaveNames to instead celebrate their lives and heroism, and performs an epic AndThisIsFor to completely demoralize and enrage his adversary with not just his being TheDeterminator, but ''all of humanity''.
-->[[spoiler:HERE IS THE TRUTH, SHAI'TAN. YOU CANNOT WIN UNLESS WE GIVE UP. THAT'S IT, ISN'T IT? THIS FIGHT ISN'T ABOUT A VICTORY IN BATTLE. TAKING ME... IT WAS NEVER ABOUT BEATING ME. IT WAS ABOUT BREAKING ME. THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE TRIED TO DO WITH ALL OF US. IT'S WHY AT TIMES YOU TRIED TO HAVE US KILLED, WHILE OTHER TIMES YOU DIDN'T SEEM TO CARE. YOU WIN WHEN YOU BREAK US. BUT YOU HAVEN'T. YOU CAN'T.]]
** Oddly enough, Lanfear is the subject of a couple of these. Her confrontation with Rand in his dreamshard, where he reveals to her he does not love her and never did, is rather heartbreaking, and she almost, ''almost'' relents, [[spoiler:allowing him into her mind and coming this close to coming back to the Light]]. In the end even Rand pities her for not knowing love and in fact being incapable of ever feeling it because of her need for power. Then near the very end [[spoiler:when she once again falls her into TheStarscream pattern and attempts to get Perrin to kill Moiraine, so she can kill Nynaeve, claim Callandor, and use Moridin's power to make Rand kneel while saving the Dark One from him and thus earning the greatest power she can possess, Perrin is forced to kill her. She had gone so mad from isolation, loss of love, pride, and desire to rule that she had to be put out of her misery... but it's still quite tragic.]] It's also an in-universe example since [[spoiler:Perrin, still under Compulsion to love her, cries over her body]].
** Each time one of the Great Captains realize they have betrayed the light due to Compulsion is rather heartbreaking. These are good and great men who serve the light willingly and are prepared to die for Rand and the world, and then they realize that they have been forced to betray their men and their oaths. Each one is different but when they realize they sent good men who trusted them to die is terrible.
** Olver.
-->[[spoiler:"Suddenly, Olver felt a deep warmth. He had lost so many people, but one of them... one... had come back for him."]]
** [[spoiler:Gawyn]]'s last words.
-->[[spoiler:'''Gawyn''']]: You won't be [left without a brother]. You have another brother, [[spoiler:Galad]]. One you do not know. A son of... Tigraine... who went into the Waste... Son of a Maiden. Born on Dragonmount... Don't hate him, [[spoiler:Galad]]. I always hated him, but I stopped. I... stopped...
* The history of the Aiel revealed in ''The Shadow Rising'' certainly counts. It takes up chapters 25 and 26 of the book, and it is ''heartbreaking''.
* In ''The Shadow Rising'' it was heartbreaking reading Perrin's reaction to finding out that his family is dead, especially with everything that he risked to get to them quickly. It comes to a head when Faile gives him a CooldownHug to break him out of his shock and tells him to grieve, causing him to break down.
* The death of [[spoiler:Adeleas]] in ''The Path of Daggers''. [[spoiler:Her sister Vandene]] remains her normal calm and collected self when the body is discovered, as well as the following brainstorm session to try and figure out what happened, but the instant everyone leaves her alone with [[spoiler:her sister's corpse, she loses control and starts crying out in pain and grief loud enough for everyone to hear anyway.]]
** And [[spoiler:Vandene's]] long-awaited vengeance.
-->[[spoiler:'''Vandene''', as she stabs the murderer]]: A gift from [[spoiler:Adeleas]]
* In a surprising combination of TearJerker and BrickJoke, the revelation that the wolf called Boundless is [[spoiler:Noam, the half-mad Wolfbrother Perrin freed from a cage ''ten books previous''.]] Boundless indeed!
* The moment when [[spoiler: Logain's companions are turned to the Shadow and they have to fight their comrades, who are still on the Light. What is more, that nearly happened to Logain himself, and left him becoming unhinged for some time. Remember: that could happen to the whole world if Dark One got his freedom.]]

* Nynaeve getting a ''massive'' BreakTheHaughty and HeroicBSOD moment when Birgitte is pulled into the real world in ''The Fires of Heaven'' and Birgitte herself having a brief HeroicBSOD and breaking down upon realizing that her soulmate may never find her again.

* Rand having to give a MercyKill to Fedwin Morr, a Dedicated who succumbed to the taint on ''saidin'' while guarding Min and whose mind reverted to a child's. Rand gave him a poison that allowed him to die in his sleep.