Noal Charin
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
Noal Charin is a mysterious, old man who is currently on the run with Matrim Cauthon.
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[edit] Appearance
He is a "stoop-shouldered, white haired old man with a large hooked nose planted in the middle of a sad face".
[edit] First encounters
Mat first encountered Noal while the latter surveilled Jaichim Carridin's Ebou Dar home, though his identity did not become clear until somewhat later. His reasons for being in Ebou Dar and for spying on Carridin remain unknown.
He later saved Mat's life during a fight with a gholam in an Ebou Dar alley. Seemingly old and worn down, he is actually wary, and keeps long knives hidden under his vest. Mat then takes Noal with him to the Tarasin Palace and has him stay with his men. Noal tells many stories about his adventures and travels to Olver, the young orphan Mat has basically adopted. Noal's memories of more recent events in his life appear to have been lost or tampered with somehow, as he has been shown struggling to remember some important task that he needs to perform.
[edit] Fleeing Ebou Dar
When Mat is attempting to leave Ebou Dar with the captive Aes Sedai he is confronted by Tuon Athaem Kore Paendrag. Noal manages to sneak up behind her and capture her before she can raise an alarm. He decides to leave with Mat's party rather than stay behind in Ebou Dar.
He uses Valan Luca's Traveling Show as cover to escape Ebou Dar. Mat charges him to keep an eye out on Amathera Aelfdene Casmir Lounault, when she is strolling about. He remembers a verse about Mat from the Prophecies of the Dragon.
In Knife of Dreams, Noal volunteers to join Mat and Thom Merrilin in their attempt to rescue Moiraine Damodred from the Eelfinn.
[edit] Jain Farstrider?
Some suspect that Noal is actually the famous explorer Jain Farstrider, though Noal claims to be only Jain's cousin. Some also suspect that he is spying on Mat for Graendal, as when Sammael visits her abode, an old, white-haired man is seen disconsolately sitting, something as yet unexplained. Together with the uncertainty about why he was spying on Jaichim Carridin, why he chose to follow Mat and other things seem to suggest that Noal is not as harmless as he seems.
