Something new would be awesome, such as...

Egwene shows her ass at the meeting, thinking she can force his hand only to have all of her "allies" (read: Rand's followers that she thinks are now loyal to her and the WT) decided Rand is correct and join him. If she pressed the matter, she'd look like a damn fool. I really hope Rand took Cadsuane to the meeting with him, because I'd love to see Cadsuane tell Egwene she's nothing but a foolish child and needs to ally with Rand and stop playing bullshit political games.

I know a lot of people here are just salivating over the thought that Egwene is right and Rand is wrong and he should bend to her will (and she should be the one to fight the DO and win ) but after reading the book, I went back and re-read a few sections just to see if I had missed anything. There were a few things that stood out....

Egwene was reaching really hard when she thought her dream meant Rand was wrong. She also looked like a damned fool when she started spouting to Gawyn that Rand "wanted" her to oppose him and talk him out of it. We see, from Rand's POV, that she is 100% wrong about that. He intends to break the seals no matter what she says because he knows it is the correct course of action. So Egwene is wrong there and it drives home the point, like a hammer to the head, that she doesn't know him at all anymore.

She wants to believe she is all-knowing about Rand and who he is - she also wants to believe that she is all-knowing about what he needs to do and should be controlling him. In fact, she wants to believe these things so much that she tries twisting everything to fit that viewpoint, much like Elaida did when real events did not mesh with what she wanted them to be. Yet, she doesn't know him at all and doesn't really care to. She is the epitome of what Nynaeve warned her of after being tested - she is arrogant and believes she knows everything, and has set herself so far above and apart from everyone that she can't fathom anything other than what she wants.

If she was really "meant" to oppose him, why is Cadsuane willing to go along with Rand's plan? Why has Nynaeve agreed to go with him to Shayol Ghul no matter what and is going to try to get back to him as soon as she can? Egwene doesn't have the loyalty of every female channeler like Latra Posae did in the Age of Legends. Yes, she has a good number of them, but not all. Rand has Nynaeve, Cadsuane, Alivia...and, it appears he will have Moiraine as well. Egwene would make a great ally, but she and her WT are not a necessity to him, not when he has other saidar wielders who are actually willing to follow him. Throw in the fact that Perrin - a character who has been shown to give a great deal of thought to every tiny little action before committing to a course of action - has thrown his lot in with Rand, and will oppose Egwene if necessary, and the whole idea of "Egwene is perfect and correct yet again!" doesn't really fit.

She is also not the only one we've seen who appears immune to Rand's ta'veren power, so that argument doesn't fly either. Cadsuane is not affected by that, yet she doesn't fight Rand's plan. Nynaeve doesn't seem affected either - in their conversation, she agreed with him because that's truly how she felt not because she got swept up in some ta'veren swirl. So Egwene is not special there. What reasons are left to explain her determination to oppose him? You know that answer as well as I - ego and a desire to have the WT lead him. It's all about control.

That scene where Nynaeve is having soup with Siuan and Egwene showed a great deal to me. Siuan sees everything as "WT vs Dragon". She is disturbed when Nyn points out that holding Rand responsible for the Asha'man bonding the Aes Sedai who attacked them was like holding Egwene responsible for Aes Sedai kidnapping and torturing Rand. That statement did not sit well with Siuan or Egwene because they don't want to see things that way. They want to hold Rand to different standards. Siuan's disgust at Nyn defending Rand, and thoughts about how Egwene was right to force Nyn to return because of that fact, showed us not only that Siuan's thoughts are twisted on the matter but Egwene's are as well. The bottom line is that the Aes Sedai don't know how to work with anyone and, instead, are convinced they should be in charge. Take a look at how Egwene is trying to manipulate the Windfinders and Wise Ones into accepting her lead. That whole meeting left me feeling ill - she can't abide the thought of any channeler not being under her control. That's just not right.

I'm not sure how things will work out in aMoL at that meeting, but I don't think it should be as simplistic as "Egwene is right and Rand should swear fealty to her and obey her". If it works out that way, then a lot of characters - Cadsuane and Perrin, foremost - are going to have to be trashed to get there. I know the intelligence of every single Aes Sedai with the rebellion or in the Tower has been sacrificed at the altar of Egwene, but I'm not so certain RJ intended to do the same with Cadsuane. The "grumpy maiden aunt" might have a lesson for the bratty Amyrlin yet.