It appears I was wrong about Cadsuane. I still don't like her and find her character to be overblown and annoying (after barely choking down more of Egwene's pompous dialogue and seeing how everything yet again always goes her way, I'll never call Cadsuane a Mary Sue again), but unless she changes courses in aMoL, I was wrong about her intentions with Rand.

She's still a jerk with an enormous ego and is nasty to characters I like. I still despise her for her attitude toward men, in general, and Asha'man in particular. However, judging by her "grudging" pride over how Rand changed she didn't mean to completely control him. That she let him deal with the Borderlanders his way - even when she thought he took it a step far when he threatened to leave them out of Tarmon Gai'don - without interfering said a lot. That she did not question him when he said he would break the seals and, instead, simply wondered if they were ready for it, made my jaw drop.

She has no intention of stopping him because she trusts him; that much was clear. What's more, she intends to help him. That's a hell of a lot more than can be said about a certain snot-nosed Amyrlin who thinks she craps gold coins and poppies and that the Dragon Reborn should serve HER wishes instead of think for himself.

I used to balk at the idea that Nynaeve was a newer version of Cadsuane in the making, mainly because I thought Cadsuane was a controlling old hag who wanted control of Rand and had no intention of actually working with him (an older version of Egwene, really). Now, I think I may have been wrong. Cadsuane, as I said, is a jerk, but she isn't as horrible as I once believed. Were she truly an older version of Egwene, she'd have been trying to force Rand to her will as soon as he returned. Instead, she has shown him support. She isn't arguing with him, isn't trying to undermine him, and is perfectly willing to let him proceed as he sees fit provided she is at his side in case he needs advice. Despite her still thinking of him as a boy, there really isn't anything to hate about that, and at least she has finally ceased smacking him around, which was the main thing that had me convinced she was trying to break him so he'd obey her.

What I'm getting at is that Nynaeve does have some things in common with her - she is rebellious, strong-willed, and has her own (Nyn's are correct) ideas about what an Aes Sedai should be. Cadsuane has apparently, in the past, shown some compassion for male channelers she captured (not so much with Rand or Logain or any of the male channelers now, which is another reason I still don't really like her). Nynaeve has far more compassion, though, and a much better heart. She is loyal to those she cares for (something I can't really say of Cadsuane because I think the Tower culled the ability to truly care for another person out of almost all of its initiates, much like Nyn pointed out to Egwene) and isn't bogged down in political games. She has no desire to be bogged down in them, either. Because of the similarities, I can sort of see why people would claim Nyn will become another Cadsuane. However, I think Nynaeve will be a much better version of what Cadsuane was aiming for...provided she can get the hell away from Egwene as soon as possible.